James watched as the urax raiding vessel materialized out of thin air two hills over, its angular hull briefly shimmering in rainbow hues before settling on an age-worn metallic finish (only visible with night vision, as to the unaided eye only the engines would pop out in the darkness). How it had gotten this close to their location without showing up on full-spec was a mystery – presumably it had been laying low in a dry gully or thicket of trees, which was impressive given the bulk of the craft.
Regardless, what mattered now was that it was here, and very clearly after them – zooming in to the spot where the vessel’s searchlight beamed down, he could see Caroline’s ejected seat sitting in the grass. Thankfully not with her still in it, but that did not mean she was out of danger.
Caroline was tough, and James had no doubt that she could obliterate an entire urax crew in a fair fight. But there was more than enough evidence to indicate that this would not be a fair fight – confirmation came moments later, as the sound of rustling underbrush alerted him to the fact that he was not alone.
Instinctively he dived for cover, narrowly avoiding a neon purple plasma bolt as it missed him by mere inches. The paintball-like projectile splattered against the tree he had been posted behind, briefly illuminating the area in a burst of sparking color and heat. Several more rounds peppered the ground behind him as he leapt for the next tree over. The urax raider that had fired the shots snarled what James assumed to be a string of curses in his direction. Three other disturbingly reptilian voice answered the first from several meters further back in the trees – James cursed himself silently for letting a raiding party get the drop on him.
There was a pause in the commotion, presumably as the raiders figured out how to best tackle this prey item. Another hissed order from the leader sent two of them edging forward on either side of his hiding spot in what had to be a flanking attempt. He weighed his options quickly, but there were few to consider – he had to deal with this threat now, and worry about the bigger picture later. Focusing energy into one hand, he spun up a disk of neon-blue plasma about as wide as a spartan shield – surprised chatter echoed between the raiders, who could only see the intense glow suddenly illuminating the forest. James was not about to let them take the time to figure out what they were up against.
With a quick jump jet pulse he darted from his hiding place, taking stock of the enemy through his peripherals whilst sprinting for the next tree over. Plasma rounds splattered against his shield, adding mesmerizing highlights of purple to the blue. In the flickering light he could clearly see his pursuers – four raiders, each strapped up from neural crest to toe in hard-plated enviro suits laden with various equipment canisters. While designed to protect the wearer from plasma bolts, these suits were little match for hardened projectiles – the closest raider screeched in agony as several 9mm ectoshot rounds pierced his armor, delivering a one-two punch of hot lead and plasma straight through the material. The force imparted by the impacts was more than enough to send the doomed raider flying backwards into the underbrush.
Urax were naturally swift and cunning, but equally cowardly and skittish, hence why the remaining three raiders found themselves barely able to keep James in their sights as he dodged and weaved through their fire. Two more fell within 5 seconds of the first, leaving the leader alone in the face of this charging dynamo.
A sudden pulse of bright light assaulted James’ vision, nearly causing him to lose his footing just a few meters away from the raid leader. Jamming a foot into the hard-packed earth he spun on a dime, narrowly avoiding the laser pulse that would have put a hole through his head. The orb drone that fired the beam immediately fired off another, sweeping the spot where he had been with a tight beam of purple radiation. The beam seared a smoldering black stripe into the earth, and ignited the dry grasses there – in fact, small brush fires had already begun to flare up all over the area. Blocking another hail of plasma bolts from the raid leader, James quickly calculated his next move – he had to end this quick, otherwise he would be fighting fire in fire.
A powerful jump cleared the last few meters of his path, planting his feet firmly against another tree about two meters of the ground. The narrow trunk bent under his weight, serving as a springboard as he launched himself higher up. He twisted in midair, throwing his plasma shield like a frisbee – the projectile zipped through the air with a harsh buzz, vectoring in on the trajectory of the orb drone. The drone easily dodged the slow-moving disk, but did not register the other incoming threat until it was too late – Riding a second disk like a surfboard, James landed directly on top of it, driving it into the ground with an optic full of hot plasma and all of his weight. Upon impact he immediately rolled away, allowing the drone a brief moment to rise from divot it had created in the ground. Its main optic array melted, it did not register the third disk as it was bisected in a brilliant shower of sparks.
