South of Hadley's Hope
Scattered debris and dislodged wreckage littered the landscape just a few kilometers away from Hadley's Hope. Fire was still burning throughout the area. What was supposed to be a lush forest inhabited by unforgiving wildlife suddenly turned into two distinct structures separated by about a few walks away. One of which resembles the ill-fated colony.
A distinct pile of rubble begins to change shape, seemingly caving in by the change in terrain
In a few seconds, emerging from the pile of rubble is a human in tattered clothing, heavily covered in dust as he yelled in shock
It was Mike Harrigan
The man who had killed an otherworldly hunter. The man who had been given a hunter's respect. The man who had lived to tell the tale.
"Shit, that was one hell of a headache" he muttered while clutching his head in pain.
He took a few steps from where he had been lying. A long but shallow trench was present in his surroundings, extending from where the alien ship lied before. However, there's one thing that didn't make sense for Harrigan.
Where are the skyscrapers?
There was not a single modern architecture present in his eyes. It was just charred debris, broken concrete, and smashed light posts. Everything else was barren land…
And the burning wreckage of the ship he had hastily left back a while ago.
Harrigan immediately wasted no time and went to the wreckage. Once inside, he saw the interiors of the ship mangled by the force of the crash. Several skulls of different species were spread throughout the floor, some of them were smashed into pieces.
I got to check if any of these freaks are alive. Perhaps they can help me out in this place. Harrigan pondered, considering the fact that he knows he is in uncharted territory
Hello? Anyone alive?
He went further into the ship, reaching into the cockpit, and saw several corpses of the creatures that surrounded him before. Their bodies were full of deep wounds, and some are even mangled beyond recognition. Harrigan can't help but pity those creatures. Sure, one of them were responsible for the many grotesque deaths in the city of Los Angeles in a week, but compared to him, they're more disciplined.
One of those creatures seemingly lying dead in the cockpit seat suddenly opened their eyes and let out a weak growl that startled Harrigan. A shrapnel punctured his right chest, causing him to bleed heavily from it. Judging by their size and their greyish appearance, he recognizes him as the one who gave him the flintlock pistol.
He and Harrigan stare at each other momentarily. Then, to the latter's surprise, he disarms his plasma rifle mounted in his left shoulder, unbuckled the belt holding his sword, and hands it over to the man.
"Take... it…" repeating the exact same words he said as he tossed Harrigan his trophy.
Ironically, this was the last that came out of his mouth as he finally dropped his head, signaling the end of his life.
Harrigan let out a somber sigh as he mourned for him. He then took the weapons the dying Greyback gave to him and inspected it. To his surprise, they're pretty much lightweight compared to the guns he is used to.
"This shoulder gun isn't going to be much help to me, though I'm keeping it for training myself. This machete however…"
He then looked on to the left side of the cockpit and saw something that Harrigan considered to be a jackpot; Several advanced melee weapons mounted to the wall. Knowing he's the only person alive in this place, he needs everything he can get his hands on to survive.
Survival of the fittest… who am I to disagree
He immediately fitted himself with weapons from their arsenal.
A retractable spear with a tip that can be used as a projectile,
A pair of gloves with separate functions: a pair of daggers that can be launched towards a target in his left, and a pair of retractable swords in his right,
A sharp disc blade: the same type of blade that was used to bisect Peter Keyes and kill the City Hunter,
A mask that can detect people based on heat signature, and is used to guide the plasma gun, as he found out,
As a safety measure, he equipped himself with a sturdy yet lightweight armor taken from a dead predator.
Fully armed and ready to roll, Harrigan steps out of the burning wreckage and sets out north towards Hadley's Hope, where Night Raid are also headed from the opposite direction of the colony.
Hadley's Hope
South of the Empire
Susanoo guided the Air Manta to set down near the colony outskirts, a still forested area where the scouting party found the fallen sign. Once the landing is completed, Night Raid disembarked and began setting up camp.
"Lubbock. Use Cross Tails and setup a perimeter around all those buildings" ordered their commander while tethering up the Danger Beast.
She turns to Susanoo "Su. Go with him, help him get it done as fast as you can. I want nothing coming in or out without us knowing. Come back and defend the camp, afterwards."
