Prologue, Chapter 2: Shock

Dust fell in grey sheets. Rocks buried everything. Black was his vision…

Mandaiyar awoke on the floor, lying prostrate. Every inch of him felt hurt, and for several seconds he worried that he was now paralyzed. His medical status flashed in his mind:

Minor Lacerations detected. Foreign matter inhaled. General minor bodily trauma. Overall Health Level: 92%.

Joseph grimaced. He rarely got down to 92%. He'd been shot a couple times and made it lower, but it was rare for him to be this hurt. His grimace deepened as he stood up with sore legs, brushing dust off himself. He began to check his gear:

Flashlight: check. Armor: intact. Radio: check. Weapon: check. He pulled out his radio, turned to regular Sector C security frequency, and asked, to anyone that listened: "This is Mandaiyar. Is anyone there? Repeat, is anyone there?"

He waited several seconds, but there was no response. This greatly worried him, as at any time of day in the facility there must be at least 2 operating security guards in Sector C to assist anyone who needs assistance. Believing unconfirmed worry unproductive, he began to rationalize in his head what might have happened:

Perhaps a stray plane got lost over New Mexico and crashed here. That's happened before, and they've even gotten close the facility before…but why is no one from C still communicating? There'd be at least someone, surely. He decided to rule out this theory, as the chances of it being the correct conclusion were slim to none. Perhaps an earthquake hit the area. Given that it was a big one, it probably would knock down radio towers and knock out our communications. It probably would also collapse the tunnel. It didn't account for the booms, but Joseph thought it was the most likely theory, and decided not to try to talk to anyone by radio, assuming that there was no way they could hear him.

He looked behind him to scan the way to Sector A, but, discomfortingly, it was completely blocked. There was no way for him to get to SA and check for survivors, and, being the only upright building in the base, it was far more likely to have collapsed than any other of the base's facilities. Joseph realized there was nothing he could do, and continued on back to the Sector C entrance. Strangely, the guard was missing, even though it was their responsibility to stay and help guide anyone in the tunnels in the case of an emergency. This said, it would have been more likely for the guard, their view was obstructed by the dust, to have only seen the rubble and not Joseph, and decided to go upstairs and help any survivors.

He decided to follow the presumed path of the guard, but as he head up the stairs, he saw an omen forever accepted as being bad:

A trail of blood.

He also heard some sort of radio chatter, though he was too far away to hear it. Mandaiyar decided to follow the trail of blood, as this may have been an injured survivor who need assistance. He turned the corner, and looked around. All he could see, though, was the dead body of the guard who had been standing at the entrance to Sector C. He could hear the radio's message more clearly now. It said: "This is Dr. Alexander Hamilton of the Sector C Office Complex. There has been an earthquake, and we know that there are survivors trapped below. Head out into the main lobby. Do NOT HEAD to the Armory or the Office Complex, as both areas are unstable and partially caved in. I repeat, this is…"

The same message played over and over again, repeating itself. It was obviously meant to be heard. He had never heard the name Dr. Alexander Hamilton, but it they might have been someone he didn't know about. Something else was off…

The Office Complex and the Armory had both been designed to not cave in. Granted, Joseph did not know the magnitude of the earthquake, but he was fairly certain that they wouldn't just collapse. His eyes drifted over to the body of the guard, and he decided to examine it closer. The body appeared more or less intact, but the guard, his chest upturned, had a shocked expression on his face, his mouth still open. Had he been bleeding to death, this wouldn't have been. Mandaiyar checked the chest… and he saw it. There, a puncture in the armor, regularly colored in order to hide the wound…a bullet wound. Closer examination revealed it to have cleanly come through the Kevlar. An armor piercing bullet.

It all clicked then. Had it been an accidental shooting by a security guard – even that would have been sketchy – the bullet wound wouldn't have been clean, and someone would have moved the body or tended to the victim. No, someone meant to kill the guard. They also probably set up the message to lure survivors into the lobby. Whoever it was, they were going full Revenge of the Sith clone trooper on the survivors. A terrifying thought popped into Joseph's mind. Kate, he thought. His younger sister, his only family, quite possibly the only person in the entire facility he really loved. She was in Sector E, right in the crossfire.

He saw a nearby vent entrance, and he broke it down, about to enter. He crouched, and then suddenly an idea popped into his head. He moved back to the body. The guard was completely disarmed of weapons, but strapped to his belt were three fragmentation grenades. Mandaiyar took them, and strapped them to his belt.

He moved into a crouching position, and crawled into the vent.