The two entered the room; however, this time, James didn’t search the database or download anything. He didn’t want to risk it. Instead, he watched as Aurora moved around the core, her fingers gliding over its surface with practiced precision. Her movements were careful, deliberate, as if she knew exactly what she was looking for.

  Then, after a moment of searching, she found it.

  A concealed panel clicked open at her touch, revealing a small compartment embedded within the core itself. Inside sat something important, though James couldn’t immediately tell what. Aurora reached in, carefully extracting the object—a sleek, metallic device, no larger than her palm, its surface engraved with faint, glowing circuitry.

  The moment she pulled it free, the facility reacted.

  "WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED REMOVAL DETECTED."

  The intercom’s cold, automated voice echoed through the chamber.

  Then, the lights flickered—and died.

  For a second, there was nothing. No sound. No movement. Just an unsettling silence hanging heavy in the air.

  Then, suddenly, the emergency lights blared to life, bathing the room in a deep, blood-red glow.

  "SELF-DETONATION INITIATED. 180 SECONDS UNTIL COMPLETE FACILITY FAILURE."

  James’ stomach dropped.

  Aurora whipped around, eyes wide.

  James didn’t hesitate. “We have to go. NOW.”

  Aurora wasted no time, tucking the object securely into her jacket before sprinting after him.

  James had run through collapsing buildings, dodged enemy fire, and even walked out of places no one else had survived—but a nuclear-powered lab going critical in under three minutes? That was cutting it close even for him.

  They bolted through the atrium, their boots slamming against the metal flooring as they retraced their steps. The alarms blared louder, and the walls shuddered with the first signs of structural instability.

  James kept his rifle ready, scanning for anything in their path. The place had been abandoned for years, but that didn’t mean it was empty.

  140 seconds.

  They ducked into the main corridor, the way they had come, only to find that the old facility had already begun sealing doors.

  “Shit! Over here!” James barked, motioning toward a side route.

  Aurora followed without hesitation, moving just as fast.

  The hallway ahead was already cracking, fissures forming along the ceiling as dust and debris rained down. Sparks flew from broken light fixtures, and the ground trembled under their feet.

  110 seconds.

  They rounded a corner and came face to face with a collapsed passage. A support beam had given out, sending an entire section of the ceiling crashing down.

  Aurora skidded to a stop. “We can’t go through that!”

  James gritted his teeth, scanning for an alternate route. His eyes locked onto an old maintenance access hatch along the wall.

  “Through here!” he shouted, already moving.

  Aurora followed. She grabbed the panel and wrenched it open, revealing a cramped ventilation passage barely wide enough for them to crawl through.

  James went in first, dragging himself forward as fast as he could. The metal creaked beneath his weight, and for a second, he thought it would collapse completely.

  Behind him, Aurora moved just as quickly.

  80 seconds.

  They dropped down into another hallway, landing hard on the cold metal floor. James pushed himself up, his muscles burning, and turned—only to freeze.

  A heavy thud echoed down the hall. Then another.

  A silhouette emerged from the flickering red haze.

  It was bigger. Four-legged.

  Heavy armor plating covered its body, thicker than the droids they had fought earlier. Its head was a sleek, featureless slab of reinforced metal, and a high-powered rotary cannon was mounted on its back, already spinning up.

  James had seen a lot of things. But this?

  This was something designed to fight tanks on equal footing.

  “MOVE!” James shoved Aurora aside just as the rotary cannon screamed to life, tearing through the hallway in a hail of high-velocity rounds.

  They ducked behind cover, debris exploding around them as metal was shredded to ribbons.

  James whipped out his 1911 and fired two shots straight into the machine’s plating.

  The rounds bounced off. IT BOUNCED OFF.

  “Goddamn it.” James swore, he knew he would regret not bringing his gauss rifle.

  Aurora returned fire, her pistol doing just as much damage—which was none.

  The droid advanced, relentless, stepping over the bullet-riddled floor with mechanical efficiency.

  50 seconds.

  James gritted his teeth. They didn’t have time for this.

  “Aurora, go!” he shouted, shifting to his rifle and unloading an entire magazine at its joints. Not a single shot penetrated.

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  She hesitated. “James—”

  “GO!” he barked, already moving to draw the droid’s attention away.

  Aurora swore but listened, sprinting for the exit ahead.

  The droid turned its cannons toward her.

  Not happening, she was his pay day after all.

  James grabbed one of his Hexelon grenades, primed it, and hurled it straight under the droid. The explosion ripped through the hallway, sending shockwaves through the facility as the reinforced walls trembled under the force. The blast staggered the mechanical beast, its legs struggling for stability as molten shrapnel lodged into its undercarriage.

  James didn’t waste the opportunity.

  He sprinted forward, ducking low as the droid reeled from the concussive force. In one fluid motion, he unsheathed his Plasteel blade. The moment he slid beneath the towering machine, he struck.

  The blade tore into the crevice between its armor plating and leg servos, slicing deep into the exposed wiring and mechanical joints. Sparks erupted, illuminating the narrow passage with violent bursts of white-hot light. The machine lurched, its balance faltering as James twisted the blade with all his enhanced strength, severing critical support structures.

  With a deafening groan of metal, one of its massive legs buckled.

  James had no time to celebrate.

  The moment the limb gave out, the machine collapsed under its own weight, and his blade was ripped from his grip, still embedded deep within the servos. He rolled out from underneath just as the droid crashed down, sparks and smoke pouring from its damaged frame.

  20 seconds.

  He didn’t stick around to watch it recover. He ran.

  Aurora was already at the ladder, climbing out with desperate urgency. James sprinted after her, every muscle in his body screaming in protest. His lungs burned, his legs felt like they would give out, but he pushed harder.

  10 seconds.

