The high vault of Sector 5 was a churning cauldron of fire, blinding arc-flashes, and screaming metal. The four-hundred-foot hull of the Apex Aegis hung suspended thirty feet above the shattered plaza deck, its massive ventral grav-turbines roaring with a deafening, bass-heavy thrum that vibrated through the marrow of every person in the cavern.
Up on the underside plating of the dreadnought, heavy armored deployment hatches hissed open. Streams of black-armored Vanguard infantry dropped down on pneumatic winch lines, landing heavily among the rubble of the concourse with high-frequency rail-rifles already drawn.
"Keep those black-plates pinned to the drop zones!" Master Oakes roared, his double-barreled steam rifle barking twice as he dropped behind a heavy ore hopper. "Don't let them form a perimeter around the ship's landing gear! Mara! Pump the high-pressure steam into Sector Gate 5-B!"
"We're on it, Oakes!" Mara yelled back from the primary manifold controls. She slammed her palm onto a massive iron lever, sending an eight-hundred-degree curtain of pressurized steam roaring out of the floor grates directly into the path of an advancing Vanguard squad. The heavy armor suits held, but the sudden thermal overload blinded their external optic sensors, forcing them back into the crossfire of fourteen rotary cannons.
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTT!
Streams of plasma-wrapped copper rods tore through the smoke, ripping through the kinetic shields of the Vanguard infantry and keeping the lower floor locked in a fierce, static battle.
High on the central catwalk, Danial Vance looked up at the belly of the airborne beast. The left side of the Apex Aegis featured a broad, open secondary cargo bay ramp—lowered ten feet to vent the thermal heat generated by its sputtering third grav-turbine.
"That's our way in," Danial said, pointing his glowing left arm toward the lowered ramp.
Maya stepped up beside him, clicking a fresh, high-capacity capacitor pack into her long-range rifle. Her eyes were sharp, scanning the underslung gun turrets mounted near the cargo bay. "The automated anti-personnel turrets are active along that flank, Danial. The second we leave this catwalk, those quad-barrels will track us."
"Not if they don't have eyes," Maya said, a grim smile touching her lips as she raised her rifle to her shoulder. She fired three rapid, high-voltage shots in quick succession.
PEW! PEW! PEW!
The bright blue plasma bolts struck the optical lens arrays of the three nearest automated turrets, blinding them instantly in showers of bright sparks.
"Clear!" Maya called out. "Oakes! We're making the jump!"
"I'm right behind you, girl!" Oakes grunted, lumbering up the catwalk steps with his heavy steam rifle slung across his chest and a bag of thermal charges over his shoulder. He looked at Danial, his grease-stained face split into a determined grin. "Let's go take this flying coffin."
Danial turned to the two Selar Sentinels hovering nearby, his left arm flaring with a bright golden pulse.
[COMMAND MATRIX: SELAR SENTINEL UNIT 01 & 02] [TASK: PERIMETER SUPPRESSION] [COVERING FIRE: MAIN CARGO BAY BAY VECTOR]
The two bronze constructs chimed in harmony, sweeping their long, segmented bodies around the catwalk to draw the fire of the dreadnought's remaining underslung turrets.
"Now!" Danial shouted.
He leapt from the catwalk handrail, using the low gravity of the subterranean cavern and a burst of kinetic energy from his left arm to launch himself twenty feet through the air. He hit the wet, steel floor of the Apex Aegis's lowered cargo ramp, sliding five feet before catching his grip on a heavy structural tie-down ring.
A second later, Maya landed lightly beside him, her boots skidding on the polished deck. Oakes hit the ramp with a heavy, metallic crash that made the hydraulic arms groan, but he scrambled to his feet instantly, racking the bolt of his steam rifle.
[LOCATION: AIRBORNE DREADNOUGHT 'APEX AEGIS'] [SECTION: LOWER CARGO BAY 02] [SECURITY LEVEL: MAXIMUM ALERT] [INTERNAL COMBAT UNITS: PROXIMITY WARNING]
"Inside, quick!" Danial urged, leading the way through the heavy pneumatic airlock into the dreadnought's interior.
The interior of the Apex Aegis was a stark, clinical contrast to the salt-crusted, steamy world of Sector 5. The corridors were wide, clad in sterile gray composite plating illuminated by harsh, overhead red emergency lights. Alarm sirens blared in rhythmic, deafening pulses, accompanied by a calm, automated voice echoed through the ship's internal speakers.
"SECURITY BREACH IN LOWER CARGO BAY 02. INTRUDER PROTOCOL ACTIVE. INTERNAL DEFENSE SQUADRON TO FLIGHT DECK ACCESS."
"They know we're onboard," Maya said, backing up against the steel wall with her rifle raised. "The flight deck and observation bridge are three levels up, through the central elevator shaft."
"Elevators are too slow and easy to trap," Oakes said, tapping the heavy iron hatch leading to the secondary maintenance stairwell. "We take the service ladders. Less chance of them dropping the cable on us."
Before Oakes could reach the hatch, the heavy blast doors at the far end of the corridor hissed open. A squad of eight elite Vanguard flight guards, clad in sleek, medium-weight composite armor and wielding high-frequency suppression rifles, rounded the corner.
"Intruders on Deck Three!" the lead guard yelled, raising his rifle. "Open fire!"
PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW!
Hyper-dense energy bolts crisscrossed the narrow hallway. Danial stepped directly in front of Maya and Oakes, raising his bare left forearm.
[ABYSS ENGINE: ACOUSTIC DEFLECTION SHIELD]
A shimmering, curved dome of golden light erupted from the Gold Mark, absorbing the high-frequency bolts effortlessly and converting their kinetic energy into a soft, humming resonance.
"My turn," Danial said softly.
He drove his left palm forward, releasing a short, concentrated shockwave down the corridor.
BOOM!
The kinetic pulse slammed into the eight flight guards like an invisible battering ram, throwing them backward down the hallway and shattering their tactical visors against the steel bulkheads. Their weapons clattered harmlessly to the floor as all eight guards went limp.
"Damn, kid," Oakes whistled, stepping over the fallen guards as they sprinted down the corridor toward the maintenance stairwell. "I'm never getting tired of seeing that."
"Save your breath, Oakes," Maya cautioned as she cracked open the maintenance hatch, her scope checking the vertical shaft above. "We've got two more decks to climb, and Valerius knows exactly where we're headed."
Danial led the way up the iron ladder, his grey eyes fixed on the illuminated access hatch marked FLIGHT DECK / PRIMARY COMMAND. The Gold Mark along his arm throbbed with a steady, fierce heat, syncing with the dreadnought's massive power core nearby.
"He's waiting for us on the observation deck," Danial said, his voice echoing quietly in the narrow ladder well. "Let's not keep the Archon waiting."