"Be ready." Adam told as I gave a nod.
I was crouched beside him as we awaited the call, it was only a few hours ago that he gathered us all to discuss the plan.
"Alright, is everyone present?" Adam had called over us.
The whole group had been spread before him as we'd all given sounds of confirmation. We had done a quick role call as to be sure, afterwards Adam had begun to explain the method of attack.
We would be split into several smaller teams, each of us with different placements in the assault. The first few groups would be part of the main battle, being set just before the entrance and waiting for the others.
Another group would be in charge of setting the bomb, just outside of the right wall. Far enough away as to not damage it, this warehouse would be needed for later we were told. The explosion was to catch attention, not destroy.
Finally one last team would be tasked to infiltrate before hand and get to what was the 'security room' as I've been told. Their task was to take out anyone inside as to prevent them from having eyes over the various areas of the building.
I didn't quite understand what that meant but I had guessed that it was some form of spying that allowed them to see us somehow, at least that's what I could make out of the hasty explanation given by Adam when I asked. He told me that they had cameras all over the building, I had no idea what he was talking about but nodded regardless.
"Vermillion, you're with me. We'll be heading the assault team in the initial attack, I want to see just what you can do. The fight should provide the perfect opportunity to show your stuff, don't you agree?" Adam had spoke as I took to his side along with the rest of them.
"Yes, I think that would do nicely." I'd given as he'd turned back to the others.
"Magenta, Gold, and Lapis, you three will be our infiltration team. One of my commanders has given word that you three would be perfect for the job. This is your chance to prove yourselves. Once you clear out the security room you'll have a near full view of the area. At that point you are to give us a call, we'll then set the bomb and wait."
The three nodded as Adam made to continue.
"Remember, nobody moves until the bomb goes off. At that point the operation will officially begin, one of you three will remain inside security and provide us with info on our enemy's movements. The other two of you are to search deeper inside, there's a large cache of dust located deep in the basement storage area, along with the captive Faunus. You are to secure and guard both, if any of the humans try to enter you are to deal with them. We'll give you a call to let you know when the fighting's done and when we'll arrive." He finished as he handed them something.
"Use this map to make your way there."
They gave a salute, well Magenta and Lapis did, Gold looked somewhat confused.
"Uh excuse me, sir. Why are we using physical maps? Wouldn't a digital map work best, we could share it between our scrolls?" Gold asked as Magenta gave a frown, only to be halted as Adam held his hand up.
"True, it would be easier in most cases. However we've gotten word from some of our other agents that this particular setup has a sort of... tracking tower." He gave as Gold still looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
"The security room your team will be infiltrating has more than just cameras. There is also a transmission scanner, constantly tracking any and all calls that are sent from within the building. From what we know it was designed to catalogue all calls and texts as they were sent, allowing them to root out any possible traitors in their midst. However the system can only track the position of the call at the time it was sent. As long as nothing is sent the system won't be able to pick up anything, this is why you are to take control first before making the call to us. Scrolls will automatically try to receive a signal when powered on, as soon as you try to open it up the tracker would have already found you. As such you can't use your scrolls until this is done, that clear it up?" Adam returned, Gold giving a nod of understanding.
"Crystal." He gave as Adam set his attention on me.
"Vermillion, you and I are going to be the main targets of our plan. Most of our team are firearms users, they'll spend most of the time providing cover fire around our sides as we take the direct approach. This also means we'll be taking all of the attention and focus onto us. I hope you're ready for a fight." Adam told as I took on a vicious smile similar to his.
"I do believe I am." I gave.
In a way I was, I couldn't deny the excitement bubbling within me. With my physical alterations one of the first things I'd noticed was an increased excitement for violence. I'd always be in control, able to push this feeling away whenever it hit, but it would still be there. Even as I actively ignored the desires to fight while I followed our divines in the tasks they had given me, I'd still always held that primal desire.
Now however it was different, My last battle with human attackers hadn't ended so well. In a way this was like a second chance, a chance to prove to myself that my loss last time had been a fluke. A chance to show what I was really capable of.
I had been well versed in death. Despite my first real battle ending poorly, I'd still held experience in ending life. Being the occasional executioner for our divines had given me some tricks that I held close, certain areas and angles that made cutting through flesh and bone just a little easier. Combined with my enhanced strength as Grimm, killing has never been so easy.
You're doing this to stop Adam, to help Sienna. I thought to myself, having caught my darker impulses trying to pry about within me.
Of course I would never let them, but it still pays to be careful.
"Well then, shall we be off?" Adam asked as everybody had given a shout of excitement.
And so I find myself here, waiting with Adam as the other three I arrived with had set out to start the mission.
