56 The Silent 3

Walking inside the Great Hall, their shoes echoed against the stone cold floor in complete silence.

The Great Hall had been one of the main rooms for audience whenever their bosses had wanted to announce anything. However, Arnav couldn't think of a reason why they were standing there today.

Coming to the periphery where they were standing, Arnav and Murat nodded to their team mate, Night Owl. He gave a slight nod and then a small wink.

The other three comrades, he had no idea who they were but there was definitely room for guessing.

" As you all know, Obadiah Stane had fled the country. " their boss started to speak, in his cold, drawling voice, drawing their attention, " But now we have a random idea where he is. Once it is confirmed through satellite surveillance of his actual location, we will send our men to destroy him. "

There was a flare on his face, which they had not seen before. " But this time, we will send our best professionals, no soldiers. They won't be able to cope with the situation. So, these three, " he pointed at the other three comrades whom Arnav had failed to recognize, " are from base 3. " Base 3 of The Silent was located in Mexico.

" All six of you are highly competent and professional but the key to making Obadiah Stane regret, is working together. That's why I have called them here so that you get to know each other before your upcoming mission. "

Introducing them, he said " This one's Beauty, Gabriel and Ghost. " pointing at each one of them in turn.

Arnav received a slight shock when he looked at Beauty. Though she was wearing eye mask, her eyes looked strikingly similar - Black almond shaped eyes, twinkling behind the mask, same as Sofya's.

But that was impossible! Sofya couldn't be here. She couldn't have known about this, neither is she trained in martial arts. Maybe he was missing her, that's why he kept seeing her everywhere.

Arnav turned to Murat, perplexed, " Do you think that's Sofya? Beauty? "

Murat looked at the woman. By no definition did she resemble Sofya. That was saying something, since he had known Sofya for a long time, longer than Arnav. He turned to voice his thoughts to Arnav, but was interrupted.

" However, for this mission, I require a leader, a plausible leader who would see this through. The others would follow him/ her without any questions. " As he paused, the others nodded silently. Behind their boss, there was a wide screen which hung the entire length of the wall. As he pressed the button on the remote, the screen switched on. Entering his username and password, it displayed their points and ranks which they had earned through their behavior, discipline and the missions served. A glance at the screen showed that Grey Wolf and Beauty were tied in first place with 12,356 points each.

Beauty glanced at Grey Wolf and chuckled.

" Looks like it's going to be a contest between you and me! " Her voice came out changed, much more hoarser and masculine.

Another rule of The Silent : Women serving as comrades were required to wear voice changer device when facing other comrades, other than their own boss.

" Well, like Beauty said, it's a contest between her and Grey Wolf. The weapons are at the side ends " he clicked another button on the remote and the side walls opened to reveal a dozen of weapons coming out, laid out on a silver base. " You may choose the art you prefer to defeat your opponent. We start in five minutes! "

Night Owl patted Arnav on the back, " No pressure mate. It will be a pleasure being led by a woman. "

Arnav rolled his eyes at his flirtatious nature. Seriously? This was not the time.

" Ready? " the boss's voice boomed around the Great Hall.

Grey Wolf and Beauty moved into the centre while the others backed away, inside the arc drawn in the middle of the hall.

" Name your weapons. "

" Iron Stick " Both of them replied in unison.