Full Circle (Razgriz x Candira)

"Alright, be careful." Exodus said as he watched the general direction Harbinger went in to get a good track of where to go should trouble arise. "Exodus, when do we get to kill?" "Soon, Sovereign, very soon." An awkward silence followed; neither of them, despite being comrades, were able to make small talk. If something needed to be said, then it was said. Otherwise the mouth was sealed.

It wasn't long before Sovereign said something that would make anyone's head turn, "I think Harbinger is into you, Exodus." "What? Don't joke around, Sovereign. No way she likes me." "It only took her a day to forgive you, and only a month to put a large part of her trust in you. I'm serious, I think she's falling for you, even if only a little bit. Don't let it distract you, even for a second." "I won't, because the emotion isn't there."
 
Harbringer had no idea that the two of them were discussing matters of the heart--her heart to be precise. And it was probably a good thing, too. She made her way around the base moving in the shadows, and quickly getting around defenses. Stealth wasn't even a good enough word for how she did her job. It would be at least half of the day before she returned to report to Exodus and Sovereign what she'd learned, though she doubted Sovereign would listen to the whole report.

She came back to them and drew a diagram in the dirt, an extremely detailed one, which pointed out every possible weakness she could find. And she'd worked hard to find it all. She pointed out her suggestion for getting in and then sat back, letting Exodus and Sovereign talk about how to execute their plan--in more ways than one.
 
As Harbinger returned, Exodus saw that the activity level around the base hadn't changed one bit; she truly was the master of stealth. Looking over the diagram she drew in the dirt, he tried to formulate a plan of attack; it appeared that there were several plausible entry points. Exodus knew deep down that they would eventually have to fight the occupants; however, he would try to make that not happen for as long as possible.

Listening to Harbinger's suggestion of getting in, Exodus shook his head, "That won't work for me and Sovereign. Too conspicuous. You could slip in just fine. Based on the layout you gave me, we'll each need to take a separate entrance. This looks like a drainage line here, Sovereign, that will be your entrance" Separation was definitely not the most desirable option; however, the entry points he saw in the diagram made that the only viable option of getting in undetected. "Damn it, what the hell is so important about this base that no data seems to exist?" Exodus asked to no one in particular as he mused over the dossiers the assistant gave him.

"Once we're inside, hopefully we can find a rendevous point. If there's prisoners, we can release them to create a distraction, so that should give us an edge. If there are any, that is." There were so many variables; they would also have to leave their Gunmen behind once they got within a certain distance of the base. That would complicate things further, but it's better to err on the side of caution. He then unholstered a sidearm and handed it butt-first to Harbinger. Exodus had designed a custom suppressor for it from scrap metal, so that if fired, it wouldn't give away his position in an instance of being in deep cover. "Just in case" he said shortly.
 
Harbringer took the gun and nodded, knowing by now that you just shouldn't argue with Exodus when he got that "let me protect you" look in his eyes. Well, at least there was no sense in doing it when he had a point. She looked over the plans and agreed that the drainage pipe would work for Sovereign. "It's mostly just rain water and other run off. Nothing disgusting," she said for his benefit, though he probably wouldn't care as long as he got to blow something up.

He suggested different modes of entry and frowned. Separating wasn't a great plan. "I still think you should train with me for stealth missions," she said, crossing her arms. "You wouldn't probably have my level, but you'd be good enough to get in some recon of your own," she said. "You too, Sovereign...well...if you had the patience for it." She frowned and then gave up.

"Whatever. Exodus, with your level of stealth, I suggest entering here," she said, pointing to an area. "It was the least heavily monitored and guarded that I saw. I could take out the camera if you wanted."
 
Exodus saw Harbinger point to an area on the map; that seemed suitable. It would make things harder for him without his sidearm, but Harbinger needed it more than he did at this point. "No, if I time it right, I can slip past the camera unseen. No need to draw unnecessary attention. But thanks anyway." Exodus saw Harbinger frown at the mention of separation; he didn't want to have to do this, but with no data on the base, it was better for them to go in separate ways. Of course the lack of ability to communicate would present its own problems, but Exodus knew his squadmates could handle themselves just fine. And they would find somewhere to meet up once inside.

