Scene 29

The portal-hacker emitted a series of beeping sounds, signaling that its work was finished. Hunter, leaning against the side of the portal, shook himself out of his daydream and moved in front of the console to inspect the results. It had taken far too long, but at least he might be getting somewhere now.

Destination: Spectator's Lounge, Phobos Moon Tournament Arena, Mars Quadrant, Solar System

Teleport? Y N

His immediate reaction was to frown in disbelief. That couldn't be right. Why in the world…?

But then again, why not? Malcom was a Gladiator, wasn't he? At any rate, Hunter knew that any more time he wasted here could only count against him, and he had no better ideas left. He touched the glowing ¨Y¨ on the console, stepping back as the edges of the portal lit up with that shimmering green light. Before going through, he reached back into his pack and pulled out an Enforcer pistol, his only weapon, running his fingers along the rude inscription he'd scratched along the barrel: THIS WILL END NO OTHER WAY. He thought about all he'd done to come to this place and stepped into the portal.

Hunter's first thought upon emerging in the spectator's lounge was how ludicrous it seemed to expect danger in such plush surroundings. So this was how rich people lived! Then again, you could reliably expect more treachery from their kind than poor folk, once you got to know both groups.

He moved in a crouch through the shadowy half-lit place, stopping in a protected corner where he could peer around most of the lounge and duck out of sight if spotted. Oddly, like most of the other places he'd been in this strange chase, there didn't seem to be anyone present. Had his portal-hacker failed? Had the Corrupt translocated somewhere else? Or was it a subtle trap?

Growing bolder with the lack of opposition, Hunter stood up and began to search the rest of the huge lounge. Coming around the side of one of the bars, he noticed a pale glow emanating from behind one of the couches in front of him and thought he heard a faint tap-tap-tapping noise. He readied his Enforcer and slinked over to the couch, peering over the back of it, and almost knocked his head against that of the man who was seated there. He pulled away silently, but didn't try to hide. Anybody oblivious enough to not have noticed his presence in the room by now obviously wasn't a threat.

The man was seated at a console, some kind of bizarre apparatus strapped to his head. He was tapping keys every once in awhile and appeared to be watching a movie, or maybe it was a live video feed, of a Tournament arena – Hunter guessed it was Phobos. Was the Gladiator wearing a camera on his helmet or something? He'd never seen a first-person view like this before, the camera bobbing as its carrier walked and sweeping back of forth as if following a person's line of sight. Occasionally a gauntleted hand or a weapon rose into view on the screen. Hunter decided to watch for a few moments, wondering what it meant.

The camera swung left, then right, its bearer apparently deciding which of two corridors to run down. It chose left, passing by a narrow ledge that Hunter thought looked open to its right side, then climbing a short flight of steps and stopping in small room open on the far to a sky full of stars, and occupied on the left side by a large industrial platform lift which had a woman standing on it, holding a sniper rifle at the ready. Hunter blinked. Was that Anna? The camera-bearer raised a rocket launcher and fired at her, but in the same moment he did the lift began to rise swiftly, bearing the woman away and the rocket exploded harmlessly against the wall.

As the camera view swung away in a different direction, Hunter did a quick mental revision of what he'd seen and concluded that it had definitely been Anna. Whatever was going on, it was time to ask the man at the console. He stepped up and pressed his Enforcer against the back of the man's head, reckoning it would get his attention quickly enough.

The man froze instinctively, then slowly raised his hands. ¨Take that thing off your head,¨ commanded Hunter in an icily smooth tone of voice. ¨Set it next to you on the couch and raise those hands again.¨ The man complied. ¨Now get up, turn around, and face me. Do it.¨ He complied again, the console sliding off his lap and clattering onto the floor as he did. When he turned around, Hunter gasped at the man's face.

¨Von Hetrick!¨

The man looked back at him, his cool gaze beginning to tense up with fear. ¨I… I have not heard that name in a very long time. Do I know you?¨

¨Not as well as I know you, you reprehensible monster,¨ Hunter replied. His throat felt swollen with by the bitter venom that he couldn't manage to keep out of his voice. ¨Does the name Grendel Research Facility mean anything to you?¨

¨No…¨ whispered the man, his barely-disguised fear turning to outright horror. ¨It isn't possible. There were no survivors.¨

¨Wrong, Von Hetrick. Heh, you said you hadn't heard that name in quite some time. What are you calling yourself now, then?¨

¨My name is of little…¨

Hunter pushed the barrel of his Enforcer into one of the man's nostrils and smiled mirthlessly. ¨Oh, do humor me.¨

¨K… kilgard. Doctor Francis Kilgard.¨

¨Wonderful. Actually, you can call yourself whatever you want, as far as I am concerned. Either way, you are barely worth killing. Barely, but I must admit it would make me feel good.¨

¨Wait… don't…¨ the doctor protested.

