Scavengers

(Hmm.)

Observing the group of flashlights inching ever closer to his position, Mike made sure his knife didn't accidentally reflect any light as his prey drew ever nearer.

Having left his own flashlight a small distance away from his hiding spot, Mike watched as the first person cautiously went past him, then the second and finally the third. Slipping out of cover with his knife and suppressed pistol ready, Mike slit the knife into the throat of his first target, then using the dying corpse as a human shield he dealt with the two others using his pistol.

(20 seconds…)

Knowing his time was short, Mike didn't bother with anything other than taking one of the rifles from one of the dead scavengers before continuing onwards. Using the LIDA built into his vacuum suit, Mike hardly needed any light to find his way around the dark tunnels while also mapping the area for the convenience of eventually backtracking to where he split up with Dan and River.

(... What the fuck was that?)

Feeling the entire underground complex shake because of some explosion, Mike was about to break radio silence and try to reach River, only barely restraining himself when he realised that transmitting could bring River into even more danger.

(Hmm, so that really was a fuel depo? Neat.)

Hearing the fruits of her labour in the form of a massive explosion, River was happy that her body trap seemed to have worked even better than intended as she continued sprinting through the series of labyrinth-like hallways, access tunnels and maintenance areas of the massive underground shipyard and foundry.

Using the full strength, speed and outright inhuman reflexes of her genetically engineered body, River could easily have escaped from her pursuers, only she had no intention of ever doing so.

(This seems far enough… Time to double back and teach them what for.)

Stopping her retreat, River calmed her heartbeat enough to pick up vibrations in the floor beneath her before she sped it up again and turned off her flashlight.

(15 steps, then left, then 34 steps…)

Having memorised the surrounding area, River traced back her steps in a full sprint until she found a series of lights in the darkness, and then she started to hunt. Leaping off the ground, River landed on a derelict smelter and observed the squad of 4 scavengers wielding automatic rifles searching for her. Choosing her moment perfectly, River leapt into the air before landing on one of the perps, smashing their face in and breaking their neck on impact. Having dealt with the first target, River crouched down to avoid the panicked spray of automatic gunfire before she responded with a kick, shattering the scavenger's knee and puncturing their suit before she retreated with frankly absurd speed, disappearing back into the darkness as quickly as she had appeared.

"AAAHHH FUCKING MONSTER!"

"FUCKING KILL IT!"

Spraying into the darkness, the two surviving scavengers only succeeded in making themselves easy targets for River who popped a cap in each of their heads from above.

(... Fucking amateurs.)

While River was also very much a beginner at hand-to-hand combat and shooting in general, the few pointers that she had gotten from Mike served to help her massively, of course, so did her enhanced body.

(If any of you people hurt Mike, I'll make sure every one of you regret ever being born…)

Continuing to hunt and thin the herd of scavengers without mercy, River eventually came across something strange.

"What the?"

Having found another lit up section of the underground complex, River had expected another fight, but instead, she found a room closed off with some sort of thick plastic film and lit with some kind of battery pack setup. Entering the room, River found some scavenger equipment along with a pair of 500-litre water containers.

But most importantly, there was a massive 5 by 5 metre cube made out of some sort of yellow, brown-ish clay substance.

(So this is that… Tac thing.)

Pulling out her knife, River tapped the butt of it against the massive block of tac to break off a piece.

"Oh wow, this shit is heavy…"

Looking around, River found a backpack and stuffed it with tac.

It was only when she closed the backpack that she heard movement behind her. Tossing the backpack towards whoever had snuck up on her, River dodged a gunshot before charging the scavenger with her knife. Moving with zero hesitation, the fight was over before it could even be started as River's knife slit into the throat of the scavenger and life quickly faded from their eyes.

It was only then River noticed it.

"Fuck! Why!? Why the fuck would you use children!?"

Feeling like she needed to puke, River knew it would be very problematic if she did, so she did her best holding it down as she left the dead scavenger behind.

-

(Hmm, that's slightly unusual…)

Having split away from the others, Dan had been avoiding fighting more than necessary, and being a former Inquisitor he had no issue evading the barely trained and poorly disciplined scavengers, or at least that's how it should have gone.

(How the hell are they still following me?)

Despite Dan's best efforts, he was still being tracked by a single scavenger who kept up with him no matter what kind of evasion tactics he tried pulling off.

(I guess there's nothing else left to do.)

With no way of shaking off his pursuer, Dan decided to confront the issue straight on. Doubling back around Dan considered using force, but he figured there was a reason there was only a single scavenger tracking him, and not a hunting group.

(... Might as well.)

