The First Big Job - Part 1

(Infinity Trial #2 - Day 10)

Grimm counter: 17,519

Grimm counter: 17,648

Grimm counter: 17,781

Grimm counter: 17,935

Let us wind back to the previous day to see how we got here.

So after the 'Dark Angels' had eradicated the entire Harpy Gang and they became infamous in Lower Mistral, they stopped having any more problems with the criminal scum of the city. It was the next day that a representative of the Mistral division of the Schnee Dust Company came to them at their base in Mistral, The Rock. 

At that moment, Mesa, Ophis and Jasmine were sitting in the kitchen after enjoying a nice breakfast and staring at a world map. They were discussing were they would establish their main base of operations in Remnant and coming to the agreement that they would choose the crescent shaped island situated on the bottom left side of the continent of Anima when suddenly they were getting telepathic ping, indicating that someone had crossed the Bounded Field surrounding their base and was approaching the gate. After a quick mind reading to see who was approaching them, a big smile crept on Mesa's face.

"Looks like the infamous Dark Angels have attracted a big fish."

Kazuya Saito is an aide to, Aiden Cross, president of the Mistral division of the Schnee Dust Company. When they had a Grimm infestation in areas with high Dust concentrations, they would hire just huntsmen teams from Mistral itself to rid themselves of this problem. So 5 years ago, when they had hit a veritable jackpot in a valley located in the Caleboro Mountains about 500 miles (804 km) south of Mistral, they were exited to start extraction immediately and he was put in charge of this operation.

From the start, the Grimm were a constant nuisance, but with the Atlas military doing security to keep the Grimm away from the mining operation, they were able to set up the mining operation. Using explosives to blast open the rock in order break it up and extract all the Dust ore, they had made great progress and already had thousands of tons of Dust ore extracted. But months after the operation started and millions of Lien later, they struck disaster. After one too many underground explosions, an ancient beast long thought naught but myth told to children as bedtime stories to make them behave had awakened.

With an earsplitting below of that shook the mountains themselves, it awakened and all the underground mining personnel were slaughtered to the man. For the people above ground who heard the bellow, they were overcome with dread like nothing they had experienced before and they desperately tried to establish contact with those underground. All they heard across the radio on every channel was radio interference that was occasionally punctured by the screams of the people dying until one man finally managed to contact them.

(A.N.:  For the following section, I will use a transcript of the conversation between the radio operator/RO and the underground miner/UM and I will use ellipses to represent radio interference noise. You can use your imagination to fill in the blanks) 

RO: Hello! Can anyone hear me! This the surface! Anyone, please respond!

UM: Hello… someone hear me! This is… anyone hear me!

RO: Yes! Yes! This is the surface! What is happened down there?

UM: …horrible! The blast… thing! Evacuate now!

RO: What do you mean! What thing are you talking about?!

UM: …beast awakened! Run! Just… lives and…behind!

RO: What are you talking about? What beast?

UM: Ba…g… … … BALROG! … …(bloodcurdling screams) … …

When that word was put out into the air, everyone in the radio chamber that tried to make with the underground miners was silent as the grave. Because if that was true, then they were all doomed. Immediately shouting matches erupted between those who wanted to send rescuers down into the mines to get their workers back safely and those who wanted to evacuate immediately and collapse the mines to contain that beast. As head of operation, Kazuya Saito was the one with final authority and he could not decide when both choices were terrible. But this decision would be made for him when they heard the beast unleash another earsplitting bellow that shook the mountains once more, but this one was closer than the one before.

Slamming his hands down onto the table, Kazuya Saito grabbed everyone's attention in the room.

"Order the evacuation, right now! We still have some time, so have a demolition team collapse the mine entrance! We cannot allow that beast to get out of there!"

With that, the evacuation was put into effect. With the alarms blaring across the whole valley, everyone knew that time was of the essence. As the leaders of the whole mining operation were directing the civilian workers towards the Bullheads that would take them to were the airships were stationed, another problem arises. One of the huntsmen teams came with a piece of news that made everything go from horrible to cataclysmic. It turns out that one of the armed Bullheads that would normally provide overwatch support to one of the Atlas military squads spotted a massive swarm of Grimm heading their way from the south and it was approaching them fast.

Looking at the mine entrance, and then towards the south, he realized that there was no time to collapse the mine entrance and to get out of there before the swarm would be upon them. But keeping that beast sealed underground was more important than anything else at the moment, because if that beast came out, there was nothing anyone could do to stop its rampage. And so, clenching his teeth so hard they nearly shattered and with hands balled into fists so tightly they drew blood, he issued the one order he never thought and feared he would ever issue.

"Sergeant." Said Kazuya Saito with pain in heart as he turned towards the man who had just delivered him this piece of news.

"Tell everyone to do whatever they can hold back the swarm. We must ensure that the demolition team has enough time to collapse the mine at all cost."

