Visitors So Far
Fiction
By the Post Earth PBEM Group
Chapters
Prelude
Excuse me, Mr. Jansen?....Yeah, it's the messenger you sent....
Excuse me sir? No, I didn't hear about that...
What do I have to report that's so urgent? Well, you see..
You know that empty space over Mt. Hydra?...
Yes, well it's not so empty.....
What do I mean? Well, there's an army marching over the mountains.
Now sir, come down. It's not out fault! Those mountains are a natural
barrier to the rest of the continent! Only a few of our spies have ever
made
it into the depths of them alive!....
Yes, I realize that this army has....
Get the fighters ready? And get Arcturus and Darias? Alright.
....
Darias and Arcturus Nightwind marched through the tunnels of the dank
cave quickly, lowering their heads so they'd didn't hit them on the low
ceiling. They stopped and entered through a doorway into Derek Jansen's
room.
The tough soldier was sitting at a makeshift table, thinking.
"Ok, fill us in," Darias said quickly.
"Basically the enemy is on the way. The Vestran soldiers are on the
way."
"The Vestrans? How?" Arcturus asked.
"I don't know. It doesn't matter now, they're already marching towards
Goa."
It was a situation of the utmost importance, Arcturus thought to
himself.
If the Vestran army were to occupy the gigantic Goan Fortress, then
already
they would might not be able to hold them back. The Vestrans were a
merciless
race, human, but with a more twisted side. They knew no pain, no
suffering,
only death. And they wished to make others know the same thing. How
they'd
become as they had Arcturus didn't know, or wish to know. What he did
know
was that the spies sent to watch the Vestran civilization had been
wrong.
They'd carefully monitored the Vestrans since they'd known about them,
as
they did all other isolated groups. The rag tag team of warriors started
so
many years ago against Shard had grown into a full resistance force.
Only,
since Shard was pretty much dead there wasn't much to resist. Instead
they
spent their time trying to make sure that nothing like the Shard crisis
were
ever to happen again. He thought with a frown that they'd failed
miserably.
"What's happening? I mean now? What teams have been sent out to hold
them
back?" Darias asked.
"None. But there's a small group in the Lucent Area..We could have them
check it out."
"Do it."
.....
The group outside of Lucent City sat around, bored out of their minds.
They hadn't seen action in forever, and what's worse, they should have.
They
were the best in the resistance force. Jonny didn't like the situation,
but
he thought it might change. He surveyed his group. Kitsune sat to his
left.
Kitsune was a thief, extremely fast, extremely agile. On top of that, he
was
an expert martial artist. Across from him, the short Ozorne sat. Jonny
hadn't
been familiar with summoners before he met Ozorne, but Ozorne said he
hadn't
either. There weren't many of them. He'd never actually seen Ozorne do
anything, but he'd heard about it. Flash was in the corner, silent. No
one
knew much about Flash, not even his real name, but they called him that
because of the way he battled. He was a flash, simply put. Then their
was
Jonny. Jonny was a stealth killer, trained in agility and assissination.
He
was a physic, on top of that. He wielded a gunblade, much to the suprise
of
many. That is, his sword had a gun built into it. He stopped thinking
about
his weapon when Calen, their general, burst in through the open doorway.
"Listen up! We're getting some action now, guys. Here's the deal. Not
much time. The Vestrans are heading for Goa. We're to cut them off at
the
Hydra Pass, then send another team, including a few Skyknights, to take
out
their patrol route north of there. We're going to have to move quickly.
In
fact, we're going in 10 minutes.
Calen and the others instantly began gathering up their
gear and hussled
through the small building that acted as their quarters. They hadn't
really
seen action in a long time. Well, at least not all of them. When the
unit had
just been Ozorne, Flash, and Kitsune, they'd had a lot more to do. Jonny
hoped that they'd remember what to do.
He didn't know it, but a few hundred miles away, Darias, Arcturus, and
Derek were hoping the same thing. They had each taken a separate route
towards Goa, as well as a few troops, hoping to get there in time to op
the
Vestran threat. All Calen's men needed to do was delay them.
Where Calen and his unit were stationed was precariously near to the
forests outside of the Hydra mountain chain. That made it easy for them
to
catch the Vestran party on their way towards the old Goa fortress. As
they
steadily moved forward towards the interception point, it became
increasingly
confusing as to how this situation had started. Where it started. When
it
started. But more importantly, why it started. There had to be more to
the
situation than that a large and definitely
dangerous group of people from over the mountains had tried to invade
territory that the Resistance leaders had apparently felt should not be
invaded. It didn't matter much to Calen, he'd do his job, and well. It
wasn't
his job to question orders. Leave that to the cowards.
They had nearly reached the point of engagement with the Vestran
army. Calen also knew that they could hardly call them an army, from
what
he'd heard. If they were small enough to send Calen's one unit after,
they
couldn't be much of a threat. But still, he thought to himself with a
hint of
grim pride, his unit was the best. It had been the best since it was
started.
When it was just him, Flash, and Ozorne it had been the best. Later
Kitsune
had joined. And finally Jonny. And they would now get to test their
talent
together.
The Vestrans moved at a steady pace down the foothills of the
mountains. Had they known what lay beyond them, they might've been a
little
more careful. But they didn't, so they talked amongst themselves and
kicked
rocks down the hill, and generally just strolled through the woods. They
were
a procession of about 100, not in the least a large force, but enough to
secure the old fortress from the old stories, they thought. At the head
of
their procession was a taller man. He looked darker, and infinately more
dangerous than any of the others. He surveyed his men and was pleased.
Ahead, a light shined through the trees. Apparently they were nearly
out of the forest. Good. He kept walking, and then brushed away some
tree
limbs that were blocking his view as he stepped out of the woods. And
then he
laughed, long and hard. The other troops stopped what they were doing
and ran
to catch up with him, to see what was so funny.
The forest opened up into a green field that extended for as far as
the eye could see. About 60 yards away, 5 men stood, silent, staring at
the
Vestrans. One, standing to the far left, eyed them cautiously and
mysteriously, then from a sheath at his belt he drew a long katana-like
sword. To the far right, another one was already holding his weapon,
another
sword, much larger, and for some reason strange looking. Another one
held
only a light wooden staff, and wore a long cape. Another man held no
weapon,
but his hands popped as he cleched his fists. In the middle, the
fiercest of
them all stood. He appeared Elven, something that generally was no
longer
seen. Perhaps long ago he would've been a common thing, but not anymore.
He
too drew a sword, curved and deadly. The Vestran laughed hard again. 5
to
100? He was benignly confident.
Across the field, Calen whispered to the others to stay calm. The time
to fight would come soon. Across from them the big Vestran laughed
again.
Flash smiled evilly next to him; the Vestran didn't know just how well
matched he was. The Vestran took a step forward, away from his crowd of
soldiers, and called across the field. It was in English. "Are you here
to
join us?" Then he laughed some more. He turned to his soldiers and
pointed
towards them. He said something too quiet for Calen to hear, then his
soldiers started laughing again.
The Vestran soldiers watched their commander, and listened intently as
he
taunted the opposition. It was laughable to all of them that a mere 5
men
would come to stop them. All eyes were focused on their commander, and
they
waited for the signal to slaughter the puny enemies. Suddenly the
commander's
ears pricked up as if he heard something. He turned around quickly, just
in
time too see his own demise. A blue ball of light spiraled towards him,
and
slammed into him, knocking his feet out from under him and throwing him
to
the floor. He didn't get back up.
The soldiers looked on, astonished, them realized the exact threat the 5
men caused, they suddenly, and for once without command, charged at the
5
men.
Kitsune looked at Calen sarcastically. "You just had to drop the big
guy, didn't you?"
