April 5, 2005 – 09:00 (Winnipeg Time)
Emery stood in the middle of a clearing, facing Corporal Jean Stephenson. Two helicopters sat a few meters behind the corporal, far from each other, and six officers stood between them and the helicopters. Chiwa, Swuma, Rickozi and Zaxi were spread out behind Emery, each holding their stick with their left hand and a light bracelet in their right hand.
"What are we waiting for?" said Corporal Stephenson.
"We're waiting for B, she should be here in a minute," said Emery.
"BLUE!" whispered Rickozi and Zaxi loud enough for Emery to hear.
Emery turned to look in the direction they were staring. Chiwa elbowed Zaxi.
"There she is," said Emery as he saw Coralis approaching them at high speed and jumping off her stick. "Agents, B will lead your aerial crew today."
Rickozi looked at Emery and remembered what he told them at their briefing the previous day.
"Sorry if I'm late, I came across a migratory flock of birds on my way."
"You're right on time, actually," said Emery before introducing her to Corporal Jean Stephenson and the human officers standing by the helicopters.
"Isn't she too young to be doing this?" said one of the officers to his superior.
"She looks young, but do not get fooled by her age," said Corporal Stephenson, looking at the burned injuries around her hairline.
"This is where we based our research teams to locate the missing humans. The coven who kidnapped them is about two kilometres down this way," said Emery after finishing the introductions, pointing at the treeline east from them. "Tobly is with his crew on standby outside the coven's wards protecting their land. When you and your four crew members are ready to free up the human prisoners, Tobly's team will pounce on them."
Coralis pulled the coordinates sent to her by Emery when she was on her way.
"This is where their prisoners are, right?"
"Yes. As discussed, you are to escort Stephenson's crew to where they are and make sure they can safely retrieve them. You know how coven witches are and we want to make sure that nothing happens to the fifteen people held captive when Tobly attacks the coven, so it's important that both teams act simultaneously," said Emery, giving her a light bracelet.
"Understood," said Coralis, passing the bracelet over her right wrist.
The four mages behind her did the same. The humans present on the clearing noticed her burned marks and bruises on her arm as she slid the bracelet. Remembering what Sebastian had told her about these bracelets when he trained with CMMA agents, Coralis pressed on the bracelet once, and it turned green. She did it again, and it turned orange. She pressed on it one more time, and it turned off.
"Gentlemen," said Coralis, looking at the corporal and his officers after setting her light to green, "I do not mean to be disrespectful, but if we are to safely lead you to where they are, you must do as I say."
"This is your area of expertise and I fully intend on keeping my men alive. They will follow your instructions," said Corporal Stephenson.
Coralis glanced at Emery and nodded at the senior officer before turning to the mages behind her.
"Chiwa and Rickozi, you are to fly to the left side of the helicopters, Chiwa by the front one, and Rickozi behind. Swuma and Zaxi, you are to fly to their right, Swuma in front, and Zaxi behind," said Coralis, turning her hologram into walkie-talkie mode. "Gentlemen, I will fly ahead of you and you will follow us. We will match your speed, don't you worry. At all times, you must remain within the perimeter of our green lights."
"What if one of the witches catches up to us?" said one of the officers.
"I was getting there. Like I said, at ALL times, you MUST remain within our perimeter of green lights. IF I sense witches around, I will turn my light orange and will go after them. If you see me leaving formation with my light turned orange, do NOT follow me. If one of my crew members behind me senses or spots a witch, she will communicate it to me and I will handle it."
"B is a living nightmare to witches. If they're smart, they'll stay away from us," said Chiwa.
"That's an understatement," said Emery, chuckling.
"Trust us, none of them witches will sacrifice you. One last thing," said Coralis, pointing at the hologram wrapped around her left wrist. "We all have a device like this, which we will use like walkie-talkies and connect to your radio. For transparency reasons and for the sake of this mission, when I communicate to them the next set of instructions, you will hear. If one of my crew members senses dangers and communicates it to me, you will know."
"I will also turn mine into walkie-talkie mode. If there is something you need to know from Tobly's portion of the mission, you will all know," said Emery.
"My crew will be communicating with me through mics in our ears. If there is anything, they will also communicate it to you through their radio," said Corporal Stephenson.
"Ready?" said Coralis to everyone.
"YES!" the mages and officers said.
The mages were excited about this mission and cackled like schoolgirls as they went into position. Blue Thunder, their flyball hero, was to lead them.
"I can't believe Blue is leading our mission," said Zaxi to Swuma, which was heard by the human officers as they climbed into the helicopters.
"Me too. I'm excited. Let's make Blue proud," said Swuma.
Coralis faced the helicopters, holding her stick and watching her crew members standing in position. She wasn't familiar with helicopters but knew about them enough to be able to tell when they were ready to take off. She turned around, raised her green light to the sky and took off.
When the bright green lights and both helicopters went out of sight, General Tobly joined Emery and Corporal Stephenson in the middle of the clearing.
"B wasn't part of any of the briefings we've had, nor was she involved in any portion of this mission so far. I noticed how her crew members called her Blue among each other, as well as her physical injuries seemingly stemming from torture by fire or a very rough battle at minimum. Is B short for Blue Thunder," said Corporal Stephenson to Tobly.