Chapter 68 - Last Stand

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but action in spite of it.”

— Mark Twain

“Here we go,” Chris muttered, his eyes on the doors. “They’re coming.”

“Ten minutes,” Luca said, his voice tight. “Ryan, you’re on defense.”

Ryan was already scanning the room.

“Listen up!” Ryan’s voice cut through the tension. “We’ve got three doors to defend. Luca, take the north entrance.” He paused, his eyes flickering to a large pool of blood. “Try not to slip.”

Luca moved into position, his tomahawk in one hand, his new plasma blaster in the other. The faint, steady thud of approaching footsteps came through the walls. “Got it.”

“Chris, Danny, you take the east door,” Ryan continued. “Set up a barricade and use suppressive fire.”

“Copy that,” Chris said, already moving as Danny used his power armor to drag a heavy console into place.

“Joey, you’re with me on the west door,” Ryan said. “We’ll take point.”

“Emily, Zoe.” He looked at both of them. “You’re our floaters. Move to wherever the line is weakest. Stay mobile.”

Emily and Zoe exchanged a quick nod and slipped into positions on opposite sides of the room.

The command center formed a rough triangle, with blast doors at each point. Luca crouched at the north door, Danny and Chris had built their barricade at the east, and Ryan and Joey held the west. The center was a maze of consoles and debris, perfect for Zoe’s sniper perch and Emily’s mobile support.

As they finished setting up, the alarm’s wail pulsed louder and drilled into his skull. It came up through the floor, steady and relentless.

He crouched behind a stack of metal crates at the north entrance, tomahawk resting on his thigh, his plasma blaster balanced in his other hand. The floor was still tacky beneath his boots. His HUD flashed an ambient temp spike warning as the chemical haze thickened.

Emily moved closer, crouching beside him. Her voice was low. “Luca… are you alright?” After a beat, she added, quieter, “You’re covered in…”

She didn’t finish. His eyes dropped to his suit. His suit was black and red and slick in places. “It’s not mine,” he muttered. She was watching him, and she wasn’t checking for wounds. It was like she was trying to figure out if the person beside her was still him. He didn’t look at her; he couldn’t. If he did, he might have to feel something. Instead, he stared down the hall, waiting.

The first wave hit hard. The north door shuddered, then burst open. A pack of Varnathi skirmishers stormed through, plasma rifles blazing. He fired, blaster up. Two of them dropped before they crossed the threshold.

Their return fire came fast and loud. Bolts of blue-white energy zipped past his head, sizzling against metal. One hit the stack of crates he was using for cover and punched through. Fuck. He ducked as the crate behind him came apart. He sidestepped. His boots skidded, and he stepped on something soft and wet. It was a severed hand.

“Contact at the north door!” he barked. “Multiple hostiles, I need backup!”

“I’m on it,” Zoe’s voice crackled through the comms. Half a second later her rifle cracked behind him, and one of the Varnathi’s heads vanished. Another shot, another clean kill. The rifle cracked again, and a third one dropped.

He risked a glance back. Zoe was perched atop a console in the center of the room, crouched low, sniper rifle braced.

The east door exploded next. “East door’s hot!” Danny’s voice roared. “They’re pushing through, Chris, light up the big one!”

“I’ve got it!” Chris called back. His plasma rifle sang, laying down suppressive fire. The high-pitched whine of his [Power Surge] rose over the gunfire.

“Keep them pinned!” Danny shouted. In his heavy power armor, he was beside Chris, shouldering debris into the breach. His warhammer was strapped to his back, but he had activated [Taunt], drawing fire.

At the west entrance, Ryan and Joey were holding the line, a rifle and a blaster firing in tandem. “They’re pushing hard on my side!” Joey called out. “I’m dropping a grenade!”

“Do it,” Ryan replied. The grenade went off with a crackling boom, sending a white-blue surge of electricity arcing across the attackers.

“I’m switching to napalm!” Joey warned.

“Turret deployed,” Ryan added. The whirr of his deployable energy turret came online, spewing energy bolts.

A Varnathi officer stepped into view at Luca’s position, raising a heavier rifle. Shit. “Sniper left side!” he warned.

Zoe didn’t answer. Her rifle cracked from the center of the room, and the officer’s chest evaporated.

When the smoke cleared, the twisted, charred remains of several guards lay in the doorway.

