again.
She heard Enceladus behind her and she grabbed the engine chain. As she ran, the pulleys raised the block higher. The huge man lifted her up and she tried to turn in his firm grip. She wanted to coil the chain around his neck, but he lowered her. She got the chain around his waist instead and pulled it taut. Enceladus chuckled and lifted his arms so he could see what she was doing. That was his mistake, because she quickly darted around him, tightening the chain, before she leapt for the brake on the nearby column.
When she pulled the lever, the pulleys stopped doing their job and allowed the engine block to fall. Enceladus grunted and was nearly lifted off the floor. He caught his foot on a drain and tried to pull the chain back down. The engine's descent was slowed and Athena stared in frightful awe as he seemed able to lift the engine. She stood and walked under the heavy metal construct. She looked up at it for a moment and then leapt.
The added weight caught Enceladus by surprise. He lost his grip on the chain and the engine fell again. He was nearly lifted, but his foot was still firmly planted in the floor drain. The chain tightened around his waist, dug into his thin black shirt and then into his flesh. Enceladus screamed. The metal links peeled his skin and muscle away from his torso and up to his arms while Athena and the engine came down. His voice trailed away and his eyes widened. The chain broke one of his arms and more of his meat was stripped from him before the weight finally reached the floor. He fell to his knees and blood poured from him as he stared into nothingness.
Hephaestus lay on the floor and his eyes moved in circles, trying to focus on anything. In his head, he yelled at himself to stay awake. Then to get up. It was too late. Mimas was standing over him now, smiling.
"I told you this would hurt."
Hephaestus blinked and finally managed to see where he was. They were under the skeletal shuttle and Mimas was standing next to the support structure for the aft fuselage. He contemplated what he could do in some sort of final effort. He realized the futility of it, though.
From across the garage came a blood-curdling howl. Mimas' head jerked up and she started to move away. Hephaestus sucked in a deep breath and brought both of his knees to his chest. He kicked forward with all of his might, sending Mimas against the bared composite steel spines of the shuttle.
Two of the metal barbs stuck out from her shoulder and collarbone. She growled and began to walk her way off them, but Hephaestus kicked again, causing her legs to fail. As she dangled, she grunted again and tried to stand up. Hephaestus stood and walked over to a supply table. He hefted one of the long steel spines in his hand and turned his head toward her.
Without saying a word, he took a couple of quick steps and hurled the rod as quickly and as hard as he could. He fell to the floor and landed on his rear. Only then did he see that the metal went through her abdomen and emerged on the other side. She spat blood onto the floor and stood up. She grunted again, weakly, and walked away from the fuselage, slowly dragging herself off those steel spines.
Hephaestus' mouth hung open as he watched her grimace. She left the barbs behind but her wounds poured blood. He shuffled back and she staggered toward him with that other rod bobbing along from her side. Her eyes were wide and her brow was fixed. Hephaestus felt a shiver run through him and he stood again.
She lunged for him. Hephaestus was ready, but instead of grabbing her, he grabbed the steel spine in her torso and wrenched it back. She wailed and fell to her knees. Hephaestus felt weak from his own blood loss, but he forced himself to stand tall and pull the rod up with him. Ribs cracked as he widened her gash and redness gushed from her.
She turned to face him and then she reached toward him. "I … I will …" Her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell forward. The rod kept her body propped up while the release of blood became a slower ooze. Hephaestus pulled the barb from her with a disgustingly wet metallic ring. Mimas flopped over and he tossed the steel to the side.
He wrapped a work towel over his compound fracture and moved as quickly as he could across the workshop. On the other side of a small aircraft, Hephaestus came upon an even more disgusting sight.
The other attacker was on his knees with his head and shoulders slumped forward. His shirt was gone and so was his skin. Some of his muscles were torn and splayed open like frayed rope. His abdominal wall had been breached and his bowels sat before him between his legs. Like a wet towel, his torso's flesh dangled from a chain above him, dripping blood onto the concrete.
Hephaestus stumbled back and nearly retched. He looked over to the column and saw Athena leaning against the metal support. He lumbered toward her and said, "Are you alright?"
