Everyday Stresses of Kazuki - Sci-Fi Action/Intrigue Webserial

Steam and molten steel seeped through each pipe and sewage connector. The whole place oozed with a sense of decay. It was disgusting. Terrible.

Exoskeletons and powered armour crackled with light as the team kept up the pace.

Armed with limited weapons and supplies, the fire team moved across the various walkways interlinking the facilities together. Kazuki took the lead, with Martinez and Quinn.

Paulius and Karl were near the back. They weren't as heavily armoured as the mercs in the front.

Lava spurted upwards, only to fall back down. Quinn was a bit jumpy. Each spurt or sizzle sent his head spinning and legs ready to dodge. Paulus took the rearguard. Martinez walked beside Kazuki, all armoured individuals and geared to kill any that came in their way.

No one spoke. It was too hot and tense for anything other than necessary chatter.

Kazuki kept walking. Marching through dilapidated factory floors, assembly belts and thermal generators, the team kept their eyes peeled. Their muzzles readied for anything that lay between them and their exfiltration point.

Every spot or corner was covered. No stone was left unturned - bolts and plasma primed for a killing blow.

Passing through one of the many generator rooms, Archius called in, 'We have potential contacts.'

'Elaborate,' Kazuki demanded. He kept his rifle trained on the corners before moving onwards. The team walked out onto another wide and interconnecting series of walkways, generator platforms and unused hover-platforms.

Lava seeped down from above, pouring through the cogs and turbines of the complex they walked through. Such technology seemed similar to what ancient diagrams from Old Terra – power generators of an olden age.

'Shuttles are closing in on your position, it's probably those Blood Contract Cultists, or maybe criminals coming to investigate what the hell is going on,' Archius answered.
Preferably criminals. Any criminal is better than a Blood Contractor. = Counter-productive to living. Best case of this bad information: criminals and the Blood Contractors. Chaos will be generated, yes, but it'd be the perfect smokescreen.

Leave them to die here alone. It won't be the first time those leviathan striped vets were left to rot.

'On the double,' Kaz said to his retinue. 'We might have company. Keep your triggers trained for any movement. If you're unsure, call it out. Let's try and not cause a Sub-District-wide firefight.'

'Well, I ought that chase probably count towards that, doesn't it?' Karl suggested.

Worst-case scenario was never an army of Blood Contractors, though. It was Freyja. A She-Wolf here would mean the death of them all. No, someone had to be behind this, right?

No. She must be acting alone. She never got on well with the others. Ohmicron and those Star-crossed Lovers would never work with her.

Hartius wants her dead.

Emiya is slimy but looks down his nose at her… and everyone else.
Kazuki's senses were dialled to a thousand. His hand was shaking, ever so slightly. Martinez noticed, tapping Kazuki on the shoulder. "Arbiter… We've done this a thousand times, just a detour." Kaz's second in command spoke softly so the others wouldn't hear.

"They're Blood Contractors." Kazuki steeled himself as he stopped his freezing and sweating hand from shaking.

"I know." Martinez nodded. "We'll beat them all the same." The confidence was infectious. Kazuki instantly gripped the handle of his gun.

Quinn kicked a door open, leading outwards. The group walked out onto the central platform, a control pillar that stretched both up and down, out of sight and into the lava. One misstep and they'd be burned alive.

Martinez murmured to him, "Arbiter, are you thinking straight?"

Kazuki nodded firmly and lied, "Just... Some exhaustion." He placed one hand over the other, clenching it tightly before calming his shaking hand.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck that frozen exposure. His nerves were still trying to adapt to the frozen Narisan wastes. It'd been months. It's started to annoy him to high hell and back.

Then, something ticked Kazuki off. It was... strange?

"All this heat... at least it's not some damp, fungus-infested sewer. Don't have to deal with ghouls," Quinn commented. "You guys prefer the heat over the sewers, right?"

Martinez shrugged. "Depends on if we're getting shot. A few ghouls I can handle. They smell, but they're rotting flesh – can't expect the best presentation."

