Hello there, my fellow readers! Before we begin the next chapter, I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you who have reviewed and commented over the years that I've been on Fanfiction. Right now, I'm happy to say that Light has over 100 reviews, and I can't stop thanking you enough. :)
I'm also giving a shout-out to BusyLovingChipmunks, whose immense contribution of Operation: Blackout has compelled me to split yet another chapter in two for you reading conveniences. Despite the massive changes I've made to this part of his story, I hope he'll be able to recognise his voice somewhere in these words.
Happy reading! :D
Chapter 16: Knight Fall
Unfortunately for the men still flailing about in the blackened room, Stella's vision was now sharper than a hawk's.
The dark gave her powers unlike anything she'd ever felt before, and it rushed through the membranes of her wings, whirling around and slicing through thin air.
She sent out a massive gust which slammed into three workers, and they went flying across the room before being thrown against the cold metal wall.
Before the fourth man in the corner had a chance to yell for help, Stella flashed forward, clamping her tiny talons onto an empty chair. With her new-found strength, she swung the chair straight at him.
His cries of shock were muffled by the sound of metal, wheels and fluff slamming right into his chest, sending him head-over-heels before crashing headfirst onto the floor.
The little bat swelled up with pride at the sight of her handiwork: four workers down and out for the count. With a final smirk, she hopped back onto the main computer controls. There were hundreds of keys, switches and buttons on that keyboard, but after a quick scan, Stella kept her talons crossed as she pressed the nearest button.
The monitor flared back to life.
You didn't need to be born a genius or techno-savvy to know the basics of operating a computer.
Clicking a few keys and using a talon to operate the track-pad, she finally came upon the facility's alarm system listings. Prometheus's sections were outlined in complicated black and green columns, and it took Stella a while before she understood what the screen was trying to tell her about its security installments.
The entire base was packed full with cameras lurking behind every corner. Most of the high-maintenance rooms had laser-detectors, finger-code scanning doors, and even a couple of auto-turret Taser-cannons seemed to be mounted in the high-level rooms.
Strangely enough, the only rooms left unprotected were the private offices on the first and third floors – and the main control room which Stella now found herself in.
Her mouth parted into a huge, wide grin as she located the master-switch, a gleaming red button printed with the words: Security-Shutdown Mode.
Not wanting to waste precious time, she hopped onto the keyboard and sat her furry little weight onto the button, her ears wiggling with glee. For a puny fruit bat, she just took out the entire security output in Prometheus, and now she felt ready to take on the rest of the world.
From the monitor's display, Stella saw a certain silver-furred wolf standing right outside the control room, and she could almost picture the look of satisfaction on his face when he saw the sign above him flash "Security Disabled".
Now all she had to do was locate the door controls. Heavy-security doors like the main front one had certain locks on them, but since they were all disabled, Stella had total access to remotely open any security door in the base.
Scanning the first floor map, she spotted the little green dot labeled: 'Front door'.
There was a loud click, and the door slid open.
Satisfied, Stella turned around, just in time as Faolan bounded straight into the control room.
"There you are!"
Stella hopped onto her friend's furry shoulder. "Phase one accomplished, yup yup!"
"Indeed it is, my friend. You did well," assured Faolan. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of the four unconscious men on the floor. "Didn't give you too much trouble, did they?"
Stella shook her head. "Those boys went down down! What dumb dumbs!"
Faolan gave a jovial bark. "Now, shall we let Aaron know of our progress?"
As the three chipmunks peered out into the semi-darkened hallway, all they could make out was the multiple dim blue lights from the ceiling bouncing harshly off the metal floors. The space leading them forward was nothing but an eerie and mysterious glow.
Rhodas flashed an arm out as he caught sight of a camera in the hallway corner. Aaron and Phelan shrunk back against the walls to avoid being sighted.
"Check if Faolan and Stella have turned the systems off yet," Rhodas hissed.
Right as Aaron reached up to press on his earpiece, a voice came through loud and clear.
"Faolan here. Stella has successfully deactivated all security systems and we are currently in the main control room. I repeat, all security systems are down and you are clear."
Phelan and Rhodas gave each other a quick grin.
Aaron was all smiles too as he spoke back to his earpiece. "Good to hear, buddy. Your task now is to stay there. If we run into any more tight spots, we'll let you know."
"Aye, just give us the signal."
