Chapter 126: An Extraction
I don't know why, but ain't letting me post the new chapter. It's out on AO3, might take a bit longer for it to arrive here.
Midoriya had always liked taking notes. Most of the time, they were of quirks, their possible uses, possible weaknesses, and so on. But they weren't the only things he'd write about. Firearm combinations, for example, were something he wrote about often. Midoriya would write about the pros and cons of different assault rifles he could bring into the field, the efficiency of some optics over others, or what circumstances would require what gun?
Today's notes, though, were a bit different. So as he struggled to keep the pages of his journal from flipping in the wind, Midoriya scribbled down what info he could. Today was Uraraka's turn to drive the M151, much to the girl's excitement. And since the final rhino was a decent bit away, Midoriya had gotten some free time to jot his ideas down. He'd been scribbling them down for about an hour.
Of course, the longer he worked, the more curious Uraraka grew. Every so often, her eyes would flick from the dirt road ahead of them to Midoriya's concentrated face.
"What are you working on?" Uraraka asked, causing Midoriya to look up.
"Oh, just… some notes," Midoriya replied calmly, tapping his pen on a half-filled page. A second later, he began to fill in the last bits of his new drawing, shading parts of the picture. With how much detail he was putting in, Uraraka could only look on curiously.
"What about?" Uraraka inquired before bringing the jeep into a slow right turn.
"Kinda just those mercenaries we ran into," Midoriya replied, memories of those men coming back to fruition. They had been an annoyingly well-equipped bunch. But their appearance had given Midoriya some thought. It would be wise to study up on past enemies to better fight those of the future. So he'd started taking note of all their equipment, how they acted, and possible ways they could exploit the PMCs' combat doctrines. Even took note of uniform differences. What with Vityaz having EMR pattern uniforms, Luiperd having Soldier 2000 pattern, and the Gold Coast Mercs having Type-07's universal pattern.
It gave each group an odd color distinction. Vityaz was green, the Gold Coast was ironically bluish grey, and Luiperd was brown and tan. Finishing off the final touches on his drawing, Midoriya heard Uraraka hum to herself.
"You know, there's one thing still bugging me about those guys," Uraraka commented, and Midoriya then felt the jeep speed up slightly. Looking up from his notebook, Midoriya faced Uraraka with a confused expression.
"Why attack Nigeria of all places?" Uraraka questioned, "Like… you said that Vityaz was Russian and that Gold Coast was Chinese. And that both were government-sponsored. But if that's the case, then why are they here?"
That… was the question, wasn't it?
"And another thing, Victoria said Luiperd worked for a South African dictator. I know that I don't know much about geopolitics, but I thought South Africa was a democracy. Don't they have a president?" Uraraka then asked, causing Midoriya to mentally cringe. This was a conversation he hoped would never arrive.
"It's… a difficult story," Midoriya cautiously said, while trying to think up a convincing lie, "The… The South African government doesn't like to talk about Igwe all too much. They have difficulty dealing with his group. In fact, he has control of several large towns, but the South African government won't publicly admit this to the outside world. They refer to him as the leader of a small gang of villains. We, however, call him what he really is: a dictator."
Hearing the explanation, Uraraka's face lit up in shock. It wasn't the best excuse, but Midoriya hoped it would be good enough.
"I… guess that makes sense. Still, it's surprising how many men he has working for him. I'm shocked I've never heard of him before," Uraraka eventually muttered, "That still doesn't explain why they or the other two PMCs are here."
"On that front, your guess is as good as mine," Midoriya lied, doing his best to keep his eyes trained on the road. In truth… he knew pretty much everything. All three PMCs had kept a gold mine's worth of info. They tried to keep everything compartmentalized to ensure secrecy, but each group had a different piece of info that the others had censored. Midoriya chalked this up to the PMCs' aggression toward each other and overall lack of cooperation.
