Nice to Meet You (A-005 Parable) (04/21/2022)

## Nice To Meet You (A Story regarding A-005)

The alarms blared with enough volume to pierce cloth. Agents were rushing through the halls yelling to each other giving commands. One shout was clear “Secure the Roundtable!” It was Agent Malik King’s supervisor, who had already darted out the lab room a few seconds after the alarms started. He was stuck in place, like a deer in headlights.

For years he was trained for situations like these. He was told many times by the Director that there would be a moment where the Group would be in danger. And many times where the whole world would be in danger. However, he was trained for a containment breach and an incursion from the Camelotian Government. He wasn’t trained or prepared for an attack by the Syndicate.

Gunshots and screaming were heard from outside the hall. At that moment, his lab partner closed and locked the sliding door and turned off the transparency mode. “They’re looking for the necklace,” the lab partner explained.” If they can’t get it off the Seraph they’ll get it off the Director. They know he’s not as strong as him. They’re sick. Who would ever hurt the Director?”

Malik looked around and found his assigned handgun. “Well, the Syndicate it appears,” Malik responded while loading his weapon. “Do you think any of them have abilities?”

“Well, the Seraph said most of them are human, save for someone named Coldfront, and Havelock is rarely seen.”

“So a gun will do fine, I’m hearing. You have yours?”

“Yeah, yeah I do.”

She pulls out her pistol and loads it as well. They both hear boots rumble through the hall like thunder and orders being given. They ready their weapons and stand at either side of the door. They wait for what seems like ages. The constant stomping pounds into Malik’s head and looks at his lab partner. There’s an apparent look of determination whilst also having the look of absolute terror.

The Syndicate is nothing they have ever faced before. While the Camelot Army was already something to be feared, the Syndicate’s armada was bred for multiversal travel and the like. They’ve fought demons, entities, and even gods. Humans were cannon fodder to these people. You could barely even call them human themselves with how cold and hardened they were.

After a while the boots stop, and they halt right at Malik and his partner’s door. A radio is heard and then a man shouts, “The Multiverse Director’s office is here. Break it down.” This is followed by a loud thump on the door. Malik and his partner look at each other as they realize they’re trying to kick it down. Malik grips his gun and signals the partner to find cover. What they want with him is anyone’s guess, but they can say for sure it wasn’t going to have a good ending.

The door thumps more and eventually more radio chatter is heard. The thumping stops for only a moment before what sounds like a laser is heard. Malik aims his gun and waits for them to finally cut through and when they do, opens fire on the first three soldiers he sees. He manages to dome one and injure the other while the last one ducks for cover. More soldiers come through and start to spray the lab with bullets. One ricochets and hits the lab partner and she lets out a shriek of pain. Malik is too far to tend to her wound and could only keep firing. He wonders how long until he runs out of ammunition. Is this it? Will he die here? He ponders these thoughts as he now mindlessly pulls the trigger hoping it’s enough to ward them off. That’s when a loud crash is heard behind him. When he looks back, he sees an entire small aircraft lodged into the wall. The room goes silent and murmuring is heard within the aircraft.

Malik knows something is up when the smoke doesn’t settle at all. In fact, the smoke begins to increase in volume as it slowly creeps out of the aircraft. The Syndicate soldiers step back a bit, and then step back more as the smoke touches them. One gives out a yelp of pain and begins shooting at the smoke and eventually chokes and falls to the floor. The others begin to open fire as well at the smoke. The aircraft cockpit opens and out jumps a woman in a green coat. She rushes at the soldiers while they’re distracted and with a quick swipe of her small sword dispatches the soldiers in the room.

Malik looks in awe of the woman and snaps out of it when she calls out, “Your plan worked this time Yarad, but I don’t quite like crashing our jet into our friends.” He wonders who she’s talking to, until the smoke starts to form at one point into the body of a young teenager. The teenager puts his hands behind his head in a lackadaisical fashion and responds, “Hey, it was the quickest way to get in. Plus, it was pretty fashionable, don't you think?” The woman rolls her eyes and responds with, “Recon the base, I want to see if the Roundtable is safe and take count of the survivors in staff of the site.” The teenager simply nods and forms back into a cloud of smoke and leaves through the broken down door.

Malik hears another set of steps and sees a woman tend to the lab partner. She’s wearing robes and has a large engraved staff. She says warmly to the partner “Please hold still. You’ll be okay.” She puts her hand to her wound and the room gives off a slight warm feel. The partner’s gash slowly closes up and eventually, it’s like nothing ever hit her. The partner looks at the woman and thanks her with teary eyes. The woman smiles in response and looks at Malik. “Are you hurt too?” she asks. Malik stammers and shakes his head in response. She nods and starts walking out the lab.

Malik stops her and says “Who are you guys?” She and the other woman look at him directly. The woman in the coat has one green eye and another pitch black with a sigil inside the iris he begins to recognize. The robed woman speaks first, “My name is Priestess. It’s nice to meet you. Though I wish it were on more diplomatic terms.” She smiles and curtsies. The woman in the coat walks forward a bit and says “I’m called the Imperialist, and we’re the Cherubs of the Seraphim.” She shows the emblem of the Seraphim on her jacket and Priestess does the same with her headpiece. Malik and the lab partner look at each other and get up to walk towards them.

The lab partner says, “So you’re the ones from another universe. We’ve heard a lot about you guys. The Director speaks so highly of you.” She shakes Imperialist’s hand and smiles wide. Malik speaks up and says, “How did you know we were in trouble?” Imperialist looks at Malik and answers, “We got a tip from Here Lies Fate that this would happen. So we took an aircraft and came here as fast as we could. I’m sorry we weren’t fast enough. Some of your staff were unfortunately killed, I assume.” Malik shakes the thought and stands up straight, “It’s okay, it’s better than losing all of them. Thank you, ma’ams.” he bows his head in respect and Imperialist gives a reassuring smile.

The teenager comes back and looks at Imperialist and reports, “Roundtable is secure, and I took out like three squads. There’s more, but nowhere near the rest of the staff.” He looks at Malik and gives a toothy grin. “Oh heya, I’m Hellscream. I flew that jet into your lab. Sorry about that.” Malik chuckles and shakes his hand. He’s amazed by how strong and coordinated these people were. He thought about how one teenage boy was able to take out three groups of what seem to be super soldiers. “Welp, we better get going. Bria? Milly?” Hellscream looks at the two and they nod back. They look at Malik and his partner and salute then run into the hall. Malik looks at his partner and says “So, lunch after this is all over?” to which she responds by laughing and nodding.