Gaston did expect that the rain would come sooner or later. He scanned his surroundings as he got off the ramp of the VTOL. The multi-colored lights, wet concrete, skyscrapers, and the VTOL-infested skies polluted the city of Neo-Tokyo.
Neo-Tokyo was a familiar place for Freelancers like him.
At least for others who have been here before.
He looked around him.
“It looks like the Consortium’s busy building branches,” he thought. “Funds here must be flowing, seeing how Japan keeps facing Type-4 Monsters in this part of the world. No wonder the bonds agent likes sending Freelancers here,”
The rain picked up a bit. He shielded himself with his raincoat and looked at the short-haired, black formal suit, a pencil-skirt-wearing woman accompanied by a Security Staff member.
“Nara Ayumi,” she held out her hand.
“Gaston Hardy,” he locked his gloved hand hands with hers. “Shall we go inside, Ms. Nara?”
“Of course.”
Nara Ayumi gave a business smile. Gaston nodded at the security staff and walked inside the double doors of the building. The VTOL outside of the landing pad started to fly, joining the VTOL-infested skies of Neo-Tokyo once more.
The interior of the building was moderately decorated. Black, blue and gray colors and the modernized wallpapers made the walls pleasing to the eyes. The Security Staff bid farewell to Ms. Nara and walked to the left hall.
“How was the trip, Mr. Hardy?”
“Shaky, I believe that there is a low-pressure area building up in the Pacific, no?”
“It is that time of year.”
“I’ve never been to this region of the world so forgive my ignorance. ”
“Of course not,” she smiled amiably. “We do not get too many visitors lately so this is a nice welcome.”
“The Breakers here must have been busy.”
“There have been sightings of monsters in the regions. Type-2’s and Type-3’s have been sighted lately.”
“The Type-4’s must be troublesome. I heard that a GOLIATH caused ten casualties in Okinawa.”
“So you have heard of that. It is shameful that we could not detect the creatures immediately.”
Gaston entered inside an elevator. Ms. Ayumi adjusted her hair, took a glance at Gaston, and sighed.
“Hmm? Is there something wrong?”
“Nothing, it is rare for a Freelancer to work with the Consortium. Do you partake in combat?”
“No, I am more of a Courier and a Messenger lately, Miss,” Gaston pulled on his black gloves. “Never thought of making a living out of fighting. Besides, I do work with the UEDF and the pay is quite high this time.”
“I see. It must be hard to interact with Breakers, no?”
“Could say the same to you, Miss. You’re part of the Consortium, so I expect that you’d be quite up high there and meet many industry’s big shots,” he squared his shoulders and stood sharply. “I wonder if it’s too late to sign up now?”
She raised a brow. “One thing that bothers me is why would you stay in such a line of work, Mr. Hardy? You could get a lot of benefits into becoming a Breaker.”
Gaston nodded as if he thought about it. “There are many benefits of becoming part of the Consortium. Then again, I think that working as a Freelancer is enough for me right now. Who knows? I might join someday if I think that being a Freelancer for the UEDF Contractee isn’t enough for my needs anymore.”
“Still, there are many dangers in your line of work.”
“What line of work these days don't have risks?” Gaston shrugged. “In a world like ours where monsters exist, there is nothing to be surprised about anymore.”
Ms. Nara agreed to that. The elevator door opened, revealing a large and spacious room portioned by booths and workers. They walked through the maze of cubicles and arrived at one of the offices. Ms. Ayumi introduced Gaston to this man.
“Ibarra Shinji,” the man greeted. He gave a polite bow and looked at the briefcase that Gaston was carrying.
Gaston’s business smile remained as he walked into the office. He took out a piece of document and handed the papers to Mr. Ibarra without asking much.
“Is this a copy?”
Gaston fished out a flash drive from his pocket. “Unfortunately, this belongs to the Branch Manager of this Consortium.”
“I understand, do you mind if I accompany you then?”
“Of course.”
The three went out of the office and back to the elevator where they entered the branch manager’s office. Working with a work laptop, the man who seems to be in his forties takes his eyes off his laptop and approached Gaston with a hand going for a handshake. He then made a bow.
