RP: Neshaten [Division 5] - Case 01 - Nothing Lost is Nothing Gained

Highrise

Arynn nodded as she heard the response from HQ, then remembered that they can't see her. "Okay. I agree that her path should be investigated, as well." The tiny focks-girl then turned back towards the stairs themselves, looking up the building. "If they're aware of us, she's right in that they would avoid this location."

Warehouse

Kyeterinyah Depolanskaya had been a few moments away from slipping off her mask to determine whether or not that scent of gas that was dancing around her nostrils was from the earlier fireball or some new trap involving the flickering light, hell, in her time as an agent she'd done something similar when pinned down in a rundown apartment complex - ripped the gas line out of the wall and crushed the light bulb in a dark room before scampering out the window, letting the heat on her neck and the carcophanous roar tell her it'd gone according to plan as she continued to sprint off into the treeline...

The quietest operator snapped back to the moment when she heard sounds of a scuffle, a blade glancing off armour was enough to kick her back into action, Kyet let instinct drive her to quickly scurry up onto one of the boxes and get a better vantage point of the current situation, spotting Hana just as he squeezed off a single shot - her own SMG being shouldered before letting off a burst aimed at the assailant's center of mass.

She'd always been a quick one, it was why Kyet worked so well on her own out in the field as an agent, had she been quick enough to help though?

Highrise

Adrea chuckled, "Yes you're right I shouldn't be too relaxed just yet. As for an investigation you're cleared to check it out operator, Arynn you can accompany him or stay here, I'll keep this one restrained while we wait." The commander said, moving to take the prisoner so that the other operator could double back.

Back in the room where their would-be assassin came in, there was a pile of smashed glass on the floor next to a broken window, presumably where she came in from. Aside from a few bits of trash the room was empty, outside the window a small set of tracks leading off to another nearby building, inside the small shed was a hoverbike under a sheet complete with a matte black helmet. Apart from the vehicle and helmet, there was nothing else to find, though both items would make good evidence.

While Cirrilo was out the Prowler arrived on the scene, humming as the large vehicle hovered over to where the commander was hunkered down with the prisoner, its back ramp hitting the floor with a loud thud while the sonic cannon swivelled back and forth. "Prowler 1 commencing extraction, the primary asset has been loaded, you've got 3 minutes operators!" The voice of the driver came through the comms of the Highrise team, letting them know it was get on or get left behind.

Warehouse

The first needle, fired from Hana's pistol, landed a direct hit on the assassin's shoulder causing the Daur to wince in pain and stagger slightly before they noticed the sudden appearance of another black-clad operator above them raining down a storm of vicious needles. With nowhere else to go the small Daur dropped into a roll and managed to scoot themselves around Hana's feet. Vanishing around behind another set of boxes as another needle embedded itself in his thigh. Once out of sight the assassin kept his head down and snuck away into the darkness, his knives still in hand as he continued to sneak around the piles staying in the dark.

Leo Rounded the corner, SMG drawn just in time to see the assassin fleeing the scene. "Kyet! Maintain the higher ground, aim to incapacitate!" He yelled out, moving over to check the wounds on Hana. "We've got knife wounds, hold still." He said quietly, grabbing a roll of gauze from his pack and moving to wrap the injuries on the other Daur. "Alright, we need to find this guy..." Leo stopped himself mid-sentence, they were both trained, they knew what to do without him having to tell them every detail.

In the next few minutes Kyet would be able to see glimpses of the assassin as he scurried around the crate maze of the warehouse, headed for an exit at the end of the building.

The sensation of blood - an odd scent, if not, an odd sensation. The warm liquid slowly stained the undersuit he was wearing. Slowly trickling down to his waste. With a grunt of pain, the veteran took a knee and exhaled a ragged breath. "I'm fine-... Cap'n, just need-... Catch my breath," he stated with a faint gasp, pressing a hand against the gauze that was wrapped around his wounds. "Go - help Operator Depol-someting," he offered with a faint grin. "I'll be fine, just gotta-... Apply pressure. I'll catch up." He promised, moving to look Leo in the eyes, pressing a hand against the ground as he slowly pushed himself to his feet.

"Roger~" Kyet chirped back from her elevated position, eyes flicking towards Hana with the slightest frown - due to either his injuries or little poke at her family name - before moving down to pull out her magazine and check how much ammo was remaining before the team's quiet Daur slotted it back in and began scanning the area from up high, golden/green oculars darting towards where she might have heard a noise before there was more silence.

