[IC] RWBY: Shades of Black

[Volenvradica]

1800 HRS
Beacon Academy
Restricted Access

"We can't tell how many there are, but I'm sure it won't be a problem for the kids." Hyde Crimson tossed the scroll, prompting Ozpin to jump from his seat and catch the expensive pad. Crimson ignored Ozpin's irritated glare as he began pouring brandy into two glasses.

"No coffee?" Ozpin frowned. He didn't count on Crimson providing such a luxury, but as of late Ozpin has been developing a habit of vexing the Executive. "So we are to capture the targets and bring them to the proper authorities?"

Crimson finished his glass in one go. "Capture? You're Huntsmen. Do your job and hunt them down."

"Hyde, this is unnecessary," Ozpin shook his head, clearly not approving of his employer's intentions.

"This is personal, Ozpin." Crimson pointed with glass in hand. "We can't have a situation like this."

-------------------------------

1830 HRS
Airborne
Moutain Glenn City District,
Kingdom of Vale

The Angelo was a man made marvel. This large airship was designed to penetrate the enemy's airspace by employing experimental cloaking technology. It could fly while remaining undetected by radar. At the same time, it provided the same amenities found on a luxury cruise. A homely decorated interior helped passengers with anxiety, providing comfort and space.

Ozpin started off without delay. The briefing room was large, accomodating the 10+ students. At the very middle, holographs displayed surveillence shots of the target locations. Mountain Glenn was built only a few years ago as a new city district of Vale. It was considered the kingdom's first attempt of expanding past the natural borderes.

A corporate building was on display. "Construction is complete," Ozpin pointed, "and is already registered to the Schnee Dust Company. Intel has discovered that it is being used as a hideout for a terrorist cell. According to reports, several Faunus have taken residence within Mountain Glenn. Continued observations, however, have noted that they are often spott in this area....here." Ozpin tapped at the holographic display and drew a circle, containing within it the few blocks around the building.

"Arrived at destination. Standing by."

"You will be separated into two teams. One group will go with Commander Nix Valentine and another group will go with Vinsent Voidance. Commander Nix's team will be charged with engaging the enemy outside of the building. With the landscape including its own traffic network casualties should remain at an absolute zero. This will help create an opening into the enemies defenses, making way for Vinsent and his team to enter the building and make contact with the Target."

========--+--=========

RED Team - DPZTRIF (Depth Strife)

Phoenix “Nix” Valentine
Drake Umbra
Zena Mavrofo
Tank Licorice
Itzel Dunstan
Ryan Jet
Fugo Onyx

Objective:

• Engage the enemy and create an opening for BLUE Team
• Neutralize enemy forces outside the building

========+++========

BLUE Team - VOYDAN (Voidance)

Vinsent Voidance
Osen Gure
Yin Li
Nova Ral Oryx
Adam Sable
Djura Sinclair

Objective:

• Infiltrate the building
• Apprehend the Target
• Assist RED Team and neutralize remaining enemy forces

=======+++++++=======

ENEMY: Terrorists (Faunus)
Numbers: Estimated 50+
Equipment: Stolen armory- Dust-equipped assault rifles, anti-tank weapons, grenades, bladed weapons
Risk Rating: [B+ ] Faunus have natural night-vision and are quick on their feet. Even if without combat training, the Faunus' hatred for humans will drive them to take risks and take on a predator-survivor mindset.

======++++++++=======

-Mission 00: Not a Pilot Episode//
Post Limit:TBA

[Kurai]

"Man, you know what, I normally hate flying," Nix said, resting an arm on the bar counter. "But shit, you guys have better booze than most bars in Vale. And I don't even have to pay for it!"

"Sir, do you think it would be wise to drink before a mission? My employer has cautioned--" Nix shot a look so sharp it cut the bartender's sentence short.

"Whiskey. Neat. Now."

The bartender sighed and turned around, grabbing a very expensive bottle of alcohol and pouring a conservative amount into a lowball glass. He then slid it across the counter to Nix. Nix caught the glass, stirred the liquid with a couple quick flicks of the wrist, then downed the shot. A satisfied sound, somewhere between a sigh and a shout, escaped his lips.

"That's the stuff! Damn, I need to requisition a bottle. Maybe I can get one as mission pay, eh? What do you think?"

He made a motion for the bartender to pour another.

---

Making his way from the luxury area to the bridge, Nix met back up with Ozpin. Nix fought better after a little alcohol; something to loosen him up, some fire for his blood. He looked to Ozpin. The guy was basically an old man already. He always turned Nix down when he invited him out to drink. Ol' Ozzy here preferred coffee. And hey, nothing wrong with a little bean juice, but it just didn't have the same kick.

"Construction is complete," Ozpin pointed, "and is already registered to the Schnee Dust Company. Intel has discovered that it is being used as a hideout for a terrorist cell. According to reports, several Faunus have taken residence within Mountain Glenn. Continued observations, however, have noted that they are often spotted in this area....here." Nix peered into the display, a grin stretching across his cheeks.

