Last time on Tales of Avalanche: Dark Times
"I am not going to calm down! They, somebody was here and I'm going to find out who. The scent is fresh, I can track it from here."
"No, we'll come up with a plan first then we can figure out a way to track and trap the persons responsible."
"We're wasting time talking about it! I'm going!" In a burst of dark power she disappeared into the shadows.
"Oh for fucks sake!" Kelly screamed in frustration. "I can't believe I made her the beta. Zianna, can you try and track her down and bring her back?"
"I don't even know where to start, and she isn't wearing her locator watch either. I can only hope that she loses the trail and comes back."
_____
Arianna had a good idea of where to start looking and it started with the base motor pool. It was just getting dark and they were getting ready for the changeover so she was going to have to hurry before the guards left. When she arrived the place was almost empty, save for a Maesael washing off a PUMA. The scent of the elf was light but was coming from the vehicles.
"Excuse me can you tell me who was using these vehicles today?"
"Pardon?" She turned off the hose and moved to get a better view.
"These three PUMAs, who was using them?"
"I'm sorry I can't give you th..."
From the side approached a human Corporal. "Why aren't you washing?!"
"Sorry sir, she was asking me a question."
"Whatever, you, who are you?"
"Sargent First Class Arianna, I was asking her who was using these vehicles."
"You're just a pokégirl, how did you ever make it to Sargent?"
"You must be new here." She pulled out her ID and showed it to him. "Avalanche unit, now answer my question."
The fact that she outranked him by a fair margin didn't do much to help his attitude. His pokégirl on the other hand didn't have such a problem. "The investigation team as well as General Butcher checked them out earlier and returned them two hours ago, destination wasn't logged in."
"Who told you you could speak?" Snapped the Corporal.
"She asked me a direct question and outranks us both. Unless we want to get into more trouble we should answer her questions."
Arianna cleared her throat to get their attention. "You should listen to her, I'm doing a favor Colonel Readman and I'm not in a good mood. Do you have a list of the occupants?"
The word Colonel was enough to set the Corporal straight and he pulled the clipboard from the guard booth. "Here you go."
She took the list and looked it over. The names were listed but there was no information beyond that. The only ones she recognized were Lorain Baswell's and Butcher's. At least it was a starting point. She handed the clipboard back to the Corporal with a big grin. "I need a copy of this, ASAP." The Corporal was about to hand it over to the Maesael. "No, I want you to get it for me."
The Corporal stomped off towards the office and the Maesael looked to Arianna. "Sorry ma'am, he hates taking orders from any woman but especially pokégirls."
"He can get over himself."
~~~~~
0600, Office of Lorain Baswell
The lawyer was still doing paperwork and going over the Avalanche case files when Arianna entered. She had met the War Hound on a few occasions but never spent any extended time around her or any member of Avalanche. Arianna sniffed around while she waited to be seen. The scent was faint, possibly from being in close proximity of the real owner.
"Arianna, in need of legal counsel again?"
The War Hound scoffed as if she didn't know what the lawyer was talking about. She and Zianna had been in a few unauthorized barroom brawls that resulted in considerable damage, property and otherwise. "We don't do that kind of thing anymore. I'm hoping you could answer a few questions for me."
Baswell nodded and took a set of glasses out of her cabinet. "Scotch?" Arianna shook her head. "I'll do my best but I can't promise anything. If it’s a question about a client then I really can't say anything."
"Fair enough, you were with the investigation team that came to our office today. Can you tell me what happened?"
"I figured Kelly would have been spreading the good news. As a senior member of Avalanche I'm sure you were aware of the issue with your unit being pokégirl only while the Colonel is laid up. There was an anonymous tip sent to the IG's and they sent me along with the team as their legal advisor. The Major was on point though and had acquired a Handler before the decision could be made."
"I see, was there anyone who seemed particularly upset about how that went?"
"Um... there were a couple of guys from the investigation team that didn't have a lot of nice things to say. But there was one man in particular who almost seemed to make it a point to rub Kelly the wrong way. He and his Neo-Iczel almost got ejected for claiming that the Major was derelict in her protection of the Colonel and that that was how he ended up in a coma... she didn't take it well."
