“You up there!” A voice called up from the production floor. “Why did you come here and kill poor Dalia? Did you come in here for just her?” There was a moment of quiet, but Karla could hear boots on ladders, climbing into the upper structure. She was becoming surrounded.

“Freddie! There’s more than fucking five guards you asshole!” she said over coms.

“Can you make it back into the vents?” Freddie responded. She looked around herself, a dead end.

“If you hand yourself over quietly, I’ll at least listen to what you have to say.” The voice continued.

“You’re a manager? You have authority here?” Karla called back.

“Hehe, you could say that. I’m the head manager of this forge.”

Karla released a smoke grenade onto the catwalk as she poked the rifle out over the edge and fired at the voice . White billowing clouds filled the area, and was punctured by a roar of return fire from the guards below.

None of the guards noticed the figure slip out of the smoke and drop onto the top of the cnc mill. The factory was still active, producing away without a care for the chaos around it. Karla spotted the one man not firing a gun, hiding behind a tall shield. Her rifle up top had sprayed accurately and would have killed him if it wasn’t for the clear shield he stood behind, several spider webs of cracked glass spread over his grinning face. The rifle above had fallen to its side, the fire control group crushed and forced to fire continuously as it laid there. It did its job. The continuous gunfire drew the attention of everyone in the area, as Karla stepped right behind the manager.

She recognized him. Carl Weathers. He was on the top of the list, and had presented himself nicely. He muttered to himself as he watched.

“Hold your fir-khuuk!” He gasped as a heatblade found his neck. The gunfire slowed to a stop as the guards watched for movement. The smoke cleared for a brief moment as the grenade rolled down the catwalk, exposing the ledge, a bullet-riddled rock wall, and a crushed rifle, smoking hot and empty.

“Check it!” A large bruiser of a man shouted up. Several guards crept into the smoke, searching for the assailant. “What do you want us to do?” he spoke behind himself, not looking.

There was a moment as the ten guards waited around their boss for an order. It never came. Instead three stun grenades and a smoke grenade dispersed themselves between their feet. They turned in time to see the manager drop, a heatblade knife in his throat. Karla stood behind the deployed shield and aimed her two pistols. As the flashes went off, she fired, two bullets for each face she saw.

She emptied both pistols quickly and leaped backwards, avoiding the two quick-reacting guards who had dodged her shots. A large, red-hot hammer tore through the shield, and the longest heatblade sword she’d ever seen whipped through where here neck was a moment ago. She cursed. These guys were good. Too good for her.

Gunfire erupted within the group, spraying machinery and walls alike. Nothing came close to hitting Karla, instead several incidents of friendly fire could be witnessed inside and out of the smoke. She ran along the walkways that lined the haulers, distancing herself from the chaos. Two out of three managers dead, this group of guards leaderless. Most of these seemed a bit dumb as they flailed in the smoke, she suspected those were the chipped. But those two… she didn’t want to deal with that right now. Something deep down told her she was outmatched and she needed to distance herself. She pushed her new legs to move her as fast as possible to the exit.

A white bolt lanced through the building, cutting through a hauler container and the machinery on the other side. It had barely missed her. She glanced up in time to dodge another bolt from somewhere up in the catwalks. She cursed as the other guards exited the fading smoke cloud and began firing. Even now that a few had realized she was missing, their aim was terrible. Now she understood why Freddie had so much confidence. She reloaded the pistols, using her telekinesis to ferry bullets between her pouches and the firearms in her grasp. She was getting more skilled with it quickly, though she wished she didn’t have to risk her life to gain her abilities back.

She sensed it before it came. She tilted her head as a heatblade pierced through the machine she was leaning against. The steel panels glowed hot then gave way as the blade struck through where her neck was a second ago. Karla slid away from the machine revealing the woman who had nearly cut her head off earlier. Karla fired at the woman as she moved, but the man with a hammer stepped between them, a solid armor deflecting the light shots. Her brain labeled it.

[Light Defensive Harness - Baja MK 1]

“Fuck! Freddie! One of these assholes is in a harness!”

“Oh…” Freddie responded, uselessly.

The man shouted as he leaped forward, his hammer impacting a cylindrical machine and crumpled it like a soda can. She pulled out her own heatblade, but just as she brought it up, the woman appeared over her shoulder, cutting down at her in a whirling blow that cut across the floor in a great six-foot arc. Karla stepped back and deflected the blow, the blade in her hand separating into two pieces. It flickered, then died, slowly cooling instead of the quick temperature shift a heatblade should have. She threw it at the woman, then ducked as a hammer nearly took her head off. She slid further away from the billowing smoke where several guards still fumbled and searched for an enemy.

Karla reloaded the pistols and fired again, searching for an opening to nail the unarmored woman, but the harnessed man kept himself between them, the woman only attacking when Karla was out of position to fire back. She let go of the pistols and ducked, a blade came up at an angle, difficult to dodge, but Karla didn’t plan on dodging and fighting as she had.

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Two pistols hovered on either side of the man, firing point-blank into the swordswoman’s unprotected torso. Karla slipped back and dropped her last stun grenade. It boomed and flashed a blinding light, giving her time to turn and run. She was close to the entrance to the factory, almost out, when a bright bolt cut down from overhead, cutting through an ankle and dropping her into a wild roll. She grit her teeth as she gained control over her slide, pushing herself up against a pillar.

“I just got that fixed you asshole!” Karla cursed as she checked her ankle. Weak, and half-missing, but it should hold her weight, if just barely.

