Several hours later, the Retribution drop ship approached the front docking bay of the detention facility, and all systems were powered down except the ship’s cloaking function. The plan was for the Retribution to get close enough to scramble the sensors of the facility, release the loaded drop ship, and allow the Bloodhound to proceed unnoticed to the back of the cube-shaped facility where the cells were located.

  Once the Retribution was in position, the Bloodhound advanced toward the facility’s rear. Upon reaching the facility’s rear, Tiff instructed Elvis on where to align the ship. The Bloodhound then released an umbilical bridge from the rear cargo bay. Tiff and CJ, piloting his drop suit, slowly made their way through the umbilical, where they began using a plasma cutter to cut through the hull of the detention facility. It would have been easy enough for them to grab Andrew and run, but that wouldn’t solve the problem of the Enforcer General, who could apparently warp anywhere he wanted, even onto moving ships. Princess Denae had explained the technology to Tiff and CJ during the mission briefing. It was only available to select high-ranking council operatives. Still, Denae believed that the same technology being used to keep Tiff from materializing her second body inside Andrew’s cell could, in theory, be used against the Enforcer.

  Now, the team had another goal: rescuing Captain Dawes and killing the Enforcer General. They had to find and steal that technology to avoid this happening again.

  “Alright, we’re almost through. Get ready,” CJ said as he knelt and worked the plasma cutter. With that, Tiff braced herself. The situation wasn’t ideal; she was going in mostly blind and without her abilities until they could find and disable the suppression field generator. Along with everything else, the captain had informed her that there were five other human prisoners, and he would not be leaving them behind.

  When CJ finished cutting the circular piece of the hull, it fell forward into the cell., Tiff immediately jumped through. “Time to go, Captain,” she said quickly as she threw me a rifle. I picked up the rifle, checked that it was loaded, and released the safety, readying myself for whatever came next.

  “How do we get the force field down?” I asked. Tiff walked to the front of the cell and removed a small grey tube from her pocket. She ran the tube along the floor at the base of the force field, releasing a white paste onto the floor. “Stand back,” she said as she backed me up near the bed, picking up my mattress to give us some cover.

  I huddled behind the mattress, pressing my back hard against the wall. Tiff held the mattress in front of her, pressing her body firmly back into mine to mitigate the shockwave from the impending explosion. I focused on anything else in the galaxy that I could think of as her body pressed into mine. Just as things inched toward awkwardness, Tiff leaned out from the left side of the mattress and fired one plasma round at the paste. The paste exploded with a loud boom as smoke and dust filled the small cell. The floor in front of the force field was completely destroyed, causing it to malfunction. Immediately, alarms began blaring all over the facility while red lights phased off and on. The sudden influx of sound, blinking lights, and dust from the explosion was disarming, causing me to take a second to gather myself.

  “We need to move now!” Tiff grabbed me and pushed me toward the open cell door as the force field completely disarmed and the exit to the cell opened. The other prisoners were shouting; I could see Loren and Red staring out of their cells behind their own cells force fields. They understood what was happening and had assured me that they and the rest of their team would be ready. “Get these fields down. We know what to do next!” Red shouted.

  “Working on it!” I responded as Tiff and I ran down the hallway toward the front of the facility. “There should be a master release near the exit door!” Tiff shouted over the blaring alarm. Sure enough, as we reached the exit for the holding area, there was a panel on the left wall beside the door with a master release button. I ran up and slapped the release button. The screen flashed green, and the cells all opened simultaneously. Once all the fields dropped, the five prisoners ran out into the hallway. I had spoken to Red and Loren, but this was my first time actually seeing them since our cell positions made it hard to see other prisoners.

  Red was about 6 feet tall, with short red hair poking out from under an old, tattered ball cap. Loren was about 5’8 and, funnily enough, she also had red hair, but it was more of a strawberry blonde in contrast to Red’s bright orange hair. The other three members were comprised of two stout-looking guys with dark brown hair, Hispanic features, and a smaller-framed brunette woman.

