As he came back out in the hallway to see the free area, arguing and pushing had begun. The guards did not act initially. It gave Charyd enough time to charge two guns to stun.  Good old Polo’s head still shined like a perfect beacon on where they were. Charyd scanned in, pushed open the door to the free-to-play, and punched the guard on duty instantly. He aimed down at the guards next to his crew and shot. Quickly switched to the second gun and fired again. 

The moment the first guard was down, Polo rushed to the body and grabbed the wrist to scan the door and let them out. The crew grabbed the guns, too.

As much as it sucks, stun only.

There were a few disgruntled emotions, but no backtalk. 

The courtyard security entrance is down the hall to the left. Hurry before the lockdown happens or else you will be stuck. Only one guard should be up there at this time.

Charyd followed the directions and prepared another shot. The guard had turned the corner at the four-way intersection, unprepared for Charyd shooting at him. He ran as fast as he could. Alice, are you going to be alright?

No response came, but the feeling of gloating. Good job. Charyd would have loved seeing Ilise and Sisyphus taking a beating from her. Charyd knew very few who could take on a Nereus in close quarters. Especially when one would mess with your emotions and judgments. 

“Lockdown! Lockdown! This is a complete lockdown. All prisoners, return to your cells!” The prison had pulled the alarm.

He needed to move fast. He stood next to the door to enter the courtyard. His hands yanked out all the ammo and shook his pockets empty of even the lint stuck inside them. He emptied one box, the small beads of ammo rolling on the floor. Looking through the window out into the rain and courtyard, he saw the three towers. Only two guards were on duty, leaving one tower completely empty.

Do you have anything? One of the crew asked him.

Charyd did not reply. Instead, he aimed the rifle and calmly took a breath. He only had a few years of shooting experience and was not exactly the best. He only needed to stun though, so aim wasn’t that important. He scanned his wrist and kicked the door open and took the shot. 

The auto-aiming on the rifle did all the heavy lifting. Tower C’s guard collapsed behind the wall. Charyd swung around and shot at the guard in Tower B. Unfortunately, he shot too quickly for the auto-aim to take effect. The guard was already behind cover. Charyd decided to deal with him later and took off on the path to Tower C.

Fast-footed little ass is hiding in B. The moment he pops out, I can shoot him.

Polo must have taken that as an invitation and charged out like a minotaur, head down and roaring loudly. The guard in Tower B popped up like a gopher and aimed at Charyd. Charyd adjusted the strength in his muscles and pushed off the wet walkway and launched into the air. The lower gravitation of the planet made him feel like he was flying. He took the rifle scope to his eye, the auto-aim triggered, and he pulled the trigger. A pop went off at the same time and Charyd’s leg got hit. 

Captain! Multiple thoughts flooded.

“Captain!” others shouted in the courtyard.

I’m not dead yet. Get away from the door and to the gate now!

His crew knew when to focus on the task at hand. He transferred the pain in his leg to focus on just that one limb and morphed his other leg to allow him to slither on the ground toward Tower C. It wasn’t the fastest action, but it hurt less.

He could deal with the pain of being shot. He couldn't deal with another day without his crew.