Coming out into the open, Dan half expected to get shot, but instead, he heard a voice through the vibrations in the floor beneath.

"Why are your eyes like that?"

Although Dan wasn't sure, the scavenger sounded young, definitely inexperienced and a bit shaky in response to seeing Dan's eyes.

"The church did it to me because I got tired of their perversions."

"Perversions?"

Not that well-schooled, the scavenger didn't really seem to understand Dan's more complex words, so Dan worded it a bit simpler.

"They told me to kill people, hurt people and steal from the people I was supposed to protect just so they could line their own pockets."

"... I see."

Falling into deep thought, the scavenger's worldview seemed to be expanding, but they were clearly still nervous about something.

"You can ask me whatever you want, I'm just here because I need to survive, just like you, I mean your people no harm."

While Dan had already hurt some of the scavengers both he and the scavenger knew that, but as the scavenger had been tracking Dan for a while now they knew that Dan didn't do it because wanted to, but because he was forced to.

"... Are you… Like me?"

Although Dan had no idea what exactly the scavenger was talking about, he had a feeling that the scavenger sort of resonated with him in a way that only his former, fellow Inquisitors had.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I am. You're definitely an abnormal, just like me."

"An abnormal?"

While anyone who was part of the Eden Theocrasy proper would have instantly known what Dan was talking about, the scavenger needed a bit more of an explanation.

But sadly, Dan was running out of time.

"You're stronger, faster and smarter than normal. If the Eden Theocrasy finds you they'll turn you into what I was, but if you and your people survive for just a few years things will change."

While the Eden Theocrasy's oppression of its entire galaxy seemed to be eternal, Dan was aware that the arrival of Mike, River and Jessica along with the coming convergence would bring change, change that the current Eden Theocrasy wouldn't survive as it was at the moment.

-

(Huh, that's strange?)

Having reloaded his pistol, Mike tried to clench his free hand but found himself unable to, for some reason, it couldn't stop shaking.

"... Yeah, this might be bad."

As soon as Mike put his free hand back on the pistol, the shaking stopped, and then without any apparent reason, the shaking started again.

(... Shit, I need to deal with… Whatever the fuck that was or is later.)

With time running out, Mike started doubling back towards where he split up from the others but immediately ran into trouble. Running into a group of 4 scavengers head-on, Mike blinked first and drew his pistol, turning on the flashlight he had attached to it, blinding the scavengers as he opened fire.

Mike's first shot hit the leader in the head, moving to cover as shots whizzed straight past his head and Mike took out another scavenger.

(2 left.)

Relocating faster than the remaining scavengers could deal with, Mike shot another one as the last one started panicking.

(Fucking amateur.)

Lining up a headshot, Mike was about to squeeze the trigger when his hands started shaking again.

"SHIT!"

Without being able to steady his gun, it took Mike way more shots than needed to deal with the last scavenger, but before he was able to, Mike was hit a few times.

"ARG!"

Checking his vacuum suit's integrity, Mike found no leaks, but judging by the taste of blood in his mouth something vital beneath the armoured suit had still taken damage. Feeling like the entirety of his chest was on fire and getting whipped, Mike's vision narrowed from the pain while his heartbeat almost defended him.

"LIKE HELL I'M GOING TO DIE!"

Managing to stay conscious only through sheer force of will, Mike broke into a run as he was starting to run out of time. Rounding a corner too fast and crashing into the opposite wall as a shot passed right over his shoulder, Mike stumbled forward before shooting wildly at the scavengers behind him and drawing them into cover.

"FUCK YOU!"

Not bothering to reload his pistol as he was starting to lose feeling in his fingers, Mike holstered the weapon as he continued running.

"You guys better not have left me behind, if they did I pump life back into each and every one of them just so I can kill them myself…"

Having waited for an entire hour, Jessica went back to the hatch she had seen a flare emerge from and shot it open using one of the Wyrm's few high explosive missiles, then she went into hover above the massive access shaft and put the Wyrm into autopilot and lowered the shields.

"Okay… Here we go…"

Quickly strapping out of the pilot seat, Jessica left the cockpit and headed for the airlock, where she opened both the inner and outer airlock door before finding the optional FRIES system which Mike had installed 'because it was cool' and activated it. Checking that the tethers had extended properly, Jessica didn't stay behind to see the ropes deploy as she hurried back to the cockpit as the Wyrm was hailed by radio.

[We're strapped in and getting shot at! Get us the fuck out of here!]

"Roger!"

Extracting Mike, River and Dan, Jessica waited to pull them up until she was well over the horizon.

"... Well, mission accomplished, I guess…"