Galactic High

“It’s a trap!” Alora confirmed in a panic. “We’ve got to run!”

“Do you have a way out on your end?!” Nika called back in between bursts of gunfire. “We’re dead meat if we try to push out the way we came! They’re good too, we can’t fight them and win!”

There’s more pushing up! Chiyo warned. Life signatures suddenly appeared the moment the alarm went off. We’re surrounded!

“They’ve just taken out one of the drones!” Sephy confirmed as she controlled her breathing, bringing her gun up. “What the hell do we do?”

“We might be surrounded but we can’t stay here either!” Jack confirmed as he sprinted out of the room and down the corridor quicker than he ever had before. “Nika! I’m coming to you!”

“Sephy, get your other drone out of range, give us what passive overwatch you can, and get ready to run,” Alora told the Skritta, who lept into action. “Jack, Nika, we’re going to need to make a new exit!”

The door we entered should be somewhere directly below around here! Chiyo confirmed, moving to the far wall of the room. Jack can use an Overcharge shot to blow a hole and we can jump down!

“Got it, but these guys are good!” Nika growled as Jack caught up to her, slamming his shoulder on the opposite side of the doorframe and immediately laying down fire on any of the dark, silhouetted forms he could see slipping between cover. “The moment we cut and run they’re gonna move up.”

“Maybe we can use that?” Sephy asked. “Lure them up and we give them the slip?”

More are heading your way! Chiyo warned. There’s fewer outside but something is weird, it’s like their auras are beyond terrified!

“If they’re terrified that gives us the advantage!” Jack reasoned. “If we have to break for it, we can go through them!”

“Jack, we need to get to the others,” Nika told him. “This corridor is a killing ground!”

“Got it!” Jack growled as he quickly snapped his head back as some scarily accurate plasma bursts nearly hit him. “You go first, I’ll hold them off then follow you!”

“Alright, don’t bother using the rooms on the right, just straight down and in on the left,” Nika warned. “One of us will cover you from there!”

“Yep!” Jack acknowledged as he turned around to let off another burst of covering fire. “Go now!” he whispered to Nika, before he yelled at the unknown hostiles, “COME OUT YOU FUCKING PUSSIES!”

The concealed hostiles below said nothing, and only responded with accurate bursts of plasma fire that pinged off of the door that Jack was hiding behind.

‘Shit, I’m surprised these walls are still standing after that.’ Jack thought to himself as he let out some blind covering fire, seeing Nika reach the end of the corridor…

A quiet ‘tink’ of something small and metallic rattling on the floor right by his feet immediately drew his attention, and instantly filled Jack with dread as he recognised the grenade for what it was…

‘Oh fuck!’

He acted instantly, without thinking, kicking the grenade back through the doorframe and slamming what was left of the door shut, turning to run just as the explosive detonated. The force of the blast sent a shockwave rippling from the epicentre, ripping the door right off its frame and throwing Jack off his feet, sending him tumbling into the air to smack into one of the walls.

Jack groaned in pain, disoriented but not defeated as he struggled to push himself up, feeling the dull aches over his body from where his battleskin dispersed the force of the impact.

“Jack, run!” he heard one of the girls yell over comms through the ringing in his ears, forcing himself to move as the adrenaline ran in full force through his body. The sound quickly came back as he got halfway down the corridor, and he heard the loud crashing of movement behind him, knowing instinctively that the enemy was quickly climbing up after him.

“Jack, duck!” Alora yelled from the far end of the corridor as she began casting.

Jack quickly got low and skidded along the ground, looking up as a ball of white-hot fire shot over him, speeding to the other end of the corridor where he just came from. Glancing out of the corner of his eye as he legged it to the other end of the corridor, he saw the fireball explode in an eruption of righteous fury, slamming into the hulking form on the other side.

“Nice shot!” Jack grinned as he got to the door, following Alora as Dante peeked around the corner and sent a lightning bolt down range for good measure.

Aim there! Chiyo pointed at a section of the room as he stacked up on Nika and Chiyo, ready to engage what was on the other side.

“OVERCHARGE!” Jack quickly growled as he drew his sidearm and swiftly aimed at where Chiyo was pointing, blasting away the crumbling floor and wall.

“If you can’t slow your landing, slide down, don’t jump!” Sephy called out behind him, as she lobbed a grenade through the door Jack just came from, hearing the rapidly approaching footsteps of their mysterious assailants.

