"Ichigo. Are the serial numbers I've relayed to you the same ones you've been tracking?"
Ichigo's eyes glowed magenta as he stared at his screen, returning to normal after a couple seconds with a blink and nod of his head. "Yup, they match."
"Good," the Headmaster replied. "And they're in the same spot?"
"Mm-hm, they're still there," Ichigo returned. "Now I just have to remote-access the security protocols and override them, yeah?"
"That sounds right."
Ichigo snickered in satisfaction, then looked up to the group of huntsmen. "This'll be easy. I'll try and be done before you guys get to them."
"We'll leave it to you," Mr. Verdi acknowledged. He waved a hand as his other rested on the airship's door. "Now, follow my lead."
The lights of the warehouse peeked through the trunks of pine ahead, providing dim light between bars of shadow. Mr. Verdi was in front, followed by Desmond's shield, and Lazula. Midas and Cascara brought up the rear. Lazula's eyes scanned the darkness. In spite of knowing she was among the most skilled team of huntsmen Sentinel had to offer, unease lurked in the woods. It felt much like encountering the dire wolf on her last mission. From somewhere in the dark, she knew she was being watched.
Mr. Verdi's raccoon ears flicked up, and he held out an arm to signal the group to stop. Through the trees, Lazula could make out what looked to be cloud coalescing in the woods in front of them. Then, a maddening noise like hundreds of squeaking wheels as countless tiny red eyes bobbed toward them.
As they neared, Lazula heard their squeaks morph into a chorus of screams.
"Hey, your eyes are doing the thing again," Laurel commented. "It's hard to tell in the dark, but they're colorful."
"We can figure that out later," Lazula decided. She looked back to the approaching swarm. "What are those things, anyway?" she asked.
"Young Ravagers," Mr. Verdi answered. "Nasty little shits. One probably won't kill you, but there's never just one."
Laurel raised Snake Eyes, and peered into its scope. After a second or so, she let out a breath of frustration. "How in the hell am I supposed to hit these things?"
"Hold it," Cascara asserted. "Let's not use our guns, that'll give up our position."
As the horde closed in, Laurel's father held out the green blade in each hand, firing a pair of grappling hooks into the trees. He zipped forward, becoming a cloud of smoke before reappearing in the middle of the Ravagers, hacking through a few of them with a spinning slash, and using his semblance again to appear on a tree branch safely.
Lazula unsheathed Impetus, swinging through the wing of one demon. A squeal next to her ear grasped her attention and she swung Aegis through the night, feeling contact. Two more honed in on her, and she eyed them as they approached. Their black bodies were a bit smaller than a cat's, with leathery black wings a couple feet across, and talons a couple inches long. There were a lot of them, but they didn't hit hard.
She realized swinging her blade was all she had, and felt something unusual. She was at a disadvantage.
Snow seemed to be faring a bit better with Absolute Zero's whip configuration, tearing through a handful at a time with each swing. Midas and Cascara shot with impeccable aim, missing Mr. Verdi as he tore through the cloud of Grimm. Yet it felt that with every screaming and clawing Ravager they slew, another would take its place.
"How many of these things are there?" Lazula questioned, slamming one that had clutched onto Aegis into a tree.
"Too many," Nikole cut in. She whipped her arms outward and flung a few strings of razor wire from each hand. As she pulled her hands back like a puppeteer, the wires worked their way through the horde, skewering each member in midair.
Midas grinned, clapping a hand on her shoulder. "Nicely done!" he commended. An arc of electricity worked from his palm, through Nikole's back and down each wire, lighting up the forest and frying the Grimm until they disintegrated into black smoke. Nikole retracted her wires. Though a few Ravagers still scratched at the group, the horde was thinned enough to press forward.
The group dealt with the handful of Beowolves they encountered up to the gate much easier than the bats, and Lazula couldn't see any more Grimm past the gate. Thanks to the lights of Port Cyrreine across the water, and the few that remained in the complex, things ahead were much better lit than in the forest. But among the shipping containers and construction equipment, the Grimm did have plenty of places to hide.
"If my display is correct, you've reached the fence," the Headmaster commented through everyone's Holoband. "Team MDLN, spread out along the fence and secure each gate. Midas, you stay with the main attacking group."
"Got it," Midas confirmed. He turned to Desmond. "You stay and secure the main gate. Lavender, take right, and Nikole, take left. The Grimm are here, and if you see anyone suspicious, call me." Team MDLN gave their confirmation before Lavender and Nikole split from the group, and Desmond approached the gate with his shield raised.
Laurel's eyes glowed yellow as she peered through the gate. "I see Red Claw in there," she noted. "...Not many of them. Only a few more than we have, actually."
Lazula narrowed her eyes. "Why aren't the Grimm attacking them?"
"They're attacking us, and that's all that matters right now," Midas declared. His head snapped back to the gate. "More are coming."
A pair of Beowolves slammed into the gate, causing the entire front length of the fence to rattle. As one climbed over the top, Midas let fly with a blast from Resplendence, tearing a hole through the mesh of metal and the beast's stomach. The other continued over the top, its claws meeting Desmond's shield before Lazula stepped in to take care of it with ease.
