A/N: Hello everyone, and welcome to the most important chapter. I'll keep it short so you can get to it.
NOV1S: Yeah, it's something I don't notice until it's too late. And as much as I'd like to change it, the Division is a series that's still ongoing(Though I don't know for how long after the whole 'you don't own the games you purchase' debacle Ubisoft is going through), there's a lot of things I'm bound to have to change once the third game is out. Admittedly, I did kinda notice my abuse of 'as' and might see if I can edit some of the older chapters (again…). Still, thank you, I appreciate your review and am glad you like the fanfic itself, even if it is jarring on occasion.
ikmalaizad11: Here it is, the operation itself. I hope you like it and I'm glad you liked the Omake at the end.
EmperorCeph: I'm gonna enjoy writing it, and I hope you enjoy both the side stories and main story.
No(guest): I don't know who that is.
Before I forget, thank you Random Boat for being the beta reader for this.
Anyway, that's it for responses, time for the story!
"Faust, what do you see?" Mateo asks, leaning on his bike a distance away from the main encampment of the Kaiser PMC where the director is located. He looks through the scope of the White Death, the linked laser pointer outlining the enemies as they stay outlined on the minimap on the top left and on his HUD before going to the next.
Meanwhile, Hifumi had to stop from leading the Helmet Gangsters to artillery position as she turned to their target, looking through her own binoculars at the compound. "U-Umm… I see them. The time is Zero-Nine-Thirty when Kaiser PMC forces have been spotted on Point F. Rabu," Hifumi speaks into her comms again, "how's Point 'M'?"
"Yeah, I see'em." Rabu points out from under a space blanket, peeking through the opening from the dilapidated building they're hiding inside of. "Camera's rolling too. Still," She trails off, looking at her fellow Helmet Gangsters in disbelief, "I can't believe you and Sandman had this all planned out to betray the Masked Mizugi Gang….Merciless, as expected of Faust."
"Yeah."
"How daring!"
"Whoo~." Some Helmet Gangsters cheer on Hifumi's end as she hides her shame under a whine and a bit of squirming.
"How am I going to tell Nagisa about this…" Hifumi trails off as Mateo laughs.
"That's the fun part, this is only between you and us. Isn't it fun sharing secrets between friends?" Mateo points out as he continues 'pulsing' enemies.
Hoshino, from atop the truck the Foreclosure Task Force is using, interjects, "Yeah, Hifumi, we won't say anything if you don't."
"It's not like we're doing anything wrong." Serika says, the charging handle of her gun snapping close, "So there's nothing to be ashamed of."
"Nn." Shiroko agrees. "Just taking out the trash."
"Taking out the trash does not mean to attack unscrupulous elements in our district." Ayane sighs before piping in. "I'm in position and the Foreclosure Task Force are on their way to Point A."
"Time to take out the trash." Iori grumbles, snapping the bolt of her gun close as she lets it rest on her shoulder. Fellow snipers and shotgunners of the Prefect Team trailing behind her. "G1 is en route to Point B." She reports in her comms.
Hina's voice rang out next, "G2 joining FTF in Point A." She said from her own truck with other machine gunners and assault rifles.
"Surveillance on Kaiser forces is established." Ako rings out next in a secretarial voice. "It'll be an honor to work with you all."
"68, target is in sight." Aru proclaimed, the rest of Problem Solver 68 looking at the oil rig, "Ready to move at a moment's notice."
"Ooooh~." Mutsuki starts, intrigued and excited, "that looks like a good spot. With these new toys, it'll all go ka-boom!"
Mateo nods from his spot, mostly to himself, while still on the lookout as his ScanTek outlines the soldiers he's already 'pulsed'. "Good, Kaiser is going to wait for their forces to consolidate, Ako, Ayane, keep me posted, please."
"Roger."
"Affirmative."
With this, the calm before the storm arrives. The wind tries to blow sand into his face, but he's wearing the full-mask version of his mask instead of the lower part only, so none of it gets in his face. The sun is rising from behind him, so there's no glint from his scope to identify him even if being prone is uncomfortable, especially in sand.
Mateo glances beside him at Arona's holographic form, on her belly beside him, while she reports, "I've just been informed, the SCHALE team is in position at a moment's notice."
"Good." Mateo responds. "Now, we wait, once their operation starts, we'll introduce ourselves."
There was nothing but radio silence with the exception of Ako and Ayane giving instructions. From the base camp, cars and more vehicles enter and exit as ISAC identifies their load, some of them being illegal weapons, others just being soldiers coming back from contracts. Josue tightened his grip on the White Death, taking a slow and quiet breath as he fell into a trance as he usually would in jobs like this before snapping himself out of it. He needs to pay attention.
Before he knew it, all the enemies and notable locations were pinged as he looked away and behind him, making sure no one was sneaking up on him.
Seems like there's a jammer in there, it's supposed to connect to the dishes Problem Solver re-aligned and cause a cellular blackout in Abydos. Sadly, they're now locked in place thanks to ISAC, so they can either try to destroy the dishes, or just use their normal jammers and rely on their own communication devices, unencumbered by the interference but slower.
"All forces have been moved." Ako reports.
"Same here. It'll take approximately ten minutes for all of the forces to move." Ayane pipes up as Mateo looks at the recordings and whistles.
"They're really staking a lot in this." Mateo notes, watching as the activity within the main base reaches its fever pitch, automatons and conscripted students moving with efficiency, but not discipline.
"Of course." Ako pipes in "If Kaiser is truly connected to the Black Market, then they lost around seven hundred million yen in the recent robbery Problem Solver 68 assisted in, and if Kayoko's," Ako says, her expression becoming our as if the name was a lemon she was being forced to eat, "information is correct, three of the five bags are being traded, which makes each one worth at least one hundred million yen, nothing much to Kaiser, but still notable. And with Sensei buying up all the property from them, they're probably looking for a way to get back at him for it."
"Technically, it's Abydos'." Mateo answers under his breath since he had Hoshino sign the transfer of land paperwork and it's all submitted, "But I got it. Then in twenty minutes everyone has to be in position, but don't be spotted. I'll make a move when they move out, 68 will move in a few minutes after and should get everything ready to blow once the next ten minutes are over."
"Kufufu~, how demanding."
"I-I'll do my best!" Mutsuki and Haruka rang out respectively.
"Right." Mateo answers as he looks through the scope of the White Death, its white skin matching Mateo's uniform as he waits.
Passing the time, he decides to take note of the structure of the encampment.
Unlike the Black Tusk, who turned the Tidal Basin into their Stronghold to continue stoking the flames of conflict in D.C., the Kaiser PMCs camp is completely different, resembling a genuine military base rather than an encampment. A beating heart rather than a hand and an extension of the Kaiser Corporation's will. It'll be harder to move it if he needs to abandon it, which causes Mateo to huff. He can't be that confident, probably has rust for brains and the baseless pride to match.
From the turrets to the defenses, and even where the forces are located are similar. There's a lot of movement as he spots Apache helicopters, Crusaders, and more as he frowns. Those are a lot of forces to be moving around for a bit of cash.
Even within the six-story building, resembling an office building with around twenty guards stationed on each floor, action was fairly sparse. Hell, it even looks like he's expecting for the location to be something beyond just a base of operations, well, they are trying to get Abydos, so maybe he is thinking of making this the heart of the school or whatever?
Isn't he afraid to be moving that much out of his general location?
A reasonable question, after all, not everyone has access to an invasive network like the SHD Network other than ISAC, and ISAC only listens to Mateo and Arona. Usually, land the size of Abydos would be impossible to sparse through for an investigation, and with Kaiser messing with the dishes and deploying devices to hide the locations of certain areas it'd be even harder. That is, unless the network you use doesn't go through normal channels, after all, while the SHD Network's main hub is in SCHALE with other nodes found in Kivotos that boost the signal or are there in case the main hub falls, SCHALE has its own satellites connected to the GSC and others and even the Sanctum Tower.
Now, this in and of itself would have been a nightmare to sparse through the data, but those people don't have Arona or ISAC, much less both. After connecting to the Stygian Bank, ISAC also got into Kaiser's systems, gaining access to records and a few cameras, but if ISAC wants more, then Kayoko will have to allow ISAC into the computer in the main communication tower of Kaiser.
Still, with everything ISAC gathered, it'll be enough and it paints a map of Kaiser's forces and their capabilities.
Mateo is just wondering whether this counts as kicking out another paramilitary gang, like the True Sons or Last Man's Battalion, or a PMC like the Black Tusk.
