Bit of a late upload, as this week really got away from me. Another delay for my project, meaning I'm scrambling to update everything and figure out how to make the new schedule work. On top of that, I had my interview for management yesterday (scheduled rather suddenly on Monday). Start of the interview was awful, but I think I recovered nicely and finished on a high note. Hoping it'll be enough to earn the promotion, but all I can do now is wait and see (and worry).
Just another reminder that there'll be no chapter for the next two weeks due to the holidays. Gonna need the time to get caught up on work as well, so next chapter will come out 10 January.
Raeford didn't say a word when Adam caught up to the group, but he must've run his mouth beforehand if the way everyone clammed up when he approached was any indication. The mixture of Felicia's men and the Schnees' former servants parted around him as he passed, which suited him just fine as it meant not wasting time wading through the crowded kitchen to reach his team.
Their reception was less than professional. "Hey, boss. You got a little something…right there." Yuma brushed his cheek. Adam mirrored the motion, his hand coming away with traces of blood across his glove. Looking down, he noticed a sprinkling across his shoulder and arm, but only if he looked closely. The benefit of wearing mostly black and red.
Having it on his face would be annoying, especially as it dried and began to flake. The kitchen sinks didn't have mirrors, so he took his mask off and washed his entire face, just to be certain, before plunging his mask beneath the running tap and wiping it clean with a nearby hand towel. A petty thought hit him before he could turn off the water. Childish as it was, he couldn't help plugging the drain with the soaked rag and turning both handles to max, leaving the water to begin pooling up as he led the faunus out of the lair of their worst enemy. A soggy kitchen wouldn't matter much compared to the mess he'd left in the foyer, not to mention Jacques' office, but every little thing he could do to the Schnees just felt good.
Leaving the Manor was a lot easier than getting in. Security would no doubt see their escape on the cameras when they reviewed the footage, but by that point, it would be too late. Their increased numbers should've made getting out of Atlas harder, but with how late it was, the warehouses were pretty much empty and the inspection from earlier had ended long before they returned. They didn't even have to crash another forklift to sneak everyone on board and escape into the night.
Heading straight to Deleo would be asking for trouble, especially with all flights in or out of Atlas being monitored. As tight as their schedule was, drawing attention to themselves wouldn't help. Better late than with all of Atlas following them to the party. Instead, they headed back to Gehen, landing in plain sight but staying aboard as the crew headed outside to refuel and act like they were inspecting the craft. Anyone watching would just assume they were topping off for a long flight .
What they wouldn't see was the work going on inside, where Laurence was hurriedly altering their transponder. He'd be jamming their signal, of course, but on the off chance the jamming failed and the craft was actually pinged for identification, they didn't want to be sending back a cargo transport that had no business straying so far north. Whatever Laurence was working on would spoof their ID code to match a military craft instead, which might still set off some alarms but wouldn't immediately seem out of place heading toward Deleo. At the very least, it might confuse someone long enough for them to disappear again. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.
Felicia wouldn't be joining the attack - the risk of her exposing her identity would be too great - but she'd be on standby with a few airships ready to rush to their rescue if needed. Deleo should have their own miniature fleet that the attackers could hijack for their escape, but it always paid to have a backup plan.
They were airborne again within minutes of Laurence giving them the go-ahead, the craft fully fueled and ready for not just the quick hop to Deleo but then the escape to Valean airspace afterward. As soon as the attack team offloaded, they'd be starting their trip, making sure everyone they rescued from the Schnee Manor would be well beyond the reach of Atlas before anyone knew what was happening.
A small army of winter coats with legs was waiting for them when they landed. He couldn't tell any of them apart at first glance, but spotting Blake didn't take too long, though not through some intense feeling of his heart yearning for her or some other ridiculous notion that existed only in the crappiest love stories. A slightly smaller form approached him as he stepped off the airship and pulled his hood up against the bitter cold. Only someone higher up the chain would single themselves out like that, and with his team in charge until he arrived, the list of candidates was pretty small.
"How'd it go?" Her voice was unmistakable, even if she kept most of her face hidden. So close, he could see her golden, piercing eyes in the midst of all the fabric. He wished he could hide himself from the cold so effectively, but right now, he needed the men to see his face and know who was leading the assault, which meant he had no choice but to endure the stinging pain against his face. Even worse, his mask did an excellent impression of an ice cube against his face. No wonder Blake had left hers off, though he wondered how much she'd regret that choice when she had to put the frozen thing on her face rather than feel it gradually chill against her skin.
