In a flash, Daniel picked up each man and deposited them into the mouth of a nearby tunnel, calling off his Domain once he was done. Landing amidst his men, he temporarily opened his helmet to explain his plan to them: “I’ll go get rid of those dogs. Then, I’ll bring you guys back up once they can’t shoot at us.”

  They all nodded, and Daniel flew back up, dodging another beam of electricity mid-air and flying up to the tunnel with the larger Xenos he’d seen earlier. Up close, it just looked like a larger version of a Tempus Hound, but with white eyes and purple lightning. Without checking his Codex notifications, he realized this must be a Fulgur Hound, the greater version of the Tempus Hound. But whatever it was, it was mostly helpless as Daniel grabbed it by the neck and killed it in one twist. He tossed the corpse in Codex storage before looking at the other tunnels across the way.

  Many of the hounds had seen this play out and run away, but there were still a few stragglers. The system highlighted several enemies in gold, including another Fulgur Hound. It would be a pain to fly to each of them, and Daniel contemplated shooting at them with his revolver before he got another message from Nuntius:

  “Manifest Secondary Armaments?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  “Manifesting Secondary Armaments, [Standard] Power.”

  On both of his arms, atop his wrists, appeared two small, tri-barreled turrets. Daniel pointed them toward the Xenomorphs and rapidly fired small bolts of ivory flame at the skulking monsters. The Fulgur Hound went up in flames before it had the chance to scream, and several of the smaller Tempus Hounds were slaughtered before they got the message. After the pack retreated, Daniel flew over and alighted on the lift side of the destroyed bridge, ensuring it was safe before he went and fetched the others. He suddenly got another message:

  “Warning: Enemy Detected.”

  There was an immense crash, a mighty explosion that sounded like the rapid crumpling of several tons of metal, coming from behind the lift doors. Daniel whirled around to watch those doors be blown right off their hinges. He hurriedly raised his arms to block a massive black fist, outlined in yellow light, hurtling right at his face. The punch hit so hard, he was sent flying head-over-heels across the room before stabilizing in midair and getting a good look at his attacker.

  It was a black skinned Goliath, more than twice Daniel’s height and three times his width. It possessed a thin midsection compared to its massively muscled upper and lower bodies, but that didn’t seem to hinder the creature’s mobility as it hurtled through the air right at him. Daniel managed to fly out of the way, and it landed on the bridge with a massive clang, heavily denting the metal. The creature’s toadlike head and three massive eyes followed him as he flew away, mouth opening to reveal triangular ivory teeth. Purple smoke billowed out from its throat, covering Daniel mid-flight, and he got another message from Nuntius:

  “Warning: Psionic Poison Detected. Initiating Purification Subfunction.”

  The armor began emitting white steam that turned the poison cloud into a harmless, clear gas with an audible hiss. Daniel fought back, aiming his secondary armaments at the bizarre Xenos and firing a deadly barrage. The creature’s whole body began to glow with a soft amber light in response, shielding against the blaster bolts as they crashed into its skin. The monster still roared in pain, staggering a little before turning to the side to present a smaller target. Daniel seized the advantage, circling around while blasting away. But as he did, the Xenos suddenly made a rapid throwing motion, and Daniel was forced to dodge as a sun-colored projectile hurtled right at him.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  A small sphere of yellow light flew straight past Daniel, detonating on the ceiling and raining steel and concrete into the void below. The flying Pioneer watched as more spheres generated in the Goliath’s open palms, before it pitched both of them at him at a blistering speed. Daniel narrowly dodged, wings humming as they propelled him through the gap between them. These also exploded on the walls, and he heard some fearful yelling from the men below:

  “Note: Power at 20%”

  He was a sitting duck out here, and his peashooter wasn’t enough to win this fight. Daniel needed to bring this fight into close quarters and away from the more vulnerable Pioneers. Landing at the mouth of one of the artificial tunnels, he let loose one last burst of blaster fire before turning and running away. A rumble from behind him said he’d evaded another projectile, and the subsequent heavy footfalls echoing down the metal chamber told him that the beast was chasing him. He dismissed his wings to save power but was prepared to re-summon them with a thought.

