“Everything’s gone horribly wrong!”
Dr. Gaster jerked his head up from his schematics as his
considerations were interrupted by the alert. He quickly turned to look at the
crystal ball which rested upon a small side table. Within the orb’s glassy
surface, he could see a live image of Director Soakosh, head of SkullTech’s
Genetic Engineering Department. He began to speak again, a tone of
uncharacteristic fear in his voice: “To whoever’s listening, send help at once!
I need the best forces you can spare as quickly as you can send them. A large
force of robed men and masked undead have invaded my lab. I thought security could
handle it . . . but many of my experiments were released in the chaos. With
them running amok, there just aren’t enough guards to handle the situation. I
have locked myself in the deepest part of the facility. I repeat, send help!”
“Of course this had to happen while Eric and the
others are off fighting a war,” Gaster grumbled as he stood from his chair and
briskly strode to a steel panel set into the office wall, his long gray coat
billowing behind him. He placed his skeletal hand upon the surface, and a
hand-shaped rune lit up as the panel slid into the wall. Now visible was a
rectangular alcove containing an arcane rifle and a pair of arcane pistols, all
forged from alchemos. He quickly retrieved the weapons and made for the door.
Ì
Within the heart of the facility, a circle of runes began to
glow. There was a flash of light, and a security guard covered head to toe in
alchemos armor was now standing in the circle. As he stepped out, another
followed suit, then another, and another. Once a full squad of security
personnel had arrived, Dr. Gaster materialized, gripping his arcane rifle. He
took a few long strides forward to stand at the head of the formation as a trio
of his fellow executives portalled in behind him.
The first to step forward was Mirauth, Vice President of
Finance. Her dark purple hair was arranged in a neat bun, and her violet eyes
peered out through a pair of silver-rimmed spectacles. Her typical business
attire had been exchanged for a dark leather jacket, and in one hand she
wielded an electric spear.
“Got a plan, William?” she queried, head cocked slightly to
one side. “Because without Eric present, I would say that command of this
operation falls to you.”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Dr. Gaster responded with a
slight smirk. “As you can see, the lights are all off, which can only mean one
thing . . . the generator is not active. Without the generator, most doors will
not function, we will have to operate in the dark, and any other on-site tech
we may need will be useless. Therefore, we must make it our priority to reach
the generator room, determine its status, and try and get things up and
running. With that done, we must make our way to Soakosh and ensure his safety.
Finally, we must do a sweep of the facility and ensure that any remaining
hostiles are dealt with.”
Kothar, the company’s enigmatic Vice President of Marketing
ambled to Gaster’s side. She was garbed in a nearly floor-length, crimson coat.
A pair of glowing green eyes shone from within her deep cowl, and her hand
rested upon a rapier hilt. “Well, that’s great and all, but what I want to know
is . . . am I going to get paid for this?”
Mirauth glanced bemusedly at her. “Straight to the point, as
usual, I see. But in any case, you shall all receive a well-deserved hazard
bonus at the end of this ordeal.”
“When are we going out there? I’m itchin’ to test out this
new gun I made!” a rough, high-pitched voice eagerly demanded.
The three vice presidents turned to look down at Verk, head
of Military Development. The diminutive goblin wore a lab coat and a green top
hat, upon the brim of which rested a pair of copper goggles. His right arm was
made from enchanted mithril, and he wore a jetpack on his back. He giddily
clutched a prototype rapid-fire arcane rifle with both hands.
“You are right, we really should get going. Those schematics
aren’t going to finish themselves, after all,” Gaster replied with a sigh. With
that, the group formed up and marched out of the room, following their map
towards the generator.
The scientist took note of the many corpses littering the
ground, both of security guards and their assailants. He strode to the body of
one of the robed intruders. With a snap of his fingers, Dr. Gaster conjured a
pair of floating skeleton hands which looked exactly like his own. The hands
lifted the body by its arms and propped it up for him to examine. William
pulled the mask from the dead man’s face and examined him. “A human . . . but
what’s this?” he muttered as he fished an amulet out of the man’s cloak.
The emblem was made from iron and had a twisting,
vortex-like shape. In the center was a representation of an eye. Gaster stared
intently at the object in his hand as he wracked his brain for answers. It was
clearly a holy symbol of some sort, but it did not belong to any deity commonly
worshipped in the region. The near silence of his reverie was abruptly
shattered by a loud roar echoing from a nearby corridor.
Suddenly, a creature leapt around the corner in a blur of
motion and pounced upon the nearest guard. The man was sent sprawling to the
ground as his baton flew from his grasp. The creature resembled a tiger, but
much of its skin was covered in thick green scales and a set of spines ran up
its back. It roared loudly into the air before opening its jaws wide and biting
at the guard’s neck.
The beast howled in pain as it was thrown off its victim by
a powerful thrust of Mirauth’s electric spear. She swung the weapon upwards,
ramming it against the creature’s lower jaw and jerking its head upwards.
Before the creature could recover, she sent it careening into a wall with a
mighty kick. The head of finance vanished into thin air as a pair of additional
beasts lunged through the space she had just occupied.
The security squad quickly regained their composure and
opened fire on the genetically modified monsters in a hail of green bolts.
Gaster unholstered his dual pistols and tossed them into the air. His floating
hands each snatched a weapon from the air and began firing as the doctor did
the same with his own rifle. The beasts’ scaly hides proved resistant to the
blasts, and only the one Mirauth had attacked fell before the hail of
projectiles.