"Better than expected." They'd wrapped up ahead of schedule, completed all their objectives, and had plenty of rescued faunus ready for transport back to Menagerie. Even now, the airship behind him was raising its ramp and preparing for takeoff. Adam steered Blake away, incidentally leading the entire group further from the airship as its engines grew louder and began kicking up the snow around it. "Is everyone ready?"
"As ready as they're going to be." That would have to be good enough. "Epsilon's team is up ahead watching for movement, but so far, nothing."
Nothing meant nothing, as they could just as likely be preparing inside and have called for reinforcements as not have noticed them at all. No, he couldn't think like that. Positive thoughts. Like how they'd be positively screwed if Atlas responded before they were ready.
Wrong type of positive.
A gust of wind, spurred on by the departing airship, sent a spray of powder their way and had everyone turning from the sudden assault. Within the thick bundle of fabric, Adam saw the briefest glimmer of light across what little he could see of Blake's face. "Save your aura." They might need it.
"I didn't mean to." Aura could protect from more than just blades and bullets. As with electricity, it couldn't completely insulate them, but aura could lessen the harshness of a shock or temper the bite of winter. His team all knew how to use their aura on an almost instinctual level, but leaving it off when you felt pain took focus. Concentration. The mind always sought to avoid pain and betrayed them, bleeding aura needlessly rather than endure the bitter cold like a normal person.
Not him. Blake probably assumed it training or discipline. Evidence of his control. The truth was far less inspiring.
He'd lived in pain too long to shy away from it so easily.
Staying out in the cold would only waste time and aura, neither of which they could afford to throw away. It was time. "Everyone prepare to move. We're heading for Deleo." A half-hearted cheer, lessened by the frigid conditions, died out almost immediately. "Azul. Azure. Are you two good to go?"
"Ha. He said me first. I win."
"Shu-shut it," Azure answered, though his attempt to flick his sister off didn't work so well in mittens. "We're good."
Unlike everyone else, both of them sported white coats that stood out by blending into the arctic surroundings. Marcus wore one as well, though Adam insisted he leave the talking to the twins. Maybe he should've specified to let Azul do the talking. On second thought, no talking sounded best, but someone had to speak, and he'd been a little short on options.
"THen lead the way," Adam ordered.
"You heard him!" Azul shouted, trying to sound imposing even as her teeth chattered. "Move out, ya bunch of lab rats! The sooner we get to Deleo, the sooner they can begin experimenting on you!" Muffled laughter from the herd as they began marching through the cold. "Hey, I'm pretty good at this. Think I have a future with the company?"
"I wouldn't bet on it," Azure answered as they hurried to the front, followed closely by Marcus as he struggled through the thick sheet of snow. As bossy and condescending as Azul could be, Adam had a feeling her claim of employment wouldn't hold up very well as the departing airship turned away, its lights briefly reflecting off the silvery emblem woven into the back of her jacket.
The shining torch of Atlas.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
Three figures in white marched through the snow up to the large, metal doors of the Deleo Research Facility. With how cold the nights got in Solitas, putting a guard outside would be murder, so no one waited to greet them. A heavy awning covered the entrance, providing a little shelter from the elements for the trio, though the dozen or so people following them weren't soi lucky as they lingered behind, a mass of shivering fabric and fur.
"What now?" One of the figures asked, loosening his hood just enough to reveal his face as he looked up and down the door. "Should we knock?"
"Idiot." His partner slapped the back of his head, even if her blow did little through the thick cloth of his hood. She pointed to a small panel beside the door. "Ring the bell."
"Oh, right." He waddled over to panel as their third adjusted the heavy pack on his back. A loud buzz sounded as he held the large button at the bottom and spoke. "Hello? Anyone there?"
After a short burst of static, the panel spoke. "Who goes there?"
"We're here with a delivery of, uh, test subjects," the woman answered, pointing back to the group huddled behind them. "Can you let us in? Our truck broke down a few miles back, so we had to hoof it the rest of the way. It's freezing out here."
"There aren't any deliveries scheduled for tonight," the voice answered.
Her counterpart fumbled with his scroll, tapping it a few times before getting fed up and ripping his mitten off to get the screen to work. "Look, man." Growling, he pressed the transmit button again. "Look, take it up with the boss. All I know is we were sent out here to make a delivery, and that's what we're gonna do. So either let us in or you can explain to the higher ups why you've got a dozen frozen faunus decorating your front lawn."
"What he means to say is," she shot him a glare as she tried to defuse the situation, "we've got a bunch of half-frozen men and women out here. If you don't want them, then at least let them warm up inside while we call for a flight back to Mantle. They won't last much longer out here." As soon as her partner released the button again, she hissed, "Keep it together, moron."
"We're not letting you inside," came the reply.
