FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Rocky Mountains of Canada weren't the longest mountain range in the world - that title belonged to the Andes mountains of South America - but they were a close contender, stretching farther than the eye could see across the continent. Snow-capped peaks filled the viewport through which Kyle watched their course, carefully steering them deeper into the mountains.

Alongside the VTOL flew the two powered exosuits of Avory and Ayane, forming up at the flanks of the craft while keeping a safe distance back. Naturally, they could both easily fly faster than the VTOL but Kyle was the only one that knew the way to the hidden base of the P.A.C.E Directive, so they had to keep the VTOL in sight. Of course, that didn't stop Avory from occasionally flying ahead, on the premise of 'scouting'. Avelyn chimed in over the comms to tease her brother that he was just bored because they couldn't fly any faster.

In the cabin of the VTOL sat Korban, Kieran, Rikyuu and Obsidian. They'd been outfitted with the tactical gear Avory had promised for them - standard Kevlar vests. Not quite assault-grade but it was better than nothing. Korban had complained he didn't need body armour, but he'd accepted it regardless. The fight with Devilshade had left Korban more conscious of the fact that his 'immortality' didn't necessarily mean he was invincible. Under the body armour, Korban, Kieran and Obsidian wore the harnesses fashioned for them by Avory as well, each one housing a tiny portion of Spherum, meant to counteract the effects of P.A.C.E's Disruptors.

The mood in the cabin couldn't be tenser, however, knowing what they were heading into. For most of them, it would be the most dangerous fight of their lives, to challenge the P.A.C.E Directive in their own home - a battle that P.A.C.E would fight hard to win. They all wished they'd had more time to prepare for this battle. But knowing the Retrieval Teams, even if it was just the one- were on the move again made it clear they couldn't afford to wait any longer, especially when said Retrieval team failed to return.

It was at that moment that Avelyn, accompanying the second group, called in. "Phoenixes in position. We're outside of the garage and standing by"

"Copy that," Kyle returned, and then notified the others. "Confirmed, the ground team is in position."

"There's a certain irony that a group consisting entirely of avians is leading a ground assault," Rikyuu remarked off-handedly, smirking.

"Yea, no kidding." Kieran concurred, snickering a little himself. "Still, whatever makes sure the plan runs as smooth as butter, right?"

No one said anything to that. Nobody expected the plan to go 'smooth as butter' by any stretch of the imagination. They had a well-laid-out strategy for what they had to work with, but they were still venturing into unknown danger and facing P.A.C.E on their home turf.

"Do you guys think Shiryu and his father will be okay?" Obsidian asked suddenly, breaking the silence. "P.A.C.E knows where to find them now..."

"They're gonna have to be." Korban piped up with a shrug. "We stuck our necks out for 'em and drove off the task force sent to capture 'em. We took out their Retriever to boot, so that'll make trying to nab them again almost impossible. The way I see it, we did all we could. It's up to them to figure out what to do next."

Obsidian sighed, knowing Korban was right but having nothing else to say. As a police officer, she of all people knew there was only so much one person could do to help someone else.

"We're approaching the hangar now," said Kyle, pressing down a button on the console. "Red Flight. I'm switching on the cloaking field now and beginning an approach vector, so make sure you got your thermals on and give us some room."

"Copy that," came Ayane's voice over the receiver.

"Sounds like it's party time..." Korban remarked, quickly drawing each of his guns and checking their magazines before sliding the hammers back and flicking the safeties off, then re-holstering them along his belt. "Ready for this, Kitty?"

"Always am," Kieran answered with a nod.

Obsidian had borrowed an assault rifle from Korban's arsenal, taking that moment to follow his example and check the magazine and safety. Rikyuu, who did not need any weapons, readjusted his armour and clenched both hands into fists, creating hard light gauntlets around them.

Kyle angled the VTOL to begin their approach. The others leaned out to look out the front viewport, and at first, they could see anything until the aircraft flew closer. Below them seemed to be the mountainside itself, but as they approached they saw that the wall was wrong - perfectly smooth and vertical. Though it had been painted to resemble the surrounding rocks, at a short distance - lower than any aircraft would ever normally fly - the unnatural formation became more apparent.

"Alright, guess that's my cue," said Rikyuu, rising from his seat.

"Be careful, Rikyuu," said Obsidian.

"Hey, it's me you know."

"You say that like it should make me less worried," Obsidian returned flatly, earning a chuckle from Korban and Kieran.

With that, Rikyuu approached the door and gripped the locking lever with both hands, lifting it and letting the door slide open. A rush of air left the cabin as it depressurized, and then cool air rushed in to fill the now-vacant space, causing fur and hair to stand on end. Rikyuu wasted no time, leaping out of the craft and falling into a dive as he began to form a cocoon of hard light around his body. His dive turned into a spin, and the cocoon reshaped itself, becoming more pointed and round at the base until the entire construction closely resembled a giant drill.

With that, he re-angled his approach vector and went straight-on toward the door. A sound like metal on metal filled the air as he struck the door, and began boring through.

Alarms blared inside the base, the voice of one of the technicians at the control center chiming over the intercom ordering all security personnel to high alert and to report immediately to the hangar. They hurried to respond to the alert, arming themselves and going in pairs to the hangar. The metallic screeching reached their ears before they ever saw the cause, audible even through their masks - they adjusted their receptors to filter out some of the noise but it was still incredibly loud.

They entered the hangar, spreading out and taking a position on the side opposite and facing the door with weapons raised. They were armed with G36 assault rifles. They could see something glowing at the center of the door, pink in colour and bright like neon, pushing through to open a steadily widening hole in the steel door. They aimed their guns at the drill, unsure of where else to target, but no one opened fire as they also weren't sure what they were even looking at.

