Nero prided himself for being extremely observant. He immediately guessed that the blonde soldier following Arter was actually Vanessa, and very often he was able to pick up on hidden cues that people tried to hide. His strong sense of awareness for his surroundings was something that had been nurtured in him since he was a young child.
But even he did not notice that up on the roof, in the corner of the room, blended in with the shadow of a pillar was a dark berserker. It was the very one that had ambushed Nero and his group earlier on, but then escaped.
Something that the army had picked up on very early on was that compared to their simple minded counterparts, the dark berserkers were much cleverer. But even they underestimated the extent of their intelligence, for the dark berserkers had an innate inhibition against showing their two most secretive abilities.
It was as if that inhibition had been programmed into the very cores of their being, forcing them to follow it even in this corrupted state.
Although all its other qualities had been studied and noted down by the army, the fact that they could hide themselves and a few others from detection abilities was a secret that had managed to be kept. More importantly, their ability to perfectly blend into shadows, hiding in plain sight, was another ability that was never revealed, since the dark berserkers never used it for assassination.
They only used it to hide in the shadows and study their enemies. The dark berserker paid no heed to their words - it could not understand them to begin with - but it studied their body language. It observed, searching for the identity of the pack leader, and it memorised all the most fearsome warriors.
It showed not a speck of emotion as it watched its kind be cut down, but it did quickly notice how one of the warriors presented a unique threat to its kind.
Once the fight was concluded, the dark berserker waited patiently for an opportunity, then slipped out of the hall unnoticed. Even with Nero repeatedly using Aether Pulse, the dark berserker remained hidden.
With great haste the creature ran through the halls, navigating its way as if it knew the place like the back of its hand, and eventually began to descend some stairs. It eventually reached a level that was so foggy that it would not even be able to see its hand in front of its face, yet the creature ran as if it could see clearly.
It began to pass by others of its kind, also running through the fog, going in various directions, but it ignored them until it reached its destination.
There, it kneeled on the ground and looked downwards. A pink, slimy tentacle emerged from the fog and nestled itself on the dark berserker's head, and the creature began to tremble as if it was in great pain, but it dared not get up.
Eventually, the tentacle retreated, and something colossal seemed to arrive in front of it, its twisted outline faintly visible even in the dense fog.
*****
For a moment everyone in the room was silent, absorbing Remi's words. The task in front of them seemed to become even more difficult. Dread and despair began to creep into their hearts the more they thought about it.
But suddenly a clear, commanding voice cut through the silence.
"Try to reach out to the command tent and communicate this information with them," said Nero. "After that I suggest we escort the wounded back to the stairs so that they can return upstairs. After that, Shirly can guide us to where we can get the access rights, and we can clearly mark the way for subsequent soldiers to easily find us.
Even if very few of us get access rights, with enough numbers, we'll eventually gather enough people. The rest who don't get access can escort us to the high security zone and hold the position while those with access try to shut down the security node.
"Keep in mind that if we can't get in due to high security, then the berserkers probably can't get in either. We're in the final stretch, let's get to it. Heal and treat the wounded till they can either walk or be carried. We'll head out as soon as we're ready."
Nero was not exactly in a position to give orders to the other teams, but his suggestion seemed reasonable. Moreover, as soon as this information was reported to the command centre, they would probably support his decision.
The silence of the room finally ended as everyone quickly got to work, and the building despair dissipated mostly because everyone was too busy to think about it.
Aloe and Harold - the other Harold - walked up to the machines and began doing something with them, asking Remi countless questions as they did. It seemed their curiosity won out over their fear, at least for now.
story-source-MVLeMpYr
"Do you mind if I accompany you?" asked the former Herald as he walked up to Nero. "My team probably won't be going anywhere, anytime soon."
"You're most welcome," Nero responded. "Someone with your strength is bound to gain access. I'm Nero, by the way."
"My name is Herbert."
After a short respite where everyone got to rest and the wounded were treated as much as they could, the teams began to make their way back. After a brief discussion with Herbert, Nero learned that his team and many others had been roaming the basement for hours, blindly searching for the security node.
Considering the massive size of the research facility, it really was the worst way to go about things, but they had no other alternative.
The presence of Shirly, however, drastically changed things. It was likely that no one thought of her before, but now that the usefulness of her ability had been demonstrated, she became very important to the whole mission.
In fact, when they conveyed the latest information to the command centre, they changed orders to a small degree. They had to protect her at all times, and if it seemed like she was in danger, they should retreat and wait for backup, all of which was being sent their way.
Every Neophyte in the building was being recalled and sent their way. On their way back to the stairs, in fact, they encountered two more teams who had been ordered to join them.
After reaching the stairs and handing all the wounded over to the soldiers waiting on the ground floor, everyone turned towards Shirly. She cleared her throat, and after a moment to get ready, began to lead the way.
Fortunately for them, the place to gain access rights was also in the first level basement. Along the way, their group encountered multiple Mutts and berserkers, but with the size of their group, dealing with them was not a problem at all.
In fact, the problem they faced was another. One by one, more and more teams which had been directed to find them joined up. While the boost in numbers was welcome, it brought along its own problems.
More than once a new team suddenly came and tried to declare itself leader, using their formidable individual strength or background to try to force their way. Considering the size of the group, a clear leader would definitely help guide the situation.
Unfortunately for them, since Shirly was the one guiding everyone, her silver-haired captain, Maximilian, naturally fell into the role of leader. Unable to scare or deter him, they usually gave up.
Until, that is, one particular group tried to threaten Shirly.
"Listen up little girl," said the boy who was ever so slightly shorter than Shirly, "I'm saying this for your own good. Toe the line and fall into place. Don't think that just because you have a little bit of attention from the higher ups that you're all that. After this mission is over, no one will even remember your name. Unless you piss me off. Then I'll remember your name."
Nero looked at the shorty with an amused expression. It took a special kind of person to threaten someone leading nearly fifty soldiers. While the continuous delays were irritating, starting a fight with each group that annoyed him would waste even more time and energy, which is why he usually just waited for things to simmer down.
Maximilian, however, didn't like his team member being threatened.
"But no matter what you do, no one is going to remember your name," he said, walking past Shirly and up to the guy. "Stop wasting time, short stuff, or I'll report you for trying to sabotage this mission."
"Why you-" the guy began to say as his face scrunched in anger. But he made the mistake of grabbing Maximillian's armour, which is what the latter had been hoping for actually.
The silver-headed captain's already shiny head began to shine even more, to the point where Nero had to block his eyes. There was a thud sound, and when he looked back the short guy was lying on the ground, and so was his entire team.
Nero paused. That… was too quick.