Jenny spread the large blueprint across the coffee table, weighing the corners with coasters and a half-empty water bottle.Eddie nibbled on a bag of barbecue chips, observing her with curious eyes.
"This is the layout of Thunder Tech's main building," she explained, pointing to the maze of hallways and rooms. "Security will be heaviest around the lab areas and the prison cells where they're no doubt holding Huntar, Zena, and Torag."
Eddie nodded, licking the orange residue from his fingers. "Cool, how did you manage to get that blue print?”
Jenny glanced at him. “I have a source, but this is important.”
Eddie shrugged. “Okay, so we'll need to split up. One of us creates a distraction while the other slips in."
"Exactly." Jenny's finger traced a path through the ventilation shafts. "I'll make my way to the cell block and free them. You'll need to get to the security hub and loop the camera feeds."
A crease formed between Eddie's brows. "You know that place is gonna be locked down tighter than a drum, right? I'm good with computers, but this is freakin' Thunder Tech we're talking about."
Jenny fixed him with a pointed stare. "You're not losing your nerve now, are you? We can't just leave them trapped in that hellhole."
"Whoa, no need to get snappy." Eddie held up his hands defensively. "I'm in, I'm in. Just thinking out loud about the risks here."
Leaning back, Jenny exhaled slowly. "You're right. Breaking into one of the most secure tech companies on the planet is insane. But after everything those three have done for me..." Her voice trailed off, gaze distant.
In that moment, Eddie recognized the weight of her trauma, the haunted look in her eyes a reminder of the war-torn world she'd escaped. He set the chip bag aside and scooted closer, draping an arm around her shoulders.
"Hey, we got this," he said gently. "Just tell me what you need."
Jenny's lips curved into a small, grateful smile. "Actually, I have someone who can help us get inside undetected. He is the same person who gave me the blueprint.”
*****
A few hours later, dusk had fallen over New York City. Eddie adjusted his white shirt and gray jeans. "Still can't believe you know a guy who can score security clearance codes and steal interior maps.”
"Mason has been a...reliable source ever since my reporter days." Jenny tucked her yellow leather jacket. "He knows what it's like to go to extremes for a story."
They approached a nondescript door in a shadowed alleyway. Jenny rapped her knuckles against the weathered surface in a distinct pattern. A security panel slid open, revealing a pair of beady eyes peering out.
"State your business," a gruff voice demanded.
"Relax, Mason. It's me," Jenny said. "We need those uniforms and access codes you promised after you sent me the blueprints.”
The door swung inward, and a wiry man with thinning hair gestured them inside. "Didn't think you'd actually go through with this crazy plan." He shoved two plastic boxes into their arms. "But a deal's a deal. Those uniforms are top-of-the-line, complete with working ID chips."
Eddie examined the contents, impressed by the authentic details. "You've really outdone yourself this time."
Mason shrugged, unbothered. "Perks of having buddies who owed me favors in the manufacturer's security team." He handed Jenny a slip of paper with a long string of numbers and letters. "Those codes will get you deep into their systems. Just don't get caught, because I had nothing to do with this."
"You know I'm good for it." Jenny pocketed the codes, already focused on the mission ahead. She'd burn that bridge when they got to it. Right now, rescuing her friends took priority over everything else.
In the alley, Eddie slipped into the standard-issue boots and tightened the laces with firm pulls."So, say we do manage to break in and free Huntar and the others. Then what?"
"Then we get them to the Transgate." Jenny's jaw tightened with resolve. "I'll make sure Thunder Tech can never use that machine against anyone else ever again."
Eddie paused, realization dawning. "You mean...you're gonna blow it up? But you will never see them again.”
Her gaze met his, shining with a combination of sorrow and determination. "I know… But it is the only way to make sure Thunder Tech will not hunt them again.”
Heart clenching, Eddie reached for her hand, gripping it tightly between his palms. "Are you sure?”
"Yes." She offered him a sad smile. "I know I was happy to see them again, and it burns my heart to let them go again.” She closed her eyes, holding back her tears. “But they do not belong here. They belong in their world, a world full of freedom and adventure. Although their world is dangerous, they can survive better than us. I want them freed rather than see them imprisoned against their will, even if I will never see them again.”
