It was an eerily quiet night in the city of Mahoukyo. The city, normally crawling with activity and flashing lights was deadly silent and the moonless night cast a dark shadow over the metropolis. The morbid atmosphere of the abandoned street just seemed to make the cloaked man more on edge, constantly looking over his shoulder. Like a scene out of some horror movie, shadows seemed to move and creep about from the corner of his eye; but when he looked back, they had vanished. Or maybe it was just the man's imagination?

Wait, no. Someone was there. It was just a flicker, it barely lasted a moment. It could've been just his imagination, but he was certain. They had found him.

Eyes wide with terror, he ran through one of the many back-alleys that made up the city. It was almost a maze at times, and he knew this. He intended to lose the person chasing him at this moment. Every so often he would glance behind him, but the figure was still there...silently following after him without seeming to break a sweat no matter how hard he ran...still they walked after them and even seemed to be catching up without a hassle!

Gah! He knew he should’ve never gotten involved with that group….he knew they were nothing but trouble, why didn’t he listen to his gut?! He came to a sudden, skidding stop at that thought, barely saving himself from running headfirst into the glistening wires in front of him.

“Oh? So, you managed to see them? Impressive.” The man’s head shot up sharply to look at the voice that spoke out to him...only to see a black cat with two mismatched eyes, one green the other yellow, looking down at him. That wasn’t the only strange thing about the cat, for the tip of its tail seemed to be on fire? He was a familiar, this man knew that. For that was that mans familiar.

He went to open his mouth, only to let out a blood-curdling scream as he felt himself be grabbed by an unknown force and slammed into the ground. He could feel it digging into him now, like rope, his squirming just making them tighter around him. The small figure that had been following him had now caught up and placed a foot atop his back, pressing him into the ground. The man began to frantically try to think of something, anything, that would stop this monster!

“W-wait! I’m sorry! I won’t do it again, I promise!” The man was desperate as the smaller, cloaked figure gave no hint of a verbal response, simply raising their small, doll-like hand and slowly brought it into a half-fist, causing the tight feeling around him to intensify. Wounds, as if he was slowly being sliced up, started to form along his body as he howled in pain.

“Heh, you should’ve thought of that before trying to steal the artifact. No mercy for thieves and traitors Leo.” The cat spoke again, grooming itself slowly as it looked down upon his writhing form. The small figure seemed to look up at the cat now, pointing down at the man beneath them before making a slashing motion across their throat.

“Oh, of course, you have to kill him. That’s kinda your job there Diligence.” The cat chuckled as the hooded figure nodded silently, the man speaking up once more.

“W-wait! I can explain! I just-gah!” He was cut off as it felt like a rope had been wrapped around his entire body then tightened further and further, screaming as his arm was sliced clean off like a precise surgeon, blood gushing out of his wound and spraying all over the walls and the figures cloak. Stopping for a moment to reach up to their face and wipe a speck of blood off, inspecting the tip of her finger with a morbid curiousity as all the while the man writhed in agony before her.

Flames shot out from the man and wrapped around the figure, who seemed unperturbed at the stream of desperate, pain-filled abuse that burst forth from the dying traitor in his last moments.

“You bitch! I’ll fucking kill you for that! Mark my words, we will-!” Having heard enough, the feminine hand finally clenched into a fist. Shortly after the man was sliced into fine little chunks with one last agonizing scream, the flames dying soon after.

“Heh, he should’ve tried fighting back, to begin with. Would’ve ended better.” The cat remarked smugly, leaping down from its perch up above and seemed to float down onto the figure's shoulder. After patting down a small fire on it, the cat wandered up to nuzzle against the figure's cheek. “You did well again Diligence, though could you stop with leaving so much blood everywhere? It’ll be a pain to clean up you know?”

The figure simply nodded at the cat’s words, leaning down as all the pieces of the man seemed to be dragged by an unseen force into a large pile. Luckily despite the cat’s complaints, they didn’t need to clean this mess up ...he was meant to be an example, so it was time to leave an impressionable one.

