The squad looked down at their gear as they waited in the dropships. The familiar sense of anticipation before battle hung in the air, almost tangible in its intensity. Aelius gave a glance at the others as a screen on the inside of the dropship switched on to display Ironwood and Ms. Onyx. They sat next to each other at a desk while figures moved around hurriedly behind them.

"You are all approaching the target," Onyx informed them. "Remember, you each need to clear your carriage of the train. We don't know where Indagos will be, but whether he is on this train or not, the shipment needs to be halted. The more dust that we can prevent getting to him, the weaker he will be when we find him."

"How did she even know that this was coming through here," Tuilen muttered to Laure. The two hesitated to put on their helmets while Aelius, Hayden and the other dark-armoured soldiers that accompanied them did so. Once they put on the gear, there would be no privacy between them anymore. All that was said would be able to be heard not only by their squad, but the staff at the facility. "Her 'sources' sounded pretty sketchy at best."

"We don't really have too much choice, do we?" Laure replied. She threw a sidelong glance at the other two, who conversed quietly from under their helmets. Their voices echoed, muffled and unintelligible from the radios inside the helmets. "Just soldiers in another battle." She pulled the helmet over her head and turned to the other two to join in their conversation.

"Sometimes it feels like I'm the only one that remembers when we were free," Tuilen muttered to himself before he pulled his own helmet on.

"Good of you to join us," Hayden remarked to Tuilen. He could almost feel the scowl emitting from under the other man's helmet. "We've been talking to the guys here. We're thinking that you and I are the entry team. We'll clear the carriage with our weapons while the guys pick of anyone that tries to get out of the top hatch. Aelius and Laure can head to the front and back entrance and deal with the contacts that try to escape out of there."

"What's your idea if Indagos is in our carriage?" Tuilen asked.

"We don't really have much in mind," Aelius admitted. "Pretty much everything's going to end badly if we try to fight everyone at once, however if we disconnect the carriage from the front of the train, we can cut him off from half of his reinforcements, and even call in our own. That said, it could get ugly if he brings in his own friends. We still don't have much of a clue about how big his organisation is. It could range from a cult to a hidden civilisation for all we know, so we've got to act as quickly as we can, hopefully faster than him."

"So pretty much going to have to adlib everything as usual," Laure sighed and sat back in her seat. A tension ran through them as the dropship rocked slightly. She breathed out to relieve some of the pressure. "You know, one of these days I'm going to spend a whole day just to plan out a mission, and then we're going to see who's is more successful."

"As long as you're volunteering," Aelius shrugged. Everyone in the dropship tensed up as a siren sounded, and a red light flashed at the end of dropship. All of the soldiers there, Huntsmen and regular alike stood up and prepared themselves. Aelius rolled his neck as the ramp of the dropship started to lower to reveal the cargo train that sped through the snowy plains of Atlas.

Behind them, several other dropships had started to position themselves over the train as well, the other squads that accompanied them. The soldiers took up positions on either side of the lowered ramp. Down below, the same mysterious soldiers had started to exit the train to fire at the encroaching crafts. Hayden ducked his head as a stray shot sparked the inside of the craft and made a loud ping.

The soldiers fired back at the figures. Aelius could see that the other dropships had started to return fire as well. A second volley from the targets below made one of the soldiers reel back and curse as they touched a hand to the point on their armour where they had been hit. Aelius could see that his aura levels were still relatively fine through his helmet's visor.

The moment that the light turned green, the rest of the soldiers and Huntsmen jumped out of the dropships. For a brief moment, all they could hear was the wind that rushed past their faces. Even the shots from the soldiers below were almost silent as they whizzed past. Aelius twisted his body around in the air and landed feet first on one of the soldiers. He launched off of him and landed a few feet away, then charged in again at the warrior.

He pulled the man's gun forwards and slammed his fist into the other's throat. While the enemy stumbled back off balance, he dashed forwards again and punched him in the shoulder. Aelius slammed his foot into the man's newly exposed back and watched as he disappeared off the side of the train and out of view.

He turned back to see that the others had dealt with the rest of the enemies on their own and waited while Hayden and Tuilen prepared to breach. The two twins stood on the centre of the carriage's roof and grabbed each other's forearms. Their red and blue aura's, respectively, started to surround them, then slowly warped colours to become a solid magenta. They turned to face Aelius and Laure simultaneously and gave a nod.

