O.C. Saar
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Omega Release | Chapter 13: Infiltration
🕑 Added 2025-06-02 18:13:01 +0000 UTCAren’s sounds of amazement roused me from my sleep. Opening my eyes, I saw a gigantic, swirling orange-red eye staring back at me. Seems like the kid got tired of playing with the display and chose to show our surroundings.
“Hello to you, too, Jupiter,” I grunted, getting up and stretching.
“This is amazing,” Aren said, words I’m sure he had been holding back until now starting to spill out of his mouth. “I went once to the western edge of the ring and saw a little of Jupiter underneath us, but this is the first time I've seen the planet so clearly! This is awesome!”
“Yep,” I said, mustering the strength needed to get up and order an iced coffee from the fab.
“A few minutes before you woke up, I saw the Inner Ring pass by us, too!”
“Oh?” I asked, sipping on my drink, already starting to feel my laconic state washed away in a tide of sweet, creamy caffeine.
“Yeah! It was covered in green! Kind of weird, to be honest. Only other time I saw a place being so green was when Sizzler found an abandoned facility made purely of copper in the lower levels of the Topside.”
“A facility made of pure copper? Weird.” I said, letting Aren get it all out of his system.
“Yeah, it was really weird, but there are all sorts of strange facilities hidden in the corridors of the lower levels, so who cares?” He shrugged. “Boss ordered to dismantle the whole thing. Apparently, he made a tidy profit off of it, too.”
“Yeah, well,” I stretched, finishing my coffee. “Consider yourselves lucky that place hadn’t been turned into a nest by a Shardmaw.” I tapped on my watch, and a window with a countdown until we reached our destination opened before me. Seems like I had good timing. A few minutes later, Jupiter disappeared above us as we entered a run-down transport station.
“Masks on,” I told the kid, commanding my mask to appear. The mask covered my face instantly, and the screens that showed the world around me in perfect clarity turned on.
Aren clicked the button on his helmet, and a shimmering blue field appeared around his head. I nodded in satisfaction. He nodded back, looking nervous.
“Let’s go.”
We got out of the car and found my bike waiting for us outside the building. Zone 34 had been practically abandoned for years, the Middle Ring Corporation, which owned this zone, going out of business ages ago, so aside from a couple of windows that still had a light on, all was shrouded in shadow. The rotation of Jupiter and the rings meant it was nighttime here, while the Topside enjoyed the sun to its fullest. That suited us and our ends just fine.
We took off and headed toward Zone 31, steering clear of the other, significantly more populated zones. Soon enough, we had reached our destination. I landed the bike and put it in silent mode, slowly but soundlessly driving down a planned-out route. Aren’s face got increasingly pale as we drove down silent and dark streets, and his hands started shaking a little when I parked the bike in a dark alley that smelled faintly of what I hoped to be vinegar. I leaned down and whispered to him.
“Don’t worry. We’ll be fine. I have a plan. Now follow me.” He nodded shakily at me.
We walked down the alley and found a tiny opening in a wall. Squeezing through, we found ourselves facing a door, the walls to the left and right giving this space a claustrophobic feeling, even if it was open to the air.
I wrote a message in a window and sent it to Aren’s Novas. I didn’t dare make a sound.
[Message]
[Raziel]: Through this door is an abandoned shop. Scout drones saw that it was missing a wall facing the warehouse. If we keep our heads down, we’ll be able to observe the movements of the Priests and time our entrance. We can do this.
Aren took a slow, deep breath, set his jaw, looked at me like a soldier prepared to march to his death, and nodded.
We quietly and slowly opened the door just enough for us to be able to pass through, immediately dropping to a crawl. We moved slowly through what seemed to be a grocery store and got to the hole in the wall. It was big enough for both of us to go through, but the warehouse lights cast a shadow that hid this imperfection. Looking around, I saw that the building was fully illuminated, although I couldn’t see anyone in the rooms I could look into. To the left, I could see a lunchroom with four large windows on each of its two walls. In front of the south wall stood a priest. From this angle, I could only see the red hooded robe that covered him. So, a male priest. He was mechanically looking from left to right, diligently making sure that the southeast corner of the building was protected.