"Bah, all this sneaking around, it's so boring. why don't we just charge in and deal with it head-on? That is far more fun." Sovereign said bluntly; Exodus sighed and said, "I know that any of us three could overpower any Beastman grunts we come across. But this time, we need to be smart about it; we don't what kind of weaponry that they have here. Hell, they might even know we're coming. The last few bases we attacked, we had the element of surprise. We need to maintain that, so if that means sneaking around, then we're doing it. But once we have a stable position and more intel inside the compound, then we can slaughter as many of those bastards as we please." Sovereign gave a derisive snort and replied, "Fine, but any Beastman try to touch me, I break them." "Of course, Sovereign. I expect nothing less."

With that Exodus got into his Gunman and said, "We'll take our Gunmen as close as possible, then get out and move in on foot. Sovereign, our entrances are close together, so you follow me. Remember, keep your head on a swivel and move deliberately. Now let's move out!" And with that, their half-baked mission of sabotage begun; Exodus and Sovereign moved in one direction with their Gunman to a specified safe distance, then disembarked. They then got out and parted ways, entering the base without detection. Exodus had a a near miss with the camera, but no alarms were tripped once he made it inside.
 
Harbringer nodded and climbed up into her gunman, wishing her team mates luck under her breath. She wanted so badly for them to succeed. They hadn't done anything like this since they'd escaped their own research base, and she didn't relish the thought of being captured and punished for her actions. No doubt they'd keep her alive to research her, but they'd certainly inflict as much pain as possible. She hid her gunman a ways off so that even in the sunlight, it would be difficult to see. And then she made her way toward the base, moving like a wraith.

Her entrance point presented no problems for her and she was in in no time. Now the problem was that she had no idea what to do from here. Looking around seemed to be the best option, so she carefully moved along, making sure that no cameras saw her, and no people did either.
 
Exodus moved carefully, ducking past several patrols as he made his through the facility and trying to identify landmarks that would help him find his way around. "Damn it, this place is a labyrinth." Exodus thought to himself as this patrol made its way agonizingly slow past him. He didn't like not being able to communicate with his comrades; it made him extremely edgy.

He made his way down a long, narrow hallway; it wasn't long before he heard strange noises. Exodus moved towards them; he realized it was screams of pain and agony. He then heard the screams stop; there was a momentary pause before a voice said "This one's dead. Throw her in the cart to be incinerated." The voice paused before continuing, "Why are we wasting time with these pathetic apes? I thought this was a weapons research facility, not a Supers factory." A hissing voice then replied "Fool! Adiane made this a dual purpose installation, to both research cutting edge weapons technology and create Supers! Be quiet and prepare the next subject!" "You son of a bitch...." Exodus thought angrily; he had to hold himself from charging in there and beating them all to death. Stil, he did learn something; this was obviously a secret research installation for developing weapons, but for what? What were they doing with them?

Sovereign meanwhile had just made his way up the drainage line and climbed; like Harbinger said, it wasn't a sewage line. In fact there was nothing in it at all. It was hard for him to stay quiet; his impressive bulk and sheer body mass made sneaking almost impossible. It wasn't long before two guards came down to investigate and saw Sovereign. Before they could do anything, Sovereign's blood rage took hold and he charged them, crushing them both and spraying their blood and innards everywhere. After that was done, he moved quickly, trying to locate his comrades so the bloodshed could begin
 
Harbringer tried to find a centralized location. In her mind, she knew exactly where Sovereign and Exodus had entered the building. She just needed to find a place where they could both eventually find her...or find one of them and hope for the best. She utilized her stealth skills to their fullest within the building and she quickly found the right place for herself. There were signs for visiting officers, thank God, and new workers that indicated where the halls were leading to. She was currently in a hall that led to Sovereign's entrance and a place that could lead her to Exodus with some careful observation. From what she could gather, this was a weapons research base, but something caught her eye as well. The sign also said "Supers" and instantly hatred filled her heart. Figuring she should find Sovereign first in case she became overwhelmed or he needed to be reigned back in, she ran toward his side of the facility, never once picked up by the cameras.

