Chapter 7

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Leon was staying in his flat, in the middle district. While he was travelling to the Capital, he was taking orders to eliminate monsters. Thanks to this, Leon had accumulated money and was able to buy a flat, and the rank of captain made it easier to find and buy it.

Sitting on the armchair, the young man read the personal files issued by Colonel Anna of the operatives of the special military unit number 302, abbreviated as SVP-302. Or, as Anna called it, "Omega".

There were thirty-one operatives in SVP-302, including Leon and Anna as commanders. Of the twenty-nine soldiers, the guy's attention was fixed on three officers:

Senior Lieutenant Hector Drausing.

Age 26.

Assigned to SVP-302 as a quick reaction fighter.

Fighter type: Swordsman.

Prior to joining SVP-302, he was a frontiersman near the south, where he suppressed savage raids. Also participated in the war against rebellious tribes.

Lieutenant Mia Osmond.

Age 19.

Assigned to SVP-302 as a quick reaction fighter.

Combat type: Rifleman.

Prior to joining SVP-302, she worked as a convoy guard and guarded caravans transporting collected taxes or prisoners. Due to a rebel attack on a caravan, she suffered severe burns all over her body.

Lieutenant ██████████████████ (Ghost).

Age - "

Assigned to SVP-302 as ████████████████████████████.

Fighter Type - ██████████████

Before joining SVP-302 ██████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

Leon was particularly interested in the last Lieutenant operative. Nothing is known about him: no first name, no last name, no age, no information about who he was before joining SVP-302. Only his nickname, Ghost, was known. It also bothered him a little that most of the operatives before joining the special squad were mainly engaged in security, but he was going to have a word with Anna about that.

Tucking the fighters' personnel files into a folder, Leon glanced at his watch and checked the time. Standing up from his chair and putting on his cap, he walked towards the exit of the house.

"Gotta have a word with Anna about this 'Ghost' thing..." - thought the young man as he locked the door of his flat.

Leon left the house and headed towards the building of the main office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Empire. There was no need to hurry, as Anna asked to arrive at her by four o'clock in the afternoon, and now it was only eleven in the morning. The guy had five free hours to spare, so he decided to take a little walk.

Leon had heard stories about how deeply rotten the capital was, but seeing how calm and peaceful the life of the citizens was, he began to realise that people were exaggerating. There were thoughtful citizens walking among the shops with various goods, choosing what to buy for themselves, some passers-by, like Leon, were just walking, most often with a couple, and children were playing salski or eating local sweets under the supervision of their parents, who looked at them with a smile on their faces.

Leon sat down on a bench and thought about it. When was the last time he had taken such a free stroll? Digging into his memory, he remembered walking through the streets of Berlin... The boy remembered that day well - he was given one Gestapo agent as a guide, but in fact every fifth passer-by was a disguised Gestapo man. He was taken around the city and shown the sights of Berlin: the Brandenburg Gate, Museums Island, the Cathedral and just beautiful streets. It was a moment when Leon was not required to perform tests or experiments, but was simply allowed to walk around the capital of his homeland.

Coming out of his memories, Leon saw a girl of about eight years old with blue eyes running from side to side between the benches and constantly looking around.

"Lost, I guess." - The young man didn't hesitate to help her; this town was far from the safest after all, especially for small children.

Leon walked over to the girl and sat down on one knee, making sure to be on the same level as her.

- Hi... Are you lost?

The girl remained silent out of fear and looked at Leon's missing eye, awkwardly trying to hide her gaze.

- Don't be afraid, I'm a soldier. - He said, adjusting his cap as confirmation. - I'll help you find your parents, okay?

- Yes... Thank you.

- Good. Now tell me what your parents look like and where you saw them last....

Leon and the girl wandered around for about an hour, and she was on the verge of crying a few times, but the guy calmed her down at those moments. Luckily for Leon, the search was successful.

- Mum!

The girl, seeing her mother, immediately ran to her. The woman, not hiding joy, took her daughter in her arms, afraid that she would be lost again.

- Where have you been? I couldn't find a place. - asked the mother, wiping away her tears.

- I got lost... But that man helped me. - said the girl, pointing to Leon.

