Princess Denae opened her eyes. Everything was blurry as she tried to gain her composure. There were flashes of blood and crumpled bodies lying all around her. The thump thump thump of the Enforcer’s boot rang in her ears as he crushed the head of one of her assault team. She could hear the screams of some of her men around her as she lay crumpled against the opened cargo bay door of the dropship. The last thing she remembered was the Enforcer rushing into the room as the strike team finished off the last of the guards, then total carnage as he turned his wrath on her team.
Denae was scouting ahead to ensure the facility entrance was clear of enemies when the Enforcer blindsided her from the other side of the entrance door. As soon as the door slid open, the Enforcer screamed through, little more than a blur. He kicked Denae in the chest before she even had time to react, knocking her completely across the large room, where she came to an abrupt stop, slamming into the hull of the Retribution drop ship. As she blacked out, she saw her men rushing the Enforcer trying to give their princess an opportunity to survive. Her team had given their lives so she would have an opportunity to live. The thought sickened her. The Enforcer was just another powerful being destroying the lives of those less powerful. Danae had seen this all before. Her people had lived with the shame of not being strong enough for far too long. She felt a wave of emotion swell inside as she looked at the broken bodies of her loyal men. She had them to their death; she had failed to protect them, and by failing them, she had failed to complete the mission. All of this and more washed over her as she watched the last man die. “Noooo!” she screamed as she forced herself to stand, legs shaking, muscles aching from the impact on the drop ship. Electricity began to crackle in waves over her body, covering her from head to toe as she stood in defiance of this newest in a long line of oppressors.
Me, Tiff, and the five other prisoners entered the room and saw the carnage. I turned to the other five prisoners and saw the fear in their eyes, “Get to that drop ship, now!” Tiff didn’t hesitate, rushing in immediately and placing herself between me and Anthragor. She turned her head, looking back over her shoulder, “Andrew, you cannot fight him. Get to the ship with them. Denae and I will keep him occupied.”
Anthragor slowly lifted his foot from what remained of the now-dead soldier’s head and turned to face Tiff. “So, the primate brought help. How entertaining,” he laughed and scraped his boot against the floor to clean the gore from his sole. “I haven’t killed a Phylaxian in quite some time. This day just continues to reward my diligence.”
Before he could finish speaking, Denae rushed him from his rear, her body completely consumed with electricity. As she ran, tendrils of electricity jumped out from her body, arcing off the floor and various objects around her. Anthragor stood unmoving, seemingly unaware of the threat approaching from his rear. Just as she reached him, Anthragor spun, his bottom right arm shooting out, grabbing Denae by the throat and lifting her completely off the ground. “A nuisance,” he squeezed as Danae grasped at his clawed hand. “Do you mean to kill me, Havokium scum? Did you assume I would be threatened by you and your quaint party tricks?” Still holding Danae as she struggled, Anthragor slowly turned his eyeless head in my direction, focusing solely on me as if Tiff didn’t exist.
“I.. co… get re..”
I heard a voice crackle over my comm, but it was breaking up.
“CJ? Is that you?” I asked, not taking my eyes off Anthragor.
“Hold on, bro! I’m coming!” CJ shouted over the comms.
“Elvis coming too, time to KILL!” Elvis shouted as two of the Havok hound drop suits shot into the cargo bay from outside, one missing a left arm. The two suits shot into the bay like rockets, slamming into Anthragor, knocking him back across the room, and allowing Denae to free herself.
“Run!” Tiff shouted, grabbing my shoulder and shoving me toward the dropship with the five prisoners. We reached the ramp of the dropship, and I threw the two portable field generators inside. I had 45 seconds left on my suit before it timed out.
“Get inside and strap in!” I shouted to the group.
As the group of five all rushed into the dropship, I returned to the ramp to see what was happening. Anthragor was on his hands and knees now, screaming in defiance. Denae and the two Havok Hound suits piloted by CJ and Elvis were advancing on him, but a chill ran down my spine as he got up to one knee, using one of his swords to brace himself, lifted that eyeless head toward me, and smiled.
“I’m coming, Primate!” he screamed as he stood and rushed the group, swords outstretched at his sides. Anthragor moved with the grace of a warrior whose skills were honed to perfection over countless decades. CJ swung with his suit’s only remaining arm in a desperate attempt to injure the enforcer. Anthragor dropped the sword he held in his left hand and caught the punch. He then caught the sword with his bottom left hand, and with a blindingly fast swing, he bisected the suit and kept walking.
Elvis screamed in anger, “Face me and die with honor, devil!” He had some sort of long two-handed hammer; I wasn’t sure where it came from, but I guessed Elvis had it hidden away in the armory somewhere. Elvis swung the massive hammer, connecting with the left side of Anthragor’s head with a crunch. Not wasting a moment, he then jumped into the air as boosters from the bottom of the suit’s feet exploded to life, propelling him forward impossibly fast. His knee connected with Anthragor’s chest, doubling the Enforcer over with a grunt of pain. Finally shaking off Anthragor’s latest assault, Princess Denae threw herself back into the fray. She rushed in her arms extended toward Anthragor as electricity exploded into him with a crackling sizzle.
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“Aaargh!” Anthragor screamed. “Enough of this!” he shouted as he stood and kicked Elvis’s suit, knocking it back onto the ground. I was reeling. I couldn’t just watch this. I couldn’t watch Anthragor kill the people who were trying to save me; I had to act. I saw Tiff rushing toward the Enforcer as he swung his swords wildly at Denae, who continued to blast electricity into him while dodging his wild swings.
