I don't really want to talk about why I haven't been writing for this Long but I want to apologize regardlessly

I shouldn't have just stopped like that.

I'm sorry to those that had high hopes for this Story, I'll try to make it up in the future.

All I can say right now is that I still dont know how much I can write.

Anyways, I hope everyone that's still left enjoys the new chapter after an enormous break from my side.

And to all those that are going to read this:

Thank you for putting up with me.

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I was surprised at how little emotions everyone showed. Though I have to admit that I've never seen them during a mission before.

They all sat inside of the helicopter in silence while checking their different gear over and over again.

"Karen? If can stop anyone from moving how are we supposed to defeat him? I mean it seems impossible to win if he knows we're there." I ask through the communication unit.

"Then we just have to avoid getting seen and take them out before they notice anything."

Her answer was short and she sounded more like an officer taking charge. She felt more like my superior now than at the base. Though I did not know if that was due to her comrades death or if it was normal.

"There should be more right? I mean I don't think that they're the only two espers in that hideout."

This time it was Rose and though I still heard her normal voice she sounded colder.

Everybody seemed to have changed and even Liams voice sounded darker as he answered.

"You shouldn't worry about that. We'll get an update once we get to the military outpost there. They're going to know by now if anybody else joined them."

Karens head suddenly twitches a bit and quickly her voice sounds over the com.

"Ok, we're not allowed to make too much of a mess. Command does not want any collateral damage or the news will be all over this."

"As if we'd let civilians get killed." Ignar exclaims and Karen seems to look at him from behind the dark metal covering her face.

"I'm not talking about civilian casualties, I'm talking about damaging property. Command doesn't want to have a fully fledged fight between us and them happening in some small time village near the grand canyon. It's just one more reason to try and finish this as fast as possible."

Because I was slightly confused I had to ask again.

"Are we really going in there without a real plan? I mean taking them out as quickly as possible doesn't really count as a plan does it?"

Liam was the first to answer me.

"Saying we don't have a plan is putting it the wrong way. As a good soldier you should be able to react accordingly in any kind of situation. We're going to wait for a good opportunity with the information that will be provided to us at the outpost."

Well... that didn't sound like much of a plan to be honest.

"That's not much..."

I cannot see her face but Rose seems to smile at me. Though her voice sounds very coldhearted she still manages to keep her nice touch.

"Let's put it like this. If it was any normal esper Liam and me would charge through the front door together. Liam would transmit the scene to everyone else and they'd follow up afterwards. Everything else really does depend on the situation. As it is now we'll probably have to shoot him down from afar. Which shouldn't be too hard considering that he is not a enhancement type esper."

"So we're basically assassinating him?"

I knew I would do it, it's not as if I had cared about other people I had deemed my enemy but it sounded quite bad considering that we were a governmental force on the way to literary kill someone that went against the system.

"Yes, we are doing exactly that." Everyone seemed to get even quieter while Karen talked to me.

"You shouldn't misunderstand. Normally our highest priority would be to capture them but that isn't really possible. You should know what happens if you give a strong esper even a few seconds time to react. And to be honest I truly doubt that there will only be those two."

"They killed multiple of our members, I do not care about their reasoning or their work."

Rose spoke up and again I felt sad that I could not be on the same level as them. I hadn't known the others.

With that last sentence everyone returned to their silent selves.

It didn't take much to make me lose my sense of time, which wasn't that good to begin with. Over and over I check my equipment and the professionalism around me didn't do a lot to help against that.

Nervous as hell I was quite happy when we finally arrived at our destination.

Interestingly enough I was disappointed at what I saw when the helicopter touched down. I hadn't looked out of the window so the first thing that I saw was... Sand and rubble. From what I could gather we had landed a few miles away from our true destination to avoid detection in the first place.

"Let's go, you have waypoints on your nav, just follow me, we'll group up with the recon team. They'll tell us everything else we need to know."

Without looking back at our transport vehicle Karen starts running into one direction. Different numbers appear in green text in the corner of my eye. Although our visors were actually fully covering our heads the entire front part seemed transparent, save for important information displayed in a light green.

Currently this was limited to a short circle of the surrounding area, like a radar it showed me the surrounding 500 meters as a landscape. Multiple dots in green signaled me the position of my other squad members while a small triangle in the same color left off behind me.

Our mission time was set at 2218 [10.18 pm.]

"Don't fall behind Alex."

Roses voice cuts through the aether while everyone starts speeding off with their captain in front.

They were right.

With that I kicked the ground hard and jumped forward through the darkness of the sands.

