…
"John Romero's about to make you his bitch."
(John Romero)
…
Unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown
…
As I slowly began to regain consciousness, I felt a sharp pain in my side. Wincing, I grabbed it only to feel a large bandage of some kind attached to my abdomen. The burning feeling only got worse, culminating in a heavy stabbing sensation that reached all the way to my spine. It took all my self-control to keep from screaming out in pain with every movement. After waiting for my breath to catch up and for the pain to die down, I visually examined my surroundings, seeing it was a single occupant recovery room. There was no one here, and the lights looked like they were set to night mode.
I slowly swung my feet over the side of the bed, lowering my bare feet onto the cold metal floor. I shivered, the room being exceptionally cold. The patient monitor to my right was still tracking my bio readings, but luckily the sticky pads attached to my chest were wireless. I slowly shuffled towards the bathroom, wincing in a significant amount of pain with each step. Once inside, I locked the door and looked at myself in the mirror.
I looked like absolute hell. I had grown an unruly set of facial hair during the time I was bedridden, and it was oily and unkempt. I could sense another odd sensation on the back of my neck, feeling it to find an almost healed cut going right down the center where my old tracker chip was supposed to be. I was also as pale as a ghost, so pale in fact that I could be compared to Dan, Jack, or even Lynda.
Lynda. That name echoed through my head, reminding me of something that I had an incredible amount of trouble trying to recall. Then it struck me, as I thought back to the attack.
She was a traitor, she had sold us out, killed dozens of my colleagues to get to us and only us, the Project Leads.
It all made sense in reflection, Lynda was the only one who had the master codes to the automated defense systems and everyone's labs. It made getting to us so much easier for them.
I clenched my fist in anger, but quickly forced myself to calm down. I was barely holding together well enough to walk, let alone plan my former director's grisly death. I had no idea what these people wanted from us or even who they were, but if I was ever going to get out of here and find my friends, I'd have to take it slow for now.
I sat down on the seat of the toilet, immense fatigue forcing me off my feet.
I could hear the door to the recovery room open as two different sets of feet could be heard making their way inside. Muffled voices vibrated through the wall a few seconds before the bathroom door unlocked, revealing two people wearing medical outfits of some kind.
"Sir! You shouldn't be out of bed yet!" One of them, a woman, exclaimed. She and the other "doctor" or whoever they were tried to approach me, but I instead curled up into a ball to feign helplessness.
"Get the fuck away from me! Who the hell are you people?!" I yelled out, trying to develop a façade. I was going to make it seem like I didn't know anything. "Where is Dan? Where are my friends?"
"Sir, please calm down." The second doctor urged as both of them kept their distance this time. "You are in an Alliance hospital, Lynda Embry will be here soon to explain what happened to you and your colleagues."
Even though I knew they were lying through their teeth about the Alliance part, I begrudgingly accepted their answer, at least for now. I picked myself up and pushed my way past them, not wanting their help. Climbing back onto the edge of my bed with significant difficulty, wincing as the two doctors just stood there with unsure looks on their faces.
I got tired of them both staring at me, so I decided to get at least one of them out of the room.
"I could use some coffee… can I have some coffee?" I asked with genuine shortness of breath, still gripping my side.
"Sure, I can get you some." The man accepted, turning on his heel and walking out of the room.
"So… can you at least tell me what happened to my gut here?" I asked, gesturing towards it and trying to keep things calm, namely myself.
"When you were brought here, you were in critical condition. You had been penetrated by a large piece of shrapnel that barely missed your liver." The woman explained, rubbing her fingers together with an uncomfortable look on her face. "Part of your small intestine had to be reconstructed, but other than that you should make a full recovery."
I sighed, thinking back to that blurry moment. I could only remember a little, and the rest of it was a muddled mess. I saw flashes in my mind of the ceiling exploding, a ringing sound, more of those armored men, and the blood on my hands. I reflexively looked at my hand remembering that last part. Then I laughed.
