There were three other aircraft flying alongside New Mayhall’s own. Freedom City, Copperhaven, and Roslin were all apart of the joint operation. Of course, the conflict between the three cities had been put to an end officially, there was still anger on all sides. Nonetheless, the threat of the Corrupted acted as a treaty and a ceasefire.

[We’re coming up on the city.] The pilot spoke.

As he said so, Lyn and Visette peered through the window and a huge cloud of smoke could be seen wafting through the air.

There wasn’t much to be seen, so Lyn decided to introduce Visette to the other members of her team.

“This is our first real mission but you’d usually meet your team long before you go out. Since that isn’t an option we’ll have to make do. From left to right you have, Fitzgerald, our sniper, Lucy, our field medic, Arnold, our demolitions expert, and Morris, our engineer. All of them are Abnormals, but-”

[Get ready! I can’t see the tower through all this smoke so I’ll be dropping you off as close as I can. Stay alert.] The pilot said as the speed of the vehicle began to slow.

“...I’ll save it for another time, get your lines ready.” Lyn’s voice grew serious as she attached her rappelling cable.

The team descended onto a nearby rooftop and prepared their weapons, but soon discovered that a heavy silence hung over the city. The horde attacking the city was supposed to be countless and yet there wasn’t a single one in sight. Parts of the city smoldered, but there was nothing else to indicate a fight had taken place.

Visette sent out a long-range psionic pulse, finding that there were no lifeforms that she could detect.

“Wasn’t there a fight happening?” Arnold spoke first.

“Seems like it already happened.” Fitzgerald rested his battle rifle on his shoulder and scanned the streets below, finding bloodstains, wrecked vehicles, and destroyed buildings. “Can’t see a single body from here.”

“We’ll proceed as planned,” Lyn’s eyes narrowed from underneath her helmet.

The Copperhaven, Roslin, and Freedom City teams were stationed on rooftops nearby. While Visette paid the first two teams no mind, the equipment of Freedom City’s team stuck out. In an instant, psionic power filled her eyes and she inspected them carefully from across the rooftop.

‘The equipment used indicates that Minerva based technology… Most likely procured from Eden Hall before the Corrupted attack.’

Vis expected the technology created by Minerva to surface around Novo Prime, but she hadn’t thought too much about what she would do once found in the possession of another. As of now, she was strongly in favor of a scorched-earth policy. Recovering an entire lab was out of the question so she felt it would be useful to make copies of data. In addition, she planned to grab any piece of technology that would benefit her and completely destroy the rest.

“Let’s move! The streets are clear so we’ll meet with the other teams below, got it?”

“Sure,” Fitzgerald said with a shrug.

“Yup,” Lucy answered.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Morris replied.

Arnold gave a silent nod while Visette slightly adjusted her grip on the rifle and waited for Lyn to lead.

The team moved through the empty building and reached the street without an issue. Since there was no sign of danger, each of the teams convened in a small cafe not too far from the tower where Eden Hall’s researchers would be currently residing.

“All teams here?” A man wearing sleek armor that outclassed everyone else spoke.

Visette’s gaze grew sharper and her body tensed for combat as she recognized the voice. Her subtle movements drew the man’s attention as he suddenly focused on her.

“In honor of our ceasing hostilities, I think we should all get acquainted, don’t you?” He removed his helmet and he turned out to be exactly who Visette expected, Hawk.

That meant the others that were equipped with polycarbonate armor were likely the rest of his group. As they removed their helmets, their faces came into view, Kitty, Rabid, Bear, and Rodent. They hadn’t aged drastically enough to the point where Visette would fail to recall them.

The teams from Copperhaven and Roslin followed suit which left New Mayhall’s team to reveal themselves last.

And as expected, everyone’s eyes found their way to Visette’s face. The reactions differed as some simply nodded in appreciations, others clicked their tongues as if finding her to be too fragile, and a few whistled at her. No matter what was done, she remained indifferent to it all. Though, Lyn’s lips curled into a slight frown as things went on.

“What a pleasant surprise?” Hawk grinned at Visette. “I feel reassured having you here with us, Visette Thales.”

“You’ve already met?” A soldier from Copperhaven asked.

“Sure have and if I were all of you, I’d refrain from getting on her bad side.”

“Why’s that?” The team leader from Roslin, a grizzled man with experience, asked provokingly.

By now, a general profile of Visette was shared between all cities and she was thought to be an extremely powerful Abnormal. Still, the tension between Roslin and New Mayhall remained unaffected by that knowledge.

“I think it was around four years ago when she killed twenty-something prisoners with her bare hands. She’s a natural born killer, isn’t that right?” Hawk maintained eye contact with Visette who was as tranquil as ever.

Rabid, the woman standing next to Hawk let out a short grunt and stepped forward. She clearly took Visette’s unblinking gaze as a provocation.

“Move back.” Lyn stepped forward, tilting her head upward to look at Rabid face to face.

“Or what, girly?” Bear advanced in support of Rabid.

“I will eliminate anyone who appears to be hostile,” Visette suddenly spoke as her hands reached toward the pistols she kept holstered. At the same time, her psionic energy began spreading out with unparalleled ease. She was confident that she could kill Hawk’s entire team while making it appear they were too slow to react.

“Easy, guys.” Hawk hurriedly calmed his team down as a faint skin-prickling sensation danced over his body. “We’ve all agreed to a ceasefire-”

“That didn’t stop New Mayhall from breaking it,” A soldier from Roslin chimed.

“Remind me, which two cities quietly began operating within our borders?” Fitzgerald replied.

“Alright, alright.” Hawk took control of the situation before it could escalate any further. “In light of our shared hostilities, I suggest that my team goes with Roslin’s and you both can-”

“Copperhaven will operate alone,” The team leader interrupted. He was given strict orders not to show favor to any other cities as Copperhaven was the only city that could still be called neutral.

“... Well, let’s not bother each other. I’ll assume everyone already knows the open channel if you wish to communicate. We’ll share any information we find as a show of goodwill and we hope that you all would do the same.”

“Let’s go.” Lyn curtly order and quickly departed after Hawk finished speaking.

They immediately headed for the tower. No one said it directly, but every city wanted to gain as much as they could from Eden Hall.