- Thank you very much. When my husband found out she was lost, he was going to leave work, but I talked him out of it, said I'd find her myself.

- Glad I could help. - said Leon and turned round to leave.

- Wait, please! - shouted the woman, boldly grabbing the young man by the arm. - My husband would never forgive himself if he couldn't thank you. Could you stay at our house until he returns?

Leon thought for a moment. He still had time to spare and there was no hurry, so he could wait.

***

The house Leon was led to looked simple, but the materials it was made of were of good quality. The furniture inside was also of good quality and expensive.

- You have a seat on the sofa, your husband will be here soon. - the woman suggested.

- Thank you for your hospitality. - Leon said, sitting down on the soft sofa.

- You're welcome. Would you like some tea?

- I wouldn't mind.

The woman went to the kitchen, and Leon remained alone in the living room. Suddenly he felt a curious look on his face and, turning his head, saw a girl peering out of the other room. Leon nodded slowly to her and she hid around the corner.

"Shy." - The boy thought.

- 'Excuse her, please. She, like her father, is a little afraid of strangers. - said the woman, handing Leon some warm tea.

- That's all right. - he said, accepting the cup.

- And you are also a military man?

- Yes, I'm a soldier. And your husband is also in the army?

- Yeah, he works hard, all for his family.

- He must be a very kind man.

- I'm glad you think so highly of him.

- What exactly does your husband do for a living?

- Well... he... - the woman hesitated.

The conversation was interrupted by the creak of the door, and the girl, who was hiding in the next room, ran towards the exit.

- Daddy's back!!! - she shouted excitedly.

- Darling, we are in the living room, we have a guest. - the woman shouted after her.

A tall, muscular man wearing a mask and a scar on his chest that looked like it was from a monster's claws walked into the living room. In his arms he held his daughter, who was hugging her father tightly. Leon held his gaze on the man's unusual mask - it looked like some sort of prototype gas mask. The man also held his gaze on the young man, on his missing scarred eye and especially on the officer's uniform.

- I apologise for my inappropriate appearance. And thank you so much for finding my daughter. I was worried sick when I heard she was lost. - the man thanked Leon.

- Don't mention it, I was just doing my duty as a soldier.

- Thank you very much anyway. - he said, setting the girl down on the floor. - Play in your room for now.

- Will you play with me, Daddy?

- I will! I'll just talk to the guest.

- Come on, you can help Mum cook dinner. - Mum turned to her daughter.

- Aha!

The girl and her mother went to the kitchen, and only Leon and the husband remained in the living room.

- Thank you so much again for finding my daughter. - said the man, bowing this time.

- I told you, no need to thank me. I did what duty requires.

- I'm still grateful. You have no idea how important family is to me.

Despite the mask, which most would call creepy, the man was clearly a model family man: works hard to provide his family with everything they need, a kind and polite man. But the guy was more interested in the man's job.

- Why don't we introduce ourselves? My name is Leon, and let's go with "you."

- Okay, and my name is Balls. Nice to meet you, Leon.

- Nice to meet you. - the young man shook Balls' hand. - I was wondering, by the way, what are you in the service?

- I'm... a member of the Burning Brigade. - replied Balls, hesitating. - My job is... to incinerate those ordered to be eliminated by command.

- I see... You don't have to go any further. - Leon realised that Balls didn't really want to talk about his job, so it was enough for the guy to just know what he served.

- And what do you do, Leon? - Balls asked.

- I'm a deputy squad leader. I have to fulfil almost the same tasks as ordinary guards. - In fact, the goals of the special unit are much more extensive, but Leon decided not to spread the information and said only a small part of it.

- Why don't you stay with us for dinner? You can tell us about your work. - Balls suggested.

- I'd love to, but I have to go now... Duty.

- I know. But I think I'll see you around.

- I think so too. - said Leon, getting up from the sofa. - Goodbye... And next time keep a closer eye on your daughter.

- I will!

***

Anna sat in her office and filled out paperwork. She would soon take command of a special unit and begin the long awaited hunt. Finished with signing all sorts of paperwork, the girl stretched and looked at her watch.

"Leon should be here soon." - Anna thought.