"Man, I can't believe that's how it ended up going down." I smiled, a stupid thought crossing my head. It was likely my subconscious's way of trying to make me feel better about my situation.
"Yes, I'd say you were very lucky to have survived." The doctor added, giving me an odd look.
"No no, you dummy, it's not that." I replied, trying as hard as I could to not laugh. "I… heh, thought I could've gone my who life without being pegged. Having now been on the receiving end, I can see why most women play so hard-to-get."
It was a terrible, immature, and sexist joke that physically hurt to speak out loud, there was no denying that. But there was a method to my madness. While she looked away nervously from second-hand embarrassment at my stupid joke, I swiped a syringe of Tinzaparin from the counter next to my bed, about 80mg worth of it. I had taken a peek at it earlier, and recalled from what basic medical knowledge I had that it was a fast-acting blood thinner that was meant for treating clots in the legs or lungs. From what I remembered, recommended dosages ranged up to a maximum of 20mg, and I had much more than that.
If there was a good opportunity later, I'd try to do things the Sarah Connor way. If whoever was on the receiving end of the stuff didn't cooperate, their blood would go all watery and they'd start bleeding out of every orifice. Hell, if I got the chance I'd gladly pump this shit into Lynda. After what she'd done to all of us, I wouldn't regret it for one second.
After the man came back with a cup of coffee and a few painkillers, I downed the pills and took a few sips of the beverage with reasonable satisfaction. It was bland and lacked any sugar or cream, but it would do the job. I only wanted it for the caffeine, and that's exactly what I got. I could actually feel the stimulant in my system, helping fully wake me.
Now I was armed with an improvised weapon and fully aware of my surroundings. All I needed was some clothes, an omni-tool and possibly a gun. They would come later, I'd just have to give it time. Five minutes later Judas herself, Lynda, finally showed up. She was still wearing her normal uniform, though the ID tag that was normally embedded inside the upper chest was different.
"Dr. Michaels, It's good to see you conscious again." She greeted with a smile, crossing her hands behind her back. "After what happened to you, we weren't sure if you'd ever wake up."
I couldn't tell if that smile was genuine or not, so I would just go with fake for now.
"Yeah, I heard I was skewered like a kebab when I came in here." I remarked, still holding my side in minor pain. "What happened? Where are Dan and the others?"
"Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of information at this time. As far as we know, the attack was staged by Terra Firma extremists who wanted to kidnap our top scientists. " She reassured, setting off several alarms right off the bat. Even I wasn't naive enough to believe that Terra Nova could pull something like that off, they were idiots. "Elements of the First Fleet showed up to fend them off, but at the cost of Aldrin Station and the majority of its personnel. They slipped a bomb onboard and detonated it inside the station's reactor room, and we believe they're holding the other Project Leads somewhere else."
I nodded, mind still racing as to how I was going to handle this. She still had no idea I was in on her lies, which was very good for me. I let go of my side, the sharp pain I had experienced earlier turning into a dull pulse thanks to the painkillers. I felt like I could walk normally now, and maybe even sprint. I'd have to be quick if what I was thinking of doing had any chance of success.
"Damn it, there were some good people on that station, and all our research..." I said with both genuine and feigned sadness in my voice, letting my shoulders drop. "Well, what's next? We going after those bastards?"
"I wouldn't know, I've been knocked down from my old position as Director." She deflected, looking down at the ground with a half-assed attempt at sorrow or shame. Even by my standards, that was sloppy. "The Admirals have appointed a new Director, and a temporary research facility is being prepared. I'm under orders to get you cleaned up for your meeting with him."
Even if I didn't have a clue that she was dirty I would have found this suspicious. Either she was trying to lead me towards something, or she was just getting sloppy. Her boss, the new "Director" must have been some sort of big shot, possibly the one behind the attack. I couldn't think of any other reason why she'd tip-toe around the subject otherwise.
"Sounds like a plan." I agreed, getting back down to the floor and stretching my back. "Where do we go from here?"
"Follow me." She said, nodding towards the door as we left the room.
