Dr. Lenz’s heart filled with dread. The reports confirmed his darkest fear. This civilization had been destroyed by its own creation. Something similar had almost befell humanity just a few centuries previously. Something that he still had vivid memories of.
Candace was waving him and the rest of the squadron on. She knew there was little time to spare but Dr. Lenz grew wary when he saw that she was leading them down an alleyway between two decrepit and overgrown buildings.
He barely heard the “incoming” warning before being blown off his feet.
Lying on the ground for the first few seconds afterwards, he was unsure where he was as he tried to open his eyes. His head was pounding. The first thing that he noticed was that his protective visor had been activated. It was programmed to do so if there was a threat to life. There was a repugnant smell of burning flesh. He looked up and could see that Candace wasn’t moving. From some deep well inside, he found the strength to get to his feet and surveyed his surroundings. There was a small crater behind him. His communications units back online. The only other person from his squadron with life signs was Candace.
The other squadrons were either in full retreat under orbital cover fire from the Danu or had been obliterated.
In the distance, he could see large metallic monsters approaching. They looked almost exactly like the dreadnoughts that had once plagued humanity. Instinctively, he ran and picked her up over his shoulder and ran.
Soon, he could here the sound of fire being him. He knew that he didn’t have much time left and stopped to see if there was a place of safety. Much to his surprise, there was a perfectly preserved building to his right. With little other options, he ran straight towards it. Just before, he reach it, he had a strange feeling pass through his body. Instinctively he knew that it was a force-field. The door to the building was taller and slimmer than what he was used to. Nevertheless, he got through and collapsed on the floor after closing the door.
He was unsure how long he spent there passed. When he regained consciousness, he found himself in a large cavernous room with a statue at the other end. Candace was still on the floor beside him. Her visor had been damaged and was only partially functioning. Carefully, he took it off and slowly rubbed a bit of blood away.
Her eyes opened and still dazed, asked “Where am I?”
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