Moisture stung Eddie's eyes as he pulled her into a fierce embrace, savoring the warmth and strength of her body against his. He slowly kissed her lips and let her head rest against his chest.
When they parted, he cradled her face in his calloused palms. "Then let's make sure they escape with a bang," he said, forcing a roguish grin. "And who knows? Maybe you'll find a way to see them again in the future.”
Jenny returned his smile, appreciating his attempt to lighten the heaviness of their impending separation. She kissed him deeply again, a tangled mash of desperation and affection.
*****
As the city lights flickered to life around them, the two donned their disguises and set off toward Thunder Tech's imposing edifice. No matter what happened next, Jenny vowed to see this through to the end – for her friends, for the future, for herself.
The lobby's opulent marble floors were practically deserted when they arrived. A lone receptionist barely looked up from her computer terminal as they strode across the vast, echoing space.
"Act natural," Jenny murmured under her breath. The ID chips beeped, granting them access through the security checkpoint.
Eddie forced his shoulders to relax, adopting the bored posture of someone who'd made this commute a thousand times before. Every nerve ending zinged with anticipation, awaiting the moment when their deception would be unveiled.
They parted ways at the second junction, Eddie inclining his head in a subtle nod. His new route led deeper into the bowels of the building, past a series of closed doorways with indecipherable labels. He loosened his collar, praying the recycled air wouldn't trigger his perspiration glands to give him away.
At last, he reached a fortified entrance bearing the words: SECURITY CONTROL. Swiping the stolen ID card, he held his breath as the heavy hydraulic door slid open with a pneumatic hiss.
Two guards swiveled in their chairs, regarding him with bored apathy. "Can we help you?"
Eddie jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Rodriguez asked me to cover his shift monitoring the east quadrant cameras." He injected a touch of weariness into his tone, the kind that came from working too many back-to-back graveyard pullls.
"Oh yeah?" One of the guards smirked. "Musta pissed off Cabrera again. Say no more, take over Harper's station."
That was lucky. Stifling a relieved sigh, Eddie obeyed, sliding into the vacant chair and powering up the console's array of monitors. Time to get to work.
*****
Jenny navigated a separate path, sticking to the service corridors and supply closets as much as possible. Hunting rifle gripped in both hands, she peered around each corner with extreme caution.
Thunder Tech's security forces certainly lived up to their reputation, but they couldn't account for every potentiality. Years of combat experience guided her movements, steady and near-silent like a panther stalking its prey.
At last, she arrived at the detention block, two armed personnel flanking the entrance. With a deep, steadying breath, she squared her shoulders and approached them with an air of impatient authority.
"I need to verify the prisoner containment cells," she barked, flashing her stolen credentials. "There's been some...inconsistencies in the intake records."
The guards exchanged a puzzled look but made no move to stop her. "Everything's been quiet down here all night," one ventured. "But be our guest."
Jenny swept past them, the muzzle of her rifle never wavering. Once inside, she quickly located the interior security feeds to ensure the path was clear.
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Three cameras covered this entire wing. Child's play. Utilizing the codes Mason had provided, she overrode the system with several deft keystrokes, looping the footage to create a convincing illusion of an empty corridor.
Now came the tricky part.
Jenny slipped through the heavy metal door and crept along the row of cells. Harsh fluorescent lighting cast elongated shadows at her feet, making her painfully aware of every creak and shuffle.
"Over here!"
The gravelly voice made her swing around, weapon raised. Through the reinforced glass, she spotted the hulking forms of Huntar, Zena, and Torag crammed into a tiny cell.
Relief washed over her at seeing them alive, if not entirely unharmed. Zena pressed her striped hands against the barrier, lips parted in a silent gasp. Torag mustered a crooked smile, his absent tusk on display. However, Huntar gave Jenny an intense, scrutinizing gaze, as though he still couldn't trust his own eyes.
Suppressing a joyful sob, Jenny began to override the cell's lock using the same codes. Hearing the mechanism release, she hauled the door open, enveloping each of her friends in a fierce embrace.
"Jenny," Huntar rumbled, returning her hug with surprising gentleness for his massive frame. "But how?"
"No time to explain," Jenny murmured, surveying the wing for their escape route. "I've looped the cameras and Eddie's working on–"
A deafening blare cut her off as emergency lights flashed from every corner. She whirled toward the exit, rifle at the ready, as the heavy door slammed shut, sealing off their path.