Arianna growled angrily at the very thought. "Neo or not I would have beat her senseless."
"If Butcher wasn't there the Major would have fought them before they ever made it into the building."
She took the copy of the log sheet out of her pocket and slid it across the desk. "You wouldn't happen to know the names of those individual's would you?"
Lorain took the sheet and gave it a quick glance before something clicked in her head. "Why are you looking for these particular people?"
"I really can't go into detail about that, suffice to say it is important that I find them as quickly as possible."
Lorain eyed the War Hound, the way she had asked the questions combined with her inability to provide clear reasoning was a bad sign that the lawyer could read clearly. Then there were the people she was looking for, those who had been upset with how the decision had gone. Lorain hadn't been in contact with those who had initially tried the original acquisition since the events before Readman's retirement. It was just as well as far as she was concerned; she was just brought in to consult. "Then I'm sorry, I can't answer any more of your questions. It's just as well considering I never got their names."
Arianna took the paper back and slid it into her vest pocket. Lorain was actually more help than she thought, even though she couldn't give names Neo-Iczel were pretty rare. "Thank you for your help."
"Anytime... stay out of trouble."
_____
The War Hound found herself wishing she had paid more attention during Indigo led training sessions. Not that breaking into a building would be hard, but doing so and remaining undetected was a completely different issue. Most of Mina's courses were centered on lock picking and avoiding detection. Things the majority of Delta didn't bother with, they tend to use a more forceful approach.
The Records and Information building on the base was reasonably secured but not impenetrable. One thing she had going for her was that the building didn't have a personal teleport-jammer. All she would have to do was find a window with a dark enough area around it and she could shadow teleport in. Once inside she would have to work her way around the motion sensors and surveillance cameras.
'It would be a lot easier if I just did this from home but I can't go back. This has to be done while the trail is still warm.'
On a whim she teleported onto the roof to find a MP taking a smoke break. Her first instinct was to knock him out and go through the opened door. But if the guard was on a radio check-in rotation she could possibly put the whole building on alert, something she wanted to avoid at all cost. Instead she waited patiently, slipped around to the other side of the doorway and pulled out a SLC card in preparation. Finally the guard stomped out his cigarette and went back inside. Before the door could close all the way she placed the card in the groove of the strike plate to keep it from latching.
She let a minute go by then opened the door, being extra careful to check for cameras around frame and in the stairwell. Once she got to the hallway the real challenge was on. Not only were there going to be cameras and motion detectors, but an unknown number of roving guards as well. She could feel herself getting tense and took a breath to calm down and thought back to her training.
~ "Ok let's go over this one more time. When breaking into buildings there are three things to worry about... Kim, what are they?" Asked Mina. As the Beta and leader of Indigo she was the Infiltration Course instructor.
"Personnel, surveillance, and security systems or security for short."
"Very good, Ema, what are the dangers of taking out personnel?"
"If the person in question is supposed to check in you run the risk of alerting the whole facility to your presence." Replied Emaline.
"Correct, if you have your radio and the time to spare try and get on the enemy frequency. If an hour goes by and there is no radio chatter feel free to take them out. I can't stress this enough, if you must take out personnel, dispose of the body as quickly as you can. For you teleporters this mean dumping them so far away no one would figure out how they got there. Next, umm... Alex. The risk of disabling surveillance cameras?"
"While it may be tempting to knock out security cameras, that WILL alert a monitor to someone in the area and they WILL send someone to investigate."
"No mind reading, but spot on. If you can't help it and you must destroy a camera do so then try and set up an ambush. Try to disable the camera in such a way that it looks like a natural occurrence. On the other hand, if you can remove every camera at once do it. Destroying the enemy’s ability to pinpoint your location is paramount." Mina smiled viciously. "Lt. Colonel, security systems, what can you tells me?"
