Entering the lab

The entire group was waiting in the elevator. No one had been left behind, and no one had noticed them getting there. Or at least, there were no signs that the humans had noticed them. Whether they had been seen or not was still a toss-up. They would only come to know once the elevator doors opened.

Flint and the other crafters were all placing the final lines on the cameras to activate their invisibility effect. Thankfully, the ride was long, allowing them ample time to set everything up.

Thorgrim, the controller from the Stormcrest Company, walked in front of the group. "We don't know what's waiting for us on the other side of the door, so let's form a defensive position."

Everyone agreed with the idea and quickly arranged themselves into a simple formation. There was a lot of noise and movement for a moment, but when it stopped, all members of the group noticed the faint sound of elevator music playing in the background.

"Really? Even in a secret lab, they have elevator music?" Selene, an elf also from the Stormcrest Company, groaned.

"Oh, my bad. Do you want me to stop?" Vash asked. He was using his maracas to play a soothing song to help calm everyone down.

"If you're going to play something, can you at least go for something lo-fi? Something that doesn't echo as much," Marina asked.

"Sure," Vash said as he shifted his grip, and the music changed. No longer classical, now it was bossa nova. The smooth rhythm helped ease the tension a little and allowed the group to use the ride as a moment to properly rest before what they were about to face.

About halfway down, they finished preparing all the cameras, and Hera's snakes were already invisible and positioned around them. The cameras accompanying the group had an additional spell connected to them: one that allowed whoever carried them to walk on walls. Unfortunately, this only worked if the carrier weighed less than 2 kilograms. It wasn't useful for humans, but Hera's snakes were under that weight. To ensure people knew where the snakes were when needed, Hera gave them an order to cover their faces with mist once called upon.

A few minutes passed as the group cast their buffs and prepared spells or skills that could be activated ahead of time. As the elevator slowed, the team collectively pulled their hoods up, extending the invisibility effect of their cloaks for as long as possible.

The elevator doors finally opened with a ding, revealing an empty hallway. Hera's snakes quickly slithered out. Since they were invisible, they could also act as an advanced scouting party for this first critical moment. It was too risky to keep them scouting all the time, but now, at least, it was the best option.

There wasn't even time for the snakes to signal Hera before a voice called out from the side. "Marcus? Is that you? I told you that tuna sandwich wasn't smelling right, man."

A human appeared, wearing New Dawn-branded armor with a communicator on his shoulder. He stepped in front of the elevator doors and frowned. He was reaching for the radio on his shoulder when something struck his face, and a heavy weight slammed into his chest, caving it inward. Two figures materialized. The first was Thorgrim, holding his tower shield over the human's torso, and the second was Koros, the beastman.

If a cloaked person attacked anything, the invisibility effect would temporarily vanish, which was what happened between the two of them. Thorgrim motioned to the side, toward where the human had come from.

The group quickly exited the elevator as muffled combat sounds echoed from the nearby guard room. The Stormcrest Company was clearing out this first area just beyond the elevator.

"All clear," Selene whispered.

"Let's not waste time, then," Thorgrim said, gesturing for the rest of the team to follow. Vyra, Selene, and Ziltan stayed behind to guard their escape route and intercept any communications from the guardroom. If the humans managed to take control of the elevator, they could trap everyone inside. This was why one of the operation's strongest members had to remain behind. Ziltan wasn't thrilled about it, but he understood the necessity of his role.

The group moved quickly, passing through a zigzagging corridor created to navigate around a particularly tough root. They soon reached the point where Hera was meant to split off. According to the floor plans Blade had retrieved, there should have been a large vent against this wall. The vent would have led to the sister facility a couple hundred meters to the right. Instead, they found a hallway. A fully constructed and reinforced corridor leading to another section of the facility.

"Shit… what now? Should I go alone, or do we split off and have another team follow me?" Hera asked, turning to the group.

Thorgrim looked around. "I don't know. Blade, you're the strongest person here. It's up to you."

"Why am I the one in charge?" Blade asked, frowning. 

"Because you're the only one here with any semblance of experience dealing with these people. You found the blueprint, and you're the only one who's entered one of their larger facilities. No one else has a better idea of what's waiting on the other side," the dwarf explained.

Blade hesitated for a moment before turning to Hera. "Can you tell your snakes to do something specific? Like, could you order one of them to pull my arm or something?"

"I can. It might take a little effort. The farther away they are, the harder it is to control individual snakes," Hera explained.

"In that case, we stick to the plan. If you find something big, let us know through the snakes. We just need to figure out a signal."

"How about this?" Hera commanded one of her snakes to cover itself in blue mist and form a large circle. "This one means I found something. And this one," she had the snake stand upright and flash lights through its mouth, "means shit hit the fan, and I need help now."

"That works," Blade nodded.

"Got it. And if you need something, grab a snake and tell it to call me. Once I get the chance, I can look through their eyes and share their senses," Hera added.

