"They're behind us!" Kai yelled, whirling to face the new threat emerging from the unexpected side passage. Six more Cerberus soldiers, moving with the same professional discipline as the first wave, were already advancing, their pulse carbines spitting flechettes down the narrow corridor. The Ember Knights were caught in a pincer, their hard-won chokepoint now a deathtrap. His Draconic Energy Reserves were at 74%, the constant readiness and minor manifestations a steady drain.
"Roric! We're flanked!" Kai snapped into his comm, instinctively activating his Dermal Plating to full coverage on his torso and arms as he pushed Breaker towards the relative cover of a reinforced conduit junction. The azure tracery within his obsidian scales seemed to glow brighter under the stress. [Dermal Plating (Rank 2 – OR Infused) Active. Draconic Energy Reserves: 68%.]
Breaker, his combat armor scarred and smoking from the previous exchange, roared in frustration. "Nowhere to fall back to here, Leader! We're boxed in!" His resilience was incredible, but he was still human, and taking a beating.
"Not entirely," Roric's voice, still unnervingly calm, cut through the chaos. "Elara, the ventilation shaft system in that sector – schematic overlay, now. Shift, can you trigger any localized environmental hazards? Fire suppression systems? Emergency door releases? Anything to sow confusion and break their formation with your tech?"
"Working on it, Roric!" Shift replied, her voice tight with effort, her fingers flying over a portable interface connected to Epsilon's network. "The old systems are fighting me, but I might be able to overload a nearby atmospheric regulator… could create a temporary visual obscurement, or worse, for them. It'll take a moment to bypass the safeties!" "Do it," Roric commanded. "Kai, Breaker, this is no longer about holding a static line. This is about dynamic defense and creating an opportunity to disengage and reposition. Elara, identify the nearest defensible intersection deeper within Epsilon that offers multiple fallback routes. We need to draw them into our territory, onto ground we control, not fight them in these exposed kill-boxes."
It was a classic Roric gambit: turn a disadvantage into an opportunity, use the enemy's aggression against them. But it required Kai and Breaker to survive the immediate onslaught. The six Cerberus flankers were advancing steadily, their fire accurate and relentless. Kai knew he couldn't just rely on his scales; his Draconic Energy wouldn't last. He needed to be aggressive, to disrupt their attack.
He looked at Breaker. "Create an opening! I'll hit their point man!" Breaker nodded grimly. With a guttural roar, he slammed his riot shield into the corridor wall, then used the rebound to launch himself forward, a surprising burst of speed from his massive frame, directly into the path of the advancing Cerberus soldiers. He didn't attack; he simply became an immovable, heavily armored obstacle, absorbing their fire, his stun baton crackling as he deflected their weapons with powerful, practiced sweeps. [Breaker – Combat Action: Desperate Defense. Sustaining heavy fire. Armor Integrity: Compromised.]
Kai used the momentary distraction. He launched himself forward, not at the main group, but at their point man, who was slightly ahead, directing their fire. Kai's "Shadow-Coil Strike," infused with the volatile Old Republic energy, was a blur of distorted shadow and azure sparks. His clawed hand, scales shimmering, connected with the point man's helmet. The Cerberus soldier staggered, his systems likely shorting out from the disruptive energy discharge, before collapsing.[Shadow-Coil Strike (OR Infused) / Claws of the Shadow Drake: Successful. Hostile Leader (Flank Squad) Neutralized. EXP +30. Draconic Energy Reserves (Kai): 62%.]
Just as Kai took down the point man, a section of the ceiling in the corridor where the Cerberus flankers were concentrated hissed loudly, then erupted in a dense cloud of acrid, vision-obscuring coolant gas – Shift's handiwork. "Atmospheric regulator overloaded!" Shift announced. "That section will be zero visibility and mildly corrosive for a few minutes! They'll be disoriented!" Cries of surprise and pain echoed from within the gas cloud.
"Now, Kai! Breaker!" Roric's voice was urgent. "That's your window! Disengage! Elara has marked a route to Sub-Level Access Point Gamma-3! It's a more defensible network of maintenance tunnels! Go!" Kai grabbed Breaker's arm, the big man now bleeding from several wounds where flechettes had pierced his damaged armor. "Come on, Breaker! We gotta move!"
They retreated, Kai firing suppressive bursts from a captured pulse carbine he'd snatched, while Breaker, despite his injuries, provided a formidable rear guard with his shield and baton. They plunged into a side corridor just as more Cerberus soldiers, coughing and disoriented, began to emerge from the dissipating coolant gas.
The System pinged Kai: [TACTICAL UPDATE: Successful disengagement from primary engagement zone. Hostile forces temporarily disorganized. New Objective: Reach designated fallback position (Sub-Level Access Gamma-3) and prepare for further defensive operations.] [Draconic Energy Reserves (Kai): 58%. Warning: Continued combat will rapidly deplete remaining reserves. Consider strategic use of environmental hazards or Faction support abilities.]
They were deeper in Epsilon now, the familiar territory giving them a slight advantage. But Cerberus was relentless, and their numbers seemed endless. Roric's gambit had bought them time, but the serpent was coiled tight around them, its fangs bared. The fight for Epsilon, and for the survival of The Ember Knights, was far from over.