Hello everyone, this is the first chapter of the sequel. The amount of drafts, OMG, it is way much more when I wrote my first Fanfic. I had to research extensively on guns, weapons etc. I had a pretty good time writing this chapter. For the first few chapter I'm pretty much certain we are going to focus on agents and Wizards. Don't worry about the Spirits, they will definitely be featured.

So now, enjoy!

Chapter 1: Intelligence Warfare

Since the day after the Third Spirit Wars ended, the conflict between DEM and Ratatoskr have escalated. It is no longer just a battle of DEM vs Asgard Electronics or Ratatoskr. Smaller arm makers are starting corporate espionage wars, government funded PMCs start to compete with DEM.

These wars, unknown to the public, not even the media are aware of, are secretly fought everywhere. From cyberspace, to open seas, to war torn lands of Afghanistan and Central Africa, even to city streets. The new Invisible War has descended upon the mankind and Spirits.

Agents that fought in these war died secretly, with no one knows why and how. Some are drawn in for money, thrills and the undying rage to kill. But some… are just being drawn in without any forces, like the young man here…

London, 2am

It is snowing in London, unlike the London in Christmas cards, it isn't heavy at all. For anyone who wants to go to London because of snow will be greatly disappointed.

*Tick… Tick… Tick…*

A man dressed in black, walking down the cold dark alley, carrying a seemingly heavy bag on his back. He is wearing a black jacket with his hood up, His hair is black reaching his neck. His face is covered with bandage. Not even his eyes or mouth are visible, perhaps he is blind as he is holding a thick walking stick, figuring his way.

"It is here..."

The young man takes the stairs and makes his way up to the rooftop.

"Spectre. You there yet?"

Sound comes from the earpiece that is insert into Spectre's ears.

"Eagle, this is Spectre. I have reached the watch. Proceed your way to the extraction route."

"Alright. OH SHIT! DEM!"

The transmission is cut with the man known only as Spectre rushes up to the rooftop. He pulls down his bandage only revealing his right eye which is sapphire blue. He puts down his bag and take out some metal parts. Swiftly, he assembled a sniper rifle and take aim.

The rifle resembles the AS50 .50cal semi-automatic sniper rifle made by Accuracy International and it is attached with a computer aided sniper scope. The rifle is in gunmetal black with a gunmetal gray words at both side writing, "GSR-JAVELIN".

The VIP is wearing a gray hooded jacket, his face is not visible even under the night vision scope. He is armed with a suppressed HK USP pistol and firing at the people chasing him.

He sees the VIP runs into the alley that he is covering. He immediately sees the shadows of the people chasing the VIP. As soon as one of them is in line of sight, he slows everything down with his focus. He hold his breath and take aim at the leg of a chaser, and he pulls the trigger.

A 10cm metal spike exits the barrel, propelled only by the strong electromagnetic forces generated by the sniper rifle. It is silent, and travels so fast that the bullet hits the leg instantly.

"ARGH!"

"This weapon… It adjusts the sights automatically depending on conditions, the only factor that I'll ever miss is how much I'm leading my aim…"

As the chaser lean against the wall, he shoots again. This time, the spike impales his arm, which stuck him to the wall.

"SNIPER! Take cover!"

The DEM agents scramble to cover, trying to take cover as they attempts to pursuit the VIP.

"Keep running, Eagle." Spectre commanded.

As more chaser appears, Spectre lays down suppressive fire to slow them down.

"ARGH!"

He fixed a few more of them to the wall. But more people chases the VIP as he reloads.

"Shit! They are catching up to me!"

Spectre immediately strips the rifle and puts it into his bag, then scales off the building that is at least 5 storey high.

"Keep running, I'm catching up onto you."

Spectre proceeds to intercept the extraction route. Then, the VIP turns into a straight alleyway.

"OH FUCK! WHO THE HELL CHOSE THIS ROUTE!?"

Spectre was at first puzzled by the statement, as he charges through another alley that covers the VIP's back, he immediately realizes why.

"FIRE!"

