The Grivoni are built like battering rams themselves. Tall, thick, and broad through the shoulders with a forward leaning posture like they’re about to shoot forward or brace for impact. Their skin is a deep gray threaded with metallic looking filaments that reflect the light; over top of its skin are basalt-like dermal plates layered across their upper body, forearms, and shins. When I zoom in with my Perception I can see the plates look tough, with stratified and cracked with edges that overlap like scale mail armor and designs or runes carved deep into them. Angular faces with heavy brows that shroud bright yellow eyes and horned bony crests on their heads give them a devilish appearance.

  I pull what I can from the strongest looking one. It’s got additional protection from a buckler on its forearm and carries a heavy stone maul. It seems lucky they haven’t seen us or the ship yet. It looks like they’re occupied with something in the Hangar and I feel the call , warmth of Soul Sparks in that direction within my range. I Reclaim them and small pulse of warmth suffuses me.

  Grivoni Raider (Level 76)

  Damage Reduction Index: 3

  Mana: 1120/1310

  Conditions: Magnetic Tether, Ferrous Sense, Rending Grip

  Dalib moves us behind a container tower and waits, calm and certain. I guess I would be too if I was in a Dungeon with a Rank of F-, the equivalent of where he’s at right now for him. Out of nowhere, a powerful sniper rifle appears in his hands. My Mana sense detects something when he does it, but it’s nothing I can figure out or understand. Yet.

  “Minimap populating,” Bobby tells us, so I look at my wrist and Bobby comes close. “If you see any green dots, they’re probably human. We’re not expecting any to be left alive on this spaceship; they’ve all either been killed or managed to evacuate in escape pods. The Birchcombe will be trying to pick them up and more help’s on the way.”

  We wait a few more seconds and I zoom out on my map. A small cluster of green dots does appear quite far from us, about a third of the way around the space station. The schematic shows it’s a set of five concentric rings; we’re in the outermost ring and they are in the middle one, two levels ‘up’. Along the rings there are passages to move between them and from the pattern I’m guessing some of them have been destroyed. It looks like there are at least a few dozen Grovoni in each of the first three rings, with more arriving not far from where the humans are, but on this level. It’s clear everyone’s seen the same thing as me.

  “Priority is getting to level 3 and evacuating those humans, then secure the space ship from the inner rings out.”

  “I can get us there fast,” says Aoife. Bobby glances around and makes the call.

  “Do it.”

  These are professional troopers and there’s no hesitation. Immediately I feel myself lifted up by her gravity Power and as I ramp up my Perception we swing around the corner rapidly then rocket forward toward the Grivoni we spotted before. Aoife’s face is intense as she stares at the Grivoni one by one in rapid succession. As she does they literally implode, collapsed into an intense localised gravity field that causes space to ripple around them. Soul Sparks form quickly and start to disappear almost as fast they start to dissipate. I Reclaim them, fighting against the forces acting on the Soul Sparks for a split second before they obey my call. Notifications bloom in the corner of my vision, but there’s no time to look at them. Almost faster than I can perceive we surge through corridors and to one of the bridges that connects the levels.

  Aiofe stops us, all hovering in the air in a way that makes me feel powerful and a bit helpless at the same time. I try to feel what’s happening with my Mana sense, but the Mana is flowing around us with such precise control in complex patterns I can’t get a handle on it. Instead of opening the mechanisms, she simply flicks her hands apart and the doors crumple to either side and then she hurtles us down the bridge to level 2 and jerks us hard to the right to get to the nearest bridge. There are no G-forces because of Aoife’s Power, but it’s still disorienting to be whipped around, pivoting on a dime at full speed. Her mastery of her Power is fucking incredible and I keep trying to use my Mana to sense what she’s doing. It feels like she’s channeling her Mana, a vast pool compared to mine, into her Power with surges when she flexes its capability.