Operation Hammerhead had been thought up by the Chinese Government, specifically President Bai Li. Li was reportedly concerned about the MSF intervening in Asia, what with their presence in Japan and the rest of the Pacific. So Li partnered with Volkov in order to convince the major warlords like Igwe and Razak to rejoin the conflict against Outer Heaven. And they only agreed once they promised the full support of both their governments and the mass deployment of foreign mercenaries.
And Midoriya meant mass deployment. A planned two hundred and twenty-five thousand personnel were scheduled to arrive in Africa. With one hundred thousand being Vityaz, and one hundred and twenty-five thousand being GCM. These PMCs were sending every single person they had to Africa. All their aircraft, all their ships, everything. Worse yet, both the Chinese and Russian governments were considering expanding the PMCs' ranks. So it could very well explode to five hundred thousand personnel.
With these added forces, it was planned that the MSF would be forced to ignore Asia and Europe and instead focus on containing the situation in Africa. It was an effective plan, one that Midoriya hoped wouldn't come to fruition. Refocusing on the area around him, though, Midoriya soon heard Uraraka hum to herself again. Feeling the jeep come to a slow stop, Midoriya turned toward her, confused.
"Are you sure we're heading the right way?" Uraraka asked, her gaze soon meeting his.
"We should be… why?" Midoriya asked, only for Uraraka to point ahead of them.
"I see a city ahead of us," Uraraka replied. And for a few seconds, Midoriya just blinked. A… city… that couldn't be right. Yet as he turned around, he swiftly spotted the outline of buildings ahead of them. Confused, Midoriya pulled out his Idroid to look at the map.
"Odd…" Midoriya muttered, while Uraraka got the jeep moving again, "Vicky?"
"No problems on my end, this is the right spot," Victoria replied, her avatar popping up on his Idroid. The map popped up next to her, displaying Midoriya's current coordinates. And there was no city on the map. There was a river that he and Uraraka would have to cross, but there was no city. It didn't make sense. And yet as Midoriya looked forward, he could see the buildings slowly getting closer as time went on.
Could it have been a computer error? Some kind of glitch that screwed up the map? Maybe it was just out of date. Midoriya just couldn't figure out the reason. Up until he noticed something. The buildings ahead had a strange amount of green on them. Reaching the city's suburbs, Midoriya soon realized what the green was. Dozens of abandoned houses littered the area, all covered with shrubbery.
"What in the world?" Midoriya muttered, his eyes taking note of every detail. Plants grew everywhere and on everything, all sprouting from the tiniest cracks. It was like something out of a post-apocalypse, as the entire street showed signs of battles fought some centuries ago. Abandoned vehicles and rubble decorated with greenery clogged the streets. And what's more, there was no one in sight.
"The entire place is abandoned," Uraraka noted, the girl carefully driving around a fallen pile of concrete. There wasn't a single soul for miles. Birds and bugs chirped around them, monkeys swung around abandoned buildings, and buffalo even grazed through the streets. But there wasn't a single human around. It made a bit more sense why the rhino was here, of all places, but still.
"Where are we?" Uraraka questioned, causing Midoriya to look back at his map. It still just showed a river, much to his confusion. Victoria, being equally confused, took hold of his Idroid and began filtering through some settings.
"Uh…" the AI began, while examining the map, "We're in the… city of Mtim…"
Mtim, Midoriya thought to himself. That was Igbo… he spoke some of that. Mtim meant ruins, so this was…
"The City of Ruins…" Midoriya commented aloud. At the same time, Uraraka had brought their jeep to a stop.
"Ruins?" Uraraka asked, confused. The only response she got was a silent nod, as Midoriya was equally as confused as her. They were in the City of Ruins… an apt name, all things considered. Within seconds of hopping out of the jeep, he learned why his Idroid only showed a river. Because all around him, he could hear running water. Walking forward ever so slowly, he found the land ahead of him very violently sloping downward.
