"Rai, now that you are back in your motherland, are you feeling nostalgic?" a masked black male asked as he drove a Land Rover. Their car was at the forefront of the fleet.
"Nah, after everything I saw and experienced, do you think that I will waste my time with worthless, illusory things like nostalgia?" Rai, who was a bronze complexioned male with a muscular physique scorned. Rai also wore a black mask. Vincent and Rai had been in the same team for the last three years as both of them had joined the 'Auxilia' at the same time.
'Auxilia' was like a recycle bin for the military division of the 'Organisation'. Any failed experiments which resulted in people, who remained alive and functional, would be sent to this group. It was an aggregation of 'faulty' pieces.
As they were all trained in conventional warfare tactics and other fighting techniques, they were allowed to take up low-level jobs. For example, today, their leader, was tasked with killing a small provincial leader in India. These missions were the only way to gather merit points. As long as they reached the required credit score, they would be given a second chance to undergo trials.
If they had not known the 'Organisation', they might not have cared about trying for the second chance. But, they had seen the strength of the 'successful' people with their own eyes. The prospect of gaining superhuman abilities was too tempting for them. Attractive enough to kill or die. Rai had seen a fifty-year-old elder man transform into a twenty-year-old sturdy youth while vincent had seen a youth lift an M1A1 military tank with his bare hands.
The transformation was not just in appearance; it was the vigour, vitality and strength. Except for the appearance, these people did not deserve to be seen in the same light as average humans. Those people had successfully stretched their normal life span and abilities. Going with what they had heard, these people could live for three to four hundred years. And, that was merely the first phase. In their eyes, the Organisation was no different from a gateway to heaven and everlasting immortality.
One could imagine the level of hope and promise this 'Organisation' held for them. The feelings they possessed towards this 'Organisation' almost touched the level of fanaticism. It was as if a new world had been opened for them, and they were one of those lucky people to gain early entry. An unprecedented 'World Order' was dawning, and they were going to be ones owning the 'real' power and wealth.
The things that the 'rejects' from 'Auxilia' could do to get an extra chance were few, and the competition was high. So, the best way to quickly get this opportunity was to become 'informal' goons for some higher-ups.
The 'Organisation' looked like a single entity from the outside. But with all the power that it held, it was impossible not to have any interest groups within. Notably, they were some families and corporations which were quite influential. For example, their leader, Zamir, who was a 'Centurion' (commanded 80 people), had sought the shelter of the Blackwood family.
Blackwood family was one of the top-tiered families in the Organisation. Their current task was not an official one, but it was going to be off-the-record. If the Blackwood Family was not endowed with high authority, Zamir would not have dared to act this way. The punishment for crossing the limits of a mission was no different from seeking death.
Young master Andrews was the one who issued the order to eliminate the underworld boss of Bangalore and take over the mafia. Others may not know the reason behind this action, but how could Vincent and Rai not know? A future was coming in which the legitimate governments were going to be reduced to lowly puppets. These governments would be left to maintain law and order so that society does not become chaotic, which might lead to unwanted deaths of the most valuable resources (humans).
The grand ambitions of the 'Organisation' required human capital. The Organisation did not care about any other resources as much as it cared for humans. It needed a large number of humans for its experiments and army. So the family which held influence over the most significant human population was bound to trump other groups within the Organisation.
China and India were the two most populated countries with no other stiff competition. The US and Indonesia were placed in the third and fourth, but the difference was massive. So, both China and India were hot pies in the eyes of these families. Even between China and India, though China was more populous, India turned out to be a more desirable choice.
The ideal age for 'Genetic Awakening' was children from 10-24 years. The population of the same age group in India was 242 million while in China it was only 185 million. The choice was clear. Young master Andrews had placed his sights on South India. He could not dare to think about competing in North India, which was being fought over by many families and interest groups.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Zamir was supposed to establish his influence in Bangalore and spread southwards. This mission was informal and unwarranted by the Organisation as it has not deemed it the right time yet. But, behind the scenes, the fight for power had already started. Young master Andrews had implicitly instructed that this mission should be rapidly dealt and the loss of human lives should be kept minimal.
It turned out to be convenient for them as there was only one underworld boss of Bangalore, i.e. Taarini. Vincent and Rai laughed with delight when they heard that this mafia boss had left the city with minimum protection, which made conditions even more favourable. As if the situation was not optimal enough, the cars which were following the underworld boss suddenly took a detour and left her, for an unknown reason. It was as if God wanted this woman to die today.