Calen winked then ran into the fray of enemies, followed by the others.
In a cloud of dust the oncoming wave of enemies looked to overwhelm
the 5 warriors. Calen ducked low as the wave hit, and swung his sword in
an
arc. He closelined one soldier with his sword, and in the same move
blocked
the next Vestran's sword stroke. He spun around and slashed into the
soldier.
Beside him, Jonny was having a similar time. The cloud of enemies
swarmed around both of them. The Vestran soldiers never stopped, but
they
dropped like flies as Calen and Jonny fought them off.
Jonny looked to his left, where Flash was taking on another large
group of Vestrans. Although he was easily taking them down, one after
the
other, he was being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The Vestrans soldiers
piled
on, and soon Jonny couldn't even see Flash. Jonny looked hard again.
Suddenly, a large flash erupted, and an explosion shot from the center
of the
Vestrans surrounding Flash. Vestrans flew in all directions, and from
within
the swarm he could see Flash spin around, so fast he was just a blur of
color. Vestrans fell all around him, and after a few seconds, there were
about 15 bodies.
Kitsune and Ozorne were fighting them close range as well, which was
hard considering neither were effeciently equipped. Ozorne stayed behind
Kitsune, while Kitsune dodged attack after attack from Vestran
footsoldiers.
One missed, and Kitsune began to stumble around, as if drunk. The
Vestrans
had thinned out a little, and only one was near him; the rest were after
Ozorne. The soldier looked at Kitsune for a split second, then swung his
sword at his head as Kitsune wobbled, his back to the soldier.
For a split second, the guard thought he had the upper hand, but just
as the sword was about to hit the back of Kitsune's neck, Kitsune ducked
an
inch. The sword passed over him, and immediately Kitsune spun around,
hitting
the guard in the face with the back of his fist. Kitsune punched him
again
across the face, then jumped up and uppercutted him under the chin. The
guard
stumbled back wildly, as Kitsune spun around and kicked him across the
head
again. The guard flipped over sideways, and dust flew from the ground as
he
hit. Kitsune then ran back towards the others.
Ozorne was being completely overwhelmed by the enemy soldiers, and
had been edged up behind Jonny and Calen, who were both still tearing up
the
soldiers. They weren't having a hard time taking them out, but they were
being taken through sheer numbers. All Ozorne had to fight with was a
staff,
and he couldn't even use it effectively. He fought to block off the
attacks
of the soldiers. A sword swing nearly sent his head off, but he blocked
it
with his staff. The staff was knocked out of his hand and landed a few
feet
away. Ozorne dove on the staff, just as a second sword swing came down
towards his back. It stopped mid-swing a foot from him when Jonny's
sword
blocked it. Jonny dispatched the enemy, just in time to see Ozorne up
again.
His staff had an eerie glow about it, but no one had time to think about
it.
A bolt of lightning ripped the sky in half, and from above the clouds,
the
form of a dragon flew towards the battle field. The gigantic blue dragon
hovered over the battle field, then swooped down upon the enemies. He
reared
his giant head back and gave a roar that shook the battlefield, then
opened
his mouth on the Vestrans, spraying ice over the field and blowing
soldiers
around. As soon as the dragon had finished, there was a flash and he was
gone.
Ozorne was satisfied with himself for a split second before he
realized they'd only taken out about 2/3 of the enemies. They were
getting
exhausted, and the battle would take a turn for the worst soon.
Or so he thought. For at that moment, there came the call of hawks.
From the east, a unit of Skynights flew, their riders mounted upon giant
hawks, all carrying lances. At their head was an enormous eagle, also
ridden
by a Skynight.
The Skynights, only about 10 in number, flew down to the battlefield,
and circled over for a moment before landing next to the warriors. The
warriors each mounted a hawk, and they sped from the battlefield.
They were in low spirits as they returned from the battle, heading
towards the Resistance HQ rather than their old post. But as they neared
their destination they noticed a second force leaving, a full scale
battle
force of about 500 men. The couldn't see if anyone they knew was
present,
because they were too far away, but they guessed that they were going to
finish off what had already been started..
Vestran Numbers
At the same time, over Mt. Hydra, a man walked silently through the
only fortress of the nation, if one could call it that. No one was to be
seen, and that was how he liked it. He walked through the dark halls
alone,
his footsteps echoing against the walls and and his black cloak nearly
dragging on the floor.
He pushed open the lavish doors that served as an entrance to the
throne room, and looked at the Vestran leader, who sat in his throne.
"Your
men lost the battle against the ones of Crystalis. Did you know that?"
The
Vestran leader was silent. "I didn't think you would," the dark man
hissed.
"It was not their fate to die this day. If you are found to be the cause
of
the problem, I will eliminate you myself." The dark figure turned and
left.
A Journey Begins
After the escort to the Resistance headquarters, there
was a short meeting between the participants in the battle.
Arcturus Nightwind sat at the head of a long table in a
meeting room, while Calen's men and a few Skynights sat along
the sides. Calen gave a short account of the battle, while
the others filled in necessary parts. Ozorne was especially
proud of his dragon, and when he mentioned it, Arcturus
looked considerably impressed. "I knew a summoner once, a
long time ago."
The account continued, until they reached the point
where they retreated. At this point a man stood up, and
Arcturus motioned towards him. "Yes, Grywen, go ahead."
"At the pass North of their battle, we had troubles of
our own. There were only a few Vestrans there, but we weren't
as well equipped as Calen and his men. We held them up for a
while. But when we saw the dragon..Ozorne's, I mean, we
feared the worst. We flew as fast as we could, and picked
them up before they got overwhelmed. Plus I had just gotten a
message, that said to withdraw. It was from Derek. It said
both him and Darias had assembled men and were heading for
the Vestrans."
"That's right," Arcturus said.
"Well, so that brings us to here."
"Alright then. I'd like to give you guys a break, but
we're gonna need every man we can get. You guys can ship out
for Goa right now. I imagine that by the time you arrive the
battles will have moved there. Grywen will join you guys as
part of your unit. He's the best of our Skynights, and an
invaluable lancer as well." Calen nodded. "I'll be going with
you too."
"Ok then," Calen said, "when do we move out? The
battle's gonna be over before we get there."
"We'll go tommorrow."
The next morning, they moved out into the wilderness.
The Skynights could not come since they were stationed
elsewhere, and so they were on foot. Walking, the trip would
take a very long time, but Arcturus remained confident that
Darias and Derek could fend off the Vestrans until they
arrived.
The group was confident, but the route to Goa was still
undecided.
Arcturus produced a map and traced his finger along a few
paths. "We can go the northern route, through Swan village
and the old Draygonian outpost, or we can go south towards or
old haunt. Lucent City."
Lucent City
After a short debate, the route to Goa was decided upon. Northwest they
would first go, through Lucent City, then north some more. They would
reach their destination in 2 weeks or so, if they moved fast enough.
Lucent City wasn't far from the Resistance base of operations; Arcturus,
Derek, and Darias had thought it better that way so they could easier
recruit from the city.
The trip started out uneventful, they walked day and night through
rolling hills and slept under the stars. Had the trip been a little more
exciting, they might not have noticed how steadily they were approaching
the giant city..
Lucent City was bigger even that Goa at it's height. Even from far off,
one could see the city lights. The buildings were either as tall as the
mountains, or beat up old shacks. The whole city was the perfect picture
of a slum, yet with more criminals added in for effect.
Their journey continued until the grass eventually merged into pavement
and dirt. They looked around. The tall buildings loomed over them, and
the road faded into darkness up ahead. Grywen moved his hand back
towards the lance strapped onto his back, uneasily. Kitsune cracked his
knuckles. "We're gonna have a good time here," Calen said to the others,
"Trust me." Arcturus smiled grimly and nodded.
