Galactic High

“Sephy, what the hell did you do to the door? Can you get it open?” Nika angrily asked the Skritta.

“I opened it and made sure it stayed open! It can’t have spontaneously closed itself!” Sephy panicked. “It won’t let me back in, it’s like the code has completely changed and bricked itself!”

“Could it be on a timer?” Alora asked softly, trying to keep the peace despite her audible fear. “The night cycle is about to hit so perhaps there was a local curfew?

I find that unlikely. Like Sephy said, it’s an ancient door and isn’t automated. Chiyo reasoned. Also, doors do not magically close for no reason, and Sephy wasn’t jacked in…

Jack had said nothing up to this point, as the others clearly had the experience to know what was happening. He had been happy for Alora and Nika to take charge of their journey so far, as they knew more about expeditions in combat situations, and they knew the area. However, panic and division were starting to settle into the group, and if they were going to get through this, they needed to keep it together.

It was time for Jack to step up and lead.

“Sephy, would you be able to find another access point that could let you back into the system?” Jack asked. “If this access point no longer works then we just need to find another one, right?”

“Yeah,” Sephy reluctantly agreed. “Though there's no guarantee I can unlock it from there.”

“At least it’s something we can work with,” Jack reasoned, the others giving him their full attention. “And we can see what we can do from there.”

“All right.” Alora nodded. “Sephy, where’s the nearest access point you could use?”

“We want to find a maintenance room further down the tunnel that has power, or find a way to divert more power off the grid to this area.” The Skritta nodded. “It’ll take me some time to get through the local matrix to here, but it’s doable.”

“Of course we have to go down there…” Nika groaned.

It doesn’t look like we have much choice. Chiyo conceded. Better get ready for a fight.

“At least we have Jack with us,” Alora reasoned. “And we’re no slouches either, but I’ll cast some blessings on us all the same.”

“Gee, no pressure, guess I’m going first!” Jack joked, trying to clear the air. It seemed to make the others feel a little better, but the bad feeling in his gut didn’t go away…

The group was now much more cautious as they slowly progressed through the tunnel with guns out, and in complete silence, with only the quiet hum of Sephy’s drone hovering above them lighting the way on Jack’s suggestion. The group kept slightly behind it and noted any key obstacles in the way, while not being lit up like Christmas trees themselves.

“There,” Jack pointed out, having spotted something on a smooth section of rock a mile in. He had stayed alert, and although he hadn’t heard anything, he knew it was only a matter of time.

Sephy quickly stopped the drone and, following Jack’s finger, they all saw what he was looking at.

Tracks.

The dust had clearly been kicked up recently with several footprints, and looking around it was clear that whatever group came this way was sizable. Tentatively moving towards them, Chiyo gave her thoughts.

Several species, some wearing footwear, some not. Many signs of shuffling…

Sephy moved to a nearby wet patch and gave it a sniff, immediately wishing she hadn’t. “Yep. It’s Risen alright!” she whispered as she tried not to make any loud gagging noises. “Shame we couldn’t see the signs back at the station.”

Too breezy outside for that! Chiyo lamented, retreating to support Sephy, rubbing her back as the Skritta retched.

“Best way to kill them?” Jack asked, checking his plasma weapon. “And you said there were multiple types of Risen, right?”

“These ones are probably just animated corpses,” Alora replied with a whisper. “They’ll go down to gunfire eventually but are more durable than living targets, so just keep shooting until there’s nothing left. Taking out the legs is a good tactic if they’re rushing you as long as you finish them off. They’re more vulnerable to magic or a good close combat weapon that can hack body parts off. Don’t bother stabbing them, and crushing is situational.”

“Well since magic is out…” Jack muttered, checking the readiness of his axe. “Might be giving this bad boy a go…”

A sudden sound boomed in the distance, causing all of them to fall silent and listen. It was distant, but sharp, like a firework going off, before there was silence once again.

“Please tell me the maintenance room is close…” Nika growled.

“Still a bit to go I’m afraid,” Sephy replied apologetically. “It’s further down the tunnel on our left - just before the next station.”

“Another station?” Jack questioned as quietly as he could, still listening out for any danger. “Aren’t we in the middle of mountain territory? Why would they have a station here?”