---

Hurtling down the road at a breakneck pace during the middle of the night was a pitch-black 18 wheeler truck, if it wasn't for the fact it was the middle of the night then they might've run the chance of being booked by the police. Well, even if it wasn't night they wouldn't be dealing with such minor inconveniences, but the quiet night streets certainly helped them with the urgency of their mission. There was visible tension in the air amongst the dozen or so occupants within, especially the one standing up to address the rest of the group. He was a deceptively leanly built man wearing a mash of armor over a more formal outfit with unkempt brown hair. This man was Dieter Gunnar, the leader of the newly formed Team 3 whom he was now currently addressing. Though normally most knew him as a calm and collected individual, he seemed visibly tense as he delivered the briefing of their vitally important meeting.

"I'm sorry I had to drag you all out at this hour, but this mission is of the utmost importance. Whina, if you would." Dieter began, gesturing to a younger girl with orange hair in the back. Seemingly startled, the group's technician, Whina Tinkerer, fumbled for a moment before firing up the project besides her, bringing up a series of images beside the team leader. "At around 2200 hours tonight, Maylis herself received a message from none other than Touma Akechi, head of the vastly influential Akechi family, about a disturbance at warehouse district 12. Soon after at 2210, through the use of unmanned drones to do some reconnaissance Team 1 found there to be heavy Rikimaru activity in the area. 2215, the Isamu were authorized to use whatever means to stop the Rikimaru from...well, what I'm about to say is beyond confidential and must not leave this trailer, am I clear?" Taking his time to slowly go over the notes he was given, a series of images containing various individuals doing battle with what seemed to be a group of heavily armed guards appeared to where he was now tapping.

"The Rikimaru target seems to be this facility here, a top-secret research facility funded by the Akechi to store and study the Soul Essence that we, the Isamu, have been gathering. The exact purpose of this research is none of our concern and thus I was not given a briefing on it, so I do apologize in advance for my lack of knowledge on the matter. The only thing that matters is that we are to stop the Rikimaru from breaching the facility's innermost vault; their target clearing being the vast quantities of Essence inside." He wasn't one for long-winded explanations, even this amount of talking seemed to be irritating him as he tried to condense the rather lengthy notes into a more concise form. "I take it as you've all read the briefings I gave you earlier, do refer to that if there is something you may have missed or wish to know further. But all you need to know for now is rather simple; our objective is to put a stop to this attack on a government facility by the Rikimaru. So long as we procure the Essence, we've been giving to use whatever amount of force we see fit to do the task. Which brings me to my next point of interest."

Clicking his fingers at Whina, the girl nodded feverishly before pouring some Soul into the projector. A layout of the building replaced the images with a series of red and white dots peppered throughout. A lot of Red dots, numbering at least 50. Pointing to what was obviously the entrance, where the bulk majority of the red dots currently were, Dieter began to speak once more.

"We'll be splitting into three teams; Team A will be lead by myself and will do a frontal assault on their main forces to draw their attention. Tenma, Roya, Sora, you're with me." Gesturing to the three men as he spoke, the white-haired Sora simply nodding in acknowledgment, Dieter was quick to shift his attention to a side entrance. "While we draw their attention, Team B will be using this fire escape to try and get to the core of the facility before the Rikimaru forces can reach the essence. This task I'm entrusting to you Rena, Lucia, and Kazumi. Whina will be supporting you from outside with constant updates through the facility's security footage, as well as guiding you to your target once inside. Avoid combat wherever possible, your only priority should be securing the Essence as swiftly as possible. Once you've secured it, the rest will form Team C and look to extract you from this exit point right here." He tapped a little harder than maybe he should've, tracing a path all through the facility before finally bringing his finger to what looked like a docking bay of sorts. "Teams 2 and 5 are en route as well to support Team A, so we simply need to stall and draw their attention for as long as it takes. Once reinforcements have arrived and the Essence has been secured and being escorted by B and C, we'll push to rout and then detain the Rikimaru forces. Any questions?"

