Bandle City
Judgement Day
Teemo POV
Things were happening too fast, not enough people had evacuated before the explosions began wracking the city walls.
He was already inside the city.
"Everyone, out! Now!" My voice barely rose above the widespread panic and chaos running through the scattering masses, I grimaced, hoping that Tristana and her squad could hold him off before we could get this Mothership to safety.
It had to be held, no matter the cost.
If it falls into his hands...
I cursed, how could he have blown through the guards so easily? HQ was fools to have belayed the response, they were no match for him at all.
Pushing and shoving through throngs of people, I make my way towards the city center, to the mother ship.
Through my coms, static cuts into my feed before a voice radios in the bad news.
"Not looking good, This is Megling squad, moving in."
It's Tristana, she sounds exhausted, I note this with a small amount of concern, yet I shove those emotions into the back of my head.
That kind of thinking gets you killed on the field.
A small chopper flies overhead, the old pilot waves at me from above as we both approach ground 0.
"See you on the ground, flyboy."
With the coms dying out, I pull the mask back over my face and switch on the visor, the optic mechanism kicks in with a high pitched *whirrrr*
I'm almost there, the mothership is in view, smoke has completely enveloped the sector, most of the city block completely decimated with entire buildings blown away from something clearly arcane.
My arms move down as I run forward, fingers reaching for my belt clasp, unbuckling the blow dart from my waist.
I check the sights for good measure, the click of rifling as I load it with an extra high dose of C15 Ardeniside.
It's enough to put down anything short of a raging bull, the effect is almost instantaneous once it hits the bloodstream.
Hopefully it wouldn't have to come to that.
The com kicks in, this time I can hear clear panic.
"They're all dead, Delta squad, they're all-"
An explosion ruptures the side of the giant shuttle, my coms go off in a rush of static, I've lost connection with Tristana and her men.
She had engaged whoever was responsible, I had to hurry.
Tristana POV
"Hit the deck!"
Another blast of energy shatters the glass frame ahead of me, I barely have enough time to drop onto the steel flooring before I'm dusted.
My kneepads scuff the ground with a screech, rising to a crouch I bring the small cannon over the now destroyed window and begin firing at random, hoping to buy my men some time with suppressive cover.
"Commander! They didn't tell us we were going after a mage!" It was Ferid, the Yordle was young, eager to prove himself on the field, one of the lucky few who had passed graduation.
Many recruits died on their first assignments, however, to be a Megling gunner meant being sent on near suicidal, almost impossible missions.
This was no different, dealing with the arcane always meant casualties in the squad, something I can't ever live down.
It's a bitter reality that i just have to cope with.
The only look in his eye was panic, the bloodshot orbs only searched desperately for a command, anything to get us out of this situation.
Currently, we were holed up in the control room, upon entering the ship he took us by surprise, we had all scattered from the explosion and are now separated.
"Damn him."
HQ had sent in the Megling gunners, Delta, and Omega squad, the fact that Teemo and his elite group were even needed here was enough to worry all of us.
Now I know.
Another blast hits the steel deck, it rumbles violently and the ship begins to rock dangerously from the impact.
We don't have much time, we need to act now.
The coms are fried, that last blast put up so much interference that static killed all radio chatter, we're all running blind.
"We have to regroup, wait until we're oscar mike." I pull out a grenade, my fingers fumble with the Piltover explosive, index finger wrapped around the pin, I prepare to rush down the hallway.
Only the sound of breathing in response, Ferid swallows nervously as we wait for the opportunity to present itself.
Another bang as the mage fires off another barrage of dark matter, I vault over the charred steel frame, Ferid trailing close behind.
We turn the corner, time seems to slow as the terrorist comes into view.
The Yordle was covered in nothing short of a traditional black mages garb, one arm covered in a spiked, steel gauntlet, the belt buckles wrapping around both his waist and shoulders like a bandolier, the collar and hat obscured most of his features.
time seems to slow as I make eye contact with his own glowing orbs, the only thing visible under that garb.
They narrow, the staff glows in preparation for another spell.
"Weapons free!" I throw the grenade and dive behind a set of collapsed steel containers, unholstering the cannon and loading another set of rounds.
Ferid fires from behind me, I duck to give him a clear shot, bullets flying over my shoulder in a shower of lead, the rifle belting out shells in a molten heap.
I peek to the right and sight the cannon down the hall, he had taken cover around the hall bend and was waiting for us to run out of ammo.
Smart.
But I won't give him that opportunity.
I pull the trigger and the ignition atop the cannon barrel lights up, seconds later, I fire off a cannon ball, hoping to blow him and the entire west wing of the shuttle to pieces.
It slams into the wall and slightly ricochets to the right, towards his side of the corner before detonating in a fiery explosion.
Silence.
Then a loud bang as he retaliates, the hall is illuminated with a blue and black sheen before a huge mass of dark matter slams into the steel hull.
We're both thrown onto the floor, I cover my ears from the shell shock.
