The moment Daniel’s hand touched the battery, he felt the same pull he had all those weeks ago when he encountered the door. Though this time, it was in reverse. A river of white energy coursed through Daniel’s arm, flowing from the battery into his Codex, forcing the device to shine the same color. The young man gaped, unable to wrench his arm away as his device slurped down the battery’s energy. He finally managed to take his hand off, but only when the power ran out, leaving nothing but a husk behind: “Meta Battery: Charge: 0%. Value: 50,000 Credits.”
At the same time, he received another line of golden text: “Archangel System at 25% Power. Call upon any of its Protocols at your leisure.”
Then, all hell broke loose behind him. He felt someone grab him by the collar and drag him to his feet, finding himself staring into the angry eyes of Jan Stanoslav: “You asshole!! What was that?!! You tryin’ to steal from us?!?”
Before Daniel could respond, a hand came in from the right and grabbed Stanoslav’s forearm. They both turned to look at Jordan, the smaller man’s eyes glinting with uncharacteristic hostility as he stared down the confrontational ex-con. He cut in with a low, calm tone: “I’d put him down and let Danny boy explain himself if I were you, Stan.”
Daniel could see the flex in Jordan’s muscles as the smaller man applied pressure, Stanoslav wincing slightly in pain before letting Daniel go and backing away. But Stan never lost his livid glare and didn’t take his eyes off Daniel, firing off one less parting shot: “This bottom-feeding Larpek had better have an explanation for why he stole 1-and-a-half million credits from all of us.”
That set off murmurs from the whole group. Not everyone had seen what had happened with Daniel and the battery, but they all now looked at him questioningly for an explanation. Daniel explained everything, indicating that the Archangel System seemed to have an automatic charging function: “I didn’t know it was about to do that! I’m just as pissed as you guys!”
The men looked at each other, many presenting different reactions and trying to read the room. Jordan looked satisfied with Daniel’s explanation, and Gon looked at him with sympathetic and understanding eyes. Jan never lost his glare, unmoved by Daniel’s protestations, while the rest seemed thoughtful or conflicted. Daniel looked to O’Riley, possibly his next biggest ally after Jordan and Gon, but the older man just gave him a complicated look. Surprisingly, it was James MacNeil who was the first to break the silence: “I-“
He gulped nervously, “I don’t think the commander is the kind of guy to steal from us on purpose. Remember when he gave me that Diamond just to make things more even?”
Then Ramirez chimed in: “Yeah! The kid’s right. The boss is a generous guy, not the type to steal from the group knowingly. Not to mention how he saved all our lives, no? I think we owe him ‘the benefit of the doubt’, so to speak.”
That got most the group nodding, with only Stanoslav seemingly still irritated. He didn’t speak up again, however. Eventually, Jordan walked over and clapped Daniel on the shoulder: “Let’s do this: The eight of us can split the remaining balance of the battery, and we can say that Danny’s share went to recharging his shiny golden outfit. Not like he’s going to sell that, now will he?”
This prompted broad noises of agreement, with even Stanoslav nodding stiffly in acceptance. Jordan personally collected the battery, and they moved to strip the central device of all its valuables. Unfortunately, a Holodisc (The technical name for a SmartGram) this large was nothing new to the Empire. It was a high-grade piece of machinery, widely used by the Imperium’s elite, but its valuable metals and electronics were worth little more than 27,000. Once they’d settled all of that, they moved on.
With nothing interesting remaining in the laboratories, they backtracked to the atrium and took the right path this time. They were taken to the remains of a living quarters that seemed swankier than the rooms on the fifth. The frames of the sleeping pods were larger, anyway. Anything that might have had value had long been stripped, though. There was a private lift, but when they pried open the doors, they found nothing but an empty shaft. Nothing came up on Daniel’s HUD, so it was probably broken. Lacking any other options, the group decided to head back to the working elevator.
