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Alarms and warning sirens went off all around the trio. Jace saw the various people scrambling to get inside buildings that quickly shut with blast doors as windows were also covered with sheets of metal that descended from above. All of the street lights went on full brightness, bathing the entire artificial landmass in piercing, white light.
The sound of booted feet approached from all directions, alongside the buzz of drones that were headed over, and the thunk-thunk of mechs.
“Let’s go!” Jace shouted as he began sprinting towards the central complex. I just need to get Ollie in touching distance of a console, and then he can get Quinn access.
The instructions were echoed a few moments later, “Get me access so I can find the server and this Signer we’re saving.”
They reached an enormous tower that had the Enduralife Enterprises logo – two E’s, back to back with the caduceus staff snakes wrapping around the lettering. The blast doors had shut, and automated turrets were swiveling on the exterior of the building. Jace ran forward, cut three slashes in the shape of a triangle – his blade carving through like a hot knife through butter – and entered the room.
It was some type of receiving room, with a desk that was currently vacated. Jace hopped over the welcome desk and looked around for some type of computer panel or access port. Laying down, he found one underneath, and directed Ollie to it. Ollie reached out, and the light-blue sparkles of starlight shot from his hand and connected to the port.
“I’m in,” Quinn said. “Getting layout of the complex – stand by.”
Greg looked back to the carved-out entrance and racked the slide on his rifle, “We have incoming.”
Jace vaulted the desk once more and poked his head outside. No kidding, we have incoming. Drones were flying all overhead, buzzing about, and equipped with weapons. The mechs that were coming down the main street they had sprinted down were far more advanced than anything Jace had ever come across before. They looked to be almost science-fiction more than something from Earth.
For all he knew, they could be from another world entirely.
Jace pulled his head back in as the map appeared from Quinn. Tracking the line, he saw that the server room was on the opposite side of the island from the caged prisoner. “Right. Here’s the plan. I’ll keep the cloak up on you two, and I’ll make for the server room. You both rescue the new Signer.”
“Roger,” Greg replied as he turned to the corridor leading deeper into this part of the island-large facility.
Priam waved at Jace, “Good luck! We’ll check in when we have her.”
Jace nodded as his two allies went down the alleyway. He unsheathed his sword and took a deep breath as he stepped outside. “Ollie, I’m going to open up with shock-and-awe. Ready?”
“Yup! Give them a show!”
Jace nodded. Dark Matter Shield (Rank 3) [Reflecting], Hope’s Edge. Drop the Cloak.
As soon as the shroud vanished, and Jace stepped out of the hole…all hell broke loose. He felt thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dull impacts against him. Priam’s barrier shattered almost instantly under the hail of bullets. Enormous tank-sized rounds just like that sniper at Pheracorp’s Holdings was using slammed into his Dark Matter Shield. He saw them drop in front of him, and grinned as he saw the mechs crumple in on themselves from the reflected damage.
All of the countless drones that were shooting at him from above began to fall out of the sky as the reflected damage returned to them, disabling them by the hundreds. They fell to the ground in small, sparking piles of trash and scrap metal.
Within five seconds, every mech and drone that had unloaded on Jace had destroyed itself.
“That was easy,” Ollie commented.
Jace began sprinting down the street, making sure to catch eye contact with every camera he possibly could.
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“Commander, are you seeing this?”
“I am, private.” The commander was transfixed. All of the cameras that were tracking this Flicker person showed him shrouded in a haze of bullets and anti-tank rounds. And yet he had not moved, and somehow every mech pilots vitals flatlined as the commander lost contact with hundreds of drones.
“What do we do?”
“Send in the Aspirants.”
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Priam followed Greg as the two ventured past the front desk. Priam winced slightly as he heard the thunderous report of thousands of guns firing on a single location. It almost sounded like a waterfall, but was heavier and more scattered about than a waterfall would be. The noises were accompanied with dull thuds.
“This way,” Greg said as he led Priam down a set of stairs. Inside the island itself. Priam looked over the whole map as Greg took the lead, following the larger man by instinct as he examined the structure.
It’s like a warren, Priam thought. The entire island is hollow except for the exterior walls, and bulkheads. So we could get trapped in different rooms if they locked down for flooding.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Their path led directly to the Northern edge of the island, deep inside the complex. Greg glanced back at Priam, “We need to pick up the pace. Hop on.”
Priam did so, hopping up and securing himself to Greg’s backpack with his hands and feet. “Ready!” Priam replied.
Greg began jogging down the hallway. Surprisingly, they did not encounter any type of resistance, and Priam began to worry. “Jace?” he asked. “How are you up there.”
“I’m busy!” Jace replied.
“Stay safe,” Priam whispered back without activating the comms. He had a mission to complete with Greg. Go rescue someone.
He’ll be fine. I’m sure.
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Jace sensed the impact before he actually felt it. An enormous, metal rod that came from the sky and slammed down right in front of him. He would have been obliterated by it if he had not sensed it coming with his enhanced vibration senses from the Cosmic Infusion Skill. “What the hell?” The pillar slammed down, and Jace had to scramble backwards from the enormous crater it left behind. The ground it tore through was naught but shredded concrete, cracked metal, and sparking wires.
“Rods from God,” Ollie replied. “A theoretical design of a superweapon. Rods of heavy metals put into orbit and dropped onto a target, using gravity to fuel their descent.”
