Chapter Twenty-Five:
“Thicker than Blood”
Shugg had jumped from plenty of aircraft in his military days, but nothing quite compared to this. The storm raged around them as they plummeted through Oblivion Prime''s neon-stained clouds, rain stinging his face like liquid steel. Lightning fractured the sky in violent purple bursts, illuminating the sprawling sectors below.
"Shugg!" Finn''s voice crackled through his comms. "The UI – it''s thought-based! Just think about where you want us to land and you can place a marker!"
The old soldier''s jaw clenched. These were kids, not trained paratroopers, and that thought alone made his chest tighten. He focused his thoughts, and sure enough, a bright beacon materialized over a section of the Halo Flats'' residential district. The marker pulsed with a steady blue light, cutting through the chaos of the storm.
"Everyone see that marker?" Shugg''s gruff voice carried authority even through the digital distortion. "Stay in tight formation. Isla, you''re on my left. Finn, right side. Max, watch our six. We''re hitting that zone together, understood?"
"Don''t worry, Shugg!" Max called back, enthusiasm cutting through the howling wind. "We''ve got thousands of hours in battle royale games. This is just like dropping into Fortnite!"
"Yeah," Finn chimed in, "or Apex Legends! We''ve practiced this landing formation like a million times!"
"Though those games didn''t have actual lightning trying to kill us," Isla added pragmatically, banking slightly to avoid a particularly close bolt. "But the principle''s the same!"
Shugg fought the urge to groan. Video games. These kids were comparing a combat drop through a killer storm to video games. But their confidence, misplaced as it might be, was better than panic. He watched them adjusting their trajectories with surprising coordination, even as another purple lightning bolt split the sky between them.
"Just stay close," he growled, his massive frame leading their formation toward the glowing marker below. "There ain''t no game reset if you mess up the landing."
The neon-drenched cityscape of Halo Flats rushed up to meet them, a maze of twisted metal and crumbling concrete. Through gaps in the storm clouds, Shugg could make out the skeletal remains of luxury bunkers and the sharp angles of Echo Park''s abandoned towers. Their marker pulsed stronger now, a brilliant blue beacon in the purple-tinged darkness.
A violent gust of wind caught Max, pushing him off course. "Woah!"
"I got you, kid!" Shugg reached out with one massive arm, catching Max''s sleeve and pulling him back into formation. The boy''s eyes were wide, that gaming confidence flickering for the first time as reality set in.
Isla''s voice crackled through the comms, steady despite everything. "Ground''s coming up fast. Really fast."
"Finn, stop trying to do a spiral!" Shugg barked, spotting the boy''s attempted aerial maneuver. "This ain''t one of your victory dances!"
"Sorry! Force of habit!" Finn straightened out, though Shugg could hear the grin in his voice. "Can''t help it – usually that''s how you get the most points for style!"
Lightning crackled dangerously close, the air thick with ozone. They were entering the final approach now, and Shugg could see their landing zone clearly – a relatively clear stretch between two collapsed structures that would give them some cover. The rain was coming down in sheets, distorting the city''s neon reflections into a kaleidoscope of broken light.
"Listen up!" Shugg''s voice cut through the chaos. "When we hit, you bend your knees and roll. Don''t try to stick the landing like them game characters. You hear me?"
"Roll, got it!" they chorused back, but Shugg could hear the nervous edge creeping into their voices now. The ground was close enough to make out individual chunks of broken pavement, the rain forming silver sheets between the ruins.
Another lightning bolt seared across their path, so close it left burning afterimages in their vision. Isla yelped, instinctively tucking herself closer to Shugg''s left side. The old soldier''s heart clenched – these were his kids now, his responsibility.
"Thirty seconds!" he bellowed. "Form up tight! Real tight!"
The wind howled around them as they plummeted through the final stretch. Shugg could see it all playing out in his mind – the impact, the roll, getting them to cover fast. His years of military training kicked in, every instinct focused on keeping these kids safe.
"Twenty seconds!" The rain stung harder now, the neon lights of Halo Flats bleeding into streaks of color. "Finn, eyes front! Stop looking down at your wrist!"
"But I think I see something—"
"CHUTES!" Shugg roared, releasing his grip on the kids and spreading his arms wide to give them space. "SPREAD OUT NOW!"
The four of them pushed away from each other just as Shugg yanked his cord. The others followed suit seconds later, their canopies bursting open above them with sharp cracks that were nearly lost in the storm. The sudden deceleration yanked them all upward, suspension lines straining against the wind.