She shoved her partner out of the way, smashing the button as she yelled, "What? You're just gonna leave us out here to freeze to death?" Her partner shivered as he put his mitten back on. "When management hears about this…"
"You're not an Atlas employee."
Azul froze, their cover blown. "Wh-what makes you say that?"
"We've got the coats and everything!"
The panel sighed as the voice explained, "For one, deliveries come by airship, not truck. Also, they come during the day, not two in the morning."
"We were delayed?" Azure tried before she released the button. "I don't think they're buying it."
"We're not." They both stopped to look down at the panel and the very unpressed button. "And that's not a transmit button. It's a doorbell." Oops. "Also, our cameras have facial recognition. Just because we can't see your faunus traits doesn't mean we can't spot a White Fang lieutenant."
"Well…this is awkward."
"Told you we should've knocked," Azure complained as he lowered his hood fully.
"Yeah, well, Adam wanted us to try the quiet method first, okay?" Marcus dropped his pack before pulling a pistol from beneath his jacket and putting a bullet through the lenses of both of the cameras watching them. Azul began rummaging through his pack, tossing something to her brother. "Told him it wouldn't work."
"Guess it's time for Plan B." Plan B was Azure's favorite, and not just because it was the easiest to remember. After all, if at first you don't succeed, blow it to hell. He was fairly sure some ancient philosopher once said that.
"Signal's jammed, but I don't know for how long," Laurence dutifully reported, having set up his portable equipment right outside the base. As unsuccessful as the siblings had been, they'd bought him time to get up and running. "Only so much I can do from out here. They'll find a way around it eventually."
"Then we'd better hurry," Adam said as he stepped under the covering to join the trio. "How long?"
"Twenty seconds," Azure promised, already securing the blinking device to the center of the door. Adam didn't know a lot about explosives beyond how effective they were, but he knew the siblings well enough to know it would be overkill. Felicia would be proud. "And…done. Might want to-"
"Everyone back!" Adam ordered, following Azure back out into the cold and slightly around the corner for cover.
An ominous beep sounded as Azure flipped the cover off the trigger of the small device he was holding. With a grin, he announced, "Knock knock."
The ground shook beneath Adam's feet as a gout of flame roared out of the cave-like entrance. Adam probably should've backed up further, though the heat felt good on his frozen face, even if it singed the edges of his coat. With the new hole in the base's door, Adam could hear the blare of an alarm as he turned to give orders to his team.
"Tell Epsilon we're in." He was waiting further out with the rest of their forces. The first wave consisted of Adam's entire squad and a few of Felicia's men, though they'd mostly just be there for suppressing fire to buy Adam time to get close to the enemy. "The rest of you, with me. Once we secure the main entrance, we'll push forward to the security wing."
They knew the plan, but repeating it made things sound simple compared to the blaring siren, shouts of the defenders and the absolute hell they were about to charge face first into. The hole would let them in, but only one at a time and straight into a killbox. The lobby itself wasn't exactly large and only had one path forward - a long corridor that would make a perfect killbox.
At least, that was the idea. For most people, trying to charge down that hall would be a suicide mission, but Adam wasn't most people. They only had one direction to focus on, but that worked both ways. If he could endure the initial assault, he'd be able to tear their ranks apart and cover for his reinforcements.
It never hurt to be extra prepared, though. Azure handed him a metallic canister with a nod. "Give me a ten count."
"Save some for the rest of us," Azure cheered.
Adam made no promises.
Sure enough, the moment he stepped through the opening into the somewhat plain lobby, gunfire rained down on his position. He dove toward the far corner, cutting off their view for a second but knowing he didn't have time to waste. He'd spotted at least two soldiers and a few Knights at the end of the hall. Not ideal, but he'd make it work. He pulled the pin on Azure's gift and underhanded it as far down the hall as he could. It didn't make it all the way to his enemies, but that wasn't the plan anyway.
Smoke billowed out from the spinning tube, quickly filling the limited space and creating a thick cover between him and the defenders. Someone shouted before gunfire tore through the smoke in short bursts, trying to hit their unseen targets or just keep him suppressed. Adam waited until the staccato paused before taking a breath and charging.
The soldiers, for all their training, were only human and hadn't really thought through what was coming. Wasting ammo meant having to reload. The few seconds could prove costly against a prepared opponent.
Knights, on the other hand, presented a different problem. Programming had them wait until they spotted a target, which would've been fine if they didn't come equipped with thermal imagers. As soon as he stepped from cover, they opened fire with unerring accuracy. Had they been thinking straight, their human counterparts might've waited for the signal and added to the lethality instead of useless shots earlier. Someone cursed, the smoke surging before Adam's blade as he tried to deflect what gunfire he could. One of the soldiers managed to slam a magazine in place and take aim just as Adam struck.
