Shane strode into the training room, still dressed in his uniform. The training room was cavernous, to accommodate the multitude of training equipment that would keep the Rune Knights on their toes and ready for whatever mission that came their way. The few Rune Knights that saw him entering the training area saluted him as he walked past purposefully, the Captain nodding back in return until he reached the centre of the room. Right in the middle of the training area was a boxing ring, and right now in the ring, a petit young lady was holding her own against her fellow Rune Knight, a male that stood at least one foot taller than her.
The two of them were equally matched in the ferocity and swiftness of their strikes. The female Rune Knight was quick on her feet, and seemed to be able to roll out of any combo that the male soldier could pull off. What really got Shane’s attention was the way she did it. For her small stature, the girl packed a punch in her strikes, as she continued to break out of the combos through brute strength. The male wasn’t faring badly as well. He knew that the girl was used to fighting opponents larger and higher than herself and he was adjusting his moves as well.
To the side were three other Rune Knights. The one nearest to Shane, had the same height and build as himself and had brighter blonde hair. His facial hair, a goatee, further distinguished the two of them. He was the loudest of them all, an excited grin on his face as he cheered the two fighters on. Beside him stood a shorter male, his face neutral as though the fight was nothing but entertainment. However, occasionally Shane would see a glimmer in his eyes when one of the two combatants would score an exceptional shot. The final one of the bystander trio, was a mountain of a man, his physique pointing towards a Vulkan more than a man. His face was a solemn one, and the veins on his arm bulging and flexing as he watched the battle.
The fight finally ended, with both combatants withdrawing to their own corners to take a breather. The female Rune Knight wiped the sweat off her brow and flicked them to the ground, smirking as she looked at her opponent.
“Come now, King. Is that all you got?” she taunted. Her opponent merely smirked, standing up straight as he dabbed off the sweat on his forehead with a towel he then tossed to the ground.
“What? You tired now? This is just round 5, Queen,” he called back.
“Whoop his ass, babe!” the loud, blonde one called out from the side, prompting the girl known as Queen to turn around. Her eyes blazed with a fire that hadn’t been present in the fight earlier as she approached the blonde Rune Knight.
“Rook! Call me that again and I will –“
“That’s enough, Chess Team,” Shane made himself heard over their argument, cutting off Queen’s threat and effectively getting all their eyes on him. “Clean yourselves up and gear up. We got a mission to run. See me in Decon in thirty minutes.”
“Yes!!” the loud one known as Rook hooted, Shane raising an eyebrow at his exclamation before turning around to leave the training room.
-----
Fifteen minutes later, the entire Chess Team had been assembled in Decon. Decon, short for Decontamination Room, was the room where the Spec Ops members would be briefed or debriefed by their superior prior or after a mission. All five of them were in their combat uniforms, a tougher and more rugged version of their Rune Knight uniforms, built for the harsh outdoors and various other scenarios.
King, the male Rune Knight who had fought in the ring earlier, sat at the seat closest to the front of the long table, followed by Queen, his boxing partner. Rook sat beside her, whistling a tune as he spaced out while staring at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. Then followed by Knight and Bishop. Knight was the smallest guy in the group, both in terms of height and physique, but Shane knew better than to belittle him. Out of all the Rune Knights he had, Knight had been the best shot, handling firearms with uncanny accuracy.
Bishop, the largest of them all, took the last seat with the same intense expression on his face. His expression was unreadable, and every movement he made controlled and restrained. The man was unique, in that he was the only one from the Combat Corps. Despite his excellent field record, the man was unable to really connect with his assigned teams, especially when the Combat Corps highly emphasized on the ability to work in a team. He then transferred into the Special Operations division, where somehow he had found his place in the Chess Team.
Each and every member of the Chess Team was a powerful force to reckon with on their own, but when combined, they had blazed through all the tests that Shane had put them through. The Rune Knight Captain opened the door to Decon, all five faces looking in his direction and he settled down on a seat opposite them. King, the leader of the five-man team, showed mild surprise as he had expected Shane to take a seat at the head of the table instead of opposite them. Shane gave his subordinates a glance over before leaning back into his chair.