“Probably a mining outpost of some kind,” Alora whispered back. “From our initial research of this place this metro line was financed by a local influential tycoon of some kind many thousands of years ago, so it might have been linked to a few of his projects.”

“Well if we have to go there, there’s probably something of value!” Sephy smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

I’m more worried about what else we’d find there. Chiyo warned. The dark presence gets stronger the further we go down,

“Is it the risen?” Alora gently asked the visibly frightened Chiyo.

No. She finally answered. Something else. Something bad. Don’t know what it is.

“Then we hug the wall on the left and move as quietly as we can,” Jack reasoned. “I’ll go first.”

They crept further along the tunnel, with only the near silent buzzing of the drone for company. Sephy had debated putting it away, but it was decided that having no light whatsoever was a terrible option.

“What are those?” Sephy called out, stopping the group for a moment as she manipulated the light of the drone to look up and around at the wispy pale grey substance growing thick around the tunnels.

“Looks like cobwebs to me,” Jack admitted. “Though it must have been some big-ass spiders to make this lot, and it looks like they get thicker the further we go in. At least we’ve found what we’re looking for.”

The others had to follow his finger along until they noticed the old rusty maintenance door covered by thick layers of dust and cobwebs about 40 meters in front of them, but it wasn’t all they saw…

“Sephy, turn the drone light off for a moment please,” Alora called out. Sephy did so, and they all noticed why, as the pale blue glow from further ahead got more pronounced. “Unless there’s a skylight going several hundred metres to the surface, there’s something shining ahead.”

“Yeah,” Nika agreed, “let’s keep our lights off for now. Jack, will you be alright navigating?”

“It’ll be fine,” Jack agreed, readying his plasma rifle, “but get ready to light up again if we hear movement.”

They sidestepped carefully closer to the door in silence, but as they got closer, several more loud bangs echoed out throughout the tunnel, accompanied by a low, quiet chittering. They stayed still for a moment, alert for any more noises or anything approaching, but nothing followed. Jack didn’t like it.

They got to the door, with Jack using the light of his commlink to see. No lock, but it was rusted as hell, and pushing gently wasn’t going to budge it. He looked to Nika behind him, who nodded in understanding, and made sure the others could see. He held out three fingers, slowly counting down before he shoved the door as hard as could, smacking it open with a loud screech and a clattering of debris.

Immediately, many more of the loud bangs could be heard further down the tunnel, accompanied by the chittering from before, and a new noise. Something deep and loud roared, the horrible noise being felt more than heard, as they all heard the sound of something big being dragged across the ground, seeing the ominous shadow in the distance. The group didn’t hesitate in piling in after Jack, with Nika helping him close the now loosened door behind them as far as it would go.

“Check the rooms, quickly!” Alora ordered in a quick whisper, as she, Sephy and Chiyo quickly made sure they were alone.

“We’re clear!” Sephy whispered back. “Got a console here!”

“Do your thing!” Alora replied. “Keep it quiet, the rest of us will cover you.”

They stayed there in darkness for a few minutes, taking a few swigs of liquid and resting while they could, but when Sephy came back much quicker than expected, the news wasn’t good.

“Guys I don’t know what’s happened, but someone’s completely fucked with the system and it’s not me!” she panicked. “There’s blocks all over the local matrix that specifically won’t let me open our entry point, the moment I tried from here I was intercepted by something. I think there’s someone else in the system!”

“They knew we were coming this way!” Nika growled. “What do we do now?”

“I don’t know!” Sephy gasped, as her breathing got more frantic while she tried to think of a way out.

Sephy it’s ok, we’ll think of something! Chiyo hurriedly put her arm around her friend, having read her aura and recognising the onset of a possible panic attack.

“Shit,” Alora muttered under her breath.

“We only have one path ahead of us now,” Nika stoically replied, looking towards the door.

“What if…” Jack perked up, having thought of something. “Is it possible to factory reset the system somehow? Bring it back to its default settings perhaps? Or is there a manual override if the system goes down?”

“You might be right!” Alora looked at him excitedly. “Sephy, what do you-”

At that moment they heard another loud bang right above them, then another, and another, before the ceiling completely collapsed as a giant, purpley grey, fleshy tentacle burst through the vent above, slamming through the console where Sephy and Chiyo had just been, the Skritta having used her wings to propel them both away just in time. Jack and Nika wasted no time, aiming at the breach and letting loose as Alora helped the other two get out and behind them as the wet, necrotic limb wildly flailed about looking to strike.

