The facility was shaking, the low hum of the core destabilizing growing into a deafening roar. Harper led the team out of the core chamber, her heart pounding as the walls around them trembled. Time was running out, and they knew it.
"Lily, how long until the lockdown?" Harper shouted over the noise, glancing back as the glowing core flickered violently behind them.
Lily's voice was tight with urgency. "Eight minutes! If we don't get to the surface before then, we'll be trapped down here."
"Move, people!" Harper ordered, pushing herself to run faster through the narrow corridors. The lights flickered as the facility's systems began to fail, and the floor vibrated beneath their feet with increasing intensity. Every second counted.
Marcus was close behind, his weapon drawn as he kept an eye on their surroundings. Despite the chaos, he was calm and focused, his instincts honed by years of combat. "Harper, we've got movement up ahead!"
Harper cursed under her breath. Of course, it couldn't be that easy. "Lily, get us a visual."
Lily pulled up her tablet, her fingers flying over the screen as she accessed the facility's security feeds. "It's more drones," she said, her voice strained. "And it looks like they've reactivated a few sentry units as well. They're converging on our position."
Harper's mind raced. "Can we disable them remotely?"
Lily shook her head. "Not anymore. The destabilization process has taken most of the systems offline. We're going to have to fight our way through."
Harper gritted her teeth, her grip tightening on her weapon. "Alright, then. We'll fight. No stopping. We push straight through to the exit."
They rounded a corner, and there they were—several drones hovering in the air, their red lights glowing ominously, and two hulking sentry units blocking the way. The machines were remnants of Sentinel's advanced defense systems, and even in their damaged state, they were formidable opponents.
"Go for the weak spots!" Harper shouted as the team opened fire. Bullets ricocheted off the sentries' armor, but Harper aimed for the joints, where the metal was thinner. One of the sentry units stumbled as Marcus hit it square in the knee, sending it crashing to the ground.
Lily ducked behind cover, firing at the drones with precise shots. "Six minutes!" she called out, her voice frantic.
Harper kept moving, dodging a blast from one of the sentries' cannons as she took out a drone with a well-placed shot. The team moved like a well-oiled machine, working together to take down the defenses as quickly as possible. But the clock was ticking, and every moment they spent fighting was a moment closer to lockdown.
Finally, the last sentry fell, its power core sparking as it collapsed into a heap of smoking metal. Harper didn't waste any time. "Move! We're almost there!"
They sprinted through the final stretch of the facility, the walls groaning as the destabilization reached critical levels. The vibrations grew more violent, chunks of debris falling from the ceiling as they raced for the surface.
"Four minutes!" Lily shouted as they reached the last set of stairs leading up to the exit.
Harper could see the light at the end of the tunnel, the early morning sun filtering through the narrow opening that led outside. Freedom was within reach, but they weren't out of danger yet.
Just as they reached the stairs, a massive explosion rocked the facility. The ground beneath them shifted violently, and Harper stumbled, barely catching herself on the railing as part of the ceiling collapsed behind them.
"Go, go, go!" Marcus yelled, grabbing Lily's arm and pulling her up the stairs as the structure began to crumble around them.
Harper pushed herself to her feet, her legs burning as she sprinted up the stairs. The exit was just ahead, but the tremors were getting worse. The entire facility was seconds away from total collapse.
"Three minutes!" Lily cried as they burst through the door, the cool mountain air hitting them like a wave of relief.
But there was no time to stop. They had to get as far away from the facility as possible before the final explosion.
"Keep running!" Harper ordered, her voice hoarse from exertion.
The team didn't slow down, sprinting across the rocky terrain as the ground behind them rumbled ominously. Harper could feel the heat of the destabilizing core building, the energy surging beneath the surface as they raced for safety.
Finally, they reached the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley below. Harper turned just in time to see the mountain tremble one last time before the core chamber exploded in a blinding flash of light. The force of the blast sent shockwaves through the air, and Harper dropped to the ground, covering her head as debris rained down around them.
The noise was deafening, the ground shaking violently as the facility was consumed by the explosion. For a moment, Harper thought they might be caught in the blast, but as the dust began to settle, she realized they had made it.
Slowly, Harper pushed herself to her feet, her heart still racing. The mountain where Sentinel's headquarters had once stood was now a smoking ruin, the core's power finally snuffed out. It was over.
Marcus was the first to speak, his voice rough but steady. "We did it."
Harper nodded, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "Yeah… we did."
Lily collapsed onto the ground, her tablet clutched tightly in her hands. "I can't believe it," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "We actually destroyed it."
Harper looked out at the horizon, her mind racing with the implications of what they had just done. The core was gone, and with it, any hope of Sentinel's systems ever being reactivated. The world was safe—for now.
But Harper knew better than to believe the fight was truly over. There would always be those who sought to control the remnants of the old world, to use technology as a weapon. And as long as that threat existed, Harper and her team would be there to stop it.
For now, though, they had earned their victory.
Harper turned to her team, a rare smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Let's go home."