98 Snatch

Three days later, most AOG members gathered inside a meeting room, eager to hear about their next step. The sparring between Orisa and Nowa had had a surprisingly positive effect on the atmosphere inside AOG as people began to open up and interact with her squad in a friendlier manner. This attitude change had been bugging the friends until Dippo explained to them that Nowa had mentioned there would be a delay if Orisa's squad was found lacking. In the end, Nowa's expectations had been on point in regards to the squad's skill level, and everyone in AOG brightened up in anticipation of their next global move.

\"While our newest members still require some amount of education, we need to make a move nonetheless,\" Nowa began the meeting without any pleasantries or opening remarks. He had been training Orisa personally during the past three days, and the rest of the squad had had personal coaches as well. \"As you all know, there is only one shelter left, the one with the most data and all remaining secrets.\"

\"What made you believe so?\" a woman with a long blonde spiral ponytail, Ririm vas Nava, asked bluntly. Despite having a priest-like appearance, an angelic voice, and a healing specialty, she was one of the most direct and doubtful people in AOG. She was always the first to question everything.

\"Because I know that, Ririm.\"

\"We all trust you, Master Nowa,\" unfazed, she continued. \"However, it won't kill you to explain your source of confidence. Like usual.\"

\"I believe we've been through this countless times already,\" Nowa said with a hint of exhaustion in his voice.

\"Exactly. For one of such intelligence, you show a striking inability to advance in a social direction.\"

A light chuckle ran through the room. Orisa glanced at Nowa and, for some reason, felt sympathy and almost pity for him being laughed at. She scratched her head and coughed, pulling the attention on herself:

\"I think what mister Nowa is trying to say is that the reasoning is quite obvious, at least he thinks so. I assume it is the following - since the Kavenfenn family retained access to their vault, and were also behind the downfall of the other two houses, they should have processed and used the data in the vault, or even added more on top of the legacy.\"

\"Obviously,\" Nowa said when everyone looked back at him. \"The Kavenfenns' origin was commerce, technology-related commerce, to be specific. They were the biggest supplier of Spire's experiment, among other things such as materials for shelters and operational tools. Even not taking into account what young Orisa said, the conclusion is quite obvious. Umu.\"

\"How were we supposed to know all this?\" asked someone from AOG.

\"By reading the document that I asked everyone to read before coming to this meeting that nobody bothered to read?\" Another laugh went through the room while AOG members were exchanging proud glances. \"Honestly, you people are ready to work tirelessly, get yourself hurt, fight hordes of Beasts... And the sole thing I can't make you do is to start reading documents? How very unpleasant.\"

Again Orisa felt a surge of pity as this situation reminded her of the old days of being a team lead. Nobody had ever bothered to prepare for meetings she had planned, each and every time had she been forced to retell everything, and people had been laughing at her efforts. It was strange to see a person with such authority, power, and charisma still fail to bring his subordinates to order regarding this matter. Some things appeared to be beyond the capacity of anyone.

\"Shouldn't we get back to the topic?\" she asked loudly.

\"Indeed, playtime is over. It is the last step towards our goal and our ambitions. We must execute it perfectly, although I don't doubt the outcome in the slightest.\" Nowa paused and looked around the room, making brief eye contact with everyone present. \"As always, I would like to hear your ideas first, and then I'll share my vision of the situation.\"

\"Raid them and kill everyone?\"

\"Blow something to make a distraction, then storm the place?\"

\"Disguise as guards and sneak inside!\"

\"Release a sleeping agent, then stroll into the vault?\"

Opinions and ideas began to shower down like hail. The brainstorm went on for fifteen minutes, but to Oirsa's taste, it all sounded delusional at best. The vault happened to be in the capital city below one of the most guarded mansions. Without taking into account the capital's garrison, the Kavenfenn guards would pose a threat as well. And if they were to get noisy, it would be beyond unrealistic to leave the capital through the only exit it had.

\"I don't know how useful it might prove to be, but I still own several blank papers signed and stamped by the Supreme Commander's seal. W-w-we can use one to write a document allowing us to enter the v-v-vault. Or something...\" Tiana started the phrase loudly but turned all sheepish by the end, shuffling uncomfortably by everyone's gaze. Despite everything, she felt uncomfortable from the stuttering, and people's pitying gazes made it even more so.

