Note: The Events expressed in this chapter are fictional and are not representative of any conflicts from the real world.

  2009, England – Close to Scotland border.

  A group of men dressed like Scottish soldiers gathered at the border between England and Scotland. They had set up a small base camp, with armed trucks and even a tank all nearby. The men moved through the camp, many of them armed with machine guns. In the largest tent, the leaders of the men were gathered around a table, on top of which, a map laid.

  A scout entered through the back entrance of the tent. “Sir, we’ve found what we’re searching for.” The scout announced. The men gathered around the table looked at the soldier, before one of them nodded and gestured for the scout to leave. The scout gave a quick bow before turning around and exiting the tent.

  “Do we send a message to the main base?”

  “No. Not yet. We had orders to first retrieve the items.” A man with a thick beard stated, before brushing his beard gently and looking down at the map. “Then do we move out and retrieve it? It’s better to do it as soon as possible, before the English forces catch wind of us.”

  Another man, with a scarred up face replied, before crossing arms.

  “Hm… I suppose that’d be the best move.” The thick bearded man stated, before picking up the map and rolling it up. “Then let’s move out. No need to drag this out.” He looked at a scrawny man, who was standing to the side with his arms behind his back. “Sound the announcement. We’re abandoning this camp and moving out to retrieve the item.”

  “Right.” The scrawny man left.

  The other leaders around the table also began gathering their stuff, picking up their weapons.

  Outside, the scrawny man began rallying everyone in the camp, telling them to gather everything and load the trucks – that their mission is now set in motion. Not too far away, watching them behind a rock, a young man was hiding, using a pair of binoculars to observe the camp. Then, after a moment, a walkie-talkie on his belt sparked up.

  “Jack, do you copy?”

  He put his binoculars down, picking up the radio. “Loud and clear captain.”

  “Do you have eyes on the target?”

  “Affirmative. They number about forty, forty three with two leaders with high bounties on their heads.” Jack responded, before falling behind the stone a bit more, to ensure he wasn’t detected by the ones he was observing.

  “That’s a lot more than expected… You still think you can handle them all on your own?”

  Jack laughed.

  “I’ve been doing this for eight years now, captain. Forty foot soldiers are equivalent to punching bags.”

  “Not the foot soldiers. I’m worried about the two leaders, Jack. Think you can take care of those two? According to Ellie's research, they’re the Brethor brothers, two men who are already wanted by three different countries and have quite the criminal record.”

  Jack remained silent for a bit, before smirking and reaching into his coat pocket, taking out a pair of specialised military gloves, pulling them onto his hands. Then, he picked up his radio again. “Have some faith in me, captain. Just because the prey is a little bigger than usual, doesn’t mean it’s suddenly invincible.”

  Silence.

  Then, a sigh came from the radio. “If you say so. Keep us updated. Oh, and remember – at least one has to be kept alive for questioning.”

  “Roger that. Just make sure you get the item back to our employer. Jack out.” Jack replied, before placing the radio onto his hip and turning down its volume. Then, he looked at the watch on his left wrist. 13:23. It was almost time to start.

  He lowered himself as low as he could, laying against the ground as flat as he could, before pulling a camouflaged blanket over him. Then, he looked through a crevice in the stone he was hidden behind, looking towards the camp again. In the short conversation he had with the Captain over the radio, his targets had finished their packings and were on the move towards him.

  It was show time.

  The several vehicles approached Jack's location, with the tank at the very back. The thick bearded man was in a truck at the very front, window open, smoking a thick cigar. “Keep it steady. I’m trying to finish this thing before we get there.”

  “Of course sir.” The one at the steering wheel answered.

  As they drove, things appeared to be normal – the sun beamed down and a gentle breeze blew past them. Then..

  Boom.

  A sudden explosion erupted – two cars going up into flames. The rest of the vehicles slowed, before stopping. Then, a loud yell came from behind. “It’s an ambush! We’re under attack!” The thick bearded man threw his cigar away, quickly grabbing a rifle and opening the door of the truck, leaping out.

  Everyone panicked, men jumping out of trucks, grabbing weapons and quickly scanning the area around them. Nothing. Silent. Then, two smoke grenades hit the center of the panicked men, blocking out all sight. “Don’t panic! Everyone remain calm!”

  Then, pained groans and shouts echoed in the smoke, with the sound of bodies hitting the ground following after them. The men all shouted, aiming their guns in a variety of directions, firing out to try and shoot out whoever was attacking them. One after the other, the men were taken out, pinned to the ground and killed swiftly. The thick bearded man moved a bit deeper into the smoke, gesturing to some folk to cover him. Kneeling down, he examined the dead bodies. “Stab wounds… They were killed with a knife.”