We went through what appeared to be a standard hospital setup until we ended up in another room. It was a simple changing room, and inside was a long table with a box on top of it. There was also a shower and a sink.
"I'll wait for you to get ready." She remarked, gesturing towards the table inside the room. "Your omni-tool and watch should be in the box, along with a change of clothes."
I nodded, closing the door and locking it behind me. I did a quick sweep for any surveillance devices, but failed to find any. Shrugging, I pulled off my hospital gown and hopped in the shower, letting the hot water run over me. The "bandages" actually turned out to be high-quality skin grafts that had yet to fully adhere to my skin, hence why they hurt so much.
My mind still pondered what would happen next. I was hoping we would eventually enter an elevator, in a space like that I'd be able to easily get to her with the needle. I'd do some kind of impromptu interrogation, find out where everyone was, and hopefully get them out of here. It was as barebones as a plan you could possibly get, but I was determined to save them if they were here, wherever here was.
Once out of the shower, I looked in the mirror again. I observed the stubble on my face, deciding to leave it instead of shaving it. I'd mix things up a little.
In the box was a brand new set of clothes that were my exact sizes. White t-shirt, green sweater, black pants, leather belt, a new lab coat, and oddly enough, boots.
I looked especially hard at the front of the lab coat, though it itself lacked any actual identification. On the other hand though, there was a single pen in the left breast pocket that seemed to be put there on purpose, obviously not part of the standard getup. Upon looking closer at the pen though, I noticed a small little logo etched into the side of it.
Cerberus. It was the emblem used by Cerberus.
Being in our line of work, Cerberus was a topic of conversation that would come up from time-to-time due to their prevalence. They were a pro-Human terrorist organization, responsible for many acts of theft, death, and sabotage across the civilized regions of the galaxy, including the Alliance. From what few rumors I had gleamed in my time at Aldrin, they were even responsible for some nasty and highly-illegal experiments on God-knows-what out there, leaving them as the proverbial "boogeyman" in our little scientific community.
While I considered myself a staunch, casual supporter of the Alliance and the human race in general, I couldn't abide by any organization that did horrible things to people like Cerberus.
I needed to find my friends and get the hell out of... wherever we were.
With a renewed sense of caution, I put all my clothes on and grabbed my omni-tool, checking to make sure it still worked. While all its functions were still present, it looked as if all my stored research data had been tampered with. Someone had gone through my files and made copies. Slowly shaking my head, I simply closed the display and moved on.
My watch was covered in dried blood, my blood, and was cracked along one of the rims. I slipped it back on anyways, loving the thing to death. The last was my father's old class ring, which I slipped onto the pale part of my ring finger where it was meant to be. I smiled, thinking about my parents for one brief moment before walking back to the door.
I unlocked it, seeing Lynda relaxing on a nearby bench with a datapad. I readjusted myself to keep my impulses under control, I didn't want to lunge out at her right now despite how much my nerves demanded it.
"All ready?" She inquired, standing up and collapsing her datapad.
"Yep." I replied, smoothing out my coat and doing my best to stand straighter despite the pain.
We walked a little longer until we ended up at an elevator. I cheered internally as we waited for it to get to our level. I was only going to have one shot at this, and I had to make it count.
The doors slid open, revealing it was empty. It was fairly small too, we'd practically be rubbing shoulders.
We both silently stepped in, Lynda hitting the button for a "Level 4". As soon as the doors slid shut, I sprang into action. I kicked Lynda in the back of one of her legs, causing her to shout out in pain as she fell to her knees. In a single motion, I put my left arm all the way around her head and jabbed her in the neck with the syringe. I had her exactly where I wanted her.
"Wha-t… the FUCK… are you doing?!" She struggled to shout through my headlock as she looked back at the needle I had firmly planted in her neck.
"Where are you keeping my friends you damn traitor?" I demanded, twisting the needle just slightly enough to cause her sharp pain. "Where are they?!"
"What… are you t-talking about?" She asked, trying to confuse me. I responded to her stupid question by tightening my grip.