Whenever Harbringer ran into researchers or guards, she did her best to avoid conflict and go around. When that didn't work, she snuck up on them and shot them with Exodus' modified side arm. She was grateful for it, but wondered how he would fair without it. Maybe she should have fought with him about it a little.
 
Exodus had run-ins with several guards which had unavoidable combat; he quickly dealt with them and managed to hide the bodies as best he could. So far, it seemed like a standard base, or at least, standard compared to the other ones they've visited. Still, he tried to keep a low profile; though he was no wraith like Harbinger, he managed to move past most guards with only some difficulty. He made his way carefully down a corridor, where he heard two guards arguing. "Bah, you moron! I told you, levels one and two are guard barracks and the control center, levels three through eight are Weapons Research, levels nine through eleven are Supers Research, and levels twelve and thirteen are prisoner holding cells! It is not that hard to remember!" Another higher pitched, bleating voice then replied "Well, I'm sorry, OK?! This is only my first week and this place is huge!" "A week and you still haven't figured it out?! I had this place mapped in my head in three days!"

Exodus smirked at this new information; OK, so now at least he had a direction. Up. He then made his way to trying to find a way to ascend to the control center. As he looked around for a way to go up, he heard footsteps; his slightly enhanced hearing told him it was only one. Exodus crept along, keeping his back to the wall. Exodus figured if he could disarm this guard, he could force the bastard to lead him to the control center. He eventually made it to a seemingly empty junction; he waited until the footsteps were close enough.

Then in what seemed like a blur, he whipped around the corner and disarmed the guard before pinning her against the wall. Wait....her? It was Harbinger he just attacked. "Harbinger? Shit, sorry." he said as he released his grip. "This whole place has me on edge, thank god I found you. Listen, I found out what we needed to do. The control center's on level one, if we can get up there, we can really get down to business."
 
Apparently Exodus had had the same thoughts as she had--that one of them was a guard that needed to be taken out. Either his hearing was better than she thought, or she was being louder than normal. When he'd sprang around the corner, she'd been unprepared, and it was simple enough for him to knock the gun from her hand and pin her to the wall. Her heart beat faster than she'd ever felt it as he held her there, fury in his eyes until he realized that it was her.

Relief coursed through her as he let her go, but he was still standing awfully close. Her heart didn't slow down and she was breathing a little bit harder than usual, but she came back to the present as he explained the plan. "All right. I was just looking for Sovereign," she murmured, not wanting their voices to carry. Logically, I know he'll be fine by himself, but I was hoping for back up." But now she had Exodus, and working closely with him became more interesting as she realized that maybe her heart was reacting to something more than just his attack--his proximity. She cleared her throat and rose a hand to gently push him away while she grabbed the weapon he'd given her earlier.

"Well, now that we know where to go, do you want to try and find Sovereign? Or should we just go?"
 
Exodus tossed Harbinger's question around his head for a few moments; then as if to give him an answer, two bodies collided with the wall behind him and fell limply to the floor. He turned and heard heacy foot-steps approach him; Exodus assumed a combat stance before seeing Sovereign come into view. He was drenched in blood, and Exodus got the feeling none of it was Sovereign's. "You'd think guarding a base would mean stronger soldiers. Guess I was wrong." Sovereign said before turning to look at his two clean comrades, "Oh, don't worry, none of this is mine." "That's what I'm afraid of" Exodus replied with a smirk.

He then said aloud, though still somewhat quietly "Alright, so I found out that the control room is on the top floor. If this base is like any of the others, that's where all the data is compiled. Maybe there'll be something we can use." He cursed himself for having blown up their own base before looking at the data; but he was focused more on escaping than learning anything. So hopefully here, they'd be able to get something useful
 
Harbringer was a little relieved when he pulled away from her to assume a fighting stance. That meant that she had more room to maneuver and she knew where she stood. She was happier to find Sovereign there. "I missed ya, pal. Let's go get rid of some beastmen," she said with a little smile. When Exodus told them he was hoping to find something useful, she nodded. "Sure. We'll cover while you get it."
 