Space weapons? Wow, they must really want me dead. Jace ran around the crater and kept his eyes focused on the sky – determined not to be caught off guard like that from something that would surely kill him instantaneously.
Something hit him from the side. He felt slightly tired as his Shield took the hit and the damage went to his energy instead. Someone invisible just hit me. He slashed in that direction and felt the blade cut through something made of metal, and it sliced into something else. He could see the purple and red miasma begin to spread, and he took up a bladed stance as he lined up his side-profile with the now-bleeding target.
He glanced up and jumped backwards once more as another one of the rods slammed into the ground from above, cracking the environment once more. I need to stay mobile, Jace thought as he found his footing once more. The blur of miasma rushed toward him, and Jace simply reacted by throwing up a dizzying series of slashes that would either prevent attack or deflect incoming hits.
Instead, he was shocked to see the miasma slide onto the ground and rush under his hail of strikes before it surged to his foot. It coated his foot and began to climb up his leg. Jace pulled his sword back and scraped it down the surface – blade flat as to not damage the prosthetic – until he felt it catch on something, and the miasma spread in an even larger area.
“Get off!” Jace shouted as he saw the miasma-covered mass continue up his leg.
It kept climbing up his leg, and he had no clue what it was doing – until he felt the burning sensation as it seemed to completely encase his leg. It felt like he was being eaten alive by acid. He could not see his leg past the miasma, and the nanites transmitting the pain signal from the artificial limb did not help him in the slightest.
“Mage’s Mark (Rank 5),” Jace growled out as he moved his hand down and felt something slimy. Dropping his sword, he gripped it with both hands and saw to his horror that it began moving up his arms as well. Somehow, it was inside his shield. But, due to Mage’s Mark reducing damage taken by 1/2, he felt less burn on his leg and now arms. “Arbiter’s Anathema!” Jace shouted out as he expended one of his three charges of that Skill.
The cloak on the figure vanished, and Jace saw an oozing, orange, slimy creature that had sucked onto his body. He could see through the gelatinous mass there was a tiny sphere of green.
“Above!” Ollie shouted.
Jace threw himself back, jumping as far as he could as another rod slammed into the ground from the skies. Rolling with the jump, he felt the blast of heat and rubble slam into his barrier and drain his energy. Dark Matter Mending (Rank 4) [Vampiric].
The acid burns immediately faded, and Jace grinned. “You can burn me all you want; I’m instantly repairing it, and you’re still bleeding to death.”
The gelatinous mass tried to engulf him further, but Jace had enough. Detonate, he thought as he focused on Mage’s Mark.
A burst of grey-purple light encompassed the jelly creature before blasting all of the ooze off of him. Jace moved away from the now-on-the-floor creature and threw his sword over and over at it, scoring more [Rending] stacks as the creature moved slower and slower.
“Another rod incoming,” Ollie stated as he pointed up. “Three seconds to impact.”
Jace nodded and ran back as the rod slammed into the ground a few moments later, causing another enormous explosion of metal and electrical conduits. “How many of these do they have?”
“Many,” Quinn replied. “I’m working on getting a satellite I have access to to turn its cameras – but it’s tricky and takes time.”
Jace saw the slime coalesce into a vaguely humanoid figure as the [Rending] and (Rank 5) effects of Dark Matter Blade continued to wear away at it. The thing moved closer with slow, oozy shuffles before it collapsed into a puddle…and vanished.
All that was left was a small sphere the size of a marble that Ollie flew over to and dusted.
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[Stardust Acquired: 200]
[Stardust Split: 50]
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Jace nodded and kept sprinting towards his objective.
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Greg and Priam reached an intersection where they came across their first obstacle. A series of doors that had shut and sealed off the chambers going forward. “Any thoughts?” Greg asked.
Quinn’s voice came over the comms, “Have Darrin tap the panel to give me direct access to this local device.”
The spider-Wayfinder crawled out of Greg’s armor and floated over to the panel, tapping it, as the panel illuminated a slight golden hue before the door slid open. The spider returned to Greg’s armor and he led them into the next room which appeared to be some type of elaborate laboratory.
Beakers and chemical apparatus that Greg had never seen before were spread all around. It was some type of advanced research or production area, and many of the glass storage containers were filled up with green, glowing goop. Beyond this room was another room that looked like an airlock. Greg cautiously led Priam forward, and the duo entered through the automatic doors. They closed behind the duo, and a small spray of some foul-smelling disinfectant fluid trickled down onto both of them from spickets.
“Yuck! Disgusting,” Priam said as he made a gagging noise.
The doors on the other side opened, and Greg saw a peculiar sight. A chitin-covered woman who was suspended in clear, plastic manacles. She was inside a container made of the same stuff. The rest of the room was nondescript and bare; except for a tray with a variety of medical implements sitting atop it. Many of which were covered with the goop.
Priam gasped, “Oh! It’s a Plorp! I’ve always been fascinated with seeing one!”
There was a faint buzzing in the air, and Greg could swear it had come from inside the container. But he had no way to open it. “Quinn?”
“This is going to take a bit. You’re in a highly restricted facility.”
Why was it unguarded? Greg thought.
He got his answer a second later when the exterior of the room was coated with metal shutters, and he felt gravity leave him for a moment as the room fell.