Through the black-trimmed halls Kaden walked, his carapace clinking with every step. The halls were dark, and most of the guards were scattered throughout, patrolling or guarding key exits. Much of the Maze was electronically controlled, meaning that security cameras were everywhere. Motion sensors, ID readers, and even laser security had been installed. But even with the hundreds of cells, not a sound besides the clicking of the Security Chief's feet emanated. Nothing could be heard from within the many sound dampeners and lockdown doors. Nothing could get in, and nothing would get out.
Up ahead, Kaden saw movement. A figure, just short of his height walked around a corner silently. Kaden shifted his pose, now walking almost solely on his claws as he carefully placed each foot to silence himself. Closer and closer he came, until he had reached the corner. Raising a blade cautiously, he shifted around and into the other hall.
Before him was a Ninetails, grooming itself quietly. Its gold-white fur glowed faintly in the faded light. Its many tails lay upon the floor, patiently waiting to be stepped on. Kaden lowered his blade, and spoke. "Bishop."
The Ninetails jumped high, tails bursting everywhere, as its fur puffed. Landing, the Ninetails spun about, eyes wide, and panicking. "What the f-" Its amber eyes noted the familiar design and coloration of the scyther. "Oh, sir! It's you!" The Ninetails nervously attempted to regain his posture, wrapping its many tails around its form. "Wha- What are you doing here?"
"You're slacking" Kaden spoke dully, taking a neutral pose as he gazed unapprovingly at the fox. "As for why I'm here, it's my detail tonight." Kaden looked down the hall. "And where is your partner?"
"Oh, Zeus? He's around here somewhere. He told me to continue our patrol and that he'd catch up with me when he was done with some business he was attending. That was about twenty minutes ago." Kaden grunted, peering down the shrouded halls, he saw nothing but the hazy darkness in the distance.
"While you were right to continue your patrol, you should have called it in. That way, we'd know to keep an eye on him. Come. You will find your partner. Where did you last see him?" Kaden said, twitching his blade.
Taking note of his superior's aggravation, the ninetails moved past him and began down the hall they had turned from. "This way, sir. I didn't take any turns for about ten rows. I was hoping he'd have caught up by now."
Through the shadowed halls they went, passing hallway by hallway, cell by reinforced cell. Kaden mentally prepared himself for the chewing out he would give the Arcanine. It was a stubborn one, and had been the source of problems before, but it was an excellent guard, which was why he patrolled the Black Sector each night.
The ninetails turned left, down a hall, leading the scyther through the Maze. The scyther made sure to note where they were in his mental map of the place. The Maze lived up to its name, and was a bad place to get lost in.
They turned a corner to the right, and there they saw Zeus, the Arcanine, collapsed against the wall. From his position, he had been on his way back to meet with his partner. From his position, he was ambushed, his chest fur singed in no way that fire could have ever done to the massive dog's coat.
The Ninetails rushed over, checking to see if his buddy was otherwise fine. Sighing in relief that there was no other sign of injury, he remained worried as the hound did not respond to his calls to wake up. As the fox looked up to his boss worriedly, Kaden nodded, "Activate his collar. A nearby patrol with come to take him to the infirmary. You will join their patrol for tonight, and another partner will be assigned to you until he is fit for duty."
The Ninetails glanced at his larger companion, and moved to activate his collar. Shifting through the fur, he found the trigger, and pushed it, turning a red light on. The signal would inform Control of a downed patrol and a notice to local patrols would be given.
As the scyther walked away, he looked back to see the Ninetails now laying loyally beside his friend. But he had more important things to attend to. He had to find out what caused this.
He was running. He had to get to the source, quickly. He needed to secure the problem, and he could hear it in the distance. Down one hallway, into another, he moved rapidly from area to area, past oblivious cellmates waiting to be broken. He was now in an area without lights. They had been smashed, obliterated, and were now shrapnel beneath his feet. He had heard a faint boom minutes ago from grid A-20, near the Northern corner of the Maze. Few patrols passed through that grid, and he wondered how many had arrived.
As the sounds of battle began to grow louder, he slowed to a stop. Peering about a corner, he could see the reduced wall of one of the labs. How anything could have smashed through that much cement, reinforcements, and metal, he had no clue. But one of the suspects was present.
Observing the scene, he could see a figure, standing tall and powerful, shimmering with a blue energy. Beyond it stood a Manetric, its teeth bared and hackles raised. Against the wall of smashed computers lay the collapsed form of a Feraligator, seemingly out of the fight.
