Bursting through a door into an empty room, Rex found himself falling through the air instead of landing on a floor. “Not good!” He began to panic as he fell to the solid foundation. The lack of light let the ground sneak upon him. Not bracing himself before the impact put him flat on his face. “A door is more dangerous than a space goblin pirate.” He said, groaning through the embarrassment more than the pain; suddenly, the room was bright white with light. “Now what?” He picked up his dropped weapon, ready for a surprise.

[Would you look at that, stairs.] Rex turned towards the door halfway up the wall. Small metal stairs began to slide out of the wall, leading down to his level. [At least your method was faster, just stick the landing next time.] Alfred mocked him while the helmet HUD showed he was scanning the room. [Now that’s interesting…] He trailed off as his sensors went into overdrive for a few moments.

The room was just a large empty room with white walls and a set of retractable stairs leading to the only door set into the wall halfway up towards the ceiling. “You would think this would be the bridge or something, right? Why else is it located on the upper deck?” Glancing around the sizeable cubical room left him with a weird feeling. “Shouldn’t there be something in here?” He slowly began to back up to the base of the stairs.

[There is, it’s just not visible to you.] The sensors whirled down, Alfred seemed a bit excited. [It’s an anomaly that’s just stunning!] His voice started to sound a bit hazy.

“You okay there, buddy?” Rex crouched in the corner of the room by the stairs, his back to the wall. “You aren’t sounding too good.” Some of his HUD interfaces began to close down.

[Power is running low. Not much time left for me.] Alfred sounded winded, like he had just gone through a heavy sprint. [I found a connection. Going to follow it. Might help us survive.] A blinking battery symbol was flashing red in the helmet.

“I’m counting on you to save our asses, Alfred; I do need a breather soon.” Rex chuckled at the slowly encroaching death as the air timing hit the 30-minute warning. Soon his HUD was fully deactivated, leaving him a clear view of his surroundings.

[Aye, Captain!] Alfred shouted as a click sounded over the helmet’s speakers. His green holo motes of lights exited the bag and flew out to float around in the middle of the room. A prism of shifting lights began a colorful dance.

“Now that’s a magical sight.” Rex wasted a moment to watch the lights dance around. A shifting of his pack took his attention. He removed the pack as it began to empty its contents onto the floor. The guns are no longer in their compressed form, with the many magazines spilling around the pile. “Oh sure, just leave me here with a bit of air and a mess to clean up.” Just as he was joking about his situation, a rumble shook the room.

Another vibration rattled the room; his ammo scattered further as he readied his shotgun in a prone position. The shocks began to get worse and worse. Finally, cracks appeared in the wall below the door he entered through. “Are those pirates trying to get in here?” Rex realized this room was about to become a battlefield. He quickly turned around to his messy weapon pile, frantically looking for an assault rifle or something automatic.

A loud booming noise interrupted his search, and the wall shattered with explosive force. Rex could hear some muffled grunting and shrieking coming from the other side. He grabbed a ball-looking device, pressed a large red button on it, and threw it through the hole. A soft thump sounded out in response, followed by a large cloud of smoke spreading into the room.

“Smoke bomb, seriously?” Rex was back to picking up the weapons and matching the mags to them. Thankfully the smoke screen helped give him enough time to figure them all out. “Let's start with you.” Holding the shotgun. “Then finish with you, and let's see what these do.” Grabbing a rifle and a few more ball-like devices. He fitted a few shells and mags to his vest with the unknown explosives on the belt. He only had one more reload to his pistol.

Moving through the smoke while crouching, Rex made his way to the side of the hole. Shotgun at the ready, he waited, taking deep breaths to calm himself. “Haste makes waste, and patience is key.” He chanted as he waited. A goblin waved his sword around a moment later to feel the hole come forward. “Glowing weapons in low visibility, not smart matey.” The shotgun roared aloud, lighting up the smoke briefly as a slug tore through the shielding with a shattering effect. It didn’t slow one bit, finding a soft fleshing head to obliterate.

Rex pumped the shotgun, releasing a hiss instead of a shell. Then, with his next shot loaded up, he moved to the other side of the hole. With the smoke still clouding everyone’s vision, it was easy to move without glowing gear. “That’s right, come closer, new target.” It seemed like the partner of the now-dead pirate was hiding along the wall. It slowly crept up to the hole. Something was growling at it from the smoke.

