It's been a while but here I am, back with another installment of Birds of Prey. Hope it's a good one, I rewrote it about 5 times before I was happy with it. Anyway, enjoy.
As military targets all across Mistral were being hit by the tribe, several transports along with their fighter escort were heading for a different sort of target. They were flying low over the most heavily built up area of the planet, as they made their way to the Presidential Palace. The President wouldn't be there and it wasn't the most important target strategically, but taking control of it would do severe damage to the morale of the Tribe's enemies and would show the President that even his home on Mistral wasn't safe from them.
The transports didn't encounter much resistance as they approached their target, with the majority of the planets military being engaged in battle's elsewhere. A few fighters tried to take them on, but they were quickly blown out of the sky and sent plummeting into the city below. Being almost completely unchallenged meant that it didn't take long for them to reach their target, which was located in the heart of the city.
It was only at this point when they ran into any real resistance, as palace guards opened fire on them from below with anti aircraft weaponry. But the guns of the transports and the fighters were able to tear the guards to shreds and destroy the weapons, before they were able to do any real damage or bring anything down. The survivors on the ground retreated into the building, as the transports prepared to land in its grounds and the fighters circled overhead.
Soon enough, all of the transports had touched down in the ground of the palace, and deployed their complement of troops into battle. The troops poured out of the transports as quickly as they could, with the shield and heavy units leading the way to provide protection from the defending palace guards. Among the troops were Kite who was commanding the attack from the ground and her apprentice, Luna.
The Tribe's forces moved across the grounds of the building as they prepared to launch the second stage of the assault, the defenders opened fire on them from the windows as they moved in but were all either killed or forced to take cover by the Tribe firing back at them. Within moments the building was completely surrounded and the guards were trapped in side, so the Tribe's troops were able to stack up against the walls and prepare to breach the doors and windows of the bottom floor.
There was a single hallway running around the entire bottom floor of the building, which the Tribe could use as a staging point for the rest of their attack once they took control of it. So their first objective was to fight their way in and wipe out any of the defenders in that part of the building, that would be no problem for them as raiding was what the Tribe did best.
Those closest to the doors place breaching charges on them, while others prepared smoke and stun grenades to make it impossible for the guards to defend against them. Other members of the Tribe prepared to smash their way into the building via the windows, so they could hot the defenders from as many places as possible and overwhelm them.
Kite and Luna were right their with the troops, ready to fight side by side with their fellow Tribe members. After all, Kite wasn't just there to command and boost morale, she was their to kill and to show Luna the ropes. For Luna it was her first combat mission, but she wasn't scared or worried, she was excited to get inside and start fighting for the Tribe.
As soon as everything was in position and everyone was ready, Kite gave the signal for the attack to begin. The moment she did so, the breaching charges were blown, the windows were smashed, and the grenades were thrown in. Seconds later when the grenades went off, the troops rushed into the building from all sides. Kite and Luna climbed through a window, to join the fight on the inside.
The helpless defenders were stunned by the stun grenades and couldn't see their attackers through the smoke, they were completely helpless against the Tribe. Everyone unlucky enough to have been in the hallway was quickly dispatched before they had a chance to fight back, the warriors of the Tribe were brutally efficient at killing their enemies.
Kite drew her sword once she was through the window, using it to cut down two men who were unfortunate enough to have run in her direction as they tried to flee for their lives. Luna also got in on the action almost immediately, putting a bullet in the head of a nearby guard. It was her first kill, but she felt no remorse and she was ready to do it again.
Within minutes of the first troops breaching, the hallway was under the Tribe's control and all the guards lay dead. So the Tribe prepared to continue on and seize control of the building room by room, eliminating everyone they encountered along the way. "Alright, everyone get into your squads and start clearing this place up." Kite ordered, prompting the troops to organize themselves again and get ready to move.
