2 Beginnings......

Alpha slept peacefully as the plane steadily flew through the clouds, his thoughts turned to dreams.

Dreams of his past.....

Dreams of how it all began.....

The organization never had a name; the underworld simply referred to it as "The Organization". It was the most specialized assassin organization know to man. Or, at least to those who lived to tell the tale and those men didn't exist. It was a living legend. It was a ruthless legend. A perfect legend. Comprised of the best assassins in the world, it had never failed a mission. Nor had there ever been a trace of their involvement.

The killings were always written off as something else: a gas explosion, a hunting accident, deranged co-worker. These were the stories know to the world. But those underground knew better: no such cases were as simple as they appeared. But evidence always pointed it out as such, alibis checked out, cameras always caught the 'perpetrator' in the act. Even if the case was difficult in the investigation, "justice" was always meted out, and the world continued its merry revolution. All of this, though amazing, was only the tip of the ancient iceberg known as "The Organization"

The Organization had been around for more than a century and had prided itself on its perfect secrecy and success. Before the First World War had begun, when the stirrings of the war had just reached the darkness of the world, the very best assassins had already devised an entire plot: they would use this war to hone their skills to the utmost and gain a hefty income to expand their influence and "services".

As the war progressed, their numbers increased, their employers went up, but surprisingly, they vanished from the public after the war, seemingly never to reappear. In reality, they had simply gone into hiding to consolidate their forces and funds and plan further motion. Slowly, but surely they planted themselves all over the world, having agents and bases worldwide. Then they conducted a bloody purge to rid themselves of all spies and fully sever connections to the visible world.

The Hierarchy was then established.

A list never spoken casually except by Commanders, never written on paper or stored in a database; it was engraved on the hearts of all members. The list contained all the names of members of The Organization, in order of their ranks. Ranks were achieved by merit earned from mission completion, rate and method of completion. The overall skill of the assassin was used to as well in the initial determination of rank.

Ranks were never static, however, as there were three ways to ascend in ranks. The first was simple, but never produced enough merits: complete a mission that the higher ranked person failed in. This was used in most cases to ascend ranks but yielded the least amount of merits and benefits as your skill wasn't necessarily accepted.

The second method was to gain tutelage under a higher-ranked person who sought to retire. You would undergo rigorous training and would finally assume the rank of the retiree once the skill of said rank-jumper has been verified. This method earned you the same merits and benefits enjoyed by your predecessor; no more, no less. This way, however, was difficult to pursue as many retirees weren't interested in tutoring anyone or simply had no one who met such requirements.

The final method of ascension was the best: defeat or kill the one ranked higher than you, whether as an open battle or an assassination. This method proved that your skillset is better than the previous ranker and brought immense benefits; the higher echelon valued such people the most and assisted them the most when they had missions to complete, in establishing themselves and enhancing their skills. This brutal method ensured that only the strong remained and that all the weak links were rooted out; each generation is more powerful than the last. Joining The Organization was never done; you were chosen. And only the outstanding was chosen.

The ranking was further divided into levels for further suppression through The Hierarchy. The Organization had roughly 5000 killers, a terrifying force considering that all those who were involved were among the best in the world. Level 1 has five Commanders in charge of 1000 people each. Level 2 has five Generals under each Commander, each in charge of 200 people. Level 3 has five Colonels under each General and are each in charge of 40 people each. Level 4 has five Captains under each Colonel and are each in charge of 8 people. The heads of each group were well equipped and skilled to contain all those under their command, even with force if needed. But this never excluded them from being ousted from their position of power if deemed unsuited or if surmounted by those below them.

Above the Commanders, however, were those known collectively as The Pantheon. They were the absolute strongest assassins in active duty and answered only to The Echelon for missions or duties. They were only dispatched for the highest levels of mission priority. Though they were so high in position, highly skilled and valued, this did not exclude them from being overthrown from their high horse: the rules of ascension still applied to them, no matter how seemingly impossible it seemed.

Not many challenged The Pantheon and lived. Other assassins were not permitted to kill those of a lower rank than them without express permission but those in The Pantheon had such power. So those who may privately work to usurp the kings often mysteriously went missing. Only one position was excluded from the rules of ascension: The position of Alpha, leader of The Pantheon.

'Alpha' was a very special title; it could be only held by the very best of the best and was inherited, rather than ascended. The Alpha answered only to the overall head of The Organization and was their identity was known only to the head as well. Alpha was only deployed for the toughest of missions, missions that had zero tolerance for mistakes or failure, missions that required perfection.

Candidates for 'Alpha' were selected at the age of six years after displaying the required level of skill and intelligence. Only ten were selected in each batch. These ten were then drilled in all mannerisms of training: battle strategy, proper etiquette, martial arts, astronomy, amongst many others. They were then imparted with all kinds of knowledge required to fully blend into and thrive in any situation. They were trained in all kinds of weaponry and equipment in the harshest conditions. They were bred as the ultimate killing machines for 10 years.

Then they were dispatched for their first missions to have their first taste of blood and a real battle. This served to familiarize the candidates with killing and to judge their judgemental skills and psyche levels. A lot of the candidates wouldn't be able to go through with it. Others embraced it ravenously. Some did it out of fear. The candidates were then continuously exposed to killing and hardship to extinguish all emotions and bloodlust. At the end of their ten years of training, the candidates were then pitted against one another in a life-or-death battle royale. This was without a doubt the hardest trial for all successors: killing those you grew up with for 10 years, your childhood pals. But orders were orders and they were to be carried out without fail, as their programming dictated. At the end of the bloody battle, only one successor remained: the next Alpha.

All those involved in the training of the candidates were then killed; utmost secrecy had to be upheld. This survivor was then taken through heavy medical attention and then assigned to the present Alpha for training. The current Alpha would then impart all of his skills and abilities to the successor to build a stronger version of themself. This ensured that the successor will be able to improve on the old skills to be a more powerful Alpha. The apprenticeship was considered over and the succession completed when the new Alpha was able to openly defeat or kill the previous position holder. It was gruesome but ensured that each generation was stronger; after all, power is respected and the strong are revered. The successor would then take up the mantle of 'Alpha' and commence their duties. And the process would start all over again...

The plane shook Alpha awake; he was mildly surprised: he rarely dreamed. Looking out of the plane window on his left, he observed the clouds in their freedom and ephemerality. It had been five long years since he had ascended to the throne. Five years drenched in the blood of numerous victims. Not that he cared anyway. Follow all orders. Complete all missions. Obey The King. Those were his instructions. All else were immaterial. Alpha let out a warm breath and leaned back into his seat, closing his eyes. The plane was proceeding to the briefing for his next mission. More killing and carnage. Same old, same old.