"Right where we want em'," Nix said. He then made his way to the back of the bridge, patting Ozpin on the shoulder as he passed. "Well then Ozzy, I'm gonna go give my team a lil' pep talk. I'll signal when I want the hatch opened."

---

Nix made his way back through the ship. The Angelo was an impressive vessel, no doubt about that. Humanity had invested in machines like these to prove their class, their superiority: 'We'll infiltrate your hideout and we'll do it with a fully-stocked bar.' Nix liked that. While the vessel was by no means small, Nix was able to weave his way though the masterpiece of metalwork relatively quickly. He soon reached a door, to which he pulled out a keycard and touched it to the reading pad. The light flicked from red to green and with a whoosh the door shot open. Before him was the area where all the corrupted cadets were waiting for their mission. Nix looked around, eyeing each and every one of them. He'd seen them all during experimentation of course, but this was his first time actually getting to work with them. His first impression was good. They looked strong- a little unstable, but strong. That was good. The Shades didn't need stability, they needed raw power, and that's just what this group seemed to promise.

The Huntsmen were split into two groups, each sitting on a different side of the hold. On the left was group Depth Strife.

My group, Nix thought. He liked the sound of that. He approached his team.

"Welcome to the fray," Nix said, tucking his hands behind his back. "I trust you've all seen me around the experimentation facility, but in case any of you were too focused on being tortured to pay attention, my name is Phoenix Valentine. You will address me as Commander. Now, as you may or may not know, our job today is to make a lot of noise. We need to cause a good distraction for Voidance's team so they can get into this facility and retrieve some vital documents. So, when I was looking through your paperwork, I separated the files into two sections, based on one factor-"

"Who could fuck shit up."

"If you didn't guess by now, you are the ones who COULD, in fact, fuck shit up. Your combat abilities are best used where you have no restrictions. Far as I'm concerned, you're all a bunch of rabid hounds and I'm about to set you loose. Now, when we get down there, we're going to be engaged in full-on combat. Not some cushy simulation the likes of which you might get at Beacon. We're not playing around with toys. This is the real deal. They're terrorists, and we're going to neutralize them." Nix paused for a moment.

"These Faunas hate humans. If you think that they're going to respond peacefully to a raid like this, you're wrong. You know what they're gonna do? they're gonna take all those weapons they stole from us and they're gonna try to gut you. Now the boss might not want to see 'innocents' die. But for this mission I'm your boss. When you leave this airship, you do so with the intent to kill. Or they will kill you first." Nix paused again, giving the group a long, hard stare. Then he chuckled a bit and smiled.

"But hey, enough of that serious shit, right? Let's go hunt some Faunas!" Nix gave a thumbs up to an operator standing near the back of the hold, who then relayed to the pilot to open the doors. The floor began to lower as the airship approached the ground, landing softly and letting the moonlight flood the cabin. In the same instant, the airship dropped its cloaking device, revealing itself in the thick of the terrorists' hideout. Immediately Fauna all around were driven into a panic. Alarms sounded and the terrorists quickly began arming themselves to deal with this unexpected threat.

As soon as all of Nix's team left the ship, it cloaked itself again and took off, just narrowly avoiding a shot from an anti-aircraft weapon attempting to bring it down. The ship carried Voidance's team to a safer location to drop them more covertly.

Before they knew it, team Depth Strife was put into the thick of battle. Fauna all around them were arming themselves and firing rounds at the small group.

"Alright kiddies, it's recess time! Don't show your damn face around me until you have at least three Fauna ears!"

With that, Nix pulled out Worldrender with a mighty swing, flicking it into its transformation and having it take its greatsword form. He then flung himself forward, using his Gravity Semblance to launch himself at alarming speeds to a nearby group of three Fauna. The unfortunate animal folk were still scrambling around in crates trying to arm themselves when the Commander happened upon them. Nix stopped is dash with a massive, overhead swing with his blade, bringing its weight down directly on top of a horned Fauna. The impact of the strike caused Nix to flip forward toward a second, female Fauna with bunny ears. Still in motion, the Commander performed a spinning slash, slicing the animal girl's torso. Nix then caught the ground, landing on his knees and using his hand to skid to a halt. The last of the three Fauna had finally managed to pull a sword out of the crate and ran toward Nix. With an amused smile, Nix threw a hand forward, sending a tether of aura that wrapped itself around the Fauna's ankle. Nix then grabbed the tether, turned, and threw the Fauna, manipulating his Semblance to cause the animal to fly much farther and faster than would have been possible with Nix's strength alone. The Fauna hit the wall of the facility. He didn't get back up.

Nix let out a raucous laugh.

"Now that's what the hell I'm talking about!"

---

A large group of Fauna began circling Team Depth strike. A circle of gunners backed up a circle of Fauna wielding melee weapons. Someone who appeared to have more clout than the others called out to the group.

"Drop your weapons and surrender now!"

[Volenvradica]

Are you

Freakin'

Kidding me?

