The felt much cooler the more the group got closer to the large dome that overlooked The Machine. Frost even appeared on the glass-like surface of the vehicle they were on, and the inside was no different.
Although the group inside was far too preoccupied with the impending fight and sneaking mission they were on to truly care about the temperature. Even Hexel, who was by far the most sensitive to temperature creature in that vehicle, was too caught up in his own mind to care.
Marissa was silently talking to herself, seemingly siding up for the mission at hand. The knife that she had had since transformed constantly, and at the moment it had settled on what could only be described as a pen.
That pen oozed the little bit of White-Boson Energy still inside it, and although it did subtly affect her, no one else levitated like she did.
Axel was also psyching himself up: He repeated a mantra in what Mason would describe as gibberish, looking like he was about to enter a boxing ring. There was even a line of sweat lining his clothing.
Mason was the one on the more calmer side. He was thinking more about the mission and how to get inside it without having to interact with anyone. Not just because he didn't want to fight, but also because it could severely jeopardize the mission.
The more he thought about it, the more inwardly anxious he got though. If the protogen there communicated through that mind-link thing, then they could easily sound an alarm or call someone for backup.
Thankfully, B-64 noticed his thoughts and voiced his concerns to Catalyst, "The majority of The machine is coated in Boson Energy. So much that it even interferes with thoughts and functions such as mind-links and even conjointment or polymerization. No need to worry."
So that was a relief.
B-64 himself was slightly more freaked about this than the others. Of course, his glossy yet slightly cracked visor displayed his face as somewhat confident and unafraid, he was secretly terrified inside.
Not too much that the mission was unsuccessful, or the fact that he would need to fight. No, it was none of that, it was the aspect of having to be away from Mason, and the ever present possibility of him dying. Or the others dying.
But mainly Mason dying. B-64 could barely entertain the thought without feeling slightly sick, which mason quickly remedied with a soft hug and reassuring pats on his hands. Still, the thoughts lingered as they quickly approached the dome.
They stopped just about before the guards could see them and quickly settled for sliding into one of the many alleyways that plagued the city. Each one was nervous as they got out of the vehicle, except Catalyst as he was much too tired and apathetic to care at this point.
They all silently communicated through their mind-link, and each individually set out for their positions. Mason and Marissa were going to be stationed on the left side and Catalyst and Axel on the right.
Mason was slightly hesitant as he crossed the street, constantly glancing at the large dome and entrance just a couple hundred meters away. Marissa was the more fixated one, she constantly clenched her upgrade, another sword, as she stayed determined.
They passed through the back alleys and made their way through the filth and stench. Mason felt his way through it mostly, as even though there was nothing obscuring the light it was still nearly pitch black.
They managed though, and soon approached the end of the alleyways. Marissa led on that side, making her way through a very tight space where two buildings were practically squished together.
Mason followed suit, and they both emerged on the complete right side of the dome, small enough to not be seen through the rough metallic plating that kept the glass in its place. Both felt more and more nervous as they got closer to the entrance.
It seemed that Render and Hexel, as well as B-64, had gotten there first: The guards were completely knocked out and the doors inside the main entrance completely wide open. Axel and Catalyst had reached the same spot as well.
"Go, and make sure you aren't seen." Both Mason and Marissa nodded, quickly rushing into the dome.
The entrance was large and wet like, with the floor as slippery as ice. Mason steadied himself against a wall as Marissa crashed into a wall. They glanced at each other before starting down another hall, following the directions that Catalyst and Render gave them.
The slipperiness of the hallway soon ended only after a few meters, and they could run normally again. Based on the prints and holograms that Render showed them, it was mostly a straight curve to the fuse room.
They only had to pass a three-way section, which lead to the mechanics room and the main limiter, which allowed certain protogen to stay in certain rooms without being affected by the Boson Energy.
They did have to do it fast though. The hallway was one of the walkways that was protected by this field, but the main fuse room wasn't. It would only take a few seconds of exposure before they hacked up a lung.
Mason clenched his hands together, transforming his upgrade into a suitable weapon: A sickle that was quite accurate to the ones he used back at his house. The memory still haunted him significantly, but he discarded any thoughts. There was no time to think about that.
They soon reached that intersection, but were met with delays.
There were two guards stationed at the door, holding what looked like spears. Although they couldn't communicate with them due to the boson energy interfering with it, they could see their visors.
Angry, pointed frowns is what stared back, both sleek black guards mounting their spears on their arms like they were guns.
But they were much like the protogen thing that had brought them to the port when they first got on that planet. Mason thought about it for a moment, and slowly backed away with Marissa to the curve that brought them there, out of sight.
