Here we go


Chapter 13


It occurred to him that he didn't even know the name of the huntsman he'd just killed. Staring down at his body, the man evoked no sympathy or regret. That twisted smile and the mocking way he'd spoken about him and his family saw to that. Kneeling, he placed two fingers to the man's neck to be sure. It wouldn't do for him to jump back up and attack from behind.

Dead. Very dead.

Turning, Jaune narrowed his eyes on the various soldiers. "Who is in charge here?"

They all looked to the dead huntsman.

"Who would be in charge now?"

One of them stepped forward, hands on his helmet. "That would be me, sir."

Sir. Their tune sure changed quick. He'd promised Blake to take prisoners and yet looking at them now, he wasn't sure how to go about that. They had no prisons, no cuffs and no time to escort them back out. If he left them alone and they regained their nerve, they could lay an ambush. That might not hurt him, Blake or Adam, but it could catch one of his rescued sisters.

I don't have time for this.

"Do you have cuffs?" he snapped at the man. "Ties, restraints, anything like that?"

"I have restraining links on my belt. Left side. Behind my sidearm." The soldier made no attempt to reach for it but did shift his body to the side, jutting out his hip to show the metal object hanging from the back of his belt. "They're for escaped su- victims."

Subjects. Jaune bit back a hiss. "Tie up your fellows. All of you. Now. You can put your hands down or whatever. It's not like reaching for a gun will help you."

The soldiers moved slowly at first, afraid to startle him, but once it was clear how impatient he was, they each started to restrain one another, securing hands behind their backs. Those in charge tied up their subordinates first, before turning and helping one another until it was only the man who first spoke remaining.

He silently offered the links to Jaune, turned around and held his wrists behind him. He stood in silence until Jaune had secured it, then tensed his wrists to show he couldn't escape. The soldiers knelt by a wall, leaning against it with their weapons in the centre of the room. Few of them looked him in the eye.

Jaune stopped the leader from joining them. "Where are my sisters?"

"Testing labs, sir. Sensors caught the ambush at the hangar doors and the order was given to retreat and barricade. Labs are that way." He nodded to a door marked as such. That explained why the huntsman had ambushed him here. "I don't know what defences are set up. I do know both the girls were alive and well when they were taken through."

Trying to save his own skin. "And how long ago was that?"

"Ten minutes, sir. Maybe fifteen."

Jaune let the man go, pushing him back to his fellows. The doorway to the labs called to him but there was no rush for once. Retreat and barricade. The scientists intended to make a last stand. What if they got desperate and tried to hurt one of the girls? The main group in Atlas – this Chivalric Arms – wouldn't appreciate their test subjects being hurt, but how much would a person cornered with their life on the line really care?

Clipping Mors back onto his belt, he drew out his scroll.

/-/

"Hangar is secure," Adam reported as he came through the door, Wilt dripping blood. The faunus' clothes were similarly coated, with small streaks of black and holes where bullets had found their way through. He eyed Jaune, the dead man and finally the prisoners, humming under his mask. "You did well to call this in. Better we breach this together. Where is-" Another door opened and Blake came through. "Ah, there she is. You're late, my love."

"I'm – ah!" Blake flinched as she nearly stepped on the dead huntsman. Cautiously, she skirted around him, taking in the prisoners as she did. The tension visibly drained from her, eyes flicking to his with clear gratitude. "I assume he was too dangerous?" she asked. For once it wasn't judgmental, more curious.

"Huntsman. He could teleport small distances and always attacked from behind."

"Powerful Semblance," she said. "Probably best to put him down, especially if he could teleport out of restraints." It was as close to a `I accept this` as he was going to get from her, and he nodded back.

It did feel good, leaving some alive. It wasn't like he'd been a walking bloodbath the last time – that was all Adam – but he'd harboured thoughts of killing everyone even tangentially involved with this. How could he not? After what he'd been through, the very thought of them brought back sickening memories of needles and knives, tests and toneless voices. Men in white suits who poked and prodded like he was an interesting insect.

