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-----Collectively, the Champion Mountains formed the largest mountain range on the face of Khazan. The land itself was half the size of the average State-Kingdom, but the rocky terrain had thwarted all attempts to turn even the slightest portion of it into a place of civilization. -----The Drekis Empire had done the unthinkable; with no way of effectively building around the countless mountain sides, they had resolved to destroy an entire section of the mountains in order to secure their territory. The first explosion that cleared away their obstacles was felt all over Khazan, inciting tremors that were immediately reported in the northern continents. -----Entire miles of mountainous terrain had been leveled into an ash-filled crater; it had not taken long for the hive workers to start filling the void with their darkstone. By the time that Khazan News Network employees had begun surveying the scene they had already succeeded in raising an imposing fortress of towering spires and pulsating walls. -----It was the coming of night—a mere two hours after the sun had set behind Mount Vadakahn—when the 478th mecha-nized division launched their operation. -----A large group of deminites emerged from the small openings along the sides of the fortress; together they screamed at the night sky in a frivolous fashion and began to run aimlessly around the flattened land. Occasionally one or two deminites would get into the way of another, resulting in angered cries and bloody battles for dominance. -----As the deminites quarreled with one another, the mechs of the 478th marched through the hills under the cover of densely crowded trees. The hills were directly on the outskirts of the Drekis minion’s territory, where the tremendous explosion had ceased its destructive dance. Many of the trees had still been scorched badly by the background heat that the blast had left behind, but their thick branches intertwined and converged, creating a cover that blocked out most of the moonlight. -----Under this darkness the mechs slowly advanced onto the enemy fortress. The Senki was the first to reach the edge of the trees, allowing Sergeant Major Graham to zoom in on his targets with the mech’s scope. -----“Another group of deminites came out to join the others.” Graham whispered through the comm.-link. “I don’t see any sign of bio-fighters in the sky; a few ptera-deminites are hanging around the towers, but other than that…” -----“How many enemies are we looking at here?” Cecelia asked as the Derringer marched up behind him. -----“I’d say about three hundred are outside around the fortress.” Graham responded, “There’s a mixture of them; mostly deminites, but a few of those hive guards, some Devonox…some of those lizard man things.” -----“A surprise attack could raise hell against a pathetic defense like that.” Corporal Arlington said. -----“Maybe,” Sara said as the DragonFlare began to scan the area, “But we don’t know if their full force has been deployed. More could be inside the fortress. More could even be inside the caves below.” -----The Gemini walked up to the front of the group, joining the Senki as they both spied on the enemy carefully. “Speaking of the caves,” Takuma interjected, “We need to find the most convenient entrance point for our little hero team.” He enhanced the visual monitor to its highest zoom settings and began to strafe the viewer across the fortress, looking for anything suspicious. The area around the fortress itself was solid, and the place where the deminites had gathered didn’t seem to be of any importance either. In fact, the deminites didn’t seem to be a defense force; apparently they were simply ridding themselves of unused energy as they jumped around and slashed at one another. -----“Look! What’s that over there?” Sergeant Atatsuya asked. The Pharis’ Blade extended its mechanized arm out and pointed towards a small groove in the ground that was just behind the fortress. -----“That looks promising,” Takuma said as he focused on what turned out to be a slanted piece of land, like a natural ramp, that descended deeper into the ground. “I don’t have a very clear view of where that leads, but judging from the path that goes down, it’s a good bet that that’s an entrance to the Endless Caves.” -----“It’s worth checking out,” Arlington reported, “Otherwise the only possible entrances around here would be inside of the fortress, and we don’t have any confirmation of that either. I’ll send Uberman the data now.” -----“So all we need to do is provide the cover for them.” Ratilda said as she cracked her fingers. -----“Remember,” Captain Kitazawa stated, “This is only a distraction. We go in firing, and as soon as the enemy reveals their true numbers, we fall back.” -----“We’re likely to be chased down even after we leave,” Graham exclaimed as he flipped a few switches to ready the Senki for battle. -----“That’s the whole point,” Sara Foster reminded him, “If we draw them out, it will be that much easier for Uberman’s team to infiltrate the caves unseen.” -----“Alright, stick with the plan.” Kitazawa said smoothly. “Cole, Foster, you two have the best aerial models, so you’ll launch the opening attack from above. Angelhart and I will move out next; Arlington and Atatsuya will emerge from the sides and cover our flanks; Graham will provide long range support from here.” -----The deminites reared their heads towards the hills as soon as they heard the roar of the mecha’s boost-engines. Their attention was diverted to the dark sky as charred branches were launched into the air, followed by the explosive appearances of the Tristar and the DragonFlare. -----Ratilda’s Tristar, still ascending, took aim with its dispersion rifle. The new weapon, although sleek and elegant in appearance, was a difficult firearm to wield; Ratilda rolled her tongue along her upper lip as she waited for the shaking crosshairs on the viewer to line up with the mass of scowling enemies. With a pull of the trigger the Tristar flew back a few meters; a visible recoil shockwave rippled through the starry night as a dense pocket of energy crashed down on the minions like a meteor. -----An entire section land, suitable for supporting several houses, vanished in an instant. Even the explosion was utterly transient; there was merely one bright flash of consuming white, and then a steaming hole in the ground where over two dozen of the deminites had been standing. -----The DragonFlare followed up on the opening attack, firing four missiles from its leg launchers. Spiraling trails of smoke followed the projectiles as they smashed down on different locations in the enemy line. Numerous deminites were reduced to flaming pieces of flesh, but a devonox shrugged off the loss of an arm and ran towards the hills with the remaining minions. -----The two airborne mecha’s cut their engines, allowing their heavy bodies to suddenly fall back to Khazan soil. The DragonFlare fired on the advancing enemies with its assault rifle, forcing the giant mass to split into smaller groups that frantically took off in different directions. -----“The new weapons are working well.” Sara said as she observed the sparking explosions left behind by the explosive artillery fire. The Tristar and DragonFlare reactivated their engines just in time to slow their descent and firmly place their feet on the ground in front of the tree cover. -----A hive guard responded to their landing with a fierce optic blast, but the ruby-red beams splashed off of the Tristar’s shields. Deminites and reptillons, giving no regard to the size of their opponents, leaped forward while under the rabid influence of the hive guard’s aura. -----“They’re pretty relentless.” Ratilda commented as several large fireballs struck the shields consecutively. The double-beam cannon on the Tristar’s shoulder fired at the lead hive guard, hitting its precious eyes and melting most of its head. The smaller deminites scurried to the sides as the towering hive guard toppled over and rolled down the hills. -----The Gemini burst out of the thick wall of trees just as the relentless minions began to converge on their position. A combination of Takuma’s heavy particle beam rifle and four cohesive beam guns cut through the front line of deminites as quickly as they had come. -----“Somehow this seems too easy.” Kitazawa muttered, looking at the severed corpses in front of his mech. He brought the Gemini’s viewer into zoom mode and again scanned the outskirts of the fortress, but this time the walls were not quite solid. Numerous pores had opened up in the sides of the fleshy exterior, and from them emerged countless minions of all sizes; like an endless stream they oozed out of the walls and quickly dashed across the ground to join their brethren. “Worst case scenario! Here come reinforcements from the hive!” -----A few of the original legion still remained, mostly comprised of devonox’s and hive guards who did not fall as easily as the frail deminites. The one-armed devonox came forward first, tossing dark ooze around the battlefield as it violently shook its bloodied stump. -----The four cohesive beam guns that hung over the Gemini’s shoulder swerved inwards, converging onto the oncoming target. The four guns fired simultaneously, burning a large hole in the Devonox’s chest with their united power. With a stubborn cry the Devonox continued on, blatantly ignoring the scorching wound that should have put it down. -----“I’ve got this one!” Graham shouted. The Senki shook back as it fired its burst cannon. The roaring shot flew between the Gemini and the Dragonflare with such force that the air around them became distorted; the projective smashed into the Devonox’s face, tearing off the upper-half of its head; it’s lower jaw shifted around in a bloody display before the beast fell dead. -----“Enemies closing in from above!” Angelhart yelled as the Derringer leapt out of the trees. She motioned for her mech’s mechanical arm to point at the sky just as a horde of the winged ptera-deminites came into view. -----The screeching beasts opened their mouths and spat out bolts of electric power; the streaming blue waves of light struck down on the mecha, curling around their shields and crackling with power. The creatures wasted no time in continuing their assault, launching one bolt after the other. -----Takuma and the others strafed in different directions, dodging most of the second barrage. The Derringer jumped to the rear of the