Chapter 69: 68. Capabilities Unseen

Jinx: "Wrex?! I'm so sorry! Are you ok?!" She crouched down next to him.

Wrex: "Grr... I'm fine." I changed vision modes as I reached and supported him myself, to see the extent of his injuries, and interpreted the read outs on the diagram of his suit on my HUD...

Me: "You're not fine, your leg is punctured in multiple places and your suit's seal integrity is compromised... You're taking on water."

Wrex: "Yeah... I know."

Sarah: "He has minutes then before he's drowning." 42 took out one of the few remaining Executioners as he backed up towards us.

42: "Then let's push for the closest turbine and get him inside."

Me: "Come on Wrex, walk with me..." I ducked down beside him, placing one arm of his over my shoulders and hoisted him up, "...Fury, give us some cover."

42: "On it. Go."

Sarah: "We got you covered."

I was already way ahead, pulling my limping Wrex along beside me. One of the others would occasionally cross our path, only to defend us in some form and put down another Executioner. We couldn't have been more than 30 meters away from the closest turbine when another Executioner swam towards us, flicking a 9 inch serrated blade around in his hand. None of Fury seemed to be on this one, so I took it upon myself to take him out. I raised my gauntlet and readied to fire, waiting until he got close enough. Though I never got the chance... The Executioner was landed on roughly from above, forcing him into a nose dive into the sea bed. The familiar black and gold armour of Ember emerged from the fog of silt that had been kicked up.

Me: "Where did you get to?"

Ember: "I was dragged away and just had to deal with 18 of them on my own! So yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking!" She stated sarcastically while violently ripping her tail blades from the back of the Executioner that she had landed on. Something I noticed, even among the silt, her tail blades didn't look natural. Before she put them away, I could see they were slightly larger and shiny silver in colour.

Me: "I need to get Wrex inside, now. How do we get in?"

Ember: "Service hatch. Right at the base to one side. It takes you through a U bend and there's an air pocket prep room on the other side."

Me: "Show me."

Wrex: "Alex, I can feel the water's up to my shoulders."

Me: "Shit! Ok, hold on Wrex." I gripped him tight to me and fired my jets briefly, launching us towards the closest turbine. It was a fight against the currents, they were surprisingly strong, but the little burst got us close enough, well... Almost...

Another Executioner came from nowhere, tackled me and ripped away my grasp of Wrex. We crashed into the sea bed, myself and this Executioner, causing me to lose sight of Wrex.

Me: "No NO! I do not have time for this!" I smashed him to the floor, he resisted but didn't have the strength to over power me. I punched him in the chest back down to the floor and the moment he crashed back down my arm blade fired out in a glow of plasma, straight through his chest, halting his resistance instantly. I snapped a look around, hunting for Wrex as I snapped away my blade. My eyes locked onto Ember swimming rapidly towards a scuffle at the base of the turbine.

Me: "Wrex!" I bolted for the scuffle, another burst of my jets got me meeting it at the same time Ember did. When we arrived it turned out Jinx and 42 were already there too, attempting to help remove 3 Executioners that were content on attacking Wrex. Ember helped Jinx pull one off, tackling him to the floor. I quickly snapped to helping 42 wrestle another off, though Sarah arrived to assist with that one, leaving me to deal with the last one. I yanked him off Wrex, spinning him off to the floor beside Wrex onto his back, charged my jet and fired into his neck in a sort of of uppercut motion. Their head instantly evaporated in a orb of boiling water and blood.

