“We don’t stand a chance. We can’t stay and fight,” repeated Mai. Some of the rebels were determined to defend the base until the last person. She and the majority of others were against throwing their lives away needlessly.

“We’ve got a shit-ton of build points,” Dakota called up the base plan. “I say we sow the whole place with defences and leave them to it. They’ll fight their way through never knowing whether we’re here or not until it’s too late to know that we’ve bugged out.”

“Yeah? And where are we going to go?” snipped one of the rebels, clearly determined to stay and fight.

“Nether City,” absolute silence greeted Mai’s statement.

“Now that’s something I never thought I’d hear someone say out loud,” groaned Biao.

Looking around at the stunned rebels, Mai hoped she could persuade them.

“Everyone knows that the last of the real rebel army,” She held up a hand to stop the outbursts sure to follow, “retreated into the old part of the city. Parts so dangerous that not even the Imperial army wanted to follow them. Similarly, they couldn’t detonate any more bombs as that would bring the whole city down. Who knows what’s down there? “

“Monsters, death, radioactive wastes, the detritus of one-hundred thousand years of Imperial rule!” Shouted the rebel, who had clearly decided to be the spokesperson for anyone wanting to stay.

“Safety, the ability to hide out and see if we can’t find the original rebels, or their descendants and the possibility that we can still live, which we won’t have if we bloody stay here.” Biao jabbed his finger at the rebel as he spoke, “You can stay. I’m leaving. Whatever we may or may not find is going to be better than what we face right now.”

“We’re all leaving,” Mai said. “That’s an order. I’m the commander. Unless you want to take that role away from me?” The rebel lowered her head, avoiding Mai’s piercing gaze.

“That’s settled. We have less than five minutes to get everything in place.”

*

“Do you even know where we need to go?” Asked Dakota once the rebels had left to carry out Mai’s orders.

“Kind of. We all know that it’s at the bottom of the city. Every legend and history lesson says so. So we’re going to have to go through the one-miler, get to Level 1-001 and keep going down.” It made sense as she spoke, but she was under no impression that it was going to be easy.

“That’s it?” Spat Biao. “That’s your plan? Go down and keep going down until we find the place?”

“Not just that,” she snapped back. She was reaching the end of her tether both physically and mentally and just wished that her people would think for themselves rather than constantly needing to be spoon-fed. “Once we’re on that level it shouldn’t be too hard to find someone who can point us to where we need to go.”

“If the cannibals and techno-barbarians don’t kill us before that,” sighed Dakota.

“Well what do you fucking suggest? I’m all ears.” Mai paced the length of the room, not saying anything as she waited for Dakota to tell her.

“Nothing, I don’t suggest anything. Your idea is the best idea, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t completely suck. Nor that I’m happy we’re even going to try to enter the Nether City. Do you really think the surviving rebels will welcome us?”

“We’re some of the best fighters in the world right now. Our skills are levelling up with each battle and we’ve probably seen more action than the rebels in Nether City have since the war. They’re not even real rebels since no-one’s seen hide nor hair of them.”

“So what makes you think they still exist?” Biao asked.

“Because if the Empire had truly wiped them out it would have announced its victory from the rooftops. We’d never hear the end of it. There would be no urban myth that the rebels had survived and escaped because every single school would have drilled it into us that they didn’t live anymore.”

Dakota sucked her teeth as she considered this, looking over at Biao.

“She’s got a point,” said Dakota.

“Well gee, thanks,” snipped Mai.

“Looks like we’re going down in the world,” quipped Biao.

*

“Quickest route is here,” Jock pointed to the minimap. “We mecha up and push out of the sewers. From there we exit here, follow this concourse until we get to this lift shaft. From there we rappel down. And by down I mean down. All the way.”

“Can we make a line that long?” Asked Hind.

“Probably not,” conceded Jock. “We could just hold onto the lift cables and do it that way.”

“Or,” interjected Biao, “we add rocket packs to our mecha. They’ve all got them. We jump into the elevator shaft and drop. When we’re about to hit ground level we fire the packs and land.”

“Simple as that?” Muttered one of the rebels. Even Mai had to admit that she didn’t fancy throwing herself into the void and trusting that she’d be able to fire her jets quick enough to land safely.

“Anyone have a better plan?” She was secretly pleased that Jock had taken the initiative and came up with the best plan thus far, albeit with a modification from Biao. No-one spoke. “Good. In that case I suggest you all modify your mecha this instant. We have less than one minute before the enemy arrives. Are all of the turrets in place?”

