Published at 28th of October 2025 4:45 am

Chapter tenebrae 13.8

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

Ooni knew the others felt humiliated by the necessity of retreat.

So did she. Turning tail to flee from the grinning skull of the Sisterhood made Ooni feel weak and wretched. But she was used to swallowing her humiliation, washing the bitter taste down her constricted throat with an addictive cocktail of fear and relief. This was not the first time she had run from Kuro, nor from other members of the Sisterhood of the Skull. She had thought those days were over. The armour of Telokopolis now stood between Ooni and her own unclean past imperishable, unblemished, and true. Telokopolis was for all. Telokopolis rejected nobody. Telokopolis protected her own.

Telokopolis is forever, Ooni whispered inside her carapace helmet, off-comms, one final time.

Telokopolis was not here.

The others tried not to show their humiliation as they scurried back through the intestinal tangle of the tomb. The fireteam had paused before setting off, just outside the circular planetarium chamber, so Kagami could shoot down the wire-skull effigy with one of the escort drones; she had used some kind of heavy energy weapon to target the bundle of wires at the apex of the ceiling. A trio of bright purple bolts had melted the plastic and turned the metal to slag. The whole sordid assembly had crashed to the floor in a slithering slump of cables, the outline of the skull crumpling into chaos. The electromagnetic trap had fizzled out.

Ooni had struggled to summon spite or satisfaction at the destruction of the symbol, but she felt nothing at all. Her head pounded in time with her heart, her hands were slick with sweat inside her armoured gloves, and her shoulder blades itched. The others had muttered some hollow celebration over the comms. Somebody had laughed and made a pun about skulls Atyle, perhaps; Ooni couldnt concentrate on the words.

But then Ilyusha had stomped forward and spat on the ground, right in front of the ruined skull.

Ooni had felt a rush, a brightening of her senses, a light in her chest. She had twitched inside her armour, ready to move forward and follow that example. But her first step faltered.

The Sisters would know of this desecration. They would be angry and offended, and they were all so much more dangerous when their dignity was wounded.

Kuro might be watching.

Ooni had donned her helmet and fallen in for the retreat.

The fireteam spoke very little as they retraced their steps through the twisted passages and lightless tubes of this knotted tumour within the tomb. Leuca didnt complain out loud, but Ooni could read the frustration in her body language, even more curt and blunt than usual, despite Leucas own vote for pulling out. Shilu said nothing at all, but she moved to stride at the head of the formation, just behind the vanguard of the forward drones, pre-empting Kagamis orders and directions. On the comms Victoria and Kagami both sounded tense and grumpy; their usual sniping at each other was cut off mid-sentence multiple times. Kagamis comments turned monosyllabic, while Victorias orders grew simple and clear. Howl didnt speak at all. If Amina and Atyle were still in the cockpit they werent saying anything. Pheiri himself sent the fireteam a couple of soft acknowledgement pings over the comms uplink, but that was all.

Only Ilyusha managed to turn the humiliation into clean anger. She made no attempt to control herself, scraping the black metal floor with her clawed footsteps, banging the sharp spike of her bionic tail against the walls, unslinging her ballistic shield from her back and swinging it about. She hurried to every junction and side-passageway so she could stick her shotgun in there before the drones got into position, baring her teeth into the shadows.

She spat and snapped and howled insults into the darkness beyond the drone escort Come out and play, fuckwad coward!, Piss drinking reptile rot-cunt!, Cowering in a puddle of your own piss?! Come and fucking fight me! Rancid cunt bitch fuuuuuck! Come fucking fiiiight!

The lack of response did not dissuade her efforts. Kagami and Victoria gave token orders for her to cease. Once, Amina said something soft and worried over the comms.

Ilyusha didnt care. She just kept going.

Ooni wished she could be like that, free and wild and without fear. Her gun felt like a lump of iron in her hands; her own ballistic shield felt little better than a turtles shell strapped to her back.