Tearing himself back, he turned to the door. "One of the captives said they're being kept in the lab block. The guards are barricading themselves in." He nodded to Adam. "They detected the White Fang setting up outside the hangar."

"Hm. That's fine. Their job was to prevent anyone escaping. Whether they were noticed or not doesn't change the fact it worked." Adam flicked Wilt out. "I'll take the lead with you beside me. Blake, follow and be stealthy. We'll need you if a hostage situation arrives. You're our best shot."

"Okay. Do you want me to shoot first or let you negotiate?"

Adam knew it was a test as much as he did. "I'll try and negotiate," he grumbled.

"Thank you."

Adam approached the door and waved Jaune in, clicking the button and falling to the side. No barrage came and they slid in together. The lights inside were on. They knew faunus were attacking and would only have the edge in darkness. The corridor was wider than the ones before it, easily four or five people's width. It's for medical trolleys¸ he thought, gripping Mors with a shaky hand. The corridor rode up ahead to a T-junction, with glass panelled offices on either side. The glass bore the same frosted logo from the office block back a ways.

"I found some paperwork," he whispered. "Said they were `Chivalric Arms`. The name ring a bell?"

"Arms manufacturer," Adam replied, voice equally low. "Based in Atlas. Subsidised by Atlas, but privately owned. They're the ones behind the robotic droids the military and SDC use."

"I thought those were made by the army?"

"They are, but someone has to design and prototype them first. They sell their designs on, though from what I understand, they're linked to Atlas. No other Kingdom gets the designs. Patriotism and all that. They also design and work on guns and armour. Not vehicles, though. That's another company. Or companies."

"I think they're the ones behind all this."

"Likely. I'm sure they'll deny it. Let's focus on your family first. Sienna will love the chance to help you hit Atlas' biggest supplier of weaponry. Stick with us and we'll see it done."

He hadn't meant it like that. Or had he? Did he want to go on a personal assault against those people? A part of him thought so. Guilty as everyone here is, I bet those in charge of the company are the ones to order my family's kidnapping. His eyes narrowed, blood rushing faster and faster. They might have to be dealt with in the long term anyway, lest they keep coming back for more.

The glass rooms they passed were filled with medical beds and equipment. He knew them from his own lab, being dragged to and from one or the other. Sometimes to draw blood, other times when his body started to give up and they had to pump him full of chemicals and food. They were all empty now, but one or two were unkempt, like they'd been recently in use.

Adam motioned right and then left as they approached the T-junction. Jaune nodded and slid to the right wall. It gave him a small ability to see the left passage before turning the corner, enough to see no one waiting immediately around it. What he did see was a large pile of filing cabinets and upturned equipment blocking the way. "Left is blocked," he reported.

"Right is clear," Adam said, peeking out. "Well, that's our barricade."

"Do we break through it? Shouldn't take long."

"No. They left the right open so that's where the ambush is. We'll spring it." Jaune shot him an obviously confused look and Adam explained. "If we ignore it, we move ahead leaving enemies behind us, ether to close a pincer, cut off our escape or seal the facility."

The next corridor was taken in silence and without incident. There were no ambushes, firing lines or defended positions. He'd expected them; it was that the word `barricaded` meant in his mind, and yet the soldiers had fallen all the way back. Signs on the walls told them they were approaching the lab block soon. Almost upon it. From there, the same testing chambers he'd been shoved into would be within reach.

The final corner gave way to a large double door, the kind that could be opened with a push or by driving a medical trolley into it. The frosted round windows were too translucent to see through. Adam motioned for him to stay at the corner and crept forward himself, pushing his back against one wall and using the butt of Blush to tease the opposite door open.

Metal splintered out as a single high-piercing dust round punched through the centre of that door, where a person's body might be if they opened it naturally. Not a second later, a second punched through the other, whistling past Adam and striking the back wall Jaune was close to with a shower of sparks. Adam slid back from it, held up an imaginary gun and then tapped blush on the doors again, miming to fire.

