*(mood song: "Starset - Die For You")

The dawn approached and Sarah woke up on a huge comfy bed, despite that she hadn't slept much, she couldn't stop thinking on the old man willing to die like that.

*knock, knock* a knock was heard from the door, as Dratkan entered wearing his powerarmor and rifle with a rugged cape on top.

Dratkan: "are you ready?"

Sarah nodded and stood up: "I'm ready"

Dratkan then gave her what looked like respirators.

Dratkan: "in case anything happens, I sold the house to get them, one for you and for each of the kids, they should be able to breathe underwater like this..."

Sarah: "are you sure about this old man?"

Dratkan chuckled: "indeed I'm old... way too old... I don't wanna struggle anymore, I will do one last big gesture and leave this world..."

Sarah looked around, her room was decorated sparsely: "this room-"

Dratkan: "yeah, it was the only empty room, it belonged... to my son when he was younger..."

Sarah: "are you sure you won't regret this?"

Dratkan: "hah... you are a kind one, aren't you?... But I'm not, money isn't gained just with kindness, effort, and... persuasion are also needed, I won't make excuses... this is the end, an end I can be satisfied with"

Sarah nodded: "very well then, let's go-"

Dratkan stopped her and gave her a robe like his: "put this robe on, they are smelly and old, no one will even notice us if we dress like beggars"

Sarah had a disgusted face, but even then she put it on: "okay..."

Once downstairs she saw that the kids were wearing similar robes, all of them already waiting by the door.

Dratkan went to the door and only opened it halfway before saying: "now remember people, don't get far"

They walked outside just in time to see a lizardman giving posters with Rose's face on them, she almost became flustered, but Dratkan put a hand on her shoulder and slightly shook his head.

Dratkan: "let's go"

Sarah could see the calmness on his face and relaxed.

Sarah: "Okay..." and followed after him, as they avoided the guards giving out pamphlets.

Rose: [don't become complacent, his face is the face of someone ready to die...]

Sarah: [but he has a plan]

Rose: [yeah, his plan is to die... what a great plan..., hope all lizardmen had the same plan...]

Sarah frowned, but didn't respond to Rose's sarcasm, she was way too worried to relax, as she scrutinized around for danger at every step.

Rose: [seems like the city boss is looking for you..., look at the corners between buildings, there are armed guards hidden everywhere]

Sarah: [guess what Dratkan said about the robes was true after all, no one seems to care about us at all...]

Rose: [don't relax though, even your body shape is different from lizardmen, some of them might have found out already even and be calling for reinforcements]

Sarah started walking a bit faster at those words, after walking for some minutes they walked down a dark alley.

Dratkan: "I paid someone to guide us from here, we should- DODGE!"

But it was too late, Dratkan shielded most of the kids and Sarah with his back, but two of the kids were hit by thrown daggers, bleeding out quickly.

Dratkan's power armor had protected him, but seeing the two kids bleeding out on the floor, a thin boy and a girl... his face distorted with anger.

Dratkan: "COME OUT!"

A thin and tall lizardman then came out from a shadow, and city guards soon followed too.

Dratkan: "YOU?!"

The thin lizardman laughed: "yeah, me~"

Dratkan: "I PAID YOU A FORTUNE!, WHY DID YOU BETTRAY ME?!"

The thin lizardman: "tch! old man, the city governor pays more~"

Dratkan: "How could you kill children like that..."

Thin lizardman: "sigh... you are just a bag of dead bones, I will take your money and the governor's money, there's no need to limit myself for the sake of some ragtag brats is there?"

A scarred guard came from behind him, and looked at Sarah: "well well, I guess you never thought your helmet had a tracking blessing right ancestor~?"

Rose: [sigh... show me the interface]

Sarah took off the helmet and opened a rear panel.

Rose quickly examined the insides: [hmmm take out that red relay, that will deactivate the tracking]

scarred guard: "it's useless ancestor, breaking the relic won't- huh?" a tablet like device he was looking at with a blinking red dot suddenly disappeared "w-what did you do? you broke the artifact!"

Sarah calmly put it back on: "I just disabled the tracker, a simple matter"

The scarred guard looked at the thin lizardman: "you take care of the old man, we will take care of the woman"

Thin lizardman: "you are the customer!"

The scarred guard chuckled looking at Dratkan: "heh! isn't he a customer too?"

