718 Infiltration

"Hera, can you hear me?" Lysandra's voice came through the communicators they were all wearing. This was a simple short-range walkie-talkie radio without any magical effects to it. The prison had several measures to detect and stop any signals going into the building. However, when inside, only the more refined signals would be stopped. Things like magically hidden calls, encrypted signals, or anything they imagined could be used to talk with the prisoners were blocked. To allow for internal communication, less technologically advanced devices were left uninterrupted, and since even if some frequency of radio could be blocked, there was still enough range for the team to hide their own signal.

"I can hear you," Hera replied. If the communicator wasn't in her ear, the sound of the wind rushing past them wouldn't let her hear anything. They were now around 1.5 kilometers from the ground. Nimbus flew her and Sylvie, Lysandra was flying with Nethe, and Hornet was carrying Zestra. All of them could see the prison in the distance, and each had a way to see beyond the simple invisibility created by Zestra. Some were using special goggles made by Eirik to help with that, but others, like Hera, had their own tools to see the rest of the team.

"I don't mean for this to sound like I don't trust you, but I honestly can't remember if we actually had this conversation or not. Do not have your blades in their bipedal form while we are here because-" Lysandra was about to continue, but the Empress cut her off.

"They are very easily identifiable. Eventually, people will talk about us, and if we have something that people can easily remember, we might have problems. That's even why we are using these clothes," Hera spoke in a calm voice. She wasn't annoyed by this, in fact. It was part of their preparation for the mission. They each took turns sitting in front of everyone and describing what they had to do to rescue people inside the prison. After every few actions they describe, another team member would introduce a problem, or a mistake, or ask for an explanation of a specific step in their plan. Another thing Eirik did to prepare was to make a full-body suit for everyone. One that could go over their armor and clothes without getting in the way of any of their skills. Right now, if anyone could see the team, they would see six people wrapped in black clothes with black expressionless masks.

"So we talked about that? Good," Lysandra's voice seemed a bit relaxed.

Hera glanced back, using the [Observe-Red Sight] skill to see things in infrared. This was her way to see the rest of the group during this mission. In fact, she didn't even need to think about the skill to activate it. When she talked with Isantha, the guide mentioned a skill that could benefit from getting a compendium. The skill in question was called [Powerful Connections]. The Empress had forgotten entirely about this skill. It was something that would increase the power of her explorer's exclusive skills based on how much of the room was shown in her [Treasure Map]. Every 1% completion rate would translate to a 0.25% increase in her explorer-exclusive skills. When the [Treasure Map] was beyond 50% completion, a random skill would also be affected in this particular room. In this case, the extra skill was [Observe - Red Sight], getting a 16% boost.

Currently, they were getting close to the prison. There was still a good kilometer or so, and Nimbus was in the lead of the pack to break the air resistance and make things easier for those in the back. They had seen the place before several times during their planning, but now, even during the months-long night, it was a sight to behold. The prison's exterior was an imposing structure of sleek dark lines intertwined with reflective surfaces. Sheathed in a metallic material that behaved like a mirror called 'Chrome Brass.' That was extremely dense and expensive, but few materials were as resistant when hit from the front. Strips of light covered the entire thing, illuminating the area for those close, and so the city would quickly notice any issues with the prison and send in reinforcements.

Right in the front was a towering gateway flanked by a pair of floating diamond-shaped crystals that would send out magic bullets to any threat in their range. Each regular shot could stun their targets, not to mention do some severe damage, but if any of the crystals charged before firing it, they were shooting to kill. The good part was that a charged shot took around 30 seconds to reach full power, and it was likely that everyone was already out of range when it was ready to fire. Its regular attack was much quicker, being able to fire about a dozen shots per second. Before they escaped, those towers would have to be disabled, and Hornet was in charge of that.

Their destination, however, was an opening close to the east wall. A larger open area that should be the yard where the inmates could exercise and have some sunlight. But according to the team's intel, this was being used as a place to burn… something. Everyone hoped that it was a makeshift furnace for trash, but they all feared that it was something much more harrowing.

"We are getting close to where the sensors would start noticing things on the ground. We know they can't get that high, but be ready for anything," Lysandra's voice came through the communicator.

No one replied. The elf's warning was just something for everyone to know. The team had a few things like that: messages that required no response unless something went wrong. After all, the invisibility would hide them from being seen, not from being heard. Nimbus was going nowhere near his top speed since he had to allow Nethe and Hornet to keep up, but they were still going at a pace similar to their running speed.

"If this part of our plan is wrong and we get detected, this will happen soon. I don't believe we are, but be ready," Lysandra's voice sounded confident, which helped everyone not to worry. Soon, she started speaking again, "Entering sensor range in 5.." As she spoke, everyone held their breaths. By all accounts, they should be safe. The sensors wouldn't be able to notice them coming from this high up. Even so, knowing that this was the first hurdle they had to pass made them all uneasy. "…2, 1. In range."

