Showers of such intensity conflicted with two senses: deafening of sound due to the hissing of the rain taking prominence over the soundscape of the city with its oppression over any shuffling or voices, and the obscuring of sight due to the animated veil of downpour that filtered the world through a broken camera. For it was difficult to survey the dark city, specifically a district further from the residential complexes but instead one majorly inhabited with sparse large factories, tall warehouses intertwined with networks of tubing towered under huge pillars whose function would be to secrete smoke into the air, smoke which would integrate into the gas ceiling of the world that prevented ample sunlight from passing through, thus marooning it to a state of night constantly. The only light was from those distant complexes and the windows along the factories, however the rain weakened it regardless.

Through the degradation of the survey though, what could be discerned was the large closed metal door entrance like a gate at the end of the asphalt lot in front of the factory, and beside that door were two men dressed with black vests and heavy pants lugging pouches and holsters. Their faces were hidden under large helmets with masks, as their appearance is similar to SWAT officers. Their gear was as well, as rather than being simply armed with a handgun, they carried entire full-sized assault rifles coated in black, so large that they had to grip it with both hands.

The two guards glanced side to side passively, unaware that ahead of them right past one of the tall chimneys and atop large boilers and ventilation tunnels stalked a figure in all black, their three dimensional body a silhouette, a shadow standing. The figure didn’t move, for in fact it could be misidentified as one of the many poles and towers of the facility, blending into the environment in a body that shed no color or light.

Even when one of the guards glanced over to the direction of the shadow, they ultimately glanced away with no concern, allowing finally for it to animate as the shadow stepped back and turned around, revealing the other side to indeed have a face beneath the black hood, that of the daughter with parakeet green eyes sharp and stern as she reported in a quiet voice cloaked by the rain: “There’s two by the door, but I don’t know what they’re holding. It looks like a gun but it’s way too big, the barrel is like the size of their whole arm.” She had a black backpack strapped to her back, heavy enough that the weight could be discernible by its slumped shape.

That report reached the two men on the other side of the platform, both of them carrying large duffle bags with one of them bald and reinforced in a black vest same as the other albeit that other has a long brown leather biker jacket over said vest and has wavy white hair. The man with the wavy hair perked his head up to the report and his pacific blue eyes sharpened, turning to face the bald man and relaying, “They got their hands on rifles. We’ll definitely need to be cautious here, a direct gunfight is suicide.”

He then faced the shadowy girl and nodded his head before thanking, “Good work Dana, we’ll take a stealth approach to this. Luckily once we get inside, we’ll have the indoors for hiding. Anything else you can say about them?”

“They’re heavily armored, honestly they have almost everything padded. Sorry dad, I don’t even know if I will get through,” appended the girl, Dana, but with a hesitant sigh as the weight of this challenge was bearing on her.

Nodding his head to that new information, the father assured calmly. “Try, but I’d say in this case your best bet is to figure the space between pads, trust me no matter how much they get there’ll always be spaces between the cracks. Above the elbows, between the breast and shoulder, the spots that unfortunately might not be the most fatal but will be our only way of hitting them. Me and Harry will see if we got anything that can penetrate their armor, but I think your chances are good.”

He glanced back to the other man who had been identified as Harry, and he then faced Dana as he nodded and determined, “Well good news is that if they’re out here, that means so is our ride. Let’s not keep them waiting. We’ll do a ray and fill strategy, you’re up?”

Staggered by the sudden leap to action, Dana stumbled back and lowered her head in angst, uncertainty clouding her expression as she glanced back towards the gate. She frowned subtly with her head facing away, yet that hesitancy was read by her father who frowned back and offered softly, “Or maybe that’s too risky, it’s okay if it is. Here, we can try a reverse triangle so we’ll all stick together. I admit I don’t think any of us are experienced with this kind of crowd, sorry for pushing that all on you.”

To that concern though Dana winced before shaking her head and affirming in a voice bolder yet still wavering, “No, that’s just going to get us all gunned down. Ray and fill is the best, and yeah the padding isn’t perfect, I should be able to get through. Wait for my signal.”

Sighing in acknowledgement to the grave danger he was placing her under, the father lowered his head, to which his daughter was the one to assure facing back to him, “We’re going to do this, we’re going to get out of here. All of us, together.”

That assurance raised his head and brought a subtle smile before he then nodded, affirming her to turn around again and slowly creep forwards as she reached her hand to the tip of her hood and pulled it just slightly.

That slight gesture though all the sudden rained down a pour of tiny black metal sheets sliding down and attaching to one another in the formation of a rigid structure, one reaching down to the neck and gripping the face now transformed into one fully black without any sculpted details of a human face. The only detail was the network of cracks like fractures of glass in the mask, plenty and well distributed. Simultaneously though the matte black metal trims along her shoulders secreted small plates that spread out over her shoulder blades as the trims down her arms expanded to form plates along her upper arm and a thicker gauntlet around her forearms– subtle holes carved out facing straight– which reached the cuffs that released plates over the hands which enlarged them but furthermore reinforced them with sharp black claws with jagged edges.

The lining down the sides but even the hoodie’s zipper spreaded to form plating on the torso, providing protection over the breasts and abdomen but also around the ribcage, all a matte finish thus remaining dark as the endless night.

Her legs were also armored with the lining down the joggers wrapping around the thighs and forming plates for said thighs along with shin guards concurrent with the jogger’s cuffs sprawling out more plates over the shoes which similarly enlarged them like the hands and provided them jagged claws.

As the final remnants of plates secure into position, the girl’s shape had altered with a raise in height but also provided a heavier build given the thicker armor, as while her gauntlets and boots were not immensely oversized but rather fit neatly with her arms, she had become an entity whose power surpassed that of a human.

That new entity reached the end of the boiler’s platform where she then charged in a sprint and lept right off the edge just as the ravines between plates in her feet lit up green.

As the two guards at the front entrance glance to one another casually, they fail to notice the black bolt dash from the boiler behind the chimney straight over them, flying into the wall but without sound or at least one to dominate the rainfall.

While they just sigh and shake their heads to the undesirable weather, not even five feet above them above the closed metal door now appeared the black shadow, its hands and feet gripping the wall strong enough that it could crawl on the surface just by the door. Its body was entirely black now, blending in perfectly with the dark atmosphere and the dark gray concrete of the building, the same dull color for all buildings in the city.

One hand raised and then extended, the shadow gripped the top edge of the door, right above and behind the two unsuspecting guards. The shadow then raised its faceless head up, not a spec of skin exposed.

That gaze was to where it came from behind the chimney, that being the two men whose bodies were drenched in the rain, yet their gazes pierced the showers with affirmation particularly in the father who gave a firm nod as his hand on his hip slowly drew out a large revolver from his holster, one black and shaped in the style of a Colt with a strange long thick barrel which he grabbed with his free hand and made one delicate twist to before using that hand to reinforce his grip as Harry also pulled out a similar handgun with that same thick barrel.

In reply the black face nodded back, and it then lowered its focus down to the two heavily armored guards, but ones who had their backs turned on the enemy.

