"BOOM!!!"
Two beams of sickly green light slammed into the center of the plaza. The blackstone floor instantly vaporized, leaving behind two smoking green craters.
A massive shockwave swept across the entire hall.
A split second before the beams hit, Körber and his squad used the jump packs on their power armor to scatter outward.
Where there's smoke, there's no damage—while that might be a golden rule, the shockwave was very real.
Multi-ton power suits were sent flying, slamming heavily into the walls and leaving spiderweb-like cracks in the blackstone.
"Cough, cough—"
Körber scrambled up from the rubble, his helmet display flashing red warning icons.
Armor damaged, shield overloaded.
He looked up.
Two Canoptek Doomstalkers stepped over a distance of dozens of meters with their long legs, the heavy cannons on their heads already charging for a second strike.
Damn it, this thing isn't built to fight infantry!
This is built to fight Titans!
Even though Andy had supplied them with high-explosive crossbows, that tiny payload wouldn't even leave a scratch on a Doomstalker's living metal armor!
"Run! Everybody run!"
Körber shouted into the comms: "Don't look back! Fall back to the corridor!"
Without a second thought, the squad scrambled to their feet and sprinted toward the corridor they came from.
Anyone turning back now would be an idiot!
Sprinting at full speed, Körber slammed his commlink and cursed, "Boss! Boss! Do you copy?!"
"We bumped into something heavy! This damn place has Titans!"
"Zzz—zzz—"
Nothing came through the receiver except harsh static.
Communications were completely jammed.
"Fuck!"
Körber punched his thigh plate in frustration.
In his head, Körber cursed the ancient metal skelly-boys and their entire ancestry—though he wasn't sure if they even had direct relatives after tens of millions of years!
That didn't stop him from using the vilest insults to curse these bastards who brought Titan-level firepower to a firefight!
At the same time, Körber kept an eye on the countdown in the top-right corner of his helmet display, calculating the time window.
Since they stepped into this wretched place, the thermal base station outside had triggered three gravitational wave pulses according to its scheduled program.
Every pulse signaled an escape window, and that damned portal would only stay open for sixty seconds.
His math was precise: only six minutes remained until the fourth pulse.
At their current breakneck speed—provided they weren't crushed into meat paste by the two war beasts behind them—they would reach the portal right as it opened.
A second too early, no way out; a second too late, they'd be trapped in this tomb as sacrifices for the metal skelly-boys!
"Everyone, double time!"
---
Meanwhile, inside the sarcophagus chamber.
The muffled explosions outside echoed through the floor, sending dust cascading down from the ceiling.
The two vanguard soldiers left behind, Vita and Buck, exchanged a look.
"Fighting broke out outside," Buck said anxiously, holding a melta detonator. "Heavy noise. The Cap probably can't hold them off, so we need to hurry up."
Vita pointed at the sarcophagus still venting cold frost.
"Blow this thing open, grab the living metal plate, and get out. If we go back empty-handed, the Boss will hang us from the flagpole."
Now that's Deep Space Industry's "stellar" corporate culture!
Never leave empty-handed!
Neither of them felt any moral burden.
It was a human inside, not some metal skelly-boy that might wake up at any second. As long as they controlled the explosive yield, they wouldn't kill her.
Though whether she was alive or dead remained to be seen—
Buck expertly attached the melta charge to the edge of the crystal panel on the sarcophagus lid.
If his guess was right, that was the weakest structural point.
"Get back."
"Detonating."
Thump.
A muffled detonation sounded.
The melta jet burned straight through the crystal, the intense heat causing the surrounding living metal to suffer thermal fatigue and disintegrate.
Clatter.
Half of the sarcophagus lid shattered and collapsed inward.
"Got it!"
Buck rushed forward excitedly, reaching out to pry off the living metal plate that was still attached.
Bringing this back—even a small piece—would fetch a good amount of merit points.
Let alone half a coffin lid!
Buck was even thinking that if he pushed a bit harder, he might be able to pick off the remaining half too!
However.
Just as his hand reached out, it froze in mid-air.
Through the lingering green preservative mist, a pair of eyes snapped open.
Except... those weren't human eyes!
The whites of the eyes were gone, replaced by a pair of burning, star-bright green pupils.
Set in a emaciated, sallow face, those eyes were deeply unsettling.
"Is... is it a corpse resurrection?!"
Buck stepped back, instinctively raising his gun.
Moments later, the frail girl who was previously in a deep coma slowly sat up with stiff movements.
As she moved, the tubes and electrodes plugged into her spine, arms, and neck popped off one after another.
Patter, patter.
The tubes fell to the bottom of the sarcophagus with crisp sounds.
She turned her head blankly, her green eyes scanning across Vita and Buck.
No anger, no fear, no confusion.
Only a profound indifference, like a machine scanning two obstacles.
"Hands up! Don't move!"
Vita reacted as well, raising his boltgun and aiming the barrel straight at her head.
"Are you human or a ghost?!"
Facing the dark gun barrel, the girl said nothing.
