The lights slowly flickered for several moments before they cut out completely bathing the entire room in darkness. A deafening silence filled the room as the hum of the server racks faded completely the power shutting down.

The ground shook once more sending books off of shelves and the body tumbling to the ground. The only light the two men had was that of their cigarettes bathing their faces in a warm orange ember glow.

Ben ran his hand down his face pulling at the skin in the process as he leaned up against one of the many oversize computers. He looked like shit. He felt like shit too. Sweat was rolling down the sides of his face seeping into that fancy dress shirt, his eyes were distant and his breathing was slow and deliberate.

Tedros made his way back over to the metal desk and pulled at the drawer. "Piece of shit" It wouldn't budge, jammed shut. So he pulled harder, he pulled with all his might until a soft kachunk echoed out, and it finally pulled open coming off the guide rails.

Inside was a simple Poseidon flashlight in a dark green. It was bent at the neck and had a long corrugated handle. With a flick of the switch it bathed the room in a red glow.

Ben covered his eyes looking over at Ted for a long moment. "Looks like whatever happened topside cut the power."

"No shit Sherlock" Ted unbuckled the latch on his holster flipping it open with a single finger. The ceiling was still shaking but it was subsiding, the aftershocks of whatever hell awaited them upstairs.

Ben let it roll off him like water off a duck pushing himself up to a stand. "We might be here a while." A long drag taken from his cigarette. "So if we don't want to suffocate we'll need to turn on the backup generator."

Tedros stepped his way over the fallen body once more, before removing his pistol from its holster. "If we are going to be here a while we're going to need a place for the stiff" Smoke rolled out from the corners of his mouth as he made way for the staircase.

"Ah fuck it." Ben looked back over to the body now face down in a pool of its own blood. "Saw a janitors closet on the way down.' He motioned back over his shoulder as if that would help. It was a floor up but the motion was done more out of habit then anything else. "I say we shove him there and forget him." A light pause. "After we deal with the power situation."

"I can get behind that." Tedros made his way up the stairs to the sealed door at their peak. He scanned the stairwell for a short while. "Oh what do you do when the power cuts?" He asked himself looking towards the button on the wall. "You start the generator" He pressed the button and nothing happened. "How do you start the generator?" He pressed it a few more times. "Well you just open the interior blast doors and head over to it." His fist slammed against the button. "You use the electric fucking button."

Tedros was pissed, and he had right to be. "This was supposed to be an easy fucking job." He made his way back down the staircase stepping right through the blood at the bottom. "Infiltrate. Exfiltrate." He threw his arm to his side. "We've done it a hundred fucking times!"

"Well normally they don't drop bombs on us part way through the job."

"If I ever get my hands on the bastard who designed this bunker." Ted spat on the floor in disgust, before kicking the rubbish bin. He smacked his lips together as Ben ran a hand through his greasy hair.

"Alright not the end of the world." Ben walked over to the large metal door. It was an automatic sliding door yet again powered by electricity. Luckily for the two of them in the center of the door was a thick metal horizontal handle. He wrapped on it with the back of his hand.

"If we can make it to the records room I've got an idea on how we might be able to reach the generator." He pulled on the handle for a moment, grunting with force as it barely budged. "These doors weren't meant to go manual." He strained and put his whole body into the motion but it wasn't budging. Finally he let go backing off from the door.

"Yeah, yeah I can take a hint." Tedros walked up to the door rolling out his neck. He pulled a pair of gloves from his pockets and slid them one onto each hand. "You'd be lost without me Benji" A flash of his pearly whites as he grabbed hold of the handle. His muscles rippled through his clothing ebony flesh hardening as he drug out the handle by force extending six inches. Twisting the handle to a vertical position all it took was a quick slam of force to send it right back into place.

The gears whirred to life separating the two halves of the metal door. One part lifted up into the ceiling the other sunk down into the ground leaving behind a small hill as the rubber covering sealed it back over. They weren't getting the door closed again any time soon.

Ted lead the way walking with confidence down the metal flooring. "You know if this is an invasion you might wind up needing to kill more people." His gun held up against his shoulder with both hands as he looked at the small plaques beside each of the metal doors. "It's not going to get any easier taking a mans life."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Ben spoke with a low sigh. In the shadows he could still see that mans face, hear his voice echoing through his ears before he killed him. When he blinked even for just a moment those eyes bored into him like knives eating away at his sense of self. "Besides, you know about so well as anyone commies aint people."

