GREEN
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6632 36.9 KB 656
6632 36.9 KB 656
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>You are Aden
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>There’s more to your name, but everyone around you doesn’t care
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>Nobody in this “physical security” business cares about where you came from
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>All they care about is what you can do
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>With your chemically-augmented body and training, you can do a lot
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>Not get hacked, for one thing
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>Survive in this cutthroat city is another
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>You’ve been doing that for over eight years now
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>To think you’ve only just turned twenty, though nobody raises an eyebrow if they have any
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>Some of the things you’ve fought were vat-grown the previous week
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>When it comes to physical security, these companies on the old western seaboard compete with most governments for moral bankruptcy
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>At least things are civilized in the high-rises and vacation homes, where sheltered offspring throw great parties
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>Any attacks on those are from other spoiled brats who try to crash them
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>As long as the darker stuff is kept out of sight, then the clients and their parents are happy
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>But right now, your clients are not happy
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>One of their newest toys, some custom-made bio-android, was stolen from one of their vacation homes
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>They have a tracker implanted in it, with the last transmission from the top of a skyscraper in Downtown owned by a rival business
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>Your contract includes recovery of stolen property, so now it’s your job to get this “unicorn” back
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>The law will be turning a blind eye, since this is just corporations settling business with each other
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>At least your clients aren’t just throwing you into a meat grinder willy-nilly
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>They’re having their e-war specialists run interference on the target building while you go in and take the unicorn back
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>They even lend you their full arsenal
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>Given that your clients are owners of an arms manufacturer, that means good shit
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>As good as what the UNSC had
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>Your journey through the massive underground levels is uneventful
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>The e-war guys do their job, keeping all of the city’s robotic security down there from detecting you as you walk into the building’s basement
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>Electrical substations and sewage management of the building occupy these sublevels, monitored by semi-autonomous bots
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>To reward the e-war team, you plug small wireless connectors into every terminal you pass, and on some of the bots standing still
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>With a wide-open backdoor, the team slowly infects the peripheries of the whole system, waiting for your go for a full-on attack
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>With the clock ticking, you take the one service elevator that comes all the way down here
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>As you ascend to the ground level, you check your weapons one last time
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>Your primary: a bullpup that you had the works done on
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>Chambered in 7.62 NATO with a micro-electronics suite that links to your armor’s HUD, connected to a IR laser just under the barrel
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>You don’t plan on being sneaky the whole way, so instead of a massive suppressor you opt for a massive muzzle break for shock-and-awe
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>Magnetically locked on your back is a 4-gauge pump gun
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>It’s made due to nostalgia for an old Russian shotgun, but now it is “modernized”
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>That really means it’s made with superior materials and special-made shells
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>Buckshot, AP slug, CS gas, anti-cybernetic, et cetera
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>You have all of those kinds in bandoleers strapped to your stomach and in a butt pouch
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>Locked to your leg is a silenced 9mm pistol with subsonic ammunition
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>You equip it when the elevator stops on the ground floor
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>The doors open to a dark concrete hallway
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>With nothing on your motion tracker, you activate your suit’s photo-reactive panels and peek out
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>No one in this service hallway
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>None of the e-war team is saying anything, so you advance towards where the employee elevators should be
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>It’s early morning, so there should be minimal activity
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>That thought jinxes you as you approach a corner
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>Your motion tracker picks up two blips coming fast
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>Inhale
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>You round the corner just as they get to it
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>Two ground-level guards, minimal cybernetics and armor, open helmets
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>Your first shot zips through one guard’s still-organic nose
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>You step into the second’s space and backhand his chin
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>It isn’t your hand with the rift gauntlet, but the blow still spins him around and keeps his gun off of you
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>You shove your pistol into the back of his exposed neck and fire
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>The bodies crumple to the floor
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>Exhale
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>There’s no place to hide them and no way to cover up the blood or bullet hole in the wall
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>You tell the e-war team to cancel any internal alarms triggered by anyone happening upon the bodies
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>You run to the elevators
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>No one’s there
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>You call the closest one
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>Nothing comes down any of the halls at this nexus as you wait
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>At least that’s what your motion tracker says
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>You slowly turn towards the hallway you came from
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>Your instinct is telling you something is there
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>But even with your enhanced vision and your helmet’s thermals, you can’t see anything
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>If someone with thermal and optical camouflage is tailing you, then either the e-war team would detect increased comms as he leads a kill team to you, or a third party is letting you do the heavy lifting
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>You’ll be looking over your shoulder as you progress, then
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>When the elevator comes down, you detect a single target inside
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>You put away your pistol and bring out your shotgun
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>As soon as the doors begin to open, you flow in
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>It’s a cleaning maid with cart
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>Lithe, pretty, risque outfit
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>In your experience, that means cyborg
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>Before she reacts, you muzzle strike her in the forehead
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>As she recoils into the mirrored elevator wall, cracking it, you turn and hit the button for the highest floor: 107
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>You quickly turn back
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>She’s throwing a punch at you, except a long black blade is protruding out of her forearm
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>In her daze she’s overextending past you, so you turn your body and duck away from the strike
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>Without the rift gauntlet, your counter punch to her cheek just sends her to the side and onto the elevator floor
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>The doors close as you step over her
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>With time to kill, you try talking
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>You kneel on both of her elbows
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>You lock her head with both arms and lift
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>You whisper into her ear,
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“Where is the unicorn?”