He knew their summon had been rather sudden, the team having been haphazardly slapped together from what Maylis had on hand and was now deemed official from here on out. Some of the members had barely interacted before, some complete strangers. They had time before reaching their designation as well, so if there were no questions to answer Dieter would let them talk amongst themselves to let them get to know one another better. Plus, he had to deal with a rather mad young girl before she burst her bubble.

---

A research facility by the Akechi... A man clad in a kimono was lost in thought with only the sound of a vehicle to keep his mind company. He's familiar with those types of buildings, but the confusing thing is how the Rikimaru found it and why they're going after it. He can theorize all he wants, but there's no conclusive evidence to deduce the truth.

The mission Shouyou and others were hastily gathered for has the man slightly worried. All missions carry the risk of death, but Shouyou refuses to send anyone to the afterlife. He has a pipe dream that this situation can be diffused without fighting, but he's expecting an unfortunate fight. Plus, they were given permission to use all the force they feel is necessary. He sighed with a frown before speaking lightly.

"The Rikimaru Family is already raising tensions on the city. Since there's no need to increase that any further, would it not be best to use nonlethal means to take them down?" Shouyou is blind to the reason why the Rikimaru's doing this.

This was supposed to be a nice retirement for him where he could be free to pursue anything he wanted in life. A peaceful journey to a satisfactory end, yet the government interfered in that and now the Rikimaru family is the reason why he's being called back to a battlefield where there are only people. To say he's disappointed wouldn't be wrong. Also...

"Roya, please be careful." He doesn't mean to come across as patronizing, but Roya is still a child. He feels that it's his duty to worry for kids like him.

---

_{Location: On the way to the Akechi Research Facility
Interacting with: @Styrgwyr @Claw2k11}

---

It was a rather rude awakening to suddenly be called in for a mission but she was alert as soon as the call had come in. They were all rushed into the truck that would carry them to their intended location. She began a silent count off of the people around her and she realized that she didn't actually know many of them. That was of little surprise, considering the fact that she wasn't too open on socializing with the other members of the family. Still, if Maylis had made the group and Dieter was leading it, then that was good enough for her.

The details were of little interest to her. All they needed to do was to secure the Essence and get rid of the Rikimaru. Rena curled her legs to her chest and propped her chin on her knees as she waited for her own orders. Her ears perked up when she was placed on Team B - who had to secure the Essence and avoid conflict. Tch. Rena had been trained in fighting, not sneaking around. But orders were orders. The faster they can get the Essence to a more secure place, the sooner she can get into a fight - so that's exactly what she'll do.

With her during this mission was Lucia and Kazumi, one of the actual Isamus and the guardian kitsune. How lucky of her. This should be a quick job for them then.

Once the briefing was done, Rena walked over to Kazumi. It was a little lucky that she was grouped with someone she knew. She didn't know the kitsune well aside from the fact that the aged being had taken quite an interest in her, but still, it counted. "Got a plan?" She quickly questioned. It wasn't a fighting mission that she can just go all out in, as she usually does, and the last thing she wanted was to get benched because she couldn't follow orders. So maybe it was the perfect time to make something so everything would go smoothly.

Lucia Isamu

It was an impromptu sortie with an impromptu team. It helps to be prepared for these kinds of scenarios, and Lucia is nothing if not always so. When the call to arms came, all she had to do was walk towards the vehicle bay for deployment with her trusty staff in hand. Looking at the beautiful woman now seating in front of her however, she couldn't help but feel she hasn't prepared enough.

Kazumi Isano, she had been briefed about her. The self-proclaimed Isamu Family guardian had been vouched for by Maylis herself. And now said guardian is being sent to deal with the latest Rikimaru incursion.

"Either something's afoot or we're really shorthanded. That, or perhaps... a test?" Lucia dwelled in her thoughts as team-mates began to discuss how they would go about achieving their assigned objectives.

"Got a plan?" Lucia glanced at the voice of her own team-mate.