Inch by inch the hole grew wider, and the drilling only stopped when the hole became large enough for half a dozen men to easily squeeze through it. At that, the drill disappeared, and a figure dropped past the hole, briefly casting their shadow inside as they fell past the hole.

Then, the enemy entered.

Avory and Ayane were the first ones into the base, flying through the hole made by Rikyuu. The bullets began flying the instant the two appeared - two dozen of P.A.C.E's security personnel forming a fragmented line on the other side of the hangar, armed with assault rifles. Bullets pinged off their armour repeatedly and from the walls around them, forcing the two into evasive maneuvers.

"I think we got their attention!" Ayane said to Avory through their shared communications.

"_No, I don't think so! I think they are just trying to get that fly I saw when we came in!" _Red Lightning replied sarcastically.

"That's one hell of a fly!" _Ayane replied, sharing the sarcasm. "_I'll hold their attention - you get that hangar door open!"

"_Ok 'fly'!" _he replied in jest, looking up at a control room just above the rear of the hanger. He darted over, weaving side to side to avoid the gunfire that came his way and raised his hand, launching a perfectly spherical stone at one of the windows.

The cannonball-like projectile left the palm of his thruster and hurdled towards the glass, smashing into it but bouncing off. The glass had spiderwebbed but did not break. 'I _thought you would reinforce them,' _he thought to himself, deciding instead, noticing some of the personnel in the room grinning at the failed attempt.

But then their grins turned into screams and shouts as they saw the small red mech begin to fly towards them again super quick as if he was going to kamikaze through it. Instead, the Red Lightning twisted his body around and landed with his feet pressed up against the glass on the side of the wall for all but a split second, crouching his knees before jumping off; at the moment his legs straightened a deafening sonic boom blasted around the hanger and vibrated through the glass shattering the pane - and all those around the control room into billions of pieces. The crew inside the control room fell limply to the floor, while many of the soldiers below grasped the sides of their heads, dropping their rifles in pain and making them easy targets for Ayane while they recovered.

Catching himself before embedding himself in the opposite wall of the hangar, Red Lightning turned around and looked at the control room, seeing all those inside down and out for the count and the reinforced glass shattered. He flew in, just as more soldiers entered through the door to the side. Landing in the control room; Red Lightning lifted his blaster to the door control panel and shocked it, frying it so it's unable to be used, not allowing anyone else to enter so soon, and trapping the four soldiers that already entered inside with him.

They opened fire, shooting the tri-carbotanium armour with their conventional weapons, each bullet ricocheting off, with only the occasional finding the right angle to put a dent in it. Red Lightning didn't waste time with his electric blasters, knowing these troops were likely wearing insulated armour like the Retrieval Teams, so he used his fists, legs and wings for more traditional hand-to-hand combat, bludgeoning and bruising the delicate organics.

The men were skilled and tough, but they did not have the weapons to counter the armour of Red Lightning. Avory's assault pushed through, caving in their masks and disarming them as they went. Two tried to stab him with knives they retrieved from their belts - one of them struck his armour so hard, he managed to bend his knife, which they then stared at with disbelief as it fell from their shaking hand. A third, after being disarmed, reached for his pistol sidearm, however futile it was. Red Lightning caught his arm with the pistol in hand and twisted it up sharply above the soldier's head, dislocating his arm. He let him scream out in pain before being thrown against the wall.

With the defenders dispatched, he turned to the control panel and scanned for the hanger door release, spotting the button and pressing it. "Rogue One. This is Hanger Bay. You are clear for landing, over." Avory called Kyle over the coms as the large metal doors begin to part.

"Copy that. Comin' in hot," Kyle's voice replied as the VTOL outside dropped its cloaking field.

The two dozen men stared, dumbfounded, as one of their air vehicles appeared at the now open door. Some likely thought it was their retrieval team returning and bringing them reinforcements, but others didn't miss the sound of the mounted gun spinning up as the VTOL flew into the hangar. Ayane kept to the side as the minigun began firing, one by one mowing down the security personnel. Those who caught on ran immediately for the exit, scrambling to get through the door before they could be turned into mulch by the minigun. Some of them made it, but not all.

Kyle steered the craft around to turn it to the side. The security personnel, using the doorway for cover, aimed out with their rifles, some trying to shoot the cockpit, attempting to score a hit on the pilot, but the bulletproof windshield held. and the side door to the cabin opened. Out jumped Korban, with his dual pistols already in hand, and began rushing toward the personnel just as they turned their attention to him. With a cocky grin, he jumped a bit into the air and used his foot to kick his sword off of its clip on his back, then swung with the momentum of his twist and kicked the blade toward the ground, the point landing just shy of one of the guards that dared expose himself for a cleaner shot.

The split second of hesitation was all the husky needed to rush in, arms already outstretched and taking one shot at the guards to his immediate left and right, scoring hits on their necks and felling them instantly. He turned and ducked just as another went to aim, and fired a round right into his next assailant's head, then swept another off of their feet with his leg, then aimed his right gun at the guard right as he looked back at him.

"Landlord here." He said before firing and killing the guard. "You're all evicted. Here's your notice."

With Korban felling the first line of defenders, Rikyuu, having returned to the craft after breaching the door, leapt back out of the cabin of the airship and put up a shield of hard light as the rest began firing at him and Korban. Following immediately was Obsidian, Kieran, and then Kyle after the VTOL touched down. They formed up ranks to the left and right of Korban, with Rikyuu shaping his shield to allow the gunners to shoot through it without compromising their safety, and slowly he began to advance toward the exit while the others returned fire at the security personnel.