That she had met this particular guy was an incredible stroke of luck. He was strong, had military experience and, most importantly, was loyal, so Anna couldn't worry about her deputy.

There was a knock at the door. The girl, putting her papers aside, shifted her gaze to the door.

- Come in.

Hearing the permission, Leon entered the office and, standing in front of Anna, saluted her.

- Greetings, Colonel.

- Hello, Captain Leon. - said Anna, glancing at her watch. - You're just in time. We should get going.

The girl got up from the table and went to the exit, Leon followed her.

- The squad has been set up in the barracks. I've already instructed Hector to get everyone lined up on the parade ground.

- By the way, I have studied the list of operatives, and I have a couple of questions related to them. - Leon decided to ask in advance.

- Ask.

- Judging by the available data, most of the operatives before joining the Omega Group were mainly engaged in security.

- It's not surprising: most of the fighters offered to me were from simple guards. So I selected the most promising ones based on their personalities.

- I see... Then I have one more question....

- Are you interested in the Phantom? - Anna said, already guessing what Leon was going to ask.

- Yes... What bothers me is that in his file there is only a nickname and nothing more. Everything else, as I understand, is kept secret, but I'd still like to know who I'll have to work with.

- This man was assigned to the unit by my father. To strengthen the group. It's no use asking me who he is. I don't mind finding out who he is myself. The only thing I learnt from my father is that he's an excellent scout and can find anything and anyone. Any other questions?

- Why Omega?

- It sounds beautiful. - The girl replied briefly.

- Roger that. - That was the end of Leon's questions.

***

Leon and Anna walked towards the military barracks, where the guards of the Capital were located. On the way the colonel told the young man a little about the other officers in the squad.

She knew Senior Lieutenant Hector from the war with the Southerners. He was from a simple village family and had joined the Imperial Army for patriotic reasons. Anna described him as a brave and promising commander, which was true.

Lieutenant Mia, from Anna's words, is an excellent marksman. Her shinga was an attempt to replicate Pampkin's (aka Pumpkin) teiga, and in fact turned out to be a very accurate sniper rifle. When asked why such a sniper served as a convoyer, Anna replied, "That's where she was assigned."

Almost nothing is known about Ghost, as the girl said, but since he was assigned to the squad by her father, she can safely trust him. The only known fact about him was that he was a professional scout.

Already on the approach to the barracks Anna and Leon were met by a man of about 25 years old in an officer's uniform.

- Madam Colonel, report. As you ordered, I've organised the squad on the parade ground.

- Well done, Hector. Allow me to introduce my second-in-command. - said Anna, pointing to Leon.

- Captain Leon Koenich, pleased to meet you. - introduced himself.

- Senior Lieutenant Hector Drausing, also a pleasure to meet you. - Hector introduced himself, shaking his hand firmly.

Leon looked at Hector: the man was tall, muscular, his hair slicked back and his eyes were the same silver colour as his hair. He was dressed in a similar black officer's uniform to Anna's, and it looked neat. A man like that inspires confidence.

- I'm glad you two have met. Now let's go to the others.

***

There were six men on the platform that towered above the line of soldiers. Colonel Anna was in the centre, Captain Leon was on her right, and Senior Lieutenant Hector was on her left. To Leon's right stood Lieutenant Mia: because of the burns, most of her body was bandaged, and she wore a black mask with a lightning bolt on her face. To Hector's left stood a man shrouded in a cloak, his face covered by a white mask and hooded, there was no doubt - this was the Phantom.

Anna stepped forward and, taking a deep breath, prepared to make a speech to her subordinates.

- Gentlemen! I want to congratulate you on the day when you became more than mere soldiers. From now and forever, you are the Elite of the Imperial Army, you are the Omega Squad. Wherever you go, from now until the moment you pass away, you will be bonded as fellow soldiers. Your fellow soldiers are now both your brothers and your comrades in arms. I won't lie to you - some of you may not live to see the payday. But remember this: Every imperial soldier dies. We exist to die. But the Thousand-Year Empire is eternal. And that means you are just as eternal!

After these words, the crowd of gathered fighters exploded with triumphant shouts. Anna looked at her subordinates with a predatory smile on her lips.

"From this day forward... I will cleanse the Empire of filth!"