126: A Company of Fools: Operation of Influence I

"HOW THE FUCK DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING THIS BIG!" Sin bellowed as he clung to Grimm-Guard's carapace for dear life.

He looked like a leaf shaking in the wind as Grimm-Guard flew high above the clouds over the city. I looked over my shoulder at Sin and saw him laying on his belly holding the evos back with a death grip. I rolled my eyes at his display from my spot on Grimm-Guard's head.

"Grimm-Guard isn't that big. Only about a mile long and a few yards wide." I replied nonchalantly.

"To be fair he is large enough to wrap around a building and crush it." Bo said. From his spot slightly behind me.

"Do we have to be so fucking high though!" Nate cried. He too was gripping Grimm-Guard's back. Jade was kneeling beside him and patting his back.

I glanced around Grimm-Guard's antennae and eyes down at the city below us. It night and the lights of the golden city were shining brightly in the distance. A few hundred feet below us however the lights were dim and scattered. A sign of the area's decline.

"Yeah we do. It might be dark out you two but Grimm-Guard is still a huge evo, we can't risk someone spotting him and us before we reach the warehouse." I replied.

"Couldn't we have just walked there?!" Nate exclaimed.

"This is faster and it saves time if Grimm-Guard is already in position to snatch us of we have to make a hasty retreat." I explained.

"Wait if you're worried about someone seeing your evo then how are we going to get down?" Bo asked. I kust looked back at him and smiled deviously. Bo looked confused for a moment then glanced over the side then back up at me and returned that same devious grin. "Oh I see…"

"YOU SEE WHAT?!" Nate and Sin screamed. I ignored their question and turned my attention to city below us.

We were still in range of Bone-lasher's electromagnetic vision even as high up as we were. We were definitely in the bronze city, the buildings were in even worse shape than the ones that had been abandoned in the silver city and those had evo sized holes in then. Surprisingly a vast majority of them were still occupied by people though not many of them seemed like they were fit to house a evo let alone a human.

These however were not the buildings we were looking for. It also didn't take a genius to realize which building was the depot that had all the weapons the red dragons were trafficking. It was the only one that was swarming with activity. I frowned as I analyzed the layout of the building, it looked like it was a old department store that died out when the red dragons took over. They converted it into the perfect place to hide their illegal goods. I located a door at the rear of the building that looked to be mostly unguarded.

I looked down at my left hand and the four new enchanted rings that sat on each finger. I looked at the ring on my middle finger in particular. That one was enchanted with the telepathic link spell. I channeled mana into my middle finger and started casting a axiom spell sigil. As the spell took affect and linked everyone I sent a quick message.

I informed everyone.

Jade gasped. She glanced down at her wedding ring which I had also enchanted with the ice fortress spell.

I said grabbing Bo by his waist and throwing him over my shoulder.

Bo exclaimed and practically vibrated with joy. I walked over to Sin who looked up at me with confused eyes.

Sin yelled in my head.

I said then channeled gust attribute mana into my hand and flicked it at him. A gust of wind slapped him and knocked him off Grimm-Guard's back and sent him plummeting to the ground.

"YOU SON OF A BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII…" Sin bellowed as he fell. I spun on my heel to face Jade and Nate then smiled before I jumped after Sin with Bo in tow.

"BO!" Nate bellowed and rushed to the edge of Grimm-Guard's back.

"WHOOOOOOOO! THIS IS AWESOME!" Bo yelled as we both fell.

Even in the dark of night, I never lost sight of Sin thanks to Bone-lasher, not that it would be hard to track him with all his screaming. Channeling gust mana into my legs, I stabilized myself, then propelled towards Sin and grabbed onto the big guy's arm.

I snapped at him as I looked down. The ground was rapidly approaching, and we were a little off target. I sent a gust of wind from my feet to slow down our descent until we just barely floated mere inches off the ground.

Thankfully, Sin had stopped screaming at this point. However, he was clinging to me like a baby possum does to it, mother. I stopped channeling mana and dropped the last few inches to land, and Sin collapsed in the ground and took several loud and deep breaths. I rolled my eyes and looked to Bo.

