Blessed by Night

This route had been mapped out and cleared an entire day ago before the caravan was set to arrive, and even then every stretch of it was heavily monitored to ensure nothing and no one broke the ordinance.

Ten cars surrounded a large futuristic APC.

One was in front, leading the group.

Four were on each side; one following after the other.

The last car was taking up the rear. Each one had a man stationed on a mounted machine-gun scoping the area for so much as a squirrel to run across the road.

{This is Eagle One checking in with Mobile Unit 2482, how do you copy?}

The driver of the lead car reached for his radio and rattled of the start of their all-clear procedure. He could practically do it in his sleep now, since they had been doing these check-ins for the past seven minutes now...

Once every car had confirmed that they were still alive, breathing, and sound of mind, the dispatcher over the radio chimed in with some needed news.

{Almost home, gentlemen. Drop the package off at the depot and then head on back.}

-

High in the air, a giant bird loomed over an empty street.

It beat it\'s wings rapidly so that it could hover in one spot like a humming bird while a single figure peered down onto the caravan approaching their direction.

The figure was a woman, dressed head to toe in black.

Her body was slender, and chiseled. But with a subtle, charming curvature that had a deceptively large amount of impact on her appeal.

The beginnings of a large dragon tattoo could be seen on the small of her back beneath her shirt.

She pushed aside her white hair and tapped the small com link in her ear once.

Once the information was relayed, she turned to the other passengers on board.

"Any reinforcements are ten minutes out. I want us gone in seven."

"Sure thing, battle barbie!"

Behind her, a young woman with bright pink hair could be seen standing in front of the group.

She wore a half mask over her mouth that obscured her usual imps smile, but her companion had no doubt that she was wearing one by the look in her eyes.

"Stop joking around, Serana, and take this seriously. You\'re the most important part of this whole thing so you have to be sharp."

"I got it, I got it... It\'s not my first mission carrying you chumps on my back."

Suddenly, the bird carrying all fifteen of them decided to chime in. "Ya know, I don\'t want to get technical, but-"

""Shut it, Zazu.""

"Fine! Bunch of bitches..."

Shaking her head, Aisha pulled out a very large bow from her inventory.

She pulled the drawstring back and an arrow magically notched itself to fire.

Inhaling, she kept herself perfectly composed while she took aim at the first of their targets: a series of drones in the sky that were supposed to be providing the caravan with an aerial view.

They were being shielded from their vision for right now, but in about five seconds things weren\'t going to matter.

"Strike team, step up."

Six egregiously muscular men and women also wearing masks and dressed in black, stepped up.

"Deploy."

Aisha let her arrow fly first.

The golden bolt of energy zipped through the air and shot down every drone one after the other like clockwork.

Before the last drone had even been hit, Serana was using her own powers to give the car drivers a little surprise.

She knew it had worked when all ten of them suddenly swerved off the road to avoid a surprise meteor that had fallen from the sky. Or at least that is what they thought.

Only the tank stayed on course and continued driving despite the other cars coming to a stop.

The six largest members of the unit dropped down into the middle of the road at exactly the same time.

Forming a line, each of them through out a dynamic punch at the same time; resulting in the entire armored vehicle doing a complete flip over their heads.

At that point, the very heavens seemed to open up around them.

Rain fell in a swift deluge that was practically a monsoon.

Huge drops of water and cyan colored lightning struck the ground in unison; throwing the soldiers who still lived and breathed into near complete disarray.

While her men worked to neutralize any resistance, Aisha was focused on the main mission. Zazu carried her around the back of the flipped tank, where a pair of bay doors remained shut.

She drew the iklwa given to her by her very unlikeable best friend and stabbed them into the tank\'s metal.

Normally, this would be entirely impossible even for her.

But because her blades were extraordinarily sharp and they came with the added benefit of corrosion, she was able to cut through the metal that was quickly rusting.

Once she successfully cut through the rear doors of the tank, she stepped back to kick it open.

But before she could so much as lift her leg, a destructive beam of energy came out from the other side to knock her back.

Zazu narrowly managed to grab her with his beak and move her aside so that she couldn\'t be injured. But for some reason, she didn\'t seem to be the slightest bit happy about being saved.

"God damnit..."

A figure stepped out of the back of the tank.

Maybe it was human once, but now appeared more cybernetic than anything else.

It possessed an entirely robotic figure made from a strange black metal. Dangerously sharp bladed appendages jutted from it\'s back like the terrifying wings of an angel.

Or maybe a greater demon.

His face was only obscured by a dark visor that occasionally flashed with a neon red light.

When his gaze landed on Aisha, she shook her head in disappointment.

"So… it was a trap, huh."

"Affirmative."

"…So if I were to take a peek inside of that there troop carrier, I wouldn\'t find any hostages at all?"

"You will never know."

Aisha sighed as Zazu put her back on the ground.

"I\'m sorry, alright? I just wanted to do the right thing."

"Your wants are irrelevant. You have repeatedly challenged the Revival Regime and are designated a class-"

"Not talking to you tin-nuts."

The cyborg followed Aisha\'s gaze above his head.

His sensors found a young man sitting atop a black tiger and wearing a superior \'I told you so\' look.

"I\'ll give you my conditions for forgiveness later. Just warning you though, they won\'t come cheap."