“A particular company that produces magical artifacts have been brought to our attention. Over the past few years, the number of workplace casualties have been dramatically high. The General and Field Marshal wants to know why. They are also suspected to be selling their products through illegal methods,” Shane said, watching for a change in his subordinates’ expressions, glad to see none. Despite their slack, they were still real professionals. “Our job is simple. We will infiltrate this place, get whatever information we need and hightail it out of there. No one is to know that this raid is linked to the Rune Knights.”
Rook was the first to speak up, “So is this a black op?”
“Yes. Any other questions?” Shane replied tersely before looking at the leader of the team. “King?”
“Who’s going to be our handler for the op? Will we be getting any surveillance support?”
“Nope. No handler, and no surveillance support. No risking of being intercepted through our long-distance comms. Oh and also, I will be leading the mission. King, you will be my second in command.”
“You’re gonna take the codename Pawn?” Queen asked with a tone of incredulity. In the past training scenarios that they had went through, there had been a few where the team had been required to secure a hostage, and the rescued hostage had always been assigned as Pawn. That also applied to anyone else joining the team.
“Again, nope. My codename’s Cap. Until I can think of something better,” Shane replied with a grin.
“I can think of a few better ones. Deep Blue, Alpha King, Big Boss,” Rook began to speak as he counted off his fingers.
“Shut up, Rook. We are moving out. Grab your gear. We are doing this by a HALO jump. I got us the airship,” the Rune Knight Captain said as he rapped his knuckles on the table, grabbing the rambling Rune Knight’s attention as well as the others.
-----
Six figures jumped off an airship, allowing gravity to do its job as they angled their bodies downwards, heads first. If anyone were to look up into the sky, they would only see six small specks in the night sky. It was rather cloudy tonight, with a hint of rain, but above all else, it provided the perfect cover for them. All six Rune Knights kept their bodies straight, arms pinned to their sides. The goggles over their eyes were counting down the altitude, the numbers dropping with astonishing speed until a voice spoke out in the communication devices that they each wore in their left ear. It was Queen’s voice.
“Preparing the brakes in five, four, three, two, one!” the sole female of the group counted down as a gust of wind suddenly enveloped all six of them and began to slow their descent. They slowed down considerably and when they hit the ground, landing on their feet, it was as if it had been nothing more than a simple hop. The moment they had hit the ground, they assumed their team formation with practiced efficiency. The entire team had been trained with firearms, to compliment their use of magic, but with the need for absolute secrecy of this mission, they had had to forego using it.
The factory of the magical artifacts company took up a large compound, with several buildings within the fenced and heavily guarded area. The layout was simple enough. In the middle of the square compound was the research facility where the labs and testing areas would be, the building being nothing but a squat, two-storey grey building. There was only entrances to the building, a row of windows halfway up the wall running along the sides of the building, while the second floor was completely windowless. Four other buildings, rectangle in shape with their longer side running the same width of the research facility, had two serving as the warehouse for completed goods and raw materials while the other two served as the production facilities.
Guard towers were placed at every corner of the compound, with huge lacrima-powered spotlights slowly roving around the compound.
“Single file, Cap heads, King tail,” Shane spoke softly into the throat mic adhered to his neck, allowing vibrations in the throat to be transmitted to the others so that they don’t have to speak above a whisper. Moving as a straight line, the team of six crouched and ran over to the nearest building, one of the warehouses. It was marked with a very large, stencilled “Warehouse 1R” on the front of the building, right above its entrances. Keeping their steps smooth and quiet, Shane led the way, until they reached the corner of the building. So far the security detail had been rather lacking, allowing them move unhindered.