“Got it!” Nika grunted as she sprinted forward and slid down a partially crumbled section that sloped downwards to where the warehouse staff door they used to enter the building used to be, landing with a roll and snapping to cover. Chiyo floated above, ready to lash out with her power at anything that moved.

We’re clear, hurry up! she called back to the others.

“Don’t need to tell me twice!” Sephy muttered as she and Dante went next, the Skritta using her translucent wings to move out through the hole and into the street beyond as Nika and Chiyo pushed up, while the ‘Dog’ simply blinked next to her.

“Alora?” Jack called to the Eladrie as she finished casting, shooting a small bead of fire out of her wand to embed itself just above the doorframe, then turning to run and slide down the crumpled section, quickly followed by Jack as they heard an explosion roar out from behind them.

“Run! Get to the next building!” Nika yelled as she sprinted across the street and blew the hinges off the nearest door with two quick blasts with her shotgun, with Chiyo then using her power to rip it off as several shapes could be seen rounding the corner of the warehouse they had just come from.

Sephy wasted no time in smashing a glass vial on the ground as she and Dante dashed across the road, the compressed purple gas within quickly expanding to form a thick cloud of lilac smoke that aggressively billowed out, creating a smokescreen that gave them cover as they made it to the other side and dashed through the door with Dante. Quickly checking for hostiles and finding nobody, she hurriedly waved them all through as Alora and Jack took up the rear, with the latter quickly snapping around and helping Nika lay down some covering fire through the smoke to keep the assholes chasing them at a distance, and catching up to Alora when she made it to the other side.

Upon dashing through the door and successfully avoiding enemy fire, Jack found himself entering a crumbling corridor onto a floor littered with rubble and debris, with walls tarnished with peeling wallpaper. Whatever this place was had long been lost to time.

“I knew something we got from the Prefect’s Lockup would actually be useful!” Sephy grinned despite the situation, patting the other vial she had at her hip as Alora moved up past her while she covered their rear.

“Chiyo? Can you detect anyone ahead?” Alora asked as she moved to the front of the group, panting.

Just one that’s close with a terrified aura moving at speed, Chiyo confirmed. I can't detect anything else, but the rest must be able to mask themselves. There are several others that I detected around the warehouse too, maybe they’re there to slow us down while their friends catch up?

“Going through them is the quickest way out unless we want to blast another hole in the wall,” Sephy called back as she aimed at the door they had entered from, with Jack doing the same. “Make it quick and we might give the rest the slip. Looks like they’re going around rather than chasing, probably expecting a trap.”

“Got it. Taking point!” Nika confirmed, while Alora and Chiyo moved up with her, with Jack, Sephy and Dante carefully following behind, covering their rear.

Where’s the damn exit!? Chiyo complained as they pushed further down the corridor, dodging various hazards that had been left in the way over the years.

“There!” Alora pointed at a smashed window, seeing a long, thin alleyway on the other side, while from somewhere close by the sound of a door being bashed open could be heard.

“Run!” Nika hissed, as she sprinted for the opening, diving through and dashing to the first bit of cover she could find, taking a few minor cuts in the process. Dante sprinted up past Alora and Chiyo and dove out after her, though while Chiyo easily floated through, Alora winced as she put pressure on her hands, climbing through with some deep cuts from the broken glass.

“Go Sephy!” Jack told the Skritta as he heard movement from behind him, quickly crouching and spinning around to engage whoever had just turned around the corner. “CHEEKI BREEKI MOTHERFUCKERS!” he yelled, as whoever was chasing them wisely remained in full cover.

“I’m through, I’ll cover you!” Sephy called back, and Jack turned and sprinted for the hole as the Skritta used her ricocheting pistols to bounce plasma shots around him, while Chiyo tried to move various objects in between him and the assholes chasing them.

“OVERCHARGE!” Jack growled as he clumsily vaulted the window, taking a few hits as he turned around and let loose a heavy blast behind him, barely acknowledging the collapsing ceiling of the corridor he had just dashed down, but knowing that he’d stalled their immediate pursuers, at least for the time being.

“You alright?” Sephy asked him as she used all her strength to help him up. “We’ve gotta move!”

“I’m good,” Jack grunted as he got to his feet. “Go! I’ll catch up!”

