Pathline (16 page)

The group started moving back to their positions
.

A
s they walked back Catha asked Felix, "Do we know which two abilities?" 

He nodded
.
"
L
ooks like Defender and R
unner, the two top classes, would be nice if he made it through don't you think?" 

Catha chuckled.
"
M
ight put us out of work if he did, he'd probably waltz in and steal the
Appreciation A
ward his first year on the job
.
" 

"Wouldn't put
me
out of a job" Felix replied, with a wink. 

Catha shook her head and pushed him aside playfully. 

Rune turned and looked at Rook, giving him a small smile.  "You
were saying?" 

He eyed her carefully, t
he concern in his eyes remained.
"We have a confirmed ID on the hostile
C
harger... how well do you think Eri is coming along on her end?" 

Rune shrugged.
"
S
he wants this done as much as anyone, this incident forced her to identify herself to the others here
."

Around mid-day Agent Donovan and her assistant came to the training rooms and pulled Serk and Malik out for a private meeting.  Everyone else was left to their own devises, which gave Rune and Rook a chance to speak more privately. 

"So, what do we know" Rune asked as soon as they were out of earshot of the others. 

"Krit and Wraith got confirmation on their suspicions about the
C
harger.  He's a mercenary known as Mana.  Bad news by the sound of it.  Wraith said this guy usually specializes in wet work and violent coups. 
He's powerful but according to Krit, who's crossed paths with him once before, he's not a big picture type of guy.  He may have been the hands at work in the power plant attack, but he wasn't the brains. 
Krit said he'll work for anyone offering the right price. 
If his primary concern is money, then there's no reason for him to target the power plant himself.  We have to accept that this was probably just another job for him, which means that we have a boss to track down. 
Wraith says that Mana's reputation is
well established
so
he only takes high paying jobs now,
which
means
we're looking for
someone with
wealth
and clout." 

Rune shook her head, thinking.
"
W
ho would hire a
n
anomalous
super
to attack a
military
power plant?  Most of the bad guys in the outsider world avoid government attention
, and would want to keep the anomalous supers hidden for their own advantage
." 

R
ook rubbed the back of his neck.
"
A
pparently this one
wants
government attention, and we
need
to figure out why
.
" 

Malik and Serk returned soon after, both with somber expressions. 
They each called their teams over to the main training room. 
Rook and Rune glanced at each other before following the others. 
Serk stood off to the side and let Malik take lead as the others settled in front of the two of them. 

Malik cleared his throat.
"
T
he military field team and API agents have finished their initial assessment of the power plant attack.  The tentative death toll as of now is five, with three still in critical condition.  API has narrowed down the
presumed
location of the hostile
C
harger, but we will need
eyes in the area to get confirmation before we go in hot.  Blythe and Rune will have to go in
ahead of us to gather information.  Since the assignment is of a sensitive nature they will be traveling unofficially and with limited agency resources. 
The rest of us will be preparing for the assault. 
You all have your preliminary assignments, and Serk and I will be going into them in further detail with you all personally.  You're all to check out your own weapons of choice fro
m the armory and sign off with L
egal before we depart, you know the drill. 
Blythe, Rune, you're expected in the briefing room for further instructions." 

Rune turned and headed out with Blythe,
making their way
to the bri
efing room. 

As they walked Blythe asked, "
H
ey, are you actually planning on leaving after this?" 

Rune nodded.
"
Y
es, my formal resignation has already been
filed.  When I spoke with the D
irector I recommended
that you take my place as lead W
anderer." 

He surveyed her for a moment.
"I appreciate it
.
"
He paused.
"
B
ut honestly you're the best they've ever
had;
I can't
imagine
the D
irector gave you up willingly.  We'll see how much longer
I
last here.  Don't get me wrong
,
I love the specialized
jobs
like this, where we get to work alone and do what we do best.  It's the so called 'team' work that
wears
on me, I'm sure you understand that.  I mean, how many times can
we risk our lives alongside people who don't trust us." 

Rune gave him a sympathetic smile as they reached the briefing room. 

He chuckled.
"
O
k.  That's my venting for
the
month
.
"
H
e held the door open for her. 

