The first soldiers of the Free Nation had made it to the Krizian firing line, most unharmed, but a few had take a shot or two, helping others get closer. The rifles that the Krizians had believed made them an invincible force that would one day allow them to rule over the entire surface of Debris had failed them. Just like their leader, the Free Nation soldiers had weapons and armor from ARMS devices that were of higher grade. There wasn’t as much of a disparity between the two groups, but the results that the Krizians were expecting were unrealistic at best. The first melee that the two sides engaged in, the Free Nation soldiers had the goal of breaking their lines up. It wasn’t difficult for them to do this. A punch there and a kick there was all it took. The Krizian soldiers that were hit were sent back into their commadres, knocking them off balance and distracting them just long enough for another Free Nation soldier to close the distance and continue the chain of effect by slamming their sword into the midsection of the Krizian as hard as they could. The difference in grades were not enough to cut through the ARMS material, had it, the sword would have cut clean through the Krizian’s torso, but the wielder was not aiming nor expecting that result. They had swung their weapon hard enough so as to treat it as a blunt instrument, transing the force of the swing into the guts of the Krizian. The Krizian solder was struck with such for that they were lifted off the ground and sent crashing into the decimated circle of Krizians that were surrounding Jason, but were now just few soldiers hanging on to hope, and stalling Jason from getting further way.

The Krizian soldier had a plan. He’d go with the fall when he hit the ground, roll up to his feet, and charge back to his position in the line. He had dropped his rifle, but he had a back up side arm melee weapon that he could engage the enemy with. He’d activate is secondary ARMS and strike back at the one who sent him fly. His enemy had only got a lucky hit. He was distracted. The guy next to him may be weak but not him. He was strong and capable. He’d been a professional football player. He knew how to hold the line and he knew how to recover. It’d been nearly a decade since that was the case and he’d be out of the league by now, but that didn’t matter, he was still as good as he was back then and he’d regain his glory. This was his plan. It would never come to fruition. Jason’s sword arched out, flashing through the middle of the Krizian soldier, splitting him in two. He’d planned to roll. That’s what he did. His legs flail about end over end coming to rest with one foot flat on the ground with his other dragging behind, making the leg that the food that was flat on the ground was attached bend at the knee. His torso, on the other hand, dropped and rolled. The Krizian soldier could have stopped himself, but he was in shock. If he worked fast enough there was a possibility that he could survive, but the Krizians didn’t have that modification built into their ARMS and they weren’t in the arena. The only thing that he could do is pray that a healer was nearby and would fix him, but again, the Krizians didn’t have healers among them. Chris didn’t want any reason for his people to relax, to goof off, and be lazy. The Krizian soldier’s mind realized that there was no hope and went to what he would have done if given the chance. He believed he was a great man as evidenced by his past filled with glory. He was delusional. Yes, he was one of the few athletes that was able to go on to become a professional, but he’d been drafted to one of the worst teams in the league and he hardly ever got on the field. The coaches viewed him as a player good enough to provide a chance in the worst case scenario, but they’d never bet on him in the clutch. This didn’t stop the Krizian soldier from acting like he was better than everyone around him. He looked back on his former highschool and college teammates as not very good and jealous of his successes.

The attitude didn’t end with those in his past though. The brotherhood that tends to form among players on the same team didn’t form between him and his teammates. The Krizian would always criticize them, saying that he could do better and what he’d do if he was in the game, but the reality is that he’d hardly ever got on the field and his teammates just got more and more frustrated. They complained to the coach and the owner. They wanted him off the team. He wasn’t doing anything. All he did was sow discord among them and sit on the bench, being paid to watch the game essentially. The Krizian was no better with the fans. His first year many people wanted his autograph. He was a rookie and you never knew how the careers of rookies would go. An autograph could be worth nothing for the longest time and then in their final year they might do something crazy that would blow up the value, but if you didn’t already have the autograph on particular thing it was too late to go back and get it then so every rookie’s first year was full of people asking them to sign stuff and expecting him to do it for free. His autograph wasn’t worth anything just yet after all. This didn’t keep him from getting a big head. Before too long he was demanding that they pay him some exorbitant amount, not just for his signature either. If they weren’t willing to pay him in some way he wouldn’t give any fan the time of day.