Jaune nodded, slid Mors free and injected his second explosive round. Adam bunched his legs and knelt, Wilt drawn and held out tip to the floor. Raising his other hand, he motioned to the door quickly.

He squeezed the trigger.

The metal doors imploded as the blast struck, ripping fire through the air and launching the doors in toward the lab with a billow of smoke and an almighty crack that would have sent anyone inside scrambling for cover. Adam was in during that, dashing through the smoke. Automatic fire opened up, the staccato sound deafening in the echoing corridor. Along with the screams.

Chasing up himself, Jaune ran through the smoke and instantly dove right. No shots came – Adam had gone for the snipers first – but he was able to take in the room at a glance. Eight soldiers, two down and one struggling – no, he was down as well. One stood at a back corridor shouting something to others further in. Jaune fired on him, clipping the man's arm before rolling behind an upturned metal table. He'd been aiming for the head, but his accuracy wasn't what it could be.

Bullets pinged off his table as the soldiers took note of him. Jaune crouched behind it and counted in his head, listening for the sound of Adam dispatching his foe and attacking those now distracted. They'd have done well to focus on the far bigger threat the faunus was. By the time he crawled out from cover, all the soldiers were down except for the one he'd caught in the arm, who was retreating past some medical equipment, slamming a fire door behind him.

"Let him go," Adam said.

"Why? He could-"

"I've found your sisters."

Jaune was at his side immediately. One wall of the room was made up entirely of glass, looking down into a large, square chamber made of metal, within which stood four final soldiers, eight scientists and two girls, one strapped to a trolley and one over a soldier's shoulder.

"Jade! Hazel!"

The lab they'd broken into was the one that overlooked the testing facility below. A direct reversal on when Adam and Blake first rescued him, except now with the facility's staff in the chamber and them in the viewing room. The door the soldier had fled through must have led to the staircase down to the large metal doors leading into the chamber. Adam indicated a microphone and a red button next to it. Pressing it, he leaned in to speak into the mic.

"You're surrounded and your soldiers have been dealt with. Surrender."

As one, those within the chamber looked up to the windows. It was hard to make out any specific reaction, other than the soldiers aiming their weapons upwards, but one of the scientists whispered something to another and stepped forward.

"I am Technical Director Raymond," he announced, loud and clear. The sound travelled easily to the room, so easily that Jaune knew it had to be transmitted by microphones in the chamber to speakers in the viewing lab. "I am prepared to discuss terms for our safe evacuation from the premises."

"Terms?" Jaune snapped. "Tell him to give my sisters up!"

Adam waved him quiet. Blake pulled him away, having come in when she heard the ruckus. Holding a finger over her lips, she indicated Adam, telling him silently to trust the leader of their White Fang sect. Jaune nodded back, standing tense and rigid against Blake.

"I'm prepared to allow this," Adam said. "You will be allowed to leave the facility with limited armaments, with an assurance of no intervention by the White Fang, on the condition that you give up your prisoners."

Jaune smiled eagerly.

"I'm afraid that isn't acceptable. We will trade you one of the subjects for the terms you mentioned."

Terror clenched Jaune's gut but Adam didn't accept the deal, "You're not in a position to make those kinds of demands. Surrender them both or I'll come take them myself. You're completely trapped. The facility belongs to us now."

"We have time on our side," the man said. "Your attack was announced, and reinforcements are en route. That door will buy us time, and should you try to break the glass, I shall execute Subject 004." He drew a handgun and pressed it to the temple of an unconscious Jade Arc, strapped to a bed.

Jaune wrenched his way out of Blake's hands. "NO!"

"Kill her and we will slaughter you to a man!" Adam barked through the microphone. "Not one of you shall survive!"

