"Wait!" Eric spoke again, before they started moving.
The others immediately stopped, alarmed.
Ignoring their questioning gazes, he focused on his eyes and the world dissolved. Despite the light throb in his head, the fatigue from overusing his ability had greatly reduced.
Eric turned to Thea, he looked her up and down with immense scrutiny till she grew visibly uncomfortable.
He released a silent grunt then turned to Victoria, and then Raz.
Afterwards he looked down at his own arm and frowned. 'Sneaky bastards.'
Eric retrieved the scalpel he'd taken earlier.
Placing the blade against a region he'd been staring at on his arm, he made a small cut.
Victoria, Thea and Raz grimaced as Eric dug deeper into his skin until he scooped out a black sleek object.
Eric noticed Raz recognise the object as a familiar tracker. He was obviously perplexed because Silas had implanted it between Eric's fingers.
Quickly, realisation dawned on Raz's face.
"They already put a tracker in you?" He asked.
Nodding in reply, Eric dropped the tracker and stomped on it.
He approached Thea after, and in a not so gentle fashion, grabbed at her uninjured arm and made a similar cut.
"Hngghh" She released a suppressed squeal as blood spilled and her flesh parted to reveal the metallic black object.
After it was removed, Eric glared at Thea. He knew the woman was aware of the trackers in their bodies.
"You can't fault me for having contingencies." She said with a depreciating laugh.
Eric gave a sinister smile of his own. "I'd have been disappointed if you didn't."
All of a sudden Eric spun her and planted her face against a nearby wall. Holding the frightened woman in place, he performed the same operation on the back of her left ear, in rapid motion.
In the end, he removed another tracker.
Thea's shocked face told him she had not been aware of its presence.
Her fists clenched tightly till her knuckles turned white.
"It seems you overestimated your employer's trust though" Eric said, paying her little mind as he destroyed the trackers.
Her fury worsened at Eric's snide remark.
The prince turned from her and faced Victoria. He was met with her outstretched waiting hand.
Eric smirked and handed her the blade.
Victoria made quick work of her skin, and removed the tracker beneath within seconds.
She showed a tolerance for pain not below Eric's
"Is that all?" She asked, crushing the tracker with her feet.
"Yeah." Eric replied. "Raz, take point."
The next moment they were back within the depths of the base. Moving through the halls at a brisk pace, with Raz in front, Victoria and Thea behind him and Eric securing the far back.
Occasionally scattered groups of guards or infiltrators would cross their path, but they were quickly eliminated.
Sometimes Eric would see corpses or assailants with the same white talon tattoos as their earlier assailants, making him realise they had simply encountered the vanguard.
When they came upon a plain wall, Raz stopped. Removing packs of explosives from the rather large bag he had with him, he arranged them on the nondescript wall.
He found cover on the other hallway and waited with the others till a loud boom was heard.
Scattered debris spread dust all around the hall. What was left of the wall was a gaping hole.
The hole gave way to a rough, man-made tunnel that smelled of damp earth and stale air, leading downward into darkness.
Thea's growing scowl worsened at the sight.
Venturing through the tunnel Thea and Victoria moved in front while Eric and Raz walked behind.
Victoria held a torch which shone enough light to illuminate their immediate surroundings.
"Status?" Eric asked Raz in a whisper, that wouldn't reach Thea's ears.
"The data dump is going as we expected. The entire capital is in flames." Raz said. "I infiltrated during the chaos, and used the information Silas and Kai provided to successfully complete Exploitation and Explosion."
"Did you face any resistance?" Eric said.
"Yes. As you predicted the areas of interest are too sensitive to have been changed during the short period after Silas and Kai's escape. But they were heavily guarded." Raz replied.
"Though after changing into guard clothes I gained somewhat easier access to the facility in the initial chaos. I went to the server rooms first and gave Kai remote access to all their data. She should soon be done getting everything on their database and servers."
"Then I went to the reactor room. It was then my cover was blown, but I managed to plant most of the bombs I brought with me, and afterwards found you. Now Extraction is fully underway." Raz finished.
Eric nodded subtly at this. "Good job."
He knew that was merely a summary and he'd have to get a full recount later on to know of any possible hiccups.
But for now, his plan was going smoothly. The only issues left were Baskar and Narcosa.
The strange man had said he wouldn't kill her, but Eric didn't know what state she'd be left in.
He sincerely hoped both of them ended up killing themselves.
They each posed vulnerabilities in his over arching plans.
Eric shook the cynical thoughts out of his mind. Baskar had aided him at his lowest, and no matter what motivations led him to such actions, he would respect the man.
