Oneshots! (Mostly Hermitcraft)

The Code Brothers [Evil Xisuma]

Lights flashed across their visors as they mumbled to the system within their suits, pulling up a screen on their left forearms. A health metre displayed on the left side, assessing injuries through damage to their armour. For now, it showed full statistics, as nothing they'd done so far had warranted any damage. Immediately next to it, the quota popped up, showing them the minimum amount of scrap they needed to collect for The Company. Finally, a microphone appeared, linking them with a standard, Company-issued radio.

"All set?" Exano asked, crouching slightly to look Xisuma directly in the eye. His brother nodded, bouncing on his toes as he anticipated the fresh adventure awaiting them within the building. Exano chuckled, saying, "Alright, then. Let's go, little Xi."

Xisuma raced forward and seized the door handle, hauling it open and revealing the dingy, poorly lit bunker. The annexe opened to three separate doorways, one to the left, one to the right, and the final going straight ahead. Exano spoke into the air, running the command to highlight scraps close to the door. No monsters appeared on his radar, so he took the lead, immediately turning left and crossing a narrow railed catwalk. A cookie tin sat on the side next to a case of bottles, and he picked up both, speed-walking back to the door and dropping the two outside.

Xisuma had journeyed further into the bunker when he returned, hefting a large engine in his arms and hauling it back to the entrance. Exano chuckled at the size similarity, his brother nearly dwarfed by the piece of machinery. However, he knew better than to judge him by his stature. His little Xi was deceptively strong, two years working for The Company paying off and making him strong and fit.

They continued down their path, picking up smaller items and putting them in the pouches hanging from their belts around their waists. Xisuma got a key and twirled it on his finger as Exano performed another scan, still detecting no danger. He put the key into a smaller, easier to access pocket and peered over the railing at the seemingly endless drop beneath them, the pit fading to black in the dim, flickering light of the bunker.

Finally, they crossed the threshold into the network of tunnels on the opposite side of the chasm. A landmine beeped ahead of them, flashing its red LEDs from where it rested on the floor. With painstaking care, Xisuma whispered to the code in the air and disarmed the trap, causing it to go silent and stop blinking. He shook his head, clearing the fatigue that came from manipulating the tight, near-immutable code to deactivate the bomb. He didn't do it often; only to traps that could blow them up if they had to make a hasty mistake.

Exano smiled and took the lead again, STOP sign braced and at the ready. A spider screeched off to the side followed by the familiar sticky footsteps as it skittered toward them. Exano bashed its cephalothorax in with the sign, stunning it with his force before driving the metal stake through its head, right at the centre of the cluster of eyes. In the distance, a network of webs covered the tunnels, home to a nest of spiders. The brothers looked at each other, then walked in the opposite direction, constantly checking behind them for pursuing mobs. Luckily, there were none. So far.

"Ex! Ex!" Xisuma exclaimed, darting down a branch, having detected something on his scanner. The light from his torch bobbed up and down as he ran, rapidly disappearing into the dark. Exano's brow creased in concern as he turned to follow his brother, sweeping his flashlight from side to side as he checked for mobs.

"Xisuma?" he called, sweat beading on his forehead as he began to jog toward where his brother disappeared. "Little Xi? Where are you?"

"Look what I found!" Xi called, coming around the corner with an axle over one shoulder, kept in place by both hands. Ex sighed in relief, knocking on Xisuma's helmet affectionately. He scanned it, the corners of his eyes creasing in a smile as he saw its estimated worth. "It's a good piece of loot, right?"