group and raised its BAR at the nightmarish fliers. Cecelia stared intently at the crosshairs that appeared on her viewer and held down the trigger; a steady burst of gun-fire spilled out from the BAR as bright sparks engulfed the tip of the barrel. The BAR did not fire quite as fast as an automatic assault weapon, but its heavy artillery was formidable; only a second of continuous fire was needed to break through the ptera-deminites energy shields and shred their flesh. -----Despite the tremendous shaking that the kickback produced, Cecelia tightly gripped the control handle and its trigger to maintain control of weapon. With her other hand clutching the side of her cockpit seat, she maneuvered the spray of gunfire across the sky, killing all of the ptera-deminites with one pass. Cecelia took in a deep breath as the BAR’s fire died down; steam flew out from openings in the sides of the weapon and the barrel retracted slightly. -----“Nice work Lieutenant,” Takuma said, “but it’s about time we fell back, the main force is about to arrive. Let’s move out!” -----“Two more groups are arriving,” Arlington reported, “one from three o’ clock, the other from nine. Moving to intercept group one!” -----“I’ve got group two!” Atatsuya exclaimed. -----“Remember,” Takuma cried out, “Only take down the enemies that try to impede our retreat. Do not engage otherwise!” -----“Looks like this is where I come in,” Graham cracked as another burst cannon round dove into the enemy ranks and plowed through the hillside. -----“Alright soldier, give us our smoke screen!” Takuma ordered. -----Graham eagerly pressed two red buttons simultaneously. “Time to see what this new stuff can do.” A large attachment on the Senki’s back rose up and hissed as numerous segments spread out, revealing hidden compartments that stretched and extended into a massive object. Only a Yamadera-class mech such as the Senki could carry such a mammoth weapon attachment into battle without being weighed down, but still it was a cumbersome device in Paul’s opinion. With the pressing of a third red button the compartments opened up to reveal innumerable cavities with missiles resting inside. -----Hundreds of crosshairs rapidly appeared across Paul’s viewer, each one highlighting a different enemy. Even as more enemies continued to pour out of the fortress, more crosshairs appeared to accommodate them. Once the crosshairs stopped appearing, Graham cracked his knuckles and punched-in the fourth and final crimson button on his console. -----The missiles launched like a flurry of startled bats. Individual trails of smoke blended together to create a thick fog as the swarm swooped down on the enemy. One after the other the weapons collided, creating a dazzling display of fireworks that ripped apart any enemies in the vicinity. More missiles continued to fall upon the deminites, each time working their way deeper and deeper into the advancing legion; a peculiar domino effect resulted as Graham watched the strips of explosions spread back towards the dark fortress. -----“One hell of a smoke screen.” Graham said with a proud whistle. -----“Good—now drop the HSMA and get moving now!” Takuma ordered. The Gemini flared its engines and took off, followed closely by the Dragonflare, the Derringer, and the Tristar. -----“Too bad…but I guess I can always get a new one if I have to,” Graham uttered as he pulled a lever. There was a loud bang as the clasps that held the attachment retracted; the bulky artillery fell to the ground and the granite land cracked apart under its heavy weight. Multiple engines on the Senki’s back and under its feet fired up, carrying the mech a few feet above the ground. “I’m right behind you guys,” he said; the Senki hovered across the mountainous terrain, using its mechanical might to tear through the trees that stood in its way. -----Takuma switched his viewer to rear-view as his mech began to soar above the mountain tops. Already the massive gap in the enemy legion had been replaced with more minions that had stormed out of the hive. Larger pores had opened up in the fortress walls, allowing several of the deminite tankers to move their massive bodies onto the battlefield. “They lost thousands of their kind in that last assault, but it looks like that was just the tip of the iceberg. Alright, we’re definitely getting out of here—as long as they give chase we should be able to clear the area…at least enough for Uberman’s team to…” A large ball of flame collided with the Gemini, lighting its shields up and shaking Captain Kitazawa out of his thoughts. The viewer shifted to the origin of the attack: one of the large groups that had moved to flank them was down below; the deminites were gathering their collective firepower in the air, forming fireballs and other objects that had some vague design. “Look’s like they don’t want us to leave.” -----The deminites prepared to launch their next volley of accumulated flames, but the Pharis’ Blade suddenly broke through the adjacent trees and attacked the legion with the Gatling gun on its left arm. Sergeant Atatsuya motioned for the Pharis’ Blade to stretch out its other arm as a devonox lunged toward her; the RPG that rested just below the mech’s right hand took off, flying directly into the monster’s mouth and subsequently blowing its head apart from the inside. -----The remaining deminites in the group immediately gathered together and reformed their massive fire projectiles, this time baring their fangs at the Pharis’ Blade. Atatsuya pushed her machine forward as the deminites released two giant spheres of fire. Using most of the power in the mech’s left leg, Atatsuya pushed to the side to avoid the first blast and then crouched down to move under the second. The left arm of the Pharis’ Blade reached behind its back and pulled out a particle lance whose shaft stretched out upon being unsheathed; the deminites tried to form another fire attack, but Atatsuya invoked a heavy swing with the weapon; the blade of the particle lance skimmed across the ground, bisecting the entire group of deminites. -----Several devonox’s slowly climbed up the hill, but by the time they could join the battle the Pharis’ Blade had taken off. -----Across from that carnage, Corporal Arlington intercepted the other group. Wielding one SOR-A Plasma rifle in each hand, the Stormbringer pressed its attack relentlessly. Arlington wasn’t very selective with his targets, instead choosing to fire at any and all enemies that moved within fifty meters of his location. -----“I’ve got all potential threats here neutralized,” Arlington reported. He reactivated the Stormbringer’s engines and took to the sky, firing two grenades from the launchers in its legs as he took off. The remaining enemies tried to reach up for the ascending mech, but the proceeding explosion shook them off. -----“The path is clear Sergeant Graham sir!” Atatsuya said. The Pharis’ Blade joined up with the others in the air and saluted down at the Senki, which was hovering over the ground and climbing the mountainside. -----“Thanks a lot, but we have new problems to worry about,” Graham responded, “More holes have opened up near the top of that fortress, and I’ve confirmed at least a dozen bio-fighters on my viewer.” -----“So they do have those damn things here!” Foster yelled. -----“Those things are too fast for us to out-fly,” Takuma said, watching the bio-fighters come into view, “We’ll land at the very top of the mountain up ahead; we can make a stand there against the bio-fighters while remaining out of ground forces reach.” -----“The fighters are closing in fast,” Cecelia warned, “Twelve confirmed; four groups of three!” -----“The six of us up here will break into four groups of two!” Takuma ordered. The Gemini spun around as it landed on a Cliffside near the top of the nearest mountain. “Each group is responsible for taking down one of those flight groups; Graham, you’ll cover us from below when necessary, but keep your eye trained on the ground enemies as well.” -----The engagement opened with a full salvo from the mecha team; lasers, beam cannons, missiles, and artillery slashed their way through the sky, giving the bio-fighters little space to maneuver. Yet despite all odds the organic aircrafts weaved and spun around wildly to avoid the opening gunfire. Their shields protected them from the few shots that hit their mark, allowing the creatures to carry out their counterattack without hindrance. -----A combination of energy beams and phantom missiles spewed out of the fighters, destroying the top of the mountain; the mecha took off just in time to avoid the assault and spread out into their respective teams. -----Graham watched the display from the ground—about halfway up the mountain—while the Senki took its stand against the avalanche that had succeeded the mountaintops destruction. The battle above immediately became a chaotic exhibit; mecha and bio-fighters darted back and forth, while bright beams crossed one another and missed gunfire darted towards the ground. -----The Stormbringer and the Tristar spread out as they flew backwards, allowing numerous energy beams to pass between them. Arlington continued to move his mech from side to side and fired the mini-guns that were concealed in the Stormbringer’s shoulders. Arlington’s own movements caused many of the shots to miss, but the relentless torrent of ammunition eventually tore into one of the bio-fighters, effectively ripping off one of the spiny appendages on its side. -----The wounded fighter broke formation, hoping to recover, but its maneuvers had become sluggish from the damage—Ratilda took the opportunity to nail the enemy with a shot from the dispersion rifle. The merciless shot disintegrated the main body of the creature, leaving several dark spines to fall out of the sky. -----One of the bio-fighters swerved to the left, using its incredible speed to outflank the Stormbringer and hit it with several beams. -----“Damn them!” Arlington yelled as the shield monitors on his console flashed red. He fired both SOR-A’s at the incoming fighter, slowly drilling away at the enemy shields with each proceeding shot. Suddenly he noticed that the bio-fighter had no intention of stopping its advance, and that the living craft was on a collision course. “Shit…!” he spat out, anxiously pulling two handles back; the Stormbringer’s boosters ignited for a second, carrying the mech higher up just in time for the bio-fighter to fly under. Arlington angrily pushed both of the