  “That means the enemy is here with us.” Another bearded man spoke up.

  The thick bearded man nodded, before standing up, adjusting his hold on the rifle in his hands. “Everyone regroup at the tank! We’ll overwhelm the enemy from there!”

  The men began to slowly traverse through the thick smoke created by the smoke grenades, carefully making sure that they were safe. However, even this didn’t help them. Even as they retreated to the tank, they fell down like flies – killed swiftly in the smoke, with the last thing that comes out of their mouths being pained screams before silence.

  “Stay together! Don’t split off!” The thick bearded man announced.

  Then, another explosion erupted from the front, followed by men screaming. Another trap had been set off… Or so they thought at first. “Careful where you step, there’s more landmines—”

  “There are grenades falling down! There’s a grenade launcher!”

  A sudden announcement roared, before several explosions went off around the thick bearded man. In a slight panic, he rushed towards where the tank should be, his brother and a few other men following after him. As they reached the end of the smoke, they were met with a concerning sight. The tank and their operators were all already taken out. The tank had a giant hole in the side, with the ones who piloted it slaughtered.

  “Dammit, when did they–?”

  “Behind us! The enemy is—”

  Gunfire.

  The footsoldiers fell to the ground, as bullets rained from the smoke. The men shouted, aiming their guns at the smoke and opening fire back, in an attempt – and perhaps hope – to hit whoever was shooting at them. The thick bearded man as well as the other bearded man quickly rushed behind the tank, taking cover before looking back from the behind.

  The men at the front were falling fast.

  “We have to find the enemy and kill them fast brother.” The bearded man stated. The thick bearded man exhaled before taking out a magazine and loading it into his gun. “Load the experimental ammunition. The boss won’t be happy about us using it, however, our survival right now matters more.”

  “Got it.” The younger one followed the older one's lead, taking out the same magazine as him before loading it into his gun. Afterwards, the entire field fell silent, with one last explosion that wiped out all the remaining foot soldiers.

  The two bearded men carefully moved out of their cover, observant of their surroundings. The smoke from the two smoke bombs had all but cleared out – revealing the massacre that took place. All of the soldiers they had with them were lying on the ground dead. Either killed by explosion, bullets or knife stabs.

  The thick bearded man gestured to his younger brother to move to the other side, while he moved to the right, his eyes peeled.

  The two men carefully circled the area, eventually arriving back to the front truck in which they both had originally been. It was empty. Silent. The chaos and commotion had died out and the enemy, seemingly vanished without a trace. The two men stopped at the front of the truck, before the younger brother sighed, turning to look at his older brother, lowering his gun. “There’s no one here. We should—”

  Then, without a warning, he was grabbed from behind, before with a swift movement, his throat was slit with a knife. The thick bearded man acted quickly, firing at the target – however his bullets only hit the body of his younger brother. Jack tossed the younger brother over the car engine, knocking the thick bearded man to the ground, before hopping over himself and smashing his right foot onto the man's hand gripping the gun. The thick bearded man let out a pained scream, before his younger brother was pulled off of him, thrown onto his other arm. The man looked up at the attacker, his eyes widening.

  Jack laughed, before whistling.

  “Look at this. The mighty Brethor brothers, reduced to such a state with ease.” He leaned down, a grin across his face. The thick bearded man grit his teeth. “Who the hell are you—?!”

  “Wilhelm Brethor and the dead one over there is Henry Brethor. Two brothers, who for ages now, have been notorious criminals across the world, wanted in three countries and responsible for countless atrocities and horrors all across Europe.”

  “What—?” Wilhelm looked at Jack confused, before Jack pressed his boot more onto his arm, causing him to clench in pain. “Sorry, I was just reminding myself who I’m dealing with. But just to be sure, you are Wilhelm Brethor, right?”

  “What does it matter–?!”

  “Because for a notorious criminal, you were stupidly easy to catch off guard and overpower. Makes me wonder how much of your grand crimes are just old wife tales.” Jack let out a small laugh, before pulling a revolver off of his belt, spinning it and shooting dead a somehow still alive footsoldier that was about to fire at him. Then, he blew away the smoke exiting the gun's barrel, before grinning and putting a bullet in Wilhelm's shoulder and then elbow. Wilhelm let out pained screeches, the grip on his gun disappearing, while blood flooded out from the bullet wounds.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you yet. The orders were clear – to ensure at least one survivor.”