"There are several types of security systems and variations between those types. Building security systems are normally a mixture of motion sensors, thermal sensors, and infrared tripwires, though pressure sensors aren't unheard of."
"Right, each of these are a pain in their own right but can be defeated. If you move slowly enough a motion sensor won't pick you up, but it's not a recommended option. They don't work well in low light so we darks can take advantage of that with certain powers. Thermals can be tricky with so many different variations out there. Either avoid them all together or have an ice type on hand to cool the area. IR or Infrared tripwires are more or less invisible unless you have IR Goggles. They are still beams of light though, so things like smoke, mist, dust, or powder can help to make them visible. Like the thermal sensors though it's best to avoid them when possible."~
'I guess I was paying more attention than I thought.' She cracked the door to get a peek down the hallway. The good news was that since she was on the third floor she wouldn't need to go far to access the computers. Just before she decided to go all the way through the door something told her to look up. Right above her head was a transparent black dome with a camera inside. She had seen the type before. The camera was linked to a monitoring station and had a motion triggered recorder. If she moved fast enough she could be down the hall and around the corner before the recording triggered. The risk of being seen was too high if the monitor was paying attention. Suddenly the florescent lights flickered and dimmed. The tube was ending its life span and was going to need to be replaced soon. It was enough to give her a bright idea.
She summoned her dark powers and cast Shroud of Darkness over the camera then swiftly moved to the lights and turned the tubes enough to deactivate them, darkening that part of the hallway. With that taken care of she moved to the next corner and looked around. Sure enough there was another camera at that end. Worst yet the room she needed to get into was in its path and she could hear someone coming up the stairwell.
Running out of time and options she sent her shroud to the second camera and leapt down the hallway, landing softly in front of the door. She checked the knob and wasn't too surprised to find it locked. The steps were getting closer by the second and she had to act fast. With no time to pick the lock she hit the ground and laid flat, there was just enough clearance between the door and the tile for her to look in and shadow teleport into the room before dismissing the shroud.
Arianna chuckled to herself. 'Mina would be proud.'
The computer terminals were always left running for some reason that was lost to the War Hound. All the same it meant she wouldn't have to wait for them to warm up. Most military pokégirls weren't given codes to access the information systems unless they actually worked in the office. Luckily for her Avalanche didn't fall into 'most pokégirls'. Given the nature of whom and what they fought on the case by case basis they were given Top Secret: Omega level clearance. Now that she was where she needed to be she could get to work.
Between her claws, impatience, and bad temper computer work just wasn't her thing. She would normally ask Emaline or Kim to do those things for her, but she was flying solo and would have to manage. So far the name reference to pokégirls in harems was coming up short. She leaned back in the chair and threw her hands up in aggravation.
At that very moment the lights flipped on in a blinding flash. "Put your hands... never mind, keep your hands there and turn to face me."
Arianna turned around slowly and kept her arms still. If worse came to worse she could take the guard before she had a chance to radio in. The voice and smell were faintly familiar to the War Hound, she had been around the person once before. "Ok, I'm not going to try anything... Julia?"
"Arianna? What are you doing in here?"
She did recognize the MP; it was the same Officerjenny that joined them at the table during Marco's retirement dinner. 'Oh thank god, someone I might be able to reason with.' "Before you call me in please let me explain."
"Please do." She lowered her weapon but kept it drawn.
Arianna lowered her arms but left her hands visible on the armrest of the chair. "Did you know that Avalanche was moved to the Black Op Division?"
"I heard that your unit was still active despite Lt. Colonel Readman's retirement."
"He didn't retire; he's Black Ops now and a Colonel. You were in the hearing that tried to remove Avalanche from the Colonel; well that wasn't the end of it. After the Cerulesbian Gym battle an attempt was made on his life. He was captured and we lost Henrietta in the fight."
Julia holstered her gun and closed the door. "My god, is he ok?"
"We capture the leader of the team that made the attempt and made a trade to get him back the next day. Weeks later we did an op in Prussian City and things went bad. The same guy brought a new girl with him whose sole purpose was to kill the Colonel, and she almost did. He is currently in a coma."
