A.N. (11/28/22) - Nice to see that this story is getting a lot of readers and followers. This might have taken over a week to write, but here is the second chapter finally done for you guys to read.
Atlas (2) - Extrication
Even from inside the vehicle, Rin could still see the outside weather pounding at them as they flew. The scenery was white, cold, and unforgiving. Snow was falling in a way that traveled almost horizontally in the wind, a veil of white that would make any travelers on the ground lose their sense of direction while being chilled to the bone.
Patting herself down, she became aware of a gaze that made her look up. To her surprise, there was an additional member of their group that she missed when she entered. Despite never meeting him, she instantly recognized who he was even before he spoke with disbelief at her appearance.
"This is the one joining us today? No offense, but I thought we were getting an expert."
"Miss Tohsaka is a consultant that we rely on occasionally," Clover explained. "As for being an 'expert', she has experience dealing with the people we will be facing off against today. General Ironwood saw fit to include her in today's mission to help inform us of our enemy's capabilities."
"Should I comment on the fact that we picked her up from Atlas Academy? I mean, how old is she even? Eighteen? Nineteen?"
"Fourteen."
"You're joking." Nobody spoke. "Oh my god, you're actually serious. We're bringing a schoolgirl to a potentially hostile situation and we're supposed to be fine with that."
"Stop making a fuss," Harriet replied. "The girl can take care of herself."
"The girl can also speak for herself," Rin interrupted. She gave a polite smile while holding out a hand. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Rin Tohsaka, aiding consultant for various affairs."
"Marrow Amin." He hesitantly shook the offered hand. "Exactly what do you mean by various affairs?"
"Clover, what's his clearance level?"
"Same as the rest of us."
"I'm an assistant to Doctor Polendina," she revealed. "As well as the leading researcher on the Merlot phenomenon. I'm sure you're aware of the recent outbreak of a new mutated version of Grimm species that the public has affectionately nicknamed the Greem?"
"Yeah." He scowled. "A lot of them rampaged through Mantle when they first appeared. I was part of the first wave of responders that were sent to repel them. They managed to cause a lot of damage that day, the nasty things."
A portmanteau of the words 'Green Grimm', the Greem were a variant species of Grimm that gained attention shortly after the Merlot incident when he released his experimented creatures from every single Merlot facility following his appearance in Argus. Thus far, the Greem were limited to areas in Solitas and the northern parts of Anima. But worried about the continued appearance of more variant species of Greem, the Council of Atlas made an announcement to start a new division of researchers tasked with solely studying how to fix the issue caused by Merlot's actions.
Rin has been especially busy these past few months dealing with them. The city of Argus has been identified by researchers as containing the heaviest concentrations of Greem, mainly due to the contamination caused by Merlot when he rampaged through the city. Even worse, since their mutated state empowered them so that they were stronger than their normal variants, some of them were able to resist the effects of the citywide bounded field she established. Every time they were discovered, Rin or any nearby huntsman would be called to exterminate them.
"But more relevant to the upcoming mission, I used to live in Mistral about a year ago. During that time, I encountered several members of Spider before and even met their boss. As such, I can help identify several tactics and strategies they might employ against others."
"Plus she's also our medic," Elm added. "So keep on her good side, Newbie."
He sighed. "Don't tell me I'm stuck with that name for the whole mission."
"Chin up, Newbie." Harriet grinned. "At least you'll have your chance to prove yourself once we get into the field."
"Speaking of which," Vine interrupted. "We should probably start the briefing so we know what we're getting into."
"Right, here's what we know." Clover pressed something, allowing a holographic display to appear in front of everyone. "Exactly two hours and three minutes ago, one of our research facilities was taken over by a small group of mercenaries. Through surveillance, we were able to match their appearances with our records to determine their identity as members of Spider."
Rin focused on the display before her as several images were brought up. She noticed a few of the other Ace-Ops send glances in her direction. Everyone but Marrow was already aware of her prior criminal history, so maybe they were curious as to what her reaction would be.
Vine was the first to speak. "Do we know what they want?"