"Ground team! Breach confirmed, repeat, breach confirmed!" Kyle contacted Avelyn, or tried to - he received only static in response. "Shit! Red Lightning- comms are ineffective! I can't reach the ground team!"

They had expected that once they were inside - there was a great deal of rock between them and the second access point. Inside his armour, Avory checked his link to the Blue Lightning armour, seeing that there was still a line established between them with the far stronger communication capabilities in the two armours.

"Blue Lightning, do you copy? Blue Lightning, do you copy?" Avory asked, looking down out of the smashed windows to the team below advancing, ignoring the banging against the control room door behind him.

"_Red Lightning. I copy over? There's a lot of static on the line,"_Avelyn replied.

"There is a lot of rock between our locations. The regular earpieces aren't strong enough to maintain a signal. A.V.I please can you tether all communications equipment to Red Lightning and Blue Lightning."

"Tethering all communications to the Lightning suits in the current conditions will likely decrease processing speeds of other operations. Are you sure you want to proceed?" the suit asked back.

"Proceed, A.V.I." Avory replied, waiting a moment before trying to speak again, "Volcan, do you copy, over?"

"Avory? Yeah, I hear you," Volcan replied. "We're standing by at the garage entrance but we can hear the alarms blaring inside. Sounds like you guys poked the hornet's nest then?"

"We're working on it. I'm just testing the coms." He replied to Volcan before addressing everyone. "The walls and rock around us are causing our radio equipment to play up; we have a solution but don't stray too far from each other otherwise you'll go dark. If you need to speak to the other team make sure you're close to me or Blue Lightning as it's the only way it can get through these walls."

"Got it. Good luck to you - we move in ten," Volcan replied.

Having heard the confirmation from Volcan, Kyle spoke up again. "Push forward! We need to get to the control room!" He called,

In tandem with Rikyuu, Kyle began to walk forward, still safely behind the dragon's shield as he continued to shoot into the doorway where the security personnel were trying to hold their line. Opting to save on ammunition, for the time being, Korban, alongside Kieran, resorted to their blades and CQC - close quarters combat - skills. They closed in on the soldiers firing upon them, the husky taking the lead and shielding himself with the wide flat of his sword, and only when they were close enough to render the guards' guns useless did they separate and began cutting each enemy down one after the other with their unique, unorthodox swordplay.

When the gunfire stopped, Rikyuu lowered his shield, taking a moment to catch his breath while Ayane thundered in to join the fray, her heavy armour shaking the floor as she charged. Korban and Kieran heard her coming as she called out a warning, and threw themselves to the walls. The bulky mech suit bulled past them and into the clustered guards, flinging them into the walls effortlessly. Only one managed to squeeze a shot at her as she charged, but the bullet ricocheted off her armour harmlessly, embedding itself into the wall. For his effort, her metal-clad fist struck him hard in the chest and launched him down the hall like a punted football.

"That's a field goal there!" Kieran remarked with a chuckle.

"Heh, nice," Korban added, then took a moment to check their immediate surroundings. "Looks like the coast is clear, fer now at least."

"That wasn't so hard," Ayane remarked confidently.

"Don't get cocky - that was just the first line," Kyle stated, reloading his UMP-45. "There's more where that came from."

"Well, then we better haul ass before the next wave hits us." Korban pointed out, reloading his pistols quickly. "Which way to where we need ta go, Sarge?" He asked Kyle.

"Control room is straight up this hall, followed by a right," Kyle said. "By now they'll have locked it down so Red Lightning will need to hack our way in once we reach the entrance."

"Already working on it!" The avian called over above them as he was fighting the grunts in the hanger's control room above them. They had breached the disabled door by physically prying it open and rushed him, despite the futility of their current equipment. "I've already cracked their security system, just decoding it all now!" He claimed as he kicked another soldier in the gut. Another came to jump him, to which Red Lightning leaned down to catch grab him and fling him overhead, out of the broken window and down into the hangar behind the team below. "Make sure that one's sleeping!"

"Pretty sure that fall knocked him out!" Obsidian replied, looking back at the man and finding he wasn't conscious after his fall.

Red Lightning effortlessly bested the soldiers rushing into the control room; not a one among them had a weapon capable of penetrating his armour. Wanting to be sure they couldn't use the control room for any reason, he pushed out into the hallway and reached up to grab the ceiling panels, pulling hard and breaking the steel panels. He tore away more of the innards of the ceiling until his gauntlets found solid stone. The rock above that the base was carved out of was now exposed.

Down the corridor, he saw two more of the security force step into view from the curve in the hallway. They aimed their weapons, but Red Lightning made no move to engage them. He drove both fists into the stone above, breaking it apart and jumping back into the control room as stone tumbled through the open ceiling and filled the hallway, barring all access to the control room from that direction.

Satisfied, he turned and walked over to the shattered windows, igniting his thrusters to slowly descend to the floor below and walking to rejoin the others.

"What was all that commotion up there?" Obsidian asked as he passed. "It sounded like a cave-in."

"Just making sure we don't have any unexpected friends from behind." He commented.

Kyle led the way into the hall. At his order, they formed a ring around Red Lightning as he rejoined them, with Ayane bringing up the rear and Rikyuu up front with Kyle as they hurried down the corridor. Then, Kyle motioned for them to stop, his expression growing hard as he stared ahead.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump... _The sound was steadily growing louder, and it was easy for Kyle to determine what it was even before he saw it.

"Cyber, incoming!" Kyle exclaimed.

