[Kitsuna POV]
"What did they say was in the ruins?" Rin asked from the back.
"A weapon of some sort," Brenda said, looking at the open entrance.
I stared at her.
"A weapon of some sort?"
"That is what the documents said."
"That is not a description, Brenda. That is someone giving up halfway through their job."
Rin snorted behind us.
Brenda ignored her and looked at the doorway again.
The stone had opened just enough for us to enter. Not wide. Not welcoming. Just enough to say, fine, come in and die if you're stupid.
The air coming out was old and dry. Not Dead Forest old. Not rotten. Just the smell of an old room, like it had been closed for too long and was annoyed we opened it.
"Formation," Brenda said.
Everyone moved.
Rin and Brit took the front. Brenda stood behind them with Olivia close to her. Toma and Sarian moved to the sides. Sirone stayed near the middle, watching everyone like she was already planning who would be annoying to treat later. Chinada stayed at the back. Apricot and Nekro stayed close together.
I moved near Apricot and Nekro again.
Observation.
Still a shit job.
Apricot sent her puppet in first. It stepped through the entrance, tiny feet clicking softly on the stone. Then it stopped and turned its head around like it was listening.
"The first few meters are clear," Apricot said, moving her puppets out of the way for Brit and Rin to do proper trap searching.
"Clear or clear enough?" Brenda asked.
"Clear."
"Not the same thing," Brit muttered.
"I gave you the answer. Now do your job," Apricot said, visibly annoyed by Brit's remark.
Brenda nodded. "We go in slow. No one touches anything unless I say so."
Rin lowered her hand.
I looked at her.
She looked back at me. "What?"
"You already wanted to touch something."
"I did not."
"You did."
Brit nodded once. "She did."
Rin sighed. "Hey, don't betray me like that."
"It's the Captain. I can't lie to her," Brit said.
"Move," Brenda said before they could keep going.
'They talk a lot of shit while they are right in front of the unknown,' I thought, quite annoyed by how they were acting. Worst part, that's why I liked them. They were just like me.
We entered the ruins.
The passage bent left, then right, and then opened into a long room.
It looked like it used to be important. Now it was mostly broken stone and dust pretending it still had dignity.
Half the pillars were stumps. The rest leaned badly. Dust covered the floor in a flat sheet, except near the far end, where old drip marks had dried into pale streaks on the stone. The air smelled like dry metal and dirt.
Brit moved, keeping low and ready for anything while checking the corners. She didn't rush. She checked high, low, and then the gaps between the broken pillars.
"Left clear," she said.
"Right, clear," Rin added behind her.
They moved like a well-oiled machine. No one talked, but each of them knew what the other was going to do.
Brenda looked at the entrance behind us, where Chinada was still standing, keeping an eye outside. "Let's move, guys."
Chinada pulled out a collapsable panel and set it near the doorway. Not high, but if someone came in, they would make noise.
Apricot crouched besides the doorframe and sent her puppet up close. Thin wires came out from its hands and started running across the entrance.
I watched them for a second.
"Hmm."
Apricot looked up. "What?"
"That is dirty, in a good and lethal way."
She smiled. "Thank you, Mum."
"Stop calling me that."
"But it was a compliment."
"It was half a warning."
Nekro's mouth twitched.
"If they rush, it slows them and notifies us. If they dismantle it, the wires will let us know. Either way, it works."
Olivia went down on one knee near the centre of the chamber and set her tool on the ground. It gave a low hum that went straight into my teeth.
I clicked my tongue. "That thing sounds awful."
Olivia did not look up. "It is supposed to sound awful."
"Why?"
"Because it will send out all the unknown critters to us."
"If you say so."
"It is doing its job."
"Still sounds like angry pipes."
Olivia adjusted something, and the sound dropped a little. Well, maybe for them. For me, it sounded the same, just a bit muffled.
"Better?"
"No."
She ignored me.
Sirone moved through the squad with water and quick checks. She touched Rin's wrist, then Brit's, then Toma's. Quick pulse checks. Nothing dramatic.
When she got to me, she held out a squeeze pack.
"No."
"Drink."
"I'm fine."
"You are colder than normal."
"I am always cold."
"You are colder than usual."
I stared at her.
She stared back.
I took the pack.
"Bossy healer."
Ignoring my remark, Sirone looked at me, waiting.
'Tch'. I thought, taking the pack and drinking it before she could say anything more annoying.
It didn't change anything. No use for me.
Brenda waited until everyone had settled.
Chinada checked the far side of the room again. "No movement."
Mia crouched near the wall and looked at the old marks carved into the base stones. Ava held the lamp low for her.
"Magic spells?" Brenda asked.
"Old ones," Mia said. "Weak. Not active from what I can see."
Olivia glanced over. "Dormant is not dead."
"Yeah, because that makes me feel better," Rin muttered.
Brit touched her shoulder. "Don't poke them."
"I wasn't going to poke them."
Everyone looked at her.
Rin threw up her hands. "Fine, maybe I thought about poking them."
"That is how stupid people die," I said, narrowing my eyes at her.
She pointed at me. "You keep saying that."
"And yet you keep trying."
"Captain, I am being bullied."
"Good."
