Team Work Makes The-?

Nareth-Nil; it is a cold and eternally frozen desert planet in the fourth orbit of an unnamed, single star system that is rather close to the Lumen K-3 system. Since it orbits a dormant, cold burning blue subgiant star that emits a pale light, the surface of the planet remains illuminated, but the warmth is too meagre to thaw the surface. The system is scattered with dust rings and the collapsed debris of asteroids, dwarf planets and technology—that made interplanetary travel difficult to moniter.

Despite the surface being hazardous, this planet is a huge asset to the Berman Family—its owner—due to how valuable it's resources are.

The mission requires the team to reconnaissance a few areas that are apex predator territories—occupied by S-rank Beasts. Recon and safety equipment would be provided by the Zeta Faction that would make dealing with the problematic surface easier.

Since trapped frozen methane and flammable gases erupt irregularly and randomly from geothermal vents, the provided equipment would cater to avoid any misfortunate happenings with respect to this natural occurrence, providing better vision, thermal activity monitoring, RADAR technology, and better movement on the ice and snow.

If they were to encounter any Elementalists and be spotted, they were required to neutralise the threats as fast as possible; the information that a group of people were aware of the Elementals' presence was too valuable to let loose into the ranks of the Elementals. So, to avoid this, the team is advised to operate as covertly as possible, and keep track of the Elementalists' movement on the planet—and, if possible, discover their hideout.

Before the operation begins, everyone that is taking part in said operation is to meet at one of the sky-cities of the planet. These sky-cities were commissioned to be built by the owners of the planet to survive the surface; they were massive, extensive and interlinked floating arcologies that hovered 8 to 12 kilometres above the ground level. They were previously built solely to make the monopoly of the planet's resources easier and more efficient, but due to how beautifully they have advanced, and the wonders that they hold, they have also become a touring site.

The team that would be conducting the operation is not big at all. It comprises of only eight people; two of which were from the Zeta Faction, three from their subordinate Faction—the Kai Faction—and the other three were independent and trustworthy mercenaries, including Cuinn.

———

"We suggest that you stay at the Zeta Prime tower for today and make yourself familiar with the rest of the team," Elric guided Cuinn to where the team was situated right now—on the same floor as the vice leader's chamber, "Since D-day is tomorrow; I trust you have all you need, or shall we prepare a teleporter to your preferred planet?"

That piece of the information made Cuinn stop mid tracks; "Is something the matter, sir?"

"You really tried to get me on the team just a day before the operation actually began? Well, whatever; I have everything I need, so don't worry," the clone was rather worried now, but he kept walking again, "I still don't understand how the Elementals actually got on the planet, and are able to operate on it, though. Every planet that is an asset to a Faction or Family has surveillance drones near the surface that don't miss a single detail of change..."

There was a slight pause between the question asked by the clone and the answer given by the butler.

"Well, the initial problem with how the Elementals managed to get on the planet has to do with the rings of dust and debris in the solar system which almost borders right by Nareth-Nil; I am sure you understand what it means to moniter such a tight cluster of objects in the middle of space," Elric stopped by a wall, off to the side, "As to how they manage to operate on the surface without being detected lies in the fatal design of the drones that survey the surface. Since most of the beasts on the planet are masters of camouflage in the terrain of all white and blue, and also because of the geothermal activities with the trapped gases, the surveillance drones cater to classifying the changes with respect to thermal vision and temperature differences.

"It might be just an assumption, since no one could have predicted the Elementals to be so advanced in their technology and cunning plans, that they used thermal technologies to disguise themselves on the surface—making it seem like a natural occurence of geo thermal vents opening and releasing hot gases. Frankly, it does not matter now; they are on the planet, and we need to figure out what exactly they want from this planet."

The butler bowed and gave way for Cuinn to enter the room through the wall that had just split open like the vice leader's chamber. "The leader of the Kai Faction will show you to the guest suite where you may make yourself comfortable and prepare for tomorrow. Have a pleasant meeting and stay, sir Arsenal. I shall excuse myself; farewell."

As white light enveloped Elric, the next second, he was gone, and Cuinn was already walking into the room. Upon entering, the wall behind him returned back to its original state.

"Oh-hoh?" one of the few people that were sat on the scattered sofas and chairs immediately recognised Cuinn—more so, his mask than him. "If it isn't the star that exploded like a damn supernova. I've heard a lot about that mask. S-rank merc on his first evaluation: Arsenal, huh?" the woman said as she stopped spinning about her position on a chair.

The clone, to keep his identity secret and especially not known to the military, wears a mask 24/7, unless he is on his warp-ship. It was a jet-black, full-face mask with a single vertical glowing red slit running down the centre; on the outside it did not seem to bear any openings for the mouth, or eyes, but it was completely functional. Even his hair was slicked back in such a way that it seemed wild and fiery as a part of the disguise.