James rose to full height, catching the first disk in his hand as it returned from its distraction flight. Nearby, the raid leader struggled to reload his weapon – he could hardly fit the magazine into the correct slot, so severe was the shaking of his clawed hands. James walked swiftly over to the demoralized reptilian, plucking the weapon from his grasp like a parent taking a toy from a child. For a moment the raid leader did not even register what had happened, and merely stared dumbly at his now empty hands. By the time his brain made the decision to run, he was already on his back in the dirt, with a heavy foot planted on his chest.
“What do you want with us?’ James asked sternly, leveling his ectoshot at the raid leader’s head. “Who sent you?” Only strained breathing and whimpering came as a reply, barely audible over the sound of the crackling flames that had begun to spread over the dry underbrush.
“I know you can speak English, start talking” James continued, pressing down just a bit harder to drive the point home.
“Go to hell, abomination” the raid leader choked out, apparently having found some untapped reservoir of bravery. James set that issue straight immediately, with several rounds fired into the dirt just inches away. The raid leader screeched in panic, throwing his arms up over his face.
“I’m not asking you again. Who sent you, and what are you after?”
“Other humans paid us to attack you! They desire the artifact you are transporting!”
“Other humans? Who are you talking about?” the interrogation was interrupted as a muffled explosion range out over the prairie, emanating from the direction of the farmhouse. The sound was immediately followed by gunfire and the distinct vibrating boom of some larger weapon.
“It is too late, Battik has found your partner... and you will share the same fate” The raid leader growled, his confidence returning suddenly. James immediately took notice of the static in the air, but it was too late – the raiding vessel’s harsh searchlight beamed down upon them both, nearly blinding James as his visor HUD struggled to adjust the tinting. On instinct alone he bolted from the spot, using the raid leader’s chest as a springboard – the harsh cracking of ribs concerned him about as much as the accompanying screech of agony, as he raced down the hill towards the farm. The searchlight followed him through the trees, but it was hardly needed; by now the flames had coalesced into a full blow wildfire, which was rapidly consuming everything in its path with reckless abandon. The gentle breeze that had made the night inviting now stoked the flames, which snapped hungrily at James’s heels as he tore down the slope at breakneck pace.
The pursuing inferno did not keep pace for long, but the raiding vessel certainly did. As if enough damage had not already been done, a barrage of plasma bolts from the vessel carved yet another burning path in the dry underbrush behind him. His thrusters began overheating as he dodged and weaved and bounded over the obstacles in his path, and he knew that eventually one of those glowing death spheres would hit home. Desperate to get some space, he briefly spun in place to launch two plasma disks at his pursuer; the projectiles dissipated over the craft’s shields, fizzling out with a sound like water being thrown on a skillet. He narrowly avoided another barrage of plasma fire – whether through luck or operator incompetence he did not know how he was still alive, only that he had about 300 meters between him and his destination.
In front of him he spotted a swift figure diving through one of the side windows of the farmhouse, spraying shards of glass across the ground as it rolled to a landing. Caroline was up and running again in an instant, and not a moment too soon; behind her, the window frame and surrounding wall exploded outward with the force of a half-ton monstrosity on the warpath. The hunter brute had clearly seen better days; his armor was charred, and scorched pieces of thorny vines clung to his hide and snarled up every joint. But none of that mattered, as pure rage now drove it relentlessly forward. The cat and mouse pair disappeared from James’s view behind the adjacent barn, with another momentous impact indicating that doors were of little concern in this engagement.
