The sound of chittering insects and tapping carapaces as countless legs skittered through the halls was a strange thing to hear. Xander had nothing to compare it to, at least with his current memories, and could only assume that the nightmares he’d likely have would haunt him for some time.

  Worst of all, however, was the lack of any enemies that he could see.

  His gene-mods were more than enough for him to have visibility in the cramped and darkened maintenance shafts that he was currently sneaking through, but the fact that these locations required specific methods to get in and out of, barring the few on the ceiling that just needed a significant amount of force in a specific area, meant that he was visually cut off from the outside.

  Only noises were able to get through, thanks to the fact that these areas weren’t airtight. Although, the sound itself needed to be quite loud to make it through.

  “I really hope that the others are okay... I’m certain that, even if I can jumpstart my mods and undergo my first evolution, getting out of here will be basically impossible without help.”

  He whispered his words with a sigh while he continued to crawl forward.

  It had been nearly 30 minutes since he’d entered the vent. He knew that he was in a different region of the ruins by now, but he also knew that he was still well away from his next destination.

  The satchel he’d packed with vials and other supplies and serums from the rooms he’d managed to sneak into, thanks to his special access, were only a third of what he knew he’d need.

  Of course, the most important thing was still being able to get back to his past self’s personal quarters. Otherwise, he wasn’t sure if the equipment in the other areas would be of any use to him.

  “God, I hope the others are doing better than me. At least the size of these bugs means that it’s unlikely that the truly powerful ones can get too far into the facility.”

  His memory of the insects that Gerome had shown him on his tablet were still fresh in his mind.

  They got massive when they reached Rank 2, even bigger than the Ascended beast that nearly got them in the tunnels outside the failsafe exit. Whilst terrifying, that strength meant that they couldn’t get into the more cramped corridors.

  It was even harder for the Rank 3 mutated beasts. But that wasn’t something they could afford to feel relieved about. Nor was it something that Xander thought Gerome would be aware of.

  The older man probably thought that the damages to the ruin were caused by the Ascended creatures. This was a false assumption, since it required an apex creature, at least, to damage the materials used in this facility. Which indicated just how terrifying the forces that destroyed it were.

  Shaking his head, Xander took several deep breaths to prevent himself from falling into memories again and cleared his thoughts when he realized that he’d arrived, and it was now quiet.

  Shifting over to the access panel, he saw that it was secure, meaning that nothing had happened that could’ve moved it out of place. So, with carefully placed pushes and shifts, he peeled back the corner of the panel, revealing an empty room beneath him.

  One with an open door that had clearly been ripped off by something deadly many years ago. So, with a quiet curse, which was followed by rapid scurrying towards the room, Xander closed the panel again and moved on.

  He ignored the sound of several beasts tearing each other apart that echoed behind him.

  This room had been swept clean at some point, but the sheer amount of area that the ruins covered meant that there was plenty more for him to check.

  ----------

  Gerome grimaced when yet another blast door slammed shut, cutting himself and the rest of his forces off from the swarm of Rank 1 and lower mutant insects.

  Whipping out his arm, he grabbed one of the few that managed to get through.

  With a sickening ‘crunch’ he crushed it in his fist. Dying limbs twitched before the remains curled up and were dropped to the ground with a dull thud.

  ”How many routes have been cut off now?” He asked the scholar at his side.

  The woman flinched at the question but steeled herself after a moment of staring at the dead insects on the ground. “15, sir. Though, it would be more if we hadn’t had to cut off an entire section before retreating to the main corridors.”

  ”Hmm…” that was the biggest issue with their current progress, one that he needed to address as he pulled out his tablet and began marking down points of interest, “have the away teams close off these paths, and get them to regroup with us at this junction here. It’s large enough to put up some fortifications, with halls and entrances small enough to ensure that nothing stronger than I am gets through.”

  The scholar looked over the tablet that Gerome shoved into her face. After glancing through it, she stepped away with a nod and began sending messages to the individual radio channels for each team that was currently away from their primary group.

  “Sir!” One of the soldiers spoke up after their group began moving to the meet up point. “May I ask something that might seem… defiant?”

  Gerome glanced over at the soldier in question. Low rank, but with several stripes on his uniform, indicative of the number of gene-mods he had received. He was on the upper end, with 7 stripes, meaning he was a good seed for Rank up.

  ”Defiant how?” Gerome didn’t immediately shut down the question, given that he was curious as to what was about to be asked. “I assume that you aren’t intending to instigate treasonous ideals, are you?”

  His last few words came out in a growl, something that, to his satisfaction, made the soldier shudder and straighten up. Alongside the other soldiers, who were warily focusing their attention on the one who spoke up.

