Elysian: Breach

Collection: Age of Youth
Chronicled by Valhel
preceded by: Out There

Elysian: Breach


...seven weeks after the last Halleaux


The malfunctioning lights flickered like an artificial thunderstorm within the iron halls of Roanoak. Blackouts had become a regular event within the base, but this was the first since Commander Petra had ordered the disarming of the Resistance as they prepared to carry the Gospel into the city.

The coils of lightning surged down Pandora's wrist with a terrible buzzing sound as her cord ignited. Swinging over her shoulder and then back across, the whip cut the metal door to Mech's armory into six pieces. Alarms blared and the din of pursuers could be heard down the hall. Pandora shoved crates and steel boxes aside as she searched the room. Four lights from her helm illuminated the darkness that flooded the armory at interval with the red glow of the alarm beacon. Finally a pale light answered the lights from Pandora's own helm. A glass orb sat sealed in a pile of time jump tech, and within shone the pale light.

mRelieved, Pandora snatched the orb and shattered it upon a workbench. And from between the broken shards of glass Pandora plucked out the fifth eye of her helm. She carefully affixed it at the center of the four behind the aluminum mesh of the faceplate.

"Time jump capabilities restored." chimed Cosset from within Pandora's pocket.

"Not yet." muttered Pandora.

"Well,' replied Cossett, 'restored but not charged."

The cords of her lash burned out and retracted around the wrist as Pandora slipped out the slashed doorway into the corridor.

"She's after the armory, quickly!", shouted a voice from up the stairs behind her.

Pandora knew it would only be a matter of minutes before power was restored to the base.

"Go dark." growled Pandora. And with that Cossett dowsed all light from Pandora's armor.

While Pandora slunk down the decrepit halls until she had reached a vaulted flood hatch between corridors. Taking the frame of the door she swung up and firmly wedged herself above the hatchway.

"Waiting for something?" chimed Cossett.

"Quiet! I need to go back for something." scowled Pandora.

"Probably should've picked it up first."

"First I had to draw them out, then I can pick it up..."

"You used to be sneakier." sighed the A.I.

A rush of feet could be heard down the hall just before a handful of Resistance guards swept below Pandora and into the lower chambers of the base.

"Where are we at with charge levels?" whispered Pandora.

"Nearing twenty percent." chirped Cossett.

"Hush!"

Another set of feet could be heard coming down the halls. The stride was slower than the guards, and more confident.

Petra, the commander of the Haven Resistance, with sword in hand swaggered toward the flood hatches. There was a strange glint in her eyes as she stepped into the flood hatch. Pandora, struggling to suspend herself above, drew in a silent breath to hold. There was no mercy left for Pandora now, capture would mean certain detainment and possible exile.

The commander's sure and steady steps pounded in Pandora's ears as she slowly passed below and into the shadows of the next corridor.

As soon as she believed that she was out of ear shot Pandora slipped down and reignited her helm.

"Get me a bio read on all specs." whispered Pandora.

"Won't work.' replied Cossett, 'The walls here cause too much interference to get a good read."

"Keep it up anyways. Can't risk any surprises."

Pandora rounded back up the halls toward the officer's quarters. Most of Roanoak had been vacated in the recent weeks as the Resistance relocated into the city. Marius had been sent to establish a foothold with many of the other leaders while Petra, Mech, and a select guard remained behind. This made Pandora's ascent much easier.

Staggering lights flashed white and blue casting Pandora's shadow across the iron walls. The echo of guards below clattered in the halls below and the cool night air of the surrounding desert drifted down from the higher chambers. She was nearly there.

Slinking past gapping doorways and darkened utility shafts Pandora eventually made her way into the abandoned mess hall.

"Bio sign approaching! Northeast!" whirled Cossett.

Pandora charged her coil and the tendrils blazed with white light in the dim room.

Just as swift as Pandora had ignited her lash Mech had raised his own weapon against the intruder.

For a moment the two just stared at one another in hesitation before Pandora spoke.

"I thought all the guns were locked up."

"Not all." replied Mech in a calm voice. The quartermaster's stance was resolute but beneath the brim of Mech's hat his eyes betrayed him. Pandora could see the uncertainty in him, the doubt.

Pandora quivered for a moment and stuttered, "I'm sorry."

Mech leveled his weapon again at Pandora and stepped forward, "Stand down, please."

Pandora swung her lash around her wrist and the tendrils began to thrum.

"Mech!' crackled Cossett, 'Don't trust her!"

But before the quartermaster could react a blast erupted from Pandora's gauntlet that flung Mech across the room and into an iron wall, throwing the blaster and his hat clear. Mech slumped unconscious against the wall, his jacket singed from the attack. Cautiously Pandora stepped toward the quartermaster. She tossed his weapon into a waste can and gingerly retrieved Mech's top hat from the floor.

"It's good advice." Pandora said as she placed the hat in Mech's hands.

"He doesn't look too bad." buzzed Cossett.

"I owed him one.' smiled Pandora, 'Keep those bio specs up. We're almost there."

Pandora rounded the corner of the barracks and silently swept up the steps to the officer's quarters. The lights began to flicker on more frequently casting more and more light upon the intruder. At the top of the stairway was a cylindrical hall that lead to four chambers and one meeting room in the center. The doors to three of the chambers were wide open, the fourth was shut.

Blue sparks reflected upon the metal walls as they cascaded from the strobing lights. The hum of electricity could be heard winding through larger overhead cables as the power struggled to return the base. Pandora glanced over the specs of her helm again and again, all was clear, no visible biological electromagnetic signatures were detected. And still Pandora could not feel that she was alone.