Paulus shivered. "Shut the fuck up," he anxiously stated. "I do not want that image in my head!"

"Ghouls aren't the worst thing on Anagora, wait till you get hunted by a Dread-Haunter, yes... they're real," Martinez remarked.

That only caused Paulus to shiver even more. The SPTU were barely called to the Sub-Levels. That was the ENFORCER's area of expertise. Paulus wasn't suited towards the Sub-Levels, but barely any surface dweller was.

Then, the sensation came back. It gnawed at Kazuki's frontal lobe.

A sensation that disturbed this dead environment. Kazuki turned back to the rest, holding his fist up. Paulus raised an eyebrow, glancing around. "You got something, Arbiter?"

Was it Frejya?! No. It can't be her. With reinforcements inbound, she knows she can't win. One of the Seven Fingers of the Mercenary Table or not, artillery is lethal. Any normal human would be torn to shreds by the notion.

But these people weren't normal, let alone he or the She-Wolf Beamont.

Kazuki glanced around. 'On guard. We're being watched.'

In the pools and vats of lava below them… Lava eels and slithery creatures bubbled, peering up at the disturbances… But it was not them Kazuki was worried about.

Martinez and Quinn took point. They took cover by the pillar. Paulus hid behind a steel barricade on the edge of the walkway. He felt as if... something was there. Then, Kazuki raised his eyes upwards, scanning the area.

Karl sighed, staying confidently out in the open. 'What the fuck is it?'

"Heartbeats."

Then, a flash. Kazuki ducked right in time, throwing himself and Karl behind the steel parapets and palisades. An explosion rippled through the air. Vibrations slammed into the pillar behind Kazuki.

'Ambush,' Kazuki calmly shouted, immediately returning fire against... Nothing?!

Bolts and plasma were thrown down onto them from far up above. Kazuki fired at one of the flashes, the bolt connected, with a body appearing, falling over the railing into the lava streams below.

'They're invisible! Martinez!'

Martinez loaded his grenade launcher with an EMP. Calmly, he knelt out of cover, bolts bouncing off his armour. Then, firing up an airburst of grenades, EMPs activated. Their cloaks fizzled out instantly.

Shit... These guys are well armed and equipped. Invisibility cloaks... He'd expect Special Forces or Contractor Gunsworn to have them, but these criminals? Bloodthirsty psychos? No doubt stolen… Kazuki thought.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

A blue ignition spark sent a shockwave of energy across the facility's main rooms.

The catwalks above glistened with blue energy, whilst the pillars of light and platforms flickered on and off. The platforms slowly rose to life after the blue hue of the EMP sizzled away.

Most importantly, the cloaks of invisibility had been turned off. An entire squad of Blood Contractors were above them, continuing to pour fire… No, these were Bloodthirsters!

"Bloodthirsters, no wonder they have better gear," Kazuki noted. Kazuki's fireteam returned fire, blasting them away with solid shot and plasma.

Karl snorted back, "Great, so we're dealing with the best of their best?"

Precision shots and suppressive fire were enough… These Blood thirsters were strong, however.

They ducked from cover to cover, swirling around above them. Bullets and bolts pinged off their armour and helmets, but their joints and faces were less protected.

Though slowly, as blood and stims were expended, Kazuki and the rest whittled them down.

By now, everyone was injured in some capacity. The only thing keeping them in the fight was the copious amount of stimulants they've cached on Karl's old shuttle.

Grenades were thrown in a last-ditch effort. Kazuki jumped on one, pressing his shield against it.

A shudder of smoke and fragmentation littered his shield, disabling it in the process just after he overclocked its power supply. A few scorch marks lacerated Kazuki's arms, whilst others merely grazed him.

"Hmm," Kazuki grunted in annoyance. He'll live this, he thought.

After that, the coast was clear. The remaining Blood Contractors fell to the catwalk. That, or the lava bubbling for sacrifice. Their bodies ignited, with not a soul to hear their death cries.

