- If I were Dawn, where would I go? - Amber wondered.
- There's no floor above the Core, so she's either going down or hiding here - Sebastian replied.
We left the sphere to look for potential hiding spots and suddenly bumped into the commandos.
- What is this? Did you defect to the enemy side? - the first commando was ready for combat.
- No, we thwarted their scheme, but Dawn, an important member of the Perseids if fleeing. Additionally, the AI supervisor is tied up in the generator wing - Arika summarised.
The commandos went on to free the supervisor and inspect the Core for evil activity. We decided to come to the lower levels and see what's going on there. Our first destination was the Hospital. Nothing seemed different, except for the "investigation site" being taken down. Thanks to us resetting HISS, there wasn't a single rogue bot. Every android was doing their job again, as if nothing had occured. One of them was bringing a medkit to a wing we never visited, but was suddenly knocked over by Dawn running away. We instantly began chasing her.
She noticed our presence and tossed the robot towards us, hoping to barricade the corridor. It was possible to climb over, if not for the fact that other robots tripped on the fallen one, creating a larger barrier.
- What now? - Claudius asked.
- Follow me, I have an idea! - Arika called us.
She led us to a "flying" ambulance. There weren't any patients inside, so it was perfect for Arika's new plan. She hopped onto the driver's seat, with Sebastian calling shotgun. We crammed ourselves into the back of the ambulance. Arika's plan became clear: she wanted to run over the barricade and smash right through it. We held onto the stretcher, as there wasn't much else to hold. Arika pressed the gas pedal and the ambulance launched forward. She had to override the autoguide, but it was worth it. The vehicle plowed through the mechanical blockade and we continued our pursuit.
Dawn hid behind the next corner and our ambulance was slightly faster than her, so we quickly caught up to the escapist. With no other choice, Dawn ran into the closest elevator and left the Hospital. She pressed the "close" button and our vehicle smacked into the glass door, slightly cracking it. As Dawn began descending, we abandoned the ambulance, as several androids were notified about our actions. We had to find another elevator, which took us almost a minute, after which we came down the the Orbital City.
Down there, the effects of the evil plot were still visible. Many buildings were reduced to nothing but rubble during the tank attack. The commandos confiscated the tank and it was nowhere to be seen. The local androids also returned to their original program and were searching the debris for injured guests. Some were carrying them to the Hospital. Due to the destruction, the Orbital City seemed desolate compared to its state a few hours prior. The neon lights were constantly flickering, with some going dark. The scale of the damage was so large that it will take months to recover.
However, we focused on Dawn. We lost her for a bit but soon found her near a pile of rubble left from an unknown building. She wasn't alone, as Vladislav Kilov escorted her to the dock.
- Vlad's with Dawn! They're heading to the dock! - I notified the others and we ran to that place. Unfortunately, Vlad noticed us and rushed to the Perseids' escape vehicle: a rocket.
We've already seen this rocket before, as the Perseids used it to flee the Moon following the showdown that concluded our previous mission. Its sharp top was black with gray stains from moon dust. The fuselage was white, with a hatch at the bottom. There were four black winglets, but one of them was damaged after Rill accidentally hit it with a laser pellet whilst fighting us. The metallic thruster was as tall as I am, with the whole rocket being the height of a big street lamp. Thanks to this relatively small size, it was quite fast when it came to maneuvering. Leonid opened the hatch and gazed upon us. Dawn and Vlad slipped into the rocket, with the hatch closing as we approached the vessel. We didn't make it and the rocket took off into an airlock which led the Perseids into outer space. We had to step back so that the hot gas wouldn't incinerate us. As they flew away, we remembered about the spaceplane.
In a hurry, we put on our spacesuits. Due to their complexity, we wasted two minutes on dressing up and only put on our helmets as we jumped into the spaceplane. With Jaxon's absence, Arika took over the reins, with me as a copilot, because of my newfound navigation skills. Thanks to this, I had a clear view of the outside world. Amber, Claudius and Sebastian grabbed some spare oxygen tanks and laser blasters, in case they were needed. We rolled over to the airlock and an alarm blaired, warning us about the hatch opening.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQ9PYMEOwe
As it slid open, I looked around the cockpit and saw the controls, which were even more complex than the Hyperspace's manual control interface. There were hundreds of buttons and levers, with five screens of various sizes dotting the walls, showing our position, orientation, surroundings, engine activity and weapons, as the spaceplane was armed (it was modified by the agency). Arika and I had to look at all the controls before we activated the engines and the spaceplane zoomed out of the dock. The view of the shimmering stars and the majestic Earth was mesmerizing, but we couldn't focus on them. I looked at the third screen and soon located the rocket. Arika spotted the cone of gas emmited by the rocket's engines. We set the craft as our waypoint and rotated the spaceplane to directly face it. Arika powered up the engines and we gained speed. As we flew, I was on the lookout for cosmic trash, as there were lots of it, mostly broken satelites. I warned Arika about every incoming piece of space junk, which she swiftly avoided.
- How are you doing? - Sebastian asked from the back.
- Good, were speeding up - I informed him.
As we flew further away from the Hyperspace, its true size was visible again. It was absolutely collosal. A large satelite that flew past it looked like a mere speck of dust compared to the enormous space station. I looked back at the controls and saw the fifth screen beeping. Unfortunately for us, the rocket was also armed and the Perseids were deploying their weapons. Terrifyingly, a railgun emerged from the side of the rocket.
- What does that alert mean? - Claudius heard the beeping.
- The rocket is armed, and they're about to open fire - Arika hissed.
As she finished her sentence, the Perseids really opened fire.
Due to the lack of gravity, bullets could theoretically fly in one direction forever in space, unless they hit an object in their way. That object happened to be our spaceplane. They flashed ahead of us like micrometeorites and the radar was going crazy over their amount. Ten bullets were fired in the first round. Arika managed to dodge most of them with my help, but two of the bullets scratched the right wing. As the Perseids prepared for the second round, we chose to retaliate.
A laser blaster emerged beneath our left wing. As it charged up, the second round of bullets came, some of them hitting the top of our plane. The metal body was quite thick, so no oxygen was leaking, at least not yet. Only three of the bullets actually missed us. The Perseids were preparing for a third round when we responded. The giant laser pellet vaporised the railgun, with only a tiny piece of metal now dangling from the side of the rocket.
- Woo! - Arika grinned.
The Perseids decided to change course and flew off to the right. It took us a bit to position our spaceplane correctly, only to see a nasty surprise: a hidden missile. I noticed a dark green warhead beneath the rocket. At first glance, it looked like a smaller vessel attatched to said rocket, but as the latter turned around, everything became clear. Moreover, our rotation was a part of their plan. They fired the missile which directly impaled the spaceplane's fuselage. It was a matter of seconds before it exploded.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWs0WECQjLF
As the missile got closer, we decided to abandon ship. Claudius forced the emergency escape hatch open and was the first to jump out, followed by Amber and Sebastian. Arika took a spare oxygen tank and also leaped out. I grabbed a laser blaster and followed her.
As I started drifting away from our doomed spacecraft, it exploded. We were far enough for the explosion to not kill us, but we were catapulted away. It seemed like the Perseids considered us dead, as the rocket got visibly smaller. However, that didn't mean we were safe. In fact, we were in grave danger.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RLxCWrh5x
We were drifting in the vacuum of space.
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and then Add to home screen.