Chapter 44

01:58 Local time

A Terran sentry outside the Black Nova Warehouse let out a yawn and leaned against the building. His subgun was hidden under a long coat to keep it from view in case any police happened to patrol the area. He looked up at the sky, hearing the occasional boom of thunder in the distance, but the expected rainstorm had yet to come and he was grateful for that. He turned to speak to his guard partner, also a Terran, who was leaning against the wall with a cigarette in hand.

“So, down to Grey Diamond when we’re done?”

“Yeah, whateva,” his partner replied, before setting the cigarette between his lips. “Why? You lookin to get body on body with that Prae?”

“Whoa, no, not like that...” the first sentry hesitated. “Well, eventually maybe. I gotta get out of this kinda work though. She ain’t gonna accept me for bein a part of this shit,” he lit up a smoke of his own and pulled out his commpad, bearing a photo of a smiling female Praeminian.

“Eh, careful on both fronts there.” The second guard replied. “Black Nova not gonna let you fuck off on a whimzy. Besides, ain’t right layin with other races either. Shit’s gotta stop.”

“Maybe,” The first seemed dismissive. “Can’t help feeling how you feel for whomever it may be.”

“Stick with Terrans. Far less headache down the road. Besides, we were meant to breed to populate. Carry on the next generation ‘n all that. Too much cross species junk goin on these days. Besides, interspecies stuff still ain’t viewed with favor, despite how many people seem to want to dive into that pool. It’s fuckin weird.”

I’ll deal with it. It’s my call, my choice ... Huh? The first sentry reacted to something striking him on the left side of his chest.

He felt faint and lightheaded, reaching up to feel his shirt growing moist with crimson liquid. A dull pain started, then it grew in intensity to a sharp jolting sensation. He saw the second sentry look at him in shock, then stumble forwards, grasping at his own throat as arterial spray washed up the side of the building.

What’s happening? Are we under attack? Did I just get shot!? No! No! No! Vesa, please no, I just want to see you again. I just...

“Alpha to all teams, hostile drone cover down, target grounds clear, advance to entry points, over.” Cardox ordered over their comms.

Jack and Pri broke cover from behind a concrete half wall and moved to a pair of fallen sentries that had been taken out by the active-duty sharpshooters supporting the mission. They paused long enough to confirm the guards were dead before they advanced with their weapons at the ready. They moved to their designated entry point and took up a guarded position.

Cardox spoke to D-17 when all the teams were at their designated entry points.

“Omega, initiate razzle dazzle, over.”

“Omega copies, stand by, over.” D-17 gave a nod and a visual thumbs up to Rusu, who initiated a program from his datapad.

A few moments later, a small, continuous volume of fireworks began shooting off on the far side of the industrial district, aimed to burst over the lake. There was enough in the decoy to last almost twice the intended mission length, giving them some extra time to deal with the unexpected.

“All call signs, this is Alpha, set for breach, over.” Cardox joined Sita at their door and set up a breaching charge.

Jack tightened his grip on his weapon and took a deep breath. Pri set the breaching charge on their door and returned to a guarded position, watching left while Jack watched right. Once all four charges were set, D-17 gave them a ten second countdown, then remotely initiated all charges at once. As soon as their door was blown off its hinges, Jack and Pri both rushed in, seeing a pair of stunned hostiles trying to steady themselves. One had taken the door to the body, coughing up some blood while the other made a feeble attempt to fire at them. Pri brought her rifle around and sent two shots into the hostile’s chest, seeing him drop in a heap. Jack had his weapon up and aimed at the wounded hostile, firing several times when the Black Nova guard attempted to draw a pistol on them. The pistol was shot clean out of his hands, causing him to grip his wrist, before several follow up shots hit him in the upper torso with enough force to topple him off balance.

“Clear right,” Jack said.

“Clear left,” Pri replied, moving close to him as he took the lead.

Her tail wrapped around his waist so she could feel his movements as he walked forwards, and she covered behind as they entered a corridor. They had long practiced this combat stance, allowing faster co-ordination in some situations by means of physical communication. She was better at walking backwards as well, and seemed not to struggle with it the way Jack did.

“Contact front,” Jack said as he saw a Terran hostile peak into the corridor from the room beyond.

Jack tapped the trigger on his weapon every second or so to keep the hostile at bay until the room was within range for Pri to reach with a fragmentation grenade. Through the thermal heads-up display on his eyewear, Jack saw the hostile ahead was the only occupant in the room, giving Pri the go ahead.

