Chapter 127: Chapter One Hundred Twenty

Galactic Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 153 of 365. Sol standard year]

Days after of Crash landing/ 2

Unknown Island / Ruin/ Corridors

Galactic Standard Time / 0935

As the group ran down the corridor, Olv’xic stayed at the back. He kept his eyes looking all around at the doors, trying to figure out what they were. He had noticed something in the code, something that he still couldn’t figure out. There was an answer to what the truth was, all he had to do was find it.

At the front of the group, Je’ndra and Kon’gric led the way. Next came Ken’tricx and Ro’borlar, with Tar’lroia before Olv’xic. The five minutes it had taken them to get moving had been spent making sure that the door was closed. Olv’xic had done that, and the others had made sure the other doors around them were closed tight. He didn’t understand anything about the human thing. But keeping the team safe kept him from asking questions that he needed answers to. And the longer nothing happened, the more that he felt the need to ask those questions.

“[So why were humans with Aether so surprising? You said we’re of human descent. So the story]?” Olv’xic asked, hoping that one of them would answer. He knew that he was going into what might be his last fight, and he needed answers if he was going to die.

As he waited for a reply, Olv’xic tried to think of the good things. He wanted to believe that every horror he felt while in the service was behind him. But was it?

“[Yeah, that. Well ….. the history is that our ancestors were exposed to a virus that changed them. It happened when they crashed onto a world with a Ruin that was mostly destroyed. Seems it was

“[Crashed how? And in what]?” Olv’xic asked as he fought against his shock.

“[They didn’t tell you anything while you were growing up, did they kid]?” Ro’borlar asked sorrow and a bit of shame in his voice.

“[No. They did not],” Olv’xic ground out as he gripped his rifle tighter.

The things he was learning, destroyed everything he ever thought about his birth world. If his team, his friend, were telling the truth? Then everything he had gone through until his escape was illegal. And how they hunted him because of the law, that was saying something. But what he heard next caused him the worst of pain.

“[Old STL colony ship. Sent from old Earth in the first wave. Feel through a Space Ruin that was one way. Took us centuries to find out where we had landed plus longer to rebuild our tech. We had changed so much that we were thought to be aliens when we made contact with Earth. We went with it, not knowing what our kin had gone through. The histories say they were going to come clean, but then the war. That changed everything],” Je’ndra said softly from the front.

Olv’xic’s eyes widened behind his mask. He tried to speak, but all that came out was nothing as he stammered, shocked beyond words. All his life, he had thought he was something he wasn’t, and this….. He couldn’t understand why he had been treated the way he had. It didn’t make sense! “[And every planet knows this? There was no way that some people just didn’t know that, right]?”

“[Yeah kid, every planet and every family. Anyone who graduates from normal schooling has to know that. They rerun the documentary and they redo it every three years! It’s been the subject of so many movies, there had to have been a hundred different directors who made one! Most of them run awards for them! It’s part of our culture]!” Ken’tricx voice, usually so strong now held a note of anger.

All Olv’xic could do was keep his focus on what was important right now. This wasn’t the time for him to get mad, and that his target wasn’t here. And the only person that he had to think about, was the Prince. He had to keep his mind clear and do everything that he could.

“[……. You okay kid],” Ro’borlar asked suddenly.

Olv’xic let his eyes roam his HUD and saw the symbol for Ro’borlar’s symbol blinking. The way it was blinking showed that Ro'borlar had created a one-way channel between them. For a second he almost nodded, then he remembered that Ro’borlar couldn’t see him. He took a deep breath and sighed. “[Yeah, I’m fine. Just have to handle a big betrayal. And that’s something I can deal with later, for now, the prince is what matters].”

“[Good man! Once we get back to the Empire, we’ll pay a visit to your home with the full might of the Base behind us! The general has a big problem with people being discriminated against]!” Ro’borlar’s voice had a note of anger and glee in his voice.

Olv’xic only blinked and then he felt a smile on his face. “[Thanks. Just…. Thanks].”

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

“[Nothing to it kid],” Ro’borlar said as he closed the channel and created a channel to Je’ndra. “[You were right, and I think it was also whoever raised him. I think personally, it might have been his mother’s father. Just something that I really hope].”

“[And why…..oh. yeah, me too],” Je’ndra’s voice held a note of revulsion in her voice.

Ro’borlar nodded the same thoughts that he had just had. He really wanted to think that the Kid’s mother had been of the Empire. If the opposite was true, then nothing that would be wasn’t honorable. And if there were more, then there was a bigger problem than he dared to think.

To take his mind off that spiral before he followed it to the bottom, he instead thought about his new sword. The metal was unlike anything that he had ever even read about. The idea of it was beyond anything that he thought was possible. But he had seen the answer firsthand, and he held two of them in his ‘pocket’. The number of times that one of these could have saved lives, was the most amazing weapon he could have found.

Ahead of them, Je’ndra turned the corner then she ducked back, grabbing Kon’gric.

“[Hold! Everyone just stop]!” Je’ndra barked into their coms.

Ro’borlar moved towards Je’ndra and tried to catch a glance around the corner.