"Don't you try to lie to me, I know you're working for Cerberus." I shot back, quickly hitting the farthest location on the elevator GUI. "Now, unless you want me to pump this shit into you and turn your blood to water, I'd suggest you tell me what I want to know, and quickly."
Her façade was broken, much to my sick satisfaction. Now she looked genuinely scared.
"OK, OK, I'll tell you what you want to know." She quickly agreed, tensing up visibly as I kept my grip tight on her.
"Where are you keeping the others?" I asked as she stared forward, frozen in fear. "Where are my friends?"
"They're on Level 12, the Detention block." She answered, barely able to keep her voice steady as she spoke.
"What about the A.I.'s?" I questioned further, determined to get as much out of her as I could.
"Same level, th-they're in the equipment room on R-Richard's data cards." She replied, sweat beginning to form on her brow. "Everyone else's things should be there too."
"Thank you for your cooperation." I finished, voice dripping with anger and sarcasm as I injected the Tinzaparin directly into her bloodstream without a second thought.
"No!" She shouted as I tightened my chokehold, depriving her of oxygen. It took a few seconds, but eventually she stopped struggling and fell limp.
I let her fall face first on the ground, not caring what happened to her at this point. I checked her belongings, seeing she had a handgun, a kinetic barrier belt and an access keycard. I took all of these items, along with her own omni-tool and personal datapad.
I punched in Level 12, checking the handgun and the barriers to make sure they were all working properly. Lynda's gun had been equipped with an armor-piercing modification, so if I came up against any guards, I'd have a fair shot at taking them down.
The door to the detention level opened up as I swiped her card, revealing a single unarmored sentry standing to the side of his desk. The idiot wasn't even armed. He looked over in surprise as I pointed the gun at him. He immediately threw his hands up into the air, surrendering.
"Please don't shoot!" He begged, getting a fearful look in his eyes as I approached him.
"Listen buddy, I'm here to free a few friends of mine." I announced as he looked squarely at my gun. I kicked a trash bin over to block the elevator door, which would hopefully buy me more time. "Now, you either take me to them quickly and quietly or I blow your brains all over the wall."
He nodded very quickly, running over to the nearby security door and opening it.
"Take me to the science personnel from Aldrin Station." I ordered as I followed him through the door with the upmost caution.
I wasn't going to take any chances, I was keeping this guy at gunpoint.
He took me to Cell Block C, opening the security door with a small hiss. I couldn't risk having him around anymore when I would be releasing my friends, so while his back was still turned, I clocked him in the back of the head with the handgun, knocking him cold. I dragged him inside in case any guards walked by.
I ran down the small cell block, looking for their cells. Despite the size of the cell block, few of these cells were actually occupied.
"Come on, come on, come on, where are you guys?" I asked out loud as I looked down the line of cells. After passing several unlabeled ones, I eventually found Dimitri's. I took Lynda's card out and swiped it, opening the door to reveal Dimitri "The Bear" Vsevolod. He was wearing an orange prison jumpsuit that looked like it barely fit him, and he was pissed.
He leapt at me, tackling me to the ground with very little force. I felt my side scream in pain as I yelled out, trying to stop him.
"Dimitri! It's me! It's Sean!" I yelled just as he was about to sock me in the face with one of his massive fists.
"Sean?" He questioned, squinting before a smile spread across his face. He immediately pulled me in for a tight hug, squeezing all the air out of my lungs. "Sean! My friend!"
"Yeah, I'm happy to see you too, Dimi." I managed to squeak out before he thankfully released me.
"Those Cerberus hounds told us you had died in attack." He recalled, looking up and down the cell block. "Where have you been?"
"Healing." I replied bluntly, lifting up my shirt to reveal the half-healed skin grafts on my side. "I only woke up about an hour ago."
Without warning, I suddenly began coughing really hard as I felt something try to push its way up my windpipe. It sounded bad, and Dimitri knew it too.
