Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 153 of 365. Sol standard year]
Days after of Crash landing/ 2
Uninhabited Island / Ruins / Corridors/ Battlefield Passage
Galactic Standard Time / 0945
As they came out of the corridor between the scrap piles, Wilmria felt her heart beat harder. She wasn’t a battle junky like her comrade, but this was doing something to her. It might be just what they saw before them if she was honest. There were ten strange-looking large, bulky figures. They were standing there around fifty feet ahead of them in a line. They had on only grey pants and they held large pieces of the scrapped things in their hands. Behind them was more of the corridor with piles against doors on both sides.
She looked at the creatures, trying to understand just what these things were. They had to be either things that the traitor had been or animals. Since they weren’t attacking them, they might not be able to think. If they were trained to collect the metal, then they might be able to escape. But the metal, all of it was that precious wonder material. If these traitors had such power, why weren’t they using it?
“The flyer’s ahead of us, a good hundred feet. We need to get by them soo……He’s stopped. He just stopped,” Zane muttered next to her.
“So we can take care of these things then?” Wilmria asked just as softly.
“Yeah, we can,” Zanee said as he aimed his pistol.
“HOLD!” The Bulky figure at the center roared.
Wilmria just blinked. She couldn’t believe this. So they could talk, that was something. She was wrong, again. She didn’t like this.
“Pagans, listen to this one! The one you chase is to be offered to the Great Beast! Stop your actions and surrender to we, those you call the Beast Cult!” The middle figure cried out.
Wilmria only stared, shocked to the core. The Beast Cult? Those monsters who had died in a war against the Kingdom so long ago? They were still alive!? But how?! Where had they…… ‘offered’?!
Wilmria tightened her grip on her weapon, and she felt her Power surge within her. They would dare to kill the young girl for her protection. “You’re going to kill her!?”
“Yes! That one has the honor of giving her life to the Great Beast! Such an honor will anoint the blessing of the only one among you with the will to follow the Beast! It is a privilege that one such as you does not deserve to even hear of!” The figure bellowed. Wilmria only looked at the being as it kept talking. “Surrender and give your lives to the Beast, and in the next life be one of our own! Or fight and forever be denied the Beast’s grace!”
“So, we attack and kill them all, right?” Zane asked, his voice so soft that Wilmria almost didn’t hear him. “Because there is no way that I’ll let such scum live! You in?”
“Yeah, Zane. I’ve got the right, you want the left? I think the General will want to talk to the negotiator herself. Am I right ma’am?” Karltics asked, just as softly.
She looked from him to Karltics, both of them having hard looks on their faces. She expected it from Karltics, but Zane too? What had the offworlder being through for him to react this way?
“I’ll go down the middle, there are three for each of you. I’ve got three more plus the speaker. General’s right so don’t argue,” Wilmria said just as softly.
“Well Pagans!? Will you surrender and let this end so much easier for your betters!? You who killed the Spawn of the Beast!?” The Middle figure bellowed.
“I’ll answer in one action!” Wilmria called back, moments before she felt her Power surge within her. She just blinked and then she was where the speaking figure had been, her spear deep within its chest. It looked down at her, and grinning savagely she cried out. As soon as she opened her mouth, a blast of wind erupted from her hands and weapon. The tornado shredded the Bulky while the force forced the others against the walls. For a moment they all just stood still, and then the piles of junk fell on three of the Bulky ones.
As they cried out in pain, Wilmria just looked ahead at two of them on their backs farther down in the empty area. As Zane and Karltics cried out behind her, she shot forward. She felt nothing as she ran at the Two Bulky figures, all she could hope for was the others could handle their foes.
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As he saw Wilmria suddenly run and attack the two that she had pushed away from the others, Zane reacted. He fired his pistol at one of the Bulky figures, and it blocked it with a piece of one of the robots. He almost didn’t believe that the metal was able to block his shots, but then it was from a Ruin after all. The robots that were found in Ruins, there wasn’t much data in the Federation’s Information Network. But if it had a strange relationship with this Power the natives had, then the Ruins did too.
So far he had seen things he had never thought possible. But then this was so beyond what his life had been. All he had to do was survive, and that was the golden rule.
He ran at the creature that he had fired at as Karltics cried out a war cry and attacked the other side. He saw two of the figures behind the one he had shot at. One was down, under falling parts and the other was trying to get the other free with its back to him. Without a second thought, he fired three shots, one of which hit the figure that blocked his shots. The other two flew past it and hit the figure trying to free the other one in the head. It went still before it fell, and with that, there was one less to worry about.
