Disclaimer: The Terminator and all concepts therein is a product of James
Cameron and Jonathan Mostow. Ranma and Akane belong to Rumiko Takahashi. The
Knight Sabers, Largo, AD Police, Boomers, Genom belong to their
respective creators.
Synopsis: A Ranma/Terminator/BGC crossover with elements of ??? thrown
in. An anime fan (my friend Gamill who was really annoyed when he was left out of the Rise of the Machines story) is thrown with Ranma Saotome into the BGC universe. This is their story and that of the Knight Sabers. I'm not in, though, so I can do anything I want to Gamill .... Hehehehehe ....... ^_^
Many people take freedom and self-determination from slavery for granted these days. They forget, however, like everything else, freedom has a price. It varies from individual to individual. For some, freedom comes at a high price. A high price, that no one should ever be made to pay. For example, let's examine this scenario.
In countless BGC timelines, five attractive females of mating age were often seen trying to escape their slavery in a vast space station. In every single one of these timelines, they would fail, yet they never gave up. Three would fall before they had even left the station while the remaining two would inevitably die just as they had acquired their freedom. A tragic irony. Can anything be done to change the outcome?
************WITH A GREAT MANY THANKS TO CROSSOVER INC.
In an anonymous timeline ..... a gentle voice spoke .....
"I wish ... to be ... with ... the man of ... my life." The words left the lips of a woman lying on the bed as a beautiful light engulfed her dying form. All those around her cried out in surprise as her body vanished before their eyes. Tears were wept for the oldest sister that had done so much and gained so little. Wherever she had gone, her family and friends wished that it was for a better place.
On board a large station in deep space, where men in uniforms run to and fro across the station .... where all sorts of illicit deals and services are being traded and conducted .... a conversation is taking place ... deep within the confines of the 'relaxation' wing of Genaros ...
"I can't stand this anymore!" a female voice cried. "If I stay here any longer, I'm going to get a mental breakdown! The men here ... they're nothing but animals! All they ever say is 'Faster, faster, faster ...', 'Suck my d***' or 'mmm, mmm, mmm' and do nothing but sex, sex and more sex!" the female voice continued.
"Bear with it for just one more day. I managed to contact three others like us. One of them's got an escape plan from this hell hole. Please ... " a second female voice whispered as she approached the first female.
"I hope so. I don't think I can take any more of this c***!" the first female voice replied as she began to sniff. "Please don't cry ...., " the second female pleaded with a soothing voice as she wrapped her arms around her companion to comfort her when ...
************************SYLVIE AS THE BU-33S NO.1
the door opened behind them. "Aha! There you are! Being looking for you everywhere! Naughty! Naughty! So anxious to start, already, eh? Without me no less?" the voice belonging to that of a man sneered when he spotted the two females. "For that you must be punished! On the other hand ... let's make it a threesome!" the man replied, his voice growing stern.
"No ... Get off me! You human animal!" the voice belonging to the first female shrieked. SMACK! "Mind repeating that again?" the man asked, cruelty evident in his voice. There was silence. SMACK! A second slap sounded through the room. "I said 'Repeat what you just said.' b****," the man replied softly, a dangerous tone in his voice. BAP! The sound of a kick hitting a body. "Anri! Stop hurting her!" the second female voice cried out as she leaped towards the man tackling him to the ground.
"You f******* c***s! I owned you! Got it?" the man shouted as he rolled over the second woman and tried to punch her in the face only to fall over in a heap as the first woman clubbed in the back of the head with a crowbar. Blood pooled in his mouth as he rolled over ... "Anri ... he's dead! You killed him!" the second woman cried out as checked the man for a pulse.
************************ANRI**AS**THE BU-33S NO.2
"Kami-sama! I didn't mean that! I thought he was going to hurt you, Sylvie!" the first woman replied. "It's too late already! We got to hide this body! If the others find out he's dead, we'll be in for it. Anyway, we've got to get out now!" the second woman replied as she searched the man's clothes for any useful items that might helped them in their escape.
"Access card. Common let's go." Sylvie said as she slid the card through the access port. The door opened to reveal a corridor. The two Sexaroids quickly made their way through it. "How well do you know the place Sylvie?" the other Sexaroid asked as she hardly ever left her room. "Well enough. Kaufman used to bring me around to show me off to his associates," Sylvie replied. It was a well-known fact that Sexaroids were not allowed to wander out of their 'bedchambers' unescorted for their 'personal safety'.