"A fucking men to that brother." Ted spoke with a nod looking from one side to the other. The place was large for what it was with offices and supply closets abound. "They aint taking our home without a fight" He tightened his hand into a fist for a moment muscles rippling fresh. "Take out a hundred of those bastards before I go down."

"Easy there one man army." Ben spoke with a bit of a chuckle coming to a stop. "You missed the door." Motioning over to the small metal beside the door.

"Now how on earth." Teds voice fell to a grumble as he turned around shoving his pistol right back into the holster. "Second verse same as the first." He went through the motions a loud grinding sound filling the air as the door lowered its way down into the floor and raised its way into the ceiling. "Feller could get himself one hell of a workout opening all these doors."

Ben filled his way into the room. It was pitch black until Ted shone his red light in. On the counter was a computer its screen gone dark. Cabinets lined the walls all done up in a dull shade of beige. The plush carpet indented beneath his dress shoes silencing his footsteps further as he made his way into the room.

Sure enough hanging on the wall was a blueprint of the facility in all its glory. Ben took a look around before pulling open one of the many labeled cabinets, digging through one manila folder after another. "Let's see, we've got the building layout but I think" He trailled off pushing file after file out of the way.

Tedros stepped closer to the massive framed blueprint. "Well hot damn." He shook his head. "Didn't think they'd need this big a facility for some storage and a server farm." The facility was a sprawling mass filled with corridors. "Firing range, labs, swimming pool." He chuckled to himself. "You'd think there'd be more people here."

Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Teds shoulders drooped and his eyes widened as he took a step back. "Well god damn Ben..." He pointed towards the blueprint on the wall letting out another low sigh before practically inhaling his cigarette. "FEV"

There it was clear as day on the blueprints F.E.V. Vats, and Subject Storage. "Well fuck me." Ben couldn't help himself. "I'd seen the protests but I never expected"

"In our own town Benji." Ted finished it off before pulling a fresh cigarette from his pack. He lit it with care muttering under his breath. "Fucking hell." He sat the cigarette into the corner of his mouth letting the old butt fall to the ground. "We're robbing a place researching Fev?" He leaned up against a filing cabinet and let the smoke roll from his mouth. "Smith aint paying enough for this shit."

"Depending on how bad things are topside Smith might not be paying at all." Ben pointed out with a dry tone of voice before motioning over to Ted. "Shine that light back over here I can't see a damn thing without it."

"Ah, yeah." Ted leaned back over to one side illuminating the file cabinet in a bright red glow. "Sorry, I'm a little out of it." A pause. "What are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for a blueprint of the ventilation ducts." Ben started pulling out files and setting them on top of the cabinet. "Every room in this place is well ventilated, if we're lucky I can find one of these grates." He kicked a nearby metal vent sending out an echoing thud. "That should lead us past the locked doors and to the generator room."

"Then we can turn the power back on and get the hell out of here." Ted nodded his head. "I'm following you."

"The problem is that this sorting system is a real piece of work." Ash fell from his cigarette down into the open cabinet. "It's easily in my top ten worst."

"High praise for someone who works with the corps."

"Don't get me started." Ben pulled out a few more files before sliding shut the cabinet and opening a new drawer. "Everyone has their own custom sorting plan." He pulled the cigarette from his mouth and stuck it back behind his ear. "Dewy decimal, alphabetical, publication." He shook his head slowly. "No standardization with any of them, but they still expect you to get files for them quick as a flash."

"One of the many reasons I could never do corp life." Ted chuckled looking over towards the manila envelops left on top of the cabinet. "What are those for?" He motioned with his head towards the stack.

"Insurance." Ben fluttered from one document to the next. "Not everything here is going to be on the mainframe." His eyes darted across the rows and rows of paperwork. "And if this place was researching FEV Smith is bound to pay us truck loads for the info." His hand glid across the rows before he slammed shut the next drawer still getting a feel for the sorting system. "Might even be enough for us both to retire to one of those Caribbean islands."

"Always wanted to go to one of those." Ted looked up towards the ceiling. "Sun, Surf, Sand." He counted off on his fingers. "All the seafood you can eat all the rum you can drink" A smile crossed his face. "Fucking love seafood." He squinted his eyes just a moment letting out a low Mmm. "Gods gift to man."