The DEM agents reveal their weapons, MP5SD3 submachine gun and the M4A1 MK18 CQB carbine, all suppressed attached with a flashlight and lined up their guns on the running VIP. Then they fire their guns, sending lead towards the VIP. However, to their surprise, the man in black appears and separate his walking stick into a sword, deflecting a volley of 150 bullets effortlessly and sheaths his sword.

The sighting of Spectre has intimidated them. As the flashlight shines onto Spectre, he lowers his head, casting the shadow of his hood, covering his face.

"HQ! Our target has a back up! He… He just deflected all bullets we fire at him!"

"Is he a Wizard?" the command asked.

"Definitely not…" the other agent replied.

"Then fire more at him!"

Upon hearing that, the agents immediately reload. Judging from their speed, they are very experienced with their weapons. Other agents immediately grabs out the SIG Sauer P228 sidearm attempting to shoot at Spectre.

Spectre however charges them with his sheathed sword, his insane sprint speed not only dodges the gunfire and also allow him to run behind the gunmen and whack their head hard. The result being the agent passing out. His speed spooks other agent as well as the young man uses the sheathed sword.

The man in black then unsheathes his sword, in just a swing, the carbine is split into half. It seems that the blade is hot as the severed gun is red hot. The sight shocks all agents. Spectre proceeds to swing the blunt edge of his sword and scabbard onto the temple of the agents, swiftly knocking all of them out cold as he sheaths his sword.

As the alley turns dark once again, Spectre sprints towards the extraction point. Suddenly, a man comes out from the corner pointing his suppressed pistol at Spectre. Spectre immediately grabs the man's hand and disarms him, pointing the pistol at the man's chest.

"Woah woah, it's me, Eagle! I thought you left out a few of them."

"..."

Spectre quietly returns the pistol to Eagle and the two of them heads to the extraction point. A woman is waiting for them at a red car.

"We are here…"

Spectre speaks again, who has been silent since the past 10 minutes.

"Gentlemen, get in the car."

The woman is also an agent, both Eagle and Spectre get in the car and she drives off.

"Pretty good for your first mission, Spectre. DEM will have to reconsider on how to capture our operatives next time."

"..."

Spectre remains silent, totally uninterested in the woman's praise. All he knows is that he was doing what he was told to.

After a short while, they reach Spectre's safe house.

"There you go, Spectre. Wait for our call."

"Roger..."

The car speeds off as he alighted from it. His safe house is at an apartment, at 5th storey. He then take the stairs to his unit. The unit itself is not small and not big either. Suitable for at least two people staying in the unit. Spectre locks up the door and takes off his jacket. The young man then unwinds his bandages, revealing his face. He then makes a phone call.

"Mr Woodman, the job is done."

Mr Woodman is on the other side, very pleased with the new guy's work.

"Very well, as I expected. I doubt you need resupply of ammo…"

"I only used up one mag. The rifle is very different from the one I trained with. And I like it…" Spectre reported.

"Glad to hear that."

Suddenly, Spectre asks Mr Woodman.

"I would like to know what is their status…"

After a short pause, the old man then replied.

"They are fine… You know it is normal for… Vanishings…"

"…"

Spectre's feeling is very complex as of now. Mr Woodman then briefs his agent.

"Anyway, your handler will join you tomorrow noon. His codename is Eagle, the same man you have extracted. Relax, his identity is not known to DEM at all. He is one of the few that knows your identity."

"…Roger that…"

The phone conversation ends, Spectre then decides to take a warm bath. It is a tense week afterall.

Morning, DEM Building-Westcott's Office, 8am

"What do you mean by you guys got knocked out by a lone guy? And deflected all of your shots?"

Ellen is furious that the agents have failed to capture Ratatoskr's agent, she raises her voice at the agent.

"We are very sorry, Ms Mathers! But I swear that their agent is unlike anyone else we have seen before!"

Ellen is not very forgiving, but seeing Westcott's gesture, she have the whole agents to leave the office.

"Get out of here!"

The agents leave the office, only Ellen and Westcott remain.

"Well, they aren't exaggerating at all. Judging from this video…"

The playback showing Spectre deflecting the 150 bullets that were shot at Eagle, with a sword. Due to the bad lighting, neither Westcott nor Ellen can identify the sword. Ellen is badly disturbed by his ability.