The blocking figure roared and charged at him, its shield ready to crush him. Before it was five feet away from him, he lunged to the side. As the Bulky figure thundered by him, it tried to hit him with the ‘shield’. Zane dodged the blow, the shot fired by Zane burned the creature’s face along its left eye.
As the Bulky Figure screeched, Zane ignored it. He looked at Karltics seeing him attack one of them with his sword and nodded. He looked around, taking stock of the battle. He saw two more of them trying to get some of them free from the metal, and giving what he had fought. There was one left where. Where was it!?
Stolen novel; please report.
Something told him to move, and he jumped forward. A moment after he was airborne, he heard something slam into the floor behind him. As it hit the ground he rolled until he got back to his feet and looked to where he had been. Standing there was another of them holding a large hammer-shaped piece of metal and looking right at him.
“heretic! How dare you kill those of us who drank the ‘muscle’ potion!? How dare you kill those of us doing the work here!? After our leader offered to gIve you mercy!?” The hammer-wielding figure bellowed.
Zane looked at him and for a moment did nothing. Then his arm shot to the side and he shot two times. Both bolts hit the two trying to get the others free, and he looked right at the hammer Bulky one. As the Bulky figure’s face went red, Zane smirked at it. “I’m the kind of guy that fights those who kill others. You who speak of ‘sacrifices’ never really give anything up. I love to kill those the best!”
“Foul heretic! Together my work crew! Get free and fight these monsters! For the Great Beast!” The Hammer-wielding one roared.
Zane felt his breath catch in his throat. It was possible that the thing that Wilmria killed was a speaker. If this was the leader, then they might be in trouble after all. Even Cults might promote leaders because of their ability, and it was one of them. If this was the leader, then it knew how to command its fellows.
The Bulky figure that he had injured along its head had come behind the Hammer one. He grinned as he moved backwards, his pistol aimed at the two. He heard Karltics cry out in victory and saw the soldier had killed the other one but was panting. He took in how Karltics was, and then Zane thought about what the situation was and made a choice.
“Kid! Let’s get to the General! These things don’t matter!” Zane roared as he fired at the two Bulky Figures.
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Karltics looked at the dead body before him as he heard Zane’s cry. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. These things were harder than he expected, being all muscles. As bad as it made him feel, a retreat sounded wonderful right now. If they could handle the two the General was fighting, then together they could handle the rest.
“Got it, but what about the others!?” Karltics called out as he backed away, keeping his eyes on the enemy.
Zane only laughed and started to fire his range weapon as Karltics moved backwards. “Keep moving, I’ll guard the rear! So get going!”
Karltics nodded before he turned and ran. Zane followed, looking right at General Wilmria as she slew one of her foes with a downward slice of her weapon. In the aura created by just using her power, she moved like a hurricane. As the last one raised its makeshift weapon in its paw, Karltics sped up.
Before the creature even knew he was there, Karltics jumped and thrust his blade. As the figure gasped, Karltics pulled his blade free in a shower of blood. Before the figure could grasp him, he jumped off and landed on the floor five feet away.
As Wilmria looked at him, he bowed his head. “Sorry General, but I think that you missed their commander.”
At a cry he looked back and saw Zane running towards them at a run, firing his weapon as he did. Another two of them were down, but the last five had all grabbed pieces of the metal and were using it to advance.
As the shots Zane fired hit the metal and were deflected, all Karltics felt was fear. But in that fear was a bit of hope and courage. Together with Zane, he had fought monsters that he had never seen before and survived. He didn’t doubt that together, they would find a way to survive.
“Keep moving my Pack! We will kill them and take their Power for our own!” The roar of the hammer-wielding screamed.
Karltics felt his blood freeze for an instant. The hammer one’s words echoed off the walls causing Karltics to feel fear for a second, and he almost turned and ran. But he stood there and readied himself to fight. He wouldn’t turn and leave his comrades to die, he just wouldn’t. He was so caught up with standing there, not running that he missed the feeling of warmth blooming within him.
“So, do we turn and run? We will run into more of them, but we might kill those before these catch up. They’re not that fast,” Zane said with a small note of something in his voice.
“No, we stand here. I’ll get behind them and try to get them to turn. Can that weapon of yours kill them?” Wilmria asked.
“Yeah, one shot and all if I hit them right. But still, there’s something about that one with the hammer. You’ve ever seen anything like that before?” Zane asked.
“Yeah, that terror? Just brave through it. I’ve faced something like that before. We kill that one, and the others will fall. Just that one has to go first,” Wilmria said with a laugh in her “Just walk through it. Then you’ll be fine.
