Homecoming
Omega and Theta gathered up what little food was left in the room they had been calling home, placing it inside of an old paper shopping bag. The sister dropped the bag over her shoulder into her Gatherer's basket as her male counterpart picked Mia up under her arms and lifted her inside of the sister's carrying cage as well. They had chosen to spend one more night in the room in order to rest and allow Mia to process the ADAM she had gathered from the day before. Omega had injected some of it to aid in the recovery of his strength, and they had split the rest between the two of them so they could both have some in case something went wrong. Things usually had a tendency to go wrong in Rapture, and having some ADAM on hand was never a bad idea, for a Protector anyway. They had waited until nightfall, or what amounted to nightfall in a place where night never truly fell, exercising and training to pass the time, something that Theta had all but dragged him to do, though he wasn't complaining. She had been all smiles and gratitude when he had accepted her challenge, and she stayed overjoyed even after he'd beaten her. She had given him a bloody grin of happiness as she looked up at him with a black eye and busted lower lip after their sparring match, and she looked like she was going to pass out when he reached out and touched his bare fingers lightly to the cut on her lip. He had seen her shiver when he did so, her bright eyes staring into his through her eyelashes. She had quickly replaced her suit soon after that, almost as if to stop herself from doing anything else in the moment, and she made no effort to look anywhere but at him when he began putting his own suit back on. Once their scrapes and bruises were healed, or close to it, the day had entered it's later stages and Rapture's automated lights dimmed to imitate nighttime in the city, the parts that weren't dark and lightless either from loss of power or busted lightbulbs that is. It was always preferable to travel in Rapture's night time hours. They may be cut off from the surface and the sun, but the Splicers still kept to somewhat normal sleep schedules when it came to the lights being on or off, especially since the night cycle made the dark places in Rapture that much darker. It spoke to the inherent fear of the dark ingrained in humans, and of the beasts they wished to avoid that lurked within the darkness. Only the most insane and uncontrollable of Splicers or humans would prowl around at night, usually easy to avoid or kill because their hallucinations made it impossible for them to sleep. Night had always been the domain of predators. The Protectors owned the night in Rapture, or at least they had, until a far more sinister beast appeared.
Now that they were ready to head out and search for Iota, Anna, Lizzy, and the humans, both Protectors felt eager to get on their way. It meant they would be leaving the peaceful world they had lived in for the past week, but it also meant finding their siblings, and that was something Theta wanted more than anything else. Omega led the way over to the large hole in the ceiling that served as their entrance and exit, but stopped when he noticed Theta staring around the room. He could see her eyes sweeping across all of the chalk and crayon drawings on the walls, their large bed of pillows and cushions, and the toys scattered around the room she had gathered for Mia over time. He turned and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and she instinctively reached up with her own, placing hers on top of his, gripping it for support. She wore sad eyes as she turned to him, and they embraced each other at the same time. She hugged him tightly for comfort, and he hugged her even tighter as his Protector instincts shouted at him to ease her worries and sadness. He looked around the room with her, noting all the small details that made up any inhabited living space. Small details dotted the room that would be easily missed by anyone that happened upon the place in their absence. The way the pile of pillows were arranged for two larger figures to sleep in, as well as one much smaller one. The scrapes and dents in the wooden floor created from sparring matches or training. The smooth marks on the white ceiling from where helmets had brushed against them as the Protectors stood to their full height, forgetting how close the ceiling was to the added height they had with their armor. Omega found himself feeling regretful to leave the place that had become his home for the past week, and the fond memories he had made with Theta and Mia. It was even harder for Theta. She had spent so long in this place with Mia that it had become a safe haven for them, and now she was about to leave that safe haven for the first time, setting out for the unknown. Rapture consisted of thousands upon thousands of stories like these, of the necessity for relocation and adaptation. When Omega pulled his hand away from his sister's shoulder, she wore determined eyes, and nodded up to him as she placed her helmet on her head and locked it into place, letting him know that she was ready, and would follow him into the unknown, even if it meant less safety for herself and Mia. The brother placed his own helm on, and with one last look around, leapt into the ceiling with Theta right behind him, though she had to steady herself when she heard Mia say goodbye to their home from her back.
There was no reason to search any of the other brothel rooms in the building, Theta had scoured them clean of supplies long ago, and most of the surrounding area as well. They would find supplies on their way to their siblings. Reed Wahl and Simon likely had patrols out searching for them still, and Splicers always had a few supplies on them, or Rapture dollars at the very least. They could buy food or medical supplies from a Circus of Values vending machine if and when they came across one. They exited the brothel onto the street of the red light district, Theta offering one of the stinking corpses in the lobby a final kick as she passed, scoffing at the dead man she had killed, and they continued down the street to their left. Omega didn't know exactly where Iota was, only the general direction, and that was giving it a lot of credit. If he stood facing out from the lobby of the brothel, he knew she was somewhere on his left side, but would need to get closer to get a more concrete feeling on her location through their bond. He would be able to pinpoint exactly where his Mate was if he could get close enough, but that began with searching for a more accurate direction first.
After thirty minutes of walking and sticking to the shadows of the street, it began to narrow, and both Protectors knew they were coming to a sky bridge that would connect them to another area within the district. The narrowing of the street was funneled with columns of symmetrical steel pillars in the Art Deco style that Rapture was known for. On their right was a waterfall made of marble that spanned two stories tall, levelled so the water poured smoothly down the stair-like design. On the flat portions of the steps obscured but visible through the clear water were the glowing neon words of Art, Science, and Industry in a row leading down. Omega stopped at the waterfall and both Protectors scanned the area before he removed his helmet. Dipping two of his gloved fingers in the water he brought it up to his lips to taste it, and nodded when he discovered that it wasn't salty. He removed his canteen from his belt pouch and filled it, drank some, and then filled what he had drank. Once he was finished he stood watch while Theta did the same. All too often in Rapture the water pipes were contaminated with seawater, most of the time it was just a little salty, but it was at the very least uncommon to find fresh filtered water such as the fountain held. Once the sister had finished gathering her own water she replaced her helmet and they turned to gaze out the large viewing window that the waterfall faced, offering a once breathtaking view of the city. Outside on the glowing submerged skyscrapers they could see the Rapture Tribune building, and the Palmetto tower, both with warm neon lights and bright blue lights in their signs respectively, and they could see the spinning golden globe of the Kashmir diner he and Iota had first met in. It's massive windows showing a dark interior, though the restaurant's letters outside the windows still shown, and the three golden upper bodies of male statues holding the spinning globe still stood, and the golden letters slanting at an angle still spun around the globe to cast a warm light on the shoulders of the statues that held it aloft. Many of the lights on the outside of the surrounding cityscape had gone out long ago, and yet more flickered their final breaths, hanging onto their past glory by a thread. One building was leaning against another with a large rent in it's belly that had almost folded it in half, the top portion wedged into the side of a larger tower while the middle section bent at an angle as it sat stuck between the top portion and the base of the building, nearly all of it's black windows shattered and steel beams angling out from the rents in it's structure. Omega couldn't remember what the building had been before it's collapse. It had been one of a few to fall during the Rapture Civil War, and he had no memory of that time or any time before it due to his Protector conditioning.
He felt Theta take his arm again, hugging it as she hummed quietly. They gazed out on the ruined utopia, as eerie as it was beautiful. Staring out of the windows whenever they could always gave the protectors a sense of awe. The city was massive, and beyond that was endless black that swallowed the lights of the city. Darkness surrounded Rapture, and it always had, but more recently it had begun to creep more and more into the city, bringing fresh nightmares with it wherever it invaded. They would be out there soon, in that endless and cold bleakness, just as soon as they could find a pumping station to let them exit the city proper. He gave Theta a small tug of his arm, beckoning them to keep moving, and she followed gingerly toward the sky bridge on their right, still humming to herself in her broken, whisper quiet voice.
When the thick airlock door's locking mechanism began spinning and the door shot up, they heard the all too familiar beeping of a security turret, and Omega gritted his teeth, barely reacting fast enough to pull Theta with him to the side of the door as a rocket screamed past them, right where they had been standing. The rocket exploded somewhere down the street on the marble flooring, and Omega cursed as he peaked his head around the corner for a split second. The rocket turret was sitting in the center of the sky bridge on the far end, and now that it had been alerted, Reed Wahl would know right where they were. The turret had to be newly placed, otherwise Theta would have warned him of it. There was no way she wouldn't know it was there with these being her hunting grounds, they were still within her territory, which meant Reed Wahl and Simon had likely set up nets to snare anything with the remote chance of it being them. The brother clenched his fist as ice shards grew from his arm, and looked down to Theta as he nodded, she returned the gesture, and he jumped upwards, flipping over the doorway to stay out of sight, landing on the opposite side as Theta slid over to take his place on her side. He saw her curl her fingers, waves of air flexing from her hand, and he turned, launching a shard of Winter Blast at the machine. They fired at the same time, and Omega's freezing blast hit the turret as a rocket passed the attack mid air. Theta darted out and grabbed the rocket with her Telekinesis and flicked her hand toward the turret, sending the rocket to explode against the armor of it's front. The brother was already sprinting down the hallway toward the weapon, and froze it again as he saw it struggle to unthaw, not giving it a chance to fire and put either Mia, Theta, or himself in danger.
