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Krystal and Chase: Hidden Threat

Part three: Trouble

Quickly, Chase entered the security room first, his pistols sweeping across the area. Once he was sure it was clear, he motioned to Krystal. The vixen nodded, backing in as her eyes glanced left and right, searching for targets. But none made themselves apparent, so she entered the room with Chase.

"Power switch, power switch." Chase mumbled to himself as he looked over the glowing controls, "Where is it?"

Krystal kept her eyes on the dark hallway, her flashlight only able to illuminate so much of it at a time. Her tail flipped from side to side in anticipation as her finger slowly touched the trigger of her rifle. If anything so much as twitched, it'd be eating a lot of lead, fast.

After what seemed like an eternity in the dark, the vixen was still scared. Even though she'd been armed and had her best friend at her side, Krystal hadn't been at ease anytime during the mission. But now that they had found something good finally, she felt a bit better.

While Chase searched for the controls, the vixen closed her eyes for a second; focusing on a method of meditation she's learned while on Sauria the first time. Her mind relaxed, but never lost its focus. The fight-or-flight mode of her mind slowly began to leave, letting her think clearly once more. When she opened her eyes again, the vixen felt calmer.

"Ah ha! Found you." Chase said behind her.

Krystal heard the sound of a lever being pulled, and then a generator somewhere started up. A soft humming filled the room as the lights flickered back on. One by one, the corridors all over the outpost were lighting up, banishing the darkness that had once filled them. Krystal sighed, the light also shoving her fears away once more.

But then, another metallic cry sounded down the hallways, echoing into the distance.

"Chase?" Krystal asked, leveling her rifle down the hallway before her.

"Uploading Jen now." The fox replied, pulling a flash drive-like device from a port in his armor.

As he inserted it into a terminal on the desk, Krystal saw a form appear around the corner of the hallway. Several more appeared after it, their glowing, golden eyes all locking on her.

Chase pulled both his pistols up, leveling them at the approaching robots, "Jen, now would be a very good time for some weaponry."

"Bypassing security protocols." The AI replied, "I am in! Accessing security grid."

Chase fired the first shot, his bullet ripping through the arm of one of the front most robots. With a sharp screeching noise, the robot raced forward, its other claws fully extended. But before it could get any closer, Chase fired again, twin gunshots sounding out as the bot fell.

Without any ranged weaponry, the approaching bots went down easily. Gunfire rang out from the two as bullet after bullet raced forward, driving home into the robots bodies. They fell without much resistance, the remaining bots retreating for now. In a matter of seconds, eight robots were lying on the floor, a black, oily substance leaking from the bullet holes.

"I have found a map of this outpost." Jen stated calmly, "I am restoring power to the elevator systems as we speak. But I have not found any evidence of defensive internal weaponry."

"One more thing to add to our pile of bad news." Chase groaned softly, "What about some kind of armory? Pistol rounds, rifle rounds, maybe a shotgun or something?"

Jen was silent for a moment as she accessed the map she had found. As the AI worked, Chase reloaded again.

"I've got maybe two more magazines after these." The fox said, "How about you?"

Krystal quickly consulted her side pouch, "I have a half a magazine left and two more in my pouch, both full."

"I guess that proves I still shoot more than you, huh?" Chase smirked.

Krystal nodded with a smile. She knew Chase was nervous, which was why he had even brought up that little fact.

"I am sorry Ronin." Jen said from inside the terminal, "There does not appear to be an armory on this level. The only thing I can identify as such is on the second level, near the control deck. I have restored power to the elevator systems and emergency locks. We can now proceed. I have also picked up a few pass codes that might come in handy."

Chase shook his head, silently cursing, "Ok, its game time. Three shot bursts Krystal, identify your target before firing."

The vixen nodded, pushing a lock of blue hair out of her eyes. Before she could stand up, Chase had already ejected Jennifer from the terminal and loaded her back into his armors interface. With the AI safely in tow, the two foxes exited the security room.

Chase checked around the corner quickly, motioning that it was clear. Running out, keeping his handguns both pointed upwards as he moved, Chase led the way to the elevator, Jennifer giving him directions as Krystal followed close behind.

Now that they had a map, the trip was much easier than it had been the first time. Within minutes, the two had found the elevator. But before they pushed the button, Chase looked back. The hallway they had come down split into three more like it. All the others lead right into their line of sight, making the elevator a choke point. If the bots attacked now, they'd all be gunned down quickly.

"Krystal, keep an eye out for anymore of those things." Chase ordered, flipping open a security keypad, "If you so much as think you see them, open fire."

Krystal nodded and crouched down beside her partner. Pulling her rifle to her shoulder once more, the vixen breathed slowly. Nervousness entered her mind, but was quickly shoved away by a positive memory. Something Chase had said long ago, before the Sauria incident.

As Chase tapped at the keypad quickly. But as he tried a security code Jennifer had saved when she was inside the terminal, the device beeped at him, flashing a "password not accepted" message.

"Try this one." Jennifer stated, flashing another one onto his HUD.

Chase typed at the console again, panting quietly as anticipation forced adrenaline through his body.

"Come on, come on." He whispered as the machine worked.

A metallic roar echoed towards them. Krystal's fingers moved to the trigger guard, her ears twitched as she picked up the direction the howl had come from. Once she was sure of it, Krystal's finger moved to the trigger, curling around it. At this point, if anything even looked a hint like trouble, it'd be sprayed down with bursts of assault rifle fire.

A loud hum made itself known. With a slow, clanking sound, the lift descended to their floor. But as it did, something else came into view. Chase raised his handguns as the first of the bots appeared, unsheathing its long claws.

"Wait until it gets closer." Krystal mumbled, "Gotta conserve my ammo."

As the robot moved closer, both foxes watched as others appeared behind it, dropping their cloaks as they moved. Then, with a loud roar, they attacked! The first bunch raced forward, claws fully extended and pulled back. Once they got close enough, Krystal fired the first shot.

Following that shot, all hell broke loose. The bots surged forward as the two foxes fired, the stream of bullets tearing down the bots as they grew closer. But the fight didn't last long. Within a minute, Krystal's last shot had been fired, as her gun now clicked uselessly.

"I'm out!" She exclaimed.

"I'll hold them." Chase snarled, "Get behind me!"

Krystal did as Chase ordered, getting behind the fox just as the elevator doors opened! Krystal moved inside the safety of the small elevator, Chase following and firing at the still approaching horde. Once he was inside, Krystal's hand slammed down on the button and the doors shut.

But as they did, there was a sudden 'THUD!' against the steel doors. Another 'THUD!' sounded immediately, the steel doors bulging slightly. Chase's heart raced as a third strike tore a set of gashes through the steel! A glowing eye looked into the elevator, and then vanished suddenly.

Silence approached the elevator as Chase pressed the up button. With a sigh of relief, Krystal leaned against the back wall. As she panted, Chase dropped the last two magazines into his hands.

"That's it. We're both out of ammunition. Let's hope there's nothing above us to worry about." The fox sighed as the elevator started to rise.