BLUE Team
Landing Zone

Vinsent stood silent for a long moment, taking an extra few seconds to make an assessment on the females of the group.

Loli. Schoolgirl. Bewbs.

"Mhm." He mumbled with a noncommittal nod. Appearing to have lost interest in the girls, he switched his gaze to the young men, appraising them in turn.

Dark Knight. Stealth.

Vinsent curved his lips into a playful smile, more so out of fascination than mischief. Still, he could not stop himself from approaching the green-eyed Osen Gure. Crouching slightly to match her height, he reached into his jacket and produced a piece of hard candy. Instead of handing it to her, he placed the candy on top of the girl's head, leaving it there as he turned his attention to Yin Li. He stood straight this time, finding himself just a bit taller. He scrutinized those violet pair, inching his face closer to hers until their foreheads met. Having already invaded that bit of personal space, he teasingly brushed his lips against hers. He backed away suddenly, winking at Yin before moving onto Nova.

"Gentlemen and Ladies! And I say 'Gentlemen' first because I am clearly a misogynist." Gone was the charming smile, replaced with a haters-gonna-hate smirk. "Seriously, I just spent like a minute staring at Nova's chest. But as much as I want to hold them, and giving candy to Osen, and fantasizing about Yin being my waifu, we have something very serious to deal with! Now, was I totally spacing out, or did Ozpin order us to beat up on some furries? I really don't know, can someone check the first post again? I swear, Vrad's writing is so bad it's making me illiterate. Hang on."

"...This will help create an opening into the enemies defenses, making way for Vinsent and his team to enter the building and make contact with the Target."

Vinsent stretched a kink in his neck, as if a small display of disappointment could get things moving faster. "That doesn't sound like a lot of fun. We actually have to wait for RED Team to give us a clearing. Oh well. Okay everyone, let's get going. The Target is the Faunus leader, and it seems we need to reach the top floor to get the bastard. If intel is right, there's 10. Just as we were trained, guys! If anything gets in the way, we cut or shoot it down. Next poster can take point and lead us to the main lobby."

-------------------------

BLUE Team: Vinsent, Osen, Yin, Adam, Djura, Nova // In front of the corporate building

[Rex]

RED Team - (Depth Strife)

Tank sat in the large room of the air ship waiting with his headphones on. He didn’t like confined spaces like this. He felt trapped and claustrophobic. To help him through it he had his hat over his face and his music on to easy his mind. In the beginning his leg quickly jittered because of the confine space, but now it twitched with the beat of the music. He periodically lifted his hat to make sure he wasn’t missing anything important. When he lifted his hat he saw some one walk in and sat up. He took off his head phones before the man started speaking.

Phoenix Valentine started to speak and talk about each team’s involvement in the mission and what each team’s objective was. Before this he had read he small memo he was given. It told everything he needed to know and he was pleased he was on the team that entered first. He wasn’t too good as stealth and liked to be part of the action. He wasn’t too keen on killing other humans, even if they were part animal, but if it came down to it he would have to kill for not only his safety, but his team’s safety. Once the speech was over it was time to start the mission. He got into position before the doors opened and he lept out. Phoenix Valentine was the first one to attack, leaving the team to their own skills.

“For a leader he sure is hot headed,” Tank said before the group of Fauna surrounded the team. He would have liked to not hurt them, but once they pointed their guns at him everything changed. Tank slowly reached behind him and raised his hands with his yoyos in his hands.

“Don’t have any weapons, just some yoyos,” Tank said before he smiled and said, “How about a trick.” Tank quickly flung his yoyos at to Faunas. The chain saw teeth moved to the outside of the yoyos and began to spin. One of the Fauna’s weapons was cut in half while the other wasn’t so lucky. The chainsaw’s teeth cut into his skin causing the Faunas to fall to the ground.

Tank quickly retracted his yoyos before he targeted another group of Fauna and yelled, “Howling Wolf Bite!” Tank flung his yoyos at the group. The chainsaw blades spinning and letting out a howl like a back of wolves. The yoyos started to zigzag towards the group still howling. Three more Fauna fell victim to his attack before he retracted his yoyos. Bullet began to fly as some grazed tanks arm and leg before a sliver aura surrounded Tanks body.

“Didn’t feel a thing,” Tank said as he turned towards the group that fired at him. He had some blood dripping from the cuts but he couldn’t feel any pain. Tank lunged at the group as they continued to fire. His aura acted like a suit of armor as it deflected the bullets, but he still got cuts on his body from the effect. However, his nerves and pain receptors were turned off so he couldn’t feel a thing. He flung his yoyos as the group and cut them down. Cut, tear, and rip! You want it all! You want to tear their skin from their bones. You know you want to! A Chester cat grin formed on Tanks face before his eyes went black like a wolves eyes.

[Mr_pink]

Fugo Onyx

---

2 Years ago

Fugo stared down at his charred black hands, bleeding from the force of the explosion he had just accidentally created. In front of him lay the rubble of what was once a wall. His hands dripped with blood, his fingers were no longer normal, they were craned over and pointed outwards like some sort of animal's claw. His hands hurt like hell, but the combination of shock and horror forced him to persevere through it. This was the first real time he wished he'd never accepted Ozpin's offer.

