The rain mostly covered their approach to the Citadel. They crept up the stairs with water blanketing their bodies and a torrent akin to a waterfall rushing into their faces. At the top of the citadel it was taught that no one could leave or enter during a rain cycle for this very reason.
The rules had never applied to Frost Direshard.
Frost had his teeth clenched on the handle of a knife and his hands on his pistol, one of which he'd taped to the grip in advance. The freezing water froze his teeth and stung his eyes, but he kept moving without the power of Void to give away his position.
Lana was gripped tightly onto Frost's coattails, while Lex lingered at the back as a last resort to catch them both. Frost had insisted on taking the lead, citing "experience". Lex did not know what experience could possibly be relevant to a situation like this, but let him take the front since he didn't want to do it himself. It was much cozier and a lot less watery at the back.
The plan was simple. They'd climb to the top, neutralize the guard post at the front of the citadel and take their places. From there, they'd signal to Javier, Nala and Reed to commence the attack on one of Realmhome's many supply depots. Wait patiently for troops to divert — since troops could leave the citadel only under an emergency order — and then commence their operation.
With any luck, there'd be no one clever enough to see through the smoke and mirrors.
Frost reached the top of the staircase. The main platform at the front of the Citadel had two guard posts. They were closest to the one on the rightmost side of the stairs, and the rain was dense enough that they couldn't see the other one. It meant that they'd be covered for sound and vision. Frost gestured to Lana and Lex that he was going straight in for the kill, and quickly charged forward.
The guardpost was a small, cheap wooden building with a shabby door at the side. Frost bodychecked the door and readied his weapon. The two guards were busy boozing and playing cards on the crate they were using as a makeshift table. The one facing Frost obviously noticed first, but due to the shabby reaction time of a dustless, Frost was able to shoot both of them in the head before a movement could be made.
He sighed in relief as their bodies slumped to the floor. Killing had gotten easy for him now…
"Ruthless," Lana noted from behind.
Lex, meanwhile, was presumably busy clearing out the other side.
"We didn't bring you along so you could hurl objections in my ear every five seconds," Frost grumbled. He was already busy grabbing one side of the body from the chair. "Help me, will you?"
"What's the plan, exactly?" Lana asked, grabbing the man's legs without further question.
"Well…" Frost hadn't thought that far. At that moment, he read a brilliant idea from the chat, and so they threw the body to get washed away by the staircase.
Frost had recently relegated the chat's usage to only when he explicitly needed them. They could serve as something like a therapist or for ideas when he had none. Dealing with their constant commentary was not to his tastes, especially since he knew most of the basics about the Void now. Not to mention he had no idea about the origins of the ability. Who was to say that they were trustworthy in the slightest? Best not to rely on things that could lead him astray unless he was at a dead end.
This idea seemed to be a good one, though. They threw the second body off, too, and then helped Lex do the same with the other two. Of course, they didn't do so without remembering to strip them of their uniforms. This was an essential bit of the infiltration.
"You look ridiculous," Frost said. All of the guards on duty had been male, so Lana's outfit was quite oversized.
She pouted. "You wouldn't know fashion if it slapped you across the face."
True, Frost thought in his heart. He only knew how to dress for war. Of course, this realization still stung a bit.
"Eyes on the prize, people," Lex reminded them, forever the father figure.
Frost adjusted his beret and looked in the small mirror on the desk. He didn't suit a uniform at all. Luckily, it could fit over all of his other clothes. The uniform probably had better protective capabilities than his own outfit, as well. He adjusted the collar and decided he was satisfied with the look. The beret hid most of his white hair, too.
"Thoughts?" Frost asked.
"It'll work," Lex said. He grabbed Frost's tie and adjusted it a little bit. "You can't tie a tie for shit, Direshard. Still, it's Lana we should be worried about." He looked at Lana's outfit in intense disapproval. "Just stay behind us, alright?"
"You got it," Lana replied wearily.
"Now both of you sit your asses down. Before I send the signal, we're going over the plan one more time."
"Again?" Frost asked. He already knew the answer, and so he sat down on one side of the box. Lana lingered a moment before taking her seat.
Lex crossed his arms behind his back and took the stance of an instructor. Even though he wore glasses, the uniform looked right on him like he was meant to fight on the frontlines. "I'll send the signal for Reed to commence the attack on the supply depot. As the guards currently on duty, we'll be exempt from the red alert. All that's left then is to wait ten more minutes until the next guards arrive to relieve us. We'll meander inside, after which the building should be down to half or even quarter staff." Lex had a complicated expression. "That's assuming they don't figure us out… In which case, we'll be walking into the lion's den."
The plan was a gamble. A massive gamble. But then again, what kind of good plan wasn't a massive gamble?
"From there, we head downstairs and eliminate any inconveniences. They'll most certainly have some sort of transportation such as a truck on standby in the archives. This is not the first archive transfer they've ever performed, since they have many things other than books. Of this, at least, we are guaranteed. So we'll load the truck that may already be loaded, and then drive our way out."
Lex… There's way too many hypotheticals here! Frost had thought this every time he'd heard the plan. This was the most secure location in Realmhome, so Frost doubted there was a better plan. He most certainly couldn't think of a better one himself, and therefore didn't object at all. He was brought along to solve potential problems with deadly force, after all.
"We clear?"
"Sure," Frost replied, shooting a glance at Lana who seemed to have the same thoughts as him. For reassurance he added, "We can probably deal with anyone other than Belleram showing up, right?"
Lex thought about the answer for longer than Frost would've liked. "Probably," he decided. "Shall we send the signal?"
Frost and Lana nodded.
Lex nodded back. Void energy was naturally attracted to itself, and an individual's energy was always connected to them regardless of the location. An individual could constantly sense the location of an item infused with their energy with a few exceptions, one of which was when the item was in another Voidhunter's subspace storage. Lex reached into his storage and withdrew a tiny stone. At this moment, something akin to a notification would've been felt in Reed's brain as it sensed the location of the stone infused with his energy.
In a situation without cellphones and terrible weather, this was a quick and fairly robust way to send a signal. Lex placed the rock back into his storage right after retrieving it. If it was brought out again, it would be to signal that the mission had gone astray. With any luck, the rock would remain in its place.
The operation had officially begun. An explosion rang out in the distance, massive enough to overcome the torrential downpour. Frost glanced out the window of the guardpost and saw the massive flames pluming, quickly staunched by the storm. He pressed his beret down, trying to hide the massive smile on his face as his excitement grew. The ground rumbled as the aftershock of the explosion struck them, mixed with a small army of soldiers charging out the front doors a few minutes later.
They remained in place, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible as the troops charged by. All of them were far too panicked to care about the false guards. They'd assumed that this would be a peaceful rain cycle, and instead were about to get the most eventful day of their careers.
When the rumbling stopped, Lex let out a sigh as he peered out the door. "Good job, Reed…" He whispered. "Now we wait."
Frost sat back and prepared to wait in eager anticipation. He glanced over the chat to gather opinions.
[Checkpointer20: You must be in a hurry to die.]
[GreatGadfly30: Dying without achieving an enlightened soul is quite sad.]
[MasterOfTheFlute: You will be reborn. Do not worry, my child.]
[TheConquerer356: You all have no faith in his ability to conquer. Sit back and watch.]
Frost couldn't help but sigh. They really would never change. Except for you, conqueror. Love you bro.
"Eyes up," Lex warned. "I think they're coming."