"Are you alright?" He asked, putting a hand on my back as I got down on one knee.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me." I answered as the cough subsided, handing him the guard's keycard. "Here, help me find the others. We don't have much time."
He took the card in confirmation as we both looked for more of our colleagues. He found Jack and Mara, while I found Richard and Sira. All that was left was Dan.
I opened his cell, seeing him on the edge of his cot with his hands covering his face. He looked up at me, looking extremely confused in that brief moment before standing up.
"Sean?" Dan said in a quizzical tone, slowly walking towards me. "But… I saw y-you go down during the attack."
"I got better." I replied with a smile, walking over and giving him a big hug. He still looked shocked, but he did seem to relax a bit.
"I thought you were dead." He remarked in disbelief, still looking at me like I was a ghost as his eyes began to water up.
"You can be forgiven for thinking that, don't worry." I reassured, walking back towards the door. "Come on buddy, we still need to get Powell and your sister."
That jolted him back to speed, as we both ran back to the group that was waiting by the entrance.
"Alright, we need to find the equipment room, that's where they put the A.I.s and our other gear." I laid out, looking at all six of my colleagues. "Once we have our stuff, we'll find a way out of here. Anyone know where we are, anyway?"
"I believe we're on a space station." Sira answered, causing me to look back at her. "One of the soldiers who kidnapped us mentioned a place called Minuteman Station."
"Alright, so we've pieced that much together." I nodded, looking back at everyone. "Anything else?"
"Yes, I heard they hijacked Explorer during attack." Dimitri added, crossing his arms as he looked down at me. "I helped design security systems for ship. If it is docked, I can get us all onboard."
"Sounds like we're getting dangerously close to a plan." I forced myself to smile in an attempt to push the pain in my side away.
"Are you sure we should be running around a station filled with terrorists?" Mara inquired with a scared look on her face. "I'm not sure if they'll try to take us captive again if they find us."
"We don't really have much of a choice by this point." I replied, thinking back to what I had done. "Considering I left our former administrator lying face-first on the floor of an elevator with a potent blood thinner in her body, we won't have a very warm reception if she survives."
"You did what?" Mara exclaimed before Dimitri nudged her, getting her to keep quiet.
"I'll explain it later." I said, shaking my head as I winced in pain again, giving Dan the handgun the guard from the lobby had lazily left on the counter. "We need to move."
Motioning for everyone to follow, we left the cell block and made our way to the equipment room. We had almost made it until we saw the door was guarded by two of the troopers from before. They were armed with what looked like Avengers, were talking to one another casually. They weren't close enough to take down silently.
"Well, it looks like we'll have to do this the old fashioned way." I remarked with a bitter tone, checking the handgun once more before looking back to Dan. "You take the one on the left, I'll take the right."
"Ok." He agreed with a newfound sense of determination in his voice as his face hardened.
"On my mark… three… two…-" I started to count down before both guards suddenly jolted to attention. "Wait."
They looked to each other, listening to something we couldn't hear through their helmets. They then nodded to one another, bringing their rifles back up and running down the opposite hallway.
"They must have found her." I predicted, motioning my head towards the door. "Come on, let's get everything we need before they find out where we are."
I ran over to the door, swiping Lynda's card which gave me instant access. We all slipped inside, locking it again behind us.
We weren't expecting what was inside. The room must have been the biggest trove of tech I had ever seen, and this was coming from someone who had previously worked in the most well-funded Alliance research facility in the galaxy. It looked as if they had grabbed as much from Aldrin as they could during the attack and brought it all here. Everything we had worked on, from my prototype plasma gun to the device Dan and Dimitri had been working on, it was all here.
And that wasn't all. The place was filled to the brim with weapons and armor, enough to arm a whole colony in the Traverse. Being a self-professed gun-nut myself, I was tempted to take as many of the weapons as I could, but remembering the situation we were in, I snapped myself back to attention.
"Alright, this is what we're going to do." I started, refocusing everyone's eyes on me. "We're going to suit up, grab whatever we need, and find a way off this station. I know some of you haven't fired a gun before and have no desire to do so, but we're short on options."
