~ Thirty Minutes or You're Fried! ~

"Name's Printer!" The Texan greeted loudly with a smile as he returned Isaac's handshake with an equal amount of enthusiasm. Printer's eyes quickly scanned over the newcomer, Hmm, that's weird. This fella's got a scarf like Chompy and hair like Lalette! Ain't that some work of nature? He thought to himself with a grin. It'll make it a lot more easier to remember who's on my team.

Printer's hand was still gripping Isaac's, making sure that the newcomer's attention was still focus on him. "Now, I read yer papers before. You're on the Strike Force?" He asked, completely curious. "Although..." Printer glanced at the hole in the side of the wall. "It didn' mention what yer Craft was. Kinda...loud, ain't it?" He asked a little unsure. This was a STEALTH mission...wasn't it?

"OH! By the way, I'm leadin' through this mission! You can ask me anything you want," Please don't! "I'm also leader of the Stealth Force! These two fine Malum's make-up my team!" He said gesturing widely to Gavrill and Lalette. He put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest proudly. "We're a tiny thing now, but I'm sure we'll be top of the class in no time!" He turned back to Isaac, "So after this mission's done n' over with, you'll know where to find us!" He grinned at the redhead.

The Texan shifted his footing so his back was now facing Isaac, "Now...Let's go n' find those fancy helicopters Orianna mentioned." He said, stroking his chin as he looked around the hanger.

Gavriil lowered his gun. At the noise, he had whipped the desert eagle out of his pocket, and trained it in Isaac's direction. His other hand was already on his mask, ready to tear it off at a moments notice. As the dust cleared, Gavriil was hard pressed not to pull the trigger. It kept all of his will power to not shoot at the intruder. Gavriil relaxed as Printer began to talk. He put his gun in his pocket, and allowed his hand to drop from his mask.

"Argh! What was that?" Gavriil was flustered. "This is your home, yes? Why are we taring it apart?" Gavriil widened his stance a little bit, and scowled, it couldn't be seen behind his mask, of course, but the meaning was there. "Money may be easy to come by in where your from, but it would take months to scavenge enough to rebuild that area. Ugh," Gavriil sighed calm down, "Well I'm Gavriil, I've seen what you do, lets go." Gavriil turned to follow printer to the large black helicopter, that was parked just outside.

((Meh short post to keep things moving))

Isaac had begun to take a liking to this “Printer”. The blonde malum didn’t look that strong, but Isaac admired his enthusiasm. “uhh, no no no no” The red head waved off the Texan in a friendly manner, “I’m on the Provisions Force.” The ONLY one, I think.

Isaac’s eyes immediately widened as soon as Printer informed him on his position. Isaac wasn't as surprised to the fact that he was leading the mission, but as to the fact that he was head of the Stealth Force!
Printer continued to gesture to his teammates but Isaac still kept eyes on the stealth leader.
Well he’s gotta good grip, But really?! *pauses for a couple seconds* Hmmm, Isn't he as new to this place as I am?… Isaac leaned forward to get a closer inspection, How could he rise through the ranks soo quickly? A hint of jealousy spread across the red head’s face.

Isaac quickly turned to the one who called himself “Gavriil.” The red head had been ignoring the Russian until he had presented his name. “So time to go eh?” Isaac said with a smile. The thought of a mission had brought eagerness back to the young malum. His skin lightened, his knees bent, and before you knew it he was Soaring through the air and into the black copter. “C’mon Guys!” Isaac shouted eagerly, “LETS GO!”

_

((Ooc: Okay, by the power of flashmix anime, I'm going to move this mission along about 50 picometres. Wow, none of that sentense even remotely made sense... But I digress.))

The black helicopter landed four hours later at the outskirts of the remote transfer-base, where the cargohold was to be transported before being sent to Washington. If one had looked out of the window a few minutes ago, he or she could see the large base disappear behind a curtain of thick woods. This was the perfect location to launch the mission. It could only be hoped that intel. hadn't overlooked any observation units that could have potentially seen the helipcopter from over the horizon.

Otherwise, the trip had been the usual. The Malum were instructed upon how to approach the various military defense sentries that were posted at the base, and how to deal with their C.I. (confidential informant). It was mostly basic procedures, despite a short chewing-out of Liandri by Euphemia, for having broken a 'perfectly good wall, which just so happened to be a family heirloom'.