  I walked up and addressed the group. “Okay, you all take the right side. Tiff and I will take the left side. I don’t know if you have classes that will help, but when we disarm the suppression field, you will be able to use them again. Do not engage the Enforcer under any circumstances. If you see him, just run. Understood?”

  “Yeah, man, we got it. It would be nice if we had one of those guns, though,” Red said, nodding at the rifles Tiff and I were carrying. I tossed him my rifle. After all, the group wouldn’t be much help if they couldn’t defend themselves, and honestly, these rifles would only help against guards anyhow. If they ran into the Enforcer, then some, if not all of them, would most likely die fast, rifle or none.

  “Do you know how to use that thing?” I asked, pointing at the rifle that Red was now holding.

  “Point it at the bad guys and pull the trigger?” Red replied sarcastically.

  I nodded and smiled. “You and me are gonna get along just fine.”

  #

  Upon hearing the facility's alarms, the drop ship uncloaked and came to a stop in the docking bay. No force field blocked the entrance or exit, just a small environmental stability field that allowed for life support and artificial gravity integrity. Denae and the five-man armored strike team exited the rear of the still-hovering drop ship and entered the empty bay to hear the sound of alarms and flashing lights.

  “Be ready! Take up defensive positions and get ready to lay down covering fire!” Denae shouted as she pointed at her team to get them in position. As soon as the words left her mouth, a swarm of guards entered the docking bay. These guards were much like the Mech guards CJ, and I had encountered in the AI containment facility where Tiff’s body had been stored. They were higher in level, though, ranging from Level 9 to Level 12. Thankfully, there was no sign of the large armored Mechs. This station obviously saw little use and, therefore, had no need for a large contingent of guards and heavy defenses. Anthragor only used it out of necessity, as he was only in the area after responding to the communication the automated facility sent out upon receiving the five stranded humans. It was a lucky turn of events for the Enforcer, as he could only use his personal spatial warp in a limited vicinity. When he received orders to follow up on the human known as Andrew Dawes, he was already at the detention facility preparing to transport the other humans.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “No sign of the Enforcer! Take out those guard bots!” Denae shouted to her strike team as she continued to survey the cargo bay for signs of danger. While She did have a level and class, she didn’t possess the same interface that participants in the dungeon had. That particular feature was designed especially for participants by the Coeus, and while outside entities could possess a level and ability, they wouldn’t have access to the interface or system-wide communications. For now, Denae and her strike team held their position and waited for Tiffantrimore and Captain Dawes. If the situation changed, they would need to advance further into the facility.

  “Denae, we are currently en route to the first possible suppression field generator location. Stand by for updates. If a group of five humans approaches you, be aware that they are friendly and will require assistance," Tiff said through the comms.

  “Understood. Make it fast, Tiffantrimore!”

  Tiff and Andrew ran down the long empty hallway, eventually coming to a singular room at the end. The door slid open, and Tiff saw the suppression field generator, but something else also caught her eye. I stood beside her, watching the rear in case guards, or worse, were coming our way.

  “Is that the thing?” I asked, looking back over my shoulder in her direction.

  “Yes, that is the field generator, but this room has several portable units. We need to take two of them to prevent any more unexpected visits,” Tiff replied.

  “Those things gotta weigh hundreds of pounds each!” I scoffed.

  “Yes, but luckily, you have a suit that can handle it,” she said encouragingly.

  The main generator was in the center of the room. It was a large cylindrical shaped piece of machinery that stretched from floor to ceiling. There was an audible hum emanating from it, and the air in the room felt like it held some sort of charge, almost like static electricity.

  “So, how do we disengage the generator?" I asked, looking at the featureless sphere.

  “Easy,” Tiff said as she leveled her rifle and fired three rounds in quick succession into the machine. The generator smoked and popped as the hum of its internal machinery wound to a halt. My interface blinked and returned to my view immediately.

  “It worked; my interface is back!” I whooped as I walked over to the room’s far wall to grab two portable generators. The portable generators were about the size of a small personal refrigerator and made of shiny black metal with no visible exterior markings. A small electronic panel on top of the units was currently blank, indicating they were powered down. I inspected one unit and saw a recessed handle on the top of it directly above the panel. The handle used a pressure release, sort of like a fuel door on some cars. I pushed the handle in a bit, and it sprung from the top.

