The girls and Frank finally managed to get to the office building above the bunker. Squeezing Frank through the narrow doorways had been difficult, but the problem was quickly solved by Applejack punching a few strategically placed holes in the wall. Twilight then used the debris to create barricades for the STORM forces behind them. This had enabled them to buy some time to get out.
“Looks like we made it!” Rainbow said, looking out another door. “I can see the lobby out there!”
“Any guards?” Rarity asked.
“Not that I can see.”
“Not exactly helpful, darling.”
Rainbow shrugged. “Yeah, but I dunno... holy crap!”
She backed off from the door and let it close, holding it open just a crack. “It's that Stormking guy!”
Sunset looked up and pushed her way through the group. Behind her, Frank snorted.
“Shhh, quiet, Frank!” Fluttershy whispered. “We're almost out.”
Sunset crouched next to Rainbow and looked out the crack. Stormking stepped into the elevator. The doors closed and the indicator lights above the doors began illuminating.
“Hmmm,” Sunset thought.
“What's up?” asked Rainbow.
“Getting out of here isn't going to be enough,” said Sunset. “What we're going to need is some hard evidence of what he's doing with STORM to get him off our backs for good.”
She continued to watch the elevator lights. It stopped on the fourth floor.
“How do we get that kind of evidence?” Twilight asked.
“I have an idea. Twilight, you come with me. We're going to pay a visit to his office.”
“What about us?” Rainbow asked.
Sunset grinned. “You guys get to be the distraction.”
Stormking slammed his briefcase onto the desk of the office he had commandeered when he arrived. It was all unraveling. He cursed his own shortsightedness. It wasn't supposed to be like this. They were teenagers for God's sake. They were supposed to have been crying and whining to go home or promising anything to get out of trouble.
Now, they were making fools of his organization. The basis of his empire. That could not be tolerated.
The phone on the desk rang. He snatched up the receiver. “Yes?”
“Sir, they've made it to the lobby. They're tearing the place apart!”
Stormking frowned. That wasn't right. If he were in their position, he would have headed out of the building as fast as possible and tried to leave the compound.
“What about down in the bunker?”
“Chaos, sir,” reported the operative on the phone. “They tore the place up on their way out and blocked most of their path behind them. Most of the team is trapepd down there for now. Should I call the guard outside and have them move in?”
Stormking considered for a moment then said “No, Have someone meet me at the back loading dock. I have an idea.”
“Yes, sir.”
Stormking opened a drawer in the desk and took out his own sidearm. He checked to make sure it was loaded and shoved it into his jacket. He left the office and stormed down the corridor toward the elevator at the rear of the building.
As his footsteps echoed away, the door to the stairwell in that corridor opened, and Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle stepped out. They hurried to the office and Twilgiht used her telekinesis to deal with the door lock.
“This is becoming a bad habit,” she muttered.
“What?” Sunset asked.
“Nothing.”
The door clicked and the two entered the office. They made their way over to the deak, where the briefcase was still sitting on top of it.
“What are we looking for?” Twilight asked.
“Anything that can help us,” Sunset answered. She went to the breifcase and pressed the latches. Much to her surprise, they popped open.
“Lucky us,” Sunset murmured. She opened the case and let out a pleased noise. She reached in and pulled out the laptop computer strapped inside. She opened the computer and let out a groan.
“Of course. A password.”
Twilight edged her aside. “Let me take a crack at it.”
“Do you have time?”
“Not really, no. Check the rest of the case. Maybe you can find something.”
As Twilight worked, Sunset dug through the case. Aside from a few random case files and office supplies, there was nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. She picked up a pad of post-it notes and sighed. She idly ran her thumb over the top sheet.
“Wait a second,” she said. She ran her thumb over it again. Yes, there were definitely impressions in the paper. She put the pad on the desk and grabbed a pencil from the case. She pressed the side of the lead to the paper and began dragging it back and forth.
She smiled as letters and numbers became legible on the paper. She passed the note to Twilight.
“Try this.”
Twilight looked at her, then at the pad, then entered the string of characters into the password field. The two of them stared as the desktop came up.
Twilight laced her fingers and cracked her knuckles. “All right. Now let's see what else we can find.”