All of them gathered around the back exit of the Academy, to prevent people to notice them they were told to take the back exits where an SUV is getting prepared for them on their next mission.
“I guess operation Cure Seeker is at a go then,” Thomas commented as all of them are in their casual outfits began to put on armor. “At least tell us about where we’ll going first?” Lissa asked ignoring Thomas’ comment.
“I’ll explain everything along the way,” Charl answered as Arthur helped her place a large and seemingly heavy weapon case in the back of the SUV. Lissa caught Thomas frown and shook his head as he and Ester went inside the car all while Axel is going after her.
“You can’t come with me Axel,” She smiled sweetly at him only for the young dragon to frown and let out a low whimpering noise. “Can you promise me to keep an eye on Petra while we’re gone instead?”
The Dragon pondered it for a moment and finally nodded as she went and crawled to Nurse Slate’s arms instead reluctantly.
“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Nurse Slate reassured her. “And if I need a hand I’ll go and call Hathaway if something is up.”
“Thank you.” Ester nodded as she joined the others in the SUV with Arthur driving. They all drove in silence, not one of them uttering a word in regards to where they’ll going or the fact that if they don’t succeed Petra and Kyle will be dead in a few hours.
Eventually, it was Thomas who broke the silence after a few hours as he cleared his throat.
“Alright, someone should have mentioned this but fuck it,” Thomas said in a mildly irked tone. “What is this Niltria Industries anyway? Was this some sort of research center that happened years ago but failed?”
“It’s one way of explaining it,” Charl said looking at Thomas from the mirror. “Niltria Industries was named after Niltria Erde, she was the leading scientists of that age. Mentoring both Arios and Andras in terms of technology and even contributed and the creation of their Crimson Edge and Azure Blade as it was her who taught them how to create such weapons. And the Niltria Industries was the leading pioneer in all forms of Technology in Elphimin, if not for her we’d still be using bows and arrows as weapons.”
“But what happened?” Lissa said.
“She died of Old age,” Arthur answered as they were nearing the Lab at the Culthos Mountains. “With no heir present, all assets of the Niltria Industries landed on Zekiel Erbus, whom you might be acquainted with his grandson, Rider Erbus.”
“Yeah I know of him,” Lissa commented earning a curious look from Thomas. “I take it, Zekiel isn’t a good influence on them?”
“He’s an Asshole.” Both Charl and Arthur said in unison. “All of Niltria’s research is purely for benevolent reasons, all of his research is designed to see if he can retrofit all of her work into weaponizing them and selling it to both the Jorouse and Exavis. All within days before she died.”
“Wow he does sound like an asshole,” Louis commented. “But then Legacy happened and you all decided to shut it down?”
“Yes,” Arthur explained as they stopped. “But by the time they caught him, he was already dead while a handful of his research was gone.”
“I guess we have Rider to thank for that,” Ester commented as they went to gather their weapons. Thomas and Lissa grabbed their swords, meanwhile, Louis pulled out a basic Battle Rifle while Ester readied a dagger, Arthur readied a pair of Kukris and Charl readied a massive sledgehammer.
“Alright,” Arthur said as he readied his flashlight as he picked on the lock. “Give me a moment to—”
“Hrah!” Charl shouted as she swung her sledgehammer while reinforcing it with Ki resulting it to cause the door to be shattered leaving behind a loud echo that reached through across the empty lab.
“Door’s Open.” She said turning to Arthur who had a palm on his face, Lissa who stared in abject horror, Thomas who had an irked look on his face all while Louis and Ester had equally confused looks.
“Great Job,” Arthur commented as they stepped inside. “Everyone knows we’re here, you might as well shoot out a flare that says ‘Hey we’re trespassing abandoned properly, come here and rearrange our faces’ why don’t you.”
“We have little to no time for this tactic Arthur and you know it.” She said as she followed behind him.
“Yeah but that doesn’t mean we have to enter in the most reckless way as possible,” Arthur argued back.
“I can’t tell which is louder,” Louis commented. “Princess Charl breaking down the door, or her and Prince Arthur arguing.”
“I don’t know why but it’s surprisingly familiar,” Ester trailed off and threw a glance at Thomas and Lissa both of which gave them a confused look earning an amused smile from Louis. “Yeah, I see what you mean.”
“What?” Lissa gave them a confused look, while Thomas simply raised an eyebrow at the two as they proceeded further down the lab.
“Ah it’s nothing,” Louis chuckled. “Just an observation on something, nothing important.” Ester chimed in with a similarly amused smile.
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“Hey, at least focus,” Thomas said raising his tone ignoring Louis and Ester and focused more on the Princes as they enter a narrow corridor. “You two arguing will just give away our position you know.”
“Yeah, he’s right.” A Seventh voice said this prompted all six of them to point their weapons at a figure crouching nearby all the while holding a gas mask. It was none other than Rider Erbus, upon seeing them he then smiled (particularly at Lissa) and stood up.
