Adventure of Krennios, brother's of hell

The darkened core suddenly reignites in jagged bursts. Branching electricity races across the chamber, leeching toward the dead sentry, the unconscious sentry, the housing, and Excul like a feral static-desk toy.

The discharge snaps across the dais and follows every available path. Krennios dashes for the threshold as the sealed chamber fills with branching white-red light and violent electrical crackle.

At the last instant, one hard draw hooks his arm. Electricity jolts through it, leaving bruising pain and a persistent tremor, but the limb remains functional as he reaches clear.

Krennios tugs himself through the threshold, leaps clear of the sparking frame, and rolls across the maintenance platform. Behind him, the chamber door seals against the dying arcs.

The Violator is already waiting on the platform. His blue face catches the last flickering reflections, while his attention stays fixed on the sealed chamber and Krennios's trembling arm.

Krennios plants his boots on the maintenance platform and straightens against the lingering tremor. His injured arm hangs functional at his side as he steadies his breathing.

The words carry across the sealed threshold. The Violator studies Krennios's stance, then the faint electrical bruising along his arm, measuring resolve rather than weakness.

Behind them, the chamber's last static fades into the mountain. The broadcast remains terminated, and the platform settles beneath the returning mechanical hum.

The Violator turns toward the maintenance passage. Krennios remains upright beside him, ready to continue into the mountain and pursue the threat below.

Krennios follows the Violator into the maintenance passage, keeping his injured arm close while his boots match the angel's steady pace. Red service lights awaken ahead.

The passage narrows around bundled cables and modern conduit. Through a grated wall, a buried rail line emerges from the mountain's darkness, its inactive cars marked with fresh red symbols.

The Violator stops at a maintenance junction and presses two fingers to a black access panel. A hidden display flickers on, showing three moving signals beneath the mountain.

The panel projects a route map through the lower transit grid. One path leads directly downward, while two branching routes converge ahead at a sealed station labeled TERMINUS NINE.

Krennios moves with the Violator through the branching maintenance route, keeping his injured arm close while his long strides carry him swiftly beneath the mountain.

They descend a service stair and emerge beside the abandoned rail. Red symbols pulse along the dead cars as three moving lights sweep toward the sealed station ahead.

The Violator crosses to a manual junction console and forces its dormant display awake. A green maintenance route opens beneath the platform, connecting directly to Terminus Nine.

The console confirms the three signatures have entered Terminus Nine and halted beyond the inner gate. Heavy station doors unlock ahead, revealing red emergency light and fresh tracks disappearing into the breach complex.

The Violator raises one hand before the inner gate. Beyond it, the three red signatures remain motionless while the sealed station's emergency lights pulse across the rails.

A warning strip ignites along the platform floor, dividing the approach from the inner gate. The route map contracts, marking the transport as a live conduit rather than a safe target.

He moves to the junction beside the gate and begins overriding the station controls. The direct blast is no longer the immediate choice: Krennios must cover the lock while the Violator makes the transport safe.

Krennios keeps Excul trained on the rail junction, sighting the switches, power couplings, and coupling locks that make travel possible. His injured arm trembles under the rifle's weight.

He steadies the aim and marks every travel-critical component as a target. The strain draws a sharp bruise of pain through his arm, but Excul remains fixed and ready.

The Violator's fingers move across the junction console. Green indicators lock over the inner gate, while the three red signatures remain contained beyond it.

A coupling lock clicks into a hard maintenance hold. The rail's emergency current drops away, leaving the transport unable to depart while its essential controls sit plainly within Excul's firing line.

Behind the inner gate, metal shifts inside the halted transport. The red signatures separate across the car, and a sealed access panel begins unlocking under the station's emergency lights.

Krennios follows the Violator across the warning strip toward the halted transport, Excul raised and trained on the cart's sealed access panel.

His injured arm trembles beneath the rifle's weight, but he keeps the muzzle steady as the two of them converge beside the locked rail car.

The access panel retracts with a grinding click. Red emergency light spills through the opening, revealing the transport's narrow interior and three separate silhouettes beyond the threshold.

The Violator steps half a pace to the side, leaving Krennios a clear firing lane while keeping one hand poised over the junction controls.

Inside the cart, the three figures remain still under the pulsing red lights. The locked rails hold firm, and Excul covers the occupants, couplings, and power controls at once.

Krennios holds his firing lane and listens while the Violator studies the open transport. His vigilance catches the faint synchronization between the red lights and the three figures' breathing.

The Violator lowers his poised hand from the junction controls and points toward the transport floor. Beneath the metal grating, a dim red pulse travels in a triangular pattern.

Krennios's sight tracks the hidden pulse, the coupling locks, and a compact black relay beneath the far bench. None of the figures reaches for a weapon; all three remain rigidly attentive.

The Violator steps into the control alcove and begins the isolation sequence. Inside the transport, the three figures remain motionless beneath Krennios's steady aim as the relay's pulse slows.

Krennios follows the Violator's instructions exactly, sweeping Excul across the three figures, their feet, and the emergency release above the open door. He tracks each breath and minute shift without firing.

The disciplined watch reveals the pattern: the figures' breathing follows the relay's slowing pulse, while the release remains untouched. The prolonged focus leaves the relay's exact circuitry uncertain.

A blue-white status line crawls across the relay as the Violator isolates its first circuit. The three figures remain fixed around the triangular pulse, covered by Krennios's unwavering aim.

The relay's pulse drops another measure. Krennios keeps the emergency release and every figure in sight, though the prolonged observation has cost him certainty about what the relay will do next.

Krennios keeps Excul trained across the three figures and the emergency release. His aim remains steady as the relay pulse slows, and every breath stays visible in the red light.

One figure's breath falls half a beat behind the others, then matches again. The shift repeats, revealing a controlled feedback cycle rather than panic or movement toward the release.

The Violator adjusts the control sequence. A blue-white trace separates from the relay's main pulse and climbs toward the breathing figures, while the emergency release remains dark and untouched.