As for the armour, he wore the Celestial Armour piecees—save for the crown—under the holographic display that transformed their look into something more low-key, slick and minimalistic. Since he only had the body of a normal Ability User, he was not as physically strong as all the other top Ability Users and nowhere near the level of his original self; this was why he was given access to the Celestial Gear, including the Celestial split-staff which was, by far, the most powerful item.

Cuinn could see that all of the seven other team members were present here; the Zeta Faction and Kai Faction members were talking to each—quite laid-back. The room was not exactly large; there were only three sofas off to the side of the room, and a conference table in the middle of the room—and chairs, needless to say.

"Half-baked," was all that Cuinn had to say about everyone in the team.

From the side, Cuinn heard six projectiles let loose towards him from the woman that was sat on the chair. "Hah... this is what I mean," he caught the first four between his fingers and let the final two simply hit him and fall down. "You can have these back; I can excuse a slip of your hands, considering your level of skill. I hope you don't make the same mistake on the operation."

"Lame~!!" the pixels on the woman's mask changed to display an annoyed face. She looked like quite the odd ball; she wore a hoodie with bunny ears on her head, her long, blonde hair was braided and rested on her right shoulder. The mask was indeed the most defining part of her aloof character.

One second, everything was unmoving and the situation was stale, and the next second, the woman looked as though she teleported in front of Cuinn and tried to grab his mask; alas, the attempt was too slow for the likes of Cuinn, and he had caught her wrist mid way.

"Sit back down," Cuinn grabbed the top of her head and forcefully turned it towards the chair again and shoved her away, "So, it's people like you that give mercs a bad name. I don't care what you have to say to me, I'm here for the rewards, and you best believe that this mission is going to be another flawless one in my book. And, for it to be so, you guys need to submit to me as the leader of this operation."

The woman sat back down with no more retaliation. "What, you're just gonna sit it out now, bun-bun?" the other mercenary that occupied a whole sofa and lay on his back had just gotten up. This one looked rather fashionable; and, similar to the woman mercenary, he had a mask that displayed a variety of eyes with the help of pixels and in place of expressions on where his mouth is supposed to be, there were waveforms that appeared as he spoke.

"I mean... papito said that if I behave, I'll get a reward~" she began playing with her hair. Cuinn merely grunted, 'Why do these people always have to make life so hard for me...'

The man named Gustave, as previously introduced by Zeke, got up from the conference table, "For some amateur super-rookie with barely any experience, you sure have a big mouth. I didn't say anything back at the association because I didn't want to mess the interaction up for Zeke; but, you really went up and ahead of yourself when you punched him right in his face."

He was big in stature; broad shoulders, large muscular frame. Short brown hair cut in military style, and a neatly trimmed moustache; he bore a fresh-looking wide scar on his left cheek. "You can't just barge in here and demand that you be the leader of this operation. This is a matter of utmost importance; not just to the Zeta Faction, but all of humanity. Failing this just gives the Elementals even more reason to kickstart the war. This is no place for a selfish brat with no knowledge of the world; get a reality check somewhere else. This operation will be led by me—as agreed with, by the vice leader. You mercenaries only need to follow my instructions."

"We'll see about that," Cuinn said, the proclaimation made no difference to him, "Tell me what our goal is. I haven't gotten much info yet."

After a few seconds of silence, Gustave spoke: "After we have gotten on the tail of whatever number of Elementalists that we find, our goal is to follow them to find their hideout. We had a specific goal in mind when we decided that we needed to get you on the team; your job is to infiltrate the enemy base of operations. We'll decide whether you'll disguise yourself as an Elementalist or just sneak in. Though, sneaking in just seems impossible.

"You will extract data directly from their servers so that we can check it in real-time and then figure out our next move."

"Seems easy enough," Cuinn said, "Thanks for picking out the easiest job for me. So, what will you people be doing? I don't think we need any more than three to four people. Not to be rude or anything, the Zeta Faction members on this team, with their physical augumentations, won't be of any help. Their implants make detectable noise, give off more heat signature, and remaining hidden with them seems like an impossible task. I hope they're not gonna stick with us."

"You don't need to state the obvious that rudely, you third-rate," Gustave stepped ahead. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not here to play house."

The sparks flying off between the two cogs were visible to all in the room. The vice leader of the Kai Faction—a giant woman, taller than Quinn, with tactical military gear covering her entire body except her eyes—was visibly tearing up. 'And, I thought that paycheck would be enough compensation for my mental health's jeopardization,' she sniffled.