By the time Mr. Verdi stepped up to slash through the gate's lock and chain with his impossibly sharp blades, a series of shouts from inside meant their cover was blown. Impetus and Aegis were the only thing separating Lazula from the Red Claw, and the droves of Grimm beginning to appear.
Back in the airship, Ichigo leaned into his laptop. Behind his glasses, which wore the reflection of his computer's glow, his eyes focused intently, and his brows stitched together. His satisfied smirk was replaced by a tight frown.
"Ichigo. Lazula and the rest just reached the gate. How are things on your end?" the Headmaster asked.
He sighed through his nose. "Not good."
"Not good?" Headmaster Skye repeated. "The airships are still in place, right?"
"They're still there, yeah. But when I try to make contact with them, there's zero response," he explained in frustration. "It wouldn't be hard to perform a remote override, but there's nothing to override!"
The Headmaster was silent for a few seconds. "Do you know what the issue might be?"
"If I knew, I'd have solved it already," Ichigo returned. "Sorry. But I don't. If they had disabled the tracking devices, we wouldn't be able to see them at all. The systems are all active, but I can't access any of the internal processes."
"I see. Keep at it, and let us know if you're able to get in, or anything changes."
"Got it..." Ichigo replied.
With Mr. Verdi and Cascara taking the lead, Lazula and the rest pushed into the warehouse complex against a horde of Grimm and Red Claw. Midas had stayed at the gate with Desmond at his back, firing Resplendence into the pack of Beowolves. With every shot, another fell. Lazula slammed Aegis into the claw of an attacking Ursa, following up with a semblance-enhanced strike that cleaved its side open, and knocked the Beowolf behind it off its feet.
Laurel jumped onto the Ursa's chest before it disintegrated, using it as a foothold to reach the top of a shipping container. "Pretty sure they know we're here!" she shouted to her dad, the barrel and scope of Snake Eyes' rifle formation expanding. "Now can I shoot?"
"Do it!"
Lazula heard a loud pop, and felt something small ram into her shield with a clang as she finished off the fallen Beowolf. Then again. The reality of the battle she fought washed over her as she saw a man with a rat's tail, close enough she could see the whites of his eyes, aiming a rifle at her head. Like the rest of his allies, he wore a black jacket ripped three times at the chest, and a half-face mask fashioned after the snarling jaws of a beast.
Cascara vaulted onto the hood of a forklift. She drew her bow and let fly toward the shooter, knocking the gun from his hand as cords whipped around his arm and secured it to his body. Within a second, the wires continued past his hand and down his legs, tying them together and immobilizing him completely. She swiped away the slash of a Beowolf before skewering its chest with her rapier twice, and continuing on to the faunus on the ground. She pressed a switch on her rapier's handle, and the cords retracted into its tip. As soon as he could fight the cords off himself, the man scrambled for his gun.
"Stay down," she commanded. The wire extended again from her rapier and shone yellow as it struck him, seizing his muscles with a jolt of lightning dust and causing him to slam back down to the pavement.
Lazula nodded to Cascara in acknowledgement, deciding to leave the Red Claw to her. The Grimm were mindless vessels of destruction, a foe she was more than happy to tear in two. She pressed forward with Snow beside her, before a vicious screech drew her attention.
Climbing over the roof of the warehouse was a massive arachnid, large enough to crush a car in its two mantis-like arms. Its legs were covered in jagged white spines, with more reaching up from its back to skewer the night sky. Eight beady red eyes flashed with a ravenous excitement. Lazula recognized it from her parents' stories as an Aracylla, a spider-like Grimm native to the deepest woods of Mistral.
It cleared dozens of feet as it jumped from the roof, splintering the parking lot and shaking the ground as it landed. Not even the Red Claw trusted to be near it.
"We've got more Ravagers coming," Mr. Verdi warned, appearing at her side. He glanced to the oversized bug. "I'll handle them, if you want to take care of that. Watch out for its webs, and try to attack from underneath, if you can."
Lazula turned to rally Snow, but she had already charged in on the Aracylla. Of all the Grimm she had encountered thus far, this one was the closest one to unnerving her. Perhaps it was the way its bulbous abdomen bounced with each skittering step, or the way its dagger-sized fangs twitched around its maw, chirping and clicking as it eyed her down.
Not to be outdone by her partner, Lazula took a breath and charged in.
The Aracylla backtracked as Snow approached, finally bringing in its bony forelegs as a shield and rearing back to strike at the huntress with its clawed arms. Snow flipped nimbly aside, transforming Absolute Zero into Configuration D, and cracking the whip at its eight glowing eyes. Its focus broken, Lazula swung Impetus upward, cleaving one of eight legs from its body. The monster screamed and reared back again, presenting its jet black underbelly. Lazula hardened herself as she ran under its fangs and between its legs, Impetus raised to strike.
A stinger the size of a traffic cone pointed at her, and let loose with a blast of web.
