As Seven had promised, the moment they reached the small town in the hills where the warehouse was located, he undid the saddle, took off the bridle and released the black horse.
The horse seemed to not understand for a moment, but upon feeling the human shackles relieved from its body, it fell to instinct and ran off into the darkness of the wild plains. Melrod did the same, but his horse seemed rather lacking in intelligence and simply stayed put. Which was odd, especially being that the horse was freshly captured, and should still hold wild instincts not shown in its current behavior.
"Well get on." Melrod slapped the horse's rear with the bridle straps, but the horse merely meandered into the grass just outside the gates and began grazing. Due to the slowly rising dawn, fog had settled in. It was especially thicker around the horse, encompassing it. The grass around the horse bent away as it stepped into the small pasture to graze upon the reluctant blades.
"Maybe that black horse really was a Celestial Horse Beast." Seven looked at the duller animal with pity. The dull animal looked briefly up at Seven, its eyes creepily hollow and devoid of life, Seven shook his head, the vibe from the horse throwing him off briefly.
"Well, I have a feeling I'm gonna be seeing this horse more." Melrod shrugged, unperturbed by the horse and its unusual behavior. The two moved on through the small town and reached the same building they had observed the warehouse from earlier that night.
Though, they didn't need the vantage point to be able to tell that the warehouse was now even more secured than before. Around the warehouse were small flying objects that scanned their surroundings. Several patrols were outside the perimeter and there was a huge flying carrier hovering above the warehouse. The logo of Cyber-Tech was plastered all over everything.
There was the faint chatter, the barking of orders, and crates being moved onto halo-carts to be transported. The air was faint with a metallic lingering of detonated gunpowder still lingered around the perimeter of the warehouse.
"Looks like Astro-Tech is pissed off enough to have their private militia all over the place here." Melrod dragged Seven into an alley as one of the flying objects flew by while scanning.
"Aren't they both Tech companies?" Seven asked in a hushed voice.
"No. Astro-Tech is a research company that develops technology. Cyber-Tech is a subsidiary company that utilizes the created Cybernetic Technology as a means of personal force. I heard all of this from mom a long time ago. She called them Cybernetic Technicians. Thus, Cyber-Tech." Melrod explained in detail.
"Great, so how the hell do we get in there now?" Seven pondered. Melrod smiled and slipped his bag off his back.
"Let's wait for a patrol, and point this bad girl at 'em?" Melrod opened the bag to reveal the portable sun weapon from earlier.
"If it works." Seven muttered. His skepticism grew as his irritation did.
"It doesn't have to work; it just has to look like it does." Melrod flipped a switch and the weapon whirred to life and lit up. Seven gave a sly grin at his friend's ingenuity.
Sure enough, as soon as a patrol came through, and Melrod pointed the weapon at them, the soldiers quickly gave up. Melrod led them into an alley and Seven stripped them of their uniforms before giving both a shot of the tranquilizer dart gun. The two quickly began dressing themselves in the uniform, while simultaneously putting their own clothes on the now unconscious soldiers.
If left naked and discovered, it'd be suspicious, but if they were dressed in their clothes, they'd just look like locals, giving the two a little extra time. The uniforms the two boys now wore were all black with red accents. The helmets were full face and everything was armored. As soon as Seven placed the helmet on his head, everything went dark.
"Uh?" Seven uttered before everything lit up in lights like a screen while words and numbers began to list off on the side. In the bottom right corner, there was a loading message for something called; 'MP'.
"Dude, these things are fuckin awesome!" Melrod appeared in front of Seven, taking his mind off the messages.
"I mean, they are high tech. I've never seen anything like it." Seven agreed as he weighed the weapon in his hands with professional scrutiny. It was a rifle, but entirely unlike a pipe rife. The barrel was stronger, and the housing was made from a lighter alloy. A holographic screen appeared on the side of the chamber with the number '25' on it.
"These guns look kinda weird." Melrod looked at his, disapproving of the boxier designs.
"I wonder what they're called." As soon as Seven uttered the statement, his helmet beeped and a woman's voice began speaking.
