Akasha
I stared in shock as the leader of Kuroe’s head fell to the ground. When it hit the steel floor, the sound was deafening, and the silence that ensued nearly felt blaring. All of the scientists in the room, as well as Gaia and I were staring at the head as it tumbled down the stairs of the room, slowly, step by step. It felt like we'd been watching it for years by the time it reached the window at the front of the control room, giving the leader a perfect view of the black hole, as if he could see it.
Marco didn’t say a word, only looked around the room, making eye contact with everyone as they turned their attention from the head to him.
“Hades XVII start, lead is dead.” he said into the tiny communicator on his wrist. A moment later, Kuroe 228922 trembled, nearly knocking everyone in the room into the air. All lights in the facility went dark, and before the red light from the emergency beacons lit the room, the only light was the blue blade of Marco swinging through the air, taking the lives of the nearest scientists from them. By that time, everyone else started to comprehend the situation. Marco wanted the scientists dead, so they needed to run away to live.
Since Gaia and I were right next to the entrance, we got a head start of sorts. I tried to start thinking, but my brain prevented me from doing so. I was in fight or flight mode, and I apparently chose flight, seeing as I was already a hundred meters away from the control hub before I realized it. Also before I realized I left Gaia behind.
My body wanted to run away from here as fast as possible, but I forced myself to take a step back toward the control center, back to the bloodbath with Marco at the center. Gaia was my best friend, she helped me through many tough times, and I did the same for her. I couldn’t abandon her now. I noticed she has been very quiet since we encountered Marco, so she might have still been standing in the place I left her, or she might have been trampled by the mob of scientists running from Marco
It seemed the mob of scientists ran in a different direction, maybe a different exit. Marco followed them, leaving a trail of blood and bodies in their wake. I ran back into the control hub looking for Gaia, and was met with a sea of carrion. The red blood looked pitch black in the red hue of the emergency lights. Limbs and various other parts were scattered everywhere, with many bodily liquids covering every single surface. I didn’t see Gaia, or any of her body parts, mainly her head, scattered around. She must have ran off with the mob of scientists.
I rushed toward the other entrance into the maze of hallways, following the trail of blood and gore in an attempt to find Gaia.
Gaia
I dropped to the floor after Akasha let go of me, leaving me alone in the control hub with a hundred scientists scared shitless and a murderer in the process of murdering said scientists.
After the drop, I finally came to my senses. Before this, I guess I was in a sort of daze from Marco simply talking to us. His presence overwhelmed me.
The mob of scientists rushed away from me, so I got up and joined them in running away from Marco. If I were left all alone in that room with him, he would mistake me for a scientist and most likely slice my limbs off. We seemed to run through the halls randomly, not toward any particular destination.
I glanced backward, only to see Marco rushing toward us, his eyes filled with an emotion unknown to me. His eyes were dark, empty, unfeeling.
Kuroe shook again, causing our group to slow for a moment. In that fraction of a second, Marco tore into the group, killing tens of scientists. The group was in the middle of an intersection, so the group split into three, all running from the killer. Marco pauses his spree and brings his wrist to his mouth.
“Marco here, the main group has split up, on my location!” He orders. The way he’s talking makes it seem like there are more people like him in the hallways, hunting the scientists.
Now, after running into a few more intersections and splitting up a few more times, all of the scientists in the generator were running around in a panic. Nothing made sense, the walls and floor were covered in blood, and its stench filled the air. I chose a direction to run in and ran as fast as I could. I needed to find Akasha, and we needed to get the hell out of the private sector.
As I ran in a straight line, someone covered in metal armor spotted me. Before I could turn and run in a different direction, they were right in front of me, their energy sword swinging right toward me.
Marco
Six soldiers approached me, saluting once they reached the intersection.
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“Ares I through VI,” I say, referring to the soldiers. “The scientists have scattered. Your mission is to eliminate all scientists in this facility. There are about 60 left from the control center, but be sure to raid their living quarters as well. Leave none alive.”
““Yes Sir!”” They respond. One of the soldiers approaches me, holding armor identical to theirs, only with a slightly different emblem signifying my position.
“Just to let you know,” I say while donning my armor, “there are two female civilians in the Generator area wearing lab coats. One has short black hair with dark brown eyes. The other has long white hair with bright blue eyes. Make sure to check with me if you encounter anyone with that description. Got that?”
“Yes Sir!” They all say.