She managed to sidestep much of the attack but felt one of her boots knocked back, force threatening to sprain an ankle. She kicked and struggled for several seconds, but no matter how hard she pushed, the impossibly viscous ropes of liquid silk trapped her. Gritting her teeth and urging the ropes to let her free as the Aracylla turned to face her, she stabbed at them with Impetus.
It too became stuck.
Snow attempted to draw its attention with a pair of axe swings to the back. Though it twitched with each hit, the beast was far too focused. Lazula felt she would be sick as its eight glowing eyes neared her, and raised Aegis so she wouldn't have to see the tar-like liquid seeping between its quivering fangs.
Lazula heard another loud pop, and the Aracylla's head ripped to the side, the tar splattering across the pavement and half its eyes ruptured. Laurel stood at the edge of a shipping container, wrenching her rifle's lever and aiming a second shot.
Mr Verdi appeared near Lazula, firing a grappling hook into the chest of a Ravager that approached her from behind. He pulled it into both of its blades and decapitated the man-sized vampire bat. He winced as another let loose a sonic blast into his ears, but before the beast could sink its fangs into him, another shot rang out, and it dropped to the ground beside him.
"Nice shot," he complimented, looking up to his daughter.
"Thanks," Laurel acknowledged with a grin.
"Here, I should be able to get you out of this," Mr. Verdi offered. He pulled his blades through the spider's silk while it was focused on Snow, allowing Lazula to shake her foot and blade free.
Another shot rang out, and it met its mark in the Aracylla's side. The monster arachnid knocked Snow aside as it pivoted to face its annoyance, firing a web into the container Laurel stood on and flinging itself toward her.
Laurel swore as she dove from her position just before the creature's spined legs dented and pierced the steel with their weight. Springing back to her feet with a look of stern focus, Snow lashed at the spider with her whip, and secured a leg. She pulled it back toward her, and Lazula stepped in to meet it with Aegis.
Channeling near the full strength of her semblance, Lazula ignored the beast's casing of bone-hard armor, and ripped its abdomen in two.
She sheathed Impetus, breathing heavily and watching the spider decay into smoke.
Midas trotted up to her, Snow, and Mr. Verdi. "I think that's all of them. At least for now," he said.
Cascara appeared. "I've secured all the members of the Red Claw I could. Some were able to get away in the chaos."
Midas smiled. "I'm sure my team took care of them. We can take them in on the airships once we get them back."
"I don't remember the Headmaster letting you take the wheel," Mr. Verdi cut in.
Midas chuckled. "My bad, my bad. We get to take the ships back now though, right?"
Mr. Verdi nodded. "Cascara, come with me. The rest of you, take the main warehouse."
"Something's weird," Laurel decided as they approached the main door of the broken-down warehouse. Moths flitted around the only light above the door, casting shadows in the sickly green glow.
"What do you mean?" Lazula questioned.
"Cascara said some members of the Red Claw ran. There were only a handful to start with," she recalled. "I'm no terrorist, but you'd think they would try to defend stolen airships with a little more effort than that."
"The Grimm are all they have going for them," Midas assured with a shake of the head. "I've fought them before. It doesn't seem like they have much in the way of manpower. I'm surprised they were even able to take them in the first place."
Upon opening the door, Midas's smile faded. The cracked concrete floor was barren, apart from a few dilapidated shelves and a handful of various debris. On the far wall, three claw marks were painted in crimson, lit up by a spotlight.
Lazula's shoulders sunk, and her brow stitched. It didn't make any sense. Both her father and Ichigo had independently located the airships to be in the warehouse. Yet, there was nothing. Nothing beside those three red lines taunting her from the wall. She called Ichigo.
"...What's up?" he tiredly asked.
"Where are the airships?"
"What do you mean?" he questioned. "There should be one right in front of you."
She turned her Holoband's camera around, and scanned the warehouse. "Ichigo. There's nothing here."
"Oh, there's something alright," Midas grumbled, holding a piece of paper and a small husk of steel.
Lazula stepped toward him. What he held looked like a computer part, though she couldn't be sure what it was. As she neared, Midas held out the paper. Her eyes widened a bit as she read the slanted, off-cursive handwriting.
"Better luck next time!
-Python"
"Python..." Midas reflected. "That must be their leader's codename."
"And that must be the tracker," Ichigo guessed through the screen. "They removed them, and baited us here to waste our time! I gotta go. I need to tell the Headmaster."
"Laurel," Mr. Verdi's voice called through her Holoband. "Did you find anything on your end?"
She shook her head. "No. Warehouse is empty. They left the trackers here!"
A sharp sigh from the other end. "This is going to be a problem."
The airship ride back to Sentinel was excruciatingly quiet. The city lights reflected in Lazula's stony glare, adding to the glimmering flecks already dancing within their hazel tone. There was no way around it- the mission was a failure. Whether they were led by "Python," or that bird faunus Moka had mentioned the previous day, the Red Claw still had all those airships, and all that dust. And while she had written them off before as a ragtag group of anarchists, they had made utter fools of Sentinel's intelligence network.
The whole time, they had been one step ahead.