Adventure of Armorhide 1

Armorhide reaches the research colony as alarms wail across the outer buildings. Smoke drifts between laboratories while figures hammer against the perimeter fence.

At the infirmary entrance, a small orphan in a patched yellow coat strains against a crooked barricade of shelving, pipes, and scrap metal. The jammed frame barely moves.

The fence bows inward under the undead crowd. One section tears loose, and several zombies stumble into the colony yard, turning toward the infirmary.

The orphan braces both hands against the barricade, boots sliding on the concrete. Inside, the infirmary doors remain shut, and no one answers the pounding.

Armorhide’s right forearm unfolds with a heavy mechanical clank, locking the Integrated Energon Cannon into place as blue light gathers along its barrel.

He moves between the orphan and the yard, his broad armored frame blocking the child from view. The zombies surge across the concrete toward him.

The cannon fires. A concentrated burst tears through the leading undead and scatters the crowd backward, leaving the immediate approach to the infirmary clear.

The blast also shears loose the crooked barricade’s jammed hinge. Shelving collapses inward instead of outward, opening the infirmary entrance without striking the child.

Beyond Armorhide, the remaining zombies stagger amid smoke and alarms. The orphan slips through the newly opened doorway, while the cannon’s glow reflects across the wet concrete.

Armorhide drags the fallen shelving and pipes across the infirmary entrance, but the crooked debris catches against the frame and refuses to seat fully.

He remains outside, filling the gap with his armored bulk as the remaining zombies regroup across the smoke-veiled yard.

Both Integrated Energon Cannons thunder in alternating bursts. The nearest undead stagger back, their advance broken, but several remain upright beyond the cleared approach.

No comms unit answers because none is mounted or within reach. His words carry only across the alarm-filled yard, swallowed by gunfire and sirens.

A final burst jolts the barricade loose instead of sealing it. The shift exposes a narrow service door beside the infirmary, its red emergency sign still lit.

Armorhide pivots through the service doorway, then drags the loose shelving and pipes across it from inside. His massive frame cannot follow, so he holds position outside.

The improvised barricade locks firmly against the frame, sealing the infirmary entrance while leaving Armorhide in the smoke-filled yard between the door and the remaining undead.

Both Integrated Energon Cannons flare blue. Alternating bursts hammer the regrouping zombies, dropping the nearest attackers and scattering the rest across the concrete.

His call rolls beneath the alarms and gunfire. No reply comes from the colony, but the sealed infirmary remains behind him, protected from the yard.

Smoke thins enough to reveal the damaged fence and the dark laboratories beyond. The surviving zombies retreat toward the breach, their advance against the infirmary broken.