We Never Die, If Only...

[Dirtbear]

Bruce thought of the assignment. They were here for the intel and they had to leave. Nothing else. No heroics. No risking the team. He nodded to Blake, "Let's head to the database and get the intel and head out of here." Bruce sat with his back to her and looked towards the hallway. Soren crept out of the darkness of the stairway leading down to the hallway. He gave the all-clear sign and walked over to them. "This floor seems clear. Took out two more guards down the hallway." Soren pointed at the hallway. Bruce shrugged and nodded to Blake. "She found a database. Hopefully we find no resistance down there."

 

[Fluffy-Kat]

Blake nodded in acknowledgement,"Working on it..." She selected the ground floor as their destination, but a bright red "ACCESS DENIED" appeared,"Damn....This guy doesnt have the authorization to go down there...." She spoke mostly to herself. She peeked up at Soren as he and Bruce spoke. She looked back down at the access pad,"Here we go..." She sunk to her knees and used her pliers to open up the back panel of the pad, there were several wires, the main ones like for power and the control of the buttons, and where it hooks up to, but she didnt need any of those, she was looking for the controls specifically. The main wires, each has a different color. The control wires were all black. However, they were conveniently labeled,"How stupid...can you...be...." She grunted inbetween while pulling some of them out. She put the pliers in her mouth,"Who labels these?! Just makes my job easier...." She spoke to her self. She re-connected some wires and a rumble came from the elevator shaft. She grinned, with the tool still between her teeth,"Here comes our ride," she looked at Bruce and Soren. The elevator hit their floor, and the doors spread open. She closed the panel and got back up, dusting herself off,"Lets hope no one calls the elevator..." She put a hand on her hip and leaned.

 

[Dirtbear]

"Usually, they label the wires for troubleshooting means, Blake. But normally on military installations, they're coded." Bruce explained to her from behind. His eyes went from the access pad to the elevator signals. Blake had gotten them their ride down.


"One sec." Bruce mentioned when the doors opened. He pulled a piece of glass out of his pocket and angles it inside, towards the ceiling. Satisfied, he grunted. "Alright, head inside. Cling to the sides until a few seconds after the doors open. Don't want any surprises." Bruce whispered to the team.


He slid inside and Soren followed behind him. Bruce braced against the right side, while Soren was on the left of the door. Soren glanced to the ceiling and wondered about getting out and crawling into the ventilation system. He kept that option in the back of his mind and remained steady on the elevator wall.

 

[Fluffy-Kat]

Blake mouthed and mocked Bruce behind his back, forcing her to smile to herself a little. The doors were open, and while Bruce was checking if the coast was clear, she was busy putting back her tools in the correct way she had them in her pockets. She looked down at her hands,"What?" She counted the number of tools she held. There was one missing. Her eyebrow lifted as she tried figuring out which one it was,"If these are the ones in my hands...." She continued to mumble to herself while she searched.


"Alright head inside..." Bruce commanded.


Blake kept looking,"Where is my..." her eyes quickly glanced up, seeing that Bruce and Soren were already inside,"Oh!" With out another moment she hurried inside aswell, struggling to stuff everything back to its right pockets. As she was told, she took the side Soren was on and reached across him to press the button that signaled the groundfloor. The doors started to close, and at the angle she was in, she could see the missing pliers there on the floor. She lunged forward in attempt to make it through the door,"No--! Wait--!" The doors had shut.


"Damn it...."

 

[Dirtbear]

A smirk broke Bruce's stony features and he nodded to Blake. "Let's hope we don't need it or you just killed us all." Bruce joked.


The elevator shaft went down and the slits for the lighting passed at every floor. The elevator dropped for a long time, Bruce wasn't counting the floors. But if he had, he'd have guessed it was farther than 20 floors below. However, that was the thing, the panel only had 4 buttons. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and a triangle with a D in the center. They had chosen the triangle with the assumption of it being the database. He didn't expect it to go this far down.


The elevator slowed and Bruce noticed the lighting was different down here. The lights were dimmed to a low orange instead of its light fluorescence of blue. The doors opened and he pressed against the wall adjacent to the door, looking at the others mirroring him. The hallway was dark and the orange lights were strobing slowly. There were no alarms... Bruce looked out quickly with a peek and saw darkness where the strobes didn't pass. Bruce looked at the team and made a quiet sign with his finger and motioned them to stay low and out of sight.


Bruce led the way out of the double panel elevators into a narrow hallway. The place was quiet and Bruce was thinking of every scenario he could. Maybe they triggered a silent alarm and there were hostiles preparing to ambush the team. Or the team was already seen and the whole facility was under alert. But the most far-fetched scenario was brought to light when he rounded the corner, the compound was already infiltrated. Bruce saw blood smeared along the walls and holes where bullets gouged the polycrete surface. Bruce put his fingers in the holes and they felt warm, he judged the team was late to the firefight but not by much, quarter to half an hour maybe.


He looked back at the team, Soren was in front of Blake and was already taking into the surroundings. He lifted shells off the floor and pointed at them, "5x23mm M443 Caseless Full Metal Jacket/.197 caliber rounds. M7 Submachine guns and M90 CQC Systems from the looks at these casings and pellets." Soren whispered to Bruce.


Bruce looked at the shells and came up with the conclusion, someone else heard about the contraband. 'Some intel...' Bruce nodded and looked down the hallway. He couldn't see any bodies but saw the drag marks leading down the hallway. He looked back at Soren and Blake.


"Looks like we won't be alone after all... Remember, recon. We aren't an assault team. Look with your eyes, listen with your ears, and trust your gut. Let's find out what happened here." Bruce said in hushed voice to the team, before walking down the shadowed hall.