Everyone gave me varying levels of acknowledgment, moving as quickly as they could to find everything they needed. We found the cards that held Powell and Lydia respectively, and luckily for us Richard had built a card reader specifically for interacting with them. Lydia would have to wait for now, though Powell could potentially help us escape.
I found one of the hardsuits that the soldiers had used during the attack. It was shiny, actually glistening in the light of the room. Being standard, it was the thickest where there was the least amount of movement, and the thinnest where more movement was required. It didn't really matter, it would work for what I was going to do. I eventually figured out how it went on, surprised by how well it fit me.
It was perfect, going on like a glove. It was odd wearing something that hugged my body like it did, but it was certainly more than I had before. Next came the lone exo that had survived the attack. I called Sira over and had her help me put it on, it being a little intensive and cumbersome. Once attached and activated, it felt as light as air.
"Now this feels good." I remarked with a smile, clenching my fist. I finished everything off by putting on a helmet, giving me a full HUD that tracked vitals, weapon status, and various other bits of info. It was also handy because it tracked everyone else's status.
"Warning: Internal Bleeding Detected." The built-in VI informed me, and me alone. "Please seek medical attention."
"Shut up." I remarked out loud, shutting off the alert as I grabbed my side, the pain coming back in full force. "I don't have time to lick my wounds."
"Hah, it w-works just like I planned!" A fully-armored Dan remarked, holding some sort of device in his left hand. "I can see ev…everyone in the room, e-even behind the walls!"
I shook my head with another smile, hefting the still loaded plasma gun on once more. Since I had magnetic rails on my back this time, I didn't have to worry about slinging it over the exo. Truly, I felt like one big badass.
Now all of us were wearing identical sets of armor, only being able to tell each other apart by our HUD ID's. Dan, Dimitri, and I were itching for a fight, but the others certainly were not. We'd still have to try and avoid combat if at all possible.
That prospect was shattered as a station-wide alarm sounded, triggering red emergency lights that bathed the darker areas in a sickly red glow.
"Time to get the hell out of here!" I yelled, opening the door and leading the charge. We all ran down the hallway, actually needing to pace myself so I didn't go too fast. We made it all the way back to the lobby to find a squad of Cerberus troopers sitting in wait.
We all took cover just as a hail of gunfire whizzed over our heads. In response, us three combatants simultaneously armed grenades and chucked them around the corner. I smiled as I heard screams of agony, all the troopers being blown to bits by the grenades. We quickly ran through the destroyed lobby, piling in the nearest elevator. Unfortunately, it was locked down.
Richard immediately loaded Powell's chip into the reader, seeing his hologram pop up on the little display.
"Powell, there is no time to explain what exactly is going on." He said, looking down at the obviously confused A.I. "We're going to put you into an enemy's computer system. When inside, you need to disable the elevator lockdown and find out if the SSV Explorer is here at the station."
"Yes sir." He agreed, giving us a quick salute.
"And one more thing, Powell." I stopped, getting him to look at me. "Do whatever you can to keep the enemy away from us. Vent atmosphere, give them false orders, whatever you can do. No one here is friendly."
He nodded as Richard took his chip out of the reader, instead inserting it into the elevator's system. From here, he'd be able to get anywhere on the station that wasn't behind a firewall.
A few seconds later, the elevator lit up again and we punched in the level for their docks.
"It looks like the Explorer is still here." Powell announced, appearing on a nearby monitor. "It's docked in Cradle 3, close to the elevator lobby. I'm trying to redirect any combatants from the area, but I can't guarantee anything."
"Thanks Powell." Richard said as his image flicked away and left us in silence.
We all just stood there as the subtle hum of the elevator droned on in the background.
"So… am I the only one that noticed how slow these elevators are?" Richard commented, actually getting a chuckle out of a few of us.
"They used to be faster." Jack responded, crossing his arms. "I remember the old prototype ones that used inertial dampeners and grav plating to keep everyone on the floor. There were a lot of broken necks in the early days when one would fail, let me tell you."
