Chapter 29. Barrel of Monkeys
A few hours later the Retribution drop ship approached the front docking bay of the detention facility while still cloaked. The plan was for the Retribution to get close enough to scramble the sensors of the facility, release the loaded drop ship, and allow the Bloodhound to proceed unnoticed to the back of the cube-shaped facility where the cells were located.
Once the Retribution was in position, the Bloodhound advanced toward the facility's rear. Upon reaching the rear of the facility, Tiff gave instructions to Elvis on where to align the ship. The Bloodhound then released an umbilical bridge from the rear cargo bay where Tiff and CJ began using a plasma cutter to cut through the hull of the detention facility.
It would be easy enough for them to grab Andrew and run, but that wouldn’t solve the problem of the Enforcer General who could apparently warp anywhere he wanted, even onto moving ships.
Denae had explained the technology to Tiff and CJ during the mission briefing. It was only available to select high-ranking Council operatives, but Denae believed that the same technology being used to keep Tiff from materializing her second body inside Andrew's cell could, in theory, be used against the Enforcer.
So now the team had a third goal along with rescuing Captain Dawes and killing the Enforcer General. They had to find and steal that technology to avoid this happening again.
“Alright, we’re almost through. Get ready,” CJ said as he knelt and worked the plasma cutter.
With that, Tiff braced herself, she was going in mostly blind and without her abilities until they could find and disable the suppression field generator. Along with everything else, the captain had informed her that there were five other prisoners, and they would be coming with him.
When CJ finished cutting the circular piece of the hull that fell into the cell, Tiff immediately jumped through.
“Time to go, Captain,” Tiff said as she threw me a rifle.
I picked up the rifle, checked that it was loaded, and released the safety, readying myself for whatever came next, “How do we get the force field down?”
Tiff walked to the front of the cell and removed a small grey tube from her pocket. She ran the tube along the floor at the base of the force field releasing a white paste onto the floor.
“Stand back,” she said as she backed me up near the bed and picked up my mattress to give us some cover.
As I huddled behind the mattress, she leaned out from the left side and fired one plasma round at the paste.
The paste exploded, completely destroying the floor and causing the field to malfunction. At the same time, alarms began blaring all over the facility while red lights phased off and on. The sudden influx of sound and blinking lights was disarming as I took a second to gather myself.
“We need to move, now!” Tiff said as the field completely disarmed and the exit to the cell opened.
The other prisoners were shouting. I could see Loren and Red staring out of their cells behind their own force fields. They understood what was happening and had assured me that they and the rest of their team would be ready.
“Get these fields down. We know what to do next,” Red shouted.
“Working on it!” I responded as Tiff and I ran down the hallway toward the front of the facility.
“There should be a master release near the exit door!” Tiff shouted over the blaring alarm.
Sure enough, as we reached the exit for the holding area, there was a panel on the left wall beside the door with a master release button. I ran up and pressed the release button, the screen flashed green, and the cells all opened.
All the fields dropped, and the five prisoners ran out into the hallway. I had spoken to Red and Loren, but this was my first time seeing them since our cells positions made it hard to see other prisoners.
Red was about 6 feet tall, with short cut red hair poking out from under an old, tattered ball cap. Loren was about 5’8 and, funny enough, she also had red hair, but it was more of a strawberry blonde in contrast to Red’s bright orange hair. The other 3 members were made up of two more stout-looking guys and a smaller-framed brunette woman.
“Okay, you all take the right side, Tiff and I will take the left side. I don’t know if you have classes that will help but when we disarm the suppression field you will be able to use them again. Do not engage the Enforcer under any circumstances. If you see him, just run. Understood?”
“Yeah man, we got it. It would be nice if we had one of those guns though,” Red said noticing the rifles Tiff and I were carrying.
I tossed him my rifle. After all, the group wouldn’t be much help if they couldn’t defend themselves, and honestly, these rifles would only help against guards anyhow. If they ran into the Enforcer then some of them, if not all of them, would most likely die fast, rifle or none.
"Do you know how to use that thing?" I asked.
"Point it bad guys and pull the trigger?" Red responded.
"Good enough for now," I shrugged.
Tiff stepped up and got the group's attention as they stood in a semi-circle around us. They all eyed her cautiously. I wasn't sure what their guardian had been like, but Tiff was a sight in her true body. This team was obviously wary of aliens after what they had experienced.
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“Listen, if you don’t find anything down that hallway, you need to make your way to the front cargo bay. We have a drop ship waiting there, and a strike team providing support. Don’t try to fight. You will die,” she said.
The group all looked around at each other, trepidation obvious amongst them all as she spoke.
“Go now and move fast!” Tiff shouted as the group immediately turned and ran out the exit door and down the right-side corridor.
“We need to move too. We have got to find those suppression generators before the enforcer finds us.”
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Upon hearing the facility's alarms, the drop ship uncloaked and landed in the docking bay. There was no force field blocking entrance or exit, just a small field that allowed for environmental stability. Denae and the five-man armored strike team exited the rear of the still hovering drop ship and entered the empty bay to the sound of alarms and flashing lights.
“Be ready! Take up defensive positions and be ready to lay down covering fire!” Denae shouted.
As soon as the words left her mouth, a swarm of guards entered the docking bay. These guards were much like the Mech guards we had encountered on the AI containment facility where Tiff’s body had been stored. They were higher in level though, ranging from Level 9 to Level 12. Thankfully, there was no sign of the large armored Mechs.