Nekro looked down, hiding a smile badly.
Apricot did not even try to hide hers.
The chamber gave a low pulse under our feet.
Olivia lowered her hand over her device. "Hold."
The hum from her tool changed slightly. The old pulse under the floor answered after a second.
"Well?" Brenda asked.
"It's under us," Olivia said. "Not in the walls. Something below this floor or deeper in the ruin. It noticed the door opening, I think."
"Active?"
"Not really. Just humming, waiting, I guess."
"For us?"
"Probably, yes."
"I hate that answer," Rin said.
"Most true answers are annoying," Olivia replied.
Sirone knelt and placed her palm close to the stone, not touching the runes. "It feels awake, but not angry."
"Buildings can be angry now?" Rin asked.
I looked at her. "Have you met old buildings? They are always angry."
Brit nodded. "That is true."
Brenda looked towards the far end of the chamber. There was another door there. Or more like a crack in the stone that wanted to pretend it was not a door.
"We move before it decides we are enemies," Brenda said.
Before we moved, Brenda's wrist crystal blinked.
She tapped it.
A small image appeared above it. A woman with dark hair tied back looked through the projection. Her face was sharp, and her eyes looked like she had already judged everyone before they started talking.
I liked her a little for that.
"Brenda," the woman said.
"Veila," Brenda answered. "We are inside the first chamber."
"Good. Federation movement update. Two follow-on teams from the south ridge. One moving fast. One taking the longer route."
"How long?" Brenda asked.
"The fast team could reach the entrance in ninety minutes if they keep up their current pace. The other one maybe two hours."
Veila's eyes shifted slightly. "Also, remember to put that device of Olivia's away. It's showing on our relays like a beacon."
Olivia winced. "How badly?"
"Badly enough to irritate me. You need to optimise that thing. Bring it to me after your mission," Veila said, cutting the call there.
Olivia nodded. "Understood."
"We couldn't even answer her?" Brenda muttered, annoyed.
Rin looked at the empty projection space. "I like her."
"You like anyone rude."
"That is not true."
Brit looked at her.
Rin sighed. "Fine. Mostly true."
Brenda turned back to the chamber. "We are on a clock."
"Yes, ma'am."
Olivia switched the device off and put it away because, well, she was told to do so.
"At least someone agreed with me," I said.
"It's not bad," Olivia said.
"It's annoying. That's enough."
Apricot walked to the far end of the room and pushed some button, making a clicking sound.
The crack opened just enough for cold air to slide out.
Brit moved in first to check the gap. She did not step through fully. Just enough to look.
"Stairs," she said. "Down. No movement visible."
"Traps?" Brenda asked.
"Not from here."
Brenda looked at the squad.
"Formation stays. Rin and Brit are at the front. I follow. Olivia, close. Sirone keeps pace. Toma and Sarian behind. Mia and Ava mark the path. Apricot and Nekro keep the rear veil. Chinada watches the back and anything coming from the sides."
Then she looked at me.
"You stay near me and watch. You do not take command."
"I know."
"I am saying it anyway."
"Brenda, if I take command, you will know. There will be more yelling."
Rin whispered, "That is true."
Brenda ignored her.
"Move."
We started through the far door.
The stairs were shallow and squared off, turning left after a few steps. The railing was too low to be useful, which made me wonder if the people who built this place were short, stupid, or just hated knees.
Mia marked the first step with chalk.
Ava kept the lamp low.
The air got cooler for the first few steps, then warmer after the turn.
That was annoying.
"Temperature shift," Sirone said quietly.
"Noted," Brenda answered.
I stopped walking for half a second.
Brenda noticed. "Problem?"
"That beat is shit."
Olivia nodded. "I feel it too. Four regular, one irregular."
"Trap?" Rin asked.
"Maybe," Brit said, looking forward.
"You say maybe too much."
"Because ruins are rude and don't explain themselves."
We kept moving.
The stairs turned again and ended at a narrow landing.
Ahead was another chamber, darker than the first one. I could see a walkway along one side and a drop beyond it.
Brenda held up her hand.
Everyone stopped.
"Chinada."
Chinada moved forward, rifle low, and looked through the opening.
"Walkway on the right wall. Drop on the other side. Bigger room beyond. No visible movement."
"How far down?"
"Enough that falling would be stupid."
"All falling is stupid," Rin said.
"Some falling is tactical," Toma added, with a shrug.
Everyone looked at him.
He added again, a bit awkwardly. "Rarely."
Brenda looked into the room herself, then stepped back.
"Let's go."
Let the squad show where they were good and where they were being idiots.
So far, Brenda had missed the special unit outside, but she was correcting better now. Not perfect. Not bad either.
The ruin pulsed again under my boots.
I clicked my tongue.
"This place is going to piss me off."
Apricot looked at me. "It already has."
"True."
Brenda glanced at us. "Focus."
"Yes, ma'am," Apricot said sweetly.
I narrowed my eyes at her.
She smiled.
Little shit.
We waited at the landing while the next chamber hummed below us.
The Federation was behind us somewhere.
The ruin was awake enough to be annoying.
And Stacy had somehow managed to give me a mission where doing nothing was harder than fighting.
Wonderful.
Just fucking wonderful.