Trixie spent a moment trying to get a response from Piper, but to no avail. There was just radio silence in her head. She balled up her fists, just hoping like hell that nothing happened to Piper already.
“Those bastards, I swear if they—”
Trixie cut herself off with a huff, steeling herself before the sliding door before her, knowing what's going down on the other side. She used Increase and underwent her unique transformation, which she hasn't used since fighting the Depraved at Mount Horn. Without another word, she rushed in after the door slid open. In her superpowered state, she stumbled upon her eardrums wracked with the rapid gunfire from all directions and on the floors above, but her millisecond of hesitation was washed over with vigor and determination just as quickly.
She dashed at the first Striker she saw, who launched miniature rockets at her. She bobbed and weaved through the rockets with ease, sending the Striker flying with a punch that was as loud as the ceaseless gunfire around her. Another Striker popped up from behind and threw her by her arm, sending her to the floor. She rolled back on her feet and sent a spike of ice through the Striker's chest for an instant kill. She took the white rifle on her back and ran to the staircase, looking up to the next floor where a Striker seemed to be attempting to snipe a victim of his own. Trixie took aim, preparing her shot as she focused.
“...Snipe.” she said as she fired the rifle, a thin beam of frozen mercury headed straight for the Striker's head…only for him to move at the last minute, making Trixie miss.
Damn…guess not, she thought with a lighthearted chuckle, her face hardening once more as she went back to grab the rocket launcher the dead Striker possessed. Heading up the stairs, she fired a round of rockets at a Striker who had a force shield on, and she ducked to avoid retaliation. She grabbed her rifle once more and looked back up to see the Striker with his machine gun in her face, during at her without a second's hesitation. Her icy armor protected her body from the bullets, giving her time to fire her rifle, hitting him in the stomach which sent him flying backwards.
She went up the stairs again, only to meet another Striker in the distance who fired his machine gun at her. The bullets bounced off of her armor of ice, and Trixie fired the last round of the rifle at him.
With that Striker out of the way, Trixie was finally able to go up the stairs and up to the next floor without being shot at. But when she reached it, she was hit with something else that wasn't a bullet; it was pure silence. The sound of a hail of gunfire was replaced with the complete absence of all sound altogether. As Trixie looked around, she couldn't help but think…ambush? But no, the Strikers and the Meteor agents were in a brutal gunfight just seconds ago. The layout of this section of the building was also too open for a proper ambush to take place anyways, so with cautious steps, she went forward, on guard for anything out of the ordinary.
She went to the next floor. Nothing there. No Strikers, no agents, and most importantly, still no sound as the dead silence persisted.
“There's supposed to be people here, the hell?!” she thought out loud. She can't even get in touch with Piper to ask her what is happening.
“What's going on here—where IS everyone?!” she panicked again. “Have I gone mad?!”
Her head then snapped to one of the cubicles on the fourth floor, jumping over the broken bridges and running inside, dashing to the consoles. Seeing that no one was there either, she held her head with both hands and let out an exaggerated gasp.
“THE MAINTENANCE GUY ISN'T HERE EITHER! THESE ARE THE HOURS HE WORKS, WHY ISN'T HE HERE, WHAT'S HAPPENING?!”
She kept holding her head, frantically looking around for any sign of the maintenance man.
“Did I snap?! DID I LOSE IT?! WAIT—”
Before Trixie could say another word, the world around her quickly melted away, and she found herself back in front of the sliding door, with the raging gunfire on the other side just like before.
“Ehhh?!” Trixie exclaimed, scratching her noggin as she ran up to the door.
That was messed up! she thought. I've never been in that predicament before, the hell?!
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Remembering that both Piper and her mission are on the line, Trixie's brave face returned with a vengeance, heading inside once again after using Increase to go into her icy transformation again.
With time wasted during that odd occurrence, Trixie was on point as she knew there was no more time to waste. Focusing her Aura into her index finger, she used Frigid Cannon, her own version of the frozen mercury shots from her rifle, on the first Striker. Striker down. Then the sniper on the second floor, the one she missed the rifle shot on the last time. She took aim with Frigid Cannon, and with a headshot, down he went too.
“Heh, I missed the snipe on the first run, that's why the world just shit itself outta nowhere like that,” she joked under her breath.
But seriously…that was fucked up—what the hell, she thought, her eyes twitching.
She pushed her questionable sanity to the side and kept pushing, running along the second floor and jumping across the broken access ramp to reach the third floor. Things were getting silent again, making Trixie's heart pump quicker.
Oh no, don't tell me it's round two, she mentally pleaded. Keep your sanity this time, Trix…keep your sanity.
She saw a fellow agent on the floor above, on the lookout for Platinums, bringing a smile to Trixie's face.
Someone's here…that's a good sign, she thought.