Gavriil stepped off the helicopter, feeling a little sick to his stomach. He had gotten used to the nausea during the long flight, but he was glad to be back on the ground again. The view from the windows had been dizzying, and Gavriil was sure he was not an 'air' person. The had not been much talk after about an hour of the journey, so Gavriil had still not gotten to know anyone else too well. The Russian looked around and snapped his jaw. He had nothing much to say, and looked to Printer for any guidance.

There were not many other people around, yet Gavriil hid behind his hood, and stuffed his hands into his sweatshirt pocket. It was warm here, and the sweatshirt made things warmer, yet Gavriil did not mind, he was comfortable, as comfortable as he would be swimming in the Arctic Ocean. Of the few other people he could see, all were dressed in light, loose clothing, overall he stuck out like a sore thumb.

((Yeh im that bored that i posted here ))

Isaac stepped out of the copter and took a deep breath of fresh air. “Ahhhh,” he breathed out serenely. Isaac and confined spaces did not mix too well. As soon as he got solid footing, the red head began to limber up. Ugh, I was in that cramped helicopter for way too long D<. As Isaac finished stretching he glanced over to see the hooded Russian staring out into space. Isaac then slowly made his way over to the hooded russian and placed his hand on his shoulder “ready comrade?” Isaac remarked, trying to imitate Gavriil’s Russian accent. In response, the hooded malum turned in silence, his face masked by cloth and black goggles. Soo these are my teamates… *peers closer at Gavriil* Wonder what he’s hiding, the young malum thought with slight curiosity.
Isaac still hadn’t gotten to know them any better over the trip, but this was duly to the fact that he slept through the entire trip *yawns and then looks back at the helicopter* Oh Right! Mission Time! The obstacles Isaac knew to be ahead only fired his drive for action, the young malum was eager to start.

“soo what’s the plan?” Isaac questioned happily as the other two malums approached.

-

"Holy Moses! Look at these trees!" Printer exclaimed happily, tumbling out of the helicopter. He regained his balance and slammed into the nearest tree. He chuckled lowly and rubbed its bark, it was so big that he couldn't reach his arms around all the way. "Oh man, I never thought I'd see one of these babies get this big! Woo..." He gave the tree a friendly pat before stepping away from it. The Texan craned his head back to try and see the top. He turned back to his team with a goofy smile, "Isn't this the coolest thing you ever saw??"

He was met with dead stares. The helicopter's blades revved up again and blew great gusts of wind at the group. Leaves and twigs flew up into the air as the great flying machine lifted from the ground. The pilot maneuvered above the tree tops and flew off in the direction they came from.

Oh! Right right, mission... "Ok team!" Printer clapped his hands together. "Once we get that special suitcase, we'll call that helicopter back n' be on our way back to the academy." Now let's see here... Printer placed his hand on his chin and took a few steps in a random direction. Without blinking, Printer's eyes bled into a snowy blue color, his pupils dilated into tiny black pinpricks. He didn't move for about minute or two, he continued to stare out into the forest. Finally, the Texan shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "Okaaaay, I see the base. It's about a kilometer n' a half in that direction." He said pointing to the spot he was looking at. He stared walking, "There's three watchtowers, a camera on each of 'em, but sentries only on only two of 'em. I see a couple a' guards, but I ain't sure which one is Jack whatsizname..." He blinked, and his eyes turned back into a darker blue, (not that anyone could see). "We should be there in about ten minutes." He announced, grinning at the group behind him.

"Indeed,"Gavriil said, he continued to look forward. He turned as he noticed Isaac looking at him, he smiled lamely, but the other malum couldn't see that. He watched Printer for a while, but could not be sure what the Texan was doing. After a minute, Gavriil followed his eyes to the forest, but he couldn't see a thing. He sighed through the mask, and pulled out his gun. It was a dramatic gesture, but he wanted it that way, the Russian decided he would try to imposing. He was not too nervous about this mission, he trusted Printer to complete the mission. Whether or not that faith was logical or not, did not really matter to Gavriil.

"Well let us get going... comrades," Gavriil added, turning to Isaac, his tone; slightly playful. He jogged two steps before falling in line behind printer.

Printer led the way through the forest, glancing back every once in a while to make sure his team wasn't falling behind. "You guys keepin' up good?" He asked anxiously, but soft. The Texan's hands were shaking slightly so he clenched them. He was getting more and more nervous the closer they got to the base. Printer faced ahead, keeping his eyes on the ground ahead of him.