“Two.” Claiming the second kill, Rex took another ball-like device off his belt. “I hope you explode at least.” He pushed the button, a circle of sorts appeared to begin to count down. “That’s a good sign.” He waited until it was nearly up. Then, just as more glowing forms approached, he threw it.

“Please be awesome.” Rex watched by peeking around the hole. A sudden force pushed him back as a shockwave sent him tumbling. “That was impressive, but where's my boom?” He got up and went to inspect the damage. “Woah, not bad.”

The smoke was now all cleared up. A group of goblins was huddled at the end of the other room. A visible force shield glowed with cracks all around it. They slowly were being mended, yet most goblins looked damaged to some degree. “Oh no you don’t!” Rex dropped the shotgun as he picked up the rifle.

Almost like he had used the weapon for years, he armed it, aimed it, and opened fire. It was set in a 3-burst fire mode. He unloaded the whole magazine at his foes. The shielding shattered with his last bullet. “I have y- shit!” A goblin he overlooked jumped him from the right. It stopped him from reloading his rifle while tackling him back into the cube room. “You little-” Rex managed to separate from his assailant but froze when he saw his sword in its hands. It was sneering at him while tossing his blade away.

Before the blade hit the floor, a bullet exited the goblin's head. Rex spun his revolver around and holstered it. “Don’t touch my things.” He almost spits at it; thankfully, he stopped himself from messing up his helmet. He picked up the dropped rifle, reloading it while checking his situation. “Still have four up, it seems. Two glowy guys, one big man, and one mob left.” He cocked the rifle, arming it for the fight ahead. “Hurry up, AL; could use some help here.”

Bright lights began to form shapes in shifting colors like goblins in front of the mage. They waved their hands in a dancing fashion as the light grew denser. “Not good. Glowing is usually bad.” He fired off a burst at the rightmost glowing wizard. The big guy goblin appeared with a large tower shield blocking the shots. “How’d he move that fast?” Rex shifted targets to the left one.

A roar stopped him from firing as he felt compelled to shift targets to the large armored goblin. He began to fire non-stop, “Stop... Stop!” Rex managed to stop firing, only wasting half his shots. The tower shield of his enemy was dented badly but withstood the assault. “Not good at all.” The lights behind the tank signaled the mages were done, and their attack was about to launch.

In a moment of panic, Rex grabbed at his belt randomly. After grabbing the first item he could, he threw it with all his might over the tank of a goblin. The projectile burst out with white-hot fury, covering the personal shields of the mages and burning through them. Screams lasted only a split second as their magic exploded from failure to launch. Rex was sent flying into the far wall. “*Cough cough* hmm…*cough* note to self… *cough* learn what does what first.”

Rex limped back to the hole, his whole body shaking due to the shockwave. “Of course, you survive.” A smoking armored large goblin unsteadily stumbles through the opening. Rex unloads the rest of his rifle at the foe. “Did that work?” The tower shield crumbled, revealing a pissed-looking goblin with an enormous greatsword. “Figures.” He dropped the empty weapon to the ground.

The goblin tank stands ready with his giant sword poised above his head. It motions with its head to the side, and Rex spots his fallen sword. “Seriously? A knightly duel?” His hands are positioned in an unarmed boxing style, ready to fight, but his opponent has other plans. The goblin grunts louder and motions again to the sword. “Not so smart to give me a chance now.” He slowly shifted over to the sword. The globin is still ready and waiting.

“You set yourself up for this one guy; sorry to do this.” Rex picked up his sword and charged at the goblin tank. “If we could talk, you’d know I’m not a swordsman!” He screamed at the large goblin swinging down at him. He swung up to meet the heavy swing. His sword was crushed and sent flying from the goblin’s strength. It smiled at its victory, yet its opponent wasn’t in its sight.

“I’m a gun guy.” The shotgun cried out from behind the goblin. Rex had let go of the sword to dive past the large goblin to get his fallen shotgun laying behind his foe. Another blast to the back armor sent the goblin to the floor. He moved close to the head. “I’m a survivor.” He pulled the trigger. The goblin’s helmet glowed briefly before crumbling. A hate-filled look met his eyes as the goblin looked up the barrels towards him. “You won’t stop me.” The last shell in the gun took off the head in a gory manner.

“Let's go with this color now.” Since he still had shells on his belt, he picked a random color to load up. After pumping it to arm it, he ran through the hole. He didn’t slow as he ran towards the mages' spot. He saw nothing remaining in the vicinity but a blood trail led down a different hallway.

