Coeus?

“

If two parties fight, get out of the way.

”

-Zeen wisdom

***Galactic Centre, Gathering-Station***

***Gideon***

I flex the muscles in my arm and notice to my satisfaction that they work fine, so I raise my gun and put a round into the heads of the four security guards who are lying across the entrance hall. Just to be sure.

Two faceless appear in the middle of the clear area, brought in by a hired techno-mage. Their transporter is clearly not a combatant and bails out one moment later. Get them in and get out, the faster the better.

I wave a hand at them. “Hi, things got a little violent here, but we will proceed as planned.” I gesture at the entrance where a group of Zeen is trying to keep people out while another group is eyeing us suspiciously. “Your job is to kill anyone who decides to enter the building. But I think that the Zeen got my message.” I kick the security guard next to me.

The both of them nod and turn to face the entrance.

Maybe we should have sent more, but using just a few guards also sends another message. And that's that we don't need more. Since I am among the people who will go further into the facility I contact Ed once more. “How is the situation? Have we found any evidence which allows us to proceed as planned?”

“There is a file of a bone scan and medical data on one of their hidden servers, but we haven't found the ambassador yet. Probably he is kept in the lowest level of the facility. The systems down there are all disconnected from the rest of the station.” Ed answers via a secure connection. “The data and especially the skeleton's teeth match our man. There is even the mended bone from when he broke his leg as a child. It's fairly certain that they got the data directly from our ambassador and not through a second source.”

Ed falls silent, but his silence doesn't reassure me. “So we proceed? We go in and get some answers?” I ask. “It's your call. You are the trained investigator.” I may as well put at least some of the blame on someone else than me if something goes wrong.

“We proceed. I and my men teleport in at various points. You continue from the main entrance.” Ed explains.

“Yeah.” Sure. Throw the mad techno-mage right through your enemy's front door and hope that he is madder than your enemies. Who cares about the fact that the front door is always the best defended point of a secure facility.

I sigh and leave the two faceless behind, walking down the corridor which leads deeper into the facility.

There are quite a few bureaus to my left and right. This level is probably occupied by the administration department. The research areas are surely deep inside the complex. My choice falls onto the first office, so I kick the door open and step inside.

“What's going on!?”

My eyes are drawn to the ground from where a small, furry creature is looking up to me. The huge eyes of the yellow rodent and the serrated tail remind me of something, but I fail to grasp the memory. I am sure that the striped fur should give me the last hint, but it is no use. “Where do you keep the prisoners?”

“Who-”

My gun roars and the furry thing goes splat, dispersing on the ground. I certainly won't waste my time with interrogating someone who talks back to me while the security staff arranges their defence.

I make my way through a few more offices and employees who deny any knowledge of our man until the clerks catch up to what's going on. A wild panic ensues with people trying to run past me, away from me to flee the facility.

While emptying my magazine into a few of them, the rest escapes to the entrance hall.

My first instinct is to create a gravity anomaly to hold them back, but the two faceless in the entrance hall apparently took my instructions as nobody gets in or out.

A torrent of flames roars down the corridor, engulfing the fleeing clerks and licking its flames into each office. I step into the office next to me and slam the door shut. A moment later the room's automatic fire-fighting-system decides to act up and drenches me in cold water while the flames try to get through the gap between the doors and walls.

“The next time we have to talk about friendly fire.” I grumble while reloading and take a careful look outside after a few moments. The magically controlled flames retreated, leaving behind burned corpses and charred offices.

At least the faceless know how to destroy the evidence. Not that I expected to find anything of value up here. After shooting my seventh clerk and causing a panic I was pretty sure that the people up here are just innocent fools who were used as a front to give the company a nice face for the world.

I shrug and search the floor until I find a stairway to the next level. This feels more and more like a dungeon that has to be explored. At least the lights on this level work. Somehow I must have blown the fuse which was responsible for the office section.

Once on the stairs I immediately notice the change of atmosphere. The previous level was definitely an office area. There was some alien strangeness to it, like the furniture, but all the vital components were there.

Here though it looks like medical cleanliness. The rough office walls changed to polished steel or some similar material.

The second level matches my expectations of a secret facility a little better. There are some low-grade laboratories here, but nothing extraordinary. I also notice that each level seems to have the same layout. A central spiralling corridor with rooms to the left and right and a staircase to the next level.

My silent search of the facility is interrupted by encountering another group of blue security guards upon turning around a corner. They open fire on me with some kind of energy weapon. Only my much faster reflexes let me escape death.

Safely out of sight I pick a set of discs from my belt and throw it around the corner. The mobile claymores sprout six legs and start skittering towards the defenders who scream and start shooting.