The figure closest to Kaden was speaking, and raised his voice just enough that Kaden could hear. "Ready to surrender, Rockets? Or do you want to join the rest of your team?" Kaden slipped forward, slowly, carefully moving towards the figure. "Well?"
Flame licked the Manetric's mouth as it began to smile. "And what makes you think you have the upper hand?" the feminine voice protested.
"The fact that all you shinies are out of commission and your new leg doesn't look over level twenty." Kaden spotted a Raichu under the Manetric, barely able to support the hound's weight. Kaden recognized the mouse. Alias. But he could not think about it now, as the figure, a lucario, began to charge a ball of shimmering energy. "I'm not usually one to attack non-battlers, but if you won't concede defeat-"
"Big mistake, lucario. After you've worked with us for a while, you won't assume that Team Rocket sends solitary backups." The Manetric held a sly grin on her face.
His cover was blown, and he needed to act quickly. While it did throw him off for a moment, the lucario would likely check briefly with his extra senses. Crouching, Kaden pulled his blades to the side, and prepped his wings. He lunged.
"Are you deaf? I will never-!" The lucario went sprawling across the floor as Kaden pinned him with his foot, a blade to his prey's neck, and another pointing down from above. Behind him, the footsteps of a human guard approached, as the owner of the footsteps released his Pokémon.
"Destiny Bond!" The human shouted to the blue form that appeared. Kaden glanced back before looking back to his captured prey. A wicked smile spread across his face.
"Faint us, and you faint too." The human stepped forward to bind the prisoner from further attempts. Kaden carefully repositioned to allow the human to do his job, until finally the lucario was bound, allowing Kaden to pull off completely.
The manetric and Alias began picking their way through the rubble towards the newcomers. Kaden glanced towards the two, and at the scene of destruction behind them.
As the two approached, the mouse spoke up, "Sir." Kaden glanced, and turned back to the grunt, tapping him with a blade, and pointed at the fainted Feraligator and the Porygon Z he had not noticed before. The human nodded and moved to attend to them.
The manetric chuckled. "A human obeying a scyther? You must be Kaden."
"I am." He looked down at Alias, who was still supporting the manetric's injured leg. But he noticed something off… her tag. It was missing. "Is this lucario responsible for your tag?"
Alias glanced towards the prisoner, "Yes." Kaden looked towards the lucario, then at the scene. Off to the side, the feraligator was coming-to. The human now moved to the porygon.
Grunting, Kaden pointed at the lucario, now calm and listening, "Where did he escape from?" He looked up, to the Manetric which was now sitting on her good legs.
"Anton, my master. Near the East entrance of the Maze. We know the way." She replied.
Kaden looked off towards the depths of the maze. Shifting his weight, he concluded, "We will return him first. Come, Alias." And began heading towards the next grid as those behind him began to follow awkwardly.
The halls were cold in the Black Sector. They were cold in the Maze. It was always cold. But Kaden had learned to ignore it, to focus on the warmth of his core as he proceeded down the halls. The group had collected near the scyther as they proceeded through the dark. Kaden followed, tracking their progress in his mind.
No one spoke as they focused on their thoughts. The lucario seemed uncontent being bound, unable to move. Kaden glanced down some halls as they passed them, wondering quietly if the patrol had picked up Zeus yet. He would check with them when the lucario was sealed away.
As they approached the Eastern wall of the Maze, the feraligator moved forwards to open the door. Light shone in and they were bathed in warmth. Kaden was quietly relieved as the warmer air swept over him, displacing the cold chill of the Maze.
"Now that's a much better sight." A human stood before them as they entered the room. "I would hope you didn't rely on that old wobbuffet trick to subdue him." He spoke to the grunt that had ensured the stalemate of the fight in the Team's favor. Kaden believed him to be one of the Admins.
With the prisoner tossed roughly back into a cage, the grunt spoke, "I hope he doesn't give you any more trouble, sir. He looked like a tough one."
"That's both a blessing and a curse" the man replied, "What was he doing that attracted the Pokémon Chief of Security?" the guard questioned. Kaden stood to the side, listening to the humans talk.
"Nothing, really." He repositioned his hat, "Wobby' and I were sent to reprimand Alias here, and Kaden decided to supervise us. Good thing, too. We wouldn't have been able to grab mister toughie' here otherwise." Kaden grunted quietly.
