Invisible Inc. [Phase 1]

[of Dirt]

One minute they were smoothly operating multiple missions at once and the next everything came crashing down. HQ was suddenly swarmed with cloaked soldiers that got past their cameras and every other defense. If it wasn't for Trident's unexpected warning moments before the attack, it might've truly been over. Trident had been gone for over twenty years. The fact that she had been selling Wraith equipment for nearly half that time under a different name boggled his mind. She hadn't been too far away afterall, but it raised many questions.

"How did you know HQ had been compromised?" Wraith had asked two hours ago.

"By keeping an eye on you, obviously. Noticed some data leaving HQ rather recklessly about a week ago. After the attack, I'm thinking it was deliberate," Trident explained.

"What? That one of my agents tipped off the corps? My agents know better."

"I wouldn't know. Odds are your bad agent is MIA now, but perhaps they're still in your midst to finish the job."

"How do I know it wasn't you?"

"I'd hope you know me better than that by now."

"Wasn't enough to predict your leaving the agency over twenty years ago."

"Are we getting emotional?"

"Just a matter of fact."

"Well, Wraith, all you have is the jet you're in and six agents, along with Incognita. If you still trust me, I'd recommend paying the anti-corp underground in Hamburg a visit. They're a lot stronger than your average rebels and if you tell them I sent you, they'll let you set up shop there until you find a way to save Incognita. If not, I'm sure you'll find a way."

Wraith sighed as he recalled the conversation, his eyes locked onto his laptop screen, looking through all the agents that were either MIA or KIA. If they really were betrayed it could have been anyone of them. And the battle suits the attacking soldiers wore were unlike anything he had ever seen before. To his dismay, he hadn't a clue any of the corps had that level of technology yet. Trident didn't seem to know who was behind the attack either, but didn't seem impressed by what he recalled about the suits. Incognita narrowed their suspects down to three corps—Sankaku, K&O, and Plastech. She also determined that she could live for one month wired to the jet. They had to do in one month what they couldn't in decades and with a fraction of their strength.

A digital, feminine face appeared on the jet's display. "All agents are in position," Incognita said, her voice devoid of emotion. "Shall I brief them once more?"

"Please," Wraith replied. All six agents were inside the K&O owned building to retrieve data regarding future plans and current interests. The building was never heavily guarded, and after the attack on Invisible he expected it to be less guarded. Nobody would expect an infiltration just hours after taking such a heavy hit. He hoped the data would tell them something about the tech that was used during the attack or where some of the missing agents are being held hostage—anything that would help them get back on their feet.


"Agents, this mission requires a one hour completion time for optimal results. K&O should never know they have ever been infiltrated. Avoid the guards. Do not engage them. Voodoo, Golden Boy, and Catfish must find the server room and hack their database for anything that will help us. Zero, Joker, and Magus must find and loot any vaults for cash and other valuables. All cameras have been successfully hacked from here. We'll be waiting on the rooftop with the jet." Voodoo listened to Incognita's words through his earpiece.

They had already split into their respective groups and made their way through the building, quietly. It was a little past midnight and the building was only minimally lit. Some rooms weren't lit at all. Voodoo could hear the footsteps of guards from the opposite ends of long hallways and some of the conversations they were having with each other. Any noise the agents made could definitely be heard if there was somebody nearby. There was nothing to mask the sound.

Voodoo led the other two agents to a large room with double doors. He peeked in and saw several lit up towers full of computers, with wires leading every which way. He listened for any movement in the room before entering and heading straight for the computer that controlled them all. He placed his backpack on the floor beside it, pulled out the cable he needed and attached himself to the computer. Gripping the cable at the base of his neck, he closed his eyes and breathed in, waiting for the pain to travel down his spine. His whole body twitched for a moment, but he made no sound. He pulled out the cable.

I watched every agent that rescued me from Plastech five years ago get gunned down just two hours ago, he suddenly thought—a delayed reaction due to everything happening too quickly since their escape. With no time to gather their thoughts, they were on the move again for another mission. He wondered what was going through Wraith's mind right now. Nobody spoke the words out loud, but they weren't stupid. Every agent understood that an attack on HQ like that was only possible through somebody leaking information. It could've been anybody.

"This one is rigged to set off an alarm if I try to infiltrate," Voodoo whispered to Catfish. "I need you to open it up and disable the alarm."

"Incoming guard from the hallway. He's on a standard patrol and doesn't suspect a thing yet. Do not engage," Incognita said through their earpieces. Voodoo's eyes immediately darted to Golden Boy's position to see where he was. Hopefully the guard won't come into the room, he thought as he hid behind a desk, his hand slowly reaching for his Neural Disruptor. "Do not engage," Incognita repeated as though reading his movements. He heard the door opening slowly. The guard was peeking in.

