June 10th 2014
Outskirts of Kuoh
Kiba came to a stop and looked around in frustration, he had been following the blonde woman who had been carrying the Excalibur fragment for a while now but he had lost track of her suddenly when she turned around a street corner, when he rounded it the woman was nowhere to be found and the street was empty with no alleys or hideaways for her to duck in if she felt she was being followed so he had no idea where she had gone, he cautiously made his way forward looking for any signs or hints he can find of where she went but couldn't find anything it was like she had just up and vanished, further convincing him that the woman was tied up in with all this situation with the Excaliburs, turning on his heel he took off at inhuman speeds, he might have failed to grab Excalibur this time, but next time revenge would be his. Not long after he had left the area reality rippled not far from where Kiba had been stood and Seras emerged as her cloaking device deactivated and she watched him go, she knew the boy had been following her, so she led him far away from the FOB before cloaking and hiding from him, better to avoid a confrontation, less mess and paperwork to fill out. She looked around carefully checking for anybody else that might be watching her before jumping to the roofs and taking off towards the FOB, the Excalibur fragment still in hand.
June 10th 2014
FOB Alpha 1- Kuoh
It didn't take long for Seras to arrive back at base, She headed straight to the operations center to meet with Major Tanner and Colonel Degurechaff who should have arrived by now. She passed a number of regular troopers who acknowledged her with a nod or a salute, the relationship between the regular troopers and their more enhanced comrades was complicated at times but there was never any animosity between them, they both knew what they were fighting for and had tremendous respect for each other, that didn't stop inter branch banter from cropping up between the different branches of the SDC.
She arrived in the Ops center shortly after and was immediately greeted by Major Tanner who turned from the display table in the room center to greet her.
"Ah Captain Victoria, glad to see you back in one piece, anything to report?"
"Yes sir, I encountered a hostile rogue exorcist who was attempting to kill a church priest, I allowed the priest to escape before engaging and eliminating the exorcist, the exorcist was wielding this Sir."
She pulled out the Excalibur fragment and presented it to the Major who took it from her and examined it
"Hmm, an Excalibur fragment, Rapidly if our reports on it are to be believed. We'll need to handle this carefully, we can't keep hold of it, the church won't stop looking for it and the risk of us being discovered increases the longer we hold onto it. Getting it back to the church will however have to wait until this current crisis is over though."
"You mean the situation with Kokabiel sir?"
"The very same, he and his war hawks are undoubtedly planning to off the Satan's sisters and kick start another war, so we're going to have to stop that. The mages have finally arrived from HQ and I have them performing some high altitude recon around the outskirts of town to try and locate the Fallen. So far we haven't had any luck but there is only so many places they can hide, was there anything else to report?"
"Yes sir, when I exfilled the area I was tailed by a devil belonging to the Gremory peerage, I led him to a remote area on the other side of the town and gave him the slip, if they do decide to try and find me hopefully they will be looking in the wrong place."
"Very good, you know that we can't risk being discovered, if this were a normal operation we could memory wipe any supernaturals that caught us, but with the devils being near or related to the Satans-"
"The chance of them picking something up is too much risk"
"Indeed, so we need to remain vigilant-" A young corporal approached Major Tanner and saluted him
"Sir activity in the Gremory girl base, it seems the Knight is reporting about something concerning the Excaliburs" Tanner turned to the large screen mounted on the Ops center wall
"Put it on screen" the screen changed from showing camera and drone footage to footage showing the Occult research clubs club room, in it was Rias, Akeno, Sona, Tsubasa and Kiba the other members of the Sitri and Gremory peerage were not present. Tanner and Seras observed as the Knight opened his mouth.
"I was out having a walk clearing my head when I heard a scream, I moved quickly to try and figure out what was happening and when I got there I saw a priest running away from something so I went to investigate what he was fleeing when I saw Freed and a blonde woman."
"Freed, that psychopath is back here?" Rias growled her thoughts turning to the demented exorcist that had nearly killed Issei and had almost done horrible things to poor Asia.