The other two Huntsmen disappeared down between the carriages while Tuilen knelt down on top of the carriage and placed his armoured hand one the metal. Slowly, the roof under his palm started to turn freeze over as ice began to spread across the surface. Once it had reached a sufficient size, he took a few steps back. At the same time, Hayden twirled his voulge for a moment and jumped into the air. He slammed down onto the roof and shattered it. The two of them landed in the middle of the carriage and looked around at the group of warriors that stood and stared at them in shock.

"Targets found and engaged," the both of them stated at the same time. The enemies didn't have any idea of what hit them as the twins charged forwards. Hayden jumped above them and dropped into the middle of the group that stood in his half of the carriage, he spun around and grabbed two of them.

He dragged them back to his brother and jumped in the air as Tuilen slid underneath him. The dark-haired man slammed his weapon into the both of their necks. They hit the ground hard. He could see that some in the back had started to try and run to the exit of the carriage, but they were quickly rebuffed as they opened the door to find Laure, who had finished fitting a pair of knuckle dusters onto her hands.

She glowed green as she blocked a punch from the first warrior that charged at her, then dropped low to deliver a strike to the inside of his knee. The man grunted as he fell down a little, then flew backwards from a strike to the chin. He attempted to struggle back to his feet, but fell down in pain, shocked to find that his aura wasn't healing his injuries.

The four of them were devastating in the tight area, despite the disadvantages that were presented to the long weapon users. The enemies had nowhere that they could hide from the strikes or the sweeps of the weapons, and the twins gave no openings. They fell back against each other as Aelius and Laure pushed the combatants further into the middle of the carriage.

Their semblance allowed them to connect to each other and draw on the other's strengths where they would ordinarily fall short. It connected them to such an extent that they could feel exactly what the other saw, and what they were about to do. While some gained a certain synchronicity with experience, theirs was unparalleled. They whirled and fought, the movements so quick that it grew almost difficult to tell which was which as they often switched places in order to maximise their efficiency in combat.

A sudden tremor that ran through the train caused Aeliu's attention to snap outside. He vanished out the door and jumped back up to the top of the carriage where he saw the front of the train start to lift off of the tracks, surrounded in a purple energy. The squad that had attempted to take control of it fell off of the sides and rolled down the plain away from it as it slammed back down on the tracks. It was a miracle that it kept going. Aelius noted that the squad's aura levels were still active before he opened the communicator.

"Laure, I need you up top," he called out. Aelius couldn't see the man yet, but as far as he was aware, he needed to be in physical contact with the object in order to manipulate it. "I think that we have a definite location on Indagos." A few moments later, he glanced back to see that Laure had pulled herself up to the roof of the carriage. She pulled the sniper from her back and extended it into its full form.

"I don't have any visual," she reported as she looked down her scope. Aelius frowned as he looked intently at the first carriage. "Wait, I think I see something." A figure jumped up to the top of the carriage and surveyed the fighting that was going on around them. Several other figures pulled themselves up after.

Laure could at least recognise their armour as the same as the elites that had fired on her before at the research facility. The last figure was different from the other before in that he wore armour instead of just the normal clothes. It seemed to be a more ornate version of the elite's armour, but their doubt was assuaged when the sight of the familiar rod was brought out from behind the man's back.

"Alright, I'm taking the shot," Laure told Aelius. Once again, green surrounded her body and concentrated on her hands. She aimed carefully, then fired her rifle. The round left behind a green trail as it passed by some of the soldiers on the carriages. This time, however, Indagos moved quickly and deflected it with the rod. He looked over at the two of them and gestured with his rod. The elites raised their weapons.

Instantly, Aelius ran back and dragged Laure to the ground as they started to fire on the carriage. Sparks flew around them from the rounds that hit the metal roof. Aelius pulled Laure close and looked up with a glare. It seemed that they were far enough outside of the elites' effective range, but that didn't mean that they couldn't get lucky.

"Aelius, use your weapon, now!" Onyx ordered him over the radio. He paused and glanced down at Laure for a moment, who kept her vision concentrated on the elites. It seemed that Onyx was using a private channel to avoid others hearing her orders. "Your friend thinks that you're safe just because you're a threat. He fails to realise that out here, I have more than enough time to initiate fail safes before you do any actual damage." He grimaced, then firmly kept Laure out of the bullets' path as he brought himself to a knee.