Ahead of him lay the rest of the city and millions of tons of water. The city itself had been engulfed by the river, flooding the area for miles. In fact, it was more accurate to call the area a lake. It was a shocking sight to behold. Slowly, both Midoriya and Uraraka began to move down the slope. It was steep, so they both took extra care not to trip. The whole time, Midoriya was trying to wrap his head around this place.
Nearly at the bottom, Midoriya began surveying the area for their target. No rhino was in sight, though, just a bunch of… logs? Driftwood from dead trees floated by, with some bits even clogging a nearby alleyway. Other bits hung close to land… maybe a bit too close… Midoriya's eyes widened. Next to him, Uraraka was about to step into the water. Without a word, he grabbed Uraraka by the arm and pulled her back.
Feeling the sudden jolt, Uraraka nearly tripped backwards, but managed to stabilize herself. Looking back at Midoriya, confused, she found him picking up a nearby tree branch. He tossed it at one of the logs. The moment the branch reached its target, the "log" jumped up. A crocodile's jaws hung out of the water, ready to tear up its prey. But it found no prey. With an audible growl, the crocodile dove back under the water.
"Oh my gosh," Uraraka muttered, surprised, "I can't believe you spotted him."
"Didn't just spot him. There are likely crocodiles all over the place," Midoriya replied calmly, his eyes tracing over some other "logs". Hearing this, Uraraka quietly grumbled.
"If that's the case, then our rhino might be hiding in a shallower area," Uraraka reasoned, Midoriya slowly nodding in agreement.
"Yep, got eyes on the big fella napping in an old two-story house," Victoria then confirmed, Midoriya looking back at his map again. A small red marker displayed the creature's location, all while Victoria pulled up her drone's feed. The house itself was rather old and had a wall missing, along with a sizable hole in its roof. But it was sturdy enough and provided the rhino a nice napping spot. Not to mention it was above water.
"He's on the other side of the lake," Midoriya noted tiredly. Glancing to his side, he spotted Uraraka looking around, while shading her eyes from the sun. She turned right and left, examining every inch of the area.
"Is there a bridge nearby?" Uraraka asked, with Midoriya then pocketing his Idroid.
"I doubt it," Midoriya replied. If there was a bridge or a raised highway that they could use, it was likely still a bit away. Not to mention that said bridge might not be fully intact. They could cross half of it, only to find the rest had collapsed decades ago. Which meant having to take a different route.
"Seems we'll have to leave the jeep behind," Midoriya commented, Uraraka then looking back tiredly.
"Dang it… I was hoping to keep it," Uraraka muttered, before turning and walking back up the incline.
"Well, you could float it across if you want," Midoriya reasoned, as he followed closely behind her.
"No, no, that'd be a bit too much work," Uraraka replied, waving the idea off, "Might just have to come back for it."
Maybe, Midoriya thought to himself, assuming they had time. And the MSF did have spare jeeps in storage if Uraraka truly wanted one. But that was a thought for a different time. Reaching the M151, both teens started grabbing the gear they still needed. Once that was done, Midoriya woke DD up from his nap, and they all quickly set off. Quickly, Midoriya hooked DD's harness to his and aimed his grappling hook at a nearby building. The hook lodged itself into the concrete structure, and Midoriya pulled himself upward. Behind him, Uraraka floated herself and gently pulled herself forward with her own grappling hook.
Now getting close to the building, Midoriya slowed his ascent down, before reaching the building. There, he pulled himself up and briskly jogged forward. Spotting another building nearby, he shot his grappling hook into it, ran, jumped off the building, and swung forward. Soaring past the water below, Midoriya quietly enjoyed the wind in his face before he landed on a different rooftop.
At the same time, he heard his earpiece begin to crackle.
"So, get this. Historically, Mtim wasn't always this place's name," Victoria commented, with Midoriya slyly smiling.
