The Architect Codex

Inferno - The Bitter End

"KT!"

She heard a voice over the comlink channel, one she hadn't expected to hear. "Captain Gates?"

"Everything's gone to hell! I'm trapped in here, I need you to get me out!"

Her mind racing, KT didn't wait for an explanation to act. Bringing one fist back, she drove it forward into the concrete wall.

WHAM.

Frost shook itself free from the roof and walls as she made contact. She drew her fist back again.

WHAM.

A large crack had appeared in the wall, one that didn't look like it could withstand another blow. She gathered as much force as she could for one last punch ...

WHAM!

The concrete broke apart and crumbled in a cloud of dust and debris. She peeked inside and saw Gates hand-cuffed to a pipe along the wall.

The Captain beckoned to her and pointed at her predicament. "Give me a hand with this!"

KT reached through the hole, grabbed the section of the pipe which the Captain was cuffed to, and snapped it. Gates wasted no time in sliding the handcuffs off of the broken edge, and ran to her side. "Dimitri's a damned spy! He killed McFarlane, then took the Codex and ran off—"

"Where's Tobias?" KT asked fearfully, looking around the interior and seeing McFarlane's corpse in a puddle of blood. She noticed another one a few feet away that had smeared as though someone had been rolling around and stepping in it.

Gates pointed down a shaft at the back of the room. "He went after him! Left me here, said I'd just follow—"

KT tuned her out as she looked towards the IMC complex and tuned into her neural link with Tobias. She could feel him on the other end of the connection, his rage bubbling over in droves.

"Tobias, what are you doing? What's the plan here?"

His response was curt and blunt. < Shut down the turrets. Get the Codex back. Kill Dimitri. >

"Not that I don't doubt your resolve, but you're alone," she argued. "And you don't sound like you're in any shape to be fighting—"

< I know what I'm doing, Kay. Get everyone to the evac zone, I'll meet you there when this is over. >

Without any further explanation, he closed his mind to her. She recoiled from his brashness, and tried to get his attention again. "Tobias? Tobias, you answer me right now!"

Gates watched as the Titan stomped her foot in frustration, then looked down to stare at her. "He's not answering anymore. He wants us to help gather the Militia forces around the exfiltration point."

"I hope he knows what he's doing," the Captain grumbled angrily, running off through the trench. "Let's move!"

KT glanced at the compound anxiously.

I hope so too.

...

Tobias held the Flatline in front of him as he pushed through the halls. He followed the directions painted on the walls towards the command center, checking every corner for a hint of danger. Thankfully, it seemed that the IMC had thrown every last soldier at their disposal out into the war-zone that had once been the courtyard.

His search led him to a room similar looking to the one he and Vale had found at the other outpost. He poked his head out around the edge to make sure it was empty, then double-checked for any shimmering in the air; he refused to be caught off-guard by a cloak Pilot again.