The Spaces Between Coordinates

Chapter Fourteen

1 month ago..

A siren wailed. Its sound alerted all the residents of the building just what exactly this day was. Assessment training. Every six months, the Grey Leagues held assessments to see how far the rookie assassins had progressed. Their leadership structure was simple and a ranking system determined the position and responsibility of everyone. Everyone was basically assigned a specific code and if you cleared the assessment training, your ranking increased.

The ranking system was like this:

·RF#00 (Red-Feather which was the highest ranking). In order to obtain this ranking, you had to have successfully cleared twenty-five solo missions and reached Level 5 in all training segments. The segments were Weaponry (this included both guns as well any weapon used in any martial art), Hand-to-hand combat, Knowledge (this was basically understanding and applying everything they had to learn) and Reconnaissance.

· BF#10 (Blue-Feather). Clearing a minimum of fifteen missions successfully and obtaining Level 3 in all segments.

· GF#20 (Green-Feather). Clearing a minimum of five missions successfully and obtaining Level 1 in all segments.

·WF#50 (White-Feather). This was a special ranking granted to assassins who had not mastered a Level in any segment but had enough skill to go on missions. Very few people were given this ranking but to keep order, their codes remained the same as everyone else's. One prime example was Anastasia's mother who was skilled enough to rank in BF#10 but because she failed to eliminate a target, she was given the WF#50 ranking.

Failing to complete a mission also affected one's ranking including overall performance. Which was why they made sure the training regimes were balanced as well as compact.

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"Come on Cree!! You can do this!", shouted Chucky. Cree Davis was a fiery petite girl standing at 5 ft 8. She was clad in the trainee uniform which was a form-fitting grey body suit. Her wild orange hair was in a bun and she held two wooden batons in her hands. Sweat poured from her forehead and she panted slightly. Chucky's favourite feature on Cree are her baby blue eyes. Her opponent was of a similar build. Of Chinese descent, Fei Hong had a mysterious and alluring charm about her. Her eyes were dark like treacle and her black hair was cropped to her shoulders. She was spinning a pair of black wooden nunchucks and like Cree, was breathing heavily.

The girl cheering Cree was Chucky Bunt. Cree's secret girlfriend. Well secret considering only Fei, Freddie (who was Chucky's older sister) and of course Cree knew about it. At least that's what they knew but all their other friends knew. While it was every girl for herself, there was a non-verbal mutual interest of keeping things from their superiors.

'Oh my god Chucky shut up!!', Cree thought. Freddie merely grabbed her sister and clamped her hand over her mouth. She stared at Fei as they began to circle each other on the fighting mat. The space they were fighting on was a slightly higher platform from the ground like a small boxing ring. The other trainees stood around it and their superiors were overseeing their fight. They were of BF#10 and GF#20 rank.

Cree was thinking of how best to attack Fei. On missions, their coordination as a team was always on point. With Fei, all you had to do was tell her what she needed to do and everything would run smoothly. Even in times where they were in life or death situations, Fei was cool as cucumber. Despite being friends for over three years, Cree could never tell what Fei was thinking. Even when she, Chucky and Freddie managed to sneak in a cake to celebrate Fei's sixteenth birthday. All Fei did when they gave her the cake was stare and say, "I didn't know you guys knew I liked coconut."

'Come on Cree! Focus on any openings!' Fei could practically see the wheels turning in her friend's head. Suddenly the door burst open and in walked Agatha Barden. She was the founder of the Grey Leagues.