The metal plating near Cafari Kaine's ear screams as a high-velocity railgun slug obliterates it. Shrapnel sprays the dark ventilation shaft. Before he can even register the near-miss, a gloved hand clamps onto his tactical harness, yanking him backward into the suffocating shadows of a crawlspace.
Vex
Quiet, unless you want your skull to match the architecture.
Cafari Kaine
That voice... smooth, but sharp enough to draw blood. I'm not being rescued. I'm being intercepted.
The figure, Vex, presses his back against the vibrating bulkhead, his eyes glowing with flickering orange data-overlays. He holds a short-range pulse-emitter, his gaze fixed on the hole in the wall where the railgun fire continues to chew through the metal.
Vex
You have the key. I have the only exit from this furnace. Hand over the data, or I let you crawl back out into Zaya's line of sight.
Cafari Kaine
He's holding me hostage in a death trap. If I give it up, I'm useless to him, but if I don't, I'm a target for that railgun.
+ Scene Quest Added
Escape the factory with the data key
“Drop down”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled +0)
Cafari Kaine drops. His boots strike the structural frame of the lower catwalk with the grace of a predator, his momentum carrying him into a low, rolling crouch beneath the reach of Vex.
Cafari Kaine
Gravity is the only law that matters right now. He expected me to negotiate. He didn't expect me to delete myself from his sightline.
Vex
You think falling saves you from the inevitable?
Vex reaches out, his fingers grazing the back of Cafari Kaine’s jacket, but he is a heartbeat too slow. The data key remains tight in Cafari Kaine's fist as he lunges toward the secondary maintenance hatch. Outside, the railgun hammers the spot where he stood a second ago, sending a cascade of white-hot titanium shavings showering down like dying stars. Vex pivots, his pulse-emitter tracking the motion, his orange optics burning with cold irritation.
Vex
The brat is faster than the specs indicated. I need to close the gap before he hits the lower venting levels.
“Shoot vex”
SUCCESS (Great Firearms, rolled +0)
Cafari Kaine clears the distance in a blur of motion, his iron barking once. A precise, controlled shot rips through the air, finding the actuator on Vex's pulse-emitter. The weapon shatters into a spray of glowing copper wire and ionized plastic.
Cafari Kaine
One shot. One silence. He is off-balance and exposed.
The force of the impact spins Vex around, his shoulder slamming into the railing. He stumbles, clutching his mangled wrist as his cybernetic optics flicker and dim. Sparks shower from the ruined tech in his grip, illuminating the rain-slicked roof. He stares at Cafari Kaine with a look of pure, unadulterated shock, his rhythm completely shattered. Behind him, the railgun fire dies down for a fraction of a second, the factory's defense grid recalibrating.
Vex
Impossible. The kid is a ghost with a trigger finger.
The maintenance hatch waits just meters away, a dark maw leading to the bowels of the facility. The data key feels heavy, pulsating against Cafari Kaine's palm.
“Jump in hatch”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled +1)
Cafari Kaine
The hatch is my only way out. If I hesitate, the grid locks on again.
Cafari Kaine lunges toward the darkness, his boots skidding on the rusted metal grating as he vaults over the raised lip of the access portal.
Vex
You will not make it out with that key, Kaine!
Vex lunges, but his mangled hand fails him. He slips on the rain-slicked surface, crashing hard into the roof plating just inches from the edge.
Cafari Kaine
He is not chasing me. He is reaching for the secondary comms unit near his belt.
The air hums with a sudden, sharp charge as the factory grid restarts, locking onto the heat signature of the open hatch.
Quest Complete
Escape the factory with the data key
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Superb→Legendary