- A D A R A - K O N S D O T T I R -

     My boots strike the ground aggressively as I rush forward, bracing against the clay wall. The rough surface drags against my elbows as others take their positions, looking into the empty square. On the other side, a two-story box sits alone in the night.

     "Alpha team is planted," I hear Carlos mutter through the earpiece. "Crossing the yard in three, two-"

     Four bodies appear from behind the building, their dark uniforms hidden by the night. I watch dust blow away from their boots as they rush this way, clomping across the square. Carlos arrives first, ducking into the alleyway and nodding. "They're armed."

     "Torch it," General Barr says, and another member of the team presses the detonator's button. The click echoes throughout the alley, and we all nod in satisfaction at the job well done-

     That's when I see her. A girl appears near the building, beginning to walk past it as we all hold our breath. My vision blurs as my heart rate rises. It tunnels in on her, my mind drawing a terrifying conclusion as the only possible outcome.

     "No, no," I plead, shaking my head. "Pause the charges!"

     "Their comms are only jammed for so long," the squadmate responds. The ringing in my ears gets so loud that I can't make out what he says next.

     I jump to my feet, adrenaline coursing in my veins as I-

- ~ -

     I scream as my body jolts upward, pain ripping through my back from the quick movement. A bead of sweat drips off my forehead, flinging forward and onto the... blanket. I'm in my room. My head darts around, the familiar sight slightly calming my panicked breath. No- hyperventilation.

     I hold my head as my body loosens, sweat from the nightmare coating my hands. "Fuck," I mutter, slamming my fist into the mattress. I wish that dream were some one-off thing, but it's anything but. It'd gotten better with time, though not by much. I unclench my fist, my nails leaving marks in my palms.

     Christ.

     Leaving the bed, I grab my bottle of water from the nightstand and take a long sip. The dryness escapes from my mouth, and I breathe out in satisfaction. My body slowly relaxes, the aches in my muscles returning to my attention. Sun makes its way through the blinds as I hear birds chirping and singing outside.

     My place outside Messina isn't much, but it's home. Normally, I can wake up to the waves outside rather than... that. Cheap posters and art line the walls, turning my one-bed house into a cozy beachside retreat. I had grown tired of having to fly to Charybdis, Maelstrom's base, all the time. I may be farther from family, but-

     Wait. I exhale in frustration as I look over at my phone before grabbing it. I see two texts lying in wait on the screen: one from Raleigh, and one from Mom.

    'Sorry about the blow-up, honey. Can we talk tomorrow?'

     I sigh, a tinge of guilt passing through as I remember our call last night. Maybe I did go a month too long, or maybe that would've just delayed whatever happened yesterday. I push it to the back of my mind, enough already on my conscience for one morning.

     'Mena's on her way,' the text from Raleigh reads. I open the notification, my eyes wide: two missed calls. I cringe as I look over at the clock, realizing I overslept. At least it's Mena. She'll be here any minute now.

     'Slept in, sorry,' I type and send before tossing the phone onto the bed. It lands with an unceremonious flop as I rush to my wardrobe, doing my best to beat Mena with her head start-

     Knock knock.

     Damnit.

     "Give me two minutes!" I plead, sliding my pants on with haste as I glance at the door.

     "Alright, I'll be in the car!" I hear Mena say, and I get to work. Everything seems to fly on as I run around the house breathless, ticking items in my head like a checklist. I can't forget anything, or Lucas would give me shit for it - I can't give him too much ammo.

     I fling the door open, sunlight bouncing off my skin as I slam it behind me. I can't help but grin as I look forward, seeing Mena lean over and open the door for me slightly. I throw my bag off my shoulders, hearing it thud in the backseat as I take shotgun. "Excited to see me?"

     "It's been sooo long!" She emphasizes, a bubbly smile plastered on her face as she puts the car in drive and lurches us forward. "Y'know, like a whole day?"

     "Life of the party, I guess," I chuckle, and she looks at me suspiciously. "What?"

     "You don't look so hot," Mena states, one eyebrow raised. "You all good?"