A few heartbeats later, another priest appeared on the northeastern side. That side only had two windows that showed a dimly lit storage space for small packages. The priest was patrolling the backside of the building, even though it was facing a series of shops and nothing more.
I observed the timing of when the priest assigned to the back side would come in our direction and when he would be on the far end of the building. The priest on the left posed an issue as well, as he would occasionally turn enough that he almost faced us. Any noise would give us away if he happened to be turned in our direction. I waited for a few more heartbeats to get the timing just right and used a slingshot to shoot two small disks, one to the left of us and one to the right.
I signaled to Aren to get ready to move. He looked like he was about to be sick, but his gaze had a steely glint. The disks flew true, the one to the left flying silently ahead of the priest, above his gaze. The disk shot to the right and flew in a curve above the priest, who was, at that moment, facing away from us to return to the other side of the building. He headed for the shutters of what looked like a noodle shop. Right before he hit them, I activated the disks. The one on the right made a noise like someone had slammed into the shutters. At the same time, the one on the left projected the sound of someone running away from the priest as it flew into the street.
Both baleful creatures reacted instantly, running towards the nearest noise they could hear, jumping over the two-meter fence effortlessly. As soon as they started moving, we did too. We hurried over to the fence surrounding the warehouse, and I took out the wire cutters. The cutters grabbed the wire to dampen the vibrations and cut a hole in the fence noiselessly. We got through the fence without being noticed, and I took out a pea-sized ball of putty using it to reattach the wire mesh we had cut off to the rest of the fence. It would last an hour before the putty’s strength gave way to gravity, but that was plenty of time for us.
We rushed over to the right of the two windows of the storage room, and I started to pry it open gently. We didn’t have much time. The priest on back-alley duty was already walking back to his post. Aren was violently shaking next to me, wringing his hands. The lock on the window clicked a few times, but as I was about to open the window, I heard the priest’s steps approaching us. He was about to turn the corner. I stopped my break-in attempts and reactivated his decoy disk. I was hoping he hadn’t found it. As it turns out, he had. The birthday song, which started playing, sounded like it was five steps away. Still, thank Terra, the unexpected sound made the Priest drop it and jump back. I heard the disk landing further away and the telltale whirring sound of one of the Priests preparing to fire his weapon. I timed pulling the window open perfectly as the sound of the lock breaking was covered by the Priest firing his energy weapon at the disk. I fired another disk in a curved pattern to hopefully land somewhere in the back of the building and set it to play the sound of a man panting.
The Priest rushed over to the sound, and I took the opportunity to jump through the window. I started closing it as silently as I could, but right before it closed completely, I saw the edge of the robe of the other priest, returning after catching his flying quarry. I knew they would be able to tell the window was slightly open if I left it like that, so I took a risk and closed the window the remaining centimeter.
I rested my back against the wall under the window, panting. I was used to much more physical exertion, but nothing in the last three years came close to the tension and stress I was feeling now.
I sent out a silent prayer to nobody in particular, begging for the priest not to have seen the window move. I heard the priest return from the back alley and stop outside our window. I held my breath. A part of my mind, the part that sought survival above all, screamed and babbled incoherently. I glanced over at Aren, who looked to be in the same situation. He crouched down, pressing himself against the wall to the left of the window.
After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably more like 5 seconds, I heard the other priest return.
“Danger?” One of the priests asked in a raspy tone.
“None detected.” The other said, his voice sounding like he was on the verge of retching.
“Phenomenon explanation?” the first one asked.
“Asset captured appears to have been set off due to degrading batteries.” The second one replied.
“Curious. Will double patrol speed,” the raspy one said, and it sounded more like an order than a statement.
“As he wills it, so it shall be,” said the second priest.
They both moved away, and I finally breathed out slowly in relief.
