Chapter 11

3rd Pov

Sometime earlier

Encrypted video conference between four parties.

In the video conference, there are four avatars representing the people taking part on it. One of them is a black humanoid figure, another one is red, then blue and white.

“Have you got anywhere confirming the situation of subject 7xx?” The black figure asks with a voice that is modified to sound mechanical.

“We have not.” The blue one answers with the same voice and continues:

“We still suspect that it got taken in by the J.A.T.F. a month ago. Shortly after that we tried to get the confirmation on the mainframe of J.A.T.F. called the VAULT but it proved to be more difficult than we anticipated.”

“Subject 7xx was the only subject of the four ongoing COT training operations that was on a mission when they attacked the Al-Aman facilities. The mission site was a J.A.T.F. safehouse. The mission was cleared but the subject disappeared then, before we even could confirm the kill.” The red one says.

“So, the J.A.T.F. probably got her. Who was the target?” The black one says.

“Some small Hezbollah leader. The hit was not for our benefit, but for the purpose of training.” The white one answers the question, and that confuses the black one.

“Shouldn’t the xx models be trained a little differently? I thought only the xy models would be trained in a more practical manner and the xx models would be focused on infiltration and covert operations?” He asks. To his knowledge the xx models should be trained to assume some false identity and to keep it alive, and if possible use that identity to infiltrate the large intelligence organizations.

“Yes, that is true. The Al-Aman didn’t seem to agree with us with that, or perhaps they saw something in the subject to train it differently.” The white one says.

The black one ponders for a moment before coming to a decision:

“If the J.A.T.F. noticed the subject’s potential they would have placed it in the operative training, and if not, we’ll find the subject soon enough. But if they put it in their training, it shouldn’t take them long to realize that it was put through counter operative training.”

At this point he takes a small pause worth of few breathes before continuing:

“7xx Is too powerful of a weapon just to hand over to the J.A.T.F. Do we have anyone inside the OMEGA?”

“No we don’t. But the trainer there has children in Paris. His name is Ryan Owel, originated from U.S.A. He is the main trainer in the OMEGA. That could be our in.” The white one says. Their organization has spent years’ worth of manpower to map the organizational structures in the different intelligence and military organizations.

“Good. I would think that it is a fool’s errand to try and recruit the subject back to us, so if we can’t have it, neither can they. Kill it.”

After black one’s order, he waits a bit to see if there is anyone who disagrees but there is none.

With a new task in hand, they adjourn the conference. The white one rises from his seat in front of the computer and pics up a phone. He needs to contact his operatives on ground in Paris to kidnap the Alpha’s children.

3rd Pov

Present day

Calla is heading for their starting position, the place where Alpha should be staying. There was a cabin there. The candidates didn’t see what’s inside of it but Calla presumes the Alpha stays there for the duration of the exercise and monitors the candidates.

Calla has been proceeding for hours now and the day is starting to turn into night. She takes a break by a small stream. She drinks the water and wipes sweat from her forehead.

The sun has already set so low that it cannot be seen from the forest. The birds are going to their nests while the nocturnal animals are starting to wake up.

Calla looks up at the sky that is mix of blue and sunset red.

“Tonight” She mutters to herself. She opts to confront the Alpha tonight, during the darkness of the night for several reasons. The Alpha is less likely to notice something is amiss if she acts fast. The cover of darkness will help her go unnoticed to the UAV circling the skies above. And she wants every advantage when confronting him, as he is after all the trainer of the Omega facility.

‘I only have one shot, and it’s a rubber bullet no less’ She think to herself while moving forward. She left one in the chamber and now that the remaining of her bullets are in her pocket because she left the clip behind, she knows that the Alpha will react way too fast for her to load the next one in the chamber after the first shot.

Minutes turn in to hours as she advances through the damp forest. She is nearing the edge as the moon has risen to the sky. She stops in the cover of the trees and surveys the small cabin by the edge of the forest. This is the second night of the exercise so the Alpha probably isn’t expecting any of them to come back yet.