She peered out from the side and spotted them, a single sniper up in the catwalks. Another bolt flashed down, tearing a chunk of concrete out of the pillar and spraying Karla with pieces of stone. The man in the harness howled like a pained wolf as he stood over his partner. He picked up the hammer and pointed it at Karla.

“You bitch! I’m going to tear off your limbs and use you as a wall ornament!”

“Be ready to move, Kat.” Her com spoke up.

“Selena?”

“Yeah, give me one sec… and now!”

The man stomped forward, hammer raised, and Karla knew she wouldn’t be able to run from him. She dove between his legs instead as the hammer tore through the pillar she was using as cover. A bolt of white cut down at her, but the aim was off… She glanced up and saw the sniper tilting from a gunshot wound. Another round fired from outside, clipping the man’s head and dropping him permanently. She moved towards her two dropped pistols and the dead swordswoman, the hammer followed.

She could feel the shocks as the hammer slammed down, tearing through machinery as she dived behind various devices and slipped through the production lines in a way he couldn’t.

“Stop moving! You’re only making it worse for you!” the man shouted.

She finally landed at her destination just as he caught up to her. His hammer raised, and hesitated. Whoever this person was, he cared about her. He hesitated in harming the corpse of his friend, only for a hot piece of metal to enter into the back of his harness.

The sword of the woman pushed through cleanly, easily. It was a damn good sword, better than what she’d seen till now. Its blade was a dark black with an edge that glowed like sunset as it stuck out from the man’s chest. Karla tried to pull it out with her ability, but now that it was on him, her possession of the blade faltered, her telekinesis slipping off the handle.

“Khhruu,” the man spat, blood running down his lips. He took another step towards Karla, hammer raised, then collapsed into a heap, the sword sizzling in his chest.

She let out a deep breath she had been holding. She dropped her head back as she laid on the corpse, and activated her coms.

“Selena. That was fucking perfect. Thank you.”

“No problem! I got some friends with me. Once my old man found out they lost most of their security, he was game for a bit more involvement. Though, it looks like old Freddie’s estimates were off, eh?”

Karla laughed. “You could say that again. I think there are some chipped guys in here…” She glanced back at the cloud where multiple guards searched fruitlessly for intruders. “They look easy enough to handle. But these two were something else.”

“I know who they are. There’s three of them, and they’re mercs.”

“Mercenaries? Where’s the third?” Karla looked around, waiting for another threat to pop up.

“Relax, I took the other one out. That sniper in the roof. The hammer, the blade, and the bow. I’m surprised they had the cash to hire that group. They must have been a pretty penny.”

“Haaah. There was another two that seemed like they weren’t chipped, up on the catwalks. There might be more…”

“If they aren’t shooting at you, they’re probably looting and bailing, seeing as their bosses are gone.”

You think—” Karla was interrupted by the appearance of a tubby man holding a briefcase to his chest. He spotted the dead bodies around her and squealed as he ran. “Selena, Freddie, I just saw the last manager.”

“Oh yeah? Where?”

“Where?” Freddie shouted over coms.

“He just climbed into the cab of the lead hauler.”

A hauler consisted of a group of containers fastened together, and a tug that pulled it along. The man had dove inside, and it sounded like he was starting it up. A shot rung out, and a stifled cry came from the cab. Karla relaxed at a job done.

“Uh, Kat?”

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Looks like the windshield is bullet proof…” there was another crack from outside. “Yeah, it’s not getting through. And he’s moving! Hey! Kat!”

Karla looked up. The hauler was indeed slowly leaving the bay, tearing out loading equipment and connected hoses as it went. Karla grit her teeth and stood. She was shaky on her damaged leg, and the metal flexed as she hobbled along, but she was able to move. She pulled the still-glowing blade out of the last merc and stumbled towards the slowly moving vehicle. She stepped onto the edge and hopped just as the last of the containers slid by.

“Karla! Tell me you got on board!” Freddie shouted over coms.

“Yeah!” Karla slipped for a moment before she could pull herself up, climbing with her good limbs till she was on top of the container. She was huffing now. “I’m here.”

“I see you,” said Selena. “I’ll clean out the rest of the guards with my cousins, we’ll be waiting for you to get back.”

Karla took a step, then fell as the hauler jerked and moved. Each container was stacked in a large grid, attached with tethers and shock absorbers. Usually they acted as one large trailer, but when the cab pulled abruptly, the containers would move and flex to absorb the harsh jolts. Karla watched as the trailers whipped like a snake in front of her, throwing her to one side. She pushed ahead, crawling through the whipping movements.

“Dammit, this guy can’t drive,” she muttered. As the hauler pulled out of the valley, it’s arc smoothed out. Karla stumbled to her feet and made her way to the front. The cab was right near the top, visible over the containers that lost their loads over the canyons. She hadn’t payed much attention to what they were making, now she had a good view. Gear. The same black arms and legs the chipped guards had, poured like a steady flood from the hauler’s open sides. Karla kept walking.

This high up, she could see a wall a out in the distance. It stretched out into sea, and then off into the steep slopes of a tall mountain range. In the center was a white tower, with symbols she could just make out from here. A broken eye, with a long, slender teardrop. The Church. She had no interest in seeing them right now, time to put an end to this. She lifted the sword, and activated the blade. It was fast, heating up without much noise, a jet of red flowed down the edges like a flowing river of heat, meeting at the fine tip. Taller than she was, and with a handle as long as a forearm, this blade was definitely something special. She smiled as she admired the massive thing. Her brain even had a name for it.

[Belier Greatsword - Mont Blanc]

“A reward for a job well done.” She turned the blade over in her hands, then swung the sword through the cab, cleaving the seating area in two.