From around the corner ahead, the hulking, cybernetically enhanced monstrosity emerged. It ran in a full sprint, heading right for them...

Korban raised his weapon, but Obsidian snapped forward and pushed his gun barrel down. "Don't! You might set off its fuel cell!" She exclaimed.

"Make a hole, people!" Ayane urged, forcing the others aside as she rushed to meet the incoming cyborg's charge.

The two mechanical giants collided. While technically the cyborg was strong, Ayane was ready this time. As it collided with her, she sharply turned, throwing the thing into the wall. With its spiked fists, it had no way to grab hold of Ayane and was at a disadvantage in a grapple. Ayane managed to pin the thing against the wall, one hand on its head to hold it in place with its gleaming red lenses still looking at her.

"_Take out the brain!" _Ayane exclaimed, her voice barely heard as the morning star fists battered against her armour.

Korban had already lined up his shot, pulling the trigger the second he had a clean shot on the Soldier's weak spot. The bullet went clean through the head, causing it to stiffen and short circuit for a bit before it quickly began powering down, rendering it immobile.

"And checkmate," Korban remarked, grinning as he blew the smoke away from the barrel of his pistol. "Man, knowing the weak spot of those things makes it almost too easy..."

"As long as you can get a straight shot," said Kyle. "Nice one, by the way."

"Like I keep telling you guys, I _never _miss my mark," Korban responded confidently.

"One day you will," Kieran muttered under his breath.

"Let's hope that's not today," remarked Kyle.

With that, Kyle and Rikyuu resumed leading the group down the corridor. No other enemies appeared in their path as they walked, reaching the intersection where Kyle cautiously leaned out to look down the hall. No gunshot and the human reported he didn't see anyone down the hall either.

There were four doors down the corridor. Two on the left, two on the right. Kyle motioned for the others to check them while he approached the second door on the left, keeping his weapon fixed on it all the while. Kieran checked the first door, and nearly jumped when something fell out at him but he side-stepped it and a broom handle hit the floor. It was just a closet.

The second room, investigated by Avory, was a parts room, holding various machine components that looked like the parts for the VTOLs. The last room, which Obsidian checked, was a stairway going up to the hangar control center. But all of the rooms were empty, and they fell back in on Kyle who hadn't opened the door he was watching.

"This it?" Rikyuu asked.

"This is it. There are usually five techs and two guards inside - watch your fire," Kyle advised.

"I thought we weren't sparing anyone affiliated with these fucks. Why should we check our fire?" Korban asked.

"Because we need the control consoles intact if we're going to operate the base's systems," Kyle returned plainly. "Can't do that if you shoot up the consoles, and the techs will be sitting next to them."

"...Right. Point taken." Korban admitted, rolling his eyes a bit. "Can't exactly get what I'm owed from these totalitarian assholes with damaged computers anyway."

"I've just finished decoding their system. I can remotely disable the disruptor here but they will likely be able to override it each time with the physical console." Red Lightning commented to the team, "...I've got everything in here now... bank details too, even offshore accounts. I wonder if... ah-ha! '17 Inch Squeeze Shrilling Screaming Chickens'!" he exclaimed, "I've found you..."

"...I'm sorry, you wanna run that by us again?" Kieran remarked, ears flattened and head tilted in confusion.

"I'm with Kieran - what are you talking about?" Obsidian asked, equally confused.

"That's what Achtbeinig has been selling to P.A.C.E and returning as a means of hiding small weapons and gear. I will be able to use this to track him down finally. It's trying to track him down that wound me up with you guys." Red Lightning revealed. "A.V.I, try to start making some copies of essential documents and files just in case they burn them before we're done."

"Would you like me to use the remaining excess free processing to complete this action?" the suit's voice asked.

"Affirmative; keep the coms a priority though," Avory confirmed.

"Beginning to copy essential files with excess processing."

"I remember now," said Rikyuu, nodding. "The warehouse where we first met. The crates were full of rubber chickens."

"...Seriously?" Korban remarked, unable to hide an amused smirk. "Man, the lengths gun runners will go to sometimes." He added. "Well, regardless. Anything to do with this place's funds? I call first dibs on. I get what I want, and this organization never recovers from being completely robbed of its funds. Everybody's happy." He said with a shrug.

Kyle spoke up. "Do I need to remind you all that we're still in a hostile environment here?" He asked, sternly. "Red, do we still need to take the control room or not?"

"We do. If I deactivate the disrupter remotely, they will likely be able to override it in there," Red Lightning confirmed, "I don't know if we can destroy the controls or not; they may have designed it to be on automatically. So we can't take that chance of destroying them, otherwise, it will be difficult to get to the disruptor to stop it at its source"

"That's it then. We're going in," said Rikyuu, once more raising his hard light shield.

With that, Kyle touched the door controls, attempting to open it. To no surprise, it was locked, but Red Lightning dealt with that quickly. He overrode the door controls with the access he had acquired, but the instant it opened, the bullets began flying as the two guards Kyle had warned would be inside opened fire, the shots ricocheting off Rikyuu's shield.

Red Lightning leapt over the team and dove through the doorway, flaring open his wings and flipping over so his back toward the guards. He used his foot rockets to launch himself into the room, slamming into both guards with his outstretched wings. The control room was not spacious, and the two guards had little room to maneuver, both of them thrown into the opposite wall by the force behind Red Lightning's attack. The guards, thanks to their armour, recovered quickly and raised their weapons and focusing their fire on Red Lightning, his armour taking multiple rounds to its chassis.

