Smoke and Mirrors
Soft porcelain skin spills through silky sheets.
Milky moonlight peels through parted curtains, bathing intertwined bodies in a moody aroma.
Hot, heavy breaths, roaming hands and fingertips, flesh on flesh in the most forbidden dance of them all.
“Oh Captain, my Captain.” A whisper, a promise, a vow, spoken between open legs.
***
A single Rigid-Hull Inflatable Boat cut through the treacherous Noxian waters at unstoppable speeds. Tufts of seafoam flicked from the single rear engine, disappearing into the inky abyss below it.
The sun had set many hours ago, with the moon now casting a shadowy afterglow into the sea beneath. Fragments of shiny white light refracted and dissipated into the murky waters.
Vi had been right. Of course she’d been. The RHIB was considerably quieter than any other alternative mode of transport they could have taken, the low hum of the boat’s engine melting away into the night air. If it had been entirely up to Vi, Caitlyn had no doubt the pilot would have suggested bailing out of a moving chopper at a thousand feet, but that was a conversation for another time.
Caitlyn watched Vi carefully as she manoeuvred the vehicle at the helm. The officer seemed to have a gift for transportation, being able to take the reins of any car or helicopter and control it with ease. Even with boats Vi looked as though she’d been doing this her whole life. There was a cold, steely look of determination on her face.
Their equipment jumped as they bobbed over every rogue wave; Caitlyn kept pressing an arm out to ensure their weapons and artillery didn’t go overboard. The diving equipment had been securely tightened down against the starboard hull, but the general agreement between the two was to keep the rifles loose and readily available – just in case.
“ETA five minutes.” Vi spoke softly over the intercom nestled neatly into Cait’s ear. During transport, it would just be connected to the two of them, only linking up to Viktor miles away in the safety of the old house once they were safely inside the facility.
The captain didn’t say anything in response; she just nodded in Vi’s direction before casting her gaze out across the water. Despite the rocky conditions, it was a beautiful night, one Cait would have admired the enchantment of under any other circumstance. A few miles before they’d even spotted a few schools of fish and a pod of dolphins breaching the surface.
But there was nothing of the like here now. The ocean was silent; dead silent. Like the local fauna knew something that the two officers didn’t.
“We’re here.” Vi’s icy voice spoke over the radio again. She killed the engine and swung around to deploy the anchor, which confused Cait in the slightest. Though their escape route wasn’t entirely mapped out, she was sure they wouldn’t be traipsing all the way back here.
Caitlyn sprung to action and begun to unload the diving gear, handing a respirator and oxygen tank to Vi who nodded a thanks. “Why’d you put the anchor down?” Cait asked as she swung her pack onto her back.
Vi grunted a response. “Stops the RHIB drifting and knocking straight at Ambessa’s doorstep. Or, worse, it could bump into one of those dolphins we saw earlier.”
“Such the environmentalist,” Caitlyn cooed teasingly before placing her mask over her face.
Vi flashed her a cocky smile before doing the same, her mouth now obscured by sleek black rubber trailing into the oxygen tank nestled on her shoulderblades.
“Radio check,” Caitlyn muttered into the mask, checking that their comms were still up and running.
“Loud and clear.” Vi’s voice was slightly garbled and tinny, but still distinguishable. “Let’s buddy-buddy and get under.”
Caitlyn was the first to check over Vi’s gear, examining her breathing apparatus and floatation devices before giving the OK symbol with her thumb and index finger. Vi returned the favour before sliding her flippers onto her feet and perching on the hull of the RHIB, back facing outwards.
“See you on the other side, Cap,” the pilot retorted before sinking backwards and plunging into the icy water.
With one last pained exhale, Caitlyn too sat on the edge, held her mask to her face, and fell backwards, allowing gravity to pull her into the freezing depths.
***
Even with their wetsuits, the water was cold and bitter around them. Light shivers danced up and down Vi’s spine and tingled her senses as they swam through the dark ocean.
Their chest-strapped flashlights did little to illuminate their surroundings; Vi could just about see her hands outstretched in front of her as she pierced through the water, and was relying entirely on the small beeping GPS bound to her wrist to navigate the pair to the sewer entrance. Not even the fish dared to swim here; there were no other signs of life anywhere in her peripheral.
