--Point of View: Katie--

“I can do this. I have already done it once.” I said quietly to myself as I began to type into the control terminal.

The gates, or gateways for that matter, were technological marvels that humanity had yet to come close to reproducing. Luckily for me, the controls are easy enough to understand if you could read the Old One’s script. I was not as well versed as Tom when it came to their language, but I could manage this much. I had to. Everyone here was relying on me.

Draya had given me the coordinates I would need to input to get everyone back to the planet’s surface. According to her, there was another operational gate in the Ruins not too far off from our encampment. I found this hard to believe but so was everything else I had experienced today. Once there, we would need to rush back to the base and prepare to depart. If everything went according to plan, we should have more than enough time. Actually, if Tom and Crim were successful, there would be nothing left to run away from. We were all so nervous, but I had a feeling everyone would be way more comfortable with a bit of space between us and here.

“You worry too much.” Called Robert from behind me, his firm hand grasping my shoulder. “Tom is as smart as he is reliable. Crim is also with him and to be frank, that is probably the safest place to be right now. They will be fine.”

“I know. I know. I just can’t help but worry. Tom is my best friend and Crim, well. He may be weird, strange, and a plethora of other things, but he is my friend too. They have both saved my life more than once already. The thought of losing them is unbearable.” I said quietly, pausing to wipe a tear from my eyes before resuming my work.

“I know how you feel Katie. We all do.” Replied Robert before returning to his post in front of the barricade.

I simply nodded and returned to my work, typing away into the console. It was frustrating. Tom had been here to help me before, but this time I had no such luxury. The script was just slightly different from last time which resulted in me having to start over a few times. Eventually, I reached the screen where I needed to enter our destination coordinates. After double checking the numbers Draya had given me over and over again, I would eventually start the gate.

A whirring sound filled the room. Everyone turned to stare at the source of the new noise, a look of uncertainty upon all their faces. The gate’s structure, a solid arch made of some unknown metal, started to glow. Along its surface, intricate carvings and rune work started to emit an eerie blue light that filled the room. Crim had informed me earlier that the light was a sign that the enchantments were being activated and consuming mana.

“Now we just have to wait.” I said out loud to everyone. “I am not precisely sure how long this is going to take so we all need to be prepared. I will give the signal. Until then, keep away from it.”

Nobody responded. They just eyed the machine warily, not wanting to have anything to do with it. I chuckled. If they thought it was bad now, wait until they actually go through it. I remembered each time vividly. The first time was I was completely unprepared to be hurled through space. It is not pleasant at all, but thankfully did not hurt. Well, that is a lie. It hurt when we were tossed out on the other side. I remember hitting the ground before blacking out.

“How safe is this thing?” yelled Chris from beside Robert. “Like, am I going to be missing any of my limbs when I come out the other side?”

Everyone started to mutter at hearing Chris’s words, and I had to quickly step up to squash any worries.

“Yes, you will all be fine. It does not hurt. Just be prepared to catch yourself when it spits you out on the other side.” I explained, walking up to rest my hand on the gate. “See? It is safe.”

My words seemed to have little effect on everyone, but I decided to pay no mind. There was nothing I could do at this point. If they wanted to survive this ordeal, they would need to trust me. I would admit, I too was hesitant about stepping through and being warped across space again. Having survived twice before though did ease my mind. Only a little though.

Returning my attention to the terminal, I could see a small progress bar filling up, indicating how charged the machine was. When it reached one hundred percent, the gate would activate and open a portal to home. At least that is what the last one did.

Just as my mind was starting to wander back to the gate hidden deep within the research facility, the alarm sounded. Everyone dropped down instinctively and scanned the area. We were all trained but not for something like this. Just as before, red lights flashed throughout the room and down the hall. I ran over to Robert and Chris, ducking down behind the barricade.

“That has to be Tom and Crim. Hopefully if we stay quiet, they will not notice us. They don’t really have any reason to check in here.” I instructed, motioning for everyone to remain silent.

“We will be ready, just in case.” Replied Robert, his voice low as he signaled Chris to ready the rifles.

We waited and waited but nothing seemed to be happening. The hallway outside looked to be the most direct path to the reactors but perhaps they took one of the other routes. We still had no idea where everything was. Maybe the soldiers were stationed on the other side. That thought was fleeting though. Only seconds later I heard the march of heavy, steel boots outside this room. Robert held up eight fingers. I thought it may be closer to ten. It mattered very little. The reality was that any was probably too much for us to handle.

