Of Assault and Wolf

The thrum of the loud bird shook Nelly as they took off again. The atmosphere carried tension in abundance. All soldiers had that extra awareness around them, heightened focus with no jitter. The first mission immediately following the alert level raised to maximum. 

Green had been holding back tears the whole way in the shuttle, as she worked to clear up the running mascara of Nelly's. Neither had shared a word, Nelly focusing on staying still and not lashing out at her maid unduly. 

Their destination was floor 1600, another large floor, like all even hundreds. It was the location of Cousin Brinks complex. A squadron of five loud birds had swooped away from the Arbore compound, all four filled with Sharps, Nelly's with her own personal unit—minus Paco. 

Nelly had materialized, what Lina had called her magical girl transformation, the dress from when she bowed before mother last. It was her vampire image, the physical manifestation of vampiric energy. At the moment it was still lacking compared to the best armor available, but with some more years under her belt any conventional armor would be found lacking. 

Before they landed, the second in charge of her unit, approached her with an earpiece in hand. Instead of a traditional headphone it was more like a circular plaster, a piece of tape that was fastened on the bone behind the ear. She nodded in thanks and placed it deftly behind her right ear. 

Hear ears were filled with chatter from several different units coordinating their response. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on each and every word. She could feel again later, now was the time to be cold. 

Upon landing approach, Nelly had a cursory idea of the situation. No-one had entered the building upon their orders, in fear that it would trigger Brinks to do the one thing they couldn't have happen. Scans of the complex told them there was an armed force, some twenty strong. Brinks personal wing was shielded against outside scans and there was no knowledge of what was happening inside. 

Nelly and the five units exited the birds in the public hangar, a few minutes away from the Brinks Complex. A MASKS wolf unit was present to welcome her. Wolf Captain of the alpha unit, the same one Kabek was in. 

"Commander Arbore, no scannable explosives detected, but the pups are restless," the Wolf officer yelled over the thrum of birds. Nelly nodded, as she was lead to one of the assault shuttles. She signed twenty-six with her hands and put two fingers to her earpiece. The officer joined the channel and continued explaining. "We have four packs at the ready to search for any explosives."

"Great, don't get in our way," Nelly said, thinking herself needlessly aggressive, but didn't have the focus to care about secondary feelings. The wolf officer wasn't perturbed and added any an all details he could think of as being useful. 

"Brace, assault point five after impact." a gnarly voice said over the radio, silencing all comms. Nelly steadied herself as the countdown commenced. "Impact in three, two, one..." 

At one, the assault shuttle shuddered as it pierced the shield of the Brinks complex. At zero, the shuttle jolted with force as it hit the ground. Loud bangs rang as the door explosives engaged, flinging the shuttle doors open almost faster than they eye could follow. 

Nelly was the fourth one out from her shuttle, and at two seconds the shuttles were devoid of units. Two Brinks guards at the door fell before Nelly had two feet on the ground. Sharps units one and two taking the front, the rest spreading to other areas. 

The front door was breached, and they all were inside. A few more guards fell before they had the time to ready themselves. The stench of blood was strong, appealing, and drool pooled in her mouth. Yet her legs never wavered in the direction she needed to go. 

The second floor was more ostentatious than the first one, Nelly noticed in passing a few paintings that were out Brinks league, confirming at least that there was something suspect about him.

Alarms were blaring and some Brinks guards were giving active resistance. One Brinks guard kicked an adjoining door open, screaming bloody murder and opened fire with his automatic weapon. Flashing light and thundering sounds rang in the hallway, but the man didn't have time to get any real hits in as he was blasted by Nelly. 

She had stopped only for a split second to make sure she hit, but Nelly was swearing inside, every moment that passed potentially closer to a sisterless world. With seven more guards downed they had finally reached the private wing. Nelly breathed in deeply, it might be the last breath she got in a while.

The sharps lead counted them down with his fingers and as his hand balled in to a fist they entered in unison. Nelly's heart was lurched, as the first and second room were empty. There wasn't even any furniture. Some stains of unknown origins here and there the only sign anything had been here. 

The same situation revealed itself in all other rooms. With the last 'all clear' ringing in her ears she felt despair take over. Where was Brinks and all his stuff, not to mention Cathrin. Everything was gone. 

She walked around trying to see if there was a secret entrance anywhere, but couldn't spot any. She was about to hit the wall in frustration, when a familiar blood scent entered her nose. 'That must be Brinks', she muttered to herself. She closed her eyes to try and pinpoint it. 

First all she saw was darkness, but soon she could make out hazy heartbeats. Several powerful crimson energies belonging to the Sharps, but she focused further and there, right beyond the wall. It was running, going to pass her location... NOW!

With all her latent power gathered in her claws she slashed at the wall with her energy, blowing the wall in to a cloud of dust and debris. In the same motion she flung herself through the hole and felt her hand wrap around the targets neck. 

As the dust was settling she realized that the blood was too familiar, the aura something she had already tasted. Wolf One was grabbing at her hand which was tightly wrapped around his neck. 

"I told you to stay out of my way." Nelly said, the anger she had been trying not to display to teammates on full display. Her fingers pressed in to his neck, drawing some blood.

He was groaning, but let go of her hand, submitting to her. His gaze was surprisingly tender and Nelly soon felt a ting of guilt in what was left of her heart. With a frustrated yell she slammed him to the ground, with enough force to burst the air out of him.

"Our comms were cut, I am here to warn you off the bomb." Kabek said, his words garbled through the comms, wheezing for air. 

"Speak up." Nelly said, her gaze torn between the blood on her hand and Kabek's blue eyes. 

"There are explosives in the cellar panic room, where Brinks is holding your sister." Kabeks words were emphasized with an explosion from below that rocked the complex.