The party had a simple task, keep moving north. The roads, however, were
very much alike and going north was like moving about a maze. If they
were going the right direction, they didn't know it. They continued
through the streets, struggling to find their way. "I was a law
enforcement agent for Shard here, you know," he told the others. Jonny
was the only one who looked suprised; everyone else had already heard
the story, but since Jonny was the newest addition to the group, he
apparently hadn't.
"We'll have to get indoors soon," Arcturus told them, "It gets dangerous
at night. There's a few places we can stay."
"I thought it was night already," Grywen said.
"It always looks that way here.."
They moved quickly now, trying to find a place to stay. Indeed it was
getting darker. Soon they were searching alleys and back streets. They
continued to search around the dark city, until they heard a steady
sound coming at them from behind.
The sound was footsteps. Not the footsteps of one person. Or 2. But
about 10. They were near them, they probably hadn't seen them yet
though. Ozorne suggested they stay and fight, but Arcturus pointed out
dryly that these weren't the untrained, stupid, weak Vestrans they'd
taken on before. These were hardened fighters, or else they wouldn't be
roaming the streets at night. Suddenly, there was a shout, and the
footsteps grew quicker. "Move it!" Calen yelled, waving towards the rest
of the party to run.
Jonny immediately turned tail and ran, and the others followed,
except Arcturus and Calen, who drew their weapons to cover them. Kitsune
ran
ahead of Jonny, and behind him Ozorne ran to keep up. Grywen ran beside
them,
as did Flash.
The fighters turned the corner to see a few people running away, and
Arcturus and Calen left to fight them. They smiled then ran forward,
swinging
their fists and any other blunt weapons they had. Calen and Arcturus
dashed
back madly, blocking continuous blow after blow. The others were out of
sight. One of the fighters knocked Calen backwards onto the ground. He
rolled
back onto his feet, then looked towards Arcturus. They both ran in the
direction the others had.
Soon they could see the rest of the party again. The group of fighters
behind them were dropping behind, and they slowed down just a notch.
They
continued to run through the alleys of the city, attempting to lose them
in
the maze-like streets.
They turned into one alley, the Resistance soldiers ahead just slightly
but the local killers trailing behind. They suddenly realized they'd hit
a
dead end. They stopped suddenly, backed up against the wall. The large
group
of men stopped, and a few began to laugh hoarsely as they closed in on
their
prey.
Kitsune, unaware of it in the darkness that was only penetrated by some
street lights, was standing with his back up against a heavy metal door.
As
the eyes of the enemies stared at them in the dark, he groaned and let
his
head fall back against the door. A low "thud" resided in the back of his
ears. He excitedly tapped Ozorne on the shoulder as he turned around and
opened the door up. All was dark inside, but he could see a long
staircase
leading down into the darkness. He started down the stairs quickly, and
the
fighters after them noticed, running towards the group and yelling to
each
other. Flash and Ozorne nearly lept down the stairs, and Calen and Jonny
followed. Arcturus and Grywen were still outside, when the enemies
reached
them. Arcturus was converged upon immediately, and waved for Grywen to
move
on. Grywen entered last, and pulled the door shut behind him. He quickly
pulled his Lance from his back and barred the door with it. The others
started down the stairs as the fighters outside pounded on the door.
"Wait,"
Grywen said. "We can't leave my lance here." Flash immediately drew his
sword
and made a lightning fast downward slash across the door, completely
slashing
the locking mechanism and basically jamming the door permanately, unless
a
similar method were used to bust the door down. Grywen nodded, took his
lance, and was quiet. They listened at the door for any sign on
Arcturus, but
there was too much noise outside. From the muffled yells, they heard
Arcturus
yell: "Move! Go! Get out of here, I'm fine, I'll meet you wherever you
come
out!" Without hesitation, they turned and flew down into the darkness.
The stairs seemed endless. Water dripped from the ceiling, but the only
reason they could tell was the sound; it was too dark to see even in
front of
themselves. Up ahead, however, there was a dim light. They continued on
towards it, and soon were standing in a dimly lit stone room. Two doors
were
there, and two men as well. Each stood in front of a door. One spoke.
"Who're
you? You're not one of us..Doesn't matter, anyways. Now you're here. Do
you
know what this place is?" Everyone was silent. "Ooh..I see. You've
stumbled
upon an interesting place, my friends. I can only do what I can do
then...One
of these doors leads to Heaven, the other to Hell. You are now in the
Realm
of Knights and Knaves, you see. Knights always tell the truth, and
Knaves
always lie. One of us is guarding the doorway to Heaven, and one is
Guarding
the doorway to Hell..we can't tell you which. BUT, you may ask one of us
one
question, and we'll answer..."
"What kind of mind game is that?!" Calen asked, argrily.
They all thought over what question they would ask....
Above, things had cooled of for Arcturus. He hid in the shadows in an
alley, watching the last of the thugs leave. He'd managed to escape
quite easily, it was simply a matter of running fast enough and then
hiding. When he returned to the door the others had gone in, it was
halfway down the stairs, torn from the wall and dented.
He walked down the steps catiously. When he reached the bottom, he
became instantly worried: There were two bodies, both nearly cleaved in
half by what was unmistakingly a very large sword. One of the doors was
busted open. Arcturus stepped over the body and ran after the others:
Something was following them, and that something was extremely
dangerous.
Arcturus ran along through the dark corridor, trying to catch up to the
others...
The others were being led into another dark stone room. This room had
no
one in it, but in the center of the room was a messy table. The cloaked
assassin that had led them in turned and faced them. "Ok, is this your
guys
first mission?" No one answered. "I thought not. Ah, wait, I see..you're
the
out-of-towners. I heard you guys were coming..from..Swan is it? You're
supposed to be the best. Good thing, because there can be no mistake on
this
mission. We've got to establish a name here...Anyways, here's our job. I
assume you know of the battles going on between the so-called Vestran
Army
and the forces of the former "Crystalis"
guys?"
"We're aware of them.." Calen said.
"Well then, do you know of it's leaders?"
"No," Ozorne lied. "But what does that have to do with anything?"
"Everything, you fool. They're the targets! Arcturus Nightwind, Derek
Jansen, and Darias Creole..we're to take them down. The Vestrans are NOT
supposed to lose this war. We have a very "strict" employer this time.
The
guy is very strange..doesn't think we're going to get the job done. I
heard
him mention that he'd find a way of his own to stop the resistance
supporters. I heard there was a group here, in fact."
"What's this guy's name?" Kitsune asked.
"He calls himself "Ragnarok." Nothing else. And I don't think you should
be asking around about him. He might just track you down." No one said
anything. "Anyways, we need to get going. We'll figure out a gameplan
once
we reach Goa."
"We're going to Goa?" Flash said, breaking his long spell of silence.
"That's what I said, isn't it? You'd best pay attention. You're a Black
Wind, aren't you?" Flash nodded wisely, but then whispered to Calen,
standing
next to him, "Isn't this assassin group supposed to be the Dark Edge?"
"Yes..." Calen was cut off by the cloaked assassin, who had stopped his
instructions.
"Excuse me, is there something you'd like to share with the class? We've
got some good guys to kill, remember?" Flash shot him a look and he shut
up,
despite his cocky, evil attitude. "We're moving out towards Goa TODAY. 2
hours..."
