CH. 32 - The Facility

Next up…

Killian straps on mid shin boots into combat trousers. Then he zips up a tight leather, combat scaled jacket with brown leather wrist cuffs all before buckling a belt around his waist for support.

Nobody "Vanguard Killian Kamui and your partner…"

Saika slips on a tight turtleneck off shoulder unitard before pulling up toeless compression socks around his feet and up to his knee. Finally slipping on a cropped baggy baby blue hoodie over his head.

Nobody "Hunter Saika Martinez. You will be sent on an information retrieval mission. We have caught wind that out west in District 5, a science group referred to as Feast is performing illegal genetic experiments. We want you to enter their base, get the information on their workings and get out, no shutdown required."

He says as the night sky begins coating the area. Saika sits in a tree watching a facility with a couple guards standing by a front gate where a truck just entered. 

Killian "Okay, what're you thinking?"

He says as he drops onto the branch with Saika who is startled a bit, fearing the branch will break.

Saika "Keep it down!. We can't let them know we're here!."

He whispers aggressively at him. 

Killian "Roger!."

He whispers back as Saika sighs.

Saika "It looks like there's only two guards in the front there but plenty of surveillance everywhere.. How should we go about doing this?."

He thinks for a moment as Killian smirks a little.

Killian "Watch this."

He hops down quietly and sneaks up behind one of the guards. He then proceeds to mimic everything the guard does from behind until the guard gets a little nervous and quickly turns around only for Killian to be faster and stay behind him. The guard sighs in relief before sneezing. Some snot drools out of his nose as he looks around for a moment.

Killian "Oh, here I got you."

He says while lifting a tissue for the guard.

Guard 1 "Thanks."

He takes the tissue and wipes his nose as the second guard panics.

Guard 2 "Marcus!"

He shouts before the guard realizes and turns around only for Killian to knock the guard out with a punch across the face. The second guard raises his gun quickly but Saika dashes into action and axe kicks the guard in the head, knocking him out too. 

Saika "Quickly! Take them into the booth!"

He commands as they grab the guards and sneak them into the gate booth before getting caught. Saika checks around before sighing in relief. 

Killian "Check it out. Disguises."

He says while putting on the guard's hat and lifting his jacket.

Saika "Would you focus?? We have to do this right! We can't fail on the first mission!"

Killian "I know, I know. Sorry Saika, you're right."

He says with a soft smile while putting the jacket on.

Killian "What do you want to do?"

Saika thinks for a moment before looking into the facility and seeing a large building in the center.

Saika "That's probably the main office hub. Our info is definitely in there."

Killian "So there's the target."

He says supportively but notices the look on Saika's face. Saika looks as if not content with just that. Killian smiles softly.

Killian "You want to stop them too, huh?"

Saika looks at him surprised.

Saika "N-no, I…"

Killian "Don't worry, I feel the same way. I haven't stopped thinking about it since we got the mission. These people are testing on human subjects without their consent. They can't be allowed to continue."

He says with a serious look. Saika agrees but struggles with a confliction in his soul.

Saika "But… Professor Nobody said no shutdown required. Wouldn't we be breaking the mission if we did?"

Killian "Maybe so but I refuse to let these people keep doing what they're doing. It's the right thing to do."

Saika pauses for a moment before nodding with a spark of determination igniting in his soul.

Saika "Let's do it. Here's the plan…"

He trails off as they get to work. Saika jumps up onto the roof of one of the outlet buildings, covered by the shadow of night. He peaks around before leaping forward again and landing on the roof of the main tower building with a soft touch. He leans over the edge of a skylight looking into the main room. He analyzes the few guards walking around with a few more staff in lab coats conversing. 

Saika "Hmmm…"

He hums as he squints his eyes before opening one of the windows and jumping in. Elsewhere in the facility, Killian walks along with his head down, wearing the disguise he came across. He nods to another pair of guards walking down the road as he looks back at them over his shoulder with a smirk. He enters through a pair of metal doors into a dark hall with a couple different directions and a stairwell next to the hall.

Killian "Okay. If I was a deranged scientist experimenting on humans illegally, where would I do my research?"

He looks at the stairs before snapping his fingers and pointing at them.

Killian "Right. I'd be in the deepest darkest basement cause I'm a creep."

He says before making his way down the stairs. 

Killian "Hey, what's up Dave?"

Guard "Hey Michael."

He says to a passing guard casually as he walks down the stairs. He looks back at the guard going up the stairs with a look of disbelief and a smile before continuing to the lab. He looks around and sees a large vat of glowing green liquid with monitors and systems tracking information from the liquid, a group of scientists examining it. Killian looks at it with sharp eyes for a moment before approaching a scientist reading a clipboard.

Killian "Hey, uh Mr. Goldstien said he wanted you and your team upstairs to discuss reactor 4. I'll stay watch here in the meantime, shouldn't be too long."

The scientist looks at him for a moment before his eyes grow wide.

Scientist "Mr. Goldstien? Guys, we gotta go! He probably asked for us like 10 minutes ago!"

He shouts with a worried tone as the other 5 scientists rush after him. They run up and out of the room in only a few moments as Killian watches them before looking proud of his lie.

