One month before the ending of Part 1:

It was a cold morning in mid November when Gilligan Darkwater got summoned by Sweyn. He goes out of bed, takes a shower, and dresses himself. He puts on the leather jacket he received on his arrival, socks, his favorite boots, an overcoat and a pair of gloves. As he makes his way into the living room, he sees the messenger who had told him that Sweyn wished to see him, sitting on his couch. He looks somewhat impatient, but Gilligan tells him he'll just need a few minutes to eat his breakfast.

It's a somewhat empty fridge. Three eggs, a steak, a bottle of milk and yoghurt that had passed the expiration date long ago. Gilligan takes the three eggs out of the fridge, and prepares a small omelet as breakfast. It will have to do, he thinks to himself, I'll eat properly at break time during the training.

The man looks annoyed by Gilligan's nonchalance. He sits there, eating his eggs as if this were just another day in Byzantium. But it isn't. For very few people had had the privilege to meet Sweyn. He is the leader of Byzantium, and had been their leader ever since his father died fifty years ago. He was only thirteen at the time, but immediately took the role of a just leader. He is known for his reservedness, as only his most trusted men, and a few lucky one's who had done something, had or knew something, had the privilege to meet him face to face.

Gilligan didn't feel too much for it though. He is the leader of a small sniper squad, made out of six men including himself. They were all volunteers who joined Gilligan when he joined the Byzantine army on his arrival, almost six months ago. After the generals saw his skills with his sniper rifle, they asked him if he could train a small brand of volunteers, and turn that squad into an elite sniper squad.

Gilligan started with nineteen volunteers, and after two months ended with five elite snipers. He named his squad 'Gilligan's eagles'. Odds are Sweyn just wants to praise him for all his efforts and hard work. Gilligan had no time for praises. Every minute has to be put into the drills and training.

Though the praises would be righteous. Since the founding, Gilligan and his small squad had cleared out Giantess scout camps. The casualties included eleven Amazons and three Behemoths. That was a rare and impressive accomplishment. They all got an honorable title. It was important as well. A couple of dozen merchants had gone missing, and he main suspects, if you can even call them that, were the Amazon's in their scout camps. The generals figured that they were the ones behind the missing merchants, since they would probably have trouble finding wild life to eat. It was an accepted fact that they served as cannibalistic dinner for them. So the generals had gotten enough of their already known presence and the Eagles were sent on their first task. And all three camps laid to waste after only a week. But not only the Giantess' were being hunted by the Eagles. The Nine Life's were often targeted as well.

The Nine Life's is a brand of mercenaries, normal people, only working for the Empire. At first it was a faction devoted to save humanity. But after the fall of China eight years ago, they switched sides after the Giantess' promised them safety in exchange for their alliance. Not they operate in scout camps, in military battles with their guns, since the Giantess' can't use them and usually go with medieval weaponry like Crusader swords and bow's & arrows, and are sent in as spies.

The only Giantess' that can cross oceans are the Amazons, but they are almost useless in open battlefield, since they'll get shot down hundreds of yards before they can reach the walls. That's why the Nine Life's are send in over seas to fight military battles there. As an example: The resistance controls the South-east Asian islands and the northern part of Australia. The Empire's foothold on Australia is weak, and there is chance they can get to the islands with the Behemoths and the actual Giantess', because there are no ships that can carry them anymore. Instead, they rely on the Amazon's and the Nine Life's to clear the job. But thanks to the strong presence of the resistance in South-east Asia, they have made no effort to conquer it.

The two men walk out of the house. 'It's a ten minute walk', the man had said. On their way to their destiny, they walked past the research facility. Gilligan thought of Timmy, who had been appointed the assistant of some big brained scientist, who knew what he was doing. Gilligan hadn't really paid attention to Timmy when he told him the news. All that was on his mind, was his own squad. He hadn't talked to any former members of his old squad for weeks. He knew Charles became a doctor at the emergency room, and Jane became his assistant. She got mad about that, which was pretty funny for both Timmy and Gilligan. It was because they didn't need any more mechanics, and since it's a rule here to make yourself useful to the city, she was forced to accept the 'offer' made for her.

Melissa had joined the army and got herself a suitable rank. Oliver, on the other hand, got sent to Vienna when their squad had just arrived in Byzantium. Apparently he had the upgraded FEV in his DNA, and they needed him in Vienna.

“Halt.”

A strong guard orders Gilligan as he reaches a small apartment. Several guards surround him and the messenger, and behind him he can see a least a dozen sniper on top of the surrounding buildings. One of the snipers stands right next to an artillery gun. The design seems to be from the World War II era. It is placed at a strategic place. The apartment stands against the wall, which is only a mile removed from the frontier. You can probably see the camps while scoping from such a high point.

“This is Mr. Darkwater. I trust you have been informed of his summoning?”

“Very well. Follow me”

The messenger walks away and the guard signs Gilligan to follow him.

As Gilligan follows the guard into the, what seems like, the abandoned house, pushes a bookcase away. Stairs that lead down were covered by it.

“Go. Follow the path and you will find Sweyn.”

The guard walks away, and Gilligan is left alone. As before, he didn't feel like doing this. Normally he would have joined his squad into the daily training.

*It had better be worth it* Gilligan thinks to himself.

The lights went on when he reached the end of the stairs. They let to an open hall, with more guards in it then there are outside. In the middle of the room, there is an old man behind his desk. Behind him, there is some kind of shrine with ancient texts on them.

“Come forward.”The old man ordered.

Gilligan does what is told of him, and walks toward the old man. As he walks past the guards, he can see them starring sternly at him, with their rifles drawn. One wrong move, and he might get shot with no questions asked.

“I trust you realize this is uncommon, and that you should feel proud of being allowed to come here, to my domain.”

The old man can see the arrogant look on Gilligan's face. Gilligan knows that he is in no position to act tough, and replies with:

“I humbly thank you for this meeting”

The old man knew it was not true what he said. But he remained calm.

“I called you here, because I have a very important, a very secret mission for you.”

Gilligan looks somewhat surprised at the old man. He assumed he would come here for complements and praises, but this is starting to sound like something that could interest him. The old man continued.

“You must swear to keep this a secret. This town is crawling with spies and sleepers. Until they have all been flushed out, all missions, unimportant or crucial, must remain secret.

“You have my word.” Gilligan replies, more sincere than is previous answer.

“Mr. Benson needs your help. The Austrians have been trying to make another FEV out of his DNA, but they miss one important piece to the puzzle. I do not know what it is. An Austrian science team arrived here yesterday, and told me that they needed your former college Timmy Mitchellson for a mission.”

Gilligan looks at the old man. He looks at him with a neutral emotional face, as if they are having small talk. His beard reaches down to hist chest, and he looks as pale as paper. He must have been here for years. A big pile of paperwork and files stands right next to him on his desk, and it looks like the old man hasn't had spare time in decades.

“Let me explain. From what I know, the research on Oliver Benson can only continue if you acquire a certain object for the Austrian scientists. You'll have to ask him about the entire story, but he is the only one who can identify it. And the reason you're here, is because I know you are the best soldier there is. I need you to take your squad and safely escort Mr Mitchellson to the meeting point.”

And with that, Gilligan and his squad left the city with Timmy. They took a car and drove of. Timmy explained that they had to infiltrate the Great eastern wall on the south side. The Empire's research facility was not far from there. All they had to do was find an experimental substance and inject it into Oliver. After that, they must take a blood sample from him, read the code that will be displayed on the small computer and then send the code via something called 'The Internet” to Vienna. That will be all they need to finish the FEV V2.0