The thin lizardman shrugged: "you paid more"

Sarah: "in that case, I CAN PAY YOU MORE!"

The thin lizardman paused: "you? what could you have?"

Sarah: "you are thinking of material possessions inside this crappy floating city, but wouldn't exiting this planet be even more valuable?"

Thin lizardman: "...now that's an offer hard to say no to- ugh!" a blade stabbed through his chest.

The scarred guard had killed him: "that was a clever move ancestor... I will take care of you myself..."

Sarah had been preparing for this moment, she took out her assault rifle and fired a salvo, accurately blowing up the scarred lizardman's head, along with some other guards.

Sarah shouted: "RUN! NOW!" and as the lizardman guards rushed to take cover, Dratkan and the kids ran to the end of the hallway.

But they only found a rusty closed door.

Erbkag: "It's closed!"

Dratkan: "step aside kids... omph!!!"

Dratkan stepped forward and grabbed the rusty wheel on the door and pushed with his entire body and power armor, both his joints and the power creaked, but finally, the door creaked open.

Just at that moment, Sarah came running as arrows and harpoons rained around her.

Dratkan: "EVERYONE, GET INSIDE!"

The kids and Sarah went in first and Dratkan went in last, closing the door between the both of them.

Sarah: "we made it..."

Dratkan: "yeah... we still have a long way to go..." and suddenly fell on one knee "huh?"

Sarah then noticed, he had a broken joint in the power armor.

Sarah: "seems like your power armor joint broke... I could try to fix it-"

Dratkan pulled the leg up: "there's no time, one heavy leg won't stop my old bones"

Kringib: "yeah! the old man is strong!"

Sarah nodded as Dratkan started to lead the way.

Rose: [we are getting closer~]

Sarah: [how close?]

Rose: [hehehe... close enough to do this~]

A tremor suddenly shook the city.

Dratkan: "what was that?!"

Sarah: [was that-?]

Rose: [Railgun artillery fire!]

Sarah: [w-wait a minute we aren't still outside!]

Rose: [I know, you would have never escaped just depending on that old man, they had barricades and controls prepared, even a line of ships is blocking the docks, I'm blowing them up~]

Sarah: [okay... what way I go now then?]

Rose: [just go up, follow this old hallway to the left, and open two doors, the second one is flooded so be careful]

Sarah nodded and got moving: "I know a way, follow me, and have your breathers ready!"

Dratkan: "wait! that path is from the abandoned galleries, it's probably flooded"

Sarah: "We have the breathers right? we should be okay then"

Dratkan: "never take an emergency device as part of your escape plan" he pointed right "if we go that way then we can find some maintenance stairs to go up!"

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Sarah: "...I'm going this way, your way won't work anymore as it will be full of guards"

Erbkag: "we trust her, let's go with her old man"

Dratkan: "...fine, hope you are right girl, the life of these kids are on your hands now..."

They went down the hallway as Erbkag pulled on Sarah's arm, making her bend.

Sarah: "what is it?"

Erbkag: "...the old man, he will survive right?"

Sarah: "yeah, he won't have to fight if we go through this path but... you guys will have to swim, are you ready?"

Kringib butted in: "we all know how to swim don't worry, as long as the old man can survive... this is nothing"

Sarah could clearly see the kids seemed nervous, but Rose had warned her the other paths were blocked, and even she herself had no confidence in fighting against multiple lizardmen while defending the kids, just swimming seemed easier overall.

Sarah nodded and patted their scaly heads: "you will be fine, just be brave"

The kids nodded with serious faces, as Dratkan and Sarah arrived at the rusty door.

Rose: [There are two doors you have to open, don't close it again after you open it]

Sarah: [but then the inside of the city would get flooded...]

Rose: [...I'm aware, that's exactly what I want]

Sarah: [but Dratkan would be upset... he won't agree to that]

Rose: [then just close it loosely, it will open by itself after a while due to the water pressure anyway]

Sarah: [okay...]

Dratkan grabbed the rusty wheel to open the door at the same time as Sarah.

Dratkan: "ready... push!"

The door was really rusty, and it slowly creaked open after some struggle, at the other end of the door the hallway was slightly flooded, as the water reached their ankles.

When everyone entered, Sarah rushed to close the door.