The guards' visors flashed for a moment, before they returned to their position and remained stationary, not even moving a muscle. Mason frowned, peering around the curve to look at them.
They were perhaps drones. Whatever they were, it didn't seem like they had any higher brain functionality. Mason turned and looked at Marissa.
"I think they're drones, or actual robots. We have to get into the room through, so were going to have to fight them. Can you keep any sound waves steady?" Based on what Obsidian-1 said, he understood that Marissa more or less could control basic attributes: Gravity, light, distance, and sound.
If he or her got into a fight with those Protogens, it would most likely create noise. And noise in that place traveled fast and echoed a lot, "You're going to have to stop the sound, got it?" Marissa bit her lip, nodding as she brandished her knife.
Marissa slowly knelt against the floor, drawing in a deep breath. She slid the knife against the dark grey floor and soft pushed the tip into it. The insanely sharp tip sliced through the material like butter.
She hilted the knife inside the cement like floor, and then she grabbed the guard and the handle, breathing into the knife. Her breath came out in wispy white smoke, coalescing around the knife, "It should be big enough for sound not to travel." She whispered, concentrating on keeping the ever warming knife from popping out.
Mason nodded, tugging his sickle. He knew how to use it, though he rarely did use it and only for cutting some grass when he felt like it. He didn't even truly understand why it manifested as a sickle, but he wasn't complaining.
There was only one way to get past those guards. He had to rush them.
And with that, he took a step. Blood red Boson Energy pumped through his veins as his senses exploded. The familiar heat rose as he could feel even the tiniest change in the air, and the most silent of vibrations.
With insane speed, Mason rushed around the corner, brandishing his sickle and sticking it into the wall, "Red Tether" he thought as he did so, the sickle producing that signature red pus like material.
The protogen guards saw him coming though, gripping their spears and stabbing at him with almost the same speed. Mason managed to dodge it, but only after slamming himself against the locked door they were guardian with extreme speed.
He quickly twirled the sickle through the air, slicing deep into one of the protogen's arms. Before they got another chance to stab, Mason pushed himself off the wall and sliced another large chunk out of the first guard.
He felt another wave of intense heat rise, and he could visibly see the spear jutting out to try to impale him. He managed to intercept it with the flat side of the sickle, quickly pulling it around and stabbing the sharp side into the drones back.
With an intense moment of adrenaline, he slammed his fist up, letting go of the sickle for just a moment. The sickle, with the force of his palm and the speed, slicing through the entire mechanical spinal column and slamming into the ceiling.
The second guard was more adept though, slamming that spear into Mason's gut with grim determination. Mason called for his upgrade, calling it into his palm before slamming the razor sharp point deep into the second guards visor.
Sparks flew as the entire thing cracked open, splitting into many different shards and pieces. Mason gasped, feeling the pain start to lace through his body. He let go of the sickle, and both the drone and him fell to the ground.
Mason was right though, they were only drones. They weren't alive, as they never spilled any blood, nor were they thinking. It was just a program, as the fact that the insides of their visor wasn't a skull or anything, it was just a large conglomeration of wires and beams.
Mason groaned as he got up, knowing he had a few remaining minutes to get the bomb inside the fuse room. He held his side as he called for Marissa, who answered almost immediately.
Blood began to pool around the armor he was given, though it did work. If he didn't have it, he most likely would have been dead there. The wound was shallow and not that deep, though it did leak a lot of blood.
But there was no time for that. Mason heaved the canister up. He signaled Marissa to open the door somehow, as he was going into fatigue due to him using his energy.
Marissa breathed deeply, taking her knife and sliding a finger against the blade. The knife morphed again, elongating and sharpening to a point. The guard morphed as well, becoming something that resembled a Katana.
With a quick downstroke, Marissa channeled her energy into the blade. The katana glowed an ethereal white, quickly causing the metallic door to rot, decay and rust to an intense degree.
Even after just five seconds, the door was almost completely rusted away, leaving nothing but a shallow husk of a door just a few inches thick instead of the foot thick door. Marissa grabbed the katana once more and slashed at the door, slicing completely through it and rendering the entire thing nothing more than rusted chunks on the floor.
Mason gripped the canister hard and rushed into the room, his glowing red aura strengthening to an unbearable level. His knees grew weaker and weaker as he ran at the fuse room. He had to gently place the canister into the middle of the room.
In those three seconds he was in the room, he felt everything he could: Hatred and Euphoria, raw hunger and overeating, blindness and supervision, plasmatic heat and absolute cold.