"Who else can have such abilities? Other than Ripper and Mirage… We have always almost got their agents! If not for Dante… And now this guy…"

"He may be from Yggdrasil as well… Won't be surprised Dante can find capable people to join his operations directly."

"Mr Westcott, Ms Mathers… The report is out for the bullets we found on the scene."

At the door, is the head of lab research. Whom was appointed to check on the weapons.

"Regarding the shell casing we have found, they are all .45 sabot rounds, the bullets are fired from a modified HK USP pistol."

"Standard issue for Yggdrasil and Ratatoskr agents…" Ellen commented.

"You guys are going to be interesting in this… The spikes that impaled are special…"

Both Westcott are Ellen are intrigued as the head of lab explain herself, she hands over one of the 10cm bolts.

"These are tungsten spikes. These spikes have very strong electromagnetic charge, it is fired from a railgun."

Railgun has never seen any deployment, agents prefer to use their pistol because of their undercover nature.

"We have another agent from Yggdrasil operating as well?"

"I think so Mr Westcott. The sabot rounds are already powerful enough to pierce through our agents' ballistic armor, and now they have this monstrosity… There is no known PMC force issuing railguns. If these bolts hit anyone, the impact alone on torso is enough to kill the person. Our agents are alive this day because the enemy's agents are sparing them."

"…Thank you, you may go now."

"Yes, Mr Westcott."

After she left, Westcott start to speak again.

"SOCOM's Delta Force and DEVGRU recently have DARPA's support to develop new generation of combat soldiers. One of the aspect is the use of realizers, DARPA has been trying to get their hands on the schematics of our more advanced realizers. Can the agent be a Wizard?" Westcott asked.

"Hmph, if he is. I will take him down… But Academi (formerly known as Blackwater) is being contracted for these work and we have been able to stop these agents."

It is clear that DEM is not only handling one front, the other arms maker and Paramilitary group are eyeing for this piece of technology.

"USASF(United States Anti Spirit Force) have managed to reverse engineered one of our own. We can't let them have another one, they are cunning enough to separate their ties so that we can't sue them… Anyway regarding the Shadows…"

The screen then shows the profile of Yuki, Arashi and Kyo, with their respective codenames, Shadow-Reverser, Shadow-Assailant/Ripper and Shadow-Mirage.

"From our investigation, Reverser is Nanaya Yuki, Ripper is Arashi, we don't know about Mirage… And what Mirage said is correct, Ripper's status is now MIA."

After Kyo's assault on Arashi, it seems that the latter has disappear without a trace. It is very puzzling for Ellen as both of them are Fallen Spirits.

"Mirage wants Ripper dead. But why? Both of them are the vessels of the Lords of Hell. Not to mention Mirage is Ripper's partner…"

Westcott only cares for the power behind them, but he knows that these vessels from Hell are capable of stopping his goal.

"I want their power… But it seems that the Lords of Hell want all of us dead. They can only do so through their own Spirit, and the Spirit Hunters. Put both of them on red alert."

The decision surprises Ellen as she was told to capture other Spirits instead of killing usually.

"What?"

"They are too risky… Even riskier than Inversed Spirits. We've already seen Ripper inverted at his own will. We will be exterminating, instead of capturing them." Westcott explained.

"Yes, Isaac…"

"And also, have you decided who to be your subordinates?"

After losing powerful Wizards, Artemisia, Jessica and Mana, DEM's combat prowess has dropped quite a bit. Ellen has been choosing their replacement for quite some time, and she has finalized them.

"I want Tobiichi Origami of AST as one of them… And also, there is this guy that was under Jessica…"

"Huh?"

"It was said that other than Mana, Jessica always fought against a Wizard in her unit. Others had commented that the Wizard is holding back so much it is possible that he is stronger than Mana."

"Ah… I have heard about him. He is completely natural too… Tenno Scotts… aka the Lightning…"

"Yeah… He was known for disobeying higher ups and lack of discipline. Jessica only kept him because he is capable in her eyes."