"We're assuming that they're after the prototypes being developed by the facility," Clover answered. "This isn't the first time something like this happened either. Occasionally, there's some private company or criminal group interested in stealing the latest tech that our scientists cook up. If they get their hands on anything dangerous, it won't be long before the streets are flooded with copies of whatever weapon they manage to grab."
"It doesn't matter," Harriet said. "As long as we take them out, we can question their intentions later. How many hostiles are we expecting?"
"Eleven. All of them have their Aura unlocked, but none of them seem to have any huntsmen training."
Elm spoke next. "What about the scientists?"
"They're a small development team that deals with hard-light features such as shields and maintaining the city defenses, so you can see why General Ironwood would want this handled by the best." A few nods. "Most of them are being held in one room guarded by two hostiles, but one of them was taken away by the others. Probably to help them access the other parts of the facilities."
"Got a name?"
"Will Scarlatina." A picture of the man appeared on the screen. "Head engineer and in charge of several other important projects, including the upcoming Amity launch. Trust me, none of us are prepared to deal with the fallout if this guy is harmed. So let's take out all the bad guys quickly and hope for an easy mission."
"I'm fine with that," Marrow said. "So what's the game plan?"
"The mercenaries are spread across the facility in pairs, one of them being Will and a member of Spider. Harriet, you'll deal with the guards holding the hostages. Everyone else will split up and deal with the other hostiles. Ideally, this will all be over in about twenty minutes if no complications arise."
"What about me?" Rin asked. "Should I wait on the ship the entire time?"
"You'll maintain radio contact with us during the mission," Clover answered. "If anyone is injured, we'll call you in to stabilize their condition until we can get them some proper medical attention."
"Very well."
"We're close to reaching our destination," Vine said. "Drop off in two minutes. The autopilot should land the aircraft a small distance away so Miss Tohsaka can reach us in case of an emergency."
"Sure she can do that?" Elm asked. "Whiteout conditions might make it hard to navigate."
"I'll be fine," she answered. Tapping her eye, she allowed the illusion to dissolve as it revealed a white eyepatch on her face. "Pietro was kind enough to help me with my eye surgery last week. I should be able to make my way to you guys if needed."
Everyone seemed to accept her answer, but Marrow examined her eyepatch curiously.
"How'd you hide that?" he asked. "Is that your Semblance?"
"Something like that."
"T-minus ninety seconds."
The military aircraft was now flying at about three hundred feet above the ground. As they neared the drop zone, everyone but Rin stood up as they finished preparing their gear. Clover pressed a button, causing the ramp to lower and exposing the inside to the biting cold wind.
Even words were hard to make out, so Clover gestured for the rest to follow him as he jumped out of the aircraft first. Elm was the next to jump after him, followed by Harriet, Marrow, and Vine. Only Rin was left as the ramp closed behind them, leaving her alone until the team decided to contact her once they landed.
"Let's hope that this will be a boring twenty minutes."
}-{
Marrow may have been the newest recruit of the Ace Operatives, but that did not mean that he was any less capable than the others. Sure, there was a gap in experience that time would eventually fix, but his skills in the field were good enough to get him a spot on the team.
Falling through the snow, he veered away and slid down a slope so that his descent slowed into a controlled manner. His pants suffered for this action by dragging through snow, but Marrow used the cold to shock him awake as he started to catch up to the rest of his team. Both hands were on his rifle, and every sense of his was alert for any sign of danger. Soon enough, they reached the front doors of the building where everyone came to a stop.
"Breach."
Elm broke the doors open with a swing of her hammer, and Harriet sped past everyone as she ran along the memorized path toward where the hostages were. Everyone else split up and Marrow found himself alone as he went through multiple corridors to where his target was.
He heard voices up ahead and jumped out into the open right before a pair of mercenaries.
"Stay!"
While they were stunned by his Semblance, Marrow immediately threw several bolas in their direction. Wrapping around their limbs, the added feature activated as both of their bodies convulsed from electric shock before collapsing onto the ground.
He tapped the comm on his ear. "This is Marrow. West wing secured."
"Elm speaking. East wing secured."