I quickly checked back on the others, Jinx and Ember had killed theirs, then I watched in slight amusement and awe as Sarah threw the second Executioner at the grate that defended the turbine against debris then for 42 to land a flying kick, assisted by his plasma jets, into the Executioner. The force of the kick sent him smashing through the grate and to tumble into the turbine blades, chomping him into pieces. 42 then quickly turned his jets to pull him away to safety from the turbine 

Me: "Niiccee... *Gasp*, Wrex!..." I spun to look where he was only to see him hastily clawing his way to the base of the turbine. "...Wrex, how are you doing on air?!..." I demanded rushing back over to him. His helmeted head gave me a sideways glance and he tapped the top side of his helmet with all 4 fingers - no verbal answer! "...Ember! Hatch now!-"

Ember: "Here! Over here!" She waved me down a few meters away, pulling a metallic trap door open. Wrex hastily fumbled his way over to it, but once again I used the speed of the jets, grabbed him and bolted us over to the hatch.

The access hole was small, a human diver and his tanks would fit, just, so myself and Wrex weren't going to fit at the same time. So in the most loving way possible, I kicked him through the hole, then followed him through the short shaft before it opened out into a larger water filled area. Again, I grabbed him, used my jets to force us through the waters faster, following the route of the U-bend, breaking through the surface and a reasonable speed, enough to throw us up onto the platform at one side of the room with a clatter and a metallic scrape against concrete.

Immediately Wrex's face plates burst open, releasing a small torrent of water. He made a loud long gasp for air before coughing and spluttering.

Me: "Wrex?! Are you ok?!" I said snapping my own face plates open and followed him as he rolled over onto his back, cupping the side of his helmet and looking down at him.

Wrex: " *Pant* Never... *pant* ...again *pant*." Which made me give a relieved chuckle.

The others one by one appeared from the water line, their heads bursting through the surface.

Jinx: "Is he alright?!" She asked, her helmet popping open first as she hurried her way over to the water's edge.

Wrex: "I'll live." Then cleared his throat as he sat up more.

Jinx: "I'm sorry Wrex, I let my guard down." She apologised as she came and crouched down on the opposite side of Wrex to me.

Wrex: "Honestly it's fine, there were a lot of them to be fair and we made it out of it alive, that's all that matters."

Sarah: "You did, your suit might not have done."

Wrex: "What do you mean?"

Sarah: "I designed them to be waterproof outside, not inside. I never accounted for taking on a large amount of salt water. Some of it's systems are sensitive to moisture."

Wrex: "Can it protect me long enough to see the mission through?"

Sarah: "Protect you from arms fire?, Yes. Be fully operational? No, you might lose HUD, weapons, propelled flight-"

Me: "Back to your old armour, basically."

Wrex: "Perfect... Oh well, let's get on with it."

Me: "Maybe you should wait here, or maybe I could Jump you out and back to Relentless for medical-"

Wrex: "They're my children too my love. I'm not about to let a dodgy knee stop me.

Me: "Are you sure?"

Wrex: "Mm-hmm. At least the salt water has probably cleaned it up quite nicely... Maybe... Probably not. But I'm still coming anyway."

Me: "Yeah, probably not. Alright then..." I smiled at him and stood back up, "...This Fury to Relentless, we're in..." I called on the Vanguard com channel, but received no reply, "... Relentless?"

Ember: "Communications to the outside world are blocked. SkyTech wanted nothing getting out. But you should be able to talk to your guys inside already, if they made it."

Me: "Thanks... Fury to Hammer?... Strike Force, do you read us? We're in."

Withers: "Withers here, good to hear from you. Strike has not long made our way inside ourselves. Security is minimal for the moment, so we're making good progress."

Me: "Heard anything from Hammer yet?"

Withers: "Negative. Boro-Nar and Rein will lead them in when the opportunity arises though, I have faith in them to pull through."

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Me: "Good, we'll need them. From here on out, try to keep radio chatter to a minimum. Stick to the plan we discussed."

Withers: "Understood. And Alex?, Good luck."

Me: "You too. Fury out..." I turned back to Wrex on the floor and the others surrounding me, all had been intently listening, "...Ember, what's next on our route?"

Ember: "All these maintenance rooms link up to a security checkpoint at the center of the field. From there we can use elevators to gain passage to the main base on the lower levels."