handles forward, causing the mech to flip upside down and look upon the receding enemy that it had nearly collided with. He fired the plasma rifles one at a time, hitting the bio-fighter in the back; this time the second shot managed to break through, burning away several layers of skin in the creature’s backside; however, the skin quickly healed as the monster darted to the right to avoid further attack. -----“Arlington, behind you!” Ratilda yelled. -----Kurt spun his mech around to see a bio-fighter at the end of its transformation; the creature completed its change into an organic mockery of a mech and extended its arm towards the Stormbringer. With its hand open, the bio-mech fired a blinding beam from the center of its hand; the Stormbringer ascended to avoid most of the beam, but its lower half was engulfed by a portion of the laser. The shields fizzled out and sparks flew from the control consoles as the last vestiges of the beam burned away at the armored plating around the Stormbringer’s legs. -----“I’ve got this one!” Ratilda announced as the Tristar soared towards the bio-mech. A shot from the dispersion rifle blew off the bio-mech’s right arm, but the second shot missed, allowing the creature to fire another beam from its left. The Tristar spiraled around the beam as it ascended; Ratilda clutched the controls as she struggled against the g-force, but she had enough experience in intense space combat to bear it. Although the beam had missed, the vast power of the attack scorched the edges of the Tristar’s shields. -----The bio-mech’s right arm began to regenerate, but the Tristar converged on its location, staring point blank into the creature’s hideous face. Ratilda quickly drew her mech’s particle sword and thrust it between the creatures ‘eyes.’ It reared back as the blade pierced its smooth exoskeleton and drilled through the back of its head; it grabbed the Tristar’s arm with its own and tried to pull itself free, but the Tristar pushed its dispersion rifle into the bio-mech’s torso and fired. Ratilda’s head whipped back into the top of her seat as the kickback separated the two opponents; the bio-mech had been almost completely destroyed, leaving only a few chunks of burning flesh behind. -----“Incoming!” Arlington announced, firing his plasma rifles at the third bio-fighter. The fighter flew towards the Tristar, firing its beams continuously as it came. Ratilda dodged to the side, taking only one hit that smashed into her mech’s shields. She retaliated with several beam cannon shots, but it was several quick blasts from Arlington’s plasma rifles that ripped the creature in half and sent its flaming remains crashing into the mountainside. -----“Our targets have been taken out!” Ratilda announced.” -----“Good work, now back up Angelhart and Foster,” Takuma ordered, “We’ve got these ones under control.” The Gemini barrel-rolled to the right as several phantom missiles flew by. Two bio-fighters came down on him from above, but Takuma anticipated their movements and bisected the first one with a shot from his rifle. The four cohesive beam guns divided their attention between the two halves and destroyed them, but the second bio-fighter transformed in mid-fall; the transformation caught Takuma off guard and the bio-mech crashed its left hand down on the Gemini’s head. -----“Shields…down,” Takuma uttered as the bio-mech’s fingers tightly grasped the head of his mech and began crush it; the front of the Gemini’s face began to crack and fizzle as energy into the bio-mech’s beam emitter. The weight of the enemy pushed the Gemini into a freefall, but Kitazawa still managed to shove the barrel of his rifle into the enemy’s elbow. A single shot blasted the arm off and the Gemini’s reverse engines flared to maximum yield. Particle beams from the cohesive guns took off the organic mecha’s head, but bubbling liquid spilled out and began to solidify into a new skull. -----“You’re not coming back…” Takuma whispered. A missile launched from the Gemini’s left arm just as the two of them began to distance themselves from each other; the missile struck the bio-mech’s chest before its head could reform, and another salvo from the cohesive guns disintegrated the remaining pieces. -----Sergeant Atatsuya closed in on another bio-mech, narrowly dodging its beam attacks as the Pharis’ Blade drew closer. A red alert sounded in her cockpit as the shields began to weaken from continued exposure to the laser attacks, but the shields held long enough for Atatsuya to raise up and catch the bio-mech with a horizontal slash. The particle lance cleanly sliced the monster in half, but the upper body continued in spite of the damage. -----“You’ve gotta be…” Katie gasped as the bisected creature extended its arm; she could see the intense light that was gathering in its palm, aimed directly for her cockpit. -----But the shot never came. A powerful bolt flew up from the ground, piercing the heavens and ripping the bio-mech’s arm off. Down below the Senki stood with its burst cannon resting on its shoulder. -----“I owe you one sir!” Katie said. The particle lance retracted into its shorter form as Atatsuya returned it to the holster across her mecha’s back. -----“We’re not done yet, keep at it!” Graham shouted, firing the burst cannon again. The creature backed away to avoid the shot, its arm and lower body already beginning to rebuild as it retreated. -----Atatsuya rapidly pushed several buttons on her console, activating the remote mine targeting system that was the pride of her mech. “You’re not getting away from me.” A small object detached itself from the Pharis’ Blade’s back and hovered in the air. The remote mine was an ‘intelligent’ anti-matter explosive that used the same technology used in hover vehicles to become airborne. The on board A.I., constantly linked to the RM targeting system, allowed the mines to intelligently home in on selected targets. -----With a press of a button the commands were finished and the mine launched; it dashed back and forth in a crazy, unpredictable fashion, such that the bio-mech could not shoot it down before it zigzagged to another location. The bio-mech desperately tried to evade, but the mine followed it everywhere; inevitably it met with its target, exploding high in the stratosphere and destroying the bio-mech. -----“Looks like the skies are clear!” Graham exclaimed. “Captain, we should…” the Senki toppled over as a steaming orb of plasma abruptly hit the shields. Although the shields remained up, the force of the hit knocked the heavy mech onto its back. “What the hell happened?” -----“Tankers!” Lieutenant Foster declared. “Those things have already made it up the mountainside.” She fired down on the crowds of deminites that were hurriedly climbing, but only the deminites and reptillons fell. The tankers, with their giant, insect-like limbs, scaled the rough terrain with ease and disturbing velocity. Many deminites clung to the beasts in order to share their quickness, but others were swept aside by the impatient tankers. -----The large, bulbous sacks on the tanker’s backs split open, stretching a green slime apart as its weapons were revealed. The organic plasma launchers fizzled with chaotic power, and within seconds they began firing. The tankers were still a considerable distance from the Senki, but the plasma blasts soared over the ground with impressive speed, coming down on Graham’s mech in a breaths time. -----The Derringer landed in front of the Senki with a heavy thud and held both of its arms out to shield itself. Five bursts of plasma rammed into the Derringer head on, engulfing it in a white haze. -----“Angelhart…sir!” Graham shouted. -----“I’m alright, how about you?” she asked, sending her visual image onto Graham’s view screen. The Derringer emerged from the smoke unscathed, though the heat from the plasma burned at the mech’s exterior like acid. -----“Why’d you have to do that?” Graham asked, staring at the small window in his viewer that displayed Cecelia. “I have the mech with the most endurance and shield power.” -----“But I’m the one whose taken the least amount of damage, or at least I was,” she replied. She gave a quick thumbs-up and then canceled the visual. -----“Is that right,” Graham said, motioning the Senki to sit up. “Well then I’d say we’ve had just about enough of this. Time to split!” He pulled the burst cannon back onto his shoulder and focused on the right legs of the front tanker beast. The Senki fell to its back again when it fired, releasing a projectile that ripped through the first two legs and punctured the last. With its leverage gone, the tanker collapsed to its side, crushing several lesser minions as it fell. -----“Angelhart, get Graham out of here and let’s go, now!” Takuma ordered. The Gemini, Dragonflare, Tristar, and Pharis’ Blade released their last compliments of concussive weaponry into the endless legion of enemies. -----The Derringer helped the Senki back to its feet and then took off. “C’mon Graham, don’t be left behind!” Cecelia shouted. -----“Right, right—mine isn’t built for the quick aerial takeoffs,” Graham retorted as he shut down the Senki’s extra power generators. Most of the power was usually devoted to weapons and additional shielding, but in times of evacuation it was relayed to engines and boosters. -----The ground beneath the Senki fractured as its engines bellowed. The mech itself seemed to glow when multiple engines fired up to carry the Senki into the air. Graham waved to the howling minions down below and smiled, “Be seeing you. It was fun while it lasted.” The Senki turned and the final engine boost carried it off to join the other mechs. -----The 478th mecha-nized division rose above the mountain tops and flew towards mount Vadakahn. “It looks like the mission was a success,” Takuma said as he took in several deep breaths. -----“What if the enemy stops following us?” Arlington asked. “They could already be heading back to the fortress right now.” -----“We won’t have to worry about that now,” Foster explained. “I think we distracted them for as long as we needed to.” -----“For as long as we could…” Atatsuya reiterated. -----“We’ll return to Axia and report our progress.” Takuma said. He looked back at the shrinking image of the Drekis fortress and placed a firm fist over his heart. “Best of luck to you…” he whispered. -----Back at the Drekis fortress, just as the sea of minions began to return to their posts, several shadowy figures descended into the endless caves.
