"No, I cannot destroy free will, and I am a creation of man. I am just a tool, but I can choose who welds me at any time." The clock went negative. The FTL light that was the mining station shrank but it didn't vanish. "What do you think that means?"
"They didn't kill the power quickly enough in all places or Black decided to destroy where the sources were, anyway. Display the count down to light speed results, and assume the near Mars station Cerberus will be the next target. Black should have seen the heat from that one better than the heat from the Angel mine. Start a second clock for when the station might be hit if speed continues to drop at the current rate. Cerberus is big enough to have FTL transmitters correct?"
"Yes, though you won't be connected long enough to get real time information on the out come of Cerberus. Seems my human forces weren't quiet quick enough."
"What?"
The screen rocked and I fell out of my chair as an explosion shook the building. "I hope you make it out before they kill you, She-u. It would seem reasonable to believe your continued existence would be-"
The display disconnected as I tried to stand, damn long winded computer. My headset reverted to the one lens eyepiece as I stood up. People were screaming from every direction. How could anti-spacers get into the school. There were checkpoints all over and only school registered phones and computers could operate with in the zone. No one would attack without using a computer right? That would be suicide.
I pushed up from the floor and headed towards the stairs. Unlike most of my classmates I didn't hate gym, running was one of my favorite activities. Never expected to have to use it like this though. We were 20 floors up, if I wanted to get away I would need to get to the ground. Damn, having the green warrior dragon be real would be useful right now. Oh well.
With one hand I grabbed onto the door frame as the building shook again. Damn, if this kept up it was going to fall. I used all the power in my legs to fling myself down the hall to the stairway. Have to get to the ground.
I had gone three floors when I heard gunfire below. Those sounded like black powder weapons. They haven't been used since 2030, after America switched to the new propellant and outlawed the older guns to get everyone to buy new models. My speed carried me down one more floor before I could stop. Someone kicked in a door four floors below me and I could hear the boots on the stairs as I tried to get out of the stairway. Someone opened the door one below me as I left the stairwell. It was a student, I started to yell but it was too late.
The old style bullets shredded the girl before she took another step. I tried not to let myself respond to my shock right now. It was too late for the other student. With a shake I continued through my open door. 15 floors up was still much too high. The shooters must have already been in the building when the bomb went off. This had to of been planned out long before the stations went off line. What is going on, and why?
Should I try and hide? If they are anti-spacers, should I keep my phone or dump it? It was off at the moment so if they were using pingers it shouldn't register, but that also means the police won't know where I am either, or if I am friendly or foe.
Nothing like being worried about getting shot by your own people right? Racing down the hall I took turns as much as I could without locking myself in a room. I could hear boots on the tiles, gunfire not that far away and screams regularly.
If I live through this it better count as extra gym credit. Something warned me and I jumped at the wall forming a corner with the next hallway. I landed impossibly sideways and pushed off rolling down the next hall. Bullets bounced off the wall where I had been, then there was a muffled cry as the hallway sparked arcs of lighting down it. Wholly shit. Holley shit.
I sprang up from my roll. My back hurt but I didn't have time for that right now. I had to move, but where? The food court. On this floor there was one that looked out over the rest of the grounds. There should also be a service elevator there. Maybe the bad guys didn't think a student would think to use the freight elevator. Better than dying here.
I turned another corner and ran head first into a wall that should not have been there. Oh crap, I fell back on my butt and looked up into the barrel of an old style assault rifle. The person behind it had full tactical gear on, even goggles covering his eyes. Not that it would matter, only a blind person might miss me at this range. I couldn't stop from tensing as I waited for the man to fire.
"Don't move." I didn't know if the man was talking to me or if someone else was talking to him, but I held still almost not even breathing. "You got it then?" There was another pause. "Shit where they already on their way here for some reason?" The man stopped speaking again, he must be on a com. "Yeah, I know that, bring it around to the 15th floor east side. We will see how effective it is when we have hostages."
Hostages, but they had been shooting everyone. Wait, except. The man leaned down and lifted me like a bag of flour. He used one arm to pin my arms to my sides he kept his other on his weapon. I tried to kick him as he started the direction I had been heading.