“Do you think you could take a shark in a fight?” Vi popped the question out of nowhere, looking back at Caitlyn, who was trailing mere centimetres behind her.
Through the radio, Vi heard Caitlyn huff. “Please stay focused,” she scolded.
“Just trying to lighten the mood, Cap,” Vi said flippantly. “Because I think I could. You just got to punch them square in the gills, and-“
“If you keep asking silly questions I’m going to punch you in the gills.” Caitlyn’s voice was harsh, but there was an undercurrent of humour in her tone.
The pair stayed silent for a few more beats, silently peeling through the blackened void of sea, legs rising and declining fluidly. Vi checked the GPS one last time; they were much closer now, she could see the sewer entrance on their mini-map.
“What about a crocodile?”
Before Caitlyn could scold her, or turn on her heels and swim as far away as she could, faint dim lights appeared in the distance. As they grew closer and closer, a warm nostalgic feeling filled Vi’s chest as she realised they looked just like runway landing lights.
“Must be it,” she mumbled into the intercom. Caitlyn grumbled in agreement.
At the mouth of the sewer, the water around them bled out from inky blackness into a warmer, purplish hue. Cait swore under her breath. “Chemical runoff,” she said matter-of-factly. “Must be why there’s no creatures around. Keep your mask tight.”
In any other mission, Vi would’ve responded with a snarky comeback, but not this time. Not right now. They were at the jaws of death, and humour was the last thing on either of their minds.
They both carefully navigated through the sewer opening, grateful that the exterior lighting allowed them to see at least a few feet in front of them. Further up the brick-lined pipe, they came to a small maintenance room, where a ladder took them out of the bitter water and into the cool evening air.
Vi was the first to hoist herself up. She stuck a hand out to help Cait up, who took it thankfully, before stripping off her wetsuit and the rest of her diving gear. They both peeled the waterproof packets off of their rifles and discarded the translucent packet along with the rest of their supplies.
Caitlyn took the moment to scan in her surroundings, pushing the mental image of the facility’s blueprints to the front of her mind as she tried to make sense of where they were. “The research lab should be along the corridor past that door,” she said firmly, pointing to the only entrance into the small maintenance room, as if the red line she’d drawn all those nights ago on the floorplan was appearing in front of her. “We go quiet unless necessary. This ends tonight.”
“Aye-aye, Cap,” Vi responded without an ounce of protest. “Tonight.”
With their rifles raised, trigger fingers at the ready, Caitlyn pushed the single door open and led them both out of the room.
***
The long, winding, industrial hallway was sparsely lit with intermittent flickering LED strip lights. Perfect cover for Caitlyn and Vi, unfortunate planning hindsight for the Noxian troops.
The pair spotted the first armed guard before he’d spotted them.
For Caitlyn’s first kill of the night, she raised her rifle elegantly, perfectly poised as she held her breath and squeezed the trigger.
The bullet rippled out of the silenced barrel of her gun with a silenced zip and embedded itself in the side of the guard’s head, who hit the deck in a crumpled heap.
“Tango down,” the captain whispered. Vi huffed a small laugh.
Viktor’s voice sounded over the radiopieces in their ear. He’d quickly synced up with them when the pair were only a few metres into the building. “Around the next corner is another guard post. Two soldiers maximum. Use the cover of the wall.”
Vi and Caitlyn moved slowly. Precisely. Poised down low, knees bent, rifles raised, like predators stalking their prey.
They had the upper hand in this fight. And they intended to maintain that for as long as operationally possible.
As they neared the next corner, hushed voices could be heard, two deep tones arguing in a whispered tone which reverberated and bounced right back to the two attackers.
“-and those stupid extra rounds she has us doing, checking perimeters, securing fences, like anyone’s stupid enough to stroll right in here,” one guard said.
“Oh yeah? Why don’t you go up to her office and tell her that?” the other guard said in response. A bark of laughter sounded down the hallway.
“Are you crazy?” the first guard hissed. “Captain Nolen’s batshit. I can’t even ask her for a pen without getting screamed at.”
Captain Nolen.
Seemed Maddie had been moving on up in the world.
“Viktor.” Caitlyn pressed her earpiece down, speaking clearly and lowly.
