The traverse through the train system was nerve wrecking…
I am not sure if the Vat city has a Beast lord in charge of it… But if there is… and if it is smart enough… there might very well be guards down here…
There was not much time either. No telling how long the units can hold the enemy distracted. So we run.
“Enemies detected down the right branch” A scout reported.
“Unit 1A stays here, keep them from storming us from behind, rest of you, keep moving down the left branch.”
I said, leaving a group to keep us safe, after all, there is no telling how many Old Beasts might be found in these old tunnels… Best keep our backs secure.
Whenever the network branched, I left a few Walkers to keep watch, from memory this path only has 6 branching spots, so at worst it reduces the main force by some odd 70 Walkers.
We did also spot enemies directly in our path, a few Mediums, they were easily taken care off..
A real issue was when we ran into a Heavy worm-type that has not been encountered before, it could burrow through the earth, I can only assume it was attracted by our gunfire as we took down the Mediums. It ate a Walker whole when it burst through the right side wall of the tunnel. Effectively collapsing the way back along with its attack…
...It ate almost over a hundred Walkers before a gutsy individual took it down… by blowing up their Walker and its artillery shell supply after being swallowed…
I do not know who it was, but for the sake of ease, I will call him Oscar.
Thank you for your contribution, Oscar.
“....”
After that we moved on.
No, I did not tell the people we left to guard the branching points behind us about any of this… the least they deserve is to have hope.
“False hope?”
Sorry… I don't have any other kind left in stock.
Moving onwards, we plunged ever deeper into the old city.
*POV: Marionette*
...Know now… In the end… He is no angel…
Back then, when the explosion happened… his mask broke down…
He was pasing around… was worried if he is ok… was going to ask, but then was told we would be leaving.
...But…what about Thomas?...
I was going to ask, but then someone spoke up
...He...killed a teenager for talking back to him, broke his neck…
...Why...Why is he behaving like this?...
….When I asked…
…
...I saw his eyes…
…There is no light to them…
...He is no angel…
...Some did not want to leave.. So he gunned them down…
...On the way back… some did not want to keep moving… ...wanted to set camp..
..Gunned them down…
...When he confirmed that “she”.. Was still alive, he donned his mask again…
...Now we are attacking the city of devils… but I know now..
...He doesn't Intend to help me meet Thomas…
...For what sake… why did...I climb back from abyss?...
*Pov: Tolstoj*
The hell we went through… Jesus Christ…
...Every fiber of me wants to slaughter that monster… but he is the only one keeping our forces together… So I will not do it…
I had thought “Boss” was a great leader before I was.. “trained”... I was a fool…
That place…. So many of us were lost to it… by the end I knew… I would be unable to go back ever again… but then… we were taken out….
...I was broken… but I knew… I knew the true face the monster… and it is worse...far worse than anything in existence…
Following the piece of shit… We slaughterrd… we slaughtered our way through the tunnels…
...Good men were left behind.. The piece of shit did not care…
...There is nothing I could do to de..f...fy him… I don’t know if the others stayed sane…
So I follow….
*Pov: Mc*
As soon as we got near the station near the laboratory housing the vats, the enemy numbers started rising drastically. At this point it was clear that we could not just clean up their numbers to keep moving through…
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Another distraction was necessary
...I divided 250 of the Walkers to assault the enemies ahead of us, and to escape to a separate passage… pulling Old Beasts away from the station…
...They went in, guns blazing.
“...I admit, I was unsure about whether the new faceless would be ready… but I suppose you were right… blindly loyal and ready to die for the cause…”
...Yeah, perfect soldiers.
“... Kinda like you once huh?...”
...
“Face it, how is this any better than what was done to you?”
Shut up. At Least I never…
...I would never do what they did to you…
“...But, how is it worse than… this?”
Shut up.
…
Ignoring the hallucination in my head, I continue moving with the rest of the unit.
After a second to make sure everyone knows what way to run towards, we pass through the now empty station, ascending into the city, and charging in a beeline towards the laboratorium.
.
..
…
….
…..
Some of u-
*cough*
Well. I got in…
So did 20 others… Tolstoj and remnants of other squads…
I give the order, and we abandon the Walkers… to move into the structure…
And after opening her cryopod I order some of the physically most fit Faceless to carry Alicia.
Yeah… I took her with me… Since we would not be able to pacify the Vat city, all we could do was hope to get her snuck in like this, and hope to find a working automated medical pod somewhere in here...