The timer on my interface was down to 30 seconds.
As I stepped down off the ramp, I thought to myself, "If I can catch him off guard, I can help." I summoned my daggers and ran toward him; I knew my friends would die if I didn’t help. Running as fast as my suit would carry me, I crossed the large room in seconds. I saw my opening as Anthragor struggled against Denae’s persistent blasts of electricity. I jumped, holding my two daggers, pointing down, ready to strike the final blow.
I can do this… if I can just get to him and get my daggers into his body, I can end this nightmare. I thought as I flew through the air. Just as my daggers were about to make contact, he looked up with the reflexes of a deadly cobra and smiled once more. He quickly punched with his right bottom arm, catching Denae in the side of the head and knocking her to the ground. Then, in a fluid, practiced motion, he swung the two blood-red swords up in an X motion, taking off both my arms from the elbow down. My arms fell to the ground, and my daggers clanged to the ground and disappeared. I landed on the ground in front of him, blood pouring from my arms as I held them up in front of me, confused at what I saw. My suit ran out of time and deactivated as I slumped to my knees, watching the blood spurt onto the floor. My health bar was rapidly depleting, my body was going cold. It’s over, I’m dead, I…. I failed, I thought as I knelt there, bleeding to death.
“NOOOO!” Tiff screamed as she ran up to me, catching my body as I slumped over. My vision was pulsing black. I was in shock and about to lose consciousness.
Anthragor laughed maniacally, pointing his swords at me as I bled out. “The primate was outmatched, AI. You should have taught him better than to attack his superiors.”
Denae pulled herself up once more and ran over to Tiff as she held my body. She reached out and took hold of the stubs that were now my arms, placing her palms on them; blood immediately covered her hands. She squeezed my mangled arms, and electricity pulsed from her palms, cauterizing the wound and staunching the blood flow. “Use a health stim, Captain,” she said, looking at me with the concern of an old friend. “You will survive this. Elvis, get him to the drop ship,” she said as she stood to face Anthragor once more. “Let’s finish this, Enforcer.”
“Of course, Havokium, it would be my honor to rid the universe of one more of your shameful race,” he said as he raised his swords and took his battle stance once again. Denae formed a staff of pure crackling energy, took her stance, and rushed the Enforcer as Elvis ran to the drop ship, carrying me over his shoulder. Tiff watched me being carried to the drop ship, regret exploding inside her. She would not stand idly by and watch this enforcer take another life. She spun as Denae rushed the enforcer, “No more!” she shouted. Denae, moving swiftly, swung her staff at Anthragor but he expertly dodged, countering with a downward strike of his right-hand sword. Denae dodged and spun to her right, thrusting the staff into his midsection. Anthragor grunted as the staff made contact, grabbing at his charred midsection with his bottom arms. Tiff entered the fray with a kick to the Enforcer’s temple, knocking him off balance as he stumbled back before gathering himself and re-centering his stance.
“Finally, a challenge,” Anthragor growled. Just then, the entire facility rumbled as sparks and steam began exploding from various wires and piping. The lights flickered, and the station tilted on its axis. The artificial gravity blinked, just enough to notice.
“Elvis? Was that you?” Tiff asked.
“Elvis used the Ron Jeremy on the facility! Elvis will kill the entire facility; you must get off now!” Elvis said over the comms.
Anthragor growled as he readied himself once more. He rushed forward in a flash of unbelievable speed and grabbed both Denae and Tiff, jumping and pinning them to the ground with his bottom arms, his two top arms holding his swords pointing down toward their chests. “I tire of this! Die, you unworthy traitors!” Anthragor rumbled. As he did, a hammer crashed down from behind him, hitting him directly in the back of the skull, splitting it open as he groaned and stumbled. Without another word he dropped his swords and fell limply to the ground. Tiff’s duplicate body stood holding the hammer. “We gotta go now!” she said.
Elvis fired another round from the Ron Jeremy, this one causing the facility to begin breaking apart, the detention cells floating away from the main structure. Tiff’s duplicate body flashed away as she and Denae got up and quickly ran to the drop ship.
“Get back to the Retribution!” Denae shouted to the pilot as she limped up to the cockpit, holding her ribs before sitting and strapping into the co-pilot’s chair. “Everyone strap in. This place is going to blow,” she said. The drop ship shot out of the cargo bay as the detention facility flashed and exploded. There was no sound, just the shaking and vibration from the explosion as shrapnel pinged against the escaping drop ship.
Tiff ran over to me; I hadn’t used a stim as I was unable to focus and say Randi’s stupid activation phrase. Elvis had administered first aid, and I was conscious. My health hovered around fifty percent, and I was stable for now, but I was completely defeated and broken. “My hands….they’re….they’re gone…” I said, staring down at the mangled mess that remained. Tiff placed her hand on my chest. “It will be okay, Captain. You’re alive. You saved people today; you made it back to us. Be grateful for that.”
#
“Were you able to pull him out before the facility collapsed?” the Lacertine said to the Corporal manning the station. The Corporal was tapping furiously on the screen as he looked back at the Senator, “Y...Yes sir, just barely. He should be in the med bay now. He did sustain major injuries, so he might not be conscious.”
“Well done, Corporal. Anthragor will not be happy when he wakes up, but we have just improved our position greatly in this contest. We have an Enforcer General that owes us a debt.” The cloaked Lacertine vessel warped away.