"Aelius, what are you doing?" she demanded. She tried to push herself up as well, but a bullet hit close to her hand and caused her to flinch and fall back to the metal roof. Aelius didn't even blink as the sounds of the bullets passed by him. He stood up and stepped forwards, both of his hands reached inside of his coat. "No, don't do it!"

He reached behind his back until he felt the familiar feeling of his weapon around his hands. An abrupt pull down locked them in place, and he lifted his hands out to reveal the clawed gauntlets. A moment passed, then he fell to his knees as the sensation of disconnect came over him. Everything seemed to dull as he looked around at the battle around him with a new sense of apathy. Dully, he could hear a scream from behind him, but it didn't matter, nothing mattered except for the hunger that steadily grew within him, and the bright light that stood at the front of the train.

A dark, shadowy aura surrounded him and seemed to exude in a cloak. Occasionally, one of the bullets looked to hit him, but just passed through the darkness harmlessly. Everyone else paused as they looked at the creature that stood in their midst.

"Is that a Grimm?" Laure heard from over her communicator. Two red eyes glowed from within the darkness and stared down the others that looked at him.

"No, it's a friendly," Onyx told everyone on a full broadcast. "Do not fire on it, let it engage Indagos. Make sure you don't get close, though, it is volatile." The moment that she finished, Aelius dashed forwards. He didn't even run on both legs, settling into a dash on his arms and legs. The shadow only seemed to grow as he rushed towards Indagos, who seemed visibly distressed from the new occurrence.

"Damn it," Laure hissed. Hayden and Tuilen jumped up to the top of the train and froze in their tracks. Hayden's face twisted in fury, and he started to rush forwards, only to be pulled back by Tuilen. He winced as he felt Tuilen's grip tighten painfully on his shoulder.

"Why?" Tuilen asked. Laure just looked ahead wordlessly. Only Aelius knew the reason why he had used his weapons now.

At the front of the train, Indagos looked at the quickly approaching creature and hissed through his teeth. The elites formed up closer to him and paused for a moment to prepare themselves. They watched as the shadows grew tighter around Aelius' form and bounded forwards before it launched itself into the air. Indagos sneered and levelled the rod. His own purple aura surrounded him and the shadows scattered into the winds, losing their shape.

He tilted his head to the side as he lowered his vision back down to see Aelius only a few feet in front of him. He fell backwards as one of the elites dived forwards to protect him. Aelius dived into the elite and dragged him down to the metal roof. The shadows once again shrouded him as he stared down at the man.

The elite had never seen anything like it, and he just stared back, petrified. A single punch knocked him out as the creature moved onto the next enemy. The elites ran forwards, but they may as well have been paper in front of shears. Each one was tossed aside and slashed by the claws. Their weapons were useless against Aelius, and they couldn't even hope to match the creature's strength.

After only a few moments, the only people left on the front carriage were Aelius and Indagos.

"I always knew that you were a monster deep down," the man sneered. His eyes blazed as the aura around him intensified. It manifested in a coat of its own. The thick, purple light that obscured his armour seemed to drag down to the ground, and every step that he took left an imprint in the metal roof. "It's about time that you finally show everyone your true colours."

The creature opposite him merely snarled in response and charged forwards. Indagos blocked the first slash with his sceptre and ducked out of the way of the second. He twirled the sceptre in his hands and skipped forwards. Each attempted strike fell short and his face clouded with fury when he heard what seemed to be a throaty chuckle from within the cloak of shadow.

The two met each other in a grapple, and immediately Aelius' aura was enveloped in a coating of purple. The shadowy creature's feet slipped out from under it as it started to float higher in the air. Indagos pulled out of its grasp and winked as he transformed the sceptre into the pistol. He fired the shot at point blank range.

Unlike the others, Aelius was sent soaring through the air from the impact. After the glow vanished from its aura, the creature landed heavily against the roof of the train a short distance away. Before it rolled off, it dug one of the claws into the top of the trained and slipped over the side. Indagos gave a snort of derision and placed the sceptre on his shoulder as he turned to walk to the front of the train.

A claw reached up and slammed into the metal roof. The fingers punctured the train and gave Aelius purchase enough to pull up. The creature cracked its neck as it stood up straight and strode forwards. Several of Indagos warriors ran forwards to stop Aelius, but the instant that they reached the shadows which decorated the floor at the creature's feet, they stumbled and fell to their knees.