...Despite the fact that Old Beasts are made here, it should be quite safe inside…
...One thing the Old Beasts would never do on their own is roam inside the labs without purpose… In fact even I can feel some residual hesitancy in me now…
...Heh… Nearly a century and the old programming is still kickin back?... thats some sturdy work they did…
The insides are really broken down, but the parts pertaining to Old Beast production were built sturdy, and the facility had hundreds of vats… unsurprising some of it has survived to this day…
We made our way through the deserted corridors…
...Even in its run down state...this place is so nostalgic that it's creepy…
...Taking a right on one of the corridors. I head towards the medical wing of the laboratory…
I hope the wing still has power…
...Outside I can hear rumbling and menacing roars… I can only guess at the ridiculous size of the Old Beast that was moving around out there…
The Faceless seemed worried.. But I assured them it should be safe once more…
… As long as we are in here, they don't dare to try anything… This place is like holy ground to them…
I heard Tolstoj mutter something like “then what about when we get out`?” but for now I disregarded it… If luck is with us, then I might have a solution to that aswell…
As we finally reach the medical wing, I take a look around the familiar room…
Rooms with surgery tables… automated mechanical surgeons… research computers and files… centrifuges.. This is the right place alright…
And through a door to the left…
I move in.
Yes.
Automated medical units… They were still under development when I last saw the medical wing…
As far as I can tell... they look complete.
After fiddling around, I managed to turn one one on. They are still functional. Perfect.
I was about to tell the Faceless to help quickly lift Alicia in, she has been out of her cryopod for a few minutes already and without a doctor there is no telling how much time we have before there will be brain damage.
But then we heard some very unexpected sounds
Windows breaking… and howling….
As we look around to the entrance we see them.
A Lesser Old Beast down the hall, it saw us and opened fire whilst screaming loudly.
*Bang*
Tolstoj silenced it with a gunshot.
Seconds after, more screaming and howling reverberated through the facility, as we could audibly hear the Old Beasts rush inside
“You said they would not come in here!!” Tolstoj yelled to me shooting at Old Beasts who were appearing down the hall.
“The programming must have degraded over the years, or the Lesser ones evolved.
Help me get Alicia into the pod!” I respond as I frantically fiddle through the medical pod terminal
“FUCK THAT we need a way out of here NOW!” Tolstoj responded, gunning another Old Beast down. But at this point the numbers down the hallway were rising, fast.
“The mechanical labs on the other side of the hall have a personal tram tunnel out for sensitive deliveries, we can use it to escape. ONCE HAVE SAVED ALICIA. NOW HELP ME!”
“Fuck this shit we are going NOW! Guys, with me!” Tolstoj responded... How dare he…
I take a pistol from my holster and aim it at Tolstoj
“You are not going anywhere, until Alicia is safe.” What is whit the look in his eyes…
...Ah, I see…
Its that isn’t it?
...The same look I have been given for the last 70 years…
...Whatever..
I turn around to ask Marionette to help me instead, knowing there is no convincing these guys…
...As my eyes meet hers
...That look.
*Bang*
...Eh?...
...Blood is flowing from my chest….
*bang*
*bang bang*
...I stagger to the floor…
“Let's go.”
I can see their silhouettes rush out with my blurring eyes…
….As if a last kindness… I see them close the metal lab door behind them as everything goes dark…
…
..
No.
“No.”
.
I shake the darkness off… struggling to get up,
*Cough* Blood is dripping from my mouth… I can see sparks coming out of the wound… must have gone right into the internal mechanics… Probably through a battery. Based on the pain… blood and battery acid mingling… must be the cause of that smell…
I force the medical pod open… lifting Alicia Inside
Outside, I can hear the banging of Old Beasts at the door… but it is all blurry… Irrelevant…
*Cough*
Turning the medical pod on, I see it whirl to action… It works… thank goodness…
...Collapsing to the floor… I crawl over to lean against a wall… as I wait for the surgery to end…
...The banging is getting louder…
Hehe… *Cough*... In the end.. I suppose it is poetic… to be almost undone by the very people I wronged to get here… *cough*
But….In ...the end it i-*Cough* ...I finished… I did it…
...For once… I*cough* *cough*
Fixed it… my mistakes…
Right?...Lily?
…
Lily?
….ah..they finally stopped banging
..
.
This feeling..
Ok dark…
….
… I will let you in now..
...My flame… is already extinguished now… Isn’t it?
.
..
…
.
…
..
The scientists help me inside my brand new Walker… It is a beautiful piece, one can tell the amount of effort that was put into the design… They said I can name it...
I happily sit into the pilot’s seat, uplinking to the main computer…
...Ah
That was the moment I knew..
….Whose brain they used for the drive core.
…
That was the moment, that the revolution truly began.