Two months later...
A green laser bolt exploded on the crates protecting Lus as he begged his pistol to cool down just a little faster. He would like to return some fire before the guards caught up to him and blew his head off. All around the large open warehouse were strewn collections of alunitanium boxes, cargolifts, and the shattered remnants of glass displays.
“Whoever tripped the security sensors, I’m going to personally murder you when we’re back on the ship.” Cewi-Bano’s yell in the comm on his ear cut through the noise of battle.
The dial on Lusac’s blaster finally dropped to a reasonable temperature, allowing him to sit up and lay down a few shots of his own against the mass of purple uniforms encroaching on the team’s position. The sweat of his hands made it difficult to properly aim the gun, especially since the usefulness of the grip had long since worn away.
“Blame Wsr. She was supposed to have cut the alarms,” Zer-Dasht responded pointedly. The orange, scaly Nemarian was currently ducked behind the cargolift a couple of yards ahead of Lusac, waiting for his own rifle to cool back down. A petite humanoid in shape, the fins along his head and arms added some height to his otherwise small frame.
“You’re the one who rushed into the warehouse before I finished,” Wsr bit back. The Kremel was to Lus’s upper left, barely able to contain her large frame behind the wide pillar that protected her from the worst of the lasers. She towered well above anyone else on the team, and she was twice as broad as any of them. Her dark gray skin half-blended in with her black uniform, making it hard to see her expression, though Lus was sure it matched her frustrated tone.
“Let’s focus on the problem at hand, people,” Cewi-Bano redirected them to the battle they were attempting to wage. The purple Nemarian was closest to Lus, off to his right where he had a clear line of sight of her with her collection of guns. Whenever her rifle hit the cooldown phase, she swapped to her double pistols, resulting in only the brief transition periods that she wasn’t laying fire into their enemies. Given she was the best shot on the whole crew, her skill was all that really kept the others from instant annihilation.
Lus hunched behind the metal boxes once more as his blaster reached its heat limit. Only two of his ten bolts hit home, wounding one of the mercenaries. It wasn’t fair that he got a twenty year old pistol that couldn’t last more than a dozen shots before it needed a cooldown when nearly everyone else on the team had the latest tech that could carry on for nearly a hundred consecutive shots. Then again, since that fighting wasn’t exactly his strength, his weapon was only meant to be used in an absolute emergency.
Such as this.
Lusac was only here to sneak in through the vents and let the rest of the team in. With that complete, his one goal was keep from dying as they made their escape with their prize.
Unfortunately that goal was looking more and more out of reach as a dozen more uniformed security guards poured into the main room of the warehouse where the Runners battled for their lives. Suns, how much money would you have to pay someone to willingly risk their lives to protect an unused, personal museum? As Lus took aim at their enemies once again, he tried to convince himself that not one of the mercenaries had a family back home.
“More reinforcements incoming. We’ll never make it out,” Zer-Dasht warned.
“Not in a straight shootout,” Cewi-Bano agreed. “Lus and I will cover you and Wsr. You two make for the back rooms. We’ll find our exit there.”
“But that place is a maze. If we take a wrong turn, we’ll be cornered,” Wsr pointed out.
“It’s more of a chance than facing two dozen mercs with just the four of us.” Cewi-Bano’s voice was firm, asserting her authority as the leader on this mission.
Zer-Dasht and Wsr both grudgingly agreed. Lus appreciated that he was paired with Cewi-Bano given her expertise in sharp shooting. He carefully watched the female Nemarian where she remained crouched behind her own set of crates. She nodded her head, and together they both stood up and rained energy bolts into the incoming troops. Lus missed all his targets completely, and Cewi-Bano only hit a couple, but they still succeeded in their goal of getting all the security personnel to duck behind some kind of cover so Wsr and Zer-Dasht could dash to the side door leading into the maze of corridors and stockrooms.
From the doorway, the Kremel and Nemarian laid down their own coverfire to allow Lusac and Cewi-Bano to join them. Cewi kept firing as Zer-Dasht pulled the door shut and Wsr hastily grabbed at the nearest heavy furniture in the room that once may have served as an office of some kind.
“This won’t hold them for long, but at least it gives us a start,” she said as she finished wedging the filing cabinet into the doorframe. Blaster bolts pinged into the door, seconding the Kremel’s opinion.