 

[Huntress]

The dimly lit halls were a benefit but also irritating. The timing was right as minimal action would be taking place in the facility as the night grew late. Clenching her jaw Zero glanced around the corner as a guard crossed down into a different section. Glancing at the other two agents the raven haired woman rounded the corner, neural disruptor in hand. She knew they weren't to engage but she needed to be safe, if she didn't have to she wouldn't fight. Checking both ways she was glad to see that the corridor was clear. Turning towards a large door that seemed fairly heavy duty she approached. It must've been important, a key-card, fingerprint and retina scan were required to unlock it. There was no way they were gonna get through this. She mentally cursed as she checked their surroundings, thankfully they were still in the clear. A security guard would have access to this vault, wouldn't they? If they didn't would someone who did have access even be working at this time? She chose not to think about it much longer and turned to head down the hall.

She could break through that door. She wanted to break through that door. What she wanted was...well—She shook her head clear of the thoughts. They didn't have much time and this facility was large, they couldn't afford to go back empty handed. Splitting up would benefit in ground coverage, but not in safety. "Do we have access to a map or blue prints? We're travelling blind here, it makes it harder to find what we need." Zero spoke through her comm.

Rounding a corner she stopped and immediately stepped back as two guards approached. A dark room stood across the hall. Moving towards it she entered the room and positioned herself behind the door. The lights flickered on and she stared up in frustration. Motion sensing lights? "Shit." She muttered under her breath. Looking around the room it seemed like some sort of office, computer monitors positioned against each-other on a desk in the middle. Filing drawers against one wall and a whiteboard opposite the door. This room was of no interest to her and had no relation to her objective but it was the closest area to hide. She stayed as still as possible and hoped that the lights didn't take too long to turn off as she tightly gripped one of her weapons.

 

[Robo27]

The situation at hand was pretty tense, a total of six agents were inside the headquarters of an enemy and not being able to engage any possible threats made this mission that much harder. Magus clicked his tongue lightly upon hearing the command to not engage any human, this kind of situation was the type of situation Magus hated the most, being told to be passive and sneak around hoping luck would be on his side was not his way of doing things. He quietly holstered his Five-seveN into his shoulder holster and concealed it under his jacket. Once Zero was clear from rounding the corner he followed suit as there really was no where else to go. Right after Zero had ran into the door that was heavily guarded by different forms of verification, Magus took a step towards it and examined it closely and began thinking. 'I could try and hacking this open...but it would take too long...where is a skilled hacker when we need one...' Magus' thoughts were running rampant. He was already annoyed that he could not kill, but now he was not able to get through a door that could possibly be the target. He shook his head in annoyance and decided to catch up with Zero. It was at this moment Magus heard the sound of shoes hitting the floor.

While it was not particularly loud, it was easy to make out the noise since the hall was devoid of noise. He quickly turned his attention towards Zero, but before he could even let out any words she was already out of his sight and in the room across from his position. As she stepped into the room the lights flashed on, they were motion controlled. Having a light flash on in a room that is supposed to be devoid of life was possibly the worst case scenario for Zero. If she gets found out then the three of them would have to abort their mission and escape. Magus bit his lower lip and looked around the hall for some sort of solution to the situation. With no luck of finding any sort of aversion around him, he began patting down his body to see if he had any sort of loose item on him.

It was at that moment that he managed to find a coin in the depths of his pockets. Luck was on his side it seemed. Peeking around the corner he waited for the moment where the two guards were not looking down towards the room where Zero was. With a quick motion of the wrist he managed to throw the coin quiet a ways down the hall, opposite of the guards, where it landed with a loud metallic cling sound.

He hoped on everything that the guards would take notice of such a noise. Once he retracted his hand back he peeked around the corner to see the guards turning around with questioning looks. Once it was clear he slid back around the corner and whispered into his comms.「Zero get out of there now. I gave you an opening but it's not a big one as a coin can only keep people busy for so long.」

 

[neptune]

Being out in the field wasn't really his thing. There wasn't a rush that came from sneaking past guards, or making it to the extraction point by the skin of his teeth, but when the Agency asked for something, Joker tended to comply. Their numbers weren't what they used to be, not after the attack and the engineer supposed that the higher ups needed all the help they could get. Truthfully, Joker would have rather been back at the lab in HQ and working as Catfish chatted about this or that. Instead, he was wandering through K&O, very much out of practice and waiting for one of his inventions to come online as Zero and Magus plowed on into the unknown.

The halls were quiet around him, but Joker barely noticed, his focus on the small screen attached to his wrist. He frowned at it and made a quiet, disgruntled noise in the back of his throat before pressing one of the buttons on the side. He walked slowly, aware but apathetic to the stakes as he fiddled with his invention. Joker was a man of limited focus, and his attention tended to go to his gadgets before anything else—though Zero's voice over the comm broke the trance he was in. "I'll have them in just a second," he replied, pleased to see the screen glow to life in front of him. Looking up, however, Joker realized that he was all alone.