I could only hope this would go well.
.
.
Magenta was feeling a bit tense.
Of course this was the most important part of the mission, they couldn't afford to screw it up. It would help if Gold would take it just a bit more seriously, but they couldn't all be winners.
Regardless, this should go rather smoothly, get in and take over, simplicity itself.
"This is the spot." She heard Lapis say as she looked up.
They were outside the wall, and just as on the map there was a vent higher up. A dull grey just like the rest of the building, only sticking out due to the openings showing off of the mostly solid wall.
The building itself had a sort of factory like appearance to it, mostly looking to be concrete and steel. It was hidden amongst the dense trees, keeping it from the view of others. Maybe it could be seen from above if you looked carefully, but other than that it was shrouded away.
It was fitting for the purpose of the place, hidden away as it went on with it's dark deeds. Dark deeds that wouldn't be going on for much longer, not when they were done with it.
"Would you do the honors?" Lapis asked as she nodded.
She made a leap for the vent, using her aura to add a bit of a boost to her legs. She caught hold of the bars that blocked her entry, slipping the crowbar tied from her back. To an ordinary person this vent would require a large amount of work to open, for someone like her, not so much.
Setting the metal in place she sent more aura to her arms, giving just enough strength to break the bolts holding the facing in place. She fell along with the vent in hand, landing before the others as she dropped it.
"The bolts look rusted." Gold spoke as he took and examined the discarded metal.
"Nobody was even supposed to find this place, it's probably been here for over a decade." Lapis responded as he turned back to her.
"How do you want to handle this?" He asked.
"First of all I'm going to check where the vent leads. You two can stay in the vents behind as I check the room we end up in, I'll let you know if the coast is clear." Magenta gave as she got nods from the other two.
With that she jumped back to the vent, the others following behind as they maneuvered about. The ventilation system was set up in a way that only covered the first floor. The second floor had it's own vent system in place.
From what the map had shown, the layout of the vents as well as the rooms was intentionally maze like, mostly in the basement. With the building being used to hold slaves it appeared to be built in such a way as to keep them from escaping as well, even if they should get out of their cages.
Although this didn't always appear to be the case. Looking at the map they'd seen that some rooms looked to be sealed off completely, as well as some walls not quite making sense with their placement. They had concluded at that point that most of the vents, as well as the layout had been new.
It looked as though the place had been repurposed to hold the slaves that now resided within, held captive until they were sold off. What the building was used for before this, they didn't know.
Magenta held her hand up, causing the others behind to stop. She gave a signal for them to wait as she peered out the end of the vent. The room below looked empty from her current viewpoint, but she wasn't going to take any chances.
She carefully removed the end of the vent, quietly placing it to her side as she activated her semblance. Her invisibility would keep her from being spotted as she looked around, the only caveat being that it would slowly drain her aura away with use.
The drop down was completely silent, as was the room as a whole. The lights were on but she couldn't see anybody. She took a brief look around, moving about as she looked for signs of guards.
The room was small, a few chairs lay about as well as a microwave in the corner and a table next by the wall. It looked to be a sort of break room. There was a clock just above the door to what should be a hallway. '10:24pm' was displayed as it glowed a solid red. It looked as though the room had been recently used, as shown by lack of dust and the filled trash in the corner.
In another corner there appeared to be a camera, although it looked to be broken as the light was off and the glass was covered in cracks. It left her wondering how it ended up like that. She decided to let go of it as she focused on clearing out her examination of the room, finding nothing else threatening.
Must have just been on break. Magenta concluded as she made a quick whistle, Gold and Lapis dropping down from the opening.
"Snack time already?" Gold went as Lapis waved him off.
"Don't touch anything, someone's been here recently. We don't have much time so we need to be quick." Lapis spoke quietly as Magenta looked to him.
"What do we have?"
"There should be a hallway just outside the door, there's a staircase at the end that'll take us to the second floor, as well as a room next to it that we can hide in." Lapis explained as She looked to be thinking.
"I can only take you one at a time. My aura will drain too fast if I try to get you both. Gold, hide back in the vent till I come back." Magenta told as Gold gave a whine.
"Come on, why does he get to go first?"
"He's got the map." She responded, Gold looked to be ready to talk back, only to let it go and sulk over to the vent.
Magenta set her ear against the door, listening for any sounds from the other side. Satisfied with the silence she gently creeped the door open, taking a peek from the opening crack. Once she was sure nobody was there she took hold of Lapis' hand, coating him with her semblance as she slowly made her way out.