As the fireteam crawled along the slow and winding path through the hidden guts of the tomb, guarded by the unblinking eyes of the drone escort, following the slender umbilical of a white line on the map in their heads-up displays, Ooni found herself beginning to admire Ilyusha.

The petite cyborg berserker had terrified her at first, when Elpida had claimed Ooni and Leuca and brought them back to Pheiri. Ilyusha wasnt the only one who had shown open animosity, of course: Kagami had voiced her opinion several times, that Ooni and Leuca should both be shot out of hand, and probably eaten; Amina was obviously a born killer and wanted to cut out Oonis guts, at least at first. Oonis own growing respect and devotion to the ideal of Telokopolis had seemed to soften Aminas attitude somewhat, though they had not exactly shared a polite conversation since then.

But Ilyusha?

The way Ilyusha had looked at Ooni in those first few days was pure hatred. Only Elpidas orders had kept Ilyusha from tearing Ooni limb from limb. Ooni didnt complain. When Ilyusha looked at her, Ooni turned her eyes down. When Ilyusha shoved past her, Ooni apologised for being in the way. When Ilyusha insulted her, Ooni swallowed the venom and accepted that she deserved the mockery.

After all, Ilyusha had never been so weak as to become a Deaths Head.

Yet, over the long weeks of companionship and close proximity before they had reached this tomb, Ilyushas potent hate had curdled into mere contempt and dismissal. The insults didnt stop, but sometimes they were less aggressive. Ilyusha no longer glared with open desire to rip out Oonis heart.

And now she was trying to draw Kuro out of the shadows, into a stand-up fight.

Ooni felt such gratitude. She had not shared a single kind word with Ilyusha not least because Ilyusha would probably not want it from Ooni but she resolved to thank Ilyusha when they were all safely back inside Pheiri, even if Ilyusha sneered at her and slapped her across the face.

This was what it meant to be inside Telokopolis. Ooni clung hard to that new clarity. She felt her spine stiffen again.

Three hours crept by, time measured in footsteps and junctions and the flex of armoured hands on steady guns. Three hours of progress through the pitch-dark innards of the tomb, lit by the blood-red illumination from the drones, following the thin white band on the map through the vast unknown patches of empty void, retracing their steps back toward the open spaces, back toward Pheiri, back to safety.

Slowly, Oonis relief turned to confusion.

At three hours, twenty minutes, and forty seven seconds, in the middle of a single narrow corridor which curved away to the left, Kagami called for a halt.

The fireteam was lost.

Kaga, Kaga, hey, hey, Victoria was saying over the comms. Calm down, just calm down and talk to me. Surely theres some explanation for this, a glitch in the mapping software, a mistake we made somewhere on the path, something we overlooked. Just talk to me. This this cant be right. Theyre not lost, thats impossible. They

The software is fine! Kagami was shouting, thumping on something, probably the arm her chair. We did not fuck up! Pheiri did not fuck up!

Kaga

I know where my drones are, Victoria! They are exactly where they are supposed to be! I have been measuring every step of the way, mapping and scanning and recording, and it s all so much fucking bullshit!

Kagami! Victoria snapped. I need solutions, not more of this tantrum

All the corridors are all fucking wrong! Theyve changed!

The sounds of a brief struggle came over the comms. Kagami snapped and squealed. Victoria said something about how Kagami needed to not pull on her own hair. Howl stepped in with a soft growl through Elpidas throat.

A moment of silence was filled by the distant static of the hurricane outside, and the gentle hum of the drones in front and behind.

Shilu, up ahead, said nothing, staring past the drones. Ilyusha hissed and rolled her eyes and stamped her clawed feet. Ooni tried to stay silent, this was not her place to say anything.

Leuca said, inside her helmet: Fireteam still holding position. Requesting orders.

Victorias voice returned to the comms a moment later. Uh okay. Pira, Pira do you, uh, do you read me?

Loud and clear, Leuca replied. Go ahead, Victoria.

