Northern front of the Deadlands: 936, January 1st, Monday, 9:30 AM
A Cerberus platoon engaged a large horde of specters, trying to take control of a massive tower that rose into the crimson sky of the Deadlands. These towers came to be known as Belfries, attracting large numbers of specters due to their ability to strengthen their power. The black tower overflew with crimson energy, running from top to bottom with an emanating dark aura around it.
“There are too many of them!” A soldier yelped.
“We can’t destroy this thing, just run!” Seeing themselves outnumbered, various officers started to break formation and fall back. Fleeing from the beasts camouflaging themselves inside the red fog and dark environment of the Deadlands, the soldiers found themselves overwhelmed by the fierce assault of the specters.
A fleeing officer was flung to the ground by a specter as he yelled for assistance. He crawled away while reaching out to his deserting comrades, but the specter pinned him down with its claws as none came to his aid. A gaunt creature with a dark exoskeleton and glowing crimson energy running from its chest’s fissure through its entire body. A basic specter listed as an alpha threat within Cerberus’ rankings, the lowest of the hierarchy.
“Someone, help! Anyone!” The soldier cried helplessly as his voice broke in fear.
His helmet cracked with a strong blow from the creature and just as the specter prepared to end his life, the monster’s chest erupted into embers in a flash of light. Its motionless body hit the ground, turning into ashes that dispersed into the red fog of the Deadlands.
“What, was…” Looking up, the soldier noticed the woman that saved his life.
She wielded a pair of black pistols with design identical to the looks of a specter; a large fissure running through the body with glowing crimson energy flowing through it. A special type of gear recently developed by Cerberus known as, Spectral Gear. The pistols wield power similar to the specters and were given the name, Juno&Jupiter.
“Second lieutenant, Claire Lionheart. Withdraw from the area immediately, we will handle rest.” She announced, with a group of reinforcements rushing from behind towards the belfry. Greater in number and better trained than the previous batch, the new units worked together to take control of the situation and prioritize the evacuation of the injured while pushing the specter horde away from the belfry.
Seeing its opportunity, a specter leaped at Claire from within the fog, passing by her like a flash of lighting as she stepped away from the attack. Using the environment to hide itself and strike from the shadows, the specter continued its assault against the lieutenant by lunging at her from inside the fog and retreating after every attack.
“I had enough of this game.” Making use of her gear, Claire pointed her guns towards the dense red fog and scanned her surroundings. Her mind clear and breathing stable, she focused on the glow of her pistols as their light grew with intensity.
The specter attempted another attack and leaped from within the fog once again, its claws out and ready to strike. However, with a quick round of bullets, Claire interrupted the enemy’s assault swiftly and knocked it out of the air. With the specter stunned on the ground, she released the crimson bullets from her pistols and dealt the final blow with a clean shot to the creature’s chest; destroying its core and ending its life by dissipating it into embers.
“This is Yeon. Respond, lieutenant.” Ki-Joon’s voice spoke through the comms.
“Claire here, ready for orders.” she promptly answered.
“I received new instructions from our dear CEO, he has ordered you to infiltrate the belfry and take it down from the inside.” Yeon calmly informed her. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how insane this is, even with your new gear.” She offered her warning, aware of the danger the belfries impose in the region. “If you don’t feel like following that buffoon, just say so and I will arrange something else.” she suggested casually to the rookie.
“Ah…” Yeon’s bluntness took Claire by surprise, unfamiliar with the casual air Yeon brought to the conversation. “It will be done, ma’am.” She cleared her mind and gave her answer.
“Very well, prioritize survival.”
“Understood, Claire out!”
Implementing the second part of her spectral gear, Claire called upon the Spectral Bike, a motorcycle following the design of the dual pistols that can materialize anywhere near its owner by borrowing energy from the pistols.
She navigated her way inside the belfry and rode the stairs towards the top, arriving at a dark large room halfway through with the belfry’s crimson veins running on various sections of the floor and walls. Inside the room, A large specter leaped at her from the shadows and managed to land a hit on her bike. The impact shifted the motorcycle violently, knocking Claire off as she rolled through the floor.