"Yes he is…quite recognizable I went to intervene but the blonde woman, whoever she is was fast, faster than me and she took Freed apart,after she had incapacitated him they seemed to have a short conversation but I couldn't hear what was being said, then she killed him, afterwards was strange though she poured some kind of liquid on his body and it just evaporated, there was no indication he had even been there, she then took off and i followed"
"... you're leaving something out" Sona spoke up eyes narrowing at Kiba as he seemed to freeze up
"Kiba?" Rias asked in a tone that brooked no argument
"Freed… had an excalibur fragment, the woman took it with her." Rias seemed to realize something as she sighed to herself
"Please tell me that wasn't the reason you went after her" Kiba's silence was telling "Kiba-"
"No I need to destroy the damned sword"
"So you took off after a clearly dangerous woman, what would you have done, confronted her, what if she had allies, what if she had been holding back against Freed" Kiba clenched his fists and turned on his heels and walked out
"Kiba wait, KIBA!" Rias called to no avail. She collapsed onto her seat with a deep sigh and the feed cut back to drone and camera footage.
"Teenagers" Sighed Tanner "Always so emotional, still it seems that they are none the wiser to our existence but you should be careful when venturing out from now on, they'll be keeping an eye out for you."
"I will do… one thing sir I was under the impression Colonel Degurechaff would be joining us for this debrief, where is she"
"Oh the colonel is preparing herself for her new role" the Major replied with a slight grin
"...What role?" Seras asked cautiously, feeling a sense of trepidation on behalf of the pint sized colonel.
June 11th 2014
Kuoh Academy
"Everyone I would like you to help me welcome a new transfer, you can come in now Degurechaff-san" Tanya plastered the best smile she could manage as she walked into the classroom full of first years.
The things I do for the SDC. Tanya griped to herself as excited whispers started up around her.
"Well Degurechaff-san, why don't you introduce yourself?" doing her best to school her expression into what she hoped was an excitable expression Tanya opened her mouth to speak.
"Hello everyone my name is Degurechaff Tanya please look after me" she bowed to the class and straightened up in time to be bombarded with noise.
"Where do you come from?"
"How old are you?"
"Are you German?"
"Will you be my girlfriend."
"Look at her she looks so cute"
Tanya felt a vein throb in her head at the last one and her faked happy expression became that much more brittle.
"Okay everyone settle down you can mob her with questions later" despite herself Tanya couldn't help giving the teacher a look of betrayal. "Now Degurechaff-san you can sit next to Koneko-san" Tanya nodded and made her way forward, that was exactly what she needed for this assignment
"Remember Ma'am the idea here is to embed yourself among the devils so that if a danger presents itself to them you can pass on an early warning to us so that we can mobilize. For that you need to pose as a novice mage that is posing as an innocent student, you need to be discovered but be sure to manage your character, try not to let your temper get the better of you."
Easy for him to say surrounded by a bunch of brats.
Tanya subdued her thoughts as she sat down next to the Gremory rook, she let the rook detect a small amount of her magic, she noticed immediately as the rook seemed to freeze before glancing superstitiously at her. She pretended to be oblivious, keeping her focus on the class, but her finely honed battle sense detected the slight killing intent the rook unintentionally sent her way. She tuned out the teacher as they droned through the class, and had a quick glance to the girl next to her, she noticed that the Gremory girl was texting someone, probably her King, about her presence. She continued to play the oblivious girl as not long after the bell rang, before she could leave though a mob formed around her pounding her with question after question. She tried her best to keep a pleasant expression on her face while answering what questions she could internally she was cursing up a storm and damning her superiors to hell for putting her here. She was eventually saved by the tannoy
"Could Degurechaff Tanya please report to the student council room please, that's Degurechaff Tanya to the student council room thank you" standing up and excusing herself Tanya quickly made herself to the student council for what would undoubtedly be an interrogation.
I'd gladly face a horde of stray devils of a room full of excitable kids any day of the week
She shuddered to herself thinking of the hell she would have to endure over the course of this assignment. She arrived at the student council room not long after her summons, she knocked politely and waited for admittance.
"Come in" a voice called from inside and she quickly entered. She opened the door and stepped inside, and found herself face to face with both the Gremory and Sitri peerages minus the Gremory knight, she plastered on a confused expression and looked around at the people in the room.
"Um I was called her over the tannoy for something"
"I'm aware," the Sitri girl answered, "I'm the student council president, Sona Shitorii. I called you here so you could explain why you are here in our territory, mage." Her glasses flashed as she glared at Tanya, inside Tanya was cackling to herself at the young woman's attempt at intimidation and cringing at the seemingly heavy handedness of this whole thing. outwardly-
"W-what do you mean?" she put a stutter in her voice selling the angle of a novice mage out of her depth.