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Wilmria looked at the forces and then at the scrap piles. She had trained to use her abilities to their best, and she had a movement Technique that she had been working on. All she could do was hope that it would work as she thought it would.
“Good luck,” Zane said with a small nod.
Wilmria nodded back and then she started to run and called up her Power. Without a word, she suddenly appeared speeding at the wall and then jumped off it to arc around the pile of scrap. Landing behind the Bulky figures, she aimed her spear at the one holding a hammer.
Without even saying a word, she shot forward and slashed down with her spear point. But somehow the Bulky Figure had known, and turned, meeting her blow with its hammer.
“So the general of the Wind is that sneaky? Good, face me!” The hammer wielder cried out as a black aura enveloped it.
Wilmria only looked at the energy field, shocked beyond words. She had fought many opponents, but never one with a black aura!
She jumped back and spun her spear, looking at the figure as it laughed.
“So you’re instincts are that strong? Well, then this won’t be that easy!” The Hammer wielder cried out as it slammed his hammer against one of the piles.
Before Wilmria’s shocked eyes, a wave of black energy flashed over the pile. She stared in horror as it slowly started to melt into a mud-like substance. For an instant, she thought of what that could do to her if it touched her.
“Why didn’t I ever make more range Techniques?” She muttered as she watched.
The shield bearers didn’t react, they just moved forward. She spared a glance and hoped that both Karltics and Zane could handle them.
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Zane looked at the four scrap shield wielders as they moved forward slowly. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t think of a way around this. The scum who had kidnaped the Princess hadn’t moved, and they were close. But the longer they stayed here, the longer the chances of reinforcements from the other side to get here.
The more he thought of it, the worse he felt. He had just gone charging after the kid, never even telling Wilmria about the Rest. These had to be connected to them, but this changed everything. They could move through the Ruins proper, the corridors. Who knew how long or what the Cult had created in here? The longer he thought about it, the more questions he had. And if he fell here, there was no chance of ever getting justice for his people.
The more he thought, the more his rage built. The more his rage built, the more he felt so hot. Finally, it became too much and he roared as he thrust his hands forward. He erupted, a rust-colored energy aura forming around him as he screamed. Suddenly from his aura came a sandstorm that swirled around the shields and attacked the holders. All they heard were screams as the sand struck the Bulky figures. In an infinite time that only lasted a minute, the screams stopped. The shields were motionless for a moment before they fell, revealing nothing but bones that had pieces of red meat on them.
Zane fell to his knees and panted. He saw something in the right lower corner of his vision, words that he couldn’t understand. They said ‘Desert Operative/ First Skill, Desert Fury’.
“Amazing! How long were you able to do that Zane?” Karltics asked in a shocked voice.
“Just now,” Zane breathed out in shock. He looked at the remains, trying to understand how he had done that. He was feeling a sphere of flames within him. But it didn’t feel wrong or pain, it was just there. It didn’t make sense, it was like there was something he had never felt, but now he could.
“I…. fuck. Rest my friend, I’ll help the General!” Karltics said as he helped Zane to lean against the wall.
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Karltics ran, his blood feeling as if he was on fire. He saw the hammer wielder turn and look at the dead bodies of its fellows. Then he saw the black aura around it increase as it yelled in rage. But then he saw the general yell and start thrusting her spear at the hammer wielder. Each blow created a tornado that hit the black aura and did nothing to it. But with each blow, the hammer wielder’s aura pulsed as it tried to get away.
With a yell, Karltics slammed his blade into the back of the hammer wielder. The blow hit the aura, and to his horror, his blade started to bubble. He pulled his hands away and the handle of his sword started to feel soft. He looked at the Bulky figure as it started to laugh.
“So then the other one is the one with that terrible Power then? Go run away week one, I’ll kill you later!” The Hammer wielder bellowed and Karltics almost did.
“Stay back! It can corrode anything!” Wilmria cried out as she moved her spear around and seemed to gather more wind around her weapon.
All Karltics could do was watch as the hammer wielder laughed as he drew his hammer back. For a moment, Karltics couldn’t understand what that being was doing. Then he did and his heart seized up. “He’s going to strike the floor!”
And that was the spark that Karltics needed. The heat that he had been feeling at the edge of his mind erupted and then he just moved his body.
With a yell, a blue energy aura appeared around him, and he. Just. Moved.
He charged at the hammer wield and it turned to look at him. He just jumped and lashed out with a sideways kick that tore off the hammer wielder's head! As the head flew down the corridor, Karltics landed near Wilmria. He just fell to his knees and felt everything hit him. But then his stomach rebelled against him and he fell to his knees as he threw up. As the brown mass he expelled hit the ground, the body behind him fell as well.