  His boots propelled Daniel at blistering speeds deeper into the ground, the tunnel sloping downward as he ran. He never tired, and even managed to put some distance between himself and the monster before he found what he was looking for.

  At the end of the tunnel was a final door, open thanks to the absent power, and Daniel ran through it and out onto a large, blacksteel platform. In front of him stretched another blacksteel bridge, connecting to a similar platform across the way, and underneath it all was a large pool of bubbling magma. The molten rock cast the whole chamber in a calm, orange glow, the lighting unusual in a facility without electricity. Above and around him, similar gangplanks connected to other platforms, this entire floor a hive of ascending and descending bridges. The ceiling was far above, but the rock wall on the other side of the room wasn’t too far away: “This must have been where they recharged their Meta Diamonds.”

  Daniel thought to himself. The extreme heat of the lava would be the perfect tool to do so. He shook off the stray thought and prepared for battle. The Xenos’ footsteps drew closer, and Daniel hardened his resolve before commanding internally: “Nuntius, manifest the Heavenly Armament.”

  “As you wish.”

  The plasma sword materialized in his hand faster than thought, and Daniel charged forward to meet the oncoming foe.

  …

  Jordan watched as Danny disappeared into the tunnel and the freakshow jumped off the bridge and started to follow him. He’d like to help, but their fight had been at a level way above his. He hadn’t even seen much, just a few blurs, smoke, and a couple of explosions. He prayed for his friend’s safety, but he’d work to keep the group alive in the meantime: “What do we do now?”

  MacNeil asked, looking uncertainly toward his elders for guidance. Mubarik broke his characteristic silence to respond, calmly declaring: “We cannot stay here. Should the Tempus Hounds find their way to our tunnel, we’d be out of options.”

  He was right. With nowhere to go, the Hounds would have them trapped on this ledge. They needed to go deeper into the facility. Jordan decided to jump in and take charge, calling out: “Aldo’s right. We’ll follow this tunnel until we find another open space, then weigh our options. Gon, you take point. I’ll have your back. Ramirez, you take the rear.”

  The Dunid hummed his agreement, and Ramirez gave him a cheerful salute and a “yes, boss”. Everyone, even Stanoslav, seemed to feel that Daniel’s ‘authority’ transferred to Jordan, so they formed ranks as he ordered and started down the tunnel. Things were eerily quiet for an extended period, with the clomp of boots on metal and rasp of nervous breathing the only ambient sound to keep the Pioneers company as they continued their journey. After a long and pulse-pounding walk, they finally found their way to a square door that led out onto a large metal platform. Smaller metal bridges branched to other platforms to the left, right, and forward.

  They walked to the platform’s edge and looked down, squinting at the sudden warmth from the magma far below. It was far enough that they weren’t being baked, but Jordan could feel the considerable heat of the metal through his shoes. There were numerous platforms and crossways below them, and he saw that some of the bridges on their platform led both upward and downward. Without a protective suit or better heat resistance, he wouldn’t want to go further down. In the distance to their left, they could faintly hear a lot of banging, resembling either heavy machines or one ugly fight. Jordan knew the correct answer, of course, and he turned over the urge to bring the men over to help his best friend. Though they couldn’t do much in a fight of that caliber, there was at least a chance they might tip the scales. But only at a significant cost.

  As he was thinking, the world made his choice for him. Barking alerted him to a small group of Tempus Hounds on a platform below him. That fracas alerted Jordan to the presence of a honeycomb of tunnels in the rock wall across the way, leading onto some of the platforms over there. The men cursed and equipped their rifles, firing on the pack of Xenos, but it was too late. While they silenced that group, more hounds poured out from the tunnels across from the Pioneers. It wouldn’t take long for them to cross the platforms and charge the Pioneers.

  A last-second instinct prompted Jordan to dodge, diving down as a stream of amethyst lightning passed over his head, ears popping from the sudden change in air pressure. The man immediately behind Jordan wasn’t so lucky. When the attack dissipated, the blonde looked back in horror to see the charred corpse of Aldo Mubarik.

  At that point, there was only one order to give: “RUN!”