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>She struggles out an insult
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“Unicorn. Top floor?”
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>She grunts an affirmative
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>The elevator shakes from a series of explosions somewhere above you
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>The e-war team calls, telling you about an alien looking craft attacking the building’s upper floors
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“Show me.”
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>They link a video feed to your HUD, and your grip on the cyborg maid’s head tightens
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>You haven’t seen a Phantom dropship in almost a decade
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>Yet one just used its underslung plasma cannon to blow open the side of the building
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>From the angle of the hacked camera, you cannot tell exactly what floor the dropship is attacking, but you see it approach the new opening with one side door down
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>It turns to present the open side
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>You see figures leaping over the several-meter gap
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>They don’t look like Elites, Brutes, or Jackals
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>They look like Spartans
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>The maid makes you remember her by shooting her titanium skull back into your helmet’s chin
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>She earns just enough room to bring her knees under her chest and she lifts you up
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>Her arms get free, and she aims a bladed punch to where your head should be
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>You throw yourself off of her before she connects and you grab your shotgun off of the floor
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>She brings a foot up to spin herself around and leap at you, but you already have your finger on the trigger
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>Your helmet muffles the boom
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>Despite the apparent metal frame and organs, the killer maid’s chest blows wide open
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>The glass wall behind her shatters before she slams into it
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>You rack the slide and shoot again
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>Her ripped-open back hits the shredded wall again, then she drops to her knees and slams face-first onto the floor in front of you
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>You rack your gun again and stand up
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>Black oil-blood spreads around the still form
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>You take a deep breath and shake your head
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>Too close once again, and it was your fault
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>Being blindsided by a blast from the past is no excuse
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>Whatever is going on, you’ll get answers
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>You load two shells into the magazine tube
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>You see two spots of green in the corner of your eye
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>For an instant, you see a pair of eyes looking at you from the glass still hanging onto the elevator wall
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>No, it’s just reflections from maintenance lights in the shaft shining through the holes you made
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>That’ll be your explanation to yourself for now, because you’re hearing an intense firefight beyond the doors
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>Actually, your elevator is bypassing it as it go to the floor above
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>You note the familiar blasts of MA5 rifles
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“E-team: attack. Lock everything down.”