  “If you’re planning to bring me back as a prisoner for questioning, you may as well put a bullet in my skull now, because I am not telling you folk anything.” Wilhelm stated, before spitting at Jack. Jack chuckled, cleaning off the slightly bloodied spit and backing up a bit.

  As soon as he did, Wilhelm attempted to jump onto his feet, pulling his still uninjured arm from underneath his brother's dead body, before reaching for a pistol on his belt, however before he had the chance to fire it, Jack pummeled him in the face, sending the man tumbling back a bit, before he punching him again – this time hard enough to break his nose.

  Blood spilled from his nostrils, staining his beard, clothes and then the ground.

  Jack picked up his healthy arm, taking out his knife and jamming it into his elbow joint, causing Wilhelm to wince in pain. Jack clicked his tongue.

  “Not a smart move. Should have stayed down.” Then, he dropped the man to the ground, pulling his knife out of his arm. Then, he crouched down over him. “Seriously, are you certain you are one of the Brethor brothers? This performance is seriously pathetic for someone who’s meant to be a highly wanted criminal with a record a mile long.”

  Jack laughed, before his radio chimed.

  An inaudible voice spoke. Sighing, he reached for it and took it off of his belt, turning up its volume. “Speak again, I had my volume down.”

  “We’ve successfully moved the item back to the client. How are things on your end?”

  Jack threw a look down at the breathing and nose bleeding Wilhelm, before shrugging. “Honestly, disappointed. I expected them to be more of a challenge, but they all fell in a few minutes. Seriously, all it took were a few landmines and two smoke grenades and these guys were running all over the place like an ant colony whose hill had just been demolished.” He laughed at the end, before jamming his knife into Wilhelm's leg, preventing the man from going anywhere.

  A sigh rang out from the other side of the radio. “Well, as long as you manage to get it done, then everything is fine I suppose. Did you at least keep one of them alive for questioning?”

  “Mhm, and a pretty important one as well. Trust me captain, I’m certain we’ll get some deep information from this one.” The voice on the other end of the radio exhaled again, before silence took place for a few moments. Then, it spoke again.

  “Alright, we’ll be coming over to your location shortly. Keep an eye on your hostage and please make sure he is still alive by the time we get there.”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “Who do you take me for, captain? I’m a mercenary, not a monster.”

  “Jack.”

  Jack remained silent for a moment, before sighing.

  “I’ll make sure the hostage doesn’t die on me until you all arrive.”

  “Good. We’ll be there soon.”

  “Roger that.” Then, the radio cut out. Jack placed it back onto his belt, before exhaling. Wilhelm looked at Jack with a shocked expression. “That voice on the radio… There is no way. Was that the Dancer—?!”

  Jack looked at the man, before grinning and standing up, before picking up the bleeding man by his shirt, dragging him with him, before throwing him next to a rock. Then, Jack took out a thick bit of cloth, before using it to tie his wrists together. Though with the damage Jack had caused to his arms, it was highly unlikely he’d be able to do anything other than try and run away with his limping leg, it was better to be safe than sorry.

  After he tied his wrists together, Jack backed up a bit.

  Wilhelm looked at Jack with now fear in his eyes. “You’re an accomplice to the Dancer… But who..”

  “Eh, it’s not hard to narrow it down if you think about it hard enough.” Jack scratched his chin, before standing up and looking around at the chaos he had caused here, before walking towards one of the trucks that had avoided damage from the landmines he had planted. Wilhelm watched Jack, breathing heavily.

  “I’ve only heard stories about them… The White Orchid. A military mercenary organisation, led by a terrifying woman. Her name is rare to know, however everyone knows her title given to her… The Dancer.”

  Wilhelm narrowed his eyes a bit on Jack, who was now rummaging through the truck, taking out the weaponry in it and tossing it to the ground after removing the ammunition.

  “Within the organisation, there are several individuals who are known by titles rather than names… the Genius, the Wolf, the Terror, the Doctor… However, none of those match what this man did here with their records….” Wilhelm's eyes then slightly widened, as he remembered something he had heard a long while back. “Right… I had heard of rumours about a man who had appeared out of nowhere and built up a reputation fast for his ruthless fighting method and animalistic spirit. A man who could take down entire units of soldiers on his own, with just a basic firearm, a knife and sometimes, a few well placed traps…”

  As Jack finished his rummaging through the truck, he turned to the firearms he had emptied from it, before crouching down and examining them a bit more closely. Afterwards, he turned to the magazines, picking one up and examining the rounds inside it.

  “While not as feared as the Dancer or the Wolf… this man also has many people wishing to avoid an encounter with him…. What was the title again…” Wilhelm went through several options in his mind, tilting his head back and resting it onto the rock behind him, staring at Jack.