Rena Kirizaki. While she hasn't actually interacted with the girl before, Lucia had heard of her. She was rather well-known because of her pronounced fox-like physical traits.

twitch.

"..." Lucia felt 'something' welling up from her chest as she observed the two, although she couldn't exactly fathom what it was.

twitch.

She didn't expect them to be so life-like.

twitch.

Lucia caught her hand moving on its own and managed to restrain herself before she does something rude. How strange. Just exactly what was she about to do? Had she always been that impulsive? Lucia once again dwelled in her own thoughts while keeping one ear on the discussion with her team... and one pair of eyes glancing between two pairs of fluffy ears.

@Polaris North@Claw2k11

---

Interaction with: @Polaris North@Styrgwyr

---

Of everyone there, the beautiful fox woman perhaps stood out the most, not because of her being the only one wearing white robes, no, but because of the rather large frown on her face. However, it was not because she had been woken up suddenly, or because she had to do a mission, no. She was always ready to help her family at a moment's notice. What she disliked the most, was the fact that this mission would most likely end with members of her precious family get hurt, or Inari forbid, worse.

Kazumi's eyes opened as Dieter began to speak of their mission, with the frown on her face growing a bit more as she heard that team A had to serve as a distraction for their foes. She was right and she hated the fact that she was. The people dear to her, people part of her family would no doubt get hurt, a fact, which almost made the fox wish to speak out loud against this plan. She chose not to, however, as though she was wise, hers was not a mind trained for warfare, she would let people who were better at this than her come up with plans and decide their course, she would for now just play her role as a support member and well... support the people she was assigned to.

Kazumi kept silent and waited for everyone to ask their own questions, as she herself had no questions to offer Dieter and no way to think of any better plans. She closed her eyes to meditate for a few moments longer, to calm her mind and to get herself into battle readiness, as it would no doubt require battle. Still, when Rena approached Kazumi out of her own initiative, it was all Kazumi could do to not show at first her surprise, then moments later her excitement too visibly. Though that promptly failed as everyone there could see her previously dormant nine tails begin swaying around rather excitedly as the younger fox girl spoke to her.

"Got a plan?"

"Well, nothing beyond telling you all to allow me to perhaos serve as a scout, as I can shapeshift into a sneaky little white fox and to be very, very careful." Had she been awakened properly, she would have been able to use her clairvoyance to see all their enemies, to map out the safest route to their destination and if it came to fighting, to smite the foes of the family. "I apologize, my mind is made for diplomacy and administration, not warfare, or such military like planning, so I will be trusting you to lead me now, my dear." The fox woman bowed her head gently before the younger fox girl, as in her own mind, Rena would be the leader of their little trio.

The truck shook for a moment as the driver took a sharp turn at high speed, but it didn't seem to bother Dieter much. No, he was having to handle a far bigger problem at hand.

"How dare you sideline me! Just who do you think I am?!" Spoke up the voice he had been expecting during this little debriefing. The voice belonged to none other than Hanzoku Isamu, Maylis's younger cousin, and next in line for family head as things currently stood.

An exasperated sigh escaped the usually otherwise calm and stoic man. He even rolled his eyes as he began to massage his temple. How could he best explain this in simple terms for the girl to understand? He had been against her even being added to the team in the first place. Her attitude was horrible and unsuited for co-ordinated team missions was just scratching the surface of the various reasons why he had objected.

"I'm fully aware of who you are Lady Hanzoku. That is exactly the reason why you're on extraction duty. I won't have any harm coming to the Isamu heir on my watch and you would simply get in our way." Narrowing his eyes at the girl as he spoke, he simply laid out the facts for her. This mission was fair too sensitive to let Hanzoku have free reign on the battlefield, and there was no guarantee of her safety. It was the safe call that one would expect Dieter to make. "You can't even control your magic. The only reason you're here is on Lady Maylis's orders, I'm under no obligation to let you get yourself hurt or worse out there. Hence you're a liability."

While he was most certainly being harsh with the younger girl, he needed her to understand her and his positions here. He did need to add one more thing though as she looked to chime up again.

