Summary/Disclaimer: Time for another chapter of The Lioness and the Wolf. Enjoy the 3400-Word chapter. I don't own AGK, Takahiro, Square Enix and a few others do.
(Empire)
Both Jace and Leone crouched in the chest-high grass. He turned to Leone who was silent, she was quite curious. There were a lot of things when it came down to it. Jace was interested as he hummed to himself as he shook his head. There was plenty of war to be raged and defeat their enemy.
However? There was still plenty of war to be waged against their enemies. If Matias was here? He was quite sure to burn it all down to the ground.
"Colonel?" Jace heard as he hummed to himself. "We're almost surrounding the base. What are your orders?" Jace heard while he shook his head
"Only Matias would have the base done up like this," Jace stated as he turned to Leone. "There's plenty of soldiers around here. I don't know what the best move to do is. If we go in guns blazing?" Jace added before he hummed to himself as he closed his eyes.
Jace watched Leone's cat-like eyes narrow as she turned to look around, observing the base.
Her eyes were busy scanning when it came down to it. Still? There was plenty of work to be done before this base was reduced to rubble. Jace was quite hopeful that Leone lived up to be the ultimate assassin he had heard she was.
'Plenty of guards and Leone isn't even fazed. This was going to be interesting when it comes down to it.' Jace stated before he hummed as he looked around the area with concern as he thought about it.
He was quite hopeful as to how this comes down to skill, experience, tactics, and such.
"I'm going on ahead to see who I can pick off. Jace." Leone stated before she put a hand on Jace's shoulder. "Stay here, ok?" Leone added before she rushed forward.
Jace sighed, unsure of what to say or do to end this. If there was something he could 100% agree upon here? It was the fact that his friend's cocky arrogance made him question what to do next. Leone was far beyond regular assassins in his thoughts. He trusted as to what happened next to her when it came down to it.
Jace tapped the imperial arms which hung from his belt. It didn't give him the edge that hers did, but it was still enough to allow him to fight this army and keep up things.
"There's plenty of work," Jace stated as he hummed to himself. "I don't want to do something stupid yet. Everyone? Hold your fire at the moment. We don't fire until we make sure they're ready. Don't do anything until Leone says so." Jace ordered before he put a hand to his temples.
He watched Leone begin to climb into the roof of the base, her claws clasping every single ledge before she flipped into the roof of the base, looking down on everyone and everything. Her golden orbs turned towards Jace.
He remained watching her by her moves. She looked amused, more hopeful that Jace would follow her than she wanted to admit. If he didn't follow her? Her plan would fail harder than anything.
"C'mon, Jace," Leone muttered to herself as she rubbed at her temples. "I need your help in doing this," Leone added before she hummed to herself.
Leone scrapped her claws along with the stone which seemed to have been professionally cut. Whoever Matias seemed to be? He had VERY expensive taste in decorating.
"This guy seems like the next Honest. I'll give him that much." Leone muttered before she flipped to the side. "Where do they get these types of people?" Leone questioned before she turned.
Jace slowly moved through the brush, looking up at Leone who seemed far more silent than she thought. Then again? He was special forces, his skill could be seen as just as more of an extension of that training.
'Damn cocky showoff, though.' Leone thought before she hummed, looking around the base. 'This is going to be easy when it comes down to it.' Leone added with a hum.
Leone crouched and started to wonder what the world would have been like if she died. She believed the worst had died with Honest whom she knew had died a personal agony befitting of a monster similar to him.
It hadn't, and she had been a fool to think so. If things were to heal? They had to destroy the empire and slowly build it back from the ground. She almost wondered if Jace had been thinking this when he had brought her back.
'He wanted an assassin and he said that I was the only one left. So Akame and the others are dead or retired… The only members left would be the boss and Akame. Night Raid would have died with the end of the war.
It was a hard thing to swallow. Leone shook the thoughts from her head as she sighed and gazed around towards Jace who seemed rather at peace. His eyes seemed to scan over the base the same way boss seemed to.
She cleared her throat and slowly started to creep forward through the brush. She tapped her friend and partner on the shoulder. Jace rotated towards her with a raised eyebrow.
"You ok?" Jace asked with a frown before he nodded towards the soldiers in front of him. "There's a dozen guards that I can see at the moment. I think we can take them if we're quiet enough." Jace stated while he frowned to himself.
He watched Leone's feline-like eyes start to gaze around the area to which he chuckled. It seemed her imperial arm had permanently mutated her body into something new when she had fused with it to save herself.
She wasn't normal anymore. He was glad Esdeath was dead as he feared what the woman would have done. if Leone had morphed into this? What could someone like that monster do if she had mastered her imperial arms to that degree?
Still? She was dead and they didn't need to keep dwelling on the woman who could no longer hunt them. Jace took a deep breath and started to think of the best move to make to destroy this base.