She checks the map on her wrist computer and sees that two of the flags have been activated. Those who activated them will spend the night resting and moving near the place the flags were because the interval of the signals there is longer, she thinks.

‘They will be there trying to get little rest before heading here so that should give me the rest of the night free and the morning too’ She ponders, trying to come up with a plan.

*Creek* The cabin door opens and Calla lowers herself to cover. She sees the Alpha walking outside and taking place next to the cabin, leaning on its wall. He takes a lighter from his pocket and a cigar and lights it up.

‘Fuck’ The Alpha thinks to himself. He is so worried about his children and feeling sorry for Calla that he couldn’t get any rest.

“And now I’m smoking after all these years” He mutters to himself and Calla pics that up. He feels ashamed that it was so easy to blackmail him, a veteran operator, to kill a girl he is in charge of. He left the active operator duty because of his family and started the safe training duty in the Omega.

While he’s wallowing in self-pity Calla is busy making a strategy.

‘The one bullet I have should be used to deny him the access to his weapon’ She thinks. She looks at the holster that is visible on Alphas thigh. She knows that the Alpha is carrying live ammo and she only has one rubber bullet. The only way to incapacitate him is to take the fight to close range.

She knows she cannot enter the cabin without being noticed so she has to act now, when he is still outside if she wants to use the element of surprise to full advantage.

There is about twenty-five meter of open space between the cabin and forest so she has to time it right. She knows that while running she needs to be at least fifteen meters away to make an accurate enough shot with the suppressed weapon.

She looks at the cigar that still has half of it length left as she removes the suppressor from her weapon. That should give her little bit more accuracy when she acts.

She waits when the Alpha turns to look away from the forest but he doesn’t. She waits until he has smoked the cigar.

He drops the cigar on the ground and steps on it. With a sigh he puts it out and turns to walk to the door. He only has taken a couple of steps when his peripheral vision notices movement. He turns to look at the source and is shocked at what he sees.

There is Calla, running towards him on the grass. Not making any sound and moving with a speed that of a cheetah, she raises her pistol. Alpha is stunned for a moment. He thought she already died. A part of him is happily pleased and a part of him fears for his family. He looks at her impassive expression and the blue eyes like ocean made of crystal when he reaches his gun.

*BAM*

A shot is fired just when the pistol is in his hand. The bullet hits his thumb, breaking it and releasing his hold of the pistol. He grunts from the pain but doesn’t let it stop his actions when he pulls a knife from his back to his left hand.

Calla is less than ten meters away when she drops her weapon and takes her knife to her hand.

The Alpha rushes to meet his opponent while thinking to himself that this is all wrong. He doesn’t want her blood on his hands but he also knows that at the first sign of weakness, the candidate will win. He has watched her fights during training enough to know that she isn’t just any candidate and her combat effectiveness is already that of a high class operative.

*Cling’ The metallic sound from the knifes is heard. Calla went for a stab to the chest with the knife on her right hand. At the moment she holds the advantage as Alpha is right handed and is forced to use his left for this fight.

Alpha was disappointed when Calla went for the plain stab but noticed immediately when he blocked it that it didn’t hold the strength it should have.

It was a feint, and immediately after Calla makes a low kick with her right leg, designed to break his footing.

The Alpha takes one step back, leaving him in a stance where his left leg is on the front.

That stance is what Calla was aiming for as the stand leaves his left arm exposed.

Calla makes a swing with her knife from right to left, aiming at the wrist of his arm but the Alpha manages to dodge.

He pivots on his right leg turning clockwise and removing his left arm from the trajectory of the knife. Using the rotational motion he attempts a back kick to Calla’s jaw.

Calla bends her waist backwards dodging the kick but she doesn’t stop her motion. She makes a back handspring, gaining some distance to the larger opponent.

“Why?” She asks. The Alpha looks nervous, as he wasn’t expecting for her to confront him in the middle of the fight.