"What happened to the other guy and the pokégirl?"
"He was captured and she got away. Apparently she wasn't in his harem. Anyway, with the Colonel out of commission our unit was considered all pokégirl and an anonymous tipster contacted investigation to let them know just that. Well the investigation team came through today and attempted to replace Colonel Readman with someone else."
"I remember it being mentioned that your unit didn't have any humans besides the Colonel. I guess if he's out on medical then he can't oversee the unit."
"Right, they were all set to replace him but Kelly got a Handler before the final decision could be made. This happened while the majority of the unit was out. When I got back I could smell the scent of the Bondage Elf that attacked the Colonel but the investigation team had already left. I managed to track the scent back to the motor pool and got a list of the people from the team. Now I just trying to narrow it down to those who owned a Neo-Iczel."
Julia took a seat on the desk against the wall and thought for a moment. "Why are you looking for the owner of a Neo when it was an elf that attacked the Colonel?"
"Oh, the scent of the elf was faint, like it rubbed off on someone, but strong enough that she must have been right on top of them. I asked Lorain Baswell, who was part of the investigation team, I asked her if there were any strange people or people who were upset at how the decision went. She mentioned one man with a Neo who was giving Kelly... the Major a hard time and almost got thrown out. Neo-Iczel are pretty rare so I'm attempting to access the records and cross check the names with the pokégirl."
"And why aren't you doing this from your office instead of sneaking in here?"
"... The Major and I had a bit of a disagreement. She wanted to wait and I wanted to go while the trail was still warm. So... here I am. Can you help me out here?"
Julia wanted to help but there were things she needed to have cleared up first. "I have to ask, what happens to this person when you find them?"
"When I find them I'll catch them and bring them back. Why, and what's with that look?"
She pulled one of the rolling chairs out and slid to the computer Arianna was at. "I ask because the reputation of Avalanche's Blood Hound precedes her. Let's see what you got." Julia began to type at the computer and marveled at the amount of information Avalanche had access to. "Ok let's see the list." Arianna handed her the list and sat back as she went to work. A few minutes had gone by and the Jenny was done. "THAT is a scary list of potential suspects. IRS officials, officials from the Chief of the League's department, it's a who's who of unknown names from high places."
"So what's the good news?"
"There is no good news. The pokégirls on the list only go by first names, you already knew that though. They belong to the office that they come from, and there are four different offices that have a Neo on the books."
"Does it get worse?"
"Much, much worse. Those offices are: The IG investigators office, the office of the Chief of the League, Secure Indigo Intelligence: Investigative Affairs office, and our own personal investigative office. I'll print the whole list though, including the ones that don't have a Neo, you never know what could happen."
Arianna didn't care who or what organization they belonged to. One of them was hunting her Colonel and sooner or later she would find out whom. She gratefully took the papers but frowned. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but why are you helping me."
Julia blushed for a brief moment then straightened up. "He said some really nice things to me and about all of us MP's. I can't just let someone as kind as him get killed. All the same you need be very careful about pokin around like this. Anyone else would have hauled you in by now."
"It's a risk I was willing to take. How did you know I was in here by the way?"
"I'm going to assume you're the one that tampered with the lights. The others were willing to disregard it but I decided to look around and here you were. How did you get around the cameras?"
Arianna grinned. "That one is going to be my little secret. I need to go and figure out how I'm going to pull this off."
"Are you going back to your office?"
She thought for a second and sighed. "No, I have a place I can stay till I figure everything out."
"Be careful, and good luck out there."
"Thanks but I hope I don't need it."
_____
Indigo Plateau, 0237, Sunday
When Arianna teleported in she had to fight the urge to let out a vicious string of obscenities. Downpour would be a generous term to describe the amount of rainfall. She wouldn't be surprised to find a dozen pokégirls using Little Cloud right on top of her. The rain really didn't bother her as much as the idea that it would make her nose useless.
