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The city was eerily quiet as they moved into position. there was an earthy smell in the air like it was going to rain.
"The warehouse is swarming with them," she said as she continued to scan for heat signatures.
"It is as we feared." He said as she lowered her scope "You are sure this is the place?" she asked with a glance back at him, he nodded his lips drawn together in a thin line.
"Where are they holding her?" She said checking that she had all her knives.
"according to intel she is being held in the basement." Came Oda's rough voice over coms, emotion in his voice.
"She is a tough girl, We will save her do not worry." There was a sigh and the sound of metal clicking as he checked his sniper magazine.
"Easy to say." Oda said angrily, Goro sighed
"Oda!" He said in warning, there was another pause.
"Standing by." He replied before the coms went silent again.
"He cares for her deeply." Goro said climbing down from their perch, Raven close behind.
"she will be ok." She said sounding determined as they snuck around to the back of the warehouse
"This is the best point of entry." She said hacking the terminal and sliding the door open a crack to peek through. He was right behind her his rifle in hand. He tapped her shoulder and she nodded before slipping inside, he followed his eyes peeled for threats as they crept down a long hallway to a warehouse door that was lifted up. The warehouse was dark only low red lights illuminated the edges. Luckily they had night vision upgrades for their Kiroshis for this op.
She raised her fist hearing voices, they flattened themselves against the wall by the door to listen.
"That bitch is more trouble than she is worth, why are we keeping her alive." A woman complained kicking an empty soda can across the warehouse with a huff.
"Because she is counter intel, she got information our boss wants." A man replied, and the women scoffed.
"She ain't telling us shit," she grunted.
"She will," he said with a deep chuckle.
Raven felt a burst of pride, V was giving them shit despite being held captive. Goro tapped her shoulder nodding his head behind them. Two heat signatures were heading their way. She peaked around the corner noticing some large storage containers and grinned before slipping through the door. Goro followed.
"She is still alive." He said over coms. Oda didn't reply
"Do you have eyes inside yet." Raven said as they ducked behind a container as the two who had been speaking about V strolled past.
"Multiple hostiles in the next room, there are stairs leading down, I think that is where they are keeping her." Goro smiled Oda's voice was clipped, he could hear his rage just under the surface, it was partly why he had ordered him on sniper duty, not extraction. He feared Oda's emotions would cloud his judgment when it came to V. He was known to be reckless and he knew in his heart Oda would not survive should V get killed due to him attacking blindly.
Raven drew a knife sneaking up behind a guard and slitting his throat pulling him behind a crate. She checked him over taking a clip from his belt and tossing it to Goro who caught it and slipped it into a pouch on his side, extra ammo was always useful.
He nodded at her before running ahead and posting up at a door, he checked inside before slipping in, she continued pausing at another doorway to the right and did the same, they would split up and thin the enemy first.
Goro crept silently one foot in front of the other his rifle pressed to his shoulder ready, he lowered it spotting two gang bangers conversing next to an oil can fire. He slid the rifle to his back and drew a knife from his lower back, he paused waiting till one of them turned around and walked off, he darted up behind the one that remained and slid the knife deep into the top of his spine his hand over their mouth as he lowered them to the ground and dragged them behind some boxes, he peered around as the other man returned and raised their gun noticing there missing ally.
Goro crept around the other side of the boxes as the enemy neared it and was behind him in an instant his knife slipping through flesh like butter severing his spine a small gasp slipped from his mouth before he gargled and fell limp in his arms, he lowered him down and hid him with the other body before continuing to the next room to clear it.
Raven moved silently, keeping low a group of enemies were playing cards, one of them yelled angrily their palms slamming on the table
"You cheated!" she growled before knocking her chair over and marching off the other two laughed reshuffled the deck of cards they where using.
"sore loser huh." one joked before collecting his cards. Raven shook her head tagging both and began stacking quickhacks to take them out. Overclocking her ram to hit them both at once.
Neither of them had ice and by the time they realized something was up they were slumped over the table sparks at their necks their eyes wide and bloodshot. She moved further into the room heading in the direction the women had gone, she ducked back behind a wall nearly getting spotted, she let out a breath slowly from her mouth before activating her camo and slipping into the room, the woman from earlier was talking with another woman
"That fucking red head is a bitch, look what she did to me." the women showed her hand and there was the perfect indentation of V's teeth in it. Raven smirked before leaping into the air spinning between them her sword reflecting the overhead light.
The women slumped to the floor their heads severed. With the room cleared she slipped back into the hallway and met up with Goro.
"all good?." she asked as they made their way to the main room. She paused in the doorway checking for enemies. There were two men guarding a stairwell.
"I'll take the one on the left." She said before moving, Goro nodded going for the one on the right.
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Oda scanned the building again with his scope, his eyes following Raven and Goro as they split up and crept up on the men guarding the stairwell, his eyes widened noticing a red light reflecting on Goros armour, he moved his scope quickly his finger on the trigger, spotting the sniper he squeezed, smoke creeping from the barrel as it hissed silencing his shot, the sniper fell dead, he quickly moved his scope back in time to see Raven and Goro snapping the necks of the guards and slipping down into the basement.