I pressed my ear to the outside wall and listened carefully. It sounded like all of the guards had skipped over this room but that was only a fleeting hope. Just as we all let out a sigh of relief, the now familiar sound of the door sliding upward was heard down the hall. A single soldier stepped into the hall and peered down toward us all, visibly confused. From his angle I would imagine he would see the barricade, two armed humans and the gate preparing to take us all home. He lifted a hand to his head and started to speak.

“Fire!” Robert called out to Chris as they both took shots at the Old One.

Chris’s aim was a little off, but Robert aimed true and crumpled the enemy with a single shot. The rifle round had tore a clean hole through the armor it had been wearing and delivered what looked like a very fatal blow.

“Everyone be sure to stay out of sight. Stick to the walls. We are going to have more incoming now.” Robert called back to everyone.

I nodded in agreement. That guard surely was radioing back to report what it had seen moments before we took them out. It was only a matter of time before more arrived.

As it turned out, they were already here. Before we could even relish our small victory, two more Old One soldiers stepped into the hall but this time they were prepared. Their own weapons were raised, and they started firing down the hall as soon as they caught sight of Robert and Chris, both of whom were trying to keep their head down.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The sound of blaster fire echoed all around as the smell of burnt metal and ozone filled the air. The constant flashing of lights made the whole situation chaotic and hard to comprehend. Everyone besides the two defending the corridor hunkered down to avoid getting shot, myself included. If only I had another weapon to use.

“Another one down but they just keep coming in!” shouted Chris from across the room. “How many shots do these things have?”

“I have no idea!” I replied back, the thought had not crossed my mind. “I hope a lot.”

“Just keep firing! We don’t have a choice regardless.” shouted Robert over both of us as he took another shot.

We were lucky to have set up the lockers as a barricade when we did. The armored vests we had draped over them seemed to be absorbing most of the shots. Funneling all the guards into the hall also was a big help. The corridor was just narrow enough that it was difficult for more than two soldiers to walk side by side. Their bulky armor only made it more difficult. These rifles did not seem to care what they were wearing though. They ripped through everything like paper. I think Crim was right about these weapons being meant for him. Anything else made them seem a bit excessive.

We continued to hold out for what seemed like an eternity. Their numbers were showing no signs of dwindling. More and more guards funneled in, one right after another. So much so, that their lifeless bodies were starting to become an issue. The hallway was becoming blocked. This worked in our favor, at least for now. It gave them even less room, which made firing at them all the simpler.

Robert and Chris seemed to have their aim figured out at this point. They were single handedly repelling the attackers. The battle almost seemed one sided. All we had to do was hold out until Crim and Tom returned. Crim would take care of any remaining troops, we would take the portal home, ship goes boom, mission accomplished.

Then the sound of fighting stopped. No more shots flew overhead and the frantic calls of Robert and Chris calling out targets ended. I scurried over to Robert, still keeping my head down.

“What is going on? Did they stop?” I asked hurriedly.

“Yeah, they did but I do not trust it. Somebody called them back. They retreated.” Robert commented with a troublesome look.

I glanced over the barricade and sure enough, there were no more guards coming towards us. All that remained were a dozen or more trampled corpses.

“How much longer does that thing have?” asked Chris, his rifle still aimed down towards the door.

“One second. Let me check!” I said before quickly making my way over to the console, still keeping my head down.

The gate seemed to be in one piece. In fact, it looked unscathed. If it was hit by anything it did not look to take any damage. The terminal showed it was nearly ready.

“About two thirds of the way.” I called over to Chris and Robert before returning to cover.

“Any idea how long that is?” Robert asked next.

“No idea. It can’t be too long though.” I ensured them all.

That assurance was short lived. Chris fired a round and Robert spun around to join him.

“What is that?” cried Chris as he started to fire rapidly.

“No idea but I already put three rounds into it. They just bounce off.” Echoed Robert as he too was starting to get a bit frantic.

Looking past the barricade to the door, a new foe had slowly stepped into the room. Unlike the previous guards that had attempted to reach us, this one was completely different. While all of them were tall compared to us, this one nearly scraped the ceiling. Heavy steel plates covered the vast majority of its body. Its head was encased in a thick, solid helmet with two small holes for its eyes. The creature was practically a walking tank with all the armor it was wearing. The thing was moving slowly towards us, pausing with every shot it took directly to the chest but never taking a single step back.

“That is not good.” I said dumbfounded. “What to do, what to do?”

I did not have time to even think of an answer before this hulking monstrosity reached the barricade and effortlessly tossed it aside with a single kick of its massive legs. The lockers were sent flying back, taking Robert and Chris with them. Chris scrambled back up to his feet and continued to fire at the beast. It seemed to focus on him and continued its slow approach. Robert was not so fortunate.