Alright. Uh can you confirm that youre still on the same route you took on the way out there? According to the map in your heads-up display. Youre still on the same path back, right? Does it look right to you?

Ilyusha snapped into her comms headset, Course we are, Vicky!

Confirmed, yes, Leuca said. Were in a long corridor, curves to the left. Pheiri has this corridor marked as e-dash-forty-four. Junction up ahead is labelled jay-dash-seventeen, junction we just passed is jay-dash-eighteen.

Kagami shouted, further away from Victorias mic: But the junction wasnt there! And neither is the one up ahead. I cant see it on the drones! And the corridor should be going right, not left! Its all fucked!

Victoria took a deep breath. Okay, so, the interior layout of the tomb has changed

How!? Kagami raged. I havent detected a single sign of that! Youre telling me the innards of this place can rearrange without any detectable motion, or sound, or energy signatures, just nothing?! Just fuck you, just like that?!

Ilyusha snorted. Yah! Just fuck you!

Victoria said, Kaga, its a tomb, its a giant nanomachine construct

And Ive been watching it since the moment we got stuck in here! Kagami screamed back. Me and Pheiri both! Theres machinery inside the walls, gears and circuits and everything you can fucking imagine, and its all right there! Visible! I can see what its doing! How can it be moving, hm?! Explain that to me, Victoria, explain

I dont care! Victoria thundered.

Kagami fell silent. Somebody cleared their throat. Howl grunted. Ooni heard a sound which might have been Victoria wetting her lips.

I dont care, Victoria said, calm again. We need to get them out.

Howl said, Enough flirting. Ideas?

In the cramped tomb tunnel, Ilyusha gestured with the butt of her shotgun. Hey. Corpse-fucker.

Shilu turned away from the drones. Yes?

You can see through walls, right? Ilyusha shrugged, then tapped the black metal wall with the tip of her bionic tail. What do you see?

Shilu looked away from Ilyusha and stared directly at the nearest section of black metal wall. Her brow furrowed very slightly. She stepped up to the wall, raised her right hand, and made it turn into a blade. Ooni flinched, hidden inside her armour; the Necromancers shape-shifting was so sudden and silent.

Shilu put the point of her blade against the wall, then frowned harder. She pushed, first with her arm, then her whole body weight. The blade sank into the blank metal, then stopped, only about an inch deep. Shilu grunted with effort, then withdrew the blade and straightened up.

The hell Victoria muttered over the comms. You cut through powered armour earlier, what the

The metal has been densified, said Shilu. I cant see through this, not more than an inch or two. Cant cut through it either. It wasnt like this before.

Fuck! Ilyusha spat.

Kagami hissed; several of the drones turned their sensor arrays to examine the walls. Shes right. Shes right! The metal here is dense now, much denser than before. Its almost like synthetic diamond. Pheiri Kagami paused. Yes, Pheiris scans confirm that hasnt happened out here, back in this chamber. Whatever were looking at is a local phenomenon.

Leuca said, To stop us from cutting our way out.

Kagami barked. Ha! Absolutely not. Even at that density I could still cut through this with a drones laser. It would take us a while. Twenty minutes for a hole, perhaps

There are a lot of walls between us and Pheiri, Leuca said. It would take tens of hours. Not viable.

Yes, I know that, Kagami hissed.

Victoria said, Shilu, could the gravekeeper be doing this?

No, Shilu answered without hesitation. The gravekeeper has no reason to care. Gravekeepers are not controlled by Central. They cannot be suborned by Necromancers. They dont give a shit about us, not unless we bother them. This is something else. I dont know what.

Ilyusha snapped, Dont sound like you care much!

Shilu replied. I dont panic.

Its Kuro, said Ooni.

The others all looked at her, Leuca through her visor, Ilyusha swishing her tail with frustration, Shilu an unreadable corpse. It had taken Ooni so much effort to squeeze out those words, as if speaking them would make it true.