“Oh hey, you two!” He waved both at Lissa and Thomas and chuckled. “I haven’t seen you two since that whole Embassy fiasco my associate did, I do apologize for that truly.”
“What are you doing here Erbus,” Arthur said as his Kukri’s unfolded into a pair of twin pistols.
“Oh, I went to grab a few things, and then I heard some rats snooping about so I decided to give them a welcoming gift.” Rider said as he placed his hand on a terminal, this immediately made Arthur and Charl rush them with their weapons ready but he took a step back and both doors immediately closed while Erbus stuck his tongue out and put the mask on.
“I was testing this new Gas out and well I want you guys to tell me about it,” He explained through the intercom. “I heard it’s quite relaxing, to be honest.”
“Ah shit,” Charl muttered as the gas flowed through the vents, and one by one they all fell to the ground asleep. “I’m…sorry…guys…”
Charl was the last one to fall to the ground all of them unconscious.
[Axis:Legacy]
Arthur was the last one among them to wake up, all of them were locked in a dark room, both Thomas and Louis were trying to break down the door while Lissa, Ester, and Charl were trying to look for ways to escape.
“Ah shit,” Arthur commented as they looked around eventually a nearby glass screen above them was activated and revealed a grinning Rider.
“Good Morning ladies and gents of Axis!” He greeted them as he pulled out a large remote on his hands. “How was your nap?”
“Let us out!” Arthur yelled as he reinforced his arm with Ki and punched the double doors. “I can’t do that, your highness.” He said mockingly as he pressed something on the terminal causing the doors to open revealing a massive humanoid robot with a grey appearance with a rusted color within it. At the center of the chest contains the following words.
[Niltria Industries Next-Phase Automata Unit 7]
[N.I.N.A-VII]
“I found this little toy in Erde’s lab and wondered if it works,” He explained as the machine walked towards them menacingly. “If it does, go and let me know, see you later!”
And with that, the Screen turned off and the eyes of the Machine flickered and stared at them.
“Ob-Object-jective: Ter-Ter-Terminate.” The Machine said with a broken voice as it walked towards them while on its arms a series of spiked appeared and then rushed at them slamming its fists on the nearby wall. It then locked on each one of them and surprisingly moved at high speeds despite its bulky appearances.
“You think if we can get that thing to hit the wall hard enough to break it down?” Lissa asked Arthur as they run around the room while the Automata continued to attack them.
“Yeah, but we’d still have to deal with that thing going after us though,” Louis commented as he and Charl dodged a kick from it. Arthur noticed Charl think for a moment and then looked at Thomas and Louis.
“Keep him distracted I think I have an idea!” Charl said as she helped a disoriented Ester avoid another attack.
“Got it!” Both of them nodded, Thomas was the first one to make a move by running towards it and reinforced his hand with Ki and—
CRUNCH!
“Son of a bitch!!!” Thomas screamed in pain as he looked at his right hand whose knuckle had turned red from the pain of the impact. But before the Automata can make a move Lissa quickly tackled him and pinned him on the ground.
“Why did you think about punching an Automata with your bare hands?!” She asked him in disbelief as they both got up as it turned its attention to both Arthur and Louis.
“I didn’t think things through.” Thomas shrugged as they watched Charl leap on the Automata with Arthur’s help while reinforcing her legs with Ki and went on the neck of the Machine and pulled a handful of wires out, this immediately caused the Machine to stop moving and fall over and crash on a said double doors breaking it open causing all of them to scramble out of the room in a hurry.
“We need to hurry!” Charl ordered. “Find weapons and search for anything related to the medicine required.”
“Yes ma’am!” All of them, save for Arthur said as they split up into pairs.
Meanwhile within the Automata’s internal mainframe, unaware of Charl’s actions she had unknowingly pulled a key part of her internal wiring which is essential in her true programming.
[Reprogramming…30%]
[Reprogramming…70%]
[Reprogramming…90%]
[Reprogramming…100%]
[Next-Phase System Activated]
[Deploy Homunculi?]
With a hiss the Armor unfolded and removed several layers of it revealing a young girl with short silver-white hair and pale grey eyes, she wore nothing but a form-fitting jumpsuit while the back of her neck a handful of loose wires with ends that resemble that of small claws dangled at her back.
“Question: Where…am…I?” The Girl said as she turned around recalling the sounds of the six others that ran past her.
“Task: Analysing key components,” She continued looking at her weapons and armor. “Observation: External Armor…inaccessible, Internal Armor…Limited. Weapons Systems…Limited. Structural Integrity…Fragile.”
She looked around and stood up for a moment noticing once more analyzing her surroundings to see what she can achieve.
“Conclusion: Salvage equipment.” She said as she used the wires on the back of her neck and began to salvage the remaining parts putting them over her jumpsuit as a substitute for armor, while the arms of the External Armor were now converted into heavy combat gauntlets.
“Commentary: Status of weapons and armor qualify as worthless, but is it functional enough for use in the current situation.” She said looking at the footprints left behind by Charl and the others.
“Objective: Locate the person responsible for my activation.”