He reached the turret just as three Splicers appeared a few more feet down the hallway as the opposite airlock door slid upwards, coming to check the noise from the tunnel. He growled loudly as he sent a heavy side kick into the front of the still frozen turret, and launched it from it's base as ice and sparks exploded from it, sending it toward the three Men as they raised their weapons. The heavy piece of equipment slammed into the man in the middle with a loud crash and scream, his knife clattering to the ground as dots of blood flecked his comrades sagging faces and white coats. Omega raised his arms in front of him forming an X as the second man opened fire with his Thompson machinegun, the heavy rounds impacting up the brother's forearms and stomach as he stalked toward them, their faces terrified but determined. The last Splicer raised a revolver to fire at him as well, just as Theta's shadow flew over Omega, her harvester catching the Thompson wielding Splicer in his throat as she spun and arced her leg out horizontally, her armored heel hitting the other man in the chest so hard she heard bones break as he flew backwards several feet. Omega was already moving to the man as he tried to recover, Theta ripping her harvester from the man's throat, along with his head. When she turned to look for her companion, she found him, kneeling over the Splicer she had sent to the ground, and a shiver of excitement slid up her spine. Omega was mauling the man with uncontained rage as the Splicer screamed and flailed helplessly under the onslaught. He died in seconds, but they had been bloody, and Theta crouched next to them as she watched her brother work, biting her lip and breathing heavily as he ripped the man apart with his bare hands, dismembering him as his helmet visor burned a hateful crimson. The sound of his deep growling sent shockwaves through her, and each time his fists would slam back into the Splicer her heart echoed the booming impacts. This is what it had been like to hunt with him in the past. She had almost forgotten the thrill of it.
When Omega regained control of himself, he was panting and growling madly, until he turned to his left and saw that both Mia and Theta were safe, merely watching him. He couldn't read Theta's expression from beneath her helmet, but he knew she was pleased with what she had seen, she was humming to herself in a tone that spoke of barely contained excitement. Mia grinned and laughed openly at the sight of him.
"Oh Big Brother, you always have to tuck the Angels in, don't you?" She asked in her inhuman voice. He stood and fought to unclench his fists, breathing heavily. He had snapped, so easily too. He had snapped the moment he saw Theta leap over him toward the Splicers, and Mia in the cage on her back. He stared down at the ruined Splicer on the floor and stifled his growling. He had lost control. He had lost control and it felt amazing to do so. The effect Mia had on him made him feel invincible and needed in a way he hadn't felt in a long time, he had to protect her, and in order to do that he had to be a fountain of directed rage and brutality. He looked down at his shaking hands, more from rage than anything else, but he was horrified at how little control he seemed to have over himself with Mia nearby. An alien voice whispered in his mind then, telling him that maybe he shouldn't return to his lost family members, maybe he should stay with Mia and Theta, maybe it would be safer for everyone.
Theta gave a purring hum at him when he looked at her again, the front of her suit splattered with blood from the Splicer he had mauled like some feral animal. His own suit dripped the dark liquid but it didn't stop her from taking his arm again, nuzzling into it as she rubbed her helmet against his bicep and shoulder pauldron, holding his arm tightly against the front of her body. She gave off a scent that spoke of joy, pride, comfort, excitement and arousal all mixed into one. She was rubbing his arm, as well as his scent into her, and his hand came dangerously close to her suit's crotch as she raised to her tiptoes. He jerked his arm away, not forcefully, but to try and calm himself, as well as her down. He had to close his helmet vents and seal his suit to escape the effect her scent was starting to have on him, and hopefully stem the tidal wave of stimulus his own scent had on her. He had to be careful, far more careful. He wasn't used to fighting with the pheromones of a true Little Sister to send him into a blind rage in so long, and the effect Mia's mere presence in a fight had on him caused him to lose control. That was one major problem, and another was that his presence and scent during the fight sent Theta into a frenzy because she wasn't used to fighting alongside him or any other Protector in so long. She had looked like she wanted to rip his suit off and jump him before he sealed it, and now she just gave off an air of confusion, disappointment, and embarrassment. He watched the small vents on the top of her domed helm seal as well, and she shook her head as she collected herself. He gave her a questioning screech and she nodded shakily, like waking up from a dream and just now realizing where she was, just as he had when he realized she was watching him slaughter the Splicer. Theta chastised herself mentally for almost losing control, and realized that Omega was having the same problem. He had flown into such a beautiful rage, and destroyed an enemy so completely that it mesmerized her, but the scent he gave off as he did so made her incredibly sensitive physically. She wanted to rip both of their suits off in that moment, and had to seal her own suit to stop herself. Now that she had done so, she felt dazed, confused, and embarrassed. It was like being hypnotized. The more she watched him maul the Splicer, the more pheremones he released, and the higher the effect on her own body and mind.
They both gathered themselves and hurried out of the area before more of Simon or Reed Wahl's men could show up. They would need to get used to one another's scents again. They had felt the stronger than average effects the unfamiliar scents had on them in their small apartment in the brothel, but this was the most intense fight they had seen together, and they had been very close to one another in the confined space of the sky bridge, practically breathing in nothing but each other's pheromones, along with Mia's. The massive amount of adrenaline they had felt charging through the tunnel only amplified the affects as well. They would need to be careful when fighting in confined spaces in the future, and only have the vents on their helmets open when they had enough distance between them to not have Mia send Omega into a blind rage, and hopefully that would keep Omega from sending Theta into a feral state of desire and need. Both Protectors had sighed heavily when they came to their senses fully, running across short buildings to avoid any unnecessary engagements as well as unnecessary loss of control.
Mia's effect on both of the Protectors was a harsh one, causing their senses to heighten, along with their standard and Protector instincts. Omega clenched his jaw as they leapt from one building to another at a dead sprint, moving so fast they each had to roll when they hit the opposite rooftop, awkward as it was for Theta to do with the large air tank and carrying cage on her back she managed it like a skilled Big Sister should. The brother's mind was still focused on the two sisters with him, as well as Iota and Anna. He wondered how an actual Little Sister would affect all of them when they were together, and how they in turn would treat the humans.
"Over there, they came to play with me!" Came an insane scream from somewhere on their right as they ran, bullets zipped and cracked past the two Protectors as they sprinted, Omega's right arm coming up to block the side of his helmet as the projectiles thudded into his suit and armor pieces, sparks flying. His suit stopped most of the rounds from penetrating his skin, but the pain from the impact rippled through his arm and side. When the incoming fire multiplied, he pointed his hand to another building across the street, and signaled for Theta to jump through a window on the top floor, rather than onto the adjacent rooftop. She jumped first being faster than the brother, and he followed just after her as a hail of bullets tracked after them. Their armored forms smashed through two windows and they rolled again. Theta and Mia landed and rolled through a living room, a coffee table shattering under her before a dirty brown couch caught the sister as it crumbled under her weight. Omega got the worst of it out of the two. He crashed into a bedroom, through the dresser that was sitting against a wall facing the window, and then through the wall, wood, insulation, and plaster bloomed out and flew across the living room as he joined the two sisters, rolling to stop on his stomach before pushing himself up with both hands. They were panting heavily as they found their feet, Theta shaking shards of glass and wood from her helmet and shoulders as Omega did the same. When she looked at him she gasped at a large piece of jagged metal the size of a knife sticking out from his arm. He hadn't even noticed it as he dusted himself off, but when the door to the apartment was kicked in, Theta ripped the piece of metal from his arm and hurled it behind him into the doorway. The debris acted like a knife, and caught a female Splicer in the throat before she could raise a pistol, blood pouring from the wound to stain her filthy white dress as she gurgled. Omega turned as she threw the knife, and lunged at the open door as a man in navy blue overalls and a welding mask pushed the dying woman out of the way. The brother replaced the woman in the doorway, his hand coming up to grab the man's welding mask, pushing his head forcefully into the hallway. The Protector growled loudly as he stabbed the man in the chest with his harvester, causing him to go limp. More gunfire resonated from the end of the warmly lit hallway, impacting the brother from the side. He turned the dead man toward the oncoming fire, using his body as a shield.