Lubbock readies his Imperial Arm and places an arm around Susanoo's shoulder. Taking a massive leap, Susanoo effortlessly catapults the both of them around the colony's outlying perimeter.
Najenda then calls out to the rest of her subordinates "The rest of you assemble at the central tent when you're done."
After base camp was complete, the remaining members of Night Raid gathered inside a large tent at the center to hear their leader's mission briefing.
"We'll begin our search as soon as Lubbock and Susanoo return. I want this to go fast and thorough, starting with largest building."
Najenda opens the side of the tent and points towards the distant atmosphere processor "It's the most damaged and it's likely where the explosion originated from. So, it may be Our best chance at finding some answers pertaining to who or what did this."
Tatsumi looks out the tent's opening and gazes at the towering processing station. "It looks massive! Almost as big as the Imperial Palace." he said finally, and everyone else nodded in agreement.
Mine takes out her visor from Pumpkin's case and scans the station's outer structure "It got the highest heat signature compared to the other buildings."
Najenda looks at her "How hot is it?"
Mine presses a set of buttons on the side of her visor "Too hot for people to just walk in and look around without their skin melting off."
Night Raid's leader takes out a cigarette and lights it. After exhaling a cloud of smoke, she speaks "Leone. You and Tatsumi are the only ones whose Imperial Arms allow you to survive such extreme temperatures. So, it'll be you two, who will check the building's interior."
"Hear that Tatsumi? It'll be just the two of us, all alone inside that sauna." Leone says in a mock seductive tone. She hugs him from the side and pressing her chest against his cheek.
Mine shakes her head in annoyance, before looking back at her visor
"I see two entryways. Ones at ground level and the other is above it, close to the top."
Najenda pauses her smoking to think. She looks at Tatsumi, just as he manages to shove a giggling Leone off of him.
"Okay then!" she calls out to get everyone's attention "Here's how we'll proceed. Tatsumi, you take the top entrance. Search the upper levels and make your way towards the bottom"
"Yes ma'am" responded Tatsumi, as he ties Incursio's sword across his back.
"Leone, you take the ground entrance. Look for a basement level. If there is one, check and see how deep it goes."
"You got it, Boss!" Leone cracks her knuckles with enthusiasm.
Najenda turns to face the other members of Night Raid "The rest of you are with me. We're going to search the grounds surrounding the building. Akame, you take the West side. Mine, you get the North. Chelsea will be at the South, facing camp. And I'll search the East, where the entrance is."
All around her, the group began preparing for the task. Akame adjusts Murasame's sheath, tied to her waist. Mine took Pumpkin from its case and fitted it with a short barrel. Chelsea opened Gaea Foundation's compartment and took out a lollipop, unwrapped it and placed in her mouth.
Najenda finished her cigarette and threw it on the ground before stamping it underfoot. She looks up to see Lubbock and Susanoo come in through the tent's entrance.
"It's done Boss." reported Lubbock "The wires are in place." He shows the tightly wound threads, harnessed to his gloved hands
"Nothing's going anywhere without tripping on something."
Najenda smirked with satisfaction "Stay here and wait for my signal." she instructed "I'll light a fire; in case there's trouble. Then you and Su come and provide backup. If you detect a breach, light a fire on your end. Then me and the others will come back to you."
She then calls out to the others "Let's go people! We haven't a second to waste!"
Atmosphere Processing Station
Hadley's Hope
South of the Empire
They hiked along the barren landscape on which the colony stood, taking notice of the ground's odd texture and the colony's metallic construction.
"How can they build this place, using so much steel?" Tatsumi wondered out loud.
He then remembered his time as Esdeath's "captive" at the Imperial Palace "Not even the Empire has facilities built like this. As far as I seen, they've mostly been using stone."
"And look at the soil." Mine added "It's not charred or blackened by the blast."
She scoops up a handful of dirt in one hand. Using her other hand to adjust the controls on her visor, she scans the dirt sample "It's different from the forest soil back at camp, too greyish and too many different minerals in its composition."
The pink haired gunner dropped the sample, and wiped her hand against her pink dress "It's like this place is from a whole different world-"
"Cut the chatter and pick up the pace!" Najenda yells back at them
"We're almost there. Then you guys can go crazy looking for clues about this place."
Tatsumi and Mine became silent and ran to catch up with the rest of their group as they hastily marched towards the atmosphere processor.
