Astra uploaded an internal map of the building to the teams HUD. They knew exactly where they needed to go thanks to Astra’s hacking of the local network. Dr. Smith was held on the third basement floor and they decided to eschew the available elevator and sprint for the stairs. No one wanted to get caught in a confined space, and with their armor on, using the stairs took as much effort as strolling through the park. It took approximately three minutes to make it down to the third basement floor and for them to burst through the stairwell door.

The other side of the door opened up into a small jail. A dozen metal doors lined either side of the room and two guards were continuously patrolling the floor. Within seconds, the guard’s bodies were cooling on the ground and the Spectres were inspecting each cell.

Surprisingly, all of the cells were filled. Based on the records Astra scraped from the network, the prisoners appeared to be scientists and researchers from all over the world. The PRC had raided bases all over novopangea with prejudice. It was a sign of the times that the Americans had never learned of the missing scientists from their allies. It was either an embarrassment to the prisoners’ homelands or those nations didn’t believe the United States could do anything about it.

Each of the prisoners were fitted with the North Korean collars that the Spectres had discovered in the kobold outpost. It confirmed the outpost was intended to capture the members of Camp Plymouth.

The collars prevented respawning, suppressed their victims regeneration, and locked out System functions like the log out button. It was a device that the Chinese had used to great effect. The prisoners had not been treated well under PRC custody. Bruises and scars marred their bodies and some of the cell’s occupants had their bones broken and then been forced to heal them in grotesque and painful ways. Aidan couldn’t imagine that it had be done to torture the victims. After all, torture didn’t work as an interrogation technique. The twisted forms of the prisoners spoke to scientific curiosity gone awry.

“Doc, surely the collars couldn’t reduce their regeneration to this extent?” Aidan asked. “They look practically mortal again.”

“I’m not sure, Commander.” Faraj admitted. “It looks like they used molds in some cases to ensure that a person’s natural regeneration would cause it to heal in disfiguring ways. As for the the bruises and and cuts, they might be using a drug or some kind of technology to slow down their regeneration?”

Found it, Astra announced. In addition to the collars, they’re using a slow acting poison that reduces a person’s natural regeneration. It can bring higher-leveled people back to their mortal pace of regeneration. It’s a nasty compound that takes about a week to work its way fully through their system.

“The fastest way to get them back to their factions is to send them to respawn,” Aidan declared. “We don’t have the time to take them with us. Pop off the collars and send them for respawn,” Aidan decided.

The team split up into two while Wang and Weir covered the elevator and stairwell access to the room. Agerwall busted open the first cell by using his sword to melt the lock. Aidan pulled the heavy metal aside and peered at the cell’s occupant. A brown-haired and dark-skinned woman cowered in the corner, with her hands raised in surrender. The envoy didn’t bother explaining who they were, or what they were doing. This operation was better left a mystery to the rest of the world.

Instead he pushed her arms out of the way, and shattered the collar into pieces with his augmented strength. As soon as the restraint was removed, an alarm sounded within the compound and the lights started flashing red.

Oops, Astra commented as Aidan clinically shot the woman in the head.

Oops? He asked. Tell me what “oops” means.

The collars are locally networked. Breaking one set off an alarm and notified a quick reaction force in the compound. They’re gearing up to ascend from the lowest level of the compound as we speak.

What are we looking at? Aidan asked as he moved to the next cell and dispatched the occupant in the same way as the first.

Elites, Astra answered. They seem to have advanced classes but the class has been created by the faction rather than the system. I don’t know Chinese, so I can’t translate it, but their classes are called lóng zhàn shì. I’ve removed their access to their weapons caches in an effort to slow them.

Aidan informed the rest of the team and then asked Wang if he knew what the name of the class meant.

“Yes, Commander.” The heavy trooper answered. “It’s a little ambiguous, but it means something like dragon warrior, or dragon fighter. Basically, it’s someone who fights like a dragon.”

