"Welcome, you three. I will be your Supervisor during your apprenticeship training. You’ll report to me before, during, and after each mission you’re assigned." A woman smiled.
"Mrs Lockman? Aren’t you a teacher at the institute?" Jin asked in a confused tone.
It was the following day after Mrs Horton had told Jin, Angela, and Addison about their mission. Each of them got up early to report to headquarters and get their first mission.
"And what do you mean, apprenticeship?" Angela was under the impression that they would be full-fledged Vanguards and Guardians, not a half-vanguard or guardian.
"Of course, she didn’t fully explain what you will be doing." Mrs Lockman sighed. "Listen. You three are the best the institute has at the moment, but you don’t meet the required hours or have the required expierence to become full-fledged Vanguards and Guardians."
"So we’re interns then," Addison grumbled.
"Nope, not interns, apprentices. You will not need to graduate, but simply move up in the ranks. Once you reach the required hours and expierence, you will get promoted to a true Aegis Corps member. This is why the institute is two years with internships."
"I guess. What does our mission entail?" Jin asked
"You three are assigned to stop poachers from disrupting the Red Bird habitat."
"Great, we’re saving birds." Angela was more interested in watching paint dry than saving birds.
"Before you get all upset, wait until I finish speaking. The poachers are illegally breeding the redbirds to create a deviant."
This piqued Jin’s interest. He didn’t care about the illegal breeding, but the poachers trying to create a deviant did.
"Wow, a deviant red bird, big whoop."
"Angela, Red Birds become Flame Birds if they have mana, and if they are a Deviant, they become phoenixes," Jin explained.
"Oh. OHHHH, so this is like...some serious shit."
"Yes, this is some ’serious shit.’" Mrs Lockman mocked Angela.
Addison, who was listening intently, asked her first question. "Is there anything we need to know about these poachers?"
"They are a notorious group of poachers who are known for their deviant breeding. Normally, we would have sent a more expierenced group, but because of the skills you three possess, we decided to give this mission to you. This is their last known location, in the Wild Grove."
Mrs Lockman gave Jin a high-tech tablet with the entire mission briefing on it. He downloaded the contents to his power kit and handed the tablet back to Mrs Lockman.
"Here are your rides. I’ll be on coms to support you if needed." Mrs Lockman handed each of them a metal disk the size of a hand.
"Oh, cool! A hoverboard! Jin, we’re traveling in style!" Angela wasted no time and threw hers down, watching as the disk created two holographic boards for her to stand on.
"We’ll be on our way, Mrs Lockman." Jin grabbed the coms, tossed them to Addison and Angela, activated his hover board, and flew out of the building.
---
"Jin to Lockjaw, we’re approaching the Wild Grove." Jin came up with the codename Lockjaw for Mrs Lockman. He thought it was pretty funny.
"Be careful." She spoke on the coms. "The Wild Grove is known for its dangerous plantlife. You need to be cautious."
"Don’t worry," Jin took a good look at Addison with a grin on his face. "I brought my very own bug repellent."
"Did you just call me bug spray?" Addison didn’t know if she should be offended or laugh because what he was was a bit funny, but it was also pretty rude.
"No, I called you bug repellent. Totally different."
"Incoming!" Angela froze a volley of vines that stretched out into the air to knock them to the surface.
"Plants and fire don’t mix." Addison ignited her body, burning every vine that approached her. The intense heat warded them off, and they changed targets, going toward Jin.
"Jin! On your six!"
Jin was well aware of his surroundings and moved accordingly. He dodged left, then right, his hoverboard slicing through the air. Boosting higher, he looped around and came in from above. The vines followed, twisting to strike, but Jin landed on one midair, surfing along its body as oil sprayed beneath his feet. He kicked off, spun, and fired a jet of flame that raced down the vine, burning it to its main body.
"Show off!" Angela pouted.
"When you’re as cool as I am, you don’t need to show off. It just comes naturally."
"Sure, sure. Let’s deal with this plant."
The three of them flew toward the surface, and Addison burned a large patch of plants to make sure there were no plant monsters around them.
"There it is!" Off to the side, Jin spotted the plant that was trying to kill them. It looked like a venus flytrap, but with a shit ton of vines around it.
"I got this." Angela wasted no time and froze the plant and all of the moisture inside it. Then, she shattered the frozen plant sculpture.
"Team-One, Monsters-Zero." Angela cheered.
Jin pulled out his scanner to see where the Red Bird habitat was. He wasn’t familiar with the area, so he had to rely on his tech.
"Come on, this way. We’re about ten minutes away from the red bird habitat."
Hopping on their hoverboards, they continued to fly toward the habitat.
"So, uhh, Jin. What are we going to do when we find the poachers?" Angela asked
"I don’t know. Beat them up, ask them questions, then take them into custody, I guess. I’ve participated in an Aegis Corps mission. Shouldn’t you know more than me?"
Angela shrugged.
"Amazing answer." He rolled his eyes.
"Jin, look ahead. A barrier." Addison stopped flying in just in case.
Jin stopped flying as well to examine the barrier. "Jin to Lockjaw, there’s a power-dampening energy field surrounding the Red Bird habitat."
"R...te. I can’t....some kind...ference." Something was messing with the communication signals, which wasn’t allowing for smooth communication.
"Hello? Lockjaw?" Jin tried to get the signal back up, but the jammer that was currently blocking radio signals was extremely powerful.
"Jin, look!"
Angela pointed to a group of people snatching red birds, putting them in cages. At first glance, they looked like normal poachers; however, when one of them turned around, Jin noticed a tattoo on their arm.
"The Brotherhood?"