Gideon felt the blades slide against his armor as he triggered Shadow Step and moved in the blink of an eye through the air to land directly opposite the attacker. He struck hard and fast, driving both talons up into a weak spot at the Stalker’s back. One of the blades hit home with devastating efficiency, while the other went a little wide and scrapped off the chitinous armor.


    “Shitballs!” Red shouted as the Stalker’s own momentum coupled with the additional force of Gideon’s attack drove the alien soldier right into the tank’s body.


    Red was solidly built, thick with muscle and a little closer to the ground so his center of gravity was lower. This meant that, instead of tumbling backwards, he simply grunted as the Stalker and Gideon both thudded into his side to the accompanying sound of clattering armor.


    The tank grunted, shoving the enemy backwards as Gideon moved out of the way and ripped his dagger from the Stalker’s back. Too close to get a decent swing in, Red triggered Colossus Stance, locking his boots to the ground and opting for bludgeoning the enemy rather than attempting anything more nuanced.


    He battered the Stalker with his huge swords, smacking it over and over against the creature’s head as the alien tried unsuccessfully to rake its claws through Red’s body. Gideon triggered Marked for Death then picked his moment, waiting for the Stalker to stagger back before driving in with both talons and using his Thrust ability to jam both blades into the enemy’s back.


    The Stalker screamed, its voice distinct from the other shrill cry they’d heard coming from the darkness. It stood with arms outstretched, clawed fingers splayed as Gideon drove the daggers further into its body.


    “Killing blow!” Red yelled unnecessarily, drawing back his massive sword and thrusting it forward into a crack that had opened up in the Stalker’s front armor plating.


    Gideon had barely enough time to duck aside, wrenching his blades free as the oversized Bloodborn Blade slid through the Stalker and out its back. The sword narrowly missed Gideon’s ear as he moved aside. He was about to berate Red for that fact when gunfire from Mia drew his attention.


    Two more Stalkers were coming out of the shadows at the end of the corridor, both drones, and both moving with terrible speed. With limited options and both the dead Stalker and Red between him and the enemy Gideon triggered Shadow Veil and vanished.


    He moved as quickly as he cold behind Red, approaching the two oncoming Stalkers from the side and hoping to come up behind one of them to do more damage. With the thirty percent speed reduction this wasn’t made easy, but both Stalkers were advancing quickly allowing Gideon to reposition himself a little faster.


    Hearing the gunfire, Red shoved the dead Stalker off his sword, spun around and charged toward the enemy. While Gideon was glad to see the brute doing his duty as a tank, he was less impressed by the fact that Red had run right in front of a stream of bullets from Mia, forcing her to immediately stop her attack, cursing at the oaf as she repositioned herself.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Red thundered into the enemy Stalkers, triggering Unbreakable Bastion as he swung his sword like a club once more. The two alien drones attacked in unison, one moving to the left and another to the right.


    Gideon followed the rightmost enemy, using Stealth Strike to jam his daggers up into the alien soldier’s back, through a gap in the amor that he was now finding much easier to locate. Red seemed to notice the attack and immediately turned his attention to the second Striker.


    CRITICAL STRIKE!


    DEATH BLOW!


    The announcement practically blared in Gideon’s HUD as he slid his talon blades out, realizing that the Stalker he’d attacked was already dead. He moved to assist Red, but the tank was already pummeling his victim against a nearby wall, using the pummel of his oversized sword to beat the Stalker repeatedly in the head and torso.


    Seeing that the situation was under control, Gideon turned back to the end of the corridor. That was three Stalkers, so either they were done here or—


    MISSION UPDATE: Clear the Bunker


    Kill all enemy combatants within the Lunar station bunker.


    STALKER’S KILLED: 3/3


    RECALIBRATING ENEMIES


    STALKER’S KILLED: 3/10


    REWARD: 10 Enhancement Points Each


    “Shit!” Gideon blurted, moving to the side of the doorway as Red finished off the third Stalker.


    “Shit!” Mia said from her place further back in the corridor. Obviously, she’d just read the mission update.


    Red, on the other hand, was far less concerned.


    “Yeah boi!” he shouted, kicking the dying Stalker with his boot as it slid to the floor. “That’s what you get!”


    Checking her rifle, Mia moved up to Gideon, eyes locked on the dark room ahead as she came up alongside him.


    “Seven more enemies,” she said.


    He nodded. “Yeah, I saw.” Gideon pointed ahead. “This room does a dog leg to the left and then there’s another set of stairs leading to the storage area. That’s where our generator will be.”


    “And the other seven Stalkers, I’m guessing.”


    Gideon nodded. “And probably whatever drew them down here in the first place.”


    “Any ideas?”


    “Not really.”


    37:17


    “You should loot those corpses,” Mia said, nodding back the way they’d come. “You might need to dip into your ether stores for the next fight.”


    Gideon nodded, leaving her to watch the corridor ahead as he returned to the dead bodies. There were three ether orbs above the bodies, swirling with soft white light. Once he was close enough he harvested the ether and picked up several items of worth. During the process, he quickly read his latest announcements.


    ITEMS LOOTED


    Ether +15


    Stalker Hide Scraps +3


    Stalker Oil +2


    Achievement Awarded: One Shot Wonder!


    Congratulations! You killed an enemy in one strike by stacking damage and triggering a critical bonus. Just repeat that in every fight and you’ve got a chance of surviving!


    Leadership +1


    Tactical Insight +1


    Bladed Weaponry +1


    “Anything useful?” Red asked, hefting his sword and flicking pieces of alien goop and shattered armor from its surface.


    “Maybe for later,” Gideon said as they moved toward the end of the corridor. “Good for crafting I guess, but we can look at that later.”


    They moved up beside Mia and Gideon prepared to head into the next room. Red held a hand on his shoulder.


    “All good, bro. I’ll handle this.”


    Gideon turned to face him. “You sure? What was all that shit about not heading into dark holes?”


    He shrugged. “That was before I realized how fucking indestructible I am.”


    “You’re definitely not indestructible,” Mia said, shaking her head. “Those were low level drones and—”


    “Yep,” Red chirped, walking into the darkness with his sword slung over his shoulder. “I’m pretty much indestructible.”