Chapter 22: Secret Squad: Trial by Shadows
Aswad Abyad; one of Anima's most successful businessmen, secret financial backer of the Cult of Grimm, and current target of the Secret Squad. Polu Shark piloted the squad's aircraft while Dr. Ember would act as their communications hub. That left Agent Jim Ironwould, Jr. to lead the squad in the field. As their aircraft approached Anima's airspace, Jim pulled a picture of his mother and father out of his coat pocket and kissed it for good luck; just as he had done for every other mission. Putting the picture away again, he stood up from his seat to address the criminals Atlas had drafted to serve under him.
"Alright, everyone, listen up!" He announced. "Aswad Abyad is our target. We know that he spends most of his time in his penthouse office downtown until late in the evening. That means we'll have to infiltrate the building after sundown at twenty hundred hours."
Enchantress politely raised her hand to ask a question.
"Eight o' clock." Ironwood clarified.
Enchantress put her hand down with a smile.
"You're all free to use lethal force for members of the Cult of Grimm, but we need to ensure there are no civilian casualties. Hence, the need to move under cover of darkness. We stick together and maintain radio silence until we've completed our objective. Then I'll radio Dr. Ember for evac. We find Abyad, take him out, and leave. And remember, if we pull this off, you all get two years off your sentences."
With that, Agent Ironwood left to speak with Polu and Octavia, leaving the criminals to prepare their gear.
"Once I'm free, I'll head straight back to Vale and have the Grimm Reaper meet the Grim Reaper." Bola remarked to herself.
"A bit early to be planning what to do when we get free, don't you think?" Bloodshed couldn't help but ask.
"Nah, I already have about a dozen plans to get rid of this explosive collar once we're on the ground."
"Which you really shouldn't be discussing so close to the man holding the leash on that explosive collar."
"Ah, come on, have you seen Agent Junior? He won't be hard to deal with. He's brash, he's idiotic, he's…" …and that was as far as she got before noticing the wide-eyed expression that had suddenly appeared on Bloodshed's face. "...an absolute gem of a commander to work with whom I would never think to insult in front of him."
"Flattery will get you nowhere," Ironwood declared from his position behind Captain Bola with an annoyed expression on his face. "And if I catch you plotting your escape again, you'll find out how brash I can really be and then we'll see who's idiotic."
Bola slumped in her seat as Ironwood punctuated his point by holding up the remote for the bombs in everyone's necks.
"Anyone else need a reminder? Don't screw around with me or I'll blow your fucking head off!" He barked out before glancing at the assassin from Anima. "You wanna test me, Bloodshed?"
The mercenary blinked at the sound of Ironwood's words. He got up from his seat and removed his helmet to look the agent in the eyes. "Did… did you just threaten me?" He asked with a cocky smirk. "You just threatened me."
Ironwood took note of the way Bloodshed looked at him as he sat back down; as if the hired gun had added him to a list of personal vendettas. But now was not the time to dwell on such things, not so long as he had control of the situation. Shrugging it off, he returned to his own seat just as the plane's intercom crackled to life.
"Attention! We are on final approach to Anima!" Octavia cheerfully announced, playfully imitating a flight attendant. "You may now power up your electronic devices! Weather is partly cloudy with a one-hundred percent chance of assassination! Ah, ha ha ha!"
"Geez, this lady's crazier than me." Enchantress remarked before noticing Bloodshed cradle his helmet in his hands. "Don't fit no more? Too much junk in the trunk?" She teased.
Bloodshed gave a small smile. "Nah… everytime I put this thing on, people die."
"... and?"
"I like putting it on." He admitted.
"Good." Agent Atlas smirked as he polished his pistol. "Something tells me a lot of people are about to die."
"Yeah, it's us." La Inierno sniffled as she pulled her husband's jacket close over her chest. "We're bein' led to our deaths. As punishment for our sins."
"Speak for yourself, mate." Captain Bola snorted. "Ey, what's all that crap on ya face? Does it wash off?"
"Alright, everyone! Prepare for drop!" Agent Ironwood called out.
"Drop?" Bloodshed echoed before the agent pulled a lever.