The malums trekked through the woods until they were close to the clearing. Printer hid behind a rather large tree to keep out of sight. He turned towards the others and spoke to a near whisper, "Alright guys, we gotta make sure we stay outta sight. That's extremely important n' vital ta our mission. If we're spotted, guards'll most likely shoot on sight. We've been givin' specific instructions to not get detected or kill nobody." Printer peeked around the tree to scope the area. There was a large gate on the front side of the building, two guards were stationed there. They seemed to check and identify any vehicle or person who entered and exited the building. Two of the watchtowers were on either side of the gate, each with a camera.

"Hmmm." Printer rubbed his chin. "Alright team, follow me." He retreated back into the forest and ran along the boarder until they were facing the back of the building. He hid beihnd another tree. "Kay guys. No way we was gonna get in through the front." He looked back towards the base. "Now...we need to find Jack. He's gonna help us..." Printer looked down to his wrist and brought up his SHIELD. He bit his lip when he reread the mission information. There was no description of what he looked like. "Dammnit..." Printer cursed under his breath. Any of those guards by the building could have been their informant.

After a minute of trying to come up with a plan, Printer immediately slapped himself on the side of the helmet. Why do I gotta be so stupid all the time? He thought frustrated. He activated his sight of radiation detection. His eyes turned a bright green, and it felt like his eyes were about to drip out of his head. He always hated using this variant the most. The area around him turned into a fuzzy grayish green. It was hard to make out anything unless it was infected with radiation, which was what Printer was looking for. If there informant was a malum like them, he should show up as one. "AH! There's our winner! That fellow over there!" He said pointing to the bright green blob of a guard who was standing furthest away from the camera. He blinked and his vision returned. The other guards who were patrolling made their route around the tower, out of sight.

"Now's our chance. Gotta make this quick." He waited for the camera to turn away from them before he sprinted towards the base. He pressed himself to the wall and grinned to the military guard. "Howdy!" He said as friendly as possible. "You the informant, right? Jack?"

The guard nodded and smiled. "You got that right bud! I've been undercover, been waiting for you bud!" 'Jack' said winking.

"Uhhhh Yeeeeah..." Printer trailed off awkwardly. "So, you gonna give us info or somethin'?"

"Yep. Take this bud. I can't send it through your SHIELD or they'd be able to trace it." Jack said, handing him a folded piece of paper. Printer opened it and looked at it with confusion as Jack turned toward the rest of his team. "Alright buds, guards are taking a quick break right now. And I gotta sneak you in. When you've got the suitcase, just contact me using this." He tossed Lalette a small metal box with several buttons. "Push the blue one bud, don't go touching the red or green." He warned, pointing his finger at her. "Now hurry up and follow me, keep up bud." He jogged over to a nearby filtration airway on the building and yanked off the covering. Behind the grate, there was small tunnel, and a huge fan spinning dangerously at it's entrance. "When I stop this thing, you all gotta slip though, got it bud? Alright here it goes, get ready." He took out some sort of device and placed it next to the fan. It stopped spinning almost at once. "Hurry up and get in! Don't forget to call me when your ready. Give me about a 5 minute warning."

Printer lowered the blueprint he'd been looking at for the past couple minutes abruptly. "Whut?" He blinked, and hurried up behind his team though the metal tunnel. He hit his head on the ceiling, making his mutter a small, "Ow..." Good thing I'm wearin' a helmet... He thought, "Thanks brother!" He yelled back to Jack.

"No problem bud! Now, these vents will take you to where you need to go! Try not to make too much noise, tread lightly, ya hear bud?" Jack shouted after them as the crawled further into the darkness. Anymore words from Jack were drowned out by the fans rumbling. It started up again and it got a lot darker when Jack placed the grate back onto the opening.

The Texan gulped, even though he was leading this mission, he wasn't in front. "Alright guys, whoever's leadin'...tell me when you see anything? We're lookin' for a room with a van in it I reckon..." He whispered, a bit unsure. It was getting darker the further they went, it wasn't long before Printer kicked in his night vision. After the noise from the fan was out of earshot, Printer noticed that every time he moved, in any way, his gear would hit the thin metal walls and make a hallow echoing clank. "Aw dangnabit..." He tried to turn and the barrel of his sniper banged into the side of the vent loudly. He winced, he also noticed that the hard armor on his knee-pads made scratching and thud noises every time the hit the floor, and it would echo though the dark tunnel sickeningly. "Sorry guys-!" He whispered harshly with a hint of regret. "I'm causin' such a ruckus...aw hell..." He hung his head and sighed deeply, stopping his progress all together.

