[Unregistered Temporary Battlegroup]
[North Sector]
[Rearguard Position]
Clouds blanketed the sky, their dark shadows encroached over a high green ridge. All that was kept below lit with light from the shine of ice, the sparks of blade against claw, and the pops of light. Two forces battled each other, one for the hope of survival and other wishing only to swarm and overwhelm.
On one side, fighting against the swarming horde, Amanda fought on two fronts, one in the real world and the other in her mind.
Slashing down with her manifested icy long sword, she beat back the beasts who had so daringly jumped into her fortifications. She had created two sets of walls and 20 hounds had jumped their way past the first 5 meter high wall.
The trainees stationed at the wall could do nothing to stop them, those that tried found themselves taken down as the hounds passed their claws against in a fierce attack. Holding fast on the ramparts made of glistening ice, what trainees who weathered the invasion kept the outer perimeter secure with pistol fire and what little grenades they had left.
In return, the enemy pelted back with white bolting arrows and laser-like fire from the sky.
Alongside the trainees on the outer wall, Stella raised her power to the sky, blanketing it with balls and bolts of molten fire, exploding out in fierce detonations. Truly, she wasn’t an A rank explorer without reason, she had power that could change whole battlefields in minutes.
Her flames boiled metal as aerial robots attempted to draw close. They fell from the sky, crashing below and impeding the advance of the wooden puppet constructs that battered at the walls to no success. With numbers so great that they filled the horizon from Stella’s view on the wall, they poured forward to breach the front gate.
There, barring the path with blade and body, Richard, Shisuki, and Ikki felled enemy after enemy. Amanda struck out again to abate the enemy inside to cover her allies backs and prevent them from being rooted by a pincer.
She needed the walls to hold, none of the enemies could get in. The brazen hounds scattered all around as her sword sparked against stone. The area between her inner and outer walls was wide enough so that she wasn’t impeded.
Comfortable as the area was to fight in, it was the same for the hounds, who scraped along the earth with the sound of claws barred for blood.
The trainees accompanying Amanda opened up with sparse fire, their pistols getting off glancing blows on the dashing beasts.
One hound fell, its flank full of holes and another stumbled, its leg punctured and bleeding. Amanda leapt at the weakened foe and branshied her blade once again. She felt a resistance run up her arm as her attack made contact.
The beast howled a curdling cry as it was cut down from back to belly. Suddenly, it puffed into.. smoke?
“What the?” Confused, Amanda had no idea where it had gone. Did it teleport? Or had it evaded using some kind of technique?
“Watch out!” A trainee yelled. “On your right!”
“Oh! Shoot!”
Almost falling short in her focus, Amanda pivoted on her left foot and swiped her arm to the right, her sword sliced the previously fallen hound, it had played dead, and luckily she caught it through its mouth. It then puffed into smoke like the one from before. She then understood.
So, when these things turn to smoke when they die, they seem simple enough to defeat. But why are the trainees so afraid?
Noticing how the young trainees hesitated to even take a step forward to meet one of the hounds in close combat, they instead huddled together as the hounds surrounded them. Following their example, she tried to mimic their tactic by keeping close. She didn’t know much but she knew to trust her allies.
Earlier, a trainee had muttered under his breath that they were very much dead. These things, these hellhounds were a foe so frightful that even the young trainees, who had the mettle to charge into combat unflinchingly, cowered at the sight of these creatures.
Were they strong? How strong were they? What can they do? It befuddled Amanda and the fear of not knowing her enemy tore at her.
These thoughts rolled around in her head as she attempted another strike on a lone hellhound that came forward from the pack. Believing it was going to attack, she preemptively took action before it could accost one of her allies.
“Wait! Don’t!” Yet another trainee tried to call out to her and tried stopping her from attacking, but why? She was supposed to eliminate the stronger opponents, that was her role as the mystic who could do more than a grunt like them.
Amanda pierced the beast’s side with ease and it turned into smoke.
At least heeding their warning, she made haste and leapt back while the trainees desperately covered her with pistol fire as a pair of hounds charged her. They disappeared into black puffs.