“Branch Manager Mino Kenji,” he said. “I’ve heard that the Eastern European Branch had sent a courier from the UEDF this time,” he looked at Mr. Ibarra and took the document from him. “A Freelancer at that.”
“I find it strange as well, Mr. Mino. We usually don't do business in the east of the world lately. Nonetheless, I only came to deliver a message from the client and introduce myself. Would you mind if I deliver some of it now?”
Gaston handed the flash drive to Mino Kenji. He took the drive, plugged it into the USB port of his laptop, and ran a software application before scanning the entries in the documents.
“A Type-6 Kaiju!?” he said with shaking eyes.
Gaston didn’t reply. But the two who stood not far from the desk furrowed their brows. Ms. Ayumi started to operate her work pad and approached the manager on the side.
“Should we place the whole nation on alert?”
Mr. Mino didn’t reply immediately. He continued reading the document before looking at Gaston. “This is from the Task Force, right?”
“The UEDF issued a warning to the Anti Entity Task Force about monster movements in the Pacific Region,” Gaston sent the data from his wrist pad to his AR-module. “Ever since the calculation of the Chameleon Particles and the normalization of the Graviton Theory in the field, the AETF in charge of monster activity had warned that recent scans are indicating that at the coordinates attached, there will be Type-6's Monster and a horde gathering soon.”
“A horde,” Ms. Nara swallowed a mouthful of air
“Please refer to the prefix and the index that had been attached,” Gaston finished his message and placed a digital signature pad on the desk. Mr. Mino stared at the screen before signing his name on the signature pad. Gaston then took out another piece of document and handed it to Mr. Mino whose facial expressions had turned stern. He is the branch manager of the Japan Branch of the Earthside Consortium, so it was right for him to be worried when there is a horde gathering next to their island nation and a Type-6 Biomass Entity as well.
Mr. Mino took a glance at the paper and said. “So it seems that the Babaika Company will join us?”
The Babaika Company is a powerful Breaker Company that specialized in killing monsters and harvesting their sparticles or ichor that could be used to develop ichorium, which has been common in the market since it allowed the development of items that allowed the existence of Breakers and Operators acting as counters against monsters and biomass entities.
Gaston had heard of their presence before. They were bad news for Gaston. They were infamous for always being in the right place when there is a disaster waiting to happen. Still, he had accepted the job and had attached himself to this contract because it was only the job available at the moment and he needed the money to pay some of his loans.
“Ms. Nara informed the divisions to move in and secure the areas here and here,” Mr. Mino brought a tactical map and marked the locations. He turned his eyes to Gaston. “Mr. Hardy, are your duties that of an Adjutant to this company then?”
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“Yes, Mr. Mino,” Gaston explained. “I shall be the bridge between this branch and that of Babaika Company until the contract expires.”
“Then you must have military training. What was your rank?”
“Sergeant Major, Mr. Mino,” Gaston said.
“A noncommissioned officer, with a high rank?.”
“There are many reasons for it, as you know how they hire those who have abilities and give them high-rankings.”
It wasn’t new but it was still a high rank to give a Freelancer. Most of the Consortium-licensed Companies are just contracted PMC’s branded to make it sound nicer.
“Then I shall leave you to your duties,” Mr. Mino said something to Mr. Ibarra in their native language. Ms. Ayumi led Gaston out of the branch manager’s office.
Outside of the office, Ms. Nara started informing him of the nine regions and forty-seven prefectures. The Babaika Company was going to be assigned to the region where the predicted invasion was.
“Ms. Nara, that reminds me.”
“Just call me Ayumi.”
“Then call me Gaston?”
She brushed her hair to the side and gave a nod.
“Gaston, you were saying something?”
“I heard that Ms. Yumina Houki, a rookie, is going to be employed by the Babaika Company?”
She looked at Gaston as if she had expected that question. For the Babaika's to employ someone was newsworthy after all.
Ms. Ayumi swiped her mobile pad to the left, and the portrait of a Half-Japanese woman appeared. She handed the pad to Gaston. The woman had short eyebrows and seemed to have not found it in her heart to smile in her portrait.
Gaston looked at her Grade. She was Grade C as an Evolved Human.