“Yes, Caitlyn?”
“I need you to find me all the office rooms within our vicinity.”
In the moment of realisation, Vi grabbed Caitlyn’s arm, but the captain shrugged her off, awaiting Viktor’s response.
There was a beat of silence on the other end before the scientist’s voice sounded again. “Down the hall, to your right. I do hope this is part of the protocol, Miss Kiramman.”
Caitlyn didn’t respond. She spun around to Vi and fished about in the pockets of her combat trousers before producing a few sets of small grey lumps. Explosive charges. “I’m going after Maddie,” she said defiantly.
“What?” Vi whisper-shouted. “Since when?”
“She’s here. And she’s loyal to Ambessa. She needs taking out.” Cait hesitated for a moment before adding, “I need to take care of her before she kills me first. She made a promise.”
The pilot opened her mouth to argue, to remind Cait of the plan and the stakes at play, but shut it promptly. The look in her eyes told her everything she needed to hear.
“Just- be careful,” she eventually muttered, giving Caitlyn’s arm a reassuring squeeze.
“Of course.” With a newfound objective, Cait peeked out from behind the corner and eyeballed the two guards. “It seems to be just them. We’ll take them out, go our separate ways, and I’ll come meet you back here. Okay?”
“Okay.” Vi just nodded gravely. “Okay. Sure.”
“Violet.” For a brief moment, Caitlyn reached a hand up to caress the other girl’s cheek. She leant into the touch fondly. “Stay safe. I’ll see you soon.”
With that, the captain turned on her heels and allowed herself to be swallowed into the darkness, two consecutive zips and the sound of two bodies collapsing following in her wake.
***
Only one name rang through Caitlyn’s mind as she prowled the halls, desperately searching for any sign of life in the empty utility rooms.
A cry, a sick mantra, a constant haiku rattling about her brain.
Maddie, Maddie, Maddie, Maddie.
After Nolen’s betrayal, the captain couldn’t stop blaming herself for how stupid she’d been to not have seen it coming.
More grotesquely, for allowing the woman into her space, for sleeping next to her, for bedding her with little to no regret.
But Maddie could have turned around and taken care of Caitlyn at any point; she saw the captain in enough vulnerable positions. So why didn’t she? God, all she had to do was roll over and smother her face with a pillow after one of their too-many-to-count hookups.
So why wait? Why now?
It didn’t help that every godforsaken door in this place looked the exact same, blending and merging into one as Cait skated down the empty halls. At least the office block had little to no guard postings.
Neutralising Ambessa’s seconds in command was part of the plan. Anyone still loyal to her would need to be dealt with with appropriate force. Her additional target was included in the protocol. Necessary, required, all part of the greater picture.
Right?
Before Caitlyn could swing her conscious around any more mental gymnastics, she spotted a small door at the end of the hallway bleeding light into the corridor. Bingo.
She crept up to the door, feet treading silently as she passed, slender fingers clutching her rifle tight to her chest. Pushing her back flush against the wall next to the door, she spared precious seconds peeking into the room beyond.
First, she confirmed it was Maddie. Bright tuffs of ginger hair, almond-shaped grey eyes, buttony features splayed across a freckled face.
Second, she confirmed Maddie looked ill. Hauntingly ill. Her cheekbones were sunken, skin pale, daunting eyes sucked back into their sockets. Hunched over her desk scribbling frantically at sheets before her, Nolen looked only a few paces away from death.
Cait didn’t hesitate. She forced the door open with a steady, strong frontkick off her boot, raised her rifle, and pointed it straight at the traitor – and her ex-lover.
Maddie’s head shot up in surprise. She looked even worse in the low lighting of the office. Her skin hung from her skeleton like the masts of a great ship. She’d either lost a considerable amount of weight, or she was really, really unwell.
The traitor’s expression of shock quickly twisted into a sick, sadistic smirk peeling across her lips. “Well, well, well,” she exclaimed.
“Hands where I can see them,” Caitlyn commanded, gesturing the rifle at her. A bead of sweat dripped down her temple.
Maddie didn’t move her hands. They remained concealed beneath her desk. “Rather surprising, having you burst in like this,” she said teasingly, ignoring Cait’s demand.
“Why did you do it, Maddie?”