"Shocking," he joked, before swinging across another street.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, its original name was lost to history due to the collapse of the Nigerian government. However, modern Outer Heaven scholars believe Mtim got its name some two hundred years ago," Victoria began to explain, slowly gaining Midoriya's curiosity. Landing on another rooftop, he carefully walked forward. Rather than having to swing to the next building, he found it separated only by a slim alley.
So sprinting forward, Midoriya jumped across the gap and landed smoothly.
"Mtim was supposedly struck with several disasters. It was the site of three major battles, had a large plague, and at least a dozen gas attacks. All in about the span of five years," Victoria continued, Midoriya mentally keeping track of every word. At the same time, he leaped over a large hole in the roof he ran along.
"A large chunk of the city's populace died as a result, and thousands of others simply left entirely," Victoria explained, "The final nail in the coffin, though, was when an unknown warlord blew up a nearby dam. The Ngafe River flooded the area, and I believe you know the rest."
"Crazy," Midoriya muttered. An entire city just abandoned, never to be reclaimed. Maybe the MSF could do something with it in the future, but that seemed unlikely. This city would likely remain flooded for who knows how long. Although Midoriya thought to himself, it could make a cool tourist spot. He knew lots of people would kill for the chance to explore this place. Right as he thought that, he jumped and swung onto another building.
It had taken time, but they arrived at their destination. Sitting atop an old apartment building, Midoriya spotted the house their target was in. He pulled out his binoculars while Uraraka quietly landed next to him.
"See him yet?" Uraraka asked, Midoriya calmly looking through his binoculars, then. It took a moment, but he soon spotted the rhino lying on some old carpet mixed with patches of grass.
"Yep, I can see him still napping," Midoriya replied, much to Uraraka's excitement. Deciding to take the lead, she grabbed the spare Mk 13 they'd brought along.
"That makes this easier then," Uraraka commented, while quietly setting her rifle up. It still took some time, and Midoriya occasionally had to point out some small things she missed. But she'd improved remarkably fast. It was amazing, Midoriya thought to himself. With her rifle ready and its bipod set up along the roof's slightly raised edge, Uraraka took a deep breath. She aimed her weapon carefully while Midoriya sat alongside her.
The moment Uraraka breathed out, she pulled the trigger. Within seconds, the paintball-like round struck its target. The drug seeped through the rhino's skin, ensuring it stayed unconscious. With that done, both teens quickly raced down to the rhino. Then, it was the same song and dance they had done nine times already. Uraraka floated the animal out of the house, and Midoriya began putting the animal in the fulton's harness.
They pulled the straps tight, blew up the balloon, and sat back as the animal floated. Just before it drifted out of reach, Uraraka patted the rhino's hide, a wide smile on her face.
"Sweet dreams, big fella," she commented, jokingly waving as the animal drifted away. A few minutes later, the rhino was gone. And… that… that was it, Midoriya realized. After a week and a half of work, they were finally done.
"We… did it," Midoriya commented, surprised, while Uraraka laughed next to him.
"It's finally over!" Uraraka cried out excitedly. Midoriya could have sworn he yen signs in her eyes. She laughed excitedly, unable to contain herself as she practically jumped for joy.
"This was fun, we should do it again," Uraraka told him with a smile, "Maybe without the near-death experiences."
"Yeah," Midoriya replied with a pained chuckle. He could go without the two firefights next time. But everything else… everything else would be nice. That swiftly reminded him of the plans they had made the day before. Not wanting to waste any more time, Midoriya brought a hand to his earpiece.
"You can switch our tracker back on, Vicky," Midoriya stated, the AI replying mere seconds later.
"Alrighty," Victoria said, before going quiet again. At the same time, Midoriya switched his radio back on. With a deep breath, he switched to Pequod's frequency. There was a brief crackle from the radio, but it was quickly replaced by the tired pilot's groan.
"You know it's about time you called," Pequod muttered into the radio, "The boss is pissed, kid."
…Ah… right… Midoriya had forgotten about that part. He and Uraraka had gone rogue. That was uh… that date seemed a bit more unlikely now. It was a fact that Pequod seemed more than willing to drill into his head.