¨Fear not, doctor. Why don't you just tell me what you know about a Gladiator named Anna who fights with the Dark Phalanx?¨ Hunter leaned forward until his mask was even with the stock of his Enforcer, looming over Kilgard's face. ¨I would really appreciate it. There is a small chance I might even let you live, if you don't try to lie to me.¨

Kilgard took a shuddering breath and began talking. ¨She's… she and her teammates have been interfering with my research. I opened a portal to Phobos after the Dark Phalanx's match from the Gladiator's lobby.¨ He glared at Hunter with as much defiance as he could muster. ¨I'd rather she were one of my test subjects. It seems fair, after all the unjustified damage she's done to my…urk!¨ His words died suddenly as Hunter grabbed him by the throat and lifted him straight up off the floor with one arm. ¨Maybe you would like to reconsider that?¨ he asked Kilgard. The doctor did his best, under the circumstances, to nod.

Hunter released him and resumed attempting to wedge his Enforcer up Kilgard's nose. ¨You are not done yet, doctor. Where is the gladiator Malcom?¨

¨Malcom?¨ asked the doctor, massaging his throat. ¨He's not here. I don't know what you're….aaargh!¨ His words were once again truncated, as Hunter quickly and expertly grabbed one of Kilgard's hands and snapped a finger. His gun was back at the doctor's temple in a fraction of a second, his grey eyes sparkling in cold fury inches from Kilgard's. ¨I warned you not to lie to me, Hetrick! Go ahead if you want, but keep in mind that you're just making this more enjoyable for me, you despicable reptile!¨ Kilgard sobbed his way through a few breaths, trying to find his voice.

¨What was that?¨ asked Hunter. ¨Speak up, or I may get bored and break some more.¨

¨Phobos… in Phobos with… Dark Phalanx.¨ Tears squeezed out of the corners of his agony-screwed eyes.

¨Doing?¨

¨He's… another test subject.¨

Upon hearing Kilgard's last statement, Hunter's nimble mind assembled several pieces of the puzzle he had been giving much thought to lately. Malcom was Corrupt. He'd suspected as much. The doctor must be using him, along with who knew how many other Corrupt warriors, to capture the Dark Phalanx members in Phobos. Maybe he could create some kind of intervention, now that he had some bargaining power.

¨Good news, Kilgard! We're going to the Phobos arena. As it turns out, you've changed your mind about the Dark Phalanx and you're going to tell your little minions to let them go.¨

¨Wait,¨ Kilgard pleaded, ¨they're…¨ Hunter grabbed one of his hands. ¨NO!¨ he shrieked. ¨All right… we'll go to the arena.¨

¨Excellent. Why don't you lead us over to that portal?¨

Hunter kept his pistol firmly pressed to the back of Kilgard's head as he walked across the lounge, stopping in front of the arena portal to enter in a few directions and a password. ¨All ready,¨ he said. Hunter grabbed the back of his shirt in a firm grip, shoving Kilgard forward into the portal as he stepped through it himself without a single word more.

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The doctor stumbled as they emerged in Phobos, unused to translocation vertigo, but was quickly hauled to his feet again by Hunter. They were standing on top of the space station, looking into a large open space that dropped down through the center of it to the bottom floor. Hunter glanced around, sensing that they were in a vulnerable position to ambush, and dragged Kilgard over towards the side of the platform, a few inches from open space. Kilgard's eyes bulged as they moved towards the edge, but he said nothing. They could hear the sounds of battle coming from down in the center of Phobos, explosions of rockets and shock combos and the occasional rattle of a minigun. Hunter wondered what to do next. How would they negotiate with the situation apparently out of control?

After several more minutes, however, the sounds began to recede, as if being winked out one by one, until the arena was silent. What had been the outcome? Well, only one way to find out. ¨HEY!¨ he yelled, his voice ringing clearly through the silence of the arena. ¨Doctor Kilgard's here, and he wants to say something!¨

There was no sound. A couple minutes passed.

¨HEY!¨ Hunter shouted again. A few seconds after he said it, a quiet mechanical rasping reached his ears, like the turning of large industrial gears… metal on metal. He glanced over towards the lift below that low ledge stood with a sniper rifle on top of it. Presently, the door to the lift opened and several figures walked through it. The members of the Dark Phalanx, disarmed, went in front of three Corrupt warriors. Their heads were lowered. They moved sluggishly, as though unconscious or drugged. In front of them, walking stiff and straight with a shock rifle slung easily at his side, was Malcom. He saluted Kilgard, but paused when he saw Hunter with his gun to the doctor's head. In an instant, he was pointing his shock rifle at them. ¨Wait!¨ implored Kilgard. ¨Malcom, stop.¨ He stopped.

