Snippet #2720640

The steel doors opened with a rush of cool wind that whipped the hair around Liz’s shoulder. Hinting at the conditions to come, a sprinkling of snow fluttered through the doorway, making Liz regret the lack of sleeves to her suit. “Step lightly, there’s no telling what we’ll be walking into.” Liz warned her partner briefly before stepping through. The cold was unpleasant, but the real shock was the quiet. The sounds of men and artillery could be heard in the distance of course, but they were mechanical, digital reproductions of a mind made of coding. There were no thoughts to hear, and though this was strictly a disadvantage for the success of their mission, Liz could help but bask in the momentary relief.

“OHH- holy shit balls that’s cold! A little heads up next time?!” Cree had landed nearly waist deep in the snow as she entered, and with that the silence, much like the freshly fallen snow, was ruined. Carefully, Liz lifted Cree out of the snow, and telekinetically shifted them both to a spot with a bit more cover.

“There are a lot of guns between us and that fortress. We could try approaching from the air, but the moment we’re spotted, we’ll have a dozen turrets locking on and firing on our position.” Liz assessed as she took in their surroundings. They’d be discovered by a patrol soon enough though if they stayed put, but with the trees as cover it would be more difficult to be bombarded.

“Can you use that force camouflage at all?” Cree asked as she pulled out her pack.

“It’s not called that, and no. There aren’t any minds whose perception I can manipulate here.” Liz replied with reproach. “I can shield us from any oncoming damage, but there are likely to be snipers out here as well, and it’s difficult to shield against damage I can’t see coming.”

“Alright…” Cree trailed off for a moment, looking around intently until she spotted one of the opposing turrets. “Think you can give me some cover? I’ve got an idea.” Cree didn’t wait for Liz to reply before pulling her guns out and racing toward the turret. Two quick shots took out the guards manning the turret, but there were still plenty of guards on the ground looking to draw blood.

The move seemed rash, but snippets of her partner’s plan began taking shape in Liz’s mind as she erected a telekinetic shield to start deflecting bullets. Simulated guards were easy enough to throw around into the trees, but things began to get hairy once another turret began firing in their direction. Bullets were one thing, energy blasts from alien tech was another. ‘Whatever you’re doing, hurry up.’ Liz urged as she simultaneously blocked an energy blast and knocked back a guard advancing on Cree’s position now in the turret.

‘Just a second…and…BINGO HA HA!’ Whatever Cree had been doing to the turret, it appeared to have spread to the others. Suddenly the gun that had been firing down at them swiveled to the right, and began firing on the guards. ‘I put the guns on auto pilot, and changed their defense parameters to shoot anything that moves and doesn’t give off a heat signature.’

‘That’s…actually kind of brilliant.’ Liz complimented with as much surprise as Cree felt receiving it. She beamed like an idiot, which definitely ruined the bad ass intellectual vibe she’d had going on there, but Cree was too pumped to care.


With the turrets mowing down the guards in between them and the base, getting inside the compound became a much easier task. Cree had elected for speed on her hover-disc, and Liz was just as happy to fly as they made their way through the main entrance. Cree’s attempt at a mental montage was far less tolerable.

‘Get your motor runnin', Head out on the highway!’

‘Please stop…’

‘Lookin' for adventure, and whatever comes our way!’

‘I’m begging you.’

“BORN TO BE WI-I-ILD!” Cree sang out load for the last chorus, tossing two electric pulse grenades ahead that short circuited the oncoming guards. Liz threw up another shield as they stormed their way through, flinging any oncoming guards against the wall telekinetically until they were a smoking pile of scrap. The feel of crushing something went a long way to soothing her irritation.

“We need to move toward the basement. If we stay here to head them off, we’ll get entrenched.” Liz cautioned as she tried to move them further through the base. Her shield could protect them for a while, but it has limits she’d rather not test in this simulation.

“Right. According to the schematics we should turn here and take a lef-” A bright flash bone shattering crash interrupted Cree before she ever had time to finish that sentence. Her ears were ringing, and the first conscious thing Cree registered was that she was sprawled on the floor like a rag doll. Her body wouldn’t respond yet, still reeling from the shock of the impact as she lay there, useless as a puppet with cut strings. Bomb? Her mind tried to rationalize, hand twitching as she felt around uselessly for her pack. That amount of concussive force should have been deadly, without Liz’s shield it probably would have been.

“Liz?!” Cree croaked out, blinking smoke out of her bleary eyes as she tried to search for her missing partner. The clank of footsteps was a clear sign more guards were approaching, and laid out like this, they’d be sitting ducks. “LIZ!” Cree shouted again, trying to pull herself up on shaky feet.

When she finally spotted Liz, Cree almost didn’t recognize her. Part of her suit had been torn apart, probably a lost cause, but the amount of skin showing wasn’t nearly as disconcerting as the fact she looked like she was engulfed in flame. Floating nearly to the ceiling, like some kind of freaky mini sun, Cree wondered how she could have missed her. “What the hell is that?!” Her mind screamed, as Liz opened her mouth, letting out some kind of screech that shook her at what felt like a molecular level. The robotic guards apparently had a similar reaction, and just seemed to…melt, like they’d been thrown into some kind of fire. Suddenly the whole room felt too hot and suffocating, like the oxygen was being sucked out by the fire.

“LIZ!” Cree choked out desperately, unsure what was even happening, much less how to remedy the situation. Her partner’s eyes turned then on Cree, black pits that too seemed illuminated by the flame. Those frighteningly void, almost alien eyes appraised her a moment, head tilting in an almost bird like fashion. Whatever she saw, Cree was grateful, because Liz finally descended back toward the ground before promptly fainting. It might have been funny if it were for the fact that left her with an unconscious teammate, a bunch of melted bots, and possibly a concussion. “Fuck…”