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>The elevator shakes as it stops
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>It opens up to a windowless room dim with emergency red lighting
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>Someone backs up towards you
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>"About bloody time! They're assaulting the stairwell from the floor under us and that dropship is gonna come-"
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>By the time the sec-team leader turns and notices the bloody corpse of the maid, you have a good look at the room
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>Looks like an ad-hoc security nexus that doubles as a screening checkpoint for the floor above
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>Your elevator opens up in a back corner
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>In front of you, among the back-lit scanners and support columns, is a metal spiral staircase with no rails
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>It ascends into a tight alcove with a door to the upper floor
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>The unicorn must be up there, then
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>In between it and you are nine of the building's proper sec-team, including the leader
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>Overt augmentations, uniformly, to the arms, legs, and eyes
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>Level III+ soft armor over the torso
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>Will only stop buckshot from penetrating
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>Unreliable in stopping 7.62 NATO
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>Meanwhile they look to have pistol-caliber sub machine guns
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>No chance of penetrating your armor unless the same spot gets hit several times
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>They have enough to do so, if they know that
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>The secs are also all oriented towards the stairwell on the other side of the room, their backs to you
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>The sec-leader's hesitancy lets you point-shoot at his face
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>The four-gauge at four meters sends the sec's helmet, cranium, and some brain matter into the ceiling
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>The squad's subsequent confusion lets you sprint far enough to take cover in the mess of terminals
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>They fire at where they last saw you, but you move further into the terminals
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>You switch from your shotgun to your rifle
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>You find a keyhole in between several consoles and flick the selector to semi-auto
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>You aim for the upper chest of the first sec you see
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>The blast lights up your half of the room
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>The sec goes down
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>Screaming so not dead, but out of the fight
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>You see blips on the edge of your motion tracker separate from the bunch
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>All of them are shouting something or other
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>Some holler into the stairwell
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>You snap a shot off at one flanking the doorway
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>His head jerks and he crumples
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>Dead-dead as the kids say
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>You move, crossing rows of terminals towards the stairs
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>One dot closes in on you
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>You note its direction and round a bulky baggage scanner
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>The sec's right there, running parallel to try and beat you to the stairs
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>You walk three shots into his side
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>Three fireballs
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>He falls onto his face
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>You keep running towards the back
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>More shouting and gunfire
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>You risk a glance up and over your shoulder
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>You do a double-take when you see a conga line of secs pour out of the stairwell
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>Scratch a squad, they have a whole platoon up here
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>Two-thirds must have went downstairs in response to the Phantom and its chalk
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>Now you're threatening their rear, so they're pulling back into this room to overwhelm you and dig in for the attack from downstairs
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>You flick your selector to ‘auto’ and dump the rest of your mag over the terminals, into the doorway
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>Secs stumble and fall to the strobe of your fireballs, turning the doorway into a bottleneck
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>Those already in the room and not maneuvering return fire
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>Pistol-caliber rounds slap your arms and shoulders
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>One hits your visor and makes you flinch, throwing off your aim
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>You run empty and turn back around to duck behind a thick steel barrier
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>You look ahead and find the stairs to be right in front of you
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>You suspect the door at the top is locked
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>If it is, then you will trap yourself with no cover
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>As opposed to here, still trapped
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>You take your shotgun and blind fire twice to keep the secs ducking while you open your comms
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"E-team, I've got a door on the penultimate floor I need unlocked."
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>No response
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>You reload your shotgun while saying,
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"E-team, respond."
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>The channel is dead
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>Well, you rushed in just to put yourself up against a wall
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>Good going, Aden
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>You are about to try the backup channels when you're hailed on a Beta Company frequency
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>Specifically Team Yankee’s private freq
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>You immediately switch to there
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>"Beta-One-Zero-Three, this is Beta-Nine-Four."
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>Sean's voice
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>You're in a completely different universe, for all you can tell
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>You've never mentioned Beta Company or the Spartan program
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>There's no way in hell this could be a trick
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>Right?
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>You answer,
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"This is Beta-One-Zero-Three. Sean?"
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>"It's been a while, Aden. Listen, I'm riding up to your floor and Claymore Team’s ready to push. Turn on your eye-eff-eff and load your rifle. Get set to sandwich them. Ready?"
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>You don't know how he knows your rifle is empty, but you reload it without hesitation
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>When the bolt snaps home you announce,
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"Set."
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>In the three-second pause, you turn on your old IFF system and use precious power to activate your photoreative panels
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>Invisible in this low-lit room, you peek around you cover, ready to bring your not-invisible rifle up
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>Past the two charging secs
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>Past the two dozen trying to take cover while suppressing in two direction
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>Past the front elevator’s fancy platinum door
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>You see an inverted blue triangle with 'B094' above it
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>His elevator opens
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>”Go.”
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>Out comes a pitch-black smog
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>It covers the ceiling, extinguishing the few remaining lights, and engulfs the surrounding secs
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>There is a cascade of screaming and panic fire
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>You bring up your gun and fire two bursts at the charging secs, dropping them before they could aim at you
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>At the same time explosions cause dust to fly out of the stairwell
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>The smog moves throughout the room, with Sean right in the middle
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>There are bursts from an MA5 rifle and truncated screams
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>You try to add to the clearing of the room, but your guts screams that something’s behind you
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>You snap around and aim up the stairs
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>Nothing in sight nor on the motion tracker
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>More gunfire
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>You look to see IFF tags charge up the stairway
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>Instead of B, for Beta, they have G, for Gamma
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>Another Spartan company?