It made little difference. Adam cut through both the weapon and wielder in one, swift motion, both falling to the floor lifelessly before he turned his attention on the Knights. They'd swapped to melee at such close range, but all that accomplished was robbing them of any chance of damage.
"Intruder al-" Adam severed the robot's head before it could finish, its fellows already turned to scrap in the time it took to utter the warning. He turned to the last man standing, who had dropped his mag in a frantic hurry and stood there with an unloaded weapon held before him defensively. He threw it to the floor, hands shooting upward in the hopes of being spared.
Luckily for him, Adam might have need of hostages later.
"Good choice." The man practically collapsed in relief, which made it easier for Marcus to secure his hands behind his back and pass him off to one of Felicia's men to hold onto. Adam took the radio off his fallen comrade. "This is Adam Taurus of the White Fang. We're here to destroy Deleo." Utterly and completely. "No one is coming to save you. Surrender, and I'll let you live. Otherwise, this lab will be your tomb."
No response. He'd sort of hoped someone would order a stand down. Not that he'd trust it, of course. He knew better than to believe any promise from Atlas. Still, they were in a hurry, and while he knew they'd be able to cut through the defenses at Deleo, that would take time. It would've been nice to just usher everyone out, place some charges, and call it a day.
Atlas never made things easy.
"Anyone holding a gun is a hostile," Adam reminded his team needlessly. If any of them were dumb enough to think otherwise, they deserved what was coming to them. "Try not to shoot the scientists. We need them alive." As many as they could, at least. Killing civilians would just give Atlas PR ammo, and the scientists might be able to help them decipher information or unlock areas. Civvies tended to comply when threatened. They'd also make more valuable hostages, if push came to shove. Losing soldiers was part of war and could be deemed acceptable losses by the brass, even if most of them hadn't been in a real fight in their lives. Civilians, though, would be saved at all costs, even if that meant making a deal with the White Fang. Such was the way of the world, where those that served and sacrificed were ultimately less valuable than the people they died protecting.
Taking the first few rooms was easy enough. Most of the defenses were automated and did little more than slow him down, but that was the point. He'd studied the layout enough to know where the real fight would be. Jakob used to jokingly refer to such places as boss rooms - big, open spaces that would favor ranged fighters over melee. It also served as the final defensible position before they reached the civilian areas. Fighting there would be pointless, so while the main hall would be the hardest obstacle and hold nearly every weapon Deleo had at its disposal, taking it would all but end the fighting.
They were nearly there, leaving a trail of broken Knights in their wake. Epsilon had caught up with his forces, adding even more firepower to their already formidable ranks. Their single prisoner was marched near the back, two guards watching him at all times and keeping him away from the fighting, but so far he hadn't even tried to resist. All in all, things were once again running smoothly for once.
The lights cut out without warning.
"Really?" That was their bright idea? Faunus could see just fine in the dark, as could the Knights, but a good chunk of them were naught but scrap now. The only ones hurt by the change in tactic were the humans. Had they learned nothing from the Faunus Revolution?
Well, if they wanted to give him the advantage, then so be it. Not like he cared for their pathetic tactics. The last few rooms were empty, giving them an easy path to the main hall and the last stand of Deleo. He stopped their march before the heavy, double doors that would let them into the final room.
"This is it. Once we take this area, Yuma and Trifa will lead Epsilon's team to secure the docks. The rest of us will move on the labs." Neither of which should be difficult, but if they were going to make a final stand anywhere past the main hall, it would probably be where all the research was kept. The living quarters of the civilian wing would be almost pointless, so he wouldn't waste his time there. They could always sweep it once the docks were secure, but having an escape route trumped a soft target any day of the week. Even so, guarding the exit would come secondary to defending the research at Deleo. He wouldn't underestimate them, though, so both teams would be ready for a fight should it come. "Stay behind cover. They've had time to dig in and prepare, so expect the worst. If things get too hot, stay hidden and let me and my team handle it."
He'd love to think that they'd escape without any losses, but he'd rather prepare for the worst and be pleasantly surprised than head in with lofty dreams and be crushed by reality. He could charge straight into gunfire and overwhelm superior numbers alone, but they couldn't. Without aura, all it would take is a single, well-placed shot to snuff them out. It was easy to forget how fragile life was when he could take down a Grimm with his bare hands.
Adam signaled for them to wait as he carefully nudged the door open, ready to dive back if bullets ripped through. When nothing happened, he pushed a little further, peeking into the darkened room to see what they were up against.
