I saw the barrels of the gun glowing moments before bolts of energy shot out at me from a dozen directions. Not paying any attention to it, I allowed Celeste to handle the defense. “Let me try this out…” She said in a playful voice, and an array of blue hexagonal shields spread out around me to intercept the incoming attacks. The shielding method looked similar to the shield ships that the New Human Empire uses, so it was likely she copied the idea from them. As for me, I decided to try to take a lesson from someone else, as well. Stretching out my mana, I connected with the auras of the various humans surrounding me. Then, exercising control over the time mana which exists in all things, I simply stopped their hearts. Doing so used a fair amount of mana, but nothing that I could not afford. All around me, people dropped their weapons, bringing their hands up to grip their chests with looks of pain on their face. Their bodies slumped forward, but refused to fall from their previous positions. This was likely due to their hearts being frozen in time, unable to be moved with them until I cancelled the effect. As soon as I did so, they each fell to the ground, and I continued moving forward. “That was Tokemi’s trick, right?” Celeste asked, causing me to nod my head. Although I had never really used time mana before in combat, I knew the idea behind it. Even more so when it was stuff like that, which I had heard of Tokemi doing herself. Am I just holding myself back? I thought curiously as I marched forward. “John!” I heard an irritated Sharon calling out from behind me as she charged forward, apparently already merged with one of her rabbit companions. Her ears had elongated, moving to the top of her head and gaining the typical white fur. “We’re here!” Behind her were Yin and Yo, so it seemed like the whole team had been gathered. I nodded my head slightly to her, before turning towards the door at the opposite end of the large metal room. “Celeste is still mapping the area, so I’m not sure which way to go.” In the corner of my vision, I saw another prompt appearing, alerting me that Thalia was trying to reach me. Likely, she was annoyed that I didn’t answer when she called earlier, but I still didn’t really have the time to talk. “Alright.” Sharon said, moving to stand next to me. “We’ll talk about your going off on your own later. Let’s do what we came for and get out.” “Guys, I’ve mapped a section of the facility.” Celeste called out, speaking through the power armor she had turned into so that everyone can hear. “I haven’t seen a single Orik, so this is almost definitely not a main outpost. Everyone inside the facility is human. Furthermore, many of their appearances are identical, meaning that there is a high chance that they are entities purchased from the system.” “That’s… quite a lot of expense to put into this.” Yo spoke up, tilting her head and raising a slimebrow in a look of confusion. “Why would they be willing to spend so much gold for that?” Celeste shook my head, which felt really annoying by the way, and continued. “I don’t know. It probably has to do with our reason for being here. I’ll let you know when I find anything else.” Everyone nodded their head, and we continued forward. In the next room, we were almost ambushed by the same cloaking technology they had originally shown us at the Qu’Lopti homeworld. However, this time we had Celeste, who could monitor for such things. When she alerted me of the three assassins, I didn’t hesitate to stop their hearts as simply as I had the men in the last room. It wasn’t until nearly five minutes later, after we had passed through at least ten rooms, when we ran into a real problem. Until that point, I had been able to deal with whatever appeared without even worrying about the others interfering. However, I was surprised to find that I was suddenly unable to use my elemental manipulation. “What’s going on, Celeste?” I asked, looking to the three humans in front of me who had most definitely not dropped dead like I wanted them to. “I… don’t know? Dammit, it seems like they had countermeasures in place after all.” I couldn’t really blame Celeste for not being able to sense that, because it was not something we completely understood yet. However, it did cause Sharon and Yin to take action. Sharon sped forward, her body turning into a blur as she appeared between two of the men, growing long blades from her gloves that immediately severed their necks. Meanwhile, Yin had… the easiest way to describe it is crushing. Regardless, the third assailant was now little more than meat paste on the floor. “Looks like it’s our turn.” Sharon said with a small grin, and I could only nod in agreement. Although I also had equipment that I could use, it was primarily designed to assist my elemental manipulation, or mimic it in some way. With my own powers sealed, it was likely my gear wouldn’t be of much use. As such, I moved to the back of the group with Yin, while Yo and Sharon advanced in the front. Even without my elemental powers, I still had Nature Magic to heal them with. Well, not like they would really need much healing. Thankfully, powerful individuals are likely way too expensive to place in this facility, if they were bought through the market. With nobody truly strong enough to fight back, our progress was unhindered until Celeste’s silver sand had mapped out the entire facility. When there was just a small percentage left to explore, she sent a warning to the rest of the group. “I think I’ve found the path we have to take, but there is a barrier before the final door.” I could tell from her tone that she was frustrated by that fact. “I can’t get through it, or any of the vents leading past.” Sharon seemed almost bored as she watched Yo tear down a steel door with her bare hands. “Is there anyone we need to worry about?” She asked, looking in my direction. “I have identified one individual that seemed to be unusual for this facility. His position is just before the final door, and he seems to be guarding it.” Yo turned back as she heard that, throwing the door she was holding down to the floor. “And? What’s so strange about him?” It was likely unusual for her to kill so many people with the same face so quickly, so Yo might be eager to fight someone unique. After her question, a blue hologram appeared in the center of the small room we were in, projected by my armor. The hologram showed a single man, with a tall, muscular build. However, I could not say that he was entirely human. Over a quarter of his head, as well as both arms and legs, had been replaced with sleek machinery. No doubt, this man was a cyborg, and the first I had seen from the New Human Empire. “I don’t have enough of me in the area to make a scanning