gabriel’s injuries had receded to a constant but manageable ache when he breathed. he left behind the heavy bags and supplies. he left his extra knife. he left behind any reluctance and regained his composure. he stood with a groan, rising to full, broad height with one hand against the crumbling tan wall and the other firmly upon the butt of his holstered shotgun. his comms crackled to life and he fumbled with the switch as einstein’s voice became clear over the channel, tone urgent and tinged with panic. ❛ commander reyes. you alive down there? ❜ he ignores her question, the fact that he spoke response enough.
❛ report your status. ❜
she sounds relieved. ❛ we’re outside. everyone is accounted for. three minor injuries; one major, but i’m taking care of her. 14′s death has been reported. extraction has been requested and is on its way. ❜
❛ good. if i’m not up by the scheduled time, leave. ❜
she tries to protest and he quickly switches off the channel, dragging his feet as he shuffles past the scene of the most recent fight. there was a grim sort of satisfaction in his thoughts as he walked past the pile of bodies, scattered in gory disarray. tables lay knocked over as makeshift barricades, riddled with bullet-holes. the commander took in a shaky breath through his mask, though it remained inaudible thanks to the noise-canceling synthesizers within. only when he spoke did they reduce his voice to a dark, threatening rumble capable of not only disguising his identity, but also serving the purpose of intimidation all in one fell swoop.
he’d already done his rounds on the building, weeks before the actual infiltration with the use of drones (which usually did not make it home in one piece), and today in person. today’s tour was considerably less leisurely than the drone inspections, however, interrupted by spurts of gunfire blasting down on him and the infiltration team as they navigated their way across the gray, flat lot before the dome.
it was a surprisingly low-tech, old fashioned type architecture, though the smooth gray concrete dome certainly did cut an eerie figure in the murky canadian fog. the inside was more akin to a tower sinking deep into the earth like a needle embedded in the side of the planet, floor after floor of confusing maze to navigate. blackwatch’s advanced technology mixed with their tactical use of an inside source offered them a vague map of the place, but it was hardly sufficient to track every corner and hidden detail. they’d lost a new guy along the way, codenamed 37 for the time being. much to gabriel’s discomfort, 37′s body was not among the pile of dead robot bodies behind him.
past a certain point they’d reached the warehouse, hundreds of deactivated omnics rowed up in a methodical order that, in their sleep, resembled a procession of the dead. as the split-up smaller half of the team passed through the shadowy, echoing hall dotted with metal hulls of war machines, none could shake off the feeling of eyes on their backs. the machines were off, and the team felt free to do as they were instructed to do here, so long as it did not bother them to have their every move watched.
command had been wrong. all the intel had been fucking wrong. one of the leftover god programs larger systems was supposed to be here, in remote canada in the deepest floor of this abandoned, unnamed structure; seemed reasonable enough, right? of course fucking not. the floor had been cleared by his team as they’d gone ahead and returned upstairs, leaving their leader to make some final rounds as he tracked a suspicion. he’d been right, the pocket in his right-side pants-leg heavy with the weight of his discovery. but deep beneath him, only about three or four floors was that enormous hall of empty omnic bodies, ready to go at the command of a still unnamed leader. they could not leave that risk standing untouched.
casting a glance back at the winding staircase interspersed with locked, smooth white doors, he turned and with firm grip pressed the elongated cylinder-like bomb to the wall beside him. he flicked the switch. turned, and RAN .