“Clear spud,” he said.

“Spud out,” Pri answered as she held the grenade for a two second count, then tossed it into the room.

Both she and Jack took cover along the wall with the door to the next room as the grenade went off. A shower of several hundred steel bearings sprayed out, saturating the room in lethal projectiles. They entered the room together and saw the hostile holding a hand to his head, bleeding profusely from there as well as several other wounds. Without hesitation, they shot him twice in unison, striking his chest and neck.

“Orange,” Jack said as they halted and he released the magazine from his weapon, replacing it with a new one. “Green.”

“Copy green,” Pri answered. “Halt!” Her tail stopped Jack from advancing through the room.

She spotted thermal silhouettes of two hostiles pushing on their rear, having come from some unknown location behind them.

“Contact rear.” No sooner had she spoken than he heard her rifle cracking. “Right step,” She called from her perspective, meaning Jack had to sidestep left.

This put them out of visual of the corridor and the hostiles approaching from there.

“Stand fast,” Pri said as she readied another fragmentation grenade. “Advance on spud out, copy?”

“Copy,” Jack replied.

“Spud out,” he heard her toss the grenade into the corridor.

Jack began moving forwards again, crossing the room to the door leading to the next corridor as Pri released her tail grip from him and fell back to the first corridor entry, staying in cover until the grenade detonated. She looked down the hall with her rifle at the ready, seeing one hostile attempting to retreat while the other crawled in a daze towards her. Pri double tapped the retreating hostile, seeing her drop in a heap, before putting two in the head of the crawling hostile, seeing his head snap back with each shot, before he slumped to the floor.

“Clear behind,” Pri said as she rejoined Jack at his overwatch position at the second corridor.

“Clear forwards,” Jack said as her tail was back around his waist. “Hold.”

Pri kept her rifle up in a covering posture as Jack radioed in to Nyka, requesting a drone come in and take up position in the room they had entered the warehouse from. That way they would have early warning if more hostiles came from behind.

“Moving,” Jack said once the drone request had been issued.

“Copy moving.”

The sounds of combat from the other fire teams conducting their own advances could be heard all over the warehouse. From the sounds of a shootout in front of them, it seemed Ben and Hyone were heavily engaged. They were meant to link up with Jack and Pri, and then push on Kazlaena’s suspected location in the heart of the warehouse near the back. Cardox and Sita were moving on the presumed utility room to verify their assertions were correct in that it was, in fact, a utility room. Caden and Rick were tasked with entry and egress to a nearby stairwell where they would hit the second floor and verify the last potential location for Kazlaena’s holding as true or, as suspected, a false lead. This would also allow them to sweep for any other captives that Black Nova might terminate before Catania PD arrived.

“Delta, this is Echo, message, over.” Ben spoke over the radio.

“Delta to Echo, send message, over.” Jack replied.

“Echo is pinned, seven hostiles engaged, under suppressive fire, request support, over.”

“Delta to Echo, Oscar mike to support, out.” Jack replied to Ben’s request.

He spoke to Pri next. “Down this corridor, there is a large room, then a door to where Echo is pinned. We’re gonna clear that room and ease up the fire on them.”

“Understood. On your move,” Pri nodded as they began moving down the second corridor.

As they neared the end of the corridor, Jack could see distorted thermal readouts of all seven hostiles as well as Ben and Hyone.

“Delta to Echo, get solid cover, over.” Jack said and Ben answered a moment later.

“Echo to Delta, behind solid fucking cover, over.”

“Hit’em with the forty,” Jack said to Pri as they spun around.

He watched behind while she slung her rifle and swung the pump action forty-millimeter grenade launcher around, cycling a grenade in the chamber before sending it downrange. Jack felt the recoil rock her on her feet for a second, using her tail to steady herself with him as the anchor.

“Delta to Echo, frag’em,” Jack said over the radio.

As he and Pri neared the end of the corridor, the reverberating thump of a pair of detonating frag grenades echoed past them. They took up positions on either side of the door to the large room, seeing Ben wave to them from the corridor on the far side.

“Echo to Delta, suggest bombarding the fucks, then entry, over.”

“Delta to Echo, afirm, over,” Jack said back and Pri gave him a nod.

