Brothers in Arms

Eclipse: When Past and Present Collide

"I've checked down that way. As far as I know, there's no one present, but I didn't notice anything else," Shadow says lowly, pointing to our left. "I think Andrews is right, but I don't know what to look for or where. Nothing's stood out so far."

"I'm not sensing anyone, either," I reply, breathing deeply through my nostrils. "But, you have no idea what this secret is?"

"No. I don't even know for sure if it exists. But, no one would design a fortress this twisted just for fun. They know full well that G.U.N. isn't going to be fazed if the early troops can't win the place, so they're trying to buy time to do something. What that is..." He trails off, shrugging.

"Helpful," I comment, stretching my back quickly. "So, we're looking for anything not like the rest?"

"That's the idea," Shadow responds, and I nod. I drop to the floor, startling him somewhat, but I hold up a hand to quiet him as I press on of my sensitive ears to the metal. All sorts of vibrations drum through it, and I concentrate, listening for anything unusual. Gunfire, the tramp of feet, shouts and screams--many sounds roar in my ear, but none of them sound like they're traveling around a large room, and none sound like an unknown piece of machinery.

"Nothing," I sigh, standing up. "I don't think it's here, if it exists."

"Any suggestions where we should go?" Shadow asks, crimson eyes watching me alertly. I frown, tail cutting through the air as I think.

"Well, if I were going to hide something, I would create a ruckus away from it. I definitely wouldn't engage the enemy on top of it," I mention, and he crosses his arms, tapping his fingers distractedly.

"Possible. Personally, I would keep soldiers around it, to guard it and to keep someone from sneaking around and finding it. The best hiding place is plain sight--I wouldn't want anything noticeably different about the area."

"Good point," I admit, thinking. "In which case, I still wouldn't want most of the fighting there, lest the blows of combat revealed the hidden object."

"Especially with Chaos Creatures trashing the place," Shadow agrees, brow furrowing.

"I would want to be able to move whatever is there without being seen. My first thought would be underground, but that's a double-edged sword. If it's underground, it's impossible to escape with once the enemy has the ground floor."

"G.U.N. has the entire outer part of this compound surrounded," Shadow reminds me, gesturing outwards. "They wouldn't be able to get it out no matter where it is."

"Well, how quickly can tunnels be constructed? It's possible this compound was built with some," I point out, and he frowns, looking worried.

"That's true. In which case..."

"They'd be around the edge of the building, so they don't intersect with the sublevels of the compound."

"Spider Troupe hasn't really focused on the edges of the building," Shadow notes, nodding. "I think you might have something."

"Then we need to find the edge of this Chaos-forsaken box," I say cheerfully, and he smirks.

"Let's." We start down one of the hallways, going right. Moving more quickly than I had with Spider Troupe, I can tell that the tunnels are twisted slightly, a good observation from Shadow. We go until we reach a turn, which we pause at.

I carefully inspect the wall, having a feeling there's something hidden by the turns in this building.

"That didn't feel like half the width of this place," Shadow observes, and I nod.