Suddenly, the floor of the plane opened up and dropped the criminals and their field commander into the sky. Everyone screamed in shock as they rapidly fell through the air. Agent Atlas quickly straightened himself out and dove straight down, curling up into a ball at the last moment as he plunged into a creek that was close to their location. Bloodshed activated a parachute built into the shoulder pads of his armor and gently floated to the ground. Captain Bola hooked a special bola to her belt and transformed it into a miniature propeller that gently slowed her descent. Ironwood grabbed both La Infierno and Enchantress by the arms before tapping his heels together to activate the experimental anti-gravity boots designed for him.
"Again! Again!" Enchantress enthusiastically yelled out once they were all safely on the ground.
"Well at least someone's happy," Captain Bola called out with a groan.
Ironwood pulled up a map of the city on his scroll. "Alright. Our target is three klicks to the northwest. Let's get going. Keep to the shadows."
The group cautiously made their way through the shadows towards Abyad's building. The closer they got, the more eager the criminals were to get in on some action. At last, they arrived at the alleyway adjacent to the building's entrance.
As the Squad overlooked the area, one of the assembled criminals happened to notice something about some of the guards that were patrolling the area.
"What the…are those doppelgangers?" Bloodshed asked.
"You cut and run, I'll blow your head off." Ironwood warned as he readied his own weapon.
"Hey man, I was just asking," Bloodshed pointed out. "Especially as this might complicate the mission."
Ironwood actually blinked upon hearing this. "Explain."
"Well doppelgangers have limited shapeshifting abilities, right?" Bloodshed couldn't help but ask.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, with that in mind, how can we be sure that the Cult of Grimm won't take advantage of that sort of thing so as to have us think we killed our target when in fact he had a doppelganger body double take his place so that he could get away unscathed?"
"Got you covered there," Agent Atlas declared. "My helmet has a feature for tracking a target's body heat, and from what I've seen, doppelgangers aren't quite as warm, for lack of a better term, as us humans. There's no way that we won't get the right target."
"Did that answer your question?" Ironwood called out all while silently expressing relief that he wouldn't have to admit that he hadn't thought of the issue when planning this mission out.
"I suppose so, yeah," Bloodshed said with a shrug. "Though I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that there would be doppelgangers here: it is the Cult of Grimm, after all."
"Quite." Jim said with a nod. "In any case, you aren't wrong about how we'll need to be cautious as, like all Grimm, Doppelgangers can sense any negative emotions we have, so we'll need to take them out before they become too much of a problem."
"Sounds like a plan." Agent Atlas smirked as he made his way towards the building's entrance. "Leave it to me."
"Wait! Lapis, wait!" Jim called out in a hushed tone, but it was no use.
The doppelganger guards drew their guns as soon as Agent Atlas approached the compound. With his mind flooded with hateful thoughts towards Faunus and Grimm, he was an easy target for them. "Identify yourself!" One of the guards demanded.
"I am here to kill Aswad Abyad!" Agent Atlas declared, proudly. "If you wanna stop me, take your best shot!"
And they did just that, opening fire on the crazed soldier and causing him to drop to the ground. Jim rubbed his forehead in exasperation as the guards inspected the body. But unexpectedly, Agent Atlas drew his pistol and expertly shot all of the guards in their heads, clearing a path into the building. After checking that the coast was clear, Atlas signaled for the rest of the Squad to move in.
"You didn't think I wouldn't have a plan, did you?" Agent Atlas remarked towards his CO, opening his jacket to reveal a kevlar vest underneath.
"How did you know they wouldn't shoot you in the head?" Ironwood couldn't help but ask.
"I didn't."
Ironwood rolled his eyes. "Alright, move in." But before Enchantress entered the building, she took a moment to confiscate a leather handbag from one of the piles of ash that had once been a doppelganger. "Seriously? The hell is wrong with you people?"
"We're bad guys." Enchantress snarked. "It's what we do."
"Not to mention that we still don't know where this Aswad Abyad guy is, so Enchantress might actually be onto something here, what with how the Doppelgangers might have been caring something could give us a clue." Bloodshed reasoned.
"Maybe," James called out in a tone that showcased that he wasn't entirely convinced.
