Mordred remembered the day his mother’s life was ripped from her hands; the day his eyes fell upon the blood of his mother; the day she died. He remembered it as clearly as one sees a sky without clouds within it. He remembered the stench of blood tickling his nose, the pools of blood leading to her, the eyes that had nobody behind them.

It’s funny. The day started off normal, exciting even. Mordred and his siblings were on a camping trip with his friends. They ran across a field full of flowers and trees, playing the innocent game of tag. Myra, Mordred’s twin sister, ran after him while his friends, Avery and Milo, hid behind a bush, fresh laughter pooling from their mouths as they attempted to muffle it. He heard someone hit the ground behind him before turning around to find his sister laying on the ground.

"Myra, are you-" He said, approaching the girl, his hand outstretched to help her out, only to feel a light tap on his leg.

"Tag!" The twin said, rising from the ground with a smile that smelt of victory stretching across her face as she turned around to run, only to get caught by her brother, Ryder, who lifted the youngster into his arms. She laughed as the brother moved her up to his shoulders, looking at Mordred.

"Come on, we need to start heading back now."

"But Ryder..." Mordred moaned, walking towards his brother with a sad look on his face.

Ryder responded by ruffling the boy's curly brown mess of hair before announcing that they would be roasting marshmallows, which made a smile appear on the youngster’s face.

"Marshmallows?" Another voice questioned as a boy ran out of the bush he had been hiding in, his sister, who was a similar age to Ryder, following.

"Hey, why did you hide?" Mordred complained to the boy as he came to his side.

I’m not dumb, unlike you. "Plus, I like watching you get tricked by Myra." He snickered.

Mordred rolled his eyes before an idea came to mind, a wicked smile appearing soon after. He reached out, patting the boy’s shoulder while shouting "tag" before dodging out of the way of Milo’s incoming hand.

Soon, the rest of the kids joined in as they ran in the direction of a huge tent. Mordred smiled as a plan entered his mind, entering the tent.

"Mum! Can you come and play tag? " He asked, not knowing the question would linger in the air for years to come, unanswered.

When he stepped further into the tent, the smell hit him as his eyes fell on an abandoned gun on the floor in front of him, the origins of the smell scattered upon and around it. His eyes widened as he stepped backwards in shock.

Although scared stiff, he chose to walk around that corner.

As the stench of iron increased, so did the blood.

The mini puddles of red liquid led to a sea of it, his mother laying in the middle like an island would at sea, unmoving with no clear emotion. At that moment, all Mordred could see and smell was the blood covering his mother.

"Mum?" He asked, frozen as if he were a statue.

Moments later, footsteps approached him as a yell erupted from behind him. a yell of shock, realization, and sadness.

He heaved in as much oxygen as his body could handle as he shot upwards, shaking like a leaf in the wind. He felt the remains of tears staining his face the minute he gained consciousness.

"Mum..." He mumbled as he remembered the dream, no nightmare, he had endured.

Suddenly, guilt began weighing upon his stomach as the feeling of nausea rose within him.

He was dead and it was his fault.

SheasdeadanditwashisfaultshewasdeadanditwasHISFAULTSHEWASDEADANDITWASHIS-

His train of thought was stopped as the taste of sickness entered his mouth. He launched himself into the bathroom before his lunch splattered out of his mouth into the toilet as tears began to stream down his face. After he stopped vomiting, he began to take in his surroundings. Light pooled in from his window, and his bed sheet was now on the floor, his hands clammy with sweat.

"Mort!" a boy said from the other side of the door.

"Yeah?" Mordred replied in a shaky tone, stuttering slightly.

"It's time for the raid." He yelled.

"Oh, okay, I’ll be out in a minute." He replied. Once the words left his mouth, footsteps could be heard retreating back down the corridor. He sighed as he flushed down the pool of sickness before leaving the bathroom.

Nowadays, suiting up, waking himself up, and gathering his weapons didn’t take long. It was a ritual he had gotten used to conducting every morning for five years, but he remembered his ten-year old self struggling greatly with the task, normally being late to missions and meetings due to his slowness.

Soon after walking out, his sister bounced around, greeting Mordred with a smile and a quick wave before she continued packing some emergency first aid supplies into her bag.

"Hey, Myra." Mordred said to his twin sister as he gathered some bandages, placing them into the bag.

"Hey Mort." She replied. Although she wore her normal happy smile, she also twisted her ring on her right middle finger and fiddled with strands of her brown hair.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking at the girl up and down in a curious and confused manner.

"Yeah, just nervous... I haven’t seen them in so long, I can’t believe we finally have a shot of catching them. " Myra said as she looked down at the ground.

Mordred sighed, scratching his temple. The possible presence of them being mentioned had made the entire group nervous and scared to the bone.

Despite being nervous and scared himself, he placed a comforting hand on his sister’s shoulder as her head rose in surprise.

"If everything continues going the way it is, this mission will be an easy one. We will all be fine. " He was comforted even though he didn’t quite believe those words himself. If they were there, it would surely be a challenge and a half, but he didn’t say that. Instead, he shot his sister a confident smile while lightly squeezing her shoulder in comfort.

"Thank you, Mort."

To the boy’s surprise, he was enveloped in a warm, comforting hug. He smiled, returning the gesture, ignoring how much his cuts and bruises beneath his costume hurt due to the sudden pressure.