“Sorry, but I have my reasons. You must end here.” He simply answers.

Calla watches him silently for a few seconds before opening her mouth:

“You will lose. Your dominant arm is out of commission and I’m faster.” She states, attempting to make him lose his spirit and distract him. She noticed that he isn’t fond of the situation he is in.

The Alpha glances at the gun he dropped a few steps away. The statement of his impending loss made him involuntarily look for other options as he knew there was some truth in it.

Calla didn’t miss the fraction of a second when he was looking at the gun, and takes the opening.

She decides in that moment to take the risky action, and throws her knife towards the throat of Alpha.

Alpha hastily swings his knife to block Calla’s throw but being distracted before, the block leaves him open to what comes next.

The moment Calla threw her knife, she ran after it. When the Alpha blocks the knife with a quick and unbalanced swing, he exposes his chest and face.

Calla jumps toward him when his knife hand is still extended to the left and plants a knee kick to the Alphas jaw. The Alpha doesn’t lose consciousness, but staggers backwards, leaving him leaning to the wall of the cabin.

As Calla falls from her jump, she rolls to her left and takes the weapon that Alpha dropped at the beginning of the fight.

“Why?” She asks again, this time aiming at him.

Alpha falls silent, and after a moment he slides to a sitting position next to the wall.

*Sigh* He lets out a loud sigh and reaches to his pocket. Calla is ready for a last attempt but still allows him to take something out of his pocket.

The alpha takes the cigar he reached for and lights it.

“You know, the general gave me these to celebrate my future promotion. But I guess I can smoke them now as that isn’t happening” He lets out a self-demeaning chuckle.

Calla doesn’t answer but only stares at the bald man smoking. She can see from his expression that this whole thing was most likely forced on him.

“They have my family.” He finally answers the question.

“And who’s they?”

“I don’t know. They just told me to arrange your death so that my family can live.”

Calla thinks about what she heard: ‘Someone wants me dead, but there isn’t many who even know of my existence as far as I know.’

“What did they call me” Calla asks. That can tell a lot about her opponents. If they called her Calla, then the orders came probably from inside the J.A.T.F. and if they called her Seven then the threat is from her past.

“They just described you as a blond blue eyed young girl, with exceptional skills.” He answers.

“I really wonder where you were trained. General Raven only said that you are trained but I didn’t except this much.” He continues, thinking about the five unmoving tracker signals in the forest aside from Calla’s and she even managed to apprehend him, an experienced operator that has seen many battles and wars.

Calla doesn’t humor him with more information, as she contemplates what she just heard. ‘They knew my appearance and that I’m skilled. They could be one of the groups that were my targets. But I doubt it. Even if they had the resources to find me why would they? Revenge? I don’t think they would go after the hired gun but instead after the people who hired it. And if so, they wouldn’t try to kill me, but to get information about my previous trainers and handlers.’

And that only leaves one possibility if she is right.

‘Al-Aman was it? The people who trained me. But I thought they were dead. Perhaps there is more to the organization that I knew.’ She thinks.

A minute of silence falls to the two. The sun has yet to rise but it shouldn’t be long. Some of the forest birds are starting to wake up as their songs fill the forest. The sky is beginning to light up from the sun that is still below the horizon and a cool breeze brushes the grass on the clearing.

‘What to do now’ Calla wonders to herself.

From her perspective she hasn’t done anything wrong. Just self-defense.

‘I must leave Alpha alive as he is the only one to know the whole truth.’ She thinks.

If he kills Alpha then the J.A.T.F. will think she went rogue under her own volition. And the two boys she left alive know only about the orders but not the reason behind it. If they even decide to tell anyone they were the ones who tried to kill Calla first.

‘But if I remain in the J.A.T.F. they will try again most likely. And now that I have spilled the blood of our fellow candidates they might dislike me in the Omega for whatever reason.’

“What happens now” The Alpha asks, already resigned to his loss. He has tried to find an opening on Calla but all the time they discussed, the gun she is holding never even wavered and her eyes never left Alpha.