"The ATR40, or Advanced Tech Rifle Model 40, is the main weapon used by Cybernetically Enhanced Soldiers, or CES, often referred to, by lower city inhabitants, as Cyber-Tech soldiers. The ATR40 was developed by the Astronomic Technical Institution, ATI, or Astro-Tech, for military use, but was discarded for its limited range and small magazine." Seven listened intently but had been startled in the beginning.
"So, this is an ATR-forty." Seven looked over the rifle with renewed interest. The voice from the helmet still intrigued, but was less of a priority.
"It's a what? You know what, never mind, let's get moving." Melrod dismissed the statement and started moving towards the front gate. Seven followed after and shortly reached the gate into the warehouse property. It loomed ahead of them, beckoning to them, yet also threatening them with the hostility of its occupants.
The soldiers standing guard, didn't even twitch in the direction of the two boys as they walked easily through the gateway. The two boys exchanged a brief glance and made a beeline for the warehouse itself.
The warehouse was closed off, and several soldiers stood guard all around at every possible entrance. The two unhesitatingly headed for the front side entrance. The two soldiers standing guard stepped to the side and one opened the door while the two entered.
Seven began to wonder why everything was smoothly moving along. The door slammed shut, echoing in the large warehouse. Seven immediately entered a battle-ready stance and mindset. Melrod looked at Seven and he too began to prepare himself. For the next few minutes, the two waited for any movement, or noise, but nothing happened. The eerie quiet and full warehouse made everything more intense for the boys.
"Alright, start searching for any clues as to where the target may be." Seven directed as he began cautiously navigating the rather full warehouse. Melrod went left while Seven went right, both moving forward on parallel paths.
Seven swept each open area as he moved forward, yet nothing presented itself. The further he moved, the more cautious he became. As he came to what he gauged was roughly the middle, he came across an open case with a strange set of red tinted throwing knives and a matching pair of red tinted battle knives, all on a belt inside.
"Ooo, yoink." Seven set the rifle down and took the belt with the blades and equipped it to the suit. Seven picked the rifle back up and continued forward until he heard a voice shouting hysterically. Seven rushed quietly forward in the direction of the voice, reaching a long built-in building lining the remainder of the right side of the warehouse.
"FUUCK!" A voice screamed from inside. Seven located a door and peeked inside. Inside was the thin, brown haired nervous woman from the photograph.
"I'm doomed! They're sending the C.E.B.A!" The woman seemed to be on some communication device.
"I told you not to lose the research materials." A man's voice replied from the device. Seven felt a sudden lightheadedness take an unexpected appearance and he slightly teetered.
"Please, please save me! You said you loved me, that you couldn't trust anyone else with this task!" The woman pleaded with the man. Seven cringed at the scene.
"Love? You? Hahaha! How naive! You stupid woman, can't you understand I sent you down there because you're expendable to me? Bah, enough, I'm bored of this." The man laughed and degraded the woman before hanging up. The woman looked shattered as tears streamed down her face, her eyes dull and devoid of light.
Seven chose to enter at that moment, ignoring the sudden spell that had taken over him. The woman turned her eyes to Seven, for a moment it was silent, then she stood up and approached Seven. Seven began reaching for a battle knife, but the woman suddenly hugged Seven. This action threw him off guard and balance as he stumbled backwards with a grunt.
Her eyes flickered to the exit behind Seven, and to the belt with the knives as well as where Seven's hand hovered upon one. She subtly had taken inventory of her immediate surroundings before looking into Sevens helmet with tears in her eyes. The interaction went unnoticed by Seven as his lightheadedness persisted.
"Please save me!" The woman cried. Seven froze, then withdrew his hand subtly from where the knife was. He may be able to take advantage of the situation, but how?
"Sounds like you've had a rough night, Ma'am?" Seven wasn't sure what he was supposed to call the woman.
