Rise of Kings and Queens

Chapter 13

THE WORLD MILITARY LEADERS GATHER OVER THE TERRORISTS CALLED DEPENDENCY.

By L.M.Taurus

1/28/0027 UWC

20 hours before headline

Yelena sat at a round table with nine of the other world military leaders as they waited for the remaining two members to arrive. Arlo entered the room out of uniform. He was the only one out of uniform. He wore an open button-up shirt and dress pants. His hair was a mess like he had just woken up.

"Nice of you to join us," said Yelena. "And thank you for wearing your uniform."

"Sarcasm so early in the morning," said Arlo as he took a seat next to Luka and Cairo. "Sorry for being out of uniform. I was already running late. I thought you guys would have preferred if I showed up first than arrived later in uniform."

"Fair enough," said Kara.

"Okay, now the only person missing is Celeste," said Yelena.

"Celeste will not be attending this meeting," said Esme. "She's out on assignment relevant to what we're here to talk about."

"And what's that, big boss?" asked Arlo.

"I'll let Yelena take over."

Everyone turned their attention to Yelena as she pulled out some folders. "The reason most of the world military leaders are gathered here today is because we have to deal with a threat." Everyone straightened in their chairs.

"You're talking about Dependency," said Cairo.

"Correct," said Yelena. "They are becoming too big of a threat that we can't ignore them anymore."

"I've never heard of them," said Arlo. He turned to Cairo. "I'm surprised you have."

"They're all over the news," said Cairo. "My recruits are very angry about their movement."

"Again Arlo, you show your incompetence around your peers," said Yelena.

Arlo frowned. "I can't be the only one who has never heard of them." He looked around the room and everyone shook their heads. "Seriously, I'm the only one."

Yelena shoved one of the folders towards Arlo. "There's some information about them in there. I recommend you read it. Can everyone who's had a dealing with Dependency raise their hands." Esme, Fyn, Kara, Leonie and Mun Ji-hun raised their hands.

"The five of you have dealt with these people," said Arlo, shocked, as he pointed a finger at the folder. "And they're still an issue?"

"Yes," answered Esme. "Fyn, Kara and I fought one of their members early last year. We had arrested him, but he escaped on New Years and joined Dependency."

"Wait, this guy wasn't part of Dependency when you first arrested him?"

"No," answered Fyn. "Dependency broke him out of jail so he could join their group. I was there when it happened."

"I think I did hear about this," said Arlo. "I didn't think the man was going to stay out for long since this happened around headquarters. Didn't you guys lock down the island?"

"We did," said Esme. "We suspect he still escaped somehow."

"The newest member of Dependency is Lin Crespo," said Yelena as she pushed a folder to the middle of the table with a picture of him. "The person who broke him out was a man calling himself Agent of Dependency." She threw another folder in the middle of the table with a picture of the masked Agent. "We're not sure if this man is the leader or another member. Fyn fought him, but he escaped."