Aaron turned and nodded to the two chipmunks.
"Right. Let's do this." Phelan pulled the neck warmer up over his nose and dived out into the hallway. The other two followed as swiftly as shadows behind the panther-like chipmunk.
"Alright, we're heading up the flight of stairs, two turns to the left and through the fire exit at the end of the hallway," Aaron informed them.
"Got it," Phelan replied as they sprinted through the hallways on all fours.
Their momentum came to a sudden halt as two men stepped out into the opening, their backs turned to face them.
Aaron gave a quick signal with his paw to the others. Phelan sprinted, quick as a bullet, while Rhodas stayed back, both paws out, tips aglow with a dark black wraithlike essence.
Two stars of hellfire formed between his fingers, spinning rapidly in their unholy energy.
Right as Phelan came up close with the men, Rhodas hurled his weapons.
Their searing screams whistled through the air before slicing straight into the men's shoulders. Both gasped in shock from the sudden stab of pain, grasping at their shoulders and beginning to turn around.
Phelan's paws clenched with fury as they combusted with the wrath of hellfire, his arms ablaze with the shadowy flames.
In the split of a second, Phelan slid perfectly between the two confused men. He slammed his arms into their ankles, the force of the flames acting like a massive blast. They were immediately thrown off their feet and onto the floor, their world turning black before they could get the chance to scream.
Phelan picked himself up and dusted his smoking paws, admiring the results.
"Well done," said Aaron as he and Rhodas stepped between the men and walked up to Phelan.
Once they had dragged the men into a nearby supply closet, the three chipmunks raced each other through the hallway and up the stairs.
Faolan had scanned the maps on every floor with the aid of the monitors in the control room. Stella was helping him with the keys, as his paws were far too big.
"Alright, I'll let him know." Faolan smiled.
He pressed his earpiece in. "Aaron, it's Faolan. The second floor's a perfect spot for a minefield. There's a total of eight secondary turbine generators, two in each room. The third floor is primarily used for all storage and such. It only has two turbine generators, first room to your left from the stairs. Oh, and it's where the cafeteria's at, so keep an eye out for extra guards.
"What about the main generator?" Aaron spoke back.
"Right you are. It's on the fourth top floor of the facility, second room on the right."
"Excellent. Thank you, Faolan."
Rhodas sent another throwing star zooming through the air. It sliced into a steam pipe from the ceiling, which groaned as it snapped and fell from the impact – right onto a guard's head.
"Nice move," said Aaron. They had finally reached the second floor, and were now at the first door.
Phelan opened it slowly, peering inside. "Nobody here," he whispered.
As the three of them darted into the room, Aaron sprung immediately into action. He pulled his backpack off, unzipped the front pocket and pulled out several small, black stones.
"More obsidians?" asked Phelan as Aaron pressed a handful of them into his paw.
"To be more precise, these are obsidians loaded with a cluster of kinetic energy. I've been saving them up for this moment," Aaron beamed.
"Uh… exactly what do they do?"
"What else? Detonation," said the golden-furred chipmunk proudly.
From under his black, painted mask, Phelan raised a furry eyebrow.
"In English, what you're holding right now is a simple, but powerful home-made grenade – ready to go boom!" explained Rhodas, putting a strong emphasis on the last word.
"Correct, but there seems to be a problem," said Aaron. "You see, like every other bomb, these stones need that extra spark to ignite the kinetic energy and cause the explosion. In other words, we need a fuse to set it off."
He craned his neck up to stare at one of the massively large turbine generators, before turning back to Phelan. "So, what I have in mind is this – perhaps you could use your hellfire to give these babies that extra kick to get the job done?"
Phelan bit his lip. The only time he'd ever had to call a great amount of his energy into another living being was his attempt to rescue Soron from the clutches of death. Back then, it almost sapped the life force out of Phelan, and he swore never to attempt anything like that again.
"I'll see what I can do," said Phelan, rubbing his paws together.
"Excellent." Aaron carefully laid out all the obsidians in rows of four, about twenty of them ready to go off.
Phelan picked up two at a time and began to concentrate. Each attempt seemed more difficult than the last, but he pushed every unwanted thought away as he channeled his strength into the stones. A cold shiver coursed through his body, while the stones began to glow with a warm and radiant pulse, like a little fire in each paw.
Easy does it, Phelan. You don't want to exhaust yourself.