"Vine. Southside secured."
"Good work everyone," Clover said. "Harriet, what's your status?"
"Give me a sec." A moment later. "Done. Northside secured. Two guards slumped against the door and bound for pick-up. I'll be taking the hostages back with me."
"That's fine. I still haven't found my pair yet, and we still need to secure Scarlatina. Tohsaka, can you check the cameras for the location of the other mercenaries?"
Her voice crackled. "I'm looking, but I can't find anyone. They must have all gone deeper into the facility. Don't know why, but I can't access any of the cameras there."
"Security measure," Clover answered. "Only those with high-level clearance can see into those rooms. Helps prevent state secrets from leaking and limits who has access."
"I'm closest to where they might be," Marrow spoke up. "Want me to go ahead and see if I find them?"
"Hold your position. Harriet will continue escorting the hostages, but the rest of us will gather up at your location first."
"Got it," Marrow replied. "Then I'll just–"
Something clicked.
Too late, he realized that it was the sound of something metal scraping against the floor. Marrow dodged as something swept past where he previously stood. Catching his footing, he fired off several shots with his rifle even and he watched them explode into sparks as something deflected them.
Except, there was nobody in front of him.
"Guys." He pressed his ear again. "I'm facing some opposition."
"Marrow, what's your status?"
"Fighting." He winced as something slammed into his chest, causing his body to fly backward until he controlled himself. "Ugh… don't know if it's their Semblance, but I'm going up against someone I can't see."
The sound of a blade cutting air alerted him to raise his arm and block another attack. Right as that happened, he felt his feet get swept as someone else attacked him from below, causing him to crash against the floor.
"Tohsaka, please tell me that's you."
"Nope, I'm still on the ship." Marrow was confused at why Clover even asked in the first place. "I'm looking at the camera now. He's right, Marrow's going up against an invisible opponent."
"Somewhat," Marrow called out while standing up. He blocked another attack as he figured out the trick to fighting them. "There's a faint shimmer in the air where you can kinda tell the outline of the person attacking you. It's faint, kinda like heat waves radiating from the pavement on a hot day. Looks like there's more than one of them, so either their Semblance works on more than one person, or I'm up against something else."
"They might be using some of the prototype technology being developed at this facility," Clover said. "Marrow, do you think you can keep them there until the rest of us arrive?"
"Not sure, let me try something first." Snapping his fingers, he pointed in their direction. "Stay!"
He ducked from another attack from his opponent as his Semblance did nothing.
"Alright, I need a bit of help."
"Hang tight, we're on the way!"
"Sorry to interrupt," Harriet suddenly spoke. "But somebody might have forgotten to close the door. The entrance is covered in snow now, and I can't get the hostages through it."
He winced. If Marrow recalled correctly, he was the last to enter the facility.
"There should be another entrance near the southwest side of the building. Luckily for us, it's on the way to where Marrow is. Have Tohsaka bring the airship there and we can let the hostages board."
"Sure. Only issue is that I'm not too keen on doing an escort while there are invisible foes all around the building. Who knows how many mercenaries are unaccounted for."
"I think I can help," Rin suddenly spoke. "If you let me observe the invisibility in question, I might be able to devise something that can help you detect it."
"Negative. You're not on active duty."
"There's still Scarlatina that you have to worry about, right? You can't afford to dismiss any options."
"Hey, Boss!" Marrow dodged another attack. "I wouldn't mind someone else helping me out."
There was no response for several seconds.
"Hah, fine." Clover sounded resigned. "Tohsaka, bring the vehicle to Harriet then quickly meet up with Marrow. Do what you can to help us salvage this mission."
"Trust me, I'll be doing something alright."
}-{
Rin frowned as she removed her finger from the comm stuck to her ear.
"Too bad I don't have my mystic code with me," she commented. "Might have been helpful to see which version of invisibility trumps."
The aircraft slowly descended. Rin jumped the last couple of feet before the ship landed, and she jogged to where the door was. Filling her body with magical energy, she used her reinforced strength to turn the metal hatch until the door finally opened.