The Desire to Fight -----There’s still so much I could be doing, he thought to himself. The entire city, the entire world is out there, and I’m here in this palace…doing nothing. Why? Why did the Powers ask that I protect the Queen of Axia? How can that duty be more important when lives are being lost out there? -----If Eric had to sum up all of his reasons for becoming an apprentice of the Powers that Be into one defining thought, it would be to gain understanding. His entire life before the Power’s call had been one that had distorted his perception of light and dark, good and evil. On the surface it was easy to identify these things: there was a clear Avatar for each force or idea in the universe, and the moralities that people were taught when they grew up in society influenced their understanding of right and wrong. But in the end, those were only ignorant assumptions or idealized notions. The truth about right and wrong…about what one should or shouldn’t do, was never clear—at least not for mortals. -----It had been his own assumption that the Powers were beyond that limitation—and perhaps they still were—but he had sought a sense of direction in life when he became their apprentice; he believed that serving their will would enlighten him, give him the knowledge and understanding that was necessary to guide every action in his life along the right path. Now he knew that that was a false hope. The only thing that was certain in a person’s life was uncertainty. -----Aliana Relissan quietly walked to his side, her hands folded behind her back. “Do you like the city so much?” she asked playfully. She followed his gaze just as a cool breeze brushed against her face. “I love it too; I’ve always spent hours just gazing at the horizon and the city lights—I didn’t always know why either, but I never tire of it.” -----“Princess…” Eric said embarrassedly, “I didn’t hear you come out…I’m sorry about intruding on your private area like this.” -----“So you know about it then?” she said with a knowing glance. -----“Yes, I know you created this balcony, the garden, and all of the flowers in it—no doubt with your…unique talents. I heard you came here from time to time to escape from the royal life that you seem to detest so much; I figured that if someone of your stature can be alone for a while out here, well, you know.” -----“I never restricted access to this place. And don’t feel as if you’re intruding, I can tell that you need to come here as much as I do.” -----“It’s that bad then?” -----“I wouldn’t put it like that,” she said with a short shrug, “you just look like you’re involved in some deep, personal thinking.” -----“I guess I’m just frustrated. I’m supposed to be the Captain of the Guard here in Axia, as well as your mother’s guardian. The latter I can do easily enough here in the palace, but the other…” -----“Are you saying you believe that you’re failing in your duty? Because if that’s the case, then you’re mistaken.” -----“Am I now?” he replied, crossing his arms and setting his leg back onto the balcony floor. “I just feel like there’s still so much I could do for the people of Axia. This war is steadily approaching our State-Kingdom, and I’m not doing a single thing to try and stop it.” -----“Do you really think that you could?” she said, lifting up a few pink flower buds with her fingers as she looked over the garden. “Believe me, I know what its like to be in a position of power, and be unable to do what you want—but that’s only because we set ourselves too high. I can’t end this war by myself Eric, and neither can you.” -----“No, no,” he shook his head and scowled slightly, “I don’t think that I could save Axia by myself, but I haven’t even tried. That’s the thing. Others are out there right now, fighting to protect this world; they’re risking their lives to fight for what they believe in, to ultimately protect the things that matter. Wouldn’t I be serving both roles better, as the Captain of Axia’s military, and as your mother’s guardian, if I were at least contributing to the war effort?” -----“I see, so then this goes beyond Axia doesn’t it?” -----“What?” he gasped. He began to think that he had rambled on for too long. -----“You’re bothered by the fact that you’re stationed here,” Aliana explained. “You believe that you should be out there, far beyond the horizon, and fighting to protect the other parts of the nexus.” -----“I…suppose that you’re right about that.” -----“Do you know why you were stationed here Mr. Melazai?” she asked, gazing up at the sky. “Or maybe I should ask…Do you believe that what you’re doing is important?” -----“I don’t know if I truly understand…I know that your mother is an important person, so therefore it’s obviously important that she have a…” -----“But why does that matter to you?” -----Eric’s eyes opened wide, “Wait a minute! You’re not insinuating that I…” -----“No, but I think that you belittle yourself.” she told him. -----She was beginning to dig deeper into his uncertainty, forcing him to confront it. His breaths became irregular as he thought about everything: the war, his duty, the Powers. In the end they were still too complicated, too intangible for him to adequately face his doubts. Eager to change the subject, he spat out, “I wish I could have gone with them. The team I mean. They’re probably in the caves already, if the mission went well.” -----“I know it went well,” she replied softly. “And they’ll succeed when they finally come face to face with our enemy.” -----“You know?” he said, surprised at the confidence in her voice. “How exactly do you know like that?” -----“Because…I have faith, that’s all,” she smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’re an admirable person Eric Melazai, and your time for action will come, as it will for all of us.” She patted his shoulder and gracefully turned to leave the balcony. -----He watched her thin frame walk towards the garden door and uttered a hum of surprise, “Wait, didn’t you come here for your own time? Don’t leave on account of me, I can go…” -----“I didn’t come here for me,” she said with a closed-eye smile and a short wave of her hand. She opened the door quietly and strolled out, leaving him to watch the city of Axia on his own.