She turned slowly, revealing the copious puddle of vomit she left. Her eyes were wet with tears and said, "No." Hephaestus scanned her and was about to speak when she added, "I'm not injured."
He nodded and offered his hand to her. Athena took it and stood. She saw his wounds and leaned over to examine his fracture when Hephaestus gasped, "Aphrodite!"
They left the garage and ran across the hall in time to see Eryx stumble out of the other workshop. "You're alive!"
Hephaestus didn't acknowledge him. "Where is she?"
"I'm fine." She gingerly stepped over the fallen door and into the hall. Hephaestus heaved a great sigh and raised his right arm to hug her when she saw his injury. "What is it?"
"It's bad," Athena said.
"Let's get up to medical," Eryx said.
Hephaestus hugged her and he put his chin on Aphrodite's shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked into the room. Ephialtes was pinned to the wall by a wind turbine test device. The edge of the blade had caught him in the skull, directly in the eye.
Hephaestus pulled away from her and fainted.
Hades, Hera, and Hermes ran into the expansive medical lab. As the others bolted the doors, Hades pushed a large cabinet toward them. "This will help." When the locks were in place, the trio tipped the cabinet over against it.
"I'm not sure we should have come all the way down here," Hermes said. "We're too close to our download bay."
The three of them jumped when the first bang hit the door. Hades and Hermes stalked around, looking for something to use as a weapon. Hera caught sight of a chemical shelf and ran to it.
The cabinet against the doors shook and began to tilt away. "Shit," Hades said. Hermes lifted a metal bar from a medical stand. Hades ran to a table and grabbed a length of plastic tubing. He shook his head and said, "We're frakked."
The cabinet fell down. Two thuds later, the doors cracked open and Clytius burst into the room. He made for Hermes first, who swung the bar, connecting with the side of the giant's head. It didn't stop him, though. Clytius lifted Hermes and threw him against the wall where he dropped, unconscious.
Hades tried to leap onto his back and get the tubing around his neck. Clytius was unamused and likewise tossed the smaller Olympian away.
As he did, he was splashed with a large amount of a viscous liquid. He looked down at it and sniffed his dripping hand, jerking his head back in reaction. He glanced toward Hera and looked at her quizzically. She stood still and defiant. He scoffed and started to walk toward her when she threw the second chemical.
Clytius burst into flames. He howled and flailed his arms before he fell to a metal work desk. Hades scrambled away from the fireball and against the wall. The invader's skin was entirely engulfed and his clothing began to drip from his body. His skin burned, cracked and peeled and the roar of the blaze filled the room.
He straightened up and looked toward Hera. She was standing where she was before and she bore a grin of self satisfaction. Clytius raised his arms and ran toward her. Her eyes widened and she was shocked into immobility just as he grabbed her and lifted her.
Hades yelled, "No!"
Hera screamed and beat Clytius about the face. The liquid glommed onto her, too, and now she was alight. Her clothes burned and
her hair formed a deadly halo about her head. Clytius squeezed her tighter and tighter until the sound of her breaking bones was audible above even the fire.
She stopped fighting and her arms dropped to her side. Clytius threw her still-burning body down and he took three steps toward the door before he collapsed as well.
Hades struggled to stand and he panted in horror as both bodies continued to put off an ungodly heat. He moved to the opposite wall and retrieved the fire extinguisher. As he removed the hose and pulled the safety tab, another invader entered the room. He lifted the hose and squeezed the trigger, spraying carbon dioxide into his path.
Hippolitos powered through the cold mist and grabbed the canister from Hades. With a quick swipe, the metal cylinder cracked across Hades' face and sent him to the floor by Clytius' smoldering corpse. Hippolitos stood over him and kicked his leg once against Hades'. His knee shattered and he screamed in pain. Hippolitos smirked and began to lean down.
Hermes leapt off a table and brought a metal bar down over Hippolitos' face and against his throat. Stunned, the giant reared away from Hades and tried to turn, but he never saw his attacker. Hermes pressed his knees into the intruder's back until the bar began to bend against Hippolitos' neck. He flailed and fell to the floor, gasping for air through a gaping mouth like a netted fish. Hermes
Lords of Kobol - Prelude: Of Gods and Titans Page 57