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>The five additional Spartans fan out, finishing off the secs with MA5K assault rifles
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>The smog and Sean's IFF tag cross the room, revealing the corpses of shot-up secs, and stop in front of you
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>You stand up, turn off your optic camouflage, and look at where your old teammate should be
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>Dozens of aquamarine cat’s eyes stare at you from the inky black
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>Your gut keeps telling you something is wrong, but you hold it down
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>A Spartan in Semi-Powered Infiltration armor steps out of the darkness
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>”Ho, Aden.”
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>You have to smile at that,
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“Ho, Sean.”
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>You look at the eyes still studying you
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”You brought a horror house with you?”
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>A woman laughs from somewhere within the smog
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>Sean’s shoulders shake in a chuckle
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>”Something like that.”
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>The other Spartans advance up the stairs, ignoring the eyes and smog surrounding the two of you
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>You ask Sean,
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“Gamma Company?”
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>“I picked them up a while back. A lot has happened since Torpedo, Aden. How long has it been for you?”
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“A little over eight years, if I recall correctly.”
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>”Good, it’s the same for me. Now we don’t have much time, Aden, so I need to ask: do you want to stay here”
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>Stay?
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>You huff and mutter,
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“Stay and do what?”
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>Sean nods, “I figured you’d say that, so come with us. We’ve got a corvette in orbit.”
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“A Covenant corvette?”
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>”Ex-Covenant. Again: long story. Come on,” Sean and the eye-filled smog passes you, “Let’s get Notches free and get to the ship.”
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“Notches?”
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>Sean ascends the stairs, but you don’t follow
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“Sean.”
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>He stops and looks back at you
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“What exactly is going on? How did you get here?”
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>”Right now, Aden, the how’s irrelevant. Now why we’re here? Rescue, or retrieval, depending on what they’re doing to him upstairs.”
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>Sean looks up the stairs
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>The Gammas are stacked at the door
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>”Henri, is that door locked?”
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>The Spartan tagged as G314 answers,
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>”Affirm, Hitomi’s slicing it.”
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>So it was indeed locked
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>The woman in the eye-filled smog speaks up
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>”I will open the door.”
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>As if a harsh wind catches it, the smogs surges up the stairs, past the Gammas, and through the door
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>You and Sean walk up one set of stairs
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>You suddenly hear a lot of muffled screaming above you
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>Some gunfire bangs against the walls and floor
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>A wisp of smog and a pair of eyes appear next to Hitomi
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>“Get set to breach.”
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>Everyone, including you, readies their weapons
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>You center your HUD on the Spartan at the second slot in the stack, G330, who’s carrying an M90 shotgun
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>”Go.”
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>You hear the door open, and the Spartans flow in
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>Assault rifles blast out short bursts and the shotgun booms
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>You are the last one into the room
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>Team Claymore clears out the room, the center of which is dominated by a giant metal egg situated in metal scaffolding
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>The room is announced clear
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>The smog leaves behind dead secs, shredded by 7.62 FMJ and buckshot, and coalesces next to Sean
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>The eyes close
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>The smog takes the shape of that unicorn, only bigger and with wings as well as a horn
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>Black fur
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>She glances at you with those aquamarine eyes
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>Her blue hair is odd, flowing on its own and sparkling
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>The Gammas spread throughout the room, looking over desktops that are set up around the shell’s scaffolding
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>You’re about to join them when the channel for the e-war team explodes
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>You switch to it and are assaulted by static and screaming binary
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>Through it you can still make out certain words
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>Words that make you straighten up
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>”Aden?”
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>Sean approaches
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“Did you call in the dropship?”
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>”We’ve had armed choppers chasing it ever since we got into the city. Once we get Notches out of here, we can either head downstairs to do another leap of faith or get roof access and hop in as soon as it arrives.”
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>”Sean.”
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>You both turn to G314, Henri, in one corner of the room by an open steel door
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>He points his rifle up a set of narrow stairs
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>”Roof access here.”
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“Good, forget about trying downstairs since we got aboms in the building.”
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>Sean turns back to you, “Aboms?”
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“Catch-all term for certain vat-grown biologicals. Minimal cybernetics. Maximum steroids. All grown and programmed to kill anything living in an area.”
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>”And someone just released them here?”
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>You replace your rifle’s magazine
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“Third, well fourth party. Probably saw shit was going down here and decided to guarantee this corporation gets crippled.”
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>You start to back up towards the two stairs
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“If this is taking time, then we need to set up.”
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>Sean follows you, “Can they work elevators?”
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“Some can fly up the shafts when they get the doors open, but I’m more worried about the stairwell. Got any incendiaries?”