These hounds, they’re well coordinated. She thought. It was a good thing I reacted in time.
But, as reassured as Amanda was in her retreat, the moment she landed from her jump back, another beast slipped through the persisting clouds of black smoke from the earlier two felled beasts.
The trainees had no time to help since they needed to reload, so the hound rushed at the proffered chance. Passing under their watch, as if invisible for but a moment to her own and her allies' notice, this hound attacked with ferocious fervor.
Wordlessly, it had worked with the earlier pair that had taken the necessary bullets and attention for it to slip in.
Its claws came down, a woosh passed in front of Amanda and it crested across her white and golden breastplate. 3 jagged burning claw marks marred her armor, she winced, a stinging throb in her chest.
“Ah, wha-what the? They’re.. This intelligent?” Jumping away, trainees steadied her from behind as she clutched her chest. There was no blood but her core energy was sapped, the exhaustion and heat drained away at her spirit. It was as if energy was leaking from her wound.
“Ma’am! Are you hurt? Can you stand?” A trainee asked her as she shook the pain away.
“I-I’m fine, But you’re right, this is bad.”
That wasn't a coincidence. These hounds timed their attacks when the trainees needed to reload, they were intelligent and vicious enough to coordinate and sacrifice themselves for one another.
They were a step up from the mindless wooden puppets, aerial robots, and earth golems that only marched, flew, and rushed at them.
If there were more of them, which was highly plausible, the battle would turn quickly in the enemies favor.
This won’t end well. So this is why the trainees are afraid of them, I could only imagine fighting more of them. If they’re are more then I don’t know if I can get them all. They’ll keep attacking in coordination and whittle us down. What do I do?
BOOM!
Her train of thought grinded to a halt and she turned her head to the sudden thunderous sound cracking at the wall. Eyes settling forward, the once standing tall with a blue and iridescent shine of glacial ice, it shook to the hammering fists of looming giants of earth, their rounded heads peeking just a foot over the wall. It’s.. It’s going.. down.
“JUMP! Jump now!” The captain atop yelled to his fellow trainees as their foothold cracked and crumbled underneath them. Grabbing and throwing another trainee down to the front gate, he then jumped down himself. They all landed and moved to join Amanda, firing back with their pistols when they could.
Ikki, Richard, and Shisuki, moved back from the entrance as a pair of 5 meter tall golems bulldozed their way through the front gate. The barricades of ice were stomped into snow and without them the puppets had free range to swarm inside.
Hot on their tails, Ikki led the way away from the enemies as Shisuki and Richard followed in a retreat to regroup.
“Over here! Come on! We’ll cover you!” The captain, posting himself at the inner wall’s entrance, beckoned them over as he and a few other trainees used what little ammo they had left.
“Running low! I need a mag over here.”
“Here! Take mine!”
The captain tossed over a few magazines he had spare to a group of trainees. At this moment, they wished they had a few grenades. Unfortunately, that option was gone, used up to the last hail mary they had up on the wall.
Without them, they’d need the students to deal with the golems, but the students were already holding back the aerial robots, numberless puppets, and dangerous hounds.
They were being stretched thin and didn’t have the numbers to hold on for long.
Disheartening as the trainees were with how they couldn’t be of more assistance, and how many of them felt this was the end. Many more of them hardened themselves for the remaining fight ahead.
Retreating herself, Amanda’s group of trainees followed as they back pedaled with their pistols raised. Amanda moved to the captain as she fired ice projectiles to break from the hounds' encirclement. Getting in front of the captain of the trainees, she waved her sword above her, forming and sending off another volley of ice arrows.
Crashing into the ground ahead, the shower of ice created a jagged path that would slow the enemy's advance.
“I’ll handle this and buy you time. Get inside!” She motioned to the captain and pointed down the inner wall’s entrance. “Get down the passage and set up another hold out! Quick! This is our last wall! So make every second count!”
“Roger Ma’am, let’s move it people! Go Go Go!”
They did so and Ikki followed as well. On queue as they passed her, another portion of the fortification’s outer walls fell. A number of puppets stalked over the rubble.