“Grade C?” Gaston muttered. “Hard to believe that the Babaika Company is hiring below the B-Rank.”
“Casualties as of lately have been on the rise.”
“Ah, the biomass entities are getting…harder to face. There is also the New Mutates to add to the problem now.”
The New Mutates were individuals that had been appearing as of late. Semi-intelligent life forms that can organize and create groups. Gaston heard of these New Mutates first back in United Korea. News had been sparse about these beings, and there have been bounties posted on the capture of these beings. Most ended up dead because of how ruthless the Hunters were in hunting these New Mutates.
Still, they were effective opponents that made it hard for PMC’s and Breaker Companies to do their work. It was one of the reasons that he'd rather continue to be a Freelancer rather than become a full-time Breaker.
The Breaker Industry is a booming business in this era. Humans who have Evolved to become superhuman, use their new powers to become Breakers for the Consortium or a PMC. There are even some Breakers who use their powers to gather fame. Somewhere along the line humanity had started to change drastically, no one knows how it happened other than there was a trigger, a snap, and many pointed it out that it was the ichorium that brought this change. Borrowed from the word ‘ichor’, a fluid that was said to flow in the veins of the gods, the mineral had been the most desired resource of the world since their discovery and was said to be the trigger that caused this era to happen.
These minerals are usually harvested in split-realms where assault ships and cruisers would jump in and begin a raid to harvest them. Credits and ichorium were the currency of Consortium-licensed Companies. Breakers, who have Evolved Humans, are also fueled by this business since they absorb their energy from Ichorium which powers their abilities and stirs up their bioenergy.
The price of Ichorium was high and in demand. It is no wonder the industry was booming.
Gaston and Ayumi went back to the landing pad. The rain had settled, the concrete and high-rise glasses shone as if they had been polished by the rain. The steel framework and curtain wall of glasses reflected the cityscape of Neo-Tokyo.
“It seems that we will have to cooperate for a while, Ayumi,” Gaston said casually, watching the cruiser make a dimensional jump. On the back of the cruiser, there was a VTOL that carried passengers.
“Quite showy,” Gaston said.
“This is the Babaika Company.”
Ayumi said that as if it was natural. Gaston had heard of this UEDF ranked and Consortium-licensed Company. Many were eager to get into this Company just for their abilities alone and that they are licensed officially by the UEDF. Gaston just thought it was too bad since most of the people in that company were called twisted and eccentric according to the rumors.
"Excuse me," a voice called.
It was only then that Gaston noticed a person with a long ponytail, formal black jacket with a patch of a black lion biting on the chains on her left arm’s sleeve walking to the landing pad. Her necktie was loose and she had shoved her hands in her jacket when the wind blew. She spotted Gaston and Ayumi but did not say anything for a while until Ayumi talked to her.
“Ms. Yumina,” Ayumi said. “The Babaika Company will be here, please wait kindly.”
“Hai,” Ms. Yumina said calmly.
The VTOL produced a gust as it landed. The red lights of the landing pad turned from neutral to red, and the rear door was uncovered, revealing three figures. Gaston recognized the three who wore their Black Lions Insignia proudly.
The one with the waist-high blonde hair, the black military jacket hung on her shoulder, proud disposition, and chin raised was the Lady of the Babaika Company, Lyudmila Romanov.
On her left was a man dressed in a black suit and red tie. They wore identical uniforms but had different styles. Jakob Stoll wore his jacket loosely and carried a hilt-less high-frequency broadsword in a sheath. There was a composed look on his face as he scanned the area.
Gaston however held his breath for a second at the sight of the person on the Lady’s right. The Valkyrie, the red-haired slayer, and the trusted confidant of Lady Romanov. Hilda Valeria, the Valkyrie, and her dragon slayer which was a two-handed greatsword that was strapped on her back.
Hilda Valeria blinked, her lion-like amber-colored eyes scanning the three. Gaston felt a pricking pressure on her eyes before she blinked it away. Then he felt a pair of mutated red eyes scanned them. Lady Romanov gave them a look before she focused on Ms. Yumina.
