'Plan B' had Wartorn leading the group back down into the bowels of the ship towards the back towards engineering and the main power core. The group split into four groups of five with two at the front and two covering the rear with a tech expert in the middle. If even one of the groups got through to engineering they would be able to complete the mission. Eva and Wartorn led their group with Aiden and another soldier that Eva had never seen before bringing up the rear of their small group.

 

Pistols in her hands, Eva rounded a corner in the corridor only to face down an enemy who fired at her on sight with a pistol of his own. Eva dropped to the ground instinctively as he fired letting the shot sail over her head and rolled back up into a crouch. She was about to level her weapon at the man but Wartorn came around a moment behind her and, having been alerted to the presence of the enemy, put the guy down with a single shot. He nodded to Eva as she got back to her feet and kept moving down the hall.

 

"Nice move." he said.

 

"Not a bad shot yourself." she replied.

 

They quickened their pace, knowing that they were being watched by Sirus on up on the sealed bridge who was undoubtedly directing intercept forces to cut them off. As Eva was having this very thought two men appeared from an adjoining hall right in front of them. Eva sidestepped and spun around the first, shoving him off balance with an elbow in the ribs. As she spun she swung her elbow out catching the second in the side of the head. He stumbled back and barely caught his balance but before he could regain a steady footing Eva slammed the butt of her pistol into his head so hard that she heard bones crack under the force. She spun back to face the first in time to see Wartorn slamming the man face first into the solid metal wall. Without a word they turned back on their path and moved through the ship again.

 

Approaching the main engineering bay they could hear the distinct sound of gunfire. One of the other groups had made it before them and were engaging the group guarding that area. Wartorn's group came in from another angle to flank the enemy group so that they could come along a hallway to the side of them. The other group of UEE had done a good job of keeping them focused on them and suppressed at the same time. Eva holstered her pistols and looked at Wartorn.

 

"Cover me. I've got this." she said to him in a low voice, reaching below her pistols to draw both of the long bladed knives from their thigh scabbards. She put her weight onto her back foot, braced for a second and then pushed off with off of her strength, launching herself at the flank of the enemy group with the blistering speed that only her unnaturally strong artificial muscles could have generated.

 

A few metres out she dropped and slid along the polished floor, slashing out with her right hand blade as she passed behind the first person's legs slicing the tendons at the backs of her knees. The woman screamed and dropped to the ground, her weapon falling from her hands as she clutched at the wounds. Rolling mid-slide, Eva pushed her feet against the floor letting the momentum of the slide push her back up onto her feet before she launched herself back into the group. Her blades arced through the air as bodies dropped around her from both her own knives or from friendly fire that zipped past, picking off the distracted enemies as they turned to focus on her.

 

She glanced down each hall of the intersection and then flicked the blood off her blades before slipping them back into their scabbards. She drew her pistol and ended the screaming of the first woman she downed with a single shot to the head before looking back up to Wartorn's group.

 

"Clear!" she called back to them before turning and moving into the engineering bay. She was amazed at how easy that had been. Under normal circumstances she should be feeling at least a little tired after that scrap, but her body felt fresh as if no fighting had happened. She took a moment to revel in the feeling.

 

"All teams, engineering bay is clear. Rendezvous here with haste." Wartorn's voice crackled over the encrypted comms in her helmet. Within a couple of minutes all of the teams were gathered, missing only a few members.

 

"Ash, really......" Sirus' voice came across the comms, "I know what you're doing, you know. You're getting desperate, old friend."

 

"What's he talking about?" one of the soldiers asked.

 

"He thinks we're going to disable the main power core." Wartorn replied.

 

"Well, aren't we?" the soldier said.

 

Wartorn smirked and shook his head, turning to the gigantic cell at the rear of the engineering bay that contained the main power core of the mammoth ship with. He gestured to the tech specialists who rushed forward ready for commands.

 

"Blow it. No failsafe, ten minute timer." he said to them matter of factly. The men nodded and ran to the consoles, beginning their work. As they ran their fingers across the panels the monitoring readouts on the power core started to fluctuate erratically.

 

"What are you doing, Ash?" the voice of Sirus came over the comms, a hint of worry cutting into the normally smooth and condescending tone. Ignoring him Wartorn spun on his heel and gestured to the main doors. The more heavily armed men took cover behind an obstacle they could find, shouldering their rifles and preparing to shoot anything that moves.

 

A group of three enemies rounded the corner shortly after and were cut down before they could get off even one aimed shot. The tech specialists didn't even flinch at the gunfire to their back. They worked together with such unison it was a thing of beauty to watch. They implanted a corrupted maintenance cycle into the systems, one that would slowly ramp up power output so that the core would go critical in roughly the right amount of time, though it was not an exact science. Their work finished, they each drew their pistols and destroyed every console in the bay making it near impossible for anyone to be able to reverse the damage in time.

 

"What have you done?!?" Sirus yelled over the comms, the gravity of the plan finally hitting the pirate commander. "You fucking crazy bastard! You'll kill us all!"