The scientist held the gun firm. "Then we should negotiate terms, no? Subject 004 has unlocked a Semblance of no use to us. Therefore, her viability to the Null Project is terminated. Subject 005 however-" He tapped Hazel's leg, the girl flung over the shoulder of a soldier, "-still has potential. I am offering to let you have the useless one in return for our escape with the final in tow."

"If she unlocked the same Semblance Lavender did, they may well kill her," Blake whispered. "They were prepared to do it before; they only care about the Null Semblance."

Adam scowled against the microphone, fingers gripping the edge of the console.

"It's a generous offer. Subject 000 – who I can only assume is up there with you – gets one of his siblings back and we escape. The alternative, of course, is that you come and attack us directly. If I'm to die, I shall spite you before I go, killing them both. Those are our terms. You can secure one of them or neither of them. Or you can delay, and I shall await our rescue when the teams come to reclaim the facility."

Jaune slammed a fist into the closest wall, visibly shaken. Those bastards. Those damn bastards!

Closing his eyes, Adam leaned forward. "I accept your terms."

/-/

The specifics took a few more minutes to hash out.

The facility staff would need to pass by them to leave and doing so in the enclosed environment was a recipe for a double cross. In the end, Jaune and Blake would press their backs to the glass and remain there, and three of the soldiers would come up from the testing chamber first to watch them. They couldn't stop them if they betrayed the deal, but the moment's gunfire would tell the scientists to execute the prisoners.

"All clear, Director!" one of them called down.

"Good! Good!" The man that strode up was somehow slimier up close. Wiry black hair drawn back into a ponytail, pock marked skin and a sallow complexion. He had had layers of wrinkled skin sagging down from his chin and a smile that was too wide for his face. The fourth and final soldier came with him still carrying Hazel, while another of the scientists pushed the trolley with Jade unconscious on it. "I'm pleased to see the White Fang can be so… reasonable."

"We negotiate in faith," Adam said coldly.

"Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure. Only, Atlas does not negotiate with terrorists, does it? Ah, a shame. So much can be achieved if people only listen." He chuckled loudly. "And there you are, Subject 000. Hm. I never had a chance to work on you myself, but I've read your records, yes I have. Do you know I earned a promotion when you killed my predecessor? You have my thanks for that. He always was a sickening man to answer to."

Jaune committed the man's face to memory.

"No words? Hmm. That's fine." He chuckled again. "Well then, let's get this underway, shall we? We shall take Subject 005 unto the corridor first and you will let us go. Our men shall stay behind with Subject 004, leaving her in the doorway to block it."

"If you hurt her-" Jaune snapped.

"Then you shall have no need to help her, shall you? I imagine you would come screaming after me. Oh no, no, you may have her alive and well – and don't worry, she's quite healthy, simply anaesthetised. They're quite the rebellious pair. Either way, she's quite useless to me now. And who knows, perhaps free to grow and procreate, she shall provide more viable subjects in the future. Now isn't that something to consider. Jnr Doctor Scott, do be a dear and take Subject 005 away now. Yes, that's it – do mind her head on the walls, you imbecile. Her wellbeing is worth more than your life. More than all our lives."

Adam held a hand out over Jaune's chest, holding him back as Hazel was taken out of the room and away. The effort required to not chase after her was immense, but the Director still had the gun out and to Jade's temple. As a threat to their safety, the sidearm meant so little, but to her, helpless and unconscious, it was a death sentence.

"We've held our side of the bargain," Adam pointed out.

"You have. You have. And I shall hold mine." He edged toward the corridor, leaving the soldiers behind. As he left, he shouted out, "Brace the corridor with her trolley, gentlemen, and catch up. Don't harm her. That shall only upset our guests."

The soldiers remained silent, all too aware they were in the most danger being left behind to complete the deal. Two of them backed up with guns trained on Jade, while the latter wheeled her to the corridor and turned the bed side-on, blocking it to buy themselves a little time. Adam and Blake circled around, staying in the soldier's vision but coming to take hold of Jade's bed while the three of them quickly hurried down the corridor.