With the initial wave dealt with, Kaz stood up. 'On me, keep your guns on a swivel.' More footsteps from above and more. Kazuki turned, seeing Bloodthirster reinforcements deploy on the same level as them.

On the other side of the large gorge of lava. Heavy machine gun fire suppressed them, as more bolts came down from above. Kazuki checked his aug-glasses. They're blocking the way to the damn exfil point.

Kazuki shook his head, turning to Martinez. 'Martinez. Paulus. You two try and go that way,' Kazuki said, pointing towards one of the walkways leading deeper into the facility. Rendezvous at the exfiltration point. Karl, Epsilon and I find another way around. Split their attention.'

Paulus shook his head. 'We never split up in the SPTU! We stay together through the thick and fog.'

'Too bad, we're not SPTU,' Kazuki stated. Martinez patted Paulus on the back. 'We need to split up. I'm not arguing, Captain Micon.'

'Don't worry, we don't need to worry about ROEs, just shoot whoever comes, got it?' Martinez patted Paulus on the back of his armour. 'It's a long stretch, you guys will cover us?'

Kazuki nodded. Karl shook his head. 'FUCK! Why did I agree to this?! I should have just stuck to ferrying Yuki to whoever-the-fuck-cares trending spot and parties…'

Quinn raised an eyebrow at that name. 'Oh?' he asked, intrigued for but a moment. 'So you know connections to get into parties, eh?'

Karl shrugged before nodding. 'I guess—'

'—That is my sister,' Kazuki interjected. Quinn and Karl stopped.

Quinn gave an awkward smile. 'But hey, ey… a Princess, huh? Oh yeah, you're a Prince! Never really crossed my mind!' Quinn placed a hand to his helm-mask, attached to his belt. 'Actually… no… It's too fucking hot in here.'

'IS THIS REALLY THE FUCKING TIME?!' Karl howled at Quinn.

Kazuki gently rested a hand on Quinn's shoulder. "Princes are supposed to act regally. Do I act that way?" Kazuki leant in closer, gripping his shoulder tightly. He ensured that Quinn felt the pressure, even with the armour standing between his glove and Quinn's body.

Quinn gulped…

'Now. The three of us will use those platforms, we'll draw their fire.' Kazuki turned to one of the floating platforms connected to the walkways.

'You guys get over. Then you guys draw their fire.'

Simple plan. Still, it was incredibly risky. Quinn looked up at one of the moving platforms.

'It'll be cramped!' he remarked. 'Probably going to attract all their fucking bolts and grenades! We're going to fucking die... Let's fucking do it.' Quinn chuckled at the end.

Karl grinned at that, patting Kazuki on the arm. 'Come on, kid, last one to get on the platform is a blasted corpse!'

With that, both Quinn and Karl bolted to the platform. Kaz stood up, suppressing fire and running behind them. The other two joined in, suppressing the heavy machine gun with all they had.

Activating the power tools, Karl hot-wired the platform to move, with Quinn laying down fire with his SMG. Bolts rattled to and from as Blood Contractors tried to launch forward in an attack.

Bolts returned to him, slamming into the steel half-walls. It started to move, hovering slightly. Kazuki joined in on the suppression, stymying the advance.

'Arbiter!' Quinn shouted.

Kazuki looked, nodding and rushing over. The platform was already hovering over the hot molten lava down below. Kazuki rolled forward, weaving in and out of stray bolts. Crushing his Exospine, Kazuki allowed a surge of energy to infect his limbs. Kazuki leapt from the central platform. His fingers latched onto the edge of the hovering platform.

Quinn slowly pulled Kazuki up. All the while, he dumped mag after mag down past him.

Plasma shots slammed into Kazuki's armour and the steel platform. Low-powered laser bolts heated his armour. Martinez and Paulus unleashed a wave of grenades into the coming storm, using whatever explosives and detonators they had left.

Time.

