"This happened before I joined the Alliance," said Whitney to the others "so I'd like a reminder on this Glass person and why he's such a thorn in our side."
"Phillip Glass was an exception engineer," began Damien "we learnt about him through Cassius during our initial interactions. Glass was meant to succeed Mr. Freeman in the event the latter got a case of conscience later on."
"We only met Glass once or twice," he continued "but during those times we could tell that he had a deep interest in Siren technology and wanted to unlock its potential."
"Time passed and Glass stayed silent. Meanwhile Freeman and Cassius met their untimely demise. We naturally assumed that Glass would have no way of contacting us."
"That was until two weeks ago," said Lakshmi "he came to the base and was eager to show us his project. He was able to turn a human into a Hybrid, without requiring any Siren technology."
"That's incredible," said Whitney "with that we'd have a standing army that we could send into battle at any time."
"That's what we thought as well," said Lakshmi "Omega's way of converting a human to a Hybrid was a painful but elegant process. Replacing body parts like the tissue and bones with metal while preserving the vital organs."
"Glass' version lacked the elegance that Omega had," said Ingrid, shuddering a little "his Hybrids were abominations. A mangled mixture of metal and flesh, it was a horrifying sight to behold."
"I thought I saw all kinds of horror before," added Byron "this war proved me wrong."
"Needless to say, we wanted to have nothing to do with Glass and dismissed him immediately," said Ingrid "his experiments were never meant to see the light of day."
"In hindsight, we should have shot the bastard then and there," said Byron "would have saved us from dealing with this mess."
"The attack was most likely in retaliation for what we did," said Byron "no doubt he was aiming for us before turning his attention to James."
"And now you're scared that he'll blab about his dealings with you to James," said Whitney and the group nodded.
"Glass is a survivalist," said Ingrid "that freak will do anything he can to prolong his life. If selling us out to James means he gets to live longer then you can bet he'll do just that."
"All we can do now is wait and see what happens," said Whitney, furrowing her brow. "If we try anything, it'll only make them more suspicious of us."
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Akagi watched in concern as her husband slowly and steadily made his way out of the hospital towards the courtyard where the rest of the team was waiting. After receiving a severe talking down to from Vestal, the resident nurse stuck a particularly powerful pain killer in James' system then sent him on his way.
"Do you remember the time limit?" she asked.
"Sure… I do," he said, blinking a couple of times. Vestal gave James a dose of Ketamine, a drug that dulled the pain in his right arm. She made sure to give him a light dose that only lasts for ninety minutes. That time limit meant that the team had to complete the mission within a limited frame before the effects start wearing off.
When the couple reached the team, the girls automatically noticed how different the Commander was to his usual self.
"Um, Commander," said Roon "are you okay?"
"His excellency looks inebriated," said London.
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine," said James and proceeded to snap his fingers to emphasize his point. However, the gesture did little to calm them down.
"Please look after him," said Akagi as she handed her husband over to the team. Roon and Takao stood near him while Ark Royal formed her carrier. Starting with Cleveland, the girls got on the ship one-by-one with James being the last member. With everyone aboard, the ship departed right away.
Akagi watched the ship leave then headed to the communication room. There, she saw Alec looking over multiple pictures of the location while California and Tennessee confirmed the weather in the area. Pennsylvania and Arizona were digging up any information they could find on the building.
"How much do we know?" asked Akagi to Alec.
"The place was once a shopping mall," said Alec, showing her a picture of the building during its grand opening "however, poor management led to its decline not long after. After two years the place was abandoned and not a soul came anywhere near there."
"You realize that sounds exactly like the premise to every horror movie," said the Commander through the communicator.
"Yes," said Akagi, turning and glaring at Alec.
"There's no such thing as ghosts Commander," said Takao "however, it would be wise of us to remain alert at all times."
"Exactly," said Cleveland, as the group neared the building "that way we won't get caught off guard by anything."
The Commander then heard Alec groan on the communicator.
"Alec," he said "did you find something bad?"
Alec, in response said nothing.
"Akagi, what did Alec see?" he asked.
Akagi also remained silent.
"How bad?" asked the Commander.
"Satellites just picked up a Siren patrol heading your way," said Alec "two cruisers and a destroyer."
"We could take 'em," said Monteplier.
