"Good work, Penny," Asher commented as he walked up to her.
She glanced over at him, a slight grin pulling at her lips as she giggled.
"Why, thank you."
They both turned their attention to the hallway ahead. The door had been blasted open, and part of the corridor had melted. It was no surprise that there were no hostiles or barriers in sight anymore.
A moment later, the sharp wail of an alarm echoed through the area.
"Well, if they didn't know we were here before, they definitely do now," Asher remarked.
"Not like we were exactly trying to be quiet about it," he added, his voice light with humor.
Penny chuckled, and the two of them walked down the hall, undisturbed by the molten stone beneath their feet.
Elsewhere, deep in the subbasement, a corridor led to a modified room. All the building's security systems had been rerouted to connect here.
Inside, an older man's voice, sharp with impatience, cut through the air.
"What happened to the cameras at the entrance? Why did we suddenly lose the feed?"
"We… we're not sure, sir," a voice replied, sounding strained. The man in the janitor's uniform, who usually disguised himself for his real work in the subbasement, sat behind a large desk cobbled together using three smaller desks.
The room was dim, lit only by the glow of numerous monitors on the desks. Each screen displayed camera feeds from around the building. It was from here that they had been managing operations, giving orders to the team on the upper floors. But the interference caused by the Atlas military's jamming had thrown a wrench in their plans.
Things had been running smoothly until about an hour ago.
That's when four figures appeared at the entrance of the building. At first, it seemed almost like a joke. But the humor faded quickly when the two in the front started fighting.
Things had already been chaotic.
The entire building had been sealed off by a joint military and police operation, and they still had no idea why. Not long before that, they received word that the military had launched an operation in the Crater, followed by total radio silence from every scout and team member they had in that area.
They had no idea what had happened, and the news outlets covering the operation were deliberately vague.
It all led up to the moment when the leader of Atlas's White Fang Branch, along with everyone else in the control room, watched as a ginger-haired girl and an armored unit with weapons they'd never seen before tore through the first, second, and sixth floors.
The very floors they'd fortified with their best equipment—the first and second for obvious reasons, and the sixth because of the hostages.
So, when those in the control room saw it all unfold on their monitors, nearly everyone froze in horror. They tried to issue a retreat order over the radio, but nothing went through because of the jamming.
As for sending anyone to the upper floors to help? That was nothing short of suicide.
The only ones who managed to stay calm were three people. One of them was Sinn, the Branch Leader of the White Fang in Atlas.
Of all the White Fang branches across the kingdoms, Atlas's was the smallest and least developed.
From the rampant discrimination against Faunus to the fact that most Faunus who were willing to fight for the cause were stuck in the slums, in no condition to fight. Even the Faunus, who made it out and became successful, were often not desperate enough to risk everything.
And, of course, Atlas was the most militarized kingdom in the world.
Ironically, all those negatives had turned out to be an advantage in this case.
The Atlas Branch of the White Fang had to adapt—be sneaky, rely on connections, and step away from the more aggressive tactics they had adopted in recent years.
So, the sudden raid was a curveball for Sinn, even though he reacted as quickly as possible.
As for the other two members of the White Fang, the ones who managed to stay calm alongside Sinn, they were the Huntsmen Pietro had mentioned—Ranger and Brans.
Technically, they weren't licensed Huntsmen since they had dropped out, but their time at Haven and their experience within the White Fang made them just as dangerous, even if their training was lacking.
"What do you two think?" Sinn asked, eyes still locked on the monitors as they watched Asher and Penny on the upper floors.
Ranger's gaze never left the screen.
"The girl's definitely using aura. She's young, but she doesn't seem like a student—there's no way they'd send a student here. I'm not sure what her semblance is, though. As for the other one..." His voice trailed off as he narrowed his eyes, watching Asher skillfully dodge gunfire on the first floor.
Brans picked up where Ranger stopped, his voice calm but serious, "Either it's an android, and one of the best we've seen, or Atlas has been hiding their newest toys. Either way, it doesn't matter how many we throw at them—they'll tear through them. Me and Ranger are the only ones who can take them down."
Sinn clicked his tongue, frustrated.
"If only Silver were still here. The three of you together could break this encirclement before they even get the Special Operatives Unit involved," he muttered. The news of Silver's death during the hijacking attempt still stung. Worse yet, he had died at the hands of one of the elites he was supposed to take hostage—a child, no less.
"Yeah, well, he's dead," Ranger said bluntly.
"No point in hoping for the impossible. We should seal the door and set up a barricade in the main hall."
Sinn shot him a look.
"But I thought you said it doesn't matter how many we send?"
Ranger glanced over, his expression hardening.
"It won't, if our goal is to stop them. But even Huntsmen get tired, and whether it's an android or not, it must run on some kind of energy. We'll waste as much time as we can building walls before Brans and I take our shot."
