Dex Warrior (Libertas Online)

13: Mr. Bean

"What the heck am I doing?" Cassie asked herself aloud as she rounded the sidewalk corner. Ahead of her awaited the entrance ramp into the parking gate, where Dan and Scout were stranded on it's uppermost level. As she ran, the distinct humming sound of the Culicidae spacecraft was growing louder and deeper in tone as the ship grew closer. Ducking underneath the wooden gate arm and into the concrete death-trap, she saw it: through the open space between levels, the massive bulk of the alien ship lowered into view as it settled onto the opposite street. The black hull dully reflected the green glow of thrusters until the light winked out entirely, hissing as panels on its surface slid and unfolded into landing pads and boarding ramps.

Fear froze Cassie in her spot, leaving her paralyzed as she watched a squad of aliens rush down to the street, their armored feet clanging as they stomped. From head to toe, silver mechanical battle suits covered every inch of their bodies except for their faces. While Cassie had never seen them in person, she knew that huge, bug-like eyes were peering through those black visors, mandibles were chattering over radio signals between the troops, and a hungry proboscis waited to feed.

Shivers swept through her limbs. She shook the feeling off and ducked behind a car. As the creatures swept the street and began to make their way into the parking garage, she regretted ever having stepped into the building. Now that she was here, her mind raced as she tried to come up with a plan. There was no way she could take out such a large group of invaders. Even with Dan's help, she had her doubts. Swallowing her fear, she knew what she had to do.

Rising slowly, she rested the fore grip of her rifle on the blue car hood and took aim. Looking through the scope showed her just how much she was shaking. Holding in a deep breath, her involuntary movements stilled as the crosshairs settled into place. With a quiet sigh, she pulled the trigger. The gun snapped in her hands. The visor cracked, a pea-sized hole exposing the alien to its biggest threat: Earth's toxic atmosphere.

The alien dropped its gun and clawed at its helmet, a hushed screech emanating from inside the suit. It turned away from the others, doubling over in pain, but remaining on its feet. The shot from such a small rifle wasn't enough to kill them outright, especially after having to punch through whatever glass or plastic-like material protected their faces, but enough to damage an eye and break the air-tight seal of the suit. And in a place that echoed like a parking garage, the source of the sound of her gunshot would be nearly untraceable.

Relief washed over her when the alien she hit was taken up by two others, who rushed the wounded Culicidae back into the safety of their ship. The others stepped into the garage and spread out between the cars, footsteps thudding against the concrete as they feverishly began their search for her. Staying low, she took aim once more, but just as the crosshairs fell on the target that was facing her, the creature paused in place, then pointed a curled finger at her. Quickly, she fired, jerking the trigger and missing entirely.

A green bolt flew towards her, falling just short and slamming into the car hood. Pulsing green light bloomed for a fraction of a second, melting and disintegrating a circular chunk out of the metal and exposing the remaining half of the engine.

She cursed and ripped herself away from her perch, only to stumble and fall onto her backside. Frantically, she cycled the bolt of her gun, then realized how useless it now was. The black barrel ended like a melted rod, welded shut and six inches shorter than it was before. The disintegration blast had disabled her only weapon, but she tried to keep her calm and remind herself that taking them all out wasn't the goal. Getting their attention was, and now she had it.

With a surge, she rose and raced back towards the entrance she had come in through, pausing only briefly behind cover to confuse the creatures and throw off the timing of their shooting. Her shoes clomped through the garage. Sweat beaded on her forehead. Keeping vehicles between her and the attackers, their pop-shots whizzed around her harmlessly for the moment, but eventually they would get lucky.