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>Sean turns immediately to G103, “Kaleb, with me. Everyone else get Notches out of there and get him to the roof. Henri, call Shal in as soon as you get Notches out.”
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>”Affirm.”
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>Sean and Kaleb run with you down the stairs and across the room
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>You note the missing bodies of those you’ve killed, but then you notice how no other bodies remain
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“They disappear for you guys, too?”
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>Kaleb answers, “Oh good, it’s not just us.”
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>Sean tells you, “Yeah, we’ve got a theory about that, but what else can you say about these aboms? What's going to be coming up these stairs?"
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>You enter the stairwell and lean over the bent and rent railing
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>Down below in the darkness are blood red lights circling up at a sprinter's pace
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>You can hear screams of all kinds down there
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>Not-human, manic, despairing, raging
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>No gunfire
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>Got it
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"Giga-corp aboms. They love their animal and insect analogues. No guns. Any claws and teeth won't do much to our armor, but they can pummel and they can rip."
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>"Okay. Any armor on them?"
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>You put away your rifle and top off your shotgun
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"None of the fast ones have any. Anything grafted on slows them down, so we shouldn't have to worry about stuff that'll stop buckshot if we're getting out of here soon."
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>"Shouldn't. Right."
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"But they are immune to pain and fear. Like Brutes, but even dumber."
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>Kaleb holsters his rifle on his back and pulls out a couple of red-taped grenades from his chest bandoleer
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>"They still have nerves and brains?"
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"And lungs, so go ahead and toss those. The fire and smoke will slow them."
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>"Sure thing, beta-one-oh-three."
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>With a smile you can sense behind his golden visor, G103 pulls the pins and chucks the grenades straight down, one after the other
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>He takes out a third, pulls the pin, and aims at the stairs several floors below
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>Three blasts of hot air push the three of you back from the railing
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>The screaming increases tenfold as a cloud of black smoke rises from the lower levels
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>Fire alarms all over the building start buzzing out a rhythm
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>You still one chimpanzee screech come closer and you aim your four-gauge
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"One got through."
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>Before anyone could say anything else, two red spotlights rocket out of the smoke
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>You aim for those eyes, but wait to fire
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>The primate analogue leaps to the other side of the stairwell, using the railings to launch itself up to the next flight
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>Sean and Kaleb aim at it, but you tell them,
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"Hold."
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>They hold fire, and you wait until the thing is a level below you on the other side
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>It turns and takes a leap right at you
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>Its face is square in the uncanny valley, pulled back in a permanent rictus
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>The red glowing eyes are the only cybernetics Giga-corporation gives to their "physical security" products, as part of the brand
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>You evict that image from your mind with a pull of the trigger and a brilliant muzzle flash
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>The headless body is sent into a spin, hits the concrete siding under your feet, and hits other rails on the way down through the smoke and into the newly-made fire
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>You pull back the slide, pick out a CS gas shell from your belt and load it directly into the chamber
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>Sean is the first to speak up as you do this,
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>"Well, that's something new for Nightmare."
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>Kaleb looks at him, "Your dream training is bad enough, old man."
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>Sean drags two crooked fingers viciously across his visor
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"Fall back to the stairs. We’ll have some coming up the elevator shafts."
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>As you all head back into the room, now flashing with the strobe lights of the buzzing fire alarms, Sean radios G314,
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>"Henri, how's the extraction going?"
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>"We've got the shell open. Notches is strapped onto a frame. He's alive, but unconscious. He's got sensors of some kind drilled into his his horn. Hitomi and Nightmare are extracting the devices now."
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>"How long until he's free?"
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>"A minute, at least."
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>"We're gonna need backup down here then."
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>"I'm sending Kate and Emily."
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>Seconds later, G330 and G088 run down the stairs
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>You don't know who had which name, yet
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>Sean turns to you, "How do you want to go at the elevator?"
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>You look to the now-closed elevator doors Sean came out of
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>It must have been called by someone before the aboms got to them
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>The same was done to the service elevator you came from
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>You point to G088
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"Eighty-eight, stay on the stairs. Cover the elevator in the corner."
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>G088 nods and half-sits on the edge of the stairs, her rifle pointed at the small doors hidden in shadow
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>You look to G330 and her shotgun
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"We'll access the shaft here and deal with what's inside before aboms finally get up the stairwell. Sean, Kaleb, open the doors. Three-thirty, with me."