They all knew exactly what this meant. They'd be throwing bodies into the grinder, hoping the blades would dull or jam long enough for them to make their move.
Or at least, that had been the plan.
But when Asher and Penny reached the sealed door, meant to be the first blockade, everyone had watched as the ginger-haired girl stepped forward. They had only gotten to see the first half of the scene—the magnetic fields from Penny's blades rotating—before the feed went dead, disrupted completely.
When they finally got the feedback up, a heavy silence fell over the control room.
The cameras in the hallway were gone. The one that had shown Asher and Penny standing in front of the door was now displaying a different feed. Between the lingering static, they could make out the sight of the door, now gone, melted clean through. The metal had turned into a hardened, metallic sludge.
The hallway, from what they could see, was a wreck.
Completely destroyed.
"Ranger, Brans..." Sinn muttered, his voice filled with every emotion someone might feel when witnessing something like this.
"Get the first floor of the subbasement... now!" He barked, looking directly at the two men.
Ranger and Brans exchanged a glance, then nodded before quickly leaving the room.
Once they were gone, Sinn turned to the other White Fang members still seated at the desks, monitoring the situation.
"Don't zone out!" he snapped.
"Contact everyone on the first floor of the subbasement, tell them to retreat to the elevator, and hold position. I want every available gun on that level. If those two monsters make their way down here, we're all dead!"
"Hu- Ah, yes, sir!" one of the White Fang members, still dazed, snapped out of his stupor, tearing his gaze from the monitor to carry out the orders. Meanwhile, Sinn stayed there, his hand covering his mouth, his face tight with anxiety.
Okay, think. We need a way out of here, an escape route. Even if we can handle those two freaks, we're still surrounded. It's only a matter of time before the soldiers flood in. They've blocked the sewer exits, and most of the building's power has been cut.
Sinn, lost in thought, went from covering his mouth to absentmindedly biting down on the side of his finger. As he tried to think, suddenly, everyone felt it—a tremor echoed through the subbasement.
It wasn't massive, but it was unmistakable.
"What the hell was that!?" Sinn asked, scanning the room before focusing on the people at the monitors.
One of them, eyes wide, turned to him and said, "Si- Sir! They've taken out the elevator!"
"W- Wait, what do you mean they took out the elevator? They're on this floor?!" Sinn shouted, his eyes widening in shock, matching the panic of the White Fang member who had spoken.
"Yes, sir," the man answered, his voice shaky.
"But how... we had over forty men on the first subbasement level! They'd just breached the door, and they got through all of them that quickly?" Sinn's words weren't really directed at anyone. He knew none of them could make sense of this any more than he could. But now, they were faced with a real problem.
He stepped closer to the monitors, scanning the feeds until he found the ones tracking Asher and Penny. They were standing in front of what was once the elevator, now destroyed, sealing off any chance of escape or movement to the higher floors.
Not a scratch on them. That alone spoke volumes about how easily they'd torn through the first subbasement level.
"Shit..." Sinn muttered, taking a sharp breath.
"Have everyone retreat and assist Ranger and Brans in any way they can. Under no circumstances are they to engage them alone," Sinn ordered, his voice steady but urgent. It wasn't much, but it was the only move they had left.
Trying to wear them down wasn't an option now, especially with them so close to the control room.
Ranger and Brans were their only hope.
=====================================•=====================================
"Well, that takes care of the elevator," Asher said, his attention now fully ahead.
The subbasement, especially the second level, was eerily quiet, the thick stone between them and the surface amplifying the stillness. The lights above flickered softly, the faint hum of power still running through the building.
Straight ahead, there was a door—more like a set of bars than a proper door. It looked like it was meant for storage, though, from what Asher could see through the gaps, it seemed to be empty now. On either side where they were standing, two paths stretched out, each curving sharply after a short distance.
"Do we have a map of this level?" Asher asked.
"Uh-huh, I'll send it now," Penny replied, pausing for a moment as her eyes seemed to zone out. A second later, Asher's AI, GAIA, received a signal and quickly downloaded the map through their private connection. The map of the entire second-level subbasement appeared in the corner of Asher's vision.
Overall, the second level was smaller and simpler than the first.
The two paths on either side led through the floor, each with only a few more turns after the initial one. There were a few more rooms branching off into storage or the sewer, but the intel suggested that the Branch Leader and the center they were after were probably located in the generator area at the far end, where both paths converged.
"I think we'll need to split up," Asher said, though Penny's hesitation was clear when she heard that.
"But... I'm supposed to guard you," Penny said, the conflict clear in her voice. She had been ordered to follow Asher's orders, which was why she'd been included in his plans. But her main priority was always to protect him.
"I know, but trust me, I'll be fine. Haven't gotten hurt yet, have I?" Asher reasoned, his tone reassuring. Penny paused, thinking for a moment.