Sarah: "I will close it"

Dratkan didn't give it much thought and just nodded, walking down the flooded hallway to the next door, while Sarah just closed the door only about eighty percent. When they reached the next door, they could clearly see that the other side would be flooded, as water leaked through the seams of the door.

Dratkan: "have your respirators ready kids, it's gonna get dangerous!"

Sarah nodded and opened her cracked helmet, putting on the respirator, it made her grimace as it tasted of rusty metal and chemicals.

Sarah and Dratcan stood near the door, ready to open it.

Dratcan: "kids, hold half to each!"

The kids half held to Dratcan's legs, while the rest held on to Sarah.

Dratkan: "ready? now!"

They opened the door and held onto the side handles, as the water quickly flooded the hallway.

Dratkan pointed forward with his arm telling Sarah to lead the way.

Sarah had difficulty breathing, but it was better than nothing, so she repressed her urge to cough and started walking.

Dratkan behind her tried to close the door, but the inner handle was completely corroded, so he left it open.

Sarah: [where to?]

Rose: [all straight and then to the right, open a door and a vertical path up should be there]

Sarah: [alright]

Sarah pointed forward and advanced with her helmet lights on, to hallway floor was covered in mud, and felt squishy under her boots, lifting plumes of sediment with every step.

The hallway's walls were covered with rust, barnacles, and feather like algae.

Sarah then felt a tug on her right leg, she looked back to see Erbkag struggling to open his eyes while pointing at a stone in front of them.

Sarah was confused, but she quickly realized the problem 'wait a minute... a stone here?!'

Sarah opened fire, but her bullets just bounced off the apparent rock, seemingly disturbed, the rock grew tentacles that flayed in the water with hooks at the end.

Rose: [careful, one sting and you are dead, also... don't look up and keep advancing, look for something to hold on]

Sarah: [...why?]

Rose: [just listen to me]

Sarah took two steps forward and held on to some pipes to the side of the hallway.

Rose: [don't look back... ]

Sarah couldn't contain herself looking back anyway, and saw how clawed worms descended from the ceiling and engulfed most of the kids, Erbkag being sucked inside one while alive, while Dratkan was wrestling with two of the worms, trying to save the three kids behind him.

Rose: [I told you not to look...¯\_(ツ)_/¯ oh well, 3... 2... 1... hold tight!]

*CREAAAKK! CRACK!* a torrent of water flooded back, dragging Dratcan, the kids, and the monsters back inside the city.

Rose: [advance now! it needs to stick to the floor so it won't sting you now!]

Sarah held to the walls as she slowly advanced: [you... knew this would happen?!]

Rose: [yeah, you will survive, so keep a clear head now, if you went the other way you would have gotten your head blown off]

Sarah: [... you don't know, maybe-]

Rose: [no, not maybe, you would have faced an army and died]

Sarah shut up as she walked by the dangerous rock, doing her best to quicken her pace. After a lot of struggle, she reached a door to the right that was halfway open and pushed it open, revealing a flooded stairway that went straight up.

Sarah started climbing as explosions kept shaking the city, and after a while, she reached the surface, she emerged from what had been repurposed as a toilet inside a dirty pelt and bone hut, almost losing her footing as another big explosion was heard, and falling outside for all to see as a platoon of lizardmen were passing by.

Rose: [shit, run!]

-- On the Submarine, some minutes earlier --

The submarine had long ago emerged and was constantly sinking lizardmen's enemy warships and any ship that dared get close to the submarine, all while shooting at the city whenever possible.

Sarah, Erik, Inky, Timberly, and the rest of the octopeople stood on the top of the submarine, completely equipped with their power armors and weapons, as the submarine got closer to the city.

Rose: "Sarah is almost in position..."

Erik looked at the port and could see battalions of lizardmen in rusty power armor, scrap armor, and leather armor assembling and ready to go attack them, some with railguns even shooting their way.

Erik: "we need to clear the port!"

Rose: "Sarah is also near, if I shoot now she might get crushed..."

Erik: "then shoot in the opposite direction, if she comes out to this she will easily get captured-"

*CREAAKK*

Erik saw the entire city suddenly tilt slightly, making the soldiers fall off balance.

Rose: "... okay, Sarah is out of the blast danger zone, firing!"

*BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!* three big explosions swept the port, as most of the gathered lizardman died.

Rose: "oh shit!"

