However long Dan had slept, something jolted him awake and he was instantly put on alert. Instinctively, he rolled out of bed and reached for his long coat, specifically for one of his pistols. He swiped the handgun off its mount and pointed it around his room, seeing nothing.
A message popped up in his HUD.
Morning. You have been awoken by an automatic alarm built into your synapses.
Dan took a few breaths and realized it was a false alarm. The only times he had ever been woken so suddenly were when his mom woke him up so that they could relocate before either gangsters or corrupt cops ambushed them.
Brushing such thoughts away, he walked towards his bathroom to freshen up, but heard something in his kitchen. The stove was on, but he knew he hadn’t touched the kitchen when he’d first walked into his apartment. He walked back into his room and put on his long coat.
Dan narrowed his eyes and grabbed his second pistol off the coat’s side mounts. He slowly walked down the hallway to the kitchen. Whoever was there, he had something ready for them.
Once he made it to the end of the hallway, Dan turned the corner and aimed both his pistols at whoever had made the mistake of breaking into his apartment. To his surprise, he saw Kate.
He lowered his pistols. “What the hell? Who let you in?” Dan said.
“Oh, good morning,” Kate said. “As a fellow squad member, I have access to your living quarters. Oh yeah, I made you breakfast.”
The agent walked around and slapped down a plate on the table. Dan eyed the food and the steaming aroma leaving the rice, eggs and sausages. Such good food had been a rarity for all of his life.
“I… what?” Dan couldn’t think of anything else to say. He just had an attractive woman cook him breakfast.
“Well? Are you going to eat?” Kate said. “Agents can survive for longer periods without food and water compared to regular people, but you still need your nutrients. You better eat it quick or else I will. Jane wants all of us at the facility to get our next orders.”
Dan snapped out of it. “Let me wash up first. If you eat it, I’ll shoot you.”
Kate giggled. “Okay then. I’ll just dodge the bullets like Allen did though.”
After a few minutes of washing his face, Dan came back out and sat down, quickly gobbling up his breakfast. He didn’t need time to savor the meal. Even with how fast he was chomping down on it, he knew this was far above anything he had tasted in his life. Not that his mom’s cooking was awful, but with groceries a luxury and a working stove as common as a gangster who wasn’t out for blood, tasty food was gold.
After finishing emptying his plate within just a few minutes, he got up and said, “I’m assuming Jane needs to see us at a certain time?”
“Yes. You can’t be a minute late or else she’ll get on your case,” Kate said.
“Let’s go then. I’ll worry about dishes later.”
“You go first. I’ll wash this all up and meet up with you.”
“Okay?” Dan said. Kate offering to wash his dishes for him was strange, but he didn’t question it. “Thanks, Kate. You didn’t need to do all of this for me.”
Kate grinned. “No worries. I need to make sure our rookie grows up to be big and strong.”
“Okay, Mom,” Dan said jokingly.
Dan wrapped the combat mask around his face then left his apartment and went down the elevator. During the ride down, he was tempted to simply open the window in his apartment and jump down next time, considering he had the physique and armor to handle the landing. But since he was in a neighborhood with regular people, he thought it was best not to attract unwanted attention to himself.
As he left the entrance of the apartment building, Dan heard a loud thud beside him and turned to see Kate. She clearly didn’t mind the attention as she landed only a few paces right in front of a young couple walking beside the building.
“Oh, so sorry about that,” Kate said.
The young lady holding hands with her partner opened her mouth, probably to berate Kate. But her boyfriend saw Kate’s long coat and armor beneath and recognized who his girlfriend was about to mouth off to. He covered his girl’s mouth, then scurried off into the apartment’s entrance.
Kate began walking, brushed past Dan and gestured him to follow.
“How about a jog on our way to the Alpha facility?” Kate said.
“Sure, but you’ll probably beat me,” Dan said.
“It’s a jog, not a race.”
Dan and Kate began a light jog along the sidewalk across the block. Many people quickly stepped out of their way, recognizing the duo as Alpha agents.
“Are they supposed to be afraid of us?” Dan said.
“Stop being dramatic,” she said. “They’re not afraid. They’re being polite and getting out of our way. We’re Alpha agents, after all.”
While Kate had told him this wasn't a race, she didn’t mind keeping ahead of Dan at all times. They kept the same pace for a few more blocks until they reached the perimeter wall of the facility.
“Well, wasn’t that fun, Dan?”
“I guess. I thought you said it wasn’t a race,” Dan said.
Kate smiled. She then pointed her finger at him. “It wasn’t. Maybe you need to work on leg day to keep up with me.”
The two entered through the wall and walked past the courtyard into the facility. Dan’s mind was on autopilot as he simply followed Kate through the hallways before making it to the same lounge room where he’d first met his team.
“By the way,” Kate said. She took something out of one of her pockets. “I got something for you. It’s a temporary stat booster. Inject it when you need it in a hectic situation.”
What Kate had in her hand looked to be similar to the healing stim Ben used on him during training.
“Is it like those drugs some of those rioters used to flip cars over?”