“Jack, get the door open!” Nika yelled. “Can we head back?”

Jack ripped the door off his hinges, no longer needing to be quiet as he turned right to head back from where they came as several more tentacles burst out of the vents, flailing wildly in the tunnel. As Jack quickly realised that retreating where they had come from wasn’t an option, he started moving back towards the station, shooting the entry points as another tentacle punched from the side. This one had yellow gangrene pustules rippling throughout the rotted flesh!

“It’s a delayed reaction!” Jack yelled, making sure the others were accounted for. “Keep moving and don’t stay in one place for too long!”

“Think about where you move!” Nika yelled, as she dodged to the side with her tail. “It’s drawing us in!”

“How is it able to pop through so many vents at once?” Sephy asked as she let loose a volley of plasma to little effect. “Where is it bas-”

At that moment there was another loud bang, as one of the yellow pustules on the tentacle burst in a spattering of gore, as something within tore itself free. The others wasted no time in putting it down before they could see what the creature was, as more loud bangs signalled the arrival of more tentacles, forcing the group to run further down the tunnel and into the gloom of the station. Jack let the others run ahead of him as he let out a few controlled bursts of plasma, noticing that they didn’t have the best effect. It looked like it did some decent damage, but he’d need more shots to put it down a tentacle for good.

Suddenly, Jack heard movement from behind, and without thinking he quickly lept forward in the low gravity and twisted, bringing his plasma rifle to bear and blasting the creature apart, following through with several more shots as he soared through the air. At first glance, the creatures looked like spiders, which would explain all the cobwebs, but they were much more malformed, with fleshy growths that writhed helplessly as he saw one expire on the ground.

“Jack! Watch out!” He heard Nika yell out, as a tentacle thudded into him hard in the air, sending him flying into the darkness.

“NO! JACK!” He heard Alora yell in the distance. He wasn’t out of the fight, not by a longshot, but he had been separated, and they’d all be dead if they didn’t stick together.

“I’m alright!” Jack yelled back, as he got to his feet only then realising that he no longer had his rifle!

“Shit,” he growled, as another tentacle twisted out of a lower vent, forcing him to dodge as it stabbed down. That bought him time, and Jack quickly looked around in vain for the rifle before he noticed something. The tentacle had gotten wedged under the train tracks! Seeing the opportunity, Jack slipped the axe free from his belt before quickly chopping down in a vicious two-handed strike.

A deep, primal roar echoed throughout the tunnels as the cold steel bit deep into the tumorous flesh, spattering the ground with luminous pale blue viscera as the human tore it free. The horrible limb shook roughly, still attached by a tiny chunk of flesh, but otherwise permanently split in two.

“Take that crap back to Japan!” Jack yelled at the tentacle.

More shouts from the others spurred him into action, abandoning the search for his rifle and getting to the others. Learning from his last attempt, he carefully pinpointed his jumps to not expose himself midair, as he carefully but quickly zipped over to the sounds. “Where are you?” He yelled, hoping desperately that they could answer.

“We’re back here!” Sephy yelled as Jack could hear her gunfire. “Hurry up!”

Jack did so, carving a bloody path through the spiders that got too close. They got some nicks and jabs in from their unnatural growths, but none of it was going to put Jack down. The others needed him!

Jack hopped up onto a station platform and could see the pale, white light around the corner, with a tentacle swiping about. Rushing across the hard ground in record time, the thick tentacle barely had time to react before the axeblade bit down, ripping and tearing the flesh away as the tentacle desperately tried to pull back, but something held it in place. Jack didn’t waste the opportunity, slamming the axe down in the open wound again, before the remaining flesh gave way with a sickening tear.

“Jack, is that you?” he could hear Alora ask faintly. “Get within my protective field!

“It’s me! Don’t shoot!” Jack put his hand around the corner to the stairway the others were retreating up to show them it was him before joining them. They all looked shaken, with Alora looking the worse for wear, although Jack couldn’t see any visible injuries.

“I’m able to hold off the smaller things for now but the tentacles are too resilient!” Alora panted under her breath as she closed her eyes to maintain the barrier.

