OP Absorption

They dropped back into the dusty service corridor. The immediate sounds of pursuit were muffled by the building's structure. The fire door Arachne had picked earlier was still slightly ajar. They slipped through it, back into the stark concrete stairwell.

"Down," Fin said. Speed was everything now.

Their footsteps, no longer trying for stealth, echoed loudly as they descended. One floor. Two. As they reached the ground floor landing, Fin heard it. Heavy, rhythmic thuds from the main corridor connected to this stairwell. Guild security, converging.

He kicked open the stairwell door. He sprinted down the short ground floor corridor towards the service exit, the one leading to the loading bay. Arachne was a shadow at his heels. Scarlet was just behind her, daggers held ready.

They were ten feet from the heavy steel door when a side office door burst open. It was one they had passed on the way in. Two Guild Hunters in full combat gear, alerted by the noise of their descent, spilled out. Their weapons were already raised.

"Freeze, rogues!" the lead one barked.

Scarlet did not freeze. She launched herself forward. She aimed a low, spinning kick at the lead Hunter's knee. He yelped as his leg buckled. His energy rifle discharged harmlessly into the ceiling. Scarlet's dagger flashed. It was a quick, efficient slash across his exposed throat. He crumpled.

The second Hunter was younger. His face was a mask of shock and anger. He raised his sidearm.

Arachne was already on him. She moved like smoke. She sidestepped his panicked shot. Her hand chopped down on his wrist with brutal precision. Bone crunched. The gun clattered. Another swift blow to the temple, and he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Fin was already at the main service door. He did not bother with the lock. Green energy flared around his fist. He punched straight through the reinforced steel. Metal shrieked and tore. He ripped the mangled section of the door outwards and kicked it open.

They burst out into the loading bay, into the cool, damp Arclight night. Rain fell steadily. The alley leading to the street was dark, empty for now.

"Portal, Boss!" Scarlet urged. She glanced back at the ruined doorway. More shouts, closer now, echoed from within the Guild building.

Fin focused. He ignored the rising chaos behind them. He pictured the castle, the main hall, the feel of its ancient stone. Reality warped beside a stack of overflowing dumpsters. The familiar oval of swirling light tore open.

"Go!"

Scarlet dove through without hesitation. Arachne followed, a silent shadow.

Fin took one last look back at the Guild building. Lights blazed from multiple windows. Figures were spilling out of the loading bay door he had just destroyed. He saw the glint of weapons. He met their distant, angry glares for a fraction of a second.

He allowed himself a small, cold smirk. 'Next time, try harder,' he thought.

Then he stepped into the portal. It snapped shut behind him. It left the loading bay filled with confused, shouting Hunters, the scent of ozone, and the steady rhythm of the falling rain.

The stale, damp air of Arclight vanished. It was replaced by the cool, ancient stone scent of his castle. Fin stepped out of the closing portal into the main hall. The quiet felt abrupt after the shouts and rain.

Arachne emerged beside him, silent as always. Scarlet followed. She shook rainwater from her red hair. A wild grin was still plastered on her face. "Not bad for a Tuesday night, Boss. Quick in, quick out. Minimal property damage, mostly."

Meg stood near the archway leading to the residential corridors. Her wooden staff was held loosely. Her face was pale. Her eyes were wide as she took in their disheveled appearance. Fin's tunic was torn. The faint smell of ozone and something metallic – blood, probably, though not his – clung to them. Mara hovered uncertainly a few steps behind her. She looked even more stressed than before, if that was possible.

"Fin?" Meg's voice was a little shaky. "Are you... are you all okay?"

"We're fine," he stated flatly. He walked towards her. His boots echoed slightly on the stone. He stopped a few feet away. His gaze swept over her briefly. She looked tired but unharmed. Good. "Any problems here?"

She shook her head. "No. Quiet. Too quiet." She looked past him at Arachne and Scarlet. "Did it... Did it work?"

"Trackers in Arclight are offline," Arachne reported. Her voice was low and even. "Their primary coordination node was… disrupted."

Scarlet chuckled. "Disrupted? Honey, we scrambled their brains and broke their toys. They won't be tracking anyone out of Arclight for a good long while." She stretched, wincing slightly. "Almost too easy. Expected more of a fight from Guild grunts."

"They weren't expecting us," Fin said. He looked at Mara, who flinched slightly under his gaze. "The element of surprise is a valuable asset. Which is why speed is important."

Mara swallowed. Her gaze darted towards the main doors, then back to Fin. "So… what now? The Association… they'll retaliate. Hard."