His attention returns to the camp as the automatons and conscripted soldiers begin to make their way to the locations.
So, around a hundred soldiers in the building, and two-hundred-ish more enemies in the camp, varying from drones, conscripted students, and automatons.
...Can he really do that much damage to Abydos? Enough that he's not afraid of retaliation?
He's the creditor after all, the one Abydos owes their debt to. For that, Mateo will raze the place to the ground. Now, the encampment is walled off, when is it ever anything else, and the tanks are moving to assist the infantry, very few staying back. A few Apaches are going as well and some of the heavier automatons and hardier students.
Slowly, Mateo continued watching, 'pulsing' anything and anyone he could see.
"Everyone is in position, Director." A Kaiser PMC automaton reports, "We are ready to move out."
"Good." A heavyset automaton answers with a deep voice in luxurious robes and pristine parts. "This is our only chance, now get in there before the Abydos brats or that damned SCHALE Sensei come here."
"Affirmative." The automaton answers before turning to his forces. "Everyone, we're moving!"
From within the office of Kaiser PMCs main encampment, the Director was watching the operation with anxiety. After all, ever since that Sensei came in everything's been going wrong, from their attempts to push Abydos out and even the land grab itself. With him around, it's been one mess after another.
From atop the walls surrounding the encampment, a pair of automatons guard the place as they hear the sound of a bike. "Freeze!" They order as the rider slows down, "This is Kaiser property, leave now or be shot!"
"I have an appointment with your boss." The familiar voice rang out as he reached for his hip and brought out a weapon, a pistol with a familiar insignia on it, an insignia plastered on his white coat, with a backpack loaded with weapons on his back. "My name is Vernes Mateo, advisor to SCHALE, and I am here as the advisor of the Foreclosure Task Force to send a message."
The two automatons watched as the man stepped out, revealing the familiar form of Mateo as he waited, a Missile Launcher on his back instead of his TAC-50C.
Meanwhile, Hoshino and Hina are waiting after setting up all the traps and extra materials once the Kaiser PMC passes through the area. "Well isn't this a coincidence, huh Head Prefect?"
"Why would that be, Abydos' Vice-President?" Hina asks as she waits for the opponents.
"Ueh~, how stiff." Hoshino grimaces before smiling, "Just call me Hoshino, eh?"
"You started it by calling her by her title." Serika points out.
"Eh-ah." Hina found herself at a loss for words as Hoshino chuckled.
"Just never thought we'd be fighting side-by-side." Hoshino says with a look of bemusement to the sun, "What a strange time."
"Me neither." Hina says while crossing her arms, "According to the Intelligence Committee, you were known for your unparalleled aggression and a prodigy on the field and seen as a target of interest."
Serika turns to her in surprise, "Hoshino? Aggressive? Prodigy?"
"Nn." Shiroko agrees, to Serika's surprise. "Very strong."
"Yup, yup~." Nonomi says, "Hoshino is the Vice-President after all."
"Ueh~," Hoshino says, a slight flush on her face, "hearing that from you of all people… The past is in the past…" She sighs before muttering under her breath so only Hina could hear her, "But sometimes, you've gotta dig deep for the future." Hoshino says with a frown as she stretches a bit, "So, I guess I'll bring out good ol' reliable. Can't have the younguns beating us old fogeys every time."
"...Fogey?" Hina asks as she points at herself, "Me?"
"Just ignore it." Serika says, exasperated, "That's just Hoshino being Hoshino."
With Hifumi, she watches as the Kaiser PMC begins to move, "Hey Faust, they're moving in."
"Understood. Wait until they find it." Hifumi recounts Sensei's plan. Glancing at her artillery, she began to direct the Helmet Gangsters to make the needed changes for the artillery the Helmet Gangsters have, it's no towed L118 from Trinity, but it'll do.
"Right." Rabu says as Hifumi keeps looking through her binoculars. They hid the bag well, so there should be enough time for the adjustments to be made and for everyone to be prepared before Kaiser finds it.
Mateo sits in front of the Kaiser PMC Director in his office in the middle of the compound, no Go-Bag as he keeps his expression plain and his fidgeting to a minimum. It was hard considering they patted him down for what felt like an eternity as they got on his ass for everything and anything, far surpassing any standard check and into straight harassment. At this point, ISAC has already informed him of the forces converging on his location and Problem Solver 68's beginning of their part.
"What an honor, advisor of SCHALE, Sensei, to have you visiting us. I heard you visited the President, I hope it went well." If Mateo had the time, he'd entertain the man with a bit of talking, but he's over it entirely
"You tell me." Mateo says, surprising him. "Unless you're deaf," he continues, uncaring of the opinion of the robot in front of him, "I'm here on Foreclosure Task Force business, or on Abydos business, considering the Foreclosure Task Force is officially Abydos' student council as of this morning." Slapping the file on the table, he continues, "Here."
The Director was flummoxed as he looked at the paper, "...Is this how SCHALE conducts its business? Just walks in and swings their authority for whatever they want?"
"I thought you'd appreciate looking in a mirror and not have it crack with your ugly mug. No wonder you're a robot, easier to switch out the parts you don't want. But sometimes," he says, placing both hands on the table as he leans forward, boring down on the Director as the Director finds himself leaning back, "those imperfections? Those mistakes? No amount of changes, money, or even miracles will ever be able to fix what caused them. Just like Abydos, don't you think?" Mateo asks as he leans back.
He taps the file, "This? It's an eviction notice, or the corporation version of it." Mateo says, "Kaiser PMC has three days to leave, should they need mor-."
"Under what charges, or is SCHALE in the habit of throwing false allegations?" The Director asked, "If so, the underlings have to take responsibility-."
Mateo brought his fist down, breaking the table in half as the Director jumped and stumbled back from his seat. Mateo was no longer smiling, instead, he had a singular thing in mind. "As I was saying, after an investigation performed by SCHALE, it has been found that Kaiser has been performing illicit activities within the land of Abydos while also performing illegal and unregistered operations and has ties to the Black Market, you can contest these charges if you wish in court."
Standing up, Mateo turns towards the windows, ambling toward it and watching the skyline as the Director desperately pressed a button. "Is that smoke I see?" He asks as the Director froze. "Strange, doesn't seem like it's the city, but more or less the desert. Right where an illegal resupply station has been set up."
The Director doesn't answer as Mateo turns, sighing in relief as the Director points at him, the door breaking down under the weight of the shield-bearing automatons and combat automatons that filtered in. "Where did you learn that?"
"Satellite imagery." Mateo answers, pointing at the TV in the room as images of the station and others began to pop up. "Like the ones Kaiser uses for their cell service in Abydos, forcing the people to pay so much when the dishes aren't even pointed in the right direction."
"And who's going to know?" The Director asks, chest puffed out. "You're surrounded, outnumbered, and outgunned, face it. You've lost, and so have Abydos!" Mateo ignores him, rubbing the glass with a finger, "Those brats, with their eyes sparkling and their heads in the clouds when they could be something more, something better! They're nothing! Not even the previous President!"
"Hoshino likes to take naps, she does this because the city isn't as safe as it was and she goes out on patrols." Mateo points out, "Serika's grades aren't the best, but that's because she constantly works part-time jobs, Ayane loves finding random things she can sell to help her school, Shiroko loves working out to an absurd degree but no one can keep up with her other than Hoshino, Nonomi stands as the emotional support without complaint." Mateo looks at his vague reflection in the window, white it might be, he'll always be tainted with the sin of murder, lies, and everything under the sun.
That's fine.
"Tell me. What are you?" Mateo asks, turning to the Director, "Can you say you've kept your grades up while paying off a debt? Can you single-handedly protect a district at the cost of your reputation and rest? Can you work all of your time off for the hope of seeing your home return? Can you see a number that could support a smaller district and think 'I can do this' when you're not even sure you're gonna see it change? Can you be as patient as kind to a group of struggling students?"
Grabbing Adam's Key, Mateo slams it into the window, shattering it as a gentle thrum rings out. "You can't. For that, I'll reveal a little secret."
"What would it matter?!" The Director yelled, "Even if you survive, you'll only become an enemy of Kaiser Corporation!"
"I don't have enemies." Mateo interrupts, his eyes blank, "I have victims."
"And it's time I show it. Starting. With. You."
"Kufufufu~!" Mutsuki laughs as she watches the oil rig go up in flames. "Man, that was fun!"
"Well done, Mutsuki, Haruka." Aru compliments as Kayoko drives the rest of her friends through the desert.
