The chill wind blowing through the dust-refinery was, to say the least, very brisk. The guard shuddered as he went about his rounds, pulling his coat tighter around himself and shuffling along, eager to be out of the cold and back inside the warmth of the guard station. The one hand that stuck out farther than the rest held a flashlight in its grasp, but the man did little more than trudge along and wearily point the feeble beam of light at the occasional dark corner of the facility's storage yard. A flicker of movement from the corner of his eye caused the guard to halt in his tracks, the flashlight illuminating another dark corner to discover nothing. For a moment, the guard hesitantly reached for his scroll, only for another gust of chill wind to reach him and remind the man of the warmth that awaited him. Surely whatever it was couldn't be that important, right? No one would want to do anything in this weather, heck, even the White Fang had grown quieter since the snows had set in. The guard hurried along his route, content with the results of his internal debate, even as a pair of copper brown eyes watched him leave from on top of a nearby container.
"... I've gotten rusty..."
"You say something, Bruno?"
"No."
The wolf-faunas stood up from his crouched position, eyes following the guard until he turned a corner. The ex-White Fang member was, for the first time in years, dressed up in the uniform of his old organization, although Slate had the decency to let him wear a winter jacket over the entire ensemble. Truth be told, Bruno didn't like having to wear these clothes, they felt wrong to him now, after spending all those years in a nice suit of one kind or another. Still, it was part of the plan, and Bruno would take every opportunity to help a member of his small family. Which brought him back to the task at hand. Asher needed a distraction, and he'd decided a White Fang attack would be the perfect way to get everyone's attention away from the real target. It would have to be a big attack though, and so Slate had decided that a local Dust-refinery, filled as it was with the volatile substance, would be the perfect target for some explosive surprises.
"Well, you just gonna stand there looking all dramatic, big guy, or you gonna get on with it?"
"How do you know I haven't already finished, Ianthe?"
"Because I'm tracking you through the GPS system in your scroll. Come on! Hurry up! We haven't got all night!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm going."
Bruno checked to make sure he still had the packages with him, then leapt across the short gap to the next container, repeating this as he made his way towards the actual refinery building. It was there he'd plant them, and hopefully cause enough chaos to keep attention from where it was actually needed. Part of him, the part that wanted to support his faunas brethren, felt a small spark of vengeful joy at taking a shot at the Schnee's. Bruno shook the thoughts from his head, muttering to himself about being unprofessional, before he kept moving, pausing every now and again to close his eyes and focus on his second set of ears, the wolf-like extremities picking out sounds that no normal human could hope to catch. Every time, he confirmed the presence of patrols, made sure he knew where they were, then moved again, silently slipping closer and closer to his destination. Eventually, he made it to the side of the building, locating the small electronics box that Ianthe had told him would be there. Bruno slipped over to it and pried it open, extracting a small device from his pocket and clipping it onto a bundle of wires inside.
"It's on, Ianthe. You getting anything?"
"Give me a moment, wolf-boy. It takes a little- HAH! Think your feeble firewalls could keep me out? I've got their security, Bruno."
"Alright. I'm headed to the refinery itself now. Can you tell me anything?"
"Um... seems they got a bunch of those AK robots the company seems to love so much. I don't know why, they don't really seem to work as advertised."
"It keeps the rabble away. Anyone with more determination they have the Schnee Security for."
Bruno was already making his way around the admin building. If he remembered the map correctly, the refinery section was on the other side of the parking lot, along with the second storage yard. All he had to do was make it across the parking lot without getting spotted, and he'd be good to go. He froze as another guard past by on his rounds, but the man failed to notice him, to intent on simply walking the path and getting back to warmth. It was a wonder the White Fang hadn't blown up everything by this point. These guards were worse than he remembered.
"Uh, Bruno?"
"What is it? I'm almost to the parking lot."
"I got some bad news..."
"Can it wait?"
"Uh... no? You know what you were saying about Schnee Security?"
