Escaping The Martian Lair

The Martian and the Hero sprint out of the Martian’s throne room, tearing through the door and down the hall. A sea of martians pour out behind them. The lights of the Fortress shine a stark white now and alarm bells echo off the walls. The Hero struggles to run, a sharp jolt of pain wracks the Hero’s sides as he scrambles down the hall. The Rocket isn’t in much better shape, a small trickle of blood flows from the gash in the Rocket’s crumpled armor. It is not enough blood loss for immediate concern, but the Rocket’s mangled shoulder hangs useless at his side.

The stream of martians are closing in on the two heroes, crawling on all-fours and growling ravenous growls. The Rocket grasps at his utility belt and pulls off a metallic ball. 

“This is to short-circuit robots, but we’ll see if this works,” chokes out The Rocket, breathless as he runs for his life.  The Rocket drops the metallic ball behind him as the two heroes continue down the hall. The martians give chase but as they close in on the ball, several streams of bright blue electricity arc from the ball, grounding on the martians’ visors and metallic armor. The martians hiss and scream in agony as high-powered electricity courses through them, tearing at their visors and armor, seeking relief in vain. The scene causes the unaffected martians to briefly waiver in their pursuit, allowing The Rocket to turn and fire off several bursts from his laser rifle to further suppress the martians’ advance and give the two heroes a bit more of a lead.

The Rocket turns the corner and finds himself alone. The Rocket looks around searching for any sign of the Hero. He continues down the hall, looking for the Hero, when suddenly someone pulls him back into a dark room. The Hero stands in the darkness, motioning for the Rocket to remain quiet. A few seconds later, a stampede of martian crash down the hallway, neglecting to notice the two heroes crouched in the shadows. The heroes wait a few seconds and move toward the door when they notice the Martian stalking down the hall. The Hero motions for the Rocket to wait. The Hero waits until the Martian comes even with the door, before activating his suit’s jets and crashing into him. The Hero wildly slashes, opening up an expansive gash on The Martian’s leg. The Martian shrieks a horrifying shriek, struggling to stand on his injured leg, as The Hero and the Rocket run away down the hall.

“ART we’re going to need a quick pick up,” says the Rocket, looking behind him to see the martian pursuit had been renewed.

“We’ll be ready, sir,” replies ART.

The pair of heroes enter the landing bay to see the Phoenix Dawn hovering at the edge of the landing zone. The entry is opened and the access ramp is extended, the Scribe stands in the opening holding an intimidating laser weapon. The weapon is a multi-barrelled automatic heavy laser rifle. The Scribe pulls the trigger, unleashing a stream of laser fire, pushing back the wave of oncoming martians.

“Yeh-hes, let’s go Scribe,” cheers the Hero. However, the recoil begins to shake the Scribe, causing his aim to sway erratically. Laser bolts fly in every direction, some striking parked space vessels, some strike energy cells causing numerous explosions that scatter the charging martians, and some fly toward the Rocket and Hero, causing them to take cover to avoid the laser fire.

“STOP HELPING,” calls the Rocket.

The Scribe lets off the trigger and the two heroes continue their escape, making it to the ship. The Phoenix Dawn pulls away from the landing bay, rotating to where the front of the ship faces back towards the fortress. Two missiles spring forward, crashing into the landing bay, bathing it in hot fire.

“For extra insurance,” says ART as the Phoenix Dawn roars away.