"How the hell can you do all that?" Blade asked, frowning.

Hera blinked. "Are you seriously asking me that now?"

"You're right. Never mind. Later. Let's move!" Blade turned around and started heading down the corridor.

Hera took a deep breath as she stepped deeper into the corridor. Her court manifested beside her, all of them in their weapon forms, floating silently at her side. Since she was alone, it was better to focus on survival rather than pure stealth. There was a good chance cameras were scattered throughout the area, but this corridor was new, and they had no way to know for sure. Still, Hera felt more at ease knowing one of her snakes was slithering along the ceiling corner, keeping watch.

'Keep an eye out, everyone. The last thing we need is to get trapped in here,' the Empress instructed through their mental link.

'Will do. If we see anything suspicious, you'll be the first to know,' Nimbus replied.

'This feels... different,' Vulcan added, his tone uneasy as he floated along the hallway. Unlike the other labs and facilities they'd infiltrated, there was no oppressive atmosphere here—no red-glowing pipes or strange mechanical noises echoing through the corridors. This space felt unsettlingly ordinary, almost sterile. The walls were pristine white and charcoal gray, minimalist in design. Even the doors had a sleek appearance, like something from an upscale office building.

Back near the elevator, Hera had noticed the odd design of the security door they had passed. Instead of a standard metallic door, it was made of four segmented panels that slid inward from the corners, meeting at the center. The middle of the door was marked with the emblem of the New Dawn: a rising sun peeking over the edge of a dark horizon. That same symbol was repeated on the walls of the hallway at regular intervals, making it clear who owned this place. The New Dawn wasn't hiding their involvement here anymore.

Hera walked cautiously down the corridor until she came to another door, this one to her left. It wasn't blocking the hallway, but seemed to lead to a separate room. She approached it slowly, resting her hand on the nearby panel. Since they had no idea what kind of security measures were in place, her team had prepared a small "master key" of sorts—a ring-like device that could bypass basic locks. It was far from infallible; the key could only open doors that didn't require specific keycards or advanced biometrics. If she encountered anything more complex, the ring would be useless.

Still, she gave it a try, expecting nothing. To her surprise, the door clicked open with a soft hiss, revealing what looked like a waiting room.

The room was surreal in its normalcy. A coffee table sat in the center, surrounded by an arrangement of plush, modern-looking couches. In one corner, there was a coffee machine next to a water cooler. A projector was mounted on the ceiling, with a screen rolled up neatly on one wall. The entire space felt strangely comfortable. Like a breakroom for employees or a lounge for potential clients. 

'Are they seriously having meetings here?' Hera frowned as she scanned the room.

'Do you think this is an investor room?' Viper suggested, hovering near the coffee machine. 'You know, where they bring in potential buyers for... whatever this is?'

'Are you saying the New Dawn isn't just using the Soldiers of Strength for the war?' Livy asked, her voice tinged with concern. 'You think they're planning to sell them?' 

'Why not?' Viper replied. 'If they've perfected a formula for creating soldiers like that, they'd make a killing selling them. And it's not like they care if their clients are "good people" or not.'

Hera sighed, the weight of the thought pressing down on her. 'I really hope that's not the case. Things are already bad enough with just one faction using them. Imagine if anyone with enough money could have their own private army of soldiers of strength.'

'Is there anything here that can give us more answers about their plans?' Forge asked, floating closer to one of the couches.

'What's this?' Eira spoke up from behind one of the couches. She had spotted a small side table with a few pamphlets laid neatly on top. Picking one up, she flipped through it and held it up for the others to see.

The cover of the pamphlet read, "Your Own Private Army: Unstoppable. Unbeatable. Unquestioning." The cover image depicted a group of Soldiers of Strength in full armor, standing in an intimidating formation like something out of a dystopian propaganda poster. Hera grabbed the pamphlet and opened it, only to find that the inside pages were blank, clearly a mock-up that wasn't fully completed yet.

'They have to see how bad this looks, right?' Livy asked incredulously.

'Yeah, this is textbook "I'm the villain" material,' Twiggy chimed in.

Hera shook her head, exasperated. 'I don't know. This looks awful to us, but I bet the kind of people who'd buy something like this would eat it up. What I'm finding strange, though, is their color.' She frowned, staring at the image of the soldiers.

The Soldiers of Strength on the pamphlet had skin that was a dull, pale red, not the deep crimson shade she'd seen on the ones she'd fought before. It could mean one of two things: either this was a weaker, more diluted version of the soldiers, or the New Dawn had made improvements to the process. Both options sounded like they meant something bad. On one side, they might be able to make even more of those soldiers using the resources they still had. On the other, a better version would be tougher to deal with. 

'Let's keep moving,' the Empress said, after making sure the snake got a good look at the pamphlet. This second location might not have prisoners or active experiments, but it could hold valuable information about the New Dawn's plans. Even if it wasn't their primary objective, she couldn't pass up the opportunity to figure out what they were doing.