The party had been shown to a room where they could rest. The room was
dank and a little wet, but a small fire had been lit in a hearth,
lighting
the room somewhat. They all sat around, making an attempt in
understanding
their situation. "Ok, let's get this straight," Kitsune began, "we're
not
mixed up with Dark Edge..rather, we've fallen in with some group called
the
Black Wind. Geez, assassins are all over the place here..anyways, we're
supposed to take out Derek, Darias, and Arcturus?"
"Yes," Calen replied from his chair by the fireplace.
"Obviously we can't do that," Ozorne said, leaning back against the
wall.
"So we need a game plan," Jonny said. Flash was silent, deep in thought.
To Goa
For the time being, no one contested the idea of taking out Arcturus,
Derek, and Darias. The assassin that had spoken to them and told them
the
plan was waiting for them back in the main room of the assassin's den.
Calen
led the way to meet him, just as Arcturus entered through the front
entrance,
the same one they'd originally come in from.
Arcturus was so glad to meet up with the others, he paid no attention to
his surroundings, or the fact that numerous hooded faces were staring at
him.
The head assassin, the one who'd been explaining things to the rest of
the
group for so long, spoke. "Who's this guy?"
"He's with us," Grywen spoke quickly, "we were caught outside in a
fight, he got left slightly behind."
"Hm.ok then. Fill him in on the plan as we move." The others nodded. The
assassin waved his hand at turned away, leading them through a dark
corridor.
They walked a long way, torch light keeping the corridor dimly lit and
water
dripping from the damp ceiling. After a few hundred yards of moving
steadily
uphill, they came into the open. They were in yet another alley, and the
assassin guided them through the dark streets with the skill of a
navigator
sailing the open seas. Eventually, they came to the city gates.
They travelled uneventfully for many long days. They spoke little, but
they filled in Arcturus on the situation. He was benignly confident,
despite
the fact that he was a major target of a very effective assassin group.
They
were traveling North for many days, and in the distance the cries of
battle
could be heard. To their left and behind them was Mt. Hydra. They were
just
East of the place where the big battle that had started their journey
had
taken place. The battles had moved Northeast since then, very close to
the
old Draygonian fortress of Goa. They could see Goa through the fog, it's
black spires rising eerily above giant city walls.
The traveling continued. Soon smoke could be seen. They were within a
mile of the battlefield, and they became a bit tense. They could already
tell
the assassin leading them was formulating a plan to kill their three
leaders.
Finally, they saw the battlefield. It was gigantic, and for the time
being,
the Vestrans and the Resistance were on separate sides of the field.
They
ground was stained red with blood, and a light fog rose from the ground.
A
group of about 10 soldiers was marching towards them. When they reached
them,
they called out through the mist, "Who're you? Are you Vestrans? What
brings
you here?"
Surprise Attack
"I asked you, WHO ARE YOU? What are you doing here?" The soldier
repeated
loudly. His band of soldiers behind him shifted their gear uneasily. "By
order of the Vestran Guard, ANSWER ME!"
Suddenly, they'd gotten what they wanted. The soldiers were Vestrans.
"Well, we're a group coming from Lucent City," Grywen said, moving his
hand behind his back. "Oh, and by the way, we're an elite Resistance
force."
The soldier gasped just as he was impaled on Grywen's lightning fast
lance.
There was a quick hum, and Flash's katana was drawn. Grywen turned
quickly
around just to see two completely surprised soldiers get dispatched.
The assassin that had been leading their little expedition to take out
Arcturus, Derek, and Darias looked confused for a second. He didn't
understand why they were taking out Vestrans, but then again, he
couldn't see
a reason why not. Just because they were targeting resistance leaders
didn't
mean they were the friends of the Vestrans. He stayed on the edge of the
fight.
Calen mercilessly pursued a soldier. He slashed and yelled at him,
generally enjoying the hunt as the soldier darted in and out of the
crowd of
soldiers, barely in front of Calen, and screaming. He ran, screaming
until he
was out of breath, then was promptly closelined as Ozorne hit him in the
face
with his staff.
Jonny and Kitsune were chasing back Vestrans just as fast, and Arcturus
was behind them, although he wasn't fighting yet. The Vestran soldier
unit
was starting to spread out a little more, still in shock. The orginal
attack
from Grywen had been a little over a minute ago. Now they were prepared,
however, and ready to take down their antagonists.
The 10 Vestran guards were efficient, quickly backing
off of the heroes and
forming into a tight bunch about 10 feet away from the line of
Resistance
fighters. One stepped forward quickly as if to lead a charge and the
Vestrans
all roared and rushed forward a step, but their would-be charge was
quelled
as a glittering diamond lance impaled the man in front. He dropped
backwards
onto the ground, not dead, but critically wounded. The lance shimmered
then
disappeared. Arcturus smiled at his successful spell, then drew his
weapon.
The Vestrans hesitated, then continued their little charge. Grywen, who
had
retrieved his lance from the stomach of the Vestran guard, charged at
the
same time, while all the others stayed back, wondering what the heck was
wrong with him. He was a few feet from the guard lying on the ground
that had
been wounded by Arcturus and the Vestrans were just on the other side of
him.
Grywen stuck his lance into the wounded guard, and pole-vaulted off of
him
into the air. An eagle (the one he had previously ridden on, when his
unit of
Skynights had first rescued the others from the Vestrans in that big
battle)
flew under him from seemingly out of nowhere. Grywen neatly landed on
the
Eagle, and circled around the little skirmish to come back and attack
from
the air.
Calen hacked at the guards, wounding one and deflecting blows from many
more. A sword came down, barley missing Calen, and was planted into the
ground. The Vestran tried to pull the sword from the ground for a split
second, but was then knocked backwards. Kitsune jumped over the man's
sword,
hitting him in the face and unleashing a combo of 4 more hits onto him.
The
guard rolled backwards onto the ground, then jumped up quickly and
tackled
Kitsune, swinging his fists and reaching for his sword, still stuck in
the
ground. He wrestled with Kitsune, landing a few blows, but soon Kitsune
had
rolled out from under him and had regained control of the fight. From
behind,
Kitsune was slashed across the back with another sword, but not badly,
and he
spun around to see another Vestran holding the sword. The Vestran lifted
his
sword to take another swing at Kitsune, but was first backstabbed by
Flash.
The guard fell forward onto his face just as Kitsune turned around and
finished off the guard he'd previously been fighting.
Ozorne ran away from the main battle, and stood on the sidelines for a
moment. 3 soldiers turned and chased him, but Ozorne stood his ground.
Suddenly, an explosion erupted around the 3 soldiers, knocking them
backwards. They hit the ground with a thud and lay there smoking, one of
them
still alive.
The guards somehow achieved a second win, and pressed on the good guys
again, this time taking them on in groups. 3 focused souly on Arcturus,
who
took damage from 2 sword strikes and was wounded fairly bad, but then
managed
to dispatch 2 of them with a shot from his rail gun. The remaining ones
ganged up on Jonny.
Jonny deflected a blow from the first guard who struck at him, then spun
around and slashed, pulling the trigger on the gunblade as the sword was
raised at the Vestran's chest. The bullet flew from the barrel, exited
his
back, and hit the Vestran behind him. They both fell backwards onto the
ground, and Jonny finished them off.
The final Vestran soldier turned and ran. He made it all of 10 feet
before Grywen's eagle swooped down and he was taken out.
Jonny's fighting daze wore off, and he surveyed around them. Calen was
looking towards the direction the last Vestran had run. Flash knelt
along the
sidelines, saying nothing, doing nothing, just staring coldly into the
mist,
something he did alot. Grywen circled low overhead on his eagle. Ozorne
was
helping the slightly wounded Arcturus to the best of his abilities.
Arcturus
was clearly wounded, but wasn't acting like it. He would need some help
soon,
however, as would Kitsune, if he remembered those cuts he'd taken in the
fight. However, Jonny had yet to see Kitsune. Jonny himself was only
slightly
battered.