For that enemy then sprang down from the wall and pounced on the left guard, grabbing the top of the helmet with the left hand and slashing the nape with the right, the claws seamlessly gliding through the neck guard and suspending the near shout as he was executed instantly, falling to the ground as the shadow’s feet clung to the wall to let it perch. However that brief yelp reached his companion, who faced the shadow and immediately raised his large rifle up to the exposed girl, about to fire before all the sudden he yelped and dropped one hand to grab his armpit in pain.

On the armpit that lacked plating was a single red hole which the guard grabbed tightly as he growled in pain before turning back to find that ahead of him were the two men charging straight on, their hands raised thus were their handguns as Harry next fired a shot, one that only made a tisk sound without blare yet brought the power to puncture a wound in the inner thigh, causing the guard to lose his balance but more importantly his focus as the silhouette behind him made another slash to the nape, and again the body collapsed to the floor.

Both of the men reached the two bodies as the Marauder dropped off the wall, standing straight and inspecting the long rifles curiously.

In a voice not only far deeper than her nature but furthermore inhuman given the synthetic reverberation that provided an extraterrestrial accent, the silhouette contemplated in examination, “These mags, they’re way larger than ours. What are these…?”

“If we keep hidden we won’t need to know,” bluntly stated the father as he reached the door alongside Harry who glanced down at those weapons before then contemplating, “Should we nab them?”

Now that both were infatuated by the items, the father had to face them too and sighed, contemplating before shaking his head and determining, “We’re not experienced with them, and this isn’t the time to experiment. We can still hit them with what we have, and we haven’t even pulled out the heavier tools.”

He then raised his head up to the door and stepped forth as he inquired sternly, “Dana, is the door clear?”

Losing interest in the large firearm after the request, the silhouette stepped towards the door and tilted its head as the mask briefly flared green through the cracks.

Through the mask with no goggles, the wearer’s vision filtered the world through a lens of dark green, for at least the concrete wall became a dark green same with the door albeit at a darker shade given the difference in their original tones. On the walls appeared shapes that are of a far brighter shade though, a vibrant green in the shape of a humanoid, small as though afar and higher up as though elevated. The appearance of the humanoid caused the door to become somewhat translucent, and for an additional dark environmental layer of a slightly brighter shade to take shape in the form of a long bridge beneath that humanoid, one with a staircase where a second humanoid visibly walked down at a casual pace, though that staircase was further down the room.

With the rotation of the head, more humanoid shapes could be seen in vibrant green, and with more visible more of the interior was pronounced with several stories of bridges and staircases all surrounding a vastly open central hub occupied with long belts and machines along the center in aisles. Some of the humans gripped items resembling those former long rifles but others were empty handed with a few initially seeming to have their hands out but with nothing in them, although slowly shapes of long boxes materialized into view.

It was noted though that given the size of the humanoids were telling of their distance from the door, there weren’t any particularly nearby as the ones on the base floor were on the far side and the nearest was the one walking down the steps.

After the analysis, the flaring of the mask dissipated and the Marauder glanced at the dad to report, “It’s clear, just stay quiet, it’s a pretty open room and there’s a good chunk of people. Explosions won’t do, I can carve out an opening.”

The father nodded his head and raised his handgun to the sky as he claimed, “We’ll keep watch in case there’s anyone else outside.”

The daughter nodded back before turning to face the wall and taking another step towards it before then crouching down. Up the two clawed hands were raised, the cracks between the fingers glowing green light as the fingers were bent sharp, ready.

At once the Marauder began to claw at the wall, chipping away at the concrete and gradually digging a hole. Every swing was trailed with a green light yet every shovel was quiet, oppressed by the rain. As the digger continued through the wall with progress visible every swing, the two men glanced at each other and inspected their pistols, preparing themselves.

Inside the building the concrete wall lacked any refined paint, any decor to make the interior less dull. Instead it’s only lit with dim yellow lights and those afar at that, the only features being the effects of erosion after a long life of neglect. On the other side of the wall was the suppressed hiss of showers, although that hissing got subtly louder, the volume rising gradually. But amongst the hissing was a different sound, that of concrete breaking with the electric hum of energy, that too getting louder with every next rise of the hum as it leapt and fell in waves.

All the sudden though the part of the wall combusted, chunks tossed forth and others pulled back by the metallic claws from the black arm of the beast who glared through from the outside where the rain fell, streams of water pouring down the expressionless face.

That face moved forward as the body climbed through the aperture into the room, the hissing reaching its climax where it remained at its volume given more clarity.

Forward the Marauder crawled until reaching a long table with a belt covered with boxes although unmoving where it then hid behind, facing back at the hole.

On the other side of the wall the two man glanced at each other before the one in the leather coat got on his knees and crawled in through the hole while his partner kept watch outside, but once the man vanished through the gap that partner got down and began crawling inside as well, away from the intense showers that draped them in streams.

Both the Marauder and the man with wavy hair were already hidden behind the aisles that obscured the hole beside the closed metal door, and the bald man snuck through last from that very hole as one of the men suited in the previous heavy swat armor glanced over to the direction of the door before mentioning in a raspy voice, “Hey, did the rain get louder or something?” At the same time a man not dressed in that armor but rather ragged clothing with a hoodie and pants walked past on his way up the stairs, his head low as he groaned tiredly.

Behind that man at the top of the metal staircase he’s on, another man in the same armor sighed, his arms clutching another assault rifle as he reprimanded underneath the helmet, “Yes well tonight was meant to be a pretty bad storm, that’s normal. But come on, we’re kitted out with this crazy shit, I wouldn’t be scared if God asked me to throw down right now. But man if we could have what they do…that shit’s alien.” Past that man was a dark corridor lit dimly but with an end that couldn’t be discerned, although it clearly was extruding from the main factory space. Down that corridor the man in the hoodie walked while from its dark depths emerged another man in similarly casual clothing, carrying a large crate held by both hands and tall up to the chin.

Sighing from the comrade’s lack of focus, the man on the stairs shook his head before declaring, “No I mean…never mind, I’ll check it out,” before he began walking down the steps as his comrade huffed and warned, “Well don’t mess around too much, we don’t want to get kicked out of next year’s Offering.”

“Yeah yeah,” nonchalantly dispelled the guard as behind him followed that other carrier.

With slow, heavy steps the guard walked down the flight of stairs as the man he spoke to turned around in loss of interest. The guard reached the bottom where he paced towards the closed metal door, his eyes sharp in intrigue from the oddly clear sound of the rainfall. Around him were quiet grunts of other people, one of them being the man who walked behind him carrying that crate.

He walked alongside the aisles, a long table beside him with a belt that had several boxes sitting on them although unmoving. On the other side of the table was a large rack partially filled with boxes. The man behind him stopped at an opening in the rack where he then pivoted and tossed the box onto the space, pushing it in promptly before letting out an exhausted sigh. While the building was most definitely a factory, there didn’t appear to be any machines in operation other than the people.

Around the tables the scout trailed, walking by the long table with the three hidden intruders. The scout reached the door, but more importantly the man’s focus leapt to the apparent hole in the wall where the rain was coming from, one carved in given the chunks of concrete on the floor.