"Thanks~." Mutsuki says.
"A-Anything for you, Lady Aru." Haruka says.
"So, where's our next location?" Mutsuki asks, "I wanna make something big explode~."
"According to the info," Kayoko says as she reads aloud their next target, driving off as she worries inwardly. The link to Sensei has officially been cut. In a few minutes, Kaiser forces should be able to find the diversions and they have to wreak general havoc in the communication towers next.
She was mostly worried about Sensei, not physically, he's hiding far more strength in his form that is normal, but mentally.
How far is he willing to go?
Meanwhile, Kaiser's Team One at Point F is having trouble finding their target, grumbling as they tear up the place looking for it. Team Two at Point M found bags of explosives and other things while Rabu's team was hiding. Team Three is just trying to find their target.
"Hey!" One of the conscripted students yells, "Found something!" She says as she reveals a bag, "I think I found it. Kinda light though."
The automaton inspects it, "Good. The target has been found."
Before anyone could say anything else, a familiar sound rang out, "Wait, is that-."
The building exploded along with most heavy machinery that came with the group, the Helmet Gangsters cheering with Faust. "Now, load up and fire on my command!" Hifumi added, waiting as she heard enough rounds of affirmation. "Everyone, fire!"
The unprepared Kaiser PMC quickly found themselves the victim of a bombardment as Rabu, in her position grinned. "Hey!" She yells, catching the automaton's attention, "Where are you going?"
With the tap of a detonator, the fakes they set up went off rocking the building they're hiding in. Listening to Faust, they didn't take anything from this one nor rigged anything up, instead, the hidden Helmet Gangster swipes it while Kaiser was unbalanced. "Come and get us!" She says, going deeper into the buried hotel building as the fake blew up and smoke spewed.
"How did you get Crusaders, Rabu?" Hifumi asks, "They look brand new, not to mention all the rounds."
"Let's just say," Rabu starts, "a sly fox owed me a big favor, and for a cashout like what we got? I think it's worth using it on this matter."
"Oh…" Hifumi trailed off, staring at the Crusaders that might have been recently stolen from her school. "But even then this seems like too much."
"Well," Rabu says from her position, scratching her cheek, "I dunno, but she seemed fairly interested in this entire thing."
"Wait, who?" Hifumi asks.
"The Fox of Calamity." Rabu answers with a shrug, "But she's on our side, don't worry."
Hifumi's heart drops as she hears that and the bombardment stops, her eyes going on the remaining forces. "Go! Force them to Point M!"
The Helmet Gangsters cheered and moved.
Meanwhile, Point S has been looted and Kaiser forces are returning. "You know." An automaton started, "The other teams haven't called in yet."
Before they could continue, their comms crackled, "This is the Abydos Foreclosure Task Force, unidentified force, identify yourselves, you're in the middle of an investigation."
"What do we do about that?" One of them asks.
"Just ignore it, not like they can do much."
The comms crackled again, this time a far different voice was heard, "This is the Prefect Team's Head Administrator, Amau Ako speaking, if you will not answer, we will consider any and all Kaiser forces in cahoots with the Masked Mizugi Gang."
"Shit!" They hissed as he answered. "What is the Prefect Team doing in Kaiser land? It's-."
"This land no longer belongs to Kaiser." The Head Administrator interrupted, "It never did, so any and all operations performed within the borders of Abydos must be done with the consent of Abydos' student council or the General Student Council. Not to mention surveillance shows you leaving with a bag recently tied to a bank robbery in the Black Market, so why is Kaiser interested in such a thing?"
No one could answer, as she continued, "As such, we request for Kaiser PMC to surrender peacefully for an investigation or we'll consider you enemies."
"What do we do?" The automaton asks as their comms crackle. This time from the Director.
"Go and support Team Two in getting to the target! Just go!" The Director said under gunfire as they listened.
"Would you look at that?" Ako mutters, listening to Kaiser's comms, "Sensei was right."
"It's been going according to plan so far." Hina notes, a touch of respect in her voice. "For someone who seems so flaky, at least he knows how to get results."
"Really?" Hoshino asks, "Twisted is a better word I'd use, but hey." She shrugs. "I wasn't the one fraternizing with him late at night."
"Fra-." Hina yelps as Shiroko turns to her at breakneck speeds.
"Hoshino," Serika sighs in resignation, "stop messing around, let's go."
"Right~." Hoshino says, jumping into the truck as the Prefect Team do the same.
There was a tense silence as the people within the office took in Mateo's words.
There wasn't time for much else.
Quicker than anyone could react, Mateo grabs something hidden within the folds of his coat and fires from the hip, suppressed gunfire ringing out as he rolls to the side. The guards try to shoot him but miss or the bullets have no effect, the coat blocking it along with the vest and plates as he's taken out most of the gunners. The only ones left were the shield-wielding automatas with a pistol, an invisible gun, an extra set of body plates, and his skills as he leaps over a couch and takes cover behind it.
Well, not for long, a buzzing rang out as a drone zoomed in, carrying a backpack as Mateo gaped. "They took everything."
They only left him with normal grenades, the rest like the Chem Launcher, Seeker Mine, Missile Launcher, White Death, all of it taken; the most he had was the usual, extra body plates and extra ammunition. At least they left the Backup Boomstick. Turning to them, Mateo's brow twitches. "Fuckers!"
Aiming the invisible gun at them after slinging his bag over his shoulder, he fires at the legs, decimating them as multiple rounds of .45 ACP tore through their legs and allowed for him to throw a grenade in the gap, the Director screaming as they escorted him out while firing. Thankfully, it took out some of his guards as Mateo falls behind the couch, checking the ammo count of his weapon on his HUD as he peeks out from the side, aiming as he releases bursts of gunfire at the remaining guards left behind as Mateo sees the pulsed enemies move.
Replacing the magazine, he stows away the first as he leans against the wall beside the exit of the office, a Scanner Pulse revealing a group of ten prepared to attack outside the door and more coming.
Replacing the parts of the ISAC Brick, Mateo steps back and holds his watch, a cone appearing as he releases it as a signal comes out.
Kicking down the door, he fires off bullets in controlled bursts into their heads, taking each one down while they're disoriented from the Banshee Pulse, his HUD warning him that their disorientation won't last. One hand grabs the Backup Boomstick and rams his shoulder into a conscripted student, placing the barrel against the bottom of their jaw and pulling the trigger, their head jerking back from the slug while he pushes them down and leaps into a roll. Spotting the body of an automaton, he grabs it, holstering the Backup Boomstick and reloading the invisible gun as the soldiers are no longer disoriented and he can hear the sound of heavy footsteps coming from the stairs to his side.
The remaining soldiers fire on his position, the bullets digging into the body of the automaton he's using as a shield while Mateo peeks out. With the pull of the trigger of his invisible weapon, the buttstock hitting his shoulder after each burst, the remaining soldiers fall either with a blue screen on their faceplate or with their halo gone.
Stowing away the invisible weapon, he grabs the weapon the automata was using, a type of M16, and thumbs it to full-auto as he unloads into the group coming up, forcing them back as he pats the body of the automata down. Finding what he needs, he pulls it out and removes the pin from the grenade, throwing it as it bounces off the wall and into the position of the other automatas. Pushing it off and taking its ammunition, Mateo looks out the window as a chopper hovers close to the window.
An Apache.
Mateo thumbs the magazine release of the M16, the magazine clattering on the floor while his hand goes behind his back into a gap in his Go-Bag and bringing out a different magazine, a strip of white tape at the bottom. Slapping the magazine and switching the fire selector to burst, he aims and releases a breath. The world muffles as the iron sights of the M16 land on the cockpit, Mateo's 'bubble' appearing as everything but his target disappears from his awareness. With the pull of a trigger, the 'bubble' bursts, the first round breaking the window as the following rounds pierce the glass of the cockpit easily. Mateo pulls the triggers twice more and the Apache begins to swerve, ISAC informing him that the pilot was disabled as he lowers the gun.
Removing the magazine, Mateo slaps the old one in and looks to the stairs. He glances at the automatas scattered beside him as he grabs his Hunter's Axe and idly spins it. D.C. was a cesspool and New York was only slightly better, but D.C. did teach him a few tricks. Some are a lot less… acceptable in contemporary warfare than others.
Meanwhile, groups of PMC members waited, from conscripted students to automatas as they heard Mateo yell from the floor above them, "Grenade!"