The place looked empty, nearly pitch black in an unnatural way. A facility like this ought to have some sort of emergency lights for safety. While he could still see fine, the human occupants would struggle to even cross the room in this darkness, let alone fight. Not that he saw anyone prepared to do that. If they were in there, then they'd hidden themselves well.
Cautiously, Adam slipped inside, leaving the door open behind him. Had the lights in the previous rooms stayed lit, it would've illuminated his position brightly, but they'd cut those too. It didn't make any sense. He held up a hand for everyone behind to wait as he edged forward, scanning his surroundings for any movement. His head jerked to the side, but whatever had his senses jumping wasn't there. He hesitated before stepping past the nearby stairway, knowing his next step would rob him of all cover as he entered the expansive, open floor ahead. Just to be safe, he drew his sword and felt his scabbard shift before aiming for a random spot on the balcony above and squeezing the trigger.
Paneling shattered as the shot hit, carving a gap in the balcony's cover, but still nothing responded. He'd expected them to be hidden up there, waiting for him to expose himself, and while the random spot he'd chosen wasn't exactly guaranteed to hold anyone, it should've made nearby defenders jump if they were lying in wait.
"Is it clear?"
Adam sighed at the question from behind. He couldn't be sure, but if they really were going to ambush him here, they'd done a terrible job preparing. Had they evacuated the facility already, leaving only the robotic defenders to slow him down? He doubted it, but couldn't fully rule it out.
Instead of responding to the query, Adam held up two fingers and waved his hand forward. Alpha Squad - the second wave - filed in through the door and spread out as Adam pushed further into the eerie quiet, eyes darting around as he tried to piece together their plan. Leaving somewhere like this empty made no tactical sense, especially when they knew the threat, yet here he stood unchallenged. He waited for the other shoe to drop as the rest of his men began taking position, many of them moving to the balcony for the high ground, but none of them were cut down or vanished despite his foreboding sense of danger.
"Now what?" Bane asked as he slipped closer, waiting for orders.
That was a good question. Of all the things he'd planned for, this never made the list. "Check every inch of this place. And have Yuma fly up and take a look. Something's not right." Bane nodded and went to relay his orders.
Which is when all hell broke loose.
Adam stumbled as the room lit up, his eyes burning at the sudden had him diving back blindly, and while he didn't see anything, the unmistakable sound of gunfire told him exactly what happened.
"It's a trap!" One he'd led them right into. He should've known they'd have some sort of trick up their sleeve. Deleo was devoted to finding ways to fight faunus and exploit any weaknesses. If anywhere had anti-faunus measures, it would be here.
Apparently, the humans had learned after all. He'd thought it foolish of them to ditch the lights and fight in the dark, but that hadn't been the plan. Instead, they'd shut the lights off early, giving their eyes time to adjust to the dark. Faunus vision meant they could see exceptionally well in low light, but to do that, their eyes had to adjust to bring in more light. That sounded great when the lights were off, but a sudden burst of light would overwhelm their widened pupils, leaving them stunned and disoriented. Easy pickings for anyone on the other side.
The screams and gunfire all around told him the humans had taken advantage of the opportunity. He tried to shackle the spots away that blocked his vision, but when he could finally make out what was happening, he almost wished he hadn't seen anything at all.
Soldiers poured in from the flanks, firing at the dazed attackers as they found themselves caught in a pincer. Small openings in the ceiling dropped Knight units that opened fire before they even hit the ground, cutting down anyone who they spotted. Worse, he could see turrets lowering from several plates in the ceiling, raining death down from high above where the balcony lost all advantage. A body dropped behind him, one of Felicia's men stumbling over the railing with at least a dozen holes in his chest. He died even before his head hit the ground with a sickening crack.
"Get down!" Falling back wasn't an option, even before he noticed the metal door drop behind them, sealing them in. This wasn't an ambush. It was an execution.
Well, if they thought he'd go down without a fight, they had another thing coming.
Spots still danced before his eyes, but Adam didn't care. He charged to the right, straight at half of the human attackers, intent on breaking the pincer. They saw the threat coming and focused all their fire on bringing him down, but that was what he wanted. He had to buy time for the others to recover, even if that meant making himself the biggest target in the room.
A deadly target, too. His head throbbed as his eyes still struggled to adjust to the new light level, but he ignored it, swinging at what little he could see. His blade hit something and dug in. He wrenched it free to the sound of a dying scream, proving he'd hit true as he focused less on precision and more on just making contact. Wherever he hit, blood flew and bodies dropped. Some blows proved fatal, others left grown men writhing on the floor, but each and every one lessened their threat as the battlefield slowly came into focus.
