It wasn’t common for an Order to come together in an organised manner to discuss the problems they were all dealing with. For the Order Horrifica, those meetings only happened ten times in its history. 1192, 1221, 1689, and 1980. Each time the meeting took place, it would always be a groundbreaking discussion that would change the fate of the entire Order Horrifica and how it would conduct its operations.

  The 1192 meeting led to the formation of a new group responsible for immediately responding to any monster sightings to gather information or kill the creature if they could. The birth of the Rat Legion, which later became known as the Disposal Unit.

  1221 sparked the further specialisation of the Butterfly Legion, with every unit filling a specific niche. Giving them the authority to develop weapons and tech that would help them slay the monsters they were hunting.

  1689 brought about the implementation of communication stations throughout the world. All interconnected and linked with Olympus to help inform teams on the ground what their next orders were.

  While 1980 was supposed to be the last meeting discussing the disbanding of the Order Horrifica, as it would be then, the Order realised that they had achieved their mission and won the eternal struggle against monsters.

  All the leaders within the Order Horrifica, even the representative, waited in a conference hall. Sparking small talk, but no one was really eager for idle conversation. Leaders of the Butterfly Legion mixing with leaders of the Disposal Unit was never an ideal mix. Though both groups were capable of working together on the field, outside of it, they were rivals, and that rivalry only grew and became bitter when The Cascade happened. Both fight over resources and manpower to keep them afloat. The only reason they came together was that they both knew something needed to be done.

  Compared to the Legion, the Disposal Unit had it rough. Facing the most casualties, a higher failure rate because of incomplete information, and an insane unit revival rate. The Butterfly Legion wasn’t unfamiliar with a unit being extinct and being brought back to fight a similar threat, but due to their specialised nature, they were far rarer. Though for three years since The Cascade, one unit within the legion had been revived three times. Within the Disposal Unit, five units tied for being revived ten times.

  Before the slow disbanding of the Order Horrifica, some units in the Disposal Unit used to be made up of 100 people. Now they could barely make up an entire squad of seven or twelve. The low numbers made them easier to face an unit’s extinction than ever before, and it was the reason the Order Horrfica needed to have a meeting. They were all desperate. Neither the Butterfly Legion nor the Disposal Unit had the means to replace their numbers at a fast enough rate, and the threats they were dealing with were far beyond their current capabilities. They would fight, but they could only do so much without new killers replacing the bodies of their dead.

  Jackson waited at the corner, standing alone as he overlooked the room. He knew a few people there, some of whom he grew fond of. Though he didn’t want to go towards any of them and bother them. The reptile preferred to be alone during meetings like those; he only missed one of them, and they were always the same. Just a whole group of people sharing their opinions and what they believe would make their jobs easier. The only change was that there were angels, demons, and kits in the room. A good sign that humanity accepted other species into its ranks, even if it took longer than it should have.

  However, Jackson still felt out of place. A reptilian creature with a jagged bill, a crocodilian tail, green scales, and dozens of scars that littered his entire body. A monster in a room full of monster hunters, the only thing that made him appear human was his blue eyes. Yet they couldn’t mask his horrible visage.

  ‘I’m surprised to see you here,’ Jackson turned to see a familiar face tipping his dark brown leather cowboy hat at him. ‘Well, I’ll be damned. Seeing you in a suit again. Must be a special occasion.’

  ‘We’re talking.’ Jackson bluntly replied. Referring to the meeting that would soon commence. ‘No need for armour, Ryan.’

  Ryan smirked as he leaned against the wall next to Jackson. ‘No, perhaps not. But with how things are going, we might as well wear armour at all times.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Well, remember those creatures we fought last year. The ones you rescued me from in their weird realm.’

  Jackson folded his arms, disliking where the conversation was going. ‘Speak.’

  ‘Don’t worry, I only have good news.’ He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thumb drive to hand over to the reptile. ‘My team worked for months trying to figure out how to breach into their realm, and we might’ve found a way inside.’

  To his surprise, Jackson raised a brow. At first, he thought Ryan would deliver some kind of bad news, as they were becoming far more common with each passing day. Yet to hear him say they might have a way inside their realm made Jackson crack his emotionless exterior, giving the reptile a glimmer of hope.

  ‘Need assistance?’ Jackson offered with an emotionless tone.

  ‘No offence, but I doubt you and your team are that talented in finding a way inside.’ Ryan joked with a wide smile. ‘However, it would be good to have someone like you when we get inside. My guys are great, but I do need some backup when the time comes. Walking into the enemy’s home isn’t going to be easy, and I want to avoid my team being wiped out.’

  ‘Call, and I’ll answer. You’ll take charge, but I can’t provide my entire team.’

  ‘Jackson, I believe just having you would be enough.’ Ryan pushed himself off the wall as everyone gathered around, signalling the start of the meeting. ‘Just don’t die; that is my only requirement. See you around.’

