OUTWORLD: Dark Planet

OUTWORLD: Dark Planet Ending

Doreen darted down the ruined street, following the rumble of Sekhmet's fury. It was a joy to have control of her body again, but it would have to take a back seat to the task at paw. Not to mention that glancing bullet wound was beginning to hurt like hell.

Fires blazed all around her, not just from the chaos Sekhmet was bringing to the station, but from militia attacks and, undoubtedly, a few accidents. She was under no illusions; Port Dubrovnik was burning. Was the rest of the station in the same situation?

No time to think about that now, she thought.

An explosion from ahead nearly threw her headlong, but she stayed upright and kept running. The noise of combat was growing louder, and Doreen could make out gunfire and the swish of an ancient and deadly weapon. She rounded a street corner and saw Sekhmet in all her glory, plucking hordes of guards, militia and civilians from the ground and executing them by the dozen.

Doreen ventured into the street, reflecting with some embarrassment that arming herself would have been a good move. In lieu of armament, however, she had the speed and stealth of a Jackal, and, moving as a blur, she darted into the shadows to the right of the street. She made it without attracting the attention of anyone, which, she reflected, was a surprise given that bloody bullet wound.

She hit the nearest wall and flattened herself against it. Well, this is the stupidest thing I've ever done, she mused. I mean, this tops me kissing Jason Ullman at the fifth grade disco.

A heap of rubble concealed Doreen as she sidled towards the scene of the atrocity; still no one had noticed her despite the odd stumble courtesy of the pain in her side. Sekhmet was the focus of a concentrated barrage of grenades and gunfire, none of which was affecting her in the slightest. Doreen was surprised to see both sides of the previous fight now united in their attack on the strident goddess, and considered that one positive thing to come out of today; given that many had died to make it happen, she quickly reversed her view.

She crept around the rubble and climbed onto a lofty piece of masonry that had tumbled from the building above, her claws scrabbling to grab onto the smooth insta-crete, and made it to the top in time to see Sekhmet swinging her weapon in a roundhouse attack that demolished a road-block and whoever was near it. The rubble that Doreen was attached to swayed violently, and she fought to stay attached to it. Her claws, however, didn't share the same impetus, and she fell backwards to land messily and quite hard on the ground.

"Crap," she hissed as she levered herself out of the mound of ash she'd ended face-down in. Well, at least the pain in her muzzle and back lessened the impact of the pain in her side. Small mercies.

She glanced back out at the street, and was surprised at what she saw.

Sekhmet was standing still, one massive paw to her face, and her back was somewhat hunched. Her weapon hung motionless, crackling with unholy power but still inert like its wielder. All around her, guards and serried onlookers and participants had stopped to take in the sight. A second prior, this thing had been ripping them to pieces, but now...

Doreen shook her head. This was confusing her more by the second. She pressed herself to the rubble, still stealthy, and peered at the ongoing spectacle.

Sekhmet stumbled backward, shook her head, and picked up her weapon. Something clicked in Doreen's mind, then. She was prone to these moments of realization, often in a geological capacity, but this wasn't one such moment. Said moment was compounded by a sudden but pallid pulse of light from Doreen's right palm, and she understood. Sekhmet was still attached to her, however tenuously.

Her reverie was interrupted by a paw appearing on her shoulder, and she turned to face its owner. It was Rodolfo Valance, covered in ash and looking somewhat confused. Doreen could identify with that. "Doreen," he panted. "Are you... you?"