  His hands grasped the ladder just as the droid behind him forced itself back up. Even crippled, it wasn't done.

  5 seconds.

  James hauled himself up, arms trembling with exertion as the countdown echoed through the facility. Aurora and startled Laim grabbed his arms and yanked him up just as the hatch detonated beneath them.

  A fireball erupted, engulfing the entrance in a catastrophic explosion.

  The shockwave hit like a battering ram. James barely had time to register the blast before he was thrown violently across the sand. His body crashed into the ground, rolling with the force, pain flaring in every nerve.

  He coughed, inhaling a mix of scorching heat and dust as he forced himself onto his back. His vision swam, ears ringing with the aftermath of the explosion. His muscles ached, his body battered and bruised from the escape.

  Aurora lay beside him, equally breathless, her chest rising and falling as she stared at the massive plume of fire and smoke rising from the wreckage of the facility.

  James wiped the grime from his face, spitting sand from his mouth. Then, still sprawled out on the ground, he turned his head toward Aurora and smirked.

  “That,” he exhaled, “was way too close.”

  Aurora let out a breathless laugh, shaking her head. “You think?”

  James sighed, turning his gaze up to the sky as the last embers of the inferno below began to die.

  Whatever the hell Project Thanatos was… at least it was buried now. Or so he hoped

  "What the hell was that?" Laim asked, his voice still laced with shock as he took in the smoldering ruins of the underground facility.

  James pushed himself off the ground, dusting off the layer of ash and sand coating his jacket. His body ached from the escape, but what really caught his attention was the sheer amount of insectoid corpses surrounding them. The creatures were piled in heaps, their twisted exoskeletons cracked and charred, some still twitching from residual nerve impulses.

  James let out a slow breath, scanning the battlefield. "The real question is... what the fuck happened up here?" He looked at Laim, expecting answers.

  Laim exhaled sharply, rubbing his temple as if trying to piece together the madness himself. "They came out of the wormhole while you were down there," he said. "One minute, it was all clear. The next? I was fighting off a goddamn horde."

  James narrowed his eyes at the massive insectoid corpses, his mind working through the thought.

  "Well, alright then," James muttered, running a hand through his hair. He wasn’t in the mood to dwell on whatever eldritch horrors the wasteland had in store for them next.

  Aurora, brushing sand off her Cryoweave jacket, sighed heavily. "Enough chit-chat. Let’s get the hell out of here. If I don’t see sand again, it’ll be too soon."

  James couldn't help but smirk. "Yeah, good luck with that."

  With that, they made their way to the battered jeep, its frame still dented and the windshield still missing.

  Laim climbed into the passenger seat, muttering something about being too old for this, while Aurora settled into the back, arms crossed, clearly exhausted but too proud to say anything.

  James turned the key, and the engine rumbled to life, coughing up a cloud of dust before settling into a rough, uneven purr.

  "Damn thing’s on its last legs," Laim muttered.

  "Just like you" James quipped, shifting the vehicle into gear.

  The ride back was bumpy and tense. The wasteland stretched endlessly before them, the distant, hollow sound of the wind whispering through the dunes. The only remnants of the battle were the piles of broken insectoid corpses, half-buried in the shifting sands.

  James kept his grip firm on the wheel, keeping an eye on the horizon as they closed the distance to the Bradley.

  Aurora finally spoke up. "We’re burning daylight. You think the others ran into trouble?"

  "With our luck?" James replied. "Wouldn’t surprise me."

  As the jeep rumbled closer, James felt the familiar chill of unease creep up his spine. Something was wrong—deeply wrong.

  The Bradley wasn’t moving. That alone wouldn’t have been too alarming, except for the battlefield surrounding it.

  Cratered earth.

  Scattered corpses.

  The bodies of mutants, some twisted beyond recognition, were strewn across the sand like discarded dolls. Burn marks, claw gouges, and fresh pools of blood painted a gruesome picture.

  James tightened his grip on the wheel. “Shit.”

  They rolled to a stop, the quiet of the wasteland pressing down on them like a suffocating weight.

  James and the others disembarked quickly, weapons raised.

  “Keep your eyes sharp,” he muttered, scanning the wreckage.

  The first body they found was one of the guards. Or, what was left of him.

  His carcass lay sprawled across the sand, his arm missing from the socket, ripped away with brutal force. His exosuit, meant to be high-end protection, was torn apart like paper.

  James crouched beside the corpse, inspecting the damage. Long, deep slashes had ripped through the chest, exposing torn muscle and shattered ribs. His organs spilled from the gaping wound, glistening in the dim light, already swarmed by desert insects feasting on the fresh kill.

  The sand beneath the body was soaked dark red, still wet, meaning whatever had done this was recent.

  James exhaled sharply, standing back up. "These exo-suits are shit."

  Laim let out a low whistle, his expression grim. “Poor bastard didn’t stand a chance.”

  Then James saw her.

  Lying in a pool of her own blood.

  “Shit.”

  It was Raven.

  Laim froze beside him, his voice quiet. "Oh..."

  James walked forward, dropping to one knee beside her.

  She was a mess.

  Her body was mangled, her leg torn clean off just above the knee, leaving jagged flesh and splintered bone exposed.

  But she hadn’t gone down easy.

  Around her, mutant corpses littered the sand, their twisted, inhuman forms riddled with deep stab wounds. One lay slumped over her, her combat knife buried to the hilt in its eye socket.

  Another mutant, missing a chunk of its throat, had her boot lodged against its skull—a final, defiant strike before she had bled out.

  She had fought to the last breath.

  James clenched his jaw. " Danm."

  Aurora crouched beside him, pressing two fingers to Raven’s throat. She didn’t say anything.

  She didn’t need to.

  They already knew. She was gone.