Descension

CHAPTER 36

Ben darts between plasma bolts and blood splatters as he sprints toward his destination, the coup clearing the halls for him. His gun jostles against his back as he runs, and although it's heavy, his stride remains unbreakable. Glancing over his shoulder, he realizes Zeline isn't there.

He fumbles for his comm and shouts into it, "Zeline, do you copy?"

Silence.

He snarls and continues onward. She's fine on her own. I don't have the time to go back if I want to get my engineers out before Omnicore goes down. The thought rattles him; Omnicore going down. Tears sting at his eyes and blur his vision. Quickly swiping them away, he rounds the corner of a vaguely familiar hall, two troops from the coup following him for backup. He thanks them silently with a quick jerk of his head as he brandishes his gun, aiming at the keypad of a door. Shooting once, the plasma fizzles out over the pad. Ben grumbles and fires two more shots, the metal charring, but the door doesn't give. With a roar of frustration, he slams the butt of his gun into the pad repeatedly, sweat slicking his brow and bringing his already tousled hair over his eyes. He huffs for breath and takes a step back, then launches himself at the door itself, his eyes widening in hope as it budges ever so slightly.

His backup quickly catches on, and all together, they begin to ram into the door. It takes only a couple of slams with their combined force to smash the components holding it together. Once they breach the room, they're immediately hailed by gunfire, the coup-members jumping in front of Ben to counterattack. Ben aids as backup, taking out 3 of the dozen soldiers. The two coup-members in front of Ben eliminate more than half of the guards, but it's not enough. A round of bullets desiccates a coup-member's abdomen merely a few seconds into battle, and the second is gunned down near the end. Ben finishes off the single remaining Ordership guard, eyes wide and bloodshot as he begins to hyperventilate, the adrenaline in his veins overloading his nervous system with tremors, twitches, and palpitations.

"Fuck!" Ben sobs as he looks down at his fallen men, leaning against the wall of the room as he tries to burn the image out of his mind.

Head spinning, he places his palm on his forehead, breathing deeply, slowly, until he calms himself enough to get back on his feet. Still reeling from the vision and cauterized scent of death, he trudges on, hands firmly on his gun as he navigates through the building. Liam had shown him through the building to this room after meeting with the council about Omnicore. This is where I dropped off copies of my findings. Coming here is a gamble; looking for records of what may be salvageable after all this time. Maybe they don't even store the documents here because they're too classified. Maybe they're so confidential, there's no record at all. Whatever the case, it's worth it to look instead of just jumping in blindly.

Ben walks through what was once the lobby for the Ordership's database, now fortified beyond recognition in anticipation of the coup's invasion. He turns right to walk down the corridor that holds a myriad of rooms, each of which having a fluorescent letter above the door frame. Ben strides quickly down the hall until he finds "O". He jams open the door with his gun, using it like a crowbar to force apart the sliding doors and allow him entry. Stepping inside, the room is dark, dimly lit only by the faint, blue glittering of datachips. He walks over to them and bends down to the correct row of chips, squinting to read without his glasses as he searches for "Omnicore." After what felt like hours of scanning the wall, he finds the chip. He slides it out from its place on the wall and brings it to the digital lectern in the center of the room. He slips the chip into the port, and a hologram of the databook appears before him. He swipes through the most recent logs, scanning the text.

Situation controlled... have found a temporary solution... facility is not at risk of explosion for another 6 months...

Ben's eyes fill with tears, a culmination of a sob, laugh, and sigh bursting out of his chest in one relieved sound. With revived hope, Ben slides the chip back in place and leaves the room with a rejuvenated, powerful gait, his head held high and shoulders squared strongly. He turns the corner to leave the corridor, the blinding light of the barely-setting sun now casting the lobby in a wash of gold. His eyes crinkle in response as he emerges.

"Ben!"

He jolts to a stop, paralyzed as his heart palpitates hard against his ribs, jaw dropping and eyes stinging with tears, "...Liam."

At the other end of the room, Liam shakes, clutching a hand to his chest as his teeth chatter with the flood of emotion washing through his system. He takes a careful step forward, then another, and another until he's sprinting. He glides towards his brother as fast as he can and envelops him in a hug, the impact sending Ben stumbling backwards. Ben snarls and forces his hands between them, shoving Liam back with all his might. Liam's cheeks flush with surprise, his brows furrowing as he stares at his brother. Ben stands shaken, face twisted in disgust, his limbs positioned uncomfortably outstretched from his core as if he had been dunked with rancid sewage. He stares at Liam with a burning rage in his eyes, teeth gritting together so tightly they threaten to shatter, "Get out of my way."

Liam's jaw drops, his tears spilling over, "Ben, I-"

"Move!" Ben screeches, thrusting his gun into Liam's face.

Liam draws his own.

Ben's infuriated expression drops, his eyes now cast to the pistol pointed at the center of his chest. His eyes flit back up to Liam's face, now disfigured into a rageful expression.

Liam spits, "Who the fuck are you?" his tears continue to roll down his face, "I came here to protect you! To protect my baby brother!"

"With a gun?" Ben hisses back.

Liam's jaw clicks as it snaps shut. He closes his eyes and breathes in deeply, placing his hand on the top of Ben's gun. Ben swipes the gun upwards to throw him off and re-aims.

Liam continues sharply, "I know you're going to Omnicore and I'm here to stop you."

Ben huffs a laugh and rolls his eyes, "Of course you are..." he mutters.

Liam growls and resumes his speech, "We don't have the time for this! That place is going to blow any second now! I found a place for us-"

"Lying bastard!" Ben spits, voice dripping with hatred, "You expect me to believe your bullshit? The Ordership--you--you just want to keep me away! I read the files, you have the facility completely under control!"

"No!" Liam shouts back, "Believe me Ben, I'm your brother!"

"You are no brother of mine."

Ben stares right into Liam's eyes as he speaks, his pupils fixed on his, unwavering. Liam knows it's true.

Liam takes a deep breath, steps back, and raises his gun to Ben's face, "Then you are a traitor."

Ben's pulse thunders in the walls of his skull, his hands beginning to shake. Liam's finger slides from the barrel to the trigger, Ben's eyes fill with tears, blurring his vision. His breath shortens as he brings his own finger to the trigger of his gun, a blood-curdling scream of agony ripping from his hoarse throat as he pulls.

His tears hit the floor at the same time Liam's body collapses.