Prototype -----The creature was over twelve feet all, a towering pillar of tarnished flesh and bone that had been strung together into a reinforced body of chaos magic. Its upper body was humanoid, though it possessed scaly layers of skin and a slightly hunched posture at the base of its neck. The rest of its pieces were a mixed assortment that had been amalgamated into an ungodly form. Both of its arms were unusually long and muscular; the right arm was composed of a shiny, crest-like material with numerous jagged grooves cut into it; the left arm was longer and thinner by comparison, and was formed from a dark, spongy flesh that could easily stretch and bend without limit. Its legs were shorter than the length of its body, though they were wide and sturdy, supported by immense feet that bared sharp talons. The face was humanoid as well, and it was the most natural looking part of the creature save for the left half of its flesh, which appeared to have suffered terrible burns. -----“Do not tremble before him!” Attragon sneered at the Deminites. “I must know of this creatures strengths; attack him as if he were the enemy, you know no fear against them!” -----Three of the deminites ran forward with a sharp cry; the monster stopped its advance and watched the deminites with a confused expression. When the deminites came within ten feet the monster groaned and waved his left arm, attempted to swipe all of them aside. One of the deminites fell to the blow, but the other two leapt over it and jumped onto his face. -----With a series of grunts the monster staggered backwards, already at the mercy of relentless slashes against his face while the second climbed over his shoulder and tore at the flesh on his back. -----The monster’s left arm stretched out and its elbow inverted, allowing the limb to fly back and grab the deminite that was attacking his head. Sharp claws impaled the deminite from behind and subsequently pulled it from the monster. He gave out an angry howl and smashed the deminite into the rocky floor; the other deminite diverted its attention to the creation’s head, but the monster quickly turned to look at the minion and blew it away with an energy beam that he spewed from his ungainly mouth. -----The monster appeared to be happy when it surveyed the corpses of the deminites, although the noise that it uttered sounded like hoarse coughing. Its short lived victory was marred by a fireball that struck its chest—sparks splashed off of the rough scales and danced in the air before his eyes. He uttered a barbaric ‘huh’ and walked towards the deminite that had released the blast, steadily gaining speed with each earth-shaking step. -----A second fireball was released, but the blast failed to impede the progress of the beast. With an unintelligible yell the monster raised its heavy right arm into the air and brought it down on the deminite’s skull, crushing it deep into the ground. -----He smiled wickedly as he removed his arm and observed the pool of blood that had replaced the deminite’s head. Slowly, as if encumbered by his own size, he spun around to look for more enemies to fight, but was too slow to catch sight of a devonox’s fierce strike. The clawed hand of the devonox knocked the monster back and tore off his right cheek. -----The creation cried like an injured child at first, then scowled like that of an angry one. He raised his armored right arm and grabbed the devonox’s next attack in mid-swing. Pulling the devonox closer, the monster reached out with his left arm and grasped the minion’s head. His fingers also extended, becoming long enough to fully ensnare the devonox’s skull; with great force they crushed the bulbous head in, spewing dark slime everywhere as the headless body was thrown to the ground. -----A hive guard was the next minion to approach the creation, accompanied by five more deminites who were eagerly gathering their fire magic around their claws. The hive guard’s body flashed for a moment, and the deminite’s muscles suddenly bulged. A red glow enveloped them all, and the five deminites charged forward with incredible speed. -----The monster raised his jagged arm into the air, but tilted his head in bewilderment when the five enemies stopped. Instead of approaching the monster, the deminites released spiraling fireballs from their hands. The waves of flame combined together as they flew, becoming a single star shaped blast that scorched the outer scales of the monster’s skin. -----An intolerable wheeze echoed through the chamber as the monster stormed forward, trying to retaliate, but each step was met with a stronger fireball—the consecutive blasts pushed him back farther and broke off a few scales. At last the monster stretched out its elongated left arm and whipped it out at the attackers, but the hive guard responded with an optic blast that quickly burned off the attacking hand. -----The monster reared back and cried in pain, holding its handless arm up to its face where bright flames still scorched the open wound. He gritted his teeth and yelled loudly—with each passing second the sound became louder, until the cavern roof began to collapse around him. He opened his mouth and coughed up a beam of energy that impaled the hive guard, and then with several shakes of his head he strafed through the remaining lesser minions. -----“That’s enough!” Attragon shouted. The imposing warrior, though fully covered in heavy armor, leapt high enough into the air that he could have struck the ceiling. -----Confused, the monster watched its creator soar above him and then briskly fall towards him. In mid-descent, Attragon snapped his right arm out and a series of orange and blue flames swirled around each other. The fire, much brighter and more intense than those of the deminites, formed into the shape of a double-sided battle axe; upon landing he carved the fiery weapon through his creation and then dissolved the axe. The attack was carried out with such speed that the monster barely noticed the cut, and his eyes were still trained on the rooftops where he had watched his master fall. By the time he could look down into Attragon’s hateful eyes his head and entire body split open; flames spat out from the wound, and in two seconds the blaze consumed his form, leaving nothing behind. -----“Such a waste.” Attragon roared, standing to his full height. “And to think that this is the third prototype. They get stronger and more refined in each case, but there is still something that they lack.” -----A phantom sorcerer beamed in and surveyed the carnage. “The pile of bodies is still plentiful. You have more resources with which to forge your Advocate.” -----“I am getting no where!” Attragon yelled, smashing a nearby stalagmite with a swift backhand. “How long before I can complete a truly worthy servant?” -----“There is no way to tell,” The levitating sorcerer uttered, “but perhaps it would be wise to try something different. Rather than sewing these various parts together, perhaps we should force them all together into a single unified form.” -----“A single form?” -----“Yes Lord Attragon. A single form…for the power of chaos magic has few limits. Just because all of that flesh and bone came from different sources does not mean that we can’t forge it into something that appears to be one thing, at least on the surface.” -----“If that is true,” Attragon pondered, “then I could at least create a more natural creature, one whose speed and brain power might surpass the barbaric nature of the previous creations. And perhaps I should not try to include so much of the Khazanian power that is included in this pile.” -----“What do you mean my Lord? Would it not benefit us to use as much of the metahuman powers that these corpses represent?” -----“No, that was one of my mistakes with the previous three,” he replied, looking at the mound of Khazanian bodies. “Here there are many powers represented, and I have tried to use as many of them in my servant, but the most recent wretch that I forged could barely remember them all, let alone know how to use them properly. I would attain more success if I centered my efforts on giving my Advocate one main power, a theme, if you will, to build upon. Then, I could use the remaining powers represented in this sea of bodies to refine that power!” -----“That should be possible…” the sorcerer began, then stopped and turned its head. -----“What is wrong?” Attragon asked. “You appear distracted…speak!” -----“Some intruders…” the phantom sorcerer reported. -----“Intruders! Down here, in Drekis’ lair!?” -----“They have not yet reached the lair. We’ve recently detected them deep within the Endless Caves, steadily approaching the hives. A large group, but not an army.” -----“Then it must be those so-called heroes that protect the nexus.” Attragon said. -----“Drekis will most likely know of this already, but I shall go to him still,” the phantom said. “I do not know how they got this far without our knowing, but we shall stop them.” -----“Even if you don’t, there’s no need to worry,” Attragon said, smiling behind his armored helm. “By the time they get here, I will have completed my perfect Advocate.”