“Do what, captain?” the redhead drawled. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
“You know what.” Cait spat the words out and shoved the gun at her again. Her knuckles began to turn white. “You left a perfectly good life behind in Piltover, all to sidle up with a power-hungry dictator. Why?”
“For someone who’s supposedly a detective, you really are terrible at your job.” Nolen threw her head back, cackling into the space over her.
However, her laugh quickly turned into a chesty, hacking cough.
Cait lowered her rifle the slightest bit. “You’re sick.”
Maddie hummed as she pulled a rag from one of her desk drawers, wiping at the spittle forming in the corner of her mouth. “Perhaps you would’ve noticed if your mind wasn’t elsewhere during our… encounters.” She let the last word roll off her tongue menacingly.
“But why not get treatment in Piltover? Why turn to- to this?”
“You don’t think I tried?” Maddie barked a laugh. “The army doctors were useless. Just wanted to give me a clean bill so I could get straight back to work. The civilian doctors were just as unforgiving. That’s when Ambessa’s men approached me. Said that if I ran some errands for them on base, and answered the call when the time was right, they’d fix me up. But in the process…” She threw her small hands out, gesturing to the room around them. “I have found so much more purpose than simply surviving.”
The captain stared at her, mouth agape with disbelief. “You’ve gone mad,” was all Caitlyn could manage to say.
There was a soft click under the table by Maddie’s hand. Quiet, just an octave above silence, but distinguishable.
Blaring sirens began to ring out down the hall behind them, shrill and continuous. The white artificial lighting had been cut, replaced instead with rotating red circles, an emergency alarm.
“Says the one who pointed a loaded gun at me and still didn’t come out on top.”
The captain could only look back in horror as she realised what Nolen had done.
Every man and their dog knew there were infiltrators into the facility now.
So much for stealth.
***
The klaxons began sounding across Vi’s eardums before she was barely halfway to the research lab.
Viktor had been in her earpiece, guiding the pilot along the winding maze-like hallways, carefully avoiding guards and taking out troops as needed. Now, it was go in guns blazing, or die trying.
“Oh, fuck,” Vi muttered to herself defeatedly as red lighting began spilling into the hallways, the moody hue distorting every shape and sending Vi’s senses into overdrive.
“What? What are you ‘oh fuck’ing?” Viktor pleaded over the radio.
“They know we’re here,” Vi grunted. She checked over her rifle and reloaded its clip, cocking a round into the chamber. “Someone must’ve tripped an alarm or something.”
“Is Caitlyn with you?”
Vi held her breath for a moment. “No,” she finally admitted.
Please, God, let her captain be okay.
“Viktor, where am I going?” Vi’s voice was rushed, panicked. Her heart began ramming violently beneath her ribcage.
“At the end of the corridor you’re down. There’s a hallway to the left. Take that; keep going straight and you’ll be at the research lab. The scientist didn’t hesitate to add, “Lots of enemy movement on the radar. Stay frosty, Lieutenant.”
Vi didn’t need the second-by-second rundown. She could hear the trampled movement at the end of the corridor. Dozens of not-clad feet stomping against the hard ground, orders being barked, the light metallic clinking of rifles being loaded and prepped.
Dozens of possibilities and outcomes raced through the officer’s mind. She could make a stand here, safely concealed behind the pillar of one of the many guard posts, and pick off the troops one at a time. But eventually, she’d be overrun, run out of bullets, become outgunned, subsequently meeting the fate of death.
Or worse.
With stifled reluctance, Vi reached around to the back of her belt and unclipped the gas mask swinging loosely from its strap. Her other hand fished for the small metal canisters hanging from her front.
Vi hated wearing masks. It was the one chink in her armour, her Achilles heel, a phobia she’d buried and hidden well during her time of service. Diving into the facility had been nothing but an act of falsetto bravado. Even wearing her pilot’s helmet proved difficult at times; she felt too restricted, too confined, too much like someone could pull the plug and she’d suffocate in a slow, painful death.
As she slid the rubber seal over her face and clicked the respirator into action, pulling the pin on her first smoke bomb and holding the lever down to not expel the gas just yet, she ignored her survival instinct kicking and screaming in the back of her mind and levelled her thoughts.
Guts over fear.