This station obviously saw little use and therefore had no need for a large contingent of guards and heavy defenses. Anthragor only used it out of necessity and was only in the area after responding to the communication the automated facility had sent out upon receiving the five stranded humans.
It was a lucky turn of events for the Enforcer as he could only use his personal spatial warp in a limited vicinity. When he received orders to follow up on the human known as Andrew Dawes, he was already at the detention facility preparing to transport the other humans.
“No sign of the Enforcer! Take out those guard bots!” Denae shouted to her strike team as she continued to survey the cargo bay for signs of danger.
She did have a level and class but didn’t possess the same interface that participants in the dungeon had. That feature was designed especially for participants by the Coeus and, while outside entities could possess a level and ability, they wouldn’t have access to the interface or system-wide communications.
For now, Denae and her strike team would hold their position and wait for Tiffantrimore and Captain Dawes. If the situation changed, they would need to advance into the facility further.
“Denae, we are currently en route to the first possible suppression field location. Stand by for updates. If you are approached by a group of five humans, be aware that they are friendly and will require assistance," Tiff said through the comms.
“Understood. Make it fast, Tiffantrimore!”
Tiff and Andrew ran down the long empty hallway, eventually coming to a singular room at the end. The door slid open, and Tiff saw the suppression field generator, but something else caught her eye as well.
I stood beside her, watching the rear in case guards or worse were coming their way.
“Is that the thing?” I asked.
“Yes, that is the field generator, but they have several portable units in this room as well. We need to take two of them to be sure we don’t get any more unexpected visits,” Tiff replied.
“Those things gotta weigh hundreds of pounds each!” I said.
“Yes, but luckily you have a suit that can handle it,” she said.
The main generator was in the center of the room. It was a large cylindrical shaped piece of machinery that stretched from floor to ceiling. There was an audible hum emanating from it and the air in the room felt like it held some sort of charge, almost like static electricity.
“So how do we disengage the generator?" I asked.
“Easy,” Tiff said as she leveled her rifle and fired three rounds in quick succession into the machine.
The generator smoked and popped as the hum wound to a halt. My interface blinked and returned to my view immediately.
“It worked; my interface is back!” I said as I walked over to the far wall of the room to grab a couple of the portable generators.
The portable generators were about the size of a small personal refrigerator. They were made of a shiny black metal and had no visible markings. There was a small electronic panel on top of the units that was currently blank since they were powered down.
I inspected one of the units and saw a recessed handle on the top of it directly above the panel. The handle was a pressure release, sort of like a fuel door on some cars. I pushed the handle in a bit, and it sprung out of the top.
“Convenient,” I said.
“Grab two. We will need one for the Bloodhound and one for the Retribution,” Tiff said as she positioned herself near the front door, rifle ready.
I grabbed the handle and tried to lift the unit, but I could barely budge it, even with my increased strength stat. The thing must have weighed three hundred pounds.
“You are going to have to use your armor. You are stronger than you were, but you can't match the strength of your armor."
I took a breath and stared at my palms as I mentally equipped my armor. I was hoping that I wouldn’t get the same response I got in my cell. Sure enough, I saw the armor cover my hands and arms completely as it fully equipped. My interface changed to the combat HUD that I had become accustomed to while wearing my armor.
I walked over and grabbed the portable generator with one arm. I had to strain, and my armor whined as it flexed but I was able to pick it up.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” I said as I shook my head.
“No time to think about it now. Grab the other one and we have to make our way to the Retribution,” Tiff said.
We immediately started back down the empty hallway. We still hadn’t encountered any of the guards or the Enforcer so we were hoping our luck would hold. As we came back to the four-way intersection where we started, I saw the other group running our way. The group was now fully armed and some of them were wearing armor, while the brunette woman whose name I didn’t know yet was glowing slightly.
“Hey, our interfaces and abilities are back. I guess you guys found the generator!” Red said. “There was an armory on our side, so we all grabbed a weapon.”
As the group trotted to a stop in front of us, they just looked at me, amazed.
“Wh-what is that armor?” Red asked.
“It came with my class. I can tell you more about it when we get out of here,” I said, “right now we need to get out of this damn place.”
“Agreed. Everyone, follow Andrew. Let's stay close and watch our rear,” Red said to his friends as the group fell in behind me and Tiff.
We ran down the long hallway toward the front docking bay, still not encountering any resistance. Soon we came to the exit door into the cargo bay.
“Okay, everyone be ready, I don’t know what we are walking into,” I said.
Tiff stood beside me as we waited, “Denae, we are preparing to enter the cargo bay, prepare to EVAC.”
No answer.
“Denae, we are preparing to enter the cargo bay. Do you copy?”
Tiff looked at me, concern on her face as she grasped her rifle tightly in her hands.
“No response from Princess Denae. Let’s hope it’s a comms malfunction,” she said.
“Well, we're out of options. We have got to get to that drop ship. Let’s go!” I said.
As we ran through the sliding door, the sounds of combat assaulted our ears. We couldn’t believe what we saw.
Anthragor stood directly in front of the Retribution drop ship, bodies lying on the floor all around him. The strike team members lay dead or wounded. One was completely beheaded, another disemboweled, screaming, trying to keep his insides from falling completely out of his body. It was utter chaos.
Anthragor was standing in the center of the chaos, two of his arms holding those menacing red swords as they impaled the fifth member of the strike team and held him dangling in the air, screaming as he died.
He turned and his head in my direction, his eyeless face sending a shiver down my spine. He smiled with that nightmarish maw as he continued holding the dying soldier above his head.
“Leaving so soon, primate?”