“A headstart I intend to use to its fullest extent,” Cewi-Bano agreed. The five rows of indigo fins which ran from the top of her head to the base of her neck twitched as she stared into the three-way branch leading away from the warehouse door before she assertively pointed to the middle one.
Lus didn’t quite share her confidence, and the look on Wsr’s face showed that she didn’t either, but no one questioned their leader as they followed her down the dimly lit hallway. A few small boxes littered the sides of the already narrow walkway, and Wsr was forced to jog sideways as they went due to the broadness of her shoulders.
Zer-Dasht wore the backpack with their prize, a piece of a relic from the Ancient Ones. To Lus it looked like nothing more than fancily carved stone, similar to any generic cave drawing, but someone out there was willing to pay a very high price to get it in their hands. Given that the current owner had likely stolen it themselves just to keep it locked away in a dusty storage facility, it didn’t really seem like a crime to take it anyway.
Cewi cursed as they ran into another intersection of hallways and doors. They’d already learned the hard way their map of the facility was out of date. Instead, it was just a matter of luck and praying the security force wasn’t able to get their system back online until long after the Runners were away.
“This way,” Cewi said as she gestured to the left hallway. Lus was fairly certain that she was wildly guessing.
This corridor was wide enough for Wsr to walk mostly straight at least, and there were fewer spare boxes impeding their path. Unlike the previous hall, this one had no doors to break up the white walls stretching towards a sharp corner. The concern of being cornered surfaced in Lus’s mind as he jogged a few steps behind Wsr while Dasht took up the rear.
At the corner, Cewi-Bano let loose a curse. Another long hallway stretched before them with only a door at the end, and based on its appearance, it wasn’t anywhere they wanted to go.
“Let’s try the right one instead,” Wsr said as she turned away. Cewi caught her arm.
“This might still lead somewhere. It’s set up quite a bit differently than the rest of the building which leads me to believe it is more likely to provide an exit than the mess of offices back there,” the Nemarian argued. The faint sound of shouts from behind served as a reminder as to the danger they would face if they turned back now.
Wsr huffed, her tall, pointed ears lowering in annoyance, but she didn’t vocalize any complaints against Cewi-Bano. Instead they all followed their leader down the stubby hallway to the generic door she claimed held their escape.
While she wasn’t necessarily wrong, she wasn’t exactly right either. Beyond the door was a large room, far more neatly organized than the rest of the facility. Unlike proper museums where the exhibits were clearly just exhibits, this genuinely felt like taking a step back in time several hundred years.
One long desk took up the majority of the far wall where several dozen glass screen monitors were arrayed on the wall before it. On the table itself were a mechanical keyboard and other various pieces of technology Lus didn’t recognize. He knew enough to know that this tech was very old, but not old enough to really be ancient. It was strange to see it set up in a manner that looked like it might be used. The proprietor of the place definitely had more than enough money to afford far better than this. Two doors sat at the far wall, giving Lus faint hope they weren’t going to have to try to blast past the security forces in an unprotected hallway.
Zer-Dasht whistled as he scanned the room after closing the door. Wsr busied herself with loading the nearest pieces of furniture in front of it.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Do you think any of this actually works?” Lus asked as he stepped up to the keyboard and pressed a few keys. His soft cry of surprise startled the rest of the room as they all reached for their guns. Several of the monitors blinked on, and what sounded like a fan broke up the eerie silence.
“Careful Loser,” Zer-Dasht warned.
Cewi-Bano pushed Lus to the side before she furiously typed on the keys, flashing through various screens.
“Maybe this thing has an updated map,” she muttered. “Wsr, Dasht, each of you choose a door and do some preliminary scouting. Lus, watch the back and make sure we don’t get surprised,” she commanded.
Wsr and Zer-Dasht moved to do as she said while Lus tugged his old blaster out and trained it on the blockaded door. At least they would have a bottleneck to make their final stand, but if the security guards got COPS involved, the Runners were dead meat.
Soon the Kremel and Nemarian were back, each reporting long hallways with branching corridors and a variety of rooms.
Cewi called their attention to the screen. “According to this map, if we take the right door, then the second hall on the left, we should come to a room with windows that will let us back outside.”