[+116,913 XP]

[+94,992 credits]

[Level up! Level 63, +5 Attribute Points, +1 Ability Point, +2 PER, +1 DEX, +1 MEM, +3 INT]

He stared at the notifications. That was a huge amount of XP.

Ryan whistled. “Damn. If this keeps up, we’ll hit level 70 by breakfast.”

“This isn’t normal,” Luca said slowly. [Threat Radar] had cycled off cooldown, and with this place throwing cloaked units at them, he’d need it.

“Yeah, don’t get too excited,” Ryan muttered. “I’ve got a theory. We’re getting huge XP now because we crossed into tech level 9 territory. The System’s throwing rewards at us to speed up the curve. But the deeper we go, the steeper that curve’s gonna get. Trust me, leveling after 64 is going to suck.”

“You are such a buzzkill,” Zoe said from her perch.

Danny chimed in over comms. “He’s not wrong. The XP gain is probably exponential early on, then logarithmic past a certain threshold.”

“Can’t we just enjoy it for five seconds?” Luca groaned.

Joey came over the comms. “Hey, science nerds, the loot boxes are open.”

A handful of loot containers had flickered open. He jogged over and popped one.

[Item Acquired: Steady-Hand Injector]

[Item Acquired: Electromagnetic Pulse Grenade x2]

[Item Acquired: Cryo Grenade]

[Item Acquired: Muscle Repair Injector]

[Item Acquired: Energy Stabilizer Vial]

[Item Acquired: Vision Clarity Drops]

[Item Acquired: Anti-Collision AI (Schematic)]

The lull wouldn’t last. Outside, the alarm kept wailing. He flexed his fingers, feeling the weight of his tomahawk.

The minutes dragged on. Sweat itched under his suit. His breathing came in short pulls. He hadn’t stopped moving, and the heat from the power systems turned the command center into a slow-roasting oven. Smoke from burnt metal and scorched flesh hung in the haze outside his visor.

A reflection caught his eye in a pool of blood, and it showed blackened armor and a gore-soaked tomahawk.

He lifted his blaster. Another Varnathi vaulted over a crate. He fired on instinct. It went down in a twitching heap. “We’ve got this,” he muttered.

“Zoe, you’ve got two trying to flank Luca, take them out.” Emily’s voice snapped through comms.

“I’ve got them,” Zoe replied. Two sharp cracks, two bodies dropped. He looked back. She was low against the scaffolding, sniper rifle steady. “You’re clear, Luca. Keep them coming.”

The second wave hit differently, more coordinated.

Ryan’s voice came next, tighter now. “Shift left, Danny. Joey, fall back, you’re exposed.”

Joey grunted. “Copy. Fuck, they’re getting faster.”

A shimmer flickered in his HUD, then vanished. It was a cloaked contact.

“Emily! Behind you!” he shouted. She spun, but not fast enough.

He hit [Threat Radar]. The overlay snapped to life, flooding his vision with movement paths. One red arc angled right for her. No time. He switched to [Hard Lock] and yanked his tomahawk from his belt. The enemy’s shimmer solidified. He threw on instinct. The tomahawk hummed past Emily’s shoulder and buried itself in the invisible Varnathi’s skull. Its cloaking failed as it collapsed.

“Oh my God,” Emily gasped. “Thanks.”

Across the room, something heavy hit the floor with a metal clang. “Uh… we’ve got a big one,” Danny said. A Varnathi in heavy exo-armor stomped into view at the east entrance, plasma bolts pinging harmlessly off its reinforced plating. It raised a massive cannon and fired. One of the rear barricades went up in pieces.

Danny roared and charged, warhammer glowing. He slammed it down on the brute’s shoulder, the blow sending a shockwave through the floor. The Varnathi stumbled, then stood again.

“You gotta be kidding me,” Danny muttered. He hit it again, then a third time. The Varnathi was still standing.

Chris, panting from behind cover, called out. “You want a Power Surge? ’Cause I’ve got one ready.”

“Do it!” Danny barked.

Zoe’s voice came through, low. “I’m out of ammo. I’m reloading, and I need twenty seconds.”

Even Ryan sounded hoarse from the west. “Shit. Luca. Cryo grenade. Now.”

Luca fumbled through his pouch, pulled the canister free, and lobbed it at the tank’s feet. A sub-zero mist spread outward, freezing armor joints mid-stride. Danny’s next swing cracked metal. One more. The brute finally went down, its armor fracturing.