“We split up into two teams here. King, Knight and Bishop, sweep the warehouses and check if there’s anything suspicious. Queen and Rook stay with me, we will take the manufacturing facility. Once done, give a sitrep and we move towards the research facility,” Shane gave the order. Like wraiths, King, Knight and Bishop melted into the shadows and headed for the entrance of the warehouse. The remaining three moved out as well, taking care to evade the spotlights and the guards posted on the guard towers. From what they could see, there were four guards to a tower, and from what he could see, they were armed.
The trio reached the manufacturing plant and stuck close to the wall as they inched their way towards the entrance. There were no guards posted there.
“Queen, get up on the roof. Get a look from the windows above.”
“Got you, Cap,” was the female’s only reply as she hovered upwards, making sure to keep to the wall.
“Rook, weapons out.”
While this would have normally got Rook whipping out his large calibre pistols, the same make as Shane’s own, he was forced to use nothing but a combat knife. He held in a reverse grip in his left hand, keeping his right hand free to use his magic. The man was adept in fire magic, using it like how Shane had seen dragon slayers. Was Rook a Fire Slayer?
“I would be better off unarmed and going in with just magic, Cap,” the half-kidding voice of Rook reached Shane’s ears, and everyone else’s.
“Keep quiet, Rook,” came King’s reply from wherever he was.
The two men pulled open the double doors to the manufacturing facility slowly, hoping that the staff had kept it well-oiled. Few seconds passed as the double doors slowly separated, just enough for them to sneak in before closing it behind them. Without the need to communicate, Shane and Rook separated, each sticking to one side of the doors, giving the manufacturing facility a quick look over. Like the research facility, this place also had two stories, with the ground floor housing the entire production line, and a balcony that ran along the walls, connected across the production ground by walkways crisscrossing in various directions.
“What do you see from up there, Queen?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary, Cap. The usual machinery, conveyor belts, workers stations, and the QC zone. Wait, there’s something to the left, innermost corner. Something glistening there, but I’m not sure what those are. No, Rook, not my left. Your left.”
“Make it clear next time,” Rook replied testily, as he made his way around the conveyor belts while Shane snaked between the machinery pumping out the raw materials. The two finally converged on the corner of the manufacturing facility that Queen had pointed out. Shane narrowed his eyes as he neared the place.
“Those are… lacrimas,” Rook remarked with a tinge of hesitance in his voice. The area had actually been caged up, with a sign that said “Authorized Personnel Only” hung above the door. Rook tested the handle to the cage’s door and found it unlocked. The two of them ventured into the closed off area and began inspecting the crates full of lacrima. Shane walked over to one of the crates and picked up one of them to inspect. There was an eerie glow to the lacrima crystal, an ominous feeling that seemed to spread up his arm in the form of goose bumps.
“Cap, do you feel weird holding them?”
“I do, Rook. I do. I haven’t felt such a reaction from lacrimas before, even the powerful ones. These gives me the feeling of…” Shane trailed off, unable to describe it.
“Dread?” Rook offered, spooked as well. There was a silence as the two of them continued inspecting the lacrima, but they could find no answers. And then their earpieces buzzed with sound.
“Team, you won’t believe what we are seeing.” It was Knight speaking.
“We need to group up. Now,” Bishop said, the usually quiet man suddenly speaking up.
“Come to warehouse R1,” King added.
Shane and Rook exchanged a glance at the urgency in their voices, and made to leave the cage. Before he left, Shane picked up three fist-sized lacrima and stored them within his storage dimension. He would bring them back for the guys back in the Engineering Corps to check it out. The two of them exited the manufacturing plant stealthily, failing to encounter any guards. Queen dropped lightly to the ground just as they exited the plant.
When the three of them finally made it to Warehouse R1, they saw nothing at first. Knight saw them first.
“Cap, move to your right. Till the wall. Then move forward. You will see stairs leading to the basement,” Knight’s directions came. Shane looked around him as he moved, trying to find out where the marksman was hidden. “I’m up by the ceiling, got a great view of the whole place.”
