The information flooded Adam's brain, even as his HUD blinked with a notification.
-Primary Ability: Blink-
-Short-range teleportation, limited to 10 metres-
-Charges: 15/15-
-Cooldown: 2 hours-
He could only use his blink fifteen times before running out of charges. And when he was out of charges, he has to wait for two hours to get them back. What else?
-Warning: Side effects include disorientation, nausea, and memory flicker. Use cautiously-
Adam didn't care.
His eyes snapped up as a thudding quake rippled through the battlefield.
The glass pods that hadn't shattered or burned began whining, the sound getting louder. Arcs of energy shot into the air before diving into the surface of Abaddon.
Then, without warning, gravity snapped into place.
The pressure dropped on them and Adam instinctively bent his knees, absorbing the increased pressure.
Around him, some of the soldiers stumbled, others falling flat. Startled yells and static buzzed through the comms.
-Pod Gravitational Field Engaged-
-War Hammer Systems Stabilized-
-Basic Navigation Function: Online-
A new map flickered into existence on his HUD, a rough approximation of the area, though most of it was marked 'UNKNOWN' or 'STATIC INTERFERENCE.'
There was no time to study it.
The metal floor around them shuddered as one of the massive destroyers took a step forward.
Heated gas hissed out of the openings behind them as they walked towards the survivors.
The destroyers were easily four stories tall, their bodies shaped like a nightmare fusion of spider and tank.
Four thick legs pounded into the metal with each step. There were large gun turrets spun on its back.
Its front half split open like jaws to reveal a swarm of drones and grinding saw-blades.
All around the survivors, the destroyers watched with unblinking red eyes, green lights glowing on their hulls as they prepared to unleash destruction.
-Incoming threat: CLASS SIGMA DESTROYER-
-Recommend: Evade. Do not engage directly-
The others didn't wait for instructions.
Weapons lit up the battlefield as dozens of war hammers came to life.
The survivors scattered as they used their powers. Plasma bolts, bolts of lightning, kinetic slugs, and more screamed through the air.
And still, the destroyers kept coming.
Adam dove behind a wrecked pod as a barrage of gunfire stitched the air where he'd just been.
One of the quadrupeds lifted its front leg, stomping down and crushing a group of volunteers. The scream over the comms was brief.
-Blink Ready-
He didn't think. He triggered it.
The world twisted. His body folded and unfolded across space.
He reappeared behind the destroyer's front leg. For a moment, it didn't register him.
Adam brought his plasma rifle up and unloaded into a joint. The metal groaned but held. The destroyer turned, whirring in anger.
Too slow.
He blinked again, appearing twenty feet away atop a broken pod.
He kept firing, plasma beams streaking through the air, chipping away at the destroyer. It turned its turret to him and Adam blinked away.
His eyes narrowed as he had an idea. Three blinks later, he was on top of the head of the destroyer.
He turned to a nearby destroyer and began firing. The destroyer's red eyes rotated in its head to lock on Adam.
Its turrets rotated in his direction, and two blinks away, he was gone.
It was just in time, as the destroyer's gun ripped through its fellow destroyer, destroying it.
Adam's gaze turned to the opened hull that had birthed the machines, which still yawned wide open in the distance, a jagged, black wound leaking steam and strobing with red light.
That was their way in. It wouldn't stay open forever.
Clusters of survivors pushed toward it, dodging drones and evading the destroyers' sweeping fire.
War hammer powers activated across the field. Someone phased into the ground, and another unleashed a gravity pulse that smashed a drone swarm into pieces.
Adam blinked again, this time right behind a group huddled near cover.
His vision wavered.
-Warning: Disorientation Level Rising-
-Limit further use for neural stabilization-
The group was cornered.
Adam yanked one of them to their feet, laying suppressing fire.
"We're pinned!" Someone yelled. "We can't—"
A drone dropped toward them.
Adam didn't wait. He blinked away.
His stomach flipped as nausea kicked in, but he gritted his teeth, suppressing it. The metal beneath their feet shuddered again, and his eyes snapped to the holes in the hull.
They were closing.
Everyone started running, not caring what happened. The destroyers began mowing down the runners, their screams filling his ears through the comms.
He chained his blinks, moving as fast as possible.
Just one final blink.
-Error! Out of charges-
His vision doubled as the hull slowly closed shut.
He didn't stop.
His war hammer propelled him forward, each step pushing him farther than normal.
He was close, but the hull was closing faster.
One second.
Two.
He dove in, and the opening slammed shut behind him like a mechanical coffin lid.
Everything went black.
-----
The silence inside was worse than the chaos outside.
Adam lay on his side, chest heaving. His helmet lights flickered on automatically, casting a faint light across the dark corridor.
-Oxygen detected. Beginning filtration-
Steam hissed from vents along the walls. The air was thick and tasted metallic, even through the filters.
He coughed, sat up, and looked around.
Others had made it in.
At his count, there were more than 200 survivors that had made it through this section of the hull. Their war hammers glowed softly in the dark.
A small percentage of the war hammers were in camouflage patterned plating, marking them as actual soldiers.
Most of them in different colored war hammers were either volunteers like Adam or prisoners.
As he rose to his feet, a voice crackled in his helmet.
"Gather around, everyone!"
Adam recognized the voice. It was the soldier who had been barking orders earlier when they'd been on the surface of Abaddon.
His war hammer had three stars over a winged badge across the chest plate, and a heavy cannon was mounted on one arm.
"Congratulations, soldiers! We've breached Adaddon." He said. "My name is Commander Rourke, and I am the commanding officer of this unit of the 114th Legion. You are all under my command."
No one argued. They all knew the reality. Even if they weren't soldiers before, they were now. . This was a military operation.
"We're inside the outer shell, and navigation is compromised, but we move forward."
"Our mission is to get to the fourth layer of Abaddon. The Black March is headquartered there."
"For now, we stick together. Conserve energy. We don't know what's waiting for us." He glanced down the corridor and they all looked in the same direction.
The corridor was long and sloped downward. Pipes ran along the ceiling. Occasionally, sparks flared from cracked walls. Everything groaned like a living thing.
"Let's move."
The group started forward in a tight wedge.
Adam kept pace near the back, his rifle now attached to his back once more.
His war hammer pinged softly with updates, slowly mapping the corridor in front of him.
-Environmental Stability: Unstable-
-Toxicity Levels: Minimal. Filters Holding-
They walked in silence for what felt like an hour. Then, the corridor widened, and the ground underfoot sloped downward sharply before opening up.
What lay ahead was… wrong.
"What the…?" Someone whispered beside him.
A massive chamber stretched out, but instead of flooring, there was a river, wide, slow moving, and thick as tar.
It shimmered like oil, and in the light of their suits, it reflected their bodies in twisted, elongated forms.
-Substance Analysis: Unknown-
-Caution: Organic contact not recommended-
-Structural Integrity: Safe for traversal with magnetic anchors-
"We have to go through." Rourke said to the group. "There's no other route. Activate anchor boots. Single file."
Adam stared darkly at the flowing river. The oil looked deep. Endless.
With no further instructions, they began their march into the sludge.
The magnetic anchors kicked in with each step, their boots gripping the metal below the surface of the river. The dark liquid reached up to their waists, bubbling occasionally like it was alive.
Every step felt like walking through glue.
Then, a soldier stumbled. And all hell broke loose.