Bruno rounded the last corner before the parking lot and halted in his tracks, staring at the vehicles currently parked in front of the admin building. More particularly, he stared at the logo emblazoned on the side, the Schnee Snowflake with crossed swords behind it.
"Remnant damn it all."
"Putting it lightly there buddy. This refinery isn't that important. We intentionally picked it just for this reason."
"They have to be here for a reason."
"I'm working on it. Boss says to keep going as planned."
"Understood."
Bruno waited a moment more, eyes scanning the silent vehicles, before he concluded that nobody was actually in them. He quickly dashed across the parking lot, half expecting some uniformed guard to coming rushing out of the building screaming the alarm. To his surprise and relief, however, nothing happened, and once the wolf-faunas had reach refinery building he quickly ran up the side and pulled himself up to a window. A simple jab of his elbow and the glass shattered, allowing the man to vault inside. Bruno paused once he was in, waiting for any signs of alarms, before Ianthe came over the line, letting him no he was still good. He kept moving, creeping deeper into the building before he finally came to what he was searching for. The machinery in this room were constantly working, separating the sand-like dust from the larger, bulkier crystals, as well as removing the various amounts of dirt and other useless byproducts of the mining procedure. Bruno quickly set about his task, placing demolition charges through out the room, being careful to select areas where large amounts of dust were present. They wanted a nice, big boom out of this one. Needed to attract as much attention as possible.
"Hey Bruno, apparently the Schnee guys caught themselves a White Fang operative."
"Yeah? Sucks to be him, then."
"... Kinda cold."
"What, you thought I'd care? The White Fang are a militant group. They gotta deal with their own issues."
"Whatever you say, buddy..."
"..."
Bruno paused in his work, frowning slightly. The White Fang. Another life he'd led before this one. While there wasn't any particular love for the group in his heart, not anymore, that didn't mean he couldn't pay off an old debt or two. Certainly if Schnee Security was getting involved, it had to be someone important to the organization. If he could erase that off his ledger... He finished his work quickly, then stood, extracting Fenrir from his hiding place among his clothing. He started the thing twirling between his fingers, warming up for what was to come, even as he examined the room for anything else he might be able to do.
"Ask the Boss if it's alright for me to pay back an old debt of mine."
"... He says he would actually suggest it. If you cause chaos and save some White Fang agent, they really will expect this to be a White Fang attack."
"Two birds with one stone. See if you can find me where they have this guy. I'm going hunting."
Bruno exited the building the way he'd come, careful to remain as quiet as possible. He made sure to check the parking lot before dropping into it again from the window, then made his way back towards the admin building. They would likely keep a prisoner there, if anywhere, although they might have dragged him into the container yard for "interrogation" purposes. Still, if it was an important White Fang agent, they might need to bring in someone more skilled than a couple of grunts. That meant holding him until that someone got there. Bruno easily reached the admin building, then paused next to another window, glancing through before breaking in.
"Tell me you have something."
"Who do you think I am? There keeping the guy on the third floor. His weapons, on the other hand, are in the manager's office. Boss says to go for the weapons. Then you both can cause some havoc on your way out."
"Understood. Where's the office?"
"Second floor. Should have a sign on it."
"Thank you for that."
Bruno made his way through the corridors, body tense and expectant at every corner. His ears picked out the sounds of a ballgame, probably the guards ignoring their duties as usual. Everything else was silent though, and that worried him. If the Schnee Security Force was here, then he'd expect to have heard them already. Or at least heard the guards talking about them. Normal guards weren't nearly disciplined enough to not talk about the experts that were currently residing inside the building. Not unless...
Bruno heard the subtle creak of the floor just as the cold metal of a gun barrel pressed against the back of his head. He swore under his breath, he really was rusty if he'd let someone sneak up on him like that.
"Who do we have here? Another beast come to save its friend?"
"I'm blown. Going loud."
"Wha-"
Bruno snapped around instantly, pushing the rifle away from body with one hand even as his other, armed with Fenrir, lashed out without hesitation, cutting the man's throat. The guard, in testament to his own training, fired off a few rounds even as he began gurgling on the floor, but Bruno was already gone, abandoning stealth in favor of speed. There was no way that someone wasn't going to notice the missing guard, if they hadn't already heard the gunfire already. Now he was the one that needed the distraction.