Aidan realized that the translation didn’t help him. It was too vague to give him an idea of their enemy’s capabilities. Instead of worrying about it, he focus on the present situation and asked Astra to inform the infiltrators as he moved to the third cell. Inside, was the subject of this particular mission and his highest priority target.

The commander kicked open the cell door and found it empty. He swept the room with his rifle and then asked Astra the obvious.

Why isn’t she here?

Checking now, Envoy, Astra replied.

Aidan moved through the rest of the cells on his side as he waited for Astra. He removed collars and sent the captives to their spawn points with mechanical efficiency. When he was finished, Astra finally had an answer for him.

Sorry, for the delay, Envoy, Astra apologized. It took a while for me to understand what’s going on. I was wrong before, there are multiple networks siloed from one another. This base is more than just the surface-level compound we observed. There’s an entire subterranean section segregated on a different network. Dr. Smith has been taken to a lab below this compound.

How do we get down there? Aidan asked.

Take the stairs to the lowest basement level, there’s a separate lift on the other side.

“Alright Spectres,” Aidan addressed his team. “It looks like our primary objective has been moved to a lab below this compound. Apparently, the PRC have an entire section underground that we weren’t initially aware of.”

Defenders are equipped and entering the lift. Astra reminded him.

Disable the lift when they’re halfway to the next floor, he ordered.

Done, Astra said, as Aidan waited for Guzman and Faraj to finish killing their half of the captives.

When they were done, the team headed back to the stairwell.

Any targets of opportunity we should consider while we’re here, Astra? Aidan asked.

Depends, Astra replied. The bottom of this facility contains research labs. It looks like they’re doing some interesting biomechanical experiments.

What kind of experiments? Aidan wondered.

Synthetic organs, artifically augmented humans, and biological weapons. She answered. I’ve pulled all the data, but in short, it looks like the PRC are focused on augmenting their bodies since they get respawned every time.

It’s an efficient use of resources, Aidan immediately understood. Weapons can get lost or destroyed, but the body gets rebuilt by the system every time.

Exactly, the experiments are still crude, but if you don’t destroy the physical specimens, then they’ll be able to rebuild their capabilities after we leave.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Adjustment to our plans,” Aidan announced. “There are some experiments in the lowest level on the way to Dr. Smith. We need to destroy some of their scientific experiments. It’ll keep the PRC from rebuilding once we’re gone.”

The defenders escaped the elevator and they’re in the stairwell, Astra noted.

“Prepare for contact,” Aidan ordered before rushing toward the stairs. He wanted to catch them in the stairwell where they would have the height advantage. Firing down was certainly easier than firing up.

His team took positions at the top of the stairs and waited for their enemy to show themselves. They didn’t have to wait long, because the PRC soldiers appeared in bizarre fashion. Instead of climbing the stairs like normal, they were sprinting up the walls themselves. Their bodies had transformed into ten-foot tall scaly beasts complete with claws, a tail, and a snout full of jagged fangs. Aidan could see their resemblance to the twisted experiments they found in the kobold camp. However, these warriors had been perfected. Their proportions were exact, and they looked like organic killing machines.

The sharp edges of the digits dug into the concrete walls and propelled the elite soldiers up the stairwell with fantastic speed. Aidan suppressed a shudder at the unnatural, jerking movement of their lizard-like foes. There was something buried in his primitive hind-brain that recoiled at the appearance of the enemy warriors caused him to reflexively fire his rifle. The enemy soldiers gracefully dodged the psionic projectiles coming their way with short hops that carried them to the opposing wall. One of the warriors opened his mouth and spat a ball of purple psionic fire.

Aidan ducked below the edge of the metal railing as the fireball flew over his head and exploded against the wall. His didn’t even feel the heat from the explosion thanks to his armor. He responded by drawing a grenade from his inventory. Astra painted an optimized trajectory on his HUD and the envoy used his psionic powers to launch the grenade over the side of the rail. Astra aim had been spot on. The grenade impacted against one of the Chinese soldiers with a muted explosion.