He wasn't the only one on the move. Blake must've spotted his charge and figured out the plan as she leapt over him, landing with both feet against a soldier's chest before kicking off and sending him tumbling into another. Ilia's whip crackled to his left, wrapping around one man's arm and wrenching it around. Muscles tightened uncontrollably, firing his weapon wildly into an unsuspecting ally who had just enough time to gasp at his killer before tumbling backward. Marcus charged past him, doing a much better impression of a bull than Adam ever could as he bulldozed his way into the crowd, scattering soldiers before him. Somewhere behind, he could hear the roar of Bane's chainsaw. He dreaded to see what sort of carnage that was doing to the other flank.
Filthy humans. Unable to match the evolutionary advantages of a superior species, they'd resorted to cheap tricks and dirty tactics. He should've known they wouldn't fight fair. Everything about Deleo reeked of their depravity. Atlas was the worst, a stronghold of humanity's worst desperately fighting against the inevitability of their own inadequacy. They refused to accept that faunus were the future of Remnant, stubbornly struggling to maintain their grip on the top, no matter the cost.
"Target the turrets!" Adam called as he continued showing the humans just how hopeless their situation was. As long as they had the high ground, his men were in danger. Those that took the balconies, expecting it to give them the advantage, had been all but wiped out already as they found themselves trapped and exposed. Others hid under the limited covering, shielding themselves as they struggled to hold out against attacks from almost every direction. With the two flanks busy, they finally had a chance to gather themselves and focus on the Knights all around the room, but that still left the threat above.
Blake's sickle scythed through the nearest turret before wrenching free in a shower of metallic gore as she tugged on the ribbon attached to the end. Yuma took flight from further back, circling the room once to stay ahead of the targeting systems before turning sharply and taking on another directly. Trifa's webbing shot from below, blinding the sensors on another to keep it off Yuma's exposed form. As the last of the soldiers on his side fell, Adam sheathed his sword and turned, locating the nearest functioning turret. His arms tensed before ripping his blade free, sending a crimson arc of bristling energy toward the ceiling. The turret all but disintegrated under the attack, as did a good portion of the ceiling around it. Small pieces rained down from the now blackened metal behind the flimsy tiling.
From there, mopping up the rest of the attackers was child's play. Without their turrets and human support, the Knights fell in no time, too focused on the objective to even spare a thought for defending themselves. Most of the soldiers were dead or dying, while those still clinging to life clutched at various wounds and trembled, waiting for Adam and his force to finish the job.
Pathetic. They'd had every advantage, and they still couldn't take him down. His aura hadn't failed, though he could tell it would take a while to recover it all, but what hope did the humans have if they couldn't even hurt him when he'd served himself up on a silver platter? The difference between these auraless cannon fodder and himself had never seemed wider.
Azul fell to the floor and panted, "Is that all of them?" He certainly hoped so. A quick check proved what he'd already suspected - none of Alpha Squad had fallen. The same couldn't be said for Felicia's men. Maybe a third were still in the fight, but that felt optimistic. They wouldn't need as many airships to get home as he'd planned.
"Gather the wounded." They needed to keep moving. He hadn't done a count, but that certainly looked like everyone from Deleo's security forces. As far as last stands went, that had certainly been an effective one. Not good enough to stop him, but enough so to do way more damage than they had any right to. He'd have to warn Sienna about this new tactic, though in the future, they'd be more cautious if things went dark.
"What about the survivors?" Blake looked torn as she stared at a man missing his arm. Luckily for him, Adam's blade had cut clean through, while the fire dust burned and cauterized the wound to keep him from bleeding out. A small, accidental mercy.
He knew what Blake's hesitant tone meant. She was worried he'd say something about no survivors and order the men to be put down. He could admit to being tempted, but none of them were exactly a threat anymore. "We'll secure them in the civilian wing. When we're done here, we'll leave them at the docks." The one part of the base they wouldn't be demolishing. They could hold out there after the White Fang left and wait for rescue, along with the scientists that had yet to be rounded up.
For now, he needed to focus on securing the rest of the facility. That shouldn't be too hard. The thing about last stands was that they came at the end. You didn't usually hold anything back.
With their own manpower lessened, Adam decided to call an audible. Blake, Ilia, Bane, and four of Felicia's men followed him into the science wing while most of the others went for the docks. They left the wounded and a small detachment in the main hall with orders that they all be moved to the docks as soon as that area was secure. The sooner they were ready to leave, the better.
But they still needed to deal with the research at Deleo. He probably could've done it on his own, but with four of them, he could speed things up a bit and make sure he didn't miss anything. He and Blake took the first lab together, while Bane and Ilia hit the next. The plan was to alternate in a leapfrog fashion, clearing each room all the way to the end. The extra men he'd brought were there both as pack mules for the explosives and to handle the scientists.