The outer perimeter now fully compromised, the white, faceless humanoid constructs stuck their arms forward and fired white bolts across the expanse toward the fleeing humans.
Caught before they could reach the safety of the inner wall’s entrance, trainees cried out in pain. Shot in the back, they fell and they coughed up the air in their lungs.
The wind substantially knocked out of them, a few passed out and others got up with a stumble. Those too exhausted and unable to get up, yet still conscious, rolled themselves over onto their backs and returned fire.
One of them noticed Amanda’s gaze and what she intended to do. The trainee waved her away.
“GO! GO without us!”
Amanda shook her head.
“Hold on! I’m coming to help! Hang in there.” She made to rush over but a hound intercepted and blocked her way. It pounced as she startled back and found herself pulled from behind.
“Grah!” A trainee cried out as he pulled Amanda away in time, he howled as he took the blow meant for her. Teetering on his shaking legs, he steadied himself and unsheathed a knife from his belt.
Opposite of him on four paws, the bestial hound growled as the trainee stabbed at it with his knife. He struck for its head, but was too slow. The hound crouched and lunged, it bit the trainee’s arm and he dropped his knife. Jostled by the hound's jaws, he was turned to nothing more than a chew toy.
He let out a horrendous cry of pain, was thrown to the side and fell hard to the ground. Amanda gazed hatefully at the hound. It was a construct of ferocious fire, formed into a wolf with ashy black and red flaming fur. It enraged her to see it seemingly grin at her, mocking her. Damn you!
Pressing a paw forward, the hound loomed closer to another trainee. Its growl sent him into a panic. The sight of its jagged teeth looked like it could easily rip the flesh off of bone.
Too late to have any hope of helping, Amanda screamed and tried to take another step forward, to reach them in time, but yet again, someone pulled her from behind.
“NO! Let me go! I can help them! We all have to regroup!”
“It’s too late Amanda, get back!”
It was the captain, he returned to get her and he pulled on her collar as she tried to go help, but her fingers touched only fruitless air as her eyes watched as another trainee was thrown and thrashed.
One by one, more and more trainees fell to the ground and the invading puppet constructs surrounded them. A golem batted a young pair and another caught one in its huge handed grasp.
“NO!!!” Amanda yelled. “Captain! Let me go! We have to get them!”
“We can’t do that, we need you to lead us. Now get back!” The captain yelled harshly once more. “There’s nothing you can do.” Violently, he pulled on her collar, getting her past the entryway.
“Gooooooooo!”
Injured trainees kicked and screamed a feeble plea to Amanda. Turning their sights ahead, all of them let out a last desperate warcry in opposition as puppet constructs tried to lay a hand on them.
One trainee’s energy sapped away as blow after blow weakened the grip on his knife. His eyelids grew heavy with exhaustion. They slowly closed and he saw the concerned grace in Amanda’s eyes, such compassion, such beauty, if only not on a battlefield.
It was an honor. The trainee thought, and he funnily chuckled since he knew he was being a tad too dramatic in this training exercise, but the real fright on Amanda’s expression made him want to assure her with those words that he could not speak at this time.
If the day came when he’d really die on the battlefield, he’d tell that to his comrade, but for now, he slipped into unconscious defeat.
Others who were unable to retreat made sure to give their all to resist and by time for the others. Recognising their heroism, the captain tried again.
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“We have to go Ma’am, don’t let their sacrifice be in vain. You knew this was a final stand, we all can’t make it.”
“Tch!” Amanda's expression hardened at that fact. She tried to accept the selfless actions of the trainees with a smile, but couldn’t. “Thank.. you.” She muttered.
Wishing she could've said it aloud, she knew she couldn’t. Not because she was shy or reluctant to do so, it was that she was uncomfortable with giving that paltry thanks for leaving these people, these young children behind.
How could she cope with that? The idea of leaving someone that young for dead? Would she have to do it in the future? As an explorer? It was like that time from the simulations, what the real explorer’s had to cope with everyday.
This was a training exercise but the loss she felt was so real, fake or not.
Her back reluctantly turned to them, she ran down the passage. As she did, she heard the people she abandoned laugh as if happy with her choice.