“I don’t have time to explore, and you better lead me somewhere good.” Rex was beginning to feel stress as he knew his time was running out. He followed the trail of bloody footsteps down a hallway after the hallway began to tire him out. “How large is this ship? I know it looks big from the outside, but this is unreal….” He slowed his pace as he came up to a darker hall. The bloodstains were denser and fresher looking; he was close.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are, little gobby.” Rex strolled down the dark corridor, following the blood to a hallway filled with soft glowing light. “This place just screams basement dungeon.” He passed empty cell rooms and made his way towards the shining light. As he neared the corner, the goblin he chased flew past him, splattering along the wall. “Found you?” Glancing from the gore to the lit hallway in the dungeon-like space, Rex made haste to turn and run.

A roar stopped him cold. He turned around to view some giant creature that resembled a goblin but was something more. It had a soft glow coming off its very being. He thought the goblin tank was large, but this creature was a good head above it. “Final boss fight. Should have brought more guns.” Aiming at the giant target that filled the hallway, he unloaded all the shells.

A burst of laughter filled the space as the figure continued forwards, taking each hit as it laughed. The shells were some incendiary rounds that burst into flames upon contact. Sadly they just flashed brightly as they harmlessly lit up the gloom. Rex was retreating with each shot while his foe gained ground while laughing. Finally, a hiss from his weapon meant he was out.

“What is this thing!” Grabbing a few of the last shells he had with him, he quickly loaded the gun. “Where did it go?” He noticed the laughter stopped. “How did something that large van-” something smashed into his left side, sending him back down the gloomy hallway. Rex felt things snap inside his chest while his arm was burning with pain. He coughed up some blood, tinting his lower vision a bit. “Where did that trick come from?”

Roaring laughter drew his attention to the goblin-like champion. It seemed to toss something his way. His shotgun landed a bit in front of him, sliding along the smooth flooring into his hands. “You seem to be enjoying this, bastard.” Rex struggled to stand. A flash of red in his helmet noted he hit the 10-minute mark. The goblin champ had a large sharp-toothed open-mouth smile that made a chill crawl up his spine. “I’m gonna make you greet toying with me.” Gritting his teeth, he lifted the shotgun with both hands.

In the moment of a blink, the goblin champion was before Rex, laughing with a wicked grin. It grabbed his injured arm and lifted him while crushing his wrist. “FU-” It flicked his helmet, cracking the glass while roaring to the ceiling with its head back in pleasure. “I’m going to enjoy this,” Rex mumbled as he grabbed the final explosive device he had. Then, a beep sounded that stopped the goblin. It looked down, wondering what made the noise.

“Eat this!” Rex shoved the beeping device into the champ’s mouth. It is momentarily startled, allowing him to use its hold on him as leverage to kick with all his might on its chin. However, the stronger jaw of the beast easily cracked the device, setting it off.

The last explosive was a fragment-type grenade, and it tore through the jaw of the champ with force. The creature was too magically formidable for the explosive to deal fatal damage. However, it did take off the lower jaw at Rex’s lower leg price. His suit activated its last emergency nano-aid. It even sealed the suit to keep the little air he had left. The champion’s eyes were blood red with rage; it grabbed him by his last remaining leg and lifted him.

“Have seconds bitch!” Rex screamed as he was hoisted in the air. He managed to grab the shotgun with his working hand. Then, having shoved it into the gaping hole in his enemy’s face, he pulled the trigger. The gun glowed for a brief moment until the recoil kicked it out of his grip. “Why won’t you die!” He drew his revolver, firing into the broken face again.

The goblin champion’s head burst apart with the last shot, letting go of Rex to fall as well. “Please be the last goblin!” He panted as the shock wore off; pain ran rampant throughout his body. He held his ruined wrist with his good hand. “At least it can’t get worse.” Then, gritting his teeth through the pain, he used his shotgun as a cane to limp forwards to the lights he saw.

“I jinxed it, didn’t I.” He froze in the doorway to a circular room. It was filled with doors upon doors of small cells with people in them. The glow came from the visibly glowing doors seeming to hold them inside. “Not what I needed.” Seeing him got the lot behind glowing bars to bang against them, yelling something silently to get his attention.

He tried to turn to leave, only to slip and fall onto his back. He was slowly feeling his pain fading. “Not good. Air?” He struggled to breathe. A dim flash on his cracked helmet did nothing but concern him. “Great, I can't even know how long I have left.” He just laid there, staring at the ceiling, feeling tired. “Hurry up, Alfred, don’t make…*gasp* do all…*gasp* the work.” His vision began to fade to black.