¨Why don't you tell those Corrupt goons to translocate out of here with the Dark Phalanx?¨ suggested Hunter into Kilgard's ear. ¨That'd be a really good start towards your getting out of here alive. Remember to tell them to come back, so I know my friends got away.¨ Kilgard nodded nervously, the skin on his temple stretching back and forth against Hunter's pistol. ¨Corrupt Units, translocate to point of last received instructions with prisoners. Report back here immediately afterwards.¨

The three corrupt saluted, each grabbing hold of one of the Dark Phalanx members around the waist and marking a few buttons on their wrist comm devices. With a shimmer of light, they disappeared. A few seconds later, they appeared again. ¨Captives delivered,¨ they said in unison.

Kilgard felt Hunter's grip on his arm loosen, and the gun pull partially away from his temple. He turned around and faced his captor, speaking with a sneer. ¨Well done, Hunter. But how will you get out of here, I wonder? In the arms of one of my warriors?¨ He gestured at the four impassive Corrupt standing before them. Wait… four? Where was Xan? Well, no matter. ¨I'm afraid you'll have a more difficult time bargaining for your own life than for that of your comrades.¨

Hunter stared at him impassively, the grey eyes betraying no trace of emotion. But when he spoke, his voice sounded almost… happy.

¨You're right, you know. I've known for a long time that it was my fate to die fighting you and your kind, because I am the first. But I now know that there are others that will rise up to replace me. The truth will be known, Kilgard.¨

¨Hardly.¨ The doctor's voice had regained its full measure of arrogance, despite the fact that its owner was trembling slightly with anger and pain. ¨Those friends of yours will be right where my warriors left them. Didn't you notice that they'd been drugged?¨

Hunter shrugged. ¨Well, even if that's the case, I can still end my crusade on a positive note. Tell me, Von Hetrick, do you know what is meant by a ´pyrrhic victory'?¨

In the moment it took say the last few, words, there was enough time for the arrogant scowl to slide right off Kilgard's face, then Hunter smoothly picked him up with both arms and flung him bodily backwards over his head into the void. As Kilgard's dismayed scream pealed forth behind him, Hunter looked levelly at the Corrupt warriors. This was it. Their weapons were raised, pointing at him. But why didn't they fire?¨

Malcom dropped his shock rifle and sighed in annoyance. ¨Too bad the little rat bastard will just respawn,¨ he said.

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Kilgard's world was shrunk down to a singularity, one moment of the most intense pain he could ever possibly have imagined experiencing. He ceased to exist. And then there was a wave of nausea, and he was crouched on his knees, dry-heaving on a cold metal floor as the warped world slowly swam into focus. Strangely, his broken finger no longer seemed to throb. What had happened?

Oh… the arena! Yes, of course, the arena had respawned him. Good thing he'd remembered to turn that feature back on after they'd taken care of that first Dark Phalanx member, the expendable one who'd never had the creativity even to oppose him in the first place. He began to laugh, despite the pain, looking up at the starry sky through the central shaft of Phobos that he now recognized. All that effort by Hunter for absolutely nothing! What irony. He wondered which test subject he'd been at Grendel. One of the failures, doubtless, and now he'd failed again. Well, that was what you'd expect to happen when lesser persons tried to defeat a visionary of his caliber. They should have spent more time studying Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest. He got to his feet, already feeling more normalized. He might as well hurry up and get back to the lounge to see the faces of those Gladiators, and Hunter when he realized he'd failed.

¨Corrupt Units, come to my location!¨ he commanded, yelling for lack of his headset. A few moments passed. Where had those warriors gone to? He needed to revise their response time to commands.

With a dramatic whoosh of the jump boots' cushioning jets, Malcom dropped in from the sky above and landed right in front of Kilgard, startling him. Kilgard eyed him with annoyance. ¨Corrupt Unit Malcom, your response time is flawed. Explain this flaw.¨ His eyes grew as big as saucers when Malcom just laughed and pointed a shock rifle at him.

¨Since we're in a Tournament arena, this won't kill you,¨ he said nonchalantly, ¨but believe me, it really, really hurts.¨ Looking up along the long barrel of the shock rifle at the tall, sturdy gladiator, Kilgard suddenly felt extremely small.