It was not hard to keep track of my comrades. My visor guided me and although I knew it was night everything around me seemed illuminated due to my artificial eyes.

I did not bother to ask why we ran to our final destination. A small number to the right of me signaled that we were travelling with the speed of roughly 60 mph. I felt nothing of the air pressure that would normally hold me back.

And we were doing it in silence, though this could only be seen as relative. We were silent when compared to a car transporting us. Our feet still ground the smaller stones to dust and left heavy footprints in the dry ground. This alone was proof with what force we were moving.

In front of me I could see and feel one of my comrades, Ignar. The old man slowed down a bit and pointed towards me, soon afterwards I heard his voice at my ears.

"Alex, try to hold your rifles like we do, it makes less sound and reduces the possibility of damaging your equipment."

Confused I mustered the others. Without exception they had their weapons pressed tight against their torso, while I had swung it while running.

"Trust me, it's better for you and your equipment."

I do as I'm told, more out of interest than anything. I still did not know a lot. They seemed to put everything on my ability to adapt and learn fast...

This and the equipments indisputable better ability to learn.

Captain Ithild's voice cuts through my thoughts.

"Liam get to the front, you and Ignar will scout ahead, I can't get in touch with our personnel. I want to know what's going on. You are not to engage in any fights unless you absolutely have to, understood?"

Two monotone "Yes Ma'm" follow and the two of them speed up ahead while we slow down.

Since I'm still not immensely profound in Liams power I still use the comms.

"Karen? What do you mean you cannot get into touch with the personnel?"

She seems to hesitate for a second before answering.

"We should have been in range ages ago but all I'm getting is static. I seriously doubt that anything big happened. The people stationed here are veterans from the militaries espers. They might not be able to stand up in a one on one fight but they are still proficient enough to at least get out of most situations. As such I don't like the thought of them not being able to come into contact with us.

Though it could still be a simple interference with their gear... at least that's what I hope."

I nod while our progress slows down and Karen motions us with a fist to stand back.

I look around me. It did not really matter where we were. All I saw was the same from the dusk darkly colored rubble and dirt. Information poured down my visor in a steady flow, telling me that we were still quite the distance away from our destination.

A small voice comes up in my mind. Feeling the other espers presence I look at the others in anticipation.

We're in front of town, nobody has seen us yet. I told Ignar to set up camp somewhere else and scout with his rifle. Our coms are off since we're 100% sure that "Child's play" is here. We can't risk him realizing what's coming at him.

Then a more direct thought came directed mostly at me.

Alex, you're probably the only one right now that can actually tell me something. Normally I'd just give you all the information I can gather and then we group up again.

But this doesn't matter right now. The Captain will tell you what she wants from me and you'll have to deliver those orders to me, do you think you can manage that?

Unconsciously I nod my head.

I could already feel Liam in the far distance, the link was far from stable but it should suffice.

Karen had obviously noticed my agreement since she immediately spoke up.

Ask him if he can come into contact with the stationed forces there.

Liam? Karen wants to know whether you can make out the personnel we were supposed to meet there.

A short answer immediately followed.

I'll have to look further into it to be sure. All I know is that their vehicles are where they should be. They should be inside of this hotel.

A small pain pokes my head as a picture forms inside of my mind.

Inside of it I could see the clear outlines of the outskirts of a town through the high powered scope of a rifle.

Multiple rows of apartments and small stores lined the streets. The building Liam seemed to be looking at was a multiple stories high apartment building, though the words "MOTEL" where hanging from its side.

The entire thing had surely seen better days. Four stories of dirtied paint. I doubt me or Zoe would ever have set foot in a building like this.

The cars are still there, as such we have two possibilities. Either they were overrun or they just have technical problems. "Child's play" though seems to be unaware of our arrival. He's in the house six buildings further down the road. I actually SAW him walking down the road.

I see Karen nodding as if to confirm something she had already known. Then she looks up and looks at us through the darkness of her visor.

"We know where they are. We're going to group up and take a look at their hideout. Sadly we actually have a time limit right now. We know he's going to move soon after what happened with A3. The best thing we can do is letting Ignar take him out and take care of the rest...

Yes. Everyone move up. Alex, tell Liam to meet up with Ignar to find a suitable position to set up his rifle. Let's go!"

I nod once and whisper "Yes Ma'm" into my com.

Liam, Karen wants you to meet up with Ignar and set up a position to snipe "Child's play" we're probably going to meet up with you afterwards. Or at least give you new orders.

A weird feeling overcomes me but I realize it is just Liams way of giving his approval.

You're holding up good with my power.

Was his last sentence before letting me fall into the silence of our coms once more.

I shrug once and head after the other three.