"What is the matter with you? Running off like that, disobeying a direct order," Pequod lambasted, causing Midoriya to cringe.
"...Well, it's uh… the mission wasn't done-" Midoriya replied warily, Pequod then cutting him off.
"The mission was called off," Pequod stated coldly, making Midoriya go quiet. It had been called off… but it just didn't feel right leaving with the job so close to completion. Now it was done, so… not all that big of a deal… at least Midoriya hoped so. He didn't know why, but he was beginning to dread seeing his father again. Eventually, Pequod sighed into the radio.
"Where are you right now?" Pequod asked tiredly.
"Vicky's sending out coordinates now," Midoriya told him cautiously. Afterwards, the pilot had gone quiet, leaving Midoriya to anxiously wait for his arrival. This was not going to be fun. Ah well, at the very least, he'll be grounded for a few… months… At least they were going home now. By now, both he and Uraraka had climbed back up to the apartment complex's roof. The moment they reached the top, they heard the familiar chopping noise of a helicopter.
Next to him, Uraraka started looking up at the sky while shielding her eyes from the sun. Her arm shot forward when she spotted a small black dot getting progressively larger.
"I think I can see him!" Uraraka excitedly called out, unaware of Midoriya's quiet dread. At the same time, Pequod spoke into the radio again, confirming Uraraka's suspicions.
"This Pequod, arriving shortly at LZ," Pequod announced, more for the operators back in a command center rather than the two teens. Closer and closer Pequod got, with Midoriya slowly beginning to smile. Was he still anxious? Oh, most definitely. He was not going to have a good time when he got back home. But they'd still completed the mission. All that work and they'd finally finished.
More than that, they saved people this week. Possibly entire families. Whatever punishment Snake would throw his way wouldn't compare to the good he and Uraraka had done. Plus, it was nice to see Pequod again. So with a positive thought in mind, Midoriya watched as the helicopter drew closer. Only for a loud bang to ring out around them. Within seconds, both Midoriya and Uraraka were on the ground.
All while tracers suddenly began lighting up the sky. Off in the distance, Midoriya could see MANPADs darting through the sky. Through a crackling radio, Midoriya could hear Pequod say, "Deploying flares!"
Moments later, the Blackhawk flying above began taking evasive action, while flares shot out around the aircraft. Some missiles turned and missed the helicopter, while anti-aircraft guns missed shots or simply pinged against the Blackhawk's armor. But not all of them did. One missile slammed into the right side of the Blackhawk's fuselage, blowing off the door.
"This is Pequod! I have taken fire! Some damage to the chopper-" Pequoud exclaimed into the radio, before a new missile ignored every flare. Guided by a laser, the kinetic-based warhead slammed into the Blackhawk's tail. The rear rotor was torn apart, and the helicopter was now spinning out of control.
"Mayday! Mayday! Cannot maintain altitude! Controls are nonresponsive!" Pequod shouted, Midoriya watching below in pure shock. The anti-air fire had stopped by now, as whoever fired watched Pequod rapidly fall out of the sky. And "Pequod down! Pequod dow-" was the last thing Midoriya heard, before the helicopter crashed somewhere in the city. Smoke and dust billowed upward, leaving Midoriya wide-eyed.
That couldn't have just happened. It… it didn't. Not now. With a shaky hand, Midoriya reached for his earpiece.
"Peqoud? Pequod, are you there!?" Midoriya tried to ask, but the teen only received static from the other end. Concern quickly turned to panic as Midoriya's eyes traced the skyline. He could see the smoke from the helicopter still. Was it on fire!? Did it explode!? Maybe it was fine, maybe it wasn't smoke! Plumes of dust are normally thrown into the air after violent impacts!
"They shot my drones down!" Victoria then exclaimed, only worsening Midoriya's worries. Regardless of what was happening, Midoriya knew what needed to be done.