Kite then looked at Luna "We're heading straight for the President's Office, so stay close." she told her. While the rest of the Tribe cleared the building, they were going to fight their way through to the most important room in the whole palace. She was sure it was nothing the two of them couldn't handle, even with Luna's lack of experience. They were only going up against poorly prepared guards who would already be distracted by the rest of the Tribe rampaging through the building, and they would be no match for the two of them.
"Lead the way, I'm ready for it." Luna responded confidently, she knew everything would be fine and soon enough they would be standing in Lionheart's office with a trail of dead guards behind them. Kite could easily cut a swath through their enemies, and she would be right beside her helping her do it. Having Kite with her was quite a confidence booster, because she knew it made her pretty much untouchable even in the heat of battle.
"That's what I like to hear. Now, let's show these guys why you don't cross the Tribe." Kite said, before heading for one of the doors leading to the rest of the building. She could tell Luna was ready, so there was no point wasting any more time. As the two of them made their move, so did the rest of the troops. Simultaneously, all the squads moved into the rest of the building, taking out everyone they encountered. They all knew the layout of the building thanks to floor plans they had seen on the way to the mission, so they knew exactly where to go.
Kite kicked open her door, to find a lone guard with his weapon drawn. But she didn't need to evade any shots from him or attack him, as Luna put a bullet right between his eyes before he had a chance to react. He dropped to the ground and the two of them made their way past him, finding themselves in a small office with another door at the far side of it.
There was nobody else in the office, so the two of them went straight to the next door. When Kite opened it, several shots rang out as whoever was in the room tried to shoot at her. Unfortunately for the shooter, she had expected as much and was easily able to avoid being hit and take cover. Luna also took cover, as Kite considered their options.
"This is nothing haven't been through before, watch and learn." Kite said heading over to the other door and picking up the body. Luna watched as she brought the body over and pretty much threw it into the next room. The instant the body passed through the doorway, it was lit up by whoever was in the room.
Kite paid very close attention to what happened. Watching the body from the safety of the small office, she could see that the shots only came from one direction and that only one weapon was being used. So she could tell there was likely only one armed person in the room. But it wasn't just what she could see that helped her, it was what she could hear. When the shooting stopped, she heard the unmistakable sound of an empty clip.
With lighting speed Kite ran into the next room, with her sidearm in one hand and her sword in the other. She found exactly what she had expected, a single guard trying frantically to reload his weapon. He a saw her at the last possible second, his eyes widening in terror and his weapons falling from his hands. He blade sliced him cleanly in half and she put a bullet in his head for good measure. "Clear!" she shouted to Luna, as she wiped her blade clean on the man's clothing.
Luna walked in to find Kite standing over the body. "That was impressive. If I didn't know you, I would struggle to believe what I'm seeing." she said, as Kite sheathed her sword. Kite had assessed the situation in seconds and dealt with the shooter with ease, she had handled things so well that Luna was only able to believe it happened because she'd witnessed it and she knew what Kite was capable of.
"It's pretty easy when you're used to this kind of thing, it happens a lot when we're raiding ships. You should have seen what it was like when the SDC took over the White Fang flagship, remind me to tell you about it when we're done here." Kite responded, as she prepared to move into the next room. She was an expert at situations like the one they'd just been in, thanks to all her experience in the Fang, SDC, and Tribe.
"I can't wait to hear that story." Luna told her, as she joined her at the next door. She looked forward to hearing more about Kite's previous exploits, but that would have to wait until they were done with the mission.
Kite opened the next door, but this time nothing happened. There was a mirror on the far side of the room and it allowed the two of them to see that there was nobody in the room. So with their guns raised just in case, they moved into the room back to back and did a quick scan to make sure there was nobody hiding. The room was actually empty, so they were able to move on to the next door.
They prepared themselves again, as Kite pushed the door open. This time they were shot at, by a number of guards taking cover behind the desks in the room. Fortunately the shots didn't find their targets, as Kite and Luna took cover at either side of the doorway before they could be hit. The ambush didn't work because they had been expecting it, they were expecting one in every room so they were always prepared to dodge, take cover and fight back.