Westcott is interested in this man on how rebellious the man is. He remember that there is this Christmas wishlist going on, Tenno's wishlist got berated by others so much that Westcott had read it out of curiosity. The young man wants a personal unit of his specification.

"Well… I guess it is rather easy to bribe him. Just give him a personal unit that he likes. As for Tobiichi Origami, she wanted revenge didn't she? We'll just let her know what she wants to know if she decides to join us."

Isaac's plan helps Ellen to solve her problems.

"Yes, Isaac, I'll arrange it immediately."

As Ellen leaves the office, Westcott can't help but to ponder on what Ratatoskr is doing.

"Didn't they said they are protecting Spirits? But Ripper got hunted down by Mirage… If Mirage was able to kill Ripper, then his powers are not what we have seen before."

A few hours later, at Ratatoskr secret base, Ireland

"Incoming transmission! From DEM!"

On the screen is Westcott, facing him is Woodman. The two rivals meet on screen for the first time in many years.

"Well well, Woodman… I'm surprised you would pick up this broadcast…"

"It is rare for the CEO to broadcast this… Why not?"

"So… How is it dealing with DARPA and their Academi pests?"

"Better than you of course… We gave them one of our realizers, apparently they are still hungry for more."

Woodman's words angers Westcott a little. But he decides to keep his cool.

"Listen, where did you keep Ripper?" Westcott asked.

"Ripper? You mean Assailant don't you? That is a question I want to ask you! He is missing for more than a week now!"

Westcott is surprised to hear that. Even Woodman is unaware of the status of Arashi.

"I've never ordered a hit on Ripper… His so called partner came knocking at my doors, he claimed that he killed Ripper!"

"Partner?"

Woodman seems to be confused as he hears that, there is something he doesn't know about it.

"The leader of Spirit Hunters, known as Nanoka. We have met before demons invaded. He was the one that contacted me to help getting Ripper. We have evidence that Nanoka is the new male Spirit like Ripper was. His codename is Mirage. I'm giving you these files to download, let us work together and hunt down Mirage, shall we?"

The download is swift as Mirage's data are stored. Woodman knows his rival well and decline the offer to work together.

"Well… No, this invisible war is still on, Westcott… As for Mirage, he was a Spirit guardian alongside with Ripper. I am not risking my men for him…"

"Then, at least pull out all of your agents from UK! Or else, I will find them and kill them like all Academi rats!"

Woodman only smiled and replied.

"Catch them… If you can… Good luck facing Dante and my new trump card… I have yet to have him assassinate you if not for Assailant's requests…"

"YOU!"

The transmission is cut, Westcott knows the invisible war is still on. The excuse of private military company and insurgency cannot keep up forever as their intel drains out.

"Nanoka… Woodman… I will hunt you down!"

10am, Spectre's Safe House

Spectre's phone rings and he answers it. His eyes are bandaged, partly disguising him.

"Spectre, it's Eagle, I'm outside."

Spectre immediately takes out a combat knife and slowly approaches the door, he then opens it.

"Good day, mate!"

After Eagle entered, Spectre then close and locks the door up. Eagle then goes to his room to put his stuffs, which is just a few clothes and stripped firearms. Spectre then unwinds his bandage, showing his eyes again.

"Pleased to meet you, mate. When I read about your profile, you gave me a shock…"

"Former terrorist from 14 Blades, assassin of presidents. You already know about me, save your words… You make me nervous to be honest…" Spectre said it bluntly.

"Ah… Undercover syndrome. I got it when I started. You will get over with it…"

Eagle has a short brown hair and a very some what young appearance, at about 30, his eyes are cyan, he look very friendly. Dressed in a gray winter coat, judging from his words, his first impression to Spectre is that the man has been into black ops like these for many years.

"You have been doing this for many years, have you?" he asked.

"Yup, 6 years as MI6, 4 years as Ratatoskr. You're pretty smart, kid."

"So, how do I address you?" Spectre asked.

"Just call me Ian, my name is Ian Schmidt. You need to get yourself a proper name though… You can't just say you are Spectre."

What Ian said is right, he can't just say his codename. Spectre then thinks about a name, an alias that can help him.

