Allegiance
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Graying Blood
Chapter 8: Allegiance
***
Cassandra was waking up in her now much emptier quarters. The weeks without Sophia began to blur together for the kadabra. Training. More training. Regular patrols. It was all a dull wash. In the restroom she opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out several bottles of pills. Anticonvulsants, mood stabilizers and a little something else for the migraines; things she needed to keep herself together ever since she passed out and seized after a training exercise. According to the medical staff, she was babbling manically and twitching during her entire time in the infirmary.
Her father didn't seem to care much. It was for the good of her, after all. She washed down the pills with a gulp of water before continuing with her morning routine. There was still a light rainbow aura around the lamps in her room, but she ignored it as best she could while getting into uniform. Ready for the day, she made her way from her quarters and down several long concrete hallways to reach the the Executive's office.
Outside his door, she gave it a few knocks and waited for confirmation to go inside.
"Enter," Edward's muffled voice came from behind it. She did so, stepping in and throwing her superior and father a salute, she could see Fractal standing at attention to his right. "How are you holding together, Cassie?" asked Edward from behind his desk, paws folded together.
"Could be worse, sir," she answered plainly.
"I have some good news and some possibly bad news, depending on your view of it," the middle-aged alakazam said calmly. "Though they are one in the same in the end."
"The good news first," Cassie requested.
"We're going to take part in rescuing Theo and Sophia," he answered plainly. "The bad news is we're going to take part in rescuing Theo and and Sophia. He paused, as if chewing on a thought. "With Lilith's death, I will just say that I need to pay my dues to House Grayquill for wrongs I've committed."
Cassie blinked in disbelief; she had never seen him be this selfless in years. "I'm going to guess my talents are going to be called upon?"
"Yes," Edward answered coolly. "You will be leading one of the teams we're sending to infiltrate Indigo Plateau. The one that will be doing the retrieval of Theodore and Sophia, to be exact."
"I understand."
"Get your team ready, you are expected at Grayquill mansion by noon. You will receive more details there." Edward gave her a half smirk. "Are you ready to earn your promotion, Junior Lieutenant Cassandra?"
"Yes."
***
A half hour later, she was in the armory with her subordinates, the three of them suiting up in full battle dress, plates of black paper-light ceramics woven with ballistic-resistant polymers fastened over the normal dark rocket fatigues. They would stop smaller bullets and weaker attacks, but the reality of infantry who can throw energy beams or break through steel doors like balsa wood put extrinsic armor as a low priority for any of the world's militaries.
"This isn't an academy training exercise," she said, trying to put a bit of firm confidence to her tone. "We are going to be fighting our own. Make no mistake, they will see us dead if they can. Show no quarter."
"Yes Ma'am," the slowking and golduck responded, collecting their rifles and sidearms from an arms locker.
Cassandra only took her pistol with her. Less burden, and her psychic talents were all she was really going to need for this. She was going to save Sophia. That much was for certain.
***
The three arrived at Grayquill Mansion by noon, passing the beedrill guarding the gates and reaching the house as quickly as possible. Once inside, they found Rhombus and her team along with Lady Maria waiting for them in the foyer of the mansion.
"Good afternoon, Agent Cassandra," the nidoqueen greeted with a wave of a paw. "We don't have much time; let's get down to business, shall we?" The kadabra and her team followed the nidoqueen down a long hallway, Rhombus and her own close behind as the seven pokemon anthros entered the mansion's meeting hall.
It was a large room, vaulted ceiling painted with murals of various house heads and their deeds. The left wall had several large plate glass windows looking out on a well-maintained garden. In the center of the room was a massive table lined with chairs, a red carpet bordered in gold leaf lying below it.
"You should consider this to be an honor," the nidoqueen said, taking her seat in a small mahogany throne at the table's head, "It is a rare event when non-house members are even allowed to see this room. Please, be seated."
The six guests took spots to her sides, Rhombus on the left and Cassandra on the right. Maria waited for the to settle in before she continued. "Your two teams are tasked with the retrieval of our house members Theodore and Sophia Grayquill. If you were not informed of this already."
"Well aware," Cassandra spoke up. "But how are the six of us expected to infiltrate a Rocket Headquarters, much less Gideon's?"
"Easy," Maria said, motioning with her paws as she spoke, "My late sister Lilith knew her compatriots were not to be trusted-- especially Executive Bloodquill. She made sure every base was given several fatal, hidden flaws. I do believe Alexei found out one of them on his own."
