Infiltration

The next morning, the 154th Squadron set out for the Alpha Lupi gang's hideout location. Before executing the actual mission tonight, some reconnaissance was necessary. The six stood atop the roof of a tall building a short distance away from their target and got a good view of the area.

Fanatic, who had finished setting up a telescope, peered in the direction of the hideout.

"Okay… I can see the second and third floors from here, and the vent too. It seems to be still screwed shut. I don't know if it got tightened by someone, but…"

"It hasn't been touched by anyone in years," Iris suddenly said, sitting on Finn's shoulders and gazing out in the same direction as Fanatic. Her normally one-purple-one-turquoise eyes now shone a bright golden, signaling that she was using her Angelica. "There's plenty of accumulated dust on it, thick enough to be an ancient relic."

"You can see from this range…?" Fanatic blinked in surprise. The distance from where they were standing to the vent was no less than 500 meters. While that wasn't a lot theoretically speaking, to be able to see tiny details like dust with nothing but the human eye was quite difficult, even with an Oculus Angelica.

"I can," Iris replied. "My eyes have always been my strong suit, ever since I was young. Pair that with the Oculus Angelica, and I can see incredibly tiny details like even from this range. Though, it does use up quite a bit of my mana…"

"I see. Well, with this, we can at least confirm the plan is a go," Fanatic said, taking down his telescope and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Next, let's take a look at the surroundings, see if there are still people living in this place… probably not, after the Outbreak that happened around here, but…"

He trailed off, before packing all his equipment up wordlessly and rappeled down the building using the same rope they had used to get up here. The others silently followed, keeping quiet since they knew this was a sensitive topic and location for Fanatic.

In order to avoid rousing suspicion, Archon didn't come along for this part of the espionage mission. If Alpha Lupi members were roaming about, there was a chance some may still recognize him. Storm took off his mask as well and changed into normal clothes, as did Fanatic.

Octane looked pretty normal already since his armor only activated when he activated his Angelica, but Finn and Iris had to take their outer armor off, leaving only the inside which were just normal T-shirts, black and white respectively.

The five were instructed to do their best to come off as a group of friends just casually hanging out on the weekend while exploring these slums. According to Archon, Alpha Lupi was not the type to target mere normal teenagers but rather larger corporations such as banks and such, so the five would be safe, even if they ran into any gang members.

As they moved through the narrow alleyways of the slums, with Octane cracking a joke here and there, Finn couldn't help but notice how smoothly Fanatic led them through this maze of abandoned buildings.

It made sense since this was his home until he was picked up by Archon, but Finn found it quite impressive how calm he was. Any normal middle-schooler would've probably never been able to recover from the trauma of having their family slaughtered in front of them, but Fanatic was clearly different from the rest.

They walked and walked, but didn't run into anyone. The slums were completely desolate, deprived of life.

With that confirmed and everything set in place, the five headed back out and returned to their lair to report back to Archon and prepare for tonight's operation.

*****

After eating lunch, Finn spent the rest of that day working out in the mansion's basement. Push-ups, sit-ups, lifting weights — anything that could help him improve his muscular strength, he did. The whole afternoon had passed before he knew it, and it was already time for dinner, according to Archon who came downstairs and informed him.

This long training session was well worth it — just because he had the Ghost blood now, didn't mean working out wasn't useful anymore. This was, without a doubt, the best and most surefire way to improve his physical strength. Since he had free time anyway, might as well make the most of it.

Finn headed upstairs to eat dinner after that, then took a quick shower to clean himself up and clear his thoughts to prepare for the upcoming mission.

And at 11 PM exactly that night, Operation: Exterminate commenced.

*****

The six members of the Squadron split up into three teams: one infiltrating from the vent on the roof, one attacks via the front entrance, and one on tactical and sniper duty. Archon, Octane, and Storm were responsible for the infiltration team, while Finn and Iris waited near the front entrance of the hideout on standby.

Fanatic, on the roof of the same building they had set the telescope on earlier today, finished setting up his tent and sniper, then activated his earpiece.

"I'm all good to go, Archon. Ready whenever you are."

"Got it… " Archon received the comm and gazed out at their target building, then at the zipline hanging in between it and the roof they were currently on. "I'm all ready here as well… what about you, Ace?"

"Ivy and I are ready," Finn replied, crouched down in the shadows of a tall building nearby with Iris riding on his shoulders.

"I don't see anyone nearby, but it's still a good idea to use the cover, in my opinion," Iris said, glancing around.

"Have you confirmed that they are in there?" Archon asked.

"Yes," Iris replied, eyes now shining a bright gold, as brilliant as the sun, as she narrowed them at the walls of Alpha Lupi's hideout. "I can see roughly fifty figures in the building — a few less compared to this morning. Their strength levels are unknown."

"Copy that," Archon replied firmly, then turned to Storm. "You know what to do."

Storm nodded and closed his ocean-blue eyes. Slowly, a dense blue aura began forming around him, along with various similarly colored sparks of electricity.

"Come, chaotic levin, I hereby release thy seal. Cleanse this world of evil and turn all enemies mine into nothing but ash. Become my blade, Divine Lightning…"

Once the energy had reached its maximum, Storm's eyes snapped open, completely white and charged with blue lightning as he muttered the following words:

"… Thunderstorm!"

Sweeping his arms through the air to his left and right, he unleashed the Stormbringer Angelica's power in a large, powerful blue energy shockwave. Immediately, dark thunderclouds that blocked the pale moonlight gathered above all of District A, plunging it into a world of darkness.

Heavy rain began falling down in sheets and torrents, splashing the ground and threatening everyone who wasn't already to head indoors. A thick, dense fog enveloped the city, making it impossible to see past 5 meters in front of you.

With all the camouflage ready, Archon grinned like a devil.

"Alright, everyone. Operation: Exterminate… begins now."