Cath

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“There is a loader door on the side of the vault to extract the chips. Doesn’t look viable!” The soldier breathed, holding Light down behind the cover of a games table while she poked her head out. It appeared she was scanning for the boss and his bodyguard while formulating an escape plan.

“They blocked off the roof hatch and destroyed the side stairs too. Only other ways out are down there.” She pointed to the hole in the floor.

“Or down there, if it's not blocked by the bomb that went off.” She gestured to the stairwell.

"I've made contact! They're heading down to the garage. Follow me."

Light poked his head out and saw the woman in black armour execute a prisoner. The others raised their hands and looked like they were yelling rapidly to her. Bargaining for their life, perhaps?

The soldier began floating low around the games tables, grabbing hold of chairs and tables to stay out of sight as she went across to the stairwell. It was clear they knew how to remain undetected in this place. Light followed, making sure the old woman was fastly secured once more.

They made it to the stairwell intact, and were relieved to find that on this level, the stairs weren't destroyed. The soldier led the way swiftly down to the basement.

“Who are these people? They are vicious!” Light quailed.

“Their armour looks Outreman. They’ve done something to the AI guarding this place. They can’t leave with it.” The soldier growled.

They descended into the basement and got to the doors of the garage without further issue. The blast doors opened into a large open space filled with two dozen vehicles between stone support pillars. Bright halogen lights lit the space from the low ceilings.

The boss and his bodyguard were here, along with a ragtag collection of survivors. The boss was talking to his daughter and motioning to a control panel in a little kiosk by the door. The bodyguard was crouched over a flashing pill-shaped object about two metres long.

“Ah, you’re here!” The boss said absently as his daughter interfaced with the control panel.

“Choose our vehicle. Cash in transit truck, or my sports car?” He laughed and gestured out to the variety of different vehicles, looking slightly deranged.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

In the chaos, Light, Senjen & the exo-suit soldier made it down to the casino floor. Senjen momentarily lost the droid tracking him, but it wouldn’t be long before they figured out his little stunt.

This room was full of games tables. Roughly in front of them were the familiar double doors back into the stairwell. Now they’d descended a level, it looked relatively clear, except for the jagged hole in the floor about three metres across halfway in between. There was no kitchen on this floor; instead the wall to the left of the stairwell doors was occupied by a formidable bank vault behind a long bar.

Half a dozen count room clerks were holed up behind the bar, fighting four droids who had taken cover throughout the room. One of the clerks was blind firing a plasma repeater, the others popped out to shoot before ducking back. As Light watched, a droid threw a grenade that was reflected by a force field around the bar. It had to dive out of the way of the explosion.

To the right of the blistering firefight, the stairwell and the hole in the floor, a woman in black armour and two droids were in the process of handcuffing a clutch of terrified non-combatants. For the moment, they had their backs turned.

There was no sign of the boss and his bodyguard in this chaotic sea of tables and plasma bolts.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

The boss, his daughter and his bodyguard crashed untidily into a blackjack table and set of chairs on the level below. Chips sprayed everywhere. Energy bolts of different colours whizzed in every directions; it would be clear to Senjen that there was a major firefight on every floor. The three of them recovered their footing and stumbled towards the stairwell on the third floor, out of sight.

The robot Senjen kicked was down, but not out. In fact, after this, it was pissed. Nearly torn in two by the plasma baton, it tried to invert its trajectory to fly straight back at the Utaysi. But the thrusters on one side of its body sputtered and died. So instead it identified the closest targets to its current course - the kitchen - and sluggishly careened right into them.

The resulting fireball filled the area all around it. The soldier who’d emerged from the stairwell only just made it into Light’s booth before a wall of flames rushed past. Light shoved him to the floor and covered both him and the wounded lady with his suit. It screeched a shrill temperature warning at him.

The second droid meanwhile was about three seconds behind Senjen. They had chosen a fast ascent over a controlled one, and so when they raised their weapon and fired a continuous stream of energy it wasn’t pinpoint accurate. But it would still raise serious problems if it made a connection. The droid was locked onto a collision course.