I encountered these two on my way to the control center, after I failed to eliminate the one escorting me. The way the younger girl talked was unusual for a scientist, very different from what we were told they would speak like. The older girl just stood behind her, eying me, also very different from what I expected. She told me her name was Lily, but after a quick glance at the nametag on her coat, I knew either she was using a fake name, or the coat she was wearing was not her own. The fact that the coat obviously didn’t fit her implied the latter. These two facts in mind, I concluded that these two were not scientists, but civilians that snuck their way into the private sector. I don’t know why they would even think to do something like this, but our orders are to eliminate the scientists and rescue the civilians.
“Alright, break!” I shout, before everyone shoots off in different directions, starting their hunt.
I close the helmet on my armor and start hunting myself. After flying at mach speed through the hallways, mincing any personnel I came across, I noticed a girl with white hair and blue eyes frantically running around, searching for something, or someone. I stop my killing spree and approach her calmly, trying not to startle her.
The sound of my footsteps froze her in place. Her eyes locked on to the visor of my helmet, fear visibly growing on her face. I push my visor up to show her my face, and to hopefully calm her.
Her face grew even more distressed, probably due to recognizing me as the one who started massacring everyone in this facility.
“Hey, Lily!” I called out. I hoped that if I talked to her normally, it would put her at ease, which luckily, it did. I noticed her shoulders relaxed slightly, and her eyes became softer.
I strode over to her calmly, making sure to not make any sudden movements. I managed to get a few meters away from her before speaking. “We need to get you out of here. I know you aren’t one of them, a scientist. Our job is to eliminate them, and escort civilians like you out of Kuroe.”
“Out?” She said, then shook her head. “No, the girl that was with me, where is she?” She asked, concerned for her friend.
“Don’t worry, I told my team to find and keep her sa…” I was saying, before the earpiece blared in my ear.
“MARCO! I’ve found that girl you were talking about.” One of the members of Hades shouted, seemingly alarmed.
“Alright, calm down,” I replied, holding up a finger to tell the girl calling herself Lily that I was going to be a second. “What’s the issue?”
“She’s wounded, pretty badly. We need to get her to the medics on the escort ships fast!”
“Shit! Lily grab on to me, NOW!” I yelled at her, grabbing her before she even had the chance to grab me.
“Aaugh!” Lily yelped behind me. I activated the boosters in my suit, propelling me through the hallways toward the distress beacon the Hades member set off.
Akasha
With Marco grabbing my back, the two of us blasted through the hallways, toward a gravely injured Gaia. I could barely keep myself together at this point, with all the bloodshed I had seen so far, and the knowledge that Gaia was hurt.
After many sharp turns, we arrive at another hallway with the walls and floor drenched in blood. Both the dead scientist’s, and Gaia’s. A man with a suit nearly identical to Marco’s knelt over her while she lay against the wall. Her eyes were open slightly, still conscious.
“Gaia!!!” I yelled, running to her after Marco let go of me. I skid on the wet floor and got next to her. I sat there with my mouth open and my hands shaking, having no idea what to do. Nothing in my power at this moment could change anything about this now.
“Lily, or, whatever your real name is,” Marco said, subtly asking my real name, seeing through the lie I told earlier.
“Akasha.” I mutter, not even averting my gaze from the dying Gaia.
“Akasha, I can carry Gaia to the medics on our ships. They are incredible doctors, they’ll save her.” He said, carefully picking Gaia up.
“H-how?” I said.
“They have their methods. Even a would like this is next to nothing for them. I assure you she’ll live.”
“...okay.” I said, my strength starting to leave me.
“Commence the operation.” Marco ordered his ‘friend’. “Here Akasha, I can hold both of you.” He said, propping Gaia on part of his back, and offering the other part to me. The only option I had was to climb on.
After getting situated and grabbing on tightly, Marco started jogging away, toward this medic who will save Gaia. She lost consciousness at some point, and now her eyes are closed. She looked so blissful and at peace, like the pain of the gash opening half of her body disappeared. I wished I could be that calm in that moment.
I stayed silent on Marco’s back, partly because we were going so fast I couldn’t talk even if I wanted. But I had nothing to say anymore. I was exhausted, from running, from the sights I saw, and the emotions I felt. I started to drift to sleep, but tried to stay awake during this crucial time.
We exited the hallways connecting the public and private sectors to see quadrant II on fire. Smoke filled the air, clogging my throat and lungs up. I started coughing violently. Marco slapped some contraption allowing me to breathe better on my face. The motors started whirring, and after a few more coughs, my lungs took in relatively clean air.
“Thank you…” I mutter, the energy leaving me again.
The rhythmic bumps of Marco jogging toward his ship were soothing, and I found myself starting to fall asleep.
Maybe I can sleep, Marco seems trustworthy now, he’ll take care of me and Gaia, we’ll all be safe once we get to hsi ship… I thought, drifting off to sleep.