Suddenly a bottle of engine fluid was knocked over behind some crates only to be followed by the sounds of rubber soles slapping against the ground, headed towards the exit - she still waited for visual confirmation before piping up over comms but Kyet's toned legs were ready to spring her into action.

"Suspect fleeing, west loading bay~" she spoke forcefully, letting the smg fall back behind her body as Kyet pushed off into a sprint, jumping between rows of boxes as she tried to close the distance - one gloved hand ripping Kyet's pistol out of its holster mid-stride as she aimed for the fleeing assailant's feet, squeezing off a few shots before yelling "Freeze~"

Though it was Kyet yelling, and just sounded like someone raising their voice to be heard on public transport.

Highrise

Arynn nodded, moving over as she said, "Alright. Another pair of eyes ought to help."

With nothing of note in the room of ingress, the tiny Daur woman clambered carefully outside, following the tracks until she and Cirillo found the motorbike and accompanying helmet. "If you can wheel this over to the Prowler, I'll look around here for another moment before catching up. I didn't hear a motor, none of us did, so she was likely here before we arrived."

Highrise

"Which means this was premeditated," Cirillo replied to Arynn with a frown. This could mean several things, including tapped communications, they were anticipated, or worse, that someone from the inside tipped the enemy off. Anything further would be dangerous to say out loud, Cirillo thought. If there's a leak, we can't let the person responsible erase the evidence before we're ready.

"Roger on the bike. We can talk more during debrief," he finally said after a pause. He walked over to the hoverbike and looked around the front panel. Thankfully the keys sat in the ignition, ready for a quick getaway. With a turn of the keys and the hum of the engines, the bike briefly rose and floated just off the ground. Cirillo placed the helmet on the seat and pushed the bike towards the prowler.

"Do we have room for a personal vehicle in there or should I ride it back to base?"

Warehouse

Leo looked back at the wounded man on the floor, he seemed determined enough to avoid passing out at least and the wound was nothing lethal. "Alright, take care of yourself and try to find cover in the meantime if you can." He said before taking off at a sprint with his own pistol out now, heading in the direction that Kyet had mentioned just before, looking up for a moment he saw the other Daur hopping along the stacks of crates, it wasn't particularly high up but a fall at the wrong angle could be nasty regardless. "Stop now or we will take you by force!" The snowy-haired captain called out as he ran along as well, arms pumping by his sides as he ran and weaved between various stacks. Soon enough he burst out into the open and instinctively crouched slightly as he broke from cover towards the door their assailant had just escaped through. Several spikes from Kyet's weapon having embedded themselves in the somewhat archaic wooden door as it swung shut.

The captain stopped in his tracks and regained his breathing, keeping an eye on the door but not going through, it was an easy way for them to fall into another trap if they rushed blindly after someone who could quite easily be leading them where they wanted to. "Damn, got away. I'm regrouping with Hana, I doubt we'll see him again now that his element of surprise is ruined." Leo said a little disappointedly, not catching someone who'd injured one of his operators had left a bad taste in his mouth as he headed back to the wounded Daur. "Can you stand? It looks like we might need to get out of here or risk reinforcements catching us."

The would-be assassin ran and ran, not daring to look back until he was safely through the door and around several corners, he couldn't hear anyone chasing him and risked a pause to glance behind him, a small grin as he thanked his lucky stars he escaped them relatively uninjured. Deciding it was safe for the time being he stopped and pulled the two spikes from his shoulder and leg, wincing in pain but just glad they weren't barbed at all, relatively neat wounds which would be easier to heal this way. Though the boss wouldn't be happy he failed to even kill one of them, they needed to Show these Division 5 lapdogs that they weren't the toughest on the block as they liked to think.

Highrise

Adrea shoved their prisoner into the back and let her find a seat while he guarded the back ramp. "Nice find, we should have room since it's just you two. I have to take the Chaser home for us but I'll be following Prowler 1." The commander said as Cirillo approached with the hoverbike. "Anything else of interest over there Arynn?" He said over their comms, looking over in the direction he'd just seen the first Daur approach from.

Back at the hiding place of the now confiscated vehicle the little Daur wouldn't find much else, a few empty packets of some sort of MRE which might suggest they didn't know exactly when the operators would show up along with a small blanket tucked away in a corner over a bedding of papers and various other trash. "Prowler 1 ready to move out, you coming or not operator?" The voice in her helmet piped up signalling their armoured transport would be heading out soon, with the telltale sound of the twin-core reactor engine in the Chaser humming to life as Adrea moved into position to follow along.