Once the fireball receded, the soldier pushed Light off and clambered to his feet.

“FOLLOW. ME.” She instructed loudly and clearly through the deafening racket. Light grabbed hold of her exosuit so he wouldn’t lose her as she strode to the railing. Holding onto it, she vaulted over and accurately swung down and onto the floor below. Light saw Senjen and the droid approaching, fired at it but couldn’t make contact

“Senjen watch out!” He shouted, before practising as the soldier had done, swinging off the rail and onto the lower floor.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

The droid floating up from the ground floor activated their shield drone, which absorbed the burst of Senjen’s repeater fire before cracking. They quickly fired thrusters attached to its limbs and weaved rapidly through the air in a winding route to avoid being hit again. At that velocity they might overshoot the right floor entirely, or they might hit the Utaysi like a tonne of bricks.

Light poked his head out of the booth and spotted a droid approaching the kitchen on the opposite side. It was equipped with a similar weapon to Senjen, and was laying down a devastating curtain of plasma fire which was keeping the kitchen staff well and truly pinned. He fired at it, with limited success. He then turned the gun around and fired at the windows opposite where the gunship was wreaking havoc. The energy bolts still sloughed off without breaking through. Perhaps a heavier armament would do the trick…

The last exosuit soldier from before, the leader, staggered out from the doors leading back to the stairwell. Their body was covered in blood, though it wasn’t clear whether it belonged to them or not. The soldier pushed off towards the booth, spotting the boss and his bodyguard grappling with a droid towards the middle of the atrium.

Then all at once, three things happened. The bodyguard managed to plant his pistol square against the droid’s face, pushing the floating shield drone out of the way. He fired, putting a big hole in it. The droid then fired its own sidearm, putting an energy bolt clean through the boss’ thigh. He screamed like his daughter, white hat floating off his head to reveal a mat of greasy black hair. Then the boss flicked out the plasma baton he’d managed to extricate from his coat. It shimmered dark red and was instantly plunged straight into the droid’s chest. It jerked manically around, throwing them all downwards and back toward the side of the atrium Senjen & Light stood at. The red orb flashed, damaged within its chest.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Light had just reached the booth from which the boss had leapt out into the atrium space and when Senjen stuck an elderly female to his back. She adhered to his suit the moment he became aware of her, and he turned to face her while they were behind cover.

“Your epidermis is badly burned!” He informed her as hung inert and unresponsive. Light cooled a patch of gel closest to the burn site and gently applied it, causing her to groan softly.

“We’ll find a qualified medical professional for you!” He assured her shakily, before looking round as his sonar pinged and heavy footsteps sounded just outside the booth. Light grabbed the weapon he’d taken from the last droid and fired out of the gap in the booth just as an injured waiter staggered past. The plasma bolt lifted him off his feet and he sailed back towards the stairwell.

“Oh, sorry!” Light warbled.

“Let's get out of here! Down to the next level!” He called to Senjen while covering his six.”

-

Out in the open, the boss grappled with the droid who appeared to be trying to wrestle the little girl out of his arms. She was screaming and crying as little girls did, and while the droid was evidently stronger, the man was holding on for dear life. He appeared to be searching for something in one of his pockets.

“Grab the baton!” He shouted to his bodyguard as they clattered into him, but they were already trying to put their pistol against the droid’s head over the top of the little girl. The droid saw the weapon and reached for their own sidearm.

Down on the ground floor by the front doors, a man in the same armour as the woman back in the suit shop looked up and spotted the commotion. He signalled for one of the three droids standing guard with him to push off up there and help.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

The fourth floor was almost identical to the fifth floor and was in utter carnage. Off to their right, the gunship fired indiscriminately through the windows. A few of the windows on the left side were damaged but none were broken.

The kitchen staff were armed and hunkered down behind the central kitchen as debris exploded all around them. Booth-to-booth gun fights were in full effect in both aisles. There were several fires raging where droids had exploded.

The boss had already kicked off from the doorway and was floating low to the ground towards the large central atrium, with the bodyguard scrambling to catch up. It seems he had recovered from his earlier hesitance and was now hellbent on escaping at any cost.

