Crimson's motorcycle was the first thing to break the tree line. It shot right past the compound, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. Swerving back towards the extension, it rode up a ramped bit of the building, until Crimson was driving across the roof. Meanwhile, the airships were just coming into view. Reed leaped out of his, flying towards the roof of the main compound. There were already security guards stationed at the top, who began firing up at him without hesitation. He swooped down to land in the middle of them, drew Schultz, and cut through their armors and auras in a matter of seconds. Just as quickly, he transformed Schultz to sniper form and shot the remote hacking capsule straight at the signal tower atop the building.
"This is Reed, I have control of the network." He informed.
"Solid copy, stealth teams just landed." Melanie replied. "Shut down any defenses you can, I'll be sneaking in through the ground floor."
"Wait for the assault team, Melanie." Crimson cut in. "Nina, what's your status?"
Nina's giggle was heard through the headsets. "Making an entrance." She stated.
A moment later, the front of the building exploded in a massive fireball. Stone, glass, and metal went flying outwards in all directions. The building remained upright, but where there had been doors, there was now a hole large enough for a deathstalker.
"What was that?!" Stephanie looked at the damage in surprise.
Nina grinned. "Fire and gravity dust refined into a fine powder and packed as tightly as possible within the casing, with another layer of gravity dust between the casing and shell. The initial explosion breaks the casing and shell apart, meaning all the shrapnel is coated with gravity dust. The shrapnel embeds itself in the debris from the explosion, and the gravity dust sends it flying."
Stephanie blinked. "You learned how to do that in just two semesters?"
"Your son helped me study." She admitted. "Though I don't think he expected me to use it like this."
"Nina, that is both the most insane and brilliant application of chemistry I have ever seen." Reed stated over the comms.
"Well, when I realized I was garbage with pistols, I spent all my time in the workshop developing these." Nina explained, pulling out another grenade. "I figured, my ice is already crazy useful, what if I could do the same stuff with other kinds of dust?"
She hopped off the airship, chucking the grenade into the opening. A shockwave of electricity surged through the ground floor of the building, disabling a few of the guards. The assault began in earnest as the opening was swarmed by the heavy hitters. Nina skated between guards, seeming to move like a dancer as she turned their leverage against them. Her agility had become a major advantage, and any point of contact had the benefit of coating her enemy in ice. Stephanie, in turn, fired dust arrows with incredible accuracy to take out groups of guards at a time. Her bow's edge was bladed, allowing it to function as a dual-bladed sword. She soon proved her accuracy was matched only by her speed with the weapon.
"I found an opening." Crimson informed. "Infiltration team, we're clear to go."
Lizzie appeared with Richard and Kane. Immediately, she dropped to one knee, catching her breath.
"You alright?" Crimson asked.
She nodded. "Just give my aura a second to charge back up."
Crimson gestured to the hatch he'd managed to open, looking to Richard. "After you."
Richard drew his pistol and dropped down. "It's clear, come on down."
Kane dropped down after to see a hall full of unconscious guards and Richard changing magazines. "I didn't hear any gunshots."
"Built-in suppressor." Richard stated. "Come on."
Crimson and Lizzie dropped down, making their way though. Back on the ground floor, Melanie and Phillip were sneaking past the carnage, taking down enemies from behind. Phillip was frightening to see in action. It was like he'd disappear, and seconds later, she'd see him taking someone down without making a sound. It didn't take long for them to make it to the elevator. Phillip hit the button for the floor just below the top one, and immediately shot the emergency exit on the roof of the lift open. He climbed up, and Melanie followed him.
"What are we doing?" She questioned.
"I know Carl, the man's full of himself." Phillip explained. "His office is going to be on the top floor."
Meanwhile, Reed was crouched on the roof, still working his way through the security programs, when he spotted something in the distance. He looked through Schultz to see more clearly...there was a cloud of dust approaching. He magnified the zoom, spotting black figures within the dust cloud.
"Guys...we have Grimm approaching fast...lots of them." He said.
Crimson paused. "Does anybody have eyes on Carl?"
"Phillip and I do." Melanie said. "He's in his office, just waiting."
"Lizzie, take Kane there. Richard, join the assault group and help them repel the Grimm. Stealth team, that goes for you too. The Grimm are your new priority." Crimson ordered.
Kane and Lizzie appeared in Carl's office to see him sitting at his desk. He seemed to be waiting a bit too casually.
"Hm...Phillip, Ms. Lemay, Ms. Shaden, and...sorry, who are you?" He raised an eyebrow at Kane.
"A while back, one of your troops lost an eye. Young woman, vulgar mouth, blue eyes, and it was the left one that was gone." Kane stated. "Three guesses why I took it and where it went."
"Oh, I see. You're that brat that took Nina. Do try not to get hair on anything, will you?" Carl taunted.
Kane scowled, and his eyes glowed. "Ozpin told us what your real semblance is. I'm making sure you can't use it."
"Please, if I wanted to fight, you never would have made it in here." Carl gloated. "You all are focusing on me, when the real threat..." He turned his head to the extension of the compound. "...let's just say you missed your chance to stop it."
"Guys, something is off about this place." Crimson said. "The main building was stone, this whole structure is metal."
Melanie saw Carl grinning, and scowled. She threw the desk out of the way, hauled Carl up by the collar of his shirt, and pressed the barrel of Violet Cross against his chin.
"What did you do? What's in there?" She demanded.
Carl just laughed. She slammed the pommel into his face, his aura flaring up each time, until she shattered it, then smashed Violet Cross into his nose.
"ANSWER ME!"
On the roof, Reed looked down as the turf below the extension began shifting. "Guys...the compound is doing something, destabilizing the ground around it-"
"It's not an extension." Crimson cut in. "It's an airship." As if on cue, the whole ground began shaking as the ship began to rise. "Get over here, now! It's taking off!"
Reed immediately leaped off the roof, gliding down onto the ship. As the ship tilted, Crimson's motorcycle began to slide off, almost crashing into Reed. He managed to make it to the hatch and drop in. Seeing the structure rise, Melanie dropped Carl and ran straight for it, smashing through a window into freefall. The ship was just out of reach, and moving further away. Before Melanie hit the ground, Nina made a slide to slow her fall, and she tumbled to the ground next to her teammate.
"We can't catch up to it on foot!" Nina objected.
Melanie noticed Crimson's motorcycle laying with some other debris, and the keys to it laying on the ground right in front of her. "We don't have to." She snatched up the keys and scrambled to her feet.
The motorcycle zoomed after the ship, Melanie driving and Nina sitting behind her. They were gaining, but only barely, and it was clear the ship hadn't reached full speed yet.
Melanie judged the distance with a quick glance. "Nina, ramp, and then get ready to jump!"
A ramp of ice formed below them, launching the motorcycle up towards the ship, and at the height of its arc, the two leaped, landing with catlike grace atop the ship. Ahead, they saw the hatch beginning to shut, and dashed toward it, sliding in just in time.
