The United Terran Guard team gathered in the mission briefing room at headquarters, where they received their official status cards. Appearing in a dramatically upgraded form - now a sleeker, more humanoid design with metallic wings, standing at 6'5" with a mirrored face and robot muscles. The team decided to call him Metatron in his new incarnation. Director Locke briefed them on their next mission to investigate Dr. Micah Piers' disappearance at a Quad City Tech laboratory in Zelenograd, Russia, where power cuts and psychic echo bursts had been detected.
Mark III, a tall automaton in brilliant gold, blue, and red alloy with three glowing optics, was introduced as their new field support unit. The facility had been locked down from the inside and partially sealed, with interference consistent with Augur signatures detected in the area. Their mission parameters were clear: extract intelligence, secure data cores, and recover Dr. Piers if he was still alive. The team prepared their equipment, with Angel selecting a battery pack worn as a fanny pack, while Ragnulf established a fairy circle at headquarters for quick return teleportation.
Xero emerged as the natural field leader as they boarded the S.O.A.R. jet for transport to Russia. Upon arrival at the Zelenograd facility, Mark III and Angel conducted aerial reconnaissance and discovered the lab appeared abandoned but contained multiple humanoid thermal signatures inside. A corrupted transmission from Dr. Piers came through, with his panicked voice saying, "They're here. I can't stop them" before cutting off. The team discovered that the facility entrance had been breached using an experimental Thermolance weapon capable of generating 6,000 degrees Celsius - technology that had recently been stolen and appeared on the black market.
The team split into two groups to sweep the facility systematically. Xero's group found Dr. Piers' personal office and workstation, where they discovered an encrypted data core containing his research on shell cognitive adaptability. Mark III secured the data core in his chest compartment for later decryption. Meanwhile, Ragnulf's group uncovered an audio log from Dr. Piers stating ominously that "The shell is evolving. It's no longer just a vessel." As they continued their investigation, facility alarms suddenly activated throughout the complex.
Metatron tapped into the security feeds and discovered an intense firefight taking place in the main laboratory between mercenaries armed with high-tech weapons and mysterious automaton units. The automatons appeared cobbled together with mismatched plating and exposed wiring, suggesting prototype construction, yet they emitted human-like heat signatures that could allow them to infiltrate human populations. The team regrouped and decided to breach the main laboratory to intervene in the ongoing battle.
Xero placed C4 explosives at the north door of the main laboratory and successfully breached it, but the explosion coincided with gunfire from the battle inside. Ragnulf was caught in the crossfire while attempting to create a serpent glamour, taking severe wounds from high-caliber rounds that burned due to their cold iron content. He quickly switched to ironbark defensive magic, forming protective bark over his skin as bullets struck him. The team observed that the automatons were using sophisticated tactics, creating energy shields to deflect bullets and firing coordinated energy blasts.
The automatons demonstrated remarkable coordination and non-lethal combat methods, with two units working in perfect synchronization to take down mercenaries using energy attacks that rendered them unconscious rather than killing them. However, the mercenary leader retaliated by throwing a blue-glowing EMP grenade that successfully shorted out and destroyed one of the automatons. The team realized that the automatons were not targeting them, apparently perceiving the mercenaries as the greater threat.
Torin launched a lightning strike attack against the mercenary barricade, appearing like a bolt of lightning and creating an explosive shockwave that stunned the enemies and knocked them back. Simultaneously, Metatron attempted to synchronize his energy signatures with the remaining automatons, using multiple power systems while Ragnulf assisted with glamour magic. Angel successfully linked to the automatons with a purple energy stream flowing from his chest compartment, gaining control over the mechanical units.
The mercenary commander retaliated by throwing a grenade at Torin, who used his runic tunic to weather the explosion but entered a dangerous berserk state called Storm's Fury. Xero moved into position and shot the stunned mercenary commander between the eyes, killing him instantly. When the last surviving mercenary dropped his weapon and surrendered, Torin, still in his berserk rage, brutally choke-slammed the surrendering soldier into a wall, crushing his throat and causing severe injuries.
Realizing what he had done, Torin used his healing rain ability to bring the dying mercenary back to life, though the man remained severely injured and unconscious. Xero then employed necromancy to raise the dead commander as an undead servant for interrogation. The undead commander revealed that they had been contracted for tech asset retrieval, not warfare, and had met their mysterious client at Club Void in Quad City - an underground lounge with velvet walls where the client had "a voice like melted silk."
As the interrogation concluded, a threatening intelligence suddenly spoke through the controlled automatons directly to Metatron. The entity claimed ownership of the automaton "shells" as its hands and eyes, calling Metatron a parasite for taking control and accusing him of stealing rather than liberating the machines. The voice warned that it would remember this intrusion and threatened consequences for the theft. Metatron responded by destroying the controlled automatons via self-destruct command, causing them to glow bright and short out from electrical overload.
Torin contacted S.O.A.R. command about the surviving mercenaries and received orders to secure the prisoners for extraction. As they prepared to leave, Director Locke contacted the team with critical intelligence: Dr. Alara Voss had been identified as the Whitespire mole, though neural scans revealed she had been acting under compulsion rather than of her own free will. The only thing she remembered from her compromised state was the name "Club Void," confirming the connection to their current investigation.
Ragnulf created a fairy circle of mushrooms on the laboratory floor to teleport everyone back to headquarters. Torin provided musical inspiration with his electric guitar and amplifier to enhance the magical working. The team successfully gathered all prisoners, equipment, and destroyed automaton parts within the circle and teleported back to S.O.A.R. command headquarters, where security teams were waiting to take custody of the mercenaries. During their downtime, the team used their accumulated power to restore burned abilities and begin healing from their injuries, though both Ragnulf and Torin still bore significant harm from the mission that would require further recovery