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>Kaleb and Sean flank the doors, rifles in one hand
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>They dig the other into the rubbery seal in between the silver slabs
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>They pull with a shriek of metal and an initial resistance
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>Then the doors slide wide open
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>In the darkness of the giant shaft, you see dozens of thick cables, with some moving under tension
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>There is the far wall, but nothing more
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>Except the sound of flapping leathery wings
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>You rush to the ledge, G330 at your side
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>You throw your aim over the edge and down, leaning forward
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>Dozens of big red spotlights look up at you
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>You don't hesitate in firing
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>Your muzzle blast lights up the whole shaft, giving you the frozen memory of a dozen hairless bats and spiders
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>All as big as you
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>The CS gas doesn't have time to spread before G330's shotgun booms
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>You pull-rack your remaining three buckshot rounds into the flapping mass surging up the shaft
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>You know the M90 has twelve in the magazine tube, so you step back to let Sean take your place as you reload
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>It’s then an unseen spider abom, its leg span the size of the doorway, bolts up and onto you
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>Sean and G330 are knocked aside while you're forced onto your back, your shotgun ripped from your hands
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>Eight blazing red, globular eyes stare down at you
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>Pedipalps with clammy human hands at their ends grab at your shoulders while black, curving fangs aim for your neck
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>You hold the thing back with your left hand under its eyes
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>You push it back far enough to bring your right fist back
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>In one motion, you hook onto a fang, pull it towards you, then slam your rift gauntlet into its eye cluster
-
>The reinforced bracer sends your fist through the middle of the eight spotlights, sending sparks everywhere
-
>The thing jumps up, hissing
-
>By then, Sean regains his footing and grabs one of its legs
-
>He swings the thing off of you, around, and into the wall
-
>He lets go of his rifle and uses his now-free gauntlet to punch several holes into the spider's abdomen
-
>More hissing and a flurry of legs vainly pummel at his head and body until they go slack
-
>Meanwhile, Kaleb and G330 fire into the shaft to keep the remaining aboms at bay
-
-
>You grab your shotgun and stand up, reloading
-
>You note the billowing black smoke pouring out of the stairwell
-
>Nothing screaming out of that
-
>Then G330 looks down the shaft,
-
>"The elevator's coming up."
-
>G088, her voice as calm as can be, says,
-
>"Service elevator just arrived."
-
>Sean voices your first thought as he picks up his rifle,
-
>"To the stairs; tighten the defense."
-
>The doors of the service lift are kicked out onto the floor
-
>G088 doesn't hesitate in shooting into the elevator
-
>Out jump a half-dozen of gorilla aboms, screeching deep warcries and punching the floor in their charge
-
>The four of you fire on them as you all run for the stairs
-
-
>Two go for G088, though one dies immediately from its brain case being torn to shreds
-
>The other leaps onto the stairs and grabs for her
-
>She dives off of them, towards you
-
-
>At the same time you and Sean kill the two closest to you with headshots
-
>The other two swat the limp bodies aside and bore down on you
-
>You duck under a clothesline attempt and blast a shot into the first abom’s side, pulping its heart and sending it tumbling away
-
>The second guns for you, ignoring everyone else
-
>G330 and G088 slam into it from two different angles, stopping it cold
-
>They both grab their combat knives and stab fast into the throat, chest, and groin
-
>You turn when you see the red dot on your motion tracker and shoot the abom leaping off the stairs
-
>Sean and Kaleb shoot it too, killing it in midair, but it still has momentum
-
>It lands on the abom being eviscerated by two Spartans, sending all of them to the ground
-
>The Gammas keep stabbing and only stop when you, Sean, and Kaleb lift the thoroughly dead aboms off of them
-
-
>Kaleb asks you, more out of confusion than frustration,
-
>”How the hell are they working the elevators?”
-
>Everybody collects themselves and reloads as you answer,
-
“Somebody’s letting them on. Probably the same one who sent them all in the first place and is countering my e-war team.”
-
>Sean gets on the comms again,
-
>”Henri, status?”
-
>”Almost there. I’m calling in Shal now. Pull back.”
-
>”Coming up.”
-
-
>It’s right then that the front elevator arrives, it’s doors already open
-
>Two red spotlights tell you everything
-
>You switch to your rifle and flip the selector to ‘auto’
-
>Sean announces,
-
>”Bound back. Kate and Emily first.”