---

Present Day
The Angelo

Fugo flipped a copper coin between his clawed fingers as his eyes scanned the area. He didn't know many of his 'team mates' all that well, but had seen them around a few times here or there. The team was a motley crew if anything. Fugo thought that they would have gotten older, more experienced people to join a task force like this, but alas, a group of teenagers were best suited for the job apparently. He rubbed his eye with the back of his hand, things were getting boring quickly. He stood up, gripping a bar on the wall of the Angelo for stability. Fugo began cracking his knuckles with his thumb, a bad habit at best, but not as disgusting as a few others. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the group leaders entering the room.

Their new leader, Nix seemed like a pretty alright fellow. He was only slightly older than, Fugo himself and didn't seem to be too strict, but not too lenient either. Soon enough, they were preparing to land and Fugo was preparing to enter the fray. He removed his weapon from his back, squeezing the trigger of his rail gun a few times in order to start it spinning. As powerful as the gun was, it took a hell of a lot of time to fire. Fugo also took two coins from his pocket and simply tapped each one with his thumb. A backup plan should anything go wrong.

Fugo followed Nix to the door of the aircraft, gripping onto another handle as he readied his gun.
"Alright kiddies, it's recess time! Don't show your damn face around me until you have at least three Fauna ears!" Commanded, Nix as the door fell open. Fugo searched the area with his eyes before spotting exactly what he had wanted to see. He pulled the trigger on his rail gun, the recoil shifting him back somewhat as the ray of concentrated electricity shot through the stomach, hand and leg of three consecutive Fauna.

Fugo grinned unsheathing his sword and began sprinting into the fray. He dodged under the swing of a Fauna's blade, before throwing his sword like a javelin into the skull of a cat Fauna. He leap frogged the corpse of the cat Fauna, tearing his sword out as he did and slashing the chest of a second Fauna as he landed. His eyes flared as he narrowly dodged a bullet before throwing one of his coins at the gunman. The gunman, confused as to why a coin had just been thrown at him, hesitated to take the next shot. An action that cost him his life. The gunman promptly blew up, shattering the ground beneath him and crushing one or two more Fauna. Fugo quickly retrieved another coin from his pocket while dodging and weaving past Fauna. He checked his watch, they would have to work faster if the other team were to make it to the Fauna leader before he escaped.

Soon enough, things got complicated. More fauna surrounded the group, demanding that they drop their weapons and surrender. In preparation, Fugo tossed his coins around him, hoping they hadn't caught on to how he'd blown up the gunman. He looked at, Nix, they couldn't surrender, not on their first mission that'd just be pathetic. But he wondered what Nix had in store for the group next.
"I've got the sides covered" He said, quietly and concisely.

[Cello]

Drake Umbra

Drake ran his fingers through his slick, green hair; pushing the normally straight and short strands up into a spiky fashion. He let the individual clumps of hair fall back into place, albeit less neatly than before, as he slowly moved his hand up from his scalp. In his spare hand, he absently twirled his hat around his finger. The room he had found himself in was filled with incredibly boring people. He tapped his foot impatiently, staring down his companions with a piercing, yellow gaze.
"For freaks of nature, you lot sure are dull." He spoke bluntly, smirking arrogantly while he rested his head back up against the wall. His black blazer was hung up on a little rack above him. He saw no reason to get such a nice piece of clothing dirty whilst on a mission. With a slight flick of his wrist, Drake threw his hat towards the rack, resting it on the same hook as his jacket.

"I mean come on. Show a little excitement! Be good little doggies and we might get treats, right?" Drake licked his lips with his unusually long, serpentine tongue at the idea of being allowed to spill some blood. It was about time some excitement happened, after all. He wanted to have a little more fun with the gang, but was silenced by the arrival of Phoenix Valentine. Upon seeing the familiar face, Drake shifted his gaze slightly to the superior; his mischievous smile ever present.

Their mission was simple and to the point. They needed to cause as much damage as possible. Drake almost felt a sense of pride that he had been chosen to turn these Faunus into mincemeat, and he was barely containing his excitement as the ship dropped them off. Even in front of his commander, Drake did little to restrain himself.
"Oh, I just can't wait!" Drake straightened his tie as he watched the swarms of little Faunus running around to prepare themselves for their attack. "Commander Valentine, you've made me feel just like a kid in a candy store!" Even despite guns being aimed at him, Drake's laid back posture remained in tact. A young fellow named Tank, who Drake was somewhat familiar, with began his assault shortly after the Commander jumped into a group of terrorists. Even despite the battle startling, Drake was biding his time. He wanted to savor the sweet scent of dust and blood before throwing himself into the thick of it. He even took a moment to give a round of applause to Tank, laughing hysterically at his team mates growing blood lust.
"Yes! Yes! Cut loose some more, mutt! Slice and dice to your hearts content!" As he spoke, a group of Faunus approached the young man with their weapons at the ready. They had fierce looks in their eyes; practically feral. Drake raised his eyebrow at the group, clicking his tongue in disdain.
"What an awfully disgusting creature you are. Perhaps I should put you sorry mutts down." The Faunus didn't take too kindly too Drake's tone; baring his ferocious fangs and claws as he charged the Hunter. He raised his claw to strike, but the courage in his eyes faded when Drake's false look of surprise turned into a sinister grin.

