The fortress had become a silent tomb. Shen Mu sat there in the workshop; the skeleton of the EMP generator was slumped across the table, such as a fallen god. Granny Wen crouched over her schematics; she was drawing the rough patterns of the circuit board with hesitant hands.
"Reversing the polarity might work," she whispered to herself, as the hum of the system's interface drowned her out. "But it'll fry the generator. One shot, and it's gone."
Shen Mu set his elbow down on the table, his knuckles as white as the surface was. "We don't need it to last. We need it to hurt."
Zhao Ling stood in the room, sniper rifle slung across her back. "The thing is still outside. It's not attacking; it's just. watching".
"It's testing us," Shen Mu said softly. "Waiting for us to make a mistake".
Luo Qi hobbled in, face pale but hard. "And when it does?."
Shen Mu's face hardened. "We make sure it regrets it".
The plan was simple. Brutal.
She would turn the EMP generator into a device that'd draw power from the very heart of the system—which, as risky as it was, might plunge the fortress defense into chaos. Zhao Ling and Luo Qi would conduct a diversionary strike that takes the entity out to the open battlefield. Shen Mu: final blow.
"You're crazy," Luo Qi said, his voice cracking. "That thing devoured Zhuo like he was nothing. What makes you think we can take it down?"
Shen Mu turned, his gaze like steel. "Because we don't have a choice."
Night fell, and the fortress braced for war.
Shen Mu walked out onto the wall, his modified EMP generator buckled into his back. The core throbbed alive with that unnatural blue energy that had opened the rift on the battlefield below. Down on the battlefield, Zhao Ling and Luo Qi moved through the ruin with their group of survivors, every step economical and sure.
"Remember," Shen Mu said over comms. "Don't engage unless it absolutely can't help it. Just keep it busy."
Zhao Ling's voice crackled in his ear. "We'll buy you time. Don't waste it."
The creature walked forward from the darkness, body flickering as if afire and yet, dying embers. Un-natural elegance in stiff hollow steps as he continued to approach closer to the fortress, although the eyes seemed focused singularly upon the fortress.
"You can not outrun the storm, Fortress Lord," the creature breathed to Shen Mu within his mind.
Shen Mu threw the generator's switch. Its hum was growing louder with every passing second. "I'm not running."
The battle commenced.
Zhao Ling fired his rifle. The bullet ripped through the creature's form. It staggered, its body rippling like water, but did not fall.
"It's not enough!" Luo Qi screamed, firing his pistol into the creature's chest. The bullets passed through harmlessly, leaving only faint ripples in their wake.
A clawed hand thrust up, curving the air into a wry mockery of itself; a survivor screamed as the black mist over him wrapped round him; his essence engulfed by something that was part of the being.
"Fall back! Concentrate and fall back! Regrouping at the—the—"
This time, claws swiped sideways, and their shadow moved forward. Zhao backed up behind a mangled wall, shivering only as the nothingness went past them, inches out.
Shen Mu launched himself from the wall, and energy from the generator streamed into him. He landed low, his pistol firing wildly as he charged into the entity.
"You dare?" it spat, its form rippling to meet him.
He wasn't saying a word. Instead, he only kept firing continuously, and it took each hit to make this creature use his energy to get back into proper shape.
Fight protocols in the system flared into life to illuminate weak spots in its design.
[Target Vulnerable: Core Detected.]
"Zhao Ling! Now!" Shen Mu yelled.
Zhao Ling emerged from behind cover, her rifle now leveled at the chest of the creature. She aimed carefully, shot the creature. The bullet hit home. It let out a scream, its body agonized as it flickered in rhythm to the shot that displaced its core.
"Luo Qi! The generator!" Shen Mu shouted.
Luo Qi moved forward, quivering with the tenseness, adjusting generator settings. The core flared, gathering energy as it charged to overload.
"Clear!" Shen Mu yelled out, words cutting through the din.
Zhao Ling and Luo Qi snapped back with snap-precise speed. Shen Mu spoke not a word, the whine of the generator deafening.
It sprang forward, claws inches from his throat.
Shen Mu hit the overload.
The explosion was blinding.
A surge of blue and black boiled from the generator, tearing the form of the creature apart. The creature howled as the energy tore the meat of it. The ground quaked. The air had tension, a palpable and visceral sense.
When it went away, there was light left, no thing.
Shen Mu crumpled to his knees, smoking remains of the generator lying nearby. The system alarms screamed in his head as his vision began to turn gray.
[Warning: Core Instability Detected.]
Fortress Integrity: 42%
Recommend Immediate Repairs.
Zhao Ling and Luo Qi came running to his side, their faces pale.
"Did we… did we kill it?" Luo Qi asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Shen Mu shook his head. "No. But we hurt it. And next time…"
He looked up, his eyes burning with resolve. "Next time, we will finish it."
In the ruin, a darkness stirred.
The voice of the entity rang in the void, cold and mocking.
"You will not win, Fortress Lord. The storm comes."