The second it was safe, Adam wrenched the bed out the way. Jaune was there a moment later, huddled over his sister. "Jade! Oh hell." He touched her neck. "Alive!" He unstrapped her and pulled her up over one shoulder. "I know it's not comfortable. You can kick my ass once we get out of here."

"We'll have to leave quickly," Adam said. "Blake and I shall take the lead. I'll radio to the White Fang watching the hangar. That's where they're going. They're not out yet, and they're down a hostage. We'll see if we can't catch them before they esca-"

An explosion rocked the facility, causing the room to shake and some dust to fall from the ceiling. It was followed by another, and then a burst of gunfire in the distance. Protracted gunfire, and by the sounds of it, from outside.

"Damn it!" Adam roared, rushing to the corridor. "How are their reinforcements here so fast?"

"We need to catch the Director before he gets Hazel out!" Blake said, chasing Adam down the corridor with Jaune behind. There was still time, even if the new enemies hit the hangar first. The group with Hazel would have broke into a run but they still had to carry her, and they weren't as fast as Adam or Blake.

The deal had only been to let them out the chamber – not to let them escape.

Gunfire ahead.

Close.

Frighteningly close.

The three of them rounded the corner in time to see Technical Director Raymond strike the floor, the upper half of his body torn open. He splashed down into a puddle of blood, collapsing atop the bodies of his own scientists. Crouched over a similar pile of the solider bodies, a figure armoured in black carapace with a helmet covering the upper half of his face and a gasmask over the lower. He had a hand to the neck of Hazel.

"Subject acquired." The voice came out tinny and modulated through the gasmask. "Beginning extraction."

Blake swore loudly. "The hell…?"

"Targets sighted," a second soldier in full black droned, coming in from the side. A third flanked him with a bulky weapon. "Subject 000 sighted. Moving to neutralise. Lethal force aurhotised for non-essential personnel."

The third soldier opened fire before they could move, not even taking the time to aim. A large canister sailed into the corridor and exploded in the air, belching out thick white smoke. It splashed and wafted over the walls, sinking down heavier than air.

"Gas!" Adam roared, plunging through. "Kill them quickly!"

Jaune hacked and coughed, covering his mouth with one hand and pushing through. A second canister exploded in the smoke and it became thicker still, making his eyes water. He could only hope it wouldn't hurt Jade, hung over his shoulder.

Coming through on the other side, he had the time to see Adam force the man trying to pick Hazel up back, allowing Blake to swoop in and drag her away by her shoulders. Adam kicked the man away, knelt low, drew Wilt and slashed upward in a fraction of a second.

The soldier blocked it with his rifle, twisting the weapon sideways faster than Jaune could process.

Faster than Adam, too. The faunus appeared stunned. "What-?"

"Neutralising target."

Jaune buckled as electricity shot through him, making his left leg spasm and crumple. He was barely able to keep hold of Jade as the second soldier came in with a smaller weapon in hand, a tazer of some kind. Growling, Jaune pulled our Mors and shot the man, only for the bullet to ping off his aura.

"Aura! They're huntsmen!"

Adam probably knew that already seeing as he was flung back into a wall. He rolled off it before the butt of the gun could cave his head in, swept Wilt up only for it to be parried yet again. The black armoured soldier ran him down, bowling into Adam shoulder first as the third crashed his bulkier gas weapon down on Blake, punching through her guard and striking her to the floor.

Fuck! Who were these guys!? Chivalric Arms? The man in front of him aimed again and he let go of Jade with a whispered apology, depositing her on the floor and diving to the side. The shot went between them and splashed on the floor, the man adjusting his aim to chase with military precision. No, more than that. The huntsman moved purposefully, maintaining what he quickly realised was always a precise distance between them.

He knew about Null. They were trained to deal with Null.

Electric weaponry to damage his muscles through aura. Training to best him in melee. Teamwork and multiple opponents to outmanoeuvre him in ranged and always keep at least someone out of his Semblance, and gas grenades to bring him down. They were practically made to capture him.