"As massaging as it is to have your back shot at, want to give them the same treatment too?" Red Lightning asked his team through the intercoms as he darted deeper into the room, drawing the guard's fire away from the sensitive equipment and exposing them to a counter-strike.

At that, Kyle and Korban both rushed in, quickly dispatching the two guards and bringing an end to the bullet storm they had been hitting Red Lightning with. Kyle looked over the armour quickly and then looked at the face, trying to see the man behind it. But he kept his question in check for the moment while the others moved to address the five technicians seated at the control consoles, hands raised to show they were unarmed.

"Rik, help me with them," said Obsidian. "We'll lock them in the parts room for now."

"What do we do with them after?" Rikyuu asked.

"I'll erase their memories of this whole event, and then send them on their way," said Obsidian. "I can't do it right now. The Disruptor... I can feel it, even with the harness on." She idly scratched at her chest armour, under which was the spherum core that protected her from the negative effects of the Disruptor. "There is definitely one active in this place."

"It comes up here, even through all the rock?" Kyle asked, sounding surprised. "Shit, how much power are they feeding into that thing?"

"It's bloody big. The schematics of the base show it to be right at the center but... By God it is huge," Red Lightning insisted, looking over the controls and finding a plastic hatch over a lever in the center of the console, locked with a key.

He moved immediately to the hatch, prying the clear door open with his fingers and taking hold of the lever to pull. A loud hum of noise which filled the base the moment they entered finally subsided. It was suddenly eerily quiet; now one could hear the air conditioning and ventilation of the base.

"Disrupter down. I repeat; disrupter down." Red Lightning announced.

"Outstanding," said Kyle.

"I can feel it," said Obsidian, resting a hand against her head. "It's lifting."

"Your spherum might need to discharge after inverting all that power... Use that excess power you have as soon as you can," Red Lightning reminded her.

"Up to the bird boys and girls downstairs now then," said Ayane.

A few minutes earlier...

"Pavan will you _stop_that incessant foot-tapping?!" Lighris snapped, having long since grown tired of the sound of Pavan's talons clicking against the ground. "It's driving me nuts!"

"Sorry!" Pavan exclaimed, hastily backing away from the lightning phoenix.

"What's got you so tense?" Tsuméasked, looking at Lighris scornfully.

"Besides the fact we're going into a fight?" Lighris asked. "All this waiting. I got all this aggression ready to go and we're just here on the bench."

"It won't be for much longer, bro," Volcan assured Lighris, and cast an apologetic look at Blue Lightning. Even if he couldn't see her face, he still seemed to feel the need to do so.

"We've just decoded the data and are now in the system" Blue Lightning assured Volcan, "They're approaching what we believe is the control room. Not long now..."

"Alright. Hear that bro?" Volcan asked.

"Yeah, I hear ya," said Lighris, sighing as he fingered the shotgun in his arms, anxious to get to the fight.

Suddenly, Pavan, who had shifted from foot-tapping to pacing, stopped and raised his head. "Eh? What the..." He asked.

"What's wrong?" Tsuméasked, looking over at him.

"Just felt a shift in the air, like something disturbed the wind," said Pavan.

"Disturbed how?" Vinge asked, warily.

"Something just flew across the valley, and it was _way_bigger than a normal bird," Pavan clarified.

The six of them became alert then, fearing that P.A.C.E might have somehow made it into the air with another vehicle. Volcan shifted his eyes to infrared, searching the skies of the valley above. Eventually, he spotted a heat signature, but it wasn't nearly big enough to be one of the VTOLs. Not to say that it was small though, and the shape of it reminded him of...

"What the- is that Shiryu?" Tsuméasked.

"The hell is he doing here?" Lighris asked, sounding puzzled.

The Wind Dragon soared overhead of the group below, oblivious to them. The group could see he was quickly shifting his gaze from left to right as he approached the mountain peaks, almost as if he was searching for something. He then stopped as he felt a change in the wind, causing him to look down to the ground where he caught sight of Volcan's group, to which he immediately dove toward.

"How did he follow us? And why is he so high? He's going to show up on their radar!" Blue Lightning squawked.

"He's coming down now," Volcan pointed out, stepping away from the others and out to meet the Wind Dragon. "Tsumé, keep your senses on the door - if anyone starts coming out, yell out to me. Everyone else, on her."

"Roger," replied Tsumé as she, Vinge and Blue Lightning focused their attention on the garage door. Lighris joined them, but not before casting a look up at Shiryu; a look of disdain, but also curiosity as to why the young dragon was here.

Pavan decided to follow Volcan despite the phoenix's instruction. By the time Volcan noticed, Shiryu had already landed and approached them. Volcan rolled his eyes at Pavan, but then turned his full attention to Shiryu.

"Shiryu, what're you doing here?" Volcan asked hurriedly. "This area is dangerous - we're right outside of P.A.C.E's base of operations."

"I came to help you." Shiryu stated firmly, standing tall so he was looking down at the phoenix. "After what those creeps did to me and my Dad, I can't just sit around and wait for them to come back and try to take him away from me again."

"The whole reason we're here is to bring them down," Volcan stated. "Shiryu, we appreciate the thought but these people are extremely dangerous. We have them trapped in their own home - they won't hesitate to kill you if they get the chance."

"Then I won't give them the chance." Shiryu firmly stated, claws cracking at his sides. "I'll knock them down before they can even think about touching me, or you and your friends."

"Shiryu, we-" Volcan started to say before Blue Lightning suddenly chimed in.

"Sorry to interrupt, but the control room is ours! Disrupter down! I repeat; disrupter down!" Avelyn called over to everyone on her team.

Volcan cursed under his breath, and then looked at Pavan, then Shiryu and then back to the wind phoenix. "What do you think?"