     "Just didn't sleep well, that's all," I respond, earning a shrug from her as we wind through the streets and towards the HQ. The new building was opened just five years ago, a sprawling campus situated in the mountains just outside of Messina. The HQ houses most of Maelstrom's operations - as arguably the world's most influential company, they're mostly involved in banking, but make incredible technological strides as well in advanced electronics and deep-sea research.

     And, recently, our private military company. Raleigh isn't the type of guy to set his personal money in stocks and forget about it - everything is reinvested into the company for new ventures. I figure this could change when he has a family of his own, but who knows?

     I fish my sunglasses out of my backpack, putting them on and looking off the edge of the road. In the distance, I could see the sea, with the sun barely peeking over the horizon. I must admit, Raleigh picked a beautiful place for this. I pull out my phone and see two texts I had missed with everything else:

     'Got a mission for you. See you soon.'

     'Hello? You up?'

     I lean my head against the headrest, seeing the HQ quickly approach outside the glass. The Italian morning breeze feels good as I set my arm out the window. "Raleigh's got a mission for me," I half chuckle, and Mena again looks at me; this time, there's a bit more cheer on her face.

     "Oh?" She says, her eyes lighting up a bit. "Haven't heard of any mission. Where are we going, boss?"

     "We'll see what's in store, I guess," I sigh, already a bit exhausted from the day. I earn another sideeye from Mena, nodding her head a bit as we arrive outside Charybdis. She puts the SUV in park, reaching for the door handle.

     "Aww, cheer up," she chuckles, hopping out of the car as I follow suit. "It'll probably be something fun, boss!"

     "I hope!" I say, trying to be more cheerful. This is peak Mena, right here. Sometimes I wonder how she does mercenary work with that level of excitement, and then I remember she was the only female Navy SEAL ever. She and I have a lot in common in that regard.

     Walking in, the two of us step into the main elevator and hold our arms up to the sensor on the wall. It recognizes our clearance chip, closing the doors swiftly and readying the elevator to go to the training center. All of us operatives have a small chip right in our forearm, sending our vitals and location back to Maelstrom. The invasion of privacy worried me at first, but I could certainly understand the need for it.

     Heading below ground, I see the vast training center as soon as the windows are visible. Inside, there's a soldier's dream of equipment ready for use, complete with a range, multiple simulation courses, R&D facilities, VR facilities, and an endless list of helpful stations and exercises available. It's amazing what Maelstrom money can buy. That, combined with only recruiting the most capable soldiers on the planet, is what creates such a powerful unit.

     The elevator stops gently, its glass doors sliding open as the two of us walk out into the facility. "I need to get back to my R&D trial," Mena states, giving me a high-five. "Let me know where he sends us, yeah?"

     "Sure thing," I reply, smiling. Sometimes, I'm surprised by being the Commandant Operative here, but I really am thankful for how things turned out. Not everyone gets a chance like this, and I was making the best of it. "Thanks for the ride, Mena!"

     She smiles before walking over to R&D. As our R&D Director, Mena was the spearhead of most of our craziest military technologies. Only one thing's stronger than her ADHD, and that's her ingenuity.

     "Hey, sleeping beauty," I hear from the right. Turning that way, I see Natalia sharpening her special blade as she walks towards me. Natalia is a chemical whiz and often helps Mena in development. She rocks a custom acid-laced blade. Setting it down on a nearby table, she walks in and hugs me.

     "That's me," I state, hugging back. I lean into it, the warmth of a friend managing to comfort me in my stressed state. "You guys managed not to burn the place down when I was gone!"

     She laughs, letting go and stepping back to pick up her blade. "I'm surprised too," she giggles. "You know where to find me, Adara."

     "See you around," I smile, waving before walking through the training center. I look towards the range, thinking of just how long I'd spent in this place. Being such a small force, it was easy for us to develop strong squad chemistry, another reason for our proficiency.

     I spot the boys sitting at the coffee bar chatting and decide to say hi. Dom and Lucas had practically become brothers here over the years, and it was refreshing to watch. Lucas, like me, had seemed to rejoice in the opportunity to be part of this team over Delta Force. I knew, in particular, that having to break the terrible news to me that night had been one of his final straws.