"Reboot the spectrum." she whispered.

Cossett complied and again the spectrum returned no discovery. The narrow halls of Roanoak were not ideal for evading enemies, each escape route could quickly turn into a trap.

"Whatever you're here to do get on with it, they'll be back soon." chimed Cossett.

Pandora stepped toward the closed door, correctly surmising that Petra's chamber was within. Reaching out with her left hand and keeping her right recoiled Pandora lifted the vertical lock, slid the door aside, and stepped inside.

The room was bleak. A small battery powered an emergency light that threw a green shade over the chamber. Pandora's eyes wandered the room in search of her prize. Grunge stained the walls and floor. A few bags sat shoved beneath a cot against the far wall. Next to these was the black chest. A small desk and chair had been built into the wall, and upon the workspace was a glass of tepid water, a few odd trinkets consisting of a compass, a metallic pyramid, a journal, and, of the greatest interest, a broken piece of mirror.

Pandora started upon seeing the shard. Even in the green glow of the room the broken glass appeared to reflect a weird and different light.

"She kept it." Pandora murmured.

Pandora stretched out her hand with great hesitation and picked up the shard being careful to avert the reflective side away from her. Cautiously she slipped it into her coat pocket and sighed in relief. The feeling was short lived however, a faint sound was heard from behind and Pandora realized that she was no longer alone.

"She knew you'd turn." growled a low voice from the shadows.

Pandora knew this voice, the Wolf. She swept around dragging her electrified coils screaming through the damp air but the lash wound harmlessly about the Wolf's gauntlet as he seized her by the wrist.

Sparks danced upon the Wolf's arm as Pandora struggled to wrest her hand away. He had tracked Pandora's betrayal through time, finally following her to the final Halleaux. There the Wolf had defended the Resiatance with the same tenacity that preserved his own life in the first assault on the Authority city and now that the fighting was over the Wolf remained to guard Commander Petra from any remaining threats.

"Again you betray us, electromancer,' snarled the soldier, 'again you spit at forgiveness."

Pandora had no time for preaching, "Where's your gun? Petra lock that up?"

The Wolf's ire flared, "Locked away, just as you are ab-"

Interrupting, Pandora slammed her helm into his, she didn't care to hear the rest of the sermon. The Wolf recoiled, loosening his grip on Pandora's wrist just enough for her to tumble into the hallway.

As the Wolf found his bearings and Pandora her feet the power surged back through the base, restoring all lights.

"There goes your cover." lamented Cossett.

Pandora scrambled for some advantage, while she had always eluded the Wolf in the past she had never actually had to confront him in combat.

"Where is our jump charge at?" stammered Pandora.

"Eighty-nine percent. Six percent shy of a successful jump." answered the A.I.

"And the whip?"

"One hundred and holding."

The tendrils of Pandora's coil flashed along the surface of the iron floor as she positioned herself to resist the Wolf's attack.

The soldier strode out into the hall, "Thieving liar!" The Wolf stood tall under the weight of righteous conviction, undaunted by his foe.

"You betrayed us,' scowled the Wolf, 'you sold us out to that Thing for your own power!"

Beneath the expressionless gaze of her helm Pandora winced in shame, still she remained steady.

"And now...' said the Wolf, 'Now what scheme have you devised?"

Pandora took a step back as the Wolf continued his approach, her foot nearing slipping down the stairway behind.

Once within striking distance the Wolf with a sharp and sudden movement threw his right arm down revealing a hidden blade from within his gauntlet.

"Better to tear out that eye, Pandora, stand down."

The lights of Pandora's helm surged, "And if your eye is healthy?"

With that Pandora twisted up into the air, wound her lash around the overhead power cables and pulled down with all her weight. Electricity arced through the air in a brilliant burst of white light that traced Pandora's downward swing striking the Wolf head on.

Overwhelmed the Wolf collapsed to the floor.

Several moments later the Wolf regained consciousness. His armor, though burned in a few places, had endured the brunt of the attack.

Petra's voiced crackled over the internal radio of his helm, "Descent...-reach...ventilate!"

The Wolf rushed down deep into the base, assuming that Petra's call had been disrupted by the density of the iron walls below. As he descended a foreign dread swept over him. The Wolf was not accustomed to fear, but the encroaching sense of panic laid hold telling at once that something was very wrong.

"-Mech down here now....find him-"

Petra's signal strengthened.

Pressing further into the darkness the Wolf kept an uneasy guard against any surprise assault from Pandora, but she was no where to be seen. As he was nearing the final flight of stairs the Wolf noticed an eerie glow that played upon the walls.

Cautiously the Wolf stepped off of the stairs and into the light. Before him stood Petra unscathed, clutching her sword. Scattered about her were unconscious guards, their weapons dashed to pieces. And before Petra was the iron door to the vaults of Roanoak.

Petra had descended into the depths of the base before and in a fearful fit ordered that the passage to the vaults be sealed.

Yet the door was no longer sealed. It had been cut down and cast aside.

"Commander?" broached the Wolf.

Petra remained motionless as she gazed unblinking into the ghostly red light beyond the sundered door. The air rippled as if with heat though the temperature remained the same. And a gust of soundless wind swept into the chamber.

With great trepidation the Wolf drew closer, he could see into Petra's eyes and saw a reflection of vast and pearlescent flames within them.

"Petra?' spoke the Wolf, 'What did she do?"

Petra smiled, her eyes still fixed upon pale fires.
"Follow her.' she said, 'Bring Pandora back to me."