"Let them," he replied, turning away from her. He did not need her fear clouding his thoughts. He walked towards the center of the hall. He felt the familiar hum of his domain around him. It was a subtle thrum of power that was both comforting and demanding. The raid had been straightforward, almost disappointingly so. No real challenge. Just… pest control.

He felt tired now. The adrenaline was fading. It left a dull ache in his muscles from the brief, intense burst of activity. The jump across the rooftops, breaching the hatch, the quick, brutal takedowns. It had not taxed his reserves significantly, but it was still effort.

"Arachne, Scarlet," he said, not turning around. "Clean up. Rest. We move on the next target soon."

"Valerius Spire?" Scarlet asked. Her voice was laced with anticipation. "Heard their defenses are top-notch. Might actually be fun. Maybe they have better snacks."

"When I decide," he corrected her. He needed to review the data on the chip again, look for vulnerabilities, optimal insertion points for the Spire. It was a much harder target than a liaison office. Better defended. More eyes.

Arachne inclined her head. "As you command, my Lord." She glanced at Scarlet, then turned and walked silently towards the armory.

Scarlet shrugged. "Alright, Boss. Just holler when it's go time." She followed Arachne. Her earlier tension was replaced by a loose-limbed swagger.

Fin heard Meg approach him from behind. He turned as she stopped beside him.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked again. Her voice was softer now, laced with concern. She reached out tentatively. Her fingers brushed his torn sleeve.

"Fine," he repeated. He looked down at her. The worry in her eyes was genuine. He felt a faint, unfamiliar stirring in his chest. Annoyance? No. Something else. He pushed it away. Emotions were distractions. Usually.

"You should rest too," he told her. "Training looked… strenuous."

She managed a small, tired smile. "Yeah. Arachne doesn't pull her punches, even with wood." She looked around the vast, empty hall. "This place… it still feels weird. But… safer than out there, I guess."

He nodded. That was the point. Safety. For her. For them. His responsibility.

He looked towards the archway leading to his own chambers. Sleep sounded good. But first… the chip. The Spire. The next move in a game he had not asked to play, but was now determined to win. On his terms.

"Go on," he said to Meg. "Get some sleep."

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "You too, Fin." She turned and walked towards her own corridor. Her footsteps were light on the stone.

He watched her go. Then he pulled the datachip from his pocket. He looked down at the small, inert piece of plastic and metal. It held so much information. So much potential for chaos.

A faint smile, cold and sharp, touched his lips. The Association wanted a war?

'Fine,' he thought. 'I'll bring the party favors.'

The quiet hum of the castle was a stark contrast to the chaotic energy still thrumming through Fin's veins. He sat at the massive stone table in what Arachne had designated the 'war room'. It was a chamber smaller than the main hall, dominated by the table and several stark, uncomfortable-looking chairs. The datachip was slotted into a battered, Guild-issue reader he had… acquired. Mara had been surprisingly thorough.

Holographic schematics of the Valerius Spire floated above the table. It was a complex, multi-layered structure. Red markers pulsed over designated targets: divination chambers, psionic relay nodes, primary data archives for Hunter movements across multiple sectors.

'Harder target,' Fin acknowledged internally. The Spire was not just an office; it was a fortress, the heart of the Association's information network in the region. 'More defenses. More personnel. Higher stakes.'

He zoomed in on a section labeled 'Sub-level Psi-Corp Conduits'. Intricate networks of cabling and glowing energy lines. 'Disrupt these, and their long-range scrying goes dark. Completely.' That was the primary objective. Secondary: personnel. The chief diviners, the psionic technicians. Neutralize their ability to see, to predict, to coordinate.

He traced a potential insertion route with a finger through the hologram. Maintenance shafts. Old service tunnels from before the Spire's last major refit. Less guarded, according to Mara's notes, but likely still trapped, monitored.

"Valerius is a hornet's nest," Scarlet's voice drawled from the doorway. She leaned against the stone frame, arms crossed, watching him. "Stir it, and you get stung. Hard."

"Hornets can be swatted," Fin replied without looking up from the schematics. 'Or smoked out,' he added silently.

Arachne entered silently behind Scarlet. She placed a tray with a mug of water and a piece of plain bread on the table near Fin's elbow. "Your sustenance, my Lord."

He ignored it. "The Spire's lower levels are older," he mused, tapping a section of the hologram. "Less integrated security. That's our way in. We hit the conduits first, then move up to the divination sanctums on the upper floors."