“Chiyo says she doesn’t think the tentacles are infinite and have to be originating from somewhere,” Sephy added, as Nika checked the top of the stairs for hostiles. “It’s gotta be the central maintenance room!” The Skritta continued after getting a brain wave. “Main central vents are there for easy access, so that has to be how whatever the hell this is can come through the vents!”

“Ahead is clear so far,” Nika cautioned, taking a few steps back. “We need a gameplan. What can we do? What the fuck are we even facing, Chiyo?”

I have no clue what this thing could possibly be! Chiyo looked at Nika fearfully. It’s definitely the source of the negative aura, and it’s powerful!

“It doesn’t matter what it is right now,” Jack snapped decisively, bringing everyone’s attention to him. “What does matter is how we can escape it, or how we can kill it. Like Chiyo said, the tentacles aren’t infinite, so if we can cut or disable them in some way we can give ourselves some breathing room instead of being herded like sheep!”

“What’s a sheep?” Sephy asked.

“I’ll tell you if we survive!” Jack grinned despite himself as they got to the top of the stairs. “Where would the central maintenance room be?”

“Deepest chamber, but not accessible from the platform, I think,” Nika cautioned. “Do we follow the signs or avoid them?”

That question remained unanswered as several bangs shook the corridor they were in, and dozens of the spider-creatures burst through the walls, several were held back a little thanks to Alora’s barrier, but not all of them.

“Push forward!” Nika yelled above the gunfire and she and Sephy started clearing the path ahead. Jack and Chiyo kept the rear guard, with Chiyo providing ranged fire by throwing whatever spare debris she could find. A new tentacle snaked its way up the stairs, deliberately moving from side to side to avoid being hit.

“Chiyo, are you able to pin the tentacles to the walls with something?” Jack asked as he wildly swung his axe, clipping the fleshy thing and forcing it to retreat.

Chiyo looked thoughtfully at him for a second before nodding. The guide railing to the left of them started vibrating violently as Chiyo desperately ripped the thing free with visible effort, before aiming carefully and spearing the tentacle to the ceiling. Jack jumped up high and lopped it off before it could loosen itself free, before quickly turning to support Alora who was struggling to keep her feet.

“I can’t afford to end the sphere!” Alora moaned with her eyes closed in hard concentration as pale blue blood dripped out of her nose. “I feel them in the walls! If I stop we’ll be overwhelmed!”

“Is there a safe place we can hold out and recover?” Sephy asked as she mowed down several more spiders.

“If we stop it’ll be a siege we can’t win!” Nika growled as the noise of more tentacles could be heard above the walls.

“Then we have to keep moving and stay on the offensive!” Jack replied, having looked at an overhead sign and getting an idea. “Follow me! Quickly!”

The group followed, Alora now slumped over Jack’s shoulder as she fought to keep her barrier up while the others covered them. Jack quickly dashed around corners, not hesitating to chop and slice with his axe despite the burden of a passenger, wrecking tentacle and spider-creature alike. Another tentacle shot around from behind to try and flatten him, clipping Nika hard before Sephy brought it down with concentrated fire, the blue plasma melting the fleshy abomination.

“Nika! Are you alright?” Jack yelled as Sephy helped her up and let the Kizun lean on her.

“I’m good!” Nika growled through the pain. “Something popped, but I’m still in the fight!”

I’ll cover you! Chiyo replied, as she lashed out with a kinetic repulsion that knocked the creatures around them back and heavily bludgeoned the ones crawling around in the confined vents. Please tell me Jack has a plan that works!

“Jack!” Sephy worriedly shouted as she shot behind her one-handed. “This had better be good!”

“We’re here!” Jack yelled as he gently let Alora down to lean against a clear wall. She didn’t seem to be fully aware of what was going on, too focused on maintaining the protective field that was rapidly losing its potency. Nika leaned awkwardly against a wall and took down a few more of the spider-creatures with a one-handed shotgun blast, the other hand hanging uselessly at her side.

“What’s the plan?” Sephy asked as she let loose with another volley of shots.

“Elevator shaft!” Jack pointed to the closed elevator door behind them. “Can you open the door?” he asked Sephy as he pulled out his pistol, trying his best to hold it and support his two-handed grip on the axe simultaneously.

Sephy closed her eyes for a moment, slipping into the local matrix and staggering slightly before returning to lucidity a millisecond later.