(grah....*dies*)

Eheheh >D, the red head thought smugly as he crawled down the vent. Only minutes prior, Isaac took advantage of Printer’s moment of confusion and was first to enter the airway. The hooded Russian was behind him, followed by Lalette, and then finally Printer. Just the way I like it. Now all they had to do was find the briefcase, take it without being notice, and then hightail it outta there. But wait a sec, *Isaac pauses* we haven’t really gotten a solid plan yet; Isaac thought pensively while hekept his head forward and his pace consistent. hmm, I guess we’ll hafta think of something when we get there, he conceded.

As they delved deeper, screeches of sounds in the back became more noticible. The red head halted and turned to Gavriil, “Who’s makin the racket!?” Isaac growled, trying to keep his voice low. The hooded Russian took a glance back, “I believe its Printer” Gavriil concluded, his russian accent still intact. WhAT! Isnt he the stealth leader!?!? Isaac thought baffled. The young malum quickly decided to toss his sandals to Printer, hopefully it could prevent most of the noise he produced. Printer, somewhat perplexed at first, eventually realized the red heads weird plan of action and tied the sandals to his metal knee pads. Isaac then resumed crawling down the vent until sounds of machinery and some guards seeped into audible range. Augh, Now im too loud, Isaac holds his breath, his skin lightens (even though no one could see it), and the sounds that resonated from his knees and hands slowly became quieter to the point of silence. That’s better.

The group progressed deeper down through the tunnel. Isaac had been holding his breath for a while now but suddenly realized it upon noticing the upcoming gap in the vent. “Hold up, hold up,” Isaac hushed back to the others, “I think I see something.” The tunnel had become slightly wider at this point, and through the gap Isaac spotted the van. “Alriiight,” the young malum whispered with delight ,“how do you guys wanna handle this?”

Lalette followed the others into the vent after she had tried to fit the box in her pocket. Apparently it was small but not small enough to fit in her pocket. So she had to crawl through the vent with it in her hand. She looked around in the slightly dark vent as her green eyes cast a faint glow. Crap I forgot about that, she thought crossly. She remembered that she couldn't keep her eyes open in the dark because someone might see her. Well I guess I can't be the one to steal the suitcase of wonders!

As they continued on Lalette felt every sound that was produced by the group as a death sentence. It was a miracle to her that they had made it to right vent alive and undiscovered. She listened to Isaac for the moment as plan suddenly formulated in her brain.
"Hey," she whispered,"I could lower one of you down there. That person needs to be light though if they want to get back up to the vents." She paused as she thought of something else. "Unless we all need to go down there," she added quietly

Printer stopped when he saw Lalette stop crawling in front of him. He tried to look around her, and only succeeded in banging his head against the wall. "Meh..." Printer returned his eyesight to normal, light was pouring in from the opening in the vent, and Lalette's interesting eyes provided enough light to make them inefficient. "Mighty nice eyes you got there little lady." Printer whispered with a grin. It shouldn't be too difficult for Issac and Lalette to see...

The Texan paused for a moment to think of a plan. What Lalette had suggested didn't seem to bad. However, Printer couldn't see the room with the van or anything besides Lalette's backside. He touched her ankle lightly, "Lalette, are you sure you'll be able to lift someone up for that long? Whoever goes down might have to face sentry bots..." Printer bit his lip, he didn't really know what Issac's craft was, and didn't know the extent of Lalette's...But from Issac's other display back at HeadQuarters, Printer wasn't sure he wanted the girl to exert herself on lifting him. Gavrill seemed skinnier and lighter, but... "I don't know how Lalette is going to levitate anyone...She's back here by me, n' you guys is already by the opening...er...Anyway either of you can get her by the hole without you guys fallin' down there yerselves?" Printer asked in a low voice.

"Well this one can float," Gavriil motioned at Issac, "And it vill be easy for him to......" Gavriil thought for a second "...get... out of my sight... I mean way." He finished lamely. "I could... uh... also be on him to float with." Gavriil sighed, he knew he was making no sense, "I mean to say I can hold to his back as he goes down. There is no room to get past each other in here, we need to go in the order we are lined up in. We go, "Gavriil pointed at Isaac and himself, "Then you" He gestured at Lalette, "And she can bring you after...last." He looked past everyone, to Printer. "We ok?"

