Platinum Skies (The Manifests Series #2)

{[41]} Hell Above Ground

The room was riddled with countless steel feathers, puncturing the steel floors and the gigantic containers that were piled and sorted to form a wild maze.

Rozex and her frayed wings soared across the room, looking for the team that made a tactical retreat using smokescreens after a brief altercation with her.

Something was trickling down on the side of her abdomen all of the sudden. She reaches for it---a hole in her armor, and bluish blood dripping down like a near empty water bottle. She winces in pain.

"That masked vandal they call Cat..." Rozex muttered as she held her wound. "Her agility is remarkable, able to dodge my attacks, bought time for their team to escape, and even made significant damage to my armor and wings. That human.. she didn't even have a Manifest. Did the research about the human beings have miscalculations...?"

Rozex flies upward, gazing over the stockroom full of maze-like cargo.

"Regardless of any miscalculations, there's always a chance to try again. Conducting trial and error has always been the driving force of the Cryostine division ever since. This is nothing but a hiccup in the grand invasion of Earth."

Rozex brings out a screen from her bracer, and types out certain commands. She then floats still, concentration already set out on her mind.

"This is experimental and risky. It hasnt been subjected to proper testing, but the payoff should be worth the risk. The cargo should be able to handle this, too. Again, trial and error is how we do things..."

The feathers all around the room begun glowing.

"So its nigh time to commence a proper experimental search and destroy."

May 29, 2023, 11:23 am, Platina's Base, Miryang, South Korea.

was exhausted, physically, and mentally.

She just watched another young soul get extinguished by this invasion. She also just went all out against Rozex and helped the remainder of the team escape into the maze that is the Cryostine division's stockroom.

Being a Manifest wielder should've made it a whole lot easier, she thought. Even a well-trained, top condition combatant like her couldnt keep up. In fact, it felt like an unholy miracle that she was able to wound Rozex so quickly. If it was skill, then it was going to be hard to pull off again, and if it was luck, she will never have that level ever again for the forseeable future.

She gazes over the team. Most of them were wounded already, Sana included. They all were trying to watch their breath and cling to their weapons.

There was an aubible and continous flapping noise while they escaped: A sign that Rozex was hovering above, still trying to find them. Each nook and cranny of the place were too tight for her wings, so she wouldnt be able to push in. At least, for a while.

The team notices, however, that for a moment, there was sudden silence. No flapping, no noise, nothing.

It was too quiet. And on normal nights, it wasn't a problem at all, but this time, it was.

The team silently steels up and stops in their tracks, readying their weapons with what little courage they have left.

Sana, visibly tired and worn-out, soon gazes upon a couple of metallic feathers on the ground and on the cargos. These were the projectiles Rozex had used to rain down on them when they had a brief clash.

Out of nowhere, the feathers faintly glow and buzz with a static noise.

The others are alerted by the sound. They were already in panic--but could not afford to scream or yell in fear. Were the feathers going to track them down? Return to Rozex to replenish her ammo? Explode and raze them all? Cat wished the last option wasn't going to happen.