Captain Nia walked into the briefing room only to be surprised by party crackers and confetti poppers.
"Congrats on your promotion, ma'am!!!"
Young Vian—actually, Vian was almost the same age as Nia, jesus—smiled and handed Captain Nia a framed group photo that they'd taken when they'd finished TRACE qualifications and had been assigned to Nia as her squad.
Nia took the frame, absolutely dumbfounded, not expecting this kind of welcome at all.
Across the frame were the words "Congratulations on your promotion, Captain Nia—P.S. Please don't rank up too fast, we're going to miss you if you become a major and are assigned to some other position".
Eve walked forward and ruffled Vian's hair like an older sister.
"Thought we'd give you something special for your promotion. Very well deserved. Even though we're the ones on the ground, we really appreciate all the behind-the-scenes that you do."
Nia smiled and laughed sweetly, touched by the kind gesture. She set the picture down on her desk.
As Eve closed the office door, the four girls in the squad bent down and got to picking up the confetti. Seo grabbed a broom and dustpan and began to clean up, quickly and diligently.
After they finished, TRACE 1 stood before their captain, whose new three golden pips gleamed in the LED light.
"Please sit," Nia offered.
The girls sat down on the couch that ran across from the handler's desk.
Even though she was much too young to be a mother, Captain Nia very much conveyed Korean mom in the morning as she sipped serenely from her coffee mug. Her almond eyes fixed on her squad that was huddled on the couch in front of her.
"I hope that you're all doing better?"
"Yes, ma'am."
About a week had passed since their operation to steal the HCCAD. Through the Halcyon Federation's high-tech military medical facilities, they'd recovered extremely quickly.
"That's good to hear." Nia set down her mug. "Have you been keeping up with the news?"
Eve raised her hand. "Yes, ma'am. The Global Ethics Press Conference is taking place in a week's time. I heard that they're sending TRACE personnel to participate. While our name is public, acknowledging TRACE in that way is unprecedented."
"Yes, sergeant."
Nia traced the lip of her mug. "I should probably explain how the GEPC is going to work. It's not just a single-day event—it'll stretch over five days. The first day will be a public press conference with worldwide media coverage. The next four days are reserved for the leaders to draft a concrete set of international laws to place limits on warfare—something that doesn't exist yet. As you already know, TRACE will be sending personnel. They've asked for one representative from each command level to participate. Of course, senior members of the command staff won't be attending in person. However…"
Nia glanced down at her chest with a weary look, as if wondering, How did I end up in this mess? "I've been chosen at squad level. I'll be one of the only TRACE officers to attend in person."
Seo smiled. "That's an incredible honour, ma'am—just after your promotion, too. You'll do great."
Nia laughed half-heartedly. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Tech Sergeant. There's a lot to be done. But today, we're not here to talk about me. We're here to talk about you all."
"Us?"
"Yes. Given your remarkable success thus far, especially with how relatively new you all are to the world of special operations, they want you on the security detail. I told them that you'd need more rest, but…"
Nia sighed and rubbed her temples as if she was holding off a migraine.
"It's fine, ma'am. We can do it." Taeyeon spoke up, glancing over her squad mates and squad leaders.
Eve smiled. "We can do it, ma'am. Don't worry. We've had plenty of time to rest after we returned."
Nia still hesitated. "...That's…unexpected, but I'm glad to hear that. Well, here's what's going to happen. We'll be traveling out in three days' time. I'll get you the specifics later, as even I don't know at the moment. Either way, you'll be working as part of a rotating security detail overseeing the event. Sergeant Glen, you'll be my personal guard for the entire five days—I'm sorry. It's going to be an exhausting time, but on the bright side as I'm only a captain I don't think I'll be weighing in on things as much."
"What about us, ma'am?" Taeyeon asked curiously.
"You, Spec Corporal, will be part of the sniper overwatch of the event. Given that we don't want to give a hostile impression to the worldwide press, top brass has arranged for minimal visible security. Having capable long-ranged shooters as yourself hidden both inside the hall and outside will play a part in that. Tech Corporal Seo, and Corporal Vian, you two will be working in visible security detail and VIP protection with other teams."
"V-VIP protection…?" Vian quivered anxiously.
Seo reached over and patted her on the back. "You'll do fine, Vian. We've trained for this."
"If you say so…"
Nia smiled. "You'll do just fine, Vian, I'm sure. I don't mean to lay on expectations, but you performed brilliantly in training. You'll be fine. Either way, I have some paperwork to do. You all are free to go—and of course, keep everything that I just said to yourselves, as always. Enjoy your three more days before your next 'operation'."
"Yes, ma'am."
The four TRACE operators left the room.
As soon as they did, Captain Nia took a deep breath. She shuffled the paperwork about on her desk and glanced down at a singular disturbing piece of paper that had kept her paranoid ever since that morning when she'd received it. Now, what do I do about this?
- - -
[3 days later]
The GEPC was being held in downtown Einstein. The location was quite well chosen; it was a convention hall that was next to the water and at one of the lower points of Einstein where the suburbs started blending into the vertical metropolis.
This provided a lot of security away from the quite literal 360 / 720 threat nature of the actual city. Einstein lay deep within the Halcyon Federation's heartland.
Eve doubted there would be any real threats this far inside their territory, yet they were still easily possible. Drone or missile strikes, assassinations, snipers…
Defending against those threats on the micro level was her job.
Oh, and there was another detail; much like Einstein's Royal Mall, the convention center that the conference was taking place in was only a short distance away from Eve's apartment…where she was currently lying down.
Besides the responsibilities of being on security detail, there were some other things bugging Eve… like Elisa.
She sighed and buried her face into her pillow in frustration. She hadn't had much of a chance to talk to Elisa about everything as they had gone from one operation directly into another.
She fingered the text button on her phone with Elisa's smiley and kaomoji filled contact, but she couldn't bring herself to ask.
Part of her needed to ask about the Bloom, and the other part wanted to ask about… personal… things…
AHHHHHHHHH.
With a soundless screech of embarrassment, Eve buried her head deeper into her pillow. Her flushing cheeks didn't make it any better.
She gave up and placed her phone on the charger.
Eve sighed. Get your head in gear, Eve. You're going to be in security detail for Nia starting tomorrow.
She slapped her cheeks with both hands, feeling the raw sting.
Phew.
- - -
The massive changing rooms of the Einstein Hall Convention Center bustled with people changing in and out of gear, uniforms, suits, and the like. It, alongside with the massive security room, had been repurposed for the conference, with special operations like TRACE and other conventional branches like the Royal Marines using them as a base of operations.
Eve didn't know the amount of operators taking part in the security detail, but she knew that it was a lot.
She already went through several layers of security with Nia and the rest of their group and were currently headed to the changing rooms linked directly to the central security room.
Eve had already been issued a concealed holster and slim ballistics armour, which she held in one hand.
Nia was already dressed in full uniform: tunic pressed sharp, dress shirt and tie neatly set, a knee-length skirt completing the uniform. Her black beret sat firmly on her head, three pips gleaming on her epaulettes to mark her rank. A black cloth mask covered the lower half of her face.
She pointed to a locker next to hers. "This'll be your cubby, Sergeant," she said evenly. "Non-operational clothes go here. Operational gear stays out—don't leave a single piece in the changing rooms, ever."
"Yes, ma'am."
Eve opened her locker and slipped out of the jeans, blazer, and white t-shirt she was wearing, and then paused as she looked up at the contents of her locker.
…What the hell? I'm wearing this while on security detail?