In the Endless Caves -----Uberman led the team down the vast, dark caverns that had obviously been modified by the Drekis minions. However, it was the Unsubtle, with her surprisingly keen memory, who guided the group in the right direction when they encountered winding pathways and multiple junctions. Toc Darkone, Lexington, Lara, Shinsuke, Captain Khazan, Tim, Raea, Telissa, Robert, Tiara, and Michael made up the remainder of the unlikely fellowship. -----Raea, Telissa, and Robert each carried a small but potent light source that was connected to the arms of their powered body suits. The azure radiance of the beacons illuminated the irregular pathways as the group delved further outside of the sun’s domain. -----“How much farther until we reach the hives?” Uberman asked. The group approached a corner and Uberman carefully gazed around the edge before waving for the group to proceed down the next corridor. -----“Not much farther, maybe a few miles.” The Unsubtle responded. “You better be prepared though; the hive has a lot of minions in it, and that was when I saw it a long time ago.” -----“Lesser minions do not concern me,” Toc interjected. “All you need to worry about is guiding us to the location of Drekis’ fortress. We’ll destroy any of his pawns that try to get in our way.” -----“He seems pretty sure of himself,” Captain Khazan exclaimed, looking back at Toc. He picked up his pace and joined Uberman at the front of the group—with his head bent down next to Uberman’s ear he whispered, “I don’t like having to put up with him, even if he is a big help to us in this situation.” -----“I know what you mean,” Uberman whispered back. “It makes me feel a little dishonest to put my faith in a criminal, but for now we’ll have to deal with it, whether we like it or not.” -----“The enemy of my enemy is my friend then?” The Captain uttered. -----“For now,” Uberman responded quietly, “but remember to keep your eyes on them. I may be working with them, but I trust Toc about as far as I…well as far as most people could throw him.” -----“What’s this all about?” The Unsubtle said slyly, her hands casually resting behind her head. “Talking about Toc behind his back—and while I’m so close by to hear?” -----“Say whatever you want,” Uberman retorted, his eyes still trained on the path ahead. “I doubt Toc cares about what we think of him.” -----“It’s starting to get really dank!” Telissa said, clamping her nostrils with her fingers. “It certainly smells like we’re getting close.” -----Tiara sniffed the air briefly and cupped her ears, “There’s water near by. A fairly large body of water I mean.” -----“You can tell?” Tim asked as he walked up beside her with Raea. -----“I can hear it, though it’s not running water.” Tiara responded. -----“I can feel it too.” Shinsuke stated. “Small pieces of debris from the cavern ceiling are falling into a large body of water.” -----“Wow,” Cortelloni huffed with a short laugh, “we’re just a big collection of freaks down here aren’t we?” He was at the back of the group, nonchalantly following their advance. “So where is this body of water, or is that where your psychic powers stop?” -----“Shut up Cortelloni!” Lexington muttered, “I don’t see you doing anything to help.” -----“You know exactly why I’m here,” Michael replied, pointing his finger admonishingly at Lex, “I agreed to help you guys take their boss down, because I want this whole thing to be over and for my life to get back to normal.” -----“Well it couldn’t hurt for you to do more around here than just wait in the back for the fireworks to start.” -----Uberman’s commanding voice interrupted their conversation. “It looks like we’ve found the water.” -----Uberman and the Unsubtle walked into an incredibly large chamber; it was the size of a football stadium, and most of the territory was devoted to a dark, calm lake. A few small pieces of rock crumbled from the ceiling and plunged into the placid waters, causing a small series of ripples to expand through the liquid. -----“An entire underground lake,” Raea gasped, strafing her light across the surface of the water. -----“I had not idea there was something like this down here.” Tim said. -----“The Endless Caves are said to run all the way down to the core of the Nexus,” Toc explained as he walked off to the side. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they held more mysteries than can be known by the people of Khazan.” -----Tiara kneeled down by the edge of the lake and swirled her fingers through the water. “It’s very cool. I wonder if the Drekis minions actually use this lake for anything.” -----Telissa and Robert shrugged. “I’ve never known them to rely on water,” Telissa admitted, “but just because I’ve never seen them drink doesn’t mean that they don’t.” -----The Unsubtle scratched the back of her head repeatedly and groaned while she bent her head back and stared at the jagged ceiling. “Well this is a bit of predicament. We need to be heading southeast in order to get to the place where I was taken, and that means crossing this lake.” -----“Doesn’t look like there’s a path,” Lexington pointed out. “But that’s no big deal. Half of us can fly, and it’s not like a little swim will bug anybody.” -----“I’m not exactly dressed for swimming exercises!” the Unsubtle snapped, giving him a haughty glance. -----“Enough of this foppery!” Toc shouted. The Marauder leader walked to the edge of the lake and motioned for Tiara to step aside. With a short gesture of his hand the edge of the water chilled into solid ice. The frost began to expand in every direction, freezing more and more of the liquid as it engulfed the entire body of water. -----“Looks like you’re being shown up,” Cortelloni whispered to Shinsuke. The Sentinel ignored his comment and walked towards the icy path that Toc had forged. -----When the group reached the other side of the lake they noticed a change in the rock formations of the cave. For one thing the corridors were no longer jagged, uneven paths; the walls were smooth and finely crafted, with a polished, reflective look. The ceiling still appeared to be made of normal bedrock, but as they moved deeper into the caves the amount of the smooth, black material increased. -----“No doubt about it,” Robert said as he scanned the wall with a device on the back of his hand. “This is darkstone. Only deminite workers make this stuff.” -----“So, this is the stuff that’s preventing us from blowing them all away with an orbital bombardment?” Lexington exclaimed. He thrust his left fist out and struck the wall; the corridor shook a little from the impact, but the wall was completely undamaged. “That stuff’s not bad.” -----Michael folded his arms and shook his head. “That’s perfect. How about yelling out to them and telling them that we’re all here.” -----“Wait!” Shinsuke yelled, throwing his hand out to signal everyone to halt. “I can sense them up ahead.” -----Cortelloni held a hand out, “See, what did I just say?” -----Telissa and Robert opened small compartments on their battle suits and looked at the sensor data that beeped across the screens on the back of their wrists. -----“A very large group,” Telissa stated, “composed of deminites, reptillons, a few devonox, and probably some hunter-killers as well.” She closed the sensor and pulled out her disruptor rifle. -----“Well, I guess that confirms that we’re heading in the right direction.” Robert said, pulling out his own weapon. “It was only a matter of time before they noticed us anyway.” -----Tim unsheathed his sword and found the blade to be radiating its ethereal light. The azure glow filled the dark chamber with a meek fluorescence, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “This again? I don’t know why it does this.” He uttered. -----“Tim, is everything alright?” Raea asked, touching the side of his arm as she looked at the glowing blade. -----“Fascinating,” Toc said in a quiet but harsh voice, “So your sword glows when they’re nearby. Just what is your connection to Drekis, boy?” -----“Hey, lay off Toc!” Lexington retorted. “For all you know the sword just reacts to the presence of danger.” -----“If that’s true,” Toc said, “Then shouldn’t it have been glowing while I was nearby?” -----Lex grunted and held a shaking fist in front of Toc’s face. “Are you saying you’re a danger to us right now?” -----“Enough, Lex…” Lara whispered, tugging on his jacket, “don’t let him get you riled up.” -----“No!” Tim suddenly shouted. “It’s not that, it’s something else. I…above, over there.” He pointed to the ceiling just as a ghostly visage appeared out of thin air. The transparent body raised its emaciated hands out and bright red sparks crackled around its spiny fingers. -----“Take cover!” Uberman yelled. -----Everyone dashed to opposite sides of the cavern as the phantom shot an energy beam from both hands; the red waves of magic carved into the ground and left a massive explosion in its wake. Part of the corridor ceiling began to collapse, and thick clouds of dust filled the area. -----“A phantom sorcerer!” Telissa muttered. She waved the dust away with her hands and looked for her companions; everyone had apparently avoided the blast, but several of them were pushing debris away from their bodies. -----“I’ll get it,” Robert spat out as he dug himself out of the rubble. He raised his disruptor rifle and fired at the floating phantom. -----The sorcerer was already prepared to deal with countermeasures. With one hand casually extended, the phantom dissipated the disruptor shot against a magic barrier. The glowing shield swirled around the ghostly figure as it prepared another attack. -----“Take that thing out!” Cortelloni sneered. With telekinesis he held several large chunks of bedrock in the air, just above the group. “He’ll cause a cave in if he does another one of those attacks!” -----Uberman lifted both of his arms and took aim, hoping that the combined strength of his two concussive blasters would break through the shield. A determined battle cry broke his concentration, and the SLJ leader turned around to see Tim’s glowing blade slicing through the rubble. -----The phantom sorcerer raised itself towards the ceiling as Tim ran closer. Energy once again crackled around its fingers. -----“Tim, let