Pri and Hyone both tossed a flash grenade into the room, while Jack and Ben threw in frag grenades, then the moment all grenades had detonated, Jack and Pri stormed in from one side, while Ben and Hyone stormed in from the other. Ben engaged a target above them, sending several rounds towards a catwalk to take out a hostile. Hyone and Jack both fired on a pair of disoriented hostiles near the inner wall of the room, as they made for a door to go deeper into the warehouse. Pri fired on a pair of hostiles that were wounded from the fragmentation assault but were still trying to raise their rifles on her. The first one took four rounds to the chest, then one in the head, while the other managed to get his weapon up and fire wildly to one side, before he was ended by multiple shots that struck his chest and abdomen. Pri and Hyone reloaded while Jack and Ben covered. Then they traded roles so that both teams were freshly loaded for the next fight.

“Hold, Delta!” Ben said as he signaled a stop.

The others hardly needed to ask, seeing an image on their eyewear of a heat source near the door into the heart of the warehouse. Whoever it was, was hiding in a bad spot, appearing to cower in a wooden box.

“Bro, what the fuck is this room even?” Ben spoke as he looked around.

The others followed suit, seeing something of a wooden maze set up that could be observed from the catwalks above. Pri pulled out a small drone and sent it into the air, allowing them to look into the maze corridors, sighting two more hostiles preparing to attack. The image was transferred to everyone’s heads up, and Ben pulled a grenade out. He hand gestured his intent, before popping the pin and launching the grenade into the nearest occupied corridor.

“Mother fucks!” could be heard yelling out from the maze before a boom brought on a lot of hollering in pain.

Jack and Pri both pulled out grenades next and saw the second hostile moving to relocate to a better position. Together, they popped the pins on their grenades and pitched them into the maze. Pri struck home and caused the hostile to move. Though Jack’s throw was just shy, it fell to their benefit, landing at the feet of the maneuvering hostile before detonating. Ben moved into the maze enough to eliminate the wounded hostile, before returning to the others.

“Just the coward left,” he motioned to the hiding form and pulled out another grenade.

They advanced on the box, hearing muffled noise from within that gave them pause.

“Stay or go?” Ben shook the grenade at Pri since she was unofficially their top rank.

“Stay.” Pri answered, then took a deep sniff.

Hyone followed her action, then they traded looks of confusion.

“Izakyn, female?” Hyone remarked.

Pri was equally confused.

“There were no Izakyn females tagged in recon,” Jack stated.

They approached the box, ready to hammer it with all their weapons if anything threatening happened, then Ben dove in with the intention of taking hold of the occupant and ending things with his knife if need be. While Hyone and Pri covered, Jack looked in and saw a huddled mass in the back, wearing what remained of a Constellations Sandwiches uniform. The ruined clothes did little to hide the figure’s body or modesty, barely even passing for something resembling clothing.

“Stars-Fucking-Moons!” Jack spat with emphasis.

“Bro?”

“Sabidi?” Jack could barely understand how she was here, even as she responded to her name and looked up from behind the cover of her arms.

Jack felt flush with anger as he looked at her condition, soiled and bloody, speaking of a significant amount of abuse endured over the last week of her kidnapping. She was nothing more than entertainment to them, and it showed.

“Fuck!” Jack kicked a wooden wall as Ben reached out and took Sabidi’s wrist, feeling her trembling in fear.

“We can’t stay here lil lady. We don’t aim to hurt you, but bad shitheads are still on site.”

“Please no more!” Sabidi held her hands up, pleading for mercy.

“Sabidi, you are no longer under their control.” Ben assured her.

Sabidi was hesitant, still expecting this to be a trick. Jack leaned in to speak from behind Ben.

“We need to move on, Sabidi. There is still danger, but we can keep you safe. I know you. We have met before. I won’t reveal my identity yet, but I promise you one thing, you are safer with us.”

Still reluctant, Sabidi moved to crawl out of the box, then stood up with difficulty, as if just the act of standing brought on significant pain.

“Can you walk?” Hyone asked.

Sabidi looked up at her with a frail expression, then fell into Hyone and gripped her with a tight hold. The huntress was usually stoic and un-emotional, but they all spotted hints of anger and frustration in her expressions, mixed with compassion for Sabidi’s condition.

“Must move on,” Pri instructed, though her reluctance in issuing the order was felt.

“Take hold of my tail. Use it as guide. We will keep you secure.” Hyone spoke to Sabidi, and the Izakyn barely managed to do as she was instructed.