Before the brother had time to charge the two gunman, Theta crashed through the wall beside them, kicking one man through the wall opposite the hole she had made. As the second gunman turned to look up at her she swatted the Thompson from his hands before hitting him in the side of the head with her elbow, growling just as loudly as Omega was. The Splicer was screaming in horror when she started mauling him, ripping an arm off only to beat him with it, both hands hoisting the severed limb above her only to bring it down like a sledgehammer onto his fractured skull. Omega sprinted toward her when he saw movement on the ceiling, a Spider Splicer crawling with red hot hooks in an attempt to reach down and snatch Mia from the cage on Theta's back while she was distracted. He reached the man as his hook latched onto the sister's cage, causing Mia to scream, and tackled him as he jumped over his rampaging sister. He rolled with the Spider Splicer in his arms, and stopped on top of the lipless man, his shrunken eyes wide with terror. The brother pulled his head up before smashing it down into the man's face again and again.
"Get him, Big Brother!" Mia yelled angrily from her sister's cage, still mad at the monster for trying to snatch her away from her Big Sister.
When the duo were satisfied with the death they had brought to the vermin, they continued down to the floor below them and out another window onto the street opposite of the side they had entered the building from. They heard Splicers shouting from inside the building as they searched for the Protectors, but they were already running again, toward the direction Omega could sense Iota's presence. More and more voices could be heard behind them as reinforcements showed up to aid in the search, yelling mad threats. They stopped in the next skybridge they came across, now that there were only two directions the Splicers could come from. They both breathed heavily as Theta tended to the wounds Omega had sustained, a bullet wound that had punctured his side, and the metal shard that had left a neat gash in his arm. She injected him with a first aid syringe but hesitated as she watched the fibers of his suit writhe to reconnect and repair itself. He had protected her from having her suit torn, and now she knew why. She wouldn't need to patch her suit if his suit could simply repair itself from small amounts of damage. She gritted her teeth as she pulled the syringe away from him, he had been hurt for her sake, and it had sent rage through her each time she saw it. They had been running at full speed for hours. When they started they had fought small groups that got in their way, but the further away from Minerva's Den they got, the more Splicers seemed to be positioned between them and their goal, large search parties that had been seeking the two of them thinking they had made it farther than they had. It was clear neither Simon, nor Reed Wahl knew where they were, and they hadn't expected them to shelter so close to Minerva's Den after she had rescued him. Theta was glad she had chosen her home wisely, it had allowed her to snatch Mia from one of those strange Big Daddies in Minerva's Den in the past, and it had allowed her to find Omega in the time since.
The brother shirked his arm when she threw the empty syringe to the ground and nodded to her. He placed a hand on the side of her helmet as he leaned down, lightly touching the forehead of his helmet to hers in thanks. She gave a small humming sigh as she stealthily opened the vents of her helmet, taking in a small breathe of his scent. She couldn't help herself, she was drawn to it like a Splicer was drawn to ADAM. It sent warmth through her body and made her light headed, even with his suit sealed. She let out a small gasp before closing the vents on her helmet, and Omega gave her head a gentle push toward the opposite end of the sky bridge, earning him a gentle broken chuckle from the sister as they ran. They had kept their suits sealed so they wouldn't lose control and pick a bigger fight than they needed while they moved, but every now and then Theta would unseal her suit just for a moment or two, a guilty pleasure she enjoyed.
They caught a lucky break in the next area when they saw the bulkhead open and reveal a battle already in progress. A Rumbler Big Daddy was launching rockets at a large group of Splicers. The Rumbler had two miniature turrets spread on opposite sides of the street as he launched rockets at Splicers and slammed his heavy fist into those stupid or insane enough to get close. Omega and Theta sprinted through a side street, leaving the Big Daddy to his work. Rumblers were designed specifically to deal with large groups of enemies, and it was clear even on first sight that he didn't need any help, nor were they inclined to offer it. He had no Little Sister, and even if he had they would've just scooped the girl up and kept moving. They couldn't waste any time, not when they were surrounded on all sides.
"Hi, Daddy!" Mia shouted with glee as she waved excitedly to the Big Daddy in the midst of his rampage. A booming groan was all she received as a response, but it made her giggle regardless.
Explosions echoed behind them, the ground trembling as they passed the battle and made their way closer and closer to their objective. The airlock in this district would allow them to exit the city and swim toward Iota and the others, and it would be leagues faster than trying to run across the city, especially with parts of it either blocked, locked down from flooding, or submerged in darkness. Omega doubted Theta knew about the NeoSplicers yet, she had tried to recommend they travel through the maintenance tunnels beneath the district's streets when he stopped her, forcefully. He wouldn't subject them to that unless they had no other choices. She had stared at him in confusion but nodded in agreement in the end.
Constant gunfire harried them as they made their way to the pumping station in the district, eager to get away from the army of Splicers that were after them. When it finally came into view, the large airlock into the maintenance area began to close, alarms blaring as crimson warning lights illuminated the doorway. They heard Reed Wahl's voice come over the speaker system in the district then.
"Stop them! They are trying to escape into the sea! Stop them you fools!" He shouted angrily, insanity filled rage clear in his voice. Omega couldn't help but grin a predatory smile at the sound. He delighted in displeasing the man. Theta slid on her side to kick the legs out of a Splicer that had tried to intercept them, and stabbed her harvester through the man's mouth as Omega reached the closing bulkhead door. He put himself under it, using his shoulder and arms to hold the door open as sparks shot from the gears that tried to seal it. It forced him to one knee as he growled, giving a short barking screech to Theta, telling her to hurry. More gunfire met them, cracking past the sister as she ran toward the door. She reached it, but instead of sliding under, she tackled her brother through, the door crashing down behind them narrowly missing her boots. They slid to a stop and panted, but were on their feet again when the door began to slowly raise, the sound of insane laughter and screaming on the other side. They used their Winter Blast plasmids to freeze the gears, buying them enough time to slip into the airlock and hit the switch. They saw Splicers crawling under the frozen door as the airlock to the pumping station sealed shut and ice cold water began filling the chamber.
"Ooooh, we're going swimming!" Mia exclaimed excitedly as she patted Theta's shoulder. They watched the water fill up to Mia's bare feet in the basket and she began splashing in the frigid water as she giggled, completely oblivious to the cold temperature. Omega watched as the dark water submerged the girl completely before covering the top of Theta's head, then his shoulders and head followed. Mia was still giggling silently as she looked up at him, and soon, the door to the sea outside opened, and the two Protectors swam out into the surrounding city. The airlock opened into another world, both dark and foreboding, but also beautiful. They swam over a sand embankment lined with glowing coral in shades of pink, green, and blue. A school of brightly colored fish swam by them before darting over a large billboard with a picture of a smiling couple in a bathysphere as they explored the ocean floor with lights on the submersible.
They swam for a time before Omega let his heavy boots pull him to land on top of one of the brightly lit underwater sky scrapers, starring down onto the rest of Rapture, taking in the sight. Rapture glowed, even as it's insides rotted and festered with violence and chaos. The bright lights of the City illuminated the surrounding waters to cast the siblings in a blue glow. He chose to walk for a time, his heavier armor making it harder for him to swim than it was for Theta. She swam beside him, above him, over him, and around him in agile arcs as blue light danced off of her graceful form. She was circling him and watching him as he walked, giggling happily as she swam around him playfully. She reached down for his hand and he grabbed her, watching her pull herself down to the building he walked across so she could stroll alongside him, hugging his arm and humming to herself like she did inside the city. When she got tired of bobbing up and down beside him she began swimming again, giggling at the sensation of weightlessness the ocean offered. Omega watched her with amusement as she played, Mia in the cage holding on as she took in the wonderful sights her Little Sister mind showed her, no doubt spectacular and wonderous, despite the crushing pressure of the ocean. Her ADAM slug regenerating any damage she would take from the pressure instantly. Theta swam down to meet Omega when he stepped off the edge of the massive building he had been walking across, slowly falling down to the sea floor below. Theta had to push to keep up with his fall. He reached his hand up to offer her a free ride down when he saw her struggling to keep up. She took it with both hands and screeched with joy as she let her legs trail behind her, allowing his weight to pull her down with him.
Theta laughed as she pulled herself down the brother's arm to his back, wrapping one arm around his neck and the other under his left arm, her hand coming up to hug his chest plate. He listened to her giggling joyfully as she pressed the side of her helmet to his, her broken voice filled with mirth. They passed lights as big as a man on their descent, windows floating upwards by them. They fell past a sky bridge with a Bouncer Big Daddy walking through it, and Mia pointed to him and then waved as she smiled, mouthing the words "Hi, Mister Bubbles!" As they fell. The Big Daddy waved in return as he watched them float downward before lumbering onward.