“Welcome to Neo-Tokyo, Lady Romanov, and the Babaika Company! I am Secretary of the Neo-Tokyo Earthside Consortium Branch, Ayumi Nara. I shall be guiding you in your time.” Ayumi greeted with a customary bow, and she then introduced Gaston. “This is the Contracted Adjutant for your stay here, Mr. Gaston Hardy.”
Gaston took a step forward and greeted with a martial bow and tightened his nose as if he had smelled something that alarmed him. Lady Romanov nodded and ignored his expression and turned her eyes to Ms. Yumina Houki with much greater enthusiasm than seeing Ayumi and Gaston.
“The cub is here, Jakob, Hilda,” Lady Romanov said. “You are Akito’s prodigy?
“Commander,” Ms. Houki replied calmly. “Akito-san said that I’ll be able to earn money if I join your company.”
Her tone was rough and impolite. Gaston thought that the Lady would take offense, but Lady Romanov only looked at her as if amused. Seems like the rumors are somewhat true then, Gaston thought.
“Ara, of course, we are the Babaika Company after all. Eh, it seems that Akito-san picked up a very rowdy disciple, I like it.”
“Madam, I think she should watch her tongue first,” Jakob Stoll said.
“No need,” the Commander said. “You know how I hate formalities within my people. This is a good time to test you,” she looked at Ayumi who was trying her best to cut in. “But for now we shouldn’t be rude, come, Ms. Ayumi, isn't it? Let us discuss how my Company can assist this nation and also get out of this weather.”
“Understand,” Ayumi said.
Ayumi led the Babaika Company inside. Gaston shook his head and walked with Ayumi and assisted her. Gaston was here to act as a third-party who would watch over this cooperation so their indifference didn't bother him. Lady Romanov looked uninterested at the introduction of the facilities, merely looking at Miss Houki with so much interest and at the same time asking about her master.
“Sorry about that mate.”
Jakob Stoll walked with Gaston. There was a weary smile on him. “You are contracted by the UEDF right? Are you a Freelancer? Merc?”
“Freelancer. Just a message carrier and courier for the UEDF these days.”
“A mouthpiece then?”
“You could say that.”
Jakob looked at the Lady and then back to Gaston. Gaston was rather unsettled at the presence of the Valkyrie. She was rather famous and infamous for her actions lately.
“Don’t mind the Captain and our Valkyrie. Boss's like that when someone joins the company. She was acquainted with the Master of that Lady so her interest in her is great.”
Gaston just nodded his head. “Didn’t think that I’d met top Breakers in this job.”
“Hah, be glad then since you have the confidence of the Company to keep you safe, Adjutant.”
Gaston loosened his shoulders before squaring it again. He found the Valkyrie’s silence eerie. Jakob seems to notice his gaze towards the Valkyrie.
“Ah, just ignore our Valkyrie,” Jakob placed a hand on his pocket. “She doesn’t talk much and prefers hunting monsters with that greatsword of hers.”
He had already heard of the Valkyrie's quietness from rumors and articles. Not to mention that the employer of this said Valkyrie was somewhat even more daring than her employee.
Gaston had always been wary about his employers so he had to read up on people who he might work with in the future as a Freelancer, and among them, the Babaika Company was the one who have too many rumors going on about them and was always marked by the people in the line of work as one of the companies they rather avoid having contact with.
Gaston didn’t feel too good knowing that the Babaika Company was here in Neo-Tokyo to assist in the matter. If it was the Immortals or some Far Eastern Company, then he might feel less worried. Being involved with one of the Companies that had quite a reputation for being unruly was unsettling. Performance-wise, they were great, but how they went about their job was quite a headache to those who had worked for them.
"You worry too much, mate. Could see it in your face. Relax, it's your first day here in this fine city, no?"
Gaston didn't say anything for a while and then turned towards Jakob. He was right that he was worrying too much on the first day.
"It must have been an awful smelling monster, eh"
"Huh?"
Gaston said to Jakob, leaving Jakob somewhat confused at that abrupt line, then he looked at the two-handed greatsword on Ms. Valeria's back, and Jakob's nose shrunk as well.
"Looks like she didn't clean up, eh," Gaston said wearily.
There was a feeling in Gaston's gut that this was going to be a long and troublesome cooperation between them. He has never been good when it comes to Breakers and those who make a living hunting monsters.