An Assassin's Respite

Operation Start

Once Haruna finished freezing the wall back into place, the group surveyed the hallway. The walls were a dark, metallic grey color and there didn't seem to be any doors in the hallway.

"Ok, Karma, what direction should we head in?" Kagura asks.

"Go right and take the first left." Karma answers as he rests on Kagura's shoulder.

"Alright, let's keep in mind what we learned during our training and rescue Kazuna without a hitch," Kagura states as she heads in the direction Karma appointed.

The group sneaks forward, hugging the left side of the hall until they reach the corner. Kagura peaks around the corner, and sees two guards standing in front of an elevator. There was also a camera on the far end of the hall.

"Something tells me that we're going to have to find a way to get into that elevator," Kagura whispers.

"It would seem so." Karma answers.

"The camera isn't a problem. The real problem is the two guards. I'm not sure if we'll be able to handle them, and even if we were, what would we do with their unconscious bodies?" Ayanami says.

The group crouch at the corner for a few seconds, silently thinking over their options.

"Why don't we have Karma fly to the end of the hall invisible, and once he reaches the end of the hall, he creates a loud noise, drawing the attention of the guards. We then use that opportunity to take the elevator." Kagura suggests.

"Can Karma go invisible?" Haruna asks.

"Yes, I can." He answers.

"But, how did you know he could?" Haruna asks.

"The first time he appeared it was from thin air. I just put two and two together." She answers.

"But what if we need some type of code to get into the elevator?" Haruna asks.

"That's what I'm here for. I can use my power to disrupt any type of electrical lock." Haruka states.

"In any case, I will search their bodies and see if I can find anything resembling a key card or special badge." Karma states.

"And the camera?" Ayanami asks.

"I can mess with the wires while I am on that side of the hall." Karma states.

The others nod as Karma vanishes in front of them. They all train their eye on the guards and wait for them to respond to Karma's bait.

After about a minute of waiting in silence, they can hear a long bang at the end of the hall. Instantly, the two guards move towards the sound. Kagura and the others use this opportunity to move towards the elevator. Just like they thought, they needed a special badge to get into the elevator. Karma appears next to the group with a badge in hand.

"Do you think that badge will work?" Kagura asks.

"Often, those that guard doors that require badge entrance often have a badge that gets them into the said door. That way, if there's ever trouble inside the place they're guarding, they can quickly act." Karma replies as he swipes the badge. 

Just as he predicted, the badge worked. The group scrambled into the elevator, and Haruka quickly uses her power to mess with the security camera in the elevator. 

"Which floor should we go to?" Kagura asks.

"Take B3." Karma states.

"Is that the floor he's on?" Kagura asks. 

"He feels about three floors below so I would assume so, but we can't just walk out of the elevator when there's probably guards on the other side. So once we start going down, climb through the emergency hatch on the top of the elevator, and once the doors open and the guards go into the elevator to check it out, we ambush them from above." Karma states.

The girls' nod in response as Kagura pushes the button. They quickly open the hatch and climb out through the top. They reach their floor and hear the doors open. The guards enter the elevator, confused, and barely have time to look up and see five ladies jumping down onto them.

They pull the guards through the top hatch, and Haruna freezes them down. Kagura peaks out of the elevator and into the hall to do a quick scan. She sees cameras at both ends of the hall and guards walking the hall.

"We're going to need a bit of luck to get through this undetected," Kagura states while looking at Ayanami.

What's the plan?" She asks.

"I can use my wind to sync the two cameras so that we have a larger window to move. There's a door about ten feet to the left on the right side of the hall. If luck is on our side, we'll have about seven seconds to get through that door. Hopeful, nobody is on the other side, and we can access some vents or something." Kagura states.

"Alright, let's see if my power can be of use," Ayanami says.

Kagura nods as she builds up a gust of wind. She sends it towards the camera to the right and pushes it enough to sync it with the camera on the other side. 

"Ok, they're synced. On the count of three. One... Two... Three." She whispers, and the group scurries through the hall. 

They reach the door, and, thankfully, the door was just a regular door. They gather in the room, and Emiko closes the door behind them. Kagura scans the room and notices that there aren't any cameras in the room. She takes a chance to let out a breath and relax.

The other follow suit and take deep breaths. They hadn't noticed until now, but all of their bodies were shaking from the adrenaline. They sat in the room silent for a bit while they regathered themselves.

"Where to next?" Kagura asks.

"He's close. If we take the vent in the right corner of the room, we might be able to reach him." Karma answers.

"We're so close." Emiko states.

"To think my power came in handy." Ayanami states.

"Yea, not only did we make it through the guards, but we managed to go into a room with no guards or cameras," Haruna notes.

"Truly impeccable luck," Haruka adds.

"Are we all good now?" Kagura asks. 

The others nod, and Kagura cuts through the vent and squeezes in. They slowly crawl through, careful not to make too much noise or move carelessly. They creep slowly while following Karma's directions. After they crawled for about five minutes, Karma tells them to stop.

"This is the room," Karma says while floating in front of a vent to the right. 

Kagura goes to push the vent, but Karma stops her.

"Not yet, there's someone in there." He says.

Kagura reluctantly holds back and listens carefully to the noises that were in the room.

"-great progress." One voice said.

"Mh, to think that we would make such a leap." Another voice answered.

"Sir, what next?" The first voice asks.

"That's all for today. If things continue like this, we'll be done with him in a week." A man answers.

Kagura's eyes widen, and she has to hold a hand over her mouth. She recognized the voice as Zer's. She looks at Karma and sees that his teeth are showing like a dog that's snarling. He must hold animosity against Zer for what he did to Kazuna.

They can hear the door open and close, but they could hear someone else walking in the room. 

"I'm almost there, Kazuna; I'm so close. In just a few short days, your usefulness will have run out, and I can finally kill you with my own two hands. How does that make you feel?" Zer taunts. They don't hear a response and instead are treated to a maniacal laugh from Zer.

"Oh well, it's not like I can expect a response. You already have one foot in the grave." Zer says. 

The lights in the room shut off, and they hear more footsteps, and the door opens and closes once more. They lie in silence for a couple of minutes before Karma turns to them.

"Before we open the vent, you all should know that this is where things get extremely difficult. Undoubtedly there are multiple cameras watching this room with multiple people watching the feed. Once we mess with the feed they are going to send someone to check the room. There is no way for us to rescue him without causing a commotion, so we'll have to act quickly and without hesitation. Before we exit the vents, Haruka, you're going to disrupt the cameras with your power, once that's done we'll quickly leave the vent and have Haruna freeze the door. Meanwhile, Kagura and Emiko will free Kazuna, understood?" He says.

Everyone nods so Karma has Haruka use her power. Once she does, he allows Kagura to open the vent. They all crawl out and search for the light. Kagura finds the switch and waits for her eyes to adjust to the light. She turns around and finally sees Kazuna.

He was chained up and hanging from the ceiling, with his feet just a couple of inches from the ground.