"Two birds with one stone..."
"The guards are going nuts, buddy. Pulling out weapons I don't think they're normally allowed."
"The guards are the Schnees, Ianthe. Blow the refinery."
"What?!"
"Blow the refinery. Trust me, I'm going to be causing a lot of havoc before I'm done here."
"That's not my concern! We're supposed to blow the refinery when you're clear of the compound!"
"No time, Ianthe! Blow the building! We'll figure things out from there, we always do!"
"... Alright. You got it. Big boom in thee... two... one..."
The resulting explosion rocked the entire area, and sent debris, dust and elemental explosions in its wake. Everyone in the refinery compound was thrown to their feet, even Bruno, although he was one of the first to scramble back into a dead sprint. He was up the flight of stairs quickly, reaching the second floor and rushing down the first corridor he came to, eyes scanning for the manager's office. For the rest of those present, the struggle back to their feet took a bit longer, surprise and shock causing them to freeze up. Discipline quickly reasserted itself however, and soon the Schnee Security teams were moving methodically through the compound. They were searching for entire groups of White Fang members, not a single man already in the admin building. This allowed Bruno to make it to the office without difficulty, kicking his way in and finding an electronic safe built into the wall.
"Ianthe, hope you're up for some safe cracking."
"God, this is so EXCITING~"
"Figures."
Bruno extracted another device from his pockets, placing it onto the surface of the keypad. Ianthe instantly got a line to its coding, and she began her work, grinning all the while. For the wolf-faunas, however, things would not be quite so thrilling. One of the fire teams had quickly realized its mistake, and had doubled back to try and find the agents already infiltrated. They crashed into the first floor of the building, weapons ready, and began sweeping the first floor, finishing that and pushing up to the second within minutes. Bruno heard them coming, shouting that a room was clear tended to give you away, and he began secretly praying for Ianthe to hurry up. His luck, however, had run out, and combat quickly became unavoidable.
"Room cle-"
The soldier was interrupted by a boot to the face, Bruno deciding that if he was going to start fighting, he'd take the fight to them. He'd vaulted over the desk and caught the man with a flying kick, pushing off him and shoving him to the ground with enough force to break the floor and send him crashing down. Then he pushed forward again, expecting a man to come rushing in behind his comrade. He was rewarded with a second target, rifle coming up quickly. Bruno's hand snapped out, a flicker of steel seen passing through the air, and then the second soldier fell back, clutching at his eye and the throwing knife that was now lodged in it.
Two down. Three to go.
Bruno kept moving, bursting into the hallway and almost tackling the third man in the team. This one had a bit more sense than his two friends, rifle already switched to its sword form, and the blade met Fenrir with a clash of steel. The two danced around each other for a moment, before one of the other soldiers shouted for the man to break contact and give him a clear shot. Bruno let the man think he was getting away, then shot forward again just as he saw the shouter bring his weapon to bear. A swift jab to the first man's throat, then he dragged him into the path of the rifle, letting the soldier fire on his own comrade while the faunas used him for cover. The rifle-man almost immediately stopped shooting, only pumping his friend with a few rounds, and then he too received a steel surprise, another throwing knife lodging itself in the man's throat.
Four down. One to go.
That one had wisely decided he was outclassed, especially on his own, and he already started to run for the stairway. Bruno considered hunting him down, then discarded the idea. They wanted to cause as much chaos as possible, and one man screaming about a demon faunas was going to cause some chaos. He returned to the office, checking to make sure all those he'd dealt with had remained dealt with, then went to check on the safe. It wasn't open yet, which meant...
"Ianthe, hurry up. I don't have all night."
"YOU don't have all night? I just watched you decimate an entire team of Schnee Security. And you're scared of these guys?"
"Where there are five there are usually more. And I got lucky. Caught them by surprise and indoors. Close combat is my specialty after all. They get me at distance and I'm screwed. HURRY. UP."