The absol spoke up on cue. "I learned one when I was administering Kanto North's computer network. The systems are all wired together. Everything. Cameras, blast doors and even the backup generators. I thought it was just foolish engineering, but Lilith is more clever than I imagined."
The nidoqueen nodded at this. "Rhombus. Your team's responsibility is going to be securing access to the base's systems. Alexei will then knock out the base's power and backup power with codes that will be provided."
"Understood," Rhombus replied. Images of getting the executive alone entered her head for a moment, but she dismissed them just as quick.
"With the base plunged into darkness and with any teleport disruption fields down, Cassanda and her team will make their entrance and search for Theodore and Sophia. Theo will likely still be in the base's infirmary from injuries while I'm imaging Gideon will be keeping Lady Sophia a little..." the nidoqueen looked as if she wanted to spit with that last word, her teeth gritting, "closer to himself. If confronted, beware he can may slay you outright with so much as a touch of his claws. The best course of action would be to avoid engaging him entirely."
Alexei claw circled over the smooth surface of the table as she explained away. He looked up as she paused. "We are risking civil war with this."
"Regretfully true. But the first blow was already thrown by Executive Bloodquill; we can no longer stand idly by while he violates our family and risks the security of all the Team has strove to establish."
"This is the action you were calling for, Alexei," Slate added. "It's time to put your words in your hands."
"You're right," the absol said.
"If that's settled, we can get to how Rhombus and her team will get inside," Maria spoke up, interrupting the tangent. "We have access to a scheduled resupply of the Indigo Division Headquarters tomorrow morning. That's how you will gain entrance. The loading docks only have minimal security most of the time, so entry should be easy enough. The setup of the Mt. Moon Headquarters was based off Indigo Division; Alexei should be able to find where he needs to go."
The meeting continued for a few more hours before the two teams stood up and made their way out to do what needed to be done.
***
At the crack of dawn the next morning, a delivery truck pulled up at one of the loading docks of indigo headquarters. A dozen heavy blast shutters opened up before it backed in to the concrete dock. A couple of workers along with the driver opened up the back of the truck's trailer and began to unload large numbers of cardboard boxes and large wooden crates, stacking them at the back of the dock.
One of the wooden boxes at the bottom that was moved cracked open slowly, the side flopping down on the floor as Rhombus and her team crawled out of it, propping the popped side back up before slinking through the door and into the fortress.
They were all in the standard black soldier's uniform, blending in perfectly to the others they passed by, maybe looking a little unfamiliar. Though they would probably be just taken as new transfers at worse. Unopposed, they reached the central database and mainframe room of the headquarters. Seeing no-one coming down either hallway, they turned to a camera that was watching the door, just out of their view. Rhombus gave a little wave and then flicked a claw. A steam of flames engulfed the electric eye, plastic going up in a puff of black smoke and metal slag dribbling down a concrete wall.
The lights flashed red and klaxons blared as the fire alarm was activated. The struck now, the big arcanine kicking the steel security door off it's hinges in one blow as Alexei dashed in with the blur of a quick attack. The choking fumes of melted plastic dispersed in the hall as Rhombus and Slate slipped in behind the absol, taking stance on either side of the door to pounce any investigating soldiers.
The dashing absol busted through a second door and into the system admin's office. A porygon-z anthro stood from it's chair, but could not even take another action before it was smashed hard by the absol's knee, chest plate crunching underneath its rubbery exterior as its head smashed against the edge of the desk.
Another blow struck the robotic pokemon anthro in the chest, a cracking black swipe of night slash ripping through it's structure and rupturing the machine poke's power system. It's eyes sparked bright white, then went black as it passed out. Not beyond repair, but definitely no longer a threat.
With the administrator incapacitated, the absol immediately commandeered his console. His paws raced across the keys and through the command console, entering the hidden command codes he was provided after the briefing.
Lock down the armories, yes. Disable anti-psionic and ghosting fields? Yes. Disable backup power? Yes Disable power? Yes. At the last confirmation, the room suddenly went entirely black before a few dull red emergency lights flickered on, separate from all other systems.
He turned and ran back out the hall.
"Okay, boys. Let's get the hell out!" Rhombus shouted. She smirked a little, phase one went off without a hitch.
***
A few moments earlier, Gideon was in his living room. The large hole through the solid granite wall covered with a red tapestry on both sides for the moment, his furniture that was smashed fighting Lilith already replaced. Sophia was sitting at his side on the new couch, keeping her eyes averted as she felt those wandering paws start to rub up against her.
"It's not so bad here, is it, Sophia?" he whispered low before lightly licking over the edge of one of the nidoqueen's ears.