They finally arrive near the front entrance, unable to continue due to the intense heat radiating from the station's interior.
"Gosh!" exclaimed Chelsea, as she held her hand out to test the high temperature "Would you feel that heat? It's like a furnace in there!"
Najenda walks up next to her redheaded subordinate and does the same. Frowning, she lowers her hand, then turned around to address her subordinates "This is about as far as the rest of us can go. Leone and Tatsumi, you're up…"
Leone steps forward, and activates her Imperial Arm, Lionelle, causing her to grow a lion's ears, claws and tail. Her short hair grows to near waist length, and all her natural senses and abilities are greatly enhanced. But what matters to her now is Lionelle's trump card, Regeneration.
As she makes her way through the processing station's entrance, Regeneration activates and replaces her overheated cells with new ones, thus cooling her body.
Leone looks back, and waves at her comrades to show that she's fine and dashes into the depths of the station.
Tatsumi stabs Incursio's sword into the ground and summons its armor to envelope his body. Clad in the Imperial Arm's silver and white armor plating, Tatsumi crouches and leaps upwards onto the station's metal surface. Using the momentum from his initial jump, he ran along the side of the structure and enters through the opening near the top.
After those two disappear from sight, Najenda looks at Akame, Chelsea and Mine
"They're on their own now and so are we. Each of you, go to your assigned area and begin searching. Leave no stone unturned."
Akame nearly vanishes, as she makes a full sprint around towards the west end of the complex. Mine slowly follows her in a steady jog, stopping once she reaches the north end. Chelsea turns to make towards the south end, when something scraped against her boot. Surprised and nearly tripping, she looks down and sees the half-buried frame of another signpost.
"Ma'am!" Chelsea calls out to Najenda "I think I found something!"
Her Commander approaches to see what the holdup was.
"Let's see, what we got here." says Night Raid's leader, as she and her subordinate began hauling the sign from out of the ground.
When they finished, Chelsea stepped back and began wiping her hands against her checkered skirt.
Najenda held the sign in front of them and started reading at the bottom of the sign
ATMOSPHERE PROCESSING PLANT. LV-426 TERRAFORMING PROJECT, WEYLAND-YUTANI CORP.
Najenda read the words "Building Better Worlds."
"What do you think it means?" asked Chelsea.
Najenda gently puts the sign aside and frowns "I don't exactly know. But I think Atmosphere Processing Plant refers to this building."
She points towards the station "It seems to be a vital component to whatever this LV-426 Terraforming Project is."
She then started to mull over the many questions brewing in the back of her mind "But what the hell does LV-426 and terraforming mean? And how can you process the atmosphere?"
Chelsea looks at the sign "Weyland-Yutani Corp. Do they look like a merchant guild?" her eyes scrolled over the last words "Building Better Worlds? Could they be referring to Empire?" she asks excitedly "Are they planning to overthrow it, like us and the Revolutionary Army?"
Najenda holds her chin in thought. It's likely they're the ones who built this place. But for what reason, and who exactly are they? A tribal nation? Military? Or, was Chelsea right, and they're just some sort of business conglomerate? Night Raid had just started this investigation, and they're coming up with more questions than answers.
"Well done, Chelsea. I think you found us our first clue about this mystery, but I feel we've only begun to scratch the surface. Now get to the south side and search the area. We need to gather more information." Najenda tells her subordinate, who nods and starts running towards the south of the atmosphere processor.
She resumes her own search efforts, hoping the other members of Night Raid are having better luck at finding something that can help shed some light on what exactly this place is.
Leone stands at the head of a stairwell leading down into the processing station's sub levels.
"Well! Looks like there's a basement here after all!" she declares excitedly.
Her trek through the station's corridors was uneventful, having been unable to find anything that may look like a clue to this building's purpose or it's apparent destruction. Whatever could have been useful here was already burnt beyond recognition, whether by the explosion or the radiant heat that lingered.
She felt her luck had changed when she spotted the stairs off to the side, after her path through the corridor came at a dead end. The path itself looked like it was making its way below ground. But, too much debris of fallen pipes and cable lines blocked her way, and it would've taken hours for her to clear it.
"Nowhere to go, but down!" she surmised, and with a grin, used Lionelle's beast strength to descend the stairs one level a time.
