You rub your eyes and breathe in deeply. As soon as you do, you regret it. The fog that was dimming around your eyes smells of sulfur and brimstone. Your entire body aches in every joint, and you can hear nothing. You look around the room in the still silence, wondering what happened. Slowly, you begin to remember the recent events.

It was a concussion grenade. It threw you at least three meters. You were supposed to be escorting someone... someone important... but it all went wrong, so horribly wrong.

As your mind ponders the recent events....
Suddenly the silence is broken by a rick rattle roll coming behind one of the crates. Slowly, ever so slowly you peer around the corner....

And you see two yazarians wearing black corporate uniforms, and they are carrying the best weaponry that can pack the biggest punch. They are looking through the unconcious bodies of the security team and vip you were in charge of...

Pondering your options you think the best course of action is to wait and see where the thugs go hoping to surpsie one of them and get some gear.

"Wowzers, I never seen gear like that...." You wisper...

The grizzled Yazarian keeps a steady gaze on me and his lips peel back in a volpine grin. His right hand retrieves a palm sized cylindrical tube and he activates a sonic sword.The high pitched hum of the sword startles me to my sences. I get to my feet and dash away. I can hear the Yazarians bare claws skitter on the concrete as they give chase. I see a door at the far end of the warehouse. I sprint to the door hoping that it is open.

Whew! The door is unlocked. But not for long. THUMP! The big Yaz is trying to force the door open. Turning around I see a set of stairs going down and up. Which way to go? Which way to go?

No time!

The door flies open, and I take the stairs going down, two steps at a time.

I can almost feel the monkey's hot breath on the nape of my neck, spurring me to go even faster, running down flight after flight, seeming to lead down into the planet's molten core, judging from the stilfling heat building with each flight I descend. It only seems like these stairs go on forever, for just as I resign myself to that fact, I slam face-first into another door .

This one says "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY!" in both Pan-Gal...and apparentally in a language not conforming to any in the known Frontier, least I've never seen the ideograms inscribed below the more-plainly written warning.

Doesn't really matter either way...this door's not only locked, but there's no apparent lock mechanism to pick.

And, no turning back, I can hear the padding of Yaz feet on the stairs just above....

Quickly I slip my thin frame between two sets of stairs hoping to grab the Yaz's heels so he falls forward hitting the wall. My only chance... Hope he has a thin skull!

Time seems to slow. Every footstep pounds in my ear, BOOM (pause) BOOM (pause)...

He is just above me. My hands shaking I see his boot hit hard on the step. Reach grab, I got him! I hold on with all my strength.

"What the...." SMACK! A spatter of blood marks the wall where his head hit, his limp body eases to the floor.

Gods damn it all!

Before I have a chance to search to cart, I hear the door slide open, and a howl of Yazirian rage quickly echo down the hall towards me.

I can make out the Yazirian word for "die" and a Yazirian expletive.

So, I draw the late Korrak's blaster, dial it up to setting 5, and run like the Hells.

Towards a pair of soldiers in powered skeinsuits, both of whom are aiming rafflurs dead at me.

I see a patch on the right shoulder of one of the soldiers, identifying him as Truane's Star military.

Where there's a Truane's Star marine, the stench of Streel always follows, I think, remembering the ancient aphorism, as I fire two pulses in quick succession at the soldiers, drawing and activating the sonic blade, as the beams makes pretty colors against their defensive screens, one of them burning straight through the chest of one of the soldiers, the sonic blade squealing, as it gashes the arm of the other soldier, both of them spitting charged particles at my backside as I keep running, turning down a corridor branching off to the right.

Bullets carom and spark off the wall behind me, a loud insectoid clicking coming from further ahead in the gloom.

Not a Vruskian clicking, oh, no...when you work around bugs for a while, you just know the difference 'tween them and any other race of sentient insectoids.

Like, say, gnats....

Yep, definitely Zuraqquor, four of them, judging by all the clicks and buzzes.

"Down on the ground, Star Law!" a deep Human male voice shouts from behind me, the voice adding,"Now, before we—"

Dumb vogger should've never asked me to get down on the ground, 'cause that's exactly what I do, get down on the ground, dropping to one knee and squeezing off the last two pulses left in the clip in the general direction of the Human voice, slapping one of the two extra clips in the blaster as the gnats open up again, Human and Yaz male shouts and cursing indicating they've hit at least one of them.

I drain the second clip burning down the Zuraqquor, as I take off running, rafflur bolts zapping and crackling entirely too close to my ears, frying my hair, the smell of it burning an annoying distraction.

"He said stunning force, you stupid vogs!" I hear another Human male voice bark out. "Stunning force, as in, he wants it captured alive."

I hear chuckling from behind me.

I didn't like the miserable slag we were supposed to be babysitting anyway,  I think to myself, as I duck around a corner, especially not enough for this.

Last clip.

Four more shots.

Truane's Star marines and the VIP just around the corner.

No way to contact the Invincible.

What a pretty fix I'm in, I think to myself, as I make my way along the darkened corridor, and gods only know what kind of insanity's brewing up top in Gozzorf...that miserable vog we were escorting was supposed to keep the Vrusk and the others from tearing each other to shreds.

Needless to say, that's not gonna happen, I add, heavy bootsteps a second or so behind me, as I keep moving forward.

As I am running I feel a sharp pain go off in my head.
Then as if time stops, I see a memory flash of a small child crying..

No not a child but ... a memory of a..

AHHHH!!!

As the world, the real world comes crashing back in around me
I feel the painful experience of a wild punch right to the center
of my chest as I