He was living the high life and as long as he wasn’t put in to play he could keep saying what he would do, but the coaches would never take that risk if they didn’t have to, and if they had to, there was every chance that the rest of the team would sabotage themselves to teach him a lesson. Unknown to the team, however, the owner was having a bit of a financial crisis and needed to cut the fat. They all wanted to sack the Krizian soldier, but doing that would be a breach of contract that they couldn’t afford. It was a blessing when the J`nk came and demanded that a portion of the population be handed over. The owner was approached by his buddies in the upper echelon if he knew anyone that was a good candidate. Someone that wouldn’t be missed. The Krizian soldier was an obvious choice. He could get rid of a financial problem and make his team happy all in one swoop so he passed the name along and one day Krizian soldier just vanished. They all put on a face like they were worried to the media, but between themselves, all of them celebrated. The greatness that the Krizian soldier had thought that he would rise to in the Krizian empire was a lie as was the past that he imagined himself have had. One would think that he’d have realized this with some self reflection given that he ended up on Debris surrounded by thousands of other unwanted people tossed away by Earth, but often times a persons’ delusions are almost impossible to break through. Now he laid on the ground, body cut in half, dying, and more enraged at the incompetence of his squadmates and even Chris rather than take his last remaining moments and reflecting on his life.

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Gabi oozed out of a crack in Jason’s armor around his feet. She stretched herself out and grabbed hold of the Krizian soldier. The dying torso was in the way so she tossed it at another soldier, killing two birds with one stone. As soon as the torso was thrown Gabi snapped back inside Jason’s armor. Meanwhile the Krizian soldiers torso flew head first into another soldier, the impact blinding them to anything else and when they collided, it stunned them long enough for Jason to line up a sword slash that sent a wave of energy towards the two, dividing both lengthwise, killing them both instantly.

The Free Nation men had taught about the same weaknesses that Jason had used and began to overwhelm the Krizian soldiers. They may not have had the same quality of equipment that could cut through the Krizian ARMS devices’ materials, but the simple fact that they understood the weaknesses of how the default ARMS armor’s configuration was designed gave them a strategic advantage beyond the basic quality difference between weapon and armor that could be utilized whether using ARMS equipment or having whatever the best gear was. Aim for the head if all else fails was a mantra that saved many of their lives already while they were dungeon running over the years. It could be argued that the Free Nation men didn’t need to kill all the Krizians, that they could subdue them, but it really wasn’t an option. The extra effort to subdue them would have only worn them down more and made them more likely to make an error. It wasn’t worth the risk.

The final Krizian soldier dropped to the ground, having lost their lives to serve a false god and, what appeared to Jason’s eyes, an evil civilization that rivaled the worst that Earth had ever managed to come up with. Unknown to Jason and his men the instant that the last Krizian fell, all the Krizians ARMS devices started their self destruct procedures. They processed the most effective time to detonate, playing through millions of scenarios finding the most likely scenario to cause the most damage to all non Krizians.

The female Krizian scout watched the fight in awe of Jason and his men’s battle aptitude. Only when the last Krizian soldier dropped did she come to her senses about what was about to occur. Putting her own life aside, she ran down the path towards Jason. All she could do was shoutl and hope that they would hear her, but even if they heard her there was every chance that they would not heed her warning. Worse, she was putting herself in the danger zone. Every step she took was another step closer to ensuring that she would die with them, futilely trying to change their destiny, her’s, and maybe even all of Debris.

Jason heard the Krizian scout, but he couldn’t make out what she was shouting. His attention was drawn back to the encampment that the Krizian Soldiers had set up. They hadn’t scouted it out and didn’t have any information on it so when the hundreds of soldiers began pouring out of the gates, formed up, and held their position, some pointing at Jason and his men, others laughing as if they were in on a secret, a chill ran down Jason’s spine. He made a motion in the air with his hand and yelled, “Retreat! Reform up with our main forces!” At that, all of the remaining sheathed their weapons as they turned away from the Krizians and ran for their forces, having to leave the injured and critically wounded behind. They were not prepared for an all out attack and had not brought enough healers to keep all on their feet.

The female scout had been quite quick and met up with the retreating soldiers almost as soon as they started to retreat. Part of her job requirements was being fast as well as being observant while on the move. Her eyes locked on Chris’. He smiled at her making a motion with his hand. She made the connection that he had just de-registered her as a Krizian and that now she was ground zero. Without a second thought, her hand went to her ARMS device, deactivating it, and chucked it as far as she could, hoping that it would get far enough away from her that she would survive and close enough to Chris to make him a victim of his own cruelty.

Just then, all the ARMS devices detonated.