"So observe how the team operates, learn what you can and then maybe, just maybe I'll let you participate in the coming missions. So stay here, behave yourself and take this opportunity to learn the ropes and earn a place in the field."

---

While Dieter dealt with Hanzoku, Whina had made her way to the trio that made up Team B. While she was also saddened that she wasn't going out into the field as well, it was to be expected. Her magic wasn't made for combat like this, plus all her gear would be far too crude and heavy to lug around on the battlefield or in the building. It was for the best that she stayed in the truck and directed the girls on where to go. They seemed to already be in something resembling a discussion of tactics, so Whina decided to chime in.

"Don't worry Ms. Isano, I'll guide you three to avoid the need to fight anyone at all! Umm on that note..." with an enthusiastic nod of her head, she quickly reached into her pockets and pulled out three sets of what looked to be earpieces with a weird chunk of plastic hanging off the side. "Take these. They'll be our link throughout the operation." She would hand one to each of the three members before taking a moment to compose herself, pulling out a fourth pair and putting it on.

"T-these earpieces are not just for communication. But by placing this piece over your eye like so," She would slide the piece of plastic over her eye as she spoke. "I can patch in building layouts, enemy positions, security feed-whatever we need really."

After waiting for them to put the pieces in, helping them if needed, the truck came to skidding stop, threatening to hurl anyone not prepared off their feet. Whina feel back onto her read end, the confusion evident on her face as Dieter grabbed Hanzoku and pulled her in towards him. The truck shook again, this time threatening to tilt over on its side before slowly leveling back out. Dieter cursed loudly, looking around the truck as he barked some quick instructions.

"The truck is currently under attack. Sora deal with the issue, rest of Team A with me. We're getting out now. Team B, your stop is the next one. But it looks like the truck won't be able to stop, so you're going to have to jump. Looks like you got your wish Lady Hanzoku, it's not safe here so you're coming with us. Team C, stay safe and keep the truck intact with Sora till pickup is needed." As he spoke, he made his way to the back of the truck and kicked a small hatch open, the sudden change of pressure causing the wind to whip around anything not held down like Kazumi's robes or her and Ren's fluffy ears and tail to flutter about wildly. The white-haired Sora quickly pushed past and dived out, the wind seemingly catching him before he took off upwards.

"Oh and Whina, head in with Team B now as well. The truck is going to have to leave your equipment range after-all." Pale-faced, Whina went to object but Dieter had already jumped out the back of the truck, expecting Roya and Tenma to follow suit, punching the ground as he landed. The ground cracked from the impact of his fist hitting the hard asphalt of the road, softening his fall as he held a still squirming and wriggling Hanzoku. Upon the other two leaving the truck, Dieter would direct them to follow him to take cover in a nearby warehouse so they could gather their bearings.

---

After staring at the back of the truck for a while, seemingly in disbelief as Dieter, Roya and Tenma made their way out, Whina looked back at Rena, Lucia and Kasumi now, seemingly trying to creep away from the trio. "Umm, I-I uh don't think I'm really needed out there, I'm sure you guys can handle yours-" The truck shook again, this time launching Whina and anyone else not expecting the impact into the air...and somehow straight out the back of the open truck. This would hurt unless someone helped her out.

---

_{Location: On the way to the Akechi Research Facility
Interacting with: @Styrgwyr @Claw2k11
Form: Griffin}

---

Rena tilted her head to the side, ears flicking before looking at Lucia who also had kept silent - and weirdly enough, seemed like she was in deep thought. Both of them were older than her, not to mention had been in the Isamu household for a longer time. "Okay." She accepted without much fo a fight. Might as well get this done before anything. "Since we just need to get the Essence, it's better if we keep silent. Both you and I can transform into smaller animals-" Rena said, her tail idly swaying behind her as she placed a hand under her chin. She looked over to their more silent companion. "We can make use of the ventilation system I hope, you should be able to fit."