Footsteps echoed around the cavernous tunnel, and Daniel felt gooseflesh run up and down his back as he carefully watched the matrix of tunnels around them. Despite his vigilance, he wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
Looking ahead, Daniel met the milky, four-eyed stare of a massive canine Xenos. The creature lurked in the shadows of a tunnel further ahead, watching the Pioneers patiently as they fell right into its trap. The deafening howl of the beast drowned out Daniel’s yell of warning, the predator’s warcry echoed by a small legion of other, unseen monsters in the tunnels surrounding them. The Pioneers were stunned by the sudden loud noise, and the leading Xenos took advantage of their surprise to open its mouth and unleash its attack.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The monster shone a brilliant lilac, small arcs of purple lightning shooting across its skin as a torrent of similarly colored electricity shot out from its mouth. Daniel immediately hit the deck, calling for the others to do so and tackling the men nearest him. But the subsequent shriek of superheated metal told him the attack hadn’t been meant for them. Daniel looked up in horror to see the metal of the bridge in front of him glowing with heat, a connecting area reduced to slag. The whole bridge groaned under the sudden force of its own weight; the stability of a smooth connection shattered. Daniel realized, far too late, what was happening and called for the men to run, but the crackle of electricity coming from behind them sealed their fate.
Daniel couldn’t help turning to look on in horror as another river of electricity shot out from a different Xenos predator lurking in a tunnel behind them. It had a similar target: the connector area of the bridge behind them. He watched this last attack dissipate and heard a final cry of protest from the metal underneath.
Then, their bridge section broke off and plunged into the abyss below.
The men cried out in fear and confusion as the wind whipped through their hair, arms flailing helplessly as they plummeted to their doom. Daniel’s mind froze from the panic, trying to think of a way out but too gummed up from sudden shock. And then, two lines of golden text flashed across his vision, yanking him out of his panic:
“Warning: Danger Detected! Power at 25%
Engaging Makiel Protocol, [Standard] Power”
His perception slowed to a crawl, the armor closing around Daniel and amping up his stats. At the same time, a familiar smooth robotic voice rang out in his mind:
“Greetings again, User Hardgrave. Apologies for not introducing myself the last time we met, due to the urgency. I am Nuntius, the AI assigned to the Archangel System.
That said, please see your status below.”
System Power: 25%
Status
Strength: 94 (+600)
Dexterity: 113 (+600)
Constitution: 88 (+300)
Adaptability: 87 (+200)
Psyche: 97 (+300)
Heavenly Armament: Offline
Secondary Armaments: Offline
Maneuverability Gear: Offline
Subfunctions: Standard
Daniel answered with his internal monologue: “This isn’t urgent!?”
“Indeed, it is not. While the Xenos above us might be a threat to you without the System, I can assure you they pose no danger now that I am reasonably charged.”
“That’s nice and all, but it’s still a long way down from here. Can this armor survive the fall? And what about my friends?”
“We could indeed survive the fall, if you wished, but your friends would not. Fortunately, there is a solution to that as well.
Manifesting Maneuverability Gear, [Standard] Power.”
In a flash of light, constructs appeared on Daniel’s back. He couldn’t see them, but he could feel them. When he manifested his Hunter’s Domain, the first thing he looked at was himself. Daniel’s white and gold armor had sprouted wings, with a frame of pure gold and ‘feathers’ of shining white fire. They immediately halted his downward trajectory, but he watched as the others continued their fall without him:
“If you wish to save them, now would be the time.”
Swooping down, Daniel moved to do just that.
…
Far above, Plokathar had continued its vigil for days. The giant sat, stock still, waiting for something to happen. It had been coated in a light film of dirt, and several birds had come to perch on its arms, but it hadn’t moved an inch. Finally, it felt something. That signature of power which had vexed its brethren. It was far below, far enough away that the sensation was faint in its senses, but it had been trained to track threats like these. It stood up and dashed into the forest, positioning itself over the energy signature as best as possible.
It had initially planned to dig its way down to the enemy, but Plokathar found a large hole nearby instead. The hulking creature dropped down into the cave and followed it to find a large door roughly its height. A single strike cracked the stone, denting the metal underneath, but the second enhanced strike blew the door wide open. This revealed a large square shaft, leading deeper into the earth—a perfect pathway.
Without hesitation, the mighty Kharnidd leapt into the abyss.
here!