"No," she lied, voice sounding more defeated than it ever was before. She just let the beast grope to his content.
Just then, everything went dark. Only a bit of sunlight leaked into the chamber from the hole behind the rug covering the broken wall. Gideon waited in the darkness, silence in the air for a good thirty seconds before he abruptly stood up and began to feel around in the direction of the door.
"No backup power. It's sabotage. Stay here; I have something to take care of," he growled dangerously before heading out into a hall lit by dim red emergency lighting. He broke into a sprint for the armory.
***
Abilgail was on patrol down one of the fortress' hall when the power cut; reduced to mere guard duty when her talents were not being called upon by the Executive. She just continued her work as usual until she saw three familiar morphs dash by. She raised an eye ridge in surprise.
This was her chance. Either kill them all and remain Gideon's personal assassin or escape. No action, and she would meet her end for sure if Gideon learned those she failed to kill were now on base and disrupting his operations.
She would join. The zangoose trailed them. She didn't want to leave Theo behind, but she would be of far more help on the outside than under Gideon's thumb.
***
Cassandra and her team faded in right in the middle of the headquarters' meeting room, the three giving a quick look around, the other two's rifles each equipped with a flashlight on the bayonet lug.
"Gideon's quarters first. Sophia is the priority, Theodore after that," the kadabra reminded them as they exited the meeting room and entered those now darkened, smoothed granite halls of Indigo Headquarters.
The slowking and golduck covered the sides as they advanced, Cassandra's extra senses feeling the presence of most of the patrols, letting them avoid confronting them entirely as they made their way to a stairway, the elevators all out of order from the lack of power.
***
Rhombus sprinted in lead down a long passage, her eyes flaring with fire to provide a small torch radius to their vision in the dim hall. Something glinted up ahead in the darkness. Before the three were even aware, the whole hallway gave a lurching shudder as waves traveled through the floor, cracking concrete and sending the trio sprawling to the floor as heavy steely foot. The florescent tube lights on the ceiling swung and snapped off their chains, glass shattering on the floor and over the three saboteurs.
"Identification please," came a deep, steely sneer as a massive female aggron female emerged from the darkness, an assault rifle held effortlessly in her right paw. Only the heavy steel plates of her body reflected the hellish red light. "Stay down on the ground and surrender if you know what's good for you."
Graying Blood
Chapter 8: Allegiance
***
Cassandra was waking up in her now much emptier quarters. The weeks without Sophia began to blur together for the kadabra. Training. More training. Regular patrols. It was all a dull wash. In the restroom she opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out several bottles of pills. Anticonvulsants, mood stabilizers and a little something else for the migraines; things she needed to keep herself together ever since she passed out and seized after a training exercise. According to the medical staff, she was babbling manically and twitching during her entire time in the infirmary.
Her father didn't seem to care much. It was for the good of her, after all. She washed down the pills with a gulp of water before continuing with her morning routine. There was still a light rainbow aura around the lamps in her room, but she ignored it as best she could while getting into uniform. Ready for the day, she made her way from her quarters and down several long concrete hallways to reach the the Executive's office.
Outside his door, she gave it a few knocks and waited for confirmation to go inside.
"Enter," Edward's muffled voice came from behind it. She did so, stepping in and throwing her superior and father a salute, she could see Fractal standing at attention to his right. "How are you holding together, Cassie?" asked Edward from behind his desk, paws folded together.
"Could be worse, sir," she answered plainly.
"I have some good news and some possibly bad news, depending on your view of it," the middle-aged alakazam said calmly. "Though they are one in the same in the end."
"The good news first," Cassie requested.
"We're going to take part in rescuing Theo and Sophia," he answered plainly. "The bad news is we're going to take part in rescuing Theo and and Sophia. He paused, as if chewing on a thought. "With Lilith's death, I will just say that I need to pay my dues to House Grayquill for wrongs I've committed."
Cassie blinked in disbelief; she had never seen him be this selfless in years. "I'm going to guess my talents are going to be called upon?"
"Yes," Edward answered coolly. "You will be leading one of the teams we're sending to infiltrate Indigo Plateau. The one that will be doing the retrieval of Theodore and Sophia, to be exact."
"I understand."
"Get your team ready, you are expected at Grayquill mansion by noon. You will receive more details there." Edward gave her a half smirk. "Are you ready to earn your promotion, Junior Lieutenant Cassandra?"
"Yes."