By the time he got to the last stone, Phelan looked no worse than a trembling leaf. Before he could tumble over, Aaron and Rhodas had rushed up to the panther-like chipmunk and grabbed a shoulder on each side.
"Easy does it, Phelan. You okay?" said Aaron.
Phelan took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm fine. Come on, we've got a mission to finish."
While Aaron put the now-glowing stones back into his backpack, Phelan hopped over, setting one of the stones in a notch on the generator; Rhodas doing the same to the other turbine next to it.
"Now, they're ready to explode, but you can still throw them for the big impact," said Aaron, handing them more obsidians. "Alright, split up, enter each room, place a stone on the generators, and we'll meet back up on the third floor."
The three chipmunks gave each other a reassuring nod, before vanishing into the darkness once more.
Faolan was still scanning every inch of the huge screen when Aaron's voice flared in his ear.
"Alright. We've covered three floors and are now making our way to the fourth. Anything we should know about?"
"Well, I've got some bad news. Turns out the main generator room is guarded by an extremely large metal door, locked with multiple security levels."
"What happened to 'all' security being disabled?"
Faolan bared his fangs in frustration.
"It still is, but this door happens to be disconnected from the main control room. Plus, it's got its own security – and we can't open it unless we have a wireless remote."
"So, what happens next?" asked Rhodas. "We ambush the manager and make him give us the keys to the doors?"
In the silence that followed, Faolan could almost hear Aaron rubbing his paws with a slight edge of mischief.
"If we can't get the keys, I say we make them ourselves," the golden-furred chipmunk chuckled.
Faolan didn't like where this was going. "You blow that door, and we'll have the entire base on us within seconds."
Aaron checked his watch. They had already been in enemy territory for eight minutes.
"That's fine. We've been here long enough. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can leave."
He tapped a button which would patch his voice to all the other earpieces, but not before turning to address Phelan and Rhodas.
"Alright guys, we're about ready to commence the final stage. Scar and Kira, you're free to enter and destroy all the turbines on floor one. Rhodas, Phelan: we'll blow up the main generator here. Faolan and Stella, get out of the control room now. Don't stop for anything else - just regroup and escape."
"Roger that," Scar, Kira and Faolan said.
Aaron turned to Phelan, who was staring at the giant metal door looming before them. "Think you're up for a challenge?"
The panther-like chipmunk grinned as he nodded and stepped back a few feet, his paws glowing a dark, wraith-like purple.
All that built-up energy in his paws whirred and crackled for several moments before the air around began to shimmer massively. Phelan lowered his head and focused all body and soul into his paws.
He raised them slowly, aiming at the door…
"NOW!" Aaron shouted.
Scar and Kira burst through the front door.
Faolan picked up Stella and crashed out of the control room.
The main generator door shattered to pieces as the colossal blast shook the entire building.
"Whoa…" Rhodas mumbled, standing back on his feet.
"Come on, let's go!" Aaron shouted through the din as he picked himself up and dashed into the generator room.
The golden-furred chipmunk began tossing the hellfire-fused obsidian stones in every direction and setting them off, every explosion as furious a dragon that had just been awoken from its sleep.
The blasts started bringing down the whole building, where multiple poles and wires connected all over hung dangerously from the ceiling.
Rhodas and Phelan were in action, hurling their hellfire blasts and throwing stars, making quick work of the wires and turning them to shreds.
Aaron threw an obsidian right into the heart of the main generator. The force of the blast reduced its core machinery to a lump of molten metal.
He signaled to Phelan and Rhodas. "Right, we're done! Clear out now!"
The ground floor was already in complete chaos by the time the three chipmunks made it down.
Most of the workers had regained consciousness again, and were now trying to save themselves, scrambling about like ants being flushed out of their colony by a storm.
A massive fire storm that was slowly consuming every last electrical circuit and turbine.
Faolan and Kira shoved aside a couple more workers as Scar and Stella piled in their strengths to destroy the last turbine generator.
All six of them ran to the front door, where they met up with Aaron.
"Good work, team. You all worked quicker than I thought!" said the golden-furred chipmunk.
"And just when I thought I could finally destroy some stuff!" barked Faolan.
However, somebody wasn't ready to leave yet.
"Phelan!" yelled Aaron as he watched the panther-like chipmunk push forward and ran to the middle.