She stopped when there was a commotion at the front - Dieter was handling that Isamu heir. Rena eyed Lucia, silently questioning what was up with her cousin, before turning her gaze back at the two. Dieter looks like he had it all handled and Rena could at least sympathize a little bit with Hanzoku. It felt good to be on the field - but it may just be her. She hadn't gone through all of those years with the scientists to just hide away somewhere. No, her best had been and will always be going on missions.

Whina bounded to them. It seems like they won't even have to scout around anymore. She looked at the earpiece for a moment before plugging it up to her ear. Uncomfortable, but not something she isn't used to. She propped up the piece of plastic to her eye. "Sounds good, I-" The truck lurched and it was only by her reflexes and sense of balance did she managed to keep herself from falling, but not fast enough to help Whina. Her ears perked up at Dieter's commands. Looks like the infiltration will be a bit harder than expected. She looked a bit annoyed at the wind whipping around her appendages but she held onto something to prevent herself from flying off once again.

As Team A departed and Team C began to protect the truck, Rena realized that their stop was closing in. She looked over to Whina who was trying to make an excuse not to go but her eyes widened when she flew out of the truck. Rena quickly rushed to the back and jumped out with little hesitation. Her form quickly shifted from her vulpine self into a griffin. Her talons quickly grabbed onto Whina, careful not to harm the woman before trying to find a place to land that was safe.

---

Shouyou found himself nodding alongside Dieter's evaluation of Hanzoku. From the perspective of a teacher, he can see the point that the stoic man is making, though he believes it was slightly harsh.

Of course, the mission had to slightly go south with the sudden attack on the truck. The violent assault on the truck caused the vehicle to moderately shake as though somebody struck it with a large hammer. The former swordsman's balance wasn't disrupted in the slightest as he awaited orders from the leader.

After hearing what needed to be done, he swiftly nodded and turned towards those who would be separated from him.

"Be safe." Those were the only words he left while leaping from the moving truck.

In direct contrast to Dieter's loud superhero landing, Shouyou's feet gently touched the ground and gave off a mild presence with a neutral countenance plastered on his face. Half of his thoughts were about the other team who were rushed to their destination, twenty-five percent of the other thoughts were about Hanzoku's abrupt departure with them, and the remaining percentage were directed towards the enemies around them.

The man didn't do something as unprofessional as a sigh, yet he did show some signs of reluctance on his face. "Any plans, or do you prefer us to handle things to our own discretion?" he asked before making plans of his own. His body was perfectly limber without the need for stretching; Shouyou was ready to fight on behest of the Isamu Family.

He won't kill a single person. At that thought, he did unprofessionally sigh.

Lucia Isamu

Lucia was in the middle of fiddling around with her earpiece when the truck hit a bump and sent everyone flying out into the air. Lucia's mind quickly shifted to combat mode the moment her feet left the ground, slowing down everything into a crawl as her instincts went into overdrive. Her eyes rapidly scanned her surroundings for her allies and their apparent trajectory. With no time to waste, Lucia released her staff as it shot off towards her own estimated landing spot. Then, in a series of fluid motions, she took out and threw a handful of rune cards, each one aimed towards her estimate of someone's landing spot, with an extra prioritization on the Isamu heir. The cards would project strong upward gusts of air strong enough to soften their presumably rough landings.

Lucia's staff pierced the ground which was buried deeper as Lucia's foot slammed on the protruding end with her entire weight behind it, an action that would've certainly harmed her if it weren't for the application of magic. The Staff user quickly jumped off and entered a battle stance as her weapon quickly pulled itself out of the ground and flew into the palm of her hands. She kept Whina in her peripheral vision as her eyes scoured the surroundings for any signs of danger.

If memory served her right, Whina has no battlefield experience, at least in all the time she has known her. In other words, she was a non-combatant. Seeing said girl in the talons of a giant mythical bird would've alarmed her more if she didn't see Rena transform into the bird in question. For now, she had to trust the shapeshifter for the girl's safety until they've properly assessed the situation.

@Polaris North@Claw2k11