“This is Buzzsaw to Flora, I’ve got eyes on you and your tango, moving to assist!” he yelled over the comms, not bothering to wait for a reply (in all likelihood the interference from the raiding vessel was scrambling any chance of a message getting through). With a final burst of speed, and all the juice remaining in his thruster pack he blasted over the final 100 meters, throwing two more disks ahead of him to create a makeshift entryway in the barn wall. The neat, scorched X cut proved to be more than enough to allow the wood to give way like cardboard as he dived through, although jagged splinters tore at his pants and snagged briefly on his jump pack. He hit the ground running, already locked on to his target as two more disks spun up beneath his hands. This time they glowed almost white-hot, a beacon of light within the cavernous dark.
Caroline was not losing this fight, but victory seemed just as far off. The hunter brute’s shields had absorbed much of the impact of the frag she had tossed, though the force had managed to permanently short them out. She had also managed to empty an entire ectoshot mag into the beast before it broke the vine-trap restrains – unfortunately, that had mostly succeeded in pissing it off further. Still she had kept up the fight, and had even managed to land a few brutal strikes – her right arm bristled with hundreds of red-tipped thorns, many of which were massive and serrated like shark teeth. A few of these had already been broken off in the beast’s right eye, which was now completely clotted with oozing blood.
Nonetheless, she was not invincible either – her chest plate sported several plasma scorch marks and deep claw gouges, and some shrapnel from an exploded refrigerator had lodged itself in her left side. Her soul suit had prevented it from penetrating too deeply, but there were definitely a few shards that would take some digging to remove.
To make matters worse, she was quickly running out of places to hide. The barn interior was spacious, but it had been partially cleared out before abandonment – save for some scattered shelves and the high rafters above, there were few available options for cover. At the very least her attacker was also slowing down – the damage she had dealt was finally taking its toll, as evidenced by the increasingly unsure placement of the beast’s footsteps. The two of them faced off near the center, both taking a moment to catch their breath and plan the next move. For what it was worth, Caroline was starting to feel a bit wobbly herself, and searched frantically for any kind of opening that would give her the upper hand.
“No more games, human! Give me the prize now, before I take your limbs instead!”
“I’ve got one with your name all over it, you overgrown gecko” she snarled back resolvedly, re-sharpening the thorns on her knuckles with a flick of the wrist. “I’ll even throw in the other one for free.” The jest was completely lost on the beast, who simply grew even madder as his damaged translator chip struggled to process the foreign sarcasm. He would have taken the taunt to heart, had they not been interrupted by a pair of shrieking, glowing plasma disks whizzing through the air above their heads. The disks splashed harshly against the opposite wall, just as James crashed through the entry point they had created.
The addition of a second challenger prompted the hunter brute to back off a few steps, as he tried to divide his sights accordingly – difficult to do with one functional eye and a multitude of other hurts all aching for attention. James wasted no time in taking advantage of this weakness, maintaining his momentum as he charged forwards with righteous fury. With a mighty shout he plowed into open cybernetic arms, hacking and slicing away at anything that got within range. The hunter brute was immediately forced backwards by the onslaught, initially unable to put up a reliable defense. In desperation, he opted to launch a plasma grenade at close range – James was able to absorb the impact with a shield, but was blown back a good 5 meters, landing behind some of the cluttered shelves. The hunter brute received most of the splash damage, further charring his own face with a wave of heat and broiling plasma droplets.
“Buzz!” Caroline exclaimed, darting over to her fallen wingman’s location. He had already propped himself up on one knee, though he had clearly been dazed by the impact.
I’m fine, what about you?” he spat, the response mixed with a few drops of bloody spittle.
“I was handling it, this guy doesn’t have much left in him.” James glanced over at her, taking note of the plasma burns and the shrapnel jutting from her left arm.