“Gotcha,” was Shane’s reply as he led the way. Stacked crates filled the entirety of his vision on the left side as he kept to the wall, until they finally arrived at a stair leading down. The trio made sure to keep their footsteps light, so that their heavy combat boots wouldn’t create a din when stepping down on the metal stairs.
“Over here,” Bishop whispered, his voice transmitted over the communications device and close enough to hear the actual whisper.
“We hit the motherlode,” Rook whispered as he stared at the sight in front of him with wide eyes. King strode over to Shane, his face a mask of anger.
“All of them are mages. Now all we need to know is what they are doing with them,” King spoke, his voice no longer a whisper. Shane kept quiet, looking over King’s shoulder. Directly opposite them were holding cells. Glass-lined walls allowing them to see the people contained within. Within each of those cells were the mages as King had said, each of them strapped to a chair being fed some kind of drug through a drip. The drug pulsed through their veins, lighting the veins up as they travelled through the mages’ bodies. The color was different for each of them. And they were all unconscious, heads bowed down on their chest.
“It probably has something to do with this,” Shane replied a short while later, retrieving one of the lacrima from his storage dimension. He passed it to King, who almost dropped it.
“This was in the warehouses?” the lieutenant asked. Shane nodded. “It’s giving me a tingly feeling, like it’s messing with my magic or something like that.”
“Bishop, Queen, find a way to free them and get them out of here. Rook, set this entire place up to be blasted apart. This facility and the other four buildings. I want nothing left of this facility when we are done here. When you are done, regroup with us. Same goes to Bishop and Queen. King, Knight, two of you with me. We sweep the research facility. It will probably the most heavily guarded. Find civilians if any, get them out and then blow the shit out that place as well,” the Rune Knight Captain instructed as he moved towards the stairs, giving the glass containment cells another glance before ascending the stairs. Fortunately, the gravity of the situation was enough to keep Rook from cracking another joke. All five team members answered with a single word simultaneously.
When the captain and lieutenant walked up the stairs, Knight was already down from his higher position, crouching on one of the crates like a gargoyle on a castle embattlement. He hopped down when he finally saw the two men, and quickly assumed a position behind Shane and beside King as they walked out of the warehouse.
Shane
King
Queen
Rook
Knight
Bishop
[3039 words]
The two of them were equally matched in the ferocity and swiftness of their strikes. The female Rune Knight was quick on her feet, and seemed to be able to roll out of any combo that the male soldier could pull off. What really got Shane’s attention was the way she did it. For her small stature, the girl packed a punch in her strikes, as she continued to break out of the combos through brute strength. The male wasn’t faring badly as well. He knew that the girl was used to fighting opponents larger and higher than herself and he was adjusting his moves as well.
To the side were three other Rune Knights. The one nearest to Shane, had the same height and build as himself and had brighter blonde hair. His facial hair, a goatee, further distinguished the two of them. He was the loudest of them all, an excited grin on his face as he cheered the two fighters on. Beside him stood a shorter male, his face neutral as though the fight was nothing but entertainment. However, occasionally Shane would see a glimmer in his eyes when one of the two combatants would score an exceptional shot. The final one of the bystander trio, was a mountain of a man, his physique pointing towards a Vulkan more than a man. His face was a solemn one, and the veins on his arm bulging and flexing as he watched the battle.
The fight finally ended, with both combatants withdrawing to their own corners to take a breather. The female Rune Knight wiped the sweat off her brow and flicked them to the ground, smirking as she looked at her opponent.
“Come now, King. Is that all you got?” she taunted. Her opponent merely smirked, standing up straight as he dabbed off the sweat on his forehead with a towel he then tossed to the ground.
“What? You tired now? This is just round 5, Queen,” he called back.
“Whoop his ass, babe!” the loud, blonde one called out from the side, prompting the girl known as Queen to turn around. Her eyes blazed with a fire that hadn’t been present in the fight earlier as she approached the blonde Rune Knight.