Her mask looked at them and she shook her head. “[We’ve found the enemy. There are banners and blazers. Wherever those things carried the Prince, we’re there].”

Ro’borlar stuck his hand forward and sent a command to it. A small wire with a camera at the end moved out of his gauntlet to peer around the corner. As his mask showed what the wire saw, he winced as he saw the enemy before them. There were at least five of those Bulky figures each one armed with an axe made from the same metal as the swords. “[Yeah, and did you catch their axes? Same metal as my new sword. That means that they might be Aether users as well….. oh Stars and Ancestors].”

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“[What is it]!? Tar’lroia demanded.

Ro’borlar stayed silent, only looking at the screen as it replayed what his gear saw. He couldn’t believe that this was possible. But it was, and that made this all the more dangerous.

“[Ro’borlar, report! What did you see]!? Je’ndra demanded as she shook him.

Ro’borlar stayed silent, only sending the video he had recorded to his team. As Je’ndra stepped back, he knew she was watching it.

As the others all cursed or swayed on their feet, he just nodded. He had recorded one of the Bulky ones turn into a baseline human in a purple robe. And then that human had created an Aether ball of light as another human appeared. That one had turned into another Bulky Figure that took up a guard position. The 'human' nodded at the others and walked into the door.

“[You sure that your gear is working okay Ro’borlar? Nothing that’s wrong with it]?” Ken4 asked hope and worry in his voice.

“[No way! I looked over it myself! It’s almost in factory conditions. That was real]!” Olv’xic said with a surprising amount of pride in his voice.

Ro’borlar had to admit, the kid had a point. He had given his armor a once over once he was wearing it, it might be better than factory fresh. But the question had to be asked.

“[We can trust Olv’xic’s work and Ro’borlar’s tech. That really happened. This is against everything that we thought we knew about Aether. But it’s a fact. But the house can wait. What do we do? A full frontal assault is the only thing to do. But it will be bloody],” Je’ndra said as she looked around.

“[Not necessary],” Olv’xic said, a note of viciousness in his voice. “[We fought something like them once before. And I think that if we can get them over here, Ken’tricx can handle them easily].”

“[I can? Wait…. My rotary canons! If they can get over here…. But there has to be one to replace each of those things. This will only work once],” Ken’tricx said.

Olv’xic just moved his head down and up a bit. “[That’s the best part. I can mod my rifle to fire blanks! Then they’ll do what fools do]!”

At this, Ro’borlar felt his mouth form a vicious leer. There was nothing that he liked more than to kill the enemy when they were tricked.

“[Good plan, let’s do it]!” Ro3 said, rubbing his hands together;

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As he looked around at the other Muscle troops, the one who just changed positions sighed.

“What’s wrong kid?” The Muscle Trooper next to him asked.

“It’s nothing. I just wanted to see the ceremony. But they need guards, don’t they?” The Kid said to the other Muscle Trooper.

“Don’t worry. There’ll be others. This is gonna be a long war. The capital is in the center of their Realm after all. And there are other temples to cleanse. I’m sure you’ll see the next one!” The Muscle Trooper said.

“Yeah…. Say, did you see the strange armored one the Flyer Troops brought back? I heard the Priest bless him to be one of the Main Pieces. Lucky Devil!” The Kid said and the Muscle Trooper laughed.

“Yeah. I mean those Flyers are probably gonna live it up! What I would want to be them right now!” The Muscle Trooper said.

“Yeah…. Hey! Is that one of those Armored ones!?” The Kid said pointing beyond the Muscle Trooper.

They all turned and saw a figure in full armor with a blank face mask farther up the corridor. The figure was holding a strange-looking device pointing at them. The figure was standing about forty feet away from them, and the figure gave off a feeling of pride.

“DIE YOU SCUM!” The figure bellowed.

Suddenly bright arrows shot from the device and sped at the Muscle Troopers. The Kid held up his hands to protect his face, but the lights hit them and did nothing. The Kid blinked and looked at the armored figure who stopped firing.

“NO, MY wonder weapon doesn’t work! Curse you scum,!” The figure cried before running down one of the hallways.

“What were you saying about how they were blessed to get a small one of those things kid?” The Muscle Trooper who had spoken to him asked.

The Kid felt a grin forming on his face and with a roar, he led the charge. As they thundered down the corridor, they all laughed. Hunting a runner was always fun! Once they got that one, they would be blessed.

“Don’t run! It makes us mad!” The Kid howled and the others laughed harder.

They reached the corner and turned, running with all they had. But as they turned, they saw something strange.

The figure and five more. One of them had strange-looking barrels floating in the air, barrels that were pointing at them.

The Kid felt his heart freeze and tried to stop, but he felt one of the others push him aside. The one that had talked to him grabbed him and pulled him up. The Kid was about to speak, but instead, he pulled the other Muscle Trooper past the corridor. Before the other could say anything, they heard screams of pain. The Kid looked around and saw an open door that the others used to rest in and pulled the speaker into the room.

“What was that?!” The Speaker asked.

