My name is Nikelio Sylvestris. I’m twenty two years old and I’m the former leader of team EBNY. Not long ago, “I was just another huntress."
What do we do? Basically we’re warriors dedicated to slay the creatures of Grimm and whose duty is to “uphold the peace” of our world, Remnant.
I bet you’re wondering what I meant by, I was just another huntress. It was true I was another hero for hire, but then I became something similar to soldier in just a few weeks.
I’ll get to that soon enough. But for now I will tell you what started it all.
4 years ago my team and I were given mission in the industrial district. Well it was more of a bounty/police assignment. We had to help the cops find an escaped super criminal named Jin Shu. By super criminal I mean someone who can use their aura, a manifestation of one’s soul to a high degree. For the last 3 weeks we have been looking for this stereotypical mad bomber. So far he’s blown up a bank without stealing the money, a police station, and a café. Even with his trail of destruction it was difficult to track him down.
However, he made it easier for us to find him after he threatened to blow up a dust tanker while 20 sailors were being held hostage aboard. His demands were simple. He wanted a fully-functional Bullhead with a full tank, and a female pilot in one hour. Why didn’t he stay hidden or why didn’t he just blow the damn thing up? I have no idea.
Getting near him would have been impossible if the tanker wasn't underneath a bridge. However that still left at least 18 hostiles armed with automatic weapons. The plan was fairly simple. Two of us would rappel down to the ship by hiding in its blind spot behind the bridge. With the storm lowering visibility infiltrating wasn't a real problem.
My partner, Ebony Kyuma rappelled down to the ship first and I rappelled right behind her. Ebony was basically a lighthearted and impetuous fox. When she’s in a fight she throws out a joke or two to lighten the mood. I’m not sure if it was for her sake though. But one thing could be said, she’s the second strongest on our team.
“Ebony do you read me?” I said through my earpiece.
“Testing testing 1, 2, 3. I read ya loud and clear.” She said in a cheery tone.
“Stop fooling around Ebony. Lives are at stake. I need you focused.”
After testing the communications with Ebony I switched my frequency over to the officer in charge of this op.
“Lieutenant we’ve infiltrated the S.S Juniper. No one has spotted us yet.”
“Roger that. You’ve already been briefed on what to do. Stay out of sight and prevent Jin Shu from detonating the bombs.” He said in his high pitched voice.
“What about the hostages?” I asked as if he forgot about them.
“Capturing Jin Shu is of the utmost importance. Capture him and the hostages will be safe for extraction.” He said in a condescending tone.
His high pitched voice made it harder for me to take him seriously, let alone follow his orders. I couldn’t believe that he spoke to me as if I was a 4 year old.
"This is why I can’t stand authority figures like the police."
“Can you get to the target?” He asked.
“We’ll have to take care of a couple of enemy sentries before we can get to the door on the front side of the bridge.”
“Remember this is a stealth mission. He said with a slight increase of intensity in his voice.
“Not only are the hostages in danger, but the entire harbor itself. Do not screw this up. This is Lieutenant Opal, signing off.”
“Can we please get on with the mission?” Ebony said over the earpiece. “I really want to get out of this downpour.”
“I agree. Stick to the walls and stay underneath the windows. I don’t like the idea of swimming in chemicals thanks to him.”
There were two sentries providing over watch on the deck. Their uniforms were too hard to make out because of the rain. But I could tell they were heavily armed and attacking them head on would’ve given us away. These two were armed with silenced, laser sighted sniper rifles.
“Ebony on my signal, we knock them out.” I said over on communications.
“So we get to take out people lacking in brain cells? This is seems unfair. But i'll get over it” She said mockingly.
To be honest I was never confident in my ability to subdue others. I have been infiltrating buildings for years, even during my days as a thief. Whenever it came to close combat I always came up short in that department. By the time I knocked my target out, Ebony already had her target sleeping like a baby. Looking back, my skills at hand to hand combat were still lacking to this day.
After we took care of them we snuck in through the watertight doors. I’ve never been inside a ship until that day. I didn’t think it was going to be that cramped. The hallway was darker than the night; there were pipes and valves all over the walls and the ceiling. I couldn't help but think that they were going to burst or fall on top of me. That was a bad place for someone like me, a claustrophobic.