As if to confirm the theory, a radio hummed to life within the bag. Agent Atlas cautiously took it out and pressed the answer button.
"Team 7, report…" The voice called. "Team 7? Come in, team 7."
Agent Atlas smirked as he got an idea. Clearing his throat, grabbing a name tag from one of the deceased guards, and motioning for the rest of his teammates to remain silent, he responded. "This is Clay from team 7. All clear. Is Mr. Abyad still secure in the penthouse?"
"Yes. All clear. Continue patrol."
"Roger. Over and out."
With that, Ironwood motioned for the group to stealthily enter the building. As expected, the building was mostly empty due to office hours being over. This meant the squad only had the occasional security guard to worry about. Once again, Bloodshed and Agent Atlas turned killing into a contest as they slowly made their way up the stairs, downing several men before they could sound the alarm.
Agent Atlas' final shot struck the last guard in the shoulder, which Bloodshed was quick to point out.
"Non-lethal. Doesn't count."
"That was an exploding shell of my own design." Agent Atlas smiled with arms crossed. "In three… two… o-"
Suddenly, the guard's entire body exploded with such a force that it shook the entire building. Everyone glared at the former Atlesean soldier.
"Uh, heh-heh… guess I miscalculated the quantity of certain components." He admitted, bashfully.
"You idiot!" Ironwood chastised as the alarm went off. "Now they know we're here! Move!"
Sure enough, a swarm of doppelganger guards entered the room with a combination of melee and firearms. Bloodshed pushed his commanding officer out of the way of a stray bullet before somersaulting to cover. The mercenary converted several pieces of armor into a rifle and laid down covering fire for the rest of the squad. Enchantress fumbled with trying to load her revolver for a few seconds before noticing La Infierno walking along the aisles in plain sight.
"Get down, chica!" She called out. "You're gonna get shot!"
But La Infierno just spread her arms out and ignored her.
Ironwood pushed her aside and gunned down a few doppelgangers himself. Unfortunately, he drew too much attention to himself and was quickly overwhelmed. "Help! Get them off me!" He called out.
"Help him!" Bloodshed called out to Enchantress.
But the mad gymnast just shrugged with a grin. "Good riddance." She remarked, gleefully.
"Izzy! He dies, we die!" Bloodshed reminded her.
Enchantress rolled her eyes and made her way towards the doppelgangers surrounding Ironwood. She shot two in the head and bashed the third one with her sledgehammer. With room to breath, Ironwood was able to reclaim his own weapon and open fire on the remaining attackers. Once they were all dead, Enchantress helped her commander back to his feet.
"Thanks." Ironwood muttered.
"Shut up." Enchantress sneered before running off to fight more bad guys.
However, as more doppelgangers arrived with firearms, the squad was forced to take cover. Captain Bola crawled on all fours as she tried not to get hit while Ironwood, Atlas, and Bloodshed provided covering fire. But as his infrared lenses alerted him that their target was getting closer to the helipad atop the roof, he turned towards La Infierno and pushed her against a wall out of the enemy's line of sight.
"Hey, you wanna help us out some time today?!" He snapped.
"This ain't my fight!" The pyrokinetic angrily pushed him away.
"Y'know, what?!" Bloodshed furiously poked his finger into his comrade's chest as the enemy fire intensified. "If you don't stand for shit, you ain't about shit!"
"Don't touch me, asshole!" La Infierno sneered, pushing his hand away.
But Bloodshed continued taunting her, patting her shaved head and poking at her facial tattoos. "Whatcha gonna do? Huh? I'm touchin' you! I'm touchin' you!"
"Oh, you wanna see somethin'?!" La Infierno snarled.
"Yeah, I wanna see somethin'!" Bloodshed mocked.
"You wanna see somethin'?!"
"Yes, I wanna see somethin'!"
The woman angrily pushed the mercenary out of her way and took a deep breath as the assassins approached the squad. With an anguished primal scream, La Infierno unleashed a raging burst of flames from her mouth for what felt like hours. The intense heat melted everything in front of the tattooed woman until she stopped crying. The assassins had been completely vaporized and Cereza turned to glare at her teammate.
"Uh… I was just trying to get you there." He said, steadily. "You know, teamwork, right?"