"…Seien… Seien Ryousuke…"

"Great!"

"I still prefer to be called Spectre though…"

"Hahaha, up to you…"

Ian then takes out a notebook.

"Here's your next brief…"

Spectre then focuses on listening to his handler.

"You are to steal some file from Ellen Mira Mathers house's computer. From what I know, it is encrypted and off from internet grid. You have plenty of time to scout out their timings before proceeding."

"I will… And right now… Gimme her address and a few days and it will be done."

"Wait up, take these just in case they are out right as you reach the place."

Ian handover a USB flash drive and a small tablet.

"And take this... Shit gets serious sometimes…"

Ian hands him a suppressed Walther PPK. Spectre immediately checks the gun and puts it into a secret compartment in his backpack. The backpack is loaded with once again, the stripped sniper rifle.

"Alright, I'll move out right away."

Spectre immediately changed his clothes and winds up the bandage on his eyes.

"Press the button and I will call you."

Ian said this while Spectre puts on a gray jacket with his hood being pulled down. His hands are covered with black winter sports gloves and a black scarf tied around his neck, grabbing the walking stick in-disguise sword. The young man then leaves the safe house.

After Spectre left the house, Ian receives a call. He knows who is calling him.

"Hello, Ian here."

"So, how's our candidate doing?" The man on the other side of the phone asks.

"Pretty good job, just like what they have said, the kid is good with blades. And very good with guns too. So, when is the test coming?"

"Soon... We have a little change of plan... We are to make Westcott and the directors to shit their pants."

Ian what surprised to hear that as he is not expecting Ratatoskr to make such a bold move.

"What?"

"The directors have a meeting at night. Academi's agents have planted quite some tear gasses in their meeting room. We are to use this opportunity to scare them."

"Woodman won't be calling this so suddenly…"

"Westcott had a little talk with him, he threatened that he can assassinate Westcott, guess Spectre is the one to do it. I'll be the thief then… And, dead drop outside…"

Ian opens his eyes wide open as he hears that. The door suddenly being knocked at. Ian immediately answer the door, there is one guy standing outside dressed up as a courier carry a large box.

"Dante, what's inside?"

"Proper equipment for our assassin... See ya..."

Dante leaves the building as Ian closes the door. He opens up the box, inside containing a suit, completely in black with hexagonal pattern on it. Ian immediately recognises this as a prototype that they are working on.

"What in the... Stealth combat wiring suit, this thing does not have realizers yet unlike those Wizard twats..."

Ian can't believe the grand plan is in motion so fast. Although Spectre is working for Ratatoskr as of now, it is Woodman's decision to draft him to Yggdrasil. However, Dante, the leader of Yggdrasil usually tests out their candidates. Spectre is just one of the candidates, Woodman has told Dante that he won't disappoint.

Also, there are also 3 smaller boxes inside. Ian unboxes them only to shock him further. The boxes contains a FN Five-Seven pistol each. But it is not any ordinary pistol, these are all railguns. The pistols are in black and the sides are engraved with the words, "GPDW-HALE MOD A". The boxes also contains 10 magazines each.

"Damn… Even these? Five-Seven is scary enough, now with the same caliber bolts and fully automatic… And I clearly remember he used Glock-18 the most…"

And finally, the last small box, containing a visor. It is only enough to cover Spectre's eyes. Ian knows that the visor is a prototype to a CR-Unit that they are developing, with Spectre being its test subject.

He immediately calls Spectre back, briefing the young man of the "terrorist attack".

"Spectre this is Eagle, do you copy?"

"Eagle, what is it?"

"Change of plans, come back for new mission."

"Affirmative."

Spectre immediately turns back and return to the safe house. The young man unwinds his bandage after he entered the house.

"Well, mate… You are going to have one of the hardest mission to date."

"What?"

Spectre is shocked as he sees the equipments in the dead drop. He immediately takes out the wiring suit and take a closer look on it.

"This is… The suit that Wizards wear…"

"Well… Unlike those, this is for stealth infiltration and combat. Infrared, motion, radar are not going to pick you up, even with your face exposed! Now put this on… Let me teach you."