Adam twisted and slapped the rifle away from himself, feinted and dropped, firing Blush up into his opponent while he was distracted. The surprise bought a startled grunt and a step back. They knew how to deal with his Semblance, but these people didn't have a grasp on Adam or Blake yet! That's my only chance. I can't touch these bastards.

Charging in, Jaune made to tackle his enemy, crashing into him. The soldier drove his tazer down and sent lightning crackling through him. His muscles locked up, teeth grinding together as fire ripped through his body, drawing out a scream.

Still, he pushed, driving his feet down, carrying the man forward and away from Jade.

His body trembled. Aura flared and flashed but did little against the electricity that crackled harmlessly over it but still jabbed and dug into his muscles. His hands went numb on the man's belt. He would have fallen but threw his final effort into it, forcing the man to take another step back.

Into range of his ally.

"Adam!" he yelled in warning, activating Null.

Instantly, the electricity racing through him became a hundred times worse. Jaune screamed and hit the floor, spasming and convulsing. His eyes clenched themselves shut as he shrieked under the barrage.

It cut off with a sickening squelch.

Jaune cut his Semblance off the moment he heard it, knowing what had happened. A heavy body collapsed over him, a hole in its chest where Wilt had pierced through, striking the man in the back when he was distracted and open, having not realised that Jaune was pushing him closer and closer to Adam's fight.

Shaking and raw, he pushed the body off himself and looked back to the fight. Adam and Blake were even with their opponents still, or Adam was. Blake was taking the worst of it and favouring one arm and dodging as best she could. Need to help her, he thought, crawling over. Blake saw and retreated to him, but this time the soldier didn't chase. He'd seen his fellow fall. Instead, he cocked his grenade launcher and fed another canister into it.

"Who the hell are these guys?" Blake hissed. "They're as good as Specialists!"

"M-Maybe they are," Jaune said, letting her help him up. "Chivalric Arms' Specialists. Or whatever they call them." A quick glance showed Adam going even with his foe, not winning but holding his own. "You go left, I go right."

"Can you even walk?"

"We're about to find out."

Nodding, Blake parted left, flicking Gambol Shroud out to cast the grenade back into the man mod-flight. It hit and exploded over his chest, but he waded through it with his gasmask protecting him. His eyes traced Blake and he stepped back, keeping both Jaune and Blake in vision, and his back to the closest wall. Tossing his grenade launcher down, the man drew a tazer in one hand and a hefty combat knife in the other.

No retreat. No surrender.

Jaune sent Blake a quick hand motion, one she returned with a quick shot of Gambol Shroud at the soldier, forcing him to hunker down.

And then, Jaune turned and fled back.

Adam saw him coming and lashed out with Wilt, slashing down overhead and forcing the soldier to block, catching the blade between the trigger guard and the magazine. When he did, Adam twisted and locked Wilt in, stepping forward and driving him back. Back onto the butt of Mors' handle, which Jaune drove into the man's neck, activating Null and pressing the trigger.

There was no seeing the blade, but he heard the hiss, the grunt from the man and felt the blood dribble down his fingers. Pulling it free, he de-activated Null and let aura return, giving Adam a chance to disengage safely.

The soldier fell to one knee and reached up to touch his neck.

No, his gas mask.

"Tango-B Down. Primary target located. Subjects 004 and 005 lost. All units, converge and secure. Primary target located."

With that said, the man toppled onto his front and lay motionless. Cursing, Adam hurried over to help Blake with the last, overpowering the man with her aid. Before he could capture him alive though, the man drew out a grenade and flipped the pin, rushing in to tackle Blake.

"Blake!" Adam yelled.

The man, and Blake, went up in a ball of fire.

"I'm okay," she panted, crouched by Hazel with wide eyes and a cracked mask, watching as the smoke faded to show the corpse of the man she'd been fighting, and the flitting remains of her clone disappearing. "I-I got out," she stammered. "Just."