"Why?" Cereza snarled out. "Why would you make me do that? I was finally going to die and be with my husband again!"
"Wait, you want to die?!" Ironwood couldn't help but gasp out.
"Of course I do! Why else do you think I wasn't intimidated by your explosive collar?! Death threats mean nothing to a woman like me!"
"And then what?" Enchantress called out with a disappointed glare. "What happens after you die? You think your husband will be happy that you left us to die because you felt sorry for yourself? Maybe instead of just talking about wanting to atone for what you've done you ought to go out and do something to earn that atonement."
Cereza blinked upon hearing this, apparently having never thought of that until now. She then nodded and took a position in front of everyone, showcasing her newfound willingness to protect them all from oncoming threats.
"How'd you do that?" Ironwood couldn't help but ask, honestly in awe of how Cereza was a bit more willing to work with them now.
"I am a certified psychologist, you know," Enchantress teasingly declared.
"Touche."
As the squad pressed forward, Aswad had been alerted of their intrusion and was currently being escorted to his private helicopter for evacuation. Enchantress burst into the hallway and hastily chased after him while wielding her sledgehammer, laughing like a maniac all the way. This prompted Aswad to push his assistant to the floor to buy himself time as he rushed further down the hall.
However, Enchantress abruptly stopped in her tracks to look down at the quivering assistant. "Well, that's just rude." She scoffed, referring to Aswad's behavior.
"Don't let him get away!" Ironwood snapped as he ran past Enchantress.
The rest of the squad ignored the assistant and followed their leader all the way up to the roof. Unfortunately, they were surrounded by another group of doppelgangers while Aswad boarded his helicopter and took off.
And while the rest of the squad were dealing with the doppelgangers, Bloodshed remained unfazed. He casually removed multiple pieces of his armor and assembled them into a long-range sniper rifle and made his way to the window, killing any doppelgangers in his way as he went. He turned off his helmet's audio receptors to drown out any distractions as he aimed at the fleeing helicopter. Then, his lenses activated the infrared setting to get a lock on Aswad's exact location within the helicopter.
"Bang." He smirked before pulling the trigger.
The fire dust bullet tore through the hull of the helicopter, blew off Aswad's head, and ignited the fuel tank of the helicopter, causing the whole thing to explode.
Bloodshed disassembled the rifle and returned the pieces to his armor as he confidently strolled towards his teammates. Stopping to lean towards a visibly impressed Agent Ironwood. "That's how I cut and run." He boasted.
Ironwood rolled his eyes and reactivated his comm-link. "Dr. Ember, mission accomplished. Requesting evac."
Suddenly, a voice crackled over the radio Agent Atlas had stolen earlier. "Yes, you've accomplished the mission you set out to do: you killed one man who had been helping with the Cult of Grimm's finances and now there are only several thousand left to go: I truly hope you're proud of yourself."
Jim's eyes widened upon realizing exactly who it was who was talking to him. "How did you…?"
"Oh, please: did you think my mother wouldn't have caught onto what you were doing and arrange for someone to hack your comms at some point?" Shade teasingly asked. "You may play at being a general, but my mother has been commanding her troops for centuries: you couldn't even dream of matching her strategic prowess…especially as you've done exactly what she had hoped you would do."
"Wh…what do you mean?"
"You mean you don't realize what you've done?" Shade asked with a sarcastic chuckle. "You've just killed a well known businessman with a team of known criminals assisting you…and by this time tomorrow, the people of Atlas will be tearing itself apart hoping to kill the government leaders that authorized this."
"You planned this," Ironwood realized as a touch of shock and fear filled his very being.
"From the very second Ciel started to put together her little squad…and it wasn't all that hard, either. After all, as smart as she thinks she is, she never even realized that we've had a spy within her military ranks for months now," Shade mockingly declared.
Agent Atlas sneered as he grabbed the radio. "Listen here, foreigner! You made a big mistake in calling just to gloat! Not only do we know to look for a spy in our ranks, but now we know that we have to find and kill you! And perhaps we'll kill your whore of a mother while we're at it!"
"How dare you?!" Shade growled. "Who do you think you are?!"