"Alright... alright... almost done... aaaaaaaaand... there."
The safe door beeped once, then clicked open, and Bruno wasted no time in pulling the safe door out of his way. He discarded most of the contents, important documents by the looks of them, until he found what it was he was looking for. The weapon was one that was familiar to him, he'd worked with the man after all. It seems he'd be paying back more than just a debt to the White Fang. Here's hoping he was still alive when Bruno got there.
"They haven't moved him yet, have they?"
"Doesn't look like it. Most of them are only just now getting the message that you're in the building. Third floor, end of the main corridor. They have two guards on him."
The wolf-faunas was moving again, heading back to the staircase and going up another level. He paused just before reaching the top, however, cautiously peaking over the last few steps. And there they were, at the end of the corridor, weapons trained on the entryway. Huh. That could make things difficult. Bruno muttered a curse, then reached inside himself, hunting for the ability he hadn't used in years. Still, it came back to him quickly, like he'd never left it alone, and his body began to glow a dull brown as his aura activated in full. His semblance had never been something he enjoyed having, it went against his preferred style for the most part. But it was a part of him, and he wasted no time using it when he had to.
"Ianthe. You might want to switch off the mike."
Then Bruno sucked in a deep breath, popped his head over the top, and howled. His semblance quickly took over, amplifying the sound waves to ear shattering levels, and the wolf-faunas held the cry for a few seconds before stopping, shooting a glance at the guards to find them clutching at their ears. He took the opportunity presented, rocketing into the hallway and tossing a few throwing knives, pegging each guards in the chest twice. Then he was at the door, smashing it in and striding inside, confirming his suspicions about who'd been caught.
"I knew it was you once I heard that howl. Coming back to us, Bruno?"
"No. Just repaying old debts. I believe this belongs to you, Adam."
The bull-faunas stood from his makeshift bed, catching Wilt and Blush. He quickly examined both, even as Bruno turned around again, ears laying flat against his skull as he picked up the sounds of more soldiers. Looks like teary reunions could come later.
"You up for some combat?"
"I'm up for some payback."
"Let's got then."
Adam led the way out, eager to exact vengeance on his captors, while Bruno hung back, a bit worried about the younger man. He remembered all the times he'd worked with him before, and sometimes that partner of his... what was her name? Didn't matter. Either way, the bull-faunas had always been eager to please the higher ups in the White Fang, and it didn't help that he enjoyed harming the "hateful humans".
"Let's just hope I haven't made a mistake."
The first team of soldiers made it to the top of the stairs at the same time as the pair of faunas did, and there wasn't a moment of hesitation as Wilt snapped out, instantly taking out the first man in the formation. Bruno vaulted over him, using Adam's back like a springboard, landing on the other side of the team and lashing out with Fenrir, slitting the throat of the last man. Then the pair simply worked towards each other, the remaining three incapable of holding off the pair. Adam stood a moment, a grin on his face as he watched Bruno finish the last man with a jab to the back of his neck.
"You haven't lost your touch, old man."
"And you're still bloodthirsty. We don't have time for this. Ianthe, you hear me?"
"I hear you."
"Find us a way out. I have a feeling the original plan isn't going to work."
"Already on it. The Boss is coming with a van. He's all dressed up like the White Fang. It's kinda hilarious actually. Get to the parking lot, he said he's just going to ram his way in and pick you two up."
"I'm on it. Come on, Adam. We've got places to be."
Bruno led the way this time, heading down the stairs, and the pair wasted no time in getting to the ground floor. From there, however, issues started to arise. Namely, in the arrival of the police. Bruno halted just inside the entry way, ears picking out the various conversations that were going on. One in particular caught his attention, apparently the captain of the Security here was adamant that they storm the place, while the police officer in charge refused to waste his men's lives attacking an unknown number of terrorists. If only they knew.
"Ianthe, the parking lot is full of cops."
"... Well, at least the distraction worked."
"I'd say so. Got another way out?"