“Ugh! Help!” yelled Robert from the back wall. He was trapped under the now crumpled lockers.

I rushed over, glancing between him and Chris, my heart racing. This was terrible. When I reached Robert, he was struggling to push the lockers up and free himself, but they were too heavy. I planted my feet and heaved with all my might.

“Almost!” Robert cried as he strained to free his trapped legs.

I struggled and groaned as I pulled harder, trying to muster any strength I had hidden away inside of me. After a few grueling seconds, Robert managed to free himself but not without injury. His legs looked very much broken, and the blood was starting to pool.

“Robert! We need to…” I started to say.

“No! Take my rifle and kill that damn thing!” Robert interrupted, reaching behind him for the weapon and thrusted it towards me. “Chris needs your help!”

I looked over and Chris was racing around the room, jumping and diving to avoid the long-armed swings of whatever it was that had broken through. The rest of the team had retreated into the locker room. That was probably for the best.

Taking the rifle, I took aim as best as I could, the rifle was still too heavy for me. How Chris was able to dive around and take pot shots at this thing was worthy of a medal.

“Chris!” I called, wanting to get his attention before I started firing. He looked and nodded in turn.

Thankfully, it was slow which made taking aim relatively easy. I fired round after round into its back as it blindly chased after Chris, almost fixated. It was still no good though. How thick was the armor on this thing?

“It has to have a weak spot!” I shouted out to Chris, changing positions to try and get a better shot.

“Well hurry up and find it!” pleaded Chris as he dived between the monster’s legs as it slammed down overhead with two iron gauntlets, shaking the room and leaving a large indent in the floor.

I watched carefully as it lumbered around until I saw something hopeful. The joints in the armor were not perfect. As this thing was swinging and thrashing about, gaps at the joints opened and closed. It was obviously made that way to allow ease of movement, but we could exploit it.

“I have an idea! Keep him busy!” I shouted over to Chris as I started making my approach.

“What does it look like I am doing?” remarked Chris as he barely ducked in time to avoid an overhead swing.

This was probably the riskiest thing I had ever done but life was about risks. I kept its back to me as it swung around wildly, having to dive and duck much like Chris had to even get close to it. Once I was close though, I struck!

“Here it goes!” I cried out as I jabbed the barrel of my gun through an opening in the armor where the torso met the leg. Once lodged in place, I fired round after round into the creature’s soft flesh.

The effect was immediate. The sound of metal on metal rang out as the bullets seemingly ricocheted inside of it, bouncing between its armor plates. It cried out in terrible pain. I had to resist the urge to cover my eyes. Chris, no longer being chased, followed my lead and jammed his gun into another opening and opened fire. Whether it was needed or not, I was not sure but regardless, it fell.

Everyone was quiet, not only from exhaustion but from uncertainty. People were poking their heads out of the locker room when the commotion quieted down. Chris and I were looking first at the giant body that lay before us and then upwards towards the empty hallway, praying that nothing else came down it.

“Is anybody else injured?” I called out, looking around the room.

“I’m pretty beat up, but I will live.” shouted Chris.

“I could use a bit more help.” Replied Robert who had dragged himself away from the carnage.

Robert was propped up against a wall and by the looks of it, had already started to try and patch himself up using ripped parts of his uniform as improvised badges. A few others rushed over as I did to assist him. It was bad but he would live if we got him home soon. We had the supplies to treat this back at base.

That would have to wait though. The hall was filled with the distant sound of more guards approaching. We would not last if they reached us now. I had to think fast.

“There are more coming! Somebody help me get another barricade in place!” I shouted, my head whipping around the room to find support.

“How about we just close the damn door?” replied Chris tiredly.

I stared blankly for a moment before sprinting towards the door with what energy I had left. The sound was getting louder but I made it. Slapping my hand on the door, I instructed it to close and lock. It did so with ease.

“Is that going to work?” asked Chris as I jogged back a safe distance and took aim at the door controls.

“Maybe.” I said simply as I took the shot. Sparks flew everywhere and the door remained closed. “That should at least stall them.”

With that, I made my way back to the gate controls and let out a sigh of relief. The terminal showed the gate was charged and ready to activate. It was finally ready. I pressed another few buttons and just like the previous one, the gate sprung to life. A misty blue light enveloped the arch from its apex to the floor. It was a warm, soothing light.

“Looks like it is finally time to go home everyone.” I said with a smile.