"I suppose not..." She muttered reluctantly.
"Exactly," Asher said with a confident grin.
"And if I need help, I'll call you over comms. If you stick with me and leave the other path open, we might end up surrounded, and then we'll be in even more trouble than if one of us goes alone."
Penny hesitated but eventually nodded, her frown lingering before she spoke.
"Well, I guess that makes sense." She admitted, her voice softening slightly as she continued, "Alright... but if you're in danger, you have to promise to tell me, okay? I don't want to fail my first mission outside."
Asher pretended to feel hurt, placing a hand over his chest, as he said, "Oh? And here I thought you were worried your friend might be in danger, but it's just because of the mission?"
Penny was caught off guard, quickly correcting herself.
"W- What? No, of course not. I want you to be safe, you- Wait... did you just call me, your friend?" Those last few words were accompanied by a surprised expression, mixed with a hint of disbelief.
"I mean, I thought so. Do you not want to be?" Asher asked, which made Penny instantly shake her head, a little too violently.
"No, no, I do! I- I've never had a chance to have a friend before."
Behind his helmet, Asher's eyes glimmered ever so slightly as he said, "Well, now you have a chance. We can consider this mission our first... outing as friends. Deal?"
Asher asked while holding out his hand to Penny. The hesitation Penny felt disappeared almost in an instant as she reached out and shook Asher's hands with both of hers.
"Deal! I can't believe it, I finally have a friend!" She was so excited that she hopped a few times before Asher managed to calm her down, and the two of them decided how they would split up.
In the end, Penny would take the left path, and Asher would take the right. They would stay in touch over comms just to make sure nothing went wrong.
As they prepared to split, Asher held out his hand, palm facing up. The next moment, a hologram projected out from his palm, displaying what looked like three screens. With a flick of his other hand, Asher casually swiped through them, and the screens spun with each movement of his hand.
Eventually, he stopped on one, pressing on it, as the hologram changed. Rather than projecting a hologram, it looked as if the projecting device on Asher's palm, instead, began 3D printing something, using hard-light dust. The end result looked oddly similar to Asher's High-Frequency Combat Blade.
A moment later, the projection vanished, as the real blade appeared in Asher's hand. This was the way Asher planned to hide the Nexus Space's ability. Being able to create weapons out of hard-light dust wasn't a popularized form of technology; in fact, it hardly exists today.
But it existed all the same.
So, Asher installed a projector into this suit, a simple one that mimicked hard-light printing, but wasn't in reality. If anyone asked, he could simply lie and say he had managed to perfect the technology to the point it's indistinguishable from the real thing.
Penny was surprised at first, too, but eventually she got used to it.
"You ready?" Asher asked, holding the Vibro-Blade, and looking at Penny.
She nodded.
With that, the two of them split, heading down their individual paths. Asher waited a little bit, waiting for Penny to disappear from sight, before letting out a small sigh.
She really is innocent. She didn't even ask why I chose the paths I did for us.
Asher turned and started down the left path.
The reason he had picked this path for himself was simple: it was the quickest way to get to what they assumed was the control room for the White Fang, and also the most likely location of the Branch Leader.
Penny doesn't seem to have any hesitation towards killing, which is a bit odd considering her personality. But still, I doubt she would be okay with me torturing someone in front of her. So, if I want to clear Mori's little quest, then I have to make sure I reach the Branch Leader of the White Fang before she does.
As for what exactly he planned to do to the Branch Leader, Asher still hadn't decided. Mori had been vague, only telling him to make sure their deaths were brutal and make them crave the end.
Always so twisted...
That was the only thought Asher had on the matter until he noticed something odd, or rather the lack of something. He had expected to run into resistance, but as he walked the hall, aside from the sound of his plated steps against the floor, there wasn't a single White Fang member in sight.
His exosuit's sensors weren't picking up on any vibrations either.
Quiet... too quiet.
As Asher took another few steps, walking past a locked metal door, suddenly a blade, or rather a segmented blade, each part looking as if it were a section of a sword, connected all through a chain, shot out. It had easily torn through the metal door he had been walking past and was stretched via its chain, flying at Asher's head.
"There you are," Asher responded as he raised his Vibro-Blade in a mind-blurring flash of speed and countered the tip of the segmented blade. Sparks flew as the blades came in contact, causing the rest of the segmented parts to go off track and miss Asher.
Then, with a flick of a switch on the Vibro-Blade's hilt, the high-frequency blade was suddenly engulfed in electricity as Asher swung in the direction of the metal door, where the attack had come from. The electricity arced through the air, hitting the segmented blade and running along it like a current, straight back to the attacker.
As the segmented blade retracted, slinking back through the hole it had made in the door, Asher flipped the switch again, the electricity dissipating as he spoke.
"Come out, let's get this over with."