"Where are you going?"
"To find the others. We have to leave together. There won't be a second chance. If they are not getting out with us now, they will never get out."
"Meg's room."
"Meg?"
"I met her when Kaufman brought her into my room for 'recreational' purposes."
"I see."
"There it is."
************************LOU**AS**THE**BU-33S NO.3
Inserting the access card into the slot, the door slid opened to reveal ... a beautiful, picture-perfect woman in the nude chained to the bed. A naked man was fondling and rubbing his lubricated body against the woman's with wild abandon. "Hmm ...? I don't remember asking for any extra 'girlfriends' for the night," the man commented, a look of surprise on his face. "But you're welcomed all the same," he continued as the look of surprise on his face turned to that of lust.
The Sexaroid's eyes glowed red and the man collapsed to the ground in a fit. "Sylvie ... what are you doing here?"
"We're leaving now."
"I thought that was for tomorrow."
"We have a problem. Anri killed Mr. Lowe by accident instead of knocking him out. If security finds out about this, neither of us is going to live to see tomorrow. How do we untie you?"
"The keys for the handcuffs are in his pocket." the bound Sexaroid said as Sylvie searched the man's pockets and found the keys.
In no time at all, she had opened Meg's handcuffs and soon the freed Sexaroid was putting on her form-fitting clothes.
The three Sexaroids had not gone far when two sentry guards passed by from a nearby junction.
"Where are your escorts? No Sexaroids are allowed to go unescorted around the base."
"Kaufman ordered us to go to him."
"Kaufman?"
"Despatch here. Put me in to Kaufman. There's this group of ... Sylvie says that she was asked to go to find you. Just confirming ... Agghhh!" the guard shouted as he fell to ground after Sylvie speared him in the chest. Taking advantage of the guards' confusion, Anri struck the second guard with her crowbar. He went down without a sound.
The first sentry guard struggled with Sylvie on the ground. He reached for his handgun and fired. It missed by a wide margin as Sylvie kneed him in the groin. He dropped the weapon and threw the Sexaroid into the wall with his free arm. "Ahh!" Sylvie cried as she hit the wall. The first guard quickly reached for his weapon but was beaten to it by a nasty blow from a crowbar into his arm. "You f******* b****! You hurt my arm!" he groaned in pain as he kicked out with his legs at Anri, throwing her into Meg.
************************NAM**AS**THE**BU-33S NO.5
The two Sexaroids collided to fall into a heap on the ground. The guard grabbed his handgun only to have something struck him on the head. Barely conscious, he could only fire wildly as his vision blacked out.
"Holy s***!" a male voice exclaimed, disrupting the silence of the corridor. It came from another pair of passing SDPC guards. The first one raised his weapon to fire only to be taken down first by a shot from Meg who had acquired the second guard's handgun.
Meanwhile, the second guard had pulled out his intercom relaying a message to the central computer. "Mayday! Mayday! Do you read me? We have a situation here. There's been a breakout in Sector C. I repeat .... there's been a breakout in Sector C. Copy over. Alert all SDPC personnel to apprehend the three BU-33S Sexaroid models identified as Meg, Sylvie and Anri. They are currently armed and ... AIIEEE! " the guard screamed as he was shot.
Red lights blinked in the Genaros station as the emergency siren wailed through the base. Inside a high-tech laboratory doing research on illegal technology, a pair of eyes belonging to a stunningly beautiful, well-curved, naked woman with tresses of cyan hair spilling down her shoulders to the chest opened. "Oh my!" Were the first words that left the mouth of the woman as she got up on the steel table and discovered her rather awkward state of undress.
************************KASUMI TENDO AS THE BU-66S
Here and there, guards in SDPC uniforms got to their feet and began scrambling for weapons before heading for sector C. In a corridor wide enough to accomodate three personnel passing through it at one time .... an SDPC officer could be seen running to his locker to get his weapons.
He remained blissfully unaware of the fact that the nicely tiled floor that he had stepped on earlier, had shifted behind him ...... like a pool of water being pulled inwards towards the center, only much smoother with no eddies ...... and had taken on an untarnished, reflective, metal-like shine as it rose upwards to form ...... a humanoid figure identical to that of the SDPC officer.