Shocked by the inexplicable gap, the scout turned around to alert only for the man in the jacket to fire a single shot beneath the nape but at an upwards angle from the floor, lodging right above the vest. The scout instantly went silent, and his body next dropped before being grabbed by the black shadow who then more carefully placed the corpse on the floor, silencing the fall.

As the silhouette dragged the body behind the table, Harry turned around and raised his head, his eyes tightening at first in curiosity before widening. He placed his hand on his partner who turned his head before then narrowing his focus onto the same sight as his daughter stowed the body beneath the table.

The daughter then turned to face their focus, all three of them noting along the long tables beside the scattered hooded workers and armored guards, past where the start of the metal staircase was and up that was the hallway that another worker walked up while relaxing his arms: the destination.

Locking the path as well as its obstacles, the three intruders concurrently began to creep forward between the tables, with the Marauder choosing to crawl under one of the belts and move into the next aisle same with her dad, spreading apart to deal with the open space.

Along one of the tables a worker walked past crates some of which were already stacked, but he stopped beside an empty spot on the belt where he turned towards it while lugging a crate of his own. He grunted as he raised the crate up to place it on the table, unaware that below him snuck the father as he held his silenced handgun tightly. He stopped to remain beneath the table as the worker finally dropped the crate on the belt and shoved it forward, and that’s when the father crept not a full foot forward but enough to raise his handgun’s long barrel and fire such that the bullet flew straight into the chin of the worker angled through the brain, causing him to immediately collapse without even able to get a sound out. His fall was also silenced as he was caught by the father who then pulled him underneath the table with him before cautiously letting go and continuing ahead.

Further on ahead there was already a worker at a belt, panting tiredly as he stood before two stacked crates. He wiped his forehead under the hood before then murmuring under his breath, “Man if only I could take one for myself…” as by his side crept up Harry who then raised his handgun and fired a rapid triplet of shots at varying angles: one in the neck, one in the ear, and another in the temple. Those three shots only produced ticks of sound, but resulted in the immediate fall of the man who was quickly held before being placed back down.

Onwards on the far side stood an armored guard who examined the racks of crates with a bored hum, his hands on his rifle but his back to the tables. Beneath those tables was the silhouette who stalked its next prey, although one who was too distant for its arms. After staring at it, noticing that the guard was making little movements was it was mostly infatuated with the crates, the Marauder raised its arm, but rather than making a slashing motion it instead projected a metal cable from one of the holes in its forearm, a cable that pierced the back of the guard’s neck to which the Marauder jerked its arm back, causing the guard to fall backwards about to yell but unable to as five metal claws were plunged into its neck. The body now downed, the shadow pulled the cable’s anchor off the neck, letting it reel back in through the hole and for the Marauder to tug the body under the table before continuing ahead.

Not a sound was uttered loud enough to be heard, partially from the rainfall albeit it was still substantially muffled, for a great factor was the precision of the strikes that dropped bodies both armored and not as they fell from between the tables one by one at quick rates. Progress was made swift past the group of unused metal machines which provided solid cover for Harry to use to aim at two workers beside each other and fire quick shots at both of them before scurrying forward to grab both of their falls albeit with a grunt in strain.

That takedown was slightly more risky however as one of the armored guards began to approach the station in curiosity to the sudden disappearance, although wasn’t able to make an alert before the jacketed partner rose up from behind him and grabbed the guard’s mouth with one hand as with the other he plunged a knife into the side of the neck, able to swiftly bring the body down with himself to the floor in avoidance of a scene.

Below the table the two men nodded to each other and continued onwards, approaching the staircase same with the Marauder who grabbed one of the guards and pulled him to the ground before slashing at the face, the helmet and mask covering parts of the face but not enough to protect from a point blank slashing that left his body limp quick. The last of the guards between them and the stairs, the two men converge with the silent silhouette as they then sneakily dash away from the belt’s cover and begin climbing the staircase although very cautiously as the metal material would exaggerate any footsteps.

Nonetheless the three made their way up with their steps largely overshadowed by the ambience, allowing them to maneuver up the staircase to the top where they finally reach the tunnel one by one in a single file line, the shadow first and her father right behind.

However upon reaching the top, the guard who was previously warning the fallen turned around in notice of them, quick to raise his arms but not as quick as the father who lifted and fired one shot straight into the nose, painting the whole face red in an instant, for he was gradually getting accustomed to targeting weak points even when there were such few.

The body was again caught by the Marauder who glanced from side to side, for there were no more convenient hiding spots thus all that could be done was sliding the body to the wall of the corridor before the three continued ahead at a slightly raised pace, their knees still bent but allowing themselves to rise higher to gain speed.

From the darkness, a trio of hooded workers approached the other way, their heads low as their faces show fatigue, but they raised their heads and those expressions changed to shock upon the notice of the strange group. The one in the back turned around and took in a deep breath of air to shout, but at once he was shot in the face right before the man in front had his face slashed clean with metal and the man behind him was shot by the second gunslinger, the three bodies dispatched all within a second.

Each of the three invaders took one of the bodies to stop their fall and pushed to the side, quick to return back on their path forwards, leaving behind the corpses in that path.

Further along was a different hallway which branched into another path to the left, and down that hallway a pair of workers walked, each with a crate in their hands. They walked one after the other given the narrowness of the hall, and as the two reached the branch they’re entirely oblivious that around the corner against the wall preyed the black shadow, waiting with its matte claws out and ready.

The man in front was first to turn the corner and was the first to be grabbed with the hand that simultaneously clawed through the face, causing the second man to stumble back as the white-haired gunslinger stepped out from that corner and fired a shot clean through the center of the forehead before both he dashed to the body as did Harry from behind, the former grabbing the crate as the latter grabbed the body as the Marauder did both for its victim, placing both down slowly without a sound.

Now knowing which direction to turn, the three took it and continued their way, leaving a trail of bodies but with nowhere to hide them given the labyrinth’s lack of hidden spaces.

Down the new hallway, the black shadow led the three, its metal armor serving as protection as it was the most covered despite not using any traditional gear. This next hallway was shorter than the other, but it also reached a dead end where it split into two in a ‘T.’ There was however more sound at the end of the hallway, the vague voices of chatter, alerting the three as they slowed their approach to maintain their secrecy.

Steadfast but careful, the Marauder led the two to the divergence, walking alongside the center given there wasn’t certainty as to where there could be more possible approachers, although there weren’t any immediate footsteps to set off alarms. They reached the end of the hall without another disturbance, but upon hitting the corner, the Marauder was quick to notice that on the right side the next tunnel immediately led to a wider office lobby room, one that was guarded by an unknown group but with two at least visible along the far wall facing the exit. Instantly the Marauder clung to the right wall, hiding at the corner away from sight as she was close to being spotted, and upon noticing such an adverse reaction the two men behind her paused in concern.

While the girl was clearly distraught given the shaking of the body, the sudden change in sight direction given that she had to put her back to the wall forced her to gaze at the other hallway, to which she leaned her neck forward in curiosity. For what was before her was another set of stairs continuing up, and given the original height of the building, it was likely that this would be the final set of stairs needed. They were just in front of her too, so close to reach, so close to climb.