'Besides, if he does die and his lord is actually real someone would still know I caused all this.'
Consumed by his thoughts, Eric didn't notice the first specks of light that peeked ahead.
It wasn't until the strong scent of vegetation and moist air reached his nose he was brought back to reality.
Soon, they were out of the tunnel and back above ground. Surrounded by thick, sprawling vegetation.
'We're out'
The amount of flora and fauna made him question if they were still within the capital.
Raz took a vanguard position once more and led them through the bushes till they reached a large, black SUV. It was parked between a crop of branching leaves, rendering it inconspicuous.
As they approached, out of the car came Silas, staring at the bloodied, dirtied group in disbelief.
"You actually did it..." He muttered "It's barely been a day."
"Good to see you too doc." Eric said in jest.
"Please attend to our friend over there, before she loses all her blood. I'm sure you're familiar with her."
He brushed past the doctor, entering the passengers seat of the large car.
Raz got in the drivers seat, while Victoria entered, the backseat. Silas and Thea were in the spacious trunk which had been made larger by folding down the last row of seats. Utilising his prepared equipment he quickly got to work tending to Thea.
Eric noticed the doctor avoiding Victoria's gaze, but couldn't be bothered to care.
"So you're a defector and a traitor." Thea spoke to Silas after they were all in, malice dripping from her tone.
"I'm a lot worse than that... and so are you." Silas replied with little restraint.
Promptly, they were wading through plants and shrubbery of all kinds.
They were soon out of the bushes and on a dirt road. Behind them, at a little distance, Eric could make out a facility whose fences claimed a large portion of land. 'So that's the facade they wear.'
"Is Kai done with Exploitation?" Eric asked, turning to Silas.
The doctor simply nodded, before focusing on the cursing woman he attended to.
While Raz drove, Eric asked him. "The detonator?"
Victoria glanced at Eric, giving him a devilish smile.
After Raz handed him the oblong trigger, he passed it to Victoria with false pomp.
"Your Majesty..."
Victoria's smile turned deadly. She took the detonator from him, and with little flair pressed the button.
And for a heartbeat nothing happened.
Then, the next second, they watched the harrowing sight of the only building within the facility, erupt in a concentrated blaze of white.
A silent, blinding sphere of white light swallowed the complex, vaporizing steel and concrete before it collapsed inward with a sound that was like the death-scream of the world.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!
The deep, subsonic THRUM made their bones vibrate. The ensuing shockwave slammed into the SUV, lifting it on two wheels before Raz wrestled it back onto the road.
"The reactor..." Thea whispered. She wore a horrified look as she watched the facility fall into itself. This somehow made it all the more enjoyable for Eric.
Silas on the other hand, had his expression waver between fear and relief. Whatever conflicting thoughts he had remained trapped in his mind.
The explosion was many magnitudes worse than those which had originally rocked the base.
At that moment Eric was glad for the earlier system notifications but called it up by reflex.
'What's the loom's status?' He asked the system.
[HEAVEN'S LOOM SECURED]
[WEAVE INTEGRITY: 100%]
[SET TO TERRESTIAL TIER: Weave can withstand PLANETARY collapse]
The fact it hit him with the same message eased his mind.
Flames billowed out of the crumbling base, fuelling Eric's glee.
The sight was as cathartic for Eric as it was for Victoria.
And this was only the beginning.
_____________________________________________
THE ROYAL PALACE
Night had once again consumed the capital.
"Your Majesty, the police are struggling to contain the volume of organised and targeted assaults." A tanned, tall man, in a black suit said, reading from his tablet. He was rather young and had a soft face. "They request more aid and wish for reinforcement from the military police as well"
"The number of Veil users, have also increased. Most LSC's have been drawn to action, but the Aegis division is still struggling to contain the numerous anomalies while also keeping them from public sight."
The man remained silent for sometime at this stage and he made an audible gulp.
"Lastly, It's been reported the Panacea base was destroyed."
The person the man addressed stopped rapping his fingers against his large oak desk.
It was a large, burly man, who exuded power and strength. His worn face told of a life of toil. He also had a faded scar running from the bottom of his right eye to below his ear.
It was the King of the Thalassa Isles, Ario Laut.
The attendant shrank back when he noticed the king's reaction, but buried his face back into his tablet to continue reading.
"The base's location was also leaked in the data dump and was subsequently destroyed in the assault."
"Survivors are yet to be found but clean-up is still underway." He finished speaking.
The large office fell into a deep silence, as Ario closed his eyes, deep in thought.
Finally, he spoke.
"Order them to double their efforts." His voice was a steely bass, bereft of emotions. "I want to know if my niece and nephew are dead by sunrise."