The briefing was lead by the
H
ead of
G
overnment, with aid by Agent Donovan.  API had tracked the hostile
C
harger to a seaside town in the south and provided aerial surveillance of the area for them to familiarize themselves with.  They were to scout the
region
and try to get a more specific location on the hostile, as well as a tracking of his movements if possible.   Nothing out of the ordinary for a
W
ander
er, they were the agencies spies after all.  They felt more at ease with this type of work, even though it often presented more danger than team work.  Blythe was right, it was hard to put your life in the hands of people who distrust
ed
you, and extended teamwork for a
W
anderer was rare.  He and Rune were to be issued sat-phones, concealable surveillance equipment, and a weapon.  The usual. 

After the briefing they headed to the armory to check out their weapons
and sign of
f the usual paperwork with the L
egal
D
epartment.  The paperwork mainly consisted of next of kin notifications and
beneficiary designations
as
well as
risk waivers.  Nothing out of the ordinary, but Rune found herself wondering if she should be updating her paperwork now that she and Malik were married. 
He had more money than she did, being a top level
D
efender and
A
ppreciation
A
ward winner, but as the agencies top
W
anderer she made good money and up until now her standing paperwork had most of
it
going to chosen charities. 
Sh
e was about to walk out of the L
egal
D
epartment with Blythe when an agent from the
R
ecords
D
epartment burst
through
the doors,
looking
harried. 
The woman
scanned the room then made a quick beeline for Rune. 

"Thank goodness I caught you" the woman said as she reached Rune. 

Blythe gave her a questioning look and Rune gave a slight shake of the head, pretending she didn't have any idea what this could be about. 
The woman glanced at Blythe for a moment, then returned her focus to Run
e
.

"If yo
u can accompany me back to the R
ecords
D
epartment, I have some paperwork that you need to sign before you can depart
.
" 

Rune turned back to Blythe
.
"
Y
ou go on
ahead;
I'll catch
up with you
back in the training room
.
"

Blythe shrugged and headed back in the direction of the training rooms as Rune and the agent headed in the opposite direction t
owards the R
ecords
D
epartment.
 

"I was worried I
'd miss you while you where in L
egal and that I'd have to track you down in the training rooms" the agent said as they walked. 

Rune glanced at the woman walking beside her, she had a twitchy look about her, as if she was wasn't sure whether she should be speaking. 

"What's this about?" Rune asked, guessing the answer. 

The woman hesitat
ed, giving her a skeptical look.
"
There are certain procedures that must be followed...
when
particular
information comes to the attention of the agency
.
" 

There it was.  All in the tone the agent used on the word 'particular'.  Well, it was only a matter of time before they'd found out, but what with the assignment and her pending resignation she
'd
started
to hope that she'd be gone by the time it came to their attention
. 

The agent ushered her into an office and closed the door behind them.  Rune paused a moment to
take in the room before sitting.
I
t was the image of order, with the only apparent personal touches being several pictures of a small boy laid out carefully on
a
shelf to the left.  The agent to
ok her seat behind the desk
and pulled out a file from a locked drawer. 

Rune smiled.
"
H
e's adorable, is he yours?" she said gesturing towards the pictures. 

The change in the woman sitting across from her was immediate.  Her whole body relaxed, an
d a proud smile lit up her face.

"
Y
es, that's my son, he'll be four in a couple of months
, can't believe it's been that long
.
" 

"They do grow up too fast don't they?" Rune added.  She knew how to get the focus off
herself;
she'd been doing it for most of her life after all. 

The agent nodded
and smiled gratefully at her
.
"
Much too fast
.
"
  The agent tapped the folder in front of her
.
"
T
his was assigned to me this morning.  The
D
irector and
H
eads have been informed, they attempted to delay the paperwork until the end of the current assignment you and Malik have been
appointed
to, but we fought them, procedures are in place for a reason after all.  I'm sure you can understand."  She gave Rune an appraising look, as if testing her response. 

"Of course, I wouldn't want to upset the order of things" Rune replied, which seemed to appease the agent. 

The agent opened the folder and pulled out a copy of the marriage certificate that API had come across days ago.  "Now, we aren't unreasonable" the ag
ent stated.
"
W
e did come to a
compromise with the H
eads
.  Technically, you and Malik shouldn't be allowed to be part of the same assignment, but after rece
iving assurances from both the Military and Government H
eads that you won't actually be working on the same team we decided to overlook that particular rule considering the appare
nt importance of this mission." 
She sighed shaking her head.
"You know, in all the years I've worked for the agency, I've never seen them assemble a super team this large before, not to mention that it's rare for them to pull assets off of current jobs for new missions
.
" 
She raised her eyebrows at Rune.
"
M
ust be a hell of
an
operation
you got yourselves called into, should the rest of us be nervous?"