Then he heard a voice from behind them. "That was a stupid mistake, you
know, actually telling that you were enemies!" Jonny spun around to see
the
Assassin that had escorted them thus far. He held Kitsune in front of
him,
with a knife against his neck. Jonny remembered that he was right.
Grywen he
yelled that they were on the side of Arcturus, Derek, and Darias just as
he
took out that first Vestran. Yes, it was a stupid mistake..
The Mission
Kitsune whispered hoarsely; if he breathed too heavily it could mean
losing his throat. "Would one of you do something already?"
Luckily, Jonny was already at work. Although the assassin didn't know
it, in his subconscious, something nibbled at the back of his mind.
There was
something behind him..he could feel it. The assassin couldn't resist the
now
conscious urge, and turned his head around quickly. As soon as he had
lowered
his guard, Kitsune slipped onto the ground out of his grasp. The
assassin
turned around just in time to see Flash's sword hit him in the face. It
was
the last thing he saw.
Kitsune started breathing again, and stood up. The others were
approaching them now, all relieved that the tense situation was over.
Kitsune
put his hand out to Flash. Flash looked at him for a second, then
sheathed
his sword, turned around, and started walking towards the battlefield.
Kitsune shrugged, muttered something, then followed, as did the others.
The outskirts of the battlefield were packed with tents. The
battlefield itself was just bloody, barren ground, completely void of
people
now, except a messenger that would run across the field every once in a
while, dodge some bullets, then run back a little while later. The camps
of
the two armies on the sides of the battlefield, however, were anything
but
quiet. Preparations were being made for the next round of battle, which
was
eminent. The Vestran camp was just as busy as the Resistance one, or so
it
seemed. Upon entering the camp, the group was greeted. "Arcturus
Nightwind,
sir, glad you're back. And Calen Greystone as well. And I guess these
are
your men. Jansen and Darias want to speak to you all immediately. They
don't
even care about what you've learned right now, so don't try and tell
them."
"No one said anything.." Ozorne said to himself.
"Anyways, this way," the guy who'd greeted them continued. He led them
through the busy camp. Sounds of metal clanging on metal could be heard,
and
finally they reached a large bunker-like building quickly thrown
together,
and probably no more useful then a tent. Inside, Derek Jansen and Darias
Creole talked to a few advisors. Upon the arrival of Arcturus and co.,
however, the immediately left. Darias spoke.
"Arcturus, glad you're safe. We've had a fun time here. As we expected,
the Vestrans are after Goa. We've been holding them off, but it's been
unusually tough. These guys won't seem to die easily at all. Anyways, we
need
you for a special operation.."
"What kind of operation?" asked Grywen, skeptical.
"Hopefully we can take them down from inside their lines," Derek said.
"How we gonna do that?" Arcturus asked.
"Well, here's the plan. The Vestran lines are exactly 200 yards from
here. Behind us is Goa. In our current position, they'll have to go
through
us to take Goa. It's looking now like they might have the capability to
do
that. We've caught multiple assassins on their way into camp already.."
"We know a little about that," Calen said.
"Do you? They keep saying something about a Ragnarok..a
warning; something like that. Anyways, we don't have time to worry about
it.
We have to
take down the Vestrans. So, remember, south west of here is the
Vestrans.
We're going to send in 2 small teams..made up of just us, to infiltrate
the
enemy camp..and mess it up a little. Here's the plan exactly: We've got
2
teams: Darias, Arcturus, Ozorne, Flash, and Jonny in one, myself, Calen,
Kitsune, and Grywen in the other. Unfortunately, since the Vestran camp
has
air guards, Grywen won't be able to fly on his eagle. But anyways, this
is a
demolition mission. The two teams will now be referred to Team one and
Team
two. The first team will be our demolition team, and the second will be
our
distraction team. Directly east of here is the Vestran main lines. Team
2
will approach these lines secretly, and launch a surprise assault on the
flanks of the enemy. The goal here is not to win, but simply to prolong
the
battle until Team 1 can do it's job. When you reach the Vestran lines,
you
wanna make noise..lots of noise. Get in a place so that they'll have to
use
maximum manpower to chase you out." Derek pointed to a chalkboard that
had a
few drawings scribbled on it. It was apparently the Vestran lines.
"Now, Team 1.. You will approach the Vestran lines North of where Team
2 will be. When you get to the lines, you are to covertly infiltrate the
camp, and locate a hidden building deep within their lines. This is
where the
Vestran officers meet. You are to take this building out, preferably
with
some officers inside. Then you will simply escape."
"How do we blow it?" Jonny asked.
"That part's easy," Darias cut in. "You're forgetting, we've got a
master engineer with us," he said, motioning towards Arcturus.
"Arcturus's
miniature rail gun can't take the building out itself, so we'll have to
bring
some explosives with us." He produced a small package. "This package is
made
of a light metal material, mined in the Shyron area of Mt. Hydra. It's
very
durable, and very light. And in this case, very full of explosives." The
bomb
was basically just a shiny metal box with a number pad on the front.
"That's
all there is to it. We leave after midnight tonight, so I suggest you
sleep
now.."
In the middle of the night, Kitsune was stirred awake. He rolled over in
bed to see Derek. “Time to go, wake the others up.”
Kitsune shook the others awake, and within the space of a few minutes
they were assembled outside, broken into their two teams. The night sky
was
dark, but in the distance a faint light could be seen. In a matter of
hours,
before they reached the Vestran lines, the sun would be up. Arcturus
spoke.
“I have just received word that the second wave of attacks will be
launched
at approximately the same time we blow the building. That means the 2nd
battle will start then. It is imperitive that we don’t fail this.”
Silently, Derek started off, with the rest of his team following.
Arcturus also began to walk in a separate direction, and his team
followed.
Both groups had up until this point had a similar time. Nothing had
happened. The Vestran lines were drawing closer, and they crept quietly
through the darkness towards the camp. The fog about the camp was
beginning
to lift, and Derek could see the flank clearly. Vestran soldiers of
course
filled the camp, but their best defence was on the flanks. Derek
shrugged it
off and waved to the others to hurry up. They were only about 25 yards
from
the camp. Only 25 yards, then the fun would start…The others caught up
to
Derek and the crouched in the darkness. Just to the left of them, there
was a
very large pile of boulders that formed a sort of cave to offer them
some
protection. They could launch a long-range assault from there, but they
didn’t really have the resources to do it correctly. What they needed
was a
sniper and more gunners, but they’d have to make due with what they had.
Derek ran, stooped over, to the covered spot, and Grywen, Kitsune, and
Calen
followed. The rocks formed a sort of barricade, a wall. If they ducked,
they
were covered, but they could stand up and shoot over it. However, Derek
was
reminded again that only he was a gunner. He reminded himself that they
weren’t there to win. They were there to start a fight, and draw it out.
If
they Vestrans had to run up here for close range battle, that was all
the
better. They ducked behind the rocks. “Calen, what’s the situation at
the
camp?”
Calen peered over the rocks for a split second, then dropped back down.
“We’ve got a small patrol walking around here. Ten men. We’ve also got
sentries and a few guards. Fifteen of them. That makes 25 Vestrans. They
aren’t the weak things we fought at the beginning, either. I’m starting
to
wonder where they dug those guys up..we haven’t seen any Vestran
soldiers
that weak since…Maybe there’s a connection..”
“That doesn’t matter now. We’ve got 25 guards to take out. 15 of them
are just standing around. 10 more are moving back and forth around the
flank.
It’s time to launch our attack….”