I asked. Bo snickered at Sin but nodded in response to me. He held his hand up and started casting the axiom spell sigil. A clear bubble formed in his hand and he looked confused as what to do next.

Bo did as he was instructed and the bubble popped at his feet. Just like that were we concealed and just in time too. We'd touched down inside the perimeter of the intended target but on the opposite side of the building that I had planned. That was mostly in fault of Sin flailing like a drowning pig. He took several deep breaths and then shot me a glare that would have skinned elephant with enough room for a rhino.

Sin roared through the telepathic link, making Bo and I flinch.

I replied with huff.

Sin growled as he jumped to his feet. I rolled my eyes again and set Bo down.

I offered then turned and pointed to a pair of red dragon goons that were walking towards us.

The duo was completely oblivious to our presence thanks to the invisibility field however the moment they stepped through it they'd see us instantly. Sin raised his hand and started casting a axiom spell sigil and I quickly stopped him by pushing his hand down. He was casting that blood axe spell again and I couldn't have him butchering more people in front of Bo. Instead I channeled mana into my pinky ring and started casting a axiom spell sigil. A small black mass formed in the palm of my hand, I clasped it then flung it towards the duo. As the mass left the field the goons both saw it flying towards them seemingly out of nowhere.

"What the…" Was all one off the goons managed to get out before two tendrils shot put of the mass and engulfed them entirely. Their bodies were crushed and condensed in an instant then silently drawn into the central mass as it levitated where the two men were. After a few seconds the mass cracked and scattered to the winds as a black dust.

I commented as I looked at the ring on my pinky. I hadn't named the spell that I had enchanted on the ring but given how it performed I had a few ideas on that. When I turned to look at Sin and Bo, Sin had taken a few steps back from me and looked a little green around the gills.

I asked. Sin swallowed loudly then nodded.

Sin said, his voice sounded a little queasy even through the telepathic link.

Bo observed. Sin gagged then spun around and threw up.

Bo and I exclaimed and looked away.

I interrupted then motioned to the space where the Red dragons were. <…plus that was a painless and a immaculate death. There is absolutely no evidence that they were ever their.>

Sin said as he stood and wiped his mouth.

I said with a huff.

Bo exclaimed and stomped his foot for emphasis.

I said sarcastically then checked my surroundings. Those two red dragons looked like they were at the beginning of making their rounds based on their position when I started tracking them while we were in free fall. The beauty of that was it would be a while before anyone noticed that they were missing.

Jade asked.

Nate yelled through the mental link. I looked up to the sky and could just barely make out the silhouette of Grimm-Guard in the distance.

I explained.

Nate exclaimed.

I responded then motioned for Bo and Sin to follow me.

The three of us left the safety of the invisibility bubble. We stuck close to the side of the building as we moved towards the door that I had seen from on Grimm-Guard's back. Either luck was on our side or just really bad discipline on red dragon's part but we managed to get around to the other side of the building without getting spotted or running into another red dragon.

I told everyone as the three of us came to a stop in front of the target door.

Bo did as he was instructed and made another invisibility bubble that covered the three of us and the door as well. To anyone looking at us from outside the bubble it looked like there was no one standing in front of the door.

Sin turned to me. I smirked then looked to Bo.

I said. Bo smirked then stuck his tongue out and flashed his crystal.

A crystalline structure formed in front of his tongue and shout out at his feet. Gadget emerged from the crystal and stretched then climbed up on Bo's shoulder. Bo scratched the little evo's head them moved over to the door and placed his hand on the door just below the lock.

Without any orders Gadget scurried down Bo's arm and started picking the lock on the door. It's little digits working like a lockpicks as it quickly and expertly went to work. After a few minutes Sin started to get a little impatient, crossing his arms and tapping his foot.

Sin grumbled. Bo frowned at the larger man.