The hall looked to be barren, although she knew that wasn't the case as she was able to see a camera in the distance. It slowly turned back to their direction, gazing towards them. She had closed the door before her trek out, so there was no worries so far of the door being caught. Although she wondered if the camera may have caught her opening it the first time. They would need to be fast, just in case.
She creeped along, pulling Lapis as they made for the stairs. It wasn't a long walk, but it felt long. They were tense as they made their way across. Her semblance would keep them hidden, but if a large crowd came though she wasn't sure how to avoid touching them. They could turn around, but how far back would they need to go, plus her aura was draining to keep this up.
Luck seemed to be on her side today as they reached the stairs with no issue. Making their way up they were able to see two more cameras as they reached the second floor. Off to the side Magenta had spotted the door to the room they had talked about.
She looked to Lapis, seeing him give a nod. While they appeared invisible to everything else, they had been able to see each other... kind of. Lapis looked more like an outline as she was able to see her semblance cover him, and she was sure she looked the same to him. They weren't able to talk to each other however, as any word uttered would be completely silent, same for any sound they produced. She could ring a bell in her hands and there would be no sound, as long as she coated it with her semblance all would be silent.
They jogged over to the door, Magenta taking a peek through the window on the front. There were two people in the room, both were walking to the door.
Shit! She pulled Lapis back with her as the door opened.
"Thinking of going down to the bar later?" One asked at the other gave a scowl.
"Not this again. I told you, we've got work to do. Boss says the animals need to be sent off tomorrow, we don't have time for any of that crap." The guy spoke as the other pouted.
"Well, what about after? We can probably sneak off for a bit."
"No. This job pays and I'm not gonna risk losing it just because you want to go party. We deal with this first, then afterwards maybe we can relax a bit, good?" The first asked as the second relented.
"Fine, but you owe me."
They watched as the two walked away down the hall, letting out a breath they didn't know they were holding. They quickly made their way inside, quietly shutting the door as Magenta let go of her semblance.
"That was close." She let out as Lapis looked around.
"There's no camera here." He told as she took a glance around as well.
He was right, there was no camera. She wanted to take it as a good thing, but it left her wondering why. Why wasn't there a camera?
"Actually, now that I think about it... didn't the camera placement seem odd?" Lapis asked.
Looking at it now, he was right. The camera placement did seem a bit off. Usually they were set up in a way as to cover the most of the building, yet these ones had been placed in a seemingly random layout.
Maybe. Thinking about it now she wondered if the camera's had been new too.
What if the building never had cameras before, what if they were a new addition? It made sense, they were most likely installed when this place was first taken up by the slavers, as a way of keeping track of everything. Being a slaver was dangerous obviously, especially if one of the slaves escaped. The camera's were probably rushed in as to prepare for their arrival, almost as if they were in a hurry.
"They're new." She stated.
"This could be good for us." Lapis gave as she nodded.
If this was a rush job like they thought, then that meant that the cameras would have many blind spots. Not every room would have them, just the essentials. Most of the cameras were probably on the first floor and the basement, leaving only the hallways of the second floor guarded. This was very good indeed.
"I'm going to go and get Gold, keep here until I get back." Magenta said as she made for the door.
.
.
He watched as she shut the door behind her, leaving him in the barren room.
She wouldn't be long, he knew that. Instead he found himself looking over the room. It was just as barren as the hallway, nothing but what appeared to be a closet and a window to the outside.
Opening up the closet provided nothing other than some coats hung up across the rack. Most of them looked old and worn, maybe one or two newer ones squished between them. Closing it he turned his attention back to the window.
Walking over he took a peek outside to the trees around. He wasn't able to see much, maybe some of the ground below. The branches were cluttered and thick, blocking his vision.
Lapis let out a sigh as he attempted to open the window briefly, only to be met with disappointment as it wouldn't budge. It seemed as though it had been locked. Before he was able to unlock it however, he heard sounds coming from the door.
He rushed to the side as the door opened, the two from before if he had to guess. Lapis was proven right as the door was left ajar, the two making their way in. He creeped along the ceiling just above them as he followed them along, stopping just before the closet.
His semblance allowed him to manipulate gravity for himself, allowing him to move along surfaces that he came into contact with, essentially changing the direction of gravity. This allowed him to walk, run, even jump as he would be pulled to the surface he'd set his gravity to until he deactivated it. This ability would only affect him however, he was unable to lend it to others like Magenta had with her semblance.
"I told you didn't I?" One of them said holding a teasing gaze.
"Oh shut up." The other spoke as he appeared to grab one of the coats from inside.
"You said you had your scroll, and I told you it was left in your pocket. I was right." The first teased as the other looked annoyed.