Highrise Area

"Nothing of note, just rubbish. She'd been holding a stakeout for us. Returning to the Prowler now." Arynn's tiny footfalls picked up the pace as she half-walked, half-jogged back to the highrise, making time to arrive at and board the armored vehicle before it would leave. In the dark, she'd be hard to spot around debris and rubble that was nearly half her height, but she was nimbly able to traverse the terrain thanks to her training.

Hana had pushed himself over to a rather well-covered corner, behind one of the numerous crates that littered the storage complex. One hand holding the pistol up for anyone hostile circling back. The other keeping pressure on the wound where he could. Though when he saw Leo's form, the pistol was lowered again. Safety engaged as he slid it back into the holster. A soft whince following before he offered up a toothy grin. "I can-..." He grunted. "Just going to need some assistance getting up."

Highrise Outside

Cirillo nodded to the commander and floated the hoverbike up the ramp and into the Prowler. He flipped off the ignition and carefully guided the sinking bike to the floor before securing it to the wall with tie-down straps. Satisfied it wouldn't come loose in transit, he took a seat across from the prisoner and leaned back in the chair. He took a deep breath to relax, briefly staring at the light above him. He began to fumble with his helmet, but stopped, deciding that he shouldn't show his face to an enemy if he could help it. I should probably stay focused until the end, he thought, sitting upright and keeping his eyes on the captured assassin.

Kyet was disappointed in herself, she hadn't been fast enough and now the fast-footed failed assassin had gotten away with little more than a few scars if he got proper medical attention any time soon, so the chesty Daur let out a huff of disappointment and shook her head before looking back to where Leo was regrouping with Hana - her athletic legs tucking up beneath her as the young Operator dropped down and carefully made her way over, still scanning her sectors though doubtful anyone was still coming for them.

"I can help him~" she nodded, feeling guilty for Hana having taken the majority of the blast earlier even if he was the one that triggered it, they were only Daur afterall, not lifeless machines that did everything perfectly. She slowly, carefully helped him up, her own tail singed slightly through the mesh covering it and a few scratches visible through her suit but most of it was just cosmetic damage.

"~we should put an APB out... he most likely has people to fix him up but we never know~ could get lucky?" she suggested, green/gold eyes shining behind her helmet's visor.

Highrise

"Prowler 1 now commencing extraction." The driver said cooly through his radio before the large vehicle rose a little higher off the ground while the ramp was closed up once more. The armoured vehicle pulled out of the derelict parking area with Adrea quickly taking up position behind the lumbering Prowler in the Chaser. For a few minutes of their return trip there was peace, but peace never lasts. Indifferent to the two operators the Daur assassin had stayed silent and refused to even raise her gaze from the floor, then one ear perked up ever so slightly, he lips drawing back into a smirk unknown to the two operators. As though possessed the girl began screaming at the top of her lungs, thrashing about madly despite her restraints with the gag becoming just loose enough for her to project the high pitched shrieks all through the vehicle.

The driver winced as his steering was thrown off for a second, looking back through the access port at the passengers he glared at them. "Shut her up for fucks sake, or strap her to the roof I don't care but get that noise away from me." He growled before shutting the hatch, enjoying the slight sound dampening of the now solid wall between them. Though it made little difference when the roof of the armoured vehicle was suddenly caved in above the passengers heads, leaving a large dent in the rear. In the next moment a metal hand smashed down through the roof and peeled it back like the skin of a fruit before a very large and very dangerous looking suit of power armour came into view.

Arynn's hands, already set on her needler at the prisoner's sudden outburst - training, reflexes, and other factors had her ready to draw her weapon. Little did she know that the real threat would come from above, leaving her yelping and scrambling for a moment. "Enemy attack!" she shouted, brain switching from the formal, wordsy mode into a primal, survival-instinct-driven intent. She growled as her needler sprang to life in her hands, spikes flying towards the armored brute.

The spikes would do no good, harmlessly bouncing off of the thick armour that was made for taking on tanks. Whoever was in the suit seemed to chuckle at the futile attempt before reaching in and grabbing Arynn by the ankle, looking at the assassin for a moment before standing back up atop the ruined vehicle. A low humming started up, nearly deafening everyone in the truck before the giant armour jumped, a small ion thruster on its back igniting and propelling it away in between the buildings. “Behave or I’ll crush your leg to a red paste.” The robotic voice growled at its captive.