That bought time. It was enough, however, as Kazuki pulled his pistol and opened fire. Karl joined in. Together, Quinn and Karl were able to pull Kazuki up.

Karl's uplink was online, controlling the platform. 'This software is so shit!' he shouted. 'Barely get any control over it!'

The platform darted upwards, towards one of the higher levels in the facility. Tenacious suppressive fire was only being met with sporadic but accurate kill shots. Karl was doing his best to get the platform to move faster.

To do that, he kept slamming the console panel.

Strangely, it worked.

Peering back down, Kazuki noted that the other two slinked off. They rushed up a set of stairs. Now they fired from windows along the factory walls, moving from floor to floor.

'ETA?' Kazuki asked. 'Heat's getting too high for us to last long in combat. We don't know how many there are.'

'Ten minutes or so,' Archius said. 'Hot LZ, so we're bringing in the mechanical artillery for some heavy lifting.'

Kazuki nodded, turning to Quinn. The two continued to take turns popping out and shooting down at the Blood Contractors.

A bolt skidded through Kazuki's shoulder pad and vest-plate, sending blood screaming out of him. "Tch…" Kazuki grunted, taking cover. Quinn replaced him as Karl passed a stimulant.

Kazuki injected himself with it, allowing his body to clot the wound, but the burn across his clothes and skin was still faintly visible. In this stalemate, everyone was taking damage. Quinn took a dozen bolts to the chest. Kazuki noticed explosive fragmentation rupturing across the walls.

'Tch! Their machine gunners switched to explosive bolts!' Martinez commented, glancing over and signalling to Kazuki. Blood splattered down Martinez's forehead, whilst splats of blood littered Paulus' joints and armour.

More Bloodthirsters burst out onto the walkways above. They were surrounding them.

They blasted gunfire downwards, only to catch bolts from Kazuki. One stupid Contractor jumped down, seemingly trying to crush Kazuki.

It didn't work, so Kazuki stepped to one side. Slashing the air in front of him, Kazuki caught the landing Contractor in the jugular.

"Guh!" Blood shot out from their neck as Kazuki kicked them into the lava below.

"NO! NO!" Those gargled words got out before the Contractor was consumed by lava.

Quinn pushed himself in front of Karl, protecting him as he kept wiring the platform up.

However, as Quinn's shield was nearly shattered, he grabbed Karl, throwing the two of them into cover. Instantly, the console was destroyed. Kazuki groaned. He raised his pistol and landed kill shots on the fuckers who destroyed it.

The platform immediately screeched with a beep. Then, it started to careen sideways, screaming out before crashing into a walkway. Kazuki jumped off the platform. Quinn had to drag Karl off, using fragments of his shield to weather the bolts and storm of lasers.

As they landed on the platform, Kazuki interposed. Kneeling and assuming a firing position, Kazuki allowed his shield to block the hail of fire.

However, typical munitions were not enough.

Kazuki raised his railgun and fired... Not at the Blood Contractors. The ceiling above them all… Then, the steel frames started to collapse. Not only that, but an entire part of the control pillar's hub came crumbling down. Rubble and dust from up above caved in. Concrete collapsed against the walkways.

Soon, the whole room was collapsing into the lava. A cascade of debris was slowly making its way towards Kazuki's team. "Run!" Karl hollered.

The three started to run.

Lava spurted up and down, covering the walkway with molten steel. It nearly melted through the whole thing. Karl and Quinn made it, but Kaz was too late to easily jump.

'Arbiter! I'll grab onto you!' Quinn shouted from across the gap. 'You better not fucking miss my hand!'

Kazuki sighed. He turned around. It won't be long till all will be dust and rubble.

With that in mind, Kazuki took a few steps back. Breaking into a sprint, Kazuki ignited his exospine. An explosion of energy sent him jumping across. It wasn't enough, Kazuki thought. Instantly, Kazuki's aug-glasses activated his ANCHOR Watch.

Teleporting forward, Kazuki closed the distance, grabbing onto Quinn's hand. He dragged Kazuki up, out of the way of danger.