"The third party..." Night Gale muttered while holding her chin. "I thought they were out of the picture after their Diver was captured."
"Well, we were clearly wrong..." Said White Arrow.
Following the first one, only the leaders of each hero team attended the subsequent meetings. During one of those, it was reported that Blizzard Force had captured Greg Hernández, an Enhanced Individual and notorious Diver who works as a freelance mercenary.
Someone like that wouldn’t be snooping around Blue Ember’s network for no reason, which is why the agreed-on conclusion was that he was working with a third party that’s planning something involving the hotel.
Though there was little evidence that it was related to Operation Wolf Slayer, the police delegated some of their efforts to investigating this third party. Unfortunately, very little came out of it. The Diver managed to corrupt all the data stored in his equipment, and no matter how much they dug, they were unable to trace down his clients or anyone who might be working with him.
It was to be expected. Shark had evaded the authorities for years, always getting away with his crimes. Anyone working with him wouldn’t be easy to find, especially after his capture, which served as a warning signal to the others.
The coalition had to proceed with the operation under the assumption that they had dealt a big enough blow to this mysterious enemy by taking out their main Diver. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a mistake. Now, not only do they have to deal with the Stahlwölfe and Romano forces, but they also have to pay attention to this third enemy.
"This is going to be a little difficult..." White Arrow equipped some large Sunglasses and was fiddling with a smartphone at the same time, though he wasn’t looking at its screen. "The gates are too thick for us to break. We need to find a different path."
"Can’t we just ask for something from the ark?" Sunray asked. "They should have something that can cut through these gates, right?"
"These are nuclear-proof shields." He pointed at the dark gray panels behind him. "It would take days to get through them."
"Break the floor?" Sunray looked down.
"It’s a high-class hotel made to withstand the worst of natural disasters." Said Werewolf. "I doubt we can just break the floors."
"There should be a soft spot somewhere..." White Arrow muttered, then clicked his tongue. "This is such a pain..."
As the silence lingered, Night Gale finally spoke.
"I doubt the hotel doesn’t have any contingencies for such situations."
Leaving the building’s security to a computer that can be infiltrated so easily was a recipe for disaster, especially with most of the guests being from the upper class. One has to be an exceptional idiot not to make a fail-safe.
"There are manual controls." Said White Arrow. "But those are locked in special rooms only the floor supervisors could enter."
"Then let’s go find them!" Sunray pumped her fists.
"I doubt it will be that-"
No sooner had Werewolf said that than they heard the sound of footsteps from the end of the corridor. A group of large men in blue uniforms appeared from around the corner just then, and before the heroes could examine them, each one produced a rifle and aimed.
White Arrow lunged forward as the others scattered left and right. A storm of bullets blew through the corridor, but he remained calm, tilting his body so only the areas covered by his cloak were in the bullet’s trajectory. Though several shots landed, they failed to penetrate the white fabric, bouncing off it and landing on the floor without dealing any damage.
Waiting for the right moment, he reached out with both arms, his pals pressed together. As a pure white radiance glowed from between them, he quickly drew back his right hand, using its index and middle finger to carve an arrow from the light.
Though he had no bow, the arrow took flight the moment the white clad hero let go of it, shooting toward the hotel staff at the end of the hallway. His aim appeared to have been a little off as the arrow hit nothing but the wall, but an instant later, the bright flash illuminated the corridors, followed by a violent boom.
The mob of hotel staff was blasted everywhere, smashing into the walls and floor, their backs were covered in white flame. Some were knocked out instantly, but others could still move, but not for long.
Jumping out from behind the corner, Night Gale summoned a small cyclone and pushed herself forward, landing a few steps before White Arrow. The moment her feet touched the floor, she took a deep breath and pushed with her arms.
An invisible wall moved forward, slamming straight into the still-conscious hotel staff, blasting them to the wall and putting out the white flames at the same time. They remained pressed against it for a few seconds as if held by a glass screen then fell when Night Gale finally released her powers.
"Don’t forget," She said, straightening her posture. "We’re in enemy territory right now." Her eyes shifted to White Arrow. "Do we know where the floor supervisor is?"
"We sure do." He replied. "There is a problem, though..."
"The manual controls only work for their respective floor. To reach the thirty-eighth floor, we would have to find seventeen people and force them tp cooperate. One by one."
"You’re kidding, right?" Werewolf asked.
"Does it sound like I am?"
"Okay, okay! It’s going to be a hassle, that much is clear." Night Gale clapped her hands, creating another gust of wind. "Still, we have to make as much progress as we can until Raven Heart gets the Systems back under our control." Placing her clenched hands on her hips, she raised her head and gave the final order. "We will move forward no matter how difficult it is! We have a mission, and we will complete it no matter what!"
As her words echoes in the silent corridor, the other three quickly discarded the unpleasant thoughts pushed them down and straightened themselves.
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