On the roof of a ruined apartment, a young man leaned by the side of a hover-fighter, the word splinter etched on the side of its red hull. His short black hair fluttered from the wind, wearing a red jacket and dark gray cargo pants.

Taking in the scenery around him, an overgrown city, he didn’t know much about geography when he was a kid. But he was sure this was a city somewhere in India of the old world, or at least somewhere nearby.

The previous city landscape is now filled with vines and greenery in and around it, interlinking with concrete and steel, combined with the many strange animals that now inhabit them. Making for a very alien scene of green and grayish brown.

 Checking his watch as he waited for a few minutes, looking down at the burning sky bridge connected to two buildings not far away from where he was. A ringing sound called out from the watch on his wrist.

“Aye?”

“What the FUCK did you do?!” a loud voice ranged out.

“You said help you get rid of the roaches, so I took care of them. Is there an issue?”

“That was our only way out asshole,” The sound of gunfire reverberated out as he looked at the building below through a binocular. On the side of the building laid a fire escape, which seems operational enough.

“Fire exits on the right side of where you are, use that instead. Besides, do you want to go back to that roach nest again?”

“I… fine, just keep a look out for anything outside. We’ll see what we can do.”

“Copy that.”Answered David, his eyes sharp as he turned to look around the building echoing with gunfire and flashes of arcana. activating the splinter’s Grav-Engine, lifting and circling the perimeter. Scanning the ruined structures of the overgrown city around for any potential danger.

A ping on his display lit alight, signaling a large creature nearby. With a frown, David flew towards the thing, utilizing the onboard scanner to determine what class it belonged to.

And an image was revealed to him on one of the panels, a truck-sized, flat-bodied amphibian was moving its way, climbing between the ground and walls. On its arrow-shaped head laid dozens and dozens of eyes. each of them varied in size and shape, almost like they were grafted onto.

On its back were hundreds and hundreds of holes, each filled with strange nodules, some shivering within the holes while others exploded to reveal dragonfly-like bugs, each of them the size of a whole thumb, or about 10 centimeters long, according to the scanners.

“Flat-bodied, many-eyed for tracking, its back filled with egg sacs. Amphibian?” With a grimace, he turned the fighter’s 2 dual laser blasters toward the creature and fired without hesitation.

Two streaks of charged concentrated light struck the creature violently, charring the skin. Letting out a loud screech, Its back rippled as the egg sacs began to gyrate and rupture, unleashing the horde of bugs into the sky, their wings buzzing aloud. 

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Disgusting things…

Lifting his hover-fighter high as he continued raining down punishment, the beams burning their way through the endless swarm. Unfortunately, this [R&D P.3] dual laser system, developed by the E-wild corporation, has a terrible cooling system. Prototype weapons tend to be quite flawed after all.

A flashing Red lit brightly on one of the panels, indicating an inevitable overheat. And it did, giving the swarm more than enough time to catch up. David quickly titled the fighter backward, trying to gain as much distance as he could, barely managing to dodge some of the swarm.

With the laser blasters overheated, he could only buy time for the next volley. There was not much one could do when dealing with sheer numbers, maneuvering himself at the edge of the swarm’s attack range. After a few twists and turns, nearly got himself caught by a few stragglers. the green light shone once again, the laser blasters now cooled and ready for firing. 

With a wide smile and a vicious look, he lets out the burning torrent of blinding lights once again, this time more careful and deliberate. Scorching away the swarm, only to realize a fatal error, their numbers don’t seem to be dropping. Instead, their numbers were starting to increase steadily.

Immediately, David began checking on the scanner, and a realization struck him dumb. There were two of the damned things below, which means reproduction and stabilization of new species, a problem for the city to solve later… if he and his fighter could survive and deliver the information that is.

The splinter kept weaving and dodging, the laser blasters blasting away the swarm by the dozens each time. And yet there was no sign of stopping, and the fighter’s core can only do so much.

“Shit…” How should he deal with this situation, wracking his mind. A blip on his watch lit up, catching his attention.

“Ok, our guys are out of the building, how is the situation around the perimeters?”

“BAD, new Mana beast species, possibly class 4. Amphibian, flat-bodied, egg-sacs on its back filled with swarm-type bugs. Many eyes possibly for tracking prey items, and from its moving pattern. Getting closer to your position.”

“Fuck, Ok how long can you last?”

“Not for long, I’ll have to leave in 5 minutes. How fast is the evac?”

“Not fast enough. Hold on for 10 minutes, then get out of dodge. We’ll be long gone by then.”

“8 minutes, and extra pay, got that?”

“…understood.”

The conversation was halted when a loud crash struck the behind of splinter, turning his head to see 2 bugs somehow managed to grab a hold of the back of the fighter, their mandibles tearing into the hull.

“FUCK,” With a grunt David spun the ship in a 180 degrees turn at full speed, flinging the 2 bugs away into the distance, and the swarm was still coming. 

“You mother fuckers are gonna pay for that later.” Spat David venomously, continuing to duck, dodge, and weave between the swarm, occasionally firing the laser blasters when he needs to. Trying to hold out for that 8 minutes mark, and not before long, the signal was given out. Indicating the success of the evacuation, he quickly fled. 

Leaving the swarm and the 2 large size creatures behind, the shrieking of indignation fills the ruin of the old city.