"Control your drift!" Shugg called out, watching his team''s chutes with hawk-like intensity. "Don''t let the wind push you into each other!"
A violent gust caught Isla''s chute, sending her swaying dangerously close to Max. "Pull your right toggle!" Shugg commanded. "Max, left toggle, now!"
The kids responded instantly, their canopies sliding past each other with barely a meter to spare. Lightning flashed again, illuminating their four silhouettes against the purple-black sky as they fought to maintain separation in the final descent.
The rain hammered against their faces as they descended through the last hundred meters. Each flash of lightning cast stark shadows of their billowing chutes against the clouds above, like giant jellyfish dancing in a purple sea.
"Just like I told you!" Shugg shouted, trying to keep his voice steady despite the fear gripping his chest. These were untrained kids, and he knew it. "Keep your legs together! Don''t fight the chute!"
Below them, the broken landscape of Halo Flats emerged from the gloom. The neon signs flickered - dying fireflies casting pools of blue and red light across the wet pavement. Ancient skyscrapers loomed ahead, their hollow windows watching with empty sockets through the darkness.
"Shugg!" Max''s voice cracked with panic as a gust pushed him sideways. "I can''t - how do I -"
"Just hang on!" Shugg called back. "Let it stabilize! Don''t pull anything!"
Isla was spinning slightly, her hands white-knuckled on the risers. "I don''t like this!" she screamed over the wind.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"You''re doing fine!" Shugg lied, his heart in his throat as he watched his kids swaying in the storm. "Just keep your feet together! Remember what I said about rolling!"
Finn was surprisingly quiet, but Shugg could see him mouthing what looked like prayers as they dropped through the last thirty meters.
The wind changed suddenly, gusting from the east. The kids yelped as their chutes jerked in response. There was nothing smooth or practiced about their descent now - just four figures, three of them terrified teenagers, plummeting toward the rain-slicked ground.
"Get ready!" Shugg shouted. "Remember - roll! ROLL!"
The ground rushed up. Isla hit first, her scream cut short as she crumpled and rolled across the broken pavement. The impact triggered her pack''s auto-retract - the chute snapping back into its housing with a mechanical whir.
Max came down hard on his left side, the impact driving the air from his lungs. He skidded through a puddle, his jacket shredding against the concrete. "Shit - shit - shit!" His chute disappeared into his pack with a sharp hiss.
Finn somehow managed to stay upright for two stumbling steps before his legs gave out. He face-planted, then scrambled up spitting blood from a split lip. Behind him, the smart-fabric of his chute was already recoiling, vanishing into the compact unit strapped to his back.
Shugg landed last, decades of hard living letting him absorb the impact better than the kids. He rolled, came up running as his own chute whispered away into its housing. Through the rain, he started counting heads.
"Sound off!" he bellowed. "Isla!"
"Here!" Her voice wavered but strong.
"Max!"
"Can''t... breathe..." He was on his hands and knees, coughing.
"Finn!"
"M''okay!" Blood dripped from his chin. "Lost a tooth, I think."
Lightning split the sky again. In that stark flash, Shugg saw all three of them - battered, soaked, alive. His kids. But there wasn''t time for relief. Not yet.
"Move!" he barked. "We''re too exposed!"
The kids scrambled after him as he led them toward the shelter of a crumbling storefront. Max still wheezing, Finn wiping blood from his chin, Isla limping but determined. The rain drummed against their shoulders, washing away traces of their landing.
High above, perched on the forty-second floor of a derelict tower, a hooded figure stood motionless against the storm. The rain itself bent around the form, reality acknowledged its presence. Eyes, hidden in shadow, tracked their movements with unsettling intensity.
Lightning split the sky, illuminating nothing but the dark silhouette as it watched Shugg shepherd his broken little family into the shadows. The figure''s head tilted slightly, like a guardian watching over its charges.
"Take care of one another," came a whisper, the words carried on the wind itself. The voice held something nurturing, almost loving.
The next flash of lightning revealed only empty space where the figure had stood, leaving nothing but questions hanging in the rain-soaked air.
"Max, hold!" Shugg''s voice cut through the rain, but it was too late. The kid''s boot had already broken the laser-thin wire stretched across the alley entrance. There was a mechanical whir, followed by the distinctive sound of multiple weapon systems coming online.
Shugg''s M4 was already up, muscle memory from years of combat taking over. The ammo counter in his HUD flashed crisp and green: [30/30]. The first burst caught the emerging turret dead center, sparks flying as 5.56 rounds tore through its housing. [24/30]. But there were more - always more. They emerged from the walls like mechanical spiders, their targeting lasers painting red constellations through the mist.