\"We can send Tiana herself with such a paper, I think. It will bolster the chances of success greatly since I highly doubt that her father has changed her official status or disclosed anything about their breakup. To be safe, we'll still need to check the facts, but there is another issue I haven't heard anyone mention yet,\" Orisa quickly added.

\"Umu. I think I know what you are going to say, but go one, state your concerns.\"

\"Even if we manage to get inside, it would take too much time to get all the data via our current methods. What are we going to do with it?\"

\"And so, my dear comrades, once again, I was right about requesting your patience. Young Orisa and her squad are proving to be as useful as I promised, umu. Indeed, her concern is on point, and I have been working on the solution for quite some time.\"

Accompanied by everyone's respectful gazes, Nowa went into a long lecture about technologies, vaults, planning, and other things he so wanted to share with everyone. By the end of his speech, some people even began to yawn.

\"And so, a small group of our specialists will depart first thing in the morning towards the Todo shelter to finalize the extraction method and test it in the field. As for the plan of our operation, we will utilize all our remaining connections to the Military as well. Using them, we will be sending young Lady Kavenfenn to her ancestral home. Together with young Orisa, they will carry the operation, and the rest of us will be on standby to cover them if necessary.\"

\"Are you sure? Why me and why only two people? I'm a wanted fugitive, you know? How would people like you or me even get into the city?\"

\"Don't worry about little details - we have our ways to infiltrate. As for your personal appearance, our stylist Tomika will be glad to help you with the recognition. Regarding the other question, the answer is obvious, and you can get it by yourself. I will name people who should stay here and plan the details of the following event. The operation will be launched when we are through with the data-copying mechanism.\"

With that, Nowa dismissed most of AOG members, leaving Orisa, Tiana, Toatre, and a few more people of his crew. They spent three hours going through different ideas, routes, schemes, escape plans, failsafe mechanisms, and more. It reminded Orisa of her own meetings that she had held numerous times in the past. By the end of the planning, her head was spinning faster than what she thought humanly possible.

The plan's general outline was the following - Orisa and Tiana would enter the mansion and go directly to the vault where they would present a paper signed by the Supreme Commander that told the girls to test a new data extraction device. While they were inside the vault, the support and rescue teams would observe the perimeter and interfere with any alarm or messaging systems. They wouldn't take action unless the situation turned into a mess since they wouldn't be able to enter the mansion without raising the main alarm. There were several other failsafe steps to protect the girls and create an escape route, and the final step in the worst-case scenario was to blow one of the exterior walls surrounding the city to create a distraction.

Three days passed after the meeting. The quick extraction method was finally ready. During that time, all members of Orisa's squad had been training hard, including Orisa herself. The device for swift data recovery resembled an aqualung - two huge and heavy tubes and a cable to connect it to the vault's system. Luckily, they still managed to fit it into a common backpack, so now Orisa was walking down the capital city's streets by Tiana's side and carrying the device on her back. The other operation members had entered the city beforehand and were already on standby near the mansion. Orisa had even heard Dippo mention that the rest of her original squad, namely Nana, Nene, Marina, and Shou, would be present since it was the time to bring them up to date with everything and also test their skills in such a plan.

\"Are you nervous?\" asked Orisa. Their whole stroll through the city, she had been holding Tiana's hand that had turned into a sweat-basin during the trip. \"Don't worry, I'm with you, and everyone else is nearby, too.\"

\"It's not that, Orisa. I w-w-was just thinking...\" Tiana paused, and they walked in silence for some time. \"Thinking about w-w-what should I do if my father shows up.\"

\"Now you are raising some red flags here, dear. But I'm sure we'll deal with this man just fine,\" Orisa reassured her friend. She was confident in the combat side of things but remained doubtful of the mental part.