“Ok, stay close!” the Skritta warned as she set off, quickly quaffing something out of a vial she took out of a pocket, swiftly followed by Jack. The others were about halfway up the alleyway, with Nika and Dante sprinting up to the end as fast as they could, while Alora and Chiyo were doing their best to follow close behind. Jack knew that the two of them weren’t the most physically capable, and he hoped they wouldn’t gas out before they could escape.

Got a lifesign heading to intercept us! Chiyo warned. There may be others that are obscured!

“Moving up!” Jack confirmed as he sprinted ahead, digging deep to move past Sephy, Alora and Chiyo to catch up with Nika, preparing to cover the right corner of the alley to Nika’s left, while Dante did…something, casting a ball of lightning behind Sephy that completely blanketed the thin alleyway. As Jack caught up with the Kizun, he could hear several shots ring out from behind them, before the little balls of light were somehow intercepted by little forks of lightning, looking almost like a tesla coil to the human.

“Good boy!” Jack encouraged Dante as he got to the end. “Where to now?”

Lifesign approaching from the right! Chiyo warned as she caught up. It’s one of the terrified ones!

“Holy shit!” Nika swore, as Jack turned to see the incoming enemy come into view…

Standing at an imposing height of well over seven feet tall, was a grotesque fusion of flesh and machine. Whatever creature the hulking figure had been before was now unidentifiable, now encased in a gruesome medley of cybernetic enhancements, the metal and chrome marred with signs of constant wear and tear. Whatever remained of the pale, dead-looking flesh was a jigsaw of decay and agony that barely concealed yet more mechanical parts underneath. What could only have been its face had been completely removed, replaced with a single, tough-looking rusted metal plate that had been crudely bolted in place to protect the cranium. A black sludge, like ancient motor oil, leaked from the bottom of the plate and dribbled down the creature's neck in a bubbling ooze. Several thin wires, reinforced cables and thick tubes snaked down and around the rest of its body like choking vines, connecting the organic and inorganic with a grizzly synergy.

One arm of the cybernetic horror had been amputated part of the way down in favour of a massive arm-mounted chainsaw, that Jack had no doubt could rend any obstacle with ease, while the other had been replaced entirely with a mounted twin-barrelled chaingun that spun around with a hateful green light. With each thundering step, it was as if the ground itself trembled beneath the massive weight, sending shockwaves of force that Jack could feel rippling in his toes as the monster showed no signs of being encumbered by the heavy weaponry, which slowly began to spin up…

“Izorinn!” Alora cried out, as several chains of light shot out from the end of her wand, wrapping themselves around the monstrosity and pointing the barrel of the chaingun away from the group, though Jack could see that it did little to hinder the movement of this ‘Cyberzombie’ as with a growling mechanical hum that grew ever louder it let loose a torrent of plasma in a rapid, staccato clicking noise that began churning the ancient concrete road like it was made of sand…

RUN! Chiyo yelled telepathically, and everyone did, dashing across the next street, the stench of ozone filling the air as the cyborg quickly worked to free itself from the magical chains. Jack was first, crossing the street to go down the next alleyway, simply wanting to break the enemy’s line of sight.

Making sure that everyone was close behind, Jack pointed to a large, rundown building to the left that looked like an old factory with a door slightly ajar, and Alora didn’t hesitate to lead the others there, with Jack quickly following and taking the rear once again, before suddenly, something hard slammed into his right shoulder, knocking him down to the ground in a heavy spin.

Acting on instinct, Jack used the momentum of the impact to reach for his sidearm, yanking it out of its holster and started blasting, firing blindly at where the sniper round had come from. In the distance, he could just about see a white-haired form duck under cover from the top of a water tower as his left hand grasped for his plasma rifle still on its sling, going akimbo.

Jack! Get up! He heard Chiyo in his mind as he felt the Ilithii’s telekinetic power quickly bring him to his feet.

Jack sprinted for the door while Chiyo waved her arms around to summon a large glob of water before launching it out to explode in an eruption of warm, white steam, creating a smokescreen to cover Jack as he got to the building, just as a series of thundering footsteps approached....

“OVERCHARGE!” Jack yelled, pointing his pistol at the ‘cyberzombie’ as it turned a corner, the heavy shot slamming into the beast hard with a burst of fierce, bright energy, causing it to take a single, solitary step backwards.

But that was it.