"I got family out that way." Another drawer slammed back shut. "Cousin of mine runs a fishing boat off the coast." He pulled out another file with an interesting bright red TOP SECRET printed on its surface. "Says the waters are the clearest you'll ever see, that you can look right down to the sand from the surface, and see all the fish."

"Hot damn, count me in." Tedros got a far off look in his eyes. "Just imagine how nice it must be out there." His smile fell to more of a smirk. "Be a damn fine change of scenery from this place that much is sure."

"Damn fine." Ben echoed finally pulling out one last folder. He moved over to the nearby table and pulled it open spreading the image out across the table.

"Alright let's take a look here." His hands traced across the latticework of vents leading from one room to the next. "It looks like our best bet is going to be cutting through the vats." He tapped his finger down onto the paper with a bit of a grimace. "There's a vent that leads straight to the generator."

"Oh great." Tedros took a drag from his cigarette looking at those little markings. "I thought this day didn't have enough danger." A pause for a puff. "Could do with a few more freaky ass mutants."

"If we're lucky the security should be on the same network as the rest of the base." Smoke rolled off from behind Ben's ear. "If that's the case we should only have to worry about staying out of the goo." He taps the paper once more. "I'll climb through the vents and get the generator started up, you meet me at the stairs and we'll figure out what to do from there."

"I'd feel better if we lit this whole place up." Ted held his hands together before moving them out in the motion of a mushroom cloud. "Level the whole building and bury every trace of those abominations."

"One step at a time Ted" Ben patted the taller man on the shoulder before placing his briefcase down onto the counter. He dialed in the combination and clicked it open on the desk before moving back over to the filing cabinet. "First we worry about running out of air." He looked through the documents one last time before stuffing them in the case and slapping it back shut.

"Yeah dying here isn't high on my list of goals." Ted turned away from the door pulling back out his pistol. "Not that I don't trust your program Benji, but I trust my gun more."

Ben pulled his own pistol holding it up against his shoulder, he chambered a round into place looking down the sights. "I don't blame you, security is going to be tighter then a nuns asshole, and there's no guarantee it's all on the same system. The one thing we have going is no turrets."

"My money's resting that we'll still have to deal with protectrons at the least though" Ted dug into his uniform. The Velcro pulled open on one of the many pouches and he pulled out a fresh clip. He dumped out the old into his hand before racking the slide sending an unspent round flying right into his open hand. A slide of the wrist sent the unspent round back into the clip.

Right after the old clip was slotted into a pouch and the new one shoved into place. "I'm not taking any chances when we're down there, best to load up on the AP rounds."

Ben nodded in agreement. "Yeah, can't rely on the programs for everything." He followed the motions then held out his hand. Tedros slapped a clip into Ben's grip who slapped it right into the base of his 10mm autopistol. "Times like this I wish I splurged for the folding stock on this thing."

"Remind me on our way out and I'll snag you one from the armory." Ted leveled his pistol looking down towards the door for a moment practicing his grip.

"Wait armory?" Ben looked over towards Ted for a long moment. "Then why the hell are we going in with pistols?"

Ted stopped dead in his tracks for a long moment. First he looked to the ground and then to Ben, then back to the ground. His mouth opened and closed as he adjusted his stance. "God damn I'm an idiot."

"Maybe but you're our idiot." Ben walked his way out of the room taking one last look to the map for guidance on the fastest route to the armory. It wouldn't take them long to make that little detour, but the air was starting to get stale, he wasn't sure exactly how much time they would reasonably have before they had to start worrying about the oxygen.

Making their way back to the armory proved a small task only taking about ten minutes travel down the halls of the facility most of that time spent forcing open doors so they could get closer. Eventually their travels guided them to the main armory.

A still under control of his new programming turned to face the two gentlemen. "Ah Lieutenant Colonel, we have a major malfunction on all floors." His saw blade lifted up to his ocular sensor. "All power to the base has been lost, and security has been compromised."

"Keep up the good work soldier, and keep your eyes peeled" Ted barked out with confidence standing tall. He couldn't help but revel in the respect he was receiving for the first time since he'd been booted out of the service. "And open that door, we're going to need some serious firepower if we want to keep this base."

"Sir, yes, sir." Another robotic salute given the proceeded to spin open the door sliding it out into the armory proper.