"I'm the voice of the gods, you son of a bitch! And I'm coming for you!" With that, Agent Atlas threw the radio to the floor, shattering it to pieces.
"You do realize that we could've used that to track his location, right?" Enchantress couldn't help but ask.
"Not likely: if he knows anything about military tactics, she'd have switched channels after I made that threat," Agent Atlas retorted.
"Which isn't good news for us, as if he makes good on his threat, we're all going to die, with or without these explosive collars of ours," La Infierno growled out even as a nervous sweat trickled off of her forehead, not wanting to miss out on a chance at redeeming herself.
"Okay, let's not panic," Agent Atlas declared. "Shade would need to be closeby to be able to intercept our communications, so he won't be able to just send a message to Atlas revealing what we've done. We stop him from leaving, and we can still keep him from starting a panic among the civilians."
"Small problem there, mate: we have no idea where he is," Captain Bola felt the need to point out.
"You don't, but I happen to know of a few places that the Cult frequents in this part of Remnant that should help us narrow things down a little," Bloodshed remarked.
"How do you…?"
"Gee, it's not like I'm a professional assassin who happened to have taken up a bounty they set up and thus was in a perfect position to learn a few of their secrets or anything like that," Bloodshed teasingly called out.
"Alright, lead the way." Ironwood ordered.
"What's in it for me?" Bloodshed crossed his arms in annoyance once Ironwood held up the detonator again. "Oh, please. You won't kill me if you need me. So here's the deal; I'll help you find the Cult, if I get to see my daughter."
After a few more brief moments of silently glaring at the assassin, Ironwood sighed in defeat. "That can be arranged." He relented.
"Good to know," Bloodshed said with a smirk before pulling out a map and pen. "Now if I remember correctly, there should be a few points of interest in the following locations."
Agent Atlas watched as Bloodshed circled some areas on the map before suddenly pointing to one spot in particular. "There. That's where Shade will be."
"How do you know?" Bloodshed couldn't help but ask.
"Gee, it's not like I have a history with the Atlas military and thus would know all of the places that would have access to an airstrip or anything like that," Agent Atlas teasingly declared.
"Touche."
"Still one problem: how are we going to get there in time?" Agent Atlas asked.
Without a word, Bloodshed beckoned the group to follow him. "It's been a while since I've done a job in Anima, but as fate would have it, this is the very street where one of my safehouses is." A few minutes later, the mercenary had led them to a hanger and opened the gate to reveal the means of catching up to Shade they were looking for.
"Is that a Bird of Prey Mark I?" Ironwood gaped in disbelief. "There were only two ever made!"
"Three actually." Bloodshed corrected, smugly. "You are looking at the original prototype."
"Where and how did you get access to a helicopter like this?" La Infierno asked.
"I know a guy." Bloodshed shrugged.
"Shotgun!" Enchantress squealed in delight, hopping into the cockpit.
Minutes later, the squad was up in the air and caught up with Shade's airplane. Bloodshed set the controls to autopilot and opened the door just as they got up beside it. Agent Atlas dug into his utility belt and pulled out a cutting torch to burn through the hull.
"Is there anything you don't have on you?" Enchantress asked.
"You can never be too prepared." Agent Atlas replied before punching out the hole he'd cut.
The squad made their way inside the plane and Bloodshed remotely set the controls to have his helicopter return to the hangar. Once inside, the squad all followed La Infierno as she lit the way by illuminating her tattoos with her semblance. At last, they arrived at the door leading to the passenger section of the plane and Ironwood kicked open the door.
"Alright! On the floor, now!" He shouted, aiming his weapon.
Shade, who was watching the evidence he'd collected on a laptop, stood up with an unimpressed gleam in his eyes. "You're a brave lot of fools. I'll give you that."
"Hey, we might be criminals, but that doesn't mean we're okay with you terrorizing a bunch of innocent people," Captain Bola called out. "That's our job!"
"Not quite how I'd word it, but I can't say I disagree with the general idea of what she was saying there," James declared even as he and everyone around him readied their weapons. "If we're going down, we're going down fighting."
"So be it," Shade called out before snapping his fingers, prompting several Cult members to appear.
