"Thank you," Izuku said, looking up from the helmet in his hands.

"You know what you're doing right?" Ahmya asked.

"Yes. I have to do it, just like you." Izuku said, putting the helmet down on the table.

"It's my job, what you'll be doing is blatantly illegal, and we'll both be fucked if ANYONE finds out." She said, running her hand through her hair in agitation.

"I'm sorry," Izuku mumbled, unable to meet her eyes.

"I already said it's fine. I knew you would try and go anyways," she said, waving her hand and dismissing his apology.

Izuku looked down at the helmet again, it was the only thing he had been missing. He had spent almost everything he had made and had been saving to create the tools he would need for this day.

Izuku went to the steel-reinforced wooden crate and started pulling out the armor. The dark metal gleamed in the light as he set the pieces out one by one.

Ahmya let out a low whistle, "Well, well, that's your "anti-Zeus" armor, huh?" she said, impressed.

"I've spent years working on it, everything about it is designed to fight against Zeus," Izuku said.

"That's... a lot of parts..." Ahmya said, trailing off as just stared at the sheer amount of armor.

"It's necessary, the attack against Zeus won't be short. We have to fight our way to him, so I needed to design an outer layer that would serve as all-purpose protection and prevent the actual suit underneath from being compromised. Once I get to Zeus, I can detach the outer armor, and then I'll have greater mobility. I can't rely on the suit completely, Zeus will be too strong and smart for that, I'll have to do my best to dodge. That's what those are for." Izuku said, gesturing to the two large objects that were in a U-shape, and were comprised of a dozen rectangular tubes each.

"And you're actual weapons?" she asked.

"Can't use guns when fighting him, so it'll mostly be melee. It wasn't easy but I had to get my hands on lab-made glass that would be to withstand the forces necessary to fight Zeus. I also made multiple obsidian throwing knives. Between those, I should be able to fight almost anything." Izuku said.

There was a pause as Ahmya examined the armor and weapons.

"I... uh... I'll need your help putting it on," Izuku said sheepishly.

Ahmya put down the piece she was looking at and smiled at Izuku. Despite everything he'd been through, he was still Izuku at his core.

"All right, come here, let's get you suited up," she said with a small laugh, gesturing for him to come to stand by her.


"Thank you for giving up your position like this," Izuku said, bowing.

"Even without Ahmya asking, I would have agreed. You proved to the squad you were worth the trust and belief Ahmya put in you. Besides, me being sick does make the excuse of an unknown addition to Ahmya's squad more believable." Said Seiya, the dark circles, pale complexion, and mask making it clear he was ill.

"Regardless, here's the paperwork Ahmya." Seiya continued handing Ahmya his papers to excuse his absence from the op.

"Thanks, Seiya, get well soon all right?" Ahmya said.

"Is that an order?" Seiya responded, raising one eyebrow.

"Yes," Ahmya said with a smirk.

"Consider it done," Seiya said, smiling behind his mask before turning and closing the door.

"And this is your paperwork," Ahmya said, handing Izuku the forged documents he would need to fool the upper echelon into believing he was a member of the Special Forces assigned to Ahmya's squad to help in the op.

They made their way to police headquarters, where all the ranking QSU officers were staying for the next few days until the op got underway. After submitting the "paperwork" they went back to the barracks where Ahmya was convening a meeting with her squad.

Opting to discuss everything over food, they all met up at the mess hall.

"Ok, so to start with, since Seiya is out sick, Izuku will be filling his slot," Ahmya said, gesturing to Izuku.

"I thought it was a one-time deal?" Daichi asked.

"The op is too big, and since he hasn't been officially dismissed they called him back." Ahmya lied smoothly.

That seemed to satisfy them and no more objections were raised.

"Additionally, Izuku is going to be sporting some new tech. Since we're one of the premier squads here we'll be escorting the assault team to wherever Zeus will be located in his base. Once we find him, we'll be setting up a choke point should anyone try to help Zeus. Izuku will be going with the assault squad from that point onwards to see if the new tech will help. Once he's done, he'll regroup with us." She said, in between food and drink.

"And the assault itself?" Asked Sukōchi.