"You're not seeing the bigger picture here," warned the Commander "if we take out those ships then high command notices something's up. In response, they send a bigger group to investigate."
"James is right," added Alec.
"How long till they spot us?" asked the Commander.
"Sixty minutes," was the reply.
"And how long till my drugs wear off?"
"Fifty-five," replied Akagi.
"We'll be cutting it a little close this time," mused Ark Royal.
"I'd rather we have a little extra breathing room, just in case," said the Commander "double time everyone."
In response, the girls increased their pace and quickly went inside the building. Once inside, they found themselves in the lobby and took a moment to survey their surroundings.
The inside looked worse than the outside. The floor was a mess with several holes littered around, the roof looked like it could collapse at any second and the air was thick. The group noticed a large staircase leading to the right and another leading to the left.
"Alright… first… to do… is… into… groups," said Alec on the communicator.
"Alec, Alec speak up, I can't hear you," said the Commander.
"What?... James… signal… spotty…"
"Damn it," he hissed "looks like we're on our own here."
"Noticed how the comms acted up the moment we came in?" asked Monteplier.
"N-now there's n-no need to j-jump to conclusions like that M-Monty," said Cleveland, trying to hold in her fear.
"Cleveland's right," said the Commander "if our signal's jammed that means we're in the right place. Now everyone keep your eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary."
As he said that a plank of wood fell from the roof and made a loud noise when it hit the ground. The noise was enough that it caused Cleveland to yelp out in fear before jumping towards the Commander. This action caused Roon to glare at Cleveland while Monteplier glared at the Commander for catching her in his arms.
"Which way do we go Commander?" asked Ark Royal.
"Well I'm right-handed, so we go left," he replied and headed to the left-hand staircase. The girls were confused by his logic, but decided to go along with it anyway. When they neared the stairs, the Commander placed one foot on the first stair and heard it creak and groan under his weight.
"Hmm," he said, furrowing his brow "if we all go up the stairs, the damn thing's bound to collapse."
"Roon, can you go ahead of us and plot a course?"
Roon nodded in agreement and slowly went up the stairs. At every step, she carefully put her foot on the next step to see if it creaked or cracked before moving forward.
While she did this, Monteplier moved close to the Commander and asked him "why did you send Roon up?"
"Wouldn't it make sense to send someone light like Cleveland or Monteplier?" asked London.
"If it can handle Roon it can handle the rest of us," muttered James, under his breath "but do not tell her I said that."
The girls didn't understand his reasoning and attributed it to him being under the influence.
One by one, the group advanced up the stairs and headed to the first floor. London had her rigging ready, Roon clenched her fists, Ark firmly held onto her gun and the Commander had his right hand on the sword hilt.
As they neared a turning, they saw a child with ragged clothes and a gas mask emerge from the other side.
"Are you my mummy?" it asked and everyone was quiet.
The child's head began to distort and crack followed by the mask shooting out and revealing several sharp rows of teeth underneath. Shocked by what they saw, the girls hesitated to attack. The child saw this chance and lunged at them, it's eyes set on the closest target.
As it neared, the skin on its fingers tore away to reveal ten sharp claws ready to tear into their flesh. However, before it could attack, the Commander stabbed it in the mouth with his sword and stopped it dead in the air. While the girls remained stunned, the Commander noticed two more children coming around the corner.
Thinking fast, he kicked the limp body on his sword towards the other two. In response, the children let out a bloodcurdling cry as they morphed into twisted metal abominations.
The Commander wasted no time in activating his jet boots and charging at them. When he was close, he swung forward, forcing one to leap up and the other to back away. He quickly reached up and grabbed the one in the air by the foot before throwing it into the second one. The two tried to get up only to see the Commander standing before them.
He cut their heads off in a single merciless strike, thus bringing the fight to a close. The Commander then sheathed his sword and turned to the girls, who were still in shock.
"You can't think of them as human," he said, walking towards them "as long as you think of them as children, you're leaving yourself open to attack."
On one hand the girls understood the meaning behind those words. They were in the enemy's territory and one wrong move here would result in casualties. However, they were equally shocked at how calm and collected their Commander was when killing something that looked like a child.
The Commander took a step forward and heard a sudden cracking noise under his foot. The floor underneath him collapsed almost instantly, making it impossible for him to react in time. He paid for this by crashing through the ground floor and landing in the basement.