Indagos paused and turned around again to face Aelius. He rolled his eyes and sighed as he transformed the sceptre back into the pistol and fired. Aelius merely smacked aside the round with the back of the gauntlet. The ball of light spun off into the distance and gave a soft boom as it detonated. He frowned and started to back away slightly as the creature approached without hesitation.

Aelius ran forwards again and dove down the middle between the carriages and vanished from view. Indagos tilted his head to the side slightly, then his eyes widened and he rolled forwards as a set of claws tore into the metal where his feet were a moment earlier. He pointed his pistol down at the newly made hole in the carriage and fired.

Everything after that seemed to move in slow motion.

"Oh, damn it," he sighed as he realised his mistake. The detonation rocked the front carriage and pulled it off of the track. Everything carriage after it followed as well. He jumped as the carriage began to turn onto its side, but a shape grabbed his waist and slammed him back down into the metal. He gave a grunt as he looked up at the claws that reached down towards his face. Indagos raised his arms to protect himself as the sharp implements rained blows down on his arms. Luckily most of the brunt of the attack was deflected by his own aura, however he winced as he felt each strike weaken it until the claws raked across his skin.

Indagos kicked up at the shadow and pushed Aelius away from him. He scrambled across the falling carriage and knocked an outstretched claw aside with his sceptre. He transformed it back and fired a shot at the creature. Aelius barely dodged and continued his pursuit of the man as they parried back and forth on the almost weightless battlefield.

Indagos dived to one side while Aelius dive to the other as the carriage hit the snow with a massive thud. A wave of snow covered them both. Indagos looked up to see that Aelius had already found purchase on top of the carriage and was ready to jump down at him. A beam of light raked across in front of the creature and caused it to jump back.

Indagos looked back to see a bullhead with one of the panels pulled back to allow the robot to fire out of it. He scrambled to his feet and dived away as Aelius hit the snow in front of him. He was surprised to see that Aelius ran straight past him and towards the bullhead. The creature scrambled up one of the trees to disappear out of sight for a moment, then burst from the treetops to grab onto the bullhead and scuttle inside.

The creature dove on one of the robots and for a moment, shadow seemed to expand and fill the entire inside of the bullhead. As quickly as it had come, it shrank back to just coat around Aelius, who looked at the robot with a new sense of distaste. The robot stuttered as it limply raised one of its arms, which Aelius easily shore off. The creature looked back at the other robots, who all ran forwards.

Aelius fell back out of the bullhead under the weight of the other robots. Before the creature hit the ground, it pulled one of the robots underneath it and slammed it against a branch that they rushed past. The other combatants fell to the ground and landed neatly. Aelius landed on top of the robot and stood up straight. The metal corpse beneath him twitched and sparked from the injuries it had sustained.

The creature looked around for a moment, then dove towards the nearest robot. It gripped it by the neck and threw it over at another robot that had started to charge. The two went tumbling over each other away in the snow. Aelius grabbed another and threw it to the ground. The creature launched itself on top of the combatant and tore at it. Each tore into the machine and ripped pieces out of it.

Behind the creature several other robots advanced while it was busy mutilating their ally. Before they could attack, several rounds tore through them and sent them to the ground. Laure, Hayden and Tuilen took out another three and polished off the rest of the forces. Once they had secured the area they looked over to see Aelius continue to attack the robot.

"He's completely out of it," Tuilen growled, he and Hayden ran forwards, both with the same idea. They tackled Aelius to the ground and winced as the creature's shadow started to crawl up their legs. The creature struggled underneath them, its strength almost enough to throw them off. Laure knelt over Aelius and reached down into the shadows to grasp the physical head underneath.

"Don't lose yourself," she told him. The red eyes narrowed at her. She leant closer, and as the distance between them closed, the darkness receded, and the glow of the eyes faded. "I know you're in there, and you won't give in to this that easily. If you do, then we'll just kick your arse until you come back to us, so just come back."

The shadow vanished, and the twins hastily pried the weapons from Aelius' hands. The man underneath stared up at all three of them silently before he closed his eyes and fell back against the ground. Laure placed her forehead against his as the twins fell back, exhausted. Aelius' jaw clenched and he controlled the urge to curl up into a ball.