Dante successfully parries two swift strikes from the Wyrm, each swing would've killed him if they connected. But, despite his injuries, he’s doing a good enough job of staying out of the way whilst the soldiers provide laser fire at the wyrm- With Dante making space after each of its attacks to stay out of the kine of fire.
_TARGET: A
_KRIX: WYRM (TIER FOUR)
_HP: 55 (-45)
It’s taking longer than Dante hoped, but the soldiers are just getting started from what Dante can see- the group of troops slowly make their way around the car as they continue laying down fire on the Wyrm.
“Check right,” One of the soldiers, presumably the captain, yells.
“Clear,” Another responds.
“I’m loading a charge!” Adds another soldier.
_TARGET: A
_KRIX: WYRM (TIER FOUR)
_HP: 48 (-52)
Dante is starting to feel like the target of an extraction mission, and he’s sensing a weight of burden on his shoulders as he tries not to inconvenience the soldiers in any way.
“Get out of there!” The Captain yells at Dante, “We’ve got it from here,”
“I can help,” Dante responds.
“Negative,” The Captain disagrees, “Not with that lifeline,”
“But I-”
_HP: 34 (-66)
_MANA: 38% REMAINING
_DETAILS: 87/230
_NOTES: Multiple broken ribs. Muscular damage from stab wound to leg.
The Captain of the troops pings Dante’s lifeline, reminding him of the situation before his voice tensens, “Now, Recruit! You aren't going Zo’an today,”
“Yes, Sir,” Dante reluctantly confirms, slowly stepping backwards as the soldiers approach the wyrm- firing on its position and keeping it pinned down, away from Dante.
“Shield unit is nearly secure,” Cassie calls out over comms, drawing Dante’s attention to her position amongst the shield unit, “I’m still not getting a signal to Command,” She adds.
“Signal went local two hours ago,” The leader of the shield unit responds, “Glad you could smell the smoke,”
“Thank the Drill team,” Cassie responds, “They've got good noses,”
“Shall we get the convoy moving, Heir?”
“Affirmative,” She responds, “Get back to the centre,”
“Copy that,” He responds.
“dri— ... Atta-” Command Preston's voice stutters.
_Debugging…
“Preston?” Cassie’s voice sounds shaky over the comms-
“What did he say?” Nadia tries confirming.
“I don't know,” Cassie says
_OVERWATCH: ORDER FROM HEIR CASSIE
_DETAILS: Get to the Drill beam!
Dante turns his head in the direction of the drill beam train before a bright beam of light crashes into the ground beside it and a large, orange mushroom cloud erupts into the sky, crashing against the top of the shield.
“That barely missed!” Dante yells as his anxiety peaks. What the fuck was that?
_Debugging concludes: “Drill beam is under attack,”
“Shit!” Cassie yells.
“You should get going,” The shield unit’s leader says.
“We’re almost-”
“We’ll take care of the rest, Heir,” He cuts her off, “Shield unit is up and running. We’ll get in touch after we snuff out the Krix jamming our signal,”
Cassie briefly hesitates before responding, “Alright, Good luck,”
“Recruits! On me,” Cassie calls out before he sees her sprinting in his direction.
He looks back at the soldiers ahead of him, still laying down fire on the wyrm as it writhes and retaliates in a panic.
Stolen novel; please report.
_TARGET: A
_KRIX: WYRM (TIER FOUR)
_HP: 27 (-73)
“Fall back, Private!” The Captain of their unit yells at a soldier stepping into the wyrms range.
The Wyrm dashes towards the soldier in the blink of an eye once it sees the opening, and before the soldier can react- the Wyrm is winding up what remains of its tail. As it releases its strike- Cassie's blades tear straight through the creature before it can touch the soldier. steel scatters everywhere as the Wyrm explodes into pieces.
_TARGET: A
_KRIX: WYRM (TIER FOUR)
_HP: 0 (-100)
“Move, Dante!” Cassie yells as she sprints straight past him.
“Can't keep up, huh?” Nadia scoffs.
Dante starts sprinting alongside them- he can't keep up right now, thanks to his injuries. But he’s still got the mana he needs for a shield since he didn't use too much of it on the Wyrm.
As they continue sprinting, Dante can see the swarm of Krix surrounding the Drill beam- dozens of Wyrm, Spider and shit he hasn't seen yet. This must be the sneak attack they were worried about. Was the Shield unit just bait? Did they disable the comms knowing they’d overcompensate?