The smoke canister rolled gently from her hand and skittered down the hallway, clinking against the hard flooring. It hissed momentarily, then huge clouds of greyish smoke began billowing furiously out of either end. The expelled gas filled the corridor almost instantly.
The shouts grew louder and more distinct, from both distance and panic. She popped her head around the corner to check her handiwork; there were a few distinct flashes on the other side of the smoke screen, but apart from that, she was completely obscured.
It was now or never. Raising her rifle, Vi jutted up from her hiding spot and began firing blindly into the cloud, the silenced bullets meeting their concealed targets with wet thumps and crunches. More gunfire began rippling from the end of the hallway, zipping past Vi’s head as she returned the fire, hugging close to the wall as the projectiles hurled through the air.
A sudden dark mass emerged from the mist, clutching two glinting objects in either hand. Knives. The Noxian troop roared, raising both arms above his head and bringing them down just inches from where Vi had previously been standing.
The soldier was fast. And strong. But Vi was faster and stronger. She whipped around under the man’s left armpit, dodging the strike, and grabbed his neck from behind in the crook of her elbow.
There was a struggling tussle as the two wrestled against each other. The soldier was significantly taller than Vi; she had to jump onto his back to bring him back down to her level, clutching the back of his head with one hand while the other gripped his shoulder, her elbow still ramming into his throat.
There was no hesitation as Vi jerked the troop’s head around. A sickening crack came from his neck, and his body went ragdoll instantly, falling to the floor in a limp crumpled heap.
Vi continued to fire down the corridor. The floor was growing slick with darkened blood in her advance. When her trigger began to click, indicating her magazine was empty, Vi switched to her sidearm pistol in a swift fluid motion and began loading that into the mist. Her rifle swung carelessly by her side by its strap.
She was nearing the end of the hallway now; the uptick of bodies she was having to step over indicated that. They stared up at her, eyes wide and blank, their final expressions to be frozen on their faces forever. The shooting slowed down. The cries and shouts began to simmer. Until, the entire hallway went dead quiet, the only sounds being the constant klaxon blaring, the faint hiss of the smoke grenade, and Vi’s laboured breaths.
“Where now, Viktor?” Vi huffed as she fought to squeeze the air back into her lungs. She took the opportunity to reload her empty magazine, checking the bullets expertly before sliding the clip into her rifle.
“Left. Like I told you.” Viktor’s voice was clear and commanding.
“Yeah, yeah,” Vi drawled sarcastically. She ripped the gas mask off of her face and dragged a gloved hand hard down her face before continuing.
A set of double doors appeared at the end of the hallway to her left. Rifle raised, perfectly poised, Vi crept down and booted the two doors square open with her foot.
The doors opened up into a large industrial room, walls and ceilings trailing off high above Vi’s head. Rows of desks and monitoring equipment circled a looming metal sphere sat dead centre in the room, various miscellaneous cables and wires trailing in and out of the object. Jagged metal spikes stuck out of its metallic hull. A single catwalk ran over it from one side of the room to the other, the left exit leading off to a small office and observation deck. Ceiling fans swung lazily from the roof.
Keeping her breathing slow and controlled, the officer entered the room, scanning each corner precisely with her ironsight. The lab was empty; too empty. With one final visual sweep, Vi shuffled around in her pack and began to unload the greyish charges.
“Viktor, I think I’ve found the bomb,” Vi muttered into her intercom. She placed a few explosives onto a nearby table before she began sticking them onto the scientific machinery.
“What do you see?”
“It’s big.” Vi exhaled slowly, looking over her shoulder as she described the object to the scientist. “Lotta spikes. Wires in and out. Spittin’ image of the blueprints. Looks like someone’s been loading it up, too.”
A section of the weapon had been lifted out of the top, a large cylindrical chunk of steel dangling in suspension in the air by an overhead loading crane. Sleek metal containers were poised on the floor of the catwalk, right by the exposed hole.
Before Viktor could confirm, or ask how in the Hell Vi knew about the blueprints, a powerful, enraged voice boomed from the hallway Vi had emerged from moments before.
“Vanderson!”
Vi spun around to face the corridor. Her jaw went slack.
A single darting pair of beady, purple-tinted eyes began to emerge from the smoke.