“Yes ma’am. Everything is set. We have a clear run to the sewers, rear-guard will drop turrets behind us as we run.”

“And once we’re in the sewers, we deal with any enemy attacking that way,” Dakota traced the route they needed to take. “It’s going to be a running battle. No-one is to stop and get engaged in a full-on shooting war. Shoot and scoot. If you stay too long, you’ll be left behind.”

“Is everyone clear on this last point?” Asked Mai. “We can’t stop to help you. You cannot stop to fight for too long. Pick an enemy, damage them enough to move on and move on. Keep moving in your teams. Move with the rest of the group when told to.”

The assembled rebels all nodded.

Mouths are probably too dry to speak, don’t blame them thought Mai. Her own guts felt as though they were full of butterflies and her bladder kept sending warning signals.

Alarms suddenly blared, lights flashing red.

STAND AND HOLD

DEFEAT WAVE THREE

DO YOU ACCEPT YES/NO?

“Good luck people.”

*

“Team three moving!” commed Jock as he led his team in a charge towards a group of Imperial infantry. They stood no chance against the mecha, but they still had the ability to deal severe damage with the light laser they had set up in the tunnel.

His team’s weapons filled the sewer tunnel with strobing light, blasting the enemy soldiers apart in the blink of an eye.

“Five hundred paces until we reach the elevator,” Mai swept her laser across the chest of an armoured soldier. They were wearing the same Celestial armour as she had at the supply point, but it made no difference, the laser was far too powerful. There was a bright flash, and then the suit exploded, showering the human pilot in all directions.

“This is the biggest damn wave yet!” Shouted Dakota. Her people were at the rear, dropping turrets and various defences in the path of the pursuing enemy forces. By leaving the base they had well and truly broken the enemy’s attack plan.

With the majority of the enemy trying to attack through the upper levels, exploiting the previous breach, Mai and her people had faced little opposition when they tried to break out into the sewers. Now though, the enemy was in full pursuit.

“How many do you reckon we’ve killed?” Panted Mai. She was starting to tire. And even though she had shared out all of the remaining bio-mass boost stocks, she feared that it wouldn’t be enough to get them through.

“They’re down to less than fifty percent. And the majority are behind us,” Hind said. Which didn’t answer the question Mai had asked. But it had to number hundreds, if not over a thousand Imperial soldiers.

“Roger that,” commed Biao. “Team four engaging.”

Biao’s team was the spear tip of their advance. He and his people had armed themselves with the heaviest mecha they could. With good all-round armour and weapons. The mecha were slow, but damned hard to damage. His team’s role was to charge into and through the enemy positions, splitting their fire and their attention so that the following rebels could engage the enemy.

As he and his people moved further ahead of the main group, they also populated the minimap, allowing Mai and her people to see what they were going to be facing. Thus far it had been a one-sided massacre.

“Shit balls!” screamed Biao before his suit suddenly flatlined. Other members of his team started screaming warnings.

“Cutters activate STEALTH and push up! “ordered Mai. She charged forward, splashing through the sewage. Biao’s team had gone around a curve in the sewer, so she couldn’t see what they were facing, but from the still-panicked voices, it wasn’t anything good.

“Fuck me,” Hind breathed as they rounded the corner. “What in the hells is that?”

Mai worked her mouth, trying to get it to form the words she knew she wanted to say, but couldn’t bring herself to.

“Cyber-mogwai,” she groaned. It was huge. Easily sixty paces in length, at least ten paces tall. Biao’s suit, or what remained of it, sparked in its massive tentacles as row upon row of teeth chomped it into small pieces.

Along its length, Mai could see imperial troops wearing a form of armour she hadn’t seen before.

“What are those troops?” She commed as she brought her team to a skidding halt.

“Worm Riders. Read about them once at school. They were used on the desert world Jackson. Easiest way to travel though the massive deserts.”

“Looks like they’ve found a way to use them in the city,” Mai said.

She watched as what remained of Biao’s team tried to fight the mogwai, their weapons fire doing little more than annoy the beast.

“Jock, how big is that mouth do you reckon?” Mai had a plan. “What the fuck does that matter?” Jock fired off a missile. It hit the mogwai’s thick hide and ricocheted, detonating against the sewer wall. “I don’t know, easily six men.”