me take it out!” Uberman shouted. “It’s too high for you to reach!” -----Without listening, Tim jumped a few feet in the air and used both of his hands to swing the gleaming sword down in the direction of the phantom. A fraction of the bright light that was enveloping the blade tore off, becoming a crescent shaped projectile that quickly spun through the air and sliced into the enemy’s barrier. The phantom’s shield immediately cracked under the pressure of the attack, and the unimpeded blast cut through the sorcerer, dispersing its body into numerous wisps of ghostly material that scattered about. -----Tim fell to his knees for a few seconds and took in a deep breath. The sword’s glow remained just as fierce—there were still more enemies ahead. Gathering his strength, Tim stood up and lifted his father’s sword. “There’s more coming, they’re almost here!” -----“Tim…” Raea gasped as she came up behind him. “I didn’t know that you could do that.” -----Tim shook his head. “Neither did I.” -----"You used something like that back in the frozen wastes,” Telissa added. “Although that was smaller, and you used it with much more control.” -----“So the boy has proven useful,” Toc exclaimed, “Now can we stop wondering about his sword and carry on!? We can’t let these attacks delay us, we’ll cut through them!” -----Howls in the dark startled the group to their feet. Raea shined her arm light towards the open corridor where the horrific sounds originated, but the enemies were still out of sight. The cries of the minions became a shrill echo that slithered past the group and whooshed over the lake chamber, disturbing the calm waters. A patter of quick footsteps—followed closely by the pounding thuds of heavyweight feet—was heard at the end of the tunnel. -----“There are a lot of them.” Shinsuke warned. -----“Well, there are a lot of us too,” Lexington said, etching the blade rune onto his right forearm. “Let them come!” -----A trio of deminites immediately appeared within the light that Raea cast; the creatures held close to the ground and propelled themselves on all fours like rapid dogs. -----Raea already had her mounted arm-laser pointed down the corridor, but the monsters moved faster than she had anticipated. She managed one quick shot that burned off the head of the front-most deminite, but the other two quickly retaliated with fireballs. The two flames hit the ground just in front of Raea, and the small explosion knocked her back into Tim’s arms. -----Cortelloni, who still held large chunks of bedrock in the air, extended his arm out towards the deminites and spread his fingers. Accordingly, the suspended rocks flew out and dived into the two minions, crushing them into the cavern floor. -----By mere coincidence, Cortelloni’s attack had forged a tall, stone barricade in the center of the passage. Several laser shots flew around the protruding rocks, but none of the beams could hit the group without encountering the rock-strewn obstacle. -----“Those shots!” Robert yelled, gripping his rifle with both of his hands, “Those are from Hunter-Killer weapons!” -----Robert, Telissa, and the Unsubtle jumped behind the barricade as a few shots cut into the side of the stone shield. The Unsubtle peeked around the side and saw only the figures of a few deminites in the distance. The cavern depths were dark, but even the shadowy outline of the so-called hunter-killers escaped her. -----“I don’t see anything!” The Unsubtle cried as she moved back behind the rocks. A laser bolt blew through the area where her head had been just moments earlier; with a wide-eyed expression the Unsubtle looked at the burning hole and uttered a weak laugh, “Well, looks like their still out there.” -----“Hunter-killers are invisible,” Robert explained. He held his rifle close to his shoulder with the barrel pointed towards the ceiling. A few more shots flew past the barricade; several of the beams struck the edges of the protruding bedrock, chipping off small pieces and forming small cracks in its exterior. -----Telissa and Robert watched the laser beams fly by and listened for a familiar hissing sound—the sound of their laser guns cooling down in-between salvos. From both the sounds and the angle of the shots, the bounty hunters determined the location of their enemies. It was only a hunch based on the trajectory of the laser-fire, but both of them had innumerable hours of experience dealing with the stealthy hunter-killers. Since neither Telissa or Robert had any superhuman abilities beyond what their powered body suits provided for them, the hunter-killers were deadly adversaries. Failure to anticipate their attacks and predict their unseen locations meant certain death on the battlefield. -----Both of them exchanged glances and nodded, silently approving their decision. The two of them turned around opposing sides of the barricade and fired. Telissa’s shot first, hitting a hunter-killer in the chest with the disruptor shot; its invisible body immediately came into view as the emerald-beam burned through its armor. Before its body hit the ground, Robert’s shot hit another one in the neck. The humanoid monster became visible and flailed its large weapon around, firing aimlessly before collapsing against the cavern wall and slowly sliding down. -----Knowing that there were more than two of the hunter-killers among them, the bounty hunters continued their assault. Without any doubt, they motioned their rifles to the exact locations where they believed the hunter-killers to be. The death of the first two minions had likely sent the others into confusion, giving Telissa and Robert the time they needed to fire again. Two more fell to Telissa’s marksmanship, and one more was toppled by Robert’s barrage. -----A large crowd of deminites appeared on the scene as the last hunter-killer fell. Ignoring the deaths of their humanoid allies, they jumped over the corpses and enshrouded their claws in bright flames. -----“More deminites coming!” Telissa shouted to the group. She ducked her head behind the rock barricade as a fire ball flew past and harmlessly struck the darkstone wall. -----The Unsubtle took over at Telissa’s location, motioning her assault rifle just over the side of the barricade and blasting half of her magazine load into the crowd. A dozen deminites fell dead, but two dozen more tossed the bullet-filled bodies aside and continued without hindrance. -----“Those things keep on coming!” the Unsubtle groaned. She sat down between Telissa and Robert while she dug her hands through her pockets, eagerly searching for something. A surprise attack from several fireballs blew off the top half of the bedrock shield; steaming pebbles fell upon the trio’s head as two deminites leapt on top of the barricade and sneered down at the Unsubtle and the two Seekers. -----One of the creatures dived off of the barricade, but before it could fall onto its prey it was sent crashing back into the darkness by Uberman’s fist. The hero sparked through the air with his jets and caught the attention of the second deminite as they came face to face. Without fear, the deminite hurled itself into the Sentinel, but Uberman calmly knocked it aside with a backhand; the force of the blow was so strong that the deminites bones shattered as it flew into the darkstone. -----“Much as I hate to admit it, Toc’s right,” Uberman declared. “We can’t afford to lose time against the small fry. We’ll charge right into them!” -----"Well this will buy us some space!" The Unsublte exclaimed. With a gleam of accomplishment she pulled a grenade from her pockets and eagerly pulled the pin out with her teeth. "Fire in the hole!" Without looking she tossed the grenade over the barricade and covered her ears. In a few seconds she heard the satisfying boom that silenced the deminite crowd. ----- The smoke from the explosion soon cleared, and more deminites charged down the tunnel. -----Uberman and Captain Khazan flew fist first into the small army of deminites. The minions tried to impede the two heroes, but Uberman and Captain Khazan ignored their scratching claws and pushed the mass aside. The two of them maintained the front of the group, tearing deminites in half with their punches. Telissa, Robert, Raea, and the Unsubtle supported them from a distance, firing gun shots into the enemies that approached from the unexplored darkness. -----“How many of them are there?” Tim asked, gripping his sword tightly. A feeling of excitement suddenly passed over him, and he gasped as if he had never taken a breath before. This tense feeling had overwhelmed him once before, at the top of Mid-Gate in New Xaelis. Back then it had been an angry bloodlust, a desire—a need—to jump into battle and strike the Drekis minions down. The feeling was similar here, but the bloodlust had become more controlled; it was more like anticipation for the battle ahead. Still, it was as if something else was taking control of him; his mind, his personality, it was all changing. Suddenly he knew things that he never knew before; the skill to wield the blade became second nature, and anxiety fell to a rising courage. -----With his sword held far in front of him, Tim charged into the battle under the guidance of his new, uncharacteristic thoughts. -----“Tim, what are you doing!?” Raea shouted. She fearfully closed her eyes as Tim and a rogue deminite clashed. Taking in a short, quick breath, she opened her eyes to see the deminite cut cleanly in half, and Tim charging into the larger battle with his gleaming sword. “Tim, let Uberman and Captain Khazan handle them!” -----Tiara gracefully leapt over Raea’s shoulder and softly jumped towards the battle. “I’ll make sure nothing happens to him!” she shouted back. -----“I’m going in too,” Lexington said with a grin. He walked up next to Raea and etched the symbol of the swift rune onto his forehead. “I can’t let you Sentinels have all the fun now can I.” A small tornado enveloped him as he spiraled into the frontline. -----Shinsuke and Lara ran to join the fight, and Cortelloni slowly followed them with his hands in his pockets. He was in no real hurry to join the battle, but he noticed that Toc was still behind him; the Marauder leader watched the progress of the fight