A moment of silence passed on the comms, filled with static from beyond the walls.

Ooni cringed inside.

Kagami tutted, then said, Weve not picked up any of the audio Ooni described. Even if you were being followed by something on the way in, its gone now, I cant detect any sign of it, nothing. And I dont think it was there in the first place. Lets stick to things we can confirm with sensors, yes?

It didnt sound like a question. It sounded like an order.

But Ooni couldnt stop. Her jaw shivered and her teeth chattered, but the words poured out of her.

You didnt hear the walls moving, but theyre different now, arent they? Oonis hands were shaking around the forward grip and stock of her submachine gun. She didnt need to breathe with her undead lungs, but she was panting now. Kuro must be using the same method. Whatever it is, shell be using it to hide. Shes hiding from your sensors, so she can follow us. Its her. Its her. It is her. It is her!

Victoria sighed. Ooni, Ooni, look, I know youre afraid, but that doesnt make any sense. For the sake of argument, lets assume you were being followed, and whatever it is can adjust the insides of the tomb. Why reveal that to us, rather than saving it for an ambush? Were tipped off now, we know to be cautious. Right? If Kuro was doing this, wouldnt she have set up an ambush before revealing that she can change the local geography?

Kagami grunted. Right, right. Exactly, Victoria.

Ooni shook her head. Her eyes flashed up and down the dark corridor in which the fireteam had paused, past the winking running lights of the drones, to where their floodlight illumination splashed crimson and scarlet up the walls. The visor of her carapace helmet tried to fill the darkness with night-vision green. Beyond that lay mile after mile of compressed shadows and tangled passageways.

I already told you, Ooni said; her voice felt so tiny. She likes to play with her food.

On the comms, Kagami snorted. Victoria drew in a breath, then said: Ooni, Im listening to you, but I need you calm down

An unfamiliar voice broke in, rough and tired.

Listen to your point woman, hey? Shes out there, down in the shit. Youre in here, leading from the rear.

Was that Sky, the newcomer?

Kagami started to snap at Sky, telling her to shut the fuck up, she didnt even know them, what was she even doing in the control cockpit. Victoria sighed heavily and raised her voice too, arguing half against Kagami, half for everybody to stop. How joined in as well.

Ooni couldnt take it.

Please! she shouted into the comms, her own voice deafening inside her helmet. The argument halted. Please, listen to me. This is how Kuro works. This is what she does. I know this pattern! She didnt hide this from us, because she wants us to be afraid! She wants us to be scared, so we make mistakes. She torments her targets, exactly like this, this is just on a bigger scale than ever before! She made the noises earlier on purpose, so I would know it was her, so I would know! Now shes got control of this area somehow, and she doesnt need to keep showing herself, she just needs to trap us and tire us out and terrify me us, I mean! Or just me! I dont know! I dont know what comes next. But its her! Please please. Shes going to kill us

Oonis courage drained away.

Elpida would have believed her. Elpida would have listened.

Leuca reached out and touched the shoulder plate of Oonis armour, just a brush of fingertips, before returning her hand to her own weapon. Ilyusha started to nod, chewing on her own tongue, then said, Yeah! Im with fucknuts here.

On the comms, a second of silence passed. Then Victoria spoke.

Alright. Alright, Ooni. Pira. Ilyusha. Shilu, you too. Victoria swallowed and blew out a breath. Were going to proceed with the assumption that Ooni is correct

Kagami interrupted. My drones still dont see or hear anything out there

We will proceed with the assumption that Ooni is correct, Victoria repeated herself, slow and clipped. Those are my orders. Do you want to take command, Kaga? Because you can. Come on. You want this seat? No? Didnt think so. Okay then, help me.

Ooni felt like her head was ringing. They believed her?

