Disclaimer: See previous chapters

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Chap. 40

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The elevator doors soon opened and the clan stepped out into another doorway. Professional strode up to it and input the key sequence to open the door. There, they entered into a massive room, deserted and with the exit above them, near a hazy light than shone.

"Well, this is spooky." Elijah said

"Not the time to be loosing your nerve, kid." Koemai retorted.

The Raven of Havoc frowned. "I'm not. But this place is way too quiet."

"He is right about that." Diana agreed from Cloak.

"Just stay on your toes." Charles cautioned. "Anything could happen."

Professional continued to lead, flaring his boosters in order to fly up to the next doorway. The others followed and after opening the next door, they found a long corridor behind it.

"Hm. A gauntlet."

Ellie chuckled lightly at Charles' comment. "That obvious, huh?"

The boosters of Phantom now flared to life and the sleek machine soared through the corridor. As she did, the walls and ceiling came alive with gun turrets, all wheeling around to target her. But as they did, they were unable to focus on the true threats; the four ACs that targeted them as soon as they emerged.

TKTKTKTKTKTKTKTKTKKTKTKTKTKTKTK!

Seven turrets were all blown up before the automated weapon wheeled back and fired on them. At that point, Phantom had reached the other end of the corridor and fired back, allowing them attacks on both ends. The team was hit by the scattered fire, but it was meaningless to the Armored Cores as they continued to destroy turret after turret until they were nothing but smoldering scraps of slag.

"Well, that wasn't so hard." Elijah sighed, his Havoc still spewing light mists of smoke from its machine gun.

"Don't jinx it." Diana replied jovially as they continued on. By the time they reached the end of the corridor, Phantom had just opened the door, allowing them to simply fly on through and enter into a bigger chamber room than before. No sooner did the door close behind them that an alarm rang aloud and the place became lit up with more gun turrets.

A lot more…

On the surface above, the terrain had returned to the calm that possessed it before. Aside from the few stray fires that burned from the fallen aircraft, it had returned to it normal silence.

And then a streak of light in the cloudy skies changed that…

The clouds began to glow, seemingly as if it was on fire. It was until a loud wailing sound could be heard when it was seen that the clouds were on fire. Or better yet, something within them. A carrier aircraft plummeted from the skies above, a new victim to the satellite cannons that guarded Silent Line. The plane slammed hard into the ground, leaving a trail of fire in its wake as it drove through and ultimately stopped. As the fire raged, there was movement within the wreckage and suddenly, an object exploded out of it. An AC stood up from the fires, looking ahead at the terrain briefly before rocketing off into the distance.

"Let the fall begin… Let the skies burn… And let the heavens rain their last fury…"

"Evasive action!"

They didn't need to be told twice as the clan scrambled and fired back, destroying whatever turrets they could lock on too. But unlike the corridor, they were at a severe disadvantage. They had no clue as to the design of the chamber and the turrets were practically everywhere. And not just gun turrets. Energy beams were flying out at them as well.

"This is crazy!" Diana yelled as he was cornered against the wall by a couple of attacks.

Behind her, Phantom suddenly off to the side. "There's an entrance. This way!"

Cloak moved in behind and was followed by Havoc. Phantom reached the door and began unlocking it. The beams and bullets tore at the back of the core, wearing it out and causing significant damage. But Ellie paid it no mind as she worked to open the door. Havoc and Cloak soon soared behind her, firing at the turrets and buy her some time. More emerged from their hiding places, but by that time, Ellie had opened the door and the trio entered in.

"Wait." Diana said. "Where are the others?"

Elijah quickly got on the comm. "Charles, Koemai, come in!"

-"Not so loud."- Koemai's voice came through a moment later. -"We can hear you."-

"We have a door open." Ellie informed. "Hurry up."

-"That's okay. We found an entrance of our own. We're safe for the moment."-

"Can you reach us?"

-"Negative."- The reply came from Charles this time. -"Those gun turrets are still active. It's too dangerous to head back in there. We'll have to continue on and hope to meet up along the way."-

"Koemai…"

The worried voice of Diana came over and the Raven on the other end knew what she was secretly asking and wondering. They all did at this point.

"Don't worry, Di." came a confident reply. "I'm not dying yet."

Diana nodded and turned her machine with the others. "We better get a move on then."

The three ACs marched slowly through yet another corridor. They didn't want to repeat what occurred in the chamber behind them. Turning a corner, they were soon attacked by…a single ceiling gun turret.

Pzzzzzzhhhhh!

A laser blast from Phantom ended that and they pressed on, facing another gun turret, which was quickly disposed of by Cloak. Reaching the end, they began unlocking the door .

"I'm detecting a large energy source." Ellie said as the door was unlocked. "I think we're getting close."

The door soon unlocked and shifted open before them. Elijah looked back at his female compatriots and grinned.

"Ladies first?"

When he got the dead silent treatment from the two, he simply shrugged and turned back.

"Just checking."

Taking the lead, Havoc marched into another chamber room. However, this was different from the first one, as it was cylinder in shape. Several red panels glowed around the circular room. But that wasn't what had their attention. In the center of the room…was another white MT. Its laser cannon was already unfurling in target lock.

"Aw, crap."

Meanwhile. Professsional and Bloodhand continued on their own path. During the firefight in the room, Koemai had managed to blow a hole in a grating on the side, giving both him and Charles an escape route. However, they were unable to join up with their comrades, as they were safe in another route so now they were forced to work separately. Charles didn't mind that too much though. This just improved their chances of success, even with smaller numbers on both fronts.

Koemai on the other hand was a bit on the worn side. The battle in the chamber had stressed out his side more than he thought. He could feel the beginnings of blood drip through the wrappings as tiny red spots were made evidence. But it was a minor worry. He had to put it off and focus on the job.

They were close. He could feel it…

"I'm getting a high-energy reading." Charles proclaimed. "We're getting close."

Koemai snorted. 'Or it could be that.' Moving through the airway, they soon found the grating exit. The reading indicated that it was right beyond it. Raising his machine gun, Bloodhand blasted another hole into the grating and the two machines jumped out.

They would not like what they jumped in to…

They had fell into a familiar cylinder-shaped room, with familiar red panels glowing around it, and a familiar white MT in the center, locking its weapons on to them.

"Son of a…"