"Whatever." He gave as he looked to take the scroll out.
Lapis watched as the two left, arguing about something as they shut the door. He let his semblance go as he dropped to the floor.
That was too close for comfort.
All they needed to do was glance even a little bit upwards and he would have been caught. However they had been too busy arguing to even notice his shadow.
He found himself leaning against the wall as he rested, only to tense back up as the door opened once more. He jumped back to the roof as he waited for someone to come in, only for the door to shut. He watched as Magenta and Gold appeared in the middle of the room.
Lapis dropped back down in relief as he received a smirk from Gold.
"Tense much?" Gold spoke as he gave a flat look.
"I've literally just had a close encounter, don't test me." He told as Gold held his hands up in defense.
"Fine fine, just try to keep a level head, kay?" Gold responded as Magenta shook her head.
"So what's our next move?" She asked as Lapis produced the map once more.
"From here on out, it's mostly a straight shot to the security room. We'll be heading through some of the side rooms, but other than that we're set." He told as Magenta took a feral grin.
"It's go time."
.
.
Now Gold wasn't the most... serious of people, at least not if he could help it.
He liked to sit back from time to time, relax and let the flow of life carry him along. Believing that what happened, happened. Of course there were times when he could focus, times where he knew he couldn't just peace out.
This was one of those times.
He held onto Magenta's hand as they moved along, she decided to take him in hand as they all had memorized the path they would take. They had spent the last half hour back in the room deciding the path, which one would be the quickest and easiest to take.
Ultimately they decided that they would cut through two rooms, back to back in order to reach their destination.
The cameras on the upper floor were slowly rotating as they scanned the halls. The roof however was just high enough as to keep from view of the cameras. They decided that Lapis would follow along from above, ready to jump down and disappear should they hear anything. Magenta would be at risk of her aura breaking if that happened too many times, but they were already strapped for time.
So far there hadn't been anybody in the halls, they were able to move along smoothly. Lapis looked to be doing fairly good as well, he had been crawling along the ceiling rather tightly as to stay out of the camera's sight. Yet he looked comfortable, at least as far as Gold could tell. Still, Lapis had always been good at hiding his feelings, maybe he was irritated as all dust, you just couldn't tell.
He stopped as Magenta and him stood before a door, she took a peek before opening it slightly. She had went about the task almost agonizingly slow, as quietly as possible. She motioned for Lapis as he dropped, pulling him along as they squeezed through the half open door, he was able to see the reason for her caution now.
The inside was absolutely filled, about six or seven of the bastards going on and about. They looked absorbed in whatever it was that they were doing, so much so that they didn't even look to the door.
He could hear them all talking back and forth, all of it drowning together to the point that he couldn't make out any of it. It was much more clogged in here that any of the rooms before. While the room itself was bigger, it was also packed with tables, desks, and chairs as the guards were working about multiple tasks.
The ceiling was also higher in this room than it had been in the hallway. Looking up he was able to see Lapis went to hanging in the center of it, right between two of the lights. Magenta must have let him go when they stepped in, the fact nobody noticed as he went up the wall was a testament to their focus.
"Who opened the door?!" He heard one of the guards call.
They all let go of their tasks as they turned to the door, each of them now tense and reaching for their weapons.
Well fuck me for thinking positive thoughts. Gods forbid I expect even the littlest bit of luck.
He watched as one of the guards walked to the door, all of the others loading and preparing their weapons for a fight. They needed to do something, fast. They had no way of knowing when one would wisen up and look to the ceiling.
Gold made for the table where everything had looked to be spread about haphazardly, dragging Magenta along with him. They needed a distraction, and he would provide. He took only a moment to glance about as he saw what he was looking for. Gold touched one of the objects on the table, a small steel knife. He pulled Magenta back as they took to the wall, in that moment he activated his semblance.
A small fizzing sound could be heard from the table, the guards had turned their attention to it with their weapons drawn and ready to fire. Gold watched as they approached the table, taking notice to the knife he touched, now glowing a slight red.
The knife continued to glow brighter as Magenta and him made for the door at the end of the room. She quietly opened the door as they stood back a bit, allowing for Lapis to drop to them as they went through, creeping it closed behind them.
Gold let go of his semblance at that moment, figuring the guards in the room would find themselves occupied with trying to figure out what happened.
His semblance had been similar to how Magenta could cover others with hers, however instead of sharing the power, his semblance had a different affect.
His semblance allowed him to seemingly fill objects with heat. He could tag an object so long as it wasn't a living organism. At that point he could choose to turn up the heat.
