Imperial Disarray

[Madotsuki]

The factory had seen better days. If she had been here 30 years ago, Madotsuki would’ve found this place quite pristine, with gently-buffed marble flooring and well-oiled conveyor belts. But this wasn’t 30 years ago. Rust had found its way into every nook and cranny, including the assembly line robots, which all appeared about ready to rattle themselves to pieces. Said robots were putting together parts for what the dreamer guessed was some type of machine gun. They paid no heed as she hovered by, still incorporeal. Seeing that the robots didn’t have any type of security protocols, she returned to normal and summoned her knife.
 
She reared back, ready to tear the metallic workers to shreds, when she caught a glimpse of light out of the corner of her eyes. There were footsteps as well. Great, a guard. Madotsuki ducked behind the conveyor belt and watched as the guard rounded the corner. To her surprise, it was the same man whose car she had used to escape the Stormtroopers. She sighed deeply; she really didn’t want to hurt the guy, but freedom fighting had its costs, including the civilians who helped out, even inadvertently. Once the guy had passed by her, she rose up from her hiding spot and pushed her palm out, concentrating on the amount of energy pooling up in her hand. After a few seconds, a writhing, purple column shot out of her hand and towards the guard, making a little “fwoom” noise as it moved through the air.
 
The guard noticed the sound a moment too late; he spun around and trained his 9mm at her, but the column of energy rammed into him before he could do anything else. He barreled into the door with such force, the walls around it cracked. The guard himself appeared surprisingly okay—although the impact had knocked him for a loop, he otherwise seemed unharmed. He rose to his feet and began to shoot as the dreamer hid behind one of the robots. If there were any other guys here, they would be on their way any second.
 
“Come out behind the robot with your hands above your head,” he ordered, a slight twinge of pain he was trying to hide enunciating his words. As he drew nearer, she grabbed her diary and opened it. It bore the similar purple tinge her other attacks had, so it would probably be useful for some sort of attack. The guard stopped right besides the robot, and Madotsuki took the opportunity to spin around and open the diary in his face. A purple fist launched out at his face, giving him no chance to react before the appendage rearranged his face. It seemed that the first hit dealt more damage than he let on, since he collapsed to the floor and she knelt down next to him with sweat beading on her face. That last attack left her briefly seeing stars, like her moves were using her own life energy for power.
 
There was no time to waste, though. She turned the guard onto his back and dug around in his pockets. Among some random pieces of junk was his I.D card—a Mr. Mike Schmidt. If she needed identification to reach the power, then this would come in handy. She tucked the card away in her sleeves. She would’ve searched further, but she could hear several pairs of footsteps coming her way. Instead, she snagged the pistol and ducked back behind the robot.
 
Two more guards arrived, this time equipped with laser guns. Since they weren’t sure where she was, she waited until they reached Mike’s body before chancing it and shooting at the closest guard. The bullet found its target, but the other guard had much faster reflexes than his comrade and he shot in retaliation. The laser dug into her shoulder and she cried out in pain, a harsh burning sensation running up and down her right arm. She hopped over the conveyor belt and ran, blindly shooting at the guard with the gun in her good hand. None of her shots landed, but since she slid underneath the conveyor belt, neither did his shots.
 
Once again, she waited for the guard to come closer. However, her pistol was out of ammo, she couldn’t hold the diary open with one hand, and she had the feeling that trying to use the column again with the huge pain in her arm would make her pass out. That left her with only one option. She launching at the guard and wrapped her arms around him, grappling with him and trying to stab him at the same time. He fell down and started rolling, trying to crush her, but she pushed against the floor and forced him onto his side, whereupon she straddled her knife against his neck and cut deep into the flesh. The guard’s efforts to shake her off intensified as his life began to ebb, and he managed to throw her into the wall before falling still.
 
Dots swam in her vision as she examined the mess she caused. Blood was everywhere, from the robots to her own sweater. She slowly rose to her feet and limped over to where the guards had came from, discovering the security room shortly afterwards. She pulled out the I.D card and swiped it across the scanner. The door opened and she entered. This appeared to be a typical security office, with monitors covering the entirety of one wall, although the guards who occupied this place didn’t seem to be very organized. It took her a while before she found the breaker system behind a giant mess of papers. With a knife in hand, she sliced through all the wires and everything went black.
 
The outside door opened, and in came Madeline. She activated a flashlight and found Madotsuki trying to limp to the exit, covered in blood. Madeline looked at her with worried eyes. “Hey, are you okay?” Madotsuki nodded in reply, and the freedom fighter hesitantly pulled out some sort of walkie-talkie. “Mado took care of everything. Ready to play janitor?”