The recent fighting had caused cascading collapses in many of the adjoining caverns. One too many facility power sources had been taken out, and the worse the collapse became, the more the remaining sources began to fail. This domino effect was rampaging through the underwater passageways and wiping away wide swathes of facility rooms, their shields failing as they buckled under the pressure. The water that rushed into the now superheated chamber further compounded this process. The moment the cold liquid contacted the roiling magma, a steam explosion rocked the facility, making a bad problem grow even worse.

  Daniel wasn’t standing around and watching this happen. He’d darted down one of the few intact pathways, checking his map and trying to think through his situation as he flew. There were a couple of exits further off in the distance that he could use, but that would be abandoning his friends to their fate. He had a good idea of their location, but they were extremely far away, and there was no easy route to get to them. While he could try to help them, it was very possible that they could make it out on their own anyway. Going to rescue them might just put himself in needless danger.

  As he pondered these circumstances, the steam explosion caused a plethora of hot gases to come billowing down the hallway behind him. The corridor’s metal walls began groaning with the strain, and Daniel felt his options narrowing by the second. He had to make a decision.

  …

  In the meantime, Arnold and the others had heard the sirens and seen the signs of collapse in the facility around them. They’d decided to check the map and formulate a plan of escape, with Arnold naturally taking charge and pointing out some important details: “We don’t know exactly how many of these facility pathways and exits are still viable, but we can see that the cave around us leads out into the open sea. We should follow it.”

  The wide-open expanse of water around them was actually a massive underwater river passageway, one that did indeed lead out into open water. That said, there were problems with Arnold’s plan. The cave itself was rather long and possibly populated with more Xenos. There was no guarantee that it would be stable either. But its size should make it more resilient, and it was the most obvious route out of here. It was probably their best option. The Pioneers agreed, and they began swimming toward the exit. Arnold’s Oceanglide had been taken out, so he hitched a ride with Leka. Rob Forsythe and Al Praxis carried the unconscious bodies of Emily and Gronik, while Reggie scouted ahead.

  Smaller rocks fell from the ceiling, swirling through the water around the Pioneers as they swam. The distant rumbling was like a thunderstorm, the sound making it feel like their whole world was vibrating softly. The soldiers donned their night vision helmets and then squinted off into the distance, trying to make out any lurking threats. Second after tense second ticked by as the Pioneers rhythmically kicked their legs, yearning in their hearts for the sight of open water. And yet, things were never that easy. Reggie had activated his ability, but when he dropped it, he cried out: “Incoming! Smaller fishies this time!”

  These “smaller fishies” came in the form of ten, long-bodied Xenos that swam out from the darkness up in front of them. They resembled eels, though they sported purple skin and wide navy-colored frills on the tops and bottoms of their bodies. Each also possessed four electric blue eyes, one pair in the front and another in the back. The Pioneers opened fire on the Xenos the moment they appeared, having been prepared in advance, yet the enemies glowed purple in response. The blaster bolts hit, but they only left relatively small scorch marks on the creatures as they did. The Xenos absorbed the damage as they moved forward, circling the tight group of Pioneers in a single file line. As the Xenos formed a ring around the soldiers, they began connecting to each other with bridges of bright, amethyst light.

  Seeking to disrupt whatever was happening, Arnold used his Spinning Strike, shooting forward at the chain of Xenos, but they were prepared for that as well. With a ripple, the ‘chain’ bent to allow Arnold to pass harmlessly under them. The fish were undeterred, swimming faster and growing even brighter before activating their ultimate ability. A massive sphere of translucent purple light was erected around the group of Pioneers, with the glowing line of fish as a band that swirled inside the energy and around its circumference. Arnold was the only soldier on the outside, and he held onto his Spinning Strike as he swerved around to attack the barrier. His hammer struck the energy shield with a small gongggg, sending ripples across the sphere’s surface but doing no meaningful damage. The Pioneers inside were also shooting at the barrier, to no avail. Then, the sphere slowly began to shrink.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Arnold watched helplessly as the energy construct closed down on his allies within, their attacks incapable of causing any permanent damage. He couldn’t hear his allies, but he could see the fear on their faces as they searched for a way out. The barrier was disrupting their comms, meaning Arnold couldn’t communicate with them verbally at all. The ring of fish was shrinking along with the sphere, so there was no way to easily attack them from the inside or outside. The whole sphere was also entirely smooth, presenting no obvious weak points. At the rate that it was shrinking, Arnold wouldn’t get much time to formulate a plan or strike back.

