The problem with announcing your arrival by smashing a train into your enemy's house is that they tend to get a little upset.
The fortress's response was swift and overwhelming. Alarms blared with an angry, panicked intensity. Entire squads of Madakaros soldiers, who had been enjoying their morning grog or polishing their third eyeball, now converged on the massive, train-shaped hole in their barracks.
"So much for a quiet infiltration," Quynh Nhu remarked, expertly reloading a fresh power cell into her plasma rifle while using a fallen soldier's body as a barricade. "What's the plan, boss? Do we fight our way through the entire army?"
Minerva: Negative. A direct frontal assault has a 99.8% chance of failure, resulting in our swift and messy demise. A strategic, high-speed retreat towards the objective, however, has a 4.7% chance of success.
"I like those odds!" Lin Ming declared cheerfully. "You heard the lady. We're not fighting. We're having a brisk, tactical jog. With occasional moments of extreme violence. This way!"
He led them away from the breach, deeper into the fortress. His [Spiritual Sense] was their guide, allowing him to 'see' through walls and anticipate enemy movements. He was a perfect navigator in a maze he'd never seen before.
Their "jog" was anything but peaceful. They rounded a corner and came face-to-face with a ten-man patrol.
"Morning!" Lin Ming said pleasantly before any of them could react. He stomped his foot. [Stone Spikes!]
Jagged spikes of alien metal erupted from the floor plating—his Geomancy adapting to the local materials—incapacitating half the squad. Pham Tuan, now a whirlwind of diamond-hard fists, charged in and dealt with the other half in a flurry of non-lethal, but very painful, takedowns.
They kept moving.
Minerva: Left turn in 50 meters. Be advised, a heavy weapons unit is setting up a plasma emplacement ahead.
"I've got it," Quynh Nhu chirped. She ricocheted a single shot off a corner, a seemingly impossible trick shot. A distant explosion and a satisfying alien scream confirmed her success.
They passed the smoldering wreckage of the plasma cannon. Pham Tuan looked at her, deeply impressed. "How did you do that?"
"Geometry," she said with a smug wink. "And being awesome. Mostly the awesome part."
They were a symphony of chaos. Lin Ming would sense threats, Quynh Nhu would pick them off at impossible angles, and anything that got too close was introduced to Pham Tuan's fists of geological fury. They weren't just fighting; they were flowing, each member's skills perfectly complementing the others'.
Their rapid, destructive advance did not go unnoticed by the fortress command. In the central command center, a grizzled old Madakaros commander with a jagged scar over his central eye—Krogar, the Fortress Warden—watched the chaos unfold on his tactical display.
"What is the meaning of this?!" he roared at a terrified subordinate. "Three intruders are tearing through Sector Gamma like it's a public park? Who are they?!"
"We... we don't know, Warden Krogar!" the subordinate stammered. "The initial reports said... a train crashed into the barracks."
"A train?" Krogar bellowed, his voice dripping with disbelief. "Are you telling me we are being brought to our knees by a public transport incident?"
He watched as the three intruder icons on his screen moved with unnatural speed and precision. One of them, the leader, was anticipating his troop movements perfectly. It was as if they knew where his guards would be before he even deployed them. He slammed his fist on the console.
"Seal off all corridors to the data hub! Activate the Iron Golems! And get me the Void-Gazer squad! I want these insects swatted!"
Back in the corridors, Minerva's voice chimed in their ears. Minerva: Bad news, team. They've sealed the primary routes to the data hub with Class-5 blast doors. Also, they have activated something called 'Iron Golems'.
As if on cue, a section of the wall slid open ahead of them, and a massive, hulking automaton stepped out. It was three times the size of Pham Tuan, made of dark, swirling metal, and its fists crackled with raw power.
"Ooh, shiny," Quynh Nhu commented. "I want one."
The Iron Golem locked onto them, its optical sensors glowing red. It charged.
"Tuan, you wanted a real test of your new diamond form?" Lin Ming said with a grin. "Here's your final exam."
"My pleasure," Pham Tuan grunted. He met the Golem's charge head-on.
BOOM!
The sound of diamond-hard knuckles meeting enchanted alien metal echoed through the hallway. The Golem was thrown back a step, a visible dent in its chest plate. Pham Tuan hadn't even budged. His defensive power had reached a whole new level. He was now a literal immovable object.
While the two titans were engaged in their epic shoving match, Lin Ming and Quynh Nhu sprinted past them.
"This way! Minerva says there's a ventilation shaft just up ahead!"
They arrived at the sealed blast door. Beside it was a maintenance shaft, covered by a heavy metal grate.
Lin Ming turned to the grate. "Allow me," he said, giving Pham Tuan a pointed look. He gently placed his hand on the grate. Instead of using brute force, he channeled his Qi, manipulating the molecular structure of the lock, using the principles of Metal he had glimpsed from the empty pedestal. With a soft click, the lock disengaged.
He glanced back at Pham Tuan, who was now systematically punching the Iron Golem into a pile of expensive scrap metal. "See, Tuan? Finesse."
They scrambled into the shaft. It was dark, cramped, and disgustingly greasy.
[Congratulations! You have completed the 'obligatory ventilation shaft crawl' segment of the heist!]
[System notes: This trope is overused in Earth action movies for a reason. It's classic.]
They emerged into a quiet, deserted observation deck overlooking the data hub. And it was a sight to behold. It was a colossal, crystalline pillar, easily a hundred meters tall, pulsing with an inner light. Trillions of data points flowed through it like a river of stars. The entire Madakaros war effort—troop movements, supply chains, research, battle plans—it was all here.
"Jackpot," Quynh Nhu breathed, her eyes wide.
Minerva: I see it. It's beautiful. I need to get in there. There should be a primary interface terminal at the base of the pillar.
"Just one problem," Lin Ming said, pointing.
Guarding the terminal at the base were not regular soldiers. It was a squad of five Madakaros in dark, flowing robes, their three eyes closed in meditation. Their skin was pale, and a faint, ethereal aura surrounded them.
Minerva: Oh. That's... problematic. Those are the Void-Gazers. The fortress's psychic defense unit. They are all cultivators in the late stages of Foundation Establishment, specializing in mental and spiritual attacks.
Direct combat was risky. A firefight could damage the terminal. And getting close meant opening yourself up to a full-blown psychic assault.
Lin Ming looked at the meditating psychics. He looked at the humming data hub. Then, he looked at the 500-year-old 'Ginseng of Spiritual Clarity' that the fanboy-rival Trinh Tuan had given him. An idea—a very stupid, very disrespectful, but potentially brilliant idea—began to form.
He took out the priceless ancient ginseng.
"Alright, Minerva," he whispered. "Time for phase two of the plan."
Minerva: What is phase two?
"Aggressive aromatherapy."