The Faunus' looked down at Drake's feet where a glowing Glyph appeared upon the ground. He didn't even have time to question when the hunter had readied the trap before a pair of the Ouroboros chains sprung from the ground at an alarming speed. On the end of each chain was an oddly shaped dagger that appeared as a serpents tail. The first dagger lodged itself in the Faunus' gut, while the other sank deep into his skull. With his hands still resting casually at his side, Drake swiftly lowered his body to avoid the still flying corpse that approached him. As he straightened himself on, he grabbed hold of the chains still lodged into the man he had just killed and yanked them forward. With a sudden change in direction, the corpse found itself sitting in front of Drake just as the other Faunus unleashed a barrage of gunfire onto Drake.

The body rattled with every shot it took for Drake, and the bloodier it got the more Drake began to laugh.
"What a riot!" Dislodging the body in front of him with a swift kick, Drake sent the unrecognisable corpse of the Faunus' ally flying into an unsuspecting woman with fox ears. Taking advantage of the situation, he grabbed his two chains and leapt forward towards the remaining two. Before they could even reload their weapons, he was standing before them with the two deadly chains whipping forward in wide arcs. The chains coiled themselves around his two adversaries. Tugging his right arm back, he sent one of his victims flying towards him at an alarming rate. He let go of the chain and balled his right hand into a tight fist; creating a corrupted Ouroboros serpent around his limb. The serpent glowed green, created from his Aura and the leather bracer that rested upon his wrist, whilst it coiled around Drake's arm with a hiss.

With a sudden step forward, he unleashed a right hook towards his target that sent him flying away from Drake and back into his team mate. As soon as he crashed into him, Drake leapt up into the air above the two and summoned another pair of daggers during his descent onto his victims. Grabbing them firmly by their handles, he plunged both of the weapons into the skulls of his dazed and disoriented victims. The chains and daggers dispersed into dust, leaving Drake along on top of the two corpses.
"Boring. Not even worth the effort, really." Drake turned to face the last Faunus girl, who had a fierce look in her eyes. The intent to rip Drake to shreds overpowered her, and she assaulted him at full force. Her strength was quite impressive, and Drake found himself on the defensive; keeping her at a distance by using his Ouroboros chains as powerful whips. He swung and swung, striking her with the daggers on the ends of the whips repeatedly. They weren't deep wounds, but it was enough to keep her at bay. Drake giggled like a toddler, delight plastered across his face as well as the blood of his victims. He began to increase the speed and strength of his strikes, eventually overpowering the Faunus' guard and leaving her open for one final slash across the jugular. She was still for a moment, standing up as the life drained from her and onto the ground below. And then she fell. Drake panted with excitement, his skin burning. Small patches of scales covering him from head to toe, Drake's shirt clung to his lanky frame with sweat.

The Ouroboros chains dispersed into thin air. And he found himself staring back at the carnage the rest of his team was causing. Clutching the sides of his head, he slightly dug his nails into his scalp with a sinister, wheezing laugh.
"Oh yes! That's the good stuff! Let's shred these dogs to ribbons!"

[Flood]

Ryan tugged at his collar every two minutes as he fidgeted in his seat. He was so ready to (kill everyone around him) beat up the bad guys and save the day! The Faunus are the bad guys, so there's no need to feel bad about (tearing their arms off and beating them to death with them) knocking them out and sending them to jail. Ryan fidgeted a bit more and nodded in acknowledgement of Valentine's commands. They were dropped off and quickly surrounded.

Ryan began twitching as he was ordered to drop his weapons. He pulled out The Black Fire and aimed it at a nearby crate of Dust. "How about instead I eat your eyes as if they were delicious grapes!" Ryan shot the crate of Dust with an incendiary round and watched several Faunus get lit on fire. One of them managed to get a shot off but Ryan teleported onto a crate of Dust that was still intact. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, his vision went red, he tasted copper, no, blood in his mouth.

Ryan listened to Drake and laughed along with him "Bathe me in the blood of the damned!" He had a manic smile as he shot at several meat bags and made them all bleed!!!! One of the Faunus got near him and he teleported behind it. Ryan pulled the trigger and heard an empty click. The Faunus turned around to see a dagger heading for his face. A moment passed and Ryan had the ear of a Fox in his pocket. He fired some explosive rounds at more Dust crates and laughed maniacally. "Now I just need a lucky rabbit ear!"

