NEKOMATA VII

Difficulty: -

Status: board meeting

"The members of the previous Giant Earthlings team have not all been found, those who are have already been dead since the last report was sent back to the team." Styx informed Timothy. In the room were several members that were stationed at the Japanese base. People like Styx, who holds a higher ranking in terms of authority than Timothy, do not participate in fights, but are responsible for supplying the team with fundings and stock so that the team has enough materials to be useful in battles.

"The current casualty is four deceased, including the team leader, and six MIAs. The searching team is currently deployed to the area where the fighting took place, but there have been no further reports on finding the missing team members or any traces of them for the past six hours." Styx raised his head up from the report and took a short look at Timothy's expression before continuing, "Forensic reports show that they have all died by unnatural causes, evidently the Nekomata's magic. Dissection of the Nekomata's abdomen shows nothing but digested remains which are not useful in being used to identify victims." He stopped the report at that, which was the queue for Timothy to start speaking.

"Why did you kill the target?" One of the directors spoke up before Timothy could do his part. He stood up and started speaking.

"Status report by officer Alpha from the combat with the Nekomata. Branch Alpha came in contact with the deceased former team leader of the Giant Earthlings branch and was led to the Nekomata's lair through the power of necromancy. The Alpha branch was not provided with the intel that the Bakeneko has already evolved into a Nekomata, and was underprepared to deal with the army of undead that suddenly engaged in combat. By the time the skeletons were eliminated, our team members were already too worn out to protect themselves from magic, which was also more powerful than what was anticipated." He admitted before continuing with his report, "Casualty includes; officer Eta with a broken left radius, and officer Beta who was hit with the Nekomata's spell and deemed unable to continue fighting." He locked eyes with the director who asked the question.

"I made the decision to eliminate the target. I believe that if the fight had gone on, only a few of our members would make it out alive and chose to prioritize the safety of our officers. As clause 12 of the Enigma laws states; when dealing with a situation where the target cannot be captured alive, no matter how definitive the orders from the main base is, prioritize saving the lives of team members and capture the target dead, or retreat." He cited before sitting back down.

"Because of you, we lost the opportunity to investigate and learn further about the Nekomata. Bakenekos are already hard to come by, and ones that have evolved are even more rare. How do you suppose you are going to make up for the intel we lost because of your decision?" A bald-headed sergeant asked as he glared at Timothy.

"As I have already informed, I believe that the lives of my team members are more valuable than intel that can be gained in the future when a more prepared branch is deployed to deal with another Nekomata. I strongly hope that the board would agree with this decision." All the members of the board looked at Styx, who holds the most power when it comes to sanctioning the officers. They all seemed to be pressuring him to punish Timothy for his decision.

"I approve of team leader Alpha's decision. The lives of the members of branch Alpha are highly valuable. Officer Beta is known for being careful, so him being the one hit and out of duty during the battle had a great effect on the team's morale. I have trained these officers myself and believe that I know more about them than what the board currently does." They all sat silently. If Styx already made a decision, it was well known that no one could change his mind. "Any further questions?"

"Who dealt the final blow?" Another sergeant spoke up, this made Styx chuckle.

"If you had been paying attention to the footage shown in this meeting room before officer Alpha showed up, you would have seen that the final blow was dealt by officer Alpha himself, with the help of officer Gamma's shot." The sergeant glared at him.

"Any other questions?" They all sat silently for thirty seconds, so Styx dismissed the meeting. As the members of the board left one by one, Timothy made his way over to Styx and informed him that he wanted to talk in private.

When the room was empty, Styx took off his mask.

Behind the metal mask was a man with strikingly beautiful facial features. He had eyes slanted up like a cat's complemented by long eyelashes and a pointy nose. His hair was a beautiful blond color.

"You're not gonna punish me, huh?"

"How dare you speak to your higher ups like that? Officer Alpha, should I punish you for having no manners instead?" Styx said jokingly, stroking a finger along Timothy's jawline.

"You know I love it when you do that." Styx laughed and hopped onto the table. He sat cross legged as he stared at Timothy leaning forward to capture him between his arms.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?" He changed into his serious mode. Usually Timothy would just leave and call him later if he wanted to meet up, so this was something serious.

"Let's go somewhere more private." They left for Styx's room, which was on the topmost floor of the building. Timothy kept stealing glances at the pretty manager, touching and twirling his fingers in Styx's hair, and Styx kept letting him.

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"You know the camera team leaders have to carry around? The Giant Earthlings' team leader's was missing its locator, but the footage didn't show anything past being pushed under the bush. Also someone purposefully stopped the recordings." He informed immediately when the door closed behind his back. Styx thought for a while, but didn't say anything. "Do you think there's something going on with the higher ups? Are they trying to get rid of us? That board was also being extra pushy about punishing me."

"I don't think they're trying to get rid of the Alpha branch, you guys are too important. Also they spent a lot of money on your team, so speaking from an economic view, you guys are too expensive to let go of." Styx analyzed as he took off his shoes and jumped onto the sofa. Timothy followed in and sat beside him.

"So who could be behind this? There's nothing from the higher ups right?"

"No one's said anything about you guys. The board is just naturally like that. They want to get as much information as possible so that they could advertise themselves to the higher ranked officers in the Enigma team that they have made the most progress. They're just old brats like that." Styx confirmed

"Can you let me know if you find something out?" He edged in closer, pushing Styx onto the sofa, bestriding him, burying his nose into the blond hair that he so adored and spoke, "you know I trust you the most, Quinn."

"Of course, Timothy."