The splintered remains of the attic door crashed onto the floor below, showering the dusty space with wood chips. Haruto dropped through the opening, landing in a silent crouch, his plasma carbine sweeping the room. The attic was a cramped space filled with forgotten furniture and the ghosts of old memories, all cast in the pale moonlight filtering through a grimy window. Kaito and Riku followed, their movements clumsy in their new armor but filled with a tense energy.
"Akane, we're in," Haruto transmitted, his voice a low whisper in their private comms. "Maintain overwatch. Report any movement on the street."
**
They moved from the attic down a narrow staircase into the shop's living quarters. The place was eerily silent. They found Minato and his wife, Sora, in the main weaving room, huddled behind the largest loom. The old man held a rusty sword, his knuckles white with fear. Sora stood before him, armed with nothing but a defiant glare.
"Your Highness sent you?" Minato breathed, his eyes wide as he took in their dark, angular armor and futuristic weapons. They looked like demons summoned from some forgotten legend.
"The Princess is in trouble," Haruto said, his voice direct, leaving no room for argument. "We're getting her out. Where is the entrance to the cisterns?"
Sora, ever the pragmatist, pointed a trembling finger towards the floor. "The cellar. Behind the dye vats. But the guards… they're everywhere. We've heard them on the street, knocking down doors."
As if on cue, the sound of heavy gauntlets banging on a neighbor's door echoed through the shop, followed by splintering wood and angry shouts. Time was up.
Haruto led the way to the cellar, a cramped, damp space that smelled of earth and chemicals. Behind a row of massive clay vats was a heavy, iron-ringed trapdoor set into the stone floor. Kaito and Riku heaved, their combined strength straining as they lifted the heavy stone slab. A wave of cool, stagnant air washed over them, carrying with it the distant sound of running water and something else—faint, panicked shouts.
Haruto activated his suit's multi-spectrum scanner, projecting a holographic map of the tunnels below. He could see the pulsing blue dot of Himari's transponder, about two hundred meters away. He could also see multiple red contacts—Black Guard patrols—closing in on her position from two different directions.
"They've got her cornered," he said, his voice grim. He looked at Kaito and Riku, whose faces were pale in the glow of the hologram but whose eyes were set with a hard resolve. The training was over. "Weapons on lethal. No hesitation. Move."
He swung his legs into the darkness and descended the stone ladder, his carbine held at the ready. Kaito and Riku followed without a word, their loyalty to their princess overriding the primal fear of plunging into the darkness beneath a city that wanted them dead. They left Minato and Sora in the cellar, two terrified but resolute figures guarding the only escape route, praying to their gods that the star-fallen demons who had come to answer their princess's call would be enough.