"Do you know who's territory you have just intruded upon?"
"I wasn't aware this place belonged to anyone" Tanya lied, carefully schooling her tone of voice and facial expressions so that the young devil across from her would believe her.
"Well this is the co-owned territory of the Sitri and Gremory Devil clans, my real name is Sona Sitri heir to the Sitri Clan and this is Rias Gremory heir to the Gremory clan" Sona indicated the voluptuous redhead next to her who seemed to be examining her carefully.
"So little miss mage care explain what you are doing here?" the Gremory girl enquired
"Umm, well I came to this city to study for college and practice my magic, i was under the impression that this place didn't have any members of the three factions here which is why I didn't inform you" she shrunk in on herself trying to seem embarrassed and apologetic, she laughed her ass off internally as the devils seemed to be taken by her story, helped along by her innocent childlike appearance one of the few times it had worked in her favor.
"Well I think in that case we can forgive you this time, don't you think Sona? '' Rias asked, smiling at her friend who sighed resignedly.
"Yes I suppose, okay Degurechaff-san I see no reason to have you leave, you may continue to study in our territory" Tanya felt a twinge of irritation before squashing it down before it showed on her face.
Your territory, this world belongs to humanity
"Thank you Lady Sitri, Lady Gremory, there is one more thing I was hoping to make a contract with one of you, I feel that I could expand my own knowledge in exchange for some of my own"
"Oh what Knowledge were you hoping to trade?" Sona leaned forward in full business persona, Rias and Sona continued to barter with Tanya on the contract that she was seeking while the rest of their peerages either went back to work or left to do their own thing, by the time she had left she had a contract with Sitri girl, it was heavily in the Sitri girl's favor but that was beside the point she had her in with the devils to keep her eye on them. Heading into a secluded part of the school she brought out her phone and dialed a number, she let it ring before pressing in a series of numbers and then hung up, shortly after the phone rang and she answered.
"How is school life treating you Colonel?"
"Don't even ask, I'd rather face a horde of stray devils than a classroom of first years again" Major Tanner snorted slightly before carrying on
"It seems they are a little bit suspicious Colonel" She took the phone away and watched as a camera feed showed the devils still in the council room.
"I don't think she is being entirely honest with us" said the Sitri girl, hand on her chin clearly deep in thought.
"Yes I agree something about her just rubs me the wrong way, that negotiation went a little too perfectly for us, plus did you feel that instance of killing intent."
"Yea when we mentioned letting her stay in our territory, not sure what that was about but I think it prudent to keep an eye on her." Tanya grimaced; it seemed that her act hadn't been as flawless as she hoped. The feed cut off and Tanya placed the phone against her ear again.
"You need to be more careful Colonel Further slip ups could compromise you" Tanner said in respectful yet reproachful manner, clearly trying to reprimand her but being mindful of her station
"I am well aware Major, how about our bird problem have you found them?"
"We have, I have a team already assembled we'll be hitting them tonight"
"Excellent I'll be ready by the evening"
"Unfortunately Colonel we need you to stay out of this one, you will undoubtedly be watched and we need you to be the innocent school girl your cover says you are" Tanya scowled menacingly but sighed heavily.
"Roger keep me in the loop Major"
"Understood Ma'am" with that the line went dead, Tanya pocketed her phone and realized that she now needed to head back to lessons, with the brats.
"I hate this Job"
Later that evening
Kuoh outskirts
Issei hoped his plan worked, he had found and enlisted the help of the pair of exorcists to help him with Kiba, they had agreed to let Kiba have one of the Excalibur fragments to destroy in exchange for aid from and the other devils which Issei had convinced to help including Koneko and Saji.
They were approaching where the two exorcists believed the fallen were keeping the Excalibur fragments and were going over the plan to grab them.
"We need to be careful. We don't know how many fallen there will be inside but Kokabiel will undoubtedly keep a substantial force on hand to protect the Excaliburs." Xenovia cautioned Irinia nodding her head along sagely
"We need to hit them hard and fast, keep on them and don't let them mobilize, speed and aggression will be key here." Kiba suggested his tone of voice sounding almost eager.