"You're the boss, Volcan," Pavan replied with a shrug.

"Says who?!" The phoenix asked, immediately flustered.

"Everybody has been following you, not me. Shiryu here uses the same kind of elemental power I do - it has to count for something," said Pavan. "If I go down, you got him for backup."

Volcan rolled his eyes, still bothered that this choice was being left to him. He squared his shoulders and looked at Shiryu firmly. "If you're really sure about this, keep well behind us - you haven't trained with us and we've had more time to work on our sync. Stay close to Blue Lightning - the one in the armour - and stay behind the shields Tsumé and Vinge will be putting up. Understood?

"So long as I get to beat up those bad guys, then fine. I'll do what you say." The large Windragon said with a nod. "But I get to take the first punch at the guy in charge."

"You may have to get in line behind Vinge for that," Volcan commented, lifting his halberd. "He's been after that one for over a decade."

With that, Volcan turned and ran to rejoin the others, followed by the two wind users. Volcan put a hand on Blue Lightning's shoulder to get her attention and spoke lowly to her. "He's coming with us. Watch him; we'll handle the bulk of the fighting, just don't let him run ahead."

"This suit is strong, but have you seen how big that guy is?" Avelyn asked back through the coms, cocking her head in Shiryu's direction.

"I'm not asking you to shield him, just try to keep him from being reckless," Volcan replied, before going to join the others. "Tsumé, anyone on the other side of the door?"

"Nope - it's clear," replied the earth phoenix.

"Alright. Get inside and see if there's a manual override while Avelyn keeps working on the electronic security."

Without another word, the Earth Phoenix disappeared into the ground, surprising Shiryu and Avelyn who had yet to see her do that before that moment.

On the other side of the door, Tsumébored through the concrete floor and emerged in a shower of concrete dust behind it. She looked around hastily, eyes down the sight of her Uzi, but saw no one - as she had previously assessed. With that, she looked at either side of the big door to see if there was anything like a button or a lever to open it. She found something that looked like a panel and went over to examine it. There was indeed a button marked 'garage door' and she pressed it, only for the screen above it to flash with red letters.

"Warning! Security system is active. Lockdown in effect. Please input manual override code."

Tsuméput a finger to her earpiece. "Guys, no go - the door is locked shut. I can't open it from in here without an override key."

"Going through the system that Red just decoded for me; I appear to have access to the whole system." Blue Lightning pondered, "I see where we are on the schematic. Just give me a moment..." she insisted as she began to override the door remotely from her suit.

"Lockdown initiated. Warning: Unauthorized access detected. Deploying automated defense turrets." echoed down the hallway from behind Tsumé.

"Turrets?!" The earth phoenix repeated, turning around in alarm.

From an unseen compartment in the ceiling, a mechanical form dropped. From inside dropped a long arm, and at its end was a tri-barreled minigun. The weapon began to spin, and Tsumélet out a curse loud enough to wake the dead before she scrambled toward the nearest source of cover. She dove behind one of the trucks as the bullets began flying, cutting a swathe across the body of the armoured truck.

"Avelyn!"Tsuméscreamed, covering her ears with her hands to try to drone out the deafening roar of the minigun.

"I'm working on it!" The raven replied as the large mechanical door finally began to rise, albeit slowly. "Door's opening! I just need to find that turret..."

"WHOA!" Volcan's voice was heard as he jumped back, a spray of bullets shooting under the door as it opened and nearly burying themselves into his feet. "Found it!" He added as he scrambled to get away from the door, urging the others to do the same.

"Not what I meant, Volcan!" Blue Lightning commented back as she slowly walked away to the side of the entrance before the bullets swept in her direction; she was too busy focusing on the schematics in her suit's head's up display trying to find the attacking turret. "...Found it!" She then chimed a few seconds before the barrel of the gun slowly decelerated and the bullets stopped flying.

When the door was open far enough, the phoenixes, followed by Shiryu, rushed inside. "Tsumé?!" Pavan called, the first one in the garage and looking around frantically for the Earth Phoenix.

To their right, they heard someone let out a moan. From behind a shredded vehicle hull, the Earth Phoenix stumbled out into view, a hand over her chest and panting for breath as she leaned on the shredded hood of the truck, using it for support.

"Another second, and I would've been swiss cheese," she remarked.

"Were you hit?" Vinge asked, concerned.

"N-No. Just a bit rattled," she replied. "But that was _really_close."

"Are you okay, Miss ground bird?" Shiryu asked as he lumbered over to help steady her.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she replied, though she shuddered with visible adrenaline. "Just gimme a moment to collect myself, and I'll be ready."

"Do you think they heard all that?" Lighris asked. "We may have some security waiting up ahead."

"Stay alert," said Volcan, drawing his revolver. "Vinge, make your shield and let's get moving."

"On it," Vinge replied, letting his Uzi hang from its strap on his shoulder and stepping forward. There, he got to work creating a barrier of ice, forming it into an angular semi-circle in front of him. "Tsumé. I will need your help."

"What do you need me to do?" She asked, her voice calmer now.

"Use stones at the corners of this wall, and then use your geokinesis to help me keep it up," he replied. "It's too heavy for me to support on my own."

"Okay, coming," she said, shouldering her weapon as well while using her earth powers to pull stones in from outside, bringing them to her hands and walking over to join Vinge.

"Blue Lightning, any surprises waiting up ahead that you can see?" Volcan asked.

"There are other turrets along here, but I am deactivating them before they come alive." She revealed, "I have access to the cameras too, but I want to get rid of these turrets first."