Quickly getting back on her feet, she unholstered Juno&Jupiter and took a moment to inspect the creature that ambushed her. The specter possessed a strong humanoid build with a reptilian like face, arms with blades that bend outwards and crimson energy brightly flowing through its entire body.
“This specter is a gamma threat in our rankings,” Yeon's calm voice warned her through the radio. “Proceed with caution.”
The monster leaped at Claire from afar, cutting the distance between them in an instant. With a quick reaction, she rolled out of the way and took a few shots at the creature while putting distance between them. Blocking her projectiles with its blades however, the specter continued its assault with another mindless charge. Changing tactics, Claire shot at the monster’s chest with Juno and discharged Jupiter’s bullets against its legs. The specter tried to protect its upper body by disregarding its lower half, resulting in the crimson bullets dealing serious damage to its legs.
Her opponent down, Claire unleashed a barrage of bullets against the unprotected core of the creature to put an end to fight. The specter however, deflected the projectiles with its blades and lunged at Claire with ravenous intent. Unable to match the speed of the creature and distance herself from it, the lieutenant was caught unprepared as the specter approached her quickly. As she attempted to call the bike for aid, the monster managed to strike a strong kick to her chest that flung her away into a wall.
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“Oof,” Claire groaned in pain as she slowly picked herself up, “bastard...”
Leaping at her from above, the specter swung its blades downwards with great force. Although Claire was able to avoid harm by blocking the attack with her pistols, her body collapsed to the floor by the inhuman pressure of the creature’s attack.
“Augh!”
In order to protect herself, Claire activated the spectral bike once more; arranging its curse to crash against the creature’s body, a collision that made the specter fly across the room. Taking the opportunity, she gathered a great amount of energy into her pistols, generating an even brighter light with blue sparks of lighting surrounding them.
The specter resumed its assault quickly after recovering from the impact, charging towards its target with a thunderous scream. Releasing all the energy accumulated by the pistols, Claire released a large crimson ray from her guns that shook the ground below. The specter attempted to protect itself from the ray of energy with its arms, but was unable to stop the blast that shattered its exoskeleton and dissipated it into ashes.
The amount of energy discharged by the gear broke the mostly impenetrable walls of the belfry, leaving a large burning crater in the spot of the impact.
“Well fought, lieutenant. But this is no time to celebrate, resume your course towards the target if you can.” Yeon urged her from the comms.
Continuing her way towards the top of the tower, Claire was confronted once more by the specters. Heavy in number, the horde was led by a larger humanoid specter of muscular constitution. A massive core resting in the creature’s chest, powering up the crimson veins running through its body.
“That’s…” Claire forcibly stopped her bike at the presence of the intimidating creature.
“A delta tier specter, dispatch it and bring the whole belfry down with it.” Yeon told her, maintaining her composure through the comms. “I’ll be able to explain to the boss if you choose not to proceed, I am giving you the option.” She offered to the young rookie, ushering her to consider her next decision.
“…I’ll figure something out.” Claire announced, strengthening her resolve as well as her grip on the bike’s handles.
Powering up her gear, she attempted to cut through the horde by using her spectral bike—knocking down a few specters in the process. Enraged by her aggression, the rest began an all-in charge towards her. Being chased away by the horde, Claire tried to put as much distance between them as possible. The large specter however, possessed extraordinary speed that rivaled even her motorcycle and was able to cut the distance between them with ease.
The specter smacked Claire away with a strong swing of its arm, sending her off the bike and into the floor. As she bounced on the ground with her arms protecting her head, the creature leaped and restrained her by the neck with its hand.
Acting quickly, Claire pressed the muzzle of her pistol in the specter’s face and released a quick shot—allowing her to break free from its grasp and move away into a safer position. Using the spectral bike to divert the attention of the horde, she prepared to engage her target by itself.
The specter tried a strong uppercut, continued by a high kick aimed at the head. Moving to the side and later rolling out of harm’s way, Claire discharged a few shots into the creature’s chest while putting distance between them. The bullets flew straight into the specter’s source of energy, but were absorbed by the core as they connected with the body.
“What!” she reacted in shock.
