For all his speed and maneuverability, the Slayer couldn't foresee what happened next. A flash storm of wind suddenly blew into the marine's armor and hurling him away from the dragon just as the Crucible was poised to split her head twine. Slamming his back against the stone roof, the marine let out a grunt of pain, barely managing to land on the ground with a tumble into a kneeling position. He craned his neck upwards.
The pretense of beauty and life had long melted off the so-called Immaculate One's body like wax dripping from a candle. Gouts of flame filled the chamber as she let out another ear-splitting shriek, illuminating her unfurled wings in the crumbling embers that now drifted in the air. She threw herself back against the walls, the Slayer craning his neck further upward to spot chunks of stone debris beginning to drop from the ceiling. In spite of the quaking ground and shuddering walls, he grunted again, managing to stand up.
... The structural integrity of the chamber is critical. I advise for immediate evacuation.
The Slayer flinched, spinning around on a dime, double-barrels loaded and aimed. No one was standing there. He tilted his head. Was that... ?
A small, holographic icon appeared in the corner of his eye.
View attachment 5387
VEGA is online. Hello again, Slayer. I apologize for the inconvenience caused by my inactivity. System diagnostics indicate that a data-lite backup of my software has been stored in the Praetor suit. The transition from the Fortress of Doom to your current location resulted in a loss of power. I have been able to restore power to core areas--
The Immaculate One's claw gouged out the ground next to the Slayer's feet, the dragon lunging to take a chomp out of her enemies' upper half. He kicked the heel of his boots, jets sputtering out just enough energy to leap out of the way and land with a stumble. Spinning back around to face the dragon for a moment, the Slayer began to backpedal, another two shells loaded into his shotgun.
BOOM! BOOM!
-- including propulsion systems and vital signs. However, I appear to be locked out from many of my core functions in this hardware. Communication with the Fortress portal network is impossible.
He ran a hand on his ammo pack; only a handful of shells were rolling between his fingers. Snarling something beneath the helmet filter, the Slayer spun around again and started down the tunnel with a blinding sprint. Armor servos whirred as the marine's legs kicked into overdrive, pounding the floor with step after step as he picked up the pace of his dash. Ragged, monstrous breathing loomed behind his head, followed by louder footsteps. The chamber quaked again.
Structural integrity of the tunnel is critical. I strongly advise for immediate evacuation.
He ran, faster and faster, jet boots sputtering out of control in his attempt to avoid another claw strike from the beast that sprinted after him. Just as he blinked, the Slayer's eyes drifted ahead towards a vulnerable spot in the tunnel's ceiling, a large, crumbling crack just big enough to get a baseball stuck into with enough force. A scar from a past battle, perhaps.
Doom Guy hummed. Using his running start, the marine tumbled further ahead, creating some distance between himself and the charging dragon while the distance between himself and the crack closed. His shoulder-mounted cannon whirred into position, clicking upward until it was aiming directly above himself at a complete perpendicular angle from his shoulder.
The numbers counted down. 10 meters. 5 meters. 1 meter. Just as the Slayer was exactly beneath the crack, he squeezed a trigger on his gauntlet.
[SHUNK!]
The cannon belched with a pressurized wheeze as something shot out from it. The object, no larger than a baseball, slammed into the crack, the structure around it shuddering slightly but failing to collapse. It found itself tightly snug within the crack for the time being, and the Slayer took only a moment to glance back at the structural wound before sprinting back down the tunnel.
The Immaculate One would have been able to close the distance between herself and her prey with one flap of her wings. The object, too small for her to take notice in her throes of rage, did not dissuade her approach as he belched another geyser of flame into the tunnel depths and sped after the Slayer - blood, and chunks of scaled meat trailing behind her mangled stump of an arm.
If she did not stop her relentless pursuit, then the dragon's head just began to pass beneath the crack. The ringing in her small ears dimmed to barely a tone in the darkness. Pain, fire, the blood spilling from her wound - all a symptom of her single-minded purpose in shredding the mortal who had wronged her so dearly. In this moment of clarity, she could hear something amid the storm of sound and fury.
It sounded like beeping.
Her eye drifted to the ceiling. A red light rapidly flashed at her.
[BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP-!]
BOOOOOOM!
The tunnel released a crumbling, roaring quake as the last of its pillars collapsed in on themselves. The dragon, so tightly encased within the tight tube, had no hope of escape as whole boulders of stone debris instantly began to collapse upon her. Those in the Exit Tunnel may have heard it amid their battle - a distant clap, like someone firing a gun in an open field, followed by a deep and dissatisfied rumble. A muffled roar of anger and pain suddenly cut short.
The Slayer only stopped running when the pounding footsteps behind him ceased. When he turned around, there was no tunnel left to greet him. There was only a giant pile of rock and stone which separated him from whatever remained of the chamber. He could still hear distant crumbling of objects falling apart beyond the cave-in.
The marine slumped against a nearby wall and let out a ragged wheeze, taking in a breath of air for the first time in the past couple of minutes. VEGA's soft voice returned to him.
Structure collapsed. There are no identifiable lifesigns beyond the debris. Though I am unable to determine the source of the monster you encountered, identifiable human lifesigns have been detected in the tunnel opposite of this one. You will likely find a way out of this structure from there.
Staying still for a moment, the Slayer then nodded at no one in particular. He pushed himself off the wall and placed a palm on his shoulder pauldron, rolling his arm to the release of a satisfying pop. The Crucible's crimson light dimmed to nothing as the sword's handle retracted in on itself, and its bearer returned the weapon to his belt.
He turned his gaze to the debris again, staring at it for a few moments. All was silent now. The only sound left on his side of the tunnel was his own breathing.
View attachment 5386
"..."
He frowned beneath his helmet.
Turned away from the stone pile, he began to jog towards the lifesigns detected in the
Exit Tunnel.
@Sark