Exodus nodded and said, "Alright, let's move out." With his team reassembled, they made their way, dispatching any guards that they happened to come across. It didn't take them long to reach the top-most level; now the task was finding the entrance. "Alright, now where is it?" Exodus said to himself as he and his troop went down the corridors to look for the control room
 
Harbringer's eyes scanned each door and searched for the telltale signs of what they needed. She ran ahead a little and searched around until she found the right door. "Over here," she said, waving them over.
 
"Nicely done" Exodus said flatly as he and Sovereign approached Harbinger's position. Something was nagging Exodus, though he hadn't really taken note of it till now; the resistance was too light. Too light for a base this fortified. No, no, something was wrong, there wasn't enough activity. "Keep your guard up, you two. Something's not right here." Exodus commented as he pried open the access panel, then said to Harbinger "You have the most experience with electronics. Do your thing, we'll keep you covered."
 
Really, Harbringer didn't have much more experience than the two of her team mates--but she seemed to be better at it than they were anyway. She got the distinct feeling that they were trying to protect her more than she really needed to be. But they did have a point. She was the best of the three of them at figuring out what they needed to know when computers were involved.

The blonde moved into the control room and took out the few people stationed there--knocking them unconscious rather than killing immediately. Sovereign would get them if they tried escaping, and she might need one for some info later on. She worked her magic and pulled up logs of the different researchers, skimming them for pertinent information. She quickly found what she needed about the base, wrote it down and then proceeded to search for files on more bases and possibly schematics. She printed each of the things she wanted and grabbed them, heading out with an armful. She found an unconscious man with a clipboard and clipped the papers down, holding the board under her arm. "Okay, I've got it."
 
After the room was clear and Harbinger had gotten the data, Exodus nodded and said "Alright, let's have a look." Exodus took note of the location of several bases; besides this one, there were only two left after he finished comparing which ones they had destroyed to the ones remaining. "Only three left." Exodus muttered as he completed his analysis; he couldn't believe they were so close. He grinned widely; soon, these Divine Generals and their Spiral King would fail to make more of these accursed Supers.

After looking through more of the data, Exodus saw that what he heard was true; this was primarily a weapons research facility. And some serious firepower to boot, even if they were mostly in the prototype phase. He saw upgrades for rifles, laser weapons, autocannons and so much more. "This really is an army. They have enough armaments here to arm several hundred battalions." Exodus commented again.

However, it was also in this data that he noticed something; a log of of some kind. Looking at it further, he saw dossiers. Extremely detailed ones, with the title "Potential Human Candidates for Super Modification Experiment". He looked further through; lists of data on these humans, each with assigned names. It was here that Exodus put the pieces together; they were humans. They had been abducted, and transformed into what they were now. His broad hands crumpled the stack of papers as he threw it on the ground and his eyes turned golden as he growled "Those bastards.......Now the payback's going to be ten times worse!!!"

A few minutes after he said that, an alarm went off; Exodus froze in place as he heard a whir; it was the door, about to close. He could feel it in his gut. "MOVE!!" he said as he grabbed the papers and pushed them into Harbinger's hands as he forced his two comrades out the door; he had to leap back however, as the door slammed down with surprising speed just before he could make his way out. Now he was trapped. "Fuck" he growled; just then a suave voice came alive in the room. "Oh, dear, I'm sorry, did I spoil your fun? It would seem my research team failed to delete the data before you could get to it. Even though I can not delete the data from here, it matters little."

Sovereign saw the door close on Exodus; it was obvious to him that he was trapped. And footsteps could be heard; that meant company. "Harbinger! GET READY TO FIGHT!!!" Sovereign roared as he prepared for combat.

"Where are you, you sick son of a bitch?!" Exodus shot back "Oh, my. Quite the temper you have. Though I must applaud you on being able to sneak past my guards. Your little blonde friend, however, isn't as sneaky as she thinks. The cameras don't just scan in normal light, they cover the entire electromagnetic spectrum." Exodus paused before his eyes widened in realization, "That means....." which was met with a short, sniveling chuckle, "You catch on quick, dear boy. I knew you were here the whole time, I just wanted to see if you could make it this far. So I didn't raise the alarm, for that would ruin the whole experiment. You lead quite well, but it was all for not. What was the that human expression, oh it fits so well...Aha! Cut off the head of the snake, and the body dies. Yes, that's it." "You're wrong, they don't need me. They can operate well enough on their own, but if I get out of here, I'm gonna snap you like a twig!" "Now, I hope you see why I can't let you do that. I'm rather fond of my own body, and it would be a shame if someone of my caliber had that happen to them."