Ted hadn't gotten a proper look at the place his first time down here, the walls of weapons racks on either side the body armor and grenades. It was a treasure trove of materials and if he had himself a proper team and a flatbed he'd love to clear the whole place out ceiling to floor. It was a gun lovers paradise in all directions.

Ben made his way for the armor first, picking a combat helmet off the shelf and shoving it down onto his head of matted down greasy hair. The briefcase went to one side as he got himself kitted out with a full suit of mark two combat armor. It fit like a glove, well the glove parts did anyway.

"Ah, the mark 2, nice choice." Ted walked over to the armor and began to get himself dressed as well. He already had the uniform but it was worth upgrading to the more impressive armor. "Haven't made enough suits to over-ride the mark one but you'd be hard pressed to find better protection outside of power armor."

"Suits a bit snug though don't you think." Ben pulled at his armor slightly shifting on the spot.

"Maybe if you lost a little bit of weight it'd be a more comfy fit." Ted teased with a smile picking up an assault rifle from the shelf and shoving it in Bens arms. "Armor was designed for soldiers not code monkey's so it's bound to be an awkward fit."

Reaching up onto the shelves Ted grabbed for himself a few EMP grenades slotting them into place on his battle armor. He took his time securing everything before moving over to the ammunition buckets to start loading magazines with 5mm AP rounds. "Hope you don't have trouble putting down a bot." Spoken as he slid one round after another into the magazine his pitch black rifle resting against his shoulder.

"Listen you don't kill a robot." Ben laced up his boots with a bit of a sigh. "It's nothing more then powering the thing down." He looked up towards Teds back. "Taking a life is different, it feels wrong, eats away at my insides like a parasite making itself at home. I can handle a few bots but that feeling in my heart, it was like a chunk of my soul got ripped away."

Ted nodded his head silently loading magazines for a time. He tossed a few towards Ben who holstered them away on his person. "Not going to lie to you and say it gets easier Benji" Slapping a fresh magazine into his rifle. "Not going to let anyone else lie to you either." He walked over back towards the door as Ben rose back to a stand.

"You're either a killer or your not, it's something that comes natural even if it scares us." He took another drag from his cigarette. "You might not be a killer but I'm telling you now there's going to come a time when you've got to do a lot more killing." He blew smoke out of his nostrils. "Or else someone out there's gonna be killing you."

The two men now loaded down with munitions made their way back to the double doors of the FEV Vats. For a time they stood in the darkness looking at the doors in silence. It took Ben to finally break the silence.

"No going back now." Moving over to the side of the door, with the collection of explosives in his hand. He took his time molding and shaping the explosives on the hinges of the large locked door. On the other end Ted did much the same.

They plugged in their wires and moved back to a safe distance pulling a table from one of the nearby rooms for a bit of make shift cover. Ted gave Ben a nod before ducking behind the table and a moment later an explosion rocked the hallway sending the massive double doors tumbling to the floor.

A harsh chemical stench filled the air as the doors fell revealing a large room filled with glass vats. Inside glowing green liquid churned and flowed its way in the massive vats bubbling away in the incandescent glow brought on by the mixture itself.

A half dozen voices filled the air at once as the Assaultrons went into full alert. "Alert, intruder detected" They cried out in their robotic tones before shots filled the air a lone rocket flying overhead.

A pair of EMP's flew out from behind cover sliding across the ground and detonated on impact. The men opened return fire with their rifles pelting the metal men with round upon round. Ben had his heart into it laying down a wall of fire, but he was amateur hour with most of his shots going wide.

Tedros was a well oiled machine who'd gone through more combat operations then some people went through shoes. His shots were short controlled bursts of fire that slammed into the metal forms with a harsh intensity.

Flashes of gunfire illuminated the darkness as the two men pushed forward. The green glow covered the two men completely as they came into the shadows of the massive vats. Robotic voices called out from the dark as they were downed one after another.

High overhead the turrets hung low with their barrels pointed towards the ground. They were posing no threat as the men advanced.

One step at a time saw their progress mounting. A step over the fallen body of an assaultron with its head blown clean open. The walkway was littered with their bodies, blocking up the way in their piles. Ben kicked one of them out of the way sending it careening off the catwalk and crashing into the side of one of the vats.

