329 Go Dark (1/2)

The key turned smoothly in the lock and the well oiled hinges barely made a squeak. Tyrier slowly pushed the gate until it was large enough for a person's body to slip in. One by one, the soldiers of Claymore One entered the gate and stayed low and within the shadows.

From the intel given by the youngster, there should be a couple of guards by the tree. Making sure no one could see them, the soldiers hugged the shadows and slowly crawled forward, making sure to make as little noise as possible and keeping low to prevent from being spotted.

Two figures could be seen sitting behind the tree trunk where they each held a crossbow across their laps. Tyrier closed the gate as gently as possible and gestured with hand signals at the two guards.

Hitsu and Loke raised their silenced carbines and popped both men, dropping them with single shots to the head. As the guards died, Wolf and Tavel sprint across the grounds and grabbed the two bodies before they hit the floor.

They rearranged the bodies back to their sitting position and waved for the rest to approach. ”Overwatch to Claymore One. Hold your position. I see two heat signatures approaching from the right side of the building, it looks like roving guards!”

Drake laid opposite the building on the roof of another structure. He and Kont and used ropes and climbed up as quietly as possible to the roof without alerting the occupants inside. Now laying on their cloaks and overwatching the compound with his sniper scope, they spotted two moving white spots under infra getting closer to their people.

”One, Three. Take them out quietly,” Tyrier ordered.

Altied and Young were the closest to the approaching guards. They laid flat on the ground, keeping their camoed faces away from the approaching guards. As the two guards passed by them, they both slowly climbed to their feet and rushed the guards, stabbing their sword bayonets into the unprotected armpits of the surprised guards before Hitsu and Loke ran forward to help carry the bodies and hide them.

A quick search on the guards found a bunch of keys, which Tyrier handed over to Wolf. ”Secure the perimeter!” Tyrier whispered and the men spread out and covered the entire courtyard.

After making sure there were no more patrols and hidden guards in the compound grounds, Tyrier checked his tracker and nodded towards the building and his men formed up next to the door. Young took out a device that looked like a large twentieth century mobile handset with two stubby 'V' shape antennas poking out.

He swept the device all over the door, eyeing the display on it. After making sure there was no disturbance on the green line on the display, he nodded to the rest and stepped back. Wolf came up and tested the bunch of keys till the right one unlocked the door and he slowly and carefully opened it.

”One to all,” Tyrier whispered into the squad channel. ”Go dark!”

The Claymore One soldiers slipped on their assault helmets and snapped their night vision goggles to the attachment slot on the front of the helmet and one by one they stepped into the building.

The entryway led into a central passage where there was a flight of stairs leading to the second floor and two doors on each side of the passage with another double door at the end.

Under the influence of the night vision, thin beams of light could be seen as the spec ops soldiers swept their laser sights left and right, covering each sector. ”One to Two, clear the left side. We will take the right. Three hold here and cover the stairs.”

”Roger.”

”Got it.”

The teams split up as they checked each room on the first level while Team Three remained at the central passageway, their weapons aimed at the stairwell.

Tyrier's team each took a door and entered at the same time, their weapons sweeping for threats. The first door on the right led to a parlor of sorts with another double door while the second door led to a music room where several musical instruments were stored and a door at the end.

They push through the doors and found themselves in a large high ceiling receiving room for guests with large windows all three sides of the wall.

Hitsu and Loke on the left side found a small study and the dining room. The shelves covering the study were bare of books and even the work table seemed abandon as there was no intel of interest after Hitsu checked the drawers.

The door in the dining room led to the kitchens and the servants' bedchambers which had two skinny women sleeping on tiny cots. Hitsu and Loke quickly jabbed both of them with a tranq shot, knocking both servants out.

”Two to all. Two maids in the kitchen, both knocked out with drugs,” Hitsu reported. ”Left side all cleared.”

”One, roger. Right side is cleared too. No bodies.” Tyrier replied. ”Link up back at the stairs.”

Once everyone was back, they checked the double door at the end and found it led to the back courtyard. Retreating back, they climbed up the stairs and continued their sweep. Same as before they split up and checked each door and room, making sure to tranquilize and tied up any sleeping occupants from in the bedchambers.

Young suddenly halt before a door and raised a fist as he ran the device in his over the door frames. The display on his device was showing a bouncing wavelength which meant that there were some traces of magic residue. This jury rigged device was made by Dr. Sharon to find 'Mu' particles, which in other words, was made to detect magic.

She practically forced Claymore One to 'borrow' it to do field tests and review it for her. Luckily it turned out to work quite well as a non magical way to detect magic. ”Three, One. I got a magic reaction here.” Young reported.

”One, roger. Clear the rest of the place first. Leave it for now,” Tyrier ordered.

Another three more males and one female were tranquilized and secured before the whole level two was cleared and the entire team stacked up to the last door with traces of magic. Tavel kneeled before the door as he carefully observed the door and found the entire door frame to be carved with a spell formation.

”Not good,” Tavel whispered. ”This seemed like a Level 7 spell that without a proper 'key', will trigger a Flame Burst that will torch the whole corridor...”

”No way to disarm it?” Tyrier asked. ”How about the keys from the guards? Or anyone found anything from the people sleeping?”

”Hmm, we can blow the frame up,” Tavel replied. ”Or try to interrupt the magic circuits on the carvings...”

”Can we check what's behind the door without triggering the spell or alerting anyone?” Tyrier asked again.