“How big are these windows?” Wsr questioned, flexing her meaty arms. At over two meters tall and three times the width of either Nemarian or Lus, she wasn’t going to easily fit through the same gaps as the rest of the team.
“Large enough for your Kremel butt,” Cewi-Bano assured her.
They all chuckled as Cewi shut down the old computer system, but before they could go to the next door, green laser bolts shot into the room.
Lus dove behind one of the shelving units and glanced up to see that in the few moments he’d been watching Cewi’s screens, the security forces caught up to them. Several blasters poked through the various holes in the blockade, releasing every bolt they could and preventing the team from safely making their escape.
“Lusac!” Cewi-Bano yelled in anger. “What happened to watching the door?”
“S-sorry,” he stammered as he aimed his own weapon. Unfortunately the mishmashed wall of furniture also served to protect the mercs from the Runners’ guns.
The book shelf he hid behind took one too many bolts and the top half exploded, raining paper and other articles on Lus. He yelped and dipped lower to the ground to stay behind what remained of the shelf. As his eyes scanned the ground, he caught sight of an old style USB stick with two words written on it. Levi Athan, one of the most famous chefs in the galaxy at the moment. It appeared whoever put this strange vintage set up together was also a fan of the culinary arts, and Suns knew Lus could use whatever help he could get in the kitchen. Before he could think too much on it, he pocketed the small data stick and stood up to return fire against the blockade.
Finally the barrage of enemy fire stopped for a few precious seconds, but whether it was the accuracy of Cewi-Bano with her scoped rifle or simply the need for their weapons to cool down, Lus wasn’t sure. All he knew was that this was their one moment to get to the door and their only chance of possible escape.
Dasht went first, followed by Lus, then Wsr, with Cewi-Bano taking up the rear to keep some kind of pressure on the security forces as they left the computer room behind. Once the door was safely shut, they all took a moment to breathe. Luckily the threat was near enough that Cewi-Bano kept moving instead of taking the time to chew Lusac out for failing in his one job.
They followed Cewi’s directions exactly and were pleasantly surprised by the windows letting in soft red sunlight. Apparently that ancient computer setup had a use.
“I think you either underestimated my size, or overestimated those window measurements.” Wsr stared dubiously at the thick glass separating them from escape.
“I didn’t say it was a comfortable fit,” Cewi-Bano smirked. “Now come on. Break the glass, Wsr, and then it’s smooth sailing home.”
The Kremel grumbled as she punched into the pane. The glass was heavily reinforced, but it still didn’t last more than a couple of blows from Wsr. Then, ignoring the tools at her belt, Wsr used her hands to clear away all the glass shards and make the way safe for the rest of the team. Thanks to the insane durability of Kremel skin, she wore only a few small black cuts on her green skin.
Zer-Dasht once again went first, his frog-like legs easily springing up to the height of the window two meters above the floor. The orange scaled Nemarian disappeared before radioing back that it was all clear.
Wsr to nodded Lus, her hands held together as a stepping stone. He pulled himself up to the window sill with the assistance of the Kremel’s boost and then dropped to the dirt below where Zer-Dasht waited with his blaster at the ready.
Wsr came next, her landing shaking the nearby ground enough that Lus thought he might lose his footing as he stood with his pistol out, scanning for enemies. Cewi-Bano joined them last of all, warning that the security forces had finally broken through the last blockage, givingthem limited time to escape the perimeter of the warehouse facility and return to the shuttle.
Dust swirled in the air as the four of them ran through the desolate basin towards the rocky wall of the valley. A few lazy clouds floated above them, but they offered little relief from the giant red sun beating down on them. Lus was already sweating through his black, unmarked uniform, and the Nemarians were starting to lag behind without their personal humidifiers to stave off the dryness.
“Come on,” Wsr called back from several meters ahead. Of course the heat hardly affected her physical aptitude. A green laser streaked past Lus’s ear, and he looked over his shoulder to see a patrol of security guards chasing them.
Cewi slowed further, but Wsr doubled back and charged past her before she could get even one of her pistols out.
“Lus and I will handle this. You two get back to the shuttle and prepare for takeoff,” the Kremel ordered.