The peace was broken by another volley of gunfire from a heavily armored Platinum soldier, who Trixie quickly shot down with her rifle. With a blindingly quick dash, she made it on the fourth floor where another heavily armored Platinum soldier was at the ready, with a plasma right and a force shield just for good measure. Managing to creep behind him, Trixie put a hand on his neck and flash-froze him solid.
Hehe, stealthy sniper, Trixie thought. Now, the room was quiet with no Strikers in sight. She looked to her right at the elevator leading to the next story of the building. It's clearly been tampered with, but the cables are still holding on…for dear life, that is, but still.
With a deep breath, Trixie went to the cubicle where the maintenance man is supposed to be working…or more likely, hiding for dear life. She went to the console, and there he was. He ran towards her, not bothering with an introduction as he raved.
“Hey, help us!”
“Eh??”
“You see they blew up the ramps and crap, yeah?! They also tried to do the same thing to the elevators! They got one of them, but the other one's cables managed to hold it, so the car didn't fall down!”
Trixie tried her best to keep up with the man's frantic speech, nodding after a moment.
“So they weren't able to make do with the other one…”
Then, it hit her. If the elevator is damaged, how is she going to get to the command chambers above and rescue Piper?
“Darn, I can't get to the command chambers then! Do you have ANYTHING I could use to get up there? Climbing the cables is too risky and would take too long anyways.”
As Trixie tried to think of a creative solution to the problem of reaching the command chambers, she noticed the maintenance man's nervous eyes darting around, his hands shaking as he fidgeted with the console.
"I... I don't know if I have anything that could help you," he stuttered. "I mean, I have a few tools here, but nothing that could help you climb up there. I'm sorry.”
Trixie's expression softened as she realized that the maintenance man was just a scared civilian caught in the middle of a dangerous situation.
"It's okay," she reassured him. "You don't need to apologize. I just need something…anything…”
The maintenance man looked around the chaotic room, his eyes darting to different tools and gadgets strewn across the desks and shelves.
"Well, I have a few hand tools, a power drill, a pair of pliers, some wrenches, that sort of stuff," he said, gesturing to the various tools nearby. "Nothing that can help you get up there, though.”
Trixie bit her lip, her eyes fixated on the tools, trying to come up with a creative solution. Then, a sudden realization struck her.
“Hey, you said a power drill, right?”
The maintenance man nodded, his shaking calming down a bit.
“Yeah, that’s right. Why?”
The maintenance man's expression lightened up a bit, realizing where Trixie was going with this.
"Oh yeah, definitely! This baby here can go through metal, wood, you name it. Why do you ask?”
Trixie's eyes sparkled with determination, a sly grin forming on her face.
"Good," she said. "Give it to me. And any extra drill bits you have around here. And anything else that might be useful.”
The maintenance man gave Trixie a curious look but complied, handing her the power drill, extra drill bits, and some other tools that could be useful.
“Here you go, miss,” he said. “What are you planning on doing with these?”
Trixie grabbed the tools and stuffed them into her belt, a determined look on her face.
"I'm going to use these to get me up to the command chamber," she replied. "I have an idea, and I think it might just work.”
Trixie chuckled, her confidence growing with every passing second as she made her way towards the sabotaged elevator, studying the damaged cables and control panel closely.
The maintenance man watched in awe as Trixie examined the elevator, her eyes darting between the control panel and the damaged cables. He wondered how she was going to use the power drill to get up there, but he trusted her judgment.
Trixie's mind raced with possibilities as she observed the sabotaged elevator. The cables were damaged, making them unsafe to climb, and the elevator itself unsafe to use. However, she had an idea on how to use the power drill she had obtained to create a makeshift ladder to reach the command chamber above.
With a plan in mind, Trixie took a step back and positioned the power drill at the wall next to the elevator. She knew she had to make strategically-placed drill holes along the wall to form a temporary ladder.
She carefully moved the drill along the wall, creating a series of holes in a strategic pattern. The maintenance man watched in fascination as Trixie continued to drill holes in the wall, forming a makeshift ladder for her to climb.
The maintenance man's eyes widened even more as he saw the makeshift ladder that Trixie had created. He had to admit that she was a very resourceful and ingenious woman, and her plan was actually working.
Trixie took a final look at her makeshift ladder, testing its stability with a few quick steps up and down. Satisfied with the results, she turned to the maintenance man with a grin.
"How do you like that, huh?" she asked with a hint of pride.
The maintenance man chuckled, equally amazed and impressed by Trixie's resourcefulness.
"Well, I'll be darned. You actually pulled it off. You're not just a skilled agent, but a resourceful one at that.”
Trixie chuckled, her confidence soaring with the maintenance man's praise. She used Augmentation to increase the power of the drill so she can make the holes faster, but she wasn't going to tell him that part.
"Thanks," she said. "But I wouldn't have been able to do it without you."
“I know, you just be safe up there okay?”
She gave him a grateful smile and thumbs-up before turning back to the makeshift ladder, checking her gear and supplies before making her way up toward the sabotaged elevator.
I'm on my way, Piper, she mentally promised.