  The fact that the scholar next to him also glared at the soldier in question was something that made him smile. Loyalty was something he greatly admired. Even if his own, one true master, was his desire for more ancient genetic knowledge.

  ”Nothing like that, sir! I’m just wondering whether the VIP is truly worth all this trouble. We’ve already gotten so much. Wouldn’t it be smarter to take our gains and find a way out of here that gets us past the bugs, and back on route to return to Lady Elyria?”

  After hearing the question, Gerome couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. He’d been expecting a complaint against their current efforts, but this one was somewhat thought out. The soldier had addressed the biggest issue at hand, which was getting out of here.

  ”Simply put, while the information we’ve managed to access is enough for us to get out of here with relative safety, our actual gains are not that great.” Gerome waved his tablet in the air. “While the information we’ve gathered will make great strides in figuring out a means of getting our lady to Rank 4, the number of genetic samples needed to fine tune said means are lacking. Especially since the Lady’s half-siblings are cutting her off from many of her resources. We need something substantial if we want to get the king involved. Hopefully putting us in his good graces while we’re at it. Something made even harder now that it’s confirmed that we have a traitor in our midst.”

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  Everyone grimaced at the reminder of Laisa’s betrayal. She had been one of the more well-known medics among Lady Elyria’s forces.

  ”That reminds me. Kill on sight. Interrogation isn’t necessary. That bitch dies. No questions asked. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir!” A cacophony of voices affirmed their stance on the situation. Defiance, in this instance, meant death.

  With that settled, Gerome and his people moved forward, only to arrive at the junction he had previously indicated, and come face to face with a large, humanoid, entity.

  One with carapace, blade-like for limbs, and an aura of energy surrounding it.

  Beneath its feet, blood pooled as the bodies of the away teams slowly cooled.

  While it was alone, that didn’t give any of them a sense of ease or relief.

  A 2nd Rank mutant beast had finally found them.

  —————

  A harrowing shriek echoed through the hallways. It made Tami and the twins freeze in their tracks. She had managed to find the scaly siblings not long after Laisa had revealed herself. The three had then immediately began searching for a means of getting through to Gerome and his squad in the next section over.

  So far they had been fortunate enough to not run into Laisa or any of the bugs, but Tami didn’t hold out much hope that their luck would last.

  If Laisa was Rank 1 like Tami thought she was, then the traitorous medic would be able to catch up with them sooner than later.

  ”You know… I still don’t get why she just came out and revealed herself like that. I mean, she could’ve just waited until we regrouped, and then killed us off in one go, couldn’t she?” Heida muttered while coming back from where she examined a side corridor.

  ”I think it was mostly arrogance, and impatience…” Tami shook her head. “She’d been in the squad the longest, and I know how those fanatics following Lady Elyria’s siblings act. They want nothing more than to serve side-by-side with their master. The thought that she would blow her cover at the first chance to get something that would help her master wouldn’t surprise me. Especially one as big as this.”

  ”How so? I would’ve thought that she would’ve blown her cover at the stasis ruins, given the amount of information stored there.” Morris chimed in after a moment of silence.

  ”For one thing, Lady Elyria was there, along with several other Rank 2s that were serving under her. Here, we only have Gerome, and he’s been cut off from us for the moment.” Tami fell silent, checking the next few corners and waving the twins forward. “For another thing, there were few to no supplies stored in the cryo-stasis ruins. Only information regarding a few unbanked gene-mods, and the evolutionary paths to reach Rank 1. It was essentially just a bunker. It had nothing that would be helpful to the princes and princesses. However, a general serum that can stabilize even Ascended Genetic Warriors would be something that any spy would go for. Especially if Laisa serves the royal that I think she does.”

  Morris and Heida shared a look, something that Tami tried to ignore for the moment.

  She was glad that the two didn’t ask any more for the moment. While she didn’t have any concerns with throwing accusations out into the air, she also knew that the royal she had in mind was a rather controversial topic.

  After all, from what she knew of Laisa and her specific gene-mods, there was only one royal who had the means to help her along her evolutionary path. A path that Elyria had been responsible for discovering over two decades ago and obtained the royal privilege of retaining for her personal forces’ use.

  I really don’t want to be the one to bring up how Elyria’s full-blooded little brother has been spying on her. Just broaching that topic is likely to get me flogged, if not splattered across the walls.

  The thought made her shudder, and she knew that letting Gerome handle things was her best option.

  “C’mon. We need to keep moving, and hope that nothing dangerous pops up out of nowhere.” Had Xander been there, he would’ve groaned in frustration at the obvious taunting of fate, but since he wasn’t, Tami could only be rebuked by the noisy scuttling of carapace on metal, as a swarm could be heard coming straight for them. “Shit!”