"Rough? The night the materials were delivered, they got stolen! Then? HAH! Then, I find out that a C.E.B.A is on their way from HQ, to interrogate and dispose of me. Finally, the man whom I thought loved me, the man who finally began treating me like a proper human… this… this was all planned." The woman started a rant, then trailed off at the end, her brain putting pieces together methodically and irrationally in her panic.
"Sounds like it was all that man's idea?" Seven decided to play along and mislead the woman, a perfect opportunity to grasp. She seemed to take the misinformation greedily as her face lit up in a storm of rage.
"You're right! I need to figure out how to get out of here! But blast it all! CES has me trapped like a common rat in here…" The woman began pacing the room and Seven got a bright idea.
"Well, Miss…" Seven looked at her name tag. "Skyra. Luck is on your side tonight. I'm here to rescue you from your fate." Seven lied. The woman's head snapped up, hope filling her dull green eyes.
"Are you being serious? By whom were you hired?" She asked incredulously.
"Uh… no one you know or need to know." Seven answered briskly. Skyra's face turned to one of confusion for a moment while she thought about the response, then she began to look at Seven with a sly smirk.
"Oh?" Skyra lifted her leg and leaned closer to Seven while dragging her finger seductively across the bottom right side of Seven's helmet, while simultaneously placing Seven's left hand on her uplifted leg that she had positioned against his left side. Now, it was Seven's turn to be confused by the response.
"Uh-" "Shh. You don't have to say anything else." Skyra cut Seven off and began reaching around him, grabbing the knife from his belt and holding it under his helmet in a surprisingly quick motion, betraying her timid and weak appearance.
"Answer me. Who are you? Are you the thief who ruined my life? Or were you hired by the thief?" Skyra had a rather sudden and abrasive change in her demeanor.
"That's not your concern. You said it yourself, you're expendable, I'm offering you a way out, to live." Seven replied hurriedly.
"How can I trust you, I don't even know you." Skyra logically responded. Seven could tell she was on edge, he needed a way to subdue her, fast. That's when he thought back to the conversation he'd overheard.
"Love." Seven quickly blurted. Skyra froze for a moment.
"What?" Her blank expression barely hid the confused look in her eyes.
"It's love. It was love at first sight. How can it not be? With such an intelligent, quick witted, stunning model of a woman like yourself?" Seven gently removed the knife from Skyra's now loosened grip.
"Y-you- wha-? I- who? Uh?" Skyra's thoughts jumbled into incoherent stutters. But, her guard was dropping, and Seven took that as an opportunity to completely disarm her.
"Come with me, and I'll show you true love." Under the helmet, Seven's face was contorted with grimaces of disgust and cringe. This was by far the most embarrassing thing he'd ever done.
"Uh, what did I just walk in on?" Melrod asked, carrying a large mysterious bag on his back. Seven looked over, horrified. Why now of all times did Melrod have to arrive, as if in cosmic humiliation?
"Bro… did you really fall for the t-" Seven quickly slammed his fist against Melrod's helmet and took him out of the room and closed the door.
"Shut up! Just roll with it for now! We can take her alive without alerting the surrounding soldiers this way." Seven swiftly whispered and explained to Melrod.
"Fuck… alright, I guess. I mean if that's your type, who am I to judge." Melrod rubbed the back of his helmet in confusion. Seven ignored the comment and entered the room again. The woman stared blankly, but her face was flushed red, betraying her new feelings.
"Love, hehehe." Skyra's face lit up, and an insane glint took to her eyes as she turned to look at Seven and he quickly grabbed Melrod's tranquilizer gun from its holster and shot it into the woman's left asscheek. Melrod snatched his tranq back and put it back in its holster.
"Quit wasting my darts! They're expensive. Why'd you even do that anyway? All she did was look at you creepy." Melrod grumbled. Seven hoisted the unconscious woman and headed for the door.
"Honestly, it was legitimately just instinct. Luckily I grabbed the tranq instead, I almost shot her by accident." Seven sighed.
Just then, Seven felt an impact on his right shoulder, and he dropped with Skyra and hid behind some metal crates. Melrod began maneuvering away between the crates in another direction.