Zamir had divided his subordinates into two groups. One group would follow him as he accomplished the official task while the other group would deal with Taarini and her gang. The Raipath family of India, which was subordinate to the Blackwood family, had provided two sets of transport vehicles. A fleet of ordinary cars (Land Rovers) and another squadron of low level 'modified vehicles'. These modified cars were gifted to Raipath family by the Organisation itself.
Just like Taarini's armoured Hummer, these 'modified' cars were not good at speed. Vincent and Rai, who were both captain of ten-man teams, were using the fast cars. They did not think that these 'modified' cars were a necessity to take out a small underworld boss with zero military backings. Vincent felt that using these modified cars was equivalent to using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. So he and Rai opted to leave half their men to drive these 'slow' cars while they went ahead and completed their mission.
Vincent and Rai were trying to get into the good graces of their leader, Zamir. Zamir was different from them. He was a 'partially' successful product. If a 'failed' products like Vincent and Rai were as strong as eight adult males, then one could imagine the strength of Zamir. In unarmed combat, even a hundred special forces could not defeat him.
According to the protocol, the mission that Zamir was tasked with did not warrant bulletproof clothes. But young master Andrews had made it possible using his influence because he wanted to guarantee the 'other' mission. Rai looked at the thin cloth material of his clothes. He could not imagine how such a delicate material could effortlessly stop bullets, but it was the truth. Rai had experienced this wonder for himself.
Even though they had these clothes, no other equipment issued by the 'Organisation' could be used during this informal task. Every piece of hi-tech equipment is connected to the mainframe (artificial intelligence). So, if they could not provide a legal authorisation of the Organisation for utilisation, this equipment will not activate.
The Organisation had zero tolerance for people who violated these regulations. So, unless one had a sturdy backing, one should not think of doing shady things. Zamir was doing precisely that; hence, they had to make do with ordinary weapons.
By ordinary weapons, Vincent and others had access to the most sophisticated military equipment that humanity had developed until today. But yes, when compared to the weaponry of the 'Organisation' these automatic rifles and armour-piercing rounds were indeed 'simple'.
"Man, this Taarini chick is one of a kind. It will be nice if we could taste her once before we kill her," Vincent said as he looked at the portrait of a stunning woman before them.
"Of course, Indian women are the most beautiful. You can find all kinds of girls like fair, dark, bronze, East Asian etc. We could have some fun after we complete our task but not now. You don't want to mess up in the last moment. We need to be the ones who kill her if we want to have an opportunity to get our second chance. We have almost caught up to the Hummer," Rai said as he pointed at the black metal beast in front of them. At their current speed, they would overtake it in a matter of seconds.
"According to our info, this Hummer is American ballistics level IV armoured. It can take quite a few shots from an AK 47 rifle, let me see if the information is credible." Rai said as he took out an M4A1 assault rifle and turned the safety off.
Just when Rai was about to position himself, Vincent and Rai saw the driver window open as a hand carrying a handgun was seen emerging. The hand pointed the gun towards them, but they could not see the face of the person as he did not turn towards them.
"Oh, looks like these ants know that they are in danger and are attempting to launch a pre-emptive strike," Vincent scoffed with disdain. Even though they did not get superhuman powers, they had inherited the contempt that the members of the 'Organisation' had for ordinary humans. Not for a moment did Rai and Vincent believed that there would be any danger in this mission, given their abilities.
"There is at least twenty meters distance and both of us moving in high speeds. Do they think that they could attack us? These people are cute, aren't they..." before Vincent could continue, he heard a crack sound.
Vincent whipped his head to see a small mark at the space between the eyebrows of Rai. If Rai had not worn the bulletproof mask, he would have become a corpse by now. Before Vincent could think that it was just a fluke, warm blood splashed on his face as a second bullet hit Rai's head. The round went through the eye hole of the mask, which was the only unprotected part. Rai's lifeless body slowly leaned on him.
Vincent blood froze when he saw this scene. He still remembered laughing how they did not require these bulletproof clothes when they were about to start on this mission. There were masks which protected eyes as well, but Vincent and Rai were not eligible to wear them. Only Zamir had that kind of cover which was black with a vertical red line.
Vincent's heart skipped a beat as he looked at the hand; he could not see the face of the person even now. He felt as if they had gone into a snake hole expecting to find a small defanged snake and instead awakened a sleeping dragon. Before Vincent could think of turning the vehicle around, another bullet hit his left eye, and everything went dark after that.