The Anti-Personnel Squad was, without a doubt, the most famous (or infamous) aspect of the DPA.
Consisting of what were known to be the most dangerous men and women in the entire organization, only the best and brightest under the agency's thumb were allowed to join their ranks. Due to the high-risk operations that they routinely underwent when called upon, many considered them to be a cut above the rest. And few would argue that they didn't live up to the hype.
Unlike regular agents such as Ayako, Cyrus, and Freddy, whose primary job was to hunt down and subdue rogue cryptids, the Anti-Personnel Squad was tasked with taking care of sorcerers who broke the law. Just as the name would've suggested. From a certain perspective, dealing with cryptids was essentially the same as hunting wild animals. However, it was an entirely different ballgame when it came to going up against other sorcerers. Beings that could potentially out-smart, outmaneuver, and outmatch you when given the opportunity.
As Maria walked through the halls of Station Nine, a few steps behind her escort, she couldn't help the nervousness that slowly crept up her spine. This place looked like something straight out of one of her sci-fi comics, and she couldn't help the feeling that she was being watched. The young woman had never been in a place occupied by so many sorcerers at one time like this before. And her mana-sensing skill was doing its best just to keep up.
"Try not to look so stiff, rookie." Robin Stillwater, Maria's new superior, said with a smile on her face. She was a tall woman with bronze skin, grey eyes, and luscious black hair braided into a single ponytail that flowed all the way down her back. On her right shoulder sat what appeared to be an adolescent eagle with green and brown feathers, along with two sets of vibrantly colored wings. "I promise that no one is going to do anything to you."
"Sorry." Maria stoically replied while trying to keep her tone as respectful as possible.
"You're not much of a talker, are you?" The elder of the two women then asked.
"No, not really."
"That's fine. We have more than our fair share of introverts in the squad. You should fit right in."
"I see...."
The duo continued walking through the halls in silence for a few more minutes before Robin attempted to stir up another conversation.
"You should be proud of yourself, you're the first rookie that we've ever recruited into the squad. Theo was pretty surprised when I asked that we take you on. But I'm confident that you'll have no trouble working under us."
"That reminds me." Maria then said. "Why exactly did you ask me to join you guys anyway? I know that it had to do with my mana level and my companions. But there was something else to it, wasn't there?"
"Sure was!" Robin then placed her hand on her bird and began to pet it. "I'm always on the lookout for people with potential to join us. And you're the first one to catch my eye in a while. Not only are you talented, but you have a mastery over our magical attribute that even I'm jealous of. I would've been a fool not to extend you an offer when I did."
"I guess that makes sense."
The conversation went on like this for the better part of two minutes before the duo reached their first destination of the morning, which was the station's administration office. There, Maria spent the next hour filling out all the necessary paperwork required of her to complete before officially becoming a member of the unit. Which were several dozen personnel forms, a new life insurance policy, the first draft of her will, and a security contract.
All of that, along with a special enchantment placed on her right shoulder that would restrict her from divulging any sensitive pieces of information if something less-than-stellar were to happen to her.
That was the moment when it all finally started sinking in for the young 'beast magic' user.
Sure, being in the DPA was a major step in achieving her ultimate goal. The sizable paycheck, access to secret information, and communications network would definitely help when it came to finding out who killed her father. All of which were the main reasons why she accepted the offer. But, none of that would matter if she up and died before she had a chance to use any of that to her advantage. Hopefully, such a thing would never come to pass. Hopefully....
"Alright!" Robin then said. "Now that the boring part is over, let's introduce you to your new partner!"
"Partner?" Maria questioned.
"The one who will be in charge of making sure that your skills are up to standard before we start sending you out on missions."
Before meeting with this new partner of hers, Robin briefly escorted the young 'beast magic' user to the training area that the squad used when they weren't out on the job. It was a decent-sized gymnasium equipped with everything from a gym, showers, a classroom, and even a small lounge. The whole thing was surprisingly more chill than Maria was expecting it to be. In truth, she had imagined something more...hardcore.
Once the woman was done getting changed into her gym clothes, it was straight to the nearby training room. A space about half the size of a school gym with padded walls and some workout equipment. Standing near the back wall was a man, probably in his mid-twenties, kneeling on the ground next to a trio of large dogs with reddish fur and grey eyes.
"Here she is, Conley!" The squad's Vice-Captain announced as she and Maria entered the room. The agent quickly stopped what he was doing and stood at full attention upon hearing the voice.
'Conley?' Maria took note. That was the name of one of the nine big sorcerer families. The strongest and most influential 'beast magic' users in the country.
"So...this is the rookie, huh? She doesn't seem like all that." The man said as he sized up the newest member of the group.
He was around four or five inches taller than the Vice-Captain, possessing a lean build with good posture. His curly, jet-black hair was styled in a fade, his beard was neat, his eyes were an uncommon shade of dark grey, and his sun-kissed skin was noticeably free of blemishes. As Maria took in the man's appearance, she noticed that the guy looked a lot like Robin. But their facial features were different enough that she wasn't too sure of it.
"Underestimate her if you want to. Just don't come crying to me if you end up getting hurt." The woman joked as she once again petted the bird on her shoulder. "Anyways, this goofball here is my baby brother, Sebastian Conley. He's the one who will be in charge of your training for the next couple of months."