The old woman that Senjen was carrying gurgled and shook weakly.

Free from Senjen’s grip, Light smooshed himself flat to the floor and slithered across it like a fast moving puddle with an assault weapon held by a manipulator on the top of it. He fired wildly in the direction of the gunship.

“Wait for us!” Light called as the man approached the low wall surrounding the atrium. When he was less than three metres away, a droid floated up directly in front, grabbing the wall to haul themselves over. The man collided heavily with the droid and they floated out into the atrium as they grappled together. The bodyguard raised his revolver but couldn’t get a shot so he also pushed off into the vast empty space and raced to reach them.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“No, go through to the trading floor!” The boss gestured back down the stairs and to the right with his free hand. The able-bodied droid from the floor above was pressing them heavily, having already dispatched one of the soldiers.

Then there was a deafening crack from below, and the stairs crumbled beneath them. Masonry dust coated Light’s suit as he bounced off the ceiling then into the debris cloud. The stairwell below was completely blocked by rubble, but the half-landing with the two other doors was partially intact.

“Let's move! Fall back!” The boss said, grabbing onto his bodyguard who kicked off the wall and propelled them towards the right-hand door.

Light looked morosely at the blockage, thinking quickly whether they may be able to dig their way out. But with desperate fighting going on merely a few metres away on the upper level there just wasn’t time.

“We can take the atrium or try those offices perhaps?! I don't think going back is an option!” He shouted, still stunned by the cacophony of loud noises around them lately.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

The droid released a black disc that produced a shield above, but couldn’t get it into position before a few beams from the repeater carved straight through it. Its grip on its own weapon weakened slightly, and Light took the opportunity. Holding onto the weapon with one part of his suit, he took back control of his pistol poking through the front of his suit. His own little manipular flaps pulled the trigger six times, pumping the droid’s abdomen full of .44 rounds.

The droid stumbled backwards then fell down the flight of stairs, leaving Light clutching its assault weapon. A small panel slid open in the middle of its chest and a small flashing red orb emerged.

“I will not be captured. I may not be captured. I shall not be capturrrr-” The droid blared in a slurred voice as sparks flew from its wounds.

“Uh oh.” Light said, looking at Senjen.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Four more floors!” The man hissed over the sound of gunfire above them.

Light hadn’t opted to scale the walls with Senjen, so he felt rather exposed near the front. The double doors in front of them were pinned open and there were two further sets of double doors in the lobby, left and right. It sounded like they were continuing down the staircase to the garage, so Light hugged the central stairwell column round to the left as he headed to the next flight of steps.

He crashed right into a stationary droid, who had been lying in wait on the top step. The robot raised their gun to shoot right through him but Light adhered to the weapon and used all his suit’s strength to push the barrel away from him. A laser blast chipped masonry from the wall to their right.

“Help!” He squawked.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

The soldiers currently holding down the kitchen were high quality; loyal to a fault, brave and well trained. If no order had come for them to fall back, they would have held their positions either until they’d emerged victorious or been wiped out.

When the order did come, they retreated in good order, covering each other as the droids crept forward. The leader reached the door last, covered from the doorway. One of the patrons tried to run for it too but was shot twice in the back.

The droid across the way floated back into atrium-space, heading over to the booths occupied by some of the last patrons on the top floor. With the deafening sounds of battle below them, they were blissfully aware of the heavily armed killer wafting towards them.

The staircase descended anti-clockwise around a solid central pillar like ancient fortifications, so Senjen’s right side was opened up. Unlike castles, it was wide enough for four humans to pass each other at the same time. The boss shouted “Follow us!” as they began descending. Perhaps he was sheepish for not taking the initiative before. Though it wasn’t like the soldiers could easily disengage; the droids were right behind them.

Light stuck close to Senjen, pistol at the ready as they hurried downwards. After six turns they could see an identical lobby to the one they’d just been in. Except this time there was blood smeared all over the floor and the left hand door into the offices was propped open by a dead woman.