Chapter Text
Nene knew this mission wasn't going to be easy. It never was when her squad was assigned. The downside to being the highest ranking squad besides the leaders, she supposed. Scope locked and looking around, she raised her wrist to activate her communicator. "In place. Maverick?"
"In position. Glint, Daybreak?" The calm voice said, continuing the check in. The long silence led to two annoyed sighs. "Daybreak, come on, I know you're there, I just heard you arguing with Glint over the comms."
"Yeah, yeah, we're ready. It'd be easier if you were paired with me instead of this brat."
"In position. Also, fuck you, Daybreak." The feline's voice was hardly not a hiss. Another sigh.
"Save it for the distraction. I'll say when." Looking back through her scope, the fox checked everything. The top floor, the front door, the sides of the building. "Clear. Begin phase 1." She watched through the scope as her friends and squad mates made their way over to the front door, arguing. If nothing else, this struggle to get along made for perfect ways to lower the guard of anyone they needed to go up against. Her cyber ears flicked. "Maverick. Scope me."
She glanced at their trackers. So far, none were off... But the unease was confirmed when a bullet flew past her face, perfectly far enough away not to hit her. Rolling over fast, she pulled her handgun out of her inventory, to meet-
"Is that anyway to say hi to an old friend, my dear?"
She felt the tracker turn off in her communicator. Out of all the members of the Syndicate, why was he always on her team's case?
". . . Rui."
"So you do remember my name! I have to say, that non-sniper friend of yours really is a good shot. I'll have to have Tsukasa get the bullet out this time~" Despite being clearly injured, he moved closer and pressed his forehead against her pistol. "Do it."
She tightened her look. Remembering a lot of good times before the two of them got into the mess before them. Enough hesitation to allow her a good stab to his shoulder and slip away from underneath him. Nene growled once away. "If you're so insistent on the ‘friends’ title, join the rebellion and stop bugging me." She retorted. Praying that Maverick got hold of Glint and told her to stay in the building.
"I'll admit, you and I have nearly friendship ending differences!" Rui winced a bit as he downed a health potion. "But that can't stop me from visiting you~ Especially when you make it so easy."
"To the surprise of everyone, the Syndicate gives days off! Or are you just being a naughty little puppy who ran from master?" God, it stung to say that. To both her and him, as evident by his face shifting from playful to just plain mad.
"You leave Tsukasa out of this. Your so called friends killed someone dear to him." He snarled. "Like how they fooled you."
"Lay off it. I wasn't fooled, unlike you. Also, I poisoned my dagger. You've become so obsessed with catching Glint, you've become a little predictable."
---
Angry. That's what Emu was. Cyber's tracker was off, which meant she was attacked. Maverick said stay in the building, meaning that fucking dog was nearby. And the people in the building were mostly holograms, the few who weren't tied up or knocked out. Two had died, not for a lack of trying to save them. Swinging her mallet around would cause too much noise. So she slinked back and forth, growling lowly. Daybreak huffed. "Calm down, at least we don't have to fight much."
"You really are a fucking idiot! This was a trap! Nomad was tricked, ONE HALF was tricked. If this goes anymore wrong we'll have to pray they're fucking insane enough to prefer torturing the information out of us than normal interrogation." Emu hissed loudly. Her ears perked and she raised her mallet.
"You offer that for my bosses and they might just be willing to do so~" A groan escaped the cat. Tsukasa Tenma, one of the top workers for the Syndicate. And never too far away from his mutt. "Now, if you come with politely, I might even be able to arrange a more comfortable cell for in between the torture!"
Daybreak growled, moving closer to Emu. She knew why, but it irked her more. "Nice joke. That something they train you in?" The Akita barked.
"Tut tut. I can be funny outside work, you know. And as for top agents, such as your team, it's simply a matter of time before a proper slip up befalls you. Though, I will admit... No file said anything about Miss Glint here being able to tell traps."
Emu hissed. "I'm full of surprises."
She folded her ears back more as Tsukasa smiled, gently. Almost teasingly. "Indeed you are. It must be why Rui's so interested in you. Speaking of, I'm sure you know he's around. If you cooperate, I will make sure he—"
Leave it to Maverick to multitask saving asses. She really needed to thank him for shutting him up.
"I see you two have someone who answers for you. Very well." She watched the blond pull two swords out. "I guess it's a worth a little extra exercise."
---
Akito moved even closer to Glint. He knew To— er... Maverick was probably busy covering Cyber, which left him to guarantee Glint wouldn't get hurt. He knew that, under normal circumstances, Glint could handle herself. But the ass in front of them, and the dire wolf somewhere nearby, always ruined her normal battle ready attitude. Mostly the mutt that followed Tsukasa, but Tsukasa as well. Seriously, could it really be any less lucky that it was them?