-
>Then he fires on full-auto
-
>You and Kaleb join in as Kate and Emily run up the stairs
-
-
>You hear a staccato of sharp clangs and see sparks fly out of the elevator
-
>What launches itself at you is big, armored, and pissed
-
>The floor shakes with each stomp of its four hooves
-
>Two bulbs of armored glass are set on either side of its equine head, which is covered in thick slabs of armor
-
>No matter where you all shoot it, it keeps coming
-
>It screams with a woman’s voice as it smashes through the terminals like a freight train
-
>You all keep firing until the last second, then jump out of the way
-
>The thing smashes through the flimsy metal stairs, causing it to collapse
-
>G330 turns from the doorway and grabs G088 before she falls onto the horse abom
-
-
>The screaming thing turns and tries to run down Sean, but he leaps over the smashed terminals and outruns it
-
>Kaleb reloads, sidestepping towards where the stairs were
-
>You switch to your shotgun and manually load in an AP slug
-
>Sean holsters his rifle as he circles the room over to you, bringing the abom with him
-
>He instructs you, “Go for the leg,” then turns and leaps at it
-
>Surprised, it tries to rear up to kick him, but Sean’s too fast and grabs its neck
-
>He uses his momentum to swing onto its back and heave it further onto its rear legs
-
>You aim for one and shoot
-
>The armor-piercing slug hits true and pierces the armor covering the relatively thin limb
-
>With another scream the abom crumples to its side, sending Sean rolling off of it
-
>Before it can try to get back up, he dives onto its head, punching its bulbous red eye with his rift gauntlet
-
>Stunned, it jerks its legs out, trying to hit something
-
>You ready another slug, but Sean asks you,
-
>”Does Giga-corp convert animals into these?”
-
“Convert? No.”
-
>Growing everything from a gene library helps to keep the quality consistent
-
>”Okay.”
-
>He punches the eye again, cracking it
-
>Another punch shatters it
-
>The thing screams as it tries to get up
-
>He brings out a magnum pistol
-
>A C model, silenced, black finish
-
>He shoots once, cutting the abom’s strings
-
-
>The screaming stops and all you hear is distant alarms hooting
-
>No, not alarms
-
“Shit, the stairwell.”
-
-
>Black smoke is billowing out of the doorway now, but that isn’t stopping the horde that is finally pushing through the fire
-
>Sean stands up
-
>”Let’s go.”
-
>You nod and run to the collapsed stairs
-
>Kaleb looks up at G088, who’s laying belly-down in the doorway above
-
>She looks over her shoulder
-
>”Kate, grab my ankles.”
-
>So G330’s Kate and G088 is Emily
-
>But even if Kate lowers Emily as far as she could, you will still need a boost to reach them
-
>Which means someone will be left down here
-
>Sean doesn’t seem to worry
-
>”Here Kaleb, you first.”
-
>He cups his hands for Kaleb’s foot and launches him up to Emily
-
>They all pull themselves up and it’s Kaleb’s turn to be lowered down
-
-
>”You next, Aden.”
-
>You look to your old partner
-
“You got another way out, Sean?”
-
>”Go get Nightmare Moon. She’ll help me up.”
-
>He cups his hands for you
-
-
>It’s then that a pack of ablaze wolves runs out of the stairwell
-
>Reduced to high-pitched wheezing, they take a moment to look around before spotting the two of you
-
>”Aden, go!”
-
>You leap onto his hands and he caber-tosses you straight up to Kaleb
-
>As Kate and Emily pull the two of you up, Sean sidesteps a leaping fire-wolf and wields his silenced magnum and his knife
-
-
>You grab onto the ledge and pull yourself onto your feet
-
>The metal shell is opened vertically, its halves apart within the scaffolding
-
>A metal frame thick with leather restraints, electric cords, and IV drips is suspended in the middle
-
>Hitomi lifts the unconscious unicorn into her arms
-
>His grey fur is shaven in some places where the IV’s were inserted
-
>His gold hair and tail was buzzed off at some point
-
>His horn, once whole, now reminds you of a tree visited by woodpeckers
-
-
>The big winged unicorn, Nightmare Moon, is next to Hitomi with Henri
-
>She looks to you with a curious look, as if she’s waiting for you to tell her,
-
>”Sean needs you downstairs.”
-
>She smiles, then dissolves into black smog
-
>The cloud rushes past you, Kate, Emily, and Kaleb and disappears over the edge
-
>You get the distinct feeling that something has the point of a bloody butcher’s resting on the back of your neck, right on your spine
-
>Kaleb sees your stiffen up and cuts across his chest with his hand
-
>”You’ll get used to that.”
