After the fire burned itself out, we resud our journey to the wolf sprite by cutting through the halls. We ran into a few other opponents, though nothing that our combined firepower couldn’t easily handle. Mainly, the combined firepower of Tyrone and Autumn. I kinda just followed behind and updated our direction every once in a while.
Most of the ti, more plant monsters were scattered around the halls rather then people. I guess it could be considered luck that we never ran across another person on our way to the wolf sprite. Or, rather, the Circle had filled this section of the ship with low-level plant monsters to buy ti.
There was a terrifying mont where the turrets along the walls suddenly started to shift and awaken, though it was quickly taken care of as they went still shortly after. According to Knights’ conversation, the electric warfare between the Circle and the Crusade’s Netrunners still raged unceasingly. Likewise, it was the reason we weren’t able to get a ssage out to anyone. Both sides were in a fierce stalemate.
My plan worked perfectly as we easily closed the distance to the wolf, completely bypassing the spatial distortions. There was no doubt the spell was incredibly powerful, but perhaps since it was so powerful and focused, it was quite easy to find a loophole. Surely I wasn't the only one to notice the distortions were only at the bulkheads?
On the way, I looted a few things. Mostly just dical supplies from cabinets scattered around the ship. I stuffed rolls of bandages and disinfectant into my bag. I was always running out of the stuff, and now was just as good a ti as any to stock up. Especially considering it was free.
Eventually, we arrived just above the armory I hid the wolf in. I walked around above, watching the needle of my compass rapidly spin in every direction. Using Technical Expertise, I found the ideal spot to cut through so we wouldn’t hit any pipes running underfoot. “Right here.”
“Roger.” Autumn swung her swords, cutting straight through the floor as Tyrone kept watch.
The tal screeched as her sword passed through it. One slash after another cut a fair-sized square hole into the floor. The freshly cut tal drooped before breaking off into a familiar hall below with a cacophonous crash.
Knight Autumn dropped down without a mont’s hesitation, checking the corridor below. “Clear!”
I dropped down too, moving into a roll to save my knees from too much pain. Tyrone dropped right behind , slamming down in a superhero landing as his gauntleted fist dented the floor. He casually stood up, resting his longsword on his shoulder.
I shook my head and moved to the armory where I stashed the wolf sprite. Before entering, I softly called out. “It’s .”
“Woof.” A soft, weak bark ca from within as if greeting .
I nodded to the two and entered the room, imdiately spotting the wolf sprite struggling to stand up. It looked much, much weaker than when I left it behind. The sharp spikes sticking out of its spine no longer crackled with electricity, and its entire posture drooped wearily.
The wound across its belly had even reopened sowhat. As the wolf sprite forced itself up, it revealed a pool of blood and dark-red stained fur. I wasn’t sure how much longer he could remain here before he had to go back to the Aether.
”This the one?” Tyrone, the Blue Wolf, called out from behind as he followed into the armory.
”Chek.” I moved over and patted the wolf’s head. I started to rewrap the bandages and tend to its wound. “Found him seriously injured.”
“Looks like it's only a matter of ti then…” The man sighed. He dug through his bag, eventually pulling out a protective case. From within, he dug out a vial and a needle. “Here. Give this to him. Near the heart.”
I took both and filled the needle. The liquid was a dull bronze color that seed to have a tallic sheen. “What is it?”
”Combat stim—CS-19 from Knight Security. Nerve blocker, stasis, and hyper-concentrated adrenaline rolled into one. Supposed to be used as a final trump card when death is imminent.” He nodded his head to the bleeding wolf. Indeed, death looked imminent. “Got so nasty side effects, but it won’t matter for a sprite.”
”Way better than the stuff they gave . I only have simple stuff from dtech. Not even a stim.” Autumn complained as she leaned against the door into the armory.
”It'll probably stay that way. We just bought the recipe from Shen Kang. And we’re a police force, not a private military. We’re already getting hit by legislation on the east coast for using non-dical stims, so it’ll be a while if they reach Aythryn City.” Tyrone explained as I treated the wolf.
“Legislation?” Autumn laughed lowly. I could hear the sneer in her voice as she spoke. “Sounds like the cowardly piss spines.”
