Leo’s vision swam as he stumbled to his feet. His HUD rebooted, the system taking so ti to recalibrate. Static crackled in his earpiece as he tried to contact his team.
“Elena? Arthur? Anyone?” he called out, his voice echoing in the vast, unfamiliar space.
“I’m here,” ca Elena’s calm voice, from behind him. She crouched nearby, her sniper rifle already drawn and scanning the area. Her helt's visor glinted faintly under the dim, ambient light. “Looks like it’s just the two of us, Leo.”
They exchanged a brief nod before taking in their surroundings. The corridors stretched endlessly, their walls inscribed with shifting symbols similar to those in the ruins.
Leo took point, his assault plasma rifle raised as they moved cautiously down the corridor. Elena trailed a few ters behind, her sniper rifle trained on their flanks, eyes scanning for any threats.
“This place… it’s massive,” Leo murmured, his voice filled with awe. They passed towering archways and structures that seed to defy gravity, with parts of the architecture floating in midair, connected by thin streams of light. “How do you think it works?”
Elena’s voice crackled over the comm. “If I had to guess, so kind of advanced gravitational manipulation. It’s beautiful but keep your focus.”
As they ventured deeper, the silence was interrupted by faint footsteps that were growing louder by the second.
“Contact,” Elena whispered, her voice sharp. She took a position behind a nearby pillar with her rifle aid down the corridor. Leo shifted into a defensive stance, his weapon raised.
From the shadows erged two towering figures clad in the familiar crystalline biochanical armor of the Chirians. Their glowing eyes locked onto Leo and Elena, and one of them let out a guttural growl.
“Elites,” Leo muttered as his grip tightened on his rifle. “Great.”
The first Chirian spoke, his voice a distorted mix of guttural clicks and snarls, translated through their suits. “Humans. This will be over quickly.”
Leo smirked, masking the tension tightening in his chest. “You’re welco to try.”
The first Chirian charged, claws raised high. Leo and Elena started firing, as the Chirians got closer, Leo darted forward, activating his plasma sword as he t the attack head-on. The blade clashed against the Chirian’s crystalline arm, sending out a shower of sparks.
The strength behind the blow sent Leo sliding back a few feet, but he recovered quickly, pivoting to slash at the Chirian’s exposed side. The strike left a glowing scar across the armor but failed to penetrate fully.
“Elena, any ti now!” Leo shouted, narrowly dodging a swipe aid at his neck.
“Hold still,” Elena shot back, her voice cool and steady. She exhaled, aligning her sights on the Chirian. A sharp crack echoed as her sniper round slamd into the creature’s shoulder, the armor cracked making the Chirian stagger.
Leo seized the opportunity, activating the thrusters in his boots to close the distance in an instant. He drove the sword upward, aiming for the weak point at the Chirian’s neck. The creature twisted at the last second, the blade skimming across its armor instead of delivering a killing blow. The Chirian retaliated with a backhanded strike that sent Leo tumbling into a wall.
“Leo!” Elena called out while repositioning to higher ground. She fired another shot, this one striking the second Chirian’s knee and slowing its charge toward her.
Leo rose, shaking off the impact. “I’m fine,” he grunted while he picked up the plasma sword. The first Chirian lunged again, and this ti Leo t it with a precise downward slash, cleaving through its left arm joint. Sparks flew as the limb fell to the floor, but the Chirian didn’t falter. It roared and swung its remaining arm in a wild arc.
Elena took advantage of the opening, firing a Electromagnetic sniper round that pierced the Chirian’s exposed neck. The creature collapsed, its body convulsing as it crumbled to the ground.
The second Chirian roared seeing its companion dead, leaped toward Leo with claws bared. Leo rolled under the attack, slashing upward with his plasma sword as he passed. The blade clashed with its armor creating sparks and causing it to crack a bit. The creature turned, preparing another charge, but Elena’s sniper round prevented it from doing so.
As Elena and Leo were fighting their battle, sowhere else.
…
Lt. Nakamura and Samir erged in a vast chamber filled with floating platforms and glowing runes. The floor beneath them seed to shift and pulse as they moved, each step creating faint ripples of light.
“Stay close,” Nakamura ordered, his tone sharp. His dual plasma swords humd to life, the twin blades casting an eerie green glow in the dim chamber.
Samir followed, his gun held at the ready. “This place feels... Where are we?”
Nakamura didn’t reply, his sharp eyes scanning for threats. His instincts paid off as a faint growl echoed from the shadows. Three Chirians erged, their crystalline armor glinting as they approached with predatory grace.
“They’ve found us,” Samir muttered, raising his weapon.
“Stay calm. Follow my lead,” Nakamura instructed. He stepped forward, his plasma swords raised in a defensive stance.
The first Chirian charged, claws extended. Nakamura sidestepped the attack with fluid precision, his left blade slicing across the creature’s arm while his right slashed at its torso. The twin strikes left glowing scars, but the Chirian retaliated with a spinning kick that Nakamura avoided expertly.
Samir fired his gun at the second Chirian, the blast staggering it but failing to penetrate its armor. “These guys are really tough!”
“Focus on their joints!” Nakamura barked, parrying another strike from the first Chirian. His blades moved like extensions of his body, weaving an intricate pattern of light as he danced around his opponent.
The third Chirian lunged at Samir, but he ducked under its claws and fired a shot at its exposed knee. The creature stumbled, and Samir quickly followed up with a close-range blast to its faceplate, cracking the armor.
