Caine, slinking slow, hugs the wall which curves off to his left into the shadows of the chamber. His sensitive nostrils flare. Eyes piercing the dim light, his brows furrow, and his lip curls in a snarl, for although Jupiter's scent lingers, so too does the scent of hundreds of others, somewhere in the gloom. Over his right shoulder glides the nose of Captain Tsing's own weapon. Without turning her head, she motions to the figures behind her, Stinger and the other pair of Aegis, to move in along the opposite wall. Caine points his weapon around the chamber, indicating the enemies just beyond sight. Captain Tsing nods, aiming. Caine's head jerks upward, following Jupiter's invisible path. He indicates his intent with a flick of his chin.
Just as Caine prepares to leap up, blue blasts spark off the stone beside him.
"Down!" Captain Tsing yells out, but Caine has already reached the dais above. He ducks behind the slim shelter of a gilded chaise lounge while shots flash and stone shards fly around him. Puffs of upholstery float gently through the air. Blue bolts flare from all directions, briefly illuminating the faces of dozens of splices ringing the wide hall. The Aegis company make good use of those moments of sight, and grunts of pain, the thump of forms falling to the ground are rich rewards for their expert aim.
Caine searches, hunting for the source of Jupiter's trail, noting the thin line between the stone tiles which reveals the trap door. He sets his weapon to his side, running his fingers along the edges, when from the shadows behind him emerge first the blunt black noses of a weapon, followed by the armoured arm of a sargon. Sensing the approaching threat, Caine reaches for his gun, but the blast from the sargon sends it spinning just beyond reach. A single hand cartwheel places Caine just out of reach of the sargon, then he sweeps in low, just beneath the sargon's aim. Blue bolts smack the floor, too close. Finding the ample form of the sargon a much better shield, Caine ducks behind him. Even as the sargon turns, heedless shots from the other splice hiding among the tiers riddle him. As his bulk collapses, Caine gauges the trajectory of the falling body to the placement of the trap door, realizing that the sargon's corpse will most certainly land square upon it. Balancing on a single hand, Caine slams both feet into the dying sargon. The other splice stumbles backward, one step, then two. Falling at last, the body crushes the chaise into splinters, with only one thick, clawed hand resting over the route of Jupiter's recent escape. Snaking forward on his belly, Caine reaches the trapdoor, snatches his with his left hand while raising the trap door with his right.
"Retreat!" Captain Tsing calls from below, "we must regroup!" But Caine's form, safe enough behind the bulk of the fallen sargon, is already vanishing into the floor.