***
A half hour later, she was in the armory with her subordinates, the three of them suiting up in full battle dress, plates of black paper-light ceramics woven with ballistic-resistant polymers fastened over the normal dark rocket fatigues. They would stop smaller bullets and weaker attacks, but the reality of infantry who can throw energy beams or break through steel doors like balsa wood put extrinsic armor as a low priority for any of the world's militaries.
"This isn't an academy training exercise," she said, trying to put a bit of firm confidence to her tone. "We are going to be fighting our own. Make no mistake, they will see us dead if they can. Show no quarter."
"Yes Ma'am," the slowking and golduck responded, collecting their rifles and sidearms from an arms locker.
Cassandra only took her pistol with her. Less burden, and her psychic talents were all she was really going to need for this. She was going to save Sophia. That much was for certain.
***
The three arrived at Grayquill Mansion by noon, passing the beedrill guarding the gates and reaching the house as quickly as possible. Once inside, they found Rhombus and her team along with Lady Maria waiting for them in the foyer of the mansion.
"Good afternoon, Agent Cassandra," the nidoqueen greeted with a wave of a paw. "We don't have much time; let's get down to business, shall we?" The kadabra and her team followed the nidoqueen down a long hallway, Rhombus and her own close behind as the seven pokemon anthros entered the mansion's meeting hall.
It was a large room, vaulted ceiling painted with murals of various house heads and their deeds. The left wall had several large plate glass windows looking out on a well-maintained garden. In the center of the room was a massive table lined with chairs, a red carpet bordered in gold leaf lying below it.
"You should consider this to be an honor," the nidoqueen said, taking her seat in a small mahogany throne at the table's head, "It is a rare event when non-house members are even allowed to see this room. Please, be seated."
The six guests took spots to her sides, Rhombus on the left and Cassandra on the right. Maria waited for the to settle in before she continued. "Your two teams are tasked with the retrieval of our house members Theodore and Sophia Grayquill. If you were not informed of this already."
"Well aware," Cassandra spoke up. "But how are the six of us expected to infiltrate a Rocket Headquarters, much less Gideon's?"
"Easy," Maria said, motioning with her paws as she spoke, "My late sister Lilith knew her compatriots were not to be trusted-- especially Executive Bloodquill. She made sure every base was given several fatal, hidden flaws. I do believe Alexei found out one of them on his own."
The absol spoke up on cue. "I learned one when I was administering Kanto North's computer network. The systems are all wired together. Everything. Cameras, blast doors and even the backup generators. I thought it was just foolish engineering, but Lilith is more clever than I imagined."
The nidoqueen nodded at this. "Rhombus. Your team's responsibility is going to be securing access to the base's systems. Alexei will then knock out the base's power and backup power with codes that will be provided."
"Understood," Rhombus replied. Images of getting the executive alone entered her head for a moment, but she dismissed them just as quick.
"With the base plunged into darkness and with any teleport disruption fields down, Cassanda and her team will make their entrance and search for Theodore and Sophia. Theo will likely still be in the base's infirmary from injuries while I'm imaging Gideon will be keeping Lady Sophia a little..." the nidoqueen looked as if she wanted to spit with that last word, her teeth gritting, "closer to himself. If confronted, beware he can may slay you outright with so much as a touch of his claws. The best course of action would be to avoid engaging him entirely."
Alexei claw circled over the smooth surface of the table as she explained away. He looked up as she paused. "We are risking civil war with this."
"Regretfully true. But the first blow was already thrown by Executive Bloodquill; we can no longer stand idly by while he violates our family and risks the security of all the Team has strove to establish."
"This is the action you were calling for, Alexei," Slate added. "It's time to put your words in your hands."
"You're right," the absol said.
"If that's settled, we can get to how Rhombus and her team will get inside," Maria spoke up, interrupting the tangent. "We have access to a scheduled resupply of the Indigo Division Headquarters tomorrow morning. That's how you will gain entrance. The loading docks only have minimal security most of the time, so entry should be easy enough. The setup of the Mt. Moon Headquarters was based off Indigo Division; Alexei should be able to find where he needs to go."
The meeting continued for a few more hours before the two teams stood up and made their way out to do what needed to be done.
***
At the crack of dawn the next morning, a delivery truck pulled up at one of the loading docks of indigo headquarters. A dozen heavy blast shutters opened up before it backed in to the concrete dock. A couple of workers along with the driver opened up the back of the truck's trailer and began to unload large numbers of cardboard boxes and large wooden crates, stacking them at the back of the dock.
One of the wooden boxes at the bottom that was moved cracked open slowly, the side flopping down on the floor as Rhombus and her team crawled out of it, propping the popped side back up before slinking through the door and into the fortress.
