“Eh... grand elder, what is the purpose of this meeting again?” asked Aerys.

“We have received word from the higher ups! We are to use any and all materials in our possession in order to apprehend the mad scientist Alan Paige!” said an old man with gray hair, who had been called grand elder.

“After contacting General O’Brian, we have Engineer Michael Avariz, his wife and his friend, Alan Paige in custody. What do we do with them?” asked Aerys.

Gilgamesh, a young man wearing a suit and tie, spoke, “Grand elder, I know we shouldn’t question our orders but... Are you sure that we should really do this? We sent Blue Rose, and the cleaners, yet we failed to get rid of this guy completely! We might have managed to destroy his body, but now that he doesn’t have one, he’s going to be difficult to deal with!”

“WHO ARE WE?” asked the grand elder.

“We are the sword that cuts through steel, the star that illuminates the dark void, the guardians of the underworld!” everyone in the room spoke in unison, with the exception of the grand elder, who had asked the question.

“WE ARE CERBERUS!” came a chorus, perfectly in sync.

“We are a part of Cerberus! Never forget that! Therefore, it is wise for you to carry out orders, with no questions asked!”

“Yes grand elder!” came the chorus again.

“As to what to do with them, wipe them from existence! Capture Alan Paige, but get rid of everyone else, and leave no evidence behind!” declared the grand elder.

Nightingale’s heart almost jumped to her throat! This was her family! Well, she was supposed to be dead but how could she allow them to kill her family in silence?

“Grand elder, I will not be a part of this!” she blurted out, slowly rising to her feet.

“Nightingale, it would do you well to sit down!” demanded the grand elder.

Nightingale calmed herself down, and then sat down. Her face had a cold expression, masked with a slight killing aura that was difficult to detect. She was furious, but there was nothing she could do currently. As she started thinking about it, she realized if she tried to interfere, she would be punished severely, or worse, killed!

“I know you’re trying to protect your child. However, don’t forget where your loyalties lie! Do you know the reason why we let him live all this time? Because of you! Consider your position special.”

“Looks like she forgot her place again”, chuckled Gilgamesh.

Nightingale glared at him, and as he noticed, he glared back. Sparks flew in the air between the two of them, and it would have ignited into a big ball of flame, if the grand elder had not intervened!

“That’s enough you two!” he spoke in a commanding tone.

“Grand elder, with all due respect, isn’t Michael the only person who can decipher the blueprint? Who else besides him and Alan Paige can make the canon?” asked Aerys.

“We can always find someone else to decipher them. We do not have a shortage of engineers do we?”

“Please consider this grand elder...” spoke Nightingale, in a pleading tone.

“I have made up my mind. All we want are the blueprints, everything else after that doesn’t matter. As for your child, send Blue Rose to protect him. Oh wait, didn’t you already do that?” asked the grand elder.

Nightingale remained quiet, while Gilgamesh chuckled. Aerys had a thoughtful look on his face, but he kept whatever he was thinking about to himself. After a moment, Nightingale sighed.

“As you wish grand elder. So how am I supposed to deal with the Hartmann case?”

“Just let him be. Right now we need to focus on getting the blueprints!”

“Yes grand elder”, replied the others in unison.

The grand elder sighed. ‘I’m too old for this!’ he thought, ‘Well, at least the others don’t have it easy. The only problem is that none of those bastards is taking their orders seriously.’

“By the way, do you think the monks will intervene this time?” asked Gilgamesh.

“Well, there’s nothing special about this case. If they didn’t interfere when we took their apprentice, what more this time? There’s no correlation between them and either Alan Paige or Michael Avariz”, replied the grand elder.

“If they appear, what do we do with them?” asked Aerys.

“Make sure the mission succeeds at any cost!” demanded the grand elder.

He sighed as he thought about the monks. Ever since Cerberus was formed, they had never faced any noteworthy resistance. That was until they learnt of a certain group of monks who were dedicated to rid the world of the scourge that was Cerberus.

At first, they had ignored these monks, but they came to realize that whenever they tried to establish a weapons manufacturing plant in the East, the monks would interfere. The plants would vanish overnight, as if they were never there before. No one knew what had happened, until an investigation revealed that whenever a plant was built, a monk would appear and just look at the building. The following day, the building would be missing!

This happened on many occasions, until one day the grand elders had had enough. They plotted and schemed, until they learnt that the monks were training a young girl as their apprentice. Since Sky Haven was part of Cerberus, they mobilized a group of their best assassins to kidnap the little girl. Using the plants as a diversion, they managed to storm the monastery hidden in the mountains and kidnapped the apprentice.