"I can handle them." Leone said as she flexed her claws towards her friend.
"Without any of them finding out?" Jace asked with a raised eyebrow as he did so. "There are plenty of soldiers inside I'm guessing and the second one of them finds out? We lose the element of surprise." Jace pointed out with a frown.
He was well aware of the fact that Leone was one of the best assassins in the region and she was capable of ripping into these people. She was also cocky and reckless when it came to these things. Jace wondered if she realized that her healing factor had improved at all after this.
Still? There was a mission to handle and he wanted to handle it as best as he was capable of. He wanted to do something rather than sit here and wait for more intel to slowly flow in.
Jace sighed as he shook his head before he started to turn and look at Leone. He cleared his throat and sighed before he spoke once more.
"How many of them can you kill without them raising an alarm?" Jace asked as he rested a hand on his knee. "I'll help if you need help," Jace stated as he rolled his eyes.
Jace was greeted by a feline-like smirk which made him sigh as he rolled his eyes. He smiled slightly at the moment as he laughed before while he smirked as he waited for her to do something.
She looked at the guards who seemed more armed and trained than the ones that they had battled before. She was well aware of what she was capable of when it came down to it. If she wanted to rip into these soldiers? She was perfectly capable of this.
"I can handle the dozen easy if they're distracted." Leone said while Jace simply shook his head. "What? Don't think I can?" Leone asked before she rolled her eyes as she did so.
Jace fell silent while he planned what to do when this was done and dusted. He didn't want to say anything for a moment and leaned on his arms and knees before he did so.
"No. I just expect more noise to alert the base before we do anything." Jace said before he rolled his eyes. "You don't see the sentries around the base? We rile them up and they're all scared." Jace said while he tapped his hands on his knees as he did so.
He was rather thrown off by this woman when it came to their tactics. She wanted to battle and it went against what little tactics they were able to do. He wanted best to handle his enemies and if they had no real ability to stay in the shadows? They'd be at a disadvantage. The longer they planned this operation? The worse the chance to be caught off guard before too long.
He sighed before he shook his head and leaned towards her. He cleared his throat and sighed to himself as he did so.
"Do it. just make sure they stay down when you kill them." Jace stated while he rolled his eyes. "We need to get going before they move their supplies somewhere else. I'll deal with the guards further inside." Jace said before he slowly started to move forward with an interest. He wanted this mission to be done and dusted before anything else happened. The longer he dealt with this mission? The longer he expected problems with stopping them.
It helped that Leone was rather weird when it came to her tactics. She was playful, yes, but she was also someone who constantly seemed to take these missions less seriously than they had been before.
'Her healing factor seems different than it was before it as before. I don't know what it can do if it's pressed to its limits and I don't think she or I want to find out when it comes down to it.' Jace said before Leone started to stalk into the grass and towards the base like she was some sort of giant cat.
It was rather off-putting… Yet to him? He needed to think of a better plan than this. Leone was capable of handling her work and he needed to handle his work. He nodded to the many soldiers around him before he slowly started to creep forward with his hands resting on his legs. Now? He needed to get on with the mission and take the guards down.
He ran a hand through his hair as he did so. The rest of the place was rather weird and laid out in a weird manner which he was thrown off by. He wasn't familiar with many imperial bases when he considered it. There were a few he had destroyed at the time. He hadn't the time to waste while these soldiers.
He slowly started to crawl into the grass and spy on the many soldiers in the base. There were far too many to fight easily or without imperial arms. He doubted Leone would care in her mind. If she was able to face more soldiers?
She'd do it. All that mattered was the many soldiers were in her way and she had no orders to hold back on them. He almost wondered if Leone being brought back was worth the hassle. He didn't hate her when it came down to it. He crossed his arms.
"She'll do it the best way she can. She's a hunter and I don't need to worry if she can handle soldiers." Jace stated before he rolled his eyes. "A hunter who forgets that they're better when they're not making noise or something similar," Jace said he simply grabbed at his knife.
He smiled and prepared his knife while he cleared to throw it into the next soldier he saw. She had her fun and he had his orders and this had been far too little when it comes down to it. he was far too little and far too late for regrets and he wasn't to wait for this to happen as of this time.
He smiled while he gazed at Leone while he prepared for more combat to do next. The more time to be wasted on these plans and ideas at the end of the day? The more time he had to battle before he battered down on the enemies of the rebels.
'I had won 1 war when it comes down to it. We need to battle the enemies of the rebels and batter down the Imperials. They were the soldiers when it came down to it. He glanced at Leone while he frowned to himself.
(With Leone)
Leone slammed into one of the soldiers and snapped their throat before slowly starting to step over them. She was rather interested in how there were thousands of soldiers inside the empire. She had honestly expected it to collapse with Honest's death. She should have known better than for someone to simply solve her issues with their death. There was little time for her to regret what she had chosen.
