Rangers and Rogues

Chapter 3: Out Ranked and Out Classed

 The sound of dripping water echoed throughout an underground tunnel. On a large metal walkway, a man was writing down something in a notebook, until he suddenly felt an off presence. He slightly turned his attention, the water below reflecting his blood red eyes as if they were gems. After a moment, he returned his gaze to the book. From behind, the thing rose out of the ground in a misty cloak and a skull-like mask. Without turning around, he spoke to it.

"Did you get it?" The man asks, his voice dripping with malice. It was slightly muffled by a dark face mask.

Without responding, the cloaked figure tossed a small object. The man grabbed it out of the air without looking, he opened his hand to examine it, and the symbol of a drop of blood in his eyes flared. The flash drive in his hand was inconspicuous, ordinary, yet it was key for the days ahead.

"There was a Ranger there..." The reaper says, its voice deep and distorted.

The man turned around, looking at his associate.

Behind him, the wall was covered in a large board, blood red strings piecing together pictures, photos, and new articles. Mad scribbles in black ink covered the board, the writing frantic and illegible. In the center of the board were two drawings, one of them, was a photo of a masked man with lines of color that danced across his mask and the other, was of a ranger with flaming wings.

"Who?" The man presses.

The cloaked figure focused on the board behind the man, he nodded towards the one with the flaming wings. The man followed his gaze and began to laugh, in his hand, through a cut, blood poured from his hand and shaped into a dagger. With a flick of his hand, the dagger stabbed into the picture of the one with the flaming wings. He turned back to the plans laid out before him on the table.

"The time is nigh my friend..."

"...The time for blood!"

* * *

Sol stood in the briefing room, across the holotable stood Commander Flint, his commander. The room was filled with a half dozen military looking men and women, they bore the Ranger Association's insignia. All eyes turned to the door as it opened and in walked a woman with crosshairs in her eyes. She had short red hair and stood at medium height, she wore a green jacket and vest, matching the military garb of the rest of the men and women in the room. She stood next to Sol and the two exchanged a heated glare.

"Crossfire." Sol says with a flat tone. "Phoenix." She responds with an even flatter tone.

"Good, now we can begin the briefing." Commander Flint asserts.

Before them a holographic map of the data center appears.

"Phoenix, care to start?" The Commander nods, as the others in the room gathered around the table.

"Of course. A few days ago, one of our data centers was broken into and bombed by a currently unknown assailant. With the help of S-Rank Ranger Datastream, she was able to track a transmitted signal that originated from the data center." As Sol speaks, a small line extended from the building and flowed out towards a range of mountains. "She tracked the signal to this location, and after some reconnaissance we found a small building in the middle of a ravine.'' The line traveled straight down into a ravine, and at the very bottom was a small building surrounded on both sides by large cliffs.

"Your mission team is to infiltrate, capture any Rogues and recover all data in this location and repost back. Stagger Rounds are authorized for this mission, so keep your wits about you." Commander Flint says, looking over the team in front of him.