Upon landing at the bottom, Leone placed her hands against an ash covered wall to steady herself. When she pulled them back, some ash came away to reveal white letters.
"What do we have here?" she wondered, using the scarf she was wearing to wipe away the remaining ash.
When she finished, Leone stepped back to read the now visible lettering. "SUB-LEVEL. 03." She fidgeted
Three levels below ground, huh? I'll start here and make my way up through the other two above, to save time. She nods her head in confirmation.
Suddenly she spun around to her left, using her enhanced vision to peer into the gloom of Sub Level 3's darkness. What she saw next made her drop her grin and wear a face of surprise.
"What the hell is this!?" she exclaims.
The walls in front of her were covered in a thick resinous substance. Most of it was in puddles along the floor, oozing off the walls like it was melting. And it was spread out far throughout the bowels of Sub Level 3. But what got Leone's attention earlier, wasn't the mysterious substance. It was a scent. An all too familiar and just as repulsive scent, emanating from beyond the slime covered walkways.
Burnt flesh.
Burnt human flesh. Leone corrected herself.
As an assassin from Night Raid and a member of the Revolutionary Army, Leone has smelled her fair share of charred human corpses. Most often from the remains of destroyed villages that were unfortunate enough to incur the Empire's wrath, on suspicion of harboring its enemies.
"I have to check it out. Could be important." Leone told herself.
Determined to follow the sickening odor, she cautiously steps forward into seemingly organic and still unknown material.
The further Leone walked, the denser and more concentrated the material became. So did the heinous odor of burning corpses. She saw that the path she was traversing lead to a large opening at its end. Eagerly pushing forward to a less confining space, Night Raid's veteran assassin finally entered a large chamber.
Her relief was short lived after she looked up to observe her surroundings and discovered the source of the smell.
"Holy Shit! What the Fuck happened here!" Leone cried out, as she tried to make sense of the hellish scene displayed before her golden eyes.
All around her, plastered to the walls in grotesquely random order, were the incinerated remains of the colonists from Hadley's Hope.
Overwhelmed with disgust and nausea, Leone vomits the contents of her last drink. After expelling the bile and alcohol from her system, she raises her head to try to attempt another view of the colonists' remains. After a while of fighting her gagging reflex, she was able to overcome her initial shock.
"These must be the people who built this place." Leone wondered in horrified perplexity "But how many are there? A dozen? Two dozen? It's too many, maybe a hundred at least. And why the hell are they stuck on the walls covered in that shit?"
She approaches a handful of skeletal bodies clustered together on a nearby wall.
Different sizes and body shapes. Must be men, women and children. Didn't spare anyone, did they? Sick Fucks! she gazed at their skulls. Most of their mouths are wide open… they've been screaming. Was it out of terror? From being stuck down here, unable to escape the explosion? she asked herself. Unsure of her question
Leone takes one more look at the bodies around her. Then she stops suddenly when she saw the answer was in front of her.
All of the corpses had absolutely one thing in common. "The chest portion on their ribcage are broken open, right along the sternum." Leone realized.
She then takes a close look at the remains of what seems to be a large adult male and checks the wound.
"Ribs are bent outwards. They weren't stabbed or gutted, something inside them came bursting out!" her eyes strayed back to the skull portion "They were screaming in agony! This happened to them while they we're still alive!"
And with another sickening wave of nausea, Leone vomited once more.
Okay, I've had it! Time to go! with a sudden dash, Leone ran for the corridor she came in through and out of the nightmare filled chamber.
I have to tell Najenda! And the others, too! They need to know what went on in here. Someone or something got loose in this place, Hadley's Hope and captured everyone. Then, they covered them in all that snot and implanted something in their bodies to make their chest explode. It would've sounded farfetched to her if she hadn't seen the evidence herself.
A chill went up her spine when another thought crossed her mind. What if the ones that took those people are still around somewhere, looking for more victims?
"Not possible" Leone assured herself "The reported explosion should have wipe out anything in its vicinity."
Then she remembered. Nothing was wiped out. A small town appeared, instead.
And anything could've came with it. she realized.
With the aid of Lionelle's powers Leone breaks into a full-on sprint towards the staircase "Gotta warn them! We don't know what we might be up against!" She then began to urgently climb the stairs towards the surface