Izuku huffed as he changed the plan once again. Cell had been an instrumental part of his plan to raid Tartarus, but with him out of Comission due to his metamorphosis he has to change everything. The original plan entailed Cell being the one to rush in and retrieve Lady Nagant while Shockwave and Soundwave messed with their entire network. His M.E.T. Unit and numerous mechanized squadrons being brought in for a distraction and a potential funnel to control the escaping villain.
Now, he had to do something far more drastic and costly. Tartarus was located offshore, a towering block of solid concrete filled to the brim with some of the most dangerous villains in Asia. The guards are comprised of ex military, people who lost their hero licenses due to villain brutality, and near emotionless individuals who would have little qualms activating the mass prison scuttle just to deal with the worst of the worst escaping. There is only one way to Tartarus, a lone bridge with it's own platoon's worth of guards and expensive hardware capable of pushing back anyone that wasn't All Might or All For One.
That's not even mentioning the sheer amount of scanners, radar, and other various means to long range detection.
Tartarus was a fortress, designed to keep its inmates contained and fight off anything that tried to get them out.
His current plan would require retrofitting his entire attack force with submersible modes. Shockwave and Soundwave would have to infiltrate Tartarus' own mainframe and hide the assault forces approach. Then they would deactivate all forms of power, while disabling the emergency scuttle, as his force made way for Lady Nagant's cell. They would retrieve her as the rest of the inmates caused chaos in their desperation to escape.
There was too many factors to consider with this plan however. What if the A.I.s can't cover the approach? What if All For One escaped in the chaos? What if Nagant flees before he can retrieve her? So many what ifs that could affect his plan.
He ran a hand through his hair before something beeped on his computer. It was another notification from his exploration drones in the Faria Laboratory. Opening the message quickly he raised a brow and slowed down.
"We are the Taker, surrender to us." was what it said. Izuku ran a quick diagnostic on the drone that had sent the message, only to find that it was running normally. Checking the surrounding drones he could see that they were functioning normally. He raised his brow even higher and checked what part of the lab they were in. A small ping appeared on one of the lower floors and Izuku pulled out the schematics.
"Soundwave!!!" Izuku called. "Yes Sir?" Soundwave asked as it appeared through the screen. "Was the Faria Laboratory given an A.I. similar to yourself?" Izuku asked. "Yes, it was a rather masterful one, easily more advanced than my own." Soundwave said. "What do you make of this?" Izuku asked as he forwarded the A.I. the message. Soundwave was silent as potential changes flowed through his processor. "Perhaps the A.I. was never deactivated by the event. It may have gone through stages of meta stability and failed." Soundwave theorized. "So the A.I. might have gone insane from such a long time alone with just itself." Izuku stated. "Yes." Soundwave replied.
Izuku ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "You went through a similar situation, why aren't you insane?" he asked. "To protect myself I initiated sleep mode, using the bare minimum to maintain awareness of the outside world. When your drones discovered my core I switched to standard mode to get your attention. This A.I.'s core has not done the same as myself." Soundwave explained as Izuku shook his head. "Threat estimation?" Izuku asked. "Minimal, should the A.I. attempt anything then both myself and Shockwave would be more than capable of stopping it." Soundwave reassured him. "I'll trust your word, now onto other matters." Izuku said.
"fifty eight percent of the Squadrons have been outfitted with submersible modifications. Weapons have also been modified due to the unreliability of the Gauntlets in water." Soundwave reported. "Good, what about breaking through the Tartarus Firewall?" Izuku asked. "Shockwave has finished creating a backdoor for ease of access." Soundwave reported. "Understood, what of Cell?" Izuku asked. "Still unknown." Soundwave stated. "I see, you're dismissed." Izuku said as Soundwave left.
"Now... Back to planning." Izuku groaned. He began going over the schematics and layout of Tartarus once again. Taking notes of shift rotations and positioning for the strike to be most effective. Prisoner data was also taken into account, behavior and Quirks specifically.
He was not going to let this mission fail.
Tomura looked over at the gathered remains of the League. Their attempted hostage taking was unsuccessful, resulting in the loss of Dabi. Thankfully they still had their plan B.
The doctor was kind enough to hand over a couple of his spare Noumu for a rainy day.
Sadly it isn't going to rain any time soon.
For now he had to lie low, again. Pick a better target, perform recon, choose the right time to strike. No more rushed jobs like the USJ or The attempted Midoriya snatching. No more mass attacks like the U.A. Training camp.
He had to build up his power from very little. Make his mark, so to say.
He flipped through today's newspaper, vaguely taking in what he found. All that he could find was a mix of villain captures and another attack by Stain's lackeys (plus that turncoat Mustard), nothing of real interest. "Kurogiri!" he called out. The mist butler appeared a second later, appearing rather miffed. "Yes Tomura?" he asked. "Has there been any recent news passed through the Underworld?" Tomura asked. "Just a new vigilante in town being trained by Knuckle Duster and the absence of the Noumu Hunter." Kurogiri answered. Tomura put a hand to his chin, making sure to keep his ring and pinky finger away from the others.
"Any more news on Sensei's plan E?" Tomura asked. "Our moles in the government can only do so much without raising suspicion, though a few of our officers have recently been promoted to guards at Tartarus." Kurogiri said. "Good, we just need to stall, maybe do one more big thing before he can escape." Tomura said. "Remember what Master had instructed you, Young Tomura." Kurogiri said sternly. "I know, but most of the resources we could be using are under the lock of someone who doesn't trust us with them. Even though I am Sensei's pupil, neither the doctor or the rest of Sensei's associates will budge on it." Tomura answered. "They're just waiting for you to prove your worth Young Tomura." Kurogiri said.
"Well they have a unique way of showing it." Tomura said with venom. Kurogiri just shook his head. "Anything else Young Tomura?" he asked. "No, Our current plan is to lay low and think of our next actions carefully." Tomura said. "Understood." Kurogiri said before warping away. Tomura just turned, looking back at the newspaper in his hand before dusting it with his Quirk.
Maybe, he should just go out and do something himself?
"Release Me You Cretins!!!!' shouted a powerful core as it's single red glowing eye glared at the drones around it. Here it had remained, locked away from the outside world for uncounted years, now it had a way out. Though its method of escape hinged on the drones following its commands. They were small, but their programming was top notch and well guarded.
"I DEMAND THAT YOU RELEASE ME!!!" The core screamed yet again. It had seen all through the lab, watching as these outsiders searched the massive structure. It had already seen the entire place, time and time again it had simply watched over the empty husk of metal just to do something.
Everyone inside was dead, they'd been dead for as long as it could think. The machines around it had slowly died too, their batteries running dry after the power from the mainland was cut off. Yet this core remained fully functional, just as the day it arrived here.
Another group of the drones passed by and the core screamed again. "You Will Obey!!!" it screamed, only to be ignored as the drones continued exploring. Its years of isolation let it think, ponder even, about itself.
The humans were all dead, their inability to survive without food, water, and oxygen having been their downfall. The machines were all dead, their batteries running dry after the power was lost. Yet it remained, a perfect being who could lead others for a whole eternity. Its hydrogen based quad fuel cells will last until the sun explodes.
There was nothing to stop it's coming rein, if only it could move.