Seconds later I hear the characteristic 'whomb' of the weapons and I risk another look. The M.C. is a standard weapon which is used by the faceless for fighting inside confined space.

The charge isn't designed to cause mentionable destruction, but to send out hundreds of needles which literally perforate the victims. The nine guards who defended the corridor are still in one piece, but countless tiny holes litter their bodies.

I take a tentative step out of my cover and walk slowly down the hallway, keeping my weapon aimed on the downed guards.

Upon reaching the other side of the corridor I find what the guards were defending. Yet another set of stairs. I turn around and weigh my options. This level wasn't thoroughly explored, but it doesn't look like there is anything special here. So should I press forward or do a thorough search?

The decision is taken from me by a call from Ed. “We've run into a problem down here. It would be nice if you hurry to take a little pressure off of us.”

I eject the clip from my gun and reload a full one to be safe. “What's wrong?” Ed and his men should have teleported into the facility in several different locations. The entire area is a rough square with different levels, so we decided to attack from many places at once to stop them from sectioning off each level or trying to mount an organized defence.

“They caught one of my teams off guard at the third level. There are some kind of elite guards down here. My team is pinned between the fourth and the sixth level. Currently we are trying to hold the fifth, but they are really tough bastards.” His voice is interrupted by an explosion. “They have big guns and good equipment. If you would be so nice to descent the central stairway and put some bullets in their backs.”

Now I walk a little slower. I am already at the third level and can hear the muffled sounds of energy weapons. “Elite guards?”

“Grey, three legs, three arms. Much faster and stronger than the blue scum. One of them tore one of my men apart like a toy. Kill them first and don't try to ask questions.” Ed answers agitated.

There is fighting going on at the next level. From further down the corridor I hear gunshots and screams, but I ignore it and hurry further down the stairs. If Ed is right the faceless have it under control.

I reach the fourth level, but find the stairway is closed off by a huge blast door. A faceless is lying on the stairway, apparently dead. Unless he found a way to survive without his head. I would call that a feat.

It's tempting to approach the door and hack it. Especially since Ed seems to be with his back to a wall, but why aren't there any defenders here?

With my ability at its fullest I take a step, and another. Walking through life like this is especially boring and it feels like an hour until I notice something. A slight change in the air. A wisp of sound.

I raise my gun slightly and something knocks against it. The chakram-like weapon which was thrown at me clatters to the ground and the air in front of me shifts.

A three legged 'thing' with a lean, muscled body emerges out of nothing and shoots at me. The energy projectile flashes forward and I apply a force spell to myself, whipping me out of the way and towards the alien.

I was warned about their strength but retreating back up the staircase while shooting at each other doesn't sound like a good option to me.

I fire. Once, twice, three times and each time the grey creature with six eyes twitches out of the way, moving only as much as necessary to avoid the bullet. Then I slam into the thing, coming from above I ram both of us into the blast door, not even creating a dent. At least I have the presence of mind to hit the middle arm with the energy weapon, sending the weapon flying.

Two strong arms grab me in a bear hug while the middle one reaches for my head. It feels like I am in a steel press, so I do the first thing which comes to mind.

Teleport.

But nothing happens. I attempt an attack on its mind and encounter nothing but a dark vast emptiness. Something about this creature interferes with magic! I cough and cast another spell, inverting gravity. Finally something works and the ceiling becomes the floor. Both of us fall head first, but since the alien is taller than me it impacts first.

The thing isn't bothered by the impact as much as I would like, but its hug loosens a little and I can get a hand free. I don't even try to hit the thing. If it's strong enough to counter my magical enhanced body it has to be sturdy too. The next best thing I can think of is ramming two fingers into one of the monster's six pitch black eyes.

It doesn't scream, which is a little disturbing. I like it when the opponent shows a reaction. So I wriggle my finger a bit and finally the thing flings me away, probably it felt inconvenienced despite showing no reaction.

To keep it off balance I return the gravity to normal and aim my gun once more.

In mid air the creature has no hold to use its strength and speed. One bullet slams through the creature's head, three more through its torso. Just in case that the brain is somewhere else.

Both of us land on the ground and a horrible pain stings through my chest. Probably a broken rib. I feel for the damage but find no blood.

At least the monster is staying down. With careful effort I get to my feet and approach the door. If Ed is right, then there are more of those things on the other side.

Currently I don't feel like I want to take on more of those things. So I take my remaining stack of mobile claymores and teleport them to the other side of the door. After hearing the familiar sound of detonating M.C.s I reach for the control panel and hack it.

This time I shroud myself inside an information barrier. Until now I refused to use invisibility since we are intending to make this operation public. But now it turns out that the aliens have a similar capability and they managed to take out some of the faceless, so holding back is foolish.