Fire and concrete dust rained down on the rest of PRC elites and obscuring the battlefield. The poor conditions had no effect on the Spectres so they used the distraction to ping a couple more of them with psionic rounds. They soon realized their enemy’s scales were just as effective as ablative armor. It took more than a few shots to land a killing blow. Aidan idly wondered whether purely kinetic ammunition would have a better effect on their hides.

How many of them are there, Astra? Aidan asked during the confrontation.

By my count, you’ve taken down three for good and there are another six in the stairwell Astra quickly answered.

Aidan frowned. The tight confines of the stairwell benefitted the more agile PRC soldiers over the Spectres. The envoy snapped his rifle on his back and drew his sword instead. He hadn’t been familiar with the weapon until Yanovna’s hellish exercises hours before, but he was confident he knew where to stick the pointy in. He got his chance moments later as he was about to lean over the edge of the stairwell. Before he had crossed the invisible plane, one of the enemy warriors blew through the billowing cloud of gray dust with their claws outstretched. Aidan stumbled backward and activated his sword at the same time. With a clean underhand swing, he bisected the pouncing enemy and was showered in their bright crimson blood.

Four down. Five remaining.

“Swords are effective against the lizards,” Aidan announced before he swung over the railing and dropped down, sword-first on an unsuspecting enemy below. His sword bit easily through the monster’s scaled head and the envoy surfed down the last remaining steps on the corpse of his enemy.

Five down. Four remaining.

The macabre sight stunned another of the draconic warriors long enough for Aidan to throw his sword and pin the soldier through the chest and into the wall. He knew Yanovna would kick his ass for throwing a weapon in combat, but Aidan didn’t trust his skills enough to rely on the weapon against a group of enemies. Instead, the commander drew his rifle and began laying down suppressive fire on the the three enemies still trying to ascend.

Six down. Three remaining.

The other Spectres didn’t want to be left behind, so they leapt over the stair well after their commander. They dropped past his floor and onto the next where they swung back over the railing and fought the remaining PRC defenders in hand to hand combat.

It was a slaughter. While the dragon warriors were strong and fast against normal humans, they weren’t nearly as powerful as a System-enhanced Spectre with their armor on. Normally, their claws would shred their opponents into pieces, but this time their natural weapons slid off the Spectres’ psi shields with nothing more than purple sparks to show their passing. In return, the human inflicted punishing wounds on the lizard—bones shattered, scales were ripped off, and talons were torn from the root. It was a savage, life-or-death battle and neither side held anything back. Ultimately, the Spectres emerged victorious.

Enemies defeated, the Spectre’s leapt over the side of the railing and fell the final two stories to the bottom of the compound. Their battle suits absorbed the impact and they barely needed to flex their knees before continuing their push into the final level.

“Commander,” Levitt called over the radio. “I don’t know what you stirred up down there, but the entire base has come alive. Sirens are wailing and soldiers are all rushing toward the northern compound. It’s made our job even easier, and we’re going to take out all the secondary targets, but you guys are going to have a hell of a time.”

“Roger that, Levitt. Thanks.” Aidan answered before switching to their internal team comms.

“Yanovna, you hear that?”

“Loud and clear, Commander,” she answered. “I’m picking them off as they arrive, but I don’t expect I’ll be able to stay here for long. One lucky rocket-propelled grenade or shoulder-fired rocket and I’ll be out of my perch.”

“Noted,” Aidan said as his team sprinted intro a series of labs separated by panels of thin glass. “Keep it up for as long as you can, and let us know when you’re moving back. Maybe, the explosions from Levitt’s sabotage will give us the distraction we need to get out of here.”

Aidan skidded to a halt as he considered what to attack next. Astra had been right, the experiments were pretty crude. He saw patients tied down to metal gurneys sporting mechanical limbs. Instead of mechanical limbs, some of the captives had limbs from other races grafted onto their bodies. A few looked familiar like the mottled green scales of a kobold or the ash-gray skin of a gnome. Others were completely alien to him.