with his arms folded. In particular he seemed to follow the motions of Tim, who was slicing his way through the deminite legions like an expert swordsman. -----“You just going to stand back there?” Cortelloni asked calmly. -----“I don’t want to waste my time on such lower creatures,” Toc explained coldly, “that is what the peons up front are for.” -----“Fine,” Cortelloni retorted, casually strolling towards the fight, “when we get to Drekis I’ll sit on my ass and watch you solo him.” -----Uberman blocked a reptillon blade with his armored arm and broke the creatures jaw with an uppercut. Two deminites jumped at Uberman’s unguarded back, but a whirlwind abruptly passed between them and the creatures landed in pieces; the swirling winds died down to reveal Lexington as he landed in the center of a deminite group. He smiled brightly and curled his fingers to invite the minions to attack. -----The first deminite to charge him was struck in the head by Lexington’s opening roundhouse kick. The minion was hurled into several other deminites, knocking them down just as the others encircled Lex. One creature thrust its body out and tried to pierce him with two extended arms, but Lex avoided the thrust and quickly broke both arms with descending elbow blows; a third blow to the head ended the creature’s life. Lex spun around hurriedly and sliced a deminite’s head off with a knife-hand swipe. -----Other deminites gathered their magical flames around their claws and turned their attention to Lexington, but before they could finish conjuring their fire attacks a golden projectile tore through an entire line of deminites and ricocheted down the corridor. -----“I’ve got you covered!” Lara exclaimed. -----Tiara jumped over some of the attacking deminites to locate Tim, who was engaging the creatures in melee combat. The power of the sword had become so strong that she could actually feel the heat of its ethereal glow as she approached. The blade cut through the deminites without any resistance, and the burning power set their divided bodies ablaze with such fury that every vestige of their being burned away. -----More and more deminites seemed intent on pursuing Tim; dozens of their numbers swarmed around him while dozens more climbed the ceilings to attack his flank or fall upon him. A deminite landed upon his shoulders and weighed him down; the other minions immediately took advantage of the situation, jumping onto him from every angle until a mound of deminites eclipsed him. -----“Get off of him!” Tiara yelled as she glided towards them. She through out her hand and a strong gust escaped from her fingertips. Most of the deminites that had surrounded Tim were blown back by the wind-blast, but a few of the demonic minions held tightly to their victim. -----But Tim would not allow himself to be a victim. He ignored the fiery claws and fangs of the deminites, and as he raised his body up in spite of the great weight upon him, his entire body began to glow like the sword. He pointed his sword towards the ceiling and the bright blue light expanded in all directions, creating a shockwave that blew the deminites around him away. -----Captain Khazan, having just finished smashing a reptillon’s head into the ground, looked up to see the tail end of the shockwave pass him by. “That new recruit…maybe there really is a specific reason that Queen Relissan asked for his participation…” -----A heavy foot smashed into the cavern floor behind him, and Captain Khazan turned to see a devonox staring down at him. Its monstrous hand swung at the Captain and hit him before he could react. The tank-crushing strength of the devonox knocked the Captain back several feet, but the stalwart hero dug his feet into the ground and regained his composure. -----Shinsuke fired an ice beam into the chest of the devonox from a distance. Only a portion of its immense upper body froze over, but Shinsuke continued his attack with a long duration beam. As if completely unaware of the consequence of Shinsuke’s power, the devonox slowly moved forward to attack. Before it could move another ten feet its body became encased in ice; Captain Khazan flew up to stare at the monsters frozen face and released two punches into its massive figure. Shattered pieces of ice rained down upon the floor, and with that the first wave of attackers was gone. -----A second wave was not far behind, however, and another devonox was among them. Captain Khazan and Uberman went to the front of the group and readied their fists. Tim began to walk towards the attackers as well, his sword dragging through the ground. Tiara placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back. -----“Save your strength for later,” Tiara told him. “We can take care of this on our own.” -----“But I…” Tim huffed, “I came here to help.” -----“The Queen and my fellow apprentices wanted you here to help us with Drekis,” she reminded him. “Why? I don’t know, but I do know that you won’t be of much help to us if you exhaust yourself before we get to him.” -----Captain Khazan spread his feet out into a battle stance as he watched the next wave of deminites approach. “This feels rather strange. It doesn’t seem like they’re that much of a threat to people of our caliber. So why….why send so many of them to meet their end? It’s almost like…” -----“Like they’re buying time.” Uberman finished. -----“For what?” Captain Khazan asked. -----Toc Darkone walked between the two heroes and spread his arms out. The air around him became cold, and then twenty orbs of ice formed in the air in front of him. -----“What are you doing Darkone?” Captain Khazan questioned. -----“You Sentinels are too soft.” Toc retorted. “If this had been a Marauder group we would have been done long ago.” He clenched his fists and at once the icy globes extended out and formed into swords. -----The deminites converged on Toc, only to be run through by the ice-blades that Toc sent out with a wave of his hand. The first twenty deminites went down in seconds, but there was one more deminite that jumped towards the Marauder leader. -----Unsurprised by the lone deminites relentless attack, Toc held up his right hand and formed a circular shield of ice in front of him. Undeterred by the obstacle in front of it, the deminite conjured streaks of fire around its claws and hit the shield with all of its might. The flaming claw broke through the shield, scattering the ice into several flailing chunks, but the shield had impeded the strike just enough that the claws never came close to Toc’s unemotional face. -----Toc held out his index and middle finger, and then moved them through the air in a circular motion. The chunks of ice that the deminite had knocked aside stopped in mid-air and quickly formed into long, jagged ice spears. One of the spears plunged into the deminites chest, impaling the minion and stabbing its point into the ground. -----A devonox was the next to rear its ugly head against Darkone, but before it could come within arms reach Toc flung his arm out and triggered the remaining four spears to take flight. The monstrous barbarian ignored the first spear, but the second dove into its eye and the third impaled its neck. By the time the fourth spear hit, the icy power of the spears had spread through the devonox’s body, freezing it entirely. -----Toc snapped his fingers and instantly the body of the devonox broke apart. With another gesture Toc hurled the frozen body pieces into the next wave of deminites; like a hail storm the ice stones crushed the frontline deminites and drove the others back. -----“There are still more ahead,” Telissa warned, gazing at the scanner on her arm. -----“They shall be the last.” Toc said. He extended both of his arms out, his wrists facing the ceiling, his fingers pointing to the ground. The final swarm of deminites approached, nearly fifty in number. Toc raised his fingers up and the ground before his feet became solid ice. The ice floor extended into the depths of the corridor; before long the entire ground in front of Darkone was frozen and the deminites tripped over the icy floor. -----“Now I end this!” Toc sneered, raising his hands up slightly. The icy ground sprang up, taking the form of raised spikes that impaled the minions. A few deathly screeches echoed through the caves, and then there was silence. With a casual wave of his hand Toc dissipated the ice; the corpses fell to the ground, and not a single deminite was left standing. -----“Now,” Toc said as he stared over his shoulder at the heroes, “we can finally be on our way.” He clasped his hands behind his back and strolled into the darkness. -----“And to think, he could turn that power on us at any time.” Captain Khazan whispered. -----“We’ll be watching him,” Uberman responded. “Until then, we can’t deny that he’ll be useful on this mission”—he turned to face the others and waved for them to follow—“alright, we’re moving out. The enemy knows we’re here now, so keep alert!”
Weapons of War
-----The island of the Fallen floated over the Saedeen Coast Isles, constantly moving towards Khazan City. The Fallen had encountered no resistance from the Khazan military so far, which was quite unlike the Khazan government. Under normal conditions, half of the military would have intercepted the island as soon as they had detected the island’s movement.
Personal Mission
-----Maria Halesinger sat at a window-view table in one of Khazan’s finest sky-bars. The illustrious diners, found only in the Uptown district of Khazan City, were establishments that were created near the top of skyscrapers. From her table, Maria could see the seemingly unending view of city streets and flying hover cars. Thousands of lights pierced through the night, illuminating the city as if it was one colossal festival.
Towards the Dark Tower
-----In the northern regions of the Champion Mountains, the Drekis’ minions had forged the darkstone shipyards. Unlike the creation of the surface base, the shipyards had been constructed without notice, for they were located beneath the surface. The ground itself had been modified into a sort of door, an opening crevice from which the gigantic terror beasts could ascend into the skies.
Next: War of Drekis: Chapter 17: Battle Cry |