“Rook! Call me that again and I will –“
“That’s enough, Chess Team,” Shane made himself heard over their argument, cutting off Queen’s threat and effectively getting all their eyes on him. “Clean yourselves up and gear up. We got a mission to run. See me in Decon in thirty minutes.”
“Yes!!” the loud one known as Rook hooted, Shane raising an eyebrow at his exclamation before turning around to leave the training room.
-----
Fifteen minutes later, the entire Chess Team had been assembled in Decon. Decon, short for Decontamination Room, was the room where the Spec Ops members would be briefed or debriefed by their superior prior or after a mission. All five of them were in their combat uniforms, a tougher and more rugged version of their Rune Knight uniforms, built for the harsh outdoors and various other scenarios.
King, the male Rune Knight who had fought in the ring earlier, sat at the seat closest to the front of the long table, followed by Queen, his boxing partner. Rook sat beside her, whistling a tune as he spaced out while staring at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. Then followed by Knight and Bishop. Knight was the smallest guy in the group, both in terms of height and physique, but Shane knew better than to belittle him. Out of all the Rune Knights he had, Knight had been the best shot, handling firearms with uncanny accuracy.
Bishop, the largest of them all, took the last seat with the same intense expression on his face. His expression was unreadable, and every movement he made controlled and restrained. The man was unique, in that he was the only one from the Combat Corps. Despite his excellent field record, the man was unable to really connect with his assigned teams, especially when the Combat Corps highly emphasized on the ability to work in a team. He then transferred into the Special Operations division, where somehow he had found his place in the Chess Team.
Each and every member of the Chess Team was a powerful force to reckon with on their own, but when combined, they had blazed through all the tests that Shane had put them through. The Rune Knight Captain opened the door to Decon, all five faces looking in his direction and he settled down on a seat opposite them. King, the leader of the five-man team, showed mild surprise as he had expected Shane to take a seat at the head of the table instead of opposite them. Shane gave his subordinates a glance over before leaning back into his chair.
“A particular company that produces magical artifacts have been brought to our attention. Over the past few years, the number of workplace casualties have been dramatically high. The General and Field Marshal wants to know why. They are also suspected to be selling their products through illegal methods,” Shane said, watching for a change in his subordinates’ expressions, glad to see none. Despite their slack, they were still real professionals. “Our job is simple. We will infiltrate this place, get whatever information we need and hightail it out of there. No one is to know that this raid is linked to the Rune Knights.”
Rook was the first to speak up, “So is this a black op?”
“Yes. Any other questions?” Shane replied tersely before looking at the leader of the team. “King?”
“Who’s going to be our handler for the op? Will we be getting any surveillance support?”
“Nope. No handler, and no surveillance support. No risking of being intercepted through our long-distance comms. Oh and also, I will be leading the mission. King, you will be my second in command.”
“You’re gonna take the codename Pawn?” Queen asked with a tone of incredulity. In the past training scenarios that they had went through, there had been a few where the team had been required to secure a hostage, and the rescued hostage had always been assigned as Pawn. That also applied to anyone else joining the team.
“Again, nope. My codename’s Cap. Until I can think of something better,” Shane replied with a grin.
“I can think of a few better ones. Deep Blue, Alpha King, Big Boss,” Rook began to speak as he counted off his fingers.
“Shut up, Rook. We are moving out. Grab your gear. We are doing this by a HALO jump. I got us the airship,” the Rune Knight Captain said as he rapped his knuckles on the table, grabbing the rambling Rune Knight’s attention as well as the others.
-----
Six figures jumped off an airship, allowing gravity to do its job as they angled their bodies downwards, heads first. If anyone were to look up into the sky, they would only see six small specks in the night sky. It was rather cloudy tonight, with a hint of rain, but above all else, it provided the perfect cover for them. All six Rune Knights kept their bodies straight, arms pinned to their sides. The goggles over their eyes were counting down the altitude, the numbers dropping with astonishing speed until a voice spoke out in the communication devices that they each wore in their left ear. It was Queen’s voice.