She had learned a lot about breaking into office buildings in her weeks away from Avalanche. Even though the government and organization offices had good security on the outside once she was in she could take her time. The weekends gave her the best windows to operate; most offices closed on the weekend and relied on a skeleton crew to handle anything that came up. Also she discovered that the higher the level of the official she was looking for the better chances that they wouldn't be around. They had this thing about being gone by 1700 normally and even earlier than that on a Friday. She was rather fortunate that the majority of the offices were in the Indigo Plateau. It was the capital of the league after all.
Tonight was the night for her infiltration of the Chief of the League's office. She had done the three other offices as well as two not registered to have a Neo-Iczel on the list. This one she was looking forward to the least. The main building was larger than she expected to be at seven stories tall and blacked out windows. Luckily she planed ahead and set up an entrance point in the building. Her teleportation point on the inside was in a ladies room she snuck into during a guard shift change. Rules about power conservation meant that the lights would be off and she would have more than enough shadows to work with. Now that she was inside the challenge started.
During her earlier breech of the facility she took the time to mark the placement and types of security systems they had running. The main lobby had dome cameras that would rotate and scan the room set up in five different areas. Blind spots were minimal but she teleported past them and to the security door.
'Mina would have stolen the key card from one of the guards, guess I'll just to find my own way around.'
The elevators would be a viable option but they were in the direct pathway of the cameras. The security door wasn't much of a better choice, she didn't know if any kind of notice was sent when it opened. She looked around and spotted the stairwell door. They were mainly used as a fire escape but she had seen people leaving from there, possibly to get around waiting for the elevator. She made her way through the darkened room and checked the door to find it was unlocked. A quick glance around to check for extra cameras and she was on her way.
When she reached the fifth floor her nose picked up the smell of the elf. She had found the building she was looking for, now she just had to find either her or the office she frequented the most. Since the scent was picked up on that floor it would be the best one to start on. Oddly enough she didn't find any cameras along the hallway. Her nose had taken her through a small number of offices but nothing was standing out. No papers or obvious signs that someone was plotting against her Colonel or Avalanche. The scent of the human had the Bondage Elf's scent on him came from the last office on the floor. Being so close to accomplishing her mission she didn't even care to be subtle about ransacking the office like she did the others.
'Damn it, nothing, not a fucking thing. No paperwork, no messages that I can access, and the computer is locked. Hell her scent isn't even all that strong here, like she stepped in to just to drop something off.' She though in frustration. Her first impulse was to just destroy the whole damn building and give them something else to worry about. Her better judgment won out though and she moved to the sixth floor, noting that the stairs didn't continue to the seventh.
The sixth floor was mainly conference rooms and cubicles. The scent of the elf was much lighter and she didn't even bother to check all of the rooms, heading towards the elevators. Instead of taking the risk to call the elevators she jammed her combat knife between the shaft outer doors and pried them opened. Looking up she could see a clear path to the next floor up. Climbing wouldn't be a problem once she saw the service ladder. Once she pried the next set of outer doors opened she was almost overwhelmed with the scent of the elf.
This was the office of a top level bureaucrat or business man for sure. Far too much opened space and only the highest level of pretentious ass would need an office that size. Large paintings, awards, and placards lined the walls and someone actually had the nerve to install a fireplace. One area seemed to be set aside specifically to use the large monitor mounted on the wall.
In her eagerness to get in she didn't bother to look around for any cameras or security devices, not that there were any to be seen. The large desk was placed against the far wall along with a series of bookshelves. The nameplate on the desk read [Alfonso Haures, Chief of the League]. If there was anyone in the world who could pull off the things that had plagued Avalanche for the last three months the Chief of the League was high on the list. Still she was going to need to find more evidence than just the scent of an elf.
None to gently she set to the task of searching the desk, by taking it apart one drawer at a time. With her enhanced strength the locks were broken and cast aside. As she searched through the papers she came across nothing special was coming up. Legal documents, field reports, and a slew of information she could care less about.
'Damn it, maybe I'll just set this floor on fire. If nothing else it would make me feel better.' She thought before slamming her hand down and clipping one of the buttons on the phone.
