Star Knights: The Legend of The Cyberwarrior - Act 1 Of 4: Strange New World

Chapter 8: The Metro

Mass transportation, the heartbeat which keeps all cities of humanity productive. For Meids, most transportation is mainly on the surface in the form of magno-cars atop magnet-lined highways. Functioning similarly like a vast train network but with multiple lanes where magno-cars can switch between magnet strip to strip, their feature turning off only when absolutely needed when navigating off road.
However, the metro system is where a little more than a quarter of the population relies on for transportation. Clean white tiled tunnels leading to large stations located in all major hubs of the city, Meids Metro takes great pride in both the cleanliness of each station and the speed in which riders of the metro train can reach their destination.
With the onslaught of war, Meids no longer holds the title of having the cleanest metro of all British cities and like the surface, so too does this metro crumble. Heavy methane rains flow down the cracks and breaches of these tunnels, its storm since filling up emergency rain silos under every station for this exact situation, fortunately and unfortunately, these silos are aided by the many craters that make the metro rails unable to function.
The Metro air, heat, and electrical system no longer able to function and beyond fixing, Beta Team and Huntington SF descend down the methane puddled stairs towards the first station. Down a damaged hallway where pieces of the hallway walls are broken off, tile pillars have since collapsed onto the floor, and metal barricades lay in corners with holes dotting the plates.

“Are we sure it isn’t a planetquake? Why would they start blowing stuff up underground?” Kornow asks, Persius, who walks directly next to Kornow, explains his reasoning: “With planetquakes, you must have tectonic plates which facilitate quakes as they constantly brush up and move over one another. Titan simply does not have crustal plates which can conduct such activity. It is merely a frozen ball that amazingly contains a gargantuan ocean beneath the ice and green gold which rains from above.”
Kornow nods, now understanding why such actions cannot be explained away by planetquakes.
“So then why are they blowing shit up underground?” Kornow asks once more.
“The million rhodium question… Who bloody knows.” Mosley answers, seeing an exit ahead, the team finally leaves the hallway.
The West Industrial Station, a well known area of the metro that bears several painted murals of both art of today and recreations of old British art preserved by the Green Seed. Art pieces that give praise to the Union State of Britain where a man in black stands above an army of members of the state's major political party: Union. These murals now stand mostly ruined where gunfire is intentionally used to the man atop and the army below.
Above them is an insignia of the King's crown above an ancient Roman symbol of a bundle of sticks of which an axehead is at the center of.
“Your enemies appear to dislike your late leader.” Persius points out, Mosley scoffs, jumping onto a rail platform: “Vorack is the only reason why the Ard were still able to live in British built cities like these.”
“Sounds like a good man, very few of those to go around these days.” Kornow says, Mosley shakes his head: “A fool who tried to reach a common ground that does not exist.”
“It didn’t hurt to at least try.” Kornow attempts to defend the late minister Vorack. Mosley stops, unable to proceed any further, he stares at Kornow and with his rifle, he points the barrel at the walls around the ruined station: “Does this all seem painless to you!? These ruined walls, the frozen floor, methane around our feet? My ruined fucking city!” Mosley's voice raises, his blood becomes hot as his face grows red, Harold darts to Mosley, lightly grabbing his shoulder: “Captain, not now.”
“No! No… You have no idea the mess- the shit that has brought us here!-”
“Mosley! That's enough!” Harold yells, Mosley slaps Harold's hand off of him: “Do not order me around! I am your superior!”
Before Mosley could yell some more, he stopped himself. Pausing, Mosley turns around and takes a deep breath, he proceeds forward into the tunnel. He declares after collecting his nerves: “We have a city to save. You could never understand, you’re not a Briton.”
Into the Eastern tunnel, sounds of dripping methane echoes through this tunnel but as the men continue the walk, the dripping becomes a pouring, finally what is seen in the distance is a ‘methanefall’ leading back to the surface.
Directly in front of the methanefall, the hole in which the teal liquid had been pouring into was close to filling up and under the rail steadily grew in cracks.
“Take out your wire, we need to get past this methanefall.” Mosley orders, each man pulls a good chunk of wire from the spools connected to them. Attaching the wire to one another, the men take turns jumping through the methanefall over the hole below them. Mosley jumps, his armor basking in the colder than absolute zero teal liquid, a quick warning from the suit indicating a cold enough temperature to damage the suit, is instantly shut back off when the suit warms back up omce again. Then jumps Harold and Morris, their suits too respond with the same alerts but just after the alerts went off, the ground below Kornow and Persius's boots begins to shake and the cracks grow longer and wider.
“Ah shit!” Kornow yells out, the concrete gives way and the two men plummet towards whatever cavern is below. Swinging with the wire, Beta team slams against the wall on Huntington's side. With the weight of two hanging men; Morris, Harold, and Mosley pulling themselves away from Beta team, their movements slowly ascend Kornow and Persius.
“We have you lads! Just don't move too much!” Mosley says through the comms, his teeth clamped together as he leans backwards, his and the boots of his team scrapes against the floor.
As drops of the methanefall drips down the visors of Beta team, Kornow can see clearly the extent of this metro. The crater from what a missile had revealed is a maintenance shaft below the whole system. And down this shaft, Kornow can clearly see the dim light of a lantern held by a suited child.