He looked up at the large machine rising from beneath the floor, all the way up to the tall ceiling. Without wasting another moment, Phelan stepped back, charging up his paws again for a massive blast.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? You're one step closer to turning yourself into chipmunk soup!" Rhodas had just stepped up to Phelan's side.
"But –"
"Stand back, I'll take it from here!" said Rhodas, charging his paws up as well.
He stood his ground, bringing his throwing stars to life with a flick of his wrist while he waited for the right moment.
Then he struck.
The fiery stars tore right through the giant machine, snapping it into half from the ceiling-bound wires and plummeting towards the darkness beneath.
"Boo-yah!" cheered Rhodas as he gave Phelan a high-five.
They ran back to the group, heads held high and their hearts bursting with pride as they walked towards the front door.
The mission had been a success, and nothing was going to stand in their way –
A sharp, high-pitched yelp made every inch of Phelan's fur jump, and he turned around.
The world slowed right to a halt as he saw Faolan clutching his chest, the bullet wound appearing in the wolf's side while a pool of dark crimson trickled down his belly and paws.
Right there and then, Faolan's eyes rolled back in his head.
And the silver-furred wolf collapsed like a ton of bricks.
There were a multitude of voices, consumed with panic and fear, screaming endlessly through the air. It took Phelan seconds to realize his voice was just one of them.
"FAOLAN!" The entire Arch rushed to their fallen comrade's side, but Phelan and Stella got to him first.
The wolf still had a beating pulse in his paws, but it was fading with each passing second, and he was bleeding fast.
Stella was in hysterics. "Faolan, you dumb dumb! Don't die on me, no no!" she shrieked, beating her tiny wings on Faolan's massive chest.
Phelan held the struggling bat steady. "Calm down, Stella. He'll be alright. But we've got to get him out of here – and fast!"
He placed Faolan's limp arm over his shoulder and hoisted him onto his back when all of a sudden, a bullet whizzed past his ear.
"What the –" Phelan spun around with one paw glowing massively in darkness. But in his blind fury, he mindlessly fired the orb of darkness in the direction behind him.
It slammed right into a nearby guard holding a gun in his hand – the same one that had shot Faolan. The man yelled in shock as he was thrown backwards, slamming into the yellow gate surrounding the now destroyed machine in the middle of the floor.
The gate groaned and bent under his massive weight, tilting him over the edge.
Phelan quickly realised his horrible mistake.
"No!" He took off towards the man, who had dropped his gun.
The man looked back at Phelan, and panicked, spotting his gun on the other side of the bent gate. Thinking that some crazy panther-like creature was about to attack him, he leaned over the gate frantically trying to reach for his only means of protection.
"Let it go!" Phelan shouted, reaching out helplessly as he saw the holds of the bent gate tearing quickly.
But right as he grabbed ahold of the gun and aimed it directly between Phelan's eyes… the gate snapped.
The man's screams rang throughout the walls as Phelan watched him tumble over the edge, swallowed up by the darkness.
There was no way he could survive that fall.
For a moment, Phelan's outstretched paw hung there like an empty soul. Then he screamed as he clenched his fist and pounded on the gate with all his might.
How could he let something as stupid as that happen? The mission had been going so well! They had done all they could to take out every worker and guard without severely injuring them. They had successfully planted a bomb in every turbine and even destroyed the entire first floor.
But all it took was one idiot of a guard and a bullet to send everything down the drain.
Phelan didn't hear Aaron shouting his name. The world beyond him was empty, bleak and hopeless.
He didn't notice Rhodas and Aaron supporting the weight of Faolan on both their shoulders, groaning from all their efforts of hoisting the wolf off the ground.
Nor did he realise that Scar had roughly grabbed onto him and was pulling him away from the gate.
Aaron, Rhodas, and Kira were now dragging Faolan along down the steps and into the parking lot of Prometheus.
"Kira, keep an eye on Faolan! Check for any internal signs in case he gets worse! We've got to get back to HQ immediately or he'll die!" Aaron ordered as he ripped his cloak off and tied it around Faolan's bleeding chest.
"Why can't we just pick up a car and drive?" asked Rhodas.
Kira met his eyes with a deadpan look. "Because driving cars are for lazy bums and sissies. Plus, you're not thinking straight. If we steal a registered vehicle, how long will it take before they trace us back to Oakridge?"
"And that's just the least of our worries," growled Scar as the seven of them crouched behind a car.