  Not being a man to speak, Jackson responded with a simple wave as Ryan departed. Though he chose to stay where he was while everyone converged to the centre, he could hear them just fine where he was, nor did he feel that he could add anything to the conversation. Jackson’s team was made up of individuals who would fill a role he couldn’t or become an extension of his capacity to engage in violence. Adding people to his unit who were nothing more than grunts defeated the purpose of his team and his unit’s structure. So needing to be present in the meeting but not wanting to engage, he believed it was best to sit out of it.

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  Standing on the platform to address the crowd, Gloria, the Order Horrifica’s representative, spoke up. ‘Hello, people of the Order. We came here to discuss the needs of the Order Horrifica. In the past three years, we have faced some of the bloodiest operations in the Order’s history, taking on creatures and threats that go well beyond our capabilities or what our equipment could handle. As the representative, I will speak to the Council to get what we need. But for that to happen, I need to hear what you want to change.’

  A man with long blond hair tied in a ponytail stepped forward. ‘I am Operator Irene, Hell Blasters. I think I can speak for us all about the Order’s mishandling of the crisis at hand. My unit is trained and specialised to deal with demons and the creatures of Hell. Yet, like many others, we are taking on unexpected missions, doing things we are not trained or supposed to do. Like the conspiracy group or that monster in Liberia.’

  ‘Are we not capable of stepping up when duty calls?’ Someone shouted from the other end. ‘I am Agent Williams, Unit 812. Operator, may I remind you that we are all trained to fight threats that are unknown to us. What makes you think you are above what is expected of you?’

  ‘Don’t speak what is expected of me when you botched your first mission!’ Irene argued back. ‘Yes, I know you. You were tasked to kill civilians, yet your entire team is dead, and you didn’t kill a single one of them. Why is that, Agent Williams?’

  ‘Enough!’ Gloria spoke over them, ending a conflict before it could have a chance to start. ‘Agent Williams is right; every member of this Order should be capable of taking up any mission whenever a threat is spotted. Operator, your backlash is unprofessional, and calling someone out on their failure is petty for someone in your position. You should…’

  ‘But he is right!’ Ryan spoke up. ‘Operator Ryan, Door Knockers. Before taking my current post, I used to lead Unit 511 of the Disposal Unit. Unlike most people here who were part of the DU and transitioned to the Legion, I can safely say that the Legion is ill-equipped to deal with threats they are not tasked to go against. We cannot waste lives on missions just because we are available. We are undermanned! Nor should we be sent against a group of conspiracy theorists calling themselves The Locust! That should be the job of someone else, or maybe even the Order Diplomatics, given that they are responsible for information warfare.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter what they are; what matters is that they are a threat and they need to be removed at all costs.’

  ‘So how many of us need to die?’ Irene argued back. ‘Gloria, you know we can’t keep doing this. And even for a group of civilians, they shouldn’t rack up those kills. Out of the four operations against them, only one was a success! Come to think of it, how the fuck are they capable of going around us?!’

  The room erupts in chatter, people talking over one another about their grievances. Some argue that it should be an easy operation, yet others pointed out that something else was wrong about The Locust. That they shouldn’t just be able to have many successful missions and put the blame on the people who failed against them.

  ‘I’ll take them on.’ Jackson announced, forcing the room to go silent as he approached the centre. ‘Operator Abernu, Unit 247. Forward all operations and mission reports to me. I will handle them.’

  Gloria frowned at the reptile. ‘Abernu, I thank you for stepping forward, but you do not have the right to call for what sort of operations you want. It is for the Council to decide.’

  ‘No,’ Jackson harshly replied. ‘Operations against a specific type of threat are for the unit to decide. You don’t have a say. I request all missions relating to The Locust go to me by the end of this meeting.’

  ‘I second that decision! And if you don’t hand the missions to him, I and everyone else will make sure to transfer them to Unit 247 personally.’ Irene spoke up. ‘Jackson’s a bastard, but he should take up the job. If anyone can make those Locust wackos stop what they are doing, he’ll put an end to them. However, I think we need to do more than that.’

  Williams scoffed at the whole thing. ‘Even if he takes them on, The Locust is just a minor symptom of a much bigger problem. We lack the equipment to fight those new horrors. We need to open the Vaults, not one Vault, all of them. We can’t keep doing this when we are all dying!’

  Hearing the request made everyone stiff. The Vaults were meant to house some of the Order’s most dangerous weapons and gear, only to be opened when the situation was most dire. Some Vaults housed weapons of mass destruction, while some might hold the formula for the reconstruction of the Fountain of Youth. Whatever they have, the opening of one of them would indicate a structural change within the Order and an admission that they had failed in their mission.

  Gloria sighed, understanding the ramifications of the situation, but she had to agree. The Cascade had changed the world for the worse, and the emergence of new horrors had caught the Order Horrfica off guard and incapable of turning the tide. All they could really claim was that they slowed down the knowledge of monsters, but even they couldn’t believe that lie for long.

  ‘Then we have to vote on it. But not now. The opening of our Vaults is a sensitive issue and something that requires all of us to think about it. I will put this meeting on hold for two days, but for now, I demand we all take a break so we can think about the future of our Order. Everyone, you have been dismissed.’