Exodus began banging on the door; this drew a chuckle from the researcher, "Oh, dear boy. That won't work; I had this base designed so that not even a fleet of Gunmen could destroy. That door is so strong not even Thymilph's Dai-Gunzan can punch through it. Oh and by the way, the room is airtight now. So you're just burning up oxygen by struggling. I'm afraid you'll die in here. Oh, well, I can probably extract your brain for my own research. And I'll do the same to your friends once my guards finish them off."
 
Harbringer had heard something, but she wasn't sure what it was until Exodus literally hurled her out of the room just before the door closed and locked from the inside. Eyes widening in shock, she ran for the door as she heard him pound on it. Something had gone horribly wrong. Heart beating wildly, she started looking around for something to ram it with, but Sovereign pointed out that they had company. "Damn it. Why can't it ever be easy?" She growled. With that, she took out some pistols and got ready for a serious challenge. Before she realized the panel for this door had been broken open by their trapped leader.

"Sovereign...Can you buy me some time? I wanna try and get this door open with the panel. If Exodus can't break through it...I don't know if we can either." She looked up to her hulking teammate and wondered if he could break down the door on his own...but one of them had to focus on fighting and he was much better at close quarters than she was. "I don't know what's going on, but he doesn't look happy to be in there..."
 
"I'll buy you as much time as you need! TIME TO KILL!" Sovereign roared as he charged at the nearest group of opponents; it wasn't long before bodies would begin to fly around Harbinger. Screams of pain and agony soon filled as Sovereign tore their attackers apart; in most cases this was more literal than figurative. Still, with his berserking attacks, no enemies got within thirty feet of Harbinger. For such a big guy, he moved quite well when his bloodlust went into overdrive.

Exodus continued trying to break down the door; unfortunately, his enhancements meant that his oxygen consumption was about fives that of a normal Beastman, and a bit over twice as much as a normal Super Beastman would use. The air quickly became thin; his movements soon suffered and became sluggish. He tried to use his strength to then focus on the window; however, it would prove nearly unbreakable as well. Perhaps if he was at full strength he could have done it, but not now. "Da...damn it." he thought to himself; he then started hitting buttons on the control panel in front of him, hoping they would do something. "Hey! Stop that!" the base researcher screamed at him; Exodus just continued to hit more buttons. He inadverently hit one that released two floors of prisoners; the reserrcher screamed again, "Stop! You'll release them all!" Exodus hit more buttons, releasing more and more prisoners with no idea of what he was doing.

Soon the researcher made a base-wide annoucement, "Guards, to all floors immediately! Secure all prisoners! If they resist, kill them!" This eventually made the ones attacking Sovereign and Harbinger leave; Sovereign sustained some injuries, but nothing he couldn't walk off. Exodus, however, was in bad shape; his strength soon left him and he collapsed to the floor. His breathing became quick and ragged; it wasn't long before asphxyation took hold and rendered him unconscious.
 
Harbringer was having a hard time concentrating with all the melee around her, not to mention the way he was beating at the door. Still, she managed to find the correct wires and figure out the circuitry. Okay, so many she was better with electronics than the others, but they could have figured it out in time. She blamed her eye sight. Though she was good at it, by the time Harbringer had figured out what to do, the banging on Exodus' side of the door had stopped. Not thinking this was a good thing, the sniper hurried to unlock the door and then rearranged the wiring to open it and keep it that way. Within moments the door opened with a swoosh and created a breeze as air was sucked in. Noting that her friend was on the floor, she hurried in. "Sovereign!" She'd need him to help her out of here.

"You okay?" She asked looking down at Exodus, giving him her hand.
 