Nakamura finished his duel with the first Chirian by feinting left and then driving both plasma swords into the cracks of its chest armor. The creature roared before collapsing, its body sparking and convulsing.
“Two left!” Nakamura called out, turning to face the others.
Samir fired another round, this ti shattering the second Chirian’s knee joint. Nakamura rushed in, his blades flashing as he severed the creature’s head in a single, clean strike.
The final Chirian lunged at Samir, but Nakamura activated his thrusters, launching himself into the air. He descended with both blades pointed downward, driving them through the creature’s back. The Chirian let out one last guttural cry before falling silent.
Samir exhaled, lowering his weapon. “Remind never to get on your bad side, Lieutenant.”
Nakamura, his expression always serious, didn’t say anything at first as he retracted his blades. “Just follow orders, and you’ll be fine.”
He activated his comms, but only static greeted him. “This is Lt. Nakamura. If anyone can hear , respond.”
No answer. He exchanged a look with Samir, his expression unreadable. “We keep moving. The others are out there sowhere. And we’re going to find them.”
…
Commander Vorsk moved with the deliberate grace of a predator, his towering fra casting a long shadow in the dimly lit corridors of the alien structure. Flanking him were two Chirian elites.
Vorsk paused to study a cluster of glowing runes etched into the wall, tracing a clawed finger over the symbols, and they pulsed faintly at his touch. “This structure holds so ancient secrets. The humans will not leave here alive.”
His musing was interrupted by the faint, distant echoes of a fight. Vorsk’s ears twitched, his posture straightening as he turned toward the sound. His elites stiffened, their claws flexing instinctively.
“Humans,” one of them hissed, their voice dripping with disdain.
Vorsk raised a hand, silencing them. His glowing yellow eyes narrowed, the faint light within them intensifying. He began to move toward the source of the commotion, his stride confident and unhurried. The elites exchanged glances but said nothing, falling into step behind their commander.
As they advanced, the sounds of battle grew louder. Plasma blades humd and clashed, and the distinctive sound of human firearms echoed through the corridors. Vorsk tilted his head slightly, as if savoring the distant cacophony.
They reached a high vantage point overlooking a chamber where the fight was taking place. From the shadows, Vorsk and his elites watched as the humans battled a pair of Chirian elites.
One human, a male wielding a plasma sword, moved with surprising agility, matching his opponent blow for blow. Another, positioned at a distance, provided cover fire with a sniper rifle, her precision strikes forcing the Chirians to divide their attention.
He turned away, his expression unreadable. “Co. There are more of them scattered throughout this place. Let us see how long they can survive.”
The elites hesitated, glancing back at the chamber where the two humans now regrouped. One of them growled softly. “Commander…You do not wish to engage?”
Vorsk’s lips curled into that faint snarl once more. “Patience. Let them tire themselves. When the ti is right, we will strike.”
The thing is he wants to see their reaction when he will present Arthur’s head to them, and he wants them to bring his head back to the humans. That is why he left them for now.
Without another word, he strode off into the shadows, the other two following close behind. The echoes of the humans’ victory faded as the Chirian commander vanished into the depths of the alien structure, biding his ti for the perfect mont to unleash his wrath.
…
Arthur stepped out of the hall he had been transported to. He took a deep breath, steadying himself as his eyes scanned the vast, alien corridor before him.
It wasn’t the emptiness of the space that unnerved him, it was the feeling of sothing alive within the walls.
Then he felt it. A subtle pull, like a thread tugging at the edge of his consciousness. It wasn’t physical, nor was it entirely ntal, but it was there, undeniable and insistent. It ca from deep within the structure, its direction clear in his mind. Arthur instinctively placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.
He activated his technopathy, sending out a ripple of his awareness into the surrounding environnt. His ability brushed against the machinery embedded within the walls, ancient and far beyond human understanding. But the response he got from them was silence.
It wasn’t that the technology was damaged or broken; it was as though it was deliberately shielding itself from his influence, locking him out. His technopathy t an impenetrable barrier, and for the first ti in months, Arthur felt a flicker of unease. Whatever intelligence had designed this place, it was leagues ahead of humanity, and it’s like it had anticipated intruders like him.
He exhaled sharply and tried again, this ti extending his senses outward in a wider range. Almost imdiately, his mind latched onto familiar presences. Elena and Leo. They were nearby, the unique energy patterns of their armor unmistakable against the backdrop of Chirian signatures.
“Good,” Arthur murmured under his breath. He concentrated, his ‘Map’ highlighting their locations on an overlay of the structure’s map. The two were moving, but their path was clear of Chirians for now. He could sense the faint energy spikes of a recent skirmish, a fight they had evidently survived. Relief washed over him briefly. They were safe. But he couldn’t find Samir and Lt. Nakamura within five kiloters around him.
He frowned as he also registered several Chirian signatures clustered in the opposite direction. “They’re moving too,” he noted, his voice low. But the Chirians were moving opposite to his team.
Arthur turned his attention back to the subtle pull in his mind, the quiet call that seed to grow stronger with each passing mont. He didn’t know what it was or why it was reaching out to him, but he knew instinctively that it wasn’t sothing he could ignore.
Glancing at the map overlay of Elena and Leo’s positions one last ti. Satisfied they were out of imdiate danger and seeing their vital signs intact from their armors, he began moving toward the source of the call.
***
A/N: Hello, everyone! Starting today, I will be uploading chapters according to the originally intended release schedule of 3 chapters per week. Happy reading!
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