They continued moving, everyone half expecting the prison to light up with alarms and red lights. Yet, nothing happened. Only two guards were at the top of the walls, and they didn't move a muscle. Everything was business as usual. Continuing their path, they crossed the night sky, holding their breath once more as they crossed the area directly above the prison.

"Stop!" Hera called in a whisper, making the entire team stop moving but keep their height, "Someone is looking at us."

Down in one of the towers on the corner of the prison, there was a balcony where a guard was looking up.

"I might be able to take him down. It will just break the invisibility," Nethe got ready to send out a few feathers that would deal more damage the higher he was. In this case, it would be a sure-kill move, but it would also make a lot of noise.

"Wait. Don't fire," Lysandra's voice was now more worried, "He might just be looking at the sky."

Hera glanced up, and it was a pretty night, but for someone who worked here and could see the stars at any point, this sight wouldn't be that interesting. Could this be just a coincidence? The entire team waited, barely breathing. The sound of heartbeats drowning out the sound of Nimbus' and Nethe's wings. The guard stood there for what looked like an eternity. They could see he was looking up, but it was impossible to tell if he was staring directly at them or not. After what felt like 10 years, the guard yawned and walked back inside.

After a few moments, Sylvie's voice was the sound that broke the silence, "Did he see us?"

"I doubt it. He stood there for 145 seconds. That would be too long of a con. And I couldn't see any movement at all. I think he was just looking up at the sky," Lysandra let out a sigh of relief, "Either way. If they know or not, this is our only chance now. If he did notice us, they would look into any points of entrance from above, and we wouldn't have another chance. Let's keep going. We are almost there."

They moved forward for less than a minute before slowly descending above the yard. There was a thick smell of garbage coming from that area, which was a bit different from their information. Still, this was within their expectations. The open space had a couple of deep trenches dug up, and large and small black trash cans covered the area. When they reached the 500-meter mark, everyone held their breaths one more time. Despite the sensors only having a 180-degree range, this was another situation where they could have bad intel, which would ruin everything. Yet, they continued without any problems once again. Reaching the ground with little trouble.

Hera told Nimbus to stay in his tonfa form since he was still invisible and could help them scout some areas. The team took a moment to look around and locate all the cameras that could potentially see them while hiding behind the piles of trash. There were a total of four cameras, one in each of the corners of the yard. Pulling out a small black marble from their bags, they infused some mana on them and tossed them towards the cameras. A tense moment passed before those black orbs floated up and transformed into tiny glass plates. Then, those marbles moved quickly and attached themselves to the camera, staying directly in front of their lenses in a perfect fit. No one moved while that was happening. Instead, the group was trying to look over the trash. It was what one would expect from a garbage disposal site. Packages of food and supplies, food waste, and some organic materials like orange peels and used toilet paper. However, they also noticed a couple of bags that had a red liquid dripping out from them. Nimbus went in to take a closer look at one of them, which had a large hole in the side.

'Oh, good. This looks like meat, like the meat you would buy in the supermarket. I guess they are rotting, but there are some other parts, bones, and things like that. There were even some bags with brand names here. I don't think this is a grave,' the relief in the Sentinel's voice was palpable.

"I never thought I would say this, but I'm so happy that's just food waste," Hera whispered before pressing the button to speak through the communicator, "It doesn't look like this is a grave. Just waste disposal."

"Good, now all we need is-" before Zestra finished speaking, the new lenses of the cameras flashed white for a moment. It was not emanating light, but it was just a quick color change to white, then back to black. This was Becca's signal. Eirik and the reporter created those marbles that could be placed in front of a camera. Each marble would record a small looping video, and play it back behind them in an illusion. It was a near-seamless transition with only a flicker to disrupt the image. Making the lens white was the way Becca let the team know that particular lens was already playing the loop.

They all moved to the closest door, and Zestra was about to start lock-picking it when Hera got closer, "Hang on. Daskka. Can you turn into mist and go under the door? Don't show up on the other side, but confirm if there are no cameras at this entrance.

The herald nodded and checked, returning just a few seconds later, "The coast is clear, mum."

Hera nodded and gave Zestra the go-ahead. For now, their intel was still on point, but they had to be careful since it was already a few months old. As the door opened, everyone quickly rushed inside, staying close together in the corridor with a single path that would turn right in a few meters. When they got to the turn, they would see another camera.

Zestra deactivated his spell, revealing the entire party, and recast it on everyone but him and Hornet. Then, he used the better version of his invisibility to make the last two team members disappear, "We are going ahead to take care of the cameras. When that is over, Hornet and I will deactivate as many of the security measures as we can. Hera, keep your map open and mark the cameras we already got. Those are the places you can move through."

"Try not to mess with the guards, but if you can take one out, do it quietly. Remember not to kill anyone unless it's a last resort. The more damage we do here, the worse the guild's response will be," Lysandra said just before they split up.

Getting inside was the easy part. Now came the real trouble.