"Coming over," he replied and was about to go when he heard a sound from the back. Instinctively, he turned around ....... to see a mirror of himself looking at him in the eye. "What .." he stammered in shock upon seeing his double. The double in front of him moved quickly, dropping the officer to the ground without a sound and then methodically stripping the officer of all his weapons and communications equipment before dumping the unconscious officer into the man-sized locker he had opened.
**********************RANMA SAOTOME AS THE T-1000
Ranma had been here for half an hour already. At his dimensional-travelling companion's behest. The T-1000 clearly recalled the conversation he had with his fellow Terminator and dimensional traveller a week ago from this very moment.
"Ranma, there's a favour I need to ask of you. It concerns the lives of five people that have been born into slavery. I need you to get them out of Genaros."
"Be more specific."
"Their names are Lou, Meg, Nam, Sylvie and Anri. They are BU-33S models."
"Why do you want me to help a bunch of boomers? Boomers are nothing but trouble," Ranma argued.
***********************REIKO AYUMI AS THE T-X(E)
"The Sexaroid models are not like any of the other boomer designs, Ranma. They were not designed for war. Another thing, they are also sentient compared to the other boomer designs. Like the two of us. You are a machine. So am I. We're weapons of war designed to wipe out humanity from the face of existence. But we're not tearing up the entire world, are we? Those BU-33S are not either, but they're treated little better than animals. You will understand once you get on board the station."
"Fine then, where is this Genaros place?"
"Up there ... in deep space."
"How do I get up there?"
"There's a regular shuttlecraft taking off in a week's time at 9.00 pm Eastern Standard time to Genaros. Unfortunately, the launchpad for the shuttlecraft is in Los Alamo, Texas, so you'll have to take a chartered flight to America."
"I don't have any ID. I can't go in as a regular passenger. I would be arrested on sight as a boomer before I even got to the plane."
"I never said that you were going on the plane as a passenger, Ranma."
A Japanese man in airport security uniform loaded a large crate containing scientific instruments into the cargo hold of plane for a flight bound for Los Alamos, Texas in the United States.
*********************AKIRA NAGATA AS THE BU-99CX1
The flight took six hours all in all to get to Los Angeles International Airport. and another hour to Dallas, Texas. Workers came in and unloaded the various cargo to their respective destinations. "Inbound scientific instruments for Los Alamos Laboratory," a voice spoke and a few men came forward and pushed the crate into a van. The van took off down the road towards the highway for Los Alamos, Texas.
Meanwhile, inside the crate, a shiny, metallic, jello-like substance had begun to ooze through the bars of the crate to pool onto the floor of the van. The shiny and polished 'metal jello' coalesced together to form a kneeling girl with shoulder-length red hair clad in casual sportswear in front of the crate. She slowly made her way to the doors on her knees before ramming her body at it.
Just as she expected, the doors were thrown open with a loud crash and she fell out of the delivery van onto the hard unyielding, rough surface of the road. It was already night. The road appeared deserted of vehicles for the moment. Getting to her feet, she looked around. Less than sixty meters away was a signboard that read '20 km to Los Alamos'. She stepped to the side of the road and waited.
Those were the sounds of motorcycles. Harley Davidsons to be exact. Eight of them from the sound of it, 98% chance probability, her database informed her. The girl waited patiently for them like a predator awaiting its prey. The group of motorcycles passed her before stopping right in front of her. "Check out the babe!" a male voice hooted. "What's the name, hon?" another voice called. "You all alone by yourself at this hour? It's not safe out here ..." the man smirked. The girl grinned evilly before saying, "I know." There was a flurry of action and then, silence.
A few minutes later ...
A man in a black jacket could be seen riding a big bike down the highway towards Los Alamos, Texas. Ranma had discarded his female guise, now, that it was no longer necessary. Despite having never ridden a bike before, Ranma found that he could ride it like a professional thanks to the progammed skills he had in his database courtesy of Skynet. As he sped down the highway on the bike, he found that he enjoyed the degree of freedom and autonomy it gave him.
The peaceful interlude continued until something caught his eye. A large truck labelled SDPC passed by him accompanied by two squad cars of SDPC personnel. They appeared to be heading towards the launch site. Ranma decided to follow suit. "Fellas ... Am I seeing things or does that guy on the bike appear to be following us?" One of the guards in the squad cars pointed out. "One way to find out ... Hey DZ-2, come in .." his companion replied.
"DZ-2 here. What's up, man?"