"I don't think that will be necessary" Koneko spoke up suddenly
"Why do you say that?" questioned Irina
"I smell blood, lots of it." Now alert and warry the group quickly and silently approached the building which the Fallen should have been staying in. When they got there they realized immediately that Koneko hadn't been wrong when she said she smelt blood. Sprawled around outside in various places were the corpses of various fallen angels, their body sporting various charred holes, some had been cut in various ways a couple cleanly bisected with guts and viscera plastering the floor. The entrance to the building was wide open, the doors nothing more than splinters scattered inside the place.
"What the hell happened here" Issei questioned as he stepped inside and saw more carnage, Fallen corpses were scattered everywhere, here and there pock marks could be seen scorched into the building walls and ceiling by some kind of weapons fire, and in a couple of spots were blood smears where it looked like a body had been dragged away.
"Someone got to the fallen before us it seems" Irina scowled at the massacre around her, Xenovia stopped suddenly and drew her sword before looking to a corner of the far corners of the wide cavernous room.
"Show yourself" she ordered The other immediately got into battle stances as they waited but nothing happened and no one emerged.
"Um Xenovia are you sur-" Xenovia slashed suddenly and a arc of energy went out and something moved out of the way, reality rippled and the woman that Kiba had saw yesterday emerged before them
"You!" Kiba growled as he saw his quarry from yesterday in the flesh, the woman was still wearing her civilian garb from yesterday it seemed and was looking at them in something that was a cross between shock and anger
"Shit" she cursed as Kiba jumped at her surprising his friends as he slashed down at her she swung her arm up shocking Kiba as she parried his blade aside with her wrist and then punched him in the gut sending him rocketing back to his friends before landing in a heap
"Kiba" Issei yelled and was about to charge when Irinia held her arm up to stop him
"You there identify yourself" Xenovia yelled, her sword held out ready.
"I am not allowed to divulge that information, let me leave there is no need for conflict here" Koneko and Saji moved to cover the entrance clearly having no intention of letting her leave as Issei spoke up.
"Like hell, who are you and what did you do to the fallen, who do you work for?" Kiba got to his feet slightly unsteady but clearly eager for a rematch
"Last warning, let me leave, there is no need for this to turn violent, I mean you and your people no harm."
"And we're supposed to believe that, nuh uh, no way you're coming with us to answer some questions" Koneko spoke up glaring at the woman.
The woman sighed before grabbing her attire and ripping it off, what the devils saw shocked them. Beneath the woman's attire was a body of metal and synthetic muscles. The woman flicked her wrist and suddenly a sword was in her hand, the edges of which glowed as plasma coated the edges of the blade.
"You leave me no choice then" a Visor of some kind snapped over her eyes as she leapt forwards in a blur of movement, Irinia was far too slow to react as a slash took her across the torso from collar bone to hip. She collapsed with nary a scream, the slash not deep enough to endanger her life but well enough to take her out of the fight. Xenovia barely got out a strangled cry before she was forced to block as the blade came around towards her, the other devils started to rally as the blade of the cyborg in front of them bit into and then cleaved through Xenovia's Excalibur fragment, the blade racking across her face carving a line through it which took out her eyes. Xenovia went down with a scream as Kiba and Koneko closed in. The cyborg woman bent backwards dodging a thunderous kick from Koneko before continuing with the motion turning into a backflip that avoided Kiba's downward slash. Issei cocked his fist back as the woman righted himself, already up to two boosts but was stopped suddenly when her foot rocketed out and cracked into his chest, he felt his sternum give way and then break from the force of he kick as he went down, he looked up in time to see the woman slice deeply into Saji's side bringing him down as his vision went blurry, as it went blank he heard Koneko and then Kiba cry out in pain before twin thuds sounded out. The next thing he knows he is coming to on Asia's lap as his king looks down on him worried.
"Wh-what happened?" he asked groggily as he sits up. He looks around and sees he is still where they had just fought but the area is no longer covered in the signs of battle, in fact it looks like nothing had been in here for a while.
"You got into a fight with someone seriously stronger than you, I'm just glad you're safe" RIas hugs him as she says this earning a pout from Asia.
"Kiba and the others, are they-?"
"Alive and healthy Asia saw to that." Akeno answered for her king as Issei looked around to see his friends and the two exorcists sat nearby clearly still going over what happened to them
"Now" Rias asked in a deathly calm voice "Tell me what happened."