"You need to do better than that if you're going to survive!" Kite shouted, taunting the shooters. She was so used to being shot at, that she was unfazed by it. The guards didn't respond to her, probably too intimidated and scared to dare.
As they waited in cover, Kite took out a new type of grenade which the Tribe had recently started using. It had dust infused into it and was designed to produce a short blast of extreme heat, without any fire. She threw it into the room and it landed in the middle of the floor, the guards tried to scramble away from it but it was too late. The grenade detonated, giving the guards serious burns over their whole bodies and making all of their bodily fluids boil inside them.
Kite then looked across to Luna and said "Clear." The grenade worked better than expected, clearing the room without them having to fire a single shot. Under her mask she was smiling.
"That's a nasty way to go, not that they didn't deserve it." Luna commented as they walked into the room and made their way past the smoldering remains of the guards, on their way to the next door.
Kite shrugged and said "It probably didn't hurt for long, it destroyed their nerve endings and cook their brains." While it was a horrific way to die, the suffering was probably minimal and death came extremely quickly.
They reached the next door and pushed it open, in this room they found something they hadn't expected, or someone else to be more accurate. Cowering alone in the room was none other Lionheart's Vice President, Vice President Barca, The Brother of General Barca who Kite had already killed. It was surprising to find him on Mistral, rather than on Haven with Lionheart.
"Well isn't this a nice surprise." Kite commented, before drawing her sword and walking over to him. Killing him would be easy, but she was going to take him prisoner. Having him in there hands would really hurt Lionheart, and he would make one hell of a bargaining chip if they needed one.
"You won't get away with this, the President won't let you." the VP replied, as he backed away from Kite. He was so wrong it was almost laughable, Lionheart could do nothing to stop them and didn't have long left himself.
"The President is just as screwed as you are, he can try to stop us but it won't work. Now stop cowering and accept your fate, you're embarrassing yourself." Kite said, as she reached him and pointed her sword at him.
Accepting his fate, the VP straightened up and put on a brave face. He couldn't exactly argue with Kite when she had a sword leveled at him. "Why don't you just kill me? You obviously want to." he asked her, obviously confused as to why she didn't just use the sword on him. As far as he knew the tribe killed everyone and never took any prisoners.
"Well, right now you're more valuable to us alive than dead." Hawk told him, as she brought out a set of handcuffs and handed them to Luna who had now joined her. She kept her blade pointed at him, as Luna took his hands and cuffed him for her.
"Does that mean you're going to kill me later?" the VP asked, as Luna closed the cuffs on him and Kite sheathed her sword and switched back to her sidearm. He was still expecting her at any second, to change her mind and kill him.
Kite shrugged "Maybe we will, maybe we won't. But for now I've killed enough of you Barcas." she said, alluding to the fact she killed his brother. Now the Tribe was openly at war with Mistral, she no longer needed to be secretive about the fact she assassinated General Barca.
"What's that supposed to mean?" the VP asked, as they started leading him away. He didn't quite catch on to what Kite was alluding to, but he wasn't going to in the dark for long. Kite couldn't wait to tell him what she did, she couldn't wait to see his reaction.
"I'm the one who broke into your brother's house and killed him, I drowned him in his own pool." Kite explained, as she and Luna took him through the room where she tested the grenade and into the room with the mirror. She mentioned how she did it, so he wouldn't think she was lying to try and intimidate him even more.
"You killed him? Why?" the VP asked her. He could believe that the Tribe was responsible for his brother's death, but he didn't know why they wanted him dead and why they actually went through all the effort of assassinating him and making it look like an accident.
"The same reason you people tried to negotiate with us and tried to have Eagle killed, he was a threat and we needed him out of the picture. Now shut up and keep walking." Kite responded, as they walked through the final two rooms and out into the hallway. They were now talking, and he would be treated like any other prisoner.