“Preparing the brakes in five, four, three, two, one!” the sole female of the group counted down as a gust of wind suddenly enveloped all six of them and began to slow their descent. They slowed down considerably and when they hit the ground, landing on their feet, it was as if it had been nothing more than a simple hop. The moment they had hit the ground, they assumed their team formation with practiced efficiency. The entire team had been trained with firearms, to compliment their use of magic, but with the need for absolute secrecy of this mission, they had had to forego using it.
The factory of the magical artifacts company took up a large compound, with several buildings within the fenced and heavily guarded area. The layout was simple enough. In the middle of the square compound was the research facility where the labs and testing areas would be, the building being nothing but a squat, two-storey grey building. There was only entrances to the building, a row of windows halfway up the wall running along the sides of the building, while the second floor was completely windowless. Four other buildings, rectangle in shape with their longer side running the same width of the research facility, had two serving as the warehouse for completed goods and raw materials while the other two served as the production facilities.
Guard towers were placed at every corner of the compound, with huge lacrima-powered spotlights slowly roving around the compound.
“Single file, Cap heads, King tail,” Shane spoke softly into the throat mic adhered to his neck, allowing vibrations in the throat to be transmitted to the others so that they don’t have to speak above a whisper. Moving as a straight line, the team of six crouched and ran over to the nearest building, one of the warehouses. It was marked with a very large, stencilled “Warehouse 1R” on the front of the building, right above its entrances. Keeping their steps smooth and quiet, Shane led the way, until they reached the corner of the building. So far the security detail had been rather lacking, allowing them move unhindered.
“We split up into two teams here. King, Knight and Bishop, sweep the warehouses and check if there’s anything suspicious. Queen and Rook stay with me, we will take the manufacturing facility. Once done, give a sitrep and we move towards the research facility,” Shane gave the order. Like wraiths, King, Knight and Bishop melted into the shadows and headed for the entrance of the warehouse. The remaining three moved out as well, taking care to evade the spotlights and the guards posted on the guard towers. From what they could see, there were four guards to a tower, and from what he could see, they were armed.
The trio reached the manufacturing plant and stuck close to the wall as they inched their way towards the entrance. There were no guards posted there.
“Queen, get up on the roof. Get a look from the windows above.”
“Got you, Cap,” was the female’s only reply as she hovered upwards, making sure to keep to the wall.
“Rook, weapons out.”
While this would have normally got Rook whipping out his large calibre pistols, the same make as Shane’s own, he was forced to use nothing but a combat knife. He held in a reverse grip in his left hand, keeping his right hand free to use his magic. The man was adept in fire magic, using it like how Shane had seen dragon slayers. Was Rook a Fire Slayer?
“I would be better off unarmed and going in with just magic, Cap,” the half-kidding voice of Rook reached Shane’s ears, and everyone else’s.
“Keep quiet, Rook,” came King’s reply from wherever he was.
The two men pulled open the double doors to the manufacturing facility slowly, hoping that the staff had kept it well-oiled. Few seconds passed as the double doors slowly separated, just enough for them to sneak in before closing it behind them. Without the need to communicate, Shane and Rook separated, each sticking to one side of the doors, giving the manufacturing facility a quick look over. Like the research facility, this place also had two stories, with the ground floor housing the entire production line, and a balcony that ran along the walls, connected across the production ground by walkways crisscrossing in various directions.
“What do you see from up there, Queen?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary, Cap. The usual machinery, conveyor belts, workers stations, and the QC zone. Wait, there’s something to the left, innermost corner. Something glistening there, but I’m not sure what those are. No, Rook, not my left. Your left.”
“Make it clear next time,” Rook replied testily, as he made his way around the conveyor belts while Shane snaked between the machinery pumping out the raw materials. The two finally converged on the corner of the manufacturing facility that Queen had pointed out. Shane narrowed his eyes as he neared the place.