"Well, well." An amplified voice crackled over the PA system. "I was wondering when you'd make your move, Ms. Summer."
Walter Freeman strutted into view from an overhead observation deck. At his side stood a hulking, grotesque figure – half living tissue, half nightmarish augmentations of wire and metal. The thing represented an ape-man in form with brown fur and thick muscles. Ghostly eyes that seemed to show no truce of a soul.
Jenny's breath caught in her throat as she identified the grotesque creature standing beside its creator.
"Horde," Huntar snarled, his hackles rising.
The former warlord bared his fangs as he rumbled a soft growl.
“What have you done to him?” Jenny shouted in shock.
Walter's lips twisted into a smile. "Ah, he was the initial specimen we discovered in the future. A fascinating entity, though quite unmanageable in our facility. Hence, we had to perform a lobotomy on his brain to eliminate his free will, simplifying our studies. I then realized he could be an outstanding supersoldier for military acquisition. As evident, we've enhanced him to bolster his strength and suitability for combat scenarios. Our triumphant trials with him have led to a prototype, marking the dawn of a new weapon lineage. Cyborg Beastmen, designed to safeguard humanity against our adversaries. This ape-Horde is merely the inaugural, certainly not the final, in our ongoing production."
“So you plan to turn us all into your metal slave warriors!?” Huntar roared.
“Not all of you, but your kind still have many other benefits for our corporation. Drugs, organs, genetic materials, and much more worth our profit.”
Zena glared at him, positioning herself protectively between their captors and the vulnerable humans. "You’re just a sick greedy human," she spat, "but I'd be happy to put this monster and you out of your misery!”
A cold chuckle reverberated through the speakers. "How scary," Walter purred. "But now you are my guests, and it would be impolite for the entertainment to leave before the main event."
With a flick of his wrist, the businessman triggered a series of cells to slide open, disgorging a legion of heavily armed mercenaries. Tasers crackled to life, illuminating their grim expressions.
"We can do this the easy way," Walter intoned, "or we can do it the hard way. But rest assured, Thunder Tech always comes out on top."
Huntar let out a defiant roar, unsheathing his claws as he assumed a combative stance. Jenny leveled her shotgun, gauging the astronomical odds while gritting her teeth. “Fuck…”
*****
Eddie's fingers flew across the console, lines of code flickering hypnotically across the screens. On the screen, he observed with dread as Jenny and the others were encircled, outnumbered, and outgunned.
"Not on my watch, you corporate bastards," he growled.
Switching between systems, he cut through Thunder Tech's security firewalls with relentless precision. If those mercs wanted to lock up his friends, they were about to release the entire inmate population.
With a few more keystrokes, Eddie initiated an emergency override protocol, one that could only be authorized from this command hub. A klaxon blared as cell after cell disgorged its occupants – Beastmen.
"What in blazes?!" one of the guards shouted, leaping to his feet. "Someone's overriding the containment grid!"
"Like hell they are!" The other guard lunged for the console, but Eddie was too fast. He pivoted in his chair, driving his booted foot into the man's solar plexus.
As the guard collapsed with a stifled gasp, Eddie leaped over the counter and dashed toward the exit. He needed to reach Jenny before the whole facility locked down.
Sprinting down labyrinthine corridors, he followed the sounds of combat – grunts and bellows intermingled with the discharge of energy weapons. Around one corner, a trio of guards lay battered and unconscious, courteous of the rampaging beast.
"Nice work, guys!" Eddie panted with a wild grin, pressing on toward the source of the chaos.
At last, he burst through a set of reinforced doors, greeted by the sight of mercenaries and beastmen embroiled in a full-scale brawl. He spotted Jenny immediately, trading shotgun blasts with Walter Freeman on a raised observation platform.
With a ferocious roar, Huntar leaped over the railings in one swift motion, his muscular frame crashing into the CEO and bringing him to the ground. Walter gasped for air, his breath knocked out as he lay trapped under the beastman's overwhelming weight.
"You pathetic human!" the lion-man raged. "This is the consequence when you tamper with powers beyond your feeble understanding!"