Seconds passed by and suddenly pokégirl teleported in, skintight leather sneaking suit and off white hair. Her head was held low and she didn't look up. "Master I apologize for failing my mission, please..."
The smell of the Bondage Elf hit Arianna and her eyes went wide I rage. "YOU!!"
"Me?" Andzral looked up to find that she wasn't standing before her master. "Who are you?"
"IM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!"
Arianna didn't spare a single second, kicking the desk at the elf and throwing the chair to the side. On reflex Andzral spun and threw her own kick at the desk, snapping it in two solid pieces. Before she could make another move the entire area went dark. She couldn’t summon her Dark Goggles before she was hit by a series of kicks to her chest ending with a Tenebrous Strike kick. The force of the kick sent her into the pokégirl resistant shatterproof glass.
Andzral streaked down the glass and onto her feet then brushed herself off like nothing had happened. "Well dog, I see you have some kind of bone to pick with me... Going to need to write that one down."
Arianna growled out viciously and pulled her combat knife. "You tried to kill my Colonel!"
Her mind sang with glee while her eyes sharpened to a scalpels precision. "You must belong to Marco Readman then, no one has ever used the words tried to kill with me before. I bet you're just the top dog in the unit."
The War Hound had had enough of her of her snide remarks and launched into another string of attacks. Her attacks came with blinding fury, her intent on doing as much damage as she could. Andzral didn't care, nimbly avoiding and parrying hit after hit. Finally she struck back, swinging the edge of her hand towards the flat side of the knife. Between the power both girls possessed the knife snapped like a toothpick. Arianna tossed the handle to the side and started to summon her Chi.
"You really have no chance of beating me; all the same I'm not planning on letting you go."
'She's just a freaking Bondage Elf, why am I having such a hard time hurting her?' "If it makes you feel better I don't plan on leaving until you're dead or detained, more A than B though."
"Then I guess it's about time I take you to obedience school."
Andzral went on the offensive, peppering the hound with blows to her head and chest. While the War Hound was able to weather the attacks she couldn't get around the odd amount of speed and strength she was getting hit by. Arianna saw a punch coming in from the side and blocked then countered, throwing her opponent back towards the glass. At the last second Andzral activated Levitation and stopped with her feet landing flat against the glass, then preceded to put her hands behind her back and walk down like it was the most natural thing in the world.
'How is she doing this? Bondage Elves don't have dark powers, how is she using Dark Goggles? There is something not right about her. I need to concentrate, remember my training.'
~"Congratulations, you have mastered most of the Chi techniques. Some of these can really help you turn the tide of a battle." Said Chesra.
Arianna picked herself up from where she had been thrown and stared down the Armsmistress. "I would be able to beat you if you weren't so much stronger than me."
Chesra began to form chi around her hands and formed a knife-edge strike. "By now if I taught you anything it should have been that strength isn't everything. By using Chi and the proper techniques you can bring down a much stronger opponent. Taking them apart one piece at a time."~
Arianna began to focus, forcing her Chi to flow to her hands. If not for the fur you would be able to see the veins in her forearms bulging. "I think you're in for a lesson you're self."
"Then let's see what you can teach me."
Arianna switched to her defensive stance and activated Knifehand Strike. Andzral struck first, charging the hound and leading with a side kick. The hound countered with a sidestep and a strike to her inner thigh. The force of the Chi powered attack caused her leg to buckle for a brief moment and Arianna seized the opening, striking her several times over and ending with a Stone Palm that launched her opponent across the room. Andzral stumbled back to her feel and tried to wipe the sweat from her forehead only to discover that one of the strikes disabled her arm.
“Oh you skeevy little bitch!”
"You got a lot of nerve calling me little, Tiny."
'She's Avalanche alright, I can't beat her one handed. Tessa can do it through.' "One arm is all I need to break you."