Assault and Betrayal
At the same time, Arcturus, Darias, Jonny, Ozorne, and Flash were
crouched in some bushes on a hill above the Vestran camp. Sneaking in
wouldn’t be tough. They were so far north along the flank that they were
practically behind the camp. Only 5 sentries were looking out. Arcturus
led
them stealthily down the side of the hill. They dropped on their chests
in a
patch of high grass, and waited. The sentries were moving around,
turning
their backs occasionally. For a split second opening, 3 turned around.
Arcturus sprinted for the camp, the others following. The turning of 3
of the
5 sentries had created a blind spot in the lines, and they were taking
advantage of it. In seconds, they’d ducked inside a tent on the
outskirts of
the camp. Darias stuck his head out for a minute, to try and locate the
building they were targeting. They couldn’t move safely until the
diversion
had begun, but they might be able to take advantage of their
surroundings.
The camp was filled with tents of all sizes, and Vestrans roamed around.
They
looked very savage, despite their army garb. Over in another section of
the
camp, a large, fast, Vestran army vehicle, drove slowly through the
camp.
Darias remembered that they were called “Scimitars,” because of their
impressive manoeuvrability. They even had some light weapons systems.
Numerous tiny bunker-like buildings dotted the landscape. If they moved
from
the tent they were in, they were in danger of being spotted, but their
could
be advantages to checking out the rest of the camp...
Darias heard footsteps outside the tent. He looked at the others, and
they didn't do say anything. The decision was clearly up to him. He
decided
to try and jump the man outside, whoever he may be. He drew his sword
silently from his sheath, and crept towards the entrance to the
tent...then
stopped. He heard bullets, in the distance...Derek had launched his
assault..
The guards had not seen the attack coming. Calen had watched Derek
crouch in front of their cover, the pile of rocks, and take aim. One of
the
walking sentries passed just within his scope range. Derek had squeezed
the
trigger, and the sentry had fallen in a crumpled mass as his the side of
his
head was nailed by a string of bullets. The guards had immediately
rushed to
his aid, then seen Derek. They ran towards Derek, who gunned a few more
down.
Kitsune immediately jumped over the rubble and ran towards the guards.
15 or
so of the guards had seen what was going on, and were about 10 feet from
Derek, and still charging. Several soldiers dropped as Derek squeezed
the
trigger again. Kitsune closelined one, then beat him as he lie on the
ground.
Grywen charged from the boulders with a speed only a lancer could use.
He met
the guards head on, lance extended, wounding a few in the process. Calen
now
shook himself from his gaze, and remembered that he needed to fight as
well.
They were outnumbered greatly. They were outclassed. They would most
surely
be injured if not killed. Strangely, he wasn't scared. He still watched
the
fight from his sitting position in the rocks. Was he going crazy or
something? His friends were fighting and he wasn't helping. He thought
to
himself whether or not they were really his friends. They were ally
soldiers, but perhaps nothing more. Previously, he hadn't worried about
such
things. He followed orders, regardless of what agenda he might have. He
hadn't been afraid. He'd always thought that people who feared death
were
weak. Those who fear what's coming to them are weak, whether in faith or
strength or character. But now he questioned his beliefs. Why was he
fighting? Really?....
He shook his head violently. Those thoughts weren't his own.
It was like someone was whispering to him. Someone.. He didn't even
realize he
was already running into the battle...
On the other side of the battlefield, a man clad in black punched the
ground. "Man, almost had him. He was doubting.." The man looked up to
his
right, and saw a group approaching.
Arcturus, Darias, Jonny, Ozorne, and Flash were running for their
target. Most of the camp had cleared out and ran towards the
distraction. To
their right, they saw a man dressed fully in black stand up. His black
cape
flew back for an instant and a long blade was sheathed at his side. The
wind
died down, and his cape covered the weapon again. A chill ran down
Jonny's
spine. The man approached silently.
"I know why you are here," he said.
"Who're you?" Darias challenged, moving a hand towards his sword.
"I am called Ragnarok, the sir of Fate. I don't care about who you
are..I only want you to fail. You are destined to fail..and you WILL
fail."
He said this last part drawing his deadly black sword. He laughed evilly
and
then put the sword back into his sheath. "Heh heh heh, nevermind. Looks
like
I don't need to stop you. One of you will do the job for me." The man
turned
and walked away. After about 15 feet he seemed to simply vanish into the
mist. Gunshots fired some more.
"COME ON," Arcturus yelled, already ahead of the others and heading for
the building.
Back at the diversion point with Derek and Co., things were looking bad.
They were now greatly outnumbered as the Vestrans came running from all
parts
of the camp. Bullets flew at Grywen, and he dashed with such amazing
speed he
was only a blur of color, behind the pile of rubble. He looked up to see
Kitsune come diving over the top of the cave-like rubble as numerous
shots
hit the rocks. Calen and Derek ran behind and crouched. "Where are they
coming from? I thought the second wave of attacks was supposed to be
happening now! Shouldn't they be fighting our army?"
"Listen.." Derek said, cupping his hand to his ear. Bullets were still
bouncing off of the rocks. The Vestrans only had a few gunners, so the
bullets most likely weren't going to be a problem. "Hear that? That's
the
battle. I'm afraid they ARE fighting our army. These guys must be
guards."
"What do you mean, "guards?!" Grywen nearly yelled. "There's about 50 of
them!"
"You gotta remember, their army numbers very well over a thousand, as
does ours. This is the perfect number to guard a camp. Especially when
the
enemy is thought to be hundreds of yards away. They heard footsteps, and
a
Vestran jumped behind the rubble, sword drawn. Calen dispatched him
immediately, and his body rolled out of the cover. They heard voices
outside.
Apparently the Vestrans couldn't find anyone crazy enough to try and run
in...At least one thing was for sure, the distraction had worked
perfectly...
Arcturus, Darias, Jonny, Flash, and Ozorne sprinted for the building.
The mission's timing was critical, they all remembered, and they had no
time
to heed the words of someone they knew nothing about.. even if they had
heard
of him so much..
Ozorne was carrying the explosives. They reached the building. Even
around the building, it was quiet. Apparently the distraction team was
doing
its job quite well.
Arcturus surveyed the building, as did everyone else.
Flash was behind the others. He was wondering about that Ragnarok guy.
Who was the heck was he? The Sir of Fate, he remembered. And who wanted
to
get on Fate's bad side? That man had shown such power. The kind of power
Flash longed for. He hadn't joined the Resistance to do good.. he'd
joined it
to get stronger. And now was his chance.
There was a slicing sound that cut the air, and Arcturus's eyes grew
large as he spun around. Ozorne was standing, explosives in hand, with a
blank expression on his face. The end of a sword was protruding from
him. Not
just a sword, a katana. He slid off the sword, and the backstabber could
be
seen. It was Flash. Darias rushed at him without thinking, sword
swinging,
although he had no recollection of drawing it. Flash, with amazing
agility,
dodged the swings and rolled to Ozorne's now lifeless body, snatching
the
explosives. Jonny dove at him, but was cut off in midair as Flash's
katana
went through his shoulder. Before Arcturus could even react, in the span
of a
second, Flash had run away, and was gone. A sinister laugh could be
heard
from somewhere, not so far away...
Escape
The situation looked grim. Arcturus, Jonny, and Darias, the only
remaining demolition team members, crouched in front of the building,
Jonny
was lying, bleeding badly from his shoulder and nearly unconscious.
“What in
the heck can we do?” Darias asked.
“Well, we’ve go to hurry. But we’ve still got this,” he said, picking
up his rail gun. If you give me time, I think I can rig this thing to
blow. I
hate to destroy such technology, but.. we gotta remember, we can’t fail
this.. if we don’t fail to take out any Vestran officers that might be
in this
building.. we might lose the war…speaking of which, I wonder how the
second
battle is going..”