A 3D projection of the hallway glowed to life from the device on his wrist, and when Joker turned, the model turned with him. They weren't far from the vault, but it looked like there were a few obstacles in their way and that large door needed to be dealt with...if only his cover hadn't gotten themselves occupied. Stopping as well, Joker listened for the sound of footsteps, several pairs that rounded a corner before the distinct ping of metal against the floor sent them another way. It was quick thinking on Magus' part, but Joker wasn't amused.

Stepping around the corner to join the others, his eyes fell onto the brawler, her form perfectly still and illuminated by the overhead lights. Joker furrowed his brow and raised his hands halfway into the air, palms facing the ceiling in a silent question. People, even trained agents were unpredictable and that lack of control was what had kept Joker devoted to the lab for the last ten years. He breathed a quiet sigh, ready to get this over with; the sooner they filled up their bags, the better off everyone would be.

"That door leads directly to the vault," he whispered to Magus and over the comm to Zero, "if the guards come back, there's an alternate route...here," he pointed to another hallway on the hologram, but it was going to take twice as long. It was imperative to avoid the guards, and Joker would have sold his soul to not engage. The other two may have been looking for blood to spill, but much like missions, gore wasn't his scene either.

Looking to Magus and then to Zero, whom Joker hoped could get herself out of that room without tipping anyone off, he spoke again, "Preferences? Because I'd like to do this the easy way."

 

[of Dirt]

Voodoo slowed his breathing significantly as he listened for the door to close. If they weren't suspicious about intruders, guards typically peeked in for a moment and went on their way, but it felt like the door had been open forever. Did he miss the sound of it closing? He didn't want to risk blowing his cover by checking. "Hey, the guards on the other side of the building said they've been hearing some noise. It's probably nothing, but just make sure to do a thorough check on your patrol. Over," he faintly heard the voice from the guard's radio. "Roger," was the response just before Voodoo saw a flashlight illuminate the ground just a few feet away from him.

"Optimal completion time has been reduced to 45 minutes. Security is getting antsy," Incognita said.

Voodoo gritted his teeth. It was easy for Wraith and Incognita to say those things from a position of safety. They had less time, but had to spend more time to evade the guard. Neither he nor Catfish could do their jobs while the guard was in the room. In addition, hiding behind a desk wasn't the most strategic position. He was stuck there until the guard left. The Operators call most of the shots, but every operation had a leader on the field that could override an Operator's orders if the situation called for it. Traditionally in the hands of either a hacker or a ghost, Voodoo was the Field Tactician for the night and he was hoping things would go smoothly enough that he wouldn't need to do much more than retrieve some intel.

"Don't put yourself into a corner to avoid this guy," Voodoo whispered over the comm to Golden Boy and Catfish. "Knock him out if he gets too close. We're not risking the entire mission for a perfect run."

"This is unnecessary. Do not engage," Incognita advised.

"That's an order," Voodoo affirmed to the two agents. Wraith was awfully quiet. Getting the guards suspicious this early generally warranted some condescending words, and rightfully so, but nobody heard a peep from him since the mission began.

"Zero, Magus, and Joker located a promising vault. As soon as intel is received, rendezvous with them."

"Roger. I'm muting," Voodoo replied as he muted his comm link and focused his efforts listening for the guard in the room. His footsteps were slow and steady and he was never too far behind the light the flashlight provided. Without a visual, it was impossible to determine if the guard had his gun out as well, but it seemed unlikely. The message he received didn't sound urgent. Voodoo held his neural disruptor tight in his right hand and adjusted his position slightly to favor maneuverability. Just leave if you know what's good for you buddy, he thought, hoping the guard wouldn't be in the room for too long. They were wasting time.

 

[mingummy]

Crawling forward from his position under a shelf, Jackal poked his head out to check for guards. Seeing nothing but the distinct lack of other people he considered his options. One: he could complete the mission on his own and reassemble with everyone afterward. Two: he could not risk the wrath of Voodoo and join up with the team now. Three: he could leave, after all his only order had been to scout the area. Torn between doing the right thing and doing what his body instinctively wished for, Jackal felt like his brain was going to implode.

"Relax. Inhale, hold it... exhale."

Following the coaching of his inner voice that sounded very much like his former mentor he was able to ground himself and make a decision. He reached a hand up to turn on his comm. Now came the hard part - actually talking to the other agents. With a mutter that might have been a prayer but might also have been a curse, Jackal made his way towards one of the group's assigned areas. "Does anyone need a chameleon? I'm in the grey. No orders past scouting."