The pervasive smell of a tomb hit them as the trio stepped into the room, Connor flashed the light across the room and saw a row of monitors, some filled with cracks, others where a destroyed mess, with cables and wires strewn everywhere. Above the row monitors was a massive screen which seemed to have been smashed revealing the cables behind. The place looked like an abandoned control room. But that was not only it as they scrutinized the place, they saw a skeleton impaled on the wall at the rear end of the room. There were other skeletons showing that the people had died in very compromising situations. They drew close to examine the bones and realized that these skeletons belonged to researchers.
the trio became intrigued what where they were researching and who had killed them because judging by the decaying of the clothes it could be said that at most only a decade should have passed when they died. The trio split up to see whether there were any clues but found none.
"Maya," Conner called out. "Can you use your talent to see the past of this place"
"I can try but there is no guarantee" replied Maya.
maya then sat on the ground crossed legged took in a deep and activated her talent. Her eyes began to shimmer with a golden light, but she was bit of more than she could chew, blood began to flow out of her eyes, then nose and ears. she spat out a mouth full of blood. Then with a thud she fell sideways to the floor.
Connor and Alex, who were standing guard at the door, rushed to her side and began calling out to her.
"Maya!!" "Maya!! Wake up" "wake up." They shook her hoping to get her to wake up.
Maya woke up gasping for air, trembling in fear. She looked around and only when she saw Alex and Connor by her side, did she calm down going limp in their arms.
"Are you ok" Alex asked worry written all over his face. Maya touched her face and felt the blood on her face. "What happened," Connor asked
______________________________________________________________
Maya didn't find herself in the usual space she found herself in anytime she used her talent. Instead, she seemed to have travelled back to this room at the time where everything was alive. She could see streams of data which were being displayed on the screens and the researchers moving up and down. The scene shifted now it showed what was a meeting being held at a discussion table in the center of the room.
"The reports are in, all teams have been lost. Only team G was able to give us feedback," one person said.
"what was it," another inquired.
"It was encrypted data, its currently being deciphered. The current progress shows that its mostly likely coordinates."
"that's good to know, at least we have made some progress," said the person overseeing the meeting moving to the next topic of the meeting. "Any breakthrough on the Cau…."
the head had been crushed to pieces and in place was a bloodied fist. A figure had infiltrated the room without causing commotion. What followed was a massacre, one of the personnel ran toward the end of the room reaching for a lever, but the assailant was faster he threw a spear which impaled him after which the infiltrator destroyed the monitors and screens in the place. Maya tried to focus to get a closer look at the figure, but the figure looked in her direction, his gaze threatening to kill causing the scene to scramble and shatter.
______________________________________________________________
"And I woke up," Maya said recounting the vision. Maya was visibly shaken not from the threatening gaze of the figure but also from over drafting her talent. Alex moved her to a corner to rest. "If that's the case," Connor noted, "that's why the HETRAMS are here. They'll find this place sooner or later."
….
In one of the tents in the HETRAM camp, "sir we have found the underground passage, it seems that's where the intruders have escaped to" reported an aide-de-camp.
the commander placed a hand on the chin and said, "or that's where they were here for from the beginning." "Tell all the units to put the area on lockdown, kill any suspicious figure", he ordered. "Gather the elite squad and move to the passage.
The elite squad, under the lead of the commander, marched toward the warehouse and entered, they had blown a hole in the ground of the warehouse revealing the passage directly. They entered the passage and marched forward.
….
It's been quite some time since Maya woke up Alex was still by her side, and Connor could be seen scrambling through consoles and monitor systems.
"what are you doing," Alex questioned. "didn't you hear what maya said, they were deciphering an encrypted data," Connor replied. "But the figure destroyed everything," said Alex. "Yeah, but such an important research data won't be kept in one place, there is definitely a backup."
After spending some more time searching Connor found a key in one of the drawers. He looked around and found a door at the left side of the room that had a keyhole. He unlocked it and saw that it was an archive for hardcopy files. He began searching through the files.
suddenly Alex ran to carry Maya at his back and rushed to the room where Connor and shouted, "We have to leave, they are almost here." Connor immediately grabbed a stack of files and followed after him. Alex went to the end of the room which had the impaled skeleton and pulled down the lever which revealed another passage, they entered it not before releasing a huge shockwave which destroyed everything including the lever which opened the passage.