[Zugzwang]

All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavor to find out what you don’t know by what you do; that’s what I called “guessing what was at the other side of the hill”
-Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

One, two, three, four, five, six. Close cylinder. Holster. Draw. Open Cylinder. Eject rounds. Catch rounds. Repeat faster. One, two, three, four, five, six…

Thus, Adam Sable kept himself busy on the flight. Headphones were in place, the tinny speakers doing little to benefit the fast-tempo music. He didn’t speak before a fight. Quiet contemplation of his role, of its intricacies and expectations was better for his performance. He listened to the briefing in silence, juggling a pair of flash grenades as he absorbed the information, and then repeated it to himself under his breath. After the briefing, if only to stop his fidgeting, he checked his gear. Chest rig in good order: grenades accounted for, two smoke, two flash, two frag, road flare stowed, knives and multitool secure. Hip holsters working properly, revolvers stowed. Rifle leaning, shining clean, against a bulkhead, its ammunition in his small satchel. Plate carrier donned.

Adam’s mind occasionally drifted from his objectives. Why were they being inserted from the air? Why were they landing, not dropping from the ship to the roof and environs? Why didn’t they have any sort of fire support? Why were they being chosen for this mission? What significance did this cell of ‘terrorists’ truly have?

With a will, he pushed the questions back. He would have time in the after-action report to wonder about such things. On assignment, those who let questions get in the way of orders were courting disaster, and Adam was not one to take such risks. The enlistee was not paid to guess at the far sides of hills.

They landed, and he learned the objective was on the top floor. He forcibly kept questions about parachutes out his mind. It was not difficult: they were overpowered along with his resolve by curiosity about the absurd-seeming mode of speech his commanding officer used. A grin formed: a memory of a comic book the man reminded him of. The grin turned to a frown as he realized just how foul a portent such a similarity could be.

Not having been informed that he was “Next Poster”, he waited for a member of their group to proceed. He trusted whichever teammate had been selected to lead the way would be a better choice than him, anyways. Absentmindedly, he fanned out slightly, pre-empting the request for skirmish line. He also began making note of cover options: the sounds of violence not far off finished his descent into fight mentality, and his drilled instincts took over. He thumbed the safety on his rifle and double-checked the chamber and magazine, keeping the weapon shouldered and ready despite its uncomfortable length. He memorized the order of rounds: red, green, blue, red, grey. Green in the chamber.

Quickly, he ran out of distractions. More quickly, he grew bored.

[Zetsuko]

Djura fiddled with his mask while he was sitting there. He really wasn't paying that much attention to anything but he did notice as Phoenix came in and addressed the red team. As they were dropped off and heading into the fray Djura wondered, not for the first time, why he was placed with the Blue team rather than red. It wasn't really out of any desire to be in the middle of the conflict, that may have been part of it, but it was mostly because stealth wasn't exactly his strongest point.

He didn't get long to dwell on it before Vinsent came in and looked over the blue team. He rolled his eyes at Vinsent's display and simply ignored him. as the ship carried on he kept getting distracted by the feeling of hate back in the red team's fight, he wasn't even in Grimm form and he could feel it. His breathing grew heavier and he fidgeted anxiously as it called to him, beckoned him to it. He forced the compulsion from his mind as the ship landed. Djura looked at his other teammates for one to take the lead but as none did and Adam was just playing with his guns he got up with a shrug and walked toward the building.

With most of the guards drawn off getting into the building was fairly easy but he was distracted by the feelings of hatred again at that moment and walked straight into a horned Faunus. The two stared at each other for a moment before the Faunus raised a shotgun at Djura. Reacting just a quickly Djura threw a punch that tore the shotgun from the Faunus's grip. Then a second to the torso causing it to double over. He then grabbed it's head and tore out one of it's horns. The Faunus screamed in pain before being silence by Djura jamming the horn into it's throat and letting go of him as the corpse fell to the ground.

Djura didn't silence him fast enough as the scream was noticed by another guard, who in turn noticed Djura. It shouted and bolted away, leaving Djura to dive for cover as three Faunus started shooting at him from the upper level of the lobby and the fourth ran off to alert more guards. Djura flipped one of his weapons out to a revolver and sighed from behind a desk as bullets hailed around it.

[Zugzwang]

Djura must have been "Next Poster", then. Adam followed close behind, fanning to the right and scraping his environs with his eyes, working hard to not activate his semblance out of paranoia. Djura entered the building first, and before Adam could enter, a shriek rang out, followed quickly by the ringing cracks of gunfire. Adam bolted through the door, triggering his semblance a moment before. His mind's eye showed him the three faunus that he would see in just under a second, arrayed on the upper floor of the lobby. He slipped back into reality and began aiming his rifle at where he knew the leftmost faunus would be. Taking cover behind a stone pillar, firing wildly at the desk behind which Djura crouched.

As he finally entered the lobby, Adam was nearly diving forward, halfway into throwing himself behind the desk he had seen, and as he squinted down the crude sights of his rifle, he found his pre-determined aim true. Thanking Fate for earplugs in such a confined space, he squeezed the trigger just as the faunus glanced at the new figure in the lobby, and the room was utterly filled with a cacophonous BANG.