Both girls began to relax and focus, preparing for the next wave of attacks. Andzral had a plan though and if it worked the War Hound would be at her mercy. Arianna on the other hand had a test to run. Things just weren't adding up about the elf but she was starting to understand why Chesra had such a hard time with her. She clapped her hands together and slammed them into the ground, summoning Entangling Darkness. When Andzral wasn't slowed she had her answer.
"You're a Hunter Bondage Elf." She growled out.
"You know too much, time for a change of venue." She teleported next to her and grabbed her by the wrist before teleporting them away.
The room they appeared in was just as well furnished as the one they left, just without the windows. As soon as they appeared Arianna reversed the hold and twisted her arm before kicking her in the side of the knee, breaking it with a sickening crack. Just as she was about to bring down another punch she found herself thrown to the other side of the room.
"Tess, hit the jammer before she can escape."
"Don't you worry about that, I'm not planning on going anywhere. Not with you still conscious." Her attention then turned to the pokégirl that threw her, 5'5 with a thin yet muscular frame. Her shoulder length bright green bounced as she teleported to the desk and pressed a few buttons. "And as for you, I'm going to kick your ass next."
Tessa arched an eyebrow then teleported next to Andzral. "I can take it from here, dead or alive?"
"Alive, Master will want to see this one."
On the other side the room Arianna started rotating her arm. The wind began to pick up as the miniature tornado formed around it. She charged the smaller girl and swung with all the strength she could muster, the wind growling hungrily along with its creator.
Tessa stood her ground and stuck a hand in her pocket while the other one went outward. When the two collided the force of the blast was enough to send Andzral flying back to the other end of the room. The War Hound was shocked to find the other girl had stopped her arm with zero effort. Before she could voice her amazement Tessa went on the attack, using the held arm for leverage and jump kicking the taller girl in the chest.
Tessa could hear the ribs crack as she made contact and landed gracefully on her feet. "What a weakling, why would master want her when I'm so much better?"
Arianna groaned and clutched her side, rolling back onto her feet. She wasn't expecting the girl to be so strong. "That strength and that boastful attitude, you've got to be a Neo-Iczel."
"Guilty as charged, now prepare yourself for the beating of a life time."
Arianna was breathing hard and clutching her side. From the feeling of things three of her ribs were broken. Try as she might she couldn't teleport away. The Neo-Iczel was closing in on her and looked like she was going to drag out the whole process. In a last ditch effort Arianna activated Darkness, blanketing the whole room in inky blackness. Then she summoned Dark Matter, the intense gravity of her attack was ripping pictures and decorations off the walls.
Tessa stalled in the darkened room and dropped to a knee when the Dark Matter hit. "I can't see, where is she?"
"About twenty feet out and a straight in front of you." Groaned Andzral, the force of the gravity actually causing her broken knee to hurt.
The Neo-Iczel took her cues and pointed her hand upwards. Rune Chains formed and launched themselves through the darkness. Though Arianna struggled with everything she had she couldn't break the chains binding her arms and legs. Slowly the Darkness field began to dissipate along with Dark Matter, Tessa sprung to her feet and flew to the downed girl before striking her in the side of the face and knocking her out.
Tessa immediately set to the task of putting the War Hound in taming restraints then move to heal Andzral. "What the hell was her problem?"
As soon as she was healed Andzral took a look around to survey the damage. "She's with Avalanche, the ones Master was hired to steal."
"Oh she belongs to the only man you have ever failed to kill." Teased Tessa.
"Fuck off, how was I supposed to know he survived that? Looked dead to me, this place is a fucking wreck."
"Right, so... what do we do now?"
"YOU, Miss. Smartass, get to call Master and wake him up then get him and bring him here. Don't tell him why though, it's a surprise."
The smug smile of the Neo broke as she got her orders. "Oh come on! Why do I have to do it? Send Jaleen or Evelyn, they aren't doing anything. What about Delilah, make her do it."
"I remember the last time you tried to make Delilah do something. She beat you so badly I was going to write a song about it."
Tessa stomped her foot in frustration. "She didn't beat me, she just got a luck shot in!"
"Whatever, bottom line, I'm the Alpha and I'm telling you to do it."