Me: "Good... Can you walk?" I directed at Wrex. He started pulling himself from the floor with a groan, so I reached for his hand to assist.

Wrex: "Grr... I will walk, one way or another." He spoke in a pained growl as he took my hand and rose to his feet.

Me: "Ok Fury, let's go." I rounded the group and lead them past the control panel and supply cupboards for this turbine, to a door at the end of the room. Our first security door. I held my hand over the code panel, remotely hacked the system and unlocked the door, in less than 3 seconds, we were in.

I cautiously stepped out into the dark hallway beyond. In a cascading effect the lights of the hall erupted into life, one by one and away from my position in both directions. The hallway was just as you'd expect for a maintenance access way, concrete surrounded us on both sides, top and bottom, and there was ducting, pipework and cables running along hangers on one top corner of the corridor. Other than that the hallway was empty... thankfully... for now anyway, though not for long, no doubt.

Me: "Any idea which way, Ember?" I asked looking up and down the hallway.

Ember: "Well we're at the edge of the field. As I say, there's a security checkpoint at the center of the field, so either way will lead to a corridor further in."

Crystal: "I've already hacked their security systems and begun monitoring their communication channels. They're buzzing with chatter about the ravine entrance, seems Vanguard forces are pushing them hard. They're also sending squads to intercept Strike Force but there's no report of our entance as of yet. We remain undetected, for now. I'll also be able to deactivate their security such as cameras and motion detectors as we move forward." She announced from Ember's armour.

Wrex: "There will be Executioners outside that survived, they'll likely inform Skylen or Reikon of their failure to halt us as soon as possible."

Me: "Then a stealthy advance will remain our tactic for now. Fury, as I said, we're probably going to come across a mixture of the SkyTech forces and converted Dragons. SkyTech- kill if engaged, but the converted we need to try to save. Only kill if your own life is threatened, freeing them is the ultimate goal."

They all nodded, even Ember surprisingly, so I beckoned them all to follow. In a light jog- well, myself in a jog, the rest of my Draconian team had resorted to a canter on all fours, Wrex hobbling and limping at the rear... Anyway, in a jog, we rounded a corner that would lead us deeper into the field... Our first opposition... A squad of black clothed men, matching black baseball caps, well armed with assault rifles, were marching this way. They reminded me of how a SWAT team would dress maybe. Didn't really matter too much, they were in my way and they weren't messing around.

"Targets acquired! Take 'em down!" One of the guys ordered. They immediately brought their riffles down to bear and started firing. Their bullets as per usual pinged harmlessly off of our armours and I raised my arms, charged, and started firing. It was clear that my team behind me had the same idea, plasma rounds sailed past me towards the 'SWAT' team and each of them were boiled, burnt or exploded within seconds. If any of them even made it halfway through their magazines I would have been surprised.

We proceeded, stepping over the charred and sizzling bodies, making our way deeper through halls, we came across 2 more 'SWAT' style teams and dispatched them both as quick as the first. We were getting closer, other corridors seemed to be merging with this one. Finally we made it to the security checkpoint. I backed up and peeked around the corner, it was fairly obvious. It was a fairly large, well lit open space. To one side was an office, with almost completely blacked out windows, some airport style scanners, some tables beside them and 2 industrial sized lifts at the far end of the room... And a shit load more of the SWAT style troops.

"Team 5, report in... Team 5?... Team 5 report. *Sigh* Team 3, head to Team 5's last known location and find out what they're up to... Team 3?... Team 3 come in... Team 6?..." One guy spoke into his radio as he rounded the office structure. "...God damn it. Alright, Teams 4 and 7, find our guys, find out what's going on and report back to me." The 2 teams of 6 each loaded and cocked the rifles and headed this way. I backed up a little bit more.

Me: "2 Teams, coming right this way." I said to the others on a secure channel.

42: "What's the plan?"