Another creature charged forward, smashing through the line
of guards and lunging at Verk, whose prototype rifle spat forth a continuous
stream of arcane blasts. The goblin quickly raised his metal arm as a circular
energy shield projected from his wrist. The beast snapped and clawed furiously
at the shield while Verk tried desperately to shake it off. Moments later, the
creature let out a cry of pain and fell limp to the ground as a bluish-purple
blade of psychic energy protruded from its side. The inventor turned to see the
unreadable face of Kothar as she pulled her rapier from the monster’s corpse.
The final creature tackled another soldier to the ground
before being grabbed by Gaster’s floating hands and hurled against a wall. The
beast attempted to regain its footing but was rapidly subdued by the electric
spears of Mirauth and several guards. The squad quickly formed back up as four
of its members dragged the now docile creature towards the teleportation
circle.
“Soakosh really ought
to engineer less aggressive creatures,” the VP of finance remarked, shaking her
head. “No wonder his forces were overrun when they got loose.”
“They did seem rather quick to attack us. I fear that
creatures like these put the lives of our researchers at even greater risk than
usual. After this is all over, I am going to explain to him that our motto is
not to be taken so literally and that he is to exercise greater caution in his
future endeavors,” Gaster replied, his face briefly darkened by a frustrated
scowl.
Verk snatched an audio recording device from within a pocket
of his lab coat. “Log #278. The prototype performs excellently! I have never
seen a weapon this size spit energy this fast! Massive success!”
The quartet of guards returned in short order and the group
continued its way down the hall. Kothar raised a hand swiftly into the air to
call a halt to the march. She cocked her head to one side and listened. Moments
later there was a sharp whistling sound as a crossbow bolt whizzed from around
the corner. In a flash, Kothar’s outstretched hand closed around the missile
and plucked it from the air as her other hand swiftly drew her weapon.
Numerous foes surged around the corner, each clad in a dark
robe and iron mask. They were wielding daggers, scimitars, and crossbows. Among
their ranks were several towering soldiers bearing ancient, rusted armor and
wearing golden masks. As the attackers turned the corner, they were met with a
brutal volley of energy bolts that sent many of their number to the ground.
Several of the robed men retaliated with their crossbows, but the guards’
advanced armor prevented them from taking many losses.
Mirauth held out one hand and a sizable amethyst crystal
formed above her palm. With a flourish, she hurled the crystal into the enemy’s
midst. The crystal struck a soldier’s rusted armor and burst in a dazzling
flash of light, sending deadly shards flying in all directions and flinging
several insurgents to the ground. Mirauth dashed forward and brought her
electrically-charged weapon down on an invader as he attempted to regain his
footing.
Several of the robed insurgents charged forward with their
swords and knives, and were swiftly met by the electric batons and spears of
the guards. As the melee began, Verk and Gaster pelted the enemy with volleys
of laser fire. Kothar flitted between her foes, skillfully cutting them down
with her enchanted rapier. One of the enemy soldiers tried to circle around her
but was punched in the gut by one of Dr. Gaster’s floating hands, allowing
Kothar to whirl around and impale her assailant.
One of the insurgents
began to chant, conjuring a protective layer of ice around his chest. He
charged into the fray, his scimitar alight with green flame. He swept his blade
through the air, aiming for a guard’s head. There was a startling clang as the
flaming sword was stopped by Kothar’s rapier. The two combatants dueled with
each other in a rapid series of blocks and parries, one fighting with
effortless grace and the other with desperate fury.
Another masked figure spat out a short incantation in a
strange language. Several dark tentacles lashed forth from his hand and struck
out at Mirauth and a pair of guards. The guards were each struck in the chest
and knocked to the ground, but the head of finance vanished, once again,
leaving the tendrils to swing at nothing until they dissipated. The robed man
turned around just in time to be struck in the face by Mirauth’s spear. The
insurgent stumbled back in pain and surprise as the mask was thrown from his
face.
The head of marketing continued to cross blades with her
robed assailant. With a flick of her wrist, Kothar relieved the man of his
weapon. Before her foe could react, she sliced her rapier across his chest,
destroying his icy defenses in a burst of cold wind. Kothar casually stepped to
one side, remaining unscathed as the warlock hurled a torrent of green flames
in her direction. In the blink of an eye, the man was dead with the tip of a
rapier sticking out of his back.
The insurgent swung his scimitar viciously at Mirauth, but
she skillfully caught the blow on the shaft of her spear. The man let out a
pained gasp and sank to his knees as the executive impaled him with her
unnaturally sharp nails and plunged her hand deep into his chest. Mirauth
yanked her hand from the dying man’s abdomen in a gout of blood, to the
astonishment and horror of all but Gaster and Kothar.
The last pair of insurgents turned to flee but were swiftly
gunned down by Gaster’s rifle. The squad stood in stunned silence as Mirauth
stared disdainfully at her blood-soaked hand. She swiftly cast a minor charm
that left her arm spotless.
“What did you just do to that guy?” Verk blurted as
he took a cautious step back.
“I thought you knew by now, Verk. SkullTech does not
currently employ any human executives.”
Gaster moved to examine one of the tall, golden-masked
soldiers. He attempted to remove its mask, but the metal seemed fused to the
warrior’s form. He also noted that its height must have well exceeded six feet
and that its skin was the color of chalk. A builder? That should not be
possible, the head scientist thought, an expression of concern crossing his
face as he confronted the impossibility.
Kothar stared down at the warlock she had slain. She bent down and removed the man’s cloak and mask, donning them herself. As she further examined him, her form began to shift and change. In moments, her appearance was an exact replica of his. “I’ll get a lay of the land and report back on the situation deeper in,” she explained to her companions before disappearing down a side passage.
No comments:
Post a Comment