"Isla, get them back!" he shouted, already moving. His rifle sang, the familiar chatter of automatic fire echoing off the wet concrete. [15/30]. Brass casings rained down, mixing with the puddles at his feet. His HUD displayed the brutal math: [3 FULL MAGS REMAINING]. The partial mag in his weapon felt too light, and the red warning indicator confirmed what his muscle memory already knew - not enough. Never enough.
A burst of automatic fire stitched across the wall behind him [8/30]. Shugg dropped to one knee, pivoting smoothly as another turret emerged from behind a dumpster. Two controlled bursts, just like training. [2/30]. The turret exploded in a satisfying shower of sparks and shrapnel.
"Move! Move! Move!" he barked, his HUD highlighting the safest path in pulsing blue markers. The rain made everything slick, and they moved like what they were - terrified kids. Max tripping over his own feet, Isla half-sobbing as she ran, Finn stumbling behind them all. [MAG LOW] flashed red in his peripheral vision.
The magazine release clicked home before the warning fully registered. Muscle memory again. Fresh mag slotted in [30/30] [2 FULL MAGS REMAINING]. That''s when he heard it - the distinct whine of a different kind of deployment system. Higher pitched. Newer.
"Finn, drop!" Shugg spun, weapon already tracking, but the new turret wasn''t aiming for Finn. Its target was the ancient fire escape above. The one they were all running under.
[25/30] [24/30] [23/30]. Each round found its mark, but too late. Metal screamed against metal. The entire structure began to tilt.
"FINN!" Isla''s scream was pure teenage terror, the kind that only comes when you watch someone you love disappear. It cut through everything else - through the gunfire, through the rain, through the sound of Shugg''s own heartbeat pounding in his ears. Time seemed to stretch like warm taffy as the gap between them and Finn grew wider, debris and twisted metal creating an impassable wall.
[SQUAD MEMBER: FINN - CRITICAL CONDITION] [TIME TO EXPIRATION: 30 SECONDS]
The HUD notification blazed angry red in Shugg''s vision. Finn was on the other side of that wall of twisted metal, and Shugg could hear him crying. Just a scared kid, calling out for help.
"Hold on, buddy! HOLD ON!" Shugg slammed his rifle into its mag-lock and grabbed the nearest piece of debris. [24 SECONDS]. His hands were bleeding almost instantly as he tore at the twisted metal. Behind him, Isla was screaming Finn''s name over and over, her voice cracking. Max just stood frozen, shaking.
[18 SECONDS]
"I''m scared," Finn''s voice was getting weaker. "Shugg, I''m really scared."
"I''m coming! Just hold on!" Another piece of metal gave way, but there were dozens more. [12 SECONDS]. Shugg''s HUD was highlighting structural weak points, but there were too many. The whole thing was weak points. His hands were slick with blood and rain.
[8 SECONDS]
"Isla?" Finn''s voice was barely a whisper now. "I don''t want to-"
[4 SECONDS]
"NO!" Isla lunged forward, but Shugg caught her, pulled her back as the final seconds ticked down. He''d seen death before. These kids hadn''t. But they were about to.
[0 SECONDS] [SQUAD MEMBER: FINN - EXPIRED]
Isla''s knees gave out. Her scream wasn''t words anymore, just raw grief that echoed off the walls. Shugg felt something break inside him too, hot tears mixing with the rain on his face. Max vomited quietly in the corner.
Then, the HUD flickered, a new notification appearing in the corner:
[SQUAD REDEPLOYMENT ACTIVE] [FINN RESPAWN: 60 SECONDS] [REQUIREMENT: 1+ SQUAD MEMBERS MUST SURVIVE]
Through the rain, Shugg could see the marker where Finn would drop back in - assuming they lived that long. Isla was still on her knees, but her scream had turned into something harder, colder. Max wiped his mouth, grabbed his weapon.
They just had to hold. Sixty seconds. Keep at least one of them alive, and they''d get Finn back.
Shugg checked his mag. [28/30]
"On your feet," he said quietly. "We''re not done yet."
The first warning came as a high-pitched whine - another turret emerging from the shadows. Shugg didn''t hesitate this time, two controlled bursts [24/30]. The machine exploded, but he could already hear more activating.
"Max, watch our six!" Shugg barked. "Isla, get to cover!"