“Those are… lacrimas,” Rook remarked with a tinge of hesitance in his voice. The area had actually been caged up, with a sign that said “Authorized Personnel Only” hung above the door. Rook tested the handle to the cage’s door and found it unlocked. The two of them ventured into the closed off area and began inspecting the crates full of lacrima. Shane walked over to one of the crates and picked up one of them to inspect. There was an eerie glow to the lacrima crystal, an ominous feeling that seemed to spread up his arm in the form of goose bumps.
“Cap, do you feel weird holding them?”
“I do, Rook. I do. I haven’t felt such a reaction from lacrimas before, even the powerful ones. These gives me the feeling of…” Shane trailed off, unable to describe it.
“Dread?” Rook offered, spooked as well. There was a silence as the two of them continued inspecting the lacrima, but they could find no answers. And then their earpieces buzzed with sound.
“Team, you won’t believe what we are seeing.” It was Knight speaking.
“We need to group up. Now,” Bishop said, the usually quiet man suddenly speaking up.
“Come to warehouse R1,” King added.
Shane and Rook exchanged a glance at the urgency in their voices, and made to leave the cage. Before he left, Shane picked up three fist-sized lacrima and stored them within his storage dimension. He would bring them back for the guys back in the Engineering Corps to check it out. The two of them exited the manufacturing plant stealthily, failing to encounter any guards. Queen dropped lightly to the ground just as they exited the plant.
When the three of them finally made it to Warehouse R1, they saw nothing at first. Knight saw them first.
“Cap, move to your right. Till the wall. Then move forward. You will see stairs leading to the basement,” Knight’s directions came. Shane looked around him as he moved, trying to find out where the marksman was hidden. “I’m up by the ceiling, got a great view of the whole place.”
“Gotcha,” was Shane’s reply as he led the way. Stacked crates filled the entirety of his vision on the left side as he kept to the wall, until they finally arrived at a stair leading down. The trio made sure to keep their footsteps light, so that their heavy combat boots wouldn’t create a din when stepping down on the metal stairs.
“Over here,” Bishop whispered, his voice transmitted over the communications device and close enough to hear the actual whisper.
“We hit the motherlode,” Rook whispered as he stared at the sight in front of him with wide eyes. King strode over to Shane, his face a mask of anger.
“All of them are mages. Now all we need to know is what they are doing with them,” King spoke, his voice no longer a whisper. Shane kept quiet, looking over King’s shoulder. Directly opposite them were holding cells. Glass-lined walls allowing them to see the people contained within. Within each of those cells were the mages as King had said, each of them strapped to a chair being fed some kind of drug through a drip. The drug pulsed through their veins, lighting the veins up as they travelled through the mages’ bodies. The color was different for each of them. And they were all unconscious, heads bowed down on their chest.
“It probably has something to do with this,” Shane replied a short while later, retrieving one of the lacrima from his storage dimension. He passed it to King, who almost dropped it.
“This was in the warehouses?” the lieutenant asked. Shane nodded. “It’s giving me a tingly feeling, like it’s messing with my magic or something like that.”
“Bishop, Queen, find a way to free them and get them out of here. Rook, set this entire place up to be blasted apart. This facility and the other four buildings. I want nothing left of this facility when we are done here. When you are done, regroup with us. Same goes to Bishop and Queen. King, Knight, two of you with me. We sweep the research facility. It will probably the most heavily guarded. Find civilians if any, get them out and then blow the shit out that place as well,” the Rune Knight Captain instructed as he moved towards the stairs, giving the glass containment cells another glance before ascending the stairs. Fortunately, the gravity of the situation was enough to keep Rook from cracking another joke. All five team members answered with a single word simultaneously.
When the captain and lieutenant walked up the stairs, Knight was already down from his higher position, crouching on one of the crates like a gargoyle on a castle embattlement. He hopped down when he finally saw the two men, and quickly assumed a position behind Shane and beside King as they walked out of the warehouse.
Shane
King
Queen
Rook
Knight
Bishop
[3039 words]