Julz hesitantly shuffles backwards as the crumbling floor chases her away from the waypoint and the sound of gunfire erupts amongst the smoke.
“Fuck you!” Thunder yells, “Thumping,”
A bright red light flashes, drowning everything in her sight in a bloodred tone. It lasts less than a second before what sounds like the whaling of a colossal beast hisses in Julz’s ears so loudly she has to cover them to prevent her eardrums from bursting.
The entire floor begins to rumble again before she notices the hole expanding again. But before she can shuffle away, the floor below gives in, and she falls to the thirty-sixth floor below, crashing into the debris as it also falls on top of her.
_HP: 32 (-68)
_MANA: 73% REMAINING
_DETAILS: 73/100
_NOTES: Fractured sternum, dislocated shoulder.
As she realizes she is being buried by rubble, she feels the shaking continue on the ground beneath her. Suddenly, her stomach drops when floor thirty-six gives way, and she smacks into the ground of floor thirty-five.
“Aaah!” She screams in pain as the rubble compresses her body in impact.
_HP: 22 (-78)
_MANA: 73% REMAINING
_DETAILS: 73/100
_NOTES: Fractured sternum, dislocated shoulder. Multiple fractured ribs. Internal Bleeding… [Expand for more]
She’s pinned, and can't move her body besides her head as she wiggles around in a panic.
“Holy crap,” Prodigy whispers in shock as the hollow sounds of laser fire echo into Julz’s chamber- The rest of O3 keeps fighting.
_ID: CAPTAIN EDDY
_HP: 77 (-23)
_ID: ATARI
_HP: 67 (-33)
_ID: THUNDER
_HP: 73 (-27)
_TARGET: A
_KRIX: HUMANOID (TIER THREE)
_HP: 28 (-72)
“Loading up another Thumper!” Thunder calls out.
“Negative! No more friendly fire,” Captain Eddy responds.
“I’ve got a reading on Julz,” Atari calls out, pinging her location.
“Focus fire on the humanoid, we’ll tend to Julz afterwards,”
“I have a charge ready,” Prodigy says, “Preparing to fire,”
“You're a go,” He confirms, “Give me thirty percent,”
“Firing,” She says.
“It’s getting away!” Atari yells.
“Where the fuck do you think you're going?” Thunder yells.
A large blue light emanates through the cracks of the rubble encasing Julz, followed by a massive explosion that ripples the ground- Compressing Julz tighter.
“Shit!” Prodigy yells.
“How the fuck did it dodge that?” Atari stammers.
“I’m in pursuit,” Thunder calls out.
“Negative,” Captain Eddy orders.
“We’re just going to let it get away?” Thunder grunts in frustration, “We’ve almost got it,”
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“I said no!” Eddy yells.
“I think the Captain is right, did you see how it dodged Prodigy’s charge?” Atari asks.
“Get Julz out of that rubble,” The Captain orders.
“It didn’t fight back either,” Atari adds.
“Exactly,” The Captain grunts, “It’s all too sketchy- We can’t forget that we know nothing about it. We still don’t even know if it was alone,”
“Well, we know its name,” Prodigy jests.
“We did enough to send it back home- My best guess is the server,” The Captain says as the rubbles surrounding Julz lifts into the air, followed by a stream of light.
Thunder lifts Julz to her feet, and puts his arm around her shoulder for support before grunting, “Good work,” despite the frustration plastered on his face.
“Thanks,” She whispers in pain- She nearly can’t feel her body, and she wouldn’t be able to walk without Thunder. That was close, She sighs in relief- At one point, she was almost certain she would die.
“You are fast,” Atari says with excitement.
“Not bad, Recruit,” The Captain says, standing beside her once Thunder seats her against a wall.
Atari steps over and removes a first aid kit from his bag, “I’m not a Doctor but I can stop your bleeding,” He says.
“Shouldn’t be long until Jiji arrives,” Captain Eddy says.
_HP: 22 (-78)
_MANA: 73% REMAINING
_DETAILS: 73/100
_NOTES: Fractured sternum, dislocated shoulder. Multiple fractured ribs. Internal Bleeding… [Expand for more]
Julz tries keeping her eyes open, but she is exhausted so disoriented she’d rather pass out- She could avoid the pain that way. Before long, her head hunches over, and her eyes fall into darkness.
----------------------------------------
The shockwave of the impact knocks Nadia on her back. She quickly stands up and sprints to Cassie’s position in a panic the moment the shockwave of the impact.
“Cassie?!” She yells out as she enters the smoke, and runs to the centre.
“Heir?” She says, placing a hand over her mouth and nose as she searches around, waiting for her HUD to detect her.
A yellow outline pings in her vision and Cassie’s lifeline blinks with her details-
_HP: 21 (-79)
_MANA: 15% REMAINING
_DETAILS: 75/500
_NOTES: Multiple broken ribs. Ruptured Kidney.
When Nadia approaches her body she leans in close and places two fingers on Cassie’s neck. There’s a heartbeat, she sighs in relief before preparing to lift an unconscious Cassie. But Nadia’s too weak to get her up right now and before she can try again, two targets appear on her HUD.
_TARGET: A
_KRIX: WYRM (TIER THREE)
_HP: 100
_TARGET: B
_KRIX: SPIDER (TIER THREE)
_HP: 100
They still want to kill her, Nadia turns. Yelling at the two targets as she sparks her whips.
Both targets charge at Nadia, with the Wyrm taking the lead before it prepares to strike her with its tail- Before it can strike, Nadia vaults to the side- maintaining a distance from the Wyrm whilst she focuses her attention towards the Spider behind it.
She raises her left hand over her head and snaps her whip at the Spider. It bolts past the Wyrm and a large crackle erupts and the Spider crashes to the floor.
_TARGET: B
_KRIX: SPIDER (TIER THREE)
_HP: 58 (-42)
The whip bursts straight through the Spider, and Nadia’s whip is still strung through the creature. With all her strength she tugs her whip and throws the Spider against the side of the Drill beam train.
_TARGET: B
_KRIX: SPIDER (TIER THREE)
_HP: 32 (-68)
Before she can retract her whip, the Wyrm closes the distance and swings for her torso- She dodges it and tries to create space before it strikes again- She glances over at the Spider, which is now getting back up to its legs and when she looks back to the Wyrm it is already moving towards her, ready to strike.
With slight hesitation, she flicks her whip and lassos the wyrm before using its momentum to drag it across the floor- assuming control of its movement. As she does, the Spider jumps at her- Striking with three of its legs.
With her other arm, she flicks her whip at the Spider before it collides with her, and another loud bang bursts through the air when pieces of steel gimmer in the moonlight amongst the eruption of the Spider.
_TARGET: B
_KRIX: SPIDER (TIER THREE)
_HP: 32 (-68)
She turns her attention back at the Wyrm to see its tail approaching- She uses both arms to block the impact and she is smacked against the Drill beam train- Grunting as her body twitches in pain.
_ID: NADIA MEHDI
_HP: 19 (-81)
_MANA: 68% REMAINING
_DETAILS: 34/50
_NOTES: Multiple broken ribs and stab wounds- Limp right arm and Slipped Vertebrae.
My back, She grunts to herself, noticing the sudden pain and restriction in her body’s motion. She can’t raise her right arm anymore, and each step she takes sends a shock of pain up her spine.
You can’t do this, Her mind taunts her with the clarity of the situation.
You die here.