A hiss was heard as Wolf twisted the helm a little into place. Unlike how black the glass was from the outside, she could see rather clearly from the inside. Giving a few hops, she found that the armor not only supported her movements, but was actually lighter than when she picked up each piece individually.
It was then some small screens appeared. On the far right of her helm was her status, showing her right leg and side were still a little wounded but recovering. Below was a blue line, seeming to be her Mana reserves given the information that popped in her head. It was amazing how the suit could calculate all of this, but she supposed that was what happened when your armor was fully integrated with you.
"The Creators really went all out with this." Wolf sighed as she looked down to eye herself up.
She was worried that the armor would snag on her fur and tail, but found that the insides used Mana to manipulate itself to push her fur down, making it much more comfortable to be in than it looked. Not only that, it seemed taking a hit or two wouldn't be a problem so long as her Mana remained steady.
『There is a standard issue Aether Rifle in the weapons locker. Please take that along with your other weapons.』
Wolf nodded to Caretaker as she holstered her sword and pistol, leaving the Shield on her arm. Walking up to the locker, she found the wound on her leg didn't act up as long as she didn't make any extreme movements.
After grabbing the rifle and some extra magazines, she used the system to check its condition before looking back to the Caretaker. "Alright, how do we do this?"
『I will guide you along towards Laboratory 23 on the second level. There are no threats along the designated route on the first level, but the second holds various signatures. Proceed with caution, Wolf.』
"Understood." Wolf nodded before walking to the door of the lab.
It was there that she stopped, having to think about what she was doing. She had just gotten out of the smashed capsule not even an hour ago. Now, she was supposed to run a rescue operation? The hell was she thinking?
These thoughts quickly vanished as she remembered her objective. As long as there were others, they woukd surely help her to figure out what to do.
Taking several breaths to hype herself up, she pulled the rifle into her shoulder and marched through the door.
Using the flashlight to check the hallway to the left, she stepped to the middle of the hallway before turning around and speed walking down the path to her right. Something in her kept the barrel trained to her front, wary of any enemy that could lurk outside of the range of Caretakers scanner.
It wasn't that she did not trust the AI. However, given the files she had seen earlier were over 4,000 years old, well, she was not about to take the chance of anything happening.
Stopping at the corner, she took a few steps to her right while sweeping her rifle left down the hallway. She stepped slowly just in case, but only found a turned over trashcan and a bag on the path she was supposed to go. Satisfied, she took off once more down the hall.
This happened another 3 corners until she reached the staircase. Given that noise seemed to attract the Thrall, Caretaker advised using the Elevator for obvious reasons.
Cracking the door open, she checked where she could see thoroughly with the flashlight before opening it all the way. Noticing the door opened a little to easily, she stopped and took a step back.
"Caretaker. Are these doors not rusted?" She asked as she swept the hallways again.
『Correct. The facility is made up entirely of Aether Metal. Guaranteed not to rust no matter how much time has passed. The same goes for the electronics. As long as no one has tampered with them, or they have not been in Cryo, they should still operate the same as when they were made.』The Caretakers voice spoke softly into her right ear, making her a bit calmer.
"That's rather convenient. How do they maintain Mana?" Wolf asked as she entered the doorway, sweeping the stairs above as she made her ascent. Thankfully, they were in the bottom floor with nothing below.
『Mana is absorbed from the surroundings. Pluto, though primarily of ice, was found to have a rich reserve in Mana, thus allowing this facility to operate without being seen by the Void Walkers.』
"Save for the scavengers." Wolf retorted with a huff.
『If I had made any attempt to drive them out, higher classes would have descended on the Facility. This was the best calculated risk.』
All she could do was shake her head as she ascended the stairs to the next doorway. As she approached, she found the door had been clawed open. Not wanting to test her luck, she turned her light off and crouched next to the door before scanning the hallway with her barrel. Though she saw some movement down the left hall, she ignored it as she had to go to the right.
Carefully, she stepped out into the hallway, but was interrupted by a sudden screech. Falling back into the doorway, she climbed the stairs as quickly and quietly as she could until she was at the next landing.
From there, she watched as several Thrall, the Shreiker from earlier and 7 Howlers, ran down the staircase at a chaotic speed. Thankfully none of them thought to look up to where she was.
『They have reached Lab 1. Move.』
Caretaker's voice urged her to move back down the staircase and into the hallway. Carefully closing the door behind her, she picked up her pace and jogged down the right hallway.
『Lab 23 is at the far end of the floor. Follow the markers as quickly as you can.』
"How many on this floor?" Wolf asked as she heard a low screech behind her, sounding closer to a howl.
『There are 17 signs of Void Flayer on this floor. One of them seems to have picked up your scent.』
With those words, Wolf turned around to see an animal-like being creeping at the end of the hall. Though it looked similar to a dog, it held the head of a human that was hung on a long, melted black neck like a hydra. As it spotted her, it let out another howl and began its reckless rush.
"Not good." Wolf growled through her teeth as she brought her barrel up.
Before she could fire, she saw the tail sweep up over the Howling as it dipped its long head. Taking that as a sign, Wolf quickly lowered the barrel brought up her shield. She barely blocked two of the black spikes that flew at her, while one skimmed her left thigh.
She was relieved that the armor prevented any damage. Yet she still knelt down so the shield could fully cover her body. Bringing her rifle up again, she fired a few shots at the Howling's body. Though she couldn't hit the head, one of the bolts pierced the Thralls leg and sent it rolling forwards, wrapping its neck around itself once.
She stood and dropped the shield to fire a few more bolts at it, luckily hitting the head just after it let out a loud howl. Fearing for the worst, she checked the map to see the one she shot was dead, but the others were quickly running towards her.
"Caretaker, can you start on waking 23?" Wolf asked as she checked her ammo reserve.
『If you can hold them here, I can start on Alphas 023 to 027. The others will have to wait until the facility is cleared.』
"How long?" She asked as a Shreiker poked its dog-like head around the corner down the hall.
『For a full recovery, I need 45 minutes.』
"Alright, where ca-" Wolf paused as the dog-like head rose a few meters more, standing almost as tall as the hallway. With some large thuds, it stomped its way to the middle of the clearing to show off it's massive body.
It looked like a twisted necromancers dream project. Its bloated human body meshed with the fur and bones of several other species matched the 5 various legs it used to walk around.
Around its upper body wrapped thick, solid looking tar that she assumed was armor. With 3 bloated human arms holding some kind of rope with an animal carcass attached to the end that bleated like a sheep, it's 3 other limbs resembled the spiked tendrils she saw before and the shooting limb she saw on the Howling she just killed.
"I-I'll leave my crew to you, Caretaker." Wolf stuttered as she brought up her shield.
『I wish you swift victory Commander. May your Flame live on.』