“Good, I’ll take the rest” he shot back, bounding up and away before she could get a word in edgewise. She got to her feet and started after him, just in time to avoid another plasma grenade turning their former hiding spot to smoldering rubble. The burning affliction that had set the fields ablaze now plagued the barn, with growing flames that crawled up into the rafters at an alarming speed. They needed to get out fast, and James was already working on that – the hunter brute had met him mid-charge, only to be greeted with another furious volley of razor plasma. This time he was prepared, blocking the blows with an arm-mounted plasma shield – at least until the damaged components shorted out, and the defenseless arm was lopped off with a hideous screech of shearing metal. The other arm launched out in a desperate attempt to land a blow, only to face the same fate as its twin moments later. The hunter brute stumbled backwards and fell to his knees, what remained of both arms swinging uselessly at his sides.
“You ready to give up yet, or should I take the other two and turn you into a decorative purse?” James growled, squaring up in front of his opponent with unwavering determination. The hunter brute scowled and bared his teeth, seeming just as willing to see this to the end.
“No need, you have bested me, human” the beast snarled, his scowl twisting into what could only be assumed was a hideous attempt at a grin. “Too bad you’ll never make it home to revel in your victory.”
There was no other warning, save for the brilliant orange glow that briefly emanated from the beast’s chest, growing from a gentle pulse to a fever-pitch tick in just a few seconds. There was no time to run, no time to try and diffuse the warhead – not that they could have. They both knew this, but only one of them was close enough to make the final call. James took one last look at his wingman – the moment stretched on for what seemed like an eternity, as the resigned grief in his eyes burned a hole right through her. No time for last words, no time for the life he had hoped for. With grim resolve he turned away, throwing all of his strength into one final shield.
A blinding light enveloped them, searing the image of a noble sacrifice into Caroline’s mind forever.
As she faded back into existence, she struggled to recall where she was, or how she had gotten there. Dull aching pulsed through every inch of her body, though the ringing in her ears was at the moment the most visceral sensation to greet her. A great weight pressed down upon her, and the acrid smell of scorched earth filled her straining lungs. Her vision slowly returned in flickering waves, due in part to the only source of light being the dancing flames that now hemmed her in on all sides. Regardless, the spiderweb cracks in her visor obstructed all but the most basic view of her hellish surroundings. She reached up instinctively to cast off the useless piece of armor, but only a tattered stump of a right arm responded to her command. At least the other one was still attached.
She instantly regretted casting off the damaged helmet – it had been the only thing keeping much of the heat and smoke from reaching her face, and now she could only gasp for air that parched her throat on the way down. She could barely see but a few meters in any direction – and James was nowhere to be found in that radius. The stages of grief flashed through her mind at breakneck speed; this was certainly not the first time someone had been taken from her in the line of duty. Still, she could not fathom why this time it hurt as much as it did – or maybe that was simply the shattered wood stabbing into her side, she could not tell. She needed something to focus on, anything to get her moving.
Looking around, she spotted her objective. Somehow, the canister containing the Trilobite had come to rest atop the rubble to the left of here, less than a meter away. She had abandoned the briefcase back at the farmhouse, opting to keep the canister in one of her available ammo pouches instead – at the very least, the tactic had brought it this far.
“Retrieve the asset; uphold the mission” she thought dully to herself, reaching out for the prize that seemed just slightly too far away. It was the only thing she had left. She stretched outwards, her arm shaking as fatigued muscles struggled to stay on course. For a moment she could feel victory at the very tip of her fingers.
A massive steel-toe boot put a swift end to that victory, as it slammed down upon her arm with nearly enough force to snap the bones. She choked back a scream of anguish through gritted teeth, though it truth it was mostly the shock that had caught her senses off-guard.
“Well, I suppose these spineless reptiles are good for something after all” the owner of the foot growled in a deep, unearthly voice that shook Caroline to her core. It was a voice that she had only ever heard in recordings; one she only remembered because its owner was one of the most reviled figures in recent history, and was responsible for the deaths of so many good men and women. It was a voice that just a few months prior had stepped out from the shadow of death to torment the living once more, sending the world’s most powerful military force into a panic. And she was helplessly at his mercy.