Me: "Back up, down the last hall. We'll take them out nice and quietly then come back when there's less of them." We started backing up but Wrex stuttered and froze in front of me after he turned and took one step, his red eye sensors flickered and died.

Me: "Wrex?..." Suddenly, his suit monitoring status flashed up entirely red, with 'Signal Lost' displayed next to it on my HUD, "...shit! His suit's died!"

Jinx: "Bad guys are right on top of us!" She gave in an unnecessary squealed whisper. But she was right, motion tracker showed they were right next to the corner I was peering round a few moments ago.

Me: "Oh, fuck it..." I spun on the spot, kicking the first unsuspecting soldier in the gut the moment he rounded the corner. He flew backwards, knocking his buddy behind him flying as well before finally smacking into the wall on the opposite side of the hallway.

The rest of the soldiers started shouting incoherently as they started covering fire  around the corner while quickly trying to recover their comrades.

Me: "Take 'em down Fury." We pushed around the corner taking shots of plasma at whoever was closest while measly metallic rounds simply ricocheted off of our armours. They quickly fell into bloody messy piles on the floor as they tried to back away from us, still firing. Gunshots, the sounds of plasma fire, men screaming in pain and shouting commands filled the air. Quickly they fell as round upon round of plasma was unleashed into them.

"Damn you!, Stay back!" The last man standing shouted, running backwards to the office door, and started firing a small firearm at me, the small pistol rounds bouncing off of me like plastic BB pellets. I charged a small round and shot him in his flank as he tried to run away, still shooting at me, looking over his shoulder as ran away from us. The round combined with his momentum sent him flying 6 feet away and came crashing into the office door, cracking the ballistic glass in the door with a splatter of blood.

Me: "Wrex!" Spinning on the spot as I remembered he was locked up in the hall behind. I saw Sarah emerge from the hallway along with Wrex looking okay, besides the limp, the only one of the 2 with an open helmet...

Sarah: "Exactly as I said it would. His systems are shutting down and short circuiting. His gel layer became completely charged and solidified, locking him up. I managed to get it unlocked though."

Jinx: "How?"

Wrex: "Shut down the suit entirely, It's not powered any more so now I'm just a big paperweight. Just like being back in my old armour I guess, but with more resistance." I opened my face plates to be courteous.

Me: "You should stay here."

Wrex: "You know damned well that's not going to happen."

Me: "I know." I smiled and he smiled back

There was then static from a nearby radio, followed by the voice, we all looked for the source, which actually was the nearby body, the last guy I killed, by the office door.

"Turbines? We've got the dead man alarm sounding from your station. Report... Turbine security, come in?"

I quickly strode over, pulled a walkie talkie from his belt, I could hear his torso still sizzling from the plasma burn... I analysed the guy's dying words of 'Damn you! Stay back!', pulled his voice pattern and replicated it back through my armour's speakers using my own words,

Me (as dead guy): "Turbine here. Situation normal, sorry, dropped my radio under the desk."

" 'Under the des-' Christ... What about the dead man trigger alarm??"

Me (as dead guy): "Err, that's why I dropped my radio. There's a problem with the switch. Just trying to reset it now."

"Err... Roger Turbine. Understood." I crushed the radio in my hand, throwing the pieces away.

Jinx: "Phew, quick thinking. How did you do that?"

Me: "Just mimicked his voice that I recorded before I shot him."

Ember: " 'Dropped my radio'? Seriously?"

Me: "Sounding stupid makes something more believable."

Wrex: "Looks like it worked."

Me: "Indeed, for now anyway. To the lift, come on..." We all made a fast jog to the lift, hitting the call button as soon as I got close enough. There was a clonk and a slight whir from the shaft. "...what's next Ember?"

Ember: "Generator level. The elevators to get down to the main facility are staggered for security, so there's another security check point at the bottom of this elevator. From there you can either gain access to the generator hall, where the power is stored from the turbines, or continue down further into the main base."

(-Void Chords)

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