All of them closed their eyes and braced themselves as they heard something hit the floor. Slowly, the PMC members looked and their eyes widened or they reel as they spotted the decapitated head of an automaton instead of an explosive.
A second later, a flashbang really did fall, going off a second later and blinding those who were still in shock and deafening others. Mateo jumped over the railing, landing at the base of the stairs and firing off bursts of bullets into the members of the PMC, the conscripted student's haloes flickering while the screen of the automatas turned blue as he got into cover before the 'Disoriented' status wore off according to ISAC.
Gunfire hit his position, no one really knowing where Mateo was as they slowly moved forward towards the stairs while peppering his likeliest location with bullets. The first one whose leg stepped by his position yelped as he grabbed it, sweeping it off as he reared back his ax and swung it into their throat. The haloed PMC soldier hacked as if she was hit in the throat with a baton rather than an ax, a position Mateo has experience with.
Regardless, he grabs her and rolls back, his back against the stairs, using her as a shield as he fires back at the soldiers converging on his location. The M16 clicks empty as he drops it to the side, unable to reload with his human shield, and grabs his invisible gun, the gun spraying at the rate of an SMG with the power of an assault rifle silently enough to go unnoticed in the din of constant gunfire from Kaiser's forces as they either fell or retreated.
Once they were down, he places Adam's Key against the head of his human shield and pulls the trigger, her head jerking with the gunshot that rang out.
Getting up, he reloads the M16 and picks up a double-barreled shotgun off the floor, checking the chamber with a pull of the lever to see that it's loaded before closing the chamber and testing the barrel selector, satisfied with it. He releases a Scanner Pulse at the fourth floor as he spots more enemies coming out from the side rooms as he hides behind cover.
A few more come up from the stairs on the other end of the hall, only to fall back when the first three fall from gunfire from their own weapon while Mateo reloads the M16.
One of the doors of the room burst open and an automaton got too close and felt the spread from their own double barrel, the first slug knocking him out and the second one forcing one of his allies back into cover. Another door opened, another automaton slowly peeking out only to jerk back as Mateo threw the gun itself at them, causing them to stumble from their cover as he unloads Adam's Key into their body and their face goes blue.
The haloed soldiers came out first, their endurance making them a perfect shield. Of course, Mateo switched out the pieces of the Scanner Pulse for the Banshee and tapped his watch. After the cone moved to a good position, he released his watch and the Pulse rang out, disorienting them as he moved forward and gunned them down until the M16 was empty with the exception of one haloed soldier. He rammed the buttstock of the assault rifle into her head and shot her in the head with the Backup Boomstick. Ducking back under cover near the other end of the hall beside the stairs but with soldiers still hiding behind doors, he pats the student down and grabs a grenade, removing the pin as he throws it towards the staircase.
The PMC soldiers a floor down panic as the grenade goes off and he can see the final two doors open as something clatters against the floor. Closing his eyes and praying his audiometric earpiece is enough, the flashbang goes off and they file out while Mateo peeks out, invisible gun in hand as he mows down the PMC soldiers. Grabbing one that got a bit too close to him, he pulls them in behind the corner and on the stairs, using his ax to slit their throat, noticing a bag of explosives tied to the automaton's side. He reaches over and removes the pin of a grenade and pushes the automaton over the railing, onto the base of the stairs on the lower floor as he crouches down and leans against the wall, gunning down anyone who comes near trying to overwhelm him.
A series of explosion goes off, like shooting the bag of a Hyena Grenadier or the suicide vest of an Outcast as Mateo reloads his weapons, picking up another M16 and looting the bodies for ammunition.
He replaces the pieces of the Banshee to a Scanner and nods to himself as the Pulse spreads out and reveals enemies with shields coming up and filing in a line behind a row of snipers. "Right," he grumbles, "because obviously it's gonna be so easy."
It's no CDC or Coney Island, but there should be somewhere he can resupply ammunition at. Next floor it seems, the door to the right has something of an armory.
Actually, he's been forgetting something hasn't he?
He spots a window and shoots it with Adam's Key before grabbing a flare and shooting it out the window.
Time for some reinforcements.
Switching out the Scanner for the Banshee, he steps out.
"Hasn't Sensei been in there for too long?" Yuuka asks, crossing her arms and tapping her foot against the SCHALE helicopter. "I can even see the soldiers move to encircle the main building and even some of the other outposts have sent soldiers and heavy machinery!"
"Not too many." Suzumi points out, "Seems like the main force is doing a good job."
"Of course." Chinatsu pipes up. "The Head Prefect is there."
"Was there ever a question?" Haruna asks, looking through the scope of her rifle, "No one can hold down a location like the Head Prefect and few can ever stay calm under the purview of Iori."
"Of course you'd know." Chinatsu flatly responds as Haruna giggles.
"Is that an Apache on the highest floor?" Hibiki asks as Yuuka whirls round with everyone to see.
"No-! Pilot, drop us down!" Yuuka orders.
"Negative ma'am." She responds, "We have strict orders from Sensei to only drop you on one of the locations once the flare is released."
"He's in da-!"
"Apache down." Hibiki states as Yuuka pauses.
"Hoo~." Haruna croons in interest as Chinatsu crouches down.
"You're kidding me!?" Yuuka yelps as she watches the Apache fall down.
"He probably shot the cockpit." Suzumi points out.
Slowly, they watched him tear through the first few floors until they finally saw it.
"Flare spotted!" The SCHALE pilot calls out. "The LZ is hot, so brace yourselves!"
"Just get us down there!" Yuuka yells as they begin to move.
Hifumi watches, waiting as she leads the Helmet Gangsters into corralling the PMC soldiers to Point M as she leads them, "Status." She talks into her comms as she got a round of negatives, so no ambush. Sadly, they're running out of ammunition as she squints her eyes and sees the signal, the approaching Kaiser forces from Point S as she stops any bombardments.
"Rabu, get out of there! Leave the money. The Prefect Team is on their way."
"What?" Rabu yelps as she calls her subordinates, "Everyone, let's get out of here! It's the Prefect Team!"
"Alright!"
"I am not going back to those cells!"
A round of affirmations ring out as they begin to make their way out. Hifumi watches over them, crouched as she fires at the opening they made to keep the PMC soldiers pinned down along with other students while she's giving orders to the artillery. "Do you see the backup?"
A round of affirmatives rang out. "Unleash everything within that general location on my say!"
Another round of affirmations rang out as the infantry of the Helmet Gangsters continued firing on the forces that got too close. Soon, a truck was driving towards Rabu's team as they clambered on helping each other on and falling on top of each other in a heap and drove off in their direction. "Faust!" Rabu waves from within the trunk of the truck with a cheerful smile. "Explosives are ready!"
"Set them off!" Hifumi orders while Rabu, the lessons Mateo imparted to them in their defense still fresh on her mind, turned with a detonator in hand and clicked it.
Any and all buildings Rabu's squad weaved through burst in a series of explosions as they fell on the PMC soldiers, some being caught in the blast radius, as the approaching reinforcements slowed down. Revealing the overbearing aura of Hina in the distances as even Hifumi takes a second to calm herself as she raises her hand before bringing it down. "Fire!"
The symphony of artillery, gunfire, and a variety of weapons ring out. The ensuing recoil from the artillery kicks up sand, the Helmet Gangsters cheering and Hifumi couldn't deny the satisfaction that bubbles up as the area of the Kaiser forces explodes into artillery fire with sand and debris flying everywhere.
Hina watches Faust from a distance, one of the most dangerous criminal elements that's recently popped up with the Masked Mizugi Gang. She rallies the Helmet Gangsters into firing and dispatching a great number of Kaiser PMC forces with what are, probably stolen, Trinity artillery pieces after Trinity had their armory robbed by the Fox of Calamity.
As much as she'd like to go after her, she and her forces with her still have a job to do. A job made easier by the Helmet Gangster's artillery barrage, cutting down the force by a large percentage and scattering the remaining Kaiser soldiers. It was almost strangely easy, following Mateo's plan as they seemed to move as he predicted and planned, like he had experience with things other than teaching. The plan is not locked within a certain amount of time, but in the certainty that the Kaiser PMC Director's greed would outweigh his caution. That he'd have the confidence that he could move with impunity within an area simply because a piece of paper said so. That his pride would outweigh the possibility of a trap, that Sensei would be willing to become the bait.
It sounded like a single plan, but it was three plans being put into simultaneous motion. While the Prefect Team and the Foreclosure Task Force kept the forces busy, Problem Solver would wreak havoc, crippling them and their communication networks, with the last order being for the remaining Kaiser forces to converge around the main base where Sensei is leading them into a trap, with him as the bait.
