The loud alarm startled Lappland, her ears pressing against her skull as she looked around for the source of the noise. The screen continued to flash the words emergency alert ominously in bright red, the lights overhead shuttering on and off like they were in some bad horror movie. Doberman burst through the door, her expression frantic.
Texas was the first to get down to business. "Doberman, what's going on?" Her amber eyes were fixated on the Instructor, attention no longer on Lappland.
Doberman's mouth was a pressed thin line. "Orignium infused slugs (or spiders as everyone knows them) are attacking the lower generator at ground level. The power supply is being damaged."
"Oh! That sounds bad! Is there anything we can do to help?"
"Yes. Lappland, Texas, Exusiai come with me. Skadi and Melantha go report to Doctor Y/N immediately. The control center will need to be notified of the situation." Without waiting for a reply, Doberman turned tail and sprinted off. Wordlessly Texas and Exusiai followed her.
Lappland cast one glance back at Skadi and Melantha. It was a real shame their training session was brought to an end early. "Bye for now! It was fun working you guys!" She didn't wait for a reply before running after Texas's retreating form.
***
The sound of footsteps echoed on the floor as they made their way down to the lower levels. With the electricity acting up, there was no way they could risk using the elevator. The normal lights flickered overhead while the warning bells continued to chime. The red alarm cast everything in an eerie glow, including the operators they passed by on the way down. Lappland didn't know any of their names, though one of them had a massive pincer tail she had to leap over in order to avoid brushing its poisonous tip.
"How much farther is it? We've never been this far down!" Exusiai called out. Her wings were fragments of gold behind her, hardened crystals that seemed to never stop gleaming.
"Just one more set of stairs and we should be there." Doberman's voice bounced off the walls. This far down none of the lights were on besides the red from the alarm. There was a dusty smell in the air that made her nose itch.
Texas made a noncommittal sound as they crossed over the threshold of an open doorway. "We're here." She was the first to see whatever was beyond, having passed by Doberman some point during the run.
Lappland saw what Texas meant a second later. The room was a display of chaos. The energy generator was covered in nasty webs of spindled darkness. A foul musk pulsates through the room, the stink of sulfur and obsidian unmistakable. She pinched her nose shut out of pure reflex to prevent from gagging. Judging by Texas's wrinkling nose, the other Lupus was feeling the same way. Doberman was slightly green but gave no other reaction.
"Wow! That's a lot of slugs!" Exusiai exclaimed. Her gun was loaded, there trigger clenched in apprehension. The slightest click would make it go off.
Lappland found herself agreeing. The generator took up a third of the room, humming lowly with intense energy. Well over a dozen spidery slugs were crawling all over it, shooting out black webbing that was as hot as lava. It made the concrete floor sizzle and burn, making a dent in the floor. Fiery lava pulsates on the spiders' bodies like a ticking time bomb seconds away from exploding.
"Hmm, if any of us deploy too closely and destroy them they'll just explode on us." Texas observed. "Maybe a fast-redeploy would work? Though we'll still take some damage if we get the timing wrong."
"I could shoot a few down. Half of them are in range."Exusiai lifted her gun up demonstratively. Lappland could only guess how many bullets were inside.
Doberman seemed to care less about planning. "Let's go with option C. Lappland get out there. We'll limit casualties and structural damage if you silence them first."
Oh. Why didn't she think of that? Perhaps it was because she was too busy staring at Texas. For once the dark haired Lupus was letting her get close. She took in all the small intricacies of Texas, from the frown on her lips to the way her blue-amber eyes held a tinge of green from the generator lighting.
Those eyes were staring at her now, blinking thoughtfully. Lappland looked away. "Sure. I'll be right back."
She walked towards the slugs. They were crawling around at their sluggish pace, oozing bodily fluids everywhere. Lappland dragged her swords behind her like wicked tails, a trail of sparks dancing off them. Spirit energy was building up inside her as the wolf in her howled in delight. Fighting really put her in high spirits, adrenaline rushing in her veins.