The sea floor rose up to meet them and Omega's heavier form thudded into the soft sand, a plume of silt bloomed underneath him as Theta let go and began swimming around him again. The brother began moving again as Theta swam beside him, her powerful legs propelling her with ease as she pointed to a massive blue whale as it swam above them, gliding through the buildings with even more grace than she did. Schools of every kind of fish swam along with it or passed in the opposite direction, their silhouettes shining with the brighter lights of the city as their background. A Shark swam by covered in battle scars, it's large black eyes only taking note of the Protectors as it searched for food along the ocean floor. Theta hugged onto Omega's back as he walked along the seabed, letting her legs float behind her as she leaned her helmet against his, humming as she took in the beautiful sights. They passed sunken bathyspheres that had begun to rust heavily, giant crabs that scavenged for something to eat, and even an ADAM Slug that Theta swam to catch, sliding it into her cage for Mia to play with. Flickering billboards and signs advertising plasmids, food, or beauty products shone light on them as they dropped onto another lower landing and onto the roof of a building. Omega could feel Iota getting closer and closer now through their bond. He could feel which massive building she was in, and his eyes were set on it like a shark after a fish. It was still far, but wouldn't take too long to get there and find an airlock now that they weren't constantly being harassed by Splicers.
Theta screeched sharply as a giant squid zoomed past them, it's black eye the size of a dinner plate taking them in as it pursued prey, disappearing out of sight as it passed through a large hole in one of the collapsed buildings that lay on it's side on the ocean bed. She giggled as she pointed after it and looked to Omega, who gave a small chuckle of amusement as he nodded, and beckoned her onward. She swam up behind him again and hugged him, letting his heavier bulk pull her along weightlessly through the city, passing buildings both bright and dim. They walked next to a dark building along their way, it's windows as black as the darkness around the city. Theta felt a chill crawl up her spine when Omega tensed and peered into one of the windows from a good distance away. She began to swim over and investigate what was inside the dark building, wondering what kind of stores or streets resided within, but she felt her companion's iron grip around her ankle, stopping her from getting too close. She looked back at him questioningly before he gave her a large yank back toward him, earning him a sharp yelp of surprise from her helmet. He caught her by wrapping his left arm around her waist and pulled her along beside him, and she glanced from him to the dark building as they left it behind. His grip around her waist left no room for struggle or negotiation, he didn't want her to get close to the windows for some reason, and she didn't understand why. She wouldn't question it of course, but it did make her curious. He was tense, and he kept eyeing the dark windows that ran up the buildings length as they passed, never getting an inch closer than his path toward their objective allowed.
When they came to the building he had been travelling toward, he stopped at the base, looking up at the massive structure. He could feel exactly where Iota was now inside the huge building, and he let Theta go as he began swimming upward. It took them several minutes to reach the level he had been looking at, and when they did they dropped to a small concrete landing close to a large window. The lights on the inside offered him enough of a view to tell it was an Atlantic Express trainyard, where they would repair and maintain the submersible tracked vehicles. What he saw inside made his blood rush in his veins.
They spread apart and moved behind two large aluminum support beams as they investigated the inside of the trainyard. They could see two bright spotlights both pointed to a blood stained floor. A collapsed maintenance tunnel sat inside the bright lights. On top of two of the broken down trains, were sandbag nests with machine guns on top, both manned by two men each. They were wearing heavy crimson armor with spikes and blades welded onto them, weapons in their hands as they stood guard. Theta let out a low growl, and Omega narrowed his eyes as he saw more Splicers walking around, twitching, talking to themselves, or swatting at bugs flying around them that didn't exist. There were a dozen or more in just what he could see inside the window. He beckoned Theta with a sharp screech and she slinked away from the light that bled from the window to join him. They needed to find a way inside, this is where Iota was, somewhere in this district anyway. She was close, far too close for him to feel comfort with how many Splicers were likely inside.
He swallowed hard when he thought about Lizzy, and Anna. He hoped they had all managed to hide somewhere within the district, but Iota wasn't moving from where she was, so that led to two possibilities. She was either in hiding, or she had been captured. He began wondering if that was why she hadn't come for him sooner, but shook his head. He needed to investigate more first. They spent hours searching the outside of the district that housed Iota, and the more they peered inside, the more anger and anxiety the brother felt, both for his family inside as well as the two sisters that were with him. He had seen dozens more Splicers through different windows, but the most concerning part were the two districts that cut the building off from the rest of the city, they were both dark. There was one airlock pumping station that would let them in a good distance away from where he had felt Iota's presence the strongest, but it was under heavy guard by the crimson armored Splicers. There were more than he could count on his hands, he had needed Theta to hold her hands up in order to keep track of how many there were. All of their fingers put together and another five matched the same number of vermin that guarded the airlock. That had made him sigh heavily when he saw Mia's glowing eyes looking at them as they counted. His Protector instincts kept him from taking them through the airlock, and as soon as they tried it they would likely alert every Splicer in the area.
He growled in anger as he sat atop the district that Iota was inside of, contemplating their next move. There was an airlock in the district directly next to the one he sat atop, but it didn't have power because the building was dark, which also meant there were NeoSplicers there. They needed a way inside this district. He could break the glass with his harvester, rather easily really, cut it and let the pressure of the ocean do the rest, but he didn't know where Lizzy or Anna was inside the district. It would kill all of the Splicers in one fell swoop but Lizzy would definitely die if he flooded the district, along with Anna too probably. Her suit had been ruined during the fight with that abomination of a Protector the NeoSplicers had created, she might have found a new suit by now, but he wouldn't take that risk, couldn't take that risk. Theta swam around him as he sat there on a pipe, thinking with his hand to the chin of his helmet. They had refilled their oxygen tanks just after they had reached the base of the building, but they would need to swim down and refill them again soon. He decided they would investigate the building from the base to the top this time, instead of just the outside and surrounding districts on the level Iota was on. There had to be a way inside that wouldn't endanger his family or the humans if they were still alive.
. . .
Anna studied the Faithful gathered in the training yard below the command tower. Five squads of men were preparing their weapons, one man out of 9 had been given Chemical Throwers that Sigma had brought back in the week prior, and all of the ammunition and food he had carried back had been distributed to the soldiers. Archer and Tokerev had hoarded quite a bit, and she and her siblings had contributed a large amount during their time in the fire station. Bulky armored figures checked over their weapons, some sharpening their swords, spears, and axes. Others were relaxing before what they knew was going to be a hard fight, sitting at tables, on crates or barrels, or simply laying down and fidgeting as they tried to nap. If she had been able to help Sigma retrieve the supplies it would've gone a lot faster, but her new armor wasn't sealed, and they had needed to wait until Sigma was able to move around again after being wounded by her sister. Her ornate helmet turned toward the direction of the Olympus hotel, dread still filling her when she thought about her brother's capture. She had to fight every minute of her waking hours to not picture the horrible things being done to him. That was what galled her more than anything now that Iota was under sedation and resting peacefully. She knew Iota and Lizzy were safe, as safe as they could be anyway, and that had staved off the madness. Now it was more like an itch rather than a burn. She still wanted more than anything to go rescue Omega, but there was no way for her to right now, not until they cleared out the western district of NeoSplicers and got the lights back on. They were preparing to do just that with the equipment and weapons Sigma had pulled from the submerged fire station. It wasn't exactly a long trip, though it required the Big Daddy to make multiple returns with how much they had stored. General Scorn had ordered a few men to guard the airlock and take the weapons from Sigma as soon as he got back, so he could go back out again.
She had been surprised when Sigma brought the weapons she and her brother and sister had forged, demonic looking things. She held a thick shield they had forged on her left arm, feeling the weight of it. They had forged it from a steel airlock door, and it acted as a weapon as much as a tool for defense. It was in the shape of an arrowhead, the top portion curving slightly so she could look over the top easily when holding it out in front of her, and it tapered off into a point that would aim at the ground. The sides of the shield had been filed and sharpened to a razor edge, and would cut as well as any sword the Faithful carried. The front was covered in spikes that she could bash NeoSplicers and Splicers alike with, sticking them to the shield while she stabbed or cut at them with either her harvesting blade or short spears. She would need all the help she could get in the district they were going to. She felt eager to kill the NeoSplicers, but wondered what they would find when they opened the blast doors to the dark zone. She knew all too well what horrors lay in that darkness, and she hoped there wouldn't be another Protector type NeoSplicer. That would be a worst case scenario, and she didn't know if they could beat one even with the combined firepower both she and the Krakens could muster. Sigma would be with them too, but even with his combined might she wasn't sure. It had taken all of the Protectors to take the last one down, and the simple thought of that weighed on her mind. Even with the amount of Krakens joining them and their heavy weapons, they still didn't equal the full might of two veteran second generation Protectors like her brother and sister. She would use the Krakens as bait if it came to that. She would retreat with Sigma and seal the doors behind them if she had to, she would not risk Lizz or Iota for them.