"We'll be heading their overland in trucks, once we get as close as is safe without revealing ourselves, we'll disembark and head on foot. Scouts will find and take out any sentries, then we'll be launching a multi-pronged assault on their base camp with the help of two other large groups. Once we've secured the surface, we'll set up our base camp and then penetrate the mountain fortress. Standard procedure from there. Secure each floor, eliminate any resistance, secure any intel, and apprehend who we can." Said Ahmya.

"Nice and simple, just the way we like it." Said Daichi brightly.

Ahmya opened her mouth to say more when a general summons alert blared out from the speakers.

"It's always when I sit down to eat..." muttered Ahmya rolling her eyes and throwing her utensils down in aggravation.

"Bet you 100 that the timetable was moved up." Said Sukōchi to Daichi.

"You're on, I'm betting it's just some assembly to tell us something new and that the plan is going to change," Daichi said.

"Let's just get it over with," Ahmya said darkly, clearly expecting the worst.


Izuku clambered into the truck's passenger seat. The back was full up, but Izuku was glad he wasn't going to be with the rest of the squad. They were sharing the truck with not just Bakugo but his entire group. He and his friends had been the assault group selected to fight Zeus.

Even if it meant it increased the odds of him being discovered by Bakugo and the whole thing blowing up in his face, he was happy Bakugo was here. If it came to it, he was confident he could trust Bakugo and his friends to have his back. Ahmya would explain everything to them and if all went well, they'd never know Izuku had been present.

As the trucks rolled out of Mufustafu, Izuku leaned out the window and looked back. He felt bad for just up and leaving on Sasakura like this, he'd meant to talk to him beforehand, but whatever had happened at the school had caused the whole op to shift into overdrive.

As Izuku watched Mufustafu get smaller, he wondered if he'd ever see the city or Sasakura again.

"Don't forget Ochako." a part of him chimed in.

This mission meant everything to him, the chance to help bring down Zeus was something he'd been seeking for years. Ever since Bakugo said his name at his mother's funeral, Zeus had forever dominated his life.

He could very well die in this op, Zeus had a small army of well-trained, well-armed, and very experienced mercenaries. Soldiers who had been following Zeus since his days as a freelancer in the middle east. Where quirks had just ended up fueling the constant fighting between the factions present there. It would be a very difficult fight, and while he was confident that they would emerge victorious in the end, it would not be without losses. He just prayed it wouldn't be anyone he knew. He didn't mind if he died, dying to bring down Zeus sounded like a worthwhile trade to his mind.

The truck moved steadily down the road, the city nearest to Mount Kiso coming into view. They'd be stopping here to refuel, rest for a short bit, and get any updates before up into the mountains. All the trucks were disguised as civilian transports, and they left Mufustafu in staggered waves. When the moment finally came, all the trucks would be leaving at once from the city and heading to the mountain. Unfortunately, only the drivers and passengers would be allowed out of the transports since they were supposed to be in civilian clothes. Izuku was the exception. He had to have his armor on at all times, and he had to have a blanket on to obscure the armor while his helmet was off and at his feet. Their truck would look like the driver and passenger had been on the road through the night, and one was catching up on sleep while the other dealt with matters.

It was afternoon and the warm interior combined with the shaking of the vehicle had lulled Izuku to sleep. He jolted awake when the truck was shut off. The sun had set into the afternoon, and after they met up at their rendezvous point in the city, they'd be getting to the mountain by evening

"Refilling, then we'll head to our rendezvous spot." Said the driver.

Izuku shook himself, shaking off the last remnants of his nap. He glanced around and didn't see much apart from the city going about its business. He was sure though that Zeus would have spies in the city closest to his base. Avoiding them would be tricky, but so long as everyone stuck to the plan, it shouldn't matter.

They eventually started moving again and they made their way to a parking garage. They pulled into a spot where they disembarked. Izuku put his helmet on, the rest of the trip would take place in the truck they would be switching to which had more room. Everyone clambered out of the truck, stretched then clambered into the new truck. It was only barely larger than the previous one, but it provided enough space for Izuku to sit and not feel like he was in a can.

They waited for another half hour before they set off. Unable to see the outside world, Izuku's nerves started to increase. The sun would be starting to set, and they'd be about to enter the mountain. The road grew bumpy as they went deeper in, and the incline more noticeable. Then the vehicle stopped suddenly.

Izuku checked the time, they still had another ten minutes at least. Then everyone heard the driver talk on his radio.