There were still tribe members in the hallway guarding it in case of a counterattack, so they took the VP over to one of them. "Take him back to one of the transports and guard him, we're taking him with us." Kite ordered. The tribe member complied immediately, leading the prisoner out of the building and over to one of the waiting transports.
With that done, Kite and Luna went back to what they had been doing. They walked back through the rooms they had previously cleared, until they were in the room in which they had found the VP. "Alright, according to the floor plan the office is on the other side of this next room. So let's get in there and finish this." Kite said, as they prepared to open the next door and move into the last room before the President's office.
Luna nodded "Ready when you are." she said, before Kite pushed open the door. The room was a mess as if people had left in a hurry, but there was nobody there. The two of them were able to walk through the room without issue, they just had to step over the things that had been knocked on the ground when people fled the room.
At last, they were at the door to the President's office. Kite looked at Luna and said "This should be it." Now they just had to get through the door and eliminate anyone who was in the room, she had a plan for what they would do once the room was in their control.
"Then let's do this." Luna responded, she was more than ready. Things had gone incredibly well, way better than expected, so she couldn't wait to finish what they started and move on to the next mission. She now knew for sure, that she belonged with the Tribe and she was meant to be there fighting alongside Kite.
Kite nodded to her apprentice, then opened the final door. They were shot at as soon as the door opened, by someone taking cover behind the President's desk. As with the previous rooms, they took cover before they could be caught by the flying rounds. Kite didn't waste any time, bringing out another new type of grenade and throwing it into the room.
The grenade landed in the middle of the room and went off. Unlike the previous grenade, this one sent out powerful bolts of electricity which were enough to kill any living thing they hit. Unfortunately for the guard behind the desk, they were hit by a bolt of artificial lightning which killed them instantly. The grenade was extremely effective, just like the heat one had been.
Once the grenade stopped working, Kite and Luna made their way into the office. "Well, we did it. This is going to show the people of Mistral that we're in charge now." Kite said, as she went over to the charred remains and started pulling it out from behind the desk. She needed the body out of the way before she could do what she had planned.
"I never thought I'd be in this room." Luna told her, while looking around the office. She was hadn't expected to ever find herself in the position she was now in, but she was so glad to be there.
"You end up in a lot of places you never expected in this job, you'll get used to it eventually." responded Kite, before taking a seat behind the President's desk and putting her feet up on it. "Now get you're scroll out, I want you to record something." she then added.
Luna took out her scroll "What do you have in mind?" she asked. Kite reclining with her feet on Lionheart's desk was a sight to be hold, and Luna wasn't entirely sure what she had planned.
"I want to make a video that we can broadcast to the people, something to show them that this planet and this system are now under our control. I want them all to see me sitting here and I want them to know that Lionheart's days are numbered." Kite explained, having put a lot of thought into it. She would address the people as the President, to send a loud and clear message to everyone.
"Alright then, let me know when you want to start." Luna responded, really liking the idea. What they were about to do would make history, and she loved that she would be part of it.
Kite took her feet off the desk and sat up, preparing herself to address the whole system. "Alright, I'm ready to go. Count me down." she said to Luna, knowing exactly what she wanted to say.
Luna nodded and held up her scroll ready to start recording "Go on one. Three, two, one." she said, starting to record as soon as she hit one. Now it was time for Kite to say what she had to say.
With that, Kite started "People of Mistral, listen up. I am Kite Branwen, speaking to you on behalf of my tribe, and I have a message for all of you." she said, as she stared directly into the camera, making her eyes visible through the eye holes in her mask."The Branwen Tribe is now in control of your system, your so called President has abandoned you and we are here to take his place." she continued, speaking directly to every single individual in the system.
"You will no doubt have noticed our invasion taking place, but that is no reason to fear or hate us. We mean the majority of you no harm, we are here to liberate you from your puppet of a President and his corrupt government. Once we are done here we will allow you to return to your normal lives under our leadership and protection, we are your liberators not your enemies." she then added, making the Tribe's intentions clear and assuring innocent civilians that they were not targets.