Her eyes follow Faust as she leads the retreat of the Helmet Gangsters as her eyes look forward.
It's a plan with one single thing in mind, to show to the world, and Kaiser itself, just how badly it messed up with Sensei as the lynchpin. Even then, Hina finds herself disagreeing with Ako in having the leader as the bait and the lynchpin.
She looks at her gloved hand, pushing down the blush at the memory of his head pat, Sensei will be fine.
After all, if he lived in a world and a time where he says he can relate with Hina, a statement Hina finds a bit absurd but can't find it in her to refute, he'll be fine.
Beside her, Nonomi walks up, "Here we go!"
She releases a barrage of gunshots, forcing any remaining PMC forces into cover as Iori runs around them with the rest of the snipers, shooting at anything she could see that moves or doesn't.
Meanwhile, Hina stares at the Apache boring down on them. "How troublesome…" She grumbles as she aims her MG42 to shoot it as it turns its barrels to her only to be surprised when her view is covered.
"C'mon Head Prefect." Hoshino starts, Iron Horus unfurled as it easily took the brunt of the barrage as she spoke, "you're looking a bit slow there."
"Impossible." Hina says, feeling Ako's ability empower her as the barrage stops and she points her weapon at the Apache. Hoshino lowers the Iron Horus and holds it sideways, propping the Eye of Horus against it as she fires off three times the Kaiser PMC soldiers falling after each shot.
In seconds, gunfire rings out as a stream of purple beams of energy hit the Apache, piercing through the metal and causing it to fall within a few seconds of focused gunfire.
"Uwah~." Hoshino says as she grins. "As expected."
Shiroko jumped over cover, one hand on the cover as the soldier looked at her in shock before lashing a foot onto their face, forcing them back as she took in Mateo's lessons.
Aim for weak spots, throat, joints, or eyes.
Shiroko punched the throat, their eyes bulging as they hacked and coughed.
Make sure you first move chains with the next.
She grabs the collar and pulls them, sweeping their feet as they fall.
End it quickly.
Here, she took an example from Mateo as she reared her leg back and released it, kicking the poor victim in the head with barely a change in her expression as their halo flickers out.
She turns back, satisfaction on her face as she continues, firing at any PMC force with impunity and occasionally using her drone.
Serika, on the other hand, slapped a fresh magazine as blue flames burst from her, "That's it!"
She runs in an arc, stopping as she fires at enemies in cover and forcing them out as Iori and her snipers take them out when they're spotted, the shotgunners moving to corral them from the direction the Helmet Gangsters were previously at, only leaving one option if they want to retreat.
Ayane watches, worried as she still sees Mateo's comms as inactive.
Within a lab, a figure hums joyously as if she was taking a walk and did not just break into a PMC lab. Her halo in the form of a flower resembles the sign of anarchy, her brown fox ears twitching and fox tail swinging with each swing of her hips. She looks through the tables as if she was looking through the stands of a stall at a market like in her original school, her mask covering her expression as she hums.
"Excuse me~!" She calls to attention, her voice high and chirpy like a newlywed out shopping and wanting to talk to the shopkeeper, "Is there only one of these or…?" She asks, pointing at a section of the table where a spherical shaped object with red circles was, a Seeker Mine.
In front of her on a chair, chained with tape and chains and their voice box sparking, a robot with a circular head tried to scream, but only released a buzzing sound, resembling a muffled yell.
"Oh, is that so? That's too bad." The masked fox girl started, shaking her head, "It resembles something my darling," she says the word with excitement, "would like after all." In the darkness, pinpricks within the eyeholes of the mask glint in the darkness. "They belong to him, right?"
The robot struggles as the fox girl laughs, "Oh, but that can't be right? Oh well, I'll just take it with me."
She slowly places her hand on it, gently memorizing the figure and material, from the metal to the grooves, signifying the rubber part as a wheel. Once she does a complete inspection, memorizing every single feature of the explosive like an expert should, her professional exterior breaks down as she picks it up, "Oh, what a cute thing. Darling is just going to love having you back~."
Stowing away the Seeker Mine in her bag she continues down the table as she looks at the other pieces of SHD Tech. "Ufufufu~, now, let's see, what else would my darling love?" The fox asks as she looks at them. "Oh, maybe I should practice my bartering skills ahead of time, I'll need to do so for when we…" She trails off, holding a pair of hands on her cheeks before giggling innocently, "Now...which one…"
The Fox of Calamity spots the right one, "Two of them? Lucky me~!" She cheers before adding, "Excuse me~!" She starts as she lifts her own weapon, "How much is this?"
She reaches over to the tied up robot, their voice box intact as she reaches over and rips off the tape muffling his voice. "What are you doing here, Fox of Calamity?"
"Wrong~!" Kosaka Wakomo cheers as she swipes her gun at them. The bayonet cut through their voice box as she sighed like she didn't just rid an automaton the ability to speak as sparks came from the injury, "That's not how it goes, you're supposed to explain what it is and give me a price, I'm supposed to talk it down~, like that hussy did." Wakamo growls under her breath. "Well, you don't seem like you can talk anymore, so I'll just take these."
She sweeps the Drone and Firefly into her bag and moves on as her ears perks up, "Ooh, these…"
The Chem Launcher with the Sticky Bombs, even she can see these two don't go together. Her eyes trail the table, ignoring the panicking robot as she spots the Sticky Bomb Launcher with the Chem Canisters as her eyes sparkle under her mask.
"Hello sir," She starts, reaching over and ripping off the tape, "can I ask how much these cost?"
"Umm…" The robot started, "a thousand yen? They don't even work."
Wakamo doesn't answer, as the robot looked on hopefully as he tried to wrench himself out.
"...A thousand?" Wakamo hisses as the robot pauses. "One of Sensei's weapons...only being...a thousand!" She swings the buttstock of her rifle, knocking the robot back before jumping over the table and standing over the robot as she raises her gun up.
"You imbecile!" She swings it down. "Uncultured!" Again. "Ignorant!" Again as she stops, her shoulders heaving from her heavy breaths as the robot twitches, "If you paid attention, if you saw Sensei fight, you should know that you're using the wrong payload for each launcher!" She yelled as she stomped on his face, cracking it as it flickered between a normal face and a blue screen. "And one thousand? Something used by Sensei can't be that cheap."
She kicks him again into a wall, cracking under the force behind the kick and she huffs derisively, her shoulders shaking in rage before she perked up in realization. "Oh, Oh no. It was so inexpensive and Sensei has a limited salary, but cheap stuff usually isn't very good...Mou," she pouts under her mask, "what a conundrum."
Placing the canisters of sticky bombs and canisters with their respective launcher in her bag, she holds a finger to her cheek. "Alright, next~, let's try again."
This time, she finds a half orb with small indentations as she reaches over and rips out the tape, "How-Oh my, where are my-."
"One hundred thousand ye-."
Wakamo swipes the bayonet of her knife, her eyes flickering in anger as the robot's voice box is cut out, electricity and sparks crackling as a warbling sound rings out. "Let me finish!" She yells out as she jumps over the table and crouches over the fallen automaton, "And what's with that exorbitant price? Are you trying to make Sensei sleep in the streets, though…" She trails off before humming, "Maybe we could live out in the woods~, make our own cabin~, then we can have…" She trails off, giggling perversely on occasion until finally, "Kya~, you can't Sensei~!"
She kicks her feet out like an excited schoolgirl, each kick landing on the automaton as it only made the damage worse.
Finally, she kicked him to a wall again, a slow hum dying down as she slid the Hive and the extra parts into her bag.
Slowly, she walks up to the second to last table, filled with something of a strange shape as she coughs into her fist, "Excuse me~." She starts, ripping off the tape from the automaton's voice box, "So, how much is this?"
"Ermm~." The automaton trailed off as Wakamo waited, exactly, "It's Sensei's...so it's yours?" He says, questioningly as Wakamo blinks.
"Mmm~," She moaned pleasantly, squirming while holding a hand to her flushed cheeks, "oh, how coy~! It's so obvious how we're fated to be, not any of the pests around him."
She hums as she grabs the Traps and aims her gun at the automaton, its eyes widening as she fires off and twirls with the recoil to the final table.
She doesn't even ask as she rams the bayonet of her rifle into the screen of the automaton as she breathes heavily. "This...This is it…" She trails off, her hands shaking, "It's the hologram of Sensei's handsome visage…"
Slowly, she roams her hands around the Decoy, looking for a way to activate it, "I-I'm just making sure it works, w-who knows what these snakes did to it. But maybe, just may-." She activates something and her eyes widen, the light reflecting off her mask.