“It won’t be that easy, lieutenant. Keep your wits about you.” Yeon raised her voice slightly, warning Claire about her opponent a second time.
Responding with another strike of its own, the specter performed a powerful frontal kick aimed at Claire’s upper body—while she succeeded in blocking it with her pistols, the force of the impact was enough to launch her across the room and sliding over the floor. Claire picked herself up in a rush, but the sudden movements on her weakening body caused her to lose her balance. Following up on its assault, the specter leaped from above and brought its fists down with ferocious strength—unable to react fast enough, Claire relied on the spectral bike to knock the monster out of the air.
The bike connected a powerful blow that flung the specter against the wall with immense magnitude, leaving a small fracture on it as the creature tries to pick itself back up. With no time to lose, Claire mounted the motorcycle and rode head on towards the specter. However, with nothing else holding their attention, the horde promptly resumed their pursuit towards her.
“This will work.” Claire muttered under her breath.
Aiming directly at the stunned specter as it tried to pick itself back up, Claire laid flat on her bike while unloading a barrage of bullets against the creature’s chest, staggering it further. Reaching her target, she used the bike’s front wheel to trample the core inside and restrain the specter under her motorcycle.
Running short on time as the horde approached her, she amassed all of the gear’s power into overcharging the spectral bike. The wheel crushed the specter’s chest as it hopelessly tried to push the motorcycle away, hurting its own arms in the process. The crushing force of the bike began to shred at the core as its structure cracked under the pressure, only kept together by the belfry's continued supply of energy.
“Hngh… Die!” Claire roared desperately as the horde closed in on her.
The frenzied group of specters rushed towards her with their claws and fangs ready to shred her to pieces in a second. As they neared her position however, the large specter’s core erupted into tiny pieces—rendering the creature motionless as well as the horde it commanded. The red glow of the specters faded slowly as their lifeless bodies fell flat on the ground, dissipating into embers. Before the lieutenant was able to catch her breath however, a strong earthquake shook the ground and the tower began to collapse on itself.
“You gotta be…!” Claire lamented with breathed words.
“Your gear is almost out of power, lieutenant!” Yeon warned in a hurry, “if you are getting out, you better do it now!”
At Yeon’s words, Claire inspected her gear immediately and noticed their faint crimson light slowly fading. Wasting no time, she put her pistols away in her shoulder holsters and rode the bike through the crumbling tower. Avoiding the falling rubble and deteriorating floor, she was able ride to safety and escape the collapsing tower thanks to the spectral bike.
As she slowly hit the breaks in her motorcycle, the gear lost its power at the last second—making the bike disappear instantly and dumping her to the ground.
“Agh! Damn…” Claire whimpered, her face covered in dirt and her uniform battered.
Lying on the ground, she witnessed the remaining specters retreat deep into the Deadlands, disappearing within the fog as the belfry’s remains collapsed and dissipated into embers.
“I… feel sick….”
Yeon’s breath of relief leaked through the earpiece, “your adrenaline has run off, that means you are alive.” She rejoiced at the outcome of the operation, “admirable work, lieutenant. You have certainly exceeded my expectations.”
Passing out from exhaustion combined with her injuries, Claire was picked up by the medics and safely extracted from the area. With the belfry gone and the specters routed, Cerberus earned a remarkable victory that could change its fate in the future.
Northern front of the Deadlands: 936, January 1st, Monday, 7:00 PM
A silver-haired figure wandered around the Deadlands on his own, wearing a black suit with a red shirt underneath and a red tie—he had a pale complexion with a skinny and fragile body that remained well hidden by the suit. His left hand on his pocket, the figure observed the aftermath of the battle that took place in the morning. A blank expression on his face, with the dark environment of the Deadlands concealing the look in his eyes.
As he turned his back away from the remains of the belfry, a massive horde of specters leaped out of the fog and charged forward with ferocious screams. The ground shook slightly due to the stomping force of the swarm, mixed with large and smaller specters. As they approach him, the horde split itself in two—leaving the silver-haired man’s path free in front of him as they continued on their immutable path.
“Not bad.” Words of satisfaction left the man’s lips, his smug grin filled with amusement.
END OF CHAPTER