Anna turned as she heard footsteps approaching, and saw General Scorn, or Craig, whatever he was calling himself now. He came to stand beside her in his ornate armor, and gazed down at his soldiers from the top of the command tower with her. "We're almost ready, my Queen." He said in a low voice. She sneered beneath her gilded helm at the title. "I wish you wouldn't call me that, you know who I am." She said, keeping her voice low so the guards on the rooftop with them wouldn't hear. He nodded, but only faintly. He had told her, along with Tenenbaum, and Archer that the General and leader of their military needed to keep up appearances, otherwise the Faithful might begin to lose faith, especially if they thought they had been tricked into following a man they had once hunted. His anonymity offered a symbol for his soldiers, a faceless hero in their eyes that they could trust more than each other, and that counted a great deal for Splicers who had trouble trusting even their own mothers. When the intercom speakers clicked on in the compound, General Scorn's voice boomed throughout the training yard, alerting every soldier below, their helmets turning to look up and salute.
"We're moving out, Queen Anna will be joining us. She honors you by fighting alongside you. Do not disappoint her. This is a mission that will allow our King to return. Fight until every last drop of your blood leaves your bodies, and then keep fighting." He told them, his stern, commanding tone pounding courage and excitement into their hearts. The Krakens cheered at their General for a few moments until he stepped away from the microphone and knelt to Anna, placing one fist on the ground, the other over his knee, his head bowing as his black and red cape draped down his back. The soldiers all went silent and knelt, following Scorn's example when Anna walked up to the microphone, her hands gripped in front of her as she held her shield.
"March." Was all she said, her steady and low tone full of absolute authority. She had been steadily practicing commanding the Faithful over the past week, but it still filled her with disgust and anger. The rage she had felt had died somewhat, though she still hated the vermin. She had simply realized that they should use them as a resource, spending their blood as she would ADAM to buy a new plasmid, and she was planning on buying back the entire city. Five columns of soldiers lined up in front of the gate as they readied to depart, each column was lead by their Chemical Throwers, followed by the supporting men of each squad. The squads present were designated as Scorpion, Rhino, Eagle, Barracuda, and Phantom. Captain Doss was in command of squads Scorpion, Rhino, and Eagle. Captain Geller commanded squads Barracuda, and Phantom. Captain Doss would lead his three squads in through the blast doors first, and Captain Geller would distribute his squads to reinforce or fill in gaps in their lines. The last squad was designated as 'squad Crimson' and it consisted of General Scorn, Anna, Sigma, and nineteen of the best trained and most experienced Krakens they had, including Bear, Miles, Carter, and Sergeant Stacker, along with a number of other veterans. Squad Crimson would be both their command squad as well as further reinforcement for when the other squads began to take losses. They were the Queen's personal honor guard, and they each wore different NeoSplicer bones, teeth, claws, or skulls on their armor. Sigma would fight more as an independent element in the district, helping to push the spearhead of their attack forward with devastating firepower, while Anna moved across the lines and joined in where the fighting was the heaviest, or where the squads began to stall. Craig and Archer had come up with the plan, and it all depended on them keeping momentum until they could reach a maintenance tunnel that would take them to the district's power control substation. They would have to protect their Engineers long enough for them to get the power back up and running, if they even could. If they fought all the way there and found that it was impossible, all squads would perform a fighting withdrawal the same way they came in only in reverse, and they would have to try on the eastern district. Anna clenched her jaw tightly as she watched the five squads all move out, and hoped they wouldn't need to try a second time.
Anna had left Lizzy in Iota's containment room, and Tenenbaum would stay with her while Krakens stood guard outside of the hotel. Mark, Joe, and Tokerev were still hospitalized though Joe and Tokerev were almost ready to leave. Mark would take a while longer. He had been in a coma for most of the past week, but awoke and began treatment with trace amounts of ADAM in order to fix the brain damage his concussion had caused due to Iota's rampage. Tenenbaum had personally overseen that, not trusting any Splicer doctor to know how to keep ADAM sickness at bay. Archer had stated he would remain behind, and direct communications between the command tower and the six squads that ventured into the dark district. He wanted to do that in order to keep an eye on things, and a team of communications officers watched computer monitors filled with helmet camera footage, giving him a wide view of the overall battle that would take place. His main focus would be on Sigma's helmet camera, and the four security bots that would be flying above the squads to offer fire support as well as a bird's eye view of the battle. They had planned carefully for the operation, and now all that was left was to see it through.
They marched for an hour before finally reaching the outpost that lay before the massive bulkhead door, holding the darkness and nightmares back behind a foot of reinforced steel. The five columns of Krakens halted as they reached the outpost, blood still staining the ground from Iota's victims. Anna took in a deep breath as she gazed at the bulkhead, the Ryan Industries logo and name inscribed on the door in letters almost as tall as a man.
"Form up!" Captains Doss and Geller yelled, their soldiers fanning out into the formations they had trained for. The Chemical Throwers taking point as their support stacked just behind them as they fanned out, raising their Thompsons, shotguns, swords, axes, and spears. Two machine gun teams placed their 30. caliber machine guns on the sandbags of the outpost, ready to repel any NeoSplicers that might try to escape on the ceiling or walls. They would be staying behind to both cover the exit as well as seal the door if needed. Anna nodded to General Scorn, and he in turn nodded to his Captains. Captain Doss ordered a Kraken to open the bulkhead doors, and every muscle in the soldiers tensed as red caution lights began casting light over them. Men sweated and gripped their weapons tightly, but none fled, and none considered doing so. Their Queen was watching them, and they would face any nightmare she commanded them to.
A deep, thunderous boom echoed through the street as the locking mechanisms disengaged. An alarm began to whir to life, but was quickly silenced by the soldier at the control panel, it groaned deeply instead of screaming, and soon went silent as the doors began spreading apart, a horizontal line breaking through the Ryan Industries logo as it grew. Both doors, top and bottom crawled as they spread, one raising while the other lowered. Anna watched from behind the front line as the darkness grew, until finally, the doors stopped, and all that lay before them was a void of lightless silence. The silence was loud through those doors, and all she could hear were the heartbeats and breathing of the men around her. General Scorn motioned his men forward, and the front line crept toward the blackness. Anna had expected NeoSplicers to flood from the opening the moment the doors barring their path were gone, yet, they didn't. No sounds of clicking came, no sounds of their hissing breath, not even a whisper from one. The Krakens that marched just behind the Chemical Throwers formed a shield wall, holding shields as varied as their own armor together as they crept forward into the darkness, their helmet lights flicking on. The light they spread out in front of them barely touched the darkness, but Anna could see perfectly, her eyesight only improved once they were completely immersed in the void.
A dried up fountain lie to their right, large and impeccable in Rapture's usual style. It had two massive golden statues standing on opposite sides of the once full fountain bed, their muscle carved arms outstretched. She could see holes in the palms of the statues where water once flowed from, other spouts lie on the fountain bed. To their left was a balcony that led to a lower landing just behind massive reinforced windows, glowing coral outside struggling to pierce the darkness just as the soldiers headlamps did. They moved forward in bitter silence, their weapons slowly sweeping over the blackness. Anna could see a street corner approaching that once reached, opened up into a large square full of shops, restaurants, and a bar, all shrouded in darkness even with her advanced sight. She felt a shiver crawl up her spine when she looked at the even darker windows of the buildings, and she realized she was gritting her teeth, baring her fangs.
Sigma walked just to her right, his foot steps being the loudest thing she could hear. He had his Gatling gun held in his right hand, anti personnel rounds loaded and ready for the endless tide of NeoSplicers, though, none were present now.
"I don't like this. Where are they?" Sergeant Stacker whispered as Crimson squad tightened instinctively around Anna. Her eyes were scanning the area as hard as anyone else's, harder even. The silence was deafening as they moved to the center of the square, forming a large circle instead of a long line. "Maybe they're infesting another part of the city right now?" Craig asked, but Anna shook her head. "No, they're here. They always are. Be ready, they'll try to overwhelm us when they come." Anna whispered in response, and the man nodded in agreement.
"According to the map, the access tunnel that leads to the district's power sub station is two hundred yards west of your current position, keep heading in that direction. I'll update you when you get closer." Archer's voice crackled over the radio in Craig's plumed helmet, and the General motioned for the circle of soldiers to continue. They crossed half the distance to the access tunnel before sound finally reached their ears, and everyone froze. A sound like the rustling of leaves echoed and danced gently through the air, a whispering of something that caused the soldiers to tense. Anna's eyes narrowed as she turned her head looking behind them, then in front of them, and then above them.
