Sirens blared as spinklers began spewing water from the ceiling. The lights had gone off, dumping the merchandise cells in darkness. This would have been a concerning situation, had all the cells not just opened up.
“Free the elders from stasis! Get to the hangar! Smash the generators! Move!”
A voice echoed through the long, desolate level, but was unheard by the disorientated guards. In unnatural order, prisoners charged out of their cells, attacking anyone and anything that got in their way. These former deities may have still been collared and powerless, but none of them were going to let this chance slip through their fingers.
“Litvir, did you-”
“Shut up and start moving!” Litvir immediately snapped as he burst out of his own cell and checked the hallway. You find Galyn, I will go find Arkay.”
“But-”
“If I were to go find Galyn, I cannot move him, you can. Now go!”
Retvik grunted, then did as he was told, immediately punching a guard who had rushed up to them in a vague attempt to contain them. “Do you know where Arkay is?”
“No, but I have an idea, and he is not in the same place Galyn is…” Litvir frowned, pointing behind him. “Stasis pods are that way.”
Chaos erupted somewhere behind Retvik and Litvir, followed by a small shower of electrical sparks.
“You guys coming?” small, yellow Retvik asked, as he stamped on the head of another, less lucky guard, then darted past Litvir. “We got bosses to save!”
Retvik nodded, snapping his finger and producing a small flame. Some of their abilities had returned, but not nearly enough. He watched Litvir disappear off into the darkness, then followed after his yellow counterpart. Their footsteps were swiftly followed by a large group of other prisoners, all of whom were more stampeding down the hallway rather than simply walking.
As they traipsed down the dark and now very waterlogged hallway, one group of prisoners continued onwards, heading towards the hangar. The two Retviks however headed down a narrow side path, which seemed to run parallel to the main corridor. They were followed by about twelve other prisoners, all of whom were quite large. One of them, what looked like a canine creature in skull and bone armour, pushed in front and began charging ahead, trampling over several guards as they did so.
The horned canine’s charge though swiftly came to an end as it collided with a heavy steel door. The door crumpled slightly, but was being reinforced from the other side.
“DON’T LET THEM PASS!”
“OPEN THE GUNDOOR!”
Behind the steel door, orange emergency lights illuminated the forms of two beings, even bulkier than the prisoners barrelling down the corridor. Several prisoners helped up the horned canine, while the largest pounded on the steel door.
Suddenly, deafening bangs ricocheted through the darkness. Someone yelped in pain. Someone else shouted. Realising what was going on, the two Retviks pulled the prisoners back.
“Move back, they are shooting at us!”
Most of the prisoners did as they were told, but someone had already been downed. Retvik rushed forward to grab them as a bullet bounced off his armour plating. Another grazed his arm. Retvik noticed the wound, but the area felt numb. A muzzle flash went off almost directly in front of him, followed by a shower of sparkles.
Much to Retvik’s dismay, his smaller companion had leaped in front of both him and the fallen prisoner.
“I can’t hold this for long, retreat!”
A shimmering shield of electricity, emitting an overly warm glow, was somehow stopping the torrent of bullets being shot at them. Little Retvik strained as he held the shield up, slowly stepping backwards.
“Everyone, move back!”
Retvik grunted and heaved as he threw the injured prisoner over his shoulders. But he swiftly found that the other prisoners weren’t moving. If anything, they were moving backwards, towards the two Retviks and the stasis chambers they had originally been trying to access.
The yellow critter’s electric shields began to falter. With a small grunt of pain, electric Revik erected a second shield, then a third, both of which flickered with far less intensity than the first shield did. Ahead of them, the guards in the doorway were becoming aware that the prisoners were trapped from both sides.
“I’m sorry, I can’t hold this any more…”
The electric shields began to falter and fade away. As they did so, bullets began to pour down the hallway again. But these ones were different. Smaller, pointier.
Retvik grabbed his tiny counterpart and pulled him close, a vague attempt to protect the little guy. The bullets didn’t seem to penetrate his armour, but were definitely hitting his skin. On closer inspection, they weren’t bullets at all, but tiny, tiny tranquillizer darts.
“You tried. At least they want us alive, I guess…”
What little light there was in the cramped hallway faded to black as the sedatives swiftly began to take hold…