Moving in between their enemy and Glint was like a death sentence. If he didn't die, Glint sure would. And even if they survived the fight, Glint would kill him when they got close to base out of anger for treating her like a damsel in distress. So he stayed by her side, moving closer despite how much it clearly annoyed her. Maybe if he annoyed her enough, she’d be back to battle ready.
“I’m feeling gratuitous today. You may h–” Akito didn't wait. Neither did Glint. The two launched forward before Tsukasa finished talking and landed two solid hits on the enemy. Backing up, he launched his kusarigama at the blonde to make an opening for Glint. “GH—”
Glint pulled out her daggers, letting her mallet go into her inventory, landing two solid stabs into Tsukasa’s right arm before kicking him to remove the blades. Taking a moment to analyze, Akito saw the HP bar appear. 100/473. They took him down a lot. He grabbed Glint’s wrist, before tossing a smoke bomb down and running off with her to a higher level.
He heard her hiss. “We should take him down completely!! What are you doing!”
“Yeah, right. All that would do is make us bigger targets for the wolf! Do you want to be bait to take them both down?” Akito huffed, shoving the cat into a closet then joining her.
“Oof! No, but hiding??!” Glint growled. “We’re as good as sitting ducks here!”
The Akita rolled his eyes. “Nomad wanted me to test out these new smoke bombs anyway. Hopefully they work. Cause if they do, our tracks’ll be covered for an hour. Meaning we just have to be sneaky.” He explained. Moving to the small window, he looked around and saw a flash of blue. He pulled out his communicator. “Maverick, we got the ringleader down to 100 HP. Cover Cyber and get the wolf into the building. I’ll run evac on Glint and me.”
“Copy that.”
---
Toya sighed softly. He really hated the wolf and his partner. Hearing Akit– Ah, Daybreak, say what happened as he ran to Cyber, he checked what he could with his scope. Surprisingly, Tsukasa had not recovered health. But Rui did. Surmising Rui had all the health potions, he launched a few shots at Tsukasa, landing them. Another check, and Tsukasa was at 23 remaining health. Perfect timing, as he prepared an attack at Rui.
“Your partner made a mistake letting you have all the health potions.” He offered as a tease. The dire wolf turned around, eye narrow in rage.
“What.”
“He’s at 23 HP now that we’ve picked fights. Since he hasn't recovered yet, I’m confident he said take all the healing items.” Toya narrowed his own eyes. “It’s let him die or let us go. Your choice.”
Rui looked between Cyber and Toya, before snarling and running off to the building. Toya counted to 10 before contacting Daybreak again. “He’ll be there soon. Get moving to escape.”
“Open window spotted. Where are you two?” Cyber asked through Toya’s comm.
“A closet.” Glint muttered.
“I see the window. Should be 4 rooms north of you on the same side as the closet entrance.” Toya informed. Hearing shuffling, he watched Cyber take a deep breath and look through her own scope. ”You okay…?”
“I’m tired of him always finding us. We should have Snow Fall and Ribbon check our uniforms for trackers…” Cyber muttered. “Looks like Rui’s at Tsukasa’s side. Tell them to keep going north and we’ll meet them at Fasu Point.”
“Got it.“ He raised his communicator again, watching the two climb down the side of the building. “Rendezvous is Fasu Point. Keep going north for a while to meet us there.”
“Copy that.” Daybreak said.
He nodded to Cyber and the two moved off to the northeast to pass through the river. Helping Cyber through, he sighed. “I hope this throws our scent off…”
“Yeah…” Cyber was shaken up, clearly. More so than she had been with past encounters. It was concerning.
“Cyber… Are you alright? We can tell Nomad we can't take missions for a short while if you need a break.” He offered. He watched her smile a little.
“Good idea…”
Many miles later and they met up at Fasu Point with the rest of the squad. All of them were tired, shaken up and ready to stop. Toya took lead on getting to an entrance to the base, where Nomad and Ribbon were nervously waiting.
“We saw Glint, Daybreak and Cyber go off the trackers! What happened?!” Ribbon asked.
“The mutt and the tamer tricked us.” Daybreak said. “The whole thing was a sham.” Toya watched Glint’s ears fold back.
“It was almost like they wanted to capture Cyber Sniper. The dire wolf had all the healing items and was laser focused on her. He only left her alone because his partner needed healing.” Toya explained.
“It was a trap. Someone tipped them off.” Glint huffed.
Nomad held her hand up. “We have the mole already in custody. They fessed up after realizing how kindly we treated him. He’s been registered as a new Rebellion member and will be punished for this mission farce.” CGO Squad sighed. “In the meantime, Ribbon is going to check your uniforms for trackers and make you new ones if needed. Glint, she already put a new one for you in your room. Get some rest.” The members of Nightbella Squad left, leaving them alone.