  “Convenient,” I said.

  “Grab two. We will need one for the Bloodhound and one for the Retribution,” Tiff said as she positioned herself near the front door, rifle ready.

  “Ugh, are these sons of bitches made of lead?!” I grabbed the handle and tried to lift the unit, but I could barely budge it, even with my increased strength stat. The thing must have weighed four hundred pounds.

  “You are going to have to use your armor. You are stronger than you were, but you can't match the strength of your armor," Tiff said without even looking back in my direction.

  I took a breath and stared at my palms as I mentally equipped my armor. I hoped I wouldn’t get the same response I got in my cell. To my relief, I watched as the armor completely covered my hands and arms. My interface changed to the combat HUD that I had become accustomed to while wearing my armor. I walked over and grabbed the portable generator with one arm. I had to strain, and my armor whined as it flexed, but I was able to pick it up this time. “This doesn’t make any sense,” I said, shaking my head.

  “No time to think about it now. Grab the other one, then we have to make our way to the Retribution,” Tiff said.

  We immediately started back down the empty hallway. We still hadn’t encountered any guards or the Enforcer, so we hoped our luck would hold. As we came back to the four-way intersection where we started, I saw the other group running our way. The group was now fully armed, and some of them were wearing armor, while the brunette woman, whose name I didn’t know yet was glowing slightly.

  “Hey, food news! Our interfaces and abilities are back. I guess you guys found the generator!” Red said as he ran up and quickly took stock of my armor. “There was an armory on our side, so we all grabbed a weapon. We should be able to deal with anything that decides to fuck with us now.” The rest of the group trotted to a stop in front of us; they just looked at me, amazed.

  “Wh-what is that armor?” Red asked. “We’re all getting used to our new reality here, and we have seen some crazy shit so far, but that armor is totally badass!”

  “It came with my class. I can tell you more about it when we get out of here,” I said, knowing I didn’t have time to get into the details. “Right now, we need to get out of this damn place.”

  “Agreed. Everyone, follow Andrew. Let's stay close and watch our rear,” Red said to his friends as the group fell in behind me and Tiff. We ran down the long hallway toward the front docking bay, still not encountering any resistance. Soon, we came to the exit door that led to the cargo bay.

  “Okay, everyone, be ready for anything. I don’t know what we are walking into, but I expect that we won’t get out of here without a fight,” I said.

  Tiff pressed her back against the wall beside me, weapon drawn and ready to engage whatever was on the other side of the door. “Denae, we are preparing to enter the cargo bay. Prepare for EVAC.”

  No answer.

  “Denae, we are preparing to enter the cargo bay. Do you copy?” Tiff looked at me with concern as she grasped her rifle tightly in her hands. “No response from Princess Denae. Let’s hope it’s a comms malfunction,” she said. Her voice was calm, but I could see the concern on her face.

  “Well, we're out of options. We have got to get to that drop ship. If Danae and her team are engaging the enemy, we will assist.” I looked at the group to be sure I had their attention. “Okay, everyone, now is the time you earn your keep. There is only one way off this hunk of metal, and it is through whatever is on the other side of this door. Let’s go!”

  We ran through the cargo bay door as it slid up with a hiss; the sounds of combat assaulted our ears immediately. My stomach dropped as I took stock of the ongoing battle. Anthragor was blocking the assault team’s path to the Retribution drop ship; bodies were lying on the floor all around him. There had been a battle here, and it was completely one-sided. The strike team members were all dead or severely wounded. One was completely beheaded, another disemboweled, screaming, trying to keep his insides from falling completely out of his body. It was utter chaos. Anthragor was standing in the center of the chaos, two of his arms holding those menacing red swords as they impaled the fifth member of the strike team and held him dangling in the air, screaming as Anthragor ripped the blades out horizontally, letting the body flop to the floor in a bloody mess.

  Anthragor turned his head in my direction, his eyeless face sending a shiver down my spine. He smiled with that nightmarish maw as he crushed the head of the dying soldier with his boot.

  “Leaving so soon, primate?”