"We need to go, now!" Midoriya stated, scrambling back onto his feet. It was doubtless that MSF command had heard Pequod's transmissions, so they were likely sending back up now. But Pequod might not have had long. He might not make it before they get there. So Midoriya booked it, quickly jumping and swinging from a nearby building. Uraraka, having the same idea as Midoriya, followed behind him, carefully floating through the air.
The entire time they moved, Midoriya could only wonder who had attacked. They passed through a full city block before Midoriya got his answer. Running along a rooftop, he began to hear laughter coming ahead of him. Confused, shocked, and angry, he found the building's fire escape. Rushing down it, both Midoriya quickly ducked into an empty office space, before looking out the building's large, shattered windows.
Across from them sat a large four-story apartment complex. The building itself had several massive holes blown into it, and the same plant life was growing around it. Rubble covered some of the rooms, with a good chunk of the roof having collapsed. The overall shape was equally as boring, looking like a shorter and stouter number eight. It wasn't all too unique, but that's not what stuck out to Midoriya. No, littering its roof and the fourth floor was Luiperd Sekuriteit. Even from here, Midoriya could hear the mercenaries still celebrating.
"[That showed him!]" one merc, a Rifleman, shouted. He then high-fived one of his friends, while an empty Starstreak MANPAD sat on the ground a few feet away from them.
"[Rot in hell you moegoe fok!]" another Rifleman jeered, while laughing with his buddies. And Midoirya just watched in shock. It was them again. Of course, it was them again! Exasperatedly, Midoriya turned toward Uraraka and found she was just as angry as he was. These damn mercenaries just wouldn't stop showing up. Annoyed, Midoriya looked back toward the apartment complex and quietly began noting what they'd be up against. All while the mercs talked amongst themselves.
"[All I'm saying is how do we even know they're here?]" one merc asked, another Rifleman by the looks of it, "[We could have just shot down a chopper for no good reason.]"
"[We don't know. But if they are nearby, then we've likely gotten their attention. No way in hell they missed that]" a different Rifleman replied tiredly, giving Midoriya a brief pause. Whose attention were they trying to get?
"[And considering their heroic streak, I'd think it's safe to say they'd be heading right this way]" a third Rifleman added, confusing Midoriya even more. Heroic streak… who were they… oh… they… they're after me and Uraraka, Midoriya realized with wide eyes. The mercs had a vendetta now. They shot down Pequod in the hopes he and Uraraka would notice. This was a trap. Who else was here, though? Did they have more men elsewhere in this flooded city? Was Vityaz and the GCM also here? Desperate to know the answer, Midoriya brought a hand to his earpiece.
"Vicky? What's our situation?" he quickly asked, the AI humming in thought.
"Not sure. I'm trying to switch to satellite coverage now," Victoria replied, causing Midoriya to raise a brow.
"Trying?" Midoriya questioned, worried, as Uraraka glanced toward him.
"Somebody's trying to jam us," Victoria clarified, "Got imaging now… they're all over the place."
"How many are there?" Midoriya asked, while pulling out his Idroid. Bringing up the map, he found a whole lot of red dots littering the area.
"By the looks of it… two hundred and ten guys- and I've lost the feed," Victoria explained, right as the dots disappeared. Shocked, Midoriya waited for Victoria to get everything back up. Yet seconds passed, and he was met with nothing. Eventually, Victoria grumbled.
"I can't brute force my way in. Might be dealing with some technopaths," Victoria reasoned, annoyed, "We're going to be blind for a bit."
"Do what you can," Midoriya told her, before quietly groaning. Quirk use in electronic warfare had always made things complicated in battle. He didn't doubt that Victoria would get everything back up. But it was a difficult and complex endeavor. They'd just have to go forward without help. It was terrifying, but he knew it was the only path ahead. Pequod was rapidly running out of time. So quietly, he began to listen to the mercs again.
