Cutlass Sharpened (43 page)

The Creelin grabbed the two piece set and
carried it over. He saw how tired she was and mimed helping her
undress. Again it was embarrassing, but she knew the need of aid
was required. She already put the alien’s plan together. Renee now
understood how organic metal was made for one individual. She
struggled, but got naked after being insisted the bra and panties
were a hindrance too.

As soon as she got the pants up her ass she
felt movement on her wrist and saw her new bracelet coming to
recognize her outfit for what it was. Absently she imagined wanting
to kick some teeth in and her clothes came alive like warm water.
Seams disappeared, but then she expected a sleek flight suit.
Instead hers turned into wicked armor just like Oliver’s, only
slightly different in some ways and more defined in other areas.
Her hard lines were curvy around the breasts, waist and round hips,
but her growing from the forearms was a metal plate of more than
one sharp, jagged layer. They could block any blade and be used for
edged weapons as well. Her shoulder guards were more defined than
his and woe be to anyone she chooses to shoulder tackle. Spikes
were ready. The suit fit her perfectly. Curvy with a hell of a bite
poured into one. And instead of a full helmet, she had a facemask
that covered her mouth, nose and much of her jaw.

Then she realized her lightheadedness began
to fade as her suit applied counter pressure to keep her blood from
gathering in her feet. “Fuck yeah!” she gloated as she sat up,
breathing much easier too.

Oliver sat up, recovering
from making the items during her changing and liked what sat up in
front of him. “Now
that
is how you should look. Sexy and lethal rolled into one solid
package.” She beamed and took his hands to stand up. The mask fell
down her throat, showing off those pearly whites. “The cape suits
you too.”

“
So it does.” She pulled
some around and loved the silky feel. “We can play later. Oliver,
if you’re going to get us out of here, now is the time… oh, but
what about you, Netul. Don’t you need armor?”

“
He says his biology can’t
use armor like ours.”

“
Then at least make a
temporary Cultio wrap for his hair so he isn’t complexly
vulnerable.”

Before long Netul gave in and settled for
rope made from the moldy hay and tied himself up. The vambrace
cleaned and wove it together.

They walked out quietly to the trophy case
and rather than open it and risk setting off an alarm, Oliver used
his vambrace to find it too could be used as a lesser weapon to cut
a hole out of the clear panes and retrieved his blade that lit up
right then. Netul seemed excited about something other than an
escape attempt he noticed privately. The saber slid in the sheathe
and it gave a sense of security.

Renee got a good look at the reddish Spartan
hole they were thrown in to realize “Just how to you plan to get us
out? The wall is smooth as glass and I can’t get my suit’s suction
cup to stick. There must be micro air holes I can’t see. And too
smooth for a standard ascent.” She said as her glove reformed from
making a suction pad in the palm. “Too high for either of you
giants to jump.”

“
That’s why I’m going to run
up the walls using centrifugal force. You haven’t forgotten how
fast I run do you?”

“
Uh…” was answer
enough.

“
Perfect circles at my
speed… no problem. I won’t be able to go full speed because my
strides will be too long. About sixty to seventy percent ought to
do the trick. I’ll throw a line down first for Netul so he won’t
feel we lied and left him to rot. Then I’ll pull you
up.”

“
Smart. Now get that ass
moving before security cameras find we left the cage. They probably
electrified the walls too. I didn’t want to touch it
barehanded.”

“
Kiss for good
luck?”

One gloved hand landed on hip. “Not till we
leave and we make up for lost time. Then I’ll see what this armor
really can do in the slut’s lingerie department. Crochless panties
should be motivation enough.” Renee thought she heard something
crash headfirst into a steel plate. Like a gong being dully struck.
Oliver rearranging his suit’s groin area made it fact. She liked
having that kind of power.

Netul shook in silent mirth and told him ‘My
match is just as ruthless after fifty thousand of your years. It
never gets easier. Now go and let us depart.’

“
I don’t know what was said,
but my offer is only good for… Three. Two…” Oliver moved, not
risking anymore countdown, and went from zero to seventy kilometers
per hour in four steps.