Then, she gently clenched her thin, skeletal right hand toward empty air.
Whoosh!!
A sharp air-tearing sound rang out.
From deep within the sarcophagus's life-support machinery, several silver-gray, spine-like Canoptek tendrils shot out violently.
They moved so fast they left only a blur.
Clack! Clack!
Two sharp cracks echoed.
Vita and Buck felt a violent shock in their wrists as their boltguns were swiped out of their hands, smashing hard against the wall.
"Holy crap!"
Buck was horrified and instinctively reached for the CBS high-explosive crossbow on his shoulder.
"Hold on."
Vita slapped Buck's hand down.
He stared at the girl, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
"Don't draw," Vita whispered, his voice low. "She has no intent to kill."
"If she wanted us dead just now, she wouldn't have targeted the guns."
Sure enough.
The girl didn't attack further.
The tendrils retracted back into the sarcophagus.
She held onto the edge of the sarcophagus and slowly stood up.
Then, she stepped out.
She wore no clothes, her severely emaciated body completely exposed to the air. Her ribs were starkly visible, and her skin had a pale, sickly hue from a lack of sunlight.
There was no beauty in it, only a morbid eerie feel.
Only her long gray hair was exceptionally thick, reaching all the way down to her ankles and swaying behind her as she walked.
Ignoring the two fully armed soldiers, she walked straight toward the doorway.
Reaching the threshold, she paused.
She raised her left hand and pointed toward the corridor outside.
"What's that mean?" Buck asked, bewildered. "Eviction notice? Telling us to scram?"
Before Vita could answer—
Rumble—
A massive tremor vibrated from deep within the corridor, accompanied by Körber's signature loud voice: "Run! Everyone fucking double time!"
"Those two rusted heaps behind us are catching up!"
Vita's face changed: "Trouble! Go!"
Disregarding the strange girl, the two spun around and dashed into the corridor.
A few steps out, they nearly crashed headfirst into the retreating main squad.
Körber was in the lead, his power armor covered in gouges, his shoulder smoking.
His boltgun was long gone, and he was clutching his large sack to his chest.
Behind him, the rest of the squad was dragging a few wounded brothers while hauling their own sacks, sprinting for their lives.
In the darkness behind them, two massive green light sources were closing in rapidly, accompanied by heavy mechanical footsteps.
Canoptek Doomstalkers!
The things moved surprisingly fast. Their four long legs crossed dozens of meters per stride, grinding against the narrow corridor walls with ear-splitting screeches.
"Stop gaping! Run!" Körber roared at Vita and Buck.
Vita and Buck turned around without a word and ran.
They sprinted back toward the entrance of the sarcophagus chamber, where the loot they gathered earlier was piled up.
Two full sacks of high-grade components and Canoptek materials—their entire haul for this mission.
Buck grabbed one of the bags, the jump pack thrusters on his back lighting up.
"Go, go, go! Grab the stuff!"
Buck activated his thrusters, launching himself toward the distant exit.
Vita grabbed the other bag.
Just as he was about to run, his gaze flicked to the side.
The girl.
She was still standing there, quietly watching the approaching giant monster, her green eyes still devoid of any emotion.
She walked slowly; her frail body looked as though it struggled just to stay upright.
Left here, she'd be stomped into meat paste in seconds.
Vita hesitated.
Reason told him to leave it alone.
She was an unknown freak who had disarmed them moments ago.
Taking the sack of loot and running was the smart move!
But—
Vita thought of Andy.
If the Boss liked condensate, wouldn't he also be extremely interested in this kind of... oddity?
Wasn't this girl just a walking, breathing, oversized condensate sample?!
Besides, she could control Necron machinery—that clearly meant massive value!
If he brought her back, wouldn't she be worth far more than a bag of scrap parts?
"Dammit!"
Vita cursed under his breath.
Amid the roaring thunders and the approaching shadow of death, he made his choice.
He let go, and the magnetic bag filled with precious components hit the floor with a heavy clatter.
Vita charged forward, scooping up the girl who was thin as a skeleton.
With zero gentleness, he threw her over his shoulder like a sandbag.
"Hold on tight!"
Vita roared, punching his jump pack to maximum output.
BOOM—!!
He shot forward like a projectile, catching up with the squad ahead.
Buck's furious voice screamed over the comms: "Vita! You waste of money!"
"You threw away your bag?! That was enough cash to buy a house!"
"What are you picking up a little skeleton for?! The Boss doesn't need a bandit bride, and she isn't even pretty!"
Vita ignored him, keeping his head down as he sprinted.
The two Doomstalkers had reached the entrance of the main hall.
Their massive cannon barrels began to charge, green energy illuminating the entire space.
Annihilation was imminent.
Dangling over Vita's shoulder and bouncing up and down with his stride, the girl didn't struggle.
She merely lifted her head with effort, her long gray hair cascading down.
Looking back at the two approaching harbingers of destruction, her green eyes narrowed slightly.
And then—
She slowly raised her small hand toward them, spreading her five fingers wide.