Bo griped. No sooner had he said that did the lock click and Gadget unlock the door. Bo smiled smuggle up at Sin then stuck his tongue out at him. Sin rolled his eyes then pushed the door open and hurried inside the building.

I told him. Bo nodded and then ran off towards the fence that surrounded the building.

Bo said as he walked over to the fence that surrounded the building.

I replied as I watched him climb over the fence then hurry across the street into a nearby alley, where he casted the invisibility field again and vanished from sight.

Now sure that he was safe, at least for the time being, I made my way into the red dragon's weapons depot. The door lead to the back of the store where the red dragons had a few wooden crates full of weapons already stored. The crates ranged in size, some were no taller than my knees while others were taller than my head. They were arranged in small cubes and stacked three or four high depending on the size of the crate.

I found Sin kneeling in front of a open crate sifting through it. I crept over to him and looked over his shoulder. The crate was full of shotguns, Maditz 356s, to be exact. A gun that originated in Poland during world war 3, in 1965 that became known as one of the worst shotguns to be made in history by Polish foot soldiers. They often jammed during combat or had some other malfunction or in some extreme cases exploded in the soldiers hands.

I told Sin then walked over to another box at the end of the cube and popped my claws. I wedged them under the lid and used my claws to help pry the crate's lid off. Sin had placed the lid of his crate back on and walked over as I peered into my crate.

Sin asked, there was the slightest hint of amusement in his voice. I smirked and glanced over at him.

I replied then peered into the crate. It was full of Gredli 443's, a heavy-duty revolver that was designed to pierce the thick armor of rachnids. It worked, but unless a person was strong enough to deal with the recoil, the revolver had a tendency to fly back and hit the shooter in the chest.

Sin said. I put the lid back on the crate and shook my head.

I said with a saddened sigh. Sin stayed silent but watched me with a thoughtful look on his face.

As I moved to another crate I took notice of our surroundings, there were a lot less people inside the weapon's depot than there were at the splicer trafficking warehouse, the same for the perimeter of both buildings. It made sense to have fewer guards here since they were so deep in red dragon territory that they had less of a chance of getting attacked in their heart. This belief was going to work against them today. I counted at least only twenty inside the building and another fifteen guarding the outside.

"Bone-Lasher, Alpa'nagia." I whispered softly and outstretched my hand.

Two crystalline structures formed in front of my crystal and shot out. One landing in behind me and the other landing on top of the stack of crates. Alpa'nagia emerged from the crystal behind me and coiled into a defensive stance. Bone-lasher emerged from the one on top of the crates and growled softly while eyeing me and Sin.

[Prey surrounds us.] Bone-lasher said as he took stock of his surroundings.

[I know, I need you and Alpa to get rid of them and silently. We can't alert anyone, or this whole place will be swarming with enemies in an instant.] I informed him. [Take care of the one's outside, and then if we haven't taken care of all the ones inside, come and help us.]

[Yessssssss Ssssssstar Sssssshaper…] Alpa'nagia replied, then slithered into the darkness, essentially disappearing Bone-lasher growled with delight, then silently stalked outside.

I told Sin. He nodded and started casting two axiom spell sigils. I watched in awe as two blood axes formed in his hands.

Sin exclaimed with a hint of glee.

I started to channel burn attribute mana through my popped claws then froze and remembered the necklace I had enchanted earlier today with that experimental spell. I instead channeled mana into the necklace and started casting an axiom spell sigil. I was prepared to rip the necklace off if the spell backfired and throw it further into the building however it didn't backfire. The shadows of everything around me suddenly stretched and moved as if it was being drawn towards me. The shadows collected inside my shadow then coiled around my body, draping over me almost like a cloak.

I took a quick look at myself and frowned when I realized that my feet had disappeared and i was floating a few inches above the ground. In fact my hands had disappeared as well. I looked over at Sin and he was staring at me with his mouth hanging open.

He exclaimed

I replied. Sin visibly shuddered as I spoke through the connection.

Sin said then stalked off deeper into the building.