     "Morning, gents!" I exclaim. Dom waves, and Lucas' eyes glow seeing me back. "Working real hard over here, huh?"

     "Gotta get the energy somewhere," Lucas sighs, standing up and offering me a hug as well. I take it, thinking of how far we've come. So much had changed in that period of my life, and Lucas is one of the only constants. Dom shoots the rest of his black coffee, slamming the glass on the table.

     "I'm guessing you'd like some," Dom states, his hybrid Scottish-Russian accent throwing me off as always. He used to be part of the SAS, before losing function in his legs due to a bomb defusal gone wrong. He traveled to Russia, joined Spetsnaz, and got a special exoskeleton to restore his motion and enhance his strength.

     "Desperately," I sigh, as Lucas sits back in his seat.

     "We didn't even see you walking up," Lucas chuckles, with Dom nodding in agreement as he readies a cup for me. "Still nothing from the Ali's, by the way. It's been almost 40 hours now."

     "You'd think they'd say something," I concur, recounting that broadcast. I had been out on a drive at the time, listening but not watching. I don't know who was more shocked: me or the poor journalist trying to cover the disaster. I still remember the shock and panic in his voice; I'm sure he thought he'd witness history yesterday, but not like that.

     "I'm surprised we haven't got any calls," Dom muses, standing up to refill his coffee. "Figured we would've been deployed on palace defense or something like that."

     "Me too," I agree, thinking. "Then again, they like to keep their affairs in-house. Wouldn't expect them to call Mercs normally."

     "Adara!" I hear, looking behind me, as Raleigh walks up. It looks like he'd been up all night, with his unpolished clothes and bags under his eyes. "Morning, guys," he adds, acknowledging Lucas and Dom.

     "She missed her alarm, eh?" Dom chuckles, earning a smile from Raleigh as Lucas laughs along. I roll my eyes, grab the cup of coffee, and drink as if my life depended on it.

     "By a minute or two," Raleigh responds, shifting his focus back to me and motioning for me to follow him.

     I go to walk with him, and I hear Lucas behind me. "Ooooh, Adara's going to the principal's office!" he jokes, gaining another giggle from Dom. I smile, flipping him the bird as I walk away. I earn a chuckle from Lucas as Raleigh smirks.

     "I see you've been missed," Raleigh says as we walk back through the training area.

     "Nature of the business," I sigh, adjusting my backpack strap. "What do you have for me?"

     "I'm sure you've seen the news in the past two days," he starts, and my curiosity is piqued. Were we not just talking about how the Ali's kept to themselves? The two of us step off to the side and enter the briefing room.

     "You've got my attention now," I say, getting a nod from Raleigh. "We don't really hear from Al Kamara."

     "A succession crisis will do that to you," Raleigh responds, casting his device's screen to the projector. "There's a bit of a domino effect going on."

     "Lay it out for me," I state simply.

     Raleigh nods, looking at the screen. "As you know, Kali Ali, the princess of Al Kamara, nearly died trying to wield the Kamar. While even we don't know why it failed, I'm sure the cause will leak at some point. Until then, though, the Alis are in a very bad situation."

     He flashes a new screen on the projector, showing a map of Al Kamara with some territories on it. "Al Kamara is a very patriotic country. While speculation runs rampant, many factions have risen around the country demanding answers. With a weakened crown, outside powers like Iran or Russia would likely look into securing the only supernatural weapon on this planet while they have a chance. So, not only is civil war possible, but an invasion as well.

     "We're in the business of making the world a better place," Raleigh continues. "To avoid war, Al Kamara needs to be strong, and that won't happen with no successor in place to Shuma and Alebi Ali, the king and queen."

     I frown, tilting my head. "So... we're security? Or rooting out enemy factions?"

     "Good guess," he responds, looking at me. "...But no. You have a far more important job." I squint at that, trying to predict his next words.

     "You are going to escort the other Ali back to Al Kamara, the expelled heir. Do you remember Suri Ali?"

     I lean back, eyes wide.