“It doesn’t matter,” Darias interrupted, “like you said, this thing’s
gotta blow. I’ll scout out the area while you blow the building. If
anyone
tries to come out of this bunker, take ‘em out.” Arcturus nodded in
agreement, and dropped onto one knee. He began fiddling with the gun,
while
Darias trotted off.
After about 15 minutes, Arcturus had successfully rigged his gun to
explode efficiently if filled with all the rails he had. He calculated
the
blast radius to be about 30 feet. It would definitely take out the small
building. Arcturus ran over to one of the outside walls of the building.
The
plan was simple: Put the “bomb” on a fuse, throw it on the roof, and
run.
Arcturus called for Darias, then threw the rail gun onto the roof. It
hit the
roof with a clang, and an alarm instantly sounded. A heavy metal door
swung
open, and a few men ran out. He charged in the other direction, and the
building exploded, engulfing some of the men in flames. Arcturus dove
out of
the blast just in time to avoid getting fried, as did a few of the
Vestran
officials. They drew pistols from holsters at their sides, and aimed at
Arcturus. Suddenly, the sound of gun fire filled the air, and the men
fell to
the ground, hit by hundreds of bullets. Arcturus heard a low rumble, and
a
Vestran Scimitar vehicle was driving towards him. The Scimitar was
basically
a very mobile armoured car, with a turret on the top. Darias opened the
hatch
on the top, and popped out. “Come on, get in, we’ve gotta get outta here
now! Jonny’s in here too, but he’s hurt quite badly” Arcturus lept on
top of
the vehicle and manned the gun as Darias took the driver’s seat. They
sped
through the camp.
Derek, Grywen, Kitsune, and Calen watched the explosion from their
hiding place. They were still pinned down. Every once in a while, a
Vestran
would poke his head behind their pile of rubble, and he’d promptly be
shot.
Suddenly, there was a loud engine sound, and gun fire filled the air.
Derek
looked up over the rocks to see a Vestran Scimitar tearing through the
camp.
Derek recognized Arcturus at the gun. Arcturus apparently noticed,
because he
called something down to the driver inside the car, and the Scimitar
turned
and headed towards them. Because of the steep rubble, they’d have to
clear a
path through the enemy soldiers, which numbered pretty high since they’d
been
hiding, and get to the car. One thing bothered them all though: Where we
the
others? All they could see was Arcturus gunning, and they knew there was
a
driver. There was supposed to be more than that…and only about 2 could
fit
inside the thing. There should be more on the back.. There wasn’t…
Derek called over the roar of engines to the others. "Get ready to
move!"
He was leaning against the back of one of the rocks. Grywen shook his
head. "I've got a better idea. Kitsune, Calen, get ready to run like
crazy." He whistled, and seemingly from out of the clouds, there was a
shriek and an eagle flew from the sky, landing beside them. Grywen
jumped on its back, and The eagle lifted into the air. On its way out,
it snatched up Derek by the talons. They flew above the Vestran soldiers
towards the Scimitar, Derek hanging from the talons of the bird and
firing a wide spray of bullets at the Vestrans from above, cutting a
path to the Scimitar. Arcturus could be seen on the top of the vehicle.
He turned on the turret on top, and began fire a steady stream of
bullets at the Vestrans, cutting the gap in them even wider. Calen and
Kitsune leapt over the rocks, and sprinted for the Scimitar, Calen
cutting down Vestrans as he went and Kitsune dodging every attack.
Finally they leapt onto the back of the armoured vehicle, and Arcturus
yelled inside to Darias. Darias floored it, running over some Vestrans.
Grywen and Derek still hovered overhead, following low. From inside the
Scimitar, they could hear Jonny groan with pain. Apparently his wound
was very serious..
They made their way in the Scimitar back towards the camp. Strangely,
they weren't hearing sounds of a battle. Wasn't the second battle
supposed to be taking place? They were steadily climbing a large hill,
which Darias reported would put them just above the camp. Everyone was
relieved that soon they'd be back in at least moderate safety, after the
ordeal they had endured. The Scimitar accelerated as it climbed to the
top of the hill. Suddenly, Darias threw on the brakes. Jonny rolled
over, behind him in the cockpit. "Ugh..Why'd we stop? We've gotta get
back to the camp.. there's.. medics.."
"No."
Jonny sat up and looked out the window, then fell back down. "The whole
army's there. What do you mean, no? There must be medics available at
the camp.."
"You misunderstand Jonny. This camp isn't ours anymore.. those soldiers
in the camp. They're Vestran."
The group sat on the hillside, around the Scimitar. Somehow, in that one
second battle, while they were behind enemy lines, their entire army had
been annihilated. Vestran soldiers could be seen, looting the camp.
Darias turned away in digust, his eyes lowered. He slowly raised his
head, and saw an even more disgusting sight: The spires of the massive
city of Goa, the fortress in the centre, looming over him. Vestran
soldiers poured in the through every gate- they had found a new base of
operations.
"Hey, hate to break up the view, but we have to get moving. Jonny's
starting to fade."
The voice was Calen's. "You're the driver, remember?" he pointed out.
"Yeah, sorry." Darias replied. "From here.hm.we can go to Swan, East of
here, or Lucent City, Southwest of here."
"There's a station where my men and I were living just before the
Vestrans crossed the border, just outside of Lucent, we can go there
too..there are advantages to every place. Swan is a port town, so we
could get access to boats.. from there we could even cross the Angry Sea
to get help from Portoa.. but I doubt we have that much time. Lucent
means we can hide easily.. and many resources can be found there.. To go
to the old station just means we might have communication with our army,
if it still exists."
The Station
The decision was made, they would go to their old station outside of
Lucent
City. They travelled, day and night, for two days, Darias nearly falling
asleep while driving the Scimitar and Jonny constantly coming in and out
of
consciousness.
Finally, they reached the station. The glaring lights of the biggest
city on the planet were in the near distance. They dragged themselves
into
the station, and fell into their old beds. Of course, those that had
their
old beds there. Derek, Darias, Arcturus, and Grywen, would of course be
in a
strange place. No one cared. They all slept..
All except one. In the night, Arcturus sat, awake, flipping switches in
the communications room. "This is Arcturus Nightwind, Resistance Army.
Please
send a status report immediately..." No response. He must have already
tried
a hundred times. Arcturus closed his eyes, and without wanting to, fell
asleep.
It had been a few hours when Arcturus awoke, startled. Perhaps a dream,
he
didn't know. Something was wrong, however. He could feel it. Suddenly, a
cry
pierced the air. It was Jonny's.
In another room, Kitsune, Derek, Darias, Grywen, and Calen slept. Jonny
had been in the room next to them, healing rapidly, or so they thought.
His
yell had startled them awake. They jumped to their feet, and ran for the
door. "Split up," said Calen, "and call when you've found him."
Arcturus, however, still in the comm room, was not doing the same. He
was furiously pounding the keys, accessing the security systems. He hit
enter
and his screen turned into a view of the main hallway. He could see the
main
entrance. In the entrance, stood 3 figures. Ragnarok and Flash he
recognized
immediately. In between them they dragged Jonny. Flash smiled grimly and
Ragnarok looked directly into the camera. He began to speak, but the
audio
wasn't coming through. Arcturus hit another button, and Ragnarok's words
began to broadcast throughout the station. "Ah, that's better," he said,
"you
can hear me now. Looks like you're in some trouble, my friends."
Each person searching for Jonny stopped where they were. They were
scattered about the building. Ragnarok spoke again. "You must think your
only
problem is that we've got this guy, right?" He laughed a little to
himself.