And boy, were there scientists to deal with. The first room had four of them, each in pristine, white coats as they hurriedly fed papers into a shredder. Blake put an end to that, nearly scaring them half to death as she dove between them and the whirring evidence destroyer. Adam snatched a few forms from the nearest scientist, but most of it was notes on proteins and amino acids. He understood practically none of it, but the little he did see seemed to indicate a lack of any substantial progress on whatever they were looking into.
Adam gathered all their papers into a small box nearby and handed it off to the men outside, along with all four scientists. Successful or not, they felt it worth destroying, so Adam figured there had to be something important in there. Sienna could piece it all together later, but if they were already destroying research, then he didn't have time to read.
Bane and Ilia had a similar experience, though they hadn't gotten there in time to save much of anything. A few of the following labs were empty. Rather than wasting time looking for intel to recover, Adam planted the charge and moved on, trusting that if it wasn't important enough for Deleo to destroy, it probably wasn't worth recovering.
"You two take the next few labs," Adam instructed as Bane and Ilia met them in the hall once more. Six empty labs. The juicier research must be hidden deeper in the facility, not to mention the lab subjects. They should have at least twenty faunus being held somewhere near the end of the wing. He and Blake would head there first, then work their way back, meeting somewhere in the middle.
They left the support behind, swiping a bag of charges to take with them instead. They'd be better off guarding the small cluster of scientists anyway. Most of the labs and offices were dark, proving his hunch right that most of the wing would be deserted. The further they got, the bigger some of the labs were, leading them deeper and deeper into the facility without any signs of life.
By the time they reached the cells at the end - no matter how Deleo tried to sugarcoat it, the faunus were still prisoners - Adam was feeling a little underwhelmed. The adrenaline from the earlier fight was gone. A life or death struggle made checking empty rooms feel a little pedestrian in comparison. At least they'd get to rescue some faunus in the end. All they had to do was-
"They're here!"
The moment Adam and Blake entered the housing area for the faunus, a guard spotted them and shouted a warning. Wait, why were there guards here? Shouldn't they have been-
The answer came in the sound of a gunshot.
"No!" Blake screamed, piecing together the obvious faster than he could.
They were killing the prisoners. More shots rang out as the kill squad hastened their task. Deleo really was trying to erase their evidence. The technical documents might hint at what they were up to, but their test subjects must've known more than Atlas felt comfortable with. How could they deny wrongdoing when their victims spoke out? Easier to remove the witnesses than deal with the fallout of their testimony.
Blake was already on the move, charging at the lone guard before Adam had a chance to stop her. He raised his gun, but it didn't look like a normal weapon. The rifle had some strange device connected to it. Instead of pulling the trigger, he reached to the side and flipped a switch.
Adam clutched his ears as a piercing sound filled the hall. The high pitched squeal had his teeth grinding together, but after the initial shock wore off, it was little more than an annoyance.
Blake fell to the ground, screaming as she clutched her ears. Her faunus ears. She writhed on the ground in pain, her voice rising to nearly match the horrible tone. "Make it stop! Make it st-ah!"
That was the last sound he heard before bullets tore into her downed form. Adam watched in horror as the woman he loved was torn to pieces, his whole world shattering along with her. Something vile bubbled its way up his throat, but rather than vomit, it was his own scream that burst from his lips as he surged down the hall, seeing nothing but red as he painted the far wall to match.
Blake's killer didn't fall. That would've been too clean an end for him. Adam carved through his chest with such force that it hurled him back to splatter against the end of the hall. His body slowly slid down, leaving a trail of blood and viscera behind before collapsing to the floor.
Another guard rounded the corner and immediately found himself a head shorter for his trouble. The final member of their squad saw his impending doom and tried to flee. Adam's gun barked in response, tearing into his back as he stumbled toward the remaining cells. Adam stomped his way forward, intent on finishing him up close and personal. Before he could, the dying man pulled something from his vest, fumbled with it for a second, then hurled himself forward with what little strength he had left.
Adam was thrown back by the explosion. The walls and ceiling ahead didn't survive the blast, collapsing in on themselves and burying the rest of the cell block, along with anyone that might've still been alive. Still shaken by what he'd just seen, Adam turned to see a woman and her child, each lifeless within their small room as blood soaked the floor from multiple wounds. He knew he'd find the same in every other room, but he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment.
Adam stumbled back to where she'd fallen, but the body wasn't there. Whatever they'd done had utterly destroyed her, leaving not even a trace of Blake behind for him to mourn. Only her weapon remained, laying in the middle of the hall where she'd dropped it as she struggled in her final moments.