"Do that. Tsumé, keep alert for any movement ahead," Volcan advised, keeping his revolver lowered as he followed Vinge and the earth phoenix across the garage and into the tunnel beyond, the others bringing up the rear.

"Man, look at these vehicles," said Lighris, admiring the armoured personnel carriers lining one of the walls. "Military surplus by the looks of it. Whoever this Act-benig guy or whatever his name is, he has some connections if he was able to get those."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and find the keys to one," Volcan joked.

"Where the bloody hell would we store it? These things are huge," Lighris pointed out.

"I think we should turn it into trash..." Shiryu remarked spitefully. "So that they can't be used to hurt anyone ever again." The seriousness of his tone bit back any additional remarks the brothers had, having the sense that Shiryu, despite his child-like demeanour, was being quite serious.

"The turrets are down, but I don't know how long. Someone can still reboot and reactivate them if they wanted; I should get some heads up" Avelyn informed everyone.

"Keep us posted. Don't want any of us getting gunned down by a machine," said Volcan. "Tsumé, anything?"

"Nothing yet. It seems quiet up ahead - wait," she stopped walking, and the stone and ice barrier likewise came to a stop. "...Movement, about fifty meters ahead, in the tunnel.

Volcan leaned out partially from behind the wall, shifting his eyes to infrared and peering into the darkness ahead. "...I see them," he said. "Four security personnel, taking up positions by the walls - alcoves by the looks of it."

"They're setting an ambush," Vinge said. "In those alcoves, we can't hit them from this distance."

"Any suggestions?" Volcan asked.

"There's more of them behind... by a... it's hard to tell on this CCTV but it looks like there is an underground railway station up there where these rails must be connected to," added Avelyn. "I count six more ready to ambush us there."

"Kyle did say there's a tram here," said Volcan, looking down at the floor ahead. Indeed the floor of the garage did appear to drop away where the tunnel narrowed, with two rails on the floor and one in the ceiling above, all of them stretching up the tunnel beyond.

"There's power in that one," Lighris pointed at the ceiling rail. "Everybody try to avoid flying if you can - one nick of that ceiling rail and you'll get zapped."

"Electric tram," Tsuméremarked. "How very green of them."

"You wouldn't want to risk carbon monoxide down here; even with good ventilation" Avelyn pointed out.

"Fair enough."

"Okay, so... How do we draw out the ones waiting ahead?" Volcan asked. "Right now they probably don't know we're onto them so we've got the element of surprise."

"I can force them out of the alcoves," Tsuméoffered. "But only one side at a time."

"We're on the right - do the left side first," Vinge suggested.

"On it," said Tsumé, moving to the opposite wall.

"Everyone, weapons up," said Volcan as they heard the crumble of Tsumébeing swallowed by the earth of the wall. "We need to make this quick."

Vinge kept moving the wall forward on his own. It was a strenuous effort, moving the whole barrier by himself, but he managed. Volcan, Pavan and Lighris had their weapons raised, trained on the left wall while Blue Lightning readied herself to jump in the moment the fighting started.

They heard a crunching sound, followed by someone letting out a surprised yell before two forms leapt out from the alcove on the left. One fell onto his side, losing his balance. The other kept his footing, but in that instant, he was left vulnerable. Lighris stepped out and took the first shot, aiming with his pump-action shotgun and firing at the exposed trooper. The man took the heavy slug in the chest and dropped immediately, his armour failing against the direct shot.

The one on the floor scrambled to get up, turning his carbine on them. Volcan yanked his brother back behind the wall as the first bullets struck it. Vinge fired back, not with his Uzi but with the ice pieces that fragmented off, merging them into a single spike and sending them flying back at the shooter. He let out a yelp as the spike struck his face, breaking on the metal plated mask.

Volcan took that opportunity to step out and take his own shot at the downed guard. He missed, the bullet ricocheting harmlessly off the wall above his target, and the man hastily got up, forcing Volcan to retreat as he fired back. From the other alcove, the remaining two shooters stepped up and unleashed a barrage of bullets at the ice wall, chipping away at it and leaving no opportunity for the others to fire back.

That was when Shiryu made his move. With all of the men now exposed, he summoned the wind by flapping his large feathered wings. With just one beat, he had summoned the equivalent of a gale-force hurricane wind, sending the guards flying off of their feet and far into the tunnel behind them.

In the aftermath of the attack, Shiryu stared in awe at what he had done, blinking a few times as though he didn't believe it. He lifted his wings, looking between them as if seeing them for the first time "U-Uhm..." He stammered softly. "I... I didn't know I could do that."

"Uh... Whoa," Volcan said, unable to think of anything else to say. "Shiryu, you can pack a punch."

"What the heck just happened?" Tsuméasked as she came out of the wall. "I heard a rush of wind so loud I thought a tornado had touched down."

"Shiryu just sent a typhoon through the whole tunnel," Lighris replied, with a tone suggesting he was impressed. "It was kind of awesome, actually."

"But... I've never made a wind that strong before." He said honestly, still looking back at his wings. "At least, not in just one flap..."

"Pavan?" Volcan asked.

"Don't look at me - I didn't do anything," Pavan replied, shrugging. "I'd need at least a minute to conjure a typhoon like that."

"The galrum in both of your genetic structures just peaked." Blue Lightning spoke up, looking between the two wind users. "Are you sure you didn't do anything, Pavan?"

"Not a thing," Pavan replied. "But now that you mention it I did feel a slight tingle just before Shiryu attacked..." He scratched his chest idly.

"...Ya know, me too actually." Shiryu answered, lifting a claw to touch his chest. "It was like... I don't know, like the wind was building up faster than it usually does."