“Something like that, but way safer. This might come in handy for whatever mission Jane has in store for us,” Kate said.
“Thanks,” Dan said.
Kate put her hand on the side panel and the doors opened up. When Dan looked inside, he saw that the room had been completely rearranged. The benches and tables had been cleared out and the rest of the team consisting of Allen, Ben and Hailey were lined up in the middle of the room facing the big screen ahead. Jane, along with Chad Eisenworth, stood below the giant screen.
The whole room turned to look at Dan and Kate as they walked in.
“Good, we can get started. You’re both just in time,” Jane said.
Dan and Kate quickly joined the line, with Dan standing at the opposite end as Kate.
“Yes,” Chad said. “As you know, we’ve recently quelled a violent riot that occurred outside one of our Alpha properties. And by ‘we’ I mean Dan managed to deescalate the situation all by himself. Very fine work, my boy.”
“Thanks, Chad,” Dan said.
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“From now on, you will address him as ‘sir,’” Jane said sternly. “Eisenworth is not your friend.”
This drew light chuckles from the rest of the team.
Chad cleared his throat and continued. “However, this riot is a recent disturbing finding that more and more illegal goods have made their way into civilian hands. Civilians should not have access to ZK-77 rifles or performance-enhancing drugs. I believe we have found who is responsible for the supply of these stolen goods.
“We suspect that a resistance group has been responsible for hijacking some of our supply shipments, robbing us of drugs and meds and distributing those stolen goods at discounted rates.”
Dan looked to his teammates to gauge their reactions to this news. All four beside him looked forward with steeled expressions. Obviously this wasn’t good news, but nothing here was anything new to Dan. Fighting over limited resources was a constant where he grew up.
“Such stolen goods have found their way into circulation in some of our cities and the Alpha Corporation seeks to find a way to eliminate the source,” Chad said. He turned to Jane. “That’s where your team comes in.”
Excitement for another mission boiled inside Dan. He wanted another chance to gain more experience and rank up.
“We have tracked down these resistance members to a run-down section just in the fringes of our control. We will be sending you and your team to this sector to disrupt their operations. An optional task would be to capture any of their leaders and bring them back alive.”
As excited as Dan was, confusion also began filling his mind. Wanting to avoid getting another lecture from Jane, he raised his hand with a question.
Chad looked over at him. “Yes, Dan?”
“I don’t know how big this sector is or how dangerous this little group is, but why send only one team? Doesn’t this sound like a textbook invasion of enemy territory which would need more men?”
Dan’s question wasn’t intended to be humorous, but he drew a chuckle out of Allen and amused looks from the rest of the team.
“An agent is worth more than just an average soldier, kid,” Allen said. “Once you reach our level, you’ll understand how much better we are compared to regular infantry. One competent squad is enough to make an entire state’s worth of land go dark. This resistance won’t know what hit them.”
“Oh. I see,” Dan said. “What about this resistance? What are their motives for stealing our guns and meds?”
“It is clear-cut to everyone what their motives are,” Chad said. “Some individuals don’t want to work hard for resources. So they resort to barbaric acts such as stealing. As the shard running these territories, we cannot afford to tolerate such pettiness.”
Dan responded with a simple nod. He himself was no stranger to theft. He did what he had to do to survive. But it was clear that the Alpha Corp didn’t let shit like that fly on their land.
“Your team will be sent immediately just outside their territory. Our drone scans of the area have generated a detailed map of the place, though we haven’t been able to monitor much activity from the group itself. Something is jamming us.”
“That means this resistance group is more dangerous that we thought,” Allen said. “If they could hijack and steal our shipments and possess equipment that’s jamming our drones, they’re packing alright.”
“Exactly, which is why we’re sending you in to put a stop to this nonsense,” Chad said. “Any further questions?”
Dan didn’t have any more that came to mind, and neither did the rest of the team.
“Good. Head to the armory and get suited up. The dropship will be waiting for you. And good luck,” Chad said.
Dan only sighed. Since he had all his gear on him, he would have the privilege of watching his comrades suit up with better gear and weapons than him.
The entire squad made their way to the facility’s armory and began readying themselves. Dan stood and watched each of his squadmates preparing their gear.
Allen had a rocket launcher and minigun ready. The agent attached metal spikes to the railings around the minigun’s barrel, as if a minigun by itself wasn’t overkill enough.
“Hey Dan, I could use some of your black spray paint,” Allen said jokingly.
“Oh, shut up,” Dan said. The rest of the team snickered at the exchange.
Ben packed numerous supplies into his backpack. Otherwise, he was light on weapons, carrying only what appeared to be a magnum and a ZK-77 rifle.
Hailey equipped herself with a bolt-action sniper rifle and another rifle Dan didn’t recognize.
Kate’s loadout wasn’t anything too special either. She took two pistols that appeared to be upgraded versions of what he had as well as a ZK-77.
Finally, Jane had equipped her dual submachine guns, which vaguely resembled Uzis. Dan watched as her white long coat swayed a bit and revealed the same peculiar hilt without a blade. Dan scrutinized the submachine guns Jane had chosen.