The ninja drew their swords while the marksmen took aim from a distance. But before anyone could shoot, Jasper loaded another bola into her sling and launched it towards the enemy. While airborne, the bola transformed into a trio of buzzsaws that sliced off the hands of anyone holding guns. While their comrades bled out, the remaining ninja were gunned down by Bloodshed and Agent Atlas.
"Impressive, but let's see how you deal with a true warrior," Shade remarked. even as he drew his own weapon; a katana with a pistol trigger built into the hilt. Enchantress rushed forward with her sledgehammer, spinning it above her head as she squealed in excitement. Unfortunately, Shade Munsell proved much faster than her and sliced the head of the hammer off in one clean swing before kicking her back. Bloodshed quickly transformed his gloves into weaponized gauntlets and immediately opened fire on the group's enemy. Additionally, Agent Atlas and Captain Bola used their own long-range weapons to aid their teammates.
But it all proved to be in vain, as Shade easily deflected every projectile with his blade, then used the built-in firearm to shoot back, hitting the trio with damaging blows. Agent Atlas holstered his firearms and drew his own sword, engaging his opponent in close-corners combat.
"I've tangled with folks way bigger than you, tough guy!" Atlas boasted. "I could do this all day!"
Shade remained unimpressed. With one swift motion, he disarmed Atlas, pinned him against the wall, and stabbed his sword through the soldier's hand to keep him immobile. Soon after, Shade began mercilessly bashing Agent Atlas' head into the wall, pushing him to the brink of unconsciousness.
"You pride yourself on your time in battle and think it makes you experienced." Shade mocked as he whispered in the soldier's ear. "But you want to know what you really are…? Antique."
Sensing another attack, Shade pulled his sword out from the wall and deflected a bola headed straight towards him.
"Aw, bloody hell." Jasper muttered before turning to run away.
Bloodshed and Ironwood drew their own blades to face their shared enemy. Unfortunately, even with their combined skills, Shade proved too proficient with a blade for them to take down. The cult lieutenant kicked Ironwood aside, sliced Bloodshed's weapon in half, and grabbed the mercenary by the neck to lift him in the air.
"Let me go!" Bloodshed growled as he discreetly prepared another weapon to kill his opponent.
"I think not: you lot have proven to be far too much of a nuisance to be left alive," Shade growled as he readied his sword to strike down his enemies.
"WAIT!"
Shade merely snorted at Izzy's sudden outburst. "Amusing: you wish to beg for the lives of your companions and yourself?"
"NO!" Enchantress yelled out before pausing in thought. "I mean, yes, I want to prevent you from killing me or my new friends if I can help it, but that's not why I was shouting. See, I just had a crazy thought…"
"Oh, shocker: the crazy girl had a crazy thought," Captain Bolo quipped.
"Shush," Enchantress called out with a glare before turning back towards Shade. "Anyways, I couldn't help but notice how many of us are back here in the cargo hold of this aircraft and well, I can't help but wonder: if we're all back here, who's flying the plane?"
"You utter dunce, of course I'm flying the plane!" one of the Cult members who had been partaking in the fight yelled out.
A record scratch could practically be heard in everyone's head as soon as this was said as everyone slowly turned towards the front of the plane with frightened expressions on their faces. Sure enough, the cockpit of the plane was currently empty, with the window of said cockpit showing that they were quickly losing altitude due to how the Cult member that had spoken up earlier had apparently forgotten to set the autopilot when the fight broke out.
"Temporary truce until the danger has passed?" Bloodshed nervously suggested.
"Temporary truce until the danger has passed." Shade agreed with an frightened nod even as he quickly hurried towards the cockpit.
"Maybe we should buckle up." Ironwood sarcastically remarked as he and his team rushed to claim a seat. All while Shade desperately tried to pull the plane up before it crashed into a mountain.
"WAAAAAAGH!" Bloodshed screamed.
"AAAIIIIIIIIIIIEEE!" La Infierno shrieked.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" Agent Atlas wailed.
"WEEEEEEEEEE!" Enchantress cheered.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Everyone else screamed.
However, while the plane was still spiraling out of control, the pyrokinetic criminal spotted something out of the corner of her eye. It was the laptop the Squad was looking for. Reaching out, she managed to catch it once the plane finally leveled out and focused all of her power into the palms of her hands, melting the software and hardware of the laptop. Once she was satisfied, she threw it on the floor of the plane, causing it to split in half.