“Eat This! You freaking muppet!”
“I won’t let you take another step!”
“Damn Mutt! Chew on this!”
“Get off of me!”
“Graaaaaaaah! Haaaaaaaaaah! Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!’
It would be their final struggle in extreme close combat, the enemy right in their faces. The situation had turned from bad to downright horrid. From being on the run, then surrounded, and now cornered?
But even as bad as it got, Amanda noticed that the retreating trainees ahead didn’t sob or ball they’re eyes out like the young kids and teenagers they were supposed to be. They didn’t act their age.
No.. they smiled. Smiled for the sake of their abandoned friends. Unlike them, Amanda had to blink away the tears. She took a count of how many were left in her group to refocus.
Of the much larger original numbers they had, only 20 names remained on her HUD’s team roster, including herself and her friends.
We lost so many, and for what, a few minutes?
Amanda wanted more, wanted them to do more than hold out. She wanted to win, for help to arrive so they could all pass this god forsaken training exercise, but it was not to be and she didn’t know when rescue would come.
Making their way down and out the passage through the inner wall, trainees who were waiting for them on the other side pushed barricades of ice in front of the way in. The captain patted Amanda on the back.
“Good work Ma’am. It’s a good thing you made two layers of defense to this place.”
“Y-yeah, I guess so.”
Amanda kept the bitterness she felt inside. She couldn’t let it show, she needed to lead her team. Vaulting over a low wall of ice ahead, she and the captain ordered the group to spread out. Trainees took cover behind pillars of ice set in their last bastion behind the inner wall.
While they could have brought themselves to stand up on the walls, they had little ammo to fire down at the enemy. It was better that they got as much distance from the wall and use it to their advantage as the biggest obstacle for their foe.
While not as extravagant as a fairy tale castle, Amanda had made the surrounding fortifications with the trainees in mind. Setting up two smaller and dotting lines of defense inside the inner wall, they could stall from the most time with the advantage of distance, long range gunfire, and ranged attacks from herself and Stella.
Ikki and Richard squatted down behind bushes of ice closer to the wall and readied themselves to ambush and take the enemy off guard. They both heaved a breath showing how exhausted the entire group must have been.
No one knew how long they had been fighting, it felt like minutes but the weight of their breath told them all they had been pushing themselves for longer than they thought. Not only that, but their reduced numbers showed how much they had paid for time. Time that they needed for help to arrive. But will it? Richard asked himself.
With great sacrifice and that belief that hope would come, the trainees put themselves on the line to protect the students, the mystics, the corebinders, and while Ikki himself wasn’t categorized or officially recognized as a corebinder, the trainees respected his skill with a blade.
He obviously could do more than any of them, and if they had a chance of achieving victory as a group, then Ikki and the rest of the students needed to be the last to fall. And Ikki would carry that responsibility.
I’ll keep fighting for everyone. No matter what, I won’t let your efforts be in vain. Not yet, Not yet, We just have to hold on.
A pang of pain shot through Ikki as his manifested power’s recoiling effects battered away at his willpower and stamina. He had used his trump card, One Blade of Hell, in a limited capacity a number of times in the last few encounters.
Normally, using this special attack of his would leave him completely drained, but Ikki had enough control of his innate power and body to bring out his unique ability in smaller doses. Each strike wasn’t as powerful as it was in his fight with Stella, where he almost split an arena in two, but it worked to down larger groups of puppets and enormous golems all at once.
As Ikki reflected and steadied his mind with a meditative technique, words crossed his mind. “Fall back! Fall back!” It hurt to recall those words. It hurt to run when he knew he should fight, but Ikki threw such sentiments away.
He long ago learned and had gained the heart to know when to deny his warrior spirit when push came to shove, to bury it under cool layers of impartial calm and steely soullessness. It was his resolve.
And this was a war game, a war, and pride had no place in this situation. He could see that Stella felt the same. The way she held herself with that beautiful calm expression and that lovely smile of hers. She was excited, her mind was in the fight, same as him.
Shisuki and Richard were contrastingly calm, and held their weapons without a tremble in their hands. But not everyone was holding it together, or ready to put their emotional baggage away.
