Chapter 63: ​Symphony of Iron

"Lead the way, Captain," Mei said, stepping into position at his flank. "I'm right behind you."

Shane gave a single, tight nod and signaled Elias forward. As Team Blaze’s vanguard, Elias stepped into the lead, unholstering his heavy tower shield with a resonant clang against his shoulder harness. He kicked open the heavy emergency hatch, revealing not a corridor, but a vast subterranean drop—a maze of interconnected gantries suspended over the darkness.

The gantry here was narrow, barely wide enough for two people to stand shoulder-to-shoulder. Its open-grid iron floor flexed and groaned under the weight of Elias's heavy plate armor and Shane's gear. Far below, the facility’s dying core flickered with a dull amber glow, casting grid-patterned shadows through the metal mesh beneath their boots.

Mei’s eyes tracked every line of cross-bracing. As an assassin, this environment was a precise deadly playground—linear walkways that choked off direct assaults, grease-slicked handrails for vaulting, and low-hanging conduits hissing with pressurized steam.

"Vanguard set," Elias grunted, planting his shield at the threshold as his eyes swept the narrow catwalk ahead. "Walkways are slick. Mind your balance."

Joshua moved up right behind Shane, his eyes keen as he brought his rifle to his shoulder, covering the high angles. "Elias, push slow. Mei, keep to the flank beams—use the overhead conduits for clearance if they choke the choke point. I'll call out targets."

"Got it, Vice Captain," Mei replied, her voice barely a whisper as she shifted her weight onto her toes, stepping lightly across the vibrating steel mesh to minimize noise.

"Watch your footing, everyone," Shane commanded from the center, his hand steady on his warhammer. "One bad slip and it's a long drop to the cooling tanks."

Above them, a sudden ping-clack of claws against hollow steel echoed through the structural beams. Dust rattled down through the overhead mesh.

"High, twelve o'clock!" Joshua called out, his rifle firing a burst of light into the darkness above.

The shadows stirred. The metal floor amplified every movement, hollow metallic clatters ringing out into the dark abyss as the next wave of stalkers closed in on their narrow line.