“Delta, you lead, we will cover rear security,” Ben said to Pri, and she nodded, moving with Jack to the door leading into the depths of the warehouse.

“Echo to all teams, one victim secure, advancing on target, over.” Ben reported.

“Alpha to Echo, ID on victim? Over.” Cardox requested.

“Alpha, victim name Sabidi, Izakyn, female, in bad shape but alive, over.”

“Alpha confirms, out.”

“Charlie to Alpha, urgent message, over.” Eve spoke to Cardox.

“Alpha to Charlie, send it, over,” Cardox replied.

“Charlie has sighted hostile rapid reaction force. Three Whiskie Vics with hostile foot inbound. Over.”

“Charlie, go hot, hit them as needed, over,” Cardox said back, and Eve confirmed the instructions. “Alpha to Delta, conditions? Over.”

“Delta to Alpha, eleven hostiles eliminated, moving to first floor P.O.I. [point of interest], over.” Jack replied.

“Delta, Alpha copies your remarks, Bravo, conditions? Over.”

“Bravo to Alpha, five hostiles down, Second floor P.O.I. cleared, no joy, over.” Caden replied.

“Alpha to Bravo, move to support advance on main P.O.I. with precious cargo, over.”

“Bravo copies, out.”

“Alpha to Delta, continue to current objective with Echo in support. Keep rescue safe, over.”

“Delta copies, out.” Jack replied, then reloaded a fresh magazine in his weapon.

He gave a nod to Pri as she readied her last flash bang. She gave him a nod in return, then tossed her flash into the next room. The moment it detonated; Jack moved in with Pri close behind.

“Light them the fuck up,” Eve pointed to the incoming trucks with multiple passengers in each vehicle.

“Heh,” Rhal grunted and traversed his KMG-50 on its bipod to lay his sights on the first approaching truck.

Through a targeting reticle on his eyewear, he could see where his shot would land via an I.R. designator. He squeezed the trigger, sweeping the first truck, seeing the hard-hitting A.P.I.T. [armor piercing incendiary tracer] rounds smash through the engine block and render the biodiesel engine to pieces. He raised his aim slightly, walking the rounds into the cab and the hostile filled cargo box behind. The sheer power of the rounds hammered bloody chunks off the enemy combatants, setting some on fire as the incendiary component ignited anything flammable. The first truck blew up from the box, suggesting someone was carrying heavy ordinance, possibly a shoulder fired rocket launcher with spare rounds. Rhal then hit the third truck, attempting to trap the second one. With similar results, he cut the truck apart. Hostiles tried to dismount but the sheer overwhelming psychological effect of the heavy caliber machine gun tearing their associates apart put many to ground in the prone position, finding any cover they could. Rhal kept the fire up, seeing the roof of the truck fall in as the supports were cut, one passenger door tore off its hinges while both passenger side tires deflated, the rear tire was torn free and spun wildly over to the side of the road. The second truck cut sharply and rammed past the first, crashing through a fence and throwing a couple hostiles out of the box. Rhal had been busy hitting the third truck when they did so, allowing them to get into a position to return fire.

“Charlie to Alpha, two whiskie vics eliminated, many hostiles down, greater than ten hostiles moved onto property, Charlie is under suppression fire, over.”

“Alpha to Charlie, hold fast, sharpshooters will support and engage, over.”

“Charlie copies, expect grounds to be clear shortly, Charlie’s sharpshooter is also engaging, over.”

Eve looked to Kasa’s position a short distance down the knoll where the Praeminian began striking enemy targets from her prone position in thick ground cover.

“Alpha is repositioning to south face exterior for security, break ... Target P.O.I. no joy, precious cargo must be last remaining P.O.I., Bravo, Delta, Echo, that’s your territory. Over,” Cardox said.

“Echo copies, out.” Ben replied.

Eve could hear the boom of Kasa’s rifle every few seconds, knocking down any hostile foolish enough to peak or get up and attempt to run. Though their own weapons were suppressed and firing sub-sonic ammunition, the high-pitched echo of the supporting sharpshooters Cardox had been able to summon to the fight, sounded out in equal frequency. Black Nova outside the warehouse were caught in a lethal hunting ground with nowhere to go but back into the warehouse. Cardox and Sita were ready for many of them, giving no quarter.

“She’s so close,” Jack spoke inadvertently.

“Steady,” Pri said. “Maintain posture, do not slip now.”

