Ka-Boom-Thud.
The drone collapsed in a pile of metal. Very few shields protected from ion blasts.
It distracted the remaining drones.
Freya ran past Kian into the shed.
And almost fell down a set of stairs. She caught herself at the top and realized the shed was merely a cover for this entrance point to, well, what was this?
Freya didn’t take much time to consider it. Since there was no other place to go, she ran down them. Yet the waiting darkness made her pause halfway down.
The Ka-Boom-Thud of the ion cannon shook the shed walls, and she continued once her eyes adjusted to the darkness. At the bottom, she stood on a landing with more stairs that went deeper underground.
It was an entry point to an entire underground network.
“What in the stars?” she whispered. Her voice echoed off the walls.
She took a few steps and marveled at the chamber. While it wasn’t bright, there were obviously luminescent stones evenly spaced.
The area seemed to be a crossroad. Tunnels led in multiple directions, the glow from the stones the only light.
The Rhimodians must be able to see well in the dark.
Metal clashed against metal, and Freya jumped. She turned as the echo of a door sealing bounced off the walls.
Everything got considerably darker, the extra light from above now gone. All that was left was the luminescent rock that gave everything a silvery-blue glow.
Barely enough to see by. At least, with her human vision.
She backed away from the sound, hoping it was Kian, but she raised her weapon to be safe.
“Ambassador Freya?” Kian called.
“I’m here,” she replied.
As he came down the stairs, the lighting slowly increased. Was it keyed to Rhimodian presence?
He dragged the ion cannon with him. The weapon clunked on the steps, echoing in the labyrinth.
“Kian?” She took a step toward him.
He wasn’t moving right.
Was the cannon that heavy?
“Freya, you’re safe.”
And with that, Kian collapsed, the weapon forgotten.
“Kian!”
Freya dropped her blaster and ran to his side.
He hunched over on the floor, almost curled in a ball.
“Kian, what is the matter?” she asked, pushing on his shoulders to raise him up.
Whatever it was, she didn’t need him losing consciousness right now. At least not until he told her what to do. She poked and prodded on him, but it only took a moment for her to see what the real problem was.