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  Portable beam cannons blast plasma at us, but we’re moving so fast they only get two missed shots off before we’re by them and Bobby projects a force field behind us with his PowerSuit that flares in a few spots. This time we speed through the corridor not to the nearest bridge, but all the way to where the humans are fighting one level above us. As we go Bobby fires his two handguns at high speed whenever we see Grivoni and they explode, Bobby’s Impact Driver Power adding to the explosive rounds he’s pumping out. They have no chance despite their seeming control of magnetism which helps them to attack from all different angles in a metal space station. I Reclaim the Soul Sparks rapidly and suddenly sense some far off, so I pull them to me and Reclaim them too. I know they’re human even before one of the green dots on my minimap disappears. Bobby lets out an exasperated grunt and we seem to go even faster.

  When we take the bridge to level 3, the Grivoni are ready for us. Sharp metal spikes fly up from below and down from above as the floor and ceiling shred themselves, then try to carve us up. All of them are turned back by Aoife’s Power. Portable high calibre firearms and blasters send a hail of destruction down toward us, but Aoife’s manipulation of gravity is so strong that the beams and bullet bend and leave us with only minor damage that we can easily handle. The distraction prevents her from imploding these attackers, so Dalib goes to work with his Manatech rifle and blasts holes in them at high speed with absolute precision.

  More Soul Sparks bloom and I Reclaim them, still without any time to even really think about allocation. We make it to the end of the bridge and Aoife releases her hold on us; she’s not completely exhausted by the look of it, but with the amount of Mana she must have been burning it couldn’t last forever. Our boots thump on the ground in unison and we all dash to our right, aware of where the last human resistance is in the space station.

  I glance at my minimap while we run at superhuman speed and see that a cluster of Grivoni are between us and the humans, who’ve moved to a new location. We turn the last corner and both Dalib and Bobby stop. I shoot past them and slow down, but something strikes me from behind and gravity tilts on its side to pull me through the air like a slingshot down the hallway.

  I find myself unexpectedly in the middle of a swarm of Grivoni, surprised and betrayed. Despite it I hold my focus and blast a Grivoni in the face with the beam weapons in the Talos suit before a maul strikes me heavily in the left shoulder. Still getting used to my Strength, I expect to be spun around, but my body holds and the pauldron crumples slightly against my shoulder. Four or five Grivoni out of the group surrounding me turn from the combat in front of them to focus on me as I dance and spin while firing all around me.

  An instinct pushes me to leap away and get separation, but I shove it down and dive in while I grab one of my swords and keep firing with the blasters in my left forearm as I activate the overdrive for the shields of my armor. It flares all around me and I drive a Grivoni into the wall while stabbing it in the torso. My arm stops before I can thrust as the magnetic Power of the Grivoni grab and pull at my armor. My sword is almost wrenched out of my hand, only the strength of my grip preventing it.

  I strain as filaments grasp and restrain me, disrupting my shield. The Grivoni are slow compared to how fast I can fight, but I have no room to maneuver. Heavy blows strike my right leg and glance off my shoulder as I sway like a boxer on the ropes, my armor keeping me from taking damage. Red status alerts stream by as the weapons system goes down and the metal starts to shred inward, the Grivoni’s Powers doing the same thing to me as they did to the metal floors. My Damage Resistance is high enough to keep the sharp shards from tearing deeply into me, but I can feel shallow cuts everywhere as pain blooms. I shout and trigger the eject mechanism of the Suit, but the mechanisms fail and only a few plates open up.

  I anchor my feet with all my Strength and twist, then spin, knocking some of the Grivoni around me back and the dragging the ones who’ve dug their magnetic filaments into me inward and off balance. Filaments grab my helmet and I rip my neck around, breaking free.

  No help arrives. Desperate, I call up the notification and assign all 52 unallocated Soul Sparks to Strength. Warmth spreads through me as I struggle and fight. A heavy blow strikes my unarmored leg and I stagger slightly; it’s enough to knock my momentum off balance and my movement slows. More filaments grasp the metal of my armor, which is now digging into my skin with hooks. My extra strength allows me to rip an arm free; I punch and elbow while getting pummelled and yank more filaments out of my armor. Despite my best efforts my feet are swept out from under me and I hit the ground hard. Beam weapons and projectiles slam into me as I pump Mana into my body, hoping it will help me to heal or reinforce my Damage Resistance.

  I dig in and scream, counting on my Constitution to save me, then trigger the Talos armor’s self destruct mechanism and white hot pain lances through me as everything blows up.