  “...I remember now… ‘Reaper’, that was the title.”

  After remembering, Wilhelm exhaled. They never stood a chance in the first place… Especially after he witnessed just how much of a monster Jack had been during his massacre of his men. The entire squad was wiped out in quick succession, like it was nothing. He had thought that the rumours about a single man being able to wipe out entire groups and squadrands on his own were nonsensical and exaggerated… But it was safe to say that they had not been.

  A long while passed. Jack kept Wilhelm alive, ensuring the man didn’t bleed out to death or anything else. Eventually, a large white bus pulled up, stopping. Then, the doors to it flew open, before a young woman with glasses stepped out. “Wowie, this place looks like a war zone.” Lily Lavender, the medical expert of the White Orchid. Though, she was more commonly known by the title of ‘the Doctor’.

  After her, a man dressed in a long black coat and with short black hair stepped out, his mouth covered by a mask. The man looked at the dead bodies around and sighed. “Hey Jack, do you seriously not know how to wipe out a squad of terrorists without making it look like a monster ravaged through here?” James Silverstein, one of the first members of the White Orchid and an expert in firearms as well as well versed in close combat techniques. However, his true mastery is over handling sniper rifles. He is more often referred to as ‘the Terror’.

  Jack laughed, leaping off of the truck roof he was on top of, before walking towards James and shaking his hand. “You know me, I have my way of fighting.”

  “Yeah, only your way always makes us work harder to clean up afterwards.” James said with a slightly sarcastic tone, while Jack just laughed loudly again and moved past James. From the bus some minor members of the organisation also hopped out, wielding automatic rifles. “The hostage is by the rock over there.” Jack stated, with the armed members nodding before rushing over to Wilhelm, who was resting.

  Lastly, from the bus stepped out a tall, mature woman.

  She was dressed in a dark grey body suit with a black leather jacket over it. A pair of black boots on her feet and her hair white and long, caught up in an upper horse tail. Approaching Jack, she stopped before crossing her arms and looking at the man with a sharp gaze, her lavender eyes clearly showing her feelings right now.

  “Hey captain.” Jack greeted her, while taking off his gloves and placing them back into his pocket. The leader and captain of the entire White Orchid organisation, as well as technically the adoptive ‘mother’ of Jack, Sandra Gragbone. However, she is more notoriously known by the title ‘Dancer’, due to her fighting style being a graceful one, which resembled dancing.

  Seeing her eyes and expression, Jack sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

  “And what did I do wrong this time?”

  Sandra raised an eyebrow, as if asking Jack whether he really doesn’t know what she was annoyed by. After a moment, Jack bowed towards her. “Apologies for creating such a big mess with my savagery… again.” Sandra sighed.

  “Jack, you’re a fantastic fighter. Truly one of our best, but you seriously need to tone down your savage fighting style. The organisation doesn’t have enough manpower to clean up after you every time you create a big mess.”

  “Right, right..” Jack rubbed the back of his neck, before following Sandra, the two of them walking over to Wilhelm, who was being examined by the guards and Lily. “Good thing I came along. This guy is technically still alive, but with a few broken bones, two gunshot wounds, a broken nose and two knife stab wounds, had we taken any longer, chances are he could have bled to death.”

  Sandra threw a gaze at Jack, who simply looked away.

  Then, Sandra looked back down at Lily. “Think you can patch him up so he can answer our questions and not die on us?”

  “Of course I can～” She responded, before getting back up and gesturing to the guards to bring Wilhelm to the bus. “But that’ll have to happen back at the headquarters.” Sandra nodded.

  “Understood. Then we won’t be here long. We’ll confiscate the weaponry they had and then move out.” Then, she gestured to some other guards to begin the confiscation process before spotting James hunched over a dead man not too far from them. Walking over, she poked him. “Who are you examining?”

  “Who do you think? It’s the younger Brethor brother. Killed with a swift slit of his neck and then shot by what appears to be an automatic rifle, most likely he was used as a meat shield by our beloved Reaper after he killed him.” Jack shrugged. “Don’t see the use of being careful with a dead body of a terrorist.”

  Sandra sighed.

  “Well, at least we have the other brother captured. Lily will patch him up for us. As for the dead one, take him with us. We’ll transport him over to Italy to be handed over to the authorities there.”

  “Understood.” James nodded, before taking out a pair of gloves and putting them on, before picking up the dead man and carrying him over his shoulder back to the bus. Jack watched James leave for a moment, before looking back at Sandra.

  “With this mission done, what’s our next move?”