Jack’s eyes went wide as he saw the monster completely tank the most powerful attack he had at his disposal like it was nothing, before his body caught up with his mind and dashed after the others through the reception area, bursting into a larger, open area, strewn with debris and rusted remnants of forgotten machinery, with the metal carcasses of heavy equipment long dead, twisted and lifeless. Jack cursed as the broken ceramic tiles crunched under his feet, adding a cacophony of sound that he really didn’t want the enemy to hear.

Quickly, Chiyo brought out her new cane and made some motions with her hands, indicating everyone in the group, before suddenly the sounds of their footsteps completely ceased, and they no longer felt the rough terrain slowing them down.

“Stay in this building and go right to the end, I think there was a crumbled wall we can get through!” Sephy hurriedly told them, sounding very confident.

“Are you sure Sephy? This place is a damn maze!” Nika snarled, as she slowed down and smacked into what remained of a forklift truck, pushing herself off it to go around.

“Wait! Sephy? Did you take the Clairvoyance potion?” Alora asked.

“Yep! Guys! Over there!” Sephy pointed to the left as they all went through a large archway to a massive assembly line that loomed in the dark like a snaking skeletal frame.

What are we looking at, Sephy? Chiyo asked.

“Conveyor belt!” Jack realised, following it along, and pointing to a small hole in the far wall that was marked with a long-faded warning label of some kind. “Go through there and we might give them the slip!”

“They’d put the finished product in a loading bay to be shipped off,” Alora reasoned. “Or another loading bay to be shipped in. Get in there!”

Nika went first, sliding through, ready to open fire at anything on the other side.

“Clear!” she called back, and Alora and Chiyo quickly followed through the small opening, with Dante hopping through next.

“Go!” Jack told Sephy as they heard the familiar, thundering footsteps behind them. Diving through the hole after her and making it to the other side, he let out a slight sigh of relief that Chiyo’s spell muted the sound they made as several crates of old bottles tinkled slightly with the vibration.

“Okay…” Sephy began, letting the strange senses of the Clairvoyance potion subtly influence her gut feeling on how to proceed. “I don’t think they don’t know we’ve come down here and they’re going to try and focus on the right-hand side of the building where I think there was a fire exit.”

“So we try and get out on the left somewhere.” Alora nodded.

“And stay out of the open. Straight into another building if we can,” Jack added as they kept quickly and quietly moving forward, listening out for enemy activity. “They had a sniper on top of an old water tower on the right too, and where there’s one there’s probably more. Plus, Chiyo said there was more than one of those…things around. With the weird auras?”

Yes, Chiyo agreed, sounding fearful. That thing was a monstrosity unlike anything I have ever seen or even heard of before, and it couldn’t have possibly been in control of its own actions! It's like its very spirit was unwillingly shackled to what was left of its body to keep it ‘alive’ enough to operate! Its soul was screaming! Such a strong, overwhelming presence of constant pain and agony would be near impossible to mask!

“Got an opening ahead, tight fit though,” Nika called back. “This way, Sephy?”

“Yes. Wait a moment…” Sephy held up a hand for several moments. “Okay, go now, and I get the feeling there should be another similar hole into the next building. Crawl through there.”

They all did so, scrambling through and low to the ground. It was a tight fit for all of them, but especially for Jack, who took up the rear in a commando crawl, having to slide his rucksack off and gently pull it behind him. He looked around once he was out, and was thankful to see heavy debris around him, old dumpsters and boxes obscuring their presence as he kept crawling forward. With Chiyo’s spell continuing to affect him, as like the others, he was easily able to quickly get through the difficult terrain, scrambling to his feet the moment he got under the wall of the next building.

Everyone held their breath as they tried to keep as quiet as they possibly could, hearing several different sounds of movement in the distance. Their mysterious enemy was disciplined, but relentless in their search,

“We might have lost them now, if we keep quiet we can gradually put some distance between us,” Alora whispered hopefully.

“Oh no…” Sephy gasped, clearly reacting to the Clairvoyance effect still having a hold on her as she dashed forward down the corridor of what might have once been a waste disposal facility. “No that’s not gonna work, I think we’ve gotta move quickly right now and get somewhere they can’t follow us!”

“Shit, what have they got?” Nika asked.

“Don’t know! Just that they’ve got something that’s gonna be a problem!” Sephy panted.

“Whatever it is, the more distance we make, the less of a problem it’ll be!” Jack softly growled back, although he gasped upon hearing a chorus of unnatural, alien noises from somewhere far behind them.

What was that? Chiyo asked nervously.