It wasn't a real heat however as it would be unable to traditionally burn anything. It could burn, just not in the way most think. Instead of burning everything it touches, his heat would only have an effect on those who had aura, as well as dust and Grimm from what he could tell. Usually he would carry around a blade, filling it with heat when he got into fights.
Aura users who come into contact with it would experience severe pain and damage during contact, allowing him to break peoples aura within just a few hits. He would be unaffected by it however, the heat being his own, as well as those without aura or those with broken auras.
The downside however was that he could only power one object at a time. He was able to blow up the objects he filled though, creating makeshift bombs. He supposed only using one at a time was a good trade off for being a living grenade launcher.
They appeared to be in a sort of locker room this time, various lockers and racks lined the walls.
Magenta let go of him as she let her invisibility drop. Gold watched as Lapis walked towards the door they'd just come through, appearing to lock it. He turned and came back to their side as he produced the map once more and looked it over.
"The security room should be through the other side." He told as they nodded.
"How are we dealing with the guards?" Gold asked as Magenta clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"We do it how we always do." She said as they all looked forward.
"Then let's do this." Lapis went as they took to the door.
At that point Magenta motioned her dagger forward, Gold placing his hand on the flat of the blade. She nodded and disappeared, Lapis walking to the side of the door and flicking the switch, killing the lights in the room.
Gold gently pulled the door open, the shadows obscuring the room they were in. Both him and Lapis felt a touch as they disappeared as well. Both of the guys placing a hand on her back as they followed her in.
Her aura would drain faster sure, but they would be done with it before it broke. They could see the security feed from the various monitors in the room. All of which was set up to the back wall, with the control console in front.
They were able to see two guards before it, each looking over the feed rather diligently. They maneuvered closer, each taking a position behind the guards. Magenta handed her dagger to Gold as he took it with a nod.
In an instant the invisibility was dropped as Lapis and Magenta each took to restrain the two guards. They never had much time to react as the trio struck. Magenta griping and pulling the first guard's head upwards, exposing the neck as Gold forced the dagger across. The guard had aura... that was broken about seven seconds later, the blade digging in and tearing the delicate flesh open.
Gold pulled back as Magenta let the man drop to the floor, desperately trying to hold the wound closed. It proved useless as he continued to choke on his blood anyways, Gold went for the other. Lapis had gone about choking the other as he struggled. Wasting no time he began slashing the face of the man until the aura broke, at which point he rapidly stabbed just above the eyes and leaving a gashed mucky hole in the forehead as his life fluids poured to the floor.
Lapis let the corpse drop, Magenta went about the camera feed, and Gold cleaned the blade of the dagger.
.
.
It had been almost an hour now and most of the others had looked to be getting anxious.
"Shouldn't they be there by now?" One of them asked as I turned to Adam.
He looked to be keeping his concentration on the scroll in his hands, having tasked me with keeping watch on the door that lay in the distance through the trees. Some of the others had been up and beside the two masses of metal, waiting for the signal to yank them open and begin the assault. We however remained back, just out of range from the building's tracker according to the info we had.
"Adam?" I asked as he grunted for me to continue.
"Should we send someone to check?"
"No, we must be patient. It's not even been an hour yet, we must trust in them to get this done." He told as I set my sights back to the door.
He was right, we hadn't been here very long. But the route Adam had planned out should have had them there several minutes ago. Had they run into trouble? Maybe they were just dealing with a few complications.
No plan ever survived contact with the enemy, something always went wrong somehow. I found myself thinking back to the group.
They'll be fine. I instantly decided, Magenta's semblance alone would have helped in any situation they may have run into.
Looking at it now, I had only really learned about Magenta's skills, I had no idea what the other two were capable of. They were on the same team as Magenta though, so they had to work well together. An organization such as the White Fang wouldn't just throw random people onto teams. Surely professional groups such as these would consider the abilities of their subordinates before assigning them together.
After all, what fool just sticks random people together on a whim?
We had found ourselves startled as a buzzing could be heard. Turning to the source of the sound I was able to see Adam do something on his scroll.
"We're set." Magenta's voice came through.
"Roger that, wait for the signal. You'll know it, trust me." Adam gave, a sinister grin on his lips as he fiddled with the device.
"Hello?" The sound of someone else came forth this time.
"Bomber team, it's time." Adam started as he turned to us.
"Light em up."
Author's note
...
Here we go, another one ready and out. Not really sure how I did this time, hope I made it interesting enough.
Not really sure how well I can do stealth, aw well, it's done now. Next time is gonna be a mix of battle and other things.
Best of all we get to see how well Adam and V get on with fighting together. Excited for that, hope I can do it justice. Feel free to let me know how I'm doing, good or bad.
See you later.