Abaddon came to a halt mid free-fall, fighting gravity to stabilise himself. He had mere seconds to find his bearings, a jet of green flame blasting up from below. Abaddon barrel-rolled to the side and summoned a shield to protect himself from a barrage of blasts that were being flung his way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDid I upset you, Brother?!\u201d the mad mage cackled. Gratin was rushing up to meet him, firing a stream of attacks at his opponent. He needed to end this quickly so he could focus on getting his friends to safety. He had little time for Abaddon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abaddon attempted to dodge and weave but the pain was slowing him down. The pain caused by Gratin\u2019s pet humans. Every blast that impacted his shield felt like an insult. Gratin\u2019s silence was like pouring salt onto the many wounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cStop ignoring ME<\/em>!\u201d flame burst out of him in a giant sphere, rapidly expanding to engulf any and all incoming blasts. Gratin had to brake hard to avoid flying straight into it. He quickly changed direction as Abaddon began to fire spells through its surface, blasts rapidly spraying out in all directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Below, the mercs climbed to their feet and ran for cover, death raining down from above. Kate scooped her gun up as she ran, darting too and fro before joining Doug at the hole in the wall Gratin had created, Doug grabbing her arm to help her through before the warehouse was destroyed. The force of the explosions threw the mercs backwards, sending them sprawling down the darkened corridor. Doug took the brunt of the force, turning mid air so that Kate would land on him, holding her close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Outside, Gratin was weaving between blasts as fast as he could. Abaddon could see his brother was distracted. He reabsorbed the sphere, collecting the flame in his hand and firing it like a laser beam directly at the spot his fireballs were driving Gratin. The beam hit its mark, puncturing Gratin\u2019s shield and hitting his mask dead on, sending the golden adornment flying off his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sight of Gratin\u2019s bare face gave Abaddon pause. Although Gratin\u2019s jawline still had healthy skin, the area around his eyes and a good chunk of forehead was nothing but scar tissue. The eyes that had once been so vibrant that they practically glowed were now pale, his corneas completely clouded over from sustained damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI see you didn\u2019t leave the moon completely unscathed,\u201d noted the madman as he admired his own handiwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAn eye for an eye. I\u2019ve yet to claim your other,\u201d was Gratin\u2019s calm reply. Abaddon sneered in response, gesturing with his remaining hand for Gratin to try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCome get it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u204e \u204e \u204e<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doug and Kate eased themselves off the floor. They weren\u2019t safe yet, the sounds of explosions rocking the building and causing the ground to shake beneath their feet. Doug offered his hand to Kate, helping her to keep her balance as they both hurried out of the blast zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat- how did you-?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe ain\u2019t the only ones trying to raid Genetix tonight. Power\u2019s out in the whole building. Good thing too else I never would have\u2026\u201d he trailed off, the words catching in his throat. He couldn\u2019t bare to think of what might have happened if he hadn\u2019t broken free\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPoint is, Salmanic\u2019s in the building!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m guessing they wanna get even after the Power Plant invasion?\u201d Doug guessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFaust…we really shouldn\u2019t have come straight here\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah\u2026yeah, you might have a point there\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Up ahead they could see a large man in a lab coat waving them on. He had slicked back grey hair, a large, heavily styled moustache and coke-bottle lenses. The mercs couldn\u2019t help but exchanged a confused look with one another as they approached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you\u2019re about to tell us to go into stasis then I\u2019m gonna introduce you to my boot-\u201d Doug began once close enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShh!\u201d the scientist looked frantic, \u201cMy name is Doctor Tilo K\u00e4seh\u00e4ndler. GR4 instructed me to stay close to the pair of you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c…Why would Gratin say that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI believe I technically am his prisoner right now? It\u2019s all very confusing,\u201d the doctor gave them an apologetic look. This only led to more questions but this was hardly the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI ain\u2019t going to argue with that. What\u2019s the best way outta here, Tilo?\u201d asked Doug, taking the situation in his stride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI would say back this\u2026.way\u2026\u201d there was an odd skittering noise, something large darting around the far end of the darkened corridor. There were shadows being thrown about by the dim, red emergency lighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh dear\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat now?\u201d Kate asked, reloading the empty pistol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUm…well…In GR4\u2019s daring escape, the guards caused something of a containment breach. In the Aetheric Creatures Containment Floor. Many of which feed on aether sources…which GR4 and the Sister\u2019s guest are currently saturating the area with\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat are you trying to say Doc?\u201d Doug asked, holding his chainsaw arm out in front of him and drawing his own gun. The shadows were getting closer, a mass of shapes turning the corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we don\u2019t leave here promptly then I fear we may become appetisers to some very hungry specimen that have been in stasis for a very long time. Or worse\u2026\u201d he let the sentence hang. He couldn\u2019t see any more of the armoured gorillas but there were many other things to worry about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh. Great. Is that all?\u201d Kate asked, aiming her weapons at the shifting mass of shadows moving around in the darkness. She could see wings and horns and the glint of scales in the dim light. There was also the noises. Skittering and clacking. Strange, alien growls. They had just left one hell and had stepped directly into another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhere\u2019s the nearest way out Doc?\u201d Doug pressed, a note of desperation in his voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe central hub\u2019s atrium. Which is on the other side of all that!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell fuck,\u201d this was punctuated by the corridor behind them erupting into flame as a blast slammed into it from the outside, fire engulfing the area. The trio were nearly knocked off their feet by the blowback, the three of them crying out in shock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This acted as a starting signal for the creatures at the far end, several dog-like entities covered in scales and sharp, pointy bits broke into a sprint, charging down the corridor to where they could smell meat and magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doug and Kate opened fire. Kate aimed for anything that looked even remotely vulnerable: eyes and the softer underbellies. Doug just let the laser fire rip, swiping with his chainsaw the moment anything got close enough. Two creatures fell mid-way down the corridor. A third was skewered by the saw, Doug roaring as he dragged the contraption through the animal, bisecting it. There were more following and they were extremely fast, clearing the hallway in seconds. The smarter avoided Doug and his saw, bounding past to try and tackle the relatively-less-deadly Kate and K\u00e4seh\u00e4ndler. Kate fired directly into the mouth of a creature as it attempted to snap at her, twirled aside and emptied a round point-blank into the back of another\u2019s skull as it tried to pass her to attack the doctor. She then found herself diving to the ground as a third tried to leap at her, the creature sailing over her head and directly into the magical fire that was in the process of consuming the corridor behind them. The sight of it caused her heart rate to quicken and her breath to catch. Especially when the creature walked out of the fire completely aflame, parts of its neck aglow with absorbed magical energy. It looked truly demonic, the light and shadows dancing across its face twisting its features in such a way that highlighted just how unnatural the creature was. It looked as though it had just stepped out of a nightmare and its attention was on her and her allies. It\u2019s jaw began to open, a swirl of green energy coalescing there in a writhing ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShitshitSHIT!\u201d Kate dove aside and flung herself at Doug, knocking him into the wall as a beam of energy erupted from the creature\u2019s mouth and shot down the corridor, taking out a number of the other monsters shuffling their way down the corridor and barely missing the two humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat the fuck?!\u201d cried the startled Doug.<\/p>\n\n\n\n