Adam gripped her tight and crushed her chest to his, kissing her forehead. He let go a moment later and sheathed Wilt, wincing and gripping his shoulder. His eyes trailed over the room, noting not only the dead bodies of the scientists, but also the soldiers Jaune had taken prisoner before they breached the labs. To a one, those men, hands still cuffed, were dead, executed on the spot.

"They killed everyone," Blake whispered. "Why?"

"Reinforcements," Adam spat. "Though not, it seems, to rescue their own men." He shook his head and turned away from the bloodshed. "Jaune, collect your sister. I'll get the other. We're leaving now, before any more can arrive."

Jaune nodded and took Jade, leaving Adam to pick up Hazel over his shoulder. As they did, more gunfire sounded from within the facility, making them tense. Blake aimed her weapon at a doorway, but no one came through.

"Who are they shooting at?" she asked. "We're over here…"

"I knocked those I could unconscious," Adam replied. "I'm sure you did the same…"

It took her a second to piece together the pieces, and then to let out a wild and agonised shriek. "No!"

"Blake!" Adam caught her shoulder. "There's nothing we can do. They're cleaning this place from top to bottom and no one is coming out of it alive. Rush after them and you'll be just another body added to the bonfire."

"They're killing prisoners, Adam! They're executing defenceless people!"

"Our lives take priority." He shoved her roughly toward the entrance. "Go. We can bring them to justice another day. Move!"

Whether it was his tone or the severity of the situation, Blake hurried on, leading the way back to the main entrance. They passed by more bodies, hallways streaked with blood and a mere fraction of that from their own efforts. Gunfire continued in the distance, interspersed by screams and the constant wailing of the base's alarm.

They reached the staircase quickly, Blake scuttling up and calling the all-clear. Sunlight washed over them, and the White Fang were there, some bloody and frightened, shouting for them to run. There was no time to question, Jaune following Blake and Adam with Jade bouncing against his back. Behind, a barrage of explosions ripped through the air, a constant thoom of missiles impacting the facility. Reaching the treeline, he offered Jade to the medic, Fitch, and turned to look back.

Three black Bullheads hung in the air, two off toward the hangar and one circling the facility. The two at the hangar unleashed a fresh salvo of missiles, which speared into the now open doors and incinerated the aircraft within, ripping great holes in the facility and causing smoke to billow upwards.

"They're bombing the place to the ground," he whispered.

Adam tensed as the third Bullhead stopped and black lines came down, ropes dropping as more of the huntsmen they'd faced rappelled down toward the facility. Four, six, eight of them – and to think that three had almost been enough to kill them already. Those men breached through the ceiling, pouring down into the facility, no doubt responding to the last call of their position. Once it was clear they weren't there, they'd sweep the base, kill everyone, burn it to the ground and then pursue.

"No evidence," Adam said. "No survivors. And if we stick around too long, no us either. Everyone, pack up. We're moving south. They'll expect us to go east and rush for the coast. We're not playing into that. We'll head south, take the SDC train and then make for Menagerie once it's clear."

"This – This is horrible," Blake whispered. "This is – It's-"

"Blake!" Adam slapped a hand to her shoulder. "Snap out of it. We signed up for this. We knew the risks." He sneered back at the compound. "So did they. We tried to save those we could, but this is the reality of the situation. The reality of war. Our job isn't to rush in there and stop them. It's to make sure people like that don't end up with a weapon like Null. This is just one more enemy for us. One of many..."

Blake stood silent, fists clenched.

Adam made to say something, then thought better. With a wave of his hand he hailed the others, shifting Hazel on his shoulder. "Our work here is done. Let's move."


Just so you know, these people aren't related to the ASF or In the Kingdom's Service in any way. They're basically dressed the same as Atlas' normal soldiers, except in full black and with gas masks below their helmets.


Next Chapter: 11th May

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