It was the image of Mateo Vernes, her teacher, her Sensei, her darling.
His handsome visage, his rugged features, his round brown eyes narrowed in concentration making them look sharp, broad arms capable of carrying her, clothes that suit him well but are a stark difference to his simpler sense of style that is appealing to Wakamo's eyes. She prefers the rougher version though, the one untouched by the General Student Council's mark as he currently is. Even the scars on his well-muscled forearms, despite making her anger flare at the idea of someone injuring him, only makes him more appealing. Even the scratches and care he holds his weapon is impressive.
But his kindness, despite his capability of violence, is something what attracts her the most as she hops up onto the table, slowly reaching out, "Oh, Sensei, my darling. I can't believe those Abydos hussies forced you into such a position, but don't worry, it'll all be over soon. I know you can get out of a situation like this on your own, but it'd be far more romantic if you weren't alone, right?"
The image flickers as she places a hand on his masked visage, making her frown as she pulls back her hand so the image isn't flickering. The hologram was a step below Millennium's but a step above anywhere else, it was impressive.
Speaking of, she wonders if anyone in Millenium has been able to make Sensei ASMR or similar, now that's a project worth doing and paying a visit for.
Slowly, she leans forward, their masked visages slowly coming closer, her heart beating out of its chest. "Oh, I shouldn't do this, but it's the only time I'll be able to, and it's not like he's real… Oh well."
Shakily, she leans forward, her face as red as a tomato and her body shaking with excitement as her eyes bore down on Mateo's blank expression in the hologram.
She breathes heavily and gets closer, closer, and closer until finally, finally…
The tips of their mask's nose touch, his gas mask with Wakamo's porcelain fox mask, their nose touching as she leans back. Her smile shakes as she holds a hand to her cheeks, practically completely red as she jumps up and down, yelling as she celebrates.
"I-I can't believe I did that~!" She says as she pauses, "Kya~." She cries femininely while wiggling.
Slowly, she slides the Decoy into the bag and begins to skip out of the lab. Twirling, she grabs the Missile Launcher and its ammunition as she makes her way towards the main office, ignoring the chaos going on within the compound and outside.
She stops by a stockpile of weapons as she spots Sensei's sniper rifle as she grabs it and sets off an explosion inside.
She giggled under her breath under the scorching desert sun.
Corporations are a symbol of power, they have branches that are like weeds, even if you rip out one part, it can always just grow back up. If they get too much power then they'll start corrupting everything in between.
As a citizen, Mateo was always aware of the existence of corporations and their origins, rarely are they ever nice, from bribing politicians to covering up crimes, any citizen can attest to being aware of the evils corporations usually pose. Rarely can they ever do anything about it, whistleblowers are silenced, news is suppressed and crimes are swept under the rug.
It was frustrating.
Very little good came from the Dollar Flu, but Mateo took a very...particular type of pleasure in dismantling the remnants of certain corporations that tried to cling to their power in strange ways, private soldiers with explosive collars, lies of the outside world, contracts, and many more, especially after the whole Black Tusk debacle.
Finding an Agent that trusts the government, much less a corporation, is practically impossible.
So Mateo couldn't help but smile under his mask at the sound of exploding vehicles as ISAC reports the appearance of the SCHALE team clearing out the outer rim. He stocks up on ammunition from Kaiser's own hidden cache after dealing with the snipers as he leans against his cover.
Legally kicking out a branch of a clearly corrupt corporation had young Mateo kicking his feet, while getting the excuse to evict them violently had teen Mateo yelling like a banshee.
Slowly, he steps out, prepared for the last three floors as he looks to the side and counts the amount of enemies he's taken down. "Damn, I'm really out of shape."
Tired after barely fifty kills-or takedowns, no one's died, yet.
A Scanner Pulse later, he hums as he notices the remaining forces activating their security systems, or that's what they think should happen. With ISAC now in their system if Kayoko did it right, they shouldn't be able to access anything to defend themselves with.
Actually, aren't too many moving away from their positions?
Leaning against the wall, he peeks out the window as he spots a familiar figure, to his surprise. "Wakamo?" He mutters.
And there she was, the masked fox girl performing chaos, a bag on her back with a familiar weapon in hand as Mateo mutters, "What is she doing? Revenge? No, she's fighting Kaiser."
"Upstairs! Go!" He hears a Kaiser PMC Commander bark out orders as Mateo licks his lips as he stops by the stairs, throwing a grenade as it bounces off the wall and into the squad moving up.
The weapon he's been using, flickers for a second as Mateo deactivates the camouflage of the Chameleon, a modified Vector that uses .45 ACP with the power of an assault rifle.
Its color changes for a second until it finally lands on white as the grenade goes off and Mateo walks down the stairs, the Chameleon spitting lead at close-range as he ducks once at the bottom. He draws the Backup Boomstick, pointing it at the face of a PMC soldier and pulls the trigger, the sawed off shotgun unloads its payload into their face, knocking them to the back as he steps out and fires at another PMC soldier before holstering the Backup Boomstick.
Firing in bursts with the Chameleon, the PMC automatons and soldiers are forced into cover as one of them tries to fire but suppressed gunshots hit them as they fall back, the screen flickering blue as they fall back under cover as they move. Peeking out, he fires again, scattering the squad pushing up as he switches targets once their halo flickers out or the screen turns blue.
Ducking to reload, he picks up an M16 and checks the magazine before inserting in and pulling the charging handle. Peeking out after thumbing the gun into semi-auto, the gun barks out in single shots, either taking down enemies in the pull of a trigger or taking them down after a few pulls to the body.
It was therapeutic, in a way, like punching a sandbag when you're pissed, but instead of imagining someone as the sandbag, you can actually attack them and not have to worry about killing them. Except for Gematria, even then he doesn't believe he'll regret killing those fucks.
Slowly and with efficiency befitting Mateo's status as an Agent, even if his year and a half stint as more of a Support Agent dulled those skills. He mows through the last few floors, using everything and anything to get through, from using their own weapons, human shields, particularly brutal acts, and even chemical warfare in the form of molotovs.
By the end, he feels tired, like after a day of re-claiming Control Points and helping the Civilian Militia in D.C. and beyond.
Still, it's not over yet.
"Sen~sei." The melodic voice of Wakamo rings out in front of him, her mask hiding her expression with the destruction behind her a testament to her skill and strength, as she circles him, the bag full of SHD Tech he could set off early. Before he could even think of doing so, she stops in front of him.
"Kosaka Wakamo." Mateo responds to Wakamo's happiness. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, you see," she starts, humming, "it all started yesterday, when I met with Rabu when she asked for some artillery, for some reason, but then I heard you were involved, and well…" She began to fidget, to Mateo's incredulity, "I thought it was a good chance to re-introduce myself with a...better impression." Slowly, she removes her mask, revealing her beautiful and kind features, a stark contrast to her usual attitude, her yellow eyes boring into Mateo. "My name is Kosaka Wakamo, Sensei~." She adds happily, as Mateo can't help but raise a brow.
Though she quickly perks up, "I can't believe I almost forgot." She says as she passes me the bag she has, "I stopped by to do some shopping on the way here, some of the prices were outrageous, but I managed to strike a deal better than that Gehenna student ever could." She hissed under her breath as Mateo opened it and his eyes widened. "Still," she adds, her ears drooping adorably as she fidgets, "I had to use the Missile Launcher, I'm sorry."
It's his White Death and the rest of his SHD Tech. "That's fine." He was wondering what ISAC was talking about. "Wait, how did you-?"
"Nevermind that, it's…" She trails off, as if wanting to say something but couldn't as she holds both cheeks, "Kya~." She croons quietly while Mateo quickly recuperates his stuff.
With the weight of all of his stuff on his back, he visibly sighs in relief. "Thank you, Wakamo." He starts, turning to her as he removes his own mask, smiling while removing a gloved hand and extending it. "Your help was greatly appreciated, as you might know, my name is Vernes Mateo."
Silence goes over the area as Wakamo freezes and Mateo waits patiently, unaware of the turmoil going on in Wakamo's head.
Unintelligible babbling and screaming can be heard if you could look into her head, not to mention a lot of cries 'he's so hot', 'marry me', and 'calm down' were repeated a few times.
"O-Of course, Sensei." She manages as she clasps his hand roughly as she stares at it, breathing heavily as a realization is slowly coming over Mateo.
