Shoutout to Ehkemos who donates powerstones on a daily basis.
"They don't seem to have detected our presence yet. That's sure to change the moment we start deactivating the access ports." Mina says.
Sojourn looks worried at her words. The original plan involved much more troops, and this one required the upmost care that none of them got caught. From looking at Mina's face, I didn't need to read her bioelectricity to know that she was scared, given that this was her first ever time in combat.
Touching Sojourn and Mina's shoulder, I send signals in their bioelectricity to calm them down. "Listen, guys, we're the best bet at completing this mission. Plus, I'm sure we've been in way more stressful situations than this. We got this." I say to alleviate their worries.
They both nod their head, as Mina continues with the instructions. "Right, so the nearest terminal is here on the first floor. The second is on the same floor towards the back of the facility with the third and fourth on higher floors. The final one is dead center in the heart of the omnium."
An explosion from outside rocks the building, sending a small quake. "I don't think we have that much time. I suggest we all go to the first one together, then separate as we each deactivate a point, then meet up at the final one in the center." Jack suggests.
"In that case, I'll stick with Mina." I offer. They easily agree, and Mina lets out a breath of relief. She really didn't want to have to do this alone. To Sojourn, with the luck the mission has been and how they usually go, this was basically a Hail Mary. Nevertheless, there were little options in the matter, this plan would have to do.
So, without further ado, we proceeded towards the location of the first access point. Jack was in the lead, with Sojourn following, and Mina behind her, with me covering the flank. They would attentively listen for my hushed calls to halt if I sensed any patrolling omnics coming our way. It was imperative that we encounter no resistance yet, as reinforcements could easily collapse on us from outside.
Within minutes, we come across a dark room, with the only lights coming from the massive computers that contained all the stored data within the facility.
"It should take us around five minutes to complete this." Mina whispers. Nervously, she begins typing on the computer as we wait around the door, to protect her from any threats. The five minutes feels like it takes forever as some computers power down, stopping their hum. No sooner does that happen when I begin to feel the approach of omnics.
"We got company." I warn them as I draw my katana and everyone tenses. From down the hall, we can hear the familiar clomping of the Bastion units coming to stop us.
"Be careful of your gunfire. One stray bullet, and you could blow all of us up in here." Mina warns.
I hadn't forgotten about that, which is why I drew my sword instead of the gun. Jack and Sojourn lower theirs as they hear what she says.
"In that case, we should take advantage of that and go our separate ways. I think we'll get caught if we can't shoot them." Jack suggests. As I'm the only one suited to engage them in close combat, they agree. Sojourn is capable too, but she doesn't know it yet.
Since they haven't reached us yet, Jack and Sojourn rush out of the room, heading off towards their access points, but Mina hesitates.
"Let's, go Mina." I shout, snapping her out of her moment of stupor.
She darts from the computer and tries to head out the door, but a Bastion reaches it at the same time. It strikes out at her, hitting her in her shoulder hard enough to launch her into the wall. Grabbing her, and helping her to her feet, we take off down the hall.
Only once we get a safe enough distance away from them do I take a look at her shoulder. She winces as I look at the bruise forming where she was hit. Truthfully, I obviously could have saved her from getting hit, but as Zenyatta says, 'Pain is a good teacher.' If they were shooting, she would have been dead, and this was a good lesson about hesitation in a fight.
"You know why you got hit there right?" I ask.
She looks away in shame. "Yeah, I got too scared and froze up."
"I'll heal it up and relieve your pain for you." I say and she nods her head. I spend the next few seconds sending signals to her bioelectricity to speed the healing process on her wound. After I'm finished, she flexes her arm.
"Thanks, hopefully you won't have to do that again." She says.
"Hopefully. Welp, let's go do our part." I tell her.
With a newfound courage, she nods her head and we set out towards our access point.