Amanda.. She felt her heart cracking. Crouched behind cover, she recalled the haunting images moments ago of a young trainee being battered by the puppets. His defensive aura taking the hits until he passed out from exhaustion.
Then he was hauled off in a manner that seemed like he was nothing but a corpse. So many had been hurt under her command. She felt responsible for each loss. Amanda could only grit her teeth in reflex, the grinding sound reverberating in her ears at the terrible recollection.
No! Not like this! I wanted us all to win! To survive! To.. To.. DAMNIT! WHY?!
BOOM!
No sooner did the inner set of walls come crumbling down easier than the first. Following the same pattern as before, the enormous 5 meter tall golems made short work of the walls. Stella fired off what bolts of fire she could to delay them but their numbers were too great and she had to focus on another wave of aerial assailants. The remaining members in Amanda’s groups opened up with ranged attacks.
Gathered on one side furthest from the wall, they huddled in a spread out formation. From their 10 to 2 o’clock, the enemy closed in as more and more of the inner wall crumbled away. More and more pillars of ice that made up each section of wall tipping and crashing over one another.
Amanda did what she could to create obstacles of ice to slow their advance across the 100 meters of distance they had with the enemy. The only comfort left behind Amanda and her group was a wall that separated them from the ridge’s steep drop into a chasm.
Just in time as she got another mound of ice up to block the enemies path, the constructs tried to flood in like a tide. But they were stalled.
Dashing to the front, unsheathing their swords out behind blocks of ice, Ikki and Richard did whatever they could to whittle the enemy down as they evaded countering attempts to stop them.
But the constructs kept coming, their numbers were endless. Like the simulation videos they all watched in class, wave after wave the creatures of the stardepths moved to crush them with overwhelming numbers.
Breaching and breaking Amanda’s obstacles, the puppets took to firing at Ikki and Richard. They rushed for cover as an uncountable number of white bolts flew close and almost struck them.
Ikki, the first to prudently act, rushed from cover to cover to close the distance. Now only a few paces from a group of packed puppets, he hefted his black katana as he jumped forward to get into close quarters, making it difficult for the puppets to shoot him. He slew lifeless puppet after puppet, crying out as he attacked.
“Iken Style: Second Sword - Sundering Wing!”
Seeing an opportunity, Ikki’s swing came in wide at a horizontal arc. His black sword extended as core energy permeated the blade’s tip for a split second. In that instant, he increased the speed of his swing, completing the motion in less time than it took for a person to blink.
Blasted away by the sheer force and resulting shockwave, Ikki blew back hundreds of constructs.
“Incoming!” A trainee pointed to the rumble ahead. White hands came grasping over the mounds of shattered ice. Like ants, they crawled over each other in a frenzied manner. Stella shrieked in fright and lashed out, channeling her panicked energy.
“Ignition Burst! Die you damn bugs!” Her switch axe held pointed out, lines of fire shot forward from the flowing decorum on the sides of her weapon’s blade. Snaking through the air, they barrelled and burrowed into construct after construct.
The puppets' chests were pierce through and bursted into flame, a dance of fiery snakes played across the field ahead. Ikki dodged the tongues of flame, keeping control of his surroundings and intently rushing in and out of cover.
Stella turned her sights up to the sounds of mechanical engines above. Another wave of aerial robots bore down on them all, their metal mouths glowing red hot. Before they could fire, Stella waved the lines of fire to dance up and into the sky.
The blue metal of the aquatic aerial robots roiled and tore, the heat taking them out of their element. Shisuki then made her move.
“Focus on the air Stella, I’ll handle this. 3rd Form: Million Tears!” She splayed both her hands in front of her, arms spread apart. Moisture condensed in the space in front of her, forming tear shaped drops. Their tips pointed, they shot out with extreme speed.
Keeping her brother Ikki in mind, Shisuki filled the air with projectiles. Hounds staggered as their lives were extinguished and golems fell apart as their rocky surfaces were made into swiss cheese.
“Aim for the hounds! Quick, before they get close!”
Peeking out from cover, trainees fired off controlled shots, abating the remaining hellhounds from getting any closer.
