Arrow: Fracture Part 3

Shades of Resolve

The thunderous clash of gunfire stretched throughout the entire building. The narrow hallways, sharp corridors, and open work spaces created an acoustic tunnel of the battle raging within the facility. ARGUS teams crashed through exterior windows and entered the fray, colliding with the waiting HIVE troops. The League had groups of Assassins moving via shadows all throughout the area, striking when their prey least expected it. The initial push to get inside the main building may have been successful, but the opposition was prepared to lose ground. Almost as if they wanted to give the exterior to the advancing forces and draw them into a close quarters engagement, narrowing their tactical capabilities. The Assassins were making good use of the environment, a group dropping down from the ceiling and cutting through a team of ARGUS soldiers. The blades were silent, never alerting the next target until it was too late.
The team had managed to push into a cafeteria, where they met resistance. Diggle and Riley took cover near the center of the room behind a massive serving unit. Thankfully the inside of the circular unit was filled with steel, designed to keep the trays at a specific temperature. Shredded bowls and silverware rained onto their heads as both men emerged to return fire. The HIVE forces were moving to flank both sides, as expected. Thea and Roy used this opportunity to thin out one approaching group, using their flashbang arrows to disorient the troops. A few well placed arrows dropped two of the men but the others regained their senses quickly and switched to the new threat. Roy opted to draw their fire, taking off in a mad dash. He darted between tables as the bullets whizzed by him. Thea moved to a nearby pillar and watched as Roy jumped up onto a table, flipping forward and then sliding under the next table. The area around him was ripped to splinters by the incoming gunfire. Thea readied a single KO arrow and took careful aim, her breath calmly signaling for release. The arrow struck directly against the side of one HIVE troop's rifle, snapping the gun away from it's target and into the men standing beside him. The HIVE troops snapped forward from the sudden bullets slamming into their armored vests, catching them off guard. Roy used the temporary break from gunfire to reach cover inside the kitchen. Oliver was already battling a group of enemies when Roy charged in through the door. A troop was thrown over an oven as the flames shot upward and chased the man. Oliver turned to the next threat, dodging the incoming slices from a combat knife. He side stepped left and right, evading the blade and keeping distance from his opponent. Roy reached for an arrow to assist but was attacked by two Assassins rolling over countertops to his front and rear. The two hooded warriors wasted no time, their swords cut into the air surrounding Roy barely missing as the young hero struggled to avoid the sharp steel.
Security cameras watching the firefight in the cafeteria kept track of the frantic scene. Victor found himself trying to provide any assistance for the people inside the building, but the firewalls in place were slowing his progress. HIVE had almost certainly taken precautions to keep any unwanted trespassers out of their internal systems, the security in place proving difficult even for someone as smart as Victor. Multiple approaches as how to handle these blockades filled Victor's conscious mind, as unknown whispers guided him to hidden answers. Once again as it had happened before, a familiar and yet unknown voice in his head was leading him along. The security system was both new and old to Victor with the voice speaking to him. With every word more and more potential opened up, areas that were once hidden were now completely at his disposal. Victor used HIVE's own tools against them, sealing off rooms and pathways to hold off enemy troops from entering or reinforcing the fight. Some were incapacitated by electrical surges from overcharged circuits they happened to be too close to, while others were fed misinformation via a voice modulation and their comm sets. But something else was also growing inside Victor's mind, a bizarre sensation of fear and curiosity. The more it grew, the more fearful things became. Victor's own fear was present as well, though now overshadowed by the amazement of what he was capable of, but it too resurfaced and gave him an unbalance that his new abilities were not expecting. His alien side pushed harder to block everything else out, trying desperately to blind Victor with a display of power that was all within his grasp. The cloud of fear grew, and with it a new voice that was barely present. Victor snapped away from the thoughts and relayed information to the team members.