Exodus was unresponsive; he wasn't dead from lack of air, at least not yet. Sovereign saw Exodus laying on the floor and smacked him across the face, causing Exodus' head to swing limply to one side. "Come on, you big wimp! Get up!" Sovereign barked at Exodus. This would get no response from Exodus.

"Oh, I'm afraid you're a might too late. Your friend has suffocated, and will soon die. A shame, he seemed like a most interesting specimen. But I'm sure you two will serve as viable replacements." the researcher's voice soon replied to Sovereign's roughness. "Who's there? Come out and fight, you coward!"

"Now I'm afraid I can't do that. As head researcher of this installation, I will not enter a conflict in which I'll surely lose. After all, me dying would be a terrible waste of my intellect and cunning. However, your blonde friend seems to have inadvertenly disabled the poison pumps I've installed. No matter, I have other ways of disabling my prey."

The voice then cut out, leaving the duo and their unconscious leader to contend with the current situation. "Well, Harbinger, what do we do now? I say we leave him, we have the info. We don't need Exodus anymore, we can crush the Beastmen by ourselves."
 
Harbringer winced as Sovereign slapped Exodus. She hoped a bruise wouldn't develop because that would suck. She turned Exodus over with little effort given her strength, and checked for breathing. Nope. He was out. She listened to his chest and there was a faint beating there. While the voice was still with them she pretended to be outraged or frightened. When it left and Sovereign started to talk about leaving him behind she looked up at the behemoth.

"He's still alive. Just barely but still alive. I owe him a great deal and I will not be leaving him behind. Besides, what's with you? I thought you liked a challenge?" She smirked and then looked down at Exodus. "I heard them talking about rescue breathing at the last research station...I think I can push enough air back into his lungs to get him up again..."

She grabbed him and hoisted him up, standing, "But first thing's first, we need out of this room ASAP. We need weapons...Sovereign, let's get our gunmen and smash up the place a little, yeah?"

With that she smirked and headed for the closest exit.
 
"Feh, do what you want. But if anything, he needs to wake up first. Dragging his sorry ass will only slow us down." Sovereign proceeded to hit Exodus again, trying to get him up and moving, not realizing his methods were counter-productive. "Come on, lazy ass! Get up! Don't tell a little lack of air does you in! Gah! So pathetic!" He then socked Exodus hard in the solar plexus, which served to do absolutely nothing. "ARGGH!" he roared before picking Exodus up and putting him over his shoulder. "He better thank me for this. Let's go!"

Sovereign carried Exodus all the way outside; their exit was much swifter than their entry, as the guards were too preoccupied trying to control the rioting test subjects. However, that didn't mean a few tried to stop Sovereign and Harbinger; needless to say, their efforts were futile and their lives were cut short. Once outside, he climbed into his machine and forced his bulky Gunman through a hole created via the chaos within. It was here he started attacking the Supers research teams, leaving no one alive.
 
Once they were outside, Harbringer took Exodus. She really wouldn't have been able to stop Sovereign if she tried, so she let him do what he needed, relieved when he took Exodus and the two of them fought their way out with little resistance. She took him to her gunman and got them up into the cockpit. Somehow his heart was still beating. She closed them in and lay him as flat as she could, tilting his chin back, pinching his nose, and parting his lips. Immediately, she started CPR. If she could just get him breathing again, she'd be happy.

"Wake up damn it," she muttered as she did her chest compressions. "Breathe!" And then she proceeded to fill his lungs and push out the air.
 
As Harbinger performed CPR, Exodus' mind stirred a bit, then fully activated. Just as Harbinger's lips left his, his eyes shot open and short, quick gasps left his mouth. "Wha...Wher....How?" Exodus said in quick succession, clearly still slightly disoriented; he looked to see Harbinger staring at him. In an instant Exodus pieced it together; he'd passed out unconscious and Harbinger saved him. He panted slightly before calming down and saying, "Thanks. You really saved my ass there." He then looked around; he wasn't in his Gunman. Was it Harbinger's.

"Where's Sovereign?" Exodus asked, a bit concerned for his comrade's safety, despite the tidal wave of evidence that he could hold his own. He then registered pain in his face and abdomen; that was odd. "Did I hit anything when I passed out? My face and stomach feel really fucking sore."
 
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