“Good enough,” Mai activated every skill she had. TUNNEL COMBAT, FREERUNNING, CLEANING, WASTE MANAGEMENT. Literally everything. Then she charged, sprinting as hard as she could, arms pumping, screaming wildly, pushing all thoughts of what she was actually going to do to the back of her mind even as she did it.

“Mai! No!” Screamed Hind.

Less than five paces from the mogwai’s gaping maw, Mai leaped into the air, aiming directly for the tongue she could see beyond. Sparks flew from her suit as the grinding teeth clipped it. And then she was in.

*

The inside of the mogwai wasn’t like anything she had envisioned. She hadn’t really known what to expect as she’d never been swallowed by anything before. There was a moment of blind panic, but she quickly recovered.

Chest heaving, she set to work. There were no aiming boxes for her to work out where to best strike, she merely let the beast continue to swallow her as she fired her laser and struck out with her hand weapons.

Hit after hit notification popped up, each one only showing a per cent or two. At one point she stopped moving and the mogwai gave a huge heave, forcing her backwards slightly. Digging her claws in, she held herself firm until the spasm finished.

It’s choking on me, she thought with satisfaction. Hauling herself forward, she continued to work her way deeper into the beast, keeping an eye on her suit’s internal air supply.

Wouldn’t do to suffocate, although the thought of suffocating appealed more than being digested. Got to make sure I don’t end up in the damn stomach.

Having seen what the mogwai in the sewer ate, she knew that they had to have some of the toughest guts, and most corrosive stomach acid in existence. Her plan, for what it was, had been to get as deep into the mogwai as possible and then blast herself out.

Creating a pack of remotely detonated explosives, she dropped it and pulled herself further down the fleshy tunnel, the sides closing behind her as she did. It seemed that the mogwai swallowed by pulsing its throat muscles. Anything she dropped behind her would be closed off by the flesh as she moved forward. This meant that she could essentially create a series of explosions without having to worry about being injured. Or so she hoped.

Explosives also work far better if the blast is contained. Out in the open, they might cause a loud noise and a shockwave, but they are only truly effective when the blast is trapped, magnifying the force of the explosion.

For what seemed like an age she pulled herself forward and dropped explosives. Then, when her suit’s air was at ten percent, she dropped the last block of explosives. While she tried to put enough distance between her and that last pack, she’d tried to reach her people by comm, but the beast’s bulk had blocked all signals.

I’m going to need the longest bath in history, she thought as she pressed her thumb down onto the detonator’s helpfully glowing red firing button.

The effect was instantaneous. One huge, muffled thump followed by the beast’s throat opening wide and a deluge of blood washing down and over her as it reared up as high as the sewer’s ceiling would allow.

KILL!

NEW TITLE! - LEVIATHAN BANE

TRULY YOU ARE A LEGEND AMONG LEGENDS. YOU HAVE SLAIN A BEAST NO SANE SENTIENT WOULD EVER CONSIDER FACING ALONE

WAVE THREE DEFEATED!

WAVE FOUR BEGINS IN 600 … 599 … 598

Barely managing to avoid being swept away, she fired her laser into the creature’s destroyed throat. Keeping it on a tight and continuous beam, she burned a circle, sweeping the laser around and around, deepening the wound with each revolution.

In no time at all the circle of flesh fell outward, revealing the sewer wall.

“Mai! Come in Mai!” Hind’s frantic voice filled her ears, her comms previously blocked by the armour on the cyber-mogwai.

“I’m here, I’m here,” her ears were filled with the cheers of her people. “Didn’t think I’d leave you did you?”

“You mad woman!” Roared Dakota, her mecha stepping up to wrap Mai’s gore-covered mecha in its arms. “I honestly thought we’d lost you.”

>>>>> DON’T YOU EVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN <<<<< Her friend RedFanged her, sending her a secure text message rather than using her voice comms.

>>>>> DON’T PLAN ON BEING EATEN AGAIN IF I CAN HELP IT <<<<< she messaged back.

Looking around, Mai took in the battered state of her people. Giving them a quick scan she was shocked and disappointed at the damage their suits had taken.

“We got time to take a bio-mass boost?” She asked Dakota.

“Good thinking.” Her friend switched channels, “Everyone take a bio-mass boost. Get your suits fixed. Drink on the move.”

It was good advice, with the next wave’s counter slowly counting down, Mai led her tired band of rebels towards salvation.