Silently asking for Djura's forgiveness at his very-possibly popped eardrums, he only watched the pillar for long enough to confirm the telltale explosion of stone and paint, followed by the splash of blood and the mad gust of dust-caused wind. Fully into his dive now, Adam dropped his rifle and drew his revolver. He rolled into cover is a manner at least approaching gracefulness, thanking his aura from protecting his head-first landing, and finishing the roll, he shifted his aim to where he 'saw' the rightmost faunus, standing in the open brazenly firing his weapon with newly-increased fear. The much less ear-splitting revolver barked once, then twice, the faunus stumbling back, its head and chest broken beyond repair. Adam caught his breath, knowing that the third faunus would not stand up. Characteristically for amateurs, the faunus was taking cover, waiting for more experienced reinforcements. Unfortunately for Adam, and the proof of the final faunus' inexperience, he had mistaken cover for concealment, and had chosen a thin, decorative, wooden railing. Peeking in the future as he took aim, he saw a miss. Shifting his aim down slightly, he squeezed the revolver's trigger a third time, sending a cone of metal deep into the faunus' brain.

Revulsion hit Adam quickly, only his instincts pulling him to cover and drawing his rifle back into his hands. The first deaths always made him seize up. He desperately wished he were fighting Grimm.

Deftly reloading his revolver, Adam waited for the rest of the team to catch up, considering the situation under control. For the moment, at least. Adam had learned to not look farther forward than that.

[Bornlucky]

Itzel stares blankly over the room of people he is forced to work with, he ran his main hand over his messy brown hair sometimes his fingers got caught on split ends it hurt but he got them though it sooner or later but it didn't really matter, compared to what he went though in his experiment. His eyes still stings when he's in bright room, as well in complete darkness. His scars sting when he touch them. And now his mind will only react to extremes with every emotional reaction he has.  But it could be worse, some of his 'allies' went completely off the deep end and are barely human now. He was lucky, he still feels human if now a really reactive one.

The insufferable leader of his team walked though the locked door of where the groups were waiting. The man is named Phoenix Valentine, a man who bloodlust was equal to the fuck ups post-expairments. So this man is not to be trusted with life, but Itzel's life wasn't worth anything so Itzel simply stayed the reactive weapon of theirs until they were finished with him or he died. The latter was for the best for the world if they really are trying to make a better world.

After 'Nix' finished telling them his plan to kill the terrorist and get some important thing or person, but he wasn't paying any attention, all he needed to know was that he was here to 'fuck shit up'.

As their transport landed Itzel sighed and got ready for combat, a cold smile grew on his face with a soft red glow of his eyes showed his massive shift and personality, since now there's no need for doubt, just determination. Itzel glide his fingers over the metallic shaft of his weapon, the Shadow Digger, as he walked off the ship into moonlight where his eyes glowed brighter, perspective people could see that his shadow moves on its own.

As Faunas scrambled around for weapons and cover, Itzel's allies started cutting them down, Itzel watched as they do so, his Semblance was powerful but he shouldn't waste it on hapless targets, it like using an explosive on a child. But not as messy. As Itzel watched them attack, a few of the Faunas noticed him and decided to attack him hoping he wasn't prepared to defend himself. He was. A quick secession of gunfire ranged in the area, but a shadow wall raised from the ground to defend him as the bullets were fired at him, Itzel looked at the attacking faunas with his glowing eyes, to them he was a was a monster, they weren't far off. Suddenly his shadows lashed out at the shocked Fuanas, the shadowy tendrils stabbed and slashing away at them, making quick, messy work out of them.

As the group were 'surronded', they soon attack with such intensity that it would be written down in Faunas history. Itzel decided to play a more supportive role, but he was still getting kills. Itzel's shadows protected his allies blind spots while he used his enemies own blind spots and cut them down into ribbons as they were too busy with his more overt 'allies' to noticed that their shadows were rising up from the ground to kill them, but with so many things to focus on he is near defenseless with only the barest of shadows to fend off loose bullets, this was so keep he could keep his focus on the battle at large.

This is much more fun then any pratice dummy. The agonized screams of terrorist was music in Itzel's ears.

[The ghost in black]

Blue Team

It kinda pissed Nova off how Vincent was blatantly staring at her chest but didn't move to do anything since it would probably end in her slapping him or worst. This mission seemed pretty boring to her since her team couldn't go in guns blazing like red team though she guessed this job suited her more. Nova spent the time they had before being dropped off checking over Broken Mask and Jester, she sat with Mask in her lap and began shining it with a cloth that she had pulled out of her blazer jacket. When the ship got to their drop off zone Nova held the large Blade/sheath aloft before standing up and disembarking the ship into a scene that she would describe as calm compared to what was probably going on in red team's area even though Djura had been pinned down... key word being HAD since Adam came in and demolished the opposition in a minute.