Yet she couldn’t, for the moment she’d step for the stairs, she’d be directly in the line of sight from those inside the office. Thus she retracted her neck back and turned her head slightly to focus on that office, able to recount the two guards standing on the far side in front of a closed door. There were more however, as there was one against each orthogonal face, counting four total in sight. Even then however, not the whole room was visible for the side the entrance was on was a complete blindspot, and there were still possible corners being hidden away.

Nonetheless, the Marauder faced the two men and raised one hand with four clawed fingers up, though it waved in a sign of uncertainty.

That silent message was translated given the firm nod from the father, one out of assurance although he too was clearly wary. His free hand reached for the handle of his handgun as the magazine slipped out from below, being caught and placed on his belt and replaced with another that slipped back up that very handle in preparation for greater numbers. His partner did the same with the magazines on his own belt as the father then reached for a canister on his vest and pulled it off, placing his thumb against the clip as Harry finished reloading.

On that mark, the Marauder turned the other way back for the door, taking a deep but silent breath, the cracks in the black mask flaring up.

In a moment so swift, the black shadow rolled around the corner and lunged into the room as behind her rolled in both of the men who each caught a glance of the guards right in front of them as the father flicked the clip off and cautiously rolled the canister into the room as his free hand fired the handgun concurrently with his partner, each shot landing square in the face where the armor had no effect while simultaneously the Marauder turned around to catch two more guards beside the doorway they just entered through just as the canister erupted in a cloud of thick dark smoke, instantly consuming the room like the sky the very moment that the metal claws swung into the left guard as they and the boots flared green.

No visibly was granted inside the room, and the only sound to follow was an immediate slash synchronous with two ticks of suppressed gunshots then followed by an additional slash paired with a brief green flash not more than half a second after.

The room promptly fell silent, but quickly the smoke dispersed out mostly through the open doorway right behind. As the smoke faded, visibility returned to the room and revealed the sight of the black shadow standing with black claws draped red as all six armored bodies laid around the edges of the room. Blood dripped from the tips of the claws as they opened and closed, and the black silhouette glanced back to the two men behind who nodded back and then nodded to each other, the execution swift before any of them could fire a shot.

They all turned around and began their walk towards the staircase now free from surveillance, or that was until hearing a muffled voice of a man behind them complain, “Did I hear something? And Lord this smoke is abysmal, these filters got worse or something.”

Immediately all three invaders froze in place, but it was the Marauder who first turned around, facing the direction of the voice which was the closed door.

Far more cautious now that there was the implication of additional enemies who could’ve potentially heard the strike, the Marauder crouched lower as she slowly crept towards the door as the father tried to nudge his head for the exit, hesitant about this shift in focus yet his partner was also intrigued given his step away from the stairs too.

Up to the door the Marauder reached, stopping by the wall and positioning the side of its head by it to better listen in to a second voice although one without the same confidence assuring weakly, “I’m so sorry, we’ve been used to it so we didn’t think it changed at all.”

The black mask gleamed green between the cracks, recoloring the world in a dark tint of green for the Marauder, but against the wall in front of it was three brighter objects, shaped humanoids two of whom sat inside a small personal office room, both of them on chairs on opposite sides of a desk. The other stood beside the one on the other side of the desk, its hands crossed over its pelvis.

Through that wall, the person on the chair closer to the door was dressed in a worn hoodie under a vest with a holster slung to him, his hair withered and receded as while he was middle aged he was covered in wrinkles and scars. In front of him was a man also middle aged, but with a far more youthful complexion given the lack of any dents, and he was instead dressed in a professional business suit given the black blazer and matching dress pants over the white shirt and red tie. He had a suave style with his bright blonde hair parted to the left and exotic amber eyes that shimmered. Behind him was a man about twice his height and double the muscular mass, also in professional attire given the large suit and black tie. His eyes were covered in black tinted glasses, yet they didn’t have a frame that sat on his ears, rather they seemed to linger in place on their own in defiance to gravity.

The business man in the chair sighed and waved his hand before speaking in that first voice, waving off in an impatient tone, “Yeah figured as much, well I shouldn’t need to be stuck here much longer so what does it matter, next time I’ll ask for a stronger filter.”

In front of him, the ragged man nodded his head and pleaded, “Of course, and again I’m sorry about this! You know we really appreciate our partnership, the Black Stars would be nothing without your gracious support! We are blessed to have a benefactor such as yourself, and especially so to have one without cost!”

Shrugging his shoulders to the compliment, the man in the chair waved his hand and assured, “Yeah well it’s mutually beneficial, and I don’t really see you guys having many credits to pay us back with. But I will admit, the research we’re able to conduct on this Earth is something that’d be impossible outside, the data we can collect is something no simulation could run, least not without breaking some A.I violations. And I hope that with this new stock, we see those results climb even more.”

“Yes of course,” obliged the man in the hoodie, shaking his head to admit, “I don’t really know what you’re talking about, but we’re still grateful for you!”

“And I hate to admit it to the likes of your kind but this definitely will provide us the acceleration needed to outperform our competitors. Rather than running simulations and using theories to determine the course of our weapons program, this little show is able to get Z-Prints ahead of anyone else, and of course it’ll be eaten up without question,” responded the man, leaning back against his seat.

As the three invaders listened in through the door, the two men’s expressions visibly stunned by what they were hearing, that man again mentioned muffled through the door, “But man it’d be nice if I didn’t need to come here myself. Sucks but all the crackdowns in Versepolis leaves me little to trust, this little escapade team of mine is all I can afford without risking it all. Shame that I have to rely on your men for security as a result, your people couldn’t handle a standard Exem at the highest assistance. But no matter.”

Groaning and raising his head up to the ceiling, the man in the suit just waited as the one in rags assured although with a wavering voice, “I can promise you my boys got this place sealed, we’ve not let in a single drop of water in the years we’ve had this partnership! We’ve been running for generations, we got this down.”

“Yeah well you guys are clearly letting in the damn smog, get your systems checked or…actually you guys wouldn’t have that anyways huh?” again whined the man, his tone rather condescending.

On the other side of the door, the two men were stunned, their eyebrows raised as they weren’t entirely sure what the conversation they were eavesdropping in was even fully pertaining to, as half the terminology used by the other man was unheard of. All they could derive was the general attitude and the understanding that without realizing it, they were trekking on the territory of a known faction, one the Marauder had even joked about facing on this fateful day, yet one serving a greater force unknown of prior.

They were baffled, unable to turn away from the door, fully invested now on this discussion despite their exit being the other way and despite having no reason to lounge here as they were only depriving themselves of time.

Yet in truth it would matter no more if they chose to turn that very moment, as past the open doorway on the steps that they were meant to follow, a man in a ragged hood stood with his hands gripping a crate, paralyzed in shock from the sight before him.

That paralysis weakened his grip, as the crate fell forward and off his hands, dropping on the stairs and crashing with such force that the lid flew open, flooding the floor with the metal contents of the crate in a loud bang that immediately diverted the three’s attention.