He smiled as he broke the hug, longing for the familiar touch once again. He turned to see Milo and Ryder sat in a corner holding maps, which they intensely read over, pointing out certain parts to each other every now and then. Avery had also joined the duo, writing down some notes on a separate piece of paper while checking that everything was packed.

"Let’s go over the plan." Milo announced, receiving a nod from everyone as he turned to Ryder, gesturing at him to explain.

"Okay then," Ryder said, laying out a map on the table before him, looking around to see if everyone could see it before continuing. "We plan to surround this room, which is where the main meeting will be taking place. As you can see, there are three different entrances to this room; the doors are here, here, and here." He said, pointing to all of them individually. He scanned the group quickly to see if they were following on before continuing.

"Avery, you will oversee the security and will be stationed in a nearby pub. I’ve got some clothing here, so you don’t seem suspicious. Wear it over your uniform. This place has cameras, and other stolen SDU security items and bots scattered all over. Make sure they are all shut down and that they stay that way before and while we are in there. " He said, looking at the girl before pushing some equipment her way, including a gun, a tablet and other resources like clothing.

"Milo, Myra, and Mordred will oversee blocking all the exits so we can trap the rebels in the room while I will capture any remaining rebels who aren’t in the room." He said this while receiving nods from all the members. He rolled the map back up again, placing it into his bag before giving each member of the group a piece of paper.

"On the paper are the locations of all the places you’re keeping an eye on." He stated, gaining more nods. He smiled before rising and walking out the door, and, as a group does with a leader, the remainder of the squadron followed in suit.

"Ah, there you are, Squadron 001." A firm voice yelled from the end of the corridor, yelling as Mordred froze, stiffening slightly before going back to the way he was before and turning around to look at his boss.

"I've come to wish you the best of luck on your mission. I’m sure you all understand how important it is and how vital it is to get it right on the first try. If you guys succeed, we would’ve cleared so many rebels from society, including those who are most dangerous." At the mention of them, the atmosphere changed to a mix of nervous and sad energy as the group reminisced on what used to be.

"Cheer up! By sunset tonight, I expect they will be in custody. Isn’t that right Mordred" Aiden said in a cheerful tone. Although his final words were meant to come across as a rhetorical question, the tone in which they were spoken made Mordred’s body shiver; they were a threat.

"Yes, sir." He stated this in an emotionless tone, looking downwards. He felt Milos gaze upon him but ignored it in favour of turning around and leading the group away from him.

On the way there, Mordred and Milo discussed the plan, working out whether they needed more people on security or not. While if they did, they would be able to solve that problem faster, they would also have more chances of things like miscommunication, and they would have fewer people in the building dealing with the rebels.

"What if we have two people on security at the beginning of the mission and if we need another person, we can call them in?" Mort suggested

"What if something happens on the way there and they can’t reach us? It's way better to keep it as it is, with Avery on security and the rest of us in the building. " Milo questioned.

"But-"

"No buts, Mort. Me and Ryder are planning the mission and have already agreed on this plan. Sure, if we need to, we can make some adjustments, but that’s only if something changes or we are exposed to more information." Milo stated firmly, gaining an eye roll from Mordred, who had given up on trying to convince the others to try it his way. With more people working on security, the mission would be over faster, they wouldn’t even notice they were there till they raided the room, and there would be less suspense, which is always a bonus.

"Alright, Avery, here’s the bar." said Ryder, pointing to it from an alleyway they had all hid in, which was a fair distance away from the pub. Avery nodded in response, putting her earpiece into her ear while Ryder did the same in order to keep in contact so she could guide them through if needed. He gave the other three an earpiece each, advising them to put it in, which they did. With a wave, Avery walked off into the distance, perfectly blending in with the civilians around her.

"Alright, the building is just down here." Ryder said, leading the group down an alleyway. After a few minutes of walking, Avery gave them an update to tell them that she had hacked into the cameras. She was currently working on shutting the bots down, but she couldn’t get through to the cameras.

Ryder sighed, rubbing his temple slightly before telling her to guide them through. At this point, they had all reached the building and were ready to enter.

Avery confirmed that she could as the group entered the building.

"Some of the bots are down." So said Avery as Mordred departed from the group.

"Avery, where should I head?"

"Down the corridor and then to the right." She said with confidence. Modred nodded, doing just that but stopping when Avery yelled at him too.

"What?" He asked in a hushed but annoyed tone.

"Some robots are around the corner. Stay still." She said this with great seriousness. Tapping could be heard before a faint buzzing sounded out from around the corner.

"Okay, those bots aren’t staying down for long. You need to get past them now!" She demanded

Without a word, Mort broke into a sprint, running down the hall past the white bots that could awake at any moment. As he turned the comer, he heard Avery take a sigh of relief as she confirmed that there were no more bots currently on his path. After thanking her, he continued walking and walking and walking. It seemed like an endless cycle of walking until he finally reached the door.

"Stop! You’re at your location! Head in on the count of three. " Avery called out.

Everyone hummed in approval as Ryder confirmed he had just checked the final room and that all the rebels were currently in the room before him. He couldn’t believe it. After all these years, they would have a good shot at capturing some of the most dangerous and troublesome rebels.

"Three,"

Mordred sighed as he got out his gun, double checking that his knife was still there.

"Two,"

He sighed as he listened into the room, his hand on the door handle. Damn, these rebels were quiet.

"One!"

He opened the door too… nobody?