The way she breathes, the way her-are her eyes turning into hearts?
Usually it's metaphorical, but in a world of traumatized teens, adults and kids, when you're suddenly met with Agents, well, you tend to see them as heroes. Mateo himself was always seen as particularly heroic since he never shied away from sharing anything he had on him, much less from refusing help he could offer. From surviving ambushes, recruiting enemies, performing near-impossible missions alone or leading such missions and even just being a shoulder to lean on, Mateo was always a very special kind of Agent that even others referred to him as 'the quintessential Agent'. Now if only he could program beyond the skills of a script kiddie, he'd be perfect, but alas, he's not.
Regardless, he had admirers beyond his exes. Sometimes…
Leo called them yanderes, Patchy, their Survivalist, called them 'crazy bitches', their Sharpshooter, Mateo wasn't the Sharpshooter of their little group as much as he was the leader and the one who picked up the slack if they needed something in particular, called them blind. Their Firewall didn't really talk much and their Gunner was not very kind in his description of them. Nor was he exactly subtle in his dislike.
Point is, Mateo, in all of his wisdom and experiences with women, combat, and generally fairly chaotic situations really didn't know what to do.
"I hope we can get along very well~." She adds as Mateo can't help but try to hide his reluctance.
Sure, he's willing to work with her, but she's hot as hell, and legal according to ISAC.
She's still a student though.
Before the matter could cause Mateo anymore spiraling, a familiar sound sailed by as Mateo grabbed Wakamo and pulled her into him, causing her to yelp as he pushed the embarrassed Wakamo under cover.
"Jamming device destroyed." ISAC informed him.
"Sensei!" He heard Yuuka yell. "Are you okay, talk to me!?"
"I'm offended you'd think I'd die that easily, Yuuka." Mateo retorts as he could hear the SCHALE team exhale in relief.
"Sensei, all integral buildings are destroyed." Kayoko reported, "And scanning equipment has been deployed."
"Good job." Mateo compliments.
"Sensei~, is it over?" Hoshino complains, "This uncle's getting tired."
"The Kaiser PMC forces are retreating. What do we do?" Hina asks as Mateo could hear her slightly labored breathing.
Taking a moment, Mateo looks up at the sun.
"Let them go." He says while looking in the distance, ISAC outlining the retreating vehicles.
Turning to Wakamo as he stands up, he watches as they leave, switching his comms to general comms. As there's a beat of silence and he takes it in, taking a deep breath and letting the familiar scent of gunpowder calm him down while the sound of crackling fire grounds him.
…
What am I doing?
"Perform a cursory patrol, then, head back home." Mateo says, his smile sadder than it had any right to be.
After all, loose ends should be tied up.
And good things shouldn't be left behind.
"Shiroko, wanna help me loot this place?"
"Nn. On my way."
"Wait, hold on-." Yuuka starts but Ako interjects.
"Yeah. At least wait for the Prefect Team to arrive and assist."
"Ye-Wait, what!?" Yuuka asks as Ako seems particularly impassioned.
"Any mission has to have Chair Makoto's signature along with anything that's found on these missions given to the Pandemonium Society, but that's for Gehenna sanctioned missions. SCHALE, on the other hand, needs no such things and it's already hard enough getting our request for extra equipment through." Ako says, her face scrunching with her hand in a fist.
"Is that legal?" Yuuka asks.
"Can I see what you find?" Hibiki asks. "Might be something good in there."
"Hibiki!" Yuuka exclaims.
"Well, come on." Mateo says with a smile. "First come, first served." Mateo ends as he looks at the destruction he wrought.
Shouldn't I be beyond this? I stopped regularly taking field missions because I didn't want to kill anymore. I wanted to speak, to use my words to help instead of just shooting. Instead, I deliberately set myself up for the hardest jobs, barely thinking of a backup plan beyond getting the SCHALE students and…
Mateo stops his train of thought. No use deluding himself any further, he's been in his own head for years, he's been, figuratively, in other people's heads and has lived to tell the tale. He knows better than to try to avert his eyes from the truth.
Being better? No, he just didn't want to be a nuisance in the future, trying to dull himself so once peace came he wouldn't immediately go violent.
He's already failing.
Shaking it off, he turns to Wakamo, waiting patiently as her ears twitch. Mateo couldn't help but pat her head, "Thank you, really. I appreciate what you've done."
"Oh…" Wakamo muttered, her face blushing as she seemed to shake. "E…"
"This again?" Mateo mutters with a shake of his head.
"Excuse me!" Wakamo yelps as she dashes away, hiding her face with the mask as Mateo shakes his head and turns.
After all, this place isn't going to loot itself.
That reminds him.
"Veni, vidi, vici motherfucker." Mateo mutters to himself as he reaches down to pick up the head of an automaton, the reflective surface of its screen revealing a smile on his face laced with dark amusement. "Hope you're ready. 'Cause this Brutus," he mutters, letting the head fall as he rears back his leg and kicks it, "won't stop at one stab."
The head sailed in an arc, breaking one of the windows of the main building as he chuffs under his mask and turns to start looting before Yuuka or someone else comes to inspect the noise.
A/N: Well, there it is, the battle itself, I hope you enjoyed the chapters because I have quite a bit to say.
First off, this fanfiction is officially one year old(a few days ago, I was going to publish this then but it slipped my mind). Thank you everyone who's been with me for this year, I've had fun writing the Divide and I hope you've been enjoying this story.
Second, I'd like to make an announcement for a little… project I'm working on, but first, let me ask you… Quiet life, or blaze of glory?
Yup. For those of you who know I post snippets on Reddit, they should know that I also lurk and post in other subreddits. Two of those being Girl's Frontline and Arknights where I've posted little snippets of stories I've been working on particularly crossing over with Cyberpunk RED. For those on FF, I'll leave a poll on my account for those who want to decide which is published first at a later date. For those on AO3… I'll try and figure something out. Might post a poll on the Cyberpunk RED subreddit and then leave a link.
Anyway, just as a warning, the main characters of both the Arknights and GFL crossover are basically the same (same backstory) with the exception being what classes they are. One is a Nomad/Fixer and the other is a Nomad/Tech but beside that, the name and personality are fairly similar, or at least I think so.
Now that all of the important things are said and done, time to get a bit more personal, like the Wakamo scene. I don't say this easily, but I feel proud of that scene, I feel like that's the closest I ever got to writing a character's personality. And the title? The ending? Last minute additions but goddamn if they don't tie it up beautifully in my opinion.
The arc isn't over, not yet. After this it'll be one more to close V1C1 then going into more slice-of-life chapters and an event or two. Probably two, one of them delves a bit into the horrors that regulations and rules don't allow for the Division to show in a game of war. Let's just say that I'm digging deep into Vietnam/Afghan territories for what might be a Depression Archive chapter.
I… don't believe I have much else to say. For now, there's no Orange Ar-
Actually… Hold that thought.
Orange Archive: Right person, wrong time
Within the wilderness of the Americas there are many things of beauty. Deer roaming the Earth, plants growing, the trees reaching immense heights. Despite all the beauty, Mateo 'Sandman' Vernes can't help but associate the American wilderness with explosions, traps, and heavy ordinance.
The young latino was driving through a rough path, a cigarette in his mouth, lit as the first-gen English student drives the Jeep he bought as he glances at the corner of his eyes, where a watch rested. The youngest Agent knew that when he joined the Division, it wasn't going to be glamorous, but honestly…
It's been three months since he graduated with a Bachelor's in English. It's been around a year or so since he was activated and around three since the first Agent was activated in all of the US. Now, you'd wonder why the US is still standing if the Division was already activated. Well, see, it started small enough. Small pockets of resistance and terrorists, people who, for all intents and purposes, could be tracked all the way back to terrorist organizations. At least, if you followed the paper trail.
The politicians said this, the higher-ups who organized Division activities said it, the military higher-ups said this, Mateo, and the other Support Agents who looked into it under the guise of a hiking trip said otherwise. Well the other Agents did, Mateo didn't mind that they were the ones who'd report it, genuinely worried of the repercussions if he reported it as Mateo let them.
A week later, all of the Agents who were there died with the exception of Mateo.
What started could only be seen as a shadow war as the Black Tusk did everything in their power to take control of America and the Division reacted to meet their attempts. On and off, Agents and mercenaries fought, Senators were assassinated, some were propped up, and none of that was the Division. Or, overtly, none of it was the Division.
