Argh!
Agnar rolled across the sand, narrowly dodging the strike. He got on his feet and sprinted without looking back. The ground beneath him rippled like water, another centipede set to emerge.
He jumped aside just in time.
Agnar drew his SMX rifle and fired in rapid bursts. Red sparks ricocheted off the creature's exoskeleton.
No damage? How's that possible?!
In that moment of confusion a centipede whipped its body and hammered into him, sending him tumbling through the air. He crashed into the sand, skipping across the surface, and barely managed to stabilize himself mid-air enough to soften the impact. He was slow to get up to his feet.
He coughed, his breath shaky.
"That would've killed me without the suit's shield."
All around them the battlefield burned with gunfire and chaos. Contestants emptied magazines desperately trying to hold the swam back.
"How many are there!?" someone screamed.
"Get off the sand they're tracking our movement through it!" another shouted.
"Oh great, how are we supposed to do that, we're surrounded by sand" someone snapped back sarcastically.
A figure suddenly shot upward like a fired bullet air spiraling around her. From her rifle a flash of intense pale blue light cut through the air.
The centipede's head split in two, spraying black goo across the battlefield.
Stunned gasps replaced the noise of gunfire.
"No way... is she even human?" a man whispered.
"How did she generate that much power?" another murmured.
Bjorn's voice cut through the awe.
"Don't just stand there. KEEP SHOOTING!"
The others snapped back to reality, launching fresh attacks.
A centipede lunged behind Bjorn, its mandibles positioned for the kill.
But before it struck
BOOOOOM!
A beam of blue energy tore through its head. The creature collapsed in pieces.
Bjorn spun, eye narrowing.
"It's you!"
Ash smirked, his rifle slung over one shoulder.
"Don't get sloppy, old dude."
"And don't get cocky," Bjorn shot back, while reloading more rounds.
He glanced at the head up display interface overlaying his vision.
"The suit locked onto our trackers and we can tell the location of everyone."
Ash checked his tracker screen.
"Yh, you're right".
The battlefield pulsed with explosions, dust filling up the air.
"It says someone is far away from the group". Ash called out.
"I know who that is. Your dark-haired friend." said Bjorn
Ash voice went thin with disbelief. "Agnar?! How are you so sure?"
"I noticed too late but he wasn't behind me when I caught up with the group" Bjorn answered while still firing.
"You think he's down? We need to go get him". Ash's tone sharpened.
"If he's alone out there, he's already dead," someone yelled.
Bjorn ignored them.
"Cover me. I'll go back him up."
Ash nodded instantly.
"Then move. I'll clear you a path!"
He rocketed upward, fists glowing, raining down blasts with precision clearing a path through the swarm for Bjorn.
Bjorn inhaled, muscles twitching.
Then he sprinted into the storm of bodies and sand straight toward the last ping form Agnar's tracker.
Boom. Boom. Boom
Each impact behind Agnar rippled through the ground, throwing off his balance as he ran. Every step felt like it could be his last.
"Since I had this suit on I haven't felt any different," Agnar said to himself between breath.
Boom.
A centipede burst from the sand in front of him. It slammed its head and torso into him with brutal speed and landed a direct hit.
The impact sent him skyward
Mid-air, another centipede struck him to the ground. He slammed into the ground, creating a shallow crater.
Argh. Blood filled his mouth. He chocked on it.
[ALERT. ALERT...]
SHIELD: 40%
DIVERTING POWER RESERVE TO SHIELDS.
BREATHING: IRREGULAR.
FRACTURE: LEFT RIBS 3-5
DISLOCATED SHOULDER.
PUNCTURED LUNG.
OXYGEN LEVELS DROPPING.
A wave of attacks continued. Centipedes below emerged from the ground where a few of the contestants stood. The attack went through them shattering their trackers.
"Shit! We're dropping like flies!" Someone yelled. "We have to run to the end zone!"
The air thickened with dust, so dense everyone stopped firing.
"What's that?" a shaky voice whispered. "You've got to be kidding me."
A tornado of sand moved towards them. It tore the centipedes on its path to shreds.
"RUN!" someone screamed.
Meanwhile in the control room, an engineer stared at the screen with a face gone pale. "Sir, we have a problem," he said. "There's a contestant critically injured. Do we move in to retrieve him?"
The examiner hesitated. Guards prepared to move.
"Not yet. With the tornado active, we'll never find them. Let's have faith that they'll make it."
Ash sprinted with the group, he glanced at the clock.
00:20:02
00:20:01
00:19:59...
Nineteen minutes left. Bjorn find him.
Agnar gasped.
Each breathe was like swallowing needles.
"I'm losing consciousness... I can't go out like this".
He forced himself up on one knee. He grunted from the pain, with a desperate, shaking grip he opened fire.
Beep. beep.
The control room monitors flashed red.
"What's this? Power draw two hundred percent. That's impossible," the engineer said, with alarm in his voice.
A massive laser shot out of Agnars rifle. The beam incinerated centipedes in its path, leaving behind steam and char.
Soon after, everything went dark.
"...Agnar..."
A voice pulled him back to consciousness.
He inhaled and a piercing pain tore through his lung.
He coughed up blood.
"Where... am I?"
Bjorn carried him on his back.
"You're awake. Thank goodness. Don't talk. You're in critically condition."
The tornado devoured everything behind them as Bjorn ran toward the end zone.
"Did we get everyone?" someone asked.
"Uhh, not everyone. Look! " another replied
All eyes turned.
A single figure sprinted through the storm. Agnar on Bjorn's back seconds from death.
"Shit. They won't make it in time" someone said.
Ash stared at the clock, heart sinking.
00:00:8
00:00:7
00:00:6...
Come on... COME ON.
The horn shrieked. Metal doors ascended from the ground and slammed shut. A holographic word materialized... trial complete.
Cheers erupted. Everyone collapsed in relief.
Agnar laid on the ground, barely conscious. Ash stepped into his view, his image slowly fading into existence.
He offered his hand.
"Glad you made it," he said with a tired smile.