Not long after the HETRAMS reached the heavy metal door and blew it apart. They stepped into the room only to be met with a scene of absolute devastation. Alex shockwave had been very thorough. The commander's face twisted in irritation. "Search everything!" he barked.
His subordinates swarmed the room, picking through the rubble. They found the archive room, but as they sifted through the shelves, it became clear that the most vital files, the one they needed, were gone. Defeated and empty-handed, the elite unit was forced to retreat to the surface.
Inside the command tent, The commander slammed his fist onto the table, fuming in a silent rage. "Do you know who they are?" he hissed, his eyes fixed on the aide-de-camp.
The aide-de-camp straightened his uniform, looking hesitant. "We don't have identities yet, sir."
….
When Brock gained consciousness, he saw himself in a vehicle with other members of the squad. He did not spot 100 probably in another vehicle. The road was very bumpy as they rode along a bushy road. At some points the vehicles stopped to eliminate some roaming zombies.
The convoy stopped when they arrived at a clearing indicating the presence of a shelter nearby and judging by the scale of the clearing it was a strong shelter. All the elites got down and formed a neat formation. A squad moved to the one of the vehicles unloading heavy cannons and wheeling them towards the perimeter.
After the cannons were set up, they fired towards the shelter. Seeing the sight of that, Brock was reminded of the time his shelter was attacked by them. He was not going to watch another shelter be reduced to ashes so Without hesitation, he attacked the nearest guard closest to him and three all the explosives in his tactical bag at the ammunition of the cannon squad causing a massive explosion at their side. Whether there were any survivors no one could tell. But by that time the guard was able to come back to their senses and focused fire at him. Brock activated his magnetic shield to deflect the bullets and ran to the cannon squad firing line to take cover behind the cannon ruins. He began to fire at them to keep them at bay. But it was 1 against 30 scenario. The guards inched closer and closer. Seeing this Brock was put at an edge he started to look around for a leeway, he saw that one of the cannons was still intact and was loaded he went to it and swiveled the massive barrel toward the troop formation. He fired and the recoil threw him backward, but the shell found it mark erupting at the center of the formation. Using the chance created he ran towards the shelter. The 20 meter wide clearing felt like an eternity. The guards regained their footing and chased firing at the same time. Bullets grazed in many places; shoulders, thighs, rib side the pain was excruciating but not too much. He pulled through continued but without a doubt he had been slowed down significantly.
…
A few moments earlier, inside the shelter's command center, the atmosphere was thick with anxiety.
"Shelter Head, when will the main forces arrive?" an aide-de-camp asked, his voice tight. "The scouts have discovered traces of HETRAM activity in this sector. We need to strengthen our defenses."
The Shelter Head, a blonde-haired man in his fifties with a well-kept beard, turned toward him with a calm smile. "They will arrive around daybreak."
The aide-de-camp paled. "But sir... the soldiers left in the shelter won't be enough to defend against even a medium-scale attack. We'll be slaughtered."
The leader's smile didn't fade, but his eyes sharpened. "I see. So, I look like a mere decoration to you?"
Before the aide could stammer an apology, a guard burst into the room, gasping for air. "They're here! The HETRAMS! They've reached the edge of the clearing!"
The Shelter Head didn't waste a second. He followed the guard to the sentry towers overlooking the perimeter. He braced himself for a coordinated siege, but what he saw left him stunned. Instead of a bombardment, a massive explosion tore through the HETRAM ranks, followed by the chaotic sounds of a fierce crossfire.
"Internal conflict?" the leader muttered, leaning over the stone battlement.
He grabbed a pair of binoculars and adjusted the focus, scanning the smoke and fire. His lens locked onto a single, blood-stained figure. The figure was sprinting toward the shelter walls, staggering under the weight of his injuries but refusing to stop as bullets kicked up the dirt at his heels.
"hmmm who is that," the leader whispered, watching Brock's desperate charge. "is he the one who turned their own cannons against them."
The aide de camp asked the shelter leader whether to open the gates for him. The shelter leader gave no response and watched as Brock approach his shelter but did not open the gates. Brock was captured soon by the elites that were chasing after him. They hauled his bloodied body back to the outer perimeter of the shelter where the HETRAMS had stopped the convoy. He was thrown into a makeshift cage.