"But sir, what you're saying is madness! We can't hold them back for long!" Said the sergeant.

"I know, sergeant!" Yelled Kazuya Saito suddenly seething and panting with rage that subsided moments later and was replaced with deep sadness.

"I know."

"Sir." Said the sergeant tentatively. "What is down there that is so important that it warrants the lives of all our men?"

Taking a deep breath, Kazuya Saito said what he had dreaded to say.

"A Balrog."

Seeing the look of horror on the sergeant's face, it was clear that he too was aware of the disaster that would happen if that beast managed to break free. Taking a deep breath, the sergeant steeled himself for what was to come next.

"Sir, it was a pleasure working with you." Said the sergeant as he extended his hand out to Kazuya Saito.

"For what it's worth sergeant, I am truly sorry that it had to come to this." Said Kazuya Saito as he shook the sergeant's hand.

"Just make sure you get out of here sir and tell my wife and daughter that I love them." Said the sergeant and then turned back marched away to give this final order.

"Your sacrifices will not be in vain sergeant. I swear." Vowed Kazuya Saito when the sergeant had vanished from his sight. In the end, they managed to buy the demolition team enough to collapse the mine, at the cost of all their lives.

And with that, he was escorted to one of the last awaiting Bullheads that would take him and the last evacuees to the airships. All in all, this was an unmitigated disaster that in the end cost the lives of many good people. Out of the 1102 people that were part of this mining operation, only 140 people had managed to escape.

Upon return, the Schnee Dust Company's legal and media apparatus went into overdrive to keep this disaster out of the public mind. Every survivor was ordered to sign an NDA that specified that they would never speak of this to anyone ever again. As for the next of kin, they were all given a bullshit reason as to why they died. As for why the mine suddenly closed, the public was told that the mine had dried out.

And so, five years went by and Kazuya Saito stayed on at SDC. Even though he resented them, and especially Jacques Schnee, greatly for the whole cover up, he knew that he needed their vast resources if he ever wanted to bring closure to all this. So when he heard about the Dark Angels being in Mistral, he knew that he had a chance to finally bring this whole nightmare to an end. And when he heard about the Dark Angels eradicating the entire Harpy Gang in one night, he was convinced that they were the ones he was looking for. Caring nothing for the consequences, he embezzled 100 million Lien from SDC into a private account and went down to the Rock to petition them for aid.

Back at the Rock, Kazuya Saito stands at the big wooden double doors and pushes it open with 100 million Lien in his pocket. Pushing open the doors, he was greeted by a great hall shrouded in darkness. Walking inside, the room suddenly lit up with a corridor of braziers on poles. At the end of the end of the corridor was a dais, upon which sat a throne. Sitting upon this throne was a giant of a man with a sword resting upon his lap. At first sight, Kazuya Saito felt his heart skipping a beat and mind go blank. This man on the throne, he had this aura around him, this presence around him that made breathing difficult. Looking upon him for an instant, he felt like coming face to face with an apex predator and that his life was his to do with as he pleased, so he averted his gaze. The occupant of the throne felt less like a man and more like an unstoppable force of nature pretending to be a man. This was Lion El'Jonson, leader of the Dark Angels.

"State your purpose."

Seeing Lion El'Jonson, Kazuya Saito was so petrified, that he failed to notice the two cowled warriors stand behind the throne with swords in their hands. It was one of them that spoke to him, but he was not sure who it was.

"I-I am… here to-to-to hire you for … a job!" Kazuya Saito managed to say through his dread.

At this, Lion El'Jonson finally started moving. Lifting up his left arm, he pointed in the direction of Kazuya Saito, who convinced that he would meet his end, closed his eyes and prepared himself for the blow that would end his life. When nothing happened, he carefully opened his eyes to see that Lion El'Jonson did not point at him but behind him. Looking back, he saw a table standing by the door with a book resting on it.

"Leave the payment, the job details and contact details behind. We will contact you when the job is finished."

Doing as he was told, Kazuya Saito wrote down everything that happened 5 years ago and what he requests them do. Lastly, he left behind his Scroll number for them to contact him once they were done and placed the red card with all the Lien on it on the table and walked towards the door. At the threshold of the door, he turned back and wished them luck before walking away.

Once he had crossed the Bounded Field, they dropped the illusion and Mesa and Jasmine and Ophis walk up to the table and see what he left behind. At the sight of 100 million Lien, Mesa, Jasmine and Ophis were impressed that their first official job was going to be such a massive payday.

"So, how are we going to divide ourselves up?" Asked Mesa.

"I'll go clear out the island with one of your clones. That would be a great training ground to practice with the Star Buster Star Blaster. And maybe I'll join you guys at a later time." Said Jasmine as a crimson sword appeared in her hand.

"Alright than, guess Ophis and I are gonna go to the Caleboro Mountains first thing in the morning." Said Mesa before he came up with an idea.

"I should bring Ran and Shaw with us tomorrow. Could be a fun activity."