“No power!” Sephy panicked. “I can’t!”

“Anyone have an explosive?” Jack shouted, thinking quickly.

“Here! It’s a sticky!” Nika yelled as she fumbled around with her good hand, before Chiyo telekinetically pulled the device to Jack and steadied Nika so she wouldn’t fall.

Jack grabbed the explosive, pushed it right against the centre of the frame where the two doors met and primed it.

“Take cover!” Jack yelled as the group moved back.

The explosion wasn’t what he was hoping for, smaller than expected, and the elevator doors still stood closed, though slightly bent. He could work with it though, he just hoped he was strong enough!

“Cover me!” Jack yelled to the others as he worked on the elevator door, using the newly created bends as handholds, and growling in primal fury as the door groaned in protest. “Come on you son of a-”

“Jack, hurry up! We can’t hold it for long!” Nika growled as she shuffled over towards him using her tail. “Alora’s field just dropped!”

“Fuck.” Jack grunted as he looked towards the unmoving Alora slumped against the wall.

‘Please don’t be dead’ Jack thought to himself in panic ‘I couldn’t live with myself if you…’

That thought was interrupted as the door finally gave out and the resulting gap gave him a glimmer of hope…

Right before a tentacle smashed through and grabbed him. It was too quick for him to react, wrapping around his waist and pinning his arms to his chest before trying to yank him through the gap. Jack braced his legs either side of the door and pushed back as he tried to free his arms. He gave it everything he had and could feel the grip of the tentacle wavering - he was stronger! A hiss gave him dread as he saw one of the spider-creatures skitter up the tentacle towards him, he was a dead man!

Suddenly a high-pitched, whining buzz of blue light swept around him, decimating the creature and viciously slicing the tentacle, allowing Jack to burst free, though despite himself he allowed himself a second to take in what he was seeing…

“CHIYO, WHAT THE FUCK! YOU HAD A LIGHTSABER THE ENTIRE TIME?!”

It was true. The Ilithii was looking at him wide-eyed as she just stood there with an elegant-looking hilt, and a flat, glowing blue blade of light with a metallic core, which retreated into the hilt as Chiyo put it away.

“WE REALLY DOING THIS NOW?” Nika growled as she slipped and collapsed to the ground next to them.

“Guys! Help!” Sephy warned, guns smoking as the horde of spider-creatures rushed at them. “Running out of juice! Shit!”

“Quemos! HEAR MY PRAYER!” They heard a grunt, as a wall of bright fire burst forth in front of them. It took a split second before they saw Alora attempting to clamber to her feet. “Go! I can hold them off for as long as you need to get out of here!”

“We’re not leaving you!” Jack yelled as he swung his axe at any creatures brave enough to try risking the flames. “Sephy! Chiyo! Any path up?”

“Ladder’s fucked!” Sephy warned as both girls crouched through the gap. “I can’t even fly myself and it’s far beyond Chiyo’s power!”

“We’re heading down then! Nika, Alora, hold onto me!” Jack warned as he grabbed both of his barely standing friends and pulled them through the gap, dropping a few metres onto the top of the elevator, which groaned under their combined weight. Several loud sounds erupted around them as several tentacles crawled up the walls around them. Whatever this creature was, it had to be close! Looking around Jack could see the pulley system severely damaged with a frayed wire, and instantly knew what he had to do.

This was gonna hurt!

“Hold on tight!” Jack yelled, as he took aim and shot the pulley with his Dominator photon pistol, completely obliterating the rusted tangle of metal before he lept towards the elevator shaft wall. Seeing his intentions Chiyo quickly warned Sephy, and both girls hovered slowly down as the elevator thundered to the bottom, shearing off any tentacle crawling up, to the roar of something large below them.

Jack yelped in pain as he slowed their fall, grabbing onto an exposed ledge to break their momentum, before slipping and falling again, reaching out to grip a girder to slow his fall for several metres, the biting friction burning off his skin before he dropped again. The low gravity helped him get Alora and Nika on top of him to protect them in time before he slammed on top of the elevator in a growl of pain.

Are they alright? Chiyo asked Sephy.

“Are they alright?” Jack asked out aloud as he quickly checked on both Alora and Nika. Alora was still softly breathing and Nika grunted as she shifted off of him.

They’ll be fine! Chiyo confirmed, which Sephy quickly translated.

