Nobody's Servant 1.0

Break

I'm terrified.

I'll go ahead and admit that now before anybody starts sniffing around for it, not that anybody has the time.

My shoulder heaves into yet another bulkhead, aiding Sal and Leonov in creaking it shut. The artificial priest hammers at the frame with his elastic arms, hopefully impairing any efforts to open it from the other side. I'm not certain if it's been working; the last few times, nobody stuck around long enough to check, either. We pack into narrow corridors, junk spilling out of the alcoves evenly spaced to either side, all of it too mangled to quickly make use of. Not a good place for a last stand.

I'd rather not think about it that way, either. This would be my... well, not my first stand, but I'd hate to die here. Missing warmth, between the sword of the enemy and the bodies of people I've come to vaguely enjoy. If I had to die in combat, I think I'd rather be alone. The image people might envision of me upon getting the news might be more picturesque in those moments right before the fall, if they're generous.

I'm thinking too far ahead again. I'm still undead, and that "un" is doing its part. I will operate under the pretense that this will continue to be the case. And if I die, maybe it'll be quick enough that I won't--

I slap myself. Too hard. Ouch.

But stop it, me. I'm panicking again. Ruminating again. The flashing, sparking lights brought back to life by the energizing auras of casters channeling into them don't really lend themselves to a calming environment, nor does the shouting of the rear guard as they drop behind at the entrance to a larger room. I haven't processed a word anyone has been saying; in one ear out the other, lost in a spiral of worries bubbling up. I slap myself again, softer this time but enough to get the point across and bring myself to focus.

Hard to tell what this room used to be but it's spacious at least. High ceilings, plenty of debris. An engineering bay, maybe? Robotic arms tangle over one another, resting defunct in the patterns the initial impact with the shore left them in. The scent of chemicals has mixed with the damp, settling thickly into my sinuses. One can't even catch their breath properly in here.

I jolt as I feel a hand on my shoulder; it's Yhana, wearing what I can only describe as an expression of concern though I could never have envisioned it on her. "Merion, you hanging in there?" she asks.

"I... yeah. This is a lot," I admit.

She sighs a bit, adding some pressure as she moves me along her route through the debris, boxed in by personnel on all sides. Some familiar faces in view, at least.

"It doesn't usually go like this," she says. "But we're all going to do our best to keep you safe. You're under our protection. Mine especially."

I want to utter my thanks to her, truly appreciating her sincere care in this moment but before I can stammer it out, the signature of an explosion echoes from another direction, drawing our attention to another sealed passage. There comes another, closer, with force enough to shake debris loose from the ceiling..

"More approaching!" Sal calls out, tearing defunct machinery in front of himself as cover and aiming down the sights of his bladed rifle. A few others outfitted for combat beyond mid-range join him, one of them not drawing her weapon but instead channeling aether in her folded hands.

Color around them saturates as time accelerates for them, releasing precision rounds with terrifying alacrity, thinning an incoming crowd that only they have properly laid eyes on so far. It seems almost unstoppable at first, but it's easy to almost forget that everybody has their tricks.

The enemy's arrows come forward in retaliation, one striking Sal square in the chest, his armor saving him, but the crow beside him isn't so lucky as a wooden shaft projects from his throat. Their caster begins to literally glow as she tries to pour all of her remaining energy into rewriting that second gone awry, a feat that most fluxreaders fail anyway, but in the midst of her attempt, an assailant teleports into the air above her, a flash of green raiments and bladed armor descending with a brutal slash of her curved swords.