Adam fell to his knees, hands reaching for the familiar weapon. It felt heavy in his hands. Too heavy. He held it before him, trying to deny what his eyes had seen but unable to drive the image from his mind even as it broke. His heart ached as he reached up and removed his mask, tears already soaking the ribbon beneath.
"A-Adam?"
Adam whipped his head to the side at the sound. Two faunus lay within the nearby cell, but one of them still moved, trying to rise before toppling.
Adam caught her in his arms, desperately clinging to the woman who'd come back from the dead. He didn't dare let her go, afraid she'd vanish again if he did.
"What…what happened?" The sound of her voice thrilled his heart.
"I thought I lost you," Adam whispered as he kept her close. "You…I saw…"
He'd seen her die. He'd watched as bullets tore through her and end her life. And yet, here she was, somehow still alive and in one piece. Just to be certain, he finally pulled back to inspect her. No blood. No wounds. It was her, even if she looked exhausted and on the verge of collapse.
"I don't feel so good," she said. He didn't care. She was alive. That was all that mattered. "The prisoners?"
"Dead," Adam told her. "The soldiers killed them all." Just as they'd killed her. Unlike the others, her demise hadn't stuck. He silently thanked whatever gods were out there for that miracle. "We need to get you out of here."
"Y-yeah. I think that would be a good idea."
Blake could barely hold herself up at first, leaning on him for support every step of the way. That was fine with Adam, since he wasn't going to let her go anyway. They passed Bane and Ilia, who had come running at the sound of the explosion. None of them had heard the gunfire before from so deep within the wing, but it was hard to miss the devastating ending even from so far away. Bane tried to ask what happened, but Adam just told him to finish up as he all but carried Blake away from where he'd almost lost her.
By the time they reached the docks, everyone else was ready to go. Azul rushed to help when she saw Blake, but he waved her off, saying he had her. He loaded her onto the first airship he could, strapping her in as she started to nod off. Adam stood there for a few seconds, making sure she was still okay before he dared step away. He could see the gentle swell of breath in her chest, which helped reassure him as Azul asked what happened.
Honestly, he didn't know. One moment, she'd died, and the next, she was alive again. He knew what he'd seen, yet here she was, defying reality. For a brief moment, he'd lost everything, only to have it handed back to him again. They said you never truly appreciated those around you until you lost them. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to stick by her side until they were back at Reyno.
But first, he had something to take care of.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
The men he'd left to guard the civilian wing were waiting when he arrived. Bane and Ilia had passed him on his way there, reporting they'd set all the charges and were ready to go. Adam ignored them entirely, his mind focused on one thing and one thing only.
"Open it," Adam ordered, his voice causing the two men to look at each other in concern. They knew better than to refuse and stepped aside as the doors parted and Adam stormed through, letting them close behind him. They weren't sure if they were meant to follow or just wait out here until it was time to move the prisoners, but they were too intimidated to ask.
Their answer came a few seconds later.
"Wait! What are you-"
"You promised we'd be-"
"Someone help-"
The words soon turned to frantic screams and the stomping of feet. The two faunus looked at one another and then back at the door. The sounds beyond would haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Though not as much as the sight of the blood-soaked monster who emerged afterwards, leaving a reddened trail behind it as it stalked away from the grisly scene behind. Neither of them were really sure what to do. The first made the mistake of looking inside the room, emerging with his face drained of color and eyes wide. They slowly followed their leader back to the docks, neither one of them willing to come closer than they had to as they abandoned their post.
There were no more prisoners left to guard.
Great place to take a break as Blake nearly dies (we were so close) and Adam slaughters a room full of prisoners. I'm sure you all can figure out what actually happened, but all Adam knows is that he watched Blake die and suddenly reappear. They'll figure it out in time, but they don't have all the knowledge we have, so it'll take some doing. There's also a subtle line that hints at a rather important change for Adam if you look for it.
Of course, no dark chapter would be complete without a few light-hearted references. For all of you with good taste in movies, you'll probably recognize Adam's inspiration from the Wet Bandits. One of my favorite Christmas movies by far. Even had one of them make a cameo in another story (Beacons of Love). Can't resist bringing one of my favorite criminal duos in whenever I can. Also have Adam doing his best Admiral Ackbar impressions.
Then the real fun begins. Deleo's a lab dedicated to fighting faunus, so of course they'd have measures in place to deal with the White Fang. Not enough to stop Adam, naturally, but enough to give him a bit of a challenge at least. There'll be more on their tactics and research later, not to mention what happened to Blake, after the break. Until then, make sure you all take care of yourselves and enjoy, however and whatever you may celebrate.
Next chapter (in two weeks): Post-Deleo