Zena and Torag battled with unbridled ferocity, single-mindedly cleaving a path towards their besieged ally. Jenny dodged and weaved, blasting any mercenary who dared confront her.
"Eddie!" she cried in relief upon seeing him. "You're just in time for the prison break!"
"Already on it, babe!" He winked, scooping up an abandoned energy baton and giving it a few test swings. "Let's show these thugs the true meaning of shock and awe!"
Huntar reared back, claws extended for the killing blow against the defenseless Walter. Yet, a deafening roar engulfed the chamber, resonating through Eddie's bones.
Horde – or whatever augmented nightmare they'd transformed him into – charged with earth-shaking force. Though still recognizably simian, his frame bristled with cybernetic augmentations, weapons, and armored plates grafted directly into his flesh.
Zena twirled, feinting and kicking with every ounce of her agility. But Horde was relentless, tracking her movements with unnatural accuracy.
With a flick of one augmented wrist, he unleashed a blistering volley of plasma fire, forcing her to leap clear. She executed a roll and immediately countered with a barrage of energy blasts, but the intense projectiles only managed to scorch the armored exterior of the Horde.
The mindless ape man roared like an animal as if he was enjoying his equipped unnatural weapons.
Amid the chaos, Walter seized his chance to scramble for safety, disappearing through a service entrance. Fighting raged around Eddie, but his focus narrowed to the terrifying clash before him.
Huntar roared a challenge and charged once more, only for Horde to seize him by the throat and hurl him into a bank of computer terminals. Zena tried vaulting his defenses, but a sweep of his mechanized limbs battered her aside with bone-jarring force.
Only Torag remained, lumbering in with fists balled into massive sleds. The two titans clashed like juggernauts, exchanging blows that cratered the reinforced floor. Yet for all his size and strength, Torag could make little headway against Horde's integrated arsenal.
At last, the warlord unleashed a pulse of electromagnetic force, flinging his analog opponent back in a maelstrom of electrical discharge. Torag slammed into the ground, his frame smoldering, smoke trailing behind him.
Chuckling with sadistic glee, Horde turned towards the defenseless Jenny and Eddie.
His mouth curled to a grin as his eyes rested on Jenny. He chuckled as if he recognized her. Maybe some of his memories were still inside his head.
Jenny held her ground, shotgun leveled at the advancing warlord. Her finger tightened on the trigger, ready to unleash a barrage at point-blank range.
But Horde was faster – inhumanly, terrifyingly fast.
With a swift motion of his augmented arm, he snatched the weapon from her grip and tossed it aside with disdainful ease. His other hand clamped around her throat, suspending her feet from the floor as he leaned in with bared fangs.
His metallic breath washed over her face in hot, sneering gusts.
"Let her go, you cybernetic psycho!" Eddie charged forward, swinging his shock baton in a wild arc.
The electrified weapon skittered harmlessly off Horde's armored chest plate, not slowing his advance. With a disdainful backhand, he sent Eddie tumbling across the floor, gasping for air around a blossoming bruise.
Still clutching Jenny by the throat, Horde dragged her in close once more, their faces mere inches apart. She could see the remnant flickers of sentience battling with the cold malice burning in those inhuman eyes.
Jenny's lungs burned from lack of oxygen, dark spots flickering at the edges of her vision. But this close to death's door, only rage welled within her. Her fingers scraped in vain against his ironclad grip as she mustered a single, rebellious comeback.
"You should…have…stayed…dead…”
At those words, something blazed to life behind Horde's eyes, some flickering glow of recognition. For the briefest instant, his iron grasp faltered.
Then an explosion rocked the chamber, shrapnel and debris raining down as the wall behind them disintegrated in a shower of flame and smoke. Horde whirled with a guttural roar, instinctively shielding himself with the battered Jenny.
Emerging from the haze, Huntar stood scorched and bloodied, yet remained upright. Beside him, Zena clenched her shaking fists, her mane untamed and scorched from the explosion. Torag followed close behind, every footfall shaking the ground as smoke trailed from his nostrils.
"Now, Summer!" the lion-man bellowed. "Bring this whole damned place down!"
Silhouetted against the smoke and ruin, Jenny stood tall and stretched out one hand, summoning waves of telekinetic force to hammer against Horde's armored bulk.
