Pirate Assassin

Chapter 7

"...the Spectre Corps does not officially exist, but if it did, it would consist of the top male and female operatives throughout the entire United Galactic Government. They are trained in every type of combat, disguise and deception at such a level where even your parents won't recognise you, protection such that your principal stays completely safe from a horde of zombies without a speck of blood on him, espionage of such a degree that you can cause a stranger to reveal top secret information and assassination where your target won't even know he has been killed until he feels his life drain from a slit throat."

-part of the opening speech by Major General Taz Guffkin upon entering the Spectre Corps.

The Major General led him to a mountain in the middle of a lightly forested area which reminded him of Devil's Tower back on earth. "Climb it. You have until the end.of the day. I'll see you at the top. There is no failure unless you let it be so." He added the last sentence meaningfully and he literally hopped up. He jumped onto ledges and footholds he could not see and in a minute, he was so far up he appeared to be a dot. Zack looked around. As he suspected, there was nothing. Well, looks like the old fashioned way, he thought and began climbing up with his bare hands and Academy regulation combat boots. He started at about eight in the morning and settled into his simple routine of feeling for a hold, testing its stability, grab and pull then repeat. Though the Symbiote gave him an increase in strength, he was panting halfway up. The added constant beating down of the star's waves of heat and his near misses which would have resulted in his death increased the consumption of his energy. The sorest point was that he had no water. Suddenly, he had an epiphany. He let small, barbed spikes form on his hands and confidently smack hard on the wall. The spikes couldn't penetrate the hard rock. "Your Enigma can't help you here! This is a test of strength, endurance and determination! Get up here!" With a tired groan, he pulled himself up and settled once again to his rhythmn. It was late afternoon when he reached the peak. It was flat-ish with a slight slope at the southern end but what drew Zack's attention were a circle of stones dead centre of the summit. Major General Taz passed him a waterskin. Zack nodded his thanks and drank deeply. "Thank you, sir," he said when he was done. "Call me chief," Taz said, "You've.earned your place here with us." He motioned to Zack and he got up and followed Taz, or the Chief as he liked to be called, to the circle of stones. He didn't seem to do anything, but by some unspoken consent, it began to descend as rapidly as it could without throwing its passengers off. First, they passed by blinking lights for what Zack assumed was the span of the mountain the emerged in a huge white area and he could see people milling about. They wore a standardized style, though not of the same colour: an inner shirt which Zack suspected to be a sleeveless jerkin like the Chief, and over it, a hooded cloak with long sleeves which was fastened by strings like that of a shoe; through a row of holes on both sides, and long pants which ended where metal boots that ended a thumb length below the knee were worn. Overall, it somehow looked as if he stumbled upon the assassins from Assassin's Creed if it weren't for the sheer simplicity of it all. They just looked like teenagers you see on the streets or bums by the side of the road. Once Zack had finished staring, Taz spoke up. "Zack Ying, welcome to the Spectre Corps."

"Sit," Taz said, gesturing to the lone chair in the room. It seemed like Zack was here for a questioning. The room was completely bare, only the long glass panel which overlooked the cafeteria showed any sign that people convened here. Taz clasped his hands behind his back. "I will not bandy words with you, Ying," he said while looking down on the main gathering place for all the operatives. "The Spectres were originally assassins. But now, they have evolved to being more than that. They are bodyguards, spies and yes, even commanders if the situation calls for it. The Spectres work largely alone and we have a motto: there is no failure unless you let it be so. No matter what happens, we see our missions to the end. However, we have more than one Spectre on a target. These will convey information and prepare weaponry at places and if the assigned Spectre is killed, the next one will take their place." Taz took a deep breath and turned around to watch Zack. "I hope you understand that we are a close-knit group. There is no room here for any discrimination or dissension. If you are found propagating any of these things," he drew nearer to Zack, "You will be punished most severely. Do you understand?" Zack nodded, but did not back down from the Chief's fierce gaze. Taz looked satisfied, as if Zack had passed a test he did not know of. "Your training will begin tomorrow. For now, you will be given your new attire and shown to your rooms and you may go about introducing yourself to some of the cadets. Any questions?"

"Just out of curiosity, chief, but just now you said we were commanders 'when the situation calls for it'. What did you mean by that?" Taz nodded in approval.

"When a large scale operation commences, we are used as common soldiers but most are given a commanding position due to our advanced training. Any more questions?" Zack shook his head, and seeing that the chief had nothing more to say, he saluted and prepared to leave. "A warning to you," Taz said and Zack paused by the door. "Take your training seriously. We expect you to master the basics in three months. After that point, you will be open to receive field missions. Is that understood?" Zack nodded. "Good. Elyss will show you to your room." Elyss popped up so many times in his life already that Zack failed to be surprised as her familiar form walked into the room. Taz made a shooing motion and so they left.

They dropped by the armoury/seamstress to pick out his colours. Zack was impressed at what he thought was a sleeveless jerkin all this while; it looked like a corslet of chain mail but so fine that it appeared to be a normal sleeveless shirt, albeit one which was shiny. They spent a while trying to find the right colours for him which secretly amused him to no end. Here he was in a secret black ops training facility, picking out fashion. In the end, he picked the default grey cloak and a dull white one which reminded him of his hoodies at home. Elyss liked the choice as it went well with his now blue hair when he wore it. Once he got fitted for the padded metal boots, they went to locate his room. "So, waddya think?" Zack stopped and put his hands on his hips in an exaggerated manner. She didn't even turn around. "I wanted to tell you, but this whole thing is pretty cloak and dagger isn't it?" Zack sighed and continued walking. "So how'd you know about it in the first place?" Elyss made a twinkling laugh. "In a sense, WE, that is, the Wolves, were the first Spectre corps. All of the women are trained to be assassins whereas the men are veritable tanks. I'll sneak into your room one day and you'll see how skilled I am." Zack shook his head in wonder. "I really have to visit your homepland." Elyss' smile wavered for a second and there was that usual shift in her demeanour but she covered it up in a flash. "Why not? I think my mum will take a liking to you. Anyway, we've reached your room!" and true enough, there was a plaque which clearly read Zack Ying but it seemed to be placed on a wall. Zack looked about while Elyss just stood there with a silly smile. She.was holding up her hand palm forward. After a while of frantic searching, he finally got her message and pressed his palm below his name plaque. A circle with three rings appeared and the rings turned in intricate patterns too fast for the eye to see and the wall moved inwards and to his left revealing a small but cozy room. Elyss let herself in.

This time, there were no windows, obviously since they were effectively underground, but Zack missed the fresh air and the natural view. Not the bright sunlight though. Never the sunlight. He had always suffered due to his sensitive eyes. The room was completely white. The walls were the same smooth, hard material as the entire facility. He couldn't figure out what it was; it wasn't concrete or any other building material he was familiar with. The room was also very simple. It consisted of a bed, desk, cupboard and a washroom. The door was on the right-most corner and he walked through a short corridor with the washroom on his left. Everything else was located on his left: his bed was placed vertically at the top left corner, followed by his desk which was joined at the foot of his bed and at the edge of the desk, the cupboard was perpendicular to it. "Well," Zack said with a satisfied sigh, "I guess this is home."