  The trio immediately began running down another hall, away from the incoming horde. They cut through twists and turns, not bothering to hide their footsteps, but their speed just wasn’t enough. Their pursuers were getting closer, and the worst possible situation had arrived.

  ”Dammit! A dead end now! Of all times!” Heida cursed and screamed in frustration. The last turn they had taken led to a collapsed hallway. Wreckage filled the space so tightly that they couldn’t see anything past the rubble in their way.

  Tami didn’t say anything. She just slumped in despair. Nothing had been going right for them. They couldn’t even retreat, since the last fork in the road they could reach was a couple hundred meters back.

  The only hope that they now had was that there were no Rank 1s or higher in the swarm that had chased them down. If there were only unbanked mutant beasts, then they might be able to fight them off.

  At least for a little bit.

  ”Weapons out! If we’re going to die, we should at least die on our feet!” Morris growled as his scales spread across his body. His sister transformed in the same way, while Tami flexed and felt herself undergo her own changes.

  All three glared down the hallway that they had come from. Weapons drawn, teeth bared, and ready for the fight of their lives.

  ’BANG!’

  ”Get up here, now!”

  As one, they all turned their gazes upward, staring incredulously at the hole in the ceiling that had just appeared, and the familiar face that was now looking down at them.

  —————

  Scraping his side against a broken panel and jostling one of the sacks of supplies he’d managed to scrounge up, Xander let out a curse before moving on.

  He’d visited several more rooms over the course of the last little while. There were more than a few items of use that he’d managed to acquire. All hidden things that were inaccessible without the proper passcodes and genetic sequences for scanning.

  If it weren’t for his past experiences with this facility, he’d never have managed to get access to those rooms. Not without the aid of several Rank three entities working in tandem, at least.

  He had finally gotten all the materials he needed to speed run his gene-mods. Full on evolution was not possible yet, but the necessary components for the serum he would need were still here. He’d just find them after increasing his power first.

  ”Shit!”

  The muffled sound of Tami crying out in anger made him stop. It had come from an access panel not far from him. The quiet sound was barely heard, even with his somewhat enhanced senses.

  He looked ahead. There was still quite a ways to go before he reached a room with the proper equipment for synthesizing his gene-mod serums.

  At the same time, while he had his doubts about the loyalty of all his team members, he knew that, outside of Laisa, the rest were at least unlikely to kill him right away.

  Tami was loyal to the Wrathmor Kingdom, specifically Lady Elyria. So, she, at least, would not try to kill or capture him to steal information from him via unscrupulous methods.

  With a sign that forced his whole body to slump toward the ground, Xander pulled himself to the side, into the shaft that was right above the room so that he could hear Tami, Morris, and Heida, arguing while they prepared to fight.

  With an unnecessary amount of force, Xander pulled the panel open the moment the reinforced seals released. It slammed open with a loud ‘BANG’.

  ”Get up here, now!”

  The sight of his three teammates looking up in shock would have been funny, but he had no time, so he ducked out of the way, only for the three to jump up and into the significantly more cramped space above the room.

  The panel fell shut a moment later, and the hiss of the heavy-duty locks fastening into place gave Xander a much-needed breather.

  ”Xander! How—“ Tami seemed shocked, and her stout transformation caused her face to scrunch up in shock and bewilderment.

  ”No time! Whatever bugs were coming after you will know that there’s a hidden entrance in that room now. We need to get to another section before a Rank 3 manages to open it. Move!” He pulled himself back toward the shaft he was originally in, grabbing his satchels in the process, and scurried away.

  It was only after they were several meters away from the room that he paused, ushering the others past him, and ripped open a side of the hidden passage.

  Inside it was a lever. One he pulled, which caused several loud clangs to echo through the area.

  ”There. That area will now be inaccessible for the time being.” Glancing at the others, Xander raised a brow at their incredulous expressions. “What? You think that, after remembering how to get in here, I wouldn’t eventually remember the various nooks and crannies I helped install? Don’t look down on me just because you’re stronger. I’m a VIP for a reason.”

  Tami had nothing to say, then she clicked her tongue and turned away, her body slowly shifting back to normal, as were the twins.

  All the while, Xander just hoped that this new interruption wouldn’t stop him from making his way to the chambers needed to make his gene-mods. Tami and the twins probably wanted to get to Gerome as soon as possible, after all.

  Maybe I can bribe them with gene-mods for them as well? The thought unwittingly crossed his mind, but for now, he would simply try to lead them forward, while going through with his plan.

  If they eventually objected, then that was a problem he’d deal with when it popped up.