The night was perfect for the mission. Cold, quiet, and empty.
A single hospital stood against the vast skyline of Doitand, its white walls pristine, its windows reflecting the artificial glow of streetlights. To the ordinary eye, it was just another late-night medical facility. A place where nurses made rounds, doctors filled prescriptions, and emergency rooms stayed open to the unfortunate.
But the 3rd Unit knew better.
As they walked toward the entrance, they looked like nothing more than civilians—a group of friends perhaps, seeking medical attention for a late-night emergency. Their weapons, armor, and gear remained hidden within their spatial rings, but their bodies were primed for battle. Every movement controlled, every step calculated.
"We're clear," Vance's voice rang out through their mental link. "No increased security. No unusual movement. If they have anything underground, they're doing a damn good job keeping it hidden."
The team reached the entrance, and Garrick took the lead, pushing open the glass doors.
________________________________________
Inside, the hospital felt... wrong.
The air was too still, the atmosphere unnaturally sterile. The receptionist, a pale woman with tired eyes, looked up with a practiced smile that didn't quite reach her face. The fluorescent lights above buzzed faintly, casting a dim glow over the empty waiting area.
Empty.
That was the first red flag.
A hospital should never be this empty. Even at this hour, there should have been patients, nurses walking the halls, distant murmurs of night-shift staff. But the silence stretched long and deep, pressing against their senses like a heavy weight.
Garrick approached the receptionist, giving her a relaxed smile. "Hey, sorry for the late visit. Had a bit of an accident earlier. Just need a check-up."
The receptionist nodded, her tone polite but distant. "Of course. Do you have an appointment?"
While Garrick kept her attention, the rest of the team silently moved into position.
Selene closed one eye.
The world shifted.
Through her Locked-On skill, the hospital's walls became transparent, revealing the true layout beyond. She scanned the hallways, the patient rooms, the operating theaters.
Nothing.
Most of the rooms were empty.
She stiffened.
"Something's off," she whispered through their mental link. "The receptionist is lying. She says the hospital is active, but the rooms are barely occupied."
Across the lobby, Dante pressed his hand to the floor, his essence sinking into the ground.
His senses extended, mapping out the building's structure. The floors below… weren't normal.
"We've got an underground facility," Dante confirmed. "And it's big."
Meanwhile, Corbin observed the workers more closely. The doctors and nurses moved with eerily synchronized movements, their interactions forced and mechanical. And then he noticed it—the tattoos on the backs of their hands. Dark ink, twisting shapes, barely visible beneath their sleeves.
"The hospital staff isn't just in on this," Corbin muttered. "They're compromised."
Selene's eye caught movement. A hooded man entered a private doctor's office at the far end of the hall. Moments later, she watched as he pulled a book from the shelf, revealing a hidden elevator behind the wall.
She immediately relayed the information. "Hidden access point confirmed. Leads underground."
Garrick's jaw tightened. This was it.
________________________________________
Garrick took a step forward, his posture relaxed, but his muscles tense.
"Sir where are you heading to" the receptionist asked with a forced smile.
"I think I would just meet the doctor straight away, it is kind of important" he responded with a smile as he continued to walk towards the office when one of the male nurses stepped in front of him stopping him.
"Come on, don't you think it is a crime to obstruct a person from receiving proper check up, Garrick joked
The receptionist stilled. The nurses stopped walking. The doctors froze mid-step.
Then, one by one, they turned to face him.
"You should have left peacefully." the nurse said as a dagger fell out the sleeve of his lab coat
All hell broke loose
Garrick moved first.
Garrick took a step forward, his posture relaxed, but his muscles tense.
"Sir, where are you heading to?" the receptionist asked with a forced smile.
"I think I would just meet the doctor straight away. It is kind of important," he responded with a smile as he continued to walk toward the office when one of the male nurses stepped in front of him, blocking his path.
"Come on, don't you think it is a crime to obstruct a person from receiving proper medical attention?" Garrick joked.
The receptionist stilled. The nurses stopped walking. The doctors froze mid-step.
Then, one by one, they turned to face him.
"You should have left peacefully," the nurse said as a dagger slipped from the sleeve of his lab coat.
All hell broke loose.
Garrick moved first.
________________________________________
The air cracked with energy as the disguised medical staff shed their pretense, revealing Embers of Emberfall hidden in plain sight.
Peak Rank 2s and early Rank 3s.
The nurse lunged, dagger aimed for Garrick's throat, but before he could strike, Garrick's spear materialized in his grip. With a single, brutal motion, he drove it through the man's chest, lifting him off his feet before slamming him into the ground.
Blood pooled beneath the body.
Selene moved.
She retrieved her sniper pistol artifact from her spatial ring, its sleek design glowing with faint blue runes. With one eye closed, she fired.
Her ice bullet tore through the skull of an approaching Ember, freezing his body mid-motion before he shattered into pieces.
Not a single shot missed.
April swung her halberd in a circular motion, the blades coming alive with flaming heat as they cleaved through various embers left and right. A fiery whip approaching her as she skillfully spun the halberd changing the directions of the whip and slicing off the hand of the female ember that held it.
Two more Embers charged at Dante, their aura flaring with violent heat.
Dante smirked, slamming his palm into the ground. The tiles beneath them cracked and split as jagged earth spikes erupted, impaling the attackers where they stood. Their bodies spasmed before falling still.
Corbin dodged an incoming fireball, twisting mid-air before sending a wind-infused kick into the caster's ribs. The Ember flew across the room, crashing through a metal door with bone-snapping force.
Vance directed his drones, hacking into the enemy's communication implants. The tattoos on the Embers' arms flickered, their essence flow disrupted, making their attacks sluggish.
One final Ember—a towering brute nearly reaching Rank 3's peak—roared and rushed toward Garrick.
Garrick exhaled, his grip tightening on his spear.
As the brute swung a heavy fist, Garrick sidestepped at the last second, his spear slicing clean through the Ember's exposed throat.
The brute gurgled, his lifeblood spilling onto the floor as he collapsed.
Within minutes, the lobby was silent once more.
Garrick tore his spear from the last fallen body. "We're going down."
The elevator was waiting.
---
The Underground Lab
Far below, deep within the underground facility, alarms blared.
Scientists rushed about in panic, their hands flying across glowing control panels. One of them ran toward a lone figure standing before a massive containment tube.
Inside the tube, a Scion floated—its body eerily still, curled in the fetal position.
The progress bar on the monitor read 89%.
The scientist stammered. "They've breached the entrance! We need to evacuate—"
The lead scientist raised a hand, silencing him.
He didn't move.
His eyes remained locked on the Scion.
"No," he said, smiling faintly. "We wait."
A soft chime filled the room.
The elevator had arrived.
The doors slid open.
And the 3rd Unit stepped into the large lab.