Rubbing at her wrists to make sure that her blood was flowing properly, she stretched as well as she could before lightly jogging through the tunnel. While she could have walked, that would have been the dumbest decision possible, as they were definitely on a time limit. And running or sprinting were out of the question, what if there was people at the relay? She needed to be quick but quiet, and to keep her breathing steady. Panic didn't suit her anyway.

"Got that victory music?" Oh its ready. "Nice. Which one?" All According to Plan by Severance. "Oooh nice." But be careful all the same. Like you think, there might be people, and we don't have aural enhancements. "Yeah but you might as well be one." You're going to make me blush, Azzy!

Their joking back and forth was nonetheless a way to keep Azalea grounded, and as she neared the entrance to the relay station, after a solid five minute jog, she put in the code and crouched down. And before it had fully opened, she crawled out and opened her eyes wide, letting Fane take in every detail with her one augmented eye and her normal senses.

Footsteps, Azzy. I only hear one set, but there might be more. Heavy. "Sometimes I forget just how good you make my hearing." It's just what you don't realize you hear, Azzy. "Yeah, sure."

Fane sighed as Azalea got to searching around, mainly along the walls. The lights were off, the power shut down for the relay which meant that she had to find its switch before anything else.

Footsteps are getting closer. Left side. Ten meters away. Turn around the side of this quickly... now. Walk along the back of this panel until the split... wait... go now. There's a stun gun on the wall five steps to your right.

She looked at it and smirked. With Fane, she was basically unstoppable, and she always made to tell him thank you when things were said and done, so she wasn't afraid to follow any commands she was told when. When Fane told her to run for it and duck behind cover again, she listened, and when she ran for it, her shoes squeaked and Fane picked up a quiet sound.

DUCK—

immediately, she threw herself to the ground as a loud bang echoed in the room, followed by a flash and a beam of plasma burning a hole through the wall in front of her, next to the gun. She didn't hesitate to grab the stun gun again and dive back down as another ball of plasma shot where she'd just been.

"Whoa-hoh... if you were on my boys, you woulda been dead just then." Came a womans voice, and Azalea made sure that the stun gun was not on its safety setting, and was set to active. "Hey, I don't know who you are, but-"

Around the corner.

"Why don't you join us? To be frank, I'm impressed. It's either you're just really fast for a scientist, you're an ex-soldier, or I'm just old and not reacting like I used to. But either way, I want you." The womans voice seemed aged and mature, and Azalea barely held back a scoff. "And join some copycats? Thanks for the praise, but I don't feel like it." Fane told her to dive towards another panel, and she listened, as less than a second later, the one she was hiding behind was melted through. Thankfully, those were backup systems and not the real ones.

"Come on Fane, you can't hack the panel to turn it on?" It's not my fault they went old school with it. "What do you mean old school?!" They made it a lever hooked up to the relay itself. "You're kidding." It's effective. What are you going to do when power shuts off and you need it all in one area? "Yeah, yeah."

She couldn't focus on that conversation, and ended it before it went further, leaving her to hear herself breathing and the steps of whoever she was hiding from.

"I already know your plan, girlie. You want to restart the relay, call for help, whatever. It's not gonna work. Honestly, you'd be better off telling me where you came from, because we don't plan to kill any of you." Azalea rolled her eyes. Yeah, right. Pinnacle never took jobs that weren't somewhat involved in killing. Licking her dry lips, Azalea waited for a moment before rounding a corner. "Better yet, I'll extend my offer to you again. You move better than lots of the rookies I have, and I think you'd be a good merc. Not anywhere near my level, but good nonetheless. I'll make sure the pay's good too."

Sneak around the corner and keep to the panel... wait three seconds...

Azalea was sitting underneath one of the backup panels, stun gun at the ready, before she grinned.

GO!

And immediately she burst into action, leaping up and jamming the stun gun against their neck before pulling the trigger. It charged briefly, before there was a gasp and suddenly the mature woman was being shocked. Grinning almost madly, Azalea let them drop to the floor, before chuckling and moving to the lever. All she needed to do was send out a brief message, and she could go back to the emergency room, or even hide in the passage back towards it.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Grunting, she pushed the lever up and power was restored to the room. Moving towards the message platform, she stepped on it before she was briefly scanned. Everything worked quickly, and she put her hands on the bar in front of her.

—Connected to Emergency Channel ISPF-792. Now recording—

"This is Doctor Azalea Clover, stationed on Frontier Planet J-7891.2 We are held captive by Mercenary Group Pinnacle—or a copycat—and are in need of immedi—" AZZY MOVE—

Before she could react, there was a loud bang, followed by a few seconds of silence, before her hand touched at her chest. It was wet, and she lifted her hand to look up at it, and her vision swirled as she took a step back, before her legs fell from under her and she tripped over herself. Collapsing to her butt, she coughed as she almost fell out of the relay platform. "In need of...COUGH.... immediate assistance... message will now... repeat..."