They were all in the standard black soldier's uniform, blending in perfectly to the others they passed by, maybe looking a little unfamiliar. Though they would probably be just taken as new transfers at worse. Unopposed, they reached the central database and mainframe room of the headquarters. Seeing no-one coming down either hallway, they turned to a camera that was watching the door, just out of their view. Rhombus gave a little wave and then flicked a claw. A steam of flames engulfed the electric eye, plastic going up in a puff of black smoke and metal slag dribbling down a concrete wall.
The lights flashed red and klaxons blared as the fire alarm was activated. The struck now, the big arcanine kicking the steel security door off it's hinges in one blow as Alexei dashed in with the blur of a quick attack. The choking fumes of melted plastic dispersed in the hall as Rhombus and Slate slipped in behind the absol, taking stance on either side of the door to pounce any investigating soldiers.
The dashing absol busted through a second door and into the system admin's office. A porygon-z anthro stood from it's chair, but could not even take another action before it was smashed hard by the absol's knee, chest plate crunching underneath its rubbery exterior as its head smashed against the edge of the desk.
Another blow struck the robotic pokemon anthro in the chest, a cracking black swipe of night slash ripping through it's structure and rupturing the machine poke's power system. It's eyes sparked bright white, then went black as it passed out. Not beyond repair, but definitely no longer a threat.
With the administrator incapacitated, the absol immediately commandeered his console. His paws raced across the keys and through the command console, entering the hidden command codes he was provided after the briefing.
Lock down the armories, yes. Disable anti-psionic and ghosting fields? Yes. Disable backup power? Yes Disable power? Yes. At the last confirmation, the room suddenly went entirely black before a few dull red emergency lights flickered on, separate from all other systems.
He turned and ran back out the hall.
"Okay, boys. Let's get the hell out!" Rhombus shouted. She smirked a little, phase one went off without a hitch.
***
A few moments earlier, Gideon was in his living room. The large hole through the solid granite wall covered with a red tapestry on both sides for the moment, his furniture that was smashed fighting Lilith already replaced. Sophia was sitting at his side on the new couch, keeping her eyes averted as she felt those wandering paws start to rub up against her.
"It's not so bad here, is it, Sophia?" he whispered low before lightly licking over the edge of one of the nidoqueen's ears.
"No," she lied, voice sounding more defeated than it ever was before. She just let the beast grope to his content.
Just then, everything went dark. Only a bit of sunlight leaked into the chamber from the hole behind the rug covering the broken wall. Gideon waited in the darkness, silence in the air for a good thirty seconds before he abruptly stood up and began to feel around in the direction of the door.
"No backup power. It's sabotage. Stay here; I have something to take care of," he growled dangerously before heading out into a hall lit by dim red emergency lighting. He broke into a sprint for the armory.
***
Abilgail was on patrol down one of the fortress' hall when the power cut; reduced to mere guard duty when her talents were not being called upon by the Executive. She just continued her work as usual until she saw three familiar morphs dash by. She raised an eye ridge in surprise.
This was her chance. Either kill them all and remain Gideon's personal assassin or escape. No action, and she would meet her end for sure if Gideon learned those she failed to kill were now on base and disrupting his operations.
She would join. The zangoose trailed them. She didn't want to leave Theo behind, but she would be of far more help on the outside than under Gideon's thumb.
***
Cassandra and her team faded in right in the middle of the headquarters' meeting room, the three giving a quick look around, the other two's rifles each equipped with a flashlight on the bayonet lug.
"Gideon's quarters first. Sophia is the priority, Theodore after that," the kadabra reminded them as they exited the meeting room and entered those now darkened, smoothed granite halls of Indigo Headquarters.
The slowking and golduck covered the sides as they advanced, Cassandra's extra senses feeling the presence of most of the patrols, letting them avoid confronting them entirely as they made their way to a stairway, the elevators all out of order from the lack of power.
***
Rhombus sprinted in lead down a long passage, her eyes flaring with fire to provide a small torch radius to their vision in the dim hall. Something glinted up ahead in the darkness. Before the three were even aware, the whole hallway gave a lurching shudder as waves traveled through the floor, cracking concrete and sending the trio sprawling to the floor as heavy steely foot. The florescent tube lights on the ceiling swung and snapped off their chains, glass shattering on the floor and over the three saboteurs.
"Identification please," came a deep, steely sneer as a massive female aggron female emerged from the darkness, an assault rifle held effortlessly in her right paw. Only the heavy steel plates of her body reflected the hellish red light. "Stay down on the ground and surrender if you know what's good for you."