"[Got me there]" the first Rifleman then conceded. While he did that, Midoriya had been counting up the personnel present. There weren't many, thankfully, only a patrol of twenty or so. And so far, he could see ten Riflemen, most of whom were scattered on the roof and on the floor below, three Snipers on the rooftop, two Shotgunners, with one on the roof and one below, and one medic who just walked out of sight.
Appearance-wise wise they were all strikingly similar to the Gold Coast Mercs in appearance. The only difference was in uniform color and equipment. Luiperd Riflemen had Vektor R4, R5, R1, and R2 rifles, Snipers had Truvelo CMS and Truvelo TM545 rifles, the Shotgunners had Beretta SP312s, and the Medic had an MP5. The Medic's uniform was also a paler brown, mimicking the GCM Medic's paler grey uniforms.
There were, however, three new enemies, ones Midoriya hadn't seen before. One was a regular-looking soldier with a large tan rucksack. Said rucksack had several RPG rounds peaking out of it. The merc also wore a pair of ballistic earmuffs, a Soldier 2000 pattern mask, and ballistic goggles. If the rucksack filled with explosives wasn't a dead giveaway, the mercenary was armed with an RPG-7.
Midoriya dubbed him as a Rocketeer before moving on to the next type. Now, unlike the other enemies on the roof, these two guys seemed rather out of place. Instead of regular camo fatigues, they both had leather flight jackets with ballistic vests underneath. One had old aviator goggles, the other had a flight helmet with its oxygen mask. The enemy with the goggles held a Vektor R5 assault rifle, while the other had a Beretta SP312 shotgun.
Their appearances confused Midoriya only for a second before he deduced exactly what these two guys were about. One Rifleman, likely the commanding officer, had walked up to the two unknowns. When he got close enough, he spoke loudly, addressing every mercenary present.
"[Now, the lot of you! Fan out, and keep a lookout for anything! You see a blade of grass so much as twitch, and I want to know about it!]" the Rifleman ordered, with several cries of "yes, sir" flooding the air. Once it quieted down, the man looked back at the wannabe pilots and gave a quiet nod.
"[You two know what to do]" the Rifleman stated, causing one of the mercs to smirk.
"[Aweh. About time]" the man commented, before pulling his aviator goggles over his eyes. Moments later, both men unveiled wings Midoriya hadn't seen before. They came out of seemingly nowhere. The enemy with the shotgun had wings akin to those of a bat, while the one with the assault rifle had more bird-like wings, similar to a falcon. Both then took off into the sky and began flying around the area.
They calmly scouted the area and flew by Midoriya and Uraraka's hiding spot. Neither noticed them, as both teens ducked behind the low wall. DD, who was still hooked up to Midoriya's harness, growled as both men left. The two men soon split up and began focusing on opposite sides of the area. They, Midoriya thought, were going to be annoying to deal with. He mentally dubbed them as Fliers. The one with the R5 was a regular Flyer, and the other was a Shotgun Flyer.
There was, of course, one last enemy type. And Midoriya immediately understood what this guy was about. He wore armor similar to the MSF's Battle Dress uniform, having several thick ballistic plates wrapped around his person, and an MICH 2000 helmet. The man was effectively covered in body armor from head to toe. Speaking of which, he also had a ballistic mask covering the lower half of his face. He wasn't big like a Minigunner, but he seemed to have some kind of strength quirk.
It was a quirk strong enough that all the body armor he wore weighed like nothing, but at the same time wasn't so strong that he was lugging around a DShK. In fact, all the guy had was a Vektor R1. For obvious reasons, Midoriya dubbed him an Armored Rifleman. Currently, the Armored enemy was patrolling the interior of the apartment complex. Confident that he'd spotted everyone, Midoriya began mentally marking priorities.
Snipers would need to go first, then Flyers, then the Rocketeer, then the Armored Rifleman. After that, they'd finish off the others. Looking back at Uraraka, he found her cracking her knuckles. She nodded, quietly informing him she was ready, and Midoriya motioned toward the window.