Erik: "what is it?"

Rose: "no time, Sarah is about to get captured!"

Erik got serious and raised his fist: "soldiers, with me!" and jumped into the water as his power armor glowed, and changed to have propellers, making him shoot forward to the city.

Timberly raised her spear: "FOLLOW THE FIFTH ELDER! TO BATTLE!"

The railgun and crossbow shots rained down on them from the city, but Erik at this point was invulnerable to such hits, the railgun shots only making him budge slightly as his power armor recovered instantly. The octopeople weren't so lucky though, as six scouts quickly died, while three warriors got injured as the shots broke through their shields.

Timberly: "DIVE DOWN, ATTACK FROM BELLOW! THOSE INJURED GO BACK TO THE SUBMARINE!" she looked at Erik that was advancing alone, and gritted her teeth, there was nothing she could do, they would attack from below and that would take more time, but she couldn't bear to waste the lives of her people.

Erik quickly reached the port, the lizardmen were weak and slow in his eyes, and his hands turned into bladed claws as he ran forward, clawing through steel and lizardmen alike. Like a hot knife through butter his power armor cut and absorbed whatever it touched.

The lizardmen were terrified of the humanoid metallic monster that had come out of the bigger metal leviathan attacking their port, but they couldn't run away, this was their only home, and there was no retreat possible. The lizardmen gritted their teeth and charged forward with melee weapons, but Erik was unstoppable, lightning sparking around his armor as his battery cells discharged in anger.

Rose: [run right! wait I'm coming!]

Erik: [no, you clear the port while I save Sarah]

Rose: [understood!]

-- Back to Sarah --

She didn't have time to get her weapon, as a lizardman hit her with a club to the face, completely breaking her helmet. Sarah fell to the floor again and rolled a few times before spitting the awful respirator along with some blood, she could see the lizardmen charging at her as she rushed to stand up, but the hit had disoriented her.

Sarah: [where do I go?]

Rose: [run left, to the ocean! Erik is coming to save you!]

Sarah paused slightly hearing his name, and that was enough to get hit with a club to the back of her helmet, breaking off the now useless life support system, releasing a loud *hisss* as the gas escaped, thankfully for her the lizardmen were tense enough that the noise made them pause, allowing Sarah enough time to roll out of the way of the next smash. The lizardmen were too close now though, so one just kicked her chest, sending her rolling again and hitting a building. Sarah tried to regain her breath as lizardmen surrounded her, and a leader with an axe came in front of her, lifting his double handed axe.

guard captain: "this is the end ancestor"

Sarah froze, the felt like time was slowing down as the axe descended, she wanted to get out of the way, but her body was tired and sluggish.

Sarah thought 'is this how I die?'

Rose: [not yet]

A black metallic tentacle broke through the metallic building and stabbed the chest of the guard captain, absorbing him as a black hole would, and dividing into smaller tentacles that attacked the other lizardmen, soon also meeting their end, not even their weapons remaining.

Sarah was scared, it was a gruesome way to die, the tentacle retracted, and with it it also absorbed a hole in the wall.

*THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!* loud steps were heard as she soon saw a humanoid wearing a metallic power armor full of glowing lines, and with electricity arcs jumping from the armor to the metallic floor from time to time.

Erik: "hahaha no need to be scared, Sarah~"

Sarah's eyes opened widely, she couldn't see his face, and the voice sounded different but that manner of speaking could only be...: "ERIK!?"

Erik: "yeah, the one and only haha~ I would like to talk more but... we are kinda in the middle of a battlefield..."

Sarah: "I- I understand, let's go... ugh!" her ribcage hurt, she hadn't noticed due to the adrenaline, but she might have fractured ribs "I- I can't-"

Erik bent over and easily picked her up: "it's okay, let's go!"

Erik: [I have her]

Rose: [understood, time to let loose then!]

At that moment, hatches opened all over the surface of the floating city, as lizardmen of all sizes emerged all over, all running in different directions, or going inside the surface buildings carrying sacks to start looting.

The railguns soon hit the buildings, and they started toppling into the streets.

Erik was running really fast, making Sarah feel sick, but they were soon back at the docks. By now the docks had been taken over by the octopeople as the lizardmen were no match for them in melee, the plasma shots taking out lizardmen left and right as the octopeople scouts and hunters shot from cover positions. Timberly and Inky were running wildly like bloody dancers as death followed their path, and on the other side of the dock, only destruction remained as Rose used her mace to annihilate anything on her path.