Ian guides the young man to put on the wiring suit, after putting it on, a smile is formed onto his face, it fits Spectre perfectly. The suit lacks armor plating, The only armor plates are at the shoulders, elbow and knees. The knuckles are braced to pack a punch. The suit also forms a symbiotic link with Spectre as he can feel the suit is "hugging" him, he swings his fists around only to find that he is faster.

"This thing… Is enhancing my strength?"

"Yup, this is our prototype."

Spectre pulls up the mask around his neck, thus covering his face. He then sweeps his hair back and puts on a bandana . The overall look of Spectre with the suit on is slim. It is not bulky, and in fact, he can wear pants and jackets to cover them up.

"Now, put this visor on."

Spectre then wears the visor like goggles. The visor immediately displays informations like a HUD. It also switches into night vision and infrared vision that helps to locate enemies.

"These are some serious gears…" Spectre commented.

"Well, we are going to have a conference with Woodman and the other operative. You don't need to cover your face, that operative is one of your handler."

Spectre is disturbed by the fact that there are more than two people knows his identity other than Woodman.

"Just how many handlers do I have?"

"Two… maybe three..."

"…"

The two guys then walks to the couch with a laptop set up on the coffee table. It is a video conference with Woodman and the other operator known as Dante. Woodman's face is visible while Dante's is not.

"Hello, gentlemen. Spectre get ready for your brief. Academi's agents had planted a few tear gasses in DEM conference hall, they are set to detonate exactly 8pm during a meeting. We want you to scare the hell out of them. Impaling some of them onto walls will do, but we want Westcott and others to wet their pants."

"Let me guess, snipe them?" Spectre asked.

"Exactly…"

Dante suddenly spoked and he continues to brief Spectre.

"But this is unlike the mission before. You might be up against Wizards. Your wiring suit is optimized for stealth infiltration. Their conference room is at the top floor of Tower A."

Ian then hands out a tablet to Spectre and he navigates around to know what Dante is talking about. The DEM office complex is huge, with their own checkpoints for vehicles etc. There are a total of 3 towers. Tower A is the tallest of all with Tower B and C just 1 floor shorter.

The building's floor plan is clearly layout to Spectre and he carefully analyses them.

"There is only one entrance to the conference room. That is a door facing the roof of Tower B, that is at about 500m away. Using the night as cover, you are unlikely to be spotted. When the bombs are set off, all of them will rush out of the conference room. That is your only chance." Woodman then briefed.

"After you have started to fire, you are likely to have Wizards flood your area. The curvature of Building B is smooth enough to make it to be your slide. Of course, if you are spotted by Wizards, we have given you a pair of pistols." Dante added.

Ian then hands the Hales to Spectre who then inspect and reads the manual on operating them.

"Five-Sevens?" Spectre asked.

"These are fully automatic, so look where you are shooting at. They have both IR and green lasers. These are railguns like Javelin. Just shoot at their territory, at about 5 bolts it will be shattered, while Javelin only need 1 bolt. For the case of Ellen, you need at least a full mag for Hale and 3 bolts for Javelin." Dante explained.

"Due to the territory of DEM, direct insertion with teleporter is not viable, insertion will be through land with Alice driving you there. Ian will provide hacking support. Extraction point will be given upon completing your mission." Woodman added.

"With land insertion, we will be placing you 500m away from the checkpoint at 6pm."

Ian shows Spectre the map again. The office tower is surrounded with a large circular wall with checkpoints, between the wall and the office tower is 1km with research, training, logistics and maintenance facilities.

"You will have to sneak in, solo. The night sky is not completely dark at 6, the facilities are pretty well lit, the overall ambient light is enough for you to spot Wizards, so do they. There are maintenance vents in the building which you can make use of to get to the top floor." Dante then added.

"2 hours eh… Shouldn't be much of a problem."

"Alright, Spectre, get yourself familiarized with the equipments. Alice will pick you up right at 5pm." Woodman finishes the brief.

"Affirmative!"

Alright that's all for Chapter 1. Leave your review or PM, I value your feedback to make upcoming chapters better. Also, please post at my AMA section in the fanfic forums for Date A Live if you have any question. See ya!