"Is this your new thing, Jack?" Mara inquired, crossing her arms too. "First phase gates vs. mass relays, now old elevators vs. new elevators?"
"You kids don't know the struggle we went through back when they found all that crap on Mars." Jack dismissed, waving his hand and getting another smile out of me.
"I remember reading that humanity had a fair amount of difficulty tapping into the potential of Element Zero." Sira began, looking at Jack. "What did you witness when it all began?"
"I'll tell you when you're older." Jack once again deflected, actually getting chuckles out of all of us, save Sira.
"I don't understand." She replied with what I imagined was quite the puzzled look.
"Heh, I'll explain it later." Mara reassured as our floor came up.
"Alright, get ready." I ordered, everyone tensing up as the doors slid open. There was nothing but empty space in this floor's lobby, much to my relief.
"Come on, we must move!" Dimitri led, waving us all towards the docking hub.
Almost to the hub, I began to dry heave as my lungs burned. I got down on my knees again, plucking off my helmet as I coughed violently. I tasted blood, looking down at my hand to see just that covering my glove and the deck plates.
"Warning: Internal Bleeding Detected." The VI repeated again, this time out loud. "Seek medical attention immediately."
"Come on, man." Dan urged, pulling me back up to my feet. "Once we're on that s-ship, we'll be home… home free."
I nodded, securing my helmet again as we all piled at the large door.
"I wasn't able to clear everyone out of the hub, but there are only a few of them inside." Powell informed us on the door's monitor. "You should be able to take care of it, though I will warn you that once you go in there the whole station will know where you are."
"Gotcha." I agreed, taking out his chip and putting him back inside.
We all burst inside, taking down the guards at the front desk with relative ease. There were six men in total, four armored and two… not so much. I fired my bulky plasma gun as the closest two, frying them instantly before they could duck down. Dan cut down one of the light ones with his pistol before Dimitri cut them down with an Avenger. Another alarm sounded shortly afterwards, telling us everything we needed to know.
We had to get out of here now or else we'd be swarmed.
We all ran like mad people down the hallway, determined to escape this blasted place. We dashed past Cradle 3's large window, seeing the Explorer docked outside. We all ran down the docking tube to find it was indeed in lockdown.
"Hold on a bit." Dimitri announced, opening up his omni-tool and running a bypass.
We all stood there for a minute as commotion could be heard getting louder in the distance.
"Come on маленькая птица, I am home…" He quietly urged as the door finally gave us a green light.
"Inside, now!" I yelled as we all ran into the decon chamber. Richard plucked Powell's chip back out again, putting him directly into the ship's system.
"Powell, fire up the engines and get us out of here!" He yelled as the decon mist drifted down onto our armor, evaporating the moment it made contact.
"Yes sir!" He agreed as a rumble could be felt vibrating through the ship. I felt a slight sense of g-force as we accelerated away from the station.
"Are they giving chase?" Dimitri asked as we entered the CIC, seeing most of the displays were dead.
"Not for long, I think." Powell joked, appearing on a nearby emitter as the space outside the ship shifted and warped. "Jump successful, doctor. We have escaped."
"Heh... whoo, that was an an experience, huh?" Jack remarked. everyone gathering around to celebrate, giving each other hugs and such.
Not me. I started feeling dizzy, wobbling a bit before I fell over and blacked out once more.
…
A/N: The survivors have escaped! I really tried to improve my style, making an effort to improve Sean's internal monologue and show how his mind breaks things down. It worked pretty well, I think. I had a lot of fun writing this one.
I'd like to extend a big THANK YOU to everyone who migrated over from my old story/account to check out Murphy's Law! I know a lot of you may had been disappointed that I didn't finish TOOO, but I can guarantee you this WILL be finished and it WILL be written to a much higher standard than TOOO ever was.
I'd love to read any reviews, I'm always up for suggestions or constructive criticism. Stay tuned!