Victoria was talking again. We are going to assume that a hostile is hunting the fireteam, and that the hostile is capable of adjusting the corridors in that section of the tomb. Which means you four need to stick close together. I mean like real close together. Close enough to touch. Shilu, that means you too, I dont care if you can turn into metal and wriggle your way out. And try to keep each other visible at all times. If the corridors adjust fast enough, they might be able to cut you off from each other. We dont have any idea how its achieved or how fast it can be done, and Im not losing any of you down there. Close formation, now.

Understood, Leuca replied. She took a step close to Ooni and shrugged her shoulder. Ooni, left hand. Hold onto me.

Ooni grabbed Leucas shoulder plate, as ordered.

Ilyusha snorted and shook her head, but she stomped over. She eyed Ooni through the carapace helmet faceplate for a moment, tail swishing, then pulled a nasty grin. Better watch my back good, shitbrains.

I will, Ooni said. Thank you.

Ilyusha narrowed her eyes, then turned around, tail spike waving only a foot from Oonis face.

Shilu strode over without a word, until all four were close enough to touch, shoulder to shoulder. The drone cordon was already pulling inward as well, retracting the scouts and narrowing the circle of protection.

Kagami muttered, This reduces our forward scouting and limits any early warning, but sure, itll stop me from losing any drones if the walls all start playing musical chairs.

Victoria said, Kaga

Yes, Im turning their cameras on each other. A nice little circle of drones, all watching each others backs. Ive got eyes in every direction, including up my own backside. Dont tell me how to do my job, Victoria. Im three steps ahead.

Just keep doing it, Kaga.

Leuca cleared her throat. Commander, orders?

For now, keep moving, Victoria said. Your directional orientation relative to Pheiri is still correct, so keep taking turns that lead you toward us. Ignore the map, were going to refresh it in a sec. Keep moving, stay tight. Weve got you. Well bring you home.

Ilyusha snorted. No vote this time, Vicky?

Victoria tried to laugh. No vote.

She was trying to sound like Elpida, but she couldnt quite get there. Ooni wished she couldnt hear the tremor in Victorias voice.

The fireteam set off again, advancing along the narrow tunnel, following the leftward bend. They reached the spot where the next junction should be, but there was only more passageway, interrupted further along by two entirely new junctions. They used the drones to scout ahead, then took a right-hand fork, heading in Pheiris general direction.

Progress was slower than before, bogged down by the necessity of the tighter formation, sticking close together, hands on each others shoulders, walking right on each others heels. The two dozen drones still took point, brought up the rear, and ducked into side-passages to confirm they were clear; but the drones range was narrower now, barely leaving visual of the fireteam for more than a few seconds each, and always watched by at least one other drone. Kagami removed and refreshed the map in the fireteams comms-uplink data-stream, to show only the areas they had visually confirmed since leaving the planetarium chamber.

Ooni didnt like the new map. An ocean of darkness lay between her and Pheiri, a sprawling web of cancer in the tombs dead flesh.

The storm raged and screamed far beyond the walls, filling the air with heavy static, even this deep inside. The darkness crept up behind the fireteam as they moved, squirming back across the black metal as the drones withdrew their light. The corridors seemed to narrow and tighten as the fireteam took turns and branches, but they were still moving toward Pheiri, back toward the sane and sensible parts of the tomb; this realisation was the source of much unspoken relief. Whoever or whatever had adjusted the maze of twisted tunnels, they were unable to force the fireteam back into the depths. Ooni took heart from Leuca at her side and Ilyusha right in front of her, and from the now constant chatter back and forth with the control cockpit. Kagami slipped into a quiet professional tone, cataloguing each side-corridor anew, marking them on the map, directing the drones with all her wordless skill. Victoria kept up a nervous pep talk, reassuring herself as much as everybody else, but growing in confidence as the minutes stretched out.

After an hour of creeping progress, the ocean of darkness narrowed to merely a wide river. Ooni was exhausted, but Pheiri was close.

The fireteam exited a complex junction, with several separate chambers like the valves and pockets of a heart. They stepped out into a long corridor which seemed to twist back on itself up ahead, perhaps in a hairpin bend.