"'Fraid not. You see, in just a minute, you'll all be dead as well. The
closer you are to the exit, the harder it'll be to escape." He laughed
loudly
now, an evil, cruel laugh. Then turned and walked out of the door, Flash
following. They still dragged Jonny's groaning form. As soon as they had
stepped out of the doorway, all the doors in the building slammed shut.
Since
they were controlled electronically, Arcturus thought he could unlock
them,
but suddenly, the comm room blacked out.
Each person trapped in rooms or hallways throughout the station soon
discovered the trouble they were in. Each door closed had a small device
on
it, a keypad with a small screen. An explosive detonator. There were
three
such doors. Outside of the inmost one were Derek and Grywen. They
studied the
keypad carefully. Three numbers scrolled across the little screen:
15...30...6
0...?...(Input rest of code)..
"Huh?" Grywen looked puzzled.
"I think we just finish the pattern. Simple. But then again, didn't
Ragnarok say we got the easiest one?"
In the middle of the building were Darias and Calen. Their detonator too
lit up. They got a different message, however: A...B...C...Z...Y...?
"A pattern," said Calen. "Just put in the next letter."
Kitsune stood alone, staring at his screen. All it said was:
A = 1. Z = 26. - ?...?...?...?...?
A voice came to him over the intercom. It was Arcturus's. "Hey guys, I
got
the intercom working. We're in trouble, I think. I'm locked in here on
the
same door system as Derek and Grywen.
"Arcturus, can you help with these codes?"
"No, I can't really do anything about them. I did see some security
footage though, when I was messing with the comm. It's of Flash taking
Jonny
and setting up these bombs. It's like they wanted to give us a clue or
something.."
"Help me figure out the code then, relay messages from the others too so
we can all think of them."
Kitsune noticed something for the first time. In the far upper right
hand
corner of the screen, barely noticeable, was a counter. No, not a
counter, a
timer. They had 15 minutes.
"Arcturus! This place is going up if we can't get this in 15 minutes!
Help
me think!"
"Ok, I'm workin-" Suddenly, static. Another voice came over the
intercom.
"No cheating, Fox. Heh, that is what Kitsune means, isn't it? Let's see
if you're sly enough to get out of this without the genius's help.."
Loss Gain and Chase
Arcturus's hand was slightly bloody from where he'd punched a hole in
his computer screen, out of pure frustration. If Derek and Grywen didn't
get
the doors to their section opened in what was now about 13 minutes, he'd
be
dead. And the others were even worse off. It couldn't have come at a
worse
time.. Not only were they recovering from the mission behind Vestran
lines,
both mentally and physically, but they'd lost Ozorne, and had no chance
to
find a way to revive him yet. Such things were rare, but possible,
especially
in the case of Arcturus, Derek, and Darias, since they'd been present
the
last time the world was saved.
At least if Arcturus died, which he thought he might, he could do so
knowing he'd saved the world. Not a bad life. And not a bad death,
trying to
save a civilization yet again..
Derek and Grywen quickly searched their minds. Child's play. The bomb
panel scrolled by again...15...30...60...? Derek quickly punched in the
number 120. The screen went blank, and the bomb started to smoke, then
fell
uselessly from the door. It slid back into the wall.
Suddenly, the lights in Arcturus's comm room flickered back on. And the
broken computer monitor began to spark and then catch on fire. He
smothered
it out, then reached for the intercom controls. Yes, they worked. But he
only
had enough juice for one short message.
"Listen people, we've got a serious problem. The bombs are going off in
11
minutes. You have that much time to disarm them and get the heck out.
I'm
leaving right now, and I assume Derek and Grywen are doing the same. The
rest
of you, meet us."
He had a little power left. Enough, at least, to encourage them. He owed
them that much.
"There is no way for us to help you. Good luck, and remember, failure
means not only the end for us, but the victory of the Vestrans in Goa.
Without us to stop them, they'll run down the entire continent."
The intercom went dead. So he wasn't good at pep talks. Didn't matter,
he
had 10 minutes before he was dead if he didn't hurry. He dashed out the
door
and ran for the nearest exit.
Jonny was walking on his own, in between Ragnarok and Flash, and
slightly
behind. He had healed well. The arm damaged was healing, althought he
doubted
it would ever be very usable. If only he had a blade, he'd cut into
Flash
right then, the same way Flash had done to Ozorne. He would not have
regretted it in the least bit, even after Ragnarok slaughtered him.
Jonny wanted to help the others escape, somehow. He searched his memory.
Wasn't he present when Flash set up the bombs? Barely, he had been
almost
unconscious. He remembered something though. Yes, definately..
Darias and Calen looked at their screen. A...B...C...Z...Y...? Darias
was
positive it was X, and reached for the button. He hit it, and the bomb
defused, dropping lifelessly into the hand of Darias. Darias started to
exit
through the door. S..Stop. A voice sounded in the back of his mind. It
became
clearer. Wait, don't go that way. Kitsune won't get the door open that
way.
Go backwards, through the doors Derek and Grywen opened, and out the
back.
There's nothing you can do for Kitsune now.. Ragnarok and Flash are
moving
fast towards Goa, if you regroup you can catch them.
"What? What's wrong with you?" Ragnarok asked Jonny, who was walking
very slow, his eyes and expression blank. Suddenly, the colour came back
into
Jonny's eyes and his exhaled. "So, you're a psychic then. I've done a
little
of that myself."
"What haven't you done, except perhaps good?"
"I've done good, Jonny," Ragnarok said, un-phased by Jonny's comment,
"I've done as much good as bad. You see Jonny, it's all about balance.
I'm
the Sir of Fate, remember? The knight of destiny, you might call me.
Ever
hear anyone say, "That's an odd twist of fate?" Well, I'm the man who
makes
those twists happen. So you know nothing Jonny."
Jonny didn't pay much attention to Ragnarok's would-be speech. He was
trying, rather, to mentally search the station and see where the others
might
be...
Kitsune furiously searched his mind. A = 1. Z = 26. -
?...?...?...?...? Obviously, he was supposed to figure out a password.
What
could it be? Nothing worked. He tried endless strings of words. Nothing
would
work. 2 minutes left. The past minutes had been the fastest of his life.
He
took a few steps back and charged at the door. All he succeeded in doing
was
perhaps breaking his collarbone. He collapsed on the ground, his
forehead on
his knees, and awaited the inevitable...
Calen and Darias ran into the darkness outside the small military
outpost. Derek, Arcturus, and Grywen were already there. Arcturus let
out a
sigh. "Now where's Kitsune?" Derek asked.
"He's inside."
Kitsune never felt the explosion. In a second, he was simply no more.
The building buckled under the impact, and flames spewed from it as a
shockwave of pressure shot outwards, sending searing heat into the faces
of
Calen, Grywen, Arcturus, Derek, and Darias. They didn't care. They
didn't
move. This last once, they would look upon the place where Kitsune was,
and
commit it to memory.
They sat there for some time, watching the flames consume the building.
Those were potent little bombs. Then they remember, nearly
simultaneously,
the task at hand: They had to find Flash, Ragnarok, and Jonny. Once they
had
Jonny back, they perhaps could find a way to get Ozorne back. He was
strong
enough in the field of magic so that perhaps, just maybe, the magic
inside
him might have kept his conscious alive long enough to be made anew. But
there was no telling. For Kitsune, there was no chance of return.
For the time being, they would run. Run towards Goa, and hopefully
towards the deaths of Ragnarok and Flash.
They ran faster than they ever had before.
Sadly the end of the story seems to
be missing if anyone has a copy of this please e-mail it to:-