He circled to gain momentum then in a bold
turn, left the floor and transferred from running in a circle to go
straight as his perspective changed. He was moving so fast the
walls held him down rather than letting gravity pull. Jaw set, he
spiraled his way higher and higher. Letting the wind add resistance
in a cooling way and to hold balance. He didn’t stop. Renee and
Netul watched in amazement as he ran higher and higher on pure leg
power. Twenty circles later and he reached the lip and flipped
himself out. He shot dozens of meters, before coming to a stop from
a steel wall. Renee didn’t raise her voice, but he saw her sigh as
his grinning mug peeked down.

The right hand dropped and from it a thin
line with a foot loop in the end. Renee offered and Netul fixed his
foot in the loop and held on with both hands as Oliver pulled and
drew him up and over. The gravity was significantly less outside
Level Four’s pit and soon Renee was pulled out and the relief of
her suit loosening up made her sigh.

Oliver looked up in the upper three levels to
mentally plan the best route. Going straight up was out of the
question. There was nothing to climb straight out from the
elevator’s path. Catwalks crossed much of the open space with
thousands of steps and ramps leading throughout the huge complex.
The height from where they stood was three kilometers above and
designed to prevent escape by lethal automated force. Psionic
cannons were seen between the red lights dimly illuminating the
facility. It was made entirely of metal to prevent fire as well as
to conduct electricity to the bare footed inmates. Oliver read it
was standard for maximum security prisons. The scanner would detect
any means to escape, but it didn’t seem to realize it had been
tricked.

Unable to fully recall Creelin biology Oliver
first asked “Netul, they’ll find out soon we’re making a break for
it. Being barefoot, will you feel it?”

‘
I’m silicone based and have
no water levels great enough in which to seize my muscles. Only raw
psionic electricity can harm me. The blasters I’ll need protection
from. Ask Renee to stay by my side. Her and your armor is highly
resistant to kinetic blasts.’

Renee nodded. “Alright. Stay…”

Her words were cut off as a blue spark
flashed off her heart. Her mask resumed position and she saw one
blaster aiming for Netul next. She raised her arm and blocked it.
Next she sees is Oliver’s sword cleaving the wall mounted weapon
with ease. She said dryly “Looks like it’s too late to use stealth.
Netul, stay behind me. Oliver, get us out of here.”

Up in the warden’s monitoring room seethed
Wrangler who saw nothing but red after just witnessing the elder
Hunter running around the walls like the extreme gravity was
playground. Never had he witnessed such an act of physical prowess.
Wrangler just happened to be passing by the screens and ready to
retire for the evening as the attempt was made. He also couldn’t
believe not only was the elder wearing armor, so too was his newest
pet. To top it off they somehow freed his Creelin plaything. After
shock wore off he activated the motion sensor kinetic rifles to
yell in a rage as the armor Renee wore was immune to the lesser
shots. He increased output of the blasters to akin to a class eight
kinetic blast, but aside from a minor twinge, she was unharmed.

He hit the floor shockers at full output
which would instantly cook a person from the inside out. And still
his quarry moved on.

Wrangler struggled with useless machines and
grew increasingly worried as the one known as Elder Void made
inhuman leaps to destroy the rifles. He loathed Hunters, getting
everything for nothing, but never had he feared and hated someone
at the same time. When they continued running up the stairs he hit
the prison’s lockdown system.

At first he relaxed as Oliver paused as a
massive door slammed between himself and the other two but didn’t
seem concerned to be separated. Wrangler found out why and it
terrified him. Oliver made three wide cuts in a triangular pattern
and kicked the center out. “IMPOSSIBLE! He cut through a tungsten
and titanium composite with that dull blade like nothing was
there.”

Due to the size of the hole, nanite repair
was too slow to seal the breach as Renee and the Creelin stepped
through as if they didn’t have a doubt they’d escape.

As a last resort he initiated emergency
gravity in that area. He gloated as Renee’s body buckled and it
vanished as neither the alien nor the elder showed signs of being
adversely affected. The Creelin though threw Renee over his
shoulders after waving the elder ahead. Her body blocked all
downward aiming firing from hitting him while she got carried at
ten gees that would kill any human after no more than a minute.