“Fuck, they’re using dogs!” Jack told them. “Tracker animals! They can lead them right to us!”

“I’ve got some quick mines that’ll help,” Sephy told them, following the gut feelings the Clairvoyance was giving her. “We’ll need to take them and any enemy drones out to escape!”

“Alright, do you know where we need to go?” Alora asked the Skritta as Sephy made an abrupt turn to their right, taking them on a shortcut through an old set of offices with a long-decayed wall at one end.

“I think so, remember that multi-storey car park on the way here?” Sephy asked them.

“Yeah,” Jack confirmed. “You said no cars or anything we could use, right?”

That’s correct, Chiyo agreed. But we did say how structurally weak it is…

“So we have to collapse an entire building behind us?” Nika asked.

“If we even can.” Alora panted as she started to gas out. “It’s a few blocks!”

“We can do it!” Jack told them confidently, trying his best to keep morale up. “Got to dig deep Alora, you too Chiyo! We’re doing well so far!”

I can’t believe I regret not doing more sports! the Ilithii whined.

“I’ll remember that once we escape!” Nika told Chiyo with a humourless chuckle.

Quickly crossing the street the group saw the old car park in the distance, but heard the rapidly approaching barks and growls of whatever beasts were heading their way. And now that their enemy knew the direction they were heading, they were soon discovered once again.

“Drone!” Alora warned, and Jack turned around to see a dark copter floating above them, holding an almost phallic-shaped object on a wire…

Jack stopped for a moment and aimed carefully to shoot at the thing, scoring a hit with his second burst, causing the drone to start spiralling towards the ground, before the bomb it had been carrying exploded.

“We’re almost there!” Sephy pointed directly ahead of them, before quickly planting a basic slap-mine on the corner of the closest building they had just turned. Straight down the old road, and they would be there, but the cover was almost non-existent.

“We’re gonna have to sprint!” Nika panted, as Alora and Chiyo especially were at their limit. “Dig deep! Go!”

I’m trying! Chiyo despairingly replied as she began to slow down, before a blast of red energy smacked into her back, dropping her to the ground.

“NO!” Sephy yelled as she immediately stopped and returned fire at where the shot had come from with her plasma rifle.

“Keep moving!” Jack bellowed as the barks of the animals were closer now. “I’ve got her!”

Leave me! Save yourselves! Chiyo painfully told them, but Jack ignored her as he quickly scooped her up, hearing the pants of the animals behind them before Sephy’s mine detonated, taking out the pack leader. He felt another hard impact slam into the ground where he had just been as he ran as fast as he could, attempting to juke the sniper in between Sephy’s suppressing fire, who very quickly became the new target of the sniper’s attention.

“Shit! Jack, behind you!” Nika yelled as something nipped at his heels, before Chiyo was able to recover and use her power to knock it back. A quick glimpse from Jack confirmed that the mangy shape bore similar grotesque cybernetic enhancements to the massive hulking ‘cyberzombie’ from before, though he did not allow himself a detailed look as he realised that he was being caught up.

Dante intercepted one of the beasts, but was forced to blink away to Nika and Sephy as several of the pack quickly rounded on the ‘dog’. Jack was getting closer, but the enemy ‘hounds’ were quick, and carrying Chiyo took a toll.

‘Wait.’ Jack thought to himself. ‘Don’t I have something that could help? This crazy shit better fucking work…’

Awkwardly fumbling through a pocket and hoping he had taken the right potion vial he briefly saw on the written label ‘Quick Retreat’. Downing the swirling, silvery liquid, Jack almost gagged at the taste, dropping the vial as his face contorted with surprise and confusion at the unnatural sensation. Suddenly, the world around him began to blur, as when Jack’s next step barely touched the ground, he was suddenly propelled forwards, darting down the road with the speed of a Bugatti!

“Ooof!” Alora gasped as Jack roughly picked her up as she slowed down, dashing as fast as he could, eyeballs drying as he ran up the ramp past the others.

“Oh fuck!” Jack cursed as he tried to slow down, roughly dropping Alora and Chiyo tumbling to the ground before he smacked hard into a concrete pillar, clipping the edge as he spun around, dazed, but somehow still on his feet for now.

“Oooooooow!” Alora groaned as she writhed in pain on the floor before steadying herself.

“Get up! We’ve got to kill these beasts while Sephy plants the charges!” Nika shouted.

They weren’t out of this mess yet…