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No sooner had the guard stepped into the tunnel than the wall exploded. The plasma struck him side-on and pinned him to the wall. His skin bubbled and exploded in a blaze of fire. Within moments, his atoms were vaporized.
The plasma drill ceased and moonlight swamped the tunnel. Soon, the Changeling soldiers would be flooding through it.
We needed to evacuate. There was no way to defend the Fallen Temple now.
I turned to my remaining guards.
“Head back to your chieftains!” I said. “Tell them to evacuate and meet us at the north entrance. I’ll meet you there.”
The guards refused. “It’s our sworn duty to protect the emperor. We cannot leave you undefended.”
“I’m surrounded by Titan warriors,” I said. “And your duty is to obey my orders. So, obey.”
They didn’t like it, but I was right. They saluted me and took off.
I squeezed Hazel’s hand and turned her around, taking her down another tunnel.
“Where are we going?” she said. “Are we leaving already?”
“There’s no way we can defend the base,” I said. “There are too many of them. And more will come.”
I turned down one tunnel after another, uncertain of which way to go. I only knew which direction we should head in.
Each time I came across a Titan soldier, I bellowed at them:
“Come with me! Evacuate through the north entrance!”
The Titans soldiers were well trained and, upon seeing who I was, obeyed immediately. They paused only to spread the order down each of the adjacent tunnels. Soon, I had a fighting force of three dozen, maybe more.
Damn the Changelings! Damn them all to hell!
When would we get a lucky break? When would we be allowed to find our footing and attack them in earnest?
When?
Soon. But first, we have to escape.
We entered the final stretch that would take us to the north exit. The warriors watched our rear.
Chitter.
Chitter. Chitter.
They were coming toward us. Soon, they would swarm.
I took Hazel and the fighters down another tunnel, and another, attempting to work our way around the approaching Changelings.
Each time, we ran into their ugly chitter of excitement. They were already beginning to swarm and block the exits. We needed to act fast if we wanted to get out of there alive.
I grabbed the Titan beside me. He was young—too young—with large brown eyes and a beard that hadn’t fully come in yet.
“We’re going to have to fight our way out of here,” I said. “Gather the others. We’re going to set up a perimeter here and at the end of this tunnel. Wait for them to head toward us. We’ll open fire first, then you cover their retreat. And give me that.”
He handed me his blaster pistol. I checked the fuel cell.
It was half empty.
It was good enough.