By now, the security guards had formed a defensive line in front of the building and were advancing slowly towards the parking lot, guns at the ready.
The Arch could hear the ongoing, relentless rattle of bullets raining down upon them, bouncing harmlessly off the car's gleaming surface.
"Any ideas right now would be greatly appreciated!" yelled Aaron over the endless firing.
Scar had reverted back into his vampire form, flashing his newly-regenerated wings and extended fangs. "I say we fight back and take them all out!"
Kira appeared to be the only one keeping his cool throughout the tumult. "You want to face a pile of machine guns and batons? Be my guest, but I'm not risking my neck for this."
"Any other ideas? Phelan? Phelan!" Aaron ducked down just as another bullet missed his head by an inch.
The panther-like chipmunk was still slumped against the car's rear end, not caring if the world around him was falling to pieces.
"Damn it Phelan, pull yourself together NOW!" Aaron roared as he grabbed Phelan and shook him roughly by the collar. When that didn't work, he slapped Phelan across the cheek.
Perhaps all it took was that single strike to jolt him back into his senses, but Phelan finally snapped out of his trace. And just as another bullet bounced off the car and almost hit Faolan, something inside of him… snapped.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his obsidian – his only means of contact with the Arch, and was just about to make a move when Aaron gripped tightly onto his hoodie.
Instead of waiting to hear Aaron's orders, Phelan shoved his leader's fist aside as he shouted back. "Say what you want, Aaron, but I didn't come all this way here for nothing! I'm going to hit them where it hurts the most! Because nobody messes with the Arch, and nobody messes with liberty!"
Rage consumed the panther-like chipmunk from his painted face to the tips of his toes as he stormed out to face the onslaught. But it was enough to give him the strength he needed to concentrate all his willpower into the last obsidian clenched in his paw.
They want to play hard ball with me? I'll give them a hard ball alright!
He heard the empty click of guns, and knew at once that it would be seconds before the enemy could reload. There was only one shot, and he had to make it count.
Phelan leapt forward, standing face to face against the confused guards who had lowered their guns.
"You guys wanna play rough? Okay!"
He wound up his paw as though he was a pitcher ready to throw a baseball, before yelling at the top of his lungs:
"SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!"
And he hurled the obsidian, straight as an arrow.
It screamed like a banshee through the clear night sky, faster than the curious eye could pick up, gaining enough speed for a head-on collision.
The guards were baffled enough by the sight of the panther-like chipmunk that they failed to notice a charged-up stone whiz dangerously past their ears, or the fact that it shot right into the gaping hole of Prometheus.
Then the gates of hell broke loose.
The wave of the explosion swept everyone, including Phelan and the Arch, off their feet while the skies cried out in a loud, furious red.
The guards no longer appeared to be concerned with apprehending the culprits. Their number one priority would be to Prometheus, and they rushed back to save the power house.
Except right now, it resembled nothing but one huge roaring flame.
As for Phelan, the rage which fuelled the explosion hadn't entirely left him, but there was creeping up his spine – something he'd never experienced before.
It wasn't satisfaction from putting a bunch of oppressors back into their rightful place.
It wasn't sorrow from having spilt the blood of the innocents.
Phelan's nostrils caught a sharp whiff of guilt in the air, followed by the stench and realization that he'd been… betrayed.
He padded solemnly back to the car, ignoring the uncomfortable silence brought about by his fellow team mates staring uneasily at him.
For once, Rhodas had nothing to say about his hero and idol.
Scar's words might've been as sharp as his fangs, but they just stuck in his throat, as though parched from a lack of blood.
Even the void, lifeless expression on Kira's face was a sign that he wasn't expecting this to happen.
Aaron's uneasy eyes met Phelan's furious gaze for a second, then tore them away as the golden-furred chipmunk heaved a sigh.
"Let's go home."
The police arrived in the next twenty minutes, but not a single piece of evidence or a clue could point out that five chipmunks, a wolf and a bat had ever been at the scene of crime in the first place.
Instead, they found themselves face to face with the smoldering, crumbling remnants of a once proud and mighty powerhouse.
To Be Continued...
If you thought Phelan being a member of the Arch was bad news, think again. This is only just the beginning...
Until then, see you in the next chapter, and please don't forget to add to the review list. Thanks again! :)
"Always believe in your stories."
~ Wind