She wanted to burn the rebels down and it was rather interested in what to do next. Leone sniffed at the air where there were dozens of soldiers in this area. There was rather a weird predicament when it comes down to it.
He was rather hopeful. She wanted to be happy and wanted to ponder what the rest of the soldiers were doing when it came down to him. Jace wanted this to end as of the second while he smiled at her. She leaned on the railings while she pondered what to do next. She was well aware of what to do next. She slowly started to prowl towards the next soldier. Leone flexed her claws towards the next soldier and stabbed them into the soldier. The soldier collapsed to the ground while she rolled her eyes at the soldier. She was rather hoping that she wasn't to separate from Jace anytime soon. This was honestly something new to her as she turned her thoughts. Leone cracked her jaw before she hummed to herself.
"He's not at all like Night Raid." Leone stated to herself while she clicked her claws together. "And that's fine if I'm honest. He's a lot like Tatsumi." Leone said while she frowned to herself.
Leone was rather interested in how this went next. She was far too eager to battle the imperials in this place and she was too on the side of the enemy as she frowned to himself. Leone was not once to let the enemies of the Rebels escape.
She wanted nothing more than to sink her claws into the next soldier that she noticed. She tilted her head as she tapped her claws on the ground. Leone watched Jace stab one of the soldiers, letting them collapse to the ground while he glanced at her. He held a finger on his lips which she rolled her eyes. It was amusing to her that he was so professional. He was a rebel and at the end of the day? Rebels had almost no rules they'd break as of this second.
'He's too willing to end the imperials as of the second. There were far too many soldiers to handle them in a straight fight. Still, he doesn't act like I can handle any of them in combat when it comes to tactics.' Leone mentally stated while she rolled her eyes.
This was far beyond what she was sed to. Before this? They were the animals the enemy hunted and exterminated in their holes and now they were simply the enemy to be hunted down instead. It was more or less comforting in her eyes to see the tables flipped on her former tormentors.
Yet she didn't stop herself from facing the enemies in front of her. She flipped her arms around one of the soldier's throats before she twisted it to the side and watched their corpses collapse to the ground while she stabbed her claws into their body to ensure they died.
"Hmm." Leone said while she started to question what to do next. "How many more before they raise an alarm?" Leone questioned as she tilted her head to the side
She turned to watch another soldier collapse to the ground as their throat seemed sliced to pieces with blood coating where they fell. Jace snapped the sword into his hand and seemed to sheathe it on his hip while he simply rolled his eyes at her as she waved at him.
It almost was to amuse him to laugh in amusement when it came down to it. There was far too little on his mind for him to bother him at the second while this operation was still in effect. Leone smiled towards him with interest as he simply ignored her and prepared for another stab at another of the soldiers once more.
"Always stealth rather than a real battle," Leone muttered as her friend sighed.
It was then she heard the sound. It was a small whistle that almost didn't catch her ears for a bit. The crack was something that had simply caught her off guard as of this moment. The shot easily missed as she tilted her head and it slammed into the wall behind her.
She cursed and stared at the soldier who had dared to fire it at her face. She wished that he hadn't done so and it made her honestly wish that she had been more thorough in her war on the empire's soldiers. It honestly made her hate the fact that there were soldiers.
"Damn it," Jace stated while he cleared his throat and tossed the knife towards one of the soldiers.
He had been rather interested in how to handle the rest of the soldiers in the base. Jace was well aware of the fact that this battle hadn't been going the way he wished it to be.
And now they had to deal with more soldiers who were in the hundreds if not thousands. They were in a battle that didn't seem on their side and it bothered him.
Yet again, he hadn't the heart to blame her. It had still been his order that had slowly been thrown towards the rest of the soldiers. Leone was not one to mince combat this badly and it was entirely out of her radar when it comes down to it.
'She's still trying to handle the fact that she's been almost dead for a few weeks.' Jace stated as he finally activated his imperial arms and prepared mentally for the battle to come as he did so.
There was too little of a chance for them to run either and even if they did? Jace had a giant feeling they'd be ripped apart if they honestly tried anything of the sort. It came down to a lot of different things and not one of them was holding back on their enemies as of now. it was a LOT on their plate.
He sighed as he realized they'd be fighting their way out as of now. He clenched his claws and prepared to start battling his way from this monstrous base they had decided to lay waste to despite the fact they were honestly too outnumbered to do much.
Still? Despite their best attempts to handle this otherwise? It almost more or less seemed to be as if they were to be doomed.
Author Notes
Phew. Another chapter is done! The next chapter will be in 2-10 and will show both Leone and Jace facing the soldiers and set the rest of the plot in motion in order and such. The next chapter will be delayed and will show both of their combat against the army and all that. The next chapter is 900-7500 words and all that. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!