"Llévame a casa, gilipollas. (Take me home, douchebag.)" She sneered at Ironwood before passing out from exhaustion.
"Well, congratulations, La Infierno." Jim smirked to himself. "I think the general might just shave off an extra ten years off your sentence for that."
Back in the cockpit, Shade hastily adjusted all of the plane's settings and finally managed to pull up just in time. However, the plane wouldn't stay in the air for long, as the wings had been severely damaged by trees. With this in mind, Shade shut off the engines and managed to safely - albeit not very gently - crash land the plane into the ground.
"Ooh, that was close." Enchantress sighed.
"You do realize that we'll likely be fighting again real soon, right?" One cultist called out.
"I know: doesn't mean that I can't express relief that any potential death that might come my way from this point forward won't be because of a plane crash."
"That's fair." …and that was all that was said here before everyone got into a fighting stance.
"Stand down," Shade suddenly called out as she held up the tattered remains of a laptop that had contained the information she needed to bring Atlas to its knees, mentally cursing the fact that the Squad had managed to damage the CPU in the earlier scuffle, thus making that information useless. "Without the information we've gathered, our claims will be hearsay at best, so we'll be pulling out for now…but know this General: you and your Squad might have won the battle, but the war is far from over."
"Of that much, we agree." James declared. "In fact, what's stopping me from trying to take you in right now?"
"You mean besides the fact that my team and I were able to easily deal with yours earlier?" Shade readily called out with a teasing grin. "Simple: you can't catch what you can't see."
And that was all the warning James got before Shade slammed down a flashbang grenade that blinded everyone. By the time their vision was cleared up, everyone who had an association with the Cult of Grimm was gone.
"Okay, admit it: that was pretty cool!" Enchantress eagerly called out.
"...okay, yeah: it was rather impressive," James couldn't help but admit in spite of how irritated he was that Shade and his cohorts were able to escape while his vision was obscured.
Just then, the sound of a jet turbine echoed from above the group. Thankfully this time, it was a friendly plane.
"Oh, thank the gods you're alright," Dr. Ember said with an audible sigh of relief as she exited the plane. "I've been trying to contact you for several hours now but had been unable to thanks to some unknown interference that only cleared up just now. What happened?"
"It's…a long story," Jim couldn't help but declare.
Less than three hours later, the Secret Squad had been escorted back to Atlas and taken back to their cells in Frigid Mountain Penitentiary. Agent Ironwood made his way back to General Soleil to debrief her on the details of the mission. He explained how they had succeeded in taking out Abyad, but Shade Munsell complicated things by informing them of a mole within the Atlesian government.
"I'm a fool, Jim," Ciel couldn't help but declare with a somber sigh. "I knew there might have been a spy in my organization for a while now, but I didn't act on that information due to thinking that I could mislead their boss with some false information that I'd purposely allow for them to take. It never even occurred to me that their boss would instruct them to have me stumble upon some information that they wanted me to find. I should have realized long before Shade had contacted you that I needed to be careful playing a game that the Cult had been playing for centuries."
"Don't be too hard on yourself, general. The Squad did the job you set out to do," Jim declared. "As an aside, as a thanks for going above and beyond their duties, I gave permission to let Bloodshed visit his daughter and for Izzy to visit with Emerald and Ivy. Agent Atlas likewise has access to the gym and Captain Bola is allowed cable in her room."
"What about La Inferno?"
"Still trying to decide what to do to reward her, but I'll be sure to let you know if/when I figure that out."
"Good to know."
"So what happens now?" Ironwood couldn't help but ask.
"Well first off, I'm going to deal with that spy once and for all, but after that, I don't know," Ciel admitted. "All I can do is take things one step at a time. You're dismissed for the night."
"Thank you, general." Jim nodded and got up from his seat to head towards the door.
"Hey, Jim." The agent turned around to see his superior giving a soft smile. "You did well, tonight. James would have been proud."
In response, Ironwood nodded once more before silently giving a respectful salute and making his way out of the office.
To Be Continued