"Snipers are the priority," Midoriya calmly told her, before looking out the window. There, Midoriya found that both Flyers were farther away, and neither would see them. So quickly he stood up and jumped out of the office building.
Falling to the ground, Midoriya shot his grapple onto the apartment complex's wall and slowed his descent. His foot barely grazed the water below before his grappling hook's motor pulled him back up. He didn't pull himself all the way up; instead, he only went to the second floor. This was under the assumption that the Luiperds had mistakenly left the second floor empty. In truth, that was not the reason.
Reaching a windowsill on the second floor, Midoriya pulled himself up slightly and found that the entire floor was gone. Almost all of it had collapsed, and Midoriya could see the flooded first floor. No matter, Midoriya thought to himself. Quietly, he clambered around the window, finding small handholds along the wall. Midoriya climbed up to the third floor and reached one of the holes in the wall.
Pulling himself inside, he could hear some of the mercs continue to talk.
"[You know, for how gefok this place is, it's oddly beautiful]" a Rifleman noted, as Midoriya hid behind a nearby wall. Peaking around the corner, he spotted a different Rifleman walking through the hall in front of him.
"[Beautiful my ass]" a Shotgunner muttered, "[Should be back home by now, counting up our bucks. Instead, we're going to die here.]"
The entire time, Midoriya watched the Rifleman in front of him getting closer. Unhooking DD from his harness, Midoriya readied himself and waited.
"[Ain't you pessimistic]" the Medic replied, earning a groan from the Shotgunner. At the same time, the Rifleman approaching Midoriya had finally gotten close enough. The man unknowingly walked by the teen. Within seconds, Midoriya jumped up and pulled the man down. Ripping the rifle from his grasp, Midoriya pulled the man into a chokehold. The Rifleman gasped for air and struggled against him, but failed to break free.
"[Hey, Adonis says we're dead already, I'm inclined to believe him]" the Shotgunner from before then argued, as Midoriya felt the Rifleman in his grasp slump unconscious. Dropping the man to the ground, Midoriya peeked around the corner again before moving forward. He kept his head on a swivel the whole time, peeking in and out of different apartments while DD followed behind him. At one point, he found an apartment with a hole in the roof.
Finding a decent spot, Midoriya shot his grappling hook into the side, grabbed DD's harness, and pulled himself up. The moment he did, he spotted the roof's Shotgunner move forward in the blink of an eye. The enemy had jumped and propelled himself forward with nothing. Some kind of dash ability, Midoriya mentally questioned. Some split-second boost of speed…worrying.
The man was still far off, though, so Midoriya turned his attention to the three Snipers. The roof had plenty of hiding spots and cover, thankfully, being littered with small walls, AC units covered in large plants. Ducking behind one such AC unit, Midoriya spotted Uraraka. She had climbed up the wall that Midoriya had previously climbed. However, she moved to the third floor while he was still on the second.
Within that time, she'd managed to subdue one Sniper and hid him in a thick patch of vines that had grown onto the building. Without a word, she then ducked behind a low wall. One Sniper down, Midoriya thought to himself. Turning, he found the other two Snipers on the other end of the building. So quietly he moved forward, moving between hiding spots. He darted from an AC to a large pile of vines to a low wall.
Two more Riflemen walked away from him unknowingly, so Midoriya quietly motioned for DD to get ready. The dog drew his taser, and they both began walking toward them.
"[Lost too much money on this endeavor… stukkie's gonna kill me]" one of them muttered, with the other humming in agreement.
"[Assuming the MSF doesn't first]" the second Rifleman commented, the first man groaning. He said nothing after a few seconds, but an idea seemed to have come to him.
"[That goffel seemed capable]" the first Rifleman noted, as Midoriya quietly got closer to him.
"[You saw her?]" The second Rifleman asked, with the first waving him off.
"[Just a photo]" the first Rifleman replied, a worrying smirk forming on his face, "[Looked cute… could maybe make a profit off her.]"