  That wouldn’t stop him from trying, of course. He got the attention of the other Pioneers inside and gestured to a certain point. They got the message and went right to work, focusing on attacking that spot specifically. Forsythe stabbed out with his broadsword and Psionic copies, Leka activated her full body enhancement and hit it with a flurry of spear strikes, all while Praxis buffed them both and shot lasers at the target. They were all beginning to reach their limits, thanks to the drain from their earlier fighting, but they all did their best. Meanwhile, Arnold charged up his Spinning Strike and gathered as much momentum as he could before crashing into the targeted spot from the outside.

  All of this ruckus created a lot of ripples and elicited a few cracks, but the shield remained strong and healed itself as it continued to shrink. The healing process did slow the shrinking process, but it only delayed the inevitable. The soldiers tried again, but as Arnold crashed impotently off the wall for the second time, he was tempted to despair. His attack seemed to be doing the most damage, which made sense since he had time to charge it up, yet defenses like these seemed to laugh in the face of his hammer’s kinetic energy. He could only watch as the sphere started to get more cramped, threatening to crush his allies to a pulp within the minute.

  As he drifted there, something further down the tunnel suddenly caught his eye.

  It was a long, thin rock formation that sharpened off to a point and hung from the ceiling, like an underwater stalactite. It gave him an idea. Swimming over, Arnold broke the rock off at the base with a mighty swing of his hammer. Dismissing the weapon, he grabbed onto the floating pointy rock and took a deep breath. Then he activated his Spinning Strike.

  The sphere had grown so small that it was hard for the Pioneers to even move, but they saw their ally preparing a new attack and readied themselves for one final push. Arnold gathered as much momentum as he dared, waiting until the final second before smashing into the energy shield with the makeshift weapon. The stalactite glowed with potent Psionic energy, coming down point-first on the shield and causing the tormented barrier to let out a high shriek. And yet, in that single instant, it held. The rock started to shatter from the pressure, but Arnold held onto the attack, pushing down with all his might as he followed through on his swing. Heart pounding in a few frantic beats, he kept his grip and roared loudly with determination. The rock finally pierced through the shield, and that was all the foothold that was needed. The Pioneers within the sphere attacked that point with ruthless ferocity, widening the cracks in the barrier before shattering it completely. The eels popped back to their normal size, having shrunk along with the barrier, but they quickly swam away in fright, clearly unwilling to tango now that their best move had been defeated.

  The Pioneers sat there, breathing heavily and clearly just as unwilling to continue the fight. Small rocks continued to occasionally fall from the cavern’s ceiling, a steady reminder of the ongoing collapse, but the Pioneers were all at the end of their ropes, mentally speaking. Fortunately, help was on the way.

  In the distance, Arnold spotted a faint white light. It grew brighter as they sat there, and all the soldiers hurriedly raised their weapons in fear at the approach of this new enigma. However, they put down the blasters just as quickly when they recognized the figure zooming toward them. Daniel arrived in front of them in a flash, dismissing the Makiel Protocol temporarily to assuage any fear his friends might have at the sight of the glowing power armor. Swimming over, he gave them all a salute, which his conscious comrades reciprocated. He noted Emily’s and Gronik’s unconscious bodies with some concern, yet he was happy to see that the duo was still breathing. Though that breathing was concerningly shallow. Arnold was the first of their gang to speak, querying: “That Gamma class taken care of?”

  Daniel nodded: “Dead as dirt. What about the other Xenos.”

  Leka gave him a slit throat motion, and Forsythe spoke up: “The other tangos have been taken care of, big guy. Now, how about we get moving?”

  Before he could agree, Daniel jerked his head at the unconscious duo, asking: “What happened with them?”

  “Got scratched up by some of the Xenos. Leka thinks it’s some kind of poison.”

  That was all Daniel needed to hear. He remembered with some concern that severe Kharnidd poisoning could very easily become fatal if left untreated for too long. He deactivated the Makiel Protocol, then hit them with some healing fire from the Manicae Medici. Their expressions improved, but they remained unconscious and were clearly still damaged. Daniel then whipped out two more syringes of Litradia and pressed them into the necks of the duo. Everyone watched with interest as the wounded soldier’s eyes fluttered open, strength visibly returning to their limbs. The duo took a few moments to gather their bearings and realize that they were no longer in a fight, and the rest of the soldiers tried to soothe them with comments of ‘easy there’ and ‘you’re fine, you’re fine’. When they eventually realized that they were mostly safe now, Daniel commented happily: “Welcome back to the land of the living. You two feeling okay, now?”

  Shakily, they nodded, and Rob Forsythe chimed in: “Glad to hear that, because it’s definitely time to leave.”

  The shaking had gotten worse, with larger chunks of rock now falling, so all the Pioneers quickly agreed and got moving. Luckily, it wasn’t too long before they finally reached the end of the cave and swam out into open ocean.

  They were home free.