tool and find his level, but he is most likely the commander of the facility. At the very least, he is someone near the top. His power should be considerable, so I want you all to be careful, okay?” That last sentence held no small amount of worry, even though we were in clone bodies. Nobody knew the weaknesses of these bodies better than Celeste, after all. “...Alright.” Sharon nodded. “Show us the way.” At this point, I became little more than a healing robot following them around. When it comes to commanding teams, Sharon undoubtedly has more experience, so I did not feel bad following her lead. Celeste, however, seemed to take some pity on me. In the corner of my view, the map she had been creating of the facility expanded, the path we needed to take highlighted for me. Looks like I’ve become the official navigator. Now that I didn’t have to concentrate on fighting, I saw that Thalia was once again trying to reach me. This time, I didn’t really have a reason to refuse to answer, because all I was doing was giving out directions. “Kind of busy at the moment. What’s up?” I asked as I answered the call. “John, we have a problem!” Thalia’s panicked voice came through over the call. Hearing her tone, I immediately took this seriously. “What’s wrong?” “There’s been a rebellion! Maeve and I are trapped in her castle!” Thalia had even dropped the royal manner of speech, which would have let me know this was major, even if the contents themselves did not paint a clear enough picture. “The guards suddenly started attacking us, and we were forced to hide underground. I think… I think that they might be assassins from the Empire!” I could hear her voice cracking up, as if she was only moments away from breaking down in tears. “It’s alright. I’ll call some people, they’ll be there soon.” Thankfully, some of our crew had decided to get off at Gerin originally, rather than joining us. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to offer any help at all. “But tell me, what exactly happened?” As we continued to progress through the facility, Celeste made my helmet soundproof so that I could listen to Thalia’s explanation. I wasn’t sure if she was explaining things to the girls or not, but we continued moving at a faster pace. “Maeve called me a few hours ago to visit, saying that she was worried. That she thought her court wasn’t safe. I rushed over as fast as I could, but by the time I got here, she was already being attacked. By her own guard, even!” “I wouldn’t have been able to save her, if it wasn’t for this dress. Oh Circle, I’ve never been so happy to be stuck in it. I grabbed her and ran, and we escaped into the tunnels beneath the castle. I can still hear them running around outside, looking for us. I don’t know if we’ll be able to last until help arrives…” I could hear broken sobs over the end of her explanation, and I knew that this timing couldn’t be a coincidence. Is that what this quest is about? To somehow save Maeve and Thalia? But, what could this base possibly have to do with that? “It’ll be okay, Thalia. I might be able to help. Don’t ask how, I’m not sure myself. Just trust me, nothing bad is going to happen to you.” I tried to speak as confidently as I could, while in my mind I was wanting us to rush faster and faster. As if responding to my wish, the girls looked in my direction, faces displaying shock. The three of them each gave a quick nod to whatever Celeste had told them, and we practically ran through the rooms. Rather than waiting for Sharon or Yo to bash down the doors, Yin would rip them out of their positions with her telekinesis before we even approached them, and Sharon would speed through to quickly kill whoever was inside the room before we moved on. Doing this caused Yin quite a lot of mental strain, requiring me to cast recovery magic on her regularly, but it drastically increased the speed we progressed. In under a minute, we were approaching the room where Celeste had been unable to progress her scans. Just as before, Yin ripped the door off and threw it to the side, while Yo and Sharon charged in. By now, Celeste had allowed me to hear what was going on outside, though I still hadn’t hung up from the call with Thalia. I thought, maybe keeping the call going would reassure her, even if we weren’t speaking. Just having a friendly voice ready to tell her everything would be alright. “Hah! You finally made it here, time to-gah! Hey, let me finish!” The cyborg commander shouted out as Sharon appeared in front of him, stabbing out with her bladed glove. He hurriedly raised one hand to block, the blade unable to penetrate his metal limb. “Maybe later.” I said, not wanting to waste time with this. I knew that I was probably going to suffer for this, but I stretched my psychic energy to cover him, while Celeste warned Sharon and Yo to back off. “That’s better, where was I? Oh ye--” The cyborg suddenly vanished from his position. Sharon turned to look questioningly at me, but my head was currently being assaulted by a jackhammer. Or, that’s what it felt like after using Toy Prison on someone for the first time. And, going by the distinct coppery taste in my mouth, I should not do this again too soon. I tried to focus on healing my own broken head, while the girls made quick work of the door that led to our prize. “Almost there, Thalia. Just a little bit more…” I groaned out, moving forward with the others into a dimly lit room. In front of me, Sharon and Yo had frozen midstep, causing me to wonder what was going on. It wasn’t that they had entered a trap or anything, as their bodies were still shaking slightly. I didn’t quite understand until I saw past them, and into the darkness. This room was much more expansive than any other that we had been in, at least a hundred meters from end to end. All along the wall, people were strung up by their wrists. Bruises and cuts were spread out over their bodies, and many lacked any semblance of clothing. Among them were humans, elves, dwarves, fairies, demons, halflings, kleptids, drakes. Every race of the alliance, aside from the Deus Ex, Qu’Lopti, and Ha’Vosh. However, what caught my attention the most wasn’t the assortment, but rather one particular face in the crowd ahead of us. One of the elves with her head held down, silvery hair matted with blood obscuring half her face. “Thalia…” I couldn’t help but speak out as I looked at the figure. “What…?” I heard her asking, her tone still one of worry. “That’s not Maeve!” I called out as I rushed towards the familiar, albeit battered figure of High Queen Maeve chained to the far wall. “What do you--” The call abruptly ended before she could finish her sentence, and I could only watch my friend’s list, hoping that Thalia’s name wasn’t removed from it.