"They're coming." She said lowly, and General Scorn ordered his men into a tighter circle, shields and spears and swords held in ready hands as they braced themselves, Thompsons braced between them, ready to fire over their shields at any sign of movement. "Flares." General Scorn ordered, and a chorus of road flares sparked and hissed to life, bathing the square in a bright red glow as the soldiers that held them tossed them out in front of the shields. The rustling leaves had become a roar now, and Anna could pick out the clicking and hissing of the NeoSplicers as they moved toward them, and suddenly, it was silent again.
"Here it comes." She said darkly, her fangs bared.
A deafening roar filled the air as the windows of the surrounding shops and buildings exploded, leathery nightmare spawn crawling from them with teeth gnashing and throats hissing as they flooded from everywhere at once. They came from alleys, rooftops, windows, doors, and around corners. A wall of teeth and claws bared down on them before Hell erupted, and gunfire was the only sound present. Machine guns and shotguns barked a cacophony of deafening rage as flashes of light illuminated more and more crawling shadows around the encircled Faithful. The flares only held the most sensitive NeoSplicers at bay, retreating back behind those that were too frenzied to care for the burning of the light. A wall of flesh pounded into a wall of steel and disciplined insanity, and spears thrusted out in answer. It rained blood as the machine guns fired point blank into the horde. The Chemical Throwers launched napalm out in straight lines, funneling the massive number of nightmares into choke points beside them as the NeoSplicers screamed trying to avoid the burning light and death the weapons offered their kind.
"We've gained a foothold, time for momentum, push!" General Scorn yelled over the din of battle, and as one, the circle moved forward, the Chemical Throwers allowing them a massive advantage. When they needed to reload their weapons, they stepped back into the wall of shields as heavily armored Krakens hacked, slashed, and stabbed at the beasts. One of the Krakens was caught when his arm was grabbed, and he dropped his shield immediately, knowing what his fate would be as he was pulled into the ocean of claws and teeth. Another Kraken pulled his sword from his belt and took up the soldier's shield, replacing him in the wall. The Kraken that had been torn from the formation screamed as the beasts dragged him further away.
"For my Queen!" He screamed out in rage, and pulled the pins of six grenades attached to his chest plate, all tied together for just such an occasion. A massive explosion shook the ground as blood, viscera, and body parts flew through the air. A giant hole of barren and blood covered ground opened up in the horde before it was covered over again with squirming bodies, all eager to get their chance at fresh meat. Thick streams of napalm erupted from the circle again and they were moving once more, the NeoSplicers either dying from the fire, retreating, or being funneled into the wall of shields and spears, their numbers little hindrance to the heavily armored soldiers. Anna and Sigma launched balls of fire into the horde, igniting multiple enemies that screamed and ran in different directions, causing further chaos in the sea of flesh that surrounded them.
The encircled soldiers moved at a crawl, their numbers slowly being whittled down as one after another was unlucky enough to be pulled into the swarm. Some pulled the pins of grenades as a last, bitter display of loyalty and defiance, others stabbed and slashed with bleeding arms, but all fought to the very end. Eventually the formation reached the maintenance tunnel that would offer them a path to the power control station for the district, and they couldn't have asked for a more perfect location to defend. The maintenance tunnel lay inside of a larger maintenance bay for Big Daddies, different suits hanging up from clamps on the walls and rails above them. The bay was the only part of the district that still held power, and red emergency lighting shone down on the defenders. An airlock was present in the bay, and the pumping station inside could possibly be used on emergency power, though Anna didn't know for sure.
Like most maintenance bays in Rapture, it was tucked away, built away from the more lavish and grand store fronts and avenues of the city, so as not to be eye sores for the rich and powerful. Just outside the entrance to the bay was an alleyway that led between two buildings, though it was shaped like a funnel as it got closer and closer to the large room until only a mere fifteen feet lay between the right wall of the entrance and the left. It was the perfect choke point against such a massive force. They had lost six more men by the time they made it into the room, most of them managing to detonate their grenade belts in a last show of faith, taking out large chunks from the sea of flesh and claws. When they entered the maintenance bay, the shield wall shifted to cover the entrance. The first line of armored soldiers locked their shields together as they held spears out toward the darkness beyond the red room. A second shield wall formed behind the first, their shields bracing against the backs of the men in front of them, their spears coming down to rest atop the front line's shields where they locked, and a third line formed behind the second, their shields bracing the backs of the first, and their spears coming down to angle more upwards, ready to impale any NeoSplicers that tried to jump over the defensive line, or climb on the ceiling. Those with Thompsons, shotguns, and pistols would watch the rooftops as well. Everyone else rested and prepared to switch out with the men in the defensive lines when they needed to rest, rotating as some were killed and others became too tired to continue fighting.
Archer had called the formation a 'Phalanx' though Anna had never heard the word before. The shield wall was ready to receive it's victims, flares ignited and dropped just beyond the phalanx kept the NeoSplicers at bay now. They had become more hesitant to approach now that the space had become so confined, and the sheer mass of bodies couldn't sweep them away. Anna breathed heavily as blood dripped off of her ornate armor, the dark liquid appearing black in the emergency lighting as it dripped from her suit like oil. Staring out over the phalanx she gritted her teeth and let out a growl. Was this what her brother had fought through in the tunnels with Lizzy after the Athena's Glory collapsed? He had done so wounded, and alone, with Lizzy to keep safe, and no light source other than what he could produce with Incinerate. She had fought her way back to the burning hotel to rejoin her sister after she had escorted the humans out of the dark district, but she had a trail of flares and fire to follow, and no one to protect. She felt her chest ache at the thought of him, and unconsciously brought her armored hand up to lay fingers on her chest armor. He was so brave, so defiant, and so willing to charge into any nightmare with such confidence, like he knew victory was his already no matter the odds. No, she shook her head as she whispered the word to herself. He never knew victory was his, never even presumed to know. He simply trusted in his skill and experience, and did what had to be done in order to achieve victory. She gazed out over the writhing hallway they had blocked off with spears and shields and armor. She still questioned her decision to follow this plan, questioned her decision to come here, and bring Sigma along with her. Anna looked at the blood soaked floor, wondering what Iota would do in this situation, what Omega would do. She felt her eyes dampen as she thought about them, wishing with all of her heart that they were here with her. They always knew what to do, and she questioned everything she did. She fought beside them as an equal in their eyes, a full Big Sister now, but she didn't feel like one even now. She felt like she was fighting beside them, but still stood in their shadows, despite how much she had obviously grown and learned.
"Sergeant Stacker, take two squads of men with you to the power sub station, and two Chemical Throwers just in case." General Scorn ordered the man in charge of the Queen's honor guard. His crimson helmet glanced at Anna before he saluted. He didn't want to leave her side, none of them did, but turning the power back on would be just as helpful in protecting her as killing NeoSplicers. After gathering his men, Sergeant Stacker opened the maintenance tunnel bulkhead, claws and teeth reaching out as soon as the doorway was opened, only to be incinerated by a large Kraken as he fired his Chemical Thrower into the dark tunnel, laughing maniacally as he burned the beasts alive. He made his way into the tunnel, firing in bursts, and the men assigned to follow them made their way inside, the last one in was the second Chemical Thrower, and he pulled the bulkhead door shut behind him.
"I should be the one going to the power station. They'll all likely be slaughtered." Anna stated frankly, and Craig looked over to her from beneath his plumed helmet. "You may be the strongest... But you aren't an Engineer. You would make it to the power station, but unless you know how to work Rapture computing systems and power station terminals, it would be useless." He said lowly so no one else could hear, not that they could with the ocean of hissing and screeching coming from beyond the shield wall. Anna gritted her teeth angrily. Lizzy had done it, surely if a child could do it she could too. Lizzy had told her how she saw markings in the dust of the control terminal, and had just pressed those buttons. The sister doubted there would be anything like that on the terminals for this district, and the power sub station Lizzy had turned on had only been turned off, the systems in this district could have been destroyed or had wires ripped out of them for all she knew. The General was right, but she would never admit that to him.
"The flares are dying down, here they come!" Captain Doss shouted, and the phalanx growled as one, the weight of the NeoSplicers pushing the three lines of armored men back before they braced themselves and stood firm, like a dam holding back a raging river. Gunfire boomed through the air as Sigma fired over the phalanx and into the horde of monsters. Grenades were thrown, blasting chunks of blood and debris into the air. Fireballs were hurled by Anna and two other Krakens that had been resting, now on their feet as the fight truly began.