[52 SECONDS]
Three drones buzzed overhead, their targeting lasers painting red lines through the rain. Isla''s rifle cracked once, twice - one drone spiraled into a wall. The other two opened fire, forcing them behind a fallen concrete barrier.
[45 SECONDS]
"Contact left!" Max''s voice was steady now, professional. His SMG chattered, followed by the satisfying sound of mechanical parts hitting pavement. "They''re trying to flank!"
[38 SECONDS]
Shugg slammed a fresh mag home [30/30]. The rain was coming down harder, but his HUD was highlighting movement everywhere. They were being surrounded.
"Hold position!" he shouted over the gunfire. "Just hold!"
[30 SECONDS]
The wall to their right exploded inward, showering them with debris. A heavy assault mech stepped through, its arm-mounted cannon already spinning up.
"MOVE!" Shugg shoved Isla forward as the ground where they''d been standing disappeared in a spray of concrete and fire. Max was already running, sliding behind a dumpster.
[24 SECONDS]
Isla''s hands were steady as she pulled the launcher from her back. A fierce grin spread across her rain-soaked face. "Say hello to a little gift that Gameweaver gave me!" The rocket streaked out, catching the mech in its leg joint. The machine stumbled, went down on one knee.
[19 SECONDS]
The mech''s systems sparked and smoked where the rocket had torn through its armor, but it was still operational, trying to bring its cannon to bear.
[12 SECONDS]
"We need to move!" Max shouted over the whine of the mech''s struggling servos. More targets were incoming - Shugg''s HUD was lighting up like a Christmas tree.
[8 SECONDS]
"There!" Isla pointed to the marker where Finn would drop. They had to get closer, give him cover when he landed. But between them and that spot was a killing field of automated defenses.
[5 SECONDS]
"Move!" Shugg shouted. "Don''t stop for anything!"
[3 SECONDS]
They ran - Max spraying wildly to suppress, Isla launching her last rocket at the heaviest concentration of turrets, Shugg taking point through the chaos.
[1 SECOND]
Above them, through the rain and smoke, a familiar silhouette appeared in the sky.
[FINN RESPAWNING...]
The silhouette grew larger, Finn''s body cutting through sheets of rain. A parachute bloomed above him - stark white against the dark sky, the distinctive red cross marking him as a returning operative.
[FINN RESPAWN COMPLETE] [SQUAD STATUS: FULL]
He landed hard, stumbling but catching himself, water spraying up around his boots. The system had respawned him with basic loadout - just a pistol and whatever he could scavenge. Finn''s hands shook slightly as he grabbed a discarded rifle from the ground, automated fire already tracking his position.
"You''re back!" Isla shouted, her voice cracking with relief as she tossed him spare magazines. Two clattered to the ground before he could catch them.
"Yeah," Finn managed, fumbling to pick up the magazines. His voice was higher than usual, betraying his age as he tried to sound casual. "What''d I miss?"
"Oh, you know," Shugg said, spraying wildly at the turrets, more suppressing fire than actual aim. "Just trying not to die-"
"Watch out!" Max yelped, yanking Shugg down as another burst of fire sailed overhead.
The mech was struggling back to its feet, hydraulic fluid leaking from its damaged leg. None of them had ever faced anything this big before.
"Anyone got a plan?" Finn asked, his attempt at a confident smile looking more like a grimace as he finally got the magazine into place.
Shugg''s jaw tightened under his mustache as he looked at these kids - especially Finn, who''d just experienced death for the first time. No more playing around.
"Yeah, I got one. EVERYONE DOWN!"
As the others dropped, Shugg activated his Iron Wall ability, his form seeming to grow larger as damage resistance coursed through him. With a roar that was more protective fury than battle cry, he charged his new mech, The Ironcrusher Maul that was now materializing in his hands.
The Groundbreaker ability activated as he leaped, bringing the maul down with earth-shattering force. The shockwave rippled out, toppling the remaining turrets and sending the damaged mech crashing onto its back.
"Inside! Now!" Shugg bellowed, gesturing to a nearby maintenance door. The kids didn''t argue, sprinting through the rain as he covered their retreat.
Once inside, Shugg slammed the door behind them. In the relative quiet, they could hear Finn''s ragged breathing.
"You okay, kid?" Shugg asked, his gruff voice gentler than usual.
Finn nodded, but his hands were shaking. "I... I died. I actually died."
"Yeah." Shugg put a heavy hand on his shoulder. "And that''s something we need to talk about. All of you. This isn''t a game - even if we come back, death here... it costs something. We need to be smarter. More careful."
The others nodded soberly, the reality of their situation finally sinking in.