I frowned and looked down at my non-existent feet and thought about how I was supposed to move with no legs. I was floating a few inches above the ground oddly enough, despite not having any legs anymore I could still feel them, thought I wasn't sure if that was a phantom limb sort of situation.

'Well standing here doing nothing isn't going to get me anywhere.' I thought.

I leaned forward slightly and sure enough I started floating in that direction. I smiled as I was making progress. With some quick experimenting, I realized that I could change how high I was floating off the ground just by thinking I wanted to be higher or lower.

Feeling I mastered the basics of movement for this new form, I floated to the ceiling and scanned the area for enemies. I could already see that Sin had killed three red dragons while I was figuring out how to move and was stalking another pair from the shadows of the repurposed building. On the other end of the building, I saw a small congregation of red dragons, about four normie grunts and a splicer, judging by their clothes.

'While Sinner deals with the red geckos on this side of the building I'll get the ones on the other side.' I thought then flew across the building to that congregation. I found that while I moved rather slowly on my own that I could sort of meld into the shadows of other objects and travel almost instantly to anything the shadow touched.

The five red dragons were huddled in front of a whiteboard that had a map of the entire city displayed on it. The entire outer rim of the city was colored red with a few parts of the middle of the city shaded red as well. I instantly realized that it was a map of the red dragon's territory. I had melded into the shadow of one of the ceiling's support beams and was watching them from above.

"Word is that Audin has taken control of that territory he was sent to get but no one has heard from him since he reported in." One of the grunts said. The second shrugged and shook his head.

"That's not anything unusual, boss Audin often goes missing after a good slaughter." He said with a smrik.

"Yeah, but no one has been able to get ahold of his bodyguards either. They usually are always reporting to the boss. When they were here last month for that inspection, one of them was constantly dipping away to send an evo-viper messager to boss Draco." The third piped up.

"Maybe he's investigating that attack on the warehouse in Silver City. I heard that the place was demolished and everyone was slaughtered." The fourth piped up.

"Or maybe the bosses whereabouts are not supposed to be known to low born normie grunts like yourselves." The red dragon splicer spoke up. The distain in his eyes at the grunts chatter was clear to see. "No one knows what goes on in Draco's head, for all we know he has Audin undercover to try and find out who the one who attacked us was or maybe for all we know he attacked the warehouse under Draco's orders to test the security."

"The big boss wouldn't order Boss Audin to kill their own men, would he?" the first grunt asked. The splicer smirked and crossed his arms.

"Draco killed his own father to get his start in the business. Killing a few of his men wouldn't even register on his conscious." He replied. The four grunts paled at his words.

Still melded with the shadow, I jumped into the shadow on the wall and moved to where I was right behind the splicer. When I activated the spell, my claws were still extended, and much like my feet and hand, even though I couldn't see them, I could still feel them. Taking a hunch, I willed my claws into existence again as I stuck my arms out of the shadow of the splicer.

In one swift movement, I grabbed the splicer's mouth and then stabbed the splicer right through the heart. He died almost instantly, and I allowed the rest of my spectral body to creep out of the shadow.

"Thank you for the information. Now I know what type of man I am dealing with…" I said to the four grunts. My voice sounded hoarse and wispy thanks to the effects of the spell. The four red dragon goons jumped back, too stunned by my appearance and the fact I just killed one of their splicers to speak.

Before they had a chance to find their voice, I quickly dispatched of them, slashing their throats before they could scream and alert the others.

'That's a new feeling…' I thought as I watched the last red dragon bleed out. If I wasn't deep in enemy territory, I would have taken time to explore that feeling, but this was a battlefield, and I had people counting on me to finish these goons quickly.

I took stock of the area again by sharing my senses with Bone-lasher. Bone-lasher and Alpa'nagia had almost take out all of the red dragons patrolling the perimeter. While Sin had killed two more red dragons for a grand total of five, combined with the five I just killed there were still ten more in the building.

'Okay, lets get this over with.' I told myself and melded into another shadow to continue my hunt.