"Right... We'll have to investigate that later, but we've got more up there," Avelyn commented, pointing up the tunnel further. "One got back up and joined the ambush of six further up. Another four have joined them... There's eleven up there now."

Volcan considered their options for a moment, and then looked back at Shiryu. "Do you think you could conjure another wind like that?" He asked. "This time, maybe throw a few projectiles in." He hinted as he glanced at Vinge and Tsumé.

"Oh, I like this idea," said Tsumé.

"As do I," agreed Vinge, already getting to work creating several ice spheres to carry out Volcan's plan.

"I-I can try." Shiryu answered, already flaring his wings out as far back as he could.

As Volcan had directed, the next wind that rushed out of the tunnel, as powerful as the last, was followed by a flurry of stones and ice balls carried on the wind. The eleven soldiers had braced themselves for the former, but the latter had come as a surprise. They retreated, trying to shield themselves from the heavy projectiles, and in doing so they were unprepared as the phoenixes and Blue Lightning came rushing in.

Bullets flew from both sides, but it was a mostly one-sided fight. With Shiryu's wind at the avian's backs, the aim of the security troops was thrown off. Five men dropped quickly to the exchange, the remaining six retreating behind cover, and the phoenixes moved in to engage up close. The last one to reach cover never made it behind his barrier, jerking as he felt a jolt shoot through his body as Blue Lightning closed in. His insulated armour protected him from the stunning effect, but did little to help him when she swung her leg in a kick as she flew by, throwing him across the room.

Volcan was the first of the phoenixes to reach the guards, bringing up his halberd as one of them stepped out to try to shoot at Blue Lightning's back. The halberd caught the underside of the gun barrel, sending it up toward the ceiling, and Volcan spun the halberd to smash the shaft into the masked figure's face, sending them reeling from the force of the blow.

Lighris ran up to the next, slamming them with the stock of his shotgun to knock them down. He then one-handed the rifle to shoot another of the guards as they peeked out, and after pumping in the next bullet executed the one lying on the floor. Vinge rushed the fourth one, firing a burst from his Uzi into the man's armoured chest, followed by a similar spray at the last guard standing.

The first five, injured but not slain by their opening attack, started to get back up. Tsumé dropped one quickly, though hesitated just before she pulled the trigger of her weapon, spurred on only when the man started levelling his weapon at her, forcing her to act despite her unease at the act of shooting another person. Blue Lightning, having dispatched her first opponent, rushed in to take another. She struck the guard with her large heavy metal wings and rendering them unconscious. Another rounded on the armoured avian and shot a burst at her, but each bullet was deflected by the armour, and she easily dispatched the offending shooter with a metal-clad punch.

"Let me hear you _scream!"_Pavan cried out as he came dashing in, zooming behind the men in a blur of motion and shooting at their feet with his own Uzi, all the while singing.

The shot was more meant to startle them than do any real harm, and it worked to keep them from finding cover. One of them was dropped immediately by another shot from Lighris, while the other took a bullet from Volcan. The revolver round wasn't enough to kill the man, but he still fell back, and Volcan finished him with a strike of his halberd, making sure to make it a quick end.

One of the men dashed at Tsumé. Having lost his weapon, he resorted instead to his knife. Tsumé accepted the challenge, lowering her Uzi and brandishing her blade. She stepped aside in a pirouette and using the momentum of her spin drove her knife into the man's back. The kevlar of his armour held, and he swung back at her, the blade flashing across her eyes and barely missing the bridge of her beak. She fired half of the magazine of her Uzi into the man as she fell back, and the masked figure went down.

"That was dumb of me," the Earth Phoenix chided herself.

Pavan continued to sing as he distracted the remaining two. "I'll pull you up and put you right back in your place~!" He sang. "I'll take you down and wipe that smile right off your face!"

Blue Lightning grabbed hold of one of the men from behind, under his arms and lifted him into the air with her thrusters briefly before flipping them both upside down and throwing him head first into the ground; catching the other soldier now split between her and Pavan, grasping his head and feeling it to the ground under her and her suit's combined weight knocking them both unconscious.

Silence fell over the room then, and the phoenixes quickly checked the bodies. "Seven dead," said Volcan as the others motioned their checks were down. "Just those four Avelyn knocked down are still alive."

"Then we should make sure they stay down." Shiryu remarked.

"They will be down long enough for us to do our business and for Obsidian to get down here to wipe them." Blue Lightning reassured the dragon.

"We better make sure they can't slip away in the meantime," said Volcan. "Avelyn, you got some zip-ties?"

"They are a bit more advanced than 'zip-ties'" she responded, pulling out some of her metal ties from her thigh compartment. "Only have so many, but it looks like only my four, as you said, are concussed..." she said leaning down to cuff the two at her feet she freshly dispatched, before standing up and walking over to the first.

When the four men were detained and the bodies taken aside to be dealt with later, Volcan spoke up to get them back on track. "Kyle said the access to the prison level was three flights up. Let's get to the stairs and get up there."

The seven of them gathered, starting toward the stairs and taking a moment to check their weapons, reloading their spent magazines. Pavan walked beside Shiryu as they approached the stairs, offering him a light-hearted smile. "We make a good pair, eh? A lot of teamwork potential with that... Whatever boosts our wind powers while we're together."

Shiryu gave a nervous chuckle. "Yeah I guess. Though I don't think I'd be able to keep up with you. You're super duper fast for a bird." The Wind Dragon remarked, smiling back happily at Pavan.

"I'mma Wind Phoenix! Goes with the territory," Pavan replied with a smirk as they entered the stairwell.