"Commander," shouted the girls running towards the hole in the floor. They saw him waste little time in standing up and batting the dust off his clothes.
"Commander, are you okay?" shouted Roon.
"It's alright, it's alright, I'm…" but before he could complete that sentence, an unknown assailant knocked him out of their sight.
Fearing the worst, Roon leapt down the hole followed by Cleveland, Monteplier, London and Ark Royal. The girls quickly scanned the area to find out where the Commander went.
"Commander," shouted Cleveland "say something."
"Damn it," hissed Monteplier.
"I'm going after him," said Roon about to run in a random direction. But, before she could do what, Ark Royal grabbed her hand.
"What the hell are you doing?" barked Roon.
"Chasing after the Commander will split us up," said Ark Royal "the enemy wants that."
"But…"
"The best thing we can do right no is take a breath and come up with a plan," said Ark Royal.
It was clear that Roon did not like the idea. However, given their current circumstances, it was the only option they had. Understanding this, Roon stopped struggling and Ark Royal let go. The team now took a moment to consider their next move.
As the girl's eyes were getting used to the dark, London spotted an exposed metal pipe. Curious, she shone a light in that direction and saw a blood smear. London looked a little bit ahead and saw a trail of blood heading away from them.
"Looks like we know what to do next," said London.
The team nodded and took up a modified spear formation. Roon was at the front and was flanked by Cleveland and Monteplier. London and Ark Royal remained in the center, their attention focused on the path ahead. Occasionally, the pair looked behind to make sure the enemy didn't catch them off guard.
As the team followed the blood trail, they noted how worn out the basement was. The air was heavy and thick, there was a noticeable layer of dust everywhere they looked and the lack of lighting made it difficult to get an idea of their surroundings.
Then, they heard a sudden noise from their left. The team darted in that direction and saw soon enough they saw a man with shaggy hair and worn out clothes pointing a gun at their Commander's head.
"Don't you move you assholes," barked the man (Phillip) "If I see any of you so much as look at me the wrong way, I'll splatter this guy's brain all over the ground."
"Hey girls, nice to see you," said the Commander with a blissfully unaware smile.
"What the?" asked London, as she and the rest were confused by their Commander's calm demeanor.
"Don't take another step you," said the man "I'll kill him, I mean it."
"Don't worry about me gurls," said the Commander "I'm as fine as a flea."
"Tch, this bastard has no sense of the situation," hissed Phillip, dividing his attention between him and the girls.
Ark Royal and London noticed how the man continually left himself open to an attack. The pair considered taking advantage of it, but then they noticed the Commander's eyes shoot open. Very carefully he motioned for them not to attack.
The girls then understood the message and their leader's intent. In response, London whispered something to Roon, who nodded and the group slowly took a step back.
"Haha that's right, back away," shouted Phillip, waving a gun at them.
"But I don't intend on letting any of you leave this place alive," he added, before digging out a small device from his coat pocket. He pressed the button and in response, the girls noticed several yellow lights appear around them.
In an instant, the girls formed a circle as they were assailed from all sides by these franken-hybrids. Their enemy attacked with a combination of metal claws and iron hammers while the girls struggled to fight in such a confined space.
London and Ark Royal moved were busy firing in all directions while Cleveland and Monteplier prevented any enemy from reaching the two Royal Navy girls. Roon meanwhile grabbed an attacker by the foot and used it as a club to beat back the others near it.
One managed to slip past her attack land a blow on her face. However, all it did was cause Roon to stop her attack and turn her attention on her opponent. With a single jab, she separated the robot's head from its body, indicating the immense power she had.
"We have to find the Commander," shouted London as she fired a barrage into a trio of robots "Roon, can you open us a path?"
"Gladly," smiled Roon as she formed her weapons. She then used her rigging's large mechanical jaw to tear into numerous enemies at once.
Monteplier used a leg sweep and knocked multiple attackers off their feet. Cleveland took advantage of this opening and attacked with multiple straights. The result sent the hybrids cascading towards the others.
"Wait, hold on," paused London, "which way did they go?"
"To hell with guessing," said Roon, pointing in a random direction. The group watched in silence as she fired an energy blast at her attackers and cleared the way.
"Ha, in the end there was no reason to get worried," she said with a confident smirk.
