"The gravity manipulation is weakening! We have approximately two hours left, sir!" a woman's voice circulated in a large space filled with all sorts of technology and mech soldiers dressed in lab coats with little Cobalt Blue trim designating them as Technical Personnel.
The interior of the makeshift military platform was cramped and chaotic, dominated by generators and holographic displays showing the crumbling island's vitals. The technicians, wearing thick, insulated white and pale chrome lab coats over utility trousers, moved with precise, hurried steps.
A young man, his face partially obscured by a communication headset, slammed his fist onto a console. "That's generous, Zara. I'm reading residual Resonance Stone collapse waves. The whole thing could shear off the anchor in ninety minutes."
"Then we make do with ninety minutes, Ensign," Zara retorted coolly.
She stood at the central holo-table, the structural integrity diagram of the colossal island flashing red in her face. Zara wore a practical, cobalt-blue utility jumpsuit with a white lab coat draped over her shoulders, her dark hair pulled back tightly.
Amidst this chaos, a young man sat on a chair at the corner, his left cheek resting on his palm. He had silver hair and eyes, and was draped in his custom-fitted matte-black IDR uniform, whose polished chrome highlights gave it a silver sheen. Some parts were mostly painted silver.
Finally, someone said something that finally made the man eager to stand up and join in the chaos.
"Blood Scan is working properly now! We can detect the remaining citizens!"
Zara's eyes lit up as she ran to a nearby seat occupied by a young, dark-complexioned woman. In front of the woman was a computer displaying an area colored in green. Occasional waves of the computer spread in spirals across the area. This was the island.
"Okay. Mary, access the supercomputer and display this as a holograph." Zara ordered.
With a nod, the girl got to work, and in less than ten seconds, a large, rectangular green holographic image came to life at the center of the military lab.
The young soldier frowned as he gazed at the holograph. Zara opened her mouth to say something, but closed it back when she saw the young soldier already standing in front of the hologram.
She walked up to him.
A grim expression was plastered on Silver's face as he looked at the holographic image of the island.
The northern part of the island was covered in dots of different colors, and so was the eastern part. The southern part was covered in a large black dot that shot out some sort of thin black lines across the island.
Silver's frown deepened anytime he gazed at the south.
The western part... was almost free of dots.
'Huh.' Silver raised an eyebrow.
He turned his gaze to a beautiful, approaching scientist and smiled.
He then gestured for her to look at the western part of the island.
With a surprised expression, Zara said:
"Wow! It's almost free of Abominations. There are barely any Abominations there. But.."
Just at the northernmost part of the west, there was a weird humanoid shape identified by a myriad of different colors. The human was being carried by another human figure with red and black colors. They were currently running at an abnormal speed that prompted Zara to raise an eyebrow.
Behind this human was also a very fast blue dot. Silver scowled, immediately noticing the dot.
".. An Abomination? But wait, why is that human not glowing red?"
Zara didn't answer immediately, thinking of a suitable answer. Eventually, she said:
"I don't know, maybe the person didn't go for Blood Augmentation. That aside, there are only two humans left on this island."
Silver shook his head in disagreement.
Her expression changed into a complicated look.
"... Do you really want to save them?"
Silver's frown vanished, replaced by a calculating, cold neutrality that matched the tone of his armor. He looked from the hologram to Zara.
"The goal of the IDR is not 'rescue,' Zara. It's resource management," he stated, his voice calm and precise. "You are correct, only two human life signs remain, and the energy signature on the red and black dot is a very rare and highly valuable life-force signature."
He tapped the holographic image, focusing on the red and black dot.
"The one glowing in myriad colors has high-level augmentation, likely a civilian running on nanobots. The other... the red and black one... is a Diamond, or possibly higher, showing extreme depletion. A near-perfect specimen of human resilience. It's splendid... "
Zara stared. "A Diamond Siege? They haven't recorded one in the Floating Cities in a decade! But why is he moving so fast, and why are we only just seeing him now?"
"He's running at near-lethal capacity, draining his entire internal reserve. And we didn't see him before because...maybe he's a fugitive," Silver replied, his expression hardening as he looked at the red and black signature racing across the ruins with the rainbow figure.
He then stabbed his finger at the rapidly approaching blue dot trailing them.
"That blue dot is the true problem, for now. It's a B-rank Xenoform Abomination."
Without saying any more words, he walked out of the military lab.
Zara, knowing what he was planning to do, sighed and prayed inwardly.
'Don't die, nitwit.'
Silver came out of the cramped lab, passed by the Sparrow parking spots and walked over to the edge of the floating metal building. Occasionally, red blasts shot out of the building, killing any Abomination that got close to the military camp.
Ahead, he saw the Island of Darkness and the sky chasm with different abominations roaming around it.
"Captain Silver," a voice called out, making him turn his gaze away from the island. It was the old man and the blonde woman who came to welcome him. Grim and almost scared expressions were on their faces.
Silver gestured to them to come over. After they got close enough, the old man spoke with urgency.
"Sir, I know what you're planning to do, but can you think about your decision again?"
Silver grinned and turned his back to the soldiers.
"Do you think I will fail because I am a teenager, Officer Zeke? C'mon, don't doubt a high-ranked officer, it isn't done."
Zeke bowed though Silver couldn't see him.
"I'm sorry, sir. I just thought it would be too reckless for just two humans."
Not elongating further, Silver changed the topic.
"If I find my way in, I'll have to kill the Darkness Abomination to get out, right?"
Not waiting for an answer, he turned to Zeke with a hellish grin. Zeke swallowed hard.
"... Say, how good are you at flying Sparrows?"