Some unfortunate men and women were floating in large liquid tanks with various hoses and tubes filling their orifices. He even spotted a body laid open like a middle-school dissection. Inside, synthetic organs were pulsing and whirring with mechanical efficiency.

The darkest part of the extensive labs was where they held the pregnant women. When he saw them, Astra began to narrate the list of experiments the PRC were conducting. Some of it centered around hybridization efforts or genetic manipulation, but the worst experiments were those used to test the vertical transmission of various diseases. The notes contained lists of pathogens both from this world and from Earth. Aidan guessed that the Chinese were experimenting in ways they knew wouldn’t be acceptable in their own country. But here? Where there was no such thing as international law or even a clear moral line to be drawn between the System and Earth? It was in the gray areas where the darkest of human deeds dwelled.

Aidan felt rage burning in his gut. He wanted to destroy this entire base. He wanted to burn it to the ground and piss on its ashes. In his mind, he had declared total war on these experiments and everything they represented.

“This is disgusting,” Agerwal said at the same time Faraj said, “Fascinating.”

“Purely from an academic standpoint,” the Doc defended himself. “We don’t know much about how the System affects everything from disease to pregnancy. The System could cure cancer, or there could be things we’ve never considered like a psionic illness. Our people would never stoop to this kind of thing, but there’s no denying that the research is useful to humanity.”

The commander could rationally understand where Faraj was coming from, but there was a sense of wrongness that he couldn’t abide. He wanted to destroy these experiments from the depths of his soul.

“Stow it,” Guzman grunted at them before pulling grenades from his inventory and holding them in either hand. “Do what you’re best at, Agerwal, and blow it up.”

“With pleasure!” The man said with relish.

Aidan heavily sighed. “Wait,” he ordered Agerwal. “We still need to go lower to retrieve Dr. Smith. Go ahead and rig everything to blow, just in case we don’t have the time on the way back, but don’t light everything up just yet. I want to make sure we can escape this way if necessary.”

“You got it, Commander,” Agerwal nodded.

The team started at the back of the complex and made their back toward the mechanical lift that led below. They set their charges and then methodically went through the subjects and executed every single one. Aidan felt gross, like there was a layer of filth on his soul that he’d never scrub off, but he knew that killing these people and sending them back to respawn was a mercy. The team couldn’t know if each kill was a person’s first or their third, but Aidan didn’t want to know. Even if permadeath waited for those people, it was better than being stuck in a literal hell.

As the Spectres turned and rushed toward the lift. PRC soldiers flooded into the floor from the stairwell. Aidan ordered his group to open fire as they engaged the elevator. Their enemies were the typical human soldiers that the Spectres had scythed through back at Camp Bastion. It was no different in the bowels of the Chinese base. A series of System notification followed their descent into the lower levels.

When they reached the bottom, Aidan stopped the group. “We can’t have soldiers in front and behind us. There’s no way we’ll be able to extract Smith under those conditions. Wang, Weir, and Guzman, cover our exit. I’ll take Faraj in case Smith needs medical attention and Agerwal to help me sabotage any of the equipment down here.”

“What happens if we get separated?” Guzman asked.

“My team will find our own way up, or we’ll go to respawn. Worst case scenario, we’ll pop Smith to send her back to camp, and then kill ourselves to join her. If it looks like we can’t get back to you, I’ll let you know. You can escape through the base and meet up with our infiltrators up top.”

“Roger,” Guzman nodded and proffered a fist for Aidan to bump.

“Don’t do that crap where you sacrifice yourself for the rest of the team, Commander,” he warned.

Aidan bumped his friends fist before responding. “Don’t worry, I won’t. You guys can’t run a base for shit without me.”

The pair chuckled before going their separate ways. Guzman’s team took up defensive posts around the lift, while Aidan’s turned and descended further into the corridor.