Erik ran in the direction of the octopeople.

Timberly: "COVER THE FIFTH ELDER, OPEN FIRE!!!"

Sarah was surprised to see those humanoid aliens.

Sarah: "w-who are they?"

Erik: "...my people, don't worry, they are family"

Sarah was surprised, but just nodded, thinking 'indeed surviving by himself would have been too hard'.

Erik then shouted: "RETREAT BACK TO THE SUBMARINE!" arriving next to Timberly and Inky "I have her, let's retreat!"

Timberly nodded: "RETREAT!"

Inky looked at Sarah up and down with a scowl: "so you are Sarah..."

Sarah was confused as her translation helmet didn't translate the octopeople's language: "is she talking to me?"

Inky: "I am-"

Erik sighed: "sigh, no time for that, here" Erik gave Sarah to Inky "can you carry her to the submarine, I need to cover for the troop's retreat"

Inky: "...fine, I can do that"

Erik looked at Sarah and created a respirator from his power armor, putting in on her mouth: "you can trust her, wait for me".

Sarah nodded and looked at Inky with curiosity.

Inky easily took Sarah in her arms and jumped into the water, quickly swimming away.

Erik stood in front of the octopeople troops and his boots stabbed into the ground as he absorbed the nearby metal, easily growing a huge tower shield on his left arm. railgun rounds, arrows, and ballista shots impacted the shield with not much of a result.

Erik looked back, and when all of the octopeople had jumped onto the water, he followed suit and jumped too.

Erik: [Rose let's go]

Rose: [I'm busy]

Erik: [...what difference does it make, let's kill them from far away]

Rose: [...fine]

Rose and Erik went back to the submarine as the last of the octopeople retreated.

When Erik arrived he saw Sarah standing supported by Inky while surrounded by curiously looking octopeople all around.

Erik: "step back people, give her space"

The octopeople nodded and retreated inside the submarine.

Inky scowled: "hmph, she's heavy" she then handed Sarah to Erik, and walked away.

Erik held her and turned her back to the city so she didn't see the carnage.

Erik: "Quite the ride right? how was it?"

Sarah: "well, I saw a galactic war, was chased by space pirates, and now... I helped commit a genocide..."

Erik: "hmm yes and no, we are just seeing things from our human scale, if a farmer killed all the bugs on his field would you cry?"

Sarah: "...I know what you mean, but doesn't your analogy leave us at the same level as bugs?"

Erik: "more or less, yes but... this bug is friends with the farmer haha~"

Sarah: "pfft haha, I missed you Erik"

Erik: "yeah, me too"

Sarah: "...can you take off the helmet?"

Erik: "yeah... but let's go inside first, you might be surprised haha-"

*ZBAAANG!*

Erik felt a strong impact on his chest and had to take two steps back. He looked down and he had a piece of metal stuck on his power armor.

Sarah: "Erik..." *gurgle* Sarah was falling in front of him, a bullet wound the size of a finger going through her heart.

Erik grabbed her and turned his back to the port to protect her: [ROSE, MEDICAL ASSISTANCE ON DECK NOW!!!]

Erik: "Sarah! come on, COME ON!" he patted her face, but she had fallen unconscious, the blood loss and trauma certainly too severe.

Erik was furious, so furious his stomach started hurting, and suddenly he felt a pain like someone stabbing a knife through his guts, and suddenly felt weak on the knees.

Rose: [coming]

Rose literally ripped the submarine as she instantly emerged on the deck, and arrived next to Sarah as her hands melted into nanobots that filled the wound with glowing nanobots, and then separated, leaving the metallic patch behind, still connected to Rose by a glowing cable.

Rose: "I've reconnected the broken veins and nerves but... the shock has left her in a comma..."

Erik then turned his head back at the docks, and saw an old lizardman there, carrying a broken oversized railgun that seemed to have blown up his fingers, but even then he caressed the corpse of a young lizardman on his arms.

Erik gritted his teeth: "Rose, kill him!"

Rose: "gladly"

All railguns on board pointed to Dratkan *ZBAAAAAANG!!!!* only steaming molten metal was left where the lizardman was earlier.

Rose: "it's done"