The car crashed through the entrance gate of the factory. The canopy flung out onto the ground and the group jumped out. Harrun checked for wounds on Cassie as Steve and Eli wrestled a crate from the car.

Harrun looked on her short range sonar and screamed, “Guys we have to run now, there’s over a dozen drones not a 100 m away “

“I know “, Eli hoisted Cassie up to his chest and moved towards the door, “I’m sorry “. She saw the drone swarm charging in with miniguns bared, but upon seeing the two, they closed their weapons bay.

Eli screamed, “Steve now! “.

Cassie’s eyes popped as she saw Steve emerge with a giant rocket launcher. “Go to hell “, he fired a missile. Before the drones could react, the missile reached them and exploded, producing a massive blast wave that shattered the machines to pieces.

Cassie screamed as the fire raced towards them but Eli extended a hand forward and the blast front stopped before them. However, two drones emerged from the fire and launched hooks at them but the wires repulsed back from an invisible wall. Eli clenched his fingers and the drones stopped mid air. Steve knocked them out with two rounds from a rifle. Eli dropped her and knelt on the ground, drawing heavy breaths.

Cassie looked with awe. Does he have the blessing?

Steve rushed to him, “Is your nose bleeding? “. Eli pulled himself up, “No time to bleed “.

They saw a large flotilla of gunships and drop ships rushing towards them from over the horizon. They ran inside the factory complex proper.

#

Within a few minutes, the array of ships arrived at the scene. The Gunship doors opened and nearly four dozen men infantrymen jumped out, their fall balanced by their implants and integrated body armor.

A large, metallic orb emerged from a storage ship and flew inside the factory. A few seconds later, four human bodies and a detailed, 3D imagery of the factory came up on the scout’s hologram.

“Sonar has located the targets, deploying combat drones no...” a hand large hand grasped the man’s shoulder. He looked up to see a towering Croc, of grey and black skin. “Cancel that order, Lieutenant”, two rows of teeth flared, “we’re doing this the fun way “

The group ran through the giant factory complex. Its colossal interior was filled with abandoned tanks, pipes and ruined machinery. They passed by a massive blast door as they entered into the reactor chamber.

Eli looked intently at the enormous, steel door, standing sixty feet tall and twenty feet wide. “Steve, we need to shut this down, that door can stop a hydrogen bomb. “Steve replied, “can’t do it without the access codes and we lack the equipment or time to hack it “

Cassie asked, “Ms. Harrun, how far till we get under ground? “. They passed a control tower and into a drone workshop. “It will take a while I fear, but…” she looked at the sonar and stopped.

“What’s wrong? “, Cassie asked. The others stopped as well. “I…I don’t get it. She stared at the sonar. “It shows hostiles on every direction, coming towards us, even from above and below! “

“Are they generating decoys? “, Steve asked. “I uh…”. The roof above their heads exploded and four Mercs grappled down and fired a carbon fiber net at them. The three hooks and the nets descended on them but Eli stopped them mid air.

Before the befuddled Mercs could react, Steve fired at them. Two rounds landed on two of their chest armors, knocking them back while a third smashed through one’s helmet and a splatter of blood poured out. He aimed for the last one but a faint flash of light passed by his head. His head exploded the next second, splashing the trio with blood.

Cassie let out a horrified scream and Eli raised a hand towards the two girls and the two flew across the floor towards a worker exit.

“Go, run, head to the tunnels! “, he screamed before blocking a second plasma round from the sniper. Harrun pushing back tears took Cassie by the arms and ran.

Dozens of men streamed through the blast door and within moments surrounded him. He jumped to cover behind a tank but the Merc from above fired, a round grazed his shoulder.

The Merc aimed for the killing shot but a force choked his throat and sent him flying at the troops at other end. Just near them, he grenades in waist detonated, send his legs, and his comrades flying.

EM rounds started flying at him from all directions and Eli jumped on the floor to dodge them. He pulled the frail supports from under two storage tanks and the huge metal cylinders came tumbling down.

The Mercs scrambled to dodge but two still ended up crushed beneath them, the weight of the tanks squeezed the guts out of their armored shells. Eli made a run for the service door but a giant armored Croc fired a minigun at him.

Eli raised a hand to block the bullets but his legs started to give in, his nose was bleeding profusely and his eyes grew red. The enemy continued fire and the red rounds left a trail of plasma through the air. However Eli held the invisible wall till the gun overheated and the muzzle exploded in flames.

The Merc drew for his rifle but Eli psionically grabbed the Croc by the throat and raised him up to the air. Eli moved to twist his throat but then noticed a flash of light before his belly. A moment later, a stream of blood and guts burst out onto the floor in front. He collapsed to his knees. He looked back to see a sniper behind him, hovering in the air, his invisibility cloak came off to reveal a human in Ghost armor.

The Mercs led by the Croc walked up to him. The Croc pulled off Eli’s mask and a gargle of blood dripped out. Through a screen of red, Eli saw the Croc bring out a power sword and grab him by the hair.

God, please forgive me…I failed

Eli’s head came off clean with one stroke.

#

Harrun and Cassie entered the fabrication chamber. Thousands of empty moulds, production belts and 3D printing chambers lay dotted across the chamber. Upon entry, Harrun stopped running and fell to her knees. She began crying. Cassie still thunderstruck from what happened to Steve couldn’t find any words.

She must hate me, I’m the reason Steve died that way. If only they didn’t come to save me. Cassie felt incredibly selfish for wanting to leave the container. Why am I so cursed?

Harrun let off a deep breath and rose up. “Come, we have to go, the storage section is not far off, from there we can reach the old supply and maintenance tunnels “. She looked at the tracker and gasped. Both Eli and Steve were offline. Her spine shivered when she looked at the Sonar.

“Ms Harrun? “

Harrun took a deep breath and brought out a small device. She calibrated it and then dragged Cassie towards an exhaust port. She put the device into her hands.

“Follow the vent to its exit and then follow the directions of the AI in the pad. He’ll lead you to a safe house with supplies. No matter what happens just stay there”. She started putting some device next to the vent. Cassie asked, “But what about you? “. After a moment of pause she replied, “I’ll be there soon, I promise. Now go, and whatever happens, don’t look back “

Fighting back the trembling in her body, Cassie headed down the pipeline. Harrun immediately put several devices around the vent. Afterwards she brought out a pistol and walked across the room. Her hands trembling, she looked at the sonar. I’m not afraid of you, I serve the one true God and I fear no death!

Sweat rained down her body as the air in her helmet grew thick. Last she checked, the sonar showed hundreds of signs coming towards them from all directions. She pointed the gun at the door to the room. Her muscles tense as she aimed the shot.

The corner of her eyes caught a red flash for a moment and then her pistol burst into bits.

Shocked, she stumbled backwards but struck against a hard wall. It was not metal. With her whole body shaking and pants going wet, she slowly turned. In the darkness, she saw a pair of red, demonic eyes eagerly looking down on her.

Two rows of sharp teeth opened to a grin. She got no time to scream. A pair of heavy hands grasped her and a mouth full of razor sharp canines clasped onto her shoulder, biting right through her collar bone and muscle.

Streams of blood rushed down her convulsing body as she began to lose vision, her mind was too shocked to scream. While the fiend greedily sucked on the blood of her maimed body, she saw other beings emerge from the shadows, their eyes glowing with malice. The demon in front gulped down her shoulder and the teeth now barred open for her face.

Closing her eyes she conjured a final image of herself in Eli’s arms and smiled. May God reincarnate me at your side in the next life. She pressed a button on her waist. Two large explosions went off, and huge section of the walls came tumbling down on them, covering them and the vent entrance with debris.