The easy part was done.
I waved at Aren to follow me, and we walked between a wall lined with shelves and boxes and a free-standing storage unit towards a door in the far right corner. I put my hand on the handle and closed my eyes. The next room had four windows facing the back alley. If I opened the door when the priest passed by, we’d be done for.
I stilled my racing mind and tried calculating the priest's position, considering his doubled movement speed and how much time had passed. If my calculations were correct, he would be past all the windows, walking towards our side of the building in twelve seconds. I counted down in my mind, and when I hit zero, I slowly opened the door, poking my head out to look at the windows.
My heart stopped when I saw the red robe of the Ecclesiarchy, but the next moment, the priest disappeared beyond the closest window on the right wall. I was a moment too quick, but we were safe. I hurried Aren into the room and slowly closed the door behind us.
We found ourselves in a room that looked like an office, with a door straight ahead of us and four large tables divided into eight cubicles to our left. I waved at the kid to come along and hid behind the cubicle closest to us, hiding us from the window. I could hear a priest walking on the other side of the wall to our left. Seems like there was one more priest than what was initially thought of. Not great, but not catastrophic either. Ideally, we wouldn’t even cross paths with this one. I heard the priest outside walk past our room and continue to the next cubicle, ensuring Aren and I were hidden.
Once I was sure I had the timing down and the priest had walked from the west to the east, I moved as quickly as possible while remaining silent behind the cubicle and to the door we were trying to reach. I opened the door, and Aren walked in without being told. I quickly closed the door behind us and waited.
We found ourselves in a rather cushy room, obviously belonging to the owner of this facility. Where the last room was spartan and utilitarian, this one was plush. There were plaques and trophies in displays, a plush black carpet, a sizeable synth-wood desk, and the most luxurious chair I’d ever seen anyone use. Certain Otherlords excluded.
A large window at the far end of the right wall could also act as a configurable display. I motioned for Aren to hide under the giant desk and quickly moved, placing a small amount of a special putty over the bottom of the glass's rubber seal, careful not to obstruct the light. The priest was already walking our way, and any disturbance or shadow I cast would be immediately seen.
I finished my work and hid under the desk with barely a moment to spare. Aren looked at me with a questioning look, and I sent him a message.
[Message]
[Raziel]: It’s for our escape, you’ll see.
Behind the giant chair was a large set of double windows into the main storage space of the warehouse. I imagine it was convenient for the owner to monitor things. As soon as I heard the Priest quickly walk from the eastern side to the western, I rushed to the window in the warehouse and poked my head up, looking left and right. There was another priest to our left, this one in black robes, but if my memory of the building’s layout was correct, she was staring hard at a set of big double doors. I quietly slid the right-most window open and jumped through, rolling behind a stack of boxes. Aren followed suit. I saw the priest outside walk back, his back turned to the open window, the entire time. All it would take was a single glance behind him to catch us, but he stuck to his rigid patrol. Once he was out of sight, I sneaked forward and closed the window, praying that the priest to my right, obstructed by two lines of stacked boxes, wouldn’t hear it.
I heard no cry of alarm, nor did I feel myself incinerated, so it appeared we were safe for the moment. I moved back to where Aren was hiding, finding him pressed firmly against the wall once more. I nodded, and we started moving along the right wall silently. Aren stuck so close to the wall that I was afraid the fabric of his clothes would audibly scuff against it, even though my brain knew the fabric it was made of was created so that it wouldn’t make such sounds.
We squeezed ourselves behind a large free-standing shelf full of big boxes. I stopped the kid from going further, hearing faint muttering close to us. I moved forward to investigate and peeked through a gap large enough for me to pass through in the shelves ahead of us, arranged perpendicular to the wall.
Two priests were standing on either side of a tiny box, facing away from me. I could see the box clearly. It was made of glass, with an intricate lattice of metal framework all over its surface and edges. Inside the box floated a single object.
A thumbnail-sized, smooth, red gem.
We had found our target.