She grumbled something under her breath then went to the phone and pressed a button. Seconds later the receiver clicked over. "IT IS 3 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU WANT!"
Tessa smiled and looked at Andzral. "There was an incident and Andzral wants to see you, I'll be over in a few minutes to get you."
"This had better be important or both of you are gonna get it."
The Neo waited a few minutes then teleported away before coming back with Alphonso. He was already mad just because she woke him up then he got a look at the room. "There had better be a damn good explanation for this."
Andzral switched back to her normal personality and bowed before him. "I'm sorry Master; I received a teleport call from the office building and went there. When I showed up she was sitting in your chair and attacked me on sight." She motioned to the unconscious and bound Arianna.
Haures turned to see the down pokégirl and backed up. "Who's that, what was she doing in my office?"
"We haven't gotten a chance to question her yet, but she is from Avalanche."
"Avalanche! You're sure?"
"She said that I tried to kill her colonel, only one man has ever escaped me and it was Marco Readman."
Haures nodded and made his way over to Arianna to go through her pockets. After a few minutes of searching he found her military ID and the papers she had on her. "She's Avalanche alright... shit that means they know who I am."
"I don't think so Master, I think she was working alone. Back when I was fighting them in Prussia they all appeared to use watches that have emergency beacons. She doesn't have one on so I think she was moonlighting. Still I wonder how she knew where to find you."
"I don't care, we have one. This more than makes up for you not killing Readman." The groaning growl caused him to back away. "I guess she's awake, what's your story bitch?"
Arianna struggled against the restraints but it was no use, she was bound tightly. She had tried to teleport earlier and it hadn't worked. She had hoped the day would never come when she was captured. This was worse though, this was the man who wanted them from the very beginning and now she was his. "First Sargent Arianna, War Hound, Avalanche Unit."
He arched an eyebrow and looked down at her. "That was way easier than I thought, now why were you in my office?"
"First Sargent Arianna, War Hound, Avalanche Unit."
His eyes narrowed in aggravation as he reared back and kicked her in the chest, right in her broken ribs. "Your card says that, answer my question. Why were you in my office, was there anyone else there?"
"First Sargent Arianna, War Hound, Avalanche Unit."
He launched another kick to the exact same spot as her broken ribs and she almost went cross eyed from the pain. "Is that all you can say?!"
"First Sargent Arianna, War Hound, Avalanche Unit... And you kick like a Bimbo." She spat back.
Tessa lifted her off the ground and threw her into the wall. "Watch your mouth you slut puppy."
Haures grabbed Tessa by the shoulder and pulled her back. "It's fine, her friends will be joining her soon. Just as soon as we kill Readman."
Arianna rolled onto her back in discomfort, the force of the throw having broken her arm. The pain she could deal with but the idea that they were still trying to kill her colonel she couldn't. 'If they knew what would happen if he died then they wouldn't kill him.' "If you kill him then you'll never get your hands on the rest of us."
"What, what do you mean by that?"
The War Hound pushed herself to sit straight up against the wall. She inhaled a difficult breath and closed her eyes before smiling. "First Sargent Arianna, War Hound, Avalanche Unit."
_____
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Alpha- Kelly- Duelist |
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Delta |
Echo |
Indigo |
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Beta- Chesra- Fallen Angel |
Beta- Henrietta- Ghostrider |
Beta- Mina- Kunoichi |
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Emaline- FireMaiden |
Field Beta- Selena- Caphoochie |
Zianna- Lupina |
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Kim- Bombshell |
Rebecca- Smokey |
Renae- Ice Maiden |
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Nikki- SexSlash |
Alexis- Cherub |
Isabella- Mecha Musume |
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Arianna- War Hound- MIA |
Lily- Gloomy |
Leona- Lamia |
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Harem
Chesra- Alpha
Henrietta
Carrie- Penance
Ashley- Peekabu
Jean- Dark Kitsune
Handler
Christina Reynolds
Ariel- OfficerJenny
Auxiliary
Tam- Catgirl