The platform trembled under Kara's feet, the drone's red eye pulsing like a heartbeat as Lena's cannon arm glowed a lethal crimson. The jagged rocks below promised a brutal end, waves crashing with a roar that drowned all hope. Kara's stun baton buzzed weakly in her grip, its charge flickering—her last line against the abyss closing in. Ghost pressed against the railing, her glowing eyes wide with panic, fumbling for another EMP device that wasn't there.
Lena's smile widened, her cybernetic eye whirring as it scanned Kara's vitals. "Your pulse is racing, Kara," she taunted, stepping closer, her boot crunching on shattered glass. "Give up the fight—OmniCorp wants you alive, but I can make exceptions." The drone descended, its laser sight painting a thin red line across Kara's chest, a countdown to annihilation. The air grew thick, every second a hammer blow to her resolve.
Kara lunged, swinging the stun baton at Lena's cannon arm, but the enforcer deflected it with a metallic clang, her strength overwhelming. The impact jolted Kara back, her heel slipping toward the edge. Ghost grabbed her arm, yanking her upright, but the railing buckled, sending a shard of metal clattering into the void below. A second drone buzzed into view, its twin lasers converging—trapping them in a deadly crosshair. Kara's comms crackled faintly again—"Kara… hold on…"—Marcus's voice, broken but alive, igniting a desperate spark.
The platform shook as an explosion rocked the dockyard, a diversion from an unseen source. Debris rained down, and Lena staggered, her focus shifting. Kara seized the moment, shoving Ghost toward a rusted maintenance hatch. "Go!" she yelled, but the hatch jammed, its lock glowing with an OmniCorp security seal. Ghost's fingers flew over a makeshift bypass, sweat beading on her shaved head, the drones' hum growing deafening. Lena recovered, her cannon charging with a high-pitched whine, the blast imminent.
The hatch clicked open just as Lena fired, the shot tearing through the platform's edge, collapsing it beneath Kara's feet. She fell, clawing at the air, snagging a dangling cable that burned her palms. Dangling over the churning water, she swung wildly, the cable fraying under her weight. Ghost leaned out, gripping Kara's wrist, her augmented eyes straining with effort. Above, Lena loomed, her cannon arm raised, but a shadow darted past—Marcus, limping, hurling a scavenged grenade. The blast knocked Lena back, her shot going wide, scorching the cable.
The cable snapped, and Kara plummeted, only to catch a protruding beam with her free hand, her shoulder screaming in agony. Ghost hauled her up as the drones realigned, their lasers locking on. Marcus stumbled to their side, blood streaking his face. "Took out their relay," he gasped. "But they're calling reinforcements." The sky darkened with incoming chopper lights, their search beams slicing through the smoke.
They stumbled into the hatch, sealing it behind them as bullets ricocheted off the metal. The tunnel inside was pitch-black, water dripping from the ceiling, each drop a tick of a doomsday clock. A faint hum grew louder—OmniCorp's sonic trackers, designed to penetrate walls. Kara's comms buzzed again, a distorted message: "Extraction… east dock… five minutes." But the tunnel forked, one path collapsing, the other leading into an unknown abyss. Footsteps echoed behind—Lena, relentless, her voice a chilling whisper: "I hear you breathing."