They all turned around to find the worker frozen in fright, his hands tilted forward in allowance for the fall without even trying to prevent it. In front of him on the ground was the box, and scattered around the box was a pile of metal devices, metal devices that were from just a glance clearly firearms. They were all handguns, the handguns that’d be found on just about every corner of every street of the whole city. They spread over the floor like coins dropped by a robber, their metal bodies shining under the dim yellow lights.

At that very moment, the truth finally clicked given the drop in jaws of the two men.

For all these years, this eternal cycle of violence never ended. A cycle that never saw the advancement of the world, that never allowed it to move on from a primitive state of hunters who fought with weapons dated nearly a millennium past.

A cycle that was not merely one caused by the findings of the world itself, of the humanity who could not write their own wrongs and find peace, but rather a cycle perpetrated by external forces, ones who willfully spun the wheel, ones who continued this stream of weaponry that the world revolved around as though it was its single form of currency.

Citizens may not have beds. They may not have food. They may not even have homes. But what nearly every man, woman, and child had on this world was a weapon. A weapon that was placed in their hand by aliens above so they could continue a history that’d never move forwards, that’d never see another era.

At this critical moment, that muffled voice shouted in irritation, “Okay I heard that, what the hell are your unicell men doing with my goods,” as the door swung open, the door gripped by the hand which had a golden chain watch connected to the arm of that man in the suit who stepped into the lobby, immediately catching sight of the three invaders, the sight that had caused the ruckus to begin with. Instantly, his amber eyes expanded in a horrified expression, his jaw dropping in utter disbelief. He then shouted as loud as he could: “INTRUDERS!!”

Behind the three, the worker bolted upstairs without a second thought as the father raised his handgun and took aim for the head, firing a single clean shot with a tick sound. The bullet struck straight in the man’s forehead, the naked unprotected forehead, to which the point of impact flashed a blue light as the bullet dropped to the floor instantly with no wound in the head.

Immediately the father’s eyes expanded wide in horror, his mouth dropping as he staggered back, unable to explain what had just happened as Harry stepped beside him, and without the cover of stealth left to maintain, he slotted his suppressed pistol in his holster as his hand pulled back the zipper of his duffle bag and he pulled out another handgun with a barrel that’s visibly sawed off given the jagged edges, and hanging off the bolt was a clip with shotgun shells strapped in.

He gripped the handgun with both hands and pulled the trigger, firing a deafeningly loud shot that flashed the room and jolted his arm up in recoil.

Right before that shot was fired, the suited man was pushed aside by his larger ally who was the one to be struck as his black tie flashed blue as did the multiple points of impact on his torso from where the pellets struck, yet none made wounds but instead bounced harmlessly.

The man then raised and aimed his empty right hand as a small band around his wrist swiftly secreted a black metallic liquid that crawled over his hand, not made of individual discernible plates but not even visibly solid given the immensely miniscule size of each individual component. The liquid though did not bend to the whims of physics as it morphed itself into a thin sheet like a slim handgun but lacking a handle, and it lacked a hollow aperture for it instead had a black strip, but one that lit orange the moment the liquid hardened.

Just a second after being shot, the man retaliated with a shot of his own from the black strip which emitted a high pitched squeal, not a physical bullet propelled by gunpowder but instead a concentrated bolt of orange light that flared in the instantaneous moment of its flight, such speed yet not a single jitter of recoil.

Immediately Harry staggered, his body quivering as his mouth hung open and he grabbed his chest with his left hand. He slowly lowered his head in disbelief, finding that on his bulletproof vest that he had packed so carefully for maximum protection, a hole was burnt straight through with an orange outline around the metal plate.

Right beside him, Leo’s pacific eyes widened in horror, and in a moment over the course of a second but one that felt drawn out to minutes, his terrified face hardened into a desperately persistent glare as he turned around and grabbed the wrist of his child before he bolted straight for the stairwell, his daughter’s arms flailing as she could only look back, her face masked but her terror exposed.

From the invincible shadow’s perspective, her body was dragged backwards as in front of her the old friend Harry just stood upright as the towering guard aimed up at his head and fired two more shots given the flashing orange and high squeals, as well as the holes in the back of the head before the corpse finally gave out and fell.

The towering guard then raised his head up in notice of the runaways as the man with the blonde hair raised his head as a blue light projected off the golden watch, but the light only reached a few feet forward before it strangely suspended and instead widened and expanded into a flat rectangular plane with a diagonal size of about two feet. The plane was made of translucent blue light, and on that plane appeared a smaller square with an icon of a curved line with fat rounded ends which shook in animation as though it was a physical object. The man shouted to the plane, “Intruders heading to the top floor!” as the girl ran up the stairs, her clawed feet over the pile of handguns left behind.

In a voice deeper than any man and distorted inhuman, instead with an accent only either describable as alien or monstrous or perhaps both, the Marauder asked in a panicked tone, “What is that??”

Yet they had already reached the top of the stairs where her father shouted, “FOCUS AHEAD!” before gunshots began ringing in her ears, and she faced forward.

Ahead of the Marauder and her dad, past the staircase they just climbed was a room like a shed, large and open full of crates all lazily tossed everywhere. On the far side was a closed door presumably for the exit, but all over the room were piles and stacks some of which were nearly four feet tall. The room was full of hooded workers in rags, all of them turning to face the intruders, none of them armed, and in fact many stumbled back in terror, some dropping the crates they had just picked up.

The room wasn’t only occupied by them though, as there were two others in those same business suits, their eyes also blocked out by those hovering black lenses. They were each middle aged adults, one a woman with slick black hair and another a man with dreadlocks. They both turned to the two, both locking their new targets.

Both of the agents raised their hands as black bands on their wrist transformed into the black liquids that began materializing their weapons to which the Marauder instinctively leapt at them against her dad’s cry, “WAIT DANA!”

Regardless the Marauder swung her arm at the chest of the agent with the slick hair, strike that should’ve been an instant killing blow, but from the illumination of her tie and the blue flashes of light in five streaks angled over her chest, she remained unscathed as her partner in the dreadlock aimed that same black handle-less weapon and fired at the Marauder’s armored shoulder, the orange bolt penetrating straight through the metal shoulder blade in a ray.

Instantly the Marauder released a pained cry as she staggered back, the armor she had integrated into her suit as a means to protect herself utterly failing against this new breed of enemies. She ran back before being grabbed by her dad who dropped his silenced handgun and grabbed from his bag, pulling out the weapon resembling the Uzi given the magazine jutting from the handle. The resemblance carried over its behavior too as it fired a rapid stream of bullets with muzzle flash like fire, the recoil requiring both steady hands to land every shot on the man in the dreads, and yet every shot fell off with a simple blue flash over his body.

Realizing his attacks wouldn’t make an effect on their own, the dad used the blinding nature of the gunfire to let himself grab another canister off his vent and flick the clip off before then throwing it on the ground between the agents. The canister began emitting a smoke that started to fill the room, covering traditional sight but allowing the dad to make a line for the door on the other side believing his enemies wouldn’t be able to get a glance of him.

Still being carried by the wrist, the Marauder’s mask flashed green.

Through the black mask, the smoke gray world was given a layer of dark green but more importantly the two agents were highlighted in a brighter shade alongside the other workers who scurried to the corners. The two agents, while their features weren’t discernible, did visibly follow the runaways with the turn of their head, and they casually raised their weapons to aim even when they were surrounded in the smoke.