"Aieeeeeeeeeee!" The undersized operative screamed in terror as she was whisked away, dropping her weapon from the force. The only thing stopping her from squirming was the death-grip on her leg, and the artificial voice threatening her. She wasn't going to stay idle, if she could try it. As they flew through the air, she prodded him. "Who are you, if you've come for me? You've left your own informant behind, and they'll have made it to an outpost by now."

“You don’t need to know, you’ll be dead before they can rescue you, once we’ve got the information we need.” The suit replied, hitting the ground with the force of a small bomb due to its size, quickly taking off into a lumbering sprint before stuffing Arynn into a large bag and closing her off from the world. With a cursory glance behind it the armour was satisfied with the apparent lack of pursuers and continued off on its journey away with the new prize, one Division 5 operator.

Back at the two vehicle convey that had since been nearly destroyed Adrea sat helplessly in the Chaser as the giant suit had dropped out of the sky onto the truck and stolen away with one of their operators. Finally regaining himself after facing what could have easily been his doom the commander took charge. "Prowler 1 fall in, we're going to a safehouse, Cirillo you better be alive in there, contact the other team and tell them to pull out immediately, there's an extremely dangerous enemy asset in the area."

Warehouse

"Good idea, its worth a shot regardless." Leo nodded to Kyet at the suggestion as he let her help their wounded man as he continued watching out for any other attackers. "We don't have the time and resources to disarm all the traps in the area, we'll have to call that in as well and make sure no one else is sent out here for now. Back at HQ we'll be able to debrief with the others and work out our next move" The snowy-haired Daur continued heading carefully towards the exit, making sure the other two weren't falling behind as they went

"Operators. I don't want either of you apologising for anything that happened here today, the responsibility of this unit falls to me as the Captain even if you believe something could have been done better. In the moment you both acted exactly as trained, there's nothing to fault for that, not the injuries nor the escape of a suspect. Not everything can be a win all the time, we just have to have faith the others managed to get some more valuable information from their trip so the Director doesn't have us all sent to the pits." Leo said, cracking a small smile at the dry humour, but humour none the less which up until now he hadn't displayed a lot of compared to his superior Adrea.

Prowler 1

Cirillo had been ignoring the screaming prisoner when the car rocked, and a giant metal hand pierced the back of the car. Momentarily in disbelief, he watched in stunned silence as their car opened like a tin can. Soon his instincts kicked in, and he threw up the SMG and fired off a few rounds, but it was like throwing rocks against a wall. He watched in horror as Arynn was grabbed and just as quickly whisked away from the vehicle. He lunged at her, but was nowhere near fast enough as silence left him behind.

"Arynn!" he shouted, thrashing around for any ideas. The hoverbike! I can still tail them! He ran over to it, but part of it had been crushed in the power armor's impact. He was stuck. He punched the metal bike in frustration, pain flashing through his hand. Helplessness flooded over him as he remembered pounding on the door of his burning house as his brother perished inside. It's always when everything seems okay that the world turns upside down. But why am I always the one who survives!?

The commander's orders knocked him back to reality. This wasn't over, not yet. As long as she wasn't confirmed dead, he could still fight for his partner.

"Yes sir, I'm alive. On it," Cirillo replied tersely before opening comms to the other team.

"Warehouse team, this is Deniska Cirillo. Fall back immediately! Repeat, fall back immediately! Enemy has deployed an unknown power armor and is extremely dangerous. Rendezvous at the nearest safehouse, and we'll debrief there. Over."

With that out of the way, Cirillo turned to the driver who now had a custom sunroof above their head. "How's the damage, can the Prowler still make it, or do we need to use the Chaser?"

Where Kyet was disappointed - Hana was fuming. He wasn't angry with Kyet, or Leo, he wasn't angry with the ingrate that attacked him but for one thing - he didn't go for the throat. And now he had to live with the shame of being what he considered the worst operator out of the entire bunch. Which what in essence was what he was angry with - himself. Maybe it was because of his experience that he took things for granted - a valuable lesson. Though one he didn't want taught to him. And today had been a lecture in just that. Though, he was good at one thing - hiding his emotions. And as Kyet helped him to his feet, the Daur swallowed thickly, before snickering. "Not bridal style? What a shame~" he quipped. Offering Kyet's supportive arm a gentle squeeze to help convey the fact he was joking. Hana glanced over at Leo as he spoke, the SMG already slung over his back - service pistol in hand so he wasn't entirely useless.