Two piercing red eyes stared down at her through darkened slits in a polished gold helmet, which also revealed a wickedly fanged grin set in a powerful jaw. Further below, two inscribed medallions affixed to his custom-fitted ballistic vest secured a flowing, crimson cape to his shoulders. With his foot still firmly planted on Caroline’s arm, General Lycurgus reached down to retrieve the canister, grasping it in powerful, battle tempered hands. His arms were laid bare up to the shoulder, revealing rippling musculature that would have put a tiger to shame. Emblazoned upon his right shoulder was a tattoo of the same symbol inscribed upon his medallions – the crest of Prometheus Rising.
“Though I must admit, I would have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to claim victory without subterfuge” the beast continued, inspecting the small fossil within the canister with a hungry gaze. “But I suppose we don’t always get what we want in life, do we now?”
“You… I’ll kill you…” Caroline hissed, though even her broiling rage could not make the statement anything more than a hollow threat. She had fought her fair share of lycomorphs, but Lycurgus was far more than a run-of-the-mill monster in human clothing. Few who faced him head on had ever lived to tell about it, and it had taken the full might of the Angel Corps’ finest to finally subdue the beast all those years ago – or so they had thought.
“Ah, just as eager as I had hoped” Lycurgus snapped back haughtily, crouching down to her level. His fangs gleamed in the flickering light, momentarily remining Caroline of just how vulnerable she was right now. “I’ve heard many things about you guardian, your skill on the battlefield is truly something to behold.” She tried to muster a response, but wafting smoke and growing fatigue elicited only a choking cough from within her. How he remained unaffected by the oppressive atmosphere was beyond her – perhaps he really was a demon sent from hell, as so many claimed.
“Truly, I was hoping I would have the opportunity of facing you myself” he mused, rising back up to his full imposing height. “What a shame, looks like our grand battle will have to wait.” With that, he turned from her, walking deftly back into the haze with unprecedented poise given the terrain.
“W… where do you think you’re going?” she finally managed to gasp out, though she earned an equal volume of soot in her lungs for her troubles. “Get back here…”
“Now now child, you really must save your strength” he taunted, flashing another fanged smile that sent involuntary shivers down her spine. “You’ll need every ounce of it when we meet again”. With that he was gone, a vanishing specter in the flickering gloom She was alone again – but now more alone than she had ever been, with only the voice of a madman and the roaring of flames to echo in her ears. She had failed the mission. Her wingmen and her pilot were gone. And she was dying. Everything was dying, she could feel it through the charred earth, as she instinctively wormed her aching fingers into the soil in search of any sort of sensation other than immense pain. But there was only more of the same to be had, as a billion lives were consumed in hellfire all around her. She was next, she could feel the inferno creeping ever closer, stinging her skin and choking her lungs with ever more smoke. She struggled with all of her might to get up, but it was all she could do to simply raise her head above the ground.
A mighty thunderclap broke through the haze, though her already clouded vision barely registered the sudden flash of light. The sound was followed in short order by a new sensation – a single raindrop, splashing against her forehead; like someone had tapped her there to rouse her from slumber. Then another, and another – salvation poured down from the heavens, beating back the flames that had been set to consume her. Her tired mind barely registered full understanding of what was happening – visceral sensation was the totality of her experience now, as she reveled in the cool relief. She felt a strong blast of sodden air briefly wash over her, and she felt comforted as a familiar form of giant wings mantled her.
The oppressive weight of the rubble was lifted away, as a reassuring voice from above yelled unintelligible orders to some unseen persons. The voice did make her very vaguely aware of her own obligations – she strained to deliver her status report, but only hollow, disjointed syllables passed her lips. Two intense, golden eyes were now fixed upon her, and she was aware of a strong hand grasping her own, checking for vital signs.
“Take it easy guardian, I’ve got you. Just rest now.” Her mind wanted action, but her body was more than happy to oblige.
Submitted August 12, 2017 at 08:40PM by Avemetatarsalia http://ift.tt/2vsGp2i HFY
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