"Get those security bots up!" Captain Geller ordered, and the three Krakens that had carried the heavy bots on their backs began preparing them, and before long the three whirring bots shot out a chorus of target tracking sirens, firing in unison higher over the phalanx than even Sigma could reach. Minutes passed as continuous gunfire racked the NeoSplicer horde, their numbers were staggering, and soon a wall of bodies had stacked shoulder high in front of the phalanx, the men needing to stab up at their enemies rather than straight ahead. General Scorn watched the defensive line with eyes like a hawk. A number of men had been pulled out into the tunnel to be consumed by the monsters. Some had detonated their grenade belts, others had stockpiled them in the bay so Grenadiers could throw them further into the hallway.
"Chemical Throwers, now!" The General roared into his helmet radio, and the three remaining napalm wielding Krakens moved forward spreading out evenly behind the shield wall. Both Anna and Sigma readied their Incinerate plasmids, the Big Daddies right glove glowing as orange flames danced from his gloved hand. Anna's hands held the same hellfire, and they prepared to switch out the men in the phalanx for rested reserves.
"Fire!" Scorn boomed, and a wave of bullets and fireballs hurled into the passageway now half blocked with the dead. As soon as the hail of bullets and fire hit the closing entrance, the NeoSplicers retreated behind the mound of their fallen, and the phalanx rushed backwards. When the panting and bleeding men were clear, the Chemical Thrower Krakens unleashed a torrent of flaming death on the mound of bodies, then began spraying the flaming gel over the mound to hit the ones grouping behind it.
"Reserves, forward!" Scorn ordered, and the men that had been resting moved forward, hauling their shields up and locking them as the Chemical Thrower Krakens pulled back. The burning mound would only hold the tidal wave of creatures at bay until the bodies incinerated, then they would be on them again. Anna looked to the tunnel that Sergeant Stacker and his men had gone into, her teeth gritting.
"Archer, what's going on in the tunnels, how close are they to the power station?" She asked into her helmet radio, more of a growl really. "They're almost forty percent of the way there... My Queen." He told her, hastily adding the title at the end, she presumed because of the Splicers around him monitoring helmet footage and security bot feeds. Anna clicked her tongue in frustration.
"Tell them their Queen wants them to go faster." She ordered, adding venom to her own title. "As you wish, Majesty." He stated, adding his own acid to the moniker. Despite what was happening around her, she smiled at his response. Archer's radio clicked on again as he began to make another snide remark, though one hidden in honorifics and fake reverence, when shouting echoed through Anna's helmet on his end.
"What the fuck? Get his ass out of here!" She heard Archer yell, and the sounds of a struggle could be heard in the background.
"Everything alright?" She asked, and heard him sigh heavily.
"Yeah, just some Fool busting in past the guards screaming that he needed to find me, and something about seeing the King and Queen dancing outside the city with Lizzy." He explained, giving a wry chuckle. Anna shook her head and growled at the insanity she had continuously seen over the past weeks. When the more insane Splicers of the Faithful weren't talking to themselves or jumping every which way at shadows, they were hallucinating, and they rambled often about their King, Lizzy, and the two Big Sisters, but this one had 'taken the cake' the humans would say. The expression meant it was the craziest thing so far, though Anna still didn't know what taking cake had to do with something being crazy, humans were strange creatures.
Anna watched as wounded Krakens bandaged wounds and injected themselves with first aid syringes from their duty belts, one blood covered soldier removing his scratched helmet to bandage his left eye where it had been gouged out. Most of them removed their helmets to breath in the cold air of the district, their faces spattered with blood, soot, and sweat as they heaved in air. Anna had to look away from them, she found that if she focused too long on their faces, disgusting and mutated as they were, she would either fill sick, or enraged. They just needed to turn the power to this district back on, then they could march the rest of the Kraken forces to Minerva's Den and rescue her brother. She was going to skin Reed Wahl alive, screaming and begging for death, but the man that was torturing her brother she had much darker plans for.
"Eighty percent." Archer's voice came over the radio, followed by Craig shouting, "The flames are dying down, get ready!" Anna growled as she formed a ball of Incinerate in her right hand. Sigma groaned at her from beneath his helmet, nearly drowned out as gunfire rang out again, and men shouted as they pushed the phalanx forward once more.
. . .
Omega swam beside Theta as they made their way back up to the district Iota was in, and the exact level she was on. They had refilled their oxygen tanks, though the brother still had no idea how he would get inside in a way that wouldn't kill Anna or Lizzy. Anything that could flood the district was off limits, which left him with very few options. They had really backed themselves into a corner with this part of the city. The three districts were shaped like a triangle, and two of it's points where districts that didn't have power. The sky bridges that had connected the districts with other parts of the city were either destroyed or led into the parts of Rapture devoid of life.
Once the two Protectors had passed over the Atlantic Express Trainyard again, he had seen a Splicer cheering and laughing at him as he stared out the window into the sea. That had been nearly two hours or so ago now, but the look on the man's face had sent him into a rage that even Theta had trouble calming down. They had circled around the three districts again looking for a way in, going the opposite route they had from last time, and they had stopped when they reached the airlock in the neighboring area of the district Iota was in. It had quite a few guards there last time, too many for the brother to count on his hands, but now there were only a handful. He stood at the edge of a skylight window peering down at the men from far above them, watching them twitch and shake from ADAM addiction as they held their posts. He didn't know where the other guards had gone, but he waited now to see if they would return. After another hour of wasted time, he pointed to the airlock through the window, and Theta nodded in agreement. Mia was waving her teddy bear in front of her, her mouth moving with bright eyes as her ADAM Slug made the pressure of the ocean and lack of oxygen something she barely even noticed. Without her mental conditioning, it would be agonizing, unbearable to the point of going into shock. With her tiny body and the large Slug making it's host all but invincible, however, it was nothing more than strolling through the city for her.
The two Protectors began swimming again toward the edge of the building they were on toward the air lock. Mia laughed silently at Mister Gus as they travelled. Once they reached the edge, Theta took her brother's hand and they stepped off, letting his heavier armor and weight pull them down faster than swimming would. If she had tried to sink down it would take her twice as long, even with Mia and the cage on her back. They hit the sea floor and another cloud of silt bloomed out from beneath them. They made their way to the open pumping station, it's spotlights bright as it lit up the doorway. Once inside, Omega made his hand into a knife as he directed the sister on the direction he wanted her to take once the bulkhead door opened. She would take the left side, and he would take the right. After nodding to him, she pushed the control lever to the 'Drain' side of the control panel, and the door to the sea closed behind them.
Pumps kicked on as bubbles lifted from the metal grating below them, and they felt the suction of the water as it drained downward around them. Omega rolled his shoulders as the two siblings extended their harvesting needles to their full length, ready to kill the red armored Splicers. They both opened the vents on their dripping helmets with quiet hisses of air, and breathed in each other's scent. Theta's pheromones mixed with Mia's to flood his body with a cocktail of chemical and biological reactions. He felt a hundred feet tall and invincible. His scent mixed with Mia's sent a tidal wave of needs and desires through the Big Sister, biggest of all was the desire to kill for him, and protect him and Mia both. She too felt invincible, and with Mia on her back she felt the overwhelming need to keep her safe at any cost. Omega's scent was more shallow than the Little sister because she was far closer, but his pheromones caused her body to heat from head to toe, tingling with trust, love, and a desire to kill alongside him.
The doors opened slowly, revealing raised weapons. Four armored figures held rifles toward them. They jumped when the Protectors came into view, and looked at each other in shock. Omega wondered why they didn't immediately open fire, but he didn't give them the chance to reconsider, and neither did Theta. They bolted forward toward their targets, two each, and met them at the same time. Omega grabbed the nearest man as he tried to reach for the side of his helmet, likely to a radio, and grabbed his chest armor, ripping the man's head off with a quick jerking motion. The body hadn't even reached the floor before the brother shot winter blast at the other armored Splicer next to him, freezing him and causing the man to fall onto his back, staring up at the brother as ice locked his body into place. Omega brought his boot down hard on the man's staring helmet, and crushed it with immense force, chunks of blue and red ice exploding out from under his boot to slide across the floor. He looked over to Theta as she stood behind a man on his knees, his partner dead behind her on the floor in a puddle of his own blood, still twitching lightly from where she had stabbed the point of her thick harvesting needle through the visor of his face guard. She growled as her fingers dug into the kneeling Splicer's throat, her fingers meeting before she jerked her hand away, taking the man's throat with it. He reached up and clawed at his throat with gurgling groans as he fell on his side, kicking and struggling to stay alive. She tossed the chunk of meat away with a disgusted growl and shook the blood from her hand before giving him a humming nod, her mood changing from rage and hate to adoration and approval in an instant.