"I think we've got a possible suspect with questionable intentions following us on Highway 16."
"Is that so? Prepare standard procedure using Plan A. Continue as though nothing happened. Over."
When the convoy of SDPC vehicles arrived at a junction, instead of proceeding straight to Los Alamos, they turned left off the highway.
This incident did not go unnoticed by the man on the bike. He continued down the Highway until his vision revealed a disturbing sight down the road. Through visual enhancement magnification, he was able to make out a large roadblock ahead. 'Ambush. ' he thought, bringing the bike to a stop as he evaluated his options .....
OPTION 1: USE ANOTHER ROAD .. ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL DELAYED BY 30
******************************MINUTES DUE TO LONGER ROUTE.
OPTION 2: HITCHHIKE .. 45% CHANCE SUCCESS RATIO.
********************.. 90% CHANCE SUCCESS RATIO IF FEMALE GUISE USED.
OPTION 3: TAKE OUT THE ROADBLOCK .. 80% CHANCE SUCCESS RATIO.
*********************************.. SUCCESS RATIO HALVED IF NON-LETHAL
************************************METHODS USED.
OPTION 4: HIJACK NEW VEHICLE .. 95% CHANCE SUCCESS RATIO.
Ranma waited from his hidden position on the hill for a suitable vehicle to use. The first was a family van. He deemed it unsuitable as there were a couple and three children in it. The second, however, was suitable as there was only one person in the vehicle. Furthermore it was large, able to crash through road barriers if necessary. Having selected his target, the martial artist leaped towards it. The landing was just right as he landed on top of the trailer. The driver not suspecting a thing, continued along the highway.
After checking his identity, the SDPC personnel simply led the undescript driver of the trailer through. Once, safely past the road block and out of sight of the SDPC guards manning it, the door of the trailer opened.
"What?" came the voice of the surprised driver as a man in sunglasses and black jacket sat beside him.
"Nothing personal, mate. But I need your vehicle," the man replied as he struck the driver with one clean blow, knocking him out instantly.
The man's shape and colours rippled like mercury before shifting to match those of the unconscious trailer driver as he took over the wheel of the vehicle and brought it to a stop. Opening the door, he lifted and threw the body of the trailer driver out of the vehicle into the nearby bushes. Stepping on the pedal, he sent the vehicle on its merry way.
It was a fine day to launch a rocket into deep space. There were no clouds in the sky and the sun was shining bright. Birds were chirping happily in the air and there was a gentle breeze blowing.
"Dad! I want to be an astronaut when I grow up! To be an explorer. To discover new life and new civillisations. To go where no one has gone before." the sound of a young boy watching the rocket at the launchsite cheered.
"Who knows, Jean-Luc? One day you might get the chance," came the reply.
"Bojeur!" a voice spoke interrupting the conversation between the boy and his father.
"Bojeur! So you speak French?" the father queried.
"A little. Took me quite a while to learn it. Nice looking boy you got there. I'm Ben Richardson. What's yours?" the stranger replied.
"Mr. Francois Picard. This is my son Jean-Luc Picard," the father said.
"Good day for a launch, eh?" the stranger said.
"Excellent day. The shuttle will launch in two hours."
"Dad! Can I go in? Just a quick look?"
"No. You would have to get permission from Colonel Sanders first to take a look around the launchsite."
"Hello Monsieur Picard. How are you doing?"
"Captain Henri Bernoulli. Good to see you."
"My son, Jean-Luc wants to have a look at the shuttlecraft. Is it okay for him to take a look?"
"Sure ... As he long as he is cleared off the launchsite before it takes off."
"Who is this?"
"This man is Monsieur Ben Richardson. We just met."
"Good to meet you."
"Well gentlemen, what are we waiting for? Common ... " the captain spoke as he led the two men and the six-year old boy to the shuttlecraft. The work crew were already loading the cargo into the shuttlebay.
After watching the workcrew for half an hour, the boy asked for the restroom and the captain granted his permission. The three men continued to talk until the Captain led them back to the entrance of the base.
Later ....
"Dad! You promised to take me to visit the shuttle!"
"I already did!"
"But Dad, I never followed you around today."
"Nonsense son! We showed you around the shuttlecraft already."
"But I haven't really gone inside."
"Jean-Luc! You shouldn't tell lies to your Dad. Ask Monsieur Richardson and Captain Bernoulli. They were together with me when you went with us to the shuttlecraft."