“If I leave you alive, what will you do?” Calla asks instead of answering.

“The only way my family has a chance is for me to come clean now. I don’t know where they took them but they must have moved them away from our home.” He says.

And that was the answer Calla had anticipated. If she has learned anything from the small social talks with Maria, she knows that people hold their family dear.

‘Well, I would murder the world if Linda was threatened.’ She thinks to herself, and even surprising herself. Only now she notices the amount affection she holds for Linda.

‘Is it because she was the first one to be nice to me, or because she named me..? And if I were to leave now, would I ever see her again? Would she have to hunt me because I left?’ She thinks. For a moment she thinks about staying. To go to Linda and tell her everything that has transpired in these few days.

‘But what if the ones who organized this finds out about mine and Linda’s connection.’ She comes to the realization. She remembers the intel about the various people in key positions she was made to memorize. There were always possible locations and weaknesses. And in the weaknesses there were family listed many times.

‘Is she my family’ She ponders. ‘ I’d like that’

But knowing now isn’t the time to think about that she starts planning what to do now.

‘I will leave the J.A.T.F. For now at least.’ She decides.

‘I will find out more about the people after me. I will figure out why they want me dead. I will find out why they made me what I am in the first place if they truly are the ones responsible.’

During her free time in the training she read some of Maria’s books. There was a phrase that moved her in one book.

‘To see the road ahead, one must know where he comes from. Otherwise you’ll be walking in circles.’

That was the text in a book that summarized the history of the world. That sentence spoke to Calla, as she knows where she comes from. The forest. But she doesn’t know why.

“Stand up and turn around. I will let you live. Tell Linda I’m sorry.” She says to Alpha.

He is standing up now, and facing the cabin wall when something impacts the back of his head and he passes out.

After rendering him unconscious Calla goes inside the cabin to look around and spots monitors that show the tracker signals, the position of the flags, even the ones activated and of course the UAV feed.

Normally people wouldn’t notice the UAV in the sky but Calla’s keen eyes spotted it at one moment. She looks at the tracker signals. She sees that the two boys she left alive are heading for the edge of the forest but has still long way to go.

She notices that Maria has a flag and isn’t that far away from the cabin.

‘I guess she didn’t wait for the night to end’ Calla thinks and smiles to herself. She is glad that her friend is going to pass the training, but then again, they might do the training all over because of what has happened.

“Now that I think about it, out of twenty, fifteen will pass. I killed three of them and injured the other two.” She lets out a small laugh. ‘I guess the final fifteen is decided, wait, fourteen, as I’m leaving too.’

Then she spots the tiny trackers thatAlpha had put on their clips. She is not an expert in technology but she has been trained some, in order to circumvent security. She looks at the laptop on the table and closes the window which shows the tracker signals. She sees that the image of the program that tracks them is on the desktop.

She takes a memory stick from the desk, empties it and copies the app onto it. After that she takes couple of the trackers after making sure they are turned off and leaves with them and the memory stick.

‘These will be handy’ She thinks to herself while walking out of the cabin.

“Now, where to…” She mutters. She hasn’t got any experience from the normal world, but she has some useful information to go by. For instance, she knows the addresses of a few Al-Aman safehouses. She was made to memorize them if she ever was on the run from authorities and needed a way to contact her handlers.

But there isn’t one she knows about in Paris, or in France for that matter.

‘Well first I should leave the academy and hide from the J.A.T.F. because they will surely be searching for me. I doubt they will use a lot of resources for that, as I was the one attacked first and if the Alpha comes clean, they just see me as a deserter. I should head for the center of populace and hide in the masses. I need money, I think? And the thing called ID. It’s supposed to prove my existence or something like that.’

‘And a bigger gun’ She thinks and looks at her pistol with one clip. Before she leaves she takes the two remaining clips from Alphas holster and the knife she threw and heads straight toward the Eiffel tower that is seen in the distance.