“Good,” Jack panted as he got to his feet, glad he was still able to. “Bottom floor. We have to kill it!”

Jack led the way as they clambered out of the wreckage of the lift into a small corridor with a set of steep stairs leading up on one end and a smashed-in hole in the other that a bellowing noise was rumbling through.

“Right behind- OOF!” Nika grimaced in pain as she stumbled towards the hole, trying to follow Jack.

“No!” Jack told the Kizun. “Hold position here and cover the lift with Alora when she wakes up. We don’t need anything coming behind us.”

“But-” Nika began to protest before realising Jack was right. “Alright.” She stoically replied, dragging herself and Alora forward to the hole. “But we’re holding out at the breach so we can cover you too!”

“Got it,” Jack replied with a nod as he quickly psyched himself up in anticipation and ran into the breach, with Sephy and Chiyo following, only to come face to face with the creature itself.

It was a huge, disgusting mass of necrotic flesh, that pulsed in an unholy imitation of life as several parts of the flesh rippled to grow several hateful looking eyes that tracked the human. As Jack rushed in with his axe to hack at them and keep its attention on him, a roar erupted from a dark growth right in the fattest part of the flesh in the middle of the room, as a mouth with a circle of rotted, sharp teeth bellowed a challenge. Chiyo immediately let loose, pinning several of the tentacles in place with as much torn metal as she could find before lancing her power directly at the mouth of the creature, ripping the moisture out of the air into a spear and spraying it at a high-pressure shot to the centre of mass, completely ripping a hole through the beast. The creature roared in agony, and before she could react, a tentacle rapidly grew out of the flesh and pummeled the Ilithii dead centre, smacking her against a generator. Chiyo slumped and hit the ground, unmoving.

“NO!” Sephy yelled at the creature. “I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!” She blasted the creature where Chiyo had hit it as Jack popped another fleshy eye out with his axe.

“Shit,” Sephy cursed as she realised her rounds had no effect. She had to do something! But what?

Wait….YES!

“Jack! Keep it busy! I have an idea!” Sephy shouted as she dashed into cover within sight of the breach where they could hear Nika holding the line, before she slipped into the matrix and slumped to the ground.

“Yeah you heard her!” Jack shouted at the creature, not knowing if it could hear or not, as he felt a familiar rage come to bear. “COME GET SOME!”

Jack was like a blur, dancing and weaving in between tentacle strikes and delivering devastating counterattacks in the form of chops, slashes and slices. He used the low gravity to his advantage, leaping quickly to differing spots around the room as the creature failed to keep up. It was definitely weakening, as the creature was unable to replenish its eyes and tentacles as quickly the longer they went. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Chiyo stirring and stumbling to her hands and knees, and noticed a tentacle feeling around. He couldn’t let it get to her.

Leaping forward he sliced at the base of the necrotic limb before the beast opened its mouth wide and made one, desperate play.

It moved.

It couldn’t move far, being so symbiotically attached to everything in and beyond the room, but it could move enough to swallow the human whole.

Jack could hear a strange, strangled crying sound as it happened, and realised it was Chiyo as she saw the human get consumed, the creature’s mouth closing once again until it suddenly shuddered and shook in confused pain as its mouth was snapped open. Growling in anger, Jack was there, prying the creature's mouth wide with his hands as it tried desperately to shut around him. A tongue wrapped around Jack’s waist and tried to pull him in, but the human stood strong and defiant as the vile creature could not overcome him. Jack knew he had this, as he kept the mouth pried open with one hand, and gripped the handle of his Dominator, aiming the powerful gun right down the monster’s throat.

“Overcharge!”

The Dominator glowed with bright light, as the energies within whined with furious power, ready to be unleashed.

Jack fired, the red light of the photon blast ripping through the creature with ease, completely melting its top half.

“Jack! Get away from it! Now!” he heard Sephy say, already leaping away from the beast in pure reflex.

Sephy yanked down on a switch next to the power generator, which roared to life as they felt the station come alive. The creature shrieked in anguish as it was cooked alive by the power generators it was attached to, echoed by its spawn from all around, a horrible cacophony of a death cry that was cut off abruptly, as whatever power that stitched the aberration together broke completely, leaving the flesh to bubble and simmer into a pool on the ground.

They had won.