Christy took point as the team took their position hiding behind giant sand drift hills overlooking the base. There wasn’t much security, just a few guards and a pair of security drones patrolling the sky. Surveying the situation, she looked over at Natalie and Ember.
“Ember, how well can you phase into the ground?”
“It’s tricky,” Ember said cracking her knuckles, “but I can go at least fifty yards before I need to come back up and not sink deeper into the ground.”
“That’s more than enough. You take the guard on the left, Natalie, you take the guard on the right.”
“What about the drones?” Natalie asked as she started to turn invisible.
“Brooklyn and I will take care of them” Christy said morphing her axe to rifle form. “Aurora, be ready to possibly run down to take care of any potential hidden turrets or surprise alarms.”
“Will do Professor” Aurora said as she stretched her legs. Ember started to sink into the ground like it was quicksand but kept her nose just above the ground so that she could still breathe and see where she was going. She made sure that her camo headband was set correctly so that her hair wouldn’t stand out like a sore thumb in the middle of the desert. As she moved closer and closer, she also made sure that she could see the small footprints that Natalie was leaving in the sand to ensure that she was ready to strike the moment that Christy gave the signal. Ember positioned herself right behind her designated guard, and got her weapons ready. Then, Christy and Brooklyn fired their rifles at the drones, causing the guards to reel back a bit as the drones started to fall out of the sky. But before they could even make another move, Natalie and Ember had the two of them in choke holds and gagging them so that they didn’t make a sound to alert anybody else. Ember then quickly snapped the neck of the guard and waved the team down. Natalie was about to follow suit, but then noticed that the guard was fumbling around his belt, trying to reach his radio. Natalie grabbed his arm to stop him from sounding the alarm, but that meant she had to release part of her hold on the guard, giving him the chance to try and fight back. He spun around and broke free of Natalie’s hold. But before he or Natalie could do anything, a sword impaled him through the chest. Aurora had used her speed to rush forward and make sure the guard didn’t have any time to attack. To make sure he didn’t sound the alarm with his last breath, Aurora then sliced off both his arms and stabbed him through the head. The soldier fell to the ground, his blood pouring out onto the sand.
“What the heck did your dad teach you on Menagerie?” Hera said wincing watching Aurora take down the guard.
“The methods to survive” Aurora said as she cleaned her blade. “Besides, this is war. It’s kill or be killed.”
“Plus,” Christy said as she pulled out a small hacking device and attached a cable to a nearby communication panel, “if we had left them unconscious, there’s a good possibility that they could have woken up while we were still searching for our target. And that would have lead to them finding us even faster.”
“If you say so” Hera said as she loaded her weapons.
“Trust me,” Terra said with a smirk, “this is how you need to do stealth in order to survive out here. War or otherwise.”
“Dually noted” Brooklyn said as she morphed her weapon from rifle form to shield form. “How are we looking Christy?”
“We’re in” Christy said pulling out her Scroll and bringing up a holographic image. “We now have access to the layout of the base. I’ll send it to everybody in a moment. Along with that, the feedback loop of the drone cameras is now running with the security inside hopefully none the wiser.”
“So where do we find the Relic?” Aurora asked as she put her swords back in their sheaths.
“I don’t know” Christy said as she managed to get the door hacked open. “Can’t risk them finding out we’re here by digging through their private files and tipping them off.”
“So how do you want to play this?” Natalie said as she and everybody else made their way into the base.
“Well, Ozpin told us that he helped build this place back when he first created the Order, so that means any technology can be expected to be shotty and not fully integrated with the base. I’ll make sure that each camera has a loop playing to keep us from being detected. But it’s too dangerous for us to move as a single large group. Natalie, you and Hera will be a team and explore the western wings and upper levels. Brooklyn, you will take Aurora and Terra and scope out the eastern wings and middle levels. Ember, and I will head to the lower levels and see what we can find. Keep all communicators on short-range frequency and on the secret channel. I can’t stress this enough, we can’t let them know we’re here. Once you find the Relic, call it in. The moment we have secured it, we can begin phase two of the operation.”
“Sounds good” Brooklyn said as she pulled up the layout of the base and started making her way towards her target with Aurora and Terra close behind. Natalie and Hera simply snuck their way to their destination, leaving Christy and Ember to start working their way towards the stairs.
“I hope this works” Ember said as they started descending to the lower levels.
“It’ll work” Christy said with a smile. “They don’t suspect a thing.”
Lord Tenebris was growing more and more upset as he tried to find anything to pass the time while waiting for Lord Imperia to get back from the attack on Atlas. With nothing better to do, he made his way over to the main security room and started looking over the feeds. He saw a lone guard sitting at the main computer console, watching over all the different cameras that were surveying the base. As he kept watching the footage, it grew clear that this was not going to help him get his mind off things, so he turned to leave when something caught his eye. He pushed the guard to the side and pulled up a feed of the cameras that were patrolling outside the gates. He noticed something moving in the background. A small desert dog was bouncing through the sands of the nearby desert. Nothing really to concern himself with, but he did notice one strange thing. As he kept watching, he noticed that after a short period of time, the tracks from the animal would disappear out of existence in a single instant. And then moments later, the same dog would appear and leave tracks in the same exact location. Growing concerned, Lord Tenebris pulled up other cameras of people around the base, trying to see if he could find something that would help him find the answer he was looking for.
Natalie propped herself up against the corner of a nearby wall, Hera wasn’t far behind her making sure nobody was behind them. Peeking around the corner, Natalie saw a pair of guards standing right in front of a secure vault. She then turned invisible and slowly made her way over to where the guards were standing. Slowly but surely, she managed to get to a point where she was able to take out her weapon, and place it right between the two guards waists. And in a single motion, she slashed the two guards down, giving Hera the chance to quickly made her way over to Natalie as she reappeared and started assessing the door.