He quickly hopped down from his perch and made his way along the roof to make sure the area was clear for extraction, he thought of V, hoping she was ok, he still blamed himself for her getting captured, he shouldn't have left her alone after that mission he should have stayed with her kept her safe but Michiko had called him away, for the first time he cursed his duty to Arasaka.
He checked his scope and reloaded his rifle and began picking off the rest of the guards outside, he knew they would get her out alive, but he still wished Goro had let him go with them. He was a good sniper but he was still a soldier. He was reckless at times but he would not jeopardize the mission even with the women he loved in danger.
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They paused by another door and Goro peaked around the corner he quickly ducked back
"We may have a problem." she raised an eyebrow in question
"There is a mech." he said looking worried, she mouthed his words back at him in disbelief and he nodded
"I will run interference, do you think you can hack it?" she smirked
"Of course." he raised his gun then darted into the room and opened fire. The heavy mechanical whir of it's legs, as it turned and returned fire echoed in the room. Bullets creating sparks against its Armor as he darted across the room and skidded behind cover, the mech turned on the spot aiming its Gatling gun at his position the cylinders whirring as it opened fire, Goro flinched as the concrete splintered away from the wall he was hiding behind.
Raven darted in the room throwing a disable cyberware hack at it hoping to short-circuit the mech, she cursed hitting black ice, and rethought her tactics, hacking a gas cylinder to the mechs right, it exploded destroying one of its legs, she jumped behind cover as one of its turrets fired at her last known location. Destroying a wooden storage crate in an explosion of splinters. she quickly leaped from her spot and darted across the room throwing a few of her knives at the exposed wiring near the arm that housed the Gatling gun severing them, the mech seemed to groan as it tried to right itself, Goro opened fire again in short bursts taking out a few more cables.
The mech stopped moving and went limp, He quickly glanced around the room, hearing footsteps rushing to their location.
"Go"." he shouted lifting his rifle
"I will hold them off." She gave him a worried look
"I will be fine," he called after her as she ran down the stairs. She paused at the bottom hearing shouts before he opened fire.
She darted down the hallway and slipped through an open gate to another set of stairs, she paused at the top and scanned before creeping down. She cursed knocking over a bottle that rolled down the last few steps. She heard a chuckle
"If you think im going to talk, think again. get fucked!" Raven chuckled, the voice falling silent for a moment
"Raven?" the voice called out sounding a little breathless.
Raven paused at the doorway
"You look like shit." She grinned before hacking the cell door and opening it
"Fuck, am I glad to see you." V grinned pulling at her restraints. Raven cut them one by one and helped her to her feet before checking her over, she checked her neck ports and pulled out the device blocking her cyberware.
"feel better?" she teased before peering back into the hallway
"Much, where is Oda?" Raven chuckled
"Don't worry, he is outside." the redhead frowned
"Goro's orders." She clarified, and the younger woman shook her head. Raven quickly pulled out the handgun she had and offered it to her.
"Ready to get out of here?" She said moving to the stairs
"Fuck yeah." she said following her.
When they reached the top Goro was nowhere to be seen and there were several bodies littering the floor.
"Goro?" Raven called out over Coms
"I am clearing a path, I may need some help." she heard gunfire over the Coms and Raven cursed
"Oda where are you?" there was silence for a moment before his voice crackled with static.
"V it is good to see you." the redhead looked around and he chuckled
"I have her in my sights, go to him," he said the women exchanged a look before splitting up.
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V ran as fast as her legs could carry her, it seemed Goro had pissed off whatever guards were left, drawing them away from her position.
"The door on the left leads to a walkway, take it and take the ladder down, you should have a clear exit. I will meet you there." Oda said before hopping down from his hiding spot and breaking into a run.
"got it." V said taking a sharp left and running down the walkway.
She slipped down the ladder and ducked behind a wall checking it was clear before making a break for it. She skidded to a stop nearly running into a guard her eyes widened before the man slumped over a sword in his gut, the body fell to the ground and her eyes met Oda's
"Oh thank god." she said throwing her arms around him. he held her at arm's length
"You ok?" he asked, she nodded and he smiled before kissing her, she gasped not expecting him to kiss her out in the open.
he pulled back and held her to his chest "Don't ever do that to me again." he growled, and she shook her head
"Where are Goro & Raven?" He glanced at the warehouse.
"Still inside." she frowned turning to go back, he grabbed her arm stopping her
"We are to extract, they will be fine, come on." he tugged, she resisted and he let out a frustrated sigh
"V!" he yelled making her jump, she let out a sigh
"fine!" she said slipping from his grip and running towards the AV coming into to land. Oda took one last look at the warehouse, faint gunfire echoing in the open air.
A look of determination flickered in his eyes before he turned on his heel and ran after V, they would be fine he told himself, right now he had his own mission. He ran towards the AV making a call to Michiko to update her as he did so.