“Roger that,” Jack nodded, taking a deep breath and itched at his sweaty brow, feeling his face cover growing more uncomfortable with the perspiration.

Pri was slick with sweat as well, giving the few exposed parts of her body a slight sheen. They moved through a machine room in the warehouse, closing in on Kazlaena’s suspected location. Once through the room, they saw another corridor with an open man door to the warehouse interior. Jack began ghost walking down the hall with Pri to his side, her tail still wrapped around his waist. Hyone repositioned Sabidi to a covered location behind some machinery and held fast as Ben covered their rear.

Jack saw a door to the right, halfway down the corridor, leading onto what appeared to be offices. He approached the door with Pri, scanning sharply for heat signatures. There were some, deep in the rooms, but something else was there, something crashing headlong at them through the room.

“Fuck!” Jack spat.

“Incoming,” Pri yelled.

Two large Ghyarrl crashed through the walls, one driving into Jack to send him stumbling backward and the other swung at Pri, who leapt away. A third one behind them threw in a flash grenade, seemingly unconcerned with his fellow Ghyarrl. Pri went to kick the flash bang away, but it detonated right under her foot. She let out a screeching hiss and retracted her leg quickly, just as a large body crashed into her and took her in a grapple.

“SSseezzarr,” The Ghyarrl snarled. “Timeee to diiieee.”

Jack attempted to fire on her grappler but was stopped as the second attacker slammed headlong into him, throwing him against the wall where he fell to the floor. The Ghyarrl then spun to fire down the corridor to put Ben and Hyone into a suppressed state.

“Littleee Terran die tooo.” The Ghyarrl snapped at Jack as the third Ghyarrl entered the corridor, swinging a hefty fist at Pri’s head.

He connected with the side of her snout, striking her senseless as her helmet was knocked ajar. The Ghyarrl grappling with her took her in a compression grip from behind, while the one that struck Pri began firing into the machine room with one hand while readying a large hand thrown explosive with the second hand.

Jack barely read the whole situation, being in a fight for his own life as the second Ghyarrl tried to step on his chest while also supporting his comrade in firing on the machine room. A pair of deafening booms shook the corridor, then the Ghyarrl trying to step on Jack clutched at his throat in agony. He fell to his knees as Jack unloaded multiple rounds into his back. The Ghyarrl fell to one side, smoke billowing from his wide mouth.

Jack recovered and saw the second Ghyarrl turn to level it’s double barrel gun on him, but something struck the back of it’s head and it tumbled forward, just as another boom and flash filled the corridor. The Ghyarrl fell to the floor in front of Jack, who fired three times at the center of the head, ending the second menace. Jack recovered and saw Pri being squeezed from behind, suffocating, unable to bite, kick or scratch with her hands. Her weapons were pressed tightly against her, unable to be swung to bear. Her tail swished and lashed in an attempt to strike her attacker. Beyond her, Jack saw Hyone reloading her single shot grenade launcher, as Ben began advancing down the hall.

“Game over knucklefuck!” Ben spat.

“Not for herrrr,” The Ghyarrl moved so it would be a risky shot to engage him with firearms.

Jack and Ben nodded to each other, then swung their weapons around as they took slow steps towards the Ghyarrl.

“Ssstay baaack!” The ghyarrl ordered, but Jack, seeing Pri’s face turning purple, kept walking, closing the distance, intending to end this and rescue his friend.

He and Ben advanced together, pulling out their pistols as they got to within a few paces. The Ghyarrl swung Pri toward Jack, spoiling his shot, but Ben was reckless and darted in, despite the Ghyarrls whipping tail. He drove the barrel of his pistol into the large reptile’s mouth and fired before his opponent could bite down, firing over and over until Pri was released. Jack was able to catch her and slowly lower her until she was seated. Pri gasped for air until her face and eyes returned to their natural color. She coughed and breathed hard as Jack sat before her, holding her steady. Ben and Hyone took up a guarding position to cover them.

“Got your breath?” Jack asked, fixing her helmet.

“Yes... Cough ... you?” She managed to grin.

Jack let out a sigh and pulled their heads together, kissing her forehead momentarily.

“Mind fucked from all the flash bangs. Fuck. Ghyarrl, fucking cold bodies...” He stood up and helped her to her feet. “Thermals failed to see them.”

