Chapter 14

I know I'm doing a lot of time skips but bear with it.

I don't know what to do during that time but the duration is needed for the story progress or else it wouldn't make much sense.

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„Team 2, secure the mission objective. Team 1 will be the diversion. Team 3, follow me."

The masked squad was currently infiltrating a research factory, where illegal experience on intelligent species was conducted. The team had 3 objectives, secure a recently caught civilian, capture the researchers and get all the data, which they could get their hands on. Team 3 was the squad to capture the 2 targets and team 1 would secure the data.

„Boss, Team 3 reporting, we are not the only ones here. Another group is currently attacking the lab."

The leader, who had just knocked out a scientist quickly thought about the situation.

„Don't let them see you, come back and be our backup if we run into another group here. I'll let you guard our backs."

„Alright Boss! We'll. Be on our way."

The leader turned to the other members, quickly ordering them to make it quick.

„Hurry up, we aren't the only ones here. Wrap it up fast and lets get out of…"

Before the leader could finish a kick landed on one subordinates back. The team quickly retrieved their comrade and calmly grouped up.

„Focus on defense for now, team 1 is coming to back us up and we'll escape with them."

The leader took out a sword and helped her subordinates defend. However they soon noticed, that their leader was quickly singled out by an enemy combatant. They could only watch, while they waited.

"Why is this person so good." Was what both of them were thinking right now, though the enemy leader was quite a bit better. But a winner couldn't be made out yet, as one was slowly cornered but held out quite some time.

"Retreat!," shouted their leader, as team 1 came back to support them. However the leader couldn't escape that quickly as only the two leaders were remaining while their subordinates were retreating.

"Why is that damn leader so resilient," complained the enemy leader silently while slashing at the others neck.

'clank', a dull sound echoed, as another layer blocked the sword. "Cilia?" They both halted.

"Who are you and how do you know that name?"

"I'm the one who gave you that collar on your neck almost a year ago, don't tell me you already ran away knowing what will happen if you go against me?"

The leader was flabbergasted, as the enemy called Cilia looked at her in confusion.

"I'm Nisha..., did you hit your head?"

Cilia still didn't react, as if she didn't know what Nisha was talking about.

"What one year ago? How do you know my name and who are you?"

Nisha was shocked, it had only been one year. How could she be forgotten so quickly. She was slightly pissed and made a move, which she would normally never even think about doing.

Cilia however was horrified as she noticed her magic being sealed abruptly. "W-Wh-What?!"

Nisha could only smile slightly as she jumped at Cilia, who couldn't keep up with her anymore now that her magic was sealed.

"Stop struggling." Cilia didn't know why but she couldn't lift a finger and could only watch as Nisha sat on top of her.

She didn't know why, but she felt like she had done this once before but she couldn't remember.

At that point however she once again felt her magic for a second, nullifying the order.

Nisha was vexed, she knew her seal was only temporary but she didn't expect it to break so soon.

Before she was able to reinforce it, Cilia was able to slip out of her grip and run away, following her team.

Nisha was thinking about what had happened to Cilia, she was still giving her reports about the dealings of the council regularly but she didn't seem to remember the cause.

She quite liked Cilia and had already decided to make her join her team, once she dealt with her revenge against the council. As such she had to first find the source of Cilias memory loss.

Cilia didn't know why this situation and that person felt so familiar, the only thing she knew was that she had to get out of there.

Although she was vexed about why such a thing happened, the mission was successful and she didn't have to worry about it anymore. However it was still a mystery on how that person knew her name.

She could report this occurrence but something inside of her told her no to. Cilia was a person, who would listen to her feelings most of the time.

--

Jamie had noticed something strange about Cilia in the last few days. She would sometimes blank out and only react if she would be spoken to.

He panicked at first but he quickly figured out, that there were no negative effects on his plan. He was relieved, as it would have been quite bad if his plan, which had been going for close to 2 years would malfunction.

However luckily Cilia, who had already gone to bed didn't notice anything strange.

--

After more than a year of continuously going on missions, Cilia was already used to spy, frame or kill targets. She was already used to seeing people die, be it enemies or allies.

As such her next mission, an assassination was not much of a problem.

'Hugo', slayer of an underground gang. He was the one you would send to get rid of somebody for you. He was Cilias target, though she was currently going by the name, Ice Queen. This was because of her preferred element being Ice, as well as her personality, which had grown colder and more detached over time.

She had matured a lot over the years, her detachment was mostly because of the many people in her team, whom died right in front of her. As such she would only let few people get close to her, because she knew that she would just be hurt otherwise.

However in the eyes of others in her organisation, Cilia was both feared and admired. Admired because of her outstanding abilities and her immense strategical worth. She was 1 of the top 5 strategist, which the council had under their command. Her current rank was the second.

However she was also feared, as she would treat everyone coldly expect a few selected ones.

Cilia didn't care though, but she still preferred solo missions, like this one, because she wouldn't have to deal with new teammates again.

Arriving at the next location, Cilia was not surprised to find Jamie waiting for her. This was a common sight these days, as Jamie was Cilias personal information gatherer even though that wasn't his job.

"Hugo, also called 'Gang Brute'. He is a member of a gang in Tahndur, a bigger city in the south of Andra. It is famous for it's gangs, which are controlling the city. He will be your target. You should also be careful not to be seen, as that would get us in trouble and you would be punished."

Cilia shuddered at the mention of punishment. Jamie would always think of new things, ranging from having to serve him for a week as his maid to strange request like, where she had to taste food, which he had thrown together. Even him trying to hypnotise her was something he would do. Though he would just take a coin on a string and wave it in front of her. A petty trick, which she just ignored.

But none of those things were as scary as the councils punishment, which would range from confinement to torture. She had even heard of instanced of people being raped as a punishment because they had caught the eye of some counselor.

She just hoped to never have to experience things like these again. She had her fair share of being tortured, be it for training or because she was captured, she had enough of that.

Luckily Jamie had always had good information for her to successfully finish each mission.

With his help, she had already gotten approximate time stances, when and where her target would be.

Cilia made sure to have the best chances of accomplishing this mission and took a few days before finally deciding on a location, where she would strike and made appropriate preparations.

Days went by as it was finally time to strike. She had done her best in researching her target and had become familiar with the surroundings.

She was just waiting for Hugo to arrive.

—-

"Hello there!"