"Alias? As in the late Christopher's little scout?" the admin kneeled before the mouse.
"You know her old posting?" the grunt inquired, tapping the cage before jerking his hand away from the electrified bars. "I always wondered how she got slapped with an area restriction. They're rare, you know."
"Yes, I did know her previous owner. He did an exceptional job of training a couple of ours for Intelligence." He inspected one of Alias' paws, "If she's picked up just a fraction of Christopher's ability then you're wasting her in Security."
"She'll be wasted even more now seeing her area restriction got breached." The grunt noted. Kaden shifted.
"Really? Why did she breach them?" he looked up curiously, setting Alias' paw down.
"Helpin' your Pokés fight toughie, I suppose." The grunt shrugged.
The admin frowned. "You'll cut her off for that?" It didn't seem right, after Alias went out of her way to ensure Team Rocket could secure the problem. Kaden's blade twitched.
"Rules are rules, I don't got a say in 'em." The grunt dismissedly said. Enough was enough for Kaden. He would not allow for one of the best security units to be terminated for aiding in the recapture of such a rare and dangerous prisoner.
Stepping in, he interrupted the two men, halting their conversation. "Alias, a word." He led the mouse off a short distance before crouching.
"Yes, sir?" The mouse approached.
"Your teacher may have saved you for the last time." He noted, glancing at the humans now watching them.
Curious, the mouse inquired, "What do you mean?"
"Your teacher's reputation may be enough to exchange an execution, for a transfer. Volunteer to help with this one's breaking." He pointed at the caged lucario with a blade. "Do a good enough job and you'll be transferred again into the Training Department. My old offer still stands. Come to my classes, and I will teach you how to fight. Perhaps after I can give you advice on how to break captives."
He stood up, and moved towards the cage. "That is an order, Alias. I will not allow for a vital scout to be lost for a victory." He tapped the cage, feeling its electricity tingle the nerves near his blade.
Now he had to relay to proposition to the humans. Stepping up to them, he pointed bluntly, from Alias, to the cage, and then to the guard. Unfortunately, the admin seemed puzzled. "Do you know what he's saying?" he asked the grunt.
A short exchange between the two ensued. Kaden did not like the shortsightedness of humans. They could achieve much, but even members of Team Rocket fell in the category of the casino's many customers.
The admin, finally, turned to Alias, "You remember some of Christopher's techniques?" the mouse paused for a moment, as Kaden watched the scene. With Alias' answer, he concluded, "Well then, I accept."
"What?" The grunt asked, seemingly mishearing his superior.
"Alias will work under me for a while, and assist in the training of this Lucario. Drop her area restrictions and I'll supervise her instead." He explained. Kaden smiled, content with the plan. But the grunt did not seem to like the answer.
"I can't allow that. There's no leeway in a Black area breach." He fussed, giving no quarter to what was about to be allowed.
"There is, at the Chief of Security's discretion."
The grunt was raising his voice, "I'd have to go back and ask him, but he's off duty at the mo-"
"The Pokémon Chief of Security has equal standing to the human Chief." The superior explained. Kaden smiled widely, enjoying the recognition of power and authority he held.
The grunt stopped, surprised at the news. "Really? Why would they give any Pokémon a rank that high?"
"Because you don't speak their language. So, do you have Alias' ball?" he concluded.
"Yeah. So, I just file a transfer report?" It was finally over. The problem was resolved. Alias had been saved, and another grunt had learned to respect Kaden's authority in the future.
As the ball was being passed over, the boom of the alarms emanated in their ears, causing even the Chief of Security to drop to his knees with his blades on the ground. His heightened senses made him unable to focus as the alarm screeched at him.
As he regained focus, he could faintly hear the guards as they faded back into hearing, "-the mass-breakout alarm! Prisoners are escaping!" Kaden forced himself to stand, as he tried to think past the horrendous alarms. He whacked the side of a blade against one of the humans, unsure of how hard he hit, in his semi-dazed state. Roughly pointing around the room, he instructed the two to take their positions.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, his gaze came to Alias, who was now covering her ears from the noise. It was the one time Kaden wished he could do the same, but his blades would only make it worse as they echoed the siren back.
"Stay here, Alias. You are no longer in the Security Department. I will get someone to cover your post." He flinched. He had to get to the control room for the Black Sector.