"Looks like a tree fell onto the road. We're too close to risk revealing ourselves for something that could take a while cause this is a big tree. I'll see what I can do, but it might slow us down a while. I'll let the other teams know." he said before going silent.

"Well that figures," Said Daichi exasperatedly.

"It shouldn't matter, the other teams just need to slow down as well. Though it might be dark by the time we start moving towards the base on foot." Responded Ahmya.

Izuku looked around at the others present. Ochako of course wasn't present, but the members of 1A who were looked bored or annoyed at the delay.

"Creati, I need a tool to help cut this thing down to size." Came the driver's voice a few minutes later.

"On it," Creati replied, immediately materializing a chainsaw out of her chest.

She passed it down until it got to the back where one of the doors opened partially and it was passed to the driver.

The next hour was spent with them all grinding their teeth at the nightmare noise that was the driver systematically cutting the tree down to size.

When he finally passed the chainsaw back into the truck, Izuku noticed that night had properly fallen. The truck finally began moving and it was back to going up inclines.

They were only a few minutes out from their designated point when everything began to shake violently.

They all looked around in alarm, then they heard a cry from the driver before the whole truck started rolling sideways, end over end. The straps kept them in place and they could do nothing but hold on for dear life. It sounded like the mountain had taken offense was had slapped them down the mountain. When the truck finally stopped, it came with a violent jerking halt.

There was silence as everyone adjusted to the stillness, the sound quieted but a low rumble still echoed around them and presumedly across the entire mountain.

Slowly, Ahmya detached herself from her straps but held onto them as she started dangling from what had become the ceiling. The people below her unbuckled and got out of her way and she dropped down.

"Driver, respond." She said into her radio.

Only static greeted her.

She glanced at the nearest people before heading to the sideways doors while everyone else dropped down from the ceiling and stood about.

She pushed the door but nothing happened. She slammed herself against it but it held firm.

"Red Riot, if you would?" she asked and gestured to the door.

Kirishima grinned and hardened one arm, then slammed it into the door punching through it easily but stopping when his wrist became level with the interior of the door. Then he jerked his hand out and a small wave of earth flowed into the compartment.

Slowly, the grim truth of their situation dawned on them. A landslide had occurred and now they were buried under it.

Momo started materializing objects, first an object the size of three car batteries, then another object that looked like a giant spear inside a tube.

"That device will turn waste air back into breathable air, we'll need it if we are deeper down than we realize," she said, starting to set up the spear device. "And we will use this to figure out just how deep we are. Bakugo, send an explosion into the end, that will send it through the roof and outside, then this screen here will tell us if it's exposed or not," she said with a grunt.

"Why do you know how to make that?" Mina asked, astonished.

"What do think I read in my free time?" Momo said in response.

"I dunno, romance novels? That seems like your thing." She said waving a hand.

Momo paused for a moment before going back to setting up the device, but everyone could see her ears had gone red.

When she was finally done, she looked up at Bakugo.

Bakugo got down onto the floor and shimmied his way under the device and stuck both hands into two ports located at the bottom.

Then there was an explosion and the spear shot into the ceiling. Everyone watch the screen attached to the device, after a brief moment it showed the answer.

"Three meters? Well that's isn't too bad." Said Kirishima.

"Three meters of earth isn't a lot?" Asked Daichi.

"Nah, we've gotten out of worse problems. Bakugo will just blow a hole out for us." Kirishima said brightly.

At seeing the rest of 1A agree, Daichi shrugged.

"I'll make a barrier so Bakugo doesn't blow us up in the process." Said Todoroki.

Everyone, except Bakugo, got behind Todoroki and who then made a thick ice barrier. Then he nodded to Bakugo.

Bakugo looked up and raised his hands. His hands started glowing an angry orange-red, then he exploded. The explosion blasted upwards, easily blowing the roof off of the truck and the meter of dirt they were trapped beneath.

Dirt started flowing in and a few branches as well, and they all started scrambling up and out of the truck. When they finally got to level ground they saw a truly massive trail of devastation, marking where the landside had rolled down the mountain, taking trees with it.

"Well. I guess we're walking." Said Shinso resignedly.

Several others sighed and after some initial grumbling and fishing stuff out of the truck, started up the mountain. At the very least their GPS was working, so they wouldn't get lost on the way.