The brother nodded to her before they scanned the area. They could hear very distant gunfire and explosions to their left, though it was far enough away that it didn't concern them. No one else was in the empty back alley area that held the airlock, and they crept forward quietly, their eyes darting to the rooftops of the two buildings they were behind. Theta pointed to one of the buildings and he nodded again, moving over to lock his fingers together as he bent slightly, his back to the brick wall. Theta sauntered over to him and placed her boot in his hands, purring as she crouched a little lower, her helmet just above his, her hands gripping his shoulders. She felt her body reacting to the adrenaline and pheromonal mixture that came from the open vents on his helmet. She shifted inside of her suit as she got into place, and tapped his shoulder when she was ready. He stood and lifted her boot skyward with shocking speed as he threw her upward. She kicked off of his interlocked fingers at the last second to gain extra height. When she reached the rooftop, she grabbed the lip with her hand and silently vaulted over with all the elegance a Big Sister could muster. Omega waited as she scouted the rooftop, and when her helmet appeared and looked down at him, she braced her chest against the edge of the building and reached her hand down toward him.
Omega took a few steps back and got into a sprinting position before launching forward and jumping as hard as he could. His strong legs sent him most of the way up, but he hit the wall and kicked upwards in a crawling run. The brother ran out of momentum just as he reached up to Theta's hand, and she locked her wrist with his, grunting lightly at the new weight added to her arm. She heaved as she struggled to pull him up, but when his free hand reached the edge he was able to assist her and climb over to join her. When his feet were firmly planted on the rooftop they were moving again, creeping along the rooftops as they had when they escaped the outskirts of Minerva's Den, though this time they weren't being shot at, not yet anyway. As they leapt from building to building and shop to shop, Omega could feel Iota getting closer and closer. When they reached the entrance to a new area, the one Omega suspected the Trainyard and Iota were in, they jumped from the building to land on two patrolling Splicers in red armor. The brother crushed his target beneath his steel boots, but Theta had needed to twist her targets head around when his stomach hit the floor. His helmet looked up at her as she checked the surroundings to make sure no one had heard them, or was coming to investigate. They pulled the bodies into a dimly lit newspaper shop and stuffed them behind the counter. No one would think to check for them there, and no Splicer would want to read a decade old newspaper about Rapture or the Civil War. They didn't know if that was actually what the newspapers said of course, but there was a picture of an explosion on the front pages in black and white ink, so they assumed that had to be the topic of the day back then.
After stashing the corpses of the dead men, they continued into a new area, creeping along the outer edge of the large common street before Omega jerked Theta into the shadows of a bronze statue. They peered out from behind the massive monument to greed and watched as a squad of armored Splicers patrolled the street beyond. They waited for the group to pass when another squad of armored men and women caught their sight beyond, much farther down the street, and Splicers in regular clothes shambled about here and there. Both Protectors gritted their teeth in anger, there were going to be even more of the filth the deeper into the district they got after all.
Once the nearest patrol had passed, they climbed the statue they were hiding behind, reaching the shoulders and kicking off of it to land on a nearby building, mentally cursing when they saw an armored figure turn to look at them. Theta was already on him by the time Omega rose to his feet, and she ripped his Thompson from his hands as she slammed her fist into the man's throat, causing him to choke as his windpipe collapsed with a crunch. She swung the man's weapon with both hands into the side of his helmet and he flew further toward the center of the building, rolling to a stop. His weapon curved in the sister's hand from the force she had hit him with. Omega looked out over the street to make sure no one had noticed them as his sister stalked toward the unconscious man to make sure he was dead. He wasn't moving, and she didn't hear a heartbeat, but she growled lowly as she stomped her boot onto his helmet anyway, denting it into his skull with a deep cracking sound. A common tactic among Splicers was to play dead and catch their targets off guard when they passed by, or ambush them from among other dead bodies. The Protectors weren't taking any chances with that happening. They had crushed the heads or broken the necks of the Splicers they had encountered so far. There would be no playing dead for their victims.
The coast was clear when Theta returned to her brother, and he was kneeling as he scanned the streets below in the distance, watching and observing how many Splicers were moving around. She reached him and laid her stomach and chest on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and down his chest as she peered over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. Omega ignored her as she rubbed the front of her body against his air tanks, her hands running down his chest armor. She was still in control of herself enough to stay alert and focused, though not by much. She gave a questioning hum in his ears that sent chills down his arms, and he had needed to seal his helmet's vents when he heard it in order to stay in control himself. As soon as he did, she pulled away slightly, realizing what she was doing and shook her head. She bit her lip in frustration at herself. She didn't think his biology would have this much of an effect on her, yet here she was, like a cat in heat even though they were in the middle of an important mission. She felt embarrassed and angry with herself over that. Omega pointed into the distance, snapping her out of her thoughts. He wanted to get a better angle, and there was another soldier on a rooftop three buildings away, barely visible in the shadows with his dark crimson armor. She nodded and pushed off of his back as he stood, and followed him as they stalked their new Prey.
They made their way silently to the building that the soldier was on, staying in the near darkness of the city's outer wall on the opposite end of the building from the man. Theta gestured to her companion that he could have this one, since she had taken the last, and he nodded thankfully. He crouched low as his heavy boots silently moved toward the man's back. Theta purred with excitement as she watched him work. It was hard to pay full attention to him when they fought together, and she could only catch glimpses of his work, but now she had a front row seat. Her heart pounded in her chest in anticipation as the brother reached the man. She watched him reach his hand over the man's helmet as he scanned the streets below, oblivious to the danger behind him. Omega's left hand grabbed the man's left shoulder at the same time the fingers of his right hand gripped the top of the Splicer's helmet visor, and before the man could even jerk in surprise the Protector yanked his head backwards and down, snapping his neck as the back of his helmet bumped in between his shoulder blades with a satisfying crunch. Theta breathed in a shaking breath as she bit her lip and felt her body heat all over again as Omega made his way back to her with his kill. He was dragging the man by his helmet visor like he weighed nothing, and when he reached her he dropped the corpse in front of her, hiding it behind a thick air ventilation pipe. She let out a quiet, satisfied hum before jumping up to hug her arms around him. She let go far sooner than she would've liked as he turned to walk back to the edge of the building where the man's weapon still lay. Omega knelt down again, and Theta pressed her front against his back once more as they scanned over the much larger area now that they had better sight lines. They could see a cluster of buildings on the far end of the street, high walls with sandbags, barbed wire, and spikes atop it. Soldiers patrolled the ramparts with weapons at the ready. Spotlights hung from every corner of the buildings that made up the compound, and sentries manned the rooftops with machine gun nests on each building facing out at the surrounding streets. He squinted his eyes, his enhanced vision focusing on the tallest of the buildings. From this angle he could see what looked like a microphone on the rooftop, and two black banners ran down the front of the largest tower, a red triangle in the center of each one, and he realized it was the same sigil he had seen on the armor of the soldiers they had been killing. He growled unconsciously now that he had confirmed that it was indeed a new faction risen to power in the city.
He could feel Iota in a building just down the street from the tower with the banners, and figured that was where they were keeping his Mate, Anna, Lizzy, and the others if they were still alive. His mind flashed memories of pain and captivity through his vision, and his hand came up to brace the front of his helmet when he thought of his family being tortured by the Splicer vermin. He gritted his teeth as his vision blurred, and Theta shook him desperately when she saw the crimson visor slits of his helmet flicker brighter toward the light red of madness that had plagued her and so many of their siblings. He growled as he fell to his hands and knees, shivering with rage, drooling inside his helmet as he gritted his teeth and snarled.
"I don't think Big Brother wants to play anymore, Big Sister." Mia whimpered in a low whisper, and Theta shot to her knees in front of him. Both of her hands gripping the sides of his helmet as he tried to fight the madness. Her fingers found the manual release button for his helmet's air vents and opened them before pulling his head to her chest. She would've preferred to remove his helmet entirely, but she wouldn't risk that with so many Splicers around. Her heart was pounding in her chest as he dug his fingers into the rooftop below, snarling as he tried to contain the rage. She began humming softly as she held his helmet to her chest, letting him hear her heart beat and gentle singing. He began to slow his rage induced trembling, and panted through clenched teeth. Panting breaths turned to heavy, slower breathing, and his fingers no longer dug into the hard concrete of the roof. She heard him breathing through his nose and out of his mouth as his trembling and rage subsided. She had never seen him so upset, so enraged. Part of her felt like she wanted to rip him out of his suit and allow him to vent his rage on her right there on the rooftop, and the other part of her wanted to soothe and comfort him, to ease him out of that beautiful display of passion, rage, and deadliness. Her gaze turned to the building he had been focused on, a large structure with ornate carvings and statues on the sides leading all the way up the ten story building. Her focus was on the Splicers in red armor standing guard just outside the front entrance. They would need to hit them fast and hard in order to keep them from alerting others. If this building was where the other Big Sisters were, and the other Little Sister, they would tear it apart to find and rescue them, and they would kill anyone that got in their way.