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"GORO!" Raven called out darting behind cover as another hail of bullets was fired in her direction, she cursed there was a wall between them. The intel they had was out of date, this was supposed to be an open warehouse room but it had been split in two by a dividing wall of 1-foot thick concrete. There wasn't a door that she could see from her current position so she continued to follow the wall hoping it opened up to where Goro was at some point.
There were only a few guards left on this side. She took them out quickly
"Oda!" she called out over coms
"We are extracting now. v is safe do you need backup?" she looked around seeing no more enemies, the gunfire had ceased
"No we will be fine, meet you back at the tower." she crept along the wall seeing light further down she headed towards it.
"Affirmative." was Oda's reply before the coms went silent once more.
A few boxes were in front of her she slipped around them before moving back against the wall not noticing the red glowing optics of an enemy creeping up behind her. Goro had finished off the last of the guards, he was in the process of following the dividing wall looking for an exit or way through to the other side to meet up with Raven, using his Kiroshi's he spotted her heat signature and smiled she was doing the same it seemed. His stomach dropped noticing she was not alone and she did not seem to be aware. He tried to call her on coms but only got static, he cursed his eyes widening in realization.
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Adrenaline was an incredible thing, the things you could do when it's coursing through your veins, It allowed you to survive, gave you the strength to continue to fight, it gave you the ability to perform feats of incredible strength in that split secound when your fear nearly takes over but you push through it. Electrical impulses firing across your synapses, muscles primed for action, your heart pounding.
A jolt of fear hit him, she was completely unaware of the danger, there was no door to the room she was in from this side. He had never moved so fast in his life, with his cyberware enhancing every joint and muscle to get him to her in an almost blind flash of speed the injectors pumping adrenaline and pain suppression through his system as his fist slammed into the wall, sparks flying from the metal lining his knuckles as the wall cracked and split open shattering in a cloud of dust and debris, the sound that erupted from him akin to a roar.
Scarlet eyes widened the world slowing down to a frame a secound sensing the presence behind her, her eyes meeting two glowing orbs of red, the shadows of the warehouse making them look almost demonic, a beast ready to devour her. A gasp slipped from her lips her hand reaching for her sword, her heart seemed to stop beating, her stomach dropped as she realized she was too late to react and this could be her end, her thoughts drifted to Goro wanting him to be her last thought before she heard a roar and the wall exploded right by the demons face.
Fingers glinting with silver wrapped around the demon's throat dragging them through the hole that was now in the wall, the demon screamed the bones in their neck cracking and snapping like kindling in a fire then silence. She fell on her backside and gasped in a breath that almost sounded like a sob then a head of black and silver hair peered through the hole the silver ring of his optics glinting in the low light, he was breathing heavily his hair a mess around his face, dust on his cheeks and in his hair from the wall as the dust settled.
"Are you ok," he said with a slight quiver of emotion as he breathed the words as if they were painful, the light from the other side highlighting his silhouette making him look almost like an angel. She stared at him for what seemed like forever taking in the fire in his eyes, he kicked the rest of the cracked concrete away and stepped through the wall before crouching beside her taking her face in his hand, tilting her head to check for injuries a smile creeping across her lips as her mind finally caught up with her.
"Goro you...." She trailed off glancing at the wall.
"You were in danger." He stated plainly as if he had not just punched a hole in a concrete wall with his bare fist and snapped that man's neck like a twig. She swallowed thickly and blinked the reality of the situation was almost surreal, she had heard of mothers lifting cars to save their children in a burst of adrenaline but never in her life had she thought Goro capable of doing what he just did. he sat down leaning his back against the remains of the wall and let out a bark of laughter feeling almost drunk as the adrenaline drained from his system.
"You really are a badass you know that." She grinned, he raised an eyebrow and stood, brushing off the dust from his Armor before offering her a hand, she took it and he hauled her up on her feet and tugged her against him, his lips against hers in a kiss before pulling back and pushing her hair from her face and behind her ear she smiled at the gentle caress.
"I think that was the last of them." he said softly, she looked up at him and licked her lips tasting the remnants of his kiss, she frowned tasting copper, she reached up to touch his lip where it had split, tracing the skin tenderly.
"we should return to the tower," she whispered, he nodded and glanced around the warehouse taking in the carnage before his eyes settled on the hole in the wall, had he really done that?
Protect her at all costs that had been his only thought, the rest was pure almost animal instinct. Nobody would hurt her not while he drew breath, not if he could stop it. They made their way out of the warehouse and into the night air, the heavens seemed to open as soon as they stepped through the barbed wire fence they had cut through to get inside the facility. Heading for the extraction point an AV was waiting for them, they were soaked by the time they were inside the AV and heading for the tower.
She chuckled wringing out her hair and glancing at Goro his hair tie had broken at some point during the scuffle his long hair sticking to his face, he grunted as some got caught on one of the buckles of his Armor, he was struggling to untangle it. She shuffled closer
"Here, let me help." she grinned untangling his hair and pulling it free, she pushed his hair back and smiled
"You punched through a wall." she chuckled.
"I did." he grinned.
"Not going to lie it was kind of hot." she purred making Him chuckle before pulling her in for a kiss.