 

"That's the idea," Wartorn muttered before calling out, "Alright people, move out!" As they gathered near the door another group of enemies gathered outside, and were cut down equally as fast as the first few had been. There was no time to waste now. They would be pushing head first into an oncoming wave of opponents and would have to get back to the hangar, onto ships and clear of the ship in time. It was a tall order, but taking any more time on the core overload would have potentially given the enemy enough time to hack the engineering systems from the bridge.

 

The push back to the flight deck was grueling. Enemies crawled the halls hunting them now. They split into teams again but stayed close to each other, covering each others flanks as they moved in unison back through the ship gunning down anyone that wasn't one of their own. It was a slaughter as the highly trained special forces of the UEE came up against what basically amounted to private citizens whose close combat training consisted mostly of bar brawls. Eva discarded her pistols once the ammunition charges were out, well before reaching the hangars again and some of the team's rifles started running low as well. If they were going to make it they would have to start using alternative means of neutralising the enemy.

 

Eva drew her blades and ran forwards, ignoring the calls of alarm from her group. Using her enhanced speed to cover the distance to the next corridor intersection faster than any person should. A quick peek around showed a group of four enemies moving in her direction. She held up a hand signal to her team to indicate four and then prepared herself.

 

The first stepped around the corner and had a blade embedded through his chest before he could react. Eva lifted her right leg and drove her heel into his pelvis as hard as she could sending the body flying back and into two of his companions who fell to the ground under the dead weight. The last pirate raised his rifle to fire but Eva was on him before he could shoulder it properly. She palmed the rifle to one side with her free hand and stabbed up with her second blade, driving it up under his chin. As she turned to the two remaining people who were dragging themselves out from under the one Eva had kicked onto them, Eva's team rounded the corner and used only one round each to kill the men where they lay.

 

Eva bent down and yanked her blades out of the chin and chest of the dead men. Looking down at the bodies she cocked her head slightly to one side, her mind trying coming to grips with how easy it was to kill these people. They seemed to slow and weak to her that putting them down was like swatting away insects. She straightened her back and sprinted for the next intersection.

 

A virtual massacre in their wake, the teams formed back up outside the flight deck and went through the airlock together onto the flight deck. Those still with ammunition formed a protective ring around those who had run out but Eva stood with the armed men on the outside, a feeling of invincibility rushing through her. A few people on the flight deck raised weapons in their direction but were put down before they could fire. This in turn caused the majority of the people on the flight deck to back up and let them through, the majority of them being unarmed maintenance workers.

 

The group moved back to their stolen Cutlass craft. Shredded as they might be the team at least knew that the shielding and engines were fine, and right now that is all that mattered. As they began boarding the ships a group of outlaws gathered nearby the ships and Eva's hud scanned them, showing no firearms on their persons but they were holding heavy tools in their hands.

 

"You've got to be kidding me...." Eva muttered to herself as they began advancing, tools held menacingly. Eva stepped clear of the ship and drew her blades to stand between the group and her team. As if considering the drawing of her weapons a challenge, the group charged with wrenches and hammers raised.

 

Eva ducked under the swinging hammer of the first attacker and slashed his E.V.A. suit with one of her blades before spinning to hold up an arm to block a swinging wrench of a second. The wrench slammed against the armor plating of her forearm, which absorbed most of the shock. She brought the blade of her other hand up and impaled the man's forearm with the blade. He screamed and stumbled back with the blade still in his arm, pulling it free from her hand in the process. She was struck from behind, a metallic ringing echoing through her helmet as something hit her square across the back of the head. She let herself fall forwards and rolled, turning as she rolled back up into a crouch to launch herself at the person who had struck her.

 

They collided and her remaining blade cut through his suit and bit into his stomach. She pulled her blade from him and stood and as she did she felt a hand grab her shoulder and pull on it hard. She spun, her free hand grabbing the throat of the person that had come up behind her and drove her blade through their chest before the iron bar the person had been swinging managed to strike home. Eva looked through the E.V.A. suit visor of the person and looked into the terrified face of a young girl. She looked at Eva, her eyes wide and full of tears, her mouth gaping open in a silent scream that Eva would never hear. She could not be more than fifteen years old.

 

Eva released her grip on the girl's throat and she slid off her blade and onto the floor, air seeping from the hold in her suit. Looking down at the collapsed body Eva's eyes were drawn to the blade in her hand that dripped with blood. She dropped the blade suddenly as if it had just bitten her and stared at her gloved hands which were covered in the blood of more than one person. Eva's combat armor suddenly felt very tight around her body as if it was constricting her chest. She started panting for breath but it felt like she was suffocating. Her mind lost in panic she clawed at her helmet with her hands trying to pry it off but her hands were too slippery with blood and all she managed to do was leave red streaks across the visor. This only made things worse.

 

"Get it off! Get it off!" she started calling out, unsure of whether she meant the blood, or the suit. Someone grabbed her from behind and she spun, punching the person square in the helmet. He did not fall. Another set of hands grabbed her, and then another and she felt herself being dragged along. She vaguely saw the flashes of shots being fired past herself and the people who had her held fast before she finally hyperventilated into blackness.

 

NEXT ENTRY: Broken