DECK Prologue

Chapter 4 - Petra

 Silence. Lind hated the petrified silence that the room was locked in as he did the menial tasks of checking the cameras with Atlas. Since they had the Main Light, there wasn't any threat that could enter the room. While this normally would've given anybody a sense of safety, the total silence from the other team was unnerving, to say the least.

"Isn't this a little too easy?" questioned Atlas as he was almost bored out of his mind at this point. He spun around his chair halfheartedly before standing up to stretch and checking out the gate. The flashing sign above the gate showed "10/10" to reference the hit points the gate had left.

"Don't bring us any disasters with that attitude," groaned Lind as he put his head down for a bit on the desk. Suddenly, a beeping sound could be heard from the speakers.

"Phas'e I - Over. Duration: 30 Minutes. Beginning Phase II"

A small box fell out from a vent in the wall behind the desk. The box landed under the desk, and Lind reached down to grab it. Inside was a tablet with an attachment outlet that matched a certain outlet on the desk that was left empty. Lind plugged it in and watched the screen come to life, showing a video feed of the other team.

"Why is it completely dark?" asked Atlas in confusion.

"I think that means that they need the Main Light," said Lind as his hands hovered over the button to switch the light.

"Wait, shouldn't we prepare a bit?" suggested Atlas as he rapidly checked all the cameras again through the camera console.

"It takes quite a while for the monsters to arrive, and they need total darkness for that anyway. We just have to use the Secondary Light system and recall the Main Light after the wraiths get aggravated," mentioned Lind as he pressed the button.

"And now, the Secondary Lights," muttered Atlas quietly as he attempted to turn on the Secondary Lights. A red note erupted onto the screen, reading "Secondary Light broken, starting repairs."

"****" swore Atlas before he immediately pressed the button to return the Main Light. Another red note appeared on the screen. "Main Light locked, five minutes required before unlocking."

"****, ****, **** **** ****" yelled Atlas in annoyance as he clicked on the Secondary Lights button again in frustration.

"Just-" started Lind before stopping in the middle with a sigh. Atlas continued to rage, clicking all of the random controls before giving up and walking over to the grenades.

"Stay ******* calm! Stop making this even worse already!" yelled Lind in annoyance before getting up as well.

"Just toss out a lightning flare, for now, stopping the angels should be enough for the time being," commanded Lind as he shifted into a crisis control mindset. His stress acted as an inhibitor to whatever else might be going on through his mind as he stared at the tablet. The corridor was now full of ice, which meant Ajax had used his ability on a large quantity.

"This ain't good," muttered Lind under his breath as he attempted to zoom in on the tablet.

Bang! Something slammed against the gate.

"Did you throw the flare yet?" yelled Lind as the slamming continued.

"Wraiths!" replied Atlas swiftly before jumping to the camera to check how many.

"Three minutes left on the Main Light!" yelled Lind as he stared intensely at the tablet, trying to see the movement beneath the ice. The bronze shield attached to Artem's arm started to slowly glow more and more. After a few seconds, the ice completely shattered, and the statue at the opposite end of the corridor was unable to move. Its lion head glared intensely at the group but was frozen in place as the Main Light shone brightly.