“This one’s empty,” Titus said as he ducked in.
“If they come after us, we don’t want to be pinched between them and a room full of mobs,” Thorne explained.
“Yeah, uh, bad news about that,” Kaiden said, stealing one last look back out into the hall. The warden who’d shouted was approaching at a jog. Kaiden snapped the door shut.
“Where’d you go?” The warden’s voice trickled through the door, still approaching in the hallway. “Shift’s up, guys. We’re swapping out.”
“This guy’s not gonna pass us,” Kaiden said, ear to the door and listening as the jogging footsteps drew closer and closer.
“All right, time’s up,” Zelda said. “We’ll take this guy out and make a run for the Borrelly.”
Thorne cursed at that.
“Thought we’d get more levels out of this,” she sighed. “Ellenton, have the shuttle ready.”
“Something happening?” Ellenton’s voice came back through comms after a short delay.
“No time,” Kaiden said, then raised his hammer as the door opened.
Hendell
Warden Sergeant
Class: Blast Warden
Faction: Warden Corps
Level: 48
“Gah!” Kaiden shouted as he jumped forward and brought his hammer down on Hendell. The man was too startled to react and the blow landed for a headshot and a critical hit.
Before Hendell could recover from the attack, Kaiden was swinging again and Thorne was on him. The warden’s health bar drained as three more blows landed. An Improved Burst Arrow zipped over Kaiden’s shoulder then exploded against the already overwhelmed warden’s chest in a shower of sparks.
Hendell was a blast warden, caught off-guard and already in close quarters with his attackers. He might’ve been higher level than them but it hardly mattered. All the same, winning this fight didn’t earn them anything, Kaiden knew. Hendell finally had his shield on and was leveling his hammer-gun to retaliate, but there wasn’t any attack he could throw at them that was more damaging than what he’d already done: called for help. Kaiden hadn’t heard him, but he’d seen the man’s mouth move. He’d used a private comm channel to call for backup.
It was a good plan, but the gig’s up. Time to get the hell out of here.
Hendell fired an Improved Scatter Shot into Thorne’s chest that set her health bar to flashing as a chunk of HP fell away. Thorne responded with a Gravity Sledge that slammed him into the far wall, denting it outward. Zelda blasted again. Kaiden darted in and landed two crits. And then Titus was there, fighting like a man possessed. The focus in his eyes was intense as he unloaded attack after attack on the warden. Hendell’s health plummeted into the red before he could get back to his feet. His knees extended, pushing him upright, then his health dropped to zero and he collapsed right back down.
Blast Warden Hendell assisted kill – 5,000 EXP gained!
Kaiden paid no mind to the notification, sprinting into the hallway instead. It was a long run back to the emergency exit. Clearing rooms had led them further and further into the base. It was only then that he realized exactly how far in they’d come.
“We can make it,” he growled, pushing himself to run as fast as he could. “We can make it.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
“We can’t make it.” Kaiden slid to a halt and cursed.
The hallway in front of him was filled with wardens. A group of four were the closest, but further behind them he could see a group of six. Then there was shouting behind him and Kaiden turned to see a door had opened in the distance. Another group was pouring out. At least seven players, maybe more. And all this was only the wardens that had been close by. Considering the alarm now blaring through the entirety of the base, Kaiden had no doubt all hundred or so wardens would be on them before long.
“We’ll go down fighting,” Titus said, raising his shield and setting his feet. “Get as much EXP as we can before we do.”
“Don’t fight them in the open,” Zelda said, grabbing Titus and pulling him toward the door to an empty room. “We’ll create a chokepoint. Make their numbers less relevant.”
“It won’t be enough,” Thorne shouted. “We need to make a run for it.”
“Who’s able to run through that?” Zelda asked, pointing toward the oncoming wall of wardens. The blast wardens among their ranks opened fire and Kaiden ducked into the room with everyone else as lasers exploded all around them.
“Titus, Kaiden. Hold the door with me,” Thorne said, taking up position just inside it. “Zelda, dish out all of the damage you can from the rear.”
Kaiden moved into position beside Titus, but his mind was reeling.
We can’t hold out forever. Hell, we won’t be able to hold out for more than a few minutes, if we even make it that long.
“This isn’t going to work!” Kaiden said.
“You got a better plan?” Thorne snarled back. “Cause I’m trying to find one and coming up awfully empty.” She lashed out with a hammer strike as the first of the wardens arrived in the doorway.
Erick Day02
Warden Captain
Class: Power Warden
Faction: Warden Corps
Level: 48
Titus stepped up and smashed his shield into the power warden, holding him in the doorway. Erick Day02 slammed his massive hammer into it and set its surface to shaking, then attacked again, and again, trying to beat him back and make way for more wardens to rush into the room, but Titus held his ground. Might’ve even gained a step, actually. All the while, his Improved Volt Field nipped back, sparking and biting at Erick’s health.
Ability: Rallying Cry
All party members within 50 feet gain a 20% boost to base stats for 30 seconds.
Cost: 20 charge.
Titus used the surge of charge pouring into him from blocking the attacks to fire off the ability. Glowing light swarmed around Thorne then Kaiden as the stat buff kicked into effect. Kaiden lashed out with another hammer strike. It hit for a couple percent of damage – mainly thanks to the buff from Titus. Kaiden wanted to activate an ability but