The Krix have such a relaxed control of the battlefield. They can extend so many troops, faking an attack isn't really faking it- the shield truck was under attack, and they would’ve destroyed it if Cassie hadn't responded in time, even if it was just a decoy. They're all just independent layers of a Krix plan that Dante can't even comprehend.
_NOTE: 47 hours to relocation site.
----------------------------------------
“Clear left,” Thunder says as Julz swings around the opposite corner with a rifle in her hands.
“Clear right,” She says, shining her torch through the dark room.
Squad O3 is ascending a skyscraper amongst the relocation site. After a few hours of trudging through the rubble on the ground, they split up to scout one of the few standing buildings. Having rappelled halfway up the building, to the twenty-fifth floor, Thunder and Julz were ordered to work their way up whilst Captain Eddy and Atari worked their way down.
“I'm still not getting any movement,” Prodigy says over comms. As the sniper of the team, she’s positioned on the hill they originally scouted the area from- Nearly three kilometres away from here.
“This would be quicker if I used my power, Sir,” Julz says.
“What’s the rush?” Captain Eddy asks over comms.
“It’s just…” Julz looks at the rifle in her arms, and shifts it in an attempt to get a more comfortable fit, “I’m trained to use my powers,”
“You know how to use a gun, Recruit,” He responds.
“Yeah, but…”
“You don't wanna run into a tier four Krix on your own, Kid. There’s a process to this,” He responds. “On top of that, Cassie advised that you should consider using a weapon,”
“She told you that?” Julz says as she walks over to see a dusty teddy bear on the floor. Shining the light of her gun at it, she notices it has blue fur under the mess of dust and one button eye with a stitch in the other.
“Yep, and from what I’ve seen of you in the sim, I think she’s right. If guns don't do, we’ll try different weapons,”
“Copy that,” Julz responds.
“Let’s move up,” Thunder says as he approaches a set of stairs.
“Okay,”
“Heading up to thirty-seven,” Thunder says as he starts making his way up the stairs with Julz following behind.
“Movement on thirty-seven,” Prodigy calls out.
Thunder raises a fist, and they both stop in place.
“How many?” Thunder asks.
“Looks like one,” Prodigy responds, “I can take it out,”
“Get confirmation first,” Captain Eddy responds.
Confirmation? Julz wonders to herself before Thunder starts moving up the stairs.
Before they reach floor thirty-seven, Thunder stops before the door in the stairwell.
“Can I get a mark?” Thunder whispers.
“Marking,” Prodigy says.
_TARGET: A
_KRIX: ???
_HP: ???
An obscured, red figure appears through the walls in Julz’s HUD, right beside the door. She nearly gasps in a panic but contains her sudden jolt of adrenaline.
The first thing she notices is the silence. She hasn't heard a single sound coming from the other side.
The figure slowly moves closer to the door, and Thunder slowly raises his gun- prompting Julz to do the same. As it approaches, it briefly stops in line with the door, and Julz switches the safety of her gun off.
In a moment that feels like an eternity, Julz and Thunder remain silent and completely still. With their rifles fixed on the door and prepared to fire in an instant. It moves a little closer to the door, and Julz inhales deeply, holding her breath once her lungs fill.
Then, the figure continues moving past the door and down the hall. Julz sighs in relief as the tension in her body eases, but only slightly before she sees Thunder reaching for the doorknob.
It softly creaks before he splits it open ever so slightly- Julz glances over his shoulder as the door opens and the door slowly reveals the back of what looks like a shiny human facing the other direction.
_TARGET: A
_KRIX: HUMANOID (TIER THREE)
_HP: 100
The door immediately shuts, and Julz's heart sinks as she finds herself instinctively backing away from the door.
“Fuuuuck,” Prodigy exclaims on behalf of Thunder and Julz, who finds herself holding her breath once again. “That’s a bit of a problem,”
Thunder gestures to Julz, ordering her to head back down the stairs and she does so without a second thought. Once they both reach the thirty-sixth floor their heavy breaths become audible.
“You seeing this Captain?” Thunder asks.
“Yeah. Doesn't look good,” Captain Eddy responds.
“What are we going to do?” Julz takes a deep breath, “What the fuck is it doing here?”
“This is why we don't run ahead,” Prodigy giggles.
“Why is it alone?” Thunder asks.
“I see we’ve stockpiled good questions,” Eddy responds calmly, “Let’s regroup on floor Thirty. We might need the help of O1,”
“Copy that,” Thunder responds.
“Prodigy, don't let it out of your sight,”
“Yes, Sir,” She responds.
“Atari and I will set up a few drones to finish the scouting before we head up. I still want this building cleared,”
“Yes, Sir,” They all respond.