Two small buildings made from some form of strong metal served as makes.h.i.+ft barracks for the soldiers. According to grandpa, security was lax that night.

It was a golden opportunity for us.

Supply vehicles were checked by the soldiers. Two soldier sentries scanned the area, but Hope and I were at a safe distance. A turret on top of the makes.h.i.+ft barrack swerved at one angle.

Grandpa gave the green light using Hope's phone and we began the mission.

We jumped from the roof of a building we were at, about two hundred meters away from the checkpoint.

An edged red gauntlet on my arm extended itself. With it, I pulled ourselves towards the roof on the next building by shortening the length of the gauntlet. Hope was clinging at my arm as we landed.

"Sorry, Ava. I must be too heavy," said Hope.

The misshapen gauntlet swiveled back inside me in liquid form. "The gauntlet supported us perfectly. It pulled our weights with it, so I didn't feel anything."

"How that red thing get so heavy, though? You said it was light. But Inghild can't even lift it," said Hope.

"I don't know. Even I have no idea how the Aegis works as a whole."

That was true. The weapon followed my instructions well, however, some features of it were uncharted. My regeneration ability was one of it.

"I'll take care of the turrets," proposed Hope.

"But you'll die. It can shoot you," I said.

"Yeah, probably." Hope s.h.i.+vered when a cold wind blew at us.

I directed two narrow spikes, each targeting the turrets on the buildings. It elongated and pierced through the turrets like bread.

"The turrets!" shouted someone from below.

"I'll use the stairs." Hope went to the inside of our current building and marched downstairs.

I leaped forward, forming a huge red, deformed crystal ball that encased my whole body. It fell onto the streets and cracked the road.

The red cord at my back connecting me to the ball, acting as an anchor. It kept me safely attached to it.

"I'll just wait until Beatrice arrives," I mumbled.

The crystal was too dark for me to see anything, so I waited there patiently. The soldiers shot at the ball with their rifles and the bullets were deflected effortlessly. 'I'm a good decoy,' I thought.

The situation remained the same for about five minutes. I counted the time pa.s.sed in my head.

"Argh!" shrieked the soldiers.

Someone had attacked them.

The red ball dissolved and returned into my body as I quickly try to grasp my surrounding.

The soldiers were unconscious but no one there other than them.

"Beatrice?" I called.

Suddenly, the s.p.a.ce around me distorted and two figures appeared from nothingness.

They were Jeremy and Beatrice, wearing the pale grey invisible suits. It was a recently developed technology used by the military and ma.s.s-produced specifically for the Corporate United. The suits were called Teria and they allowed their wearers to become invisible for a limited amount of time.

It was part of the plan.

"These suits sure come in handy. I'm glad we stole them the other day," Beatrice spoke to Jeremy.

He ignored her completely and launched an attack inside the barracks, alone.

"So stoic," mumbled Beatrice.

"Er, you did it, Ava." Hope appeared from behind me as he breathed heavily.

"You sure took your time, Hopeless." Beatrice wasted no time insulting Hope.

"Are we done here?" I said impatiently.

"Yeah, we're done, Ava," announced Hope. "That wasn't too bad when you think about it, right?"

Beatrice hit him with her rifle and he winced. "Don't you dare trigger that flag, Hopeless! I'm sure your character is the one to die first if it happens after this.

It looked to me like Hope was in great pain. That was to be expected, I suppose.

"Where's Mr. Inghild?" I asked Beatrice.

"He's in the left barrack you see there. Boss ordered him to as an a.s.surance. He's wearing the invisible suit Teria by the way."

Right after she said that I heard screams and wails from inside the barrack. It was certainly the soldiers' voice, probably from Inghild's doing.

I noticed Beatrice was wearing her plain blue cap as always.

"You always bring your cap with you," I remarked.

Beatrice turned to me. "Oh, this? I got it from someone."

"Hey, that's-"

Beatrice hit Hope again before he could finish his sentence.

"You're being too hard on him," I said to her.

"He's Hopeless. I have to shape him up. A man wouldn't let an ordinary girl hit him."

In my opinion, Beatrice was not an ordinary girl on that matter.

After a few minutes, Jeremy and Inghild each appeared later from the barracks with their rifles.

"You sneaked in, when?" I asked Inghild.

"When you dropped onto the road with a bang, I immediately put on the suit and rushed inside. Saves time, yeah?" His white teeth shone under the streetlights.

Hope and I nodded at his statement.

However, a flash of light caught my attention and a huge man came into sight behind Hope. He raised his fist over his head, clearly trying to hit him.

"Watch out!"

I pushed Hope out of the way and got pummeled into the ground so hard that the graphite exploded.

"Vasquez!" I heard Inghild shouted the name. "How is one of the elite soldiers here?"

"Nice to meet you guys. A question. Do you want some of my hammers?" said the huge man.

Traces of chatter filled the air but my ears did not recognize the words.

I saw dark endless void of nothingness as my body failed to feel anything.

Grandpa once said that when someone was in a great deal of pain, your body was numb against it. The ground beneath me felt cold, and that was the only sensation that I could barely noticed.

I heard Hope's voice somewhat calling my name. The ringing in my ears grew louder so I had to ignore everything around me.