Lalette stared at Gavriil then at Isaac as she tried to tally up both of their weight. "I guess I could do it so you better get ready,"she said quietly. After waiting for the two to settle she focused on them as they started to go down head first through the vent. She crawled forward as the two began to leave the vent. It was when she held them in midair when things started to get difficult. Focusing harder on them she then moved forward till she was able to look out of the vent. After turning them right side up she let them slowly descend until they hit the ground.
"You guys weigh to much," she joked quietly to herself before she let herself fall head first out of the vent. Lalette then swung herself in a feet first position before she caught herself about a foot off the ground with her power. I need to be more careful or next time I might not catch myself in time, she warned herself when she touched the ground. Looking back up at Printer she helped him down to join the rest of them.

Gavriil unclenched his fists as his feet touched the ground. What had taken mere seconds was enough to make the Russian nauseous. He had thought flying in a machine was uncomfortable; this girls power had left him suspended in the air WITH NO SUPPORT. Where there should have been ground, his feet just hovered, his whole body had felt as though it were suspended by millions of little ropes all over his clothing. Gavriil squatted and shut his eyes, squeezing them shut for a moment, and then exhaled. The Russian had not realized he was holding his breath.

Gavriil looked around, he was not too sure anyone had noticed. Glowing girl was still bringing down Printer, and his attention was on her. Gavriil tried to sneak a glance at Issac, he would have been the one to notice. Normally the Russian could mask his eye movements behind his goggles, but he was forced to turn his head slightly. With a silent swear, Gavriil twitched back, Isaac was looking in his direction, either at him or past him, Gavriil wasn't sure. He just wouldn't say anything...

Gavriil wandered around in a small circle in the larger room the group had entered. The only lights came from dim florescent bulbs spaced every several meters. The walls were bare, and there was not much cover, other than a few tables, and some shelves pressed up against the wall. As the Russian made a circuit, his eyes wandered down a hallway which opened up into the room not too far away. As Gavriil scanned the hallway for a moment, he noticed it was getting lighter. The Russian stopped he peered into the passage, and saw the light was reflecting of of a corner. Whatever it was, the light was moving, and it was moving toward the room that the malums occupied.

Gavriil's mind raced, was it a security guard? Whatever it was, the malum's needed to get away before it turned the corner. After a second, a buzzing sound could be heard, a security robot.

Gavriil drew his gun, and touched Printer on the shoulder, nodding toward the hallway in a sort of silent gesture.

((Haha I think Gavriil is afraid of heights :3))

Isaac looked up to see Lalette struggling to support his weight as she lowered him. Meh, he thought with slight discontent, It’s not like I asked her to do this. The red-headed malum would have much preferred jumping down himself without Lalette’s support but then again that would probably take the stealth out of the stealth mission so he reluctantly let Lalette lower him (not that he had much of a choice). What was seconds seemed like ages, the silence seemed to make the motion downwards feel…slow. Bored with his current circumstance, Isaac glanced to his right only to find Gavriil twitching uncomfortably like he was having a heart attack or something. A small grin appeared on Isaac’s face but he held the urge to laugh out loud at the rare spectacle that only he could see. hehehe, Gav’s afraid of heights >D.

Even as he met the ground the malum kept his eyes on Gavriil, expecting to make eye contact through the thick black goggles that covered most of his face. Isaac was met with an incomprehensible grunt as Gavriil turned his back towards him. heh he knows I saw, Isaac grinned. He then looked past the masked malum and around at his new surroundings, noting any possible cover and exits, which there was few of. Ahh right, Issac turns, should probably see that the rest of the group got down sa-"bzzzzzzzz~"a small buzzing sound interrupted his thought.

The malum immediately dove for cover behind a nearby table, quickly turning it so that the face of the table lay on it’s side. Grr already?! Isaac looked over the side of the table towards the source of the incoming light and was barely able to make out an image of a floating sphere with 3 infrared eyes. “It’s a security drone,” Isaac whispered to Lalette who had quickly sought the same cover by him. But what the hell are Gavriil and Printer doing? He thought as the two other malums approached the light.

(PS, I have decided to remove Isaac’s ability to make himself lighter. It shall make him more balanced and simple, so0o0o yah)