He tried his best to place the canister gently, but it still fell with a thumb due to his unsteady hands. He already felt pain in the six seconds he was in there, so he only guessed as to what it felt afterwards.
After seven seconds, he was just about to faint. He was already losing his touch on reality as everything stretched out and the colors intangibles with one another.
Luckily Marissa was there, anchoring her gravity and tether Mason to her. Mason was just about to faint as he body was pulled, almost yanked, out of the room by Marissa manipulating gravity.
Mason coughed haphazardly, feeling as if he experienced something truly wonderful and terrible. His mind was still trying to perceive things normally, so Marissa had to help him up and out of there.
By her estimations, they only had a few minutes before detonation.
-_-_-_-_-_-
Axel held his upgrade closely, observing the hallway speculatively: White walls and ceiling, dark grey floor. There wasn't much else to see other than that, except for Catalyst.
He was looking even more haggard than before, barely able to muster enough strength to carry the canister since he had to rely on Axel for guarding him.
They walked at a brisk pace that would allow for Catalyst to carry it without slowing down, but even at this pace Axel was itching for something to happen. He knew it was most likely wrong, and it would put the whole mission into the unsuccess category...
But still, he was bored.
And just like the other group, the encountered guards. Axel managed to get Catalyst back before they could sab at them, but with the cost of Catalyst stumbling and chipping the outer shell of the canister, the shell that kept most of the foul materials inside manageable.
They now had a dead set timer. By Catalyst's calculations, they only had three minutes before it set off.
Axel had to think fast. He didn't want to kill anyone, but they had to get through fast. He peeked around the corner, observing the doors structure and standing. They were close enough to the walls that he could possibly freeze them.
Axel shivered as he allowed the Boson to flow, encasing his body in a thin layer of protective ice. He had to make the moisture in the air solidify, and he could only do that with precision.
A swift breeze picked up besides him as he manipulated the air currents, his blue hair whipping violently. He had to do this fast.
He threw his hand out, exploding chilled particles as he drew the moisture in, solidifying it. All he had to do was make a single shard land on the guards, and it was all over.
Using the air, he curved the trajectory of the ice, creating a hailstorm of frozen balls and chilled air. His own sweat was blown off, adding to the moisture pile. His shards landed on their targets, becoming nexus points for the cold.
Once he was sure that they landed, Axel jumped out from around the corner, instantly turning his air currents into other ice streams. He collapsed his fingers and shoved all the moisture with alternating air currents.
His aim hit true, as the drones before him were completely encased in a prison of blue ice, nearly impossible to crack and hard to melt. Axel smiled broadly, proud of himself.
Then that smile turned to a frown as he found that he also hit the door, encasing it in a hard, though thin, layer of blue ice.
Axel quickly ran over to it, withdrawing his upgrade and placing it against the door. He quickly morphed it into what he needed, a large hammer. He took another deep breath, flowing even more Boson energy into his hands, lighting the hammer on fire.
Axel quickly applied more Boson Energy as he swung down, explosively amplifying the force and speed, shattering the ice and melting what it didn't touch. He slammed it down for a second, third and fourth time before it broke.
Axel quickly grabbed the canister from a barely lucid Catalyst and rushed into the fuel room, ignoring everything else with his mind dead set on the center. He ignored everything in there, even what he felt as his determination set him straight.
He practically slammed the canister down into the middle, chipping it even more so, and reducing the time to just over a minute left. Axel had no time to think, he rushed out of there as fast as he could, amplifying his speed by creating miniature explosions beneath him.
He gasped for air as he left the room, his lungs burning. He didn't stop moving though, quickly propelling himself as fast as he could to catch Catalyst and get out of there.
He tucked his arm down to grip Catalysts' stomach, tugging him along with powered steps. The energy that was inside the room still affected him though, his boson levels fluctuating as ice particles blew past him.
Wind picked up behind him, ice ate away at his arm and fire burst from his palm. He left scorched paw marks as he ran, creating ice paths on the walls and ceiling.
He reached the entrance again in only a matter of ten seconds, but he wasn't done yet. They needed to get far away. He reached the entrance and quickly shot out the door, finding only Mason and Marissa there.
Axel grimaced as Mason was holding his side, still bleeding rather badly. Marissa seemed fine enough, but he was really worried about Catalyst. He still tugged along though, yelling to the others, "We need to get out of here! What are you waiting for!?"
Mason gave him a pained expression, a look of fierce determination hiding grim emotions, "The others aren't out yet."
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
"Stop it!" B-64 yelled through the mind-link, generating his thoughts to every single protogen in the room. He brandished his neon green claws, nearly snarling as he saw The Machine. Completely finished.