As she finished her sentence, she touched the hole in her chest in bewilderment, before wincing and wheezing as she finally understood that her lung was shot, a gaping hole left in the wake of the bullets path.

Azzy, listen to me. Don't think about it. "What do you mean 'don't think about it' Fane, it's a bullet hole—" Azzy calm down! You need to move! "Where!?" Anywhere!

"Whoof... yikes girl." Came the voice of the aged woman. "Almost had me there. But there was your mistake: you didn't finish the job. Should have at least taken my guns." Azalea looked back over her shoulder to stare at the woman in abject terror, eyes wide as she took in every detail of their armor. "You call me a copycat but... shame. We're the real deal. No reason to try and convince you though. You're gonna die here." The old woman sighed as she began walking closer to her, and Azalea tried to stand up, only for her to suddenly lose all feeling in her left leg from the thigh down. "And you're not even screaming... wow you're scary."

She tried to crawl away, or hobble with one leg, but it was too much of a struggle and she eventually collapsed against a backup panel. turning around towards them as she lifted the stun gun once more. Another loud bang, this time louder, and... lighter? No, the bullet wasn't lighter, she was. Her eyes widened and she was about to look down before Fane told her not to even try it. Instead, a hand lifted up and touched the edge of the newest hole. But it was so much wider, and despite Fane's words telling her to not look, she did.

Slowly, she craned her head down and saw a massive hole in her chest. She could vividly feel her heart beating and touching the air of the relay room. Even going so far as to poke in the hole and touch it, almost curious.

"Oh by the Empress. That's a gnarly looking wound you got there now, huh? Heart's all dangling and everything! How's that feel?" She asked, squatting down in front of Azalea as she was stuck and even poking around the edge with her glove.

She was surprisingly taking slow, calm breaths. But when the mature woman touched at her wound, the calmness left her and she was beginning to realize she was going to die.

"Fane?" Azzy don't think about it. "Fane we're going to die." ... "Fane I'm not ready to die." ... "Fane don't go silent on me, I'll kill you." Azzy, I— "Fane what do I do. Tell me what to do." Azzy we- "Fane tell me what to fucking do. I'll do it! I'll do what it takes just tell me how to survive this! You've always come through!"

"Oh I know that look, girl. You're trying to think of what to do. Don't worry, it'll all end soon." Her voice was calm, almost motherly in a morbid way, as they began to take off the helmet. "To be honest," Soon, a scarred old womans face was revealed, half of her face burnt in a wicked burn mark. "If it was any of the others, you might have actually been able to sneak away. Unfortunately for you. You ran into the Apex predator. Nice to meet you," Azalea could feel the entire world slipping from her fingers. "name's Hox. Though you'd best know me as the leader of Pinnacle. Real shame you met me, girlie."

Azzy... "Fane, I'm sorry... I didn't mean.. I—" I know Azzy. "Can you... message to a to and Ma Pa? I can't... think well not..." I got it Azzy. "Money... too... All of it..."

Hey Mom, Dad, Sam,

It's Azzy. This is going to be my last message ever. I'm sorry you have to hear about this after so long, but you were both right. I shouldn't have taken the job. I'm not in a good state and I won't be alive for long but I'll tell you the important things. First, I love you all, but you know that. I don't want any of you feeling too bad when I'm gone though. Sam, congrats on getting married. I'm sorry I acted up at your wedding. Thinking about it, I was definitely in the wrong, tell your wife I'm sorry, okay bud? Be better than me. Be smarter than me. Consider this money as my wedding gift, okay? And I hope that eye I donated to you is working well?

Ma, I know you haven't spent a single credit that I've sent your way. Stop being stubborn and use it. Maybe try picking up a new hobby with it.

Pa, I know you met a girl you like. Treat her well, okay? And don't fall for another gold digger.

I love you all. I hope you all live well.

Oh, and here's the cause: Meet Hox, leader of Pinnacle. Funny, right?

Azalea's eye briefly flashed a brighter color and she smiled, much to Hox's immediate displeasure as they realized what she had just done. Standing up, they lifted their pistol and unloaded several more bullets into Azalea's torso as she managed to curl her hand into giving them a middle finger.

"Fane... tired..." Yeah. Go to sleep, Azzy. I'll be with you the whole time. "Never... got a... puppy..."

Idly, Azalea's eyes looked up at Hox's face again, only to be met with the barrel of her gun.

"Fuck... yo—"

BANG