The glass cracked spider webbing out from the impact of a stray round. Green liquid began to pour its way out onto the ground seeping across the floor. It filled the air with a harsh chemical stench that made its way into everything.

"Oh god" Ted coughed hard the stench seeping its way into his nose. "Smells like a god damn waste dump in here." He ducked down behind the massive metal body of a fallen sentry bot, using it to protect him from a wave of gunfire. They'd already made their way halfway through the room.\

"So how about them all being on the same security system?" Ted called out over the sound of gunfire as a rocket slammed into the side of the downed Sentry Bot sending a shower of metal flying to either side.

"How about that armory?" Ben called back twisting the top off of an EMP grenade. He chucked it with full force beaning the bot square in the head. A flutter and flash of electricity arched out causing the bot to spasm on the spot before collapsing to the ground with smoke pouring off from it.

Teds rifle clicked spending the last round. He dropped it to the ground before pulling out his 10mm pistol from its holster. Vaulting over the downed sentry bot Ted leapt into action running full force.

Behind him the sentry he'd been using as cover detonated with a small explosion sending parts flying in all directions some landing directly in the massive churning vats of FEV. As he ran ahead he blasted round after round into the front of the Sentry bot before him.

Kicking his feet firm against the ground he lept full force into the air. Propelled by his momentum he made impact onto the robots torso with a clattering bang. One hand held firm onto the shoulder of the automaton while his other hand was firm on the gun aiming it towards the contraptions head.

Again and again he fired round after round into the gargantuan metal man. The shots of his auto pistol thundered out in rapid succession as the Sentry bot began to teeter back. Sparks flew in all directions the colossus tumbling down to the ground sending Tedross flying to the ground.

He skid across the metal catwalk tumbling to a stop just in time for the metal man to burst into flames its power core overloading into a massive explosion which sent shrapnel in all directions.

Ben cried out in pain as his arm was sliced open causing him to drop his own rifle to the ground with a clatter. He blurted one expletive after another clutching onto his forearm as blood flowed down freely through the metal grating.

Ted came back to a stand running over in Ben's direction, his hand reaching down into the dufflebag over his shoulder. "Hold on man." He pulled out two needles, a Mex-X and a Stimpack. "Don't worry, I got you." He called out supporting the partially mangled arm with one hand as Ben cried out in pain.

"Yeah yeah." He injected first the Med-X. "Something to dull the pain." And then a second needle. "And something to actually work."

The bleeding slowed as the contents of the needle entered Ben. It flowed through the veins eventually stopping the bloodloss all together. "Just relax Benji". Teds words were slow as he lowered his friend against the railing of the catwalk. "Let the drugs do their thing."

Silence came back over the walkway. All quiet save for the slow and steady drip of a leaking FEV tank as it poured its contents onto the ground.

"Fuck that hurt." Was all that Ben could say as he looked up towards the ceiling.

"That's shrapnel for you Benji, gift that keeps on giving."

"Yeah well next time keep the receipt."

"Can do." Ted rose up to a stand finally getting a good look at his surroundings. The place was littered with dead bots. Sentry Bots, Assaultrons, Protectrons, 's. All done up in military olive drab. "Let's find that damn vent and get the power back on."

Ben stood back up after a while his stance wobbly at best. The two began their search through the large storage room.

Eventually they found their way to a small hallway lined with glass rooms. At the top of each room were a series of airholes, thick metal doors locking them off.

Inside of the rooms was something of a horror show. Men with green skin, muscles buldging to the brim strapped to beds screaming. The rooms muffled most of the sound but there must have been at least a dozen people here.

They looked inhuman each one standing at least seven feet tall some as much as ten. They were caged like animals thrashing alone in their darkened rooms. In the corner of each hall a Miss Nancy robot sat deactivated waiting instructions on their charging station.

"Jesus Christ." Ben spoke looking from one box to the next. "What the hell did they do to these people."

And at the end of the row silently playing with her Giddyup buttercup was a little girl. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, a dark blue dress covering her body. She was humming to herself.

The song was an old lullaby.

She wasn't tied down. She didn't even look that strange if one ignored the bandages around her head, she was just a little girl playing with her toys in spite of the constant cacophony of screaming that filled the halls.

"Those sick fucks were experimenting on kids." Tedros spat on the ground shaking his head as he took it all in the horrors of science gone too far. "Fuck smith, we're leveling this place on our way out."