-
>Henri calls out,
-
>”Kate, Kaleb, clear the roof.”
-
>He nods to you,
-
>”Aden, care to help them?”
-
>You nod, but then hear wings flap behind you
-
-
>You turn back to the open door, snatching up your pistol, when you see Sean fly up and through the doorway, landing on his feet in front of you
-
>His visor is now pitch black instead of gold
-
>His body shakes as two dark shapes retract into his back
-
>Then he relaxes and you hear him exhale
-
“Sean?”
-
>His visor turns back to being gold
-
>”We’re good. Let’s get going.”
-
-
>You step back, giving Sean one last look, before following Kate and Kaleb across the room and up the stairs
-
>Kate disables the analog lock and pushes on the latch
-
>She slowly pushes the door open by a few centimeters
-
>The relative calm of the interior is drowned out by a ferocious wind
-
>Kate shoves the door aside and moves out onto the roof, shotgun ready
-
>Kaleb is right behind her, then you
-
>Henri follows you, with Hitomi carrying the unicorn
-
>Sean brings up the rear
-
-
>The roof holds the communication towers and weather sensors for the skyscraper
-
>It’s a mostly-clear night tonight, with small clouds racing past in the foggy gloom
-
>On this night the city lights are tinting the actual smog a neon pink
-
>Separating you from a quick slide and a hundred-story fall is a concrete divider that goes up to your stomach
-
>As Kate and Kaleb round the central tower, you overhear Henri’s call to “Shal”
-
>”Daredevil, Daredevil, this is Claymore, this is Claymore. Come in, over.”
-
>A deep, calm voice that brings images of split jaws and two-pronged energy swords speaks through the comms,
-
>”Claymore, Claymore, this is Daredevil. I read you, over.”
-
>”Daredevil, we’re accessing the roof now. What’s your ee-tee-aye? Over.”
-
>”Ten seconds, Claymore. Be advised, I will approach from the north and pick you up via grav lift. We’ll have about twenty seconds before the choppers catch up. Over”
-
>”Understood, Daredevil. We’ll be waiting on the north side. Claymore out.”
-
-
>The e-war team hails you and out of courtesy you answer
-
>“Sierra, e-situation under control. We see personal on the roof of the target building. Status?”
-
>You walk over and look far out to the west, where the distant sea frames the small mid-rise that houses the company’s Downtown office
-
>Without emotion you tell them,
-
“I’m cutting the contract.”
-
>Before you switch off the frequency, you hear someone whisper,
-
>”That’s too bad.”
-
>You switch back to the Beta Company frequency and look back at the building kilometers away
-
-
>On the roof, there is a small flash and an arcing pinprick of yellow-orange
-
-
>Your instincts take over and you yell out louder than you ever have in your life,
-
“DOWN!”
-
>Every Spartan sprawls, with Hitomi covering Notches with her whole body
-
>You’re the last one to take your own advice
-
>The tank round hits short, just under the divider
-
>You feel yourself thrown back, far, then your back hits the stone roof and you slide to the other concrete wall
-
-
>Your brain sloshes inside your head
-
>Your vision swims in a haze, before going dark completely
-
>You feel very warm all along your right side and all along your arm
-
>The warmth turns to fire
-
>You try to breathe
-
>You open your eyes wide, but you still see nothing but Aquamarine eyes
-
>A very distant voice says your name
-
>Green-armored arms shoot out of the blackness and grab under you
-
>You hear distant voices as you’re lifted up, making the pain worse
-
>It takes everything to draw in a breath
-
>Suddenly you feel like you’re ascending
-
>Your head hangs back and you see a tunnel of green-blue eyes
-
>They look worried
-
>You try to take in another breath
-
>For some reason, you can’t do it
-
-
>Blue lights light up some small space
-
>You’re set down and you sense a commotion around you
-
>Your head is lifted up and your helmet is pulled off
-
>There’s someone in SPI armor leaning over you
-
>Who is that?
-
>They put a clear mask over your mouth
-
>You can suddenly breath again
-
>Something is injected into your neck
-
>The fire goes away
-
>You start to feel sleepy
-
>You also start hallucinating and see a rainbow of eyes and fur coats surround you
-
>The soft, round faces all look down at you with concern
-
>You decide to give them all a smile before you fall asleep
by Durr0694
by Durr0694
by Durr0694