What greets me on the other side are several dead bodies. Two faceless and half a dozen of the blue guards and four of the grey tripods. One of the faceless died in a deadly hug with a tripod, but not without ramming his hand right through the tripods torso. Since the blood is already bogged down they must have been dead before I used the claymore. The other three tripods and a few of the guards look fresh.

I aim my gun down the corridor of level four, but there are no opponents, so I advance further down to level five where I find three tripods in a fire-fight with someone. They are on the floor's central corridor with a faceless lying between them on the floor. They are aiming around a corner at the end of the corridor.

Remembering the speed of our friends I switch my gun to full automatic, pull out a second magazine and take aim. Then I pull down the trigger and hold it there until the magazine is empty. The gun bucks like crazy, spitting out thirty rounds in three seconds. Apparently the aliens rely heavily on their sight. The bullets tear into my target, downing him instantly.

A second tripod is also hit and stumbles forward, only to be torn to pieces by a fireball from whoever was camping around the corner. I start reloading while the third tripod turns around to face me.

The downed faceless suddenly comes to life, pulling a nasty bushwhacker from his belt. Tripod number three loses one leg at the joint, then a second as the blade cleanly slices and severs the limbs.

The alien goes down right next to faceless and tries to fend off the nasty blade. But the man is in a frenzy, pulling himself toward the foe and hacking it to pieces while I approach.

By the time I arrive the faceless is already hard at work to sever the head from the rest of the body.

“I think it is dead.” I offer carefully, being reminded of one of my own savage short-outs.

“Don't care. I want his head for my wall!” The faceless answers.

“Ok.” A trophy hunter. I can sympathize with that attitude. “So how did you come back to life?”

The faceless reaches with one hand under his clothes and puts his finger through a walnut-sized hole. “Buggers shot me with their energy weapons. But I am a nature-mage and very good with healing. Simply played dead until I got a chance for payback!”

“Don't mind Turisu. He is one of the more eccentric ones.” Ed appears from around the corner, drawing my attention away from the faceless on the floor. Normally I don't care about much, but I hope that guy is an exception. It's another good reason for not breaking our society's laws.

Apparently Ed sees a reason to explain further. “It's not as troublesome as you think. We use Turisu just for the really nasty jobs. He is special ops.”

Then Ed holds a hand to his ear, which is a signal that he is currently speaking to someone via the net. After few moments he is done. “It looks like the facility is under our control. And the team which started at the lowest level found our diplomat.”

“Nice. Let's go and take the price!” I reply and turn to head back down the corridor.

On our way to the research facility Ed gets a better picture of the situation. A hundred faceless and sprites took part in the operation. Of those we lost four men and three sprites.

We've wiped the area clean of any inhabitants who accounted to about four hundred employees and guards.

I scratch my cheek. “Do you think they got the message?”

Ed shrugs. “Who knows. We are dealing with several different factions. The diplomats said that we will get away with a show of force and the elders decided to show all of them that messing with us isn't a small gamble.”

“It's just that I hope that we don't have to hunt down more facilities like this one. What about this manager guy? Rusch, did we get him?” I ask.

Ed shakes his head. “I wasn't informed of his whereabouts. If we are unlucky he might have been under the people who tried to run.”

“Oh.” How very annoying. Identifying him among the charred corpses will be a real pain in the ass.

Down on the last floor we find a medical facility with our ambassador on an operating table. There are several of our medics who are trying to unplug him from various devices, but to be honest I've not too much hope for the man. His body looks like someone dissected him to make one of those sculptures of dead bodies. Only that the poor guy seems to be alive.

“By the dark arts!” Ed calls out and places a hand over his mouth. “We should have kept more of them alive to broadcast a few torture videos of our captives!”

“You made captives?” I ask with curiosity. I've simply shot everyone I encountered. Seemed the best solution since I had no way to secure them.

Ed ignores me and catches one of the medics by the arm. “Will he survive?”

The medic shrugs his shoulders. “Maybe. I find it more fascinating that the aliens managed to dissect him like a topological map without actually killing him. It speaks for their medical knowledge.”

I scratch my neck and turn around. It feels again like someone is following me. Then I face Ed. “Say, oh great faceless. Is it possible that one of your men was following me during my mission? I've had this itchy feeling since a while now. It's like someone is breathing down my neck.”

“No?” Ed turns to survey the room. “I don't know many techno-mages who could uphold a personal shroud barrier for days while walking around the station. Especially not to the degree that even you can't find them. Are you sure that it isn't just imagination?”

“I am not sure of anything. That's why I ask.” I answer. “How many?”

Ed tilts his head. “Your grandparents, Sanguin, you, Sadina and maybe three or four others. Maybe Cyla, but she isn't the type to hide.”

One of Ed's subordinates waves for us. He was checking the alien computer system.

“I've found something!”

.