“Hey Nicky,” Ebony whispered. “You ok?”
“Yeah I’m alright.” I said to her while trying to sound calm.
“Your breathing is telling me otherwise.” She mentioned.
Other than the ship’s metallic creaking, the water dripping from our clothes made just as much noise. It was as if we were running faucets with legs. Ebony looked the least comfortable in her wet clothes.
After sneaking through three floors filled with sentries and cameras we finally made it to the control room. Luckily the door was already open.
“Oh my god this guy really is stupid.” I thought. “Who just leaves a door open in a situation like this?”
Before we went in to apprehend Jin, we overheard heard him speaking to someone. And it sounded less than pleasant.
“Everything I did this past week was for the Yomi!” Jin exclaimed. “Wait what do you mean, I am to be terminated at once”?
“What do you think it means?” I mumbled.
After saying that, I heard a nerve wracking scream and glass breaking in the control room. I could still remember what he said.
“Aaaaaggh! MY ARM! MY ARM! MY AAAAAARM! He screamed.
Thank goodness that the other sentries were too far out to notice the screaming or they were already taken care of. We rushed in only to find a wounded mad bomber. There was blood all over his white tunic; his black pants were covered in glass.
I was about to gag him with my cape. But then he passed out from the pain. I called in Lt. Opal on my ear piece to begin the assault.
“This is Nikelio. We’ve got the target but he’s severely injured. We need a med-eva-“
A man of tall stature came into the control room and screamed, “Freeze!”
We put our hands up hoping to avoid getting shot. The guy was wearing a black mask with a white skull on the front. I could hear him breathing heavily and his and his gun was shaking. The guy had to have been a rookie if he was doing all that. Not only that, I noticed that the safety was still on. I saw him pull the trigger by accident twice and not a single round went off. But, I didn’t want to set him off.
He looked over to Jin Shu and asked with fear in his voice. “Oh my God! Did… Did you do this to him?!”
I almost palmed my face after he said that. “Do we look like we have anything that could cause a wound like that?”
“I don’t believe you!” He screamed.
“For the love of--.” Ebony said.
Ebony just up and rushed the guy. She hit him in the face with his gun and hit him in the back of his head.
“If I had to listen to this little punk whimper any longer I would’ve knocked myself out.”
Suddenly out of nowhere two other guys went flying into the control room.
“Well you two took your time.” I said while lowering my tired arms.
My other two teammates entered the control room. Yonca Yildrim, the strongest of team EBNY and the most violent. The other students at Beacon called her, the Emerald Demon. Why? It’s because she fights like a demon. She never took a fight lightly no matter how weak her opponents seemed. Also she was the reason why I hardly ever slept for the past four years. Her snores were so loud that it could wake the dead.
Now, Bianca Alone, is basically Yonca’s angel to her demon. If someone ever upsets Bianca, Yonca would be all over them. Once someone called Bianca a harlot and Yonca broke their leg.
"Did you get the hostages out?" Ebony asked.
“Each and every single one of them got out safely.” He said.
“Uh guys. Jin is losing a lot of blood. I’m not sure if he’s going to make it.” Bianca mentioned.
As we approached him he began to laugh maniacally as if the pain drove him mad.
“I may die here today. But three years from now, Remnant will know death and oblivion by the hands of the Yomi. Too bad I won’t be able to see it, let alone be a part of it. ” He said as if he was dehydrated.
“But I’d hate to leave this wretched world without a parting gift.” He said.
He pulled out a detonator from his pocket and pressed the button. Then I heard a minute beeping sound.
“No he didn’t!” I said in fear. I ripped his tunic open and his body was covered in explosives.
“We got to get out of here!” “Go go go!”
We ran out of the control room and into the hall. By the time we got half way down the blasted hallway the bombs went off. Luckily it wasn’t strong enough to take out the ship, just the bridge itself.
In the end we stopped Jin Shu from killing the hostages and contaminating the harbor for years to come, but it was still a pyrrhic victory, we just didn’t know it. He mentioned this “Yomi” and making remnant know oblivion and death.
At the time I had no idea that he meant we would all be put to the test. And I mean all of Remnant.
(To be continued)