Unity by Carl Stubblefield (epub read online books TXT) 📕

on this? She felt like she was on an ice-skating rink. Hanging onto Grimdark’s arm, they skirted around the dueling pair. As Prime saw the two, she nodded and somehow managed to attack with even more fury, arms and legs blurring as she pummeled the orderly from all angles.

As they made their way out of the room, there was a crowd and they were caught in it as it pushed for the exits. Harmony was perplexed to smell actual smoke as those from behind surged forward, pressing her into Grimdark and those around her.

She felt claustrophobic and struggled to maintain her feet as her arms were pressed to her sides. Supers jostled from all sides and the acrid smell of sweat and adrenaline filled her nostrils. The mass staggered drunkenly as it pushed. Those from behind cramming the others into each other. Sometimes those in front didn’t or couldn’t move, and it felt difficult to breathe as she was squeezed in a vice of human bodies. A super nearby activated some kind of electrical attack and those around him crumpled.

This relieved some of the pressure and the crowd rushed to fill the void, uncaring that people were being trampled in the process. Harmony hoped that they were resilient enough not to be hurt, but knew that some would be like her, talented in some ways, but not that much stronger than a reg physically.

Once powers had been used, it was like a spark in a powder keg. Different abilities triggered back and forth, creating pockets around those supers and Harmony felt herself carried along. Her feet tripped as she was dragged over someone lying prone, and it was only the tightness of the bodies around her that kept her aloft. That and Grimdark’s vice-like grip on her upper arm.

He was focused and determined as he tried to gauge where the group was going to move in order to best follow and avoid fighting the flow. Harmony definitely could smell smoke now, and an orange glow was reflected along one of the walls. With a tug, he pulled her toward one of the exits. She was pushed uncomfortably into the metal door frame but then they rolled out through the doorway.

Grimdark continued to guide her towards the side, getting out of the path of the stampede. Harmony drew in gasps of blessedly fresh air. Grimdark didn’t let her stop though, dragging her further and further away from the building. Looking over her shoulder, she could see black smoke curling into the air. The realization that her makeup ploy had done nothing dawned upon her, and she got a chill thinking about what would have happened to her.

She could only sense urgency and determination from Grimdark, no fear. Did the alarm disturb the process? She could feel him again, so she assumed it must have. But who had set the fire?

Chapter Seventy

Doom Crossing: Eternal Horizons

“I’ll work on that crafting and provide a distraction,” Aurora suggested as she turned to her mentor. “Rory, you should probably stay here, we don’t know how you’ll react out there.”

“He can watch over me,” Yuki suggested, “I’m going to try to enter the system from here and see if I can beat the Faction AI. If I can, I should be able to get some answers, as well as hopefully modding how the sensors track us.”

“I’m on extraction,” Darik offered, “but I need to find them first. That’s going to be a little difficult in a crowd.” He looked at the others questioningly.

“Don’t worry. I can help with that.” Anastasia raised her hand.

“Okay. We all meet back here after we find Harmony and Grimdark?” When the assent was mutual, Darik offered his arms, elbows bent and Aurora and Anastasia reluctantly locked arms, this time all facing the same direction. “We run toward that wall. Not too fast, mind you; you two are taller than me. Got it?” They trotted off, a portal opening a second before they hit the wall, swallowing them and irising shut.

Yuki turned to Rory. “Just make sure my head is supported, I can tend to thrash about if things get dicey in there. Once I even gave myself a concussion.” She took off her hoodie and balled it up under her head as she laid down. With a deep breath, she reached up to the port, extended her cables, and connected with the system.

There was the usual sensation of falling, but gravity didn’t reinstate itself like it normally did. It was there, but much weaker than normal. Green-tinged light filtered through the canopy. Rich, earthy smells permeated the air, dust and pollen floated in the swath of a light that shone unimpeded through a tiny breach in the leaves overhead. Nearing a branch, Yuki grabbed it and propelled herself upward with a light shove.

She felt like a fairy as she sailed through the peaceful, sylvan environment. The feeling was so freeing. Aurora was lucky that flying was in her power set. It felt so relaxing. The arc of her floating path allowed her to land atop a thick branch. Some thick moss-like plant covered the bark, cushioning her light steps. At the end of the branch, a cute animal held a small purple fruit in its little paws. It cocked its head and looked at her quizzically.

So adorable! It had a long tail and a fluffy chest, with little stripe rings along its back and tail. The little paws looked like tiny hands as it turned the fruit, gauging what she would do. While she had never seen one in real life, this animal resembled a lemur. A sudden cross wind blew, and Yuki had to hold on to the trunk of the tree as its intensity increased. The mossy covering easily peeled away as she slid, and she had to struggle a bit to pull enough off to dig her fingers into the gnarled bark underneath and get a grip.

The diminished gravity made it harder to cling to