“It wouldn’t have killed you to steal some door codes while you were inside Christy?” Natalie grumbled to herself as she looked over the keypad with complete confusion.
“Maybe I could slip through the cracks and open the door from inside?” Hera said as she stretched her arm out a short distance. Natalie nodded her head in agreement, and Hera managed to warp her body to be thin like paper, which was just thin enough where she could slip through the tiny single open crevice in the door. It took a moment, as Hera didn’t want to accidentally catch herself on something that could potentially stretch her body beyond her limit. But she managed to squeeze through and open the door without any problems or alarms whatsoever. Natalie came through the door, and saw that it was the armory for the Order.
“Well, it’s not the Relic” she said as she reached inside her pack, “but it’s a good start for phase two.” While saying this, Natalie pulled out several explosive charges and started attaching them to different weapons and explosive throughout the armory. Hera followed suit, the two of them working quickly, as they both sensed that they weren’t going to remain this lucky forever.
Lord Tenebris continued to pour over the security footage, determined to find something that would confirm his rising suspicions. Then he finally saw it. Something that he knew was impossible. A camera showing that he himself was walking down a corridor to the barracks.
“They’re feeding us a loop” he said as he punched the table in frustration. “Alert the guards, we are now on silent high alert. Don’t let them know we’re on to them. Contact Lord Imperia, she needs to know what’s happening here. Prepare for an emergency evacuation just in case. Also see if you can’t reboot our security systems so we can get visuals on all of them. I’m going to the Chamber of the Monolith.” With that, Lord Tenebris started running towards the chamber at full speed, not sure who or what he would find when he arrived there.
Brooklyn continued to lead the way deeper and deeper into the base. Aurora would occasionally run ahead to scout for enemy guards with her speed to be there and back before a normal person could process her presence. They finally reached a giant hangar door where several guards were standing by keeping a vigilant watch. Brooklyn morphed her weapon from shield form to rifle form and took up a position behind some nearby crates and prepared to fire. Terra hid behind some nearby crates as well, and surveyed the area for nearby rocks that she could potentially drop on the heads of unsuspecting soldiers. Aurora drew her blades knowing full well what her role in this attack would be. Brooklyn gave Aurora the signal, and she ran forward, slicing and dicing every single enemy in her path. Before they could even process what was happening, a good chunk of the soldiers were already dead on the floor from Aurora’s attack. In order to preserve her aura, Aurora didn’t run too much, opting instead to run to the center of the room and beckon the soldiers to come at her. Those who remained drew their weapons and charged forward at Aurora, expecting her to use her speed again to take them down. But Aurora simply stood there, parrying any and every attack that came her way and masterfully slicing up her opponents in seconds. Along with that, Brooklyn and Terra were picking off soldiers that were either too far back for Aurora to hit with her swords, or were starting to overwhelm Aurora with their attacks. Aurora simply smiled, breathed in deeply, and remembered the training that her father had given her. She then took her swords and did three powerful strikes that sent her enemies flying and into the bullets and rocks of Brooklyn and Terra. Within minutes, the soldiers were down and the path was clear. They then made their way over to the main doors and found a key card access port they could use from one of the defeated guards. They then saw that the hangar while mostly empty since they sent a good portion of their airships to attack Atlas, there was still a few power ships left over and plenty of fuel for them to plant their charges on.
“Well this is great for later, but where’s that leave the Relic?” Aurora said as she finished planting her charge. Suddenly, their communicators went live.
“This is Christy. I’ve found the Relic, but there’s a small complication.”
Christy and Ember made their way down the hall and saw a small door with the Order’s insignia on the front. There were several guards patrolling that particular door, but hardly any security outside of a simple card reader. She didn’t question it though, and started to sneak her way towards the door. Ember followed suit, phasing into the walls as well to avoid any detection by the enemy. The guards didn’t notice them at all until it was too late. Christy took out one of the guards with a quick strike from her axe, while Ember used the choke hold again to subdue her opponent. With the guards out of the way, the path was clear. Christy took one of the key cards and opened the door. When they stepped inside, she couldn’t believe what she saw. A giant computer, bigger than anything she had seen or could comprehend. It looked archaic, like something from over fifty years ago. But she quickly shook that off and started surveying the room. She then saw Ember standing next to a blue glowing lamp that was hooked up to the computer.
“Fits Ozpin’s description” Ember said as she removed all of the wires from the Relic.
“This must be it.”
“Ok” Christy said as she pulled out her explosives. “Let’s plant these and get back to….”
“So, you managed to find your way here” Christy and Ember jumped and spun to face the new voice. Lord Tenebris was standing right there, his tuning fork sword already drawn and ready for battle. Ember felt her rage grow even stronger than last time and prepared her weapons.
“Your weapons are nothing original child” Lord Tenebris said with a laugh. “They are simply a combination of your parents weapons, something that can easily be replicated. Much like your name, everything you are is borrowed and a copy of a better version. Every single piece of yourself….”
“Anybody ever tell you that you talk too much?” Ember said as she rushed forward to start fighting Lord Tenebris. Their first clash sent a shockwave throughout the entire room causing all the old walls to shake. Christy managed to stay on her feet, and activated her comm link.
“This is Christy” she said as she grabbed hold of the Relic. “I’ve found the Relic, but there’s a small complication.” As she said this, Ember came flying back towards her having been launched by one of Lord Tenebris’ attacks. Ember was slow to get up, while Lord Tenebris simply laughed as Christy took up a battle stance.
“You fools have no idea who you are facing.” Lord Tenebris said pointing his blade at Ember. “I may have failed to end you in Mistral, but I will not fail this time.”
“Funny,” Ember said as she got back up, “I was going to say the same about you.”
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