Piss spines? Probably talking about the Golden Spine Consortium. I pulled back the empty needle, checking the wolf’s condition. Already, life returned to his eyes. It wasn’t a massive change, but he looked like he could move around much more easily now.
I did think about keeping a bit of the fluid to shove into my canteen when no one was looking... but the warning about horrible side effects scared off. Don't want to go looking like Lia, right?
“Take it easy. You’re still in bad shape.” I stepped back from the wolf as it took a few testing steps. It moved around the other two, collecting their scent.
Staring at the poor wolf sprite, I felt seriously bad about making him lead us around. It's not like I had a better option. Randomly roaming the ship and hoping for the best was a particularly bad idea. Then again, I guess I could've just holed up in a room and waited this out... being that passive left a bad taste in my mouth.
The wolf panted, his tongue rolling out as he stared up at . He didn’t seem to care as he nodded his head in a direction. “Woof!”
”Your Magus?” Tyrone asked as he moved to the wall with his sword out.
”Woof!” The wolf barked in confirmation.
Just like before, we cut through the ship. Literally. Only this ti, our guide was a wolf sprite instead of . Still, I helped where I could. Mostly just helping figure out the best place to cut through the walls.
Using the wolf’s ability to find his Magus, I even triangulated his summoner's position with what I thought was a fairly accurate guess. The Magus was close to where the original ritual site was suspected to be, down in one of the cargo holds.
About two halls away from our suspected destination, just before Autumn could cut through the hall, Knight Tyrone stopped her. “You hear that?”
Autumn paused, resting her shortswords on her leg. ”No? I don’t have an audio suite though…”
“I don’t hear anything either,” I said.
“Sounds like voices through the wall… more than a few.” Tyrone leaned against the wall, pressing his ear up to it. “Hmm… sounds like-”
Bang!
A gunshot rang out. The sound was greatly muffled by the wall, but even through that, it was loud. Soon after, dozens of guns joined the firefight. “They’re fighting.”
No shit.
Autumn brandished her swords. “We need to help. A Crusader could be pinned in.”
”Right.” Tyrone slashed with his sword twice, rapidly creating an X. Instead of going like he normally did, the Knight shoulder charged the X, caving in the tal as he forced his way through the wall with a loud screech.
With the wall open, the fight was even more apparent. Tyrone led the way, charging straight through the door blocking the way forward. It popped open with a scream-
A scream?
I checked the hall from my limited angle as I set up into a firing position. The hall was filled with cultists in a defensive position. They’d pulled furniture out into the hall as a makeshift cover and were in the middle of shooting down the hall.
Or, at least, they had been. With the very loud and very noticeable introduction of Tyrone and Autumn into the mix, the cultists' tight formation broke as half turned around to fight the invading Knights.
I moved through the room, pulling so furniture down into a scrap pile. I called to the wolf, "Hide here for now. I'll co get you when the fighting is over."
Just like before, I took on a supporting fire role as I moved to get a better view. I threw in suppressing fire where I could, pinning down the cultists as Tyrone and Autumn slaughtered through the defensive line. As if they’d planned it beforehand, Tyrone went one direction and Autumn the other, cleanly dividing the labor.
My gun clicked as the lost shot rang out. Through the gaps of cover, I spotted a man in Circle robes. As if waiting for my suppressive fire to stop, he stood up at the end of the hall and started waving his hands. A familiar tingle of Insight told all I needed to know.
I had already withdrawn a knife and slung it down the hall though, ricocheting it off one of the cultist’s rifles to easily slice deep into the Adept’s throat as he stood. Blood spewed in great arcs as the gurgling Adept dropped back down behind cover, likely never to stand again.
With that taken care of, I reached for a reload-
Out of ammo. I checked the rest of my mags to make sure, and unfortunately, it was true. I’d already burned through all my rifle’s ammo since I arrived. I ntally beat myself up for not grabbing more where I could, and then dropped the rifle back into its sling. It was no better than a paperweight for now.
I swapped to my pistol, though it wasn’t nearly as threatening. My rounds harmlessly impacted the Circle cultists' tactical gear. Not that it mattered too much. The Knights already had a foothold, cleanly slicing through the numbers as enemy reinforcents from down the hall started to pour in.