“An ambush!” The Kid said with anger in his voice.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

Je’ndra looked at the carnage that Olv’xic’s plan had created. For a few seconds, she hadn’t thought the plan would work. But it had, and the way was clear. Now all they had to do was rescue the Prince.

“[Good plan Specialist! No, great plan]!” Je’ndra said with a hint of pride in her voice.

“[But I’m just….. oh. Thank you, commander]!” Olv’xic said, saluting her.

Je’ndra only nodded and then looked at the corridor ahead of them. “[Push Aether to your muscles, we’re running straight at them! We charge, Ken’tricx in front with his weapons firing. All techs and enhancements are free! Move now]!”

With that last command, Je’ndra ran ahead of her team. As they turned the corner, Ken’tricx led the way. Ahead of them, three human figures dressed like the transformed one had gone out and one saw them.

Ken’tricx didn’t wait for them to speak, his rotary cannons fired. As the humans were riddled with blaster holes, their bodies fell to the ground. As they reached the doorway, a roar was heard. They saw over twenty humans and ten Bulky figures. Each of the Bulky figures had black iron shields as tall as they were in front of them. Some of the humans had fire spheres in their hands, the others were making gestures with their hands.

“[Kon’gric]!” Je’ndra cried out.

“[On it]!” Kon’gric cried out as he surged to stand between them, a shield wall forming between them and the Followers.

As the fireballs hit the shield, Kon’gric only chuckled. “[Their not that strong! That only dropped the wall by a total of five percent! I’ll hold here. And you can fire out]!”

“[Come on kid! With me]!” Ken’tricx called out as he surged around the left side while Olv’xic did the same on the right. Olv’xic summoned the two swords he had taken, and he sped up as he closed on the humans.

Ro’borlar didn’t wait, he only aimed his sniper rifle as it glowed blue. “[Come on you son of a blackhole! Taste this]!”

He fired two bolts, and both hit the middle Bulky one. When the first bolt hit, there was an explosion of ice. It froze the shield so cold that the second bolt drilled through it and froze the holder solid.

Je’ndra meanwhile had charged around the left, summoning her twin blades as she ran. As she moved, there was a red energy comet tail trailing behind her. With a roar, she sped up and dashed past Ken’tricx. She stopped next to one of the Followers who turned, but it was too late. She slashed his head off and roared, causing the others to look at her.

While that happened. Olv’xic had reached the closet Follower and slashed out with one, one of the blades. It went through the fireball and absorbed it, the blade gaining a red glow. As he stared at the red glowing blade, one of the Bulky ones tried to attack him with its shield. Olv’xic dodged the blow and slashed down with his glowing blade. The Bulky one’s arms were split in half and cauterized in an instant.

“[Get behind that pillar Kid]!” Ken’tricx called out, anger in his voice.

Olv’xic didn’t wait, he just moved.

Ken’tricx had finally made it to where he could see the backs of the shield bearers. His rotary canons started side to fire and he killed the shield line in moments!

As the humans realized they had lost their protectors, some of them panicked. But Je’ndra hadn’t been idle and had taken up a guard stance between them and the door deeper into this place. As she slew the first one, another two were frozen over.

While this happened, Kon’gric had dropped his shield and summoned his axes, ready to defend. Meanwhile, Tar’lroia joined her rifle to Ro’borlar’s fire, aiming at the humans.

The humans tried to fight back throwing fireballs at the team but they dodged. But the humans blocked the bolts from Ro’borlar with fireballs, and they were gathering.

“I'm not going out this way!!” One of the humans screamed and thrust their arm into one of the other humans. As the dying one looked at the betrayer, the betrayer screamed. “For the true great one!”

There was a blast of fire that raced out and lines of glowing red energy lines shot out. All of the team dodged them, but the humans were all pierced. They screamed before they were engulfed in flames.

The area around where the betrayer had been was the center of the blast. There was a large red crystal sphere that went halfway to the ceiling and was five feet around. They all could hear the sounds of an organic pulsing, but they had no idea what it was.

“[Well, that looks bad],” Ro’borlar croaked out, sounding like he was looking at his death.

“[It’s worse than you think! I’ve seen something like this before, that being? They are become something beyond what they were before. And they're gonna be a lot stronger]!” Olv’xic rasped, a note of fear in his voice. “[If this is like then? Then the powers it has will be magnified by the number of things it killed to fuel the transformation. And the Techs will stack! So how many humans able to use Fireball were there]?”

Je’ndra could only look at him, trying to understand what he knew and how. But that wasn’t important right now. If he was right, then they were looking at a neutron bomb about to go off. The only thing to do was move fast and get out of here. With the Prince inside this structure, they had to go fast. Get the Prince, then find a way back to the sun. They had to find one of the other escape capsules, that way their one way to get out of this world.

“[So leaving before that thing hatches, that the good plan right? I mean, I’m just saying]?? Ken’tricx said with a look at the crystal egg.

“[Onwards and inwards, let’s move now! So come on]!” Je’ndra said with a hard edge, putting her blades away and resummoning her rifle.

As she ran out the doorway, the echoes of the beating followed after them. All she knew, was that something told her that this was going to be even worse than what they left behind them.