Though the ensuing message of Deniska caused his heart to sink. If they had PA, well. There was no way in hell they could fight it. Though Hana made a promise to himself at that moment, another thick swallow as he glanced over at Kyet and spoke back in the comms. "Operator Karekhrabro - solid copy, we're counting one wounded. Namely myself, over." He answered, which was about the few uses he had limping and bleeding as he did.

Prowler 1

"Yeah she's still mobile, the rear hover pads are running at half capacity though from having so much weight on them, what the fuck was that thing anyway?" The driver yelled back, tearing his helmet off and chucking it into the space behind his seat, underneath the tactical black lay an almost pure white Laibe, his eyes focused forwards on the road and he wrenched the vehicle around a corner towards the safehouse. Glancing up at his gunner he nodded, the gunner then got out of his seat and opened the door, climbing out onto the roof of the speeding truck he inspected the sonic turret, as they suspected it was completely useless now.
"Looks like they trashed it." Came a female voice as they then dropped down into the passenger compartment with Deniska, drawing a pistol and keeping it trained on the prisoner who was grinning like a madwoman. "We can't let this one escape or the whole operation is bust." She said with a serious and cold tone.

Warehouse

"Its a nasty slash but nothing threatening, lets get a move on." Leo said, motioning for Kyet to help their injured teammate back through the building to where the car was parked. As the trio moved back through the building, their assassin had stopped and managed to find his way outside.

"Did they get her?"
"Yes, but we have what we came for, she's expendable, fall back."
"...understood."

After the brief exchange between himself and the power armour pilot, the black-clad Daur dropped the small communicator and ground it into the floor with his boot before covering it with sand and dirt. A second hoverbike reactor was ignited as he donned a helmet and took off in the opposite direction of the currently retreating Division 5 teams. Even as he drove away he was unable to shake the feeling that he shouldn't be so casual about sacrificing one of their members, he knew his place was at the bottom of the ladder but still.

Meanwhile the team reached their Chaser and all piled in, heading off in pursuit of the damaged Prowler towards the safe house.

Power Armour

While the communications for the armour were built into the helmet Arynn could just make out some of the words of the brief exchange if she concentrated over the sounds of nearly half a tonne hitting the pavement at every step. "I hope they train you operators to not give in to torture, it will make it all the more fun when we bet on how long you'll last." The pilot let out a comically evil laugh, giving the bag a shake to emphasise how helpless the little Daur was. However they were cut off as another call came in. "yeah, yeah I'm taking her to that old freighter, shouldn't be longer than a day to crack her, yeah there's no way they'll find us there."

20 Minutes later

Safehouse

Leo had gathered his team and the Prowler crew in the main room of the small safehouse, all three vehicles had been parked underground to avoid making the building stand out. For the past few minutes the snowy-haired Daur had said nothing, he didn't know where to start. Looking up he saw the eyes of his team, everyone was in the same boat really. "So, this whole thing went to shit pretty quickly." He started, not the best attempt at breaking the tension.

Before he could try again Adrea shook his head and stepped up next to the Captain. "What Leo is trying to say is that none of this is your fault, no one could have predicted this would be such a thought out trap, the info Arynn found before she was taken suggested they had been waiting at least a day or so for us to arrive meaning they have more information than we'd like them too. Right now, we need to come up with a plan for our next move. We can't stay here forever with that armour moving around out there doing who knows what, and we have no idea where they've taken her."

Leo nodded his thanks to the Commander for stepping in, he may have been a Captain, and not a fresh one either but nothing can truly prepare you for this kind of completely unreal situation. Up until now Neshaten had never even used Power Armour, not a single model existed anywhere in the kingdom. "Obviously we don't have the firepower to deal with such an enemy, so for now we'll hold here and try to get any info we can from our prisoner while region HQ arranges reinforcments, until we have a location we can't organise a raid or significant fighting force however."

Hana didn't say a word. Not mention a thing - it was a poor excuse of a debrief, after all. People came in to apologize and assure it wasn't their fault, that intel was off. But the Daur was solemnly convinced it was in fact his fault still. As mentioned before to Kyet - as stated to Leo. He had fucked up - he was to be held responsible. It showed him to blindly trust intel, after all. The Daur whinced ever so slightly as he shifted in his seat. The bandages around his torso hinting that he had been hit pretty badly. But then again, he didn't really seem overtaken by pain as much as he was overtaken by the foul mood and the bitter aftertaste of a failed mission.