The last straw had been taken as Renee
spotted a crystal camera and struggled to give him the universal
finger boldly saying ‘FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!’

“
Attention. All guards fall
back. I’m going to take care of the prisoners personally. If they
get by me, let them go free.” Wrangler knew his men would know that
there was no need. If they got past the warden, they were no match.
Plus, no one interfered when he sounded that livid.

Wrangler returned the facility’s gravity to
one gee as he went to a shrine made for a blonde and beautiful
woman to pick up a picture and hide it in the breast pocket over
his heart. He knew he had to kill them. If any one of them escaped
and lived to tell what was really happening under his command,
dying would be the least merciful thing to result. Wrangler left
with full intent to kill or be killed.

As he left he hit a button to at least tire
the prisoners out.

“
So the boss will get his
hands dirty now eh?” Renee snorted. “At least the defenses were
shut off. What do you two think?”

Netul signed for her to listen ‘Do not
underestimate him. He and the guards have full use of their
abilities whereas we do not. He likely won’t come to us. He will
wait where he has the greatest advantage.’

“
Then let’s not keep him
waiting.” Oliver said as the wall withdrew to allow them access
higher up. They passed Level Three with him slicing through any
doors that blocked the path up.

For five minutes they walked in the only
logical way out. But as they reached Level Two, largest of the four
floors, Oliver sniffed to catch a flavor in the air he knew wasn’t
good at the moment and threw out an arm. “There are Beasts
here.”

“
What!” Renee near shrieked,
eyes flying wide the moment she heard his words proven.

Her words were followed by a door being
loudly torn apart by large, jagged brown scythes. They watched as a
green and brown patterned Praying Mantis as tall and twice as heavy
as Oliver scurried out on thin legs when the sealed door was no
longer able to hold it back. Oliver reacted first as the overgrown
insect was already tantalized and distracted by caged humans who
were mostly oblivious due to their cage doors being solid and
completely dark. Relying on an underhanded swipe Vanishing Claw
showed from the flowing movements he had been practicing, the
gruesome head vanished, but would not die for hours to come. His
vambrace extracted the brain and he ate the morsel in two bites. It
was delicious. A dozen more insect type Beasts charged out the
tunnel to meet the same fate. They were all lesser rank, but each
became a delicacy. His blade twirled, sliced and stabbed vital
areas with precision as they came one at a time. He would have been
in trouble if there was another door opening and got surrounded.
Luckily there was none but this one.

Renee went to yell he could eat later, unable
to stop staring at the growing mound, but Netul had her understand
that if he didn’t draw all the Beasts out, they would come for the
helpless prisoners. She clamped her lips shut and followed him away
where not to be in danger.

It turned out to be true as more than a
hundred Beasts able to be safely restrained came over the next hour
were felled by Oliver finding a rhythm and free meals. Netul and
Renee hid just out of sight as they had no viable weapon capable of
killing the creatures and break through tough hides conventional
weapons couldn’t deal with. If the suppression field were down, no
problem. Renee though watched as Oliver waited between frenzied
attackers, he consumed kilos of brain matter. Then switched to
offense to deal with the approaching threat. But her gaze never
left him and during the onslaught she began to notice his suit’s
shape gradually changing. The angles and edges becoming more
defined gradually, but noticeably to her. The more he fought, the
easier he slew and her worry was lowering as he gained more and
more experience. Flying Beasts were de-winged swiftly as he bounced
off walls like his legs were springs. She still worried, but was
mesmerized she had such a man all to herself.

When no more came out of the
wrecked hallway Renee looked at the mounds of twitching corpses and
gore painting the entire nearby area and walls. The smell of guts
was not kind either, but still she struggled with a watering mouth
and hunger. She said rationally after much thought in the hour
“Oliver, we need to make absolutely sure no more Beasts are around.
We need to investigate why they are in a secure prison to begin
with.”
And what they were fed with.
She thought privately and imagined it was people
innocent like she was for a crime she didn’t commit.