Requiem of the Broken

Chapter 45: Reconnaissance

As Tokoyami approached the coordinates, he started his descent, and maybe ten minutes later he alighted atop a tree. He checked his location, then checked the coordinates of the base again then set off once more, keeping to the treetops as he got closer. When he was about a mile away, he dropped into the tree line itself and started gliding through the branches. It was slow, but it made him much harder to spot as most sentries would be looking at ground level, slightly above ground level, and above the tree line.

As he got closer, he noticed things starting to change. There were faint lights in the distance through the trees, and signs of human activity. He went even slower now, stopping every once in and while and just listening. After another ten minutes of this, he managed to carefully move past the sentry line.

At this point, the signs of human activity were not as well disguised. He saw patrols wandering through the trees, their night vision headgear making them easy to track and avoid. He took note, however, that these weren't run-of-the-mill criminals bribed or coerced into joining Zeus. These were his mercenaries and actually competent forces. They wouldn't be so easily taken down like Zeus's men were in previous fights. They had actual weapons, both regular firearms (though of much better quality) and support gear. Obviously, they knew how to use their quirks and use them well.

Tokoyami felt the area where the railgun round had punched through his body twinge. He paused a moment to take a breath and rub the spot. When the feeling faded he pressed on. When the camp itself finally came into view, Tokoyami took a moment to take it all in. Barriers stretched from tree to tree, cutting off easy access into the base. He noted two entrances from his position where guards stood watching the wilderness. The barriers were multi-layered, featuring actual barricades, barbed wire, and in front of those, maybe traps? Pitfalls, perhaps with spikes on the bottom, tripwire bombs would be a safe bet, maybe even landmines if Zeus had managed to get some from his foreign contacts.

A frontal assault, Tokoyami reasoned would be a bad idea. Another attack from the sky would be ideal, but some instinct told him that wouldn't work either. He couldn't say what, but something was strange about the layout and design of the base. Tree's were scattered throughout the camp at regular intervals, possibly done because it was the ideal setup for hiding their operations from eyes looking down on them. Possibly some other reason, but he couldn't be sure. Either way, it was unusual and it bore taking note of.

He started moving carefully around the perimeter of the camp, taking in everything from multiple angles. It didn't really help, the structures lining the perimeter did a good job at obscuring most of the base. He could see closer to the center where a single larger building stood.

He thought about it for a couple of minutes. He could get closer without issue, there was a relatively easy path for him to take that would let him get atop one of the perimeter buildings. Each building in the compound had poles that held up the camouflage mesh netting that covered the entire compound and prevented any of the lights from shining through. By crouching by one of the large poles, he could use the shadows from the lights to obscure himself. Not to mention that most of the lights shone downward, which would ruin the night vision of people looking upward.

Deciding to get a closer look, he slipped from shadow to shadow, barely making leaves rustle as he passed. He set himself down slowly next to one of the large poles affixed to the top of the building and took in the camp proper with his better position.

He first noticed the training ground, where squads were sparring with each other in every form of combat possible. From hand to hand, to weapons, to quirks, it was impressive and Tokoyami had to admit that he had underestimated Zeus. He was the leader of a hardened mercenary corp, and the training showed how seriously both Zeus and his soldiers were. Until now he hadn't taken Zeus as seriously as he probably should have. He wasn't comparable to Shigaraki, but in many ways, he was far more dangerous.