Then she stood up from her seat, with Luna keeping the camera on her the whole time. "Now I encourage all of you to rise up against Lionheart and his allies, and help us eliminate them. Anyone who helps us or remains neutral will not be harmed by us, but everyone who stands against us will perish." she said, not holding anything back. She wanted a full scale uprising from the civilian population to help overthrow the government, and she wanted them to know that anyone who backed the government would be considered an enemy of the Tribe.
Finally she said "That's all I have to say to you for now, but don't forget what I said, stand with the tribe, stay out of this or die." giving a final warning to anyone who considered opposing them, and giving a final bit of encouragement to those who would support the tribe. That was how she finished and that was when Luna stopped the recording.
"That was great, there's no way they won't get the message from that." Luna told her, as soon as they were done. It was inspiring watching Kite talk, and it reminded her of the significance of what they were doing and of how powerful the Tribe actually was. People would have to be stupid to not heed what Kite said, as far as she was concerned.
"I hope so, taking over will be so much easier if we have the people on our side." Kite responded, as she walked out from behind the desk. "Now, I want you to send that to the Chief. If she approves she'll get Coco to put it out there for all to see." she then added, wanting to get her message out there as soon as possible.
"On it." Luna said, before quickly sending the video to the Chief. "What's the plan now? I haven't heard any shooting in a while, so I think the battle might be over." she then asked, not sure what the next course of action was now that they had done what Kite wanted. Whatever was to come, she was now very much ready for it.
"I think you're right, but we'll need to confirm with the squad leaders. But then I think we can leave some troops here and move on to our next target." Kite replied. It did sound like the fighting had died down and the building was now completely under their control, but they still needed to check to make sure every room had been completely cleared and the area was secure.
Soon Kite and Luna were heading back to their transport, as the Palace was now firmly in the Tribe's control and the surrounding area was secured. Their orders were to return to the Terror Bird and deliver the VP in person, leaving a small contingent of troops to keep the Palace under control until the second wave of the invasion force could be sent in.
"So, how was your first combat mission?" Kite asked, as they approached the transport with the VP in the back. Luna had been completely up for it in the beginning, but she wanted to know if her apprentice was still as enthusiastic and confident now the battle was over.
"It was great, but I do kind of wish I'd had more chances to fight." Luna told her. She had expected there to have been more fighting since it was a combat mission, so she did feel like she had missed out slightly and didn't get as much combat experience as she felt she needed. That being said, things had gone very well and she now felt like a real member of the Tribe.
"Don't worry, we have plenty more enemies for you to fight in the future, and killing two people on your first mission is pretty damn good." Kite assured her. It was common for Tribe members to not end up fighting or killing anyone on their first few missions, that was just the way things were with the Tribe, as long as all of their enemies died it didn't matter who got the kills.
"So I did well?" Luna asked. From what Kite had said it sounded like she had done well, and that was all she really cared about, doing a good job and earning the approval and respect of Kite and the rest of the Tribe. The Tribe had taken her in and given her a new life, so she had to repay them by doing as good of a job as possible.
"Trust me, you did very well and you'll go a long way in the Tribe if you keep it up." Kite replied, as they entered the transport. Luna's time with the Tribe and as her apprentice was getting off to a very good start, and she could tell that the girl had the potential to become one of the best fighters in the Tribe, up there with the likes of Emerald and Neptune.
With that, the doors of the transport closed behind them as it began its return journey to the Terror Bird. The mission was effectively over and now all that was left was for them to deliver their extremely valuable prisoner to the Chief, so she could decide what to do with him. They had successfully taken over the Presidential Palace and Capture the Vice President, a much better result than they had initially expected, the Chief was going to be very happy with them.
Hopefully you enjoyed that, I really wanted to find a good balance between action and story progression without this chapter being ridiculously long or too much like the previous one. Anyway, please feel free to follow, favorite, review or PM me if you think me or the story are worth your time, effort and attention. See you in the next one.