Cewi-Bano’s black eyes looked ready to pop out of her purple head in anger, but Zer-Dasht grabbed her arm and pulled her along before she could argue. As he passed Lus, he tossed his rifle to the boy.
“I want that back, Loser,” Dasht cried with a warning edge. The Nemarians continued their sprint as Wsr started to lay down cover fire and Lus moved to join her. They had the advantage of a few stray boulders to hide behind, but the mercs had nothing, making them easy pickings. The sleek rifle in Lus’s hands increased the number of targets he hit, but that arguably had more to do with the massive amount of shots he could get off before needing to cool down and less to do with actually improving his accuracy.
When the last guard dropped, Wsr was on her feet in a flash, dashing towards the canyon where they hid the shuttle as if her life depended on it.
Lus realized it probably did, and he would be left behind if he couldn’t manage to stay close to her. His chest heaved against the weight of the alunitanium infused suit, and he couldn't exactly feel his legs anymore, but still Lus ran. The sight of the shuttle with engines prepped was enough to make a grown man cry as he jumped through the closing doors after Wsr.
Zer-Dasht was at the helm of the small vehicle which had been designed for stealth. The interior barely fit all four occupants, and the close quarters made Lusac far too aware of Wsr’s body odor. Apparently, the heat had affected the Kremel, if in a less visible fashion than the others.
Once Wsr and Lus were strapped in, the shuttle jolted from the ground and they were on their way back to their ship, the Argo. It was a bit of a rough ride given Dasht’s mediocre piloting skills, but it was enough to get them back to the ship in one piece.
Upon landing in Hangar Alpha, the entire ship jolted to the side, throwing everyone against their seatbelts. A voice came over the shipwide intercom.
"Enemy ships incoming. Prepare to make the jump into the Astral Highway," their pilot said.
The Highway was a galaxy-spanning mass of wormholes that made it possible to travel from one end of Cinder Rock to the other in a matter of days. All the proper entrances were guarded, but Runners like the Argo crew relied on 'breaches' or secret entrances to pop in and out undetected. It was fortunate that one of those breaches was right by this planet.
After another lurch forward, the pilot announced they were safely in the Highway and away from the mercs (or COPS) who had tried to chase them down.
Cewi-opened the rear door as everyone started to unbuckle. Wsr was the first one out, offering strong complaints to the pilot and grumbling about always being the hero. Zer-Dasht chuckled as he followed behind. Cewi-Bano scooped up the bag with their prize and smiled at Lus.
“Good work today, kid,” she said before exiting the craft.
Lusac sighed in relief as he swung the Dasht’s rifle to his back. It was nice to not get chewed out for his mistake immediately after. Who knew? Maybe Cewi would forget all about it. He put his hands in his pockets as he walked to the shuttle door and rediscovered the USB drive. As desperately as he wanted to shower, getting the recipe book downloaded into the kitchen computer would put him in a good place for making dinner that night. Watcher knew how long it would take, so he figured it was better to start the process and then go clean up.
The ship’s kitchen was clean, a sign the lunch cook had done her part to keep the mess at bay until the cleaning golem could make its usual stop during the night to do a proper cleaning.
Lus approached the intermediate nitro box which held any food that needed to be kept moderately cold, but also served as the focal point of the kitchen, housing the recipe computer. All his other attempts to track down recipe books had been unsuccessful, so how lucky was he to have one literally fall into his hands on a completely unrelated mission?
After leaning the loaned gun against a nearby counter, Lus tugged the small data stick from his pocket, popped the cap off, and plugged into his adapter designed for any kind of plug, before putting the whole thing into the appropriate socket on the side of the interbox. A holoscreen displayed the loading screen which went shockingly fast, but just as it reached 100%, the screen went dark.
That was strange. If there was an issue with the circuitry, the screen would have turned off, not gone black.
A maniacal laugh filled the kitchen, nearly stopping Lus’s heart.
“Foolish mortal, you have opened the floodgates of the apocalypse. You, dimwitted imbecile, have unleashed the full power of Leviathan onto the galaxy!”
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Glossary
Runners: space pirates, but with more organization
Intermediate nitro box: also called interbox; a high-tech, computer fridge
Argo: a Runner’s ship under the command of Captain Boni Tave
USB: a historic and inefficient way of storing data from a millenia ago