Ion was on the defensive, arcs of electricity shooting all over his body as the hyper activity that he had to endure was finally being let loose. His entire body was quivering, but not out of excitement nor the electricity, it was because of who was standing before him.
B-01 stood tall, standing as a beacon of fear: His fur was soft, sleek and shiny. It was black and white, almost in the shape of a tuxedo on earth. His legs and metallic hips were pristine and undamaged, his paws were completely white, almost like socks.
His shoulder paws were sharp and glittery, shining despite there being no direct light. An ultrathin, black cape of sorts hung from his shoulders, split in the middle.
Even with this picture, B-64 noticed small details about him. His claws shook and quivered, itching to find a throat to wrap themselves around, his chest rumbled with a light purr, the neo-Hard Light generator inside him activating.
"I was expecting much more of an eloquent plan, seeing as it is mostly conducted by Ion here. How disappointing." His tone was polite, formal and well rehearsed. Every single time he spoke though, his claws twitched again.
He gestured to The Machine, and to a single button residing by it, "I am actually saddened by this. How often does one forget that cameras exist? It really isn't that hard-" He looked around, "- I mean, it's just sad."
B-64 growled ferally, red boson energy flowing through him as his claws extended, sharpening as red bassoon matter was produced. The Machine was done, and there wasn't much he could do about that. He could only hope that B-01 talked long enough for Hexel and Render to finish with the guards.
"But that is neither here, nor there really. All I have to do is touch this button, just hard enough-" He slid a salutary finger across the large red button that activated the machine, "- and pew, earth is gone."
"But I don't want to see you suffer. I'll allow you to die before you see your greatest failure." B-01 gestured for something. With a single whisk of his claws, he took total and complete control over every single drone in that place, including B-04.
Not a moment later, everyone attacked. B-64 was barely able to get his shield and his dagger out before the drones unsheathed their hard light weapons. He barely avoided a sharp dagger before getting his back torn a new one by a mace.
B-04 and three other drones focused on Ion, B-01 seeing him as weak and too frail to be much of a concern. That was his mistake, and Ion was going to make sure he knew it.
Ions body shivered as all his nerves were shot, bringing his hands together and shooting as much of his generated electricity through them as he could. It cackled and struck out as he slowly closed his hands together.
"Ionic Discharge!" He yelled, ripping his hands apart as electricity shot out in every direction. Streaks of countless bolts of electricity slammed into everything, and everyone. B-64 was just fast enough to get his shield in the way in time.
The electricity soon started to change into what looked like blue lightning, striking at even higher frequencies and completely deep frying any of the other drones and workers in that room.
Unfortunately, Ion hadn't managed to get B-01 out of the running, nor even scratch him. The few ones that were still standing, which was more of a shuffle and a staggering walk, were shocked out of B-01's control.
Ion let the last little instance of electricity course again, before slumping over and short-circuiting. His body twitched as the more unstable parts of his body reacted violently with the energy use.
"Ahh, what a thrill that was. I sometimes forget that he is relatively powerful. For a scientist with no combat training." B-01 noted, clattering his claws together as he observed the floor. He smirked, rolling a ball of plasma in his hands.
B-64 had no time to think about Ion at that moment. He had to get out of there, as the bombs were most definitely already set to detonate. He frowned again, wondering where the hell Render and Hexel were.
B-01 calmly mulled the situation over and began to think about what he should do. He hadn't really intended to be the one to push the buttons and end billions of lives, but then again, neither could he really have emotions.
"I guess since you are not welcoming of my grace, I shall punish you. Watch now as your entire purpose is gone to waste." B-01 turned, pulling a claw over the red button that would end an entire world.
At that moment, a rush of adrenaline surged through B-64s body. His mind couldn't think of anything worse than seeing Mason hear that Earth was destroyed. To see that their whole mission, their purpose for being there, was for nothing.
His body surged, and in that split second, he channeled everything he had into one final burst of speed.
The floor cracked and shattered with the force of his lunge, the air whipped around him in a flash, creating a thunderous clap of sound as the air violently rushed in to fill the space. His claws reached to dig themselves deep into B-01's flesh.
But it was for nothing.
B-01 had pushed the button.
________________________________________________________________________________
So, yeah. New longer chapter.
Honestly, I'm a little depressed right now: One of my favorite authors has quit, and is deleting their books. And I can't even have the deleted book in my library to read, because they deleted every chapter as well before hand!
Sorry, I'm just a little sad at this point.
Anyways, next chapters will be about this long, maybe shorter or longer, depends on how you guys like this length.
It'll take a while though, so stay tuned!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this one!
~ Candle