“DAD!!” cried out the synthetic voice of the Marauder as she tackled her father to the ground, the two orange bolts flying right over them, aimed straight for their chests had they continued their run.

The smoke began to disperse, returning natural visibility to the room, revealing Marauder gripping her dad’s shoulder on top of him, her stance far more desperate as her arms visibly shook. She then raised her head up to the two agents.

Both agents moved their aim down to which the Marauder screamed a battle cry and propelled at them in a directional leap, slashing their arms which again were repelled, to which she bounced backwards and aimed her arm at their weapons, firing wires from her gauntlets and onto the barrels. Her strike was successful as the weapons themselves could not repel interaction, thus she took it as an opportunity to yank her arms back to disarm the agents in one swift motion.

However neither weapon was pulled, as they were instead firmly locked onto the gunner’s bodies. In fact, the only result of the attempted disarming was the tethering of the target to the two, as all they had to do was fire given their aim was already locked.

Tossing aside the Uzi, the father pulled out his knife and threw it strategically through both of the wires, cutting them in half but allowing the Marauder to dash in the air away from the two bolts, which nearly grazed her armor, the one that had already proved ineffective.

Landing back on the ground with a backwards roll, the Marauder sprung to her feet by the door as both of her wires automatically reeled back into her gauntlets as her dad used the moment of distraction to reach her side and push the door open, leading her outside as the rainfall rose up to its peak again.

Leaving the shed, the father and daughter sprinted down the flat rooftop, facing forward as the dad pointed forwards and shouted, “AHEAD!!”

For in front of the two down the long rooftop past the ventilation shafts and generators, there was a strange metal object hovering a foot off the ground. The object resembled an old black automobile given the general shapes, the sleek body with a low hood and rounded back. The main difference however was an entire lack of wheels or even the frames for them, as the vehicle had a flat bottom which levitated. The passenger doors were shut but the front was not, although strangely enough there was no visible hanging door, as instead there was just an opening as though the door was ripped clean off. The overall shape was familiar to an SUV or minivan, having the capacity for perhaps a large family but not one to transport vast quantities of cargo.

In front of that vehicle though were three more agents, all of whom turned to face the invaders, and raised their hands. They were already armed with their pistols though, and they began firing a barrage of orange bolts, though at a vastly greater rate than previously as despite their size being about that of a Smith and Wesson they had the power of an assault rifle gun given not only their speed but the thickness of the bolts themselves. Whereas the two runaways were using handguns as it was all they ever had, these agents were equipped with handguns as they were capable of all they’d need.

Swiftly the Marauder grabbed her dad and leapt behind a few tall ventilation shafts, using them as cover. That cover however quickly began eroding away as every shot burned a hole through the vent, limiting the utility of the cover as they had to quickly make chase again whereas typically such vents would be ideal cover spots in a lengthy gunfight.

At least the few moments of safety allowed the dad to pull out two more Uzi-like pistols both already loaded, and for him to exclaim the plan: “I’LL DISTRACT THEM AND YOU PULL THEM AWAY FROM THE VEHICLE!!”

He didn’t need an affirmation to know the plan was processed, and the immediate next moment they were past the shafts and again exposed to fire.

This time though the father ran straight for the three agents, aiming his two firearms and pulling their physical triggers, fireworks out the muzzles as they roared like lawnmowers, firing streams of metal.

All of the agents struggled to aim at the dad, although while the shots weren’t particularly damaging them, the rapid fire made it difficult for them to focus on retaliation given the constant yet inconsistent flaring.

In that time the Marauder made a dash straight for the trio as she aimed both of her arms at one of the agents and fired both of her wires, grabbing onto one before she again leapt forward in a dash, racing past the gunfire.

In quick strides, the Marauder bounced to the right past the three and then dashed behind them in a circle, wrapping them quickly with the two wires which bounded them together with confused grunts given they were physically interacted.

They couldn’t make a move though before the Marauder then clasped her hands together and bounded higher in the air, which pulled all three bodies up too, a ball of bodies that the flying shadow spun with an aerial kick to gain momentum before she then hurtled them in the direction back to the shed, and upon reaching desired distance she allowed the two wires to finally disengage, fully slipping out of the holes and letting the three tied bodies fly the other way.

The agents grunted helplessly as they were flung to the other side of the rooftop, far from the vehicle they were guarding, as the sacrifice of the wires dealt with the remaining obstacles.

In a graceful motion, the Marauder landed on her feet in front of the floating automobile as her dad caught up with her, panting exhausted from the constant action. However he had a wide smile, transforming his heaves into laughter as he remarked, “Well damn I guess at least we can throw them around. All these guns and we just needed some rope!”

He then turned around to the vehicle and leaned in through the open door as the Marauder grabbed her hood and pulled it off, the threats now distant from them. Her long amber hair flew out of the hood, her shimmering green eyes glancing back and then to the open door.

Inside the black vehicle was an interior like an automobile, two leather seats at the front with a rounded table in between, and behind were another two seats separated by a short aisle leading to a bench to seat a final three more also made of leather. The seats were soft and elegant, and their black bodies fit well with the same-colored interior walls that formed frames around the window screens in the middle and back.

The father turned to face in front of the left driver’s seat which he was poking through the door of, only finding a glassy dashboard below the windshield. His eyebrow raised in utter bafflement, but he was quick to place his hand on the dashboard and start tapping in it as his daughter behind him peeked inside the vehicle while wondering, “Wait…this is what they brought all those weapons in? But how? Maybe they could get like…three of those boxes…four if they tried but…that’s impossible.”

Slapping different parts of the dashboard, the father was abruptly prompted by a roar that stumbled Dana back as along the dashboard a long strip of light projected and formed a curved plane with gauges and buttons translucent yet tangible. Over the windshield an overlay emitted with multiple gauges along the edges coupled with camera feeds, all of them generated and displayed on what seemed like concentrated light. The roar did then mellow into a gentle constant hum, calm but awake.

“Hmm…I won’t lie, I’m not sure what to do here,’ the dad anxiously admitted as far behind him, the three thrown agents stand up without injuries to the forced throw as the door swung open to let out the two agents from the shed but furthermore the towering tall guard and the man in the blonde hair, the last one being the one to shout, “GET THEM OUT OF THERE!”

Hearing that battle cry, the father slipped his head out of the vehicle and threw his hand inside the duffle bag as he turned to his daughter and asked desperately, “Hey can you see if you can figure that gizmo out, I’ll hold them off!” He then pulled out a handgun with an exceptionally long barrel, not one that awkwardly stuck out like an extension for this weapon instead was built longer but thicker too. It had iron sights and a reticle too, giving it the style of a railgun pistol, a sniper compact.

He aimed that railgun down the rooftop and fired a shot, which bellowed a roar matching the vehicle’s startup, throwing itself up which the white-haired gunslinger had to hold down to control its recoil as his daughter slipped fully into the door to sit in the driver’s seat.

That railgun shot struck the towering agent who shielded his face with his arm, grunting as he admitted, “Our shielding

is better for energy absorption, not ballistics. Why couldn’t we feed them lasers?”