Killian "Damn, I'm so good with these names."

He says before turning back to the vat.

Killian "Now time to destroy you."

He says. In the tower building, Saika lands with an almost entirely silent thud before rushing to a dark closet in the main room of the dimly lit building. One of the guards hears the shuffling and looks over to the open closet door.

Guard 2 "What is it?"

Guard 1 "Thought I heard something.."

He says as he walks over. Saika's feline eyes glow in the dark as he stresses over the guard now noticing him.

Saika 'Shit! I knew that was too reckless! What do I do now?..'

He thinks before looking up to see a vent. As the guard slowly makes his way towards the dark closet, Saika gently sways his tail out of the doorway at the guard.

Guard 1 "Aw, I didn't know you guys had a cat."

He says with a smile before trying to pet his tail but is suddenly yanked into the closet with a yelp, the door slamming shut behind him. The others immediately notice and rush the door, slamming it open but only find the unconscious guard on the ground. They call out over their radios and spread out as Saika quietly sneaks through the vents before poking his head out of it to a large office room. He looks around before jumping down. He makes his way towards the desk where the computer is located before scanning through it. 

Saika "You'd figure for a science lab, they'd have better security on their stuff."

He says while placing a drive given to him by the ASA into the computer. 

Saika "To be fair, they probably didn't expect anyone to get this far. Now, if this drive Professor gave me works right, we should be outta here in just a few."

He says with a smile on his face before an alarm starts going off. He is startled at first before looking around in a panic.

Guard 1 "The lab is gonna blow!"

Guard 2 "Everyone, evacuate!"

Saika sweats as he droops just a bit with a frustrated look.

Saika "Killian..!"

Down in the lab, Killian rapidly presses buttons on the control panel of the vat machine with a panicking look on his face.

Killian "No! Don't blow up! Just purge the liquid, that's all I want!"

The computer then outputs a piece of paper that he quickly rushes over to read.

Killian "'Carbonize Candidate System V.2. Confirm/Deny.' Confirm, yes! Do that, anything but blow up!"

He shouts before pressing the green button next to it. The computer then outputs another sheet of paper.

Killian "'Confirmed. Detonation in 3… 2…' Oh no…"

He turns and dashes out of the room only for the system to blow up behind him, sending him flying up and out of the facility. In the office, Saika impatiently waits for the academy drive to finish.

Saika "C'mon c'mon c'monnn…"

It completes as he quickly pulls it out.

Saika "Yes! Got it!"

He says before feeling a rumble beneath his feet. 

Saika "huh?"

He sounds for only a split moment before the building he's in and everything around blows up. Killian lands face first on the dirt road just outside the facility as the buildings collapse with fires spreading all around. He groans as he props himself up.

Killian "Ow… Okay, maybe I shouldn't have been touching the science stuff.."

He says while standing up and rubbing his head. He looks up surprised when he hears a cat like screaming fly through the air before Saika comes falling down and directly onto him. Killian stumbles back a few steps as Saika latches onto Killian's upper body with slight burns and bruises on him, looking frightened and stiff, his claws out and eyes sharp. He shakes as Killian pats him on the back a bit.

Killian "Uh, it's okay Saika. You can let go now."

He says with a muffled voice from Saika's tummy covering his face. Saika stops shaking and releases his claws as Killian gently puts him down.

Killian "Well I'd say that was a success! No more human tests, haha!"

He says proudly with his fists on his hips as Saika slowly looks at him with an angry look before jumping on him and strangling him.

Saika "You jerk! You blew the place up with me inside!"

Killian "Blah! Saika, I'm sorry!"

He yells as the smoke floats into the night sky. 

Back at the ASA after the mission, smoke and dust covered Saika and Killian approach the South Range. 

 Southpaw "Look at you! Seems like you had an eventful night! Haha!"

He says with a hearty laugh.

Southpaw "Did you guys succeed in the mission?"

Saika "We did, sir."

He says while standing at attention and handing him the drive.

Southpaw "Looks good. I hope the facility didn't give you both too much trouble."

Saika "It wasn't before Killian decided to blow the whole place up."

He says with a frustrated look at Killian.

Killian "Not that it matters. Places like that have no place in this world."

He says while crossing his arms. 

Southpaw "Hmm…"

He hums softly while looking at the drive, his smile disappearing. Killian notices his look.

Killian "Everything okay, sir?"

Southpaw "That wasn't part of the mission. We have rules we follow for a reason."

He says with a soft tone as the two look at him, a little surprised and confused.

Southpaw "Since you disobeyed your orders and destroyed the lab, I'm gonna have to fail you both."

Saika "No! But, but we…"

He hangs his head in defeat. Killian looks at Saika before turning his unwavering gaze to Southpaw.

Southpaw "Regardless, you did a good job at retrieving the information needed!"

He says with a big smile, pocketing the drive. Saika blushes a bit while standing up straight despite his feelings of failure.

Saika "T-thank you sir!"

He says through a slightly sad voice.

Killian "Yeah."

He says with a neutral look, thinking about his reaction. 

Southpaw "Now go on. Your classmates are waiting for you at your new dorms."

He says warmly as they both nod and leave.