That confidence quickly faded when they started to feel the area around them shaking.
"This is why the Commander explicitly looked for hand-to-hand combatants," objected Cleveland.
"Situations change, we have to adapt," said Roon while batting away an attacker with her fist.
Rather than staying and debating the point any further, the group unanimously decided to move ahead. They took advantage of the opening Roon gave them and started running in a random direction.
Although their eyes got used to the darkness, the many hallways and expansive basement made it difficult for them to figure out their location and that made it easy for their enemy to regularly ambush them. Add to that the building slowly collapsing on them and they were on a tight schedule.
"Woohoo this is a nice place," shouted a familiar voice ahead of them. The girls knew who the voice belonged to and ran towards it. Soon enough, they came to a room with several computers stacked in a pile, an operating table that was not cleaned and surgical equipment scattered on the floor. Ahead of them, they saw the man holding the Commander hostage.
"Damn it, damn it," hissed Phillip "it wasn't supposed to be like this. I was meant to do great things."
"Why you gotta be such a buzzkill bro?" asked a now fully inebriated Commander "you can't… you can't let the setbacks get the better of you."
"Shut the hell up, you're not helping one damn bit," barked Phillip.
"Hey, you let our Commander go right now," warned Cleveland.
"Or what? This moron's my ticket out of here. And what the hell? Why are you suddenly acting like a stoner?"
"I'm not acting, the buzz is finally setting in," replied the Commander but not before giving a few quick winks to the girls "man you shouldn't let the current situation get you down."
"I tell you what, you let me go and we'll help you get out of here," suggested the Commander.
"Like I'd believe that crap," countered Philip "Damn it, it wasn't supposed to be like this. This is all their fault. If those idiots didn't cut me off like they did then none of this would have happened."
"Hey that's no problem," said the Commander "when we get out of here, we'll have a meeting with all your friends. You can sit down and has things out."
"Wait… you can do that?" asked Philip, lowering his gun.
"Yes he can," replied Ark Royal "the Commander is a pretty big deal back at the base. If he says something, people will take note and listen to him."
"So whaddaya say? Wanna try talking instead of shooting?" asked the Commander.
"Al-alright, I'll try it your way then," said Philip.
The moment he let down his guard and reduced his grip, the Commander grabbed Philip's hand and tossed him over the shoulder. Then he twisted Philip's hand, causing the latter to let go of the gun.
"What the hell?" he barked, "what was… you weren't drunk?"
"I once did a stealth mission after finishing three bottles of vodka," he replied, pointing the gun at his captor "this is nothing."
The Commander then wordlessly gestured for Philip to get up. The latter had no choice but to agree and rose to his feet with his hands up. As they were about to head out, a sudden rumble caused everyone to lose their balance. Philip used this chance to try and run away, only for a large chunk of rock to fall on him and turn him into a red stain.
"Damn it," barked the Commander, then looked at the computers. It would be wise of him to take some of those computers and confirm if this was the only location but time was of the essence. He noticed more debris starting to fall around them and decided it was not worth the risk.
"Roon, get us out of here," he suggested and Roon happily agreed.
The girls formed a circle around the Commander as Roon fired ahead of them and opened a path. They ran in that direction while London and Ark Royal shot at any pieces that were coming too close to them.
The group managed to brute force their way out of the building and watch it collapse from a safe distance.
"Well that turned out to be a gigantic waste of time," said the Commander, sighing in defeat.
"Don't say that," said Cleveland "at least we got rid of the person in charge."
"True," said Roon "with that weirdo dead, we don't have to worry about those monstrosities anymore."
"Ah, Commander, you're bleeding," said Monteplier, pointing to the big gaping wound in the Commander's head.
The girls wasted little time in heading back to the base. Once there, they sent James to the hospital while they gave their report to the others and Alec. Alec then reported the same to the leaders of the resistance before heading to the hospital.
"There is something that's been bothering me," said James to Alec "that guy mentioned that there were people who cut him off or something."
"London didn't mention that in her report," said Alec.
"Everything was happening so fast. I wouldn't be surprised if they forgot a few details.
"Still, I wouldn't put too much stock in the words of a lunatic."
"Normally I'd agree with you Alec, but I get the feeling that the Sirens aren't the only enemy we have to deal with."