MP Aero “Shredder” variant
Manufacturer: Emissary Armories
50 round magazine
Shredder.30 rounds
Description: An uncommon variant of the popular Aero line of submachine guns. The Shredder variant uses armor-piercing rounds that can pierce agent armor and light tanks. Fifty-round magazines ensure the wielder has enough AP to go around for all threats in close quarters.
Compared to everyone else, Dan only had a handful of grenades and two of the same starting pistols.
“Don’t worry, Dan,” Kate said to him. She spun a pistol around her finger before attaching it to the magnetic side mount on her coat. “Once we complete this mission, I’m sure you’ll be at a higher level and have a bunch of credits to buy new gear.”
“I hope so,” Dan said. “I’m traveling light compared to you guys.”
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Jane said. “We’re not being sent to fight a war. Our objectives are to disrupt the operations of this rebel group and capture their prominent leaders if possible. That will involve precise strikes targeting their most important facilities and equipment.”
“So me having only two pistols and some grenades isn’t a problem?”
“For this mission? No, it shouldn’t be. Another important thing about being an agent is determining your ideal equipment for a mission. Contrary to popular belief, a shard is not just going to allow you to take an entire armory with you.”
Jane grabbed a set of what looked like small gray rectangular blocks. She set a small remote on top of the stack and carried the blocks over to Dan, dropping them on the bench beside him.
“Take these. You’ll need them when we start destroying their important facilities and equipment,” Jane said.
“Translation, you get to blow stuff up, kid,” Allen said, placing his minigun on his back.
“Wow, that’s awesome,” Dan said.
“You will be paired with another agent,” Jane said “So don’t go around wasting these things until you get approval.”
“Alright,” Dan said. “As long as I get something to use.”
“One more thing,” Jane said. She took something out of her long coat and handed it over to him.
He didn’t need to scrutinize it for long as he saw it was a combat knife in its sheath. “Is that the knife I let you borrow?”
“Yes, though it’s not the exact same. This is your new and improved knife,” Jane said. “I put it through a nano-coating process to increase its lethality.”
“Nano-coating?”
“Nano-coating a blade covers it in nanomachines. The Alpha Corporation gives you two options. Either the coating will continuously keep the blade sharpened and prevent loss in cutting power, or replenish poison applied to the blade. I chose the latter. The coating process requires that a new specialized sheath be used.”
“Holy shit,” Dan said. The Alpha Corp continued to surprise him in their technological advancements. “How strong is the poison?”
Jane smirked. “An Alpha agent starting out can survive a direct injection of ricin into their bloodstream. The specific poison I chose for this knife can knock out high-level agents and kill lower-ranked agents like you with one slash.”
Dan accepted the knife and attached it and its sheath to his long coat.
“Anytime you get yourself into a close quarters fight, you’ll have the edge with this. It will be more than enough for dealing with these rebels,” Jane said. “Normally, it costs a thousand credits to pay for the nano-coating process. Consider this your reward for completing your first solo mission.”
Kate began clapping obnoxiously in the background, which earned her nasty side eye from Jane.
Allen chuckled. “Translation: Jane acknowledges you’re not a scrub and is giving you a leg up.”
Dan took out his new knife from its sheath and inspected it. He squinted as hard as possible to spot the poison on the blade but saw nothing. On the surface, it looked like any other knife.
“It’s nanomachines, kid. You can’t see them with the naked eye,” Allen reminded him.
“Right,” Dan said, putting the knife back in its sheath. “Thanks, Jane. I appreciate this.”
After finishing her stare down with Kate, Jane looked back at him. “I can’t do anything about your low level and lack of credits, but I need you to be adequately equipped for this mission. I did what I could.”
Dan couldn’t help but feel his squad leader was warming up to him, if only a little. If he had been inept in his performance during his first mission and in training, he most definitely wouldn’t have gotten such a generous gift from her.
“Is everyone ready?” Jane asked.
Everyone else responded with nods or quick yeses. Ben walked around and passed around what appeared to be syringes. Dan was last and he got a syringe.
“Good, let’s get to the dropship,” she ordered.
The entire squad left the armory and went to the rooftop of the facility where their transport awaited them. The back of the aircraft dropped down and extended a platform for the agents to board.
Dan was the last one to board before the door closed behind him.
“This won’t be a long trip,” Jane said. “Our destination will be thirty-two kilometers south of this region.”
“Is this thing as fast as Eisenworth’s private jet?” Dan asked.
“Most certainly not, but it’s still fast enough that thirty-two kilometers will go by in two minutes,” Jane said. “Find a seat and get comfortable. Napping is strictly prohibited. If I see yours eyes shut for any extended period of time, I’m throwing you out without a parachute.”
Dan nervously chuckled at that, until he saw Jane’s facial expression remain the exact same.
“She’s just kidding, Dan,” Kate said. “You’ll have to do something super dangerous to get thrown out like that.”
“Nothing to worry about. My eyes will be wide open for the ride,” Dan said.
Jane looked at him as she sat down across from him. “Good.”