Tempest: The Renegade

Phase 5, part 3

The newly gained rage pushes me forward. Bureš is getting closer.

Crap, he runs into the absolute dark. I need some light. But before I can regard the problem further, I feel a sharp pain in my arm. I realize I'm not alone. Petra is up for a rematch.

"Come on, girl," I say. "I had a Fix just a day or so ago."

"There'll be no need for more 'fixing' once we're done," I hear her voice.

That's what I needed. Her voice lets me locate where she is and retreat into a safe distance. I reach for the shock rifle and pull the trigger. The blue bolt of lightning briefly illuminates the hallway, revealing Petra's position. She hisses at the sudden burst of light, but her knife is ready for combat. My advantage in this fight is Petra's broken arm, but still, one hand is enough for her to operate her deadly weapon.

Bureš, on the other hand, is gone. I guess I'll have to deal with this damn girl first.

I quickly adjust the aim and shoot in Petra's direction. She managed to move slightly, but the lightning bolt still manages to hit her hand holding a knife. The metal clanks on the floor as the girl dropped it and I also hear a muffled scream.

...

I take the chance and strike, but I have to rely solely on my intuition. However, Petra is a skilled fighter. She moved out of my reach and my punch just sweeps through the air, hitting nothing. On the other hand, Petra is lucky enough to kick me in the stomach, causing me to double over.

The following hook punch is sloppy but powerful enough to make me fall. I drop the shock rifle and the sound I catch tells me Petra has reclaimed her knife. I roll to the side just in time to avoid her attack, then I chain into a sweep kick which luckily connects with Petra's calf.

With her location revealed, I jump on my feet and execute a graceful spin kick. I don't know what part of Petra did I hit, but her anguished moan gives away it had to hurt a lot.

I leave her as she is, knowing she's incapacitated for a while, and run through the hall. I know my hopes to catch Bureš are pretty slim, but I have to try. Through the walls, I hear muffled sounds of the skirmish between Wardens and the Yeomen.

If I manage to catch and arrest the local Yeomen leader, the battle will be over. But it's still dark and I have no idea where to go. I guess I'm already lost inside. So I just continue randomly, hoping to at least get out of Petra's reach.

I try to catch the sound of Bureš's footsteps, but my own feet and the blood pulsating in my head make it hard. So I just have to suppose he was running straight. Damn, if I don't do something, they'll hunt me down like a deer in a game park.

I can't disappoint Jaroslav like this.

After a while, I see a faint light in the distance. Infused with the new hope, I run towards it. Maybe an army of thugs is expecting me there, but I don't mind at the moment. I can risk either them or Petra who is certainly after me again. That girl is starting to get on my nerves.

When I check the source of the light, I realize it's too late. All I see is a ladder which leads to a rather large manhole cover offering a way to the surface. Damn. It would be foolish of me to assume there was only one entry to the arena. There has to be at least one more since the workers need to get rid of the remains of the disassembled terraces.

This one seems to serve as an emergency exit. An exit Bureš used as intended.

Another bad news? This is a dead end. There have to be more of these manholes in the complex, so it means there are no additional paths to this one - paths I can possibly take to help my Warden colleagues in the arena. It would make more sense if I escaped through this hole, too, and tried to chase Bureš.