Three people-
An ice blade passed through my back, cleanly digging into my heart. I threw myself to the side with Burst Step, imdiately making a gap as I activated Dexterity. I’d taken to leaving Dexterity inactive when fighting at range since it ssed with my perception so much, but at monts like these, it was invaluable.
As I dodged, I turned to look behind . A massive borg, clad in cultist tattoos and covered in more tal than flesh, appeared in the space I just left. Even through the slowed ti effect of Dexterity, the man moved as if normal. No—he was just so fast that the effects of Dexterity couldn’t even slow him down.
His eyes tracked as I dodged, eting my own as the chro whirled and glared at . His hand, which had been transford into a sword arcing with electricity, twitched in my direction as he shifted. His other arm, covered in a small shield, also moved to preemptively block my shots.
My body felt slow as I moved for the door, firing off several shots into him. Subdermal armor and his shield blocked my shots, the synthskin tearing but otherwise leaving the borg unhard. My pistol wasn't enough to hit through his subdermal armor.
Even while dodging and fighting, my eyes traced his body. I noted down all the chro, digging through my mory as I tried to rember what it all was. Most of it was Sentinel stuff, the kind I’d already seen before.
Should I... use Swipe? Try to disable his chro? No, with how fast the guy moved, I’d only be needlessly endangering myself.
He approached faster than I could move, cutting off my escape. He made a clean slash toward my head in a decapitating strike. Insight gave enough ti to duck down and pull the trigger of my wrist gun, firing a blaze round into the small crevice just below his armpit.
The cultist borg recoiled, dodging the bullet as best he could. At this range, though, it still hit close enough to my intended target. Had it been a normal round, he would’ve been fine to attack again and skewer . It wasn’t a normal bullet.
Light brilliantly flashed as the blaze round struck, sending a burning material akin to thermite up into his chro arm, puncturing the tal. The tal imdiately turned glowing hot as the small, fierce fire burned.
Had the shot been elsewhere, it might’ve done little damage even with the added penetration and burn of the Blaze round. All this guy’s stuff was on the tankier side. As it were, I targeted the main nerve hub and control unit for his particular chro arm.
Imdiately, the blade withdrew as the fire burned through so of the arm's components. Or, at least it tried to. It stuck mid-transformation, the arm’s servos freezing up as sothing else broke inside.
A frown crossed the borg's face, though he made no Cue of pain. He had a Pain Inhibitor of so kind, probably. Fire directly on nerves was enough to put people down and out, otherwise.
Unfortunately, while I took an inch, he took a mile. Even with Insight’s help, my reaction was too slow thanks to firing the blaze round. He ramd his shield into harshly, bashing away further into the room so he could corner .
I recoiled as I felt sothing in my chest break, though I managed to drown out most of the pain with Cold-Blooded. Quick steps gave so room, though I ended up backing further into a corner. Literally.
I needed to leave. Even with the fighting out in the hall, I had higher hopes of living with the Knights by my side. Not only that, but I could see the shadows of even more people headed this way from behind. More cultist borgs, if we were unlucky.
A phantom flash of ice lanced along my arm as I started moving. It didn't feel deep, and it was a sacrifice I was willing to make to get out of here. Fully dodging it would throw my trajectory off. I made the cold calculation in a split second and activated Burst Step anyway.
That isn’t to say I wouldn’t try to avoid the injury. I flared Fear the Reaper as I ducked under his arm. He flinched slightly, his chro eyes widening as I got just enough of a gap. Mid-movent, I fired my right wrist gun at him.
Another bullet flew up into his arm. This ti, the effect was entirely different from the Blaze rounds. It was my new and barely tested Cyro round, made from Crystallized Ice.
As soon as it impacted, a basketball-sized ice crystal blood, forcing his arm up further away from . It had a relatively weaker effect than the Blaze rounds in terms of pure destruction, but its effectiveness lay elsewhere.
With the ice crystal montarily restricting his movent, I moved past him relatively unhard. I struck up at the ice, using it as a conductor for my shock gauntlets to stun him even further and bolted for the door.
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