Kagami was saying: I calculate youre no more than five hundred meters from where you went in. Ive dispatched a pair of drones to where the corridors narrow, and I can literally see the walls where it gets denser, though the density isnt as bad as it was. Here, coming up in your hud, bottom right. Kagami sent the team a visual feed; it showed a much larger corridor, with a high ceiling and sharp corners, as expected from the less tangled part of the tomb. A series of narrow entrances punctured the wall ahead.

I recognise that! Ooni said. She couldnt help herself, the relief was too great.

Kagami snorted. I should hope so, thats where you went in. That, at least, has not changed.

Fuck yeah, Ilyusha growled.

Stay sharp, said Leuca.

Victoria spoke over the comms too: Weve got a few stragglers from the tomb chamber whove followed the drones zombies, you know, our, uh, friends. So be careful when you exit, dont fire on them.

Kagami tutted. Fools and dirt should keep clear.

Victoria spoke with a smile in her voice. Youre almost out. Keep going. Take the corner around, then the left branch up ahead, that should bring you closer to

Bang-bang-bang!

Large calibre shots rang out, far to the fireteams rear.

<>The passageway exploded with sound and fury.

Ooni swept the ballistic shield off her back, brought it around in a narrow arc, planted the base against the floor, and braced her shoulder against the rear of the mobile cover. Her other hand was firm and steady on her submachine gun. Her body had reacted before her mind had time to panic, the fear finally transmuting to action. Leuca slammed into a kneeling position behind the shield, rifle in both hands. Ooni felt something bump against her back and something hard and flexible wrap around her leg Ilyushas tail anchoring the team together, Ilyushas back against Oonis own, Ilyushas ballistic shield covering the fireteams other side.

The passageway rang with the thump-crack and ratatatatat of firepower, energy weapons and solid-shot guns blasting away, the noise and back blast shaking Oonis helmet. Green IFF indicators on her HUD confirmed all the shooting was outgoing Kagami was drowning the rear of the corridor with bullets and bolts and laser beam stabs into the darkness. A drone shield flared, then went out in a burst of electric crackles.

The firing ceased. The corridor was full of smoke and heat, trapped by the sudden silence.

Ooni was panting, wild with adrenaline and shock, sweat running down her face inside her helmet. But her hand was steady on her submachine gun, and she was grinning like mad.

Not Kuro! It wasnt Kuro! Kuro would never do something so overt and stupid as firing on a bunch of drones. It couldnt be her!

Ooni felt like laughing. A firefight, that she could handle. A firefight with Ilyushas tail wrapped around her shin? Even better. She couldnt believe this was happening, she couldnt believe her luck.

Everyone was shouting on the comms. What was it?! Kagami, what was that, what were you firing at? What was it? What was

Nothing! Kagami snapped, cold with panic.

What?

Leuca said: Orders? Commander? Were sitting still here.

But Kagami was already rattling on: Nothing. Absolutely nothing on the sensors except the bullets themselves. Three armour-piercing rifle rounds from apparently nowhere. No motion detected, no heat, no infra-red, nothing. Like they came out of the fucking wall!

Oonis heart went cold.

Its her, she whispered.

Leuca said: Victoria, we have to move

Yes! Victoria snapped. Go! Follow the drones! Keep those shields up, well

Bang-bang-bangbangbang-brrrrrt

A fresh hail of surprise gunfire erupted from the dark this time from the fireteams front. This barrage was not a few rounds from a solid-shot rifle, but a full-auto trigger-squeeze from a heavy weapon, spraying a storm of bullets down the passageway, loud enough to drown out the hurricane outside. Ilyusha yelled an insult as rounds pinged off her ballistic shield, the impacts forcing her backward with a squeal of claws on the metal floor; Ooni felt a piece of shrapnel deflected by the rear plates of her carapace armour, bracing herself to support Ilyushas weight as she pressed against Oonis back. Drone shielding crackled to life a split-second later, soaking up the worst of the bullets.