  “First we’ll make sure that the hostage you captured doesn’t die on us. Afterwards, we’ll get as much information out of him as we can. Currently, we need intel on the Revision unity that’s operating in England and Scotland.” Sandra replied, before gesturing to him to follow after her, as she headed back over to the bus.

  “So we have some free time technically?”

  “Not exactly. I have a new mission for you to do.” Jack smirked, however before he got any ideas, Sandra looked back at him with a sharp gaze. “This one doesn’t involve killing. In fact, it’ll be best if you stay out of any unnecessary conflicts while on this mission.”

  Jack sighed, rolling his eyes, the smirk disappearing. “Alright, what am I doing?”

  “Ellie figured the location for a meeting between Revision unity and the Ferfeld family in London. While we question the older Brethor brother, I want you to head over to that location and see what the meeting is all about. Do not kill anyone. Just observe, and if possible, get a note on who the Revision unity sent to this meeting. Got it?”

  Jack rubbed the back of his neck, taking in a deep breath, before exhaling. “Boring, but I can manage that. Should I bring back the Revision envoy if he turns out to be someone highly positioned?” Sandra shook her head. “Don’t even try. While I don’t doubt your skill or ability to bring him back, it’s better if we allow the meeting to occur without any interruption and simply observe it for now. The Ferfeld family has enough influence and power to spin the story around and bury any and all evidence against them. We have to play the long game.”

  “I see. Very well, I’ll see what I can bring back in terms of information.”

  Sandra nodded, before stopping and turning to face Jack.

  “Remember, we want to know what the meeting is for and who the Revision unity sent as an envoy.”

  “Right right. Consider it done.”

  Sandra's strict and rather cold expression softened, before she laughed, crossing her arms. Jack looked at her, slightly puzzled. “Sorry. I still find it hard sometimes to imagine that you’re the same boy I found in that destroyed town surviving on his own. You’ve grown up to become such a strong and admittedly hotheaded man, which is such a stark contrast to how you used to be.”

  Jack remained silent, before laughing as well.

  “Well, I had a pretty strict step mother and master teaching me.”

  “Are you saying I shaped you into this battle freak that you are?”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.” Jack laughed.

  Sandra also laughed, before gently patting Jack on his right shoulder. “I know this will sound a bit random, but do note that I’m proud of you Jack. You’ve done so much for the organisation and yourself. Honestly speaking, I never expected you to get this far when I first took you in.”

  Jack once again, remained silent. Sandra turned around walking away from Jack, resting her hands on her hips. “Fate is truly a scary thing sometimes huh? Turning an innocent and cute boy into such a monstrous savage fighter…” Sandra laughed to herself, before shaking her head. “Alright, that’s enough. Let’s get on the bus and head back to HQ.”

  Sandra then climbed back inside the bus, leaving Jack alone outside.

  The man looked away, looking at the different guards that were gathering the weaponry that the men he had slaughtered had carried at one point. He lost himself a bit in thought — thinking back on to the day he was found by Sandra as a child. He was weak and barely managing to survive, however even though she could have ignored him like everyone else had done before her, she decided to take him under her wing.

  Looking down at his right hand, Jack stared at it for a bit, slight flashes of his childhood going through his mind.

  “Hey Jack, you coming?” James’ voice suddenly called out from the bus, breaking Jack out of his thoughts. The man tightened his hand into a fist and then laughed. “Coming.” He replied, turning around and placing his hands inside his pockets, walking over to the bus and climbing aboard as well.

  “The hell were you standing there for?”

  “Nothing. Just thinking about a few things.” Jack replied, taking a seat in the bus, while James shrugged and moved over to Lily, who was tending to Wilhelm, applying temporary treatment.

  Staring out the window, Jack became lost in his thoughts again, simply watching the sun in the sky.

  …

  Jack opened his eyes, waking up and rising up to a sitting position, holding his head gently. Looking around, he noticed Sallow nearby sitting guard. Next to him, Araneida was passed out, sleeping soundly next to him. The Tamer sighed, leaning forward a bit and staring down at his right hand palm. “What was that dream… Why did I dream of that mission..?”

  Jack thought.

  “Wrong, is something?”

  Ebony asked, resting nearby. Jack looked at the serpent, before shaking his head and laying back down. “Nothing. Just a weird dream. That’s all.”

  Ebony remained silent, before closing his eyes again. “If you say so, question you, I shall not.” The serpent went back to resting, while Jack stared at the ceiling, thinking about the dream as well as all the comrades that he had spent eighteen years fighting side by side while part of the White Orchid organisation.

  “...Maybe I should have kept in touch with them after retiring.”