Returning fire in a staggered manner, white bolts crossed the icy courtyard as a few laser-like beams fell from the sky. Ikki, finding himself in between his allies and the enemies, impressively dodged through all the chaotic exchanges.
Using his practiced and well honed natural senses, he dodged, leaned to the side, and weaved through the numberless projectiles. He had come to call this skill of his to read and examine the area around him as Hyperion Eye, the eye that sees all.
Focusing this eye, he deftly walked and moved through the enemies and hundreds of flying projectiles. A downside to this technique of his was that he could only evade when battles got this intense and so saturated with incoming attacks.
It was then that his Hyperion Eye sensed an attack coming for the people he held dearly.
“Stella! Shisuki! You’ve got incoming!”
“On it!” Richard shouted. “Leave it to me, Ikki! I’ll keep them safe!”
He came around and stood in front of Stella and Shisuki, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Please work.” He mumbled and then suddenly, white, black, and blue metallic feathers formed across his arms in a scale pattern. Not noticing the change himself, lasers and bolts struck him head on. For a second, Richard’s back lurched forward, his stomach heaving as a bolt punched him square in the gut.
He sucked a breath in and pushed his core out.
“HAH!!!!!!! RAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Screaming from a mix of pain and panic, Richard held his ground. His uniform tattering, bits of cloth tore off him in small spritzes. Stella and Shisuki expected him to be bruised and bleeding, yet his skin was perfectly unblemished.
Richard had become their valiant wall and the hits came in fast and hard, yet nothing pierced or made him buckle. It was an amazing show of endurance and perseverance, and the girls jumped at the opportunity he opened for them.
Behind Richard, Shisuki and Stella focused their core energy and produced an almost uncountable number of projectiles of water and fire.
They hosed the aerial robots, abating another attack from above. Stumbling as the attacks on him lessened, Richard almost took a knee, luckily Shisuki held him up by his shoulder.
“An astounding performance Richard, you have my thanks.”
“T-Thank you.” Richard inhaled, thoroughly out of breath as he rasped. “It.. made sense that I.. would have your back..”
“And I yours. Come now Stella, thank him won’t you, or are you too uncouth to do so?”
“Uck! Can you not be annoying please! We’re in a battle!” Stella fired off another volley of fireballs and snaking lines of predatory flames.
“Hmph. How Uncouth.. I see.” Shisuki mumbled which had Richard chuckling in exasperation. These two are truly like fire and water, they hate each other, though, he had to second guess himself as he watched the two coordinate their attacks.
Another wave of constructs tumbled in, a group of golems stepped over the icy rubble. Immediately, they fell as blades of water slashed at their limbs and a ball of fire burst through each of their chests. Getting back on his feet, Richard joined with Ikki, and daringly held the vanguard under such overwhelming odds against them.
More and more constructs filled everyone’s line of sight. Enemies to the right, enemies to the left, enemies at the front. Popping off shots with the last of their ammo, the trainees threw down their pistols when they clicked empty. Grasping at their belts, the broad side of their combat knives shined. This was it!
Up and over their cover, a handful of trainees that Amanda could count on her fingers came forward. Not one to let her allies charge in alone, she raised her sword in a rallying cry.
“With me! Let’s go!”
“You heard her!” The captain bellowed. “Now’s the time! Give it your all!”
A cheer went up and Amanda led the remaining trainees into a frontal confrontation. Stella and Shisuki came forward as well, covering their backs, delaying and downing aerial foes to keep them off their heads for as long as they could.
Swift legs carried Amanda as she ducked under a slashing puppet’s arm. Swiveling and grasping her sword’s handle with both of her hands, a devastating slashed was let loose as she came around after making a full revolution. She put forth one of her own special attacks.
“Form One! Blazing Blizzard!”
The air turned icy hot as blue flames erupted from Amanda’s sword. Shockwaves sent puppets flying as flickering embers stuck and caught fire to anything they touched.
A golem rushed through and slammed its fist toward Amanda, Richard jumped in front and held the blow back. With a hoarse cry, his mouth filled with his own spit and blood from his cut lip. He bit down on the self inflicted wound, triggering a deep and new primal instinct in him.