Closing it behind her, she took off without bothering to wait for Harriet. Rounding up a corner, she took out her Scroll and observed her location. At this rate, it would only take two or three more turns until she reached Marrow.
Since she had been picked up during class, she didn't exactly have her usual equipment with her. Still, even in plainclothes, she wasn't defenseless. Pouring magic power into her curled fingers, she twisted them as if she were turning a doorknob and spoke.
-Egress-
"—Open."
A Mystic Lock.
From her wrist, the gem affixed to the bracelet wrapped around her arm glowed as she activated her spell. The gem itself was a type of mystic code that only worked with her magical energy. Through the utilization of Imaginary Number Space, objects could be placed inside something akin to a dimensional pocket where they were removed from the normal flow of space and time. It was a type of mystic code that used particular wavelengths of magical energy as a key, meaning that only she could unlock its features.
Spitting out of the air, several gems fell onto her palm as she clutched them tightly. The size of the dimensional pocket was limited due to the low quality of her mystic code, so she only had a few Dust crystals stored inside. Even so, it should be enough to defend herself if needed.
Hesitating, she tugged at her eyepatch so that it slid up. Underneath shone a polished green jewel.
"Here we go…" Going around several corners, she found her target. "Marrow, get down!"
"Huh?"
His body dropped right as a dozen gandr shots flew above him, impacting directly with the invisible targets. Without fanfare, they collapsed to the ground unconscious.
"Keep moving!"
Marrow reacted quickly, picking up his weapon and moving parallel to her side as the two sped toward the depths of the facility.
Both of their footsteps were quiet, and thus, they could hear the sound of voices up ahead.
"Will, my buddy. You got to stop taking your time and finish what I asked for. The faster you do what I want, the faster I'll leave you and your crew alone to do whatever it is that you usually do here."
"It can't be helped," another man replied. "I'm bypassing several layers of authorization so that you can gain access. I've already opened several rooms for you and your people to plunder."
"Ah, but that's not enough. See, my boss really wants me to bring her some results. I have big shoes to live up to, after all."
Both Rin and Marrow slowed as they neared the two.
"Hold on…" A pause. "You can come out now, I know you two are hiding."
The two looked at each other for a second before they both jumped into action.
"Can't say I wasn't expecting this."
A flare burst exploded in the middle of the room right as they moved out of the way. Marrow shot several rounds toward the direction where the projectile came from, but a transparent blue shield suddenly appeared to protect them.
"Ah, that's no good. You might have accidentally hurt your friend here with that."
Rin finally got a good look at his face and stilled.
"You…"
"What's this?" He turned in her direction. "Now… hang on a second, I recognize you. Huh, funny coincidence. I was just talking about you just now."
There was no doubt in Rin's mind that this was anything but a coincidence.
"Tohsaka, you know this guy?"
"Not really, but I guess you can say I've heard about him."
"Aw, I'm flattered." Roman Torchwick smirked as he tipped his bowler hat. "Nice to finally meet my predecessor. I've heard so many stories about the girl who used to be the right-hand of the Lil' Miss. Let's see if those stories hold true to the genuine article."
With that said, he pointed his weapon to the ceiling and fired another blast.
Honestly, I might have introduced a bit too many elements in this one chapter alone. Maybe it would have been better if I split it into two chapters instead.
Oh well, let's go over some stuff. First off, we have doggo man Marrow finally joining the Ace-Ops. Give it up for him and his bullshit Semblance, although it seems it has some limitations like visibility. Guess you can't order someone if you can't see them.
Next up, we have Will Scarlatina. A minor character not even mentioned in the show, but I'm sure most of you are familiar with another character that shares that last name. That's right, Will is the proud father of Velvet Scarlatina, a canonical engineer that works closely with Atlas and General Ironwood himself.
Lastly, we have the big one. Roman Torchwick, current right-hand man to the boss of the criminal organization Spider. And based on Rin's prior history, also technically her successor.
Sheesh, even I feel like I've introduced too much stuff in this chapter. Hopefully, it's still in the realm of being digestible enough for all you readers to find enjoyable.