Kagamis drones woke up and returned fire, filling the corridor with deafening fury, followed by Kagamis shout over the comms: Nothing, again! Theres nothing there!

Victoria snapped, We need to get them out! Can we advance under fire, can we

Howl interrupted: Fuck no, thats high-velocity autocannon fire. Those drone shields are scrap in under a minute.

The walls here arent as dense, Kagami rattled off. Im detaching a drone to start cutting. At least we can get them out of this trap.

One of the heavy drones jerked past Oonis shins and turned to the wall, extending a pair of bright cutting lasers. The black metal began to glow and melt beneath the lasers touch.

Victoria snapped: Everybody around the drone! Get in close, keep those shields up!

Ooni followed her orders, shuffling sideways, Ilyushas tail still wrapped around her shin, Leuca sheltered by the shields. A few stray bullets got through the drone cordon, pinging off the walls and leaving dents in Oonis armour.

Leuca asked, How long to cut

Fifty, sixty seconds! Kagami said, then laughed. Its still dense. Thisll be close, unless

Shilu strode past.

The Necromancer had abandoned her human disguise, once more a scarecrow of black metal and sharp angles, her face a perfect white mask, stray rounds bouncing off her body like raindrops on concrete. Shilu stepped up to the drone cutting through the wall, made both hands into blades, and added her own strength to the task. She punched through the weakened metal left behind in the wake of the drones cutting lasers.

Alright, maybe twenty seconds, Kagami admitted. Work fast, Necromancer!

Perhaps it was twenty seconds. To Ooni it felt like an hour, sheltered from a storm of lead pounding down the passageway.

The drone finished cutting and jerked backward. Shilu rammed both sword-arms into the remaining scraps of metal, then kicked at the weakened outline. The metal popped out and fell down on the other side, falling through lightless air for a couple of feet, before landing with an almighty clang. The gap was just large enough for the team to duck through, edges glowing with residual heat.

Hold position, hold! Kagami snapped. The escort drones pulled close around the fireteam, a hail of bullets still slamming into their forward shielding. Half of the drones whizzed through the hole cut into the wall, throwing crimson light and shields up on the other side. Okay, its clear! Three foot drop, do not break your fucking ankles! Go, move, now!

Shilu was closest; she folded herself up and leapt through the hole like a diver into water. Leuca scurried out from behind Oonis shield, then scrambled through the gap, booted feet vanishing through the wall. Ilyusha was turning to cover Oonis back, shouting Go, fucknuts, go next! Ooni started to duck, to turn, to awkwardly lower her ballistic shield to get it through the opening

A passageway had appeared opposite the hole cut into the wall, where no passageway had stood before.

The drones were not covering it, because it had not been there a split-second earlier.

Pitch black, filled with shifting shadows, like a tongue in a yawning mouth.

Ooni was the first to see this new passage, because she had been turning to get through the hole. Ilyusha was looking the wrong way; Shilu and Leuca were already through. Kagamis drones took a moment of machine-confusion to register the silent, unseen, inexplicable change to local topography.

Ooni raised her submachine gun, aimed into the shadows of this surprise passageway, and pulled the trigger.

The gun bucked in her hand, rocking against her elbow, spitting out half the magazine before she could stop herself. Bullets sprayed into the darkness, bouncing off walls, finding no target.

Empty.

Comms was full of shouting.

Fucking what!? Kagami screamed. That wasnt there a second ago! I told you, I told you the walls were moving

Ooni, Ooni! That was Leuca, calling her name. Follow me, Ooni!

Get out of there! Victoria shouted. Both of you get through that wall, right now!

The drone escort was already turning to cover this new passageway mouth, lighting it up with crimson beams and throwing temporary shields to block any ambush. A clawed hand grabbed Oonis shoulder and yanked her back; she almost turned her weapon on Ilyusha before she realised who it was.