All four of the agents took aim and began firing orange bolts as the blonde man shouted over the gunfire with the answer: “Yeah unfortunately these people couldn’t operate one if we gave them centuries! They were in a rut when the company first found them, they can only grow so much!”

At the center of the target from all the laserfire, the father strafed to the side, moving away from the vehicle as a few of the orange bolts struck the shell, although they were absorbed by a blue flashing light similar to how all their ammunition had been swept away.

Noticing such, the father gritted his teeth in irritation at his own vulnerability, but regardless he aimed forward and fired two more shots, knowing that perhaps he couldn’t make a dent but it seemed he was able to keep distance from them.

That distance was time, and that time could be used for Dana to inspect the vehicle, tapping on different buttons on the dashboard in an attempt to find one that’d serve them. She however clearly was unsure of what she was playing with, the anxiety on her face as gunshots roared over the rainfall, the showers no longer the dominant sound over the city.

None of the buttons seemed to do anything but emit quirky beeping sounds from the light itself, none of them even proving themselves as actual buttons capable of executing functions. None but a subtle arrow icon which upon pressing suddenly prompted a second light plane to project above, one that provided an image of two circles at the edges with a single line in between, the circle on the left around the number ‘E-15’ and the one on the right surrounding ‘E-50.’ In the center is a button, and above it is the text prompt: ‘START AUTOMATIC NAVIGATION TO EARTH 50.’

Not even understanding what an ‘Earth 50’ was nor automatic navigation, Dana turned to her dad to announce, “I THINK I GOT IT!”

Hearing that, the dad nodded his head firmly and fired a few more rounds before he shouted back, “Take the other seat unless you know how to open these doors!”

Dana followed that order as she crawled into the front passenger seat over the table, allowing her dad to retreat into the vehicle, slipping in and seating himself. Both hands remained steady on the railgun which he kept firing as he requested over the sound of his own gunshots and those orange lights flying over: “HIT THE BUTTON!” which was immediately obliged.

Frantically the blonde man cried, “DON’T HIT THE POD YOU NIMWITS!” His anxiety peaked however when he faced ahead, and his jaw dropped in terror as he slowly murmured, “No…shit shit shit.”

Such terror was from the fact that the vehicle was slowly beginning to ascend, the hum slightly getting louder. The vehicle was climbing feet every second, beginning to leave the rooftop and the group of suited men by the shed.

Realizing the criticality of the situation, the blonde man tensed before then reluctantly ordering, “ON SECOND THOUGHT, SHOOT THEM DOWN! WE CAN FIGURE OUT THE REST BUT WE CAN’T LET THEM OUT!”

On that order, the agents glanced at him hesitantly, only for him to bellow: “I SAID SHOOT IT!” to which they all reluctantly followed by aiming up and firing rapid streams of orange bolts at their own vehicle.

Those streams strike the shell of the pod, blue lights flashing everywhere and absorbing the energy, some of them flying straight for the opening but that’s then closed automatically as a black cloud emerged off the frame, covering the door and reshaping into a solid barrier that hardened to metal, enclosing the vehicle and absorbing the fire. The enclosure wasn’t just a sheet though, instead it melded with the rest of the interior as it was overlaid with smooth leather and a frame surrounding a window screen providing a display to the gunfire below.

Not all was perfect however as the screens along the dashboard flash red as a new screen popped up above which read a message over a triangle with an exclamation mark: “SUSTAINING DAMAGE TO SHIELDING. AUTOPILOT PAUSING.”

Suddenly the vehicle suspended its flight, stopping midair to much of Dana’s and her dad’s dismay. They glanced through the side window screen to see the six firing down on them, and then another screen popped up with a long progression bar initially about three quarters full but quickly depleting.

Horror struck both of the runaways’ faces as they turned each other, and the dad then returned his gaze to the side window.

Staring out through the screen, the man winced, his teeth gritting hesitantly, but his mouth then closed as did his eyes as he lowered his head in acceptance. He took a deep breath as he stowed his railgun away, pausing as the bar continued to deplete beside him.

Without an immediate word, the man glanced at the dashboard screen and found a set of door buttons in a long rectangle, each button having the icon of a car door given its shape. He pressed the top right button with no more hesitation.

All the sudden that automatic enclosure was undone as the driver’s door combusted into a black cloud that dispersed, allowing the man to lean forwards, free to leap as the drop wasn’t a full story down yet.

However behind him Dana’s eyes expanded in horror to the maneuver being made, and she grabbed her dad’s arm as she demanded, “DAD WHAT ARE YOU DOING??”

Turning around to face his daughter, the man sighed before answering in a hesitant wavering tone, “We can’t get out right now, someone needs to distract them.”

Shaking first before answering quickly, Dana offered back desperately: “Then I’ll go, you saw me! I can throw them off the rooftop, hell I’ll throw them ten blocks far! Here let me go, open my door!”

“And have you go straight to them again? That was a badass move I’ll admit, but you were lucky they didn’t shoot you. You know your armor won’t stop them, they get one good shot and it’s over. I can’t have you risk that,” argued back her dad, but not in a voice as excessively desperate, rather mellow and solemn.

Her eyes becoming reflective in tears, Dana shook her head and bargained again even more fiercely, “And I can’t risk you going out there, at least I have a shot of dodging them! At least I have a shot of getting back up, I don’t even know how to land this thing I-,”

“Dana,” the voice interrupted her.

Lowering his head with closed eyes as his wet white hair crowned over his head, the old father admitted, “Me and Harry talked it over before you woke up…to be honest there’s not much good for us escaping. We lived most of our lifespans here, we can’t really start over. This wasn’t for us…it never was.”

He then opened his eyes and raised his head to meet his girl’s teary gaze to affirm, “Now you’re going to listen to me Dana, you have one more order. I need you to fly wherever this takes you, I need you to find your way around wherever you land. Live a new life, one where you don’t need to steal and kill everyday to make a living, live a life you can be proud of.”

He then lowered his head and confessed reluctantly, “I was hoping I could help you figure your way…,” before then raising it back up and confidently asserting, “But I know you’ll find it yourself.”

In the middle of the gunfight, the man placed his hand on his daughter’s cheek as he proclaimed, “You’re the most brilliant and resilient person I have ever known, you thrived on this world and I know you will thrive on any world. You were always meant for more, and I know however high your potential can become, you’ll surpass it. I know your mom is proud of you, and I know I will always be proud of you. You’re my everything, you’re my daughter and you’re my best friend. So can you promise me that you’ll keep moving forward, and you’ll live your best life?”

Tears streamed down those cheeks from the parakeet eyes of the girl, her light sobbing mixed with the subdued rainfall.

As the bar slowly reached merely a quarter full, the girl closed her eyes and lowered her head, rubbing her face against the course hand of the man who nurtured her her whole life, a man she had tussled against when it came to seeking her own future, but a man who only took that to help her find it.

To that request of abandonment of that man who was always by her side even when she thought she was best off without it, the girl ultimately affirmed, “I promise.”