She walked though the room and nodded to the two boys before having Mask eject Jester which she immediately grabbed with her semblance and walked up to a door. When she reached the door Nova gave a small huff before putting the palm of her hand against it, Nova felt a heartbeat directly against the the door so she began to line up Jester with the point at where the beat was the strongest. The movement was quick and silent as the sword went through the door, stabbed the Faunus on the other side, and pulled back out covered in blood, "Silent and precise, perfect" she thought to herself before pushing open the door and walking into a room with three other Faunus who were already aiming their guns at her. "Another perfect situation" Nova thought as she took a few steps into the room and closed the door behind herself.

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" yelled a feline Faunus who seemed to be wielding a shotgun while the others had a sword and an axe, Nova tilted her head for a second then nodded and did as she was but instead of letting Mask hit the ground she kicked it sending it flying towards the Faunus holding the gun. The large weapon spun towards the Faunus like a frisbee and lodged itself in the shotgun Faunus's stomach, he dropped like a stone at the weight of the weapon ((and the fact that he was stabbed)). Nova flexed her left hand and Jester flew into it before she ran at the Faunus with the axe where she sliced through his neck; Nova turned and looked at the sword wielding with a almost pitiful smile but then dropped it when she glanced over at Mask which in turn drew the Faunus's attention. Mask had extracted itself from the stomach of the first Faunus and had leveled itself with the.... Deer girl's neck; The girl froze and stared back at Nova with what Nova assumed was fear and she loved that look. There was a flash of light and then a spurt of red before she was left sitting in the middle of the floor with the door open and four dead bodies though she had began writing the alphabet on the wall with the blood using the tip of her blade as a pen obviously bored.

[Little Bird]

Seated at the back most end of the hold, Zena Mavrofos' ears lost each of Valentine's words to the droning roar of The Angelo's massive engines.

Every inch of the girl's body, for one reason or another, was noticeably tense. Her red-brown hair had, of course, been woven into as tight of a bun as the youngster could manage, a habit of hers ever since her first day of training back at the Academy. Yet today, that weave seemed to pull the rest of her along with it. Her skin, usually quite the comfortable fit, felt stretched, like a too-small shirt compressing against the muscle beneath it. Those very muscles in turn felt cramped and constrained under the stretch of skin. Still, the extremities of her hands feet retained a sense of restlessness. Fidgeting at the ankles she tapped her feet in uneven rhythm upon the metal floor. With her hands, she performed a contraction-relaxation motion; where her right hand remained empty, her left hand bore a yellow, smiling-face stress ball.

To her lack of fortune these minor exertions of motion did little to quell the tempest brought about by the day’s reality: there was a fight rearing into the picture. In spite of the fact that she could only scarcely hear her assigned leader’s speech, the young girl’s eyes stole legitimate glance toward him, splitting their attention between him and the hold’s ramp, which would, in mere moments, open out into a maelstrom of furry fury. Her mind was only half on the mission as it was; the other half devoted solely to the pursuit of fighting, and letting off the tension that had been welling the entire ride. Can we just land already? Even as the carrier reached into the infancy of its descent, Zena had risen to her feet. Though she fell from turbulence nearly a dozen times, she continued to rise back to her feet. As the hold opened out into its opening, she pushed her way through her squad to a more ‘forward’ position.

Almost immediately, she was in the thick of action, surrounded, with her team, by gathering of Faunus that had come to engage them. A lone voice from the surrounding ring bellowed the order for Depth Strife to disarm…

The order became the Faunus’ first mistake of the day. No sooner had the command left his lips did the strike force retort with its most uncivil disobedience. Not one to be left behind amid the fray, Zena bull rush the ranks of Faunus directly in front of her, whipping out Tesla Arc in the process. Metals clashed and clanged as her blade parried a strike from a canine adversary’s gauntlet. Tugging her hilt with one hand while grabbing hold of a somewhat thinner strand beneath, she removed her pistol, already loaded with a standard round, placing a debilitating shot into the dog Fauna’s chest.

Whipping the blade away from the gauntlet she flourished it out to her left. The blade-turned-chain grabbed hold around a charging feline. With a heaving tug, she pulled the feline in, just out of the range of its weapon. A second shot from Tesla Arc’s pistol pierced the adversary’s face, leaving its right eye socket a bloody gash.

Releasing the collapsing cat, Zena spun a ninety on her toes. Just as she came about, her bicep met a grazing blow from a rifle shot, ripping at the edge of her skin. Her glare threw forward, bearing teeth in a angered grin at the sapient, rifle-wielding Faunus that had dared to shoot her. “Bad choice!” she yelled. In a fluid motion she reattached the pistol into the blade’s hilt. “My turn.” Blade-whip in the left hand, her right hand cackled, a spark of electricity gathering at the tips of her index and middle fingers, pointing toward her third victim. “BANG!” The bolt flew like lightning; even the quick, animalistic instinct of the Faunus couldn’t keep up with the force of nature. Not a second later, the monkey was left a zapped, charred heap upon the ground he had stood.

“S’what you get,” Zena spat.