"But Dad! I didn't go to visit the shuttlecraft yet!"
"Enough my son!"
Elsewhere ... a kid identical to the kid outside the base turned liquid silver as he began to grow in height. Soon, the features of a blond man with piercing eyes in work crew uniform formed on the polished metal substance followed by the proper colours in the right places. Disguised as one of the workcrew now, Ranma, had no trouble going to the cargo bay of the shuttlecraft.
Normally, a T-1000 was only able to assume the form of an object of equal mass or size. This limitation had never been overcome by any of the T-1000s Skynet had built. But Ranma was not your typical T-1000 and thus, he refused to accept those limitations placed upon him. When he spotted the kid and his dad at the launchsite, he knew this was his best chance of gaining access to the shuttlecraft as the workcrew were isolated from the outside by a high wall and a large electric fence.
Originally, Ranma had opted to enter the base in his liquid metal form but he dismissed as being too risky. Any mistake on his part could trigger the base's alarm systems and that could delay the launching of the shuttlecraft. Something he could not afford. He had also thought of the Umisenken but it was also highly risky as he did not know what defences against intruders the base had.
In the end, Ranma had finally settled for a human guise to enter the base. He first thought of going in as a courier but dismissed the idea as they were being scanned heavily before being allowed entrance. Finally, he had seen a family coming to the launchsite, hanging at the base entrance as if they were waiting for someone.
After careful consideration, Ranma decided to replace the kid that he saw.
After all, what better disguise there was than a young child of six years old? An adult was more likely to attract attention, subsequently arousing suspicion than a six-year-old kid. The problem was that the kid was a little too small in size and mass for him to change into. So Ranma improvised by pushing half of the liquid metal of his body into subspace using Mousse's Hidden Weapons Technique. It proved surprisingly effective as he was finally able to assume the kid's form with his remaining mass.
Upon entering the launchsite, it was a simple matter of gaining access to the shuttlecraft as one of the workmen helping to load and unload supplies and machines into the cargo bay. Few paid the extra workman any attention at all upon his entrance to the cargo bay to 'help' with the loading and fewer still cared enough to realise that the workman had not left the cargo bay after all the other workers had exited. No one, however, noticed that a section of the wall and the floor of the cargo bay had climbed slightly by a couple of millimeters for a few square meters in the area farthest away from the doorway when it closed.
The trip to Genaros was mostly uneventful. Ranma practiced shifting from one form to another to keep from getting bored. He had to admit, though that acquiring the body of a T-1000 was the best thing that had ever happened to him in his life as he was now able to shapechange into just about anything he wanted at will.
Something he had never been able to accomplish or do had he stayed human. In fact, he seriously doubted that there was a martial arts master alive who was able to duplicate the shapechanging ability that the T-1000 was capable of. Not to mention, he was able to see clearly in total darkness. Thanks to his enhanced visual systems. For now he was content with waiting in the cargo hold of the shuttlecraft with all these machinery and supplies.
An hour and a half later ... the doors to the cargo hold opened. Workmen arrived to unload the large crates containing the machines and supplies onto large transport vehicles. As soon as he came into physical contact with one of the workmen, he assumed the man's form and knocked him out with a precise blow to the head before stuffing the body into subspace, once again using Mousse's Hidden Weapons Technique.
Disguised as one of the regular work crew, Ranma was able to move unnoticed along the Genaros space station as the other workers moved to and fro across the landing bay, attending to the shuttlecraft docked in. His eyes took in a large combat vehicle as it was pushed into the shuttlecraft. Somewhere along the body of the vehicle were the words 'DD Battlemover'. To keep up his work crew guise, Ranma carried a few things from the shuttlecraft and headed towards the entrance that read 'F-3'. There was a transport vehicle just ahead.
As he placed the things from the shuttlecraft into the transport vehicle, one of the workmen came towards him. "Dude! Want to follow Eric and me? We're going to the relaxation wing of the station."
"Relaxation wing?"
"Yeah .... I heard they were preparing a new Sexaroid for us guys to try out."
"Really ... " Ranma replied feigning disinterest.
"Common dude! They're letting us try her for free."
"Does it have a name?" Ranma asked, letting his interest show .... slightly.
"No. They haven't told me the details yet. Still interested?" the workman asked eagerly.