Pri shook her head to clear it, still feeling the effects of Ben and Hyone’s flashbang assault that had won them the upper hand in the fight. Jack looked to the Gyarrl that had tried to stomp on him, seeing smoke still billowing from the mouth.

“Did you smoke it with a ... smoke round?” He asked.

Hyone nodded. Ben was about to crack a joke when their comms burst to life with an urgent message.

“All teams, all teams, precious cargo on the move. Being taken from P.O.I. for unknown purpose. Push on last location, urgent, urgent, urgent, Alpha out.”

“No, Kazlaena!” Jack looked into the offices.

Kazlaena’s suspected location was just beyond them, with a now visible fire team of ursid Panvayan setting up to engage them from the far side of the offices. Panvayan had a loose resemblance to bears, large bodied and brawny, wearing carapace armor while carrying large caliber weaponry. They were a warrior culture, favoring death in any form of battle over any other means. Their leader had an upgraded helmet, sporting comm boosting and sensor equipment, and was directing his fellow fire team members with hand gestures. In an instant, they opened up on the corridor, spraying shots anywhere they detected a heat source. Ben and Hyone were able to take refuge back in the machine room, pulling Sabidi with them as they hid behind the thick cover of a generator. Jack threw Pri to the floor and lay over top of her, much to her disdain, using one of the Ghyarrl for soft cover. The Panvayan rounds cracked through the air all around them as they penetrated multiple walls and exited the warehouse.

“Fuck! Where did they come from?” Jack spat, before thumbing his comms. “All teams, Panvayan unit on site. Repeat. Panvayan unit on site. Engaging Delta and Echo. Both teams suppressed, need urgent assistance, over.”

“Delta, Alpha and Bravo en route, stay in cover, how copy? Over.” Cardox replied.

“A-fucking-firm, afirm, out.” Jack pressed his head into Pri’s shoulder as the Ghyarrl they were hiding behind sustained several devastating hits.

He felt Pri under him, trying to get up to return fire. He saw Ben and Hyone try to snap off a few shots through holes in the wall, but they were taking immense risk for little result. Panvayan armor was tough for their rifle rounds to penetrate.

“All teams, Bravo has ID on precious cargo, being moved to center of warehouse. Heavy and effective guard presence stalling attempt to rescue. Possible intent to relocate objective, over.” Jack heard Caden report.

The wall in front of him was deteriorating under the barrage. Soon the grenades would come. The Panvayan were advancing. The Gyarrl with the smoke grenade in its mouth was being shot to pieces, being an easy identifiable thermal target. Jack took a deep breath and closed his eyes, then thumbed his comms again.

“All teams, All teams, stand fucking fast. Urgent, stand fast. Locate solid cover and hunker. Break. Delta requesting Lima Mike Echo on portable beacon, how copy? Over.”

“Alpha copies loud and clear. Omega, send it, over.” Cardox approved the request.

“Stay the fuck down,” Jack snapped at Pri when she was about to push him off.

“Must return fire!” Pri snapped back. “Must rescue...”

Jack cut her off by shifting most of his weight on her upper torso and she slipped flat onto her chest, pressing her head under the tail of the dead Ghyarrl. He covered her head and pitched a radio beacon as hard as he could into the offices. It wasn’t far enough, but it would have to do. Jack looked to Ben and gave him a hand signal that Ben misunderstood for a moment, before reaching to Sabidi to body press her into the generator. Hyone copied Ben’s action and they hunkered down. Jack threw a frag grenade into the offices to stall the Panvayan advance. They kept up their suppressive fire, until their team lead spotted the beacon on the ground. As soon as he recognized the danger, he brought his weapon up to shoot the device, but it was too late. Even as the device shattered, a loitering munition punched through the roof of the warehouse, descending into the offices to blow it all apart in a furious blast of shrapnel and immense heat and pressure. Jack felt the wave hit him and he lost much of his hearing. One side of his face hurt and he rolled off Pri to throw up. Ben and Hyone moved up and assaulted the office area with Sabidi remaining at the generator. Pri yanked Jack to his feet and he joined her in the advance. He flipped the switch on his kmg-12 to auto and lit up the broken Panvayan forms. The others followed his action and made sure the tough adversaries stayed down, granting them their desired end. Past the offices, Jack caught a brief glimpse of Kazlaena being pulled along by a Kakrin and a Quanolan. A Terran and another Kakrin assisted in providing cover, while several other Black Nova hostiles took up a defensive position in the heart of the warehouse.