\"If... If it comes to that, let me deal w-w-with him by myself, please?\"

\"Sure thing. But I'll be covering your back just in case, so I accept no objections on this part.\"

The pair kept walking down the streets that were now submerged into twilight. Despite being an evening of a weekend, there weren't many people around. Orisa didn't mind this at all and decided to help Tiana relax with a little bit of teasing:

\"How are things with you and Iten? I saw you passionately whispering in the kitchen the other morning, so cute. You can make a move while Nene isn't here.\"

\"Orisa! How could you?!\" Tiana even stopped, looking at Orisa with her mouth agape. \"I w-w-would never do such a thing. It is completely inappropriate. And w-w-we w-w-weren't w-w-whispering!\"

\"Yes-yes, as you wish. But it's nice seeing you two get along, that's what I meant.\"

\"I am more than convinced you meant an absolutely different thing.\"

\"Did I? Oh, silly me. By the way, how did he like your braids?\" Orisa asked, recalling Tiana's temporary change of style. Due to their situation, everyone was rather limited in their clothes, so people had been making do with whatever available to make everyday life less mundane. In this case, Tiana had tried gathering her hair into braids.

\"He said that the braids revealed my neck and shoulders in a new and interesting w-w-way, highlighting my profile...\"

\"Oh my...\"

Internally, Orisa was rolling on the ground and squirming with joy. While she had never really wanted Tiana to try and steal Iten, somehow, the whole situation was always making her chuckle and beam with positivity. The light teasing went on until they arrived at the staff entrance to the vas Kavenfeen mansion. Three guards were standing outside the closed gates, and their amazed looks directed at the approaching pair.

\"Wow, young lady, we haven't seen you for ages! Greetings, what are you doing here?\"

\"Hello, Uhura, Scott, Leonard, nice seeing you all here. I have a day-off and decided to meet my father today.\"

\"But why are you using the back entrance?\"

\"My friend here has a private business and needs to talk to the Supreme Commander. She prefers her arrival to be anonymous, if possible.\"

\"Of course, young lady, as you wish,\" said the guard and banged on the gate. \"Kirc, open the gate, it's lady Tiana here with her friend. Also, inform Miss Pestoni that the young lady is here.\"

\"Maria is here?\" Tiana was caught off-guard.

\"I believe so, lady Tiana.\"

The girls ended up inside the yard and slowly strolled to the other side of the mansion where the entrance to the shelter stood, disguised as a storehouse. Four more people were guarding the entrance, which made Orisa shake her head in amusement: 'So much for hiding things. Inconspicuous storage guarded by a number of people, heh.'

\"Good evening, young lady. How can we help you?\" asked one of them in a polite but tense manner.

\"Hello, Noah. I have an assignment from my father. Here is my assistant, and here is an explanation,\" she said and handed the guard a signed paper. The guard quickly skimmed through the document, returned it to Tiana, and said:

\"As you wish, young lady. Please, proceed.\"

All the guards silently stepped to the sides, letting the pair in. The door closed behind their backs, leaving them in a barely-illuminated room with a single open hatch. There was a narrow staircase leading downward.

\"Somehow, I'm getting a bad feeling now,\" Orisa muttered.

\"Indeed, it feels w-w-wrong. Despite that, w-w-we have a mission and must proceed.\"

A long journey down ended with a familiar corridor. Although they had prepared a device to solve the issue, the door to the vault was open, and they passed through without an incident. Unlike the other two shelters they had seen, this one didn't have a room with elevators, and the opening corridor led directly into the first hall. When they stepped inside, five people simultaneously turned their heads towards the intruders. One of them stood from a comfortable chair and clapped his hands once, letting out a creepy laugh.

\"He warned me that someone might come here, but I could have never imagined such luck. Not only did you, my moronic daughter, return here but also brought a gift for my fiance as well. Terrific.\"

The Supreme Commander was thoroughly pleased. He was looking at the girls with a triumphant look for a few moments until Orisa's laugh broke the silence:

\"See what happens when you raise red flags? But I think this daddy of yours is surely mistaken since it's we who are lucky today.\"

\"W-w-what do you mean, Orisa?\"

\"Well, I was really hoping to meet him, you see. Some parenting one-ou-one is long due,\" said Orisa and supported her message with a sound of her knuckles cracking.