"Nope. All our contacts are too far out to do anything. Or on holiday."
"Hm. Well, Adam. Looks like we're going with the violent approach."
"Suits me fine."
"I figured it would. A van's incoming. When it gets here, we push through."
"Got it."
The pair inside hunkered down, prepared to wait till their ride got there. The police on the other hand, were a hive of activity, surrounding the building, putting snipers in place, getting the fire department to try putting out the fire that was quickly spreading across the container yard, blowing up more of the volatile dust contained within. Bruno couldn't help but admire the amount of attention they were getting, if the Boss wasn't doing this as a distraction, they might even have jumped to the infamous status the man craved. Still, they were here for a reason, and this was it. That's when he heard it, ears twitching at the sound. Screeching tires. Their ride was almost here.
"Time to go."
Adam said nothing, instead readying himself to jump out the window and into the fray. Bruno, on the other hand, prepared himself to howl again. This was going to hurt. His aura activated again as he reached for it, and Adam frowned a moment before it hit him, and he did his best to close up his ears. Ianthe must have realized it as well, because Bruno heard the earpiece cut out, and then he let loose, the wolf's cry piercing the air and causing everyone to double over, clutching at now bleeding ears. It was only a short burst, enough to buy them some time. And then Adam and Bruno were out in the open and among the police, cutting their way through. Men and women were hurled aside as they broke through the police blockade, and then they were through, a van pulling up with almost perfect timing, the old man driving dressed in a rough approximation of a White Fang uniform.
"Certainly don't do things half way, do we Bruno?"
"Whatever Boss. Just get us out of here before they recover!"
The van's tires screeched as it accelerated, and then they were out of the refinery parking lot, speeding down the empty streets. Sirens started up behind them, the signal that the chase was on, but Bruno had no worries anymore. The Boss would get them to safety. Adam relaxed in the back, and Bruno took the opportunity to talk to him, wanting to make sure of only one thing.
"This squares us away."
"Excuse me?"
"I owed you one. I've paid the debt back. How'd you get caught, anyway?"
"White Fang wanted me to look for Blake. Apparently, I asked the right question of the wrong people."
"I see. Well, don't do that again. I won't be saving your ass anytime soon."
"I don't plan on it. You gonna drop me off somewhere?"
"Of course."
There was silence as they kept driving, Slate humming slightly to himself as the two faunas had their conversation, and he focused on evading the cops, a slightly more difficult task thanks to the empty streets. Made it very hard to lose themselves if there were no cars around to lose themselves in. Still, always have a plan. Slate was about to say something when Adam spoke up again.
"Why'd you leave?"
"Hm?"
"Why'd you leave the White Fang? You were one of the best. You could have helped us do things we can't do now."
"... It wasn't changing anything. All the violence. And I owe the Boss. Much more than anything I owe the White Fang."
"This old man?"
"Be respectful, Adam. Or I rip out your throat."
Silence descended again, until Slate eventually managed to pull away from police pursuit and slipped into a parking garage. Everyone piled out, Slate and Bruno ditching their White Fang uniforms for more normal attire. Adam watched with a look of disgust on his face as Bruno slipped his usual fedora onto his head, covering his ears. Bruno steadfastly ignored the other man, finished with him now that the job was done.
"So, this is where we part ways, is it?"
"I think you can handle yourself from here, Adam."
"Come back with me. You can still help the faunas cause."
"No."
Bruno turned away and started walking off, Adam watching him a moment before offering a glare at Slate. The much older man simply smiled knowingly, bowed his head slightly as a form of farewell, then he to began to walk off, a different direction than his subordinate. Adam stared after the both of them, then turned away himself, heading for a nearby White Fang safe house. His anger boiled in his head, the very idea that a faunas, and one of the White Fang's best, was serving some human, setting his emotions on edge. But he paid it no more attention now. He had other things to worry about. Like finding Blake in this city. She was supposed to be here somewhere.
And far off in the distance, sirens continued to scream loudly, the night sky lit up with dozens of colors as dust containers continued to rupture and explode.