The warlord staggered and roared, unleashing a volley of plasma fire from his grafted weaponry. However, the explosive projectiles harmlessly bounced off an unseen barrier that protected Jenny and her friends.
With a piercing battle cry, Zena sprang into the fray, her hooves ablaze with mystical energy bequeathed by Jenny's power. She twirled and danced in a dizzying rhythm, unleashing a torrent of punishing blows upon the Horde's defenses.
Not to be outdone, Huntar closed the distance in two huge strides, claws flashing as he tore into the warlord's exposed flanks. Horde bellowed in anguish, mechanical augmentations sparking and warping beneath the onslaught.
Torag charged in with earth-shaking momentum, his bulk shattering through Horde's remaining defenses to smash him against the far bulkhead. Metal groaned and buckled as the warlord's enhanced form crumpled.
Through it all, Jenny remained the unwavering nexus, exerting the full extent of her telekinetic power to shield and reinforce her companions. Bolts of ethereal lightning arced and crackled around her body, infusing them with righteous power drawn directly from the cosmic wellspring.
When the barrage finally relented, Horde remained unmoving, a tattered amalgam of flesh and tortured machinery. The subtle rise and fall of his scarred chest was the only sign of the life force that remained within him.
Jenny lowered her energy shield, permitting her weary companions to draw near the defeated warlord. Torag planted one massive foot atop Horde's shattered chest plate, glaring down with simmering hatred.
"Torag," the rhino-man rumbled.
Zena's eyes flashed with vindictive satisfaction. "End it, Torag. This monster must die.”
Huntar stepped forward, claws still slick with viscera. "Wait." An unreadable expression flickered across his leonine features as he regarded the pathetic remains of his former nemesis. "He was already dead when the humans destroyed his body and soul. Let them keep his corpse and prolong his suffering.”
Huntar turned away, his gaze finding Jenny's. "Unless you wish to put him out of his misery, Jenny. The justice should be yours since he murdered your father." He moved to join her, placing one massive paw against her slender shoulder. "So I leave his fate to you. What say you?"
All eyes turned toward Jenny, awaiting her judgment with bated breath.
Jenny looked down at the broken form of Horde, jaw clenched against the torrent of emotions warring within her.
This once-proud warlord had inflicted unspeakable horrors upon her friends' world in his quest for dominance. Yet the shell before her was little more than a hollowed cipher, his malign spirit extinguished by the machinations of Thunder Tech's hubris.
Ultimately, she found no comfort in dealing a fatal blow to such a pathetic opponent. Some destinies were crueler than any mortal judgment.
"No," she said at last, lowering her hand as the gathered energies dissipated in a shimmering wave. "His punishment is to live with the consequences of his actions – to exist forever shattered by his ambition."
Zena arched a skeptical brow but made no argument. Huntar merely nodded, his chest filling with admiration for the human who had chosen mercy over wrath once more.
"Then it is decided," the lion-man rumbled. "Now, we must go before this den of snakes can regroup and strike again."
"He's right," Eddie piped up, pulling Jenny toward the exit. "Those shock troops will be back any minute once they break through the lockdown."
Further glancing back at the collapsed cyborg, Jenny followed beastmen as they surged forward, seeking an exit. Thunder Tech had played its role – now it was time to find the path back to Huntar's ravaged future and set things right.
They followed snaking corridors and demolished security checkpoints until emerging into a cavernous sub-level hanger. Banks of equipment lined the reinforced walls, with conduits and cables branching out in an intricate lattice overhead.
And dominating the far end, the awesome bulk of the Transgate loomed – the chrono-displacement engine that had torn an unholy rift between their disparate realities. Yet even from this distance, it was immediately apparent that the device had been heavily modified, now sleek and augmented with Thunder Tech's bleeding-edge systems.
"You fools thought you could escape?" a familiar, amplified voice reverberated through the chamber.
Silhouetted against the dazzling energies writhing around the active Transgate aperture, Walter Freeman emerged astride a towering bipedal exo-frame. Jet thrusters flared at its joints, while a dizzying array of integrated weaponry bristled across the armored carapace.
"I'm afraid this little insurrection ends here," the CEO called down. "Thunder Tech has invested far too much in your...unique physiology to simply let you waltz out of our grasp. Time to put you all back into your cages."