“Downed!” Danny shouted, out of breath. “Jesus, that guy was a tank.”

Joey stumbled over beside him, crouched behind a crate. “That was the second wave?” Luca didn’t answer. He was too busy pulling his tomahawk out of the Varnathi skull.

[+104,159 XP]

[+84,629 credits]

[Item Acquired: Power Cell x4]

[Item Acquired: High Density Plasma Core (Weapon Mod) TL9]

The third wave crashed against them. They came screaming through the breaches, a dozen at once, fast and low like they were hopped up on something.

Luca brought his tomahawk up just in time to gut the first one. He barely even felt the impact anymore. “Three minutes left,” Ryan snapped, his voice raw. “Hold the line!”

He ducked behind the barricade as plasma bolts tore overhead. He popped back up, shot one in the chest with his blaster, then whipped around and slammed his tomahawk into another that had somehow climbed over the barricade behind him. Every shot, every swing, burned now. His arms felt like stone. The comms were full of heavy breathing and pained grunts.

Emily’s voice came through, a tremor in her words. “Luca, hang in there. Please.”

“I’ve got it,” he managed.

Danny yelled from the east. “Oh fuck, tank inbound—shit!”

The exo-armored Varnathi crashed through the wreckage at the east door. Joey moved to intercept but was too slow. The brute grabbed him mid-run and hurled him across the room. He slammed into the wall before collapsing behind a crate.

“Joey!” Danny’s voice cracked, and he was already moving. His warhammer powered up mid-run.

The first hit rang off the tank’s shoulder plate loud enough to hear across the room. The Varnathi staggered, then punched Danny square in the chest, sending him skidding backward. He got up without a word. The second swing came low, cracking armor. The Varnathi lunged with a wrist-mounted plasma blade. Danny sidestepped, but it scraped across his helmet. He spun and brought the hammer down again, overhand, and the boom of the impact lifted the tank off the ground. It still wasn’t dead. It raised its cannon.

Danny didn’t flinch. He charged into the shot, took it on the shoulder, and brought the hammer down a final time. The Varnathi’s helmet imploded. It collapsed in a heap. Danny stood over the wreck, chest heaving, armor steaming. He muttered, low, “That was for Joey.”

Across the room, Zoe had switched to her dagger. Zoe ducked and spun as she cut throats, her boots sliding in the blood. Emily backed her up, covering her flank, precise despite the shaking in her hands.

Something moved on his side. No ping. Cloaked. He caught a shimmer out of the corner of his eye. Too late. A blade swept in. He activated his active camouflage. The cloak flared, and he dropped through the strike, vanishing. He slid between crates, rolled, and came up behind the enemy and slit its throat.

“There’s another cloaked bastard!” Zoe called.

“I see it!” Ryan yelled from the west. He fired his [Arcwave Disruptor]. The shockwave of electricity arced across the floor. The invisible Varnathi howled, convulsing as it dropped. Chris finished it with a burst to the head.

“One minute left!” Ryan barked. “Everyone hold!”

[+127,541 XP]

[+103,627 credits]

[Item Acquired: Centauri Juggernaut Mk-64 Command Helm]

[Item Acquired: Centauri Phantom Mk-64 Shin Guards]

[Item Acquired: Power Cells x4]

[Item Acquired: Hyper-Coag Spray]

[Item Acquired: Biogel Applicator]

[Item Acquired: Auto-Seal Patch]

For a moment, nobody spoke, and the comms were full of ragged breathing.

“Status,” Luca panted into the comms.

“I’m low on ammo,” Zoe reported from her perch.

“My armor’s integrity is at forty percent,” Chris added.

“Joey?” Luca asked.

Emily was already kneeling beside him, her med-kit open. “He’s alive. He’s got cracked ribs and maybe a concussion. He’s out of the fight.”

That was one man down, and the rest of them were running on fumes.

“Luca,” Ryan said. “Get over here. Now.”

Luca crossed the blood-slicked floor to the main command console where Ryan was working. On the central screen, a holographic timer was counting down: 00:34… 00:33…

“That’s the timer for the room’s security lockdown,” Ryan said, pointing to a flashing icon next to it. “When it hits zero, the external doors unlock, and we can walk out. But look at this.”

He highlighted a separate protocol. It wasn’t a distress beacon. The icon was a blade crossed with a crown. The title read: [Commander’s Challenge Protocol].