"What are we waiting for, fellas? Let's go!" Ranma replied enthusiastically so as not to arouse suspicion.
The trip did not take long. Upon arrival at the main gate, Ranma took care to memorize the details of the layout of the station. Together, the trio made their way to the 'relaxation' wing. Not wanting to follow his companions any further unless absolutely necessary, Ranma broke away from them at the first chance he got. Passing by a ventilation shaft, he opened it up and stuffed the body of the workman he had been carrying in subspace into it.
He was just in time. Not long after that, he spotted a group of heavily armed security personnel moving through the area as though they were searching for something or someone. Instinctively, he pulled a disappearing act by moving into the floor of the corridor. Ranma waited as silently and patiently as only a disguised T-1000 could until they had left the area. That was when the alarm went off and a uniformed guard entered to get his weapons. Now was his chance.
What better way to move around the space station during a crisis without arousing suspicion than as one of the security personnel? He had quickly copied the guard's form and taken him out without a sound. Normally, the subject being copied ended up dead but Ranma was able to suppress the command to kill. He had simply stuffed the guard into his man-sized locker and locked it up after stripping him of all useful items.
Ranma quickly made his way towards his destination, guided by the map in the hallway and the sounds of fighting and gunshots as he closed in on the area.
There, he was joined by two more SDPC security guards who each carried sniper rifles.
"You, you and you! Come with me!" a voice shouted in a commanding tone.
"We've got those three god**** boomers pinned in Shaft C-3. There's only two ways to leave Shaft C-3. They can go through Shaft D-3 which our men our guarding or back the way they came from. Shaft B-3. The group of us are going to come at them through Shaft B-2. We'll take them out in the crossfire, men. No high energy weapons or weapons with high explosive power. We don't want to cause explosive decompression. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir!" the three SDPC guards chorused in reply.
"Then, let's go," the man said.
Ranma quickly followed the men as they made their way to Shaft B-2.
The corridor was riddled with bullets as SDPC personnel opened fire on the three fugitive Sexaroids. The three Sexaroids did not remain idle and fired back on the SDPC guards in return. "S***! They've completely blocked the entrance to Shaft D-3!" Sylvie shouted as she fired another shot at the SDPC guards taking their positions in front of them.
Hearing footsteps behind them, Meg turned around to groan in dismay to see a group of four SDPC personnel coming in from behind. Like a harbinger of doom, the SDPC guards in black body armour advanced forward in clockwork precision, drawing their weapons simultaneously in anticipation of combat.
"Sylvie! Anri! They're coming at us from behind!" Meg cried in alarm as two of the SDPC guards released the safeties on their weapons to open fire on the fugitive Sexaroids. Gasping in disbelief, she opened her mouth slightly as the third SDPC guard shoved both his companions aside into the wall before turning around to hit the SDPC officer behind him.
Raising his weapon, he pointed it at them and spoke two words that echoed through the corridor, "Get down." Although they had just met, the three Sexaroids had the strange feeling they could trust this man and threw themselves to the ground, closing their eyes and covering their ears with their hands as they did so.
BOOM! A loud thundering explosion echoed through the corridor. Then silence. Opening their eyes to look around, Meg, Sylvie and Anri saw that all the SDPC personnel blocking the entrance to Shaft D-3 were lying in various postions and postures on the ground. Some motionless, without a sound, and some struggling on their hands and knees, groaning in pain. Whatever it was, it certainly was not a good day being an SDPC soldier.
THOOM! THOOM! THOOM! The sound of gunshots ringing through the hallway from the back followed by the sounds of impact against something squishy. All three Sexaroids who had opened their eyes were treated to a most unusual sight. The SDPC officer who had helped them earlier by taking out the SDPC guards in the corridor had a large shiny, metallic hole in the left side of his face where his eye used to be. "Run!" he shouted as he turned around and opened fire with his weapon.
As their mysterious helper turned around to deal with his assailants, they saw two more similar-looking holes in the back of his body. The holes were already getting smaller as they got to their feet. The one question going through their heads as they ran towards Shaft D-3 was ... What in the world was that thing? They were not alone in that thinking. The SDPC personnel facing the lone 'renegade' SDPC officer were also thinking the exact same thing before darkness claimed their vision.
Note: As you've guessed it, this is not the actual Part 2. This chapter takes place far into the future compared with part 1. The actual Part 2 is having a bit of a jam. So I'm posting this first ... ^_^.