It was starting to weigh on Mateo, not because he has a problem with it beyond the obvious. He has no love for America or its politicians, but he has his family to take care of. Already his mother and father get shit for being immigrants, who knows how it'd worsen.
At this point, the SHD activated ANNA, a secondary AI and far more advanced than ISAC to counter all the subterfuge of politics. While her handler makes sure she's acting as she should, ISAC simply gives instructions.
Then Diamond was revealed, stuff happened, and Mateo has recently been on four missions, each one nearly spilling out into the world of the common populace, in the past month or so.
It's a mess and a half and more foreign forces are trying to take advantage of it, and it's only getting harder to hide it. Well, at least they managed to get the Broad Spectrum AntiViral vaccine. Still, that doesn't change the fact that it's not going well.
Sure, the pay is good, practically allowing him to get through university without relying on his parents too much, and watching them cry in joy as he became the first in their family to graduate with a Bachelor's was nice. That doesn't change the fact that unless something happens, WWIII will start up and no one wants that.
As you could guess, such changes in the situation led to a change in regulation. Every Agent has to have access to a weapon at any and all time but can't use it unless the situation calls for it, the training increased, and what weapons they could… requisition also expanded.
For example, take Mateo's current situation at the moment. In the trunk of his Jeep are a bunch of plates, medicines, cases, and other things that while capable of raising a brow, aren't too strange. Now if they decided to open the cases… they'd find combat drones, Seeker Mines, shields, and more SHD Tech.
That's not even the most impressive (and illegal) part. If one found the grooves in the floor of the Jeep, they'd find a section of the bottom over the entire car. What's in it? Ammo and his own weapons.
Usually, an Agent can only have two weapons, a main arm and a sidearm when they're activated. They can grab a second one if they want, but only when they're activated and their weapons have to be registered and have to be within regulations.
Under the feet of those in the Jeep is a sniper rifle, a pair of shotguns, an assault rifle, an anti-materiel rifle, a submachine gun, and body armor he was wearing with plates that fix themselves and were meant for space craft with other odds and ends. Not to mention one of those shotguns he… requisitioned originally belonged to a Marine who fell in the cross-fire that he picked up, a Benelli M4, and no one ever asked him for it back.
So, yeah, things have gone down the drain pretty badly. Now, he's heading off to replenish any used SHD caches, in the dead of night, going through the forest because he probably won't find any cops.
Mateo sighs, placing his head against the wheel of the car before leaning back, looking out into the darkness only lit up by the headlights. "The pay is not worth all of this. Not at all."
He and his Cell have been working particularly hard, maybe it's because of their efficiency, Leo's mastery over electronics, Patchy's ability to survive anywhere, Ares'… ability to fight, the other's skills, his own ability to make sure their little circus act stays together, who knows.
Regardless, things have been hard. Worst part? His love life is abhorrent because of it.
"Fuck~." He groans as he remembers his last breakup while leaning his forehead against the wheel. "Shit~."
Well, it is what it is.
With that thought he looked up to see the lights of the city.
A city. A city he was very unfamiliar with.
His feet rest on the brakes as he slows down, pulling off to the side as he opens the door and gapes. Because at that moment, he, somehow, drove into a stand off between the police and what seemed like terrorists of some sort.
A rough voice yells at him as he looks at the per-Why do they have horns? Why doesn't he see guns? Why can he see bows, arrows, but no guns despite being in a metropolitan area?
She's still yelling, some of the words able to be understood as he turns to the other side of rougher elements.
An arrow nearly cuts into his cheek as he ducks into the jeep. "ISAC, override!"
"Hello Sandman." Instead of ISAC's voice, ANNA rang out in his ears. "You do not seem to be within range of any satellites, what's your situation?"
An arrow breaks through the window and ANNA doesn't answer.
"Desperate it seems. Fine then." She relents, his watch going green before returning to orange as his ScanTek lenses come to life and he reaches for his Go-Bag. The aforementioned Benelli M4, attached and modified as he reaches for a Custom P416 G3 with an extended magazine, an ACOG, with a laser pointer and a compensator.
Ejecting the magazine, he sees that it's loaded and grabs more as he ducks the arrows and other things as he drags his Go-Bag out and releases a breath. No SHD network? No problem.
Giving a final check of his equipment, he disengages the safety and peers around his jeep to see some of them firing behind him as some of their soldiers move forward to his location and he looks back to see the people behind him, probably the police, unable to fire back because he's in range. Setting a mask over his mouth and slipping his gloves on, he's ready.
"Make contact with the local authorities after assisting, smart. Put 'em to sleep, throw your sand as you have before." ANNA says in his audiometric earpiece.
He spots someone conjuring… something like magic when he looks back at the building the enemies have hidden themselves in. "Well that's not normal."
His TAC-50C is still inside, hidden, but Mateo didn't need it. He trained with Marines, and they didn't want him to lag behind even if everyone else was older or more experienced.
The range is… thirty… maybe fifty meters? The magician is somewhat visible among the windows with other archers while the ground 'troops' made their way to him.
The blue-haired woman is still barking orders, drones are moving, but none of that matters to Mateo.
Propping the buttstock of the P416 to his shoulder, he aims, placing the reticle of the ACOG scope on the body's center of mass, as he was trained to do so, before raising it.
A kill at fifty meters?
With the pull of a trigger, a gunshot rang out, Mateo's training along with the attachments of the weapon making recoil virtually nonexistent as everything went silent for some reason. He can see the body slump over as he aims at his next target.
Bull horns frozen stiff with an ax? Like magic, a new hole appears in his head as he falls back.
Cat ears? Bang.
Dog ears? Once he reaches hell, he'll know if all dogs truly go to heaven.
One shot, one kill. At this range, with their stiff appearances and shocked faces, they might as well be the targets he practices at the range with. The spent cartridges clatter against the floor. Then, they run. All of them scrambling back but some charge forward, rage and sorrow in their faces.
Rolling out, he switches the P416 for his Benelli, loads a slug into the ejection chamber to make the amount of shells inside be nine and moves forward. Five converge on his location, the first one has a shield. Fast. Probably faster than him. Stronger. Don't get hit.
The tall man rears back an ax and tries to bury it in Mateo's head as he ducks, weaving to the man's right, his shield on his left as he prepares to bash Mateo with it.
The barrel of the Benelli is pointed at his leg and Mateo fires, the spent shell ejected and the man's knee torn as he falls to it in horror. The horror is wiped clean off his face as Mateo hits them in the face with an upwards strike of the buttstock before their head explodes from the spread of the slug.
The enemies charging at him pause in horror as he grabs his M1911 and aims, tilting his hand as he unloads a magazine into the upper half of their bodies until the slide doesn't rack back in place. .45 ACP finds purchase on each one and knocks them down, probably not dead.
Probably.
Still, ANNA informs him of something important, "Seems like I can hear crying from inside."
Extraction. Go in, get the hostage, get the hell out. Easy enough.
Ignoring the bodies, he loads the Benelli and places his ear against the door of the building. He points the shotgun at the door handle after realizing he can't understand them and fires, kicking the door open to spot two of them.
They try to move, but the memory of what the Benelli did shocks them stiff and he capitalizes on it, unloading two shots into them right in the chest as he makes his way through the rooms. Probably on a higher floor, take the stairs.
He spots two more enemies and he fires twice, knocking them down as he checks the room. Can't be higher, take too long to extract the hostage and it's not the first floor, so it has to be the second floor.
A cry confirms his thoughts as he grabs his M1911 and makes his way to the room.
Placing a hand on the door while bent, he tests it, opening it to see it's unlocked as he twists it and it does. Using one hand, he grabs a smoke grenade and yells, "Throwing smoke grenade!"
The canister clatters to the confusion of the people inside as he activates the Scanner Pulse and nothing comes up.
There was a hiss, smoke entering the small room as he opened the door and aimed low at the ones standing. One shot to the leg disables them as he finds the hostage, a young girl, as he grabs her. "It's gonna be alright." He assures her gently, "You'll be back before you know it."
Within a few minutes, he brought the girl out and came to the scene of a lot of people looking at him warily, someone grabbing the girl from his arms as he released a breath. Just be courteous and kind.
He steps forward and every weapon is pointed in his direction.
"I really hope you have experience with breaking out of jail." ANNA notes as Mateo's brow twitches.
And done, a little extra for an idea that could have been. Instead of Blue Archive, Mateo would've been sent to Arknights in this one. It's not an idea I'll explore, just something I wanted to get off my chest. Anyway, that's all, I hope you enjoyed it.