Got my back, ha! Ilyusha barked with laughter as she dragged Ooni toward the hole in the wall, shield up, tail unwinding from Oonis leg and wagging in the air. Nice one, fucknuts! Nothing there though! Hahaha!

Nothing there Ooni panted, heart pounding; she realised the rest of the gunfire had ceased, the autocannon had stopped, the silence wasso sudden. Nothing there, nothing but

Ilyusha ducked to scramble through the drone-cut hole. She shoved her shield through before her, then

The hole closed like a sphincter slamming shut, inches shy of Ilyushas skull. Her ballistic shield was cut in half with a hollow thunk of severed metal.

Part of the wall to Oonis left moved detaching, folding forward, striding free.

A human figure slid from within the wall itself, as if out from behind a curtain of silk and oil. A thin sheen of black metal clung to the figures surface like a coating of water, as if the metal of the tomb itself was a pool from which it had emerged; the effect was similar to Shilus true form, a human outline wrapped with metal. But where Shilu was sharp and spiked and covered with edges, this figure was tall and blocky, heavyset, angular.

But this was no Necromancer. It was a suit of powered armour wrapped in tomb-metal.

Ooni knew the outline of that suit.

Kuro.

Yolandas hound, the Sisterhoods strongest muscle, the worst sadist among all who followed the skull, was wearing the metal of the tomb like a second skin.

Ooni raised her submachine gun in shaking hands, fingers suddenly slick with sweat, her own ballistic shield falling with a clatter. The comms was screaming in her ears, the drones were turning and throwing up shields and extending weapons. But she heard nothing, saw nothing, nothing except Kuro, looming over her, featureless behind a mask of black metal. If only Ooni could get her finger on the trigger, if only she could

Ilyusha was faster.

The cyborg berserker whirled to her feet, fouling Oonis shot, confusing half the drones. She rammed the muzzle of her shotgun into the black metal of Kuros face, lashing toward her with the tip of her bionic tail.

Fuck you! Reptile fuck

Kuros hand shot out, wrapped in the black metal of the tomb, and grabbed Ilyusha by the throat. Ilyusha pulled the trigger on her shotgun, three times in rapid succession boom! boom! boom! discharging slug-rounds point blank against the front of Kuros metal-shrouded helmet.

Kuro didnt even stagger.

She lifted Ilyusha by the throat, ignoring the whirling of razor-sharp claws and red-tipped tail, and hurled her against the nearest drone, hard enough to send the machine crashing into the wall. Ilyusha hit the floor with the sound of breaking bones and snapping bionics. Kuro lashed out again and caught Ilyushas tail, lifted her up like a flail on the end of a chain, and smashed her against the next drone. The machine careened off, firing wildly. The drones were peppering this metal-clad Kuro with firepower, but nothing was happening, as if the tomb itself protected her with imperishable metal, unblemished and true.

Ilyusha tried to lurch back to her feet, spitting and hissing, clutching for her shotgun. Kuro backhanded her across the jaw so hard that Ilyusha slammed off the wall and slid to the floor.

Ooni raised her submachine gun again when had she lowered it? Why? and curled her finger around the trigger.

Kuro turned to look at her, ignoring the bullets from the drones, paying no attention to Ilyusha lurching upright and screaming obscenities. Even with her helmet and powered armour hidden behind that sheen of black, Ooni felt Kuros gaze like a fist in her gut.

Her trigger finger froze.

Click-buzz; Kuro opening her exterior broadcast.

You wouldnt dare, said Kuro, high-pitched and girlish, muffled by static interference from her suit. Put it down.

Ooni hesitated then yanked the trigger, screaming at the top of her lungs.

The bullets did nothing.

Kuro reached out, ripped the gun from Oonis hands, and clubbed her across the helmet with the butt of her own weapon; Oonis world went red, then black, then spiralled down into darkness.

The last thing she saw was Ilyusha, striking like a bird of prey.

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