"Hey uglies, say hello to my little friends!" Lappland yelled at the slugs. They had no eyes that she could see but the fronts of them did turn to face her way. The high pitched humming sound grew into a hissing squeal. She raced one of her swords and charged forward. It was slice and dicing time.
Guts spewed from the slugs as she swiped into them. Nimbly, Lappland dodged swiping legs and sharp coal teeth. Sweat formed at her hairline as she cackled with glee. One slug, two slugs, three slugs. All of them bowed down to her sword mastery as lava formed puddles everywhere. There was no explosions but she imagined them in her mind for dramatic effect.
Boom! BOom! BOOM!
"Are you guys coming or do you plan to watch me murder all of these?" Lappland yelled over the rumbling generator. With all the spiders putting their efforts on attacking the white Lupus the sound of the generator could be heard once again. She could not hear their approach, but Texas's scent was unmistakable, as was the sound of her bronze-gold sword coming out of its sheath to annihilate more enemies.
"Haha take that! And that!" Exusiai cheered as she shot down more of the spiders. Lappland made sure to strike the final blow on each, her blades singing as they struck through lava bodies.
"Keep drawing them out, the farther they are from the generator the better," Doberman said.
"Got it!" Texas went at the spiders like they were nothing more than a bunch of weeds. Whack, whack, whack, the spiders were sent flying into the air. Lappland grinned as she decapitated each one. Like a well oiled machine the two wolves tore through their opponents until there was nothing left to fight at all.
"Haha we did it!" Exusiai cheered. She was in Lappland's sight line, her gun lowering back down to rest at her side. Doberman was right near by her. A puddle of lava sat near her feet. She took a step back, surprised when she collided with something, or better yet someone else.
"Mmmph!"
She fell backwards, twisting at the last second to brace herself. Except Lappland didn't need to do that, not when she landed on Texas. They were on the ground together, bodies pressed close. Texas stared up at Lappland with wide eyes, lips parted slightly. One of Lappland's hands were planted in long, dark strands of hair. It was just as soft as she remembered. This close together, Lappland could feel their body heat mingling, could see the way blood rushed up to stain pale cheeks. Blood was rushing to her own face too as her heartbeat jumped up a notch, pounding wildly. Something about Texas made her lose control, there was no other way to explain it. Everything seemed to disappear in those few seconds as they stared at each other in silence, breath mingling. Lappland could imagine Texas smiling at her, or was that a real smile on her face?
"Uh . . . are you two okay?"
The moment was broken by Exusiai, and further by Doberman's sharp tone.
"Of course they're fine. One of them just fell on the other."
"Get off me!"
Lappland scrambled back as Texas struck out with a hand. She scooped up her sword left on the ground, wiping the spider guts off of it with the rag she left stuffed in her pocket. It would have to be thrown out later. Texas looked slightly frazzled as she got to her feet with Exusiai's help —much to Lappland's own chagrin.
"That was some great fighting out there Tex. And, uh, you too Lappland." Exusiai seemed to admit Lappland's successful fighting style begrudgingly.
Doberman was staring at Lappland with narrowed eyes. "Yes. They do make quite the team. Quite viable for missions."
"Hehe! Wouldn't that be great Texas. You and me, together on missions?"
"No. It wouldn't."
With that Texas turned and stormed off. Lappland was stunned by the coldness in Texas's tone. Even if it was only for a moment, she imagined them back together, fighting side by side. Why couldn't they go back to that? Loneliness knew no bounds when it came to the emptiness she felt for the past six years without Texas by her side. Perhaps they became too dependent on each other during the years they spent together. But there was no going back for her now, not when Texas was so close. She would just have to try harder.
"Uh, I'm gonna go after her. Bye!" Exusiai ran off after the other Penguin Logistics member.
Lappland hardly felt when Doberman clapped her on the shoulder. The Instructor's voice seemed to echo in one ear and out the other, though she still heard the words. "Just give her time. I don't know what happened between the two of you, but I've never seen Texas hold a grudge for long."
She resisted the urge to laugh. It would have been a tired sound. Doberman had no idea, none at all. This grudge might never end. Even after so many years, Texas was still mad at her for what she did. And, perhaps she had every right to be.