The siren was deafening. Red lights began to flash, painting the vault in blood-colors.
"We're blown!" Horg shouted, throwing a satchel of Ether-cells to a walker. "Door breach in three!"
BOOM.
The blast door buckled.
BOOM.
It flew off its hinges, slamming into the opposite wall.
Smoke poured in. Through the haze, five figures stepped into the room. They weren't regulars. They wore gold-trimmed armor and carried long, double-headed spears that cracked with lightning.
Praetorians.
"Heretics," the lead Praetorian announced, his voice amplified. "Surrender and be purged."
"Fire!" Horg yelled.
The Iron-Walkers opened up with crossbows and kinetic-sluggers. The bolts sparked harmlessly off the Praetorians' energy shields.
The Praetorians charged. They moved with magical speed, their spears blurring.
One walker went down, a spear burning a hole through his chest.
Kael stepped forward.
"Handle the squad," Kael ordered Horg. "I got the Captain."
The Praetorian Captain saw him. He saw the black arm.
"Abomination," the Captain sneered. He thrust his spear. A bolt of lightning arced toward Kael's heart.
Kael didn't dodge.
He raised the Obsidian arm.
The lightning hit his palm.
It didn't burn. It fed.
The arm drank the bolt, glowing a blinding white-hot. The Praetorian's eyes widened behind his helm.
"My turn," Kael said.
He released the energy. Not as a beam, but as a pulse. He slammed his fist into the ground.
A shockwave of void-lightning erupted outward. It shattered the floorplates. It knocked the other Praetorians off their feet.
The Captain staggered, his shield flickering.
Kael closed the distance. He swung his iron sword—not to cut, but to batter. He smashed the Captain's guard, driving him back.
The Captain tried to counter, but Kael caught the spear shaft with his Obsidian hand. The Star-metal of the spear groaned.
Snap.
Kael broke the weapon in half.
He drove his fist into the Captain's chestplate. The armor crumpled like foil. The Captain flew backward, crashing into a stack of empty crates. He didn't get up.
"Clear!" Kael shouted.
Horg and the walkers had finished off the disoriented squad.
"Rig the charges!" Kael ordered, grabbing a bag of cells. "We leave now!"
They set the timers on the overloaded Ether-cells. Three minutes to detonation.
"To the vents!" Horg yelled.