Life is Simple, Love is Not (Izuku x Miruko)

Chapter 7: Mortal Coil

Izuku sat in an armored transport truck that was parked in a dirty alley, crammed into the back with the rest of his fully armed and armored squad. Everyone wore the same night-vision gas masks, obscuring their faces and making them all look like featureless automatons. The only sources of light were the small strips of glow-tape wrapped around various hatch and door handles. Nobody talked, as there was really nothing to say. All that was left was the waiting.

Izuku hated the waiting.

Letting the back of his helmet clunk against the armor plating of the vehicle, Izuku decided to pass the time by turning on his earpiece and tuning the frequency to the closest channels. Closing his eyes, Izuku cradled his gun in his arms as the static-laced radio chatter soothed him into a calm meditative state.

"Stalker two-four is in overwatch position, over."

"Copy Stalker two-four, maintain position, over."

"Command this is Thunder Two-Two I have your birds in orbit above target location, over."

"Copy Thunder Two-Two, switch to encrypted channel eight for spotting and designating targets, over."

"Command this is Badger Three-One, I have a civvie vehicle approaching on the connecting hardball. Moving to intercept and redirect, over."

"Roger Badger Three-One, perimeter team four is en route to assist, over."

"Command this Archer One-Five, I have meat wagons on standby in case things get kinetic, over."

"Acknowledged Archer One-Five, switch to encrypted channel three to coordinate with dustoff birds, over."

After about half an hour of listening to the radio chatter, Izuku felt the large engine of the transport vehicle rumble to life.

"All callsigns this is command. Operation Moonlight is a go. Report to your assigned positions and await further instructions, over."

Looking down the row of people sitting next to him, Izuku watched as everyone loaded their weapons and readied their gear.

Satisfied that everyone was ready, Izuku silently gave them a thumbs-up and waited until each person had returned the gesture.

Since Izuku was the squad leader it was his job to stay connected to the command frequency and relay any orders to his subordinates via their own encrypted squad voice channel. Tuning his communication gear to filter out all the unnecessary extra information and chatter, Izuku waited for the operation to begin.

After another ten minutes of silence, Izuku's earpiece crackled to life as the bulky armored transport truck lurched into motion.

"Command to Bravo One, exterior guards and alarms have been neutralized. Prepare for entry, how copy?"

"Copy Command." Izuku muttered into the whisper microphone under his mask. "Bravo team is in transit, over."

It was a short ride to the warehouse from where the transport truck had been hidden, and eventually Izuku felt the truck come to a stop. A small green light over the armored rear doors began blinking, signalling that the driver was ready for the squad to exit the vehicle.

The two agents nearest to the doors quickly and quietly pushed them open, jumping out into the inky darkness and motioning for the rest of the squad to follow.

The transport truck had parked on the sidewalk directly next to the rear entrance of the large warehouse building. As Izuku disembarked he was slightly surprised to find that the night darkness was now accompanied by a steady rain. The electricity for the entire block of warehouses had been cut off just as planned, the only sources of light being the city skyscrapers way off in the distance.