'Brother, huh? I guess that's why they look alike. They have different last names, though. I wonder what that's all about.'
The man sent the woman an annoyed scowl before recomposing himself and approaching Maria. "For the record, I hate it when she calls me that. Anyways, I'll be the one making sure that you don't make the rest of us look bad." The man now identified as Sebastian said coolly as he extended his hand out.
"Maria Ortega." The woman replied as she shook his hand. "I look forward to learning under you."
"At least you have good manners." Sebastian chucked. "We should get along just fine."
"Well, I'll leave you two to it then." Robin then said before walking out of the room. "If there's an issue, come straight to me."
"Yes, ma'am!" Maria and Sebastian said in unison as they gave the woman a nod.
Once the Vice-Captain was gone, the older agent wasted no time in getting down to business.
"So rookie...tell me, what do you know about the kind of work that we do here in the DPA's cool-guy squad?"
"Honestly, not much." Maria answered. "All I know is that the unit handles taking down sorcerers who cause trouble."
Sebastian nodded as he rubbed a hand on his chin. "That's pretty much correct. We do all the dirty work that the government doesn't want people to know about. We're basically the 'Special Forces' of the DPA. Although we mostly just deal with simple arrests and other nonsense inside the state."
"Mostly?"
"Oh, yeah! Every now and then, if you're lucky, you'll get sent out on assignments around the region. But it's usually only stuff that involves major threats. Or, if your particular skills are needed elsewhere. However, since you're new, you won't have to worry about that."
"How often does that happen?"
"There's no real consistency to it. We just take care of it whenever it comes up. If I remember correctly, a few of our guys just came back from eliminating a group of drug dealers in South Carolina."
"Eliminating?"
The elder 'beast magic' user raised an eyebrow. "You didn't know? I thought Robin would've already told you. A lot of our missions usually involve some kind of assassination-type deal. But the rest are mostly information gathering and quick takedowns."
Maria suddenly felt a lump develop in her throat. Of course, this wasn't her first time hearing about something like this. Her new Vice-Captain had mentioned it a few times before she officially joined. But hearing it now just felt a lot more real to her. She knew that their group occasionally did off-the-books missions that weren't the most glamorous thing in the world. The kind of cloak-and-dagger stuff that you'd see in any dark fantasy anime. But was she really going to have to deal with potentially having to do a job like that?
"Oh..."
"Don't worry about it for now, you won't be doing any of that kind of stuff for a while anyway. Me and some of the others usually take care of those. Hell, that's pretty much the specialty for one of the guys in our group named Skylar." Sebastian explained before changing subjects. "Hey, you want to know something crazy?"
"What?"
"From what I've heard, Captain Mubele, the station's Deputy-Chief and the one who's actually in charge of our squad, is out on one of those jobs right now. But we can't know for sure since it's all top secret. Allegedly, he got orders straight from the President."
"Wow." Was all that Maria could say in response. She heard of Captain Mubele in passing a couple of times. But she had no idea that her boss was actually such a big deal.
"However, all you really have to worry about is clean-up jobs. The kind where we get orders to go take down some gangbangers or domestic terrorists. They're not exactly safe, but you always get a few good stories out of them."
Before Maria could respond, one of Sebastian's beasts approached her. Taking a moment to sniff her leg to acquire her scent.
"Oh, where are my manners? These are my companions. Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. They've been with me since before I awakened my powers. As you already know, since they're cryptids, they're much more intelligent than regular dogs. Which means that they can understand human speech, too. Try and remember that they're just as much your partners as I am."
'He named them after the Three Musketeers, really?'
Maria then knelt down with her palm out. Thus, allowing the other two beasts to mimic the actions of the first and sniff her body.
"It's nice to meet you." The woman said stoically. To be perfectly honest, she was a bit nervous. These hellhounds were almost as tall as she was standing up. On top of that, their bright red fur and long fangs created quite an intimidating posture. Granted, some of her companions were just as vicious-looking, but they were at least familiar and under her control.
Once the trio of hounds was done, Maria set her eyes back on Sebastian. "So...what's the plan for the day?"
"For today, not much. You're with me for the next few months, so we're going to take it easy. However, starting tomorrow, we're going to hit the ground running...hard." The man replied with a smile that was way too easy-going in the younger 'beast magic' user's opinion. "In that time, I'm going to get you into shape and teach you the basics of what we need to know to do our jobs. After that, we'll start going out on missions. We typically operate in two-man cells. So you're stuck with me for the time being."
"I look forward to working with you."
"We'll see if you still feel the same way after we're done with your training!"
For some reason, Maria felt like she was not going to enjoy the next few months of her life.
-(o)-
Character Profile: Maria
Name: Maria Araceli Ortega Muñoz
Alias: N/A
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Birthday: August 27th
Birthplace: [Redacted], Michoacán, Mexico
Height: 63in
Weight: 148lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown (Hazel)
Race: Mestizo
Magic: Beast (Serpent)
Occupation: DPA Agent
Stat Chart: B(+)
-Physical Strength - 2
-Intelligence - 3.5
-Magic Amount - 5
-Magical Control - 3.5
-Magic Sensing - 4
-Special - [Redacted]
Fun Fact:
-Favorite game of all time is Fallout: New Vegas.