Sky Haven was then tasked with conscripting the girl into the organization, and then train her into one of the fiercest assassins. The task was not easy, but they managed to do it. The little girl grew up to become Blue Rose, who was trained harshly by the organization. She didn’t stop practicing the martial arts that she was trained by the monks, but she also learnt to use it to kill people.

As for the matter of the disappearing plants, the investigation showed that the monks were using a strange magic to teleport the buildings somewhere. They couldn’t determine the exact location, even after tying various tracking devices to the buildings.

They eventually let the matter rest. However, despite that, the grand elders knew that something was up! The monks never tried to retaliate after the loss of their apprentice. For anyone, this was a suspicious point. However, despite keeping an eye on Blue Rose, nothing turned up. She carried her missions well, until she was promoted to the rank of a Cleaner. Cleaners were specially trained by Sky Haven to be Cerberus’ last resort, unless necessary, they wouldn’t be activated.

Blue Rose was exceptional even in her new role. The grand elders found it very odd and suspicious, but they didn’t have any evidence that she was doing something to betray them. And like that, they left her alone.

Now, Cerberus was made up of 3 groups. The first group handled all matters relating to public opinions. This group was heavily involved in organizing protests against governments, organizing rebellions and so on. The second group handled matters relating to weapons manufacture, distribution and so on. They sold weapons to both governments and terrorists. They developed these weapons under shell companies. The third group managed government affairs. They were heavily involved in day-to-day running of certain countries. They also decided who ruled which country, and using the Sky Haven organization, decided who got to meet the Maker first.

A grand elder, someone who was in charge of controlling the overall decisions made by the group, managed each group.

“Meeting is adjourned; I have to report the proceedings to the other grand elders. You may leave”, said the grand elder.

“Yes grand elder”, replied the others in unison, as they all stood up and left the hall.

The grand elder was left alone, sitting by his comfortable chair. He sighed as he realized that he hadn’t slept well the previous day. As he looked at the watch in his hands, he shook his head.

As Nightingale left the hall, she went directly to the Pinktail. Without stopping to get some rest, she took out a shoe from the drawer, and removed the heel. The heel had a dialing pad embedded within. She dialed a number after making sure no one was listening in on her conversation.

“We have a problem,” she spoke.

“What is it?” asked the voice on the other end.

“They have begun to move. In fact, we might be too late!” she declared.

“What are your orders?”

“Make sure everyone lives!” she spoke with conviction.

“Noted,” replied the voice, after which the line hung.

Nightingale sighed deeply, thinking about what she had done. ‘Things might never be the same again after this’, she thought, ‘I hope she succeeds, otherwise there might be a war!’

*********************

Blue Rose yawned as she put her cellphone down. ‘That was unsettling... Why would anyone mobilize this early in the morning?’ She yawned again.

She lazily climbed from her bed and trudged along into the bathroom. A few moments later, she was out, with her hair neatly tied, and wearing black tight fitting clothes. She walked out and got into the garage.

“And then? Why are you sneaking off into the garage at this time of the morning?” came a voice, which sounded horse.

“I have been given a mission. I need to borrow your car”, she replied.

“I want you to look out for yourself. It’s probably worse than you guys think!” said the voice, as car keys jingled, flying towards her.

“Thank you for understanding.”

“I don’t want you kids to say I never gave you the chance”, replied the voice.

She opened the door to the red classic sports car in front of her, and got in. The engine roared to life, and after revving the engine a bit, she asked, “How fast?”

“0 to 60 in 1.9 seconds, a top speed of 300 miles per hour”, came the reply.

Blue Rose sucked in a cold breath.

“She’s quite a beast. I hope you can take care of her very well, and try to return her in one piece”, said the voice.

“I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises”, she said as she drove off, leaving a cloud of dust and smoke behind. There was a slight cough, followed by a bit of cursing and then silence as the car disappeared from view.

As she drove, she suddenly said, “Let’s see how fast you can really go. After all, if I don’t make it in time, Nightingale will have my head!” She chuckled with excitement, and with a slight grin, she stepped on the accelerator. The engine gave a roar, and with a whooshing sound, sped off into the distance, towards Michael’s farm.

Before she got into the main road, she took a detour. The place she had gone to had a nice-looking tree house, which was neatly furnished inside. There was a small box on a table, a spandex suit hanging by the wall and a crossbow hanging by the side. There was also a shotgun placed in a shelf, beside a fireplace. She put on the suit, and then took a mask from the drawer on the shelf.

After taking everything she needed, which was basically every weapon in the tree house, she left.