She wasn’t the only to shed, for as she opened her eyes and lifted her head to meet her father’s, she found streams of tears from his pacific eyes too. She also found a wide smile, one perhaps the most genuine she’d seen from him.

Next the man began to turn away, but was stopped by a tight embrace from the girl who wrapped her arms around him, nudging her head into his shoulder. They paused frozen for a few moments still.

Slowly though, the man lifted his own arms, and he wrapped it around her too, comforting her in this final exchange.

No words were spoken, the two merely embraced each other in the few seconds they had left. The girl’s eyes were shut tight, trying to hold back the rivers but not effective at doing so.

Her embrace began to weaken though as the arms wrapped around her loosened, and she opened her eyes to watch the man turn around to face the other way.

Past the girl’s injured shoulder, she watched her father face down the rooftop, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a large silver revolver, one he revealed the cylinder of to show it holding fat golden bullets with rounded tips, bullets which had a ring in the center with a divot.

He raised that revolver up, and after one more breath, he uttered in a voice managing to sound casual, able to power through the tragedy to wish: “Do great things, Breadhead.”

Then, he threw himself off the vehicle, and back to the rooftop.

Dropping down from the safety of the exit, the man rolled on the floor and stood back up to his feet, cocking back the revolver by the hammer and pressing on the trigger, firing a single shot straight at the cluster of the shooters.

While the agents were occupied with firing down on the vehicle, the blonde man lowered his gaze to meet that of the golden bullet just before striking the tall security guard to which an abrupt explosion erupted, consuming them at once in a swift flame that blew off chunks of the shed’s wall.

The fires then gradually began to sweep away, the ashes subsiding to reveal the bodies, all of them still standing, not a single one of them grazed as they just turned their attention to the man that shot them. While they weren’t burnt, they did seem shocked, some of their arms covering their heads for protection.

Realizing the effectiveness of the diversion, the man began to march towards the invincible obstacles and he pulled the hammer down before again firing a shot.

That next shot struck the target, erupting in another explosion, this time visibly staggering the agents back as the blonde man ran back for the shed in hiding, all of them clearly nervous from the explosives.

Again the man pulled the hammer and fired, and again that bullet hit the agents with another eruption, flashes of orange lighting up the roof over the city.

From the view inside the vehicle, Dana leaned over the driver’s seat to watch her dad below fire a fourth shot, and then a fifth, and as he did she noticed that the depleting bar had suspended its drop, but instead it was slowly beginning to rise the other direction. The rise was gradual but consistent, and after noting such she returned her gaze back to her father, her jaw dropping in realization of an idea as she crawled over the seat and aimed her arm for him.

Now the agents were starting to step back as the man used his free hand to reach into the duffle bag and pull out the bandolier holding the canisters, holding it up with his finger through one of the clips. He flicked the clip before he then arched his arm and threw the whole bandolier like a frisbee, the halo soaring through the raining sky.

That ring reached close to the agents before that first canister erupted, and immediately following it was the chain of every other canister on the bandolier, leading to a far more potent explosion that rose a great blaze in the sky and pushed the agents further back as now they were clearly being agitated by the strikes of a man using historic weapons.

Even then with the seemingly successful strike, no leisure was taken as the fatherly gunslinger fired another shot at them, pushing them back towards the shed as he kept marching onwards, furthering the oppressive suppressive fire.

Past halfway, the blue bar climbed beside Dana who took a glance before returning her focus to the battlefield, waiting desperately.

All of the agents right in front of the shed door, they tried to step forward as the explosions dispersed, only for the dad to take another shot, his seventh shot, and set flames to them again for another stagger.

Eyes reflecting the orange of the flames, the man sighed in relief, smiling after having landed his last shot, seven for seven.

Surpassing three quarters, the bar hit a milestone that prompted it to vanish, as did the warning message, replacing it with another that read: ‘SATISFACTORY SHIELDING, AUTOPILOT RESUMING.’

Smiling widely to that response which then vanished as the pod’s hum began to rise and the vehicle started to uplift, Dana faced her dad and aimed her hand, ready to fire her grapple at her father standing in the middle of the rooftop as a single orange bolt flew from the tall guard’s weapon, a single bolt that flew straight through the dad’s head.

That joyous smile immediately collapsed to despair on Dana’s face before she then screamed out, “NO!”

On the ground, the father stood on his feet, the smile still on his face despite a hole burnt above it. Even with a bullet through his head, he still stood an obstacle, one whose hindrance was eternal, for he had completed his mission.

Nothing could stop that, not the hail of orange gunfire following on that man which finally dropped him to the ground to Dana’s agonizing screams, watching such horrific sight before it’s then limited from the emergence of the black clouds that solidified the door automatically yet again, only allowing her sight through the window screen.

Leaning still, she then watched as the agents returned their focus to her, all of them raising their weapons and firing upward hails of orange which struck the screen, causing her to wince and yelp in fear.

However that sight began to change as the angle of the vehicle did, for it began to tilt upwards as the engine’s hum grew louder and instead of merely ascending the vehicle started to soar forth towards the sky.

“NO!” screamed the blonde man as he watched the vehicle accelerate away from the rooftop, up towards the eternal clouds as his agents kept firing before pausing, realizing they had already failed.

Inside the front passenger’s seat of the vehicle that could’ve fit the whole crew with additional spacing, the single passenger wept and sobbed, wiping her eyes as the windshield in front of her exhibited the view of the approaching smog clouds before entering into the dark storm.

Heavy rainfall hailed on the vehicle’s metal hull as sight was completely obscured from the clouds, but so was Dana’s as her eyes were covered in her hands, crying despite the victory.

She was alone inside the vehicle, the one spotted not by her but the two who never got to take it. The two whom she fought with for years, who helped her not solely be a lonesome raider of the night but part of a team who was able to help each other manage living in a world where dependency was a foreign concept.

In front of her the view of the dark gray had finally passed, leaving to a darker view in terms of the backdrop, for the sky above was pitch black.

However, as Dana slowly lowered her hands and opened her eyes, retracting back to her seat and turning away from the side screen to face the windshield ahead, she was met with the sight of glitter, the black sky covered with sparkling white lights tiny but abundant everywhere. Amongst those lights were streaks of clouds, but not the dull gray ones that loomed over her world, for these were beautiful shades of blues and purples, not covering the sky but instead painted over it.

Her tears tapering into silence, Dana’s reddish parakeet eyes widened at the alien sight, her mouth opening in awe as the sparkles reflected in her irises.

In silence Dana just stared at the infinite void, one darker than her world and yet simultaneously teaming with a glow she had never once experienced. Not just a world but a whole universe just past that blanket that she lived under her whole life, one she couldn’t fully comprehend but one she was already entranced by.

She sniffled, the pain not gone for sure, for the loss was one that’d truly never vanish.

Yet amongst that loss there was another sensation, the one they had originally sought for, one they never had all their lives, one they never thought they’d experience for in fact they wouldn’t know of it as they’d never have the precedent to conceptualize it.

A sensation that a world marooned to a cycle of cannibalism wouldn’t experience, for it was one that could only be felt when released from the chains of gravity that bound this humanity to such a dark and dreary world.

That sensation could be easily defined in a single word.

Freedom.