The 5 meter golem was lifted up and tossed away.
Puppets found in the way of its crash were flattened. No sooner did Richard jump and plant his thin sword into the golem’s chest. Running up its torso, he split it in two.
“Rah!” He kicked one half away, it bowled and crushed puppets and tripped many more golems. Turning, he pushed the other half and trampled another group of puppets.
Trainee’s followed and got stuck in. Pulling and grappling, puppets fell one by one as the trainees’ knives tore into them. Kicking, punching, and using every part of their body as a honed weapon, the trainees fought like mad warriors, spartan and as if fearless in the sheer hopelessness of their situation as they were surrounded.
Explosions went off above as another wave of aerial robots were destroyed from Shisuki’s and Stella’s efforts.
“We can do this! Hold on everyone!” Amanda kicked and shattered another puppet’s face, the hope inside her welling, but she knew she was lying to herself, lying to everyone.
But what else could she do? Tell them to give up? Tell them they lost, after trying so hard?
The answer was no, so she lied and gave them hope, while she despaired in knowing the truth. A wet sensation fell on her cheek and she realized it was her own tears. Wiping them away, she fought on. Then, a haunting howl went up and another swarm of hellhounds jumped into the fray.
Amanda met them first, she wouldn’t let them get to the others. Counting over 100, she gulped. This is it. This is where I lose!
Holding tight to her weapon, she poured all the core energy she could into her blade. Please, let this be enough, even if it's just a second more, please, please.
She would release all the power she had into this last desperate attack. It would leave her open from the exhaustion it would cause but her attack would work to break the back of current and incoming waves of constructs. She knew hundreds of thousands were still left ahead, but what more could you ask of her?
The blade readied at her side, she made to swing it but an unnatural sound caught her attention. It became clear when her earpiece crackled with a voice.
[Barrage Incoming! Get to cover!]
Quickly discarding her previous intentions, Amanda hastily motioned and signaled everyone to gather as close as they could.
[Impact in 5! 4! 3!]
With only seconds left as the voice counted down, Amanda plunged her blade into the ground as everyone moved closer. Frosted formed instantly around her and a transparent icy mist covered everyone in a protective layer of her expanded aura.
[2! 1! IMPACT!]
Amanda’s hands trembled from the shaking of the earth and rocking waves of explosions. Exhaustion began to take its toll as her knees buckled and touched the ground as a tide of dust rolled over them.
As it settled and cleared, and her expanded aura came down, she heard the familiar staccato of gunfire and the new deafening sound of a TAC’s massive propulsion unit. They filled her eyes with sweet and ringing relief. Figures on wings of fire flew across and hovered above.
One figure, clad in black armor and wearing a black helmet, landed in front of Amanda as the TAC touched down behind them.
“I-itsuki?” Amanda gasped for air. She had no clue who it was she was seeing, but that uncanny familiarity with how this person garbed in an augment suit looked at her, with that helmet black opaque visor it struck her with a familiar irritation.
The figure reached a hand down to her and Amanda reached for it. For a moment, she believed he was here to be her hero, her savior from this hopeless battle. In a twist, the person she hated the most would be the one to ironically save her.
Corny. She thought, but who cared. This was real, this was hope. She opened her mouth and was about to thank him with whatever energy she had left, but made a noise of Huh? The next seconds were blank.
Grabbed by the scruff of her collar and without a second to resist, Amanda was thrown in the direction of the TAC. She screamed in hysterical terror.
“Wait! What are you.. Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Oof!”
She landed on her face with an awkward sounding thump. A sudden expression of shock was shared by everyone in her group, but their silence was drowned out by gunfire as Itsuki turned to meet a tide of puppets. They heard their comms crackle to life with a voice Ikki knew for sure that it was Itsuki.
[We’re here to evacuate you! Get on the TAC or we’re leaving you behind! Go!]
No hesitation, no mercy, and not caring if they did or did not listen to him, all everyone heard was a blunt and loud command from Itsuki. It was followed up by a hint of chuckle and empty words.
[I’ll kill them all.]