The squad consisted of fifteen soldiers – ten carrying assault rifles, three carrying shotguns, and two carrying explosives in the event that the enemy restore their systems whilst they're inside – the general, and Shining Armor.
Together, they made it to the base and entered unseen. Inside, they encounter only a few soldiers, clearly lost amongst the confusion of their base losing power and not sure where to go, and followed their memories of the camera feeds towards where they suspected the target to be held.
Down one more corridor, there were again only minimal troops in their way. This concerned Shining Armor, who had expected a rush of troops to guard to front doors after the power went out. "Hey, doesn't this feel just a little too easy?"
"Yeah," the general replied. "They're either inviting us in, or else we've exhausted their soldiers already."
"In my experience, Tirek's traps aren't always so obvious," Shining Armor said. "Which means if this is a trap, it's not Tirek we're dealing with."
The squad came to a large, circular room that was the centre of six connecting hallways. As they reached the centre, a maniacal laugh halted their advance. "The lab rats have found their way to my testing grounds! What good little specimens they are!"
Suddenly, bright glows surrounded the six doorways, startling and confusing the troops. One of the men fired at the strange light, only to find his bullets bouncing off as though it were a solid wall.
Shining Armor felt sweat drip down his face. They had been trapped inside the room by some kind of magic, but thankfully, he had a magical jewels with him. He had been practising back at the bureau, and though his grasp on magic was still rusty, he was confident he could break down the surrounding walls, if not the barriers themselves.
However, before he could conjure a spell, the room was stormed from all directions by enemy troops, crying a bloodthirsty war-cry and armed with staves. Staves lines with jewels!
Shining gasped. "FIRE!" he shouted, drawing his weapon. "NO PRISONERS! FIRE BEFORE THEY-"
One enemy swung his staff, pointing its tip at a Vespanian soldier. The soldier was lifted off of the ground by an unseen force, and flailed helplessly as he was lifted further up.
"W-What's happening?! Someone, get me down! No! STOP IT!"
Another troop pointed his staff at the helpless soldier, emitting a beam that pierced the soldier's chest, silencing his cries in an instant.
"OPEN FIRE!" the general shouted, and his troops wasted no time following the order. Unfortunately, the enemies had erected a barrier that rendered the bullets harmless.
"Use a grenade!" Shining shouted, offering covering fire.
"In this space?! Are you mad?!"
Shining growled, and reached for a grenade strapped to one soldier's belt. He removed the pin and threw it, landing it behind the enemy barrier. Then, with his jewel grasped firmly, he formed his own barrier.
The grenade exploded, taking with it several enemy soldiers and disorienting many more, enough to force their barriers to shatter. Shining cast a spell to blow away the resulting smokescreen and fired at the open enemies, his allies helping him as they lowered the enemy numbers down to five.
Even then, the enemy had begun to recover and sent out magical attacks faster than Shining Armor could counter. Even when he put his barrier back up, the enemy's magic was far stronger than his, and it shattered easily.
He watched four of his allies fall, and then a fifth, and a sixth. The remaining enemies had regrouped and were huddled under one barrier powered by three men.
To make matters worse, he could hear footsteps approaching from behind. The general turned around long enough to confirm his fears. "They have more coming!"
Shining Armor closed his eyes and clenched the jewel in his palm. It shined brighter than he had ever seen it shine, and his barrier was revived, this time strong enough to fend off the enemy attacks.
He sighed. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up.