"Shit!" I fumble for the cannon and resight back over the now destroyed canister.
He's gone.
The static in my coms switches to a radio frequency, I realize that the interference had cleared up.
"This is Tristana, be advised, suspect is armed and dangerous, Delta squad is KIA, Hewitz and Wade are MIA, all remaining units regroup onto the western wing, do not engage, I repeat, do NOT engage, avoid the suspect at all costs."
Radio response comes in a second later, a low, bass voice strained no doubt from the explosion.
"This is Eric, protocol 1632 initiated, moving to your position."
"Likewise, Kestral, Weiss, report."
The com changes frequency, a voice cuts through.
"With Eric, sir, moving to your position." *Static*
A sigh of relief, I kneel and prepare to hunker down until-
*CRRRRRRK*
We're thrown off balance,the ship suddenly jolts to life and I hit the ground with a heavy thud.
"What's going on!"
I pull the coms to my mouth, sweat quickly running down my singed fur.
"Hewitz, Wade! Come in! Anyone! Respond!"
The radio cuts in, this time my blood turns to ice.
"...I...I tried to *Cough* I tried to stop him- *Static*"
"Who was that! Get on the coms, now!"
Ferid fumbles with the frequency, we switch through channels as the shuttle engines roar to life.
A moment passes, Ferid twists his face into a grimace.
"What is it? What is it?!"
A pause.
"...It's...it's Wade, commander."
Wade...
my stomach twists as I realize he had taken point with Hewitz.
Both were doomed from the start.
"Wade! Status report, over!"
Silence as the radio chatter changes frequency, I curse angrily into the radio device.
"Ferid! Get us a green light we're losing him!"
"On it!"
He dials in another channel, the static shifts with varying degrees of white noise until...
"He made it to the control room...shuttle's taking off...you have to stop him...Hewitz...Hewitz is dead."
*Static*
Teemo POV
"Weapons free, check your corners."
One hand raised, I motion right for a hallway sweep down the eastern sector, metal boots pad along the ground in quiet footfalls.
I sweep through every room, 2 scouts trailing close behind, rifles at the ready.
Kicking through another door, I pan along the room, sweeping my rifle dart left and right.
Bodies, lots of it.
Grim, they were blasted and charred with what looked to be void matter, unlike fire, magic doesn't have a smell.
I motion my men forward with a twist of my left middle and index finger, keeping my right on the trigger. "Search the bodies, check for dog tags, I want to know who they are and what they were doing here."
I face one of the doors and cover the rear, listening for any signs of movement.
"It's Delta squad, what's left of em anyway." Rodeo kneels beside a smoking corpse and pulls out a scanner.
A masked Yordle comes in from the right, trailed by 2 others, they had finished the hallway sweep and had regrouped from the eastern wing.
"Nothing, sir, all rooms are cleared except for the main bridge, suspect has already taken control of the ship."
The Mothership was moving, we had to hurry and find the control room before it left airspace.
HQ hadn't provided us with a schematic of the shuttle, they never imagined it would have come to this.
"Alright boys, all hands on initiative 32, shoot to kill, move, we aren't ending up like Delta squad."
We clear room after room, sweeping through every possible flank and corner.
I keep the steel blowdart pressed to my mouth, ready to fire off at a moments notice.
Upon entering the main bridge, I notice all the infrastructure had been destroyed in the same arcane blast as earlier.
The charred walls, blackened steel flooring, and...
Two bodies.
I recognize the green and black body armor immediately.
It's Tristana's gunners.
"Eyes up, Johnny, check the bodies."
A second later one of them sputters, his chest heaving in a desperate draw for breath.
But I already know that he's gone.
Those black splotches on his chest are untreatable, arcane spells like this are particularly dangerous to Yordles because of their sensitivity to magic.
It must have ruptured his lungs, he's choking to death.
There's nothing we can do for him.
I take a knee to his side and clasp his left arm firmly, looking around for a dogtag, any form of identification.
"T-tristana...She...she moved onto the main bridge...you have to stop him."
I nod quietly, my men holding position on standby.
"I promise you I will, now rest soldier, you've done your part."
With tears running down his cheeks, he slowly lets go of my hand, the grip slackening as life leaves his body.
One hand passes over his eyes, I close them and stand.
I've seen enough good men die on the field, this ends now.
"Let's move, we can't keep those Gunners waiting."
This was it, the control room, they must have tried to stop the suspect from reaching it.
Naturally, he had locked himself inside, Tristana must already be in there.
With a short signal, I motion for my men to take position on either side of the double doors.
Reno moves up and places a satchel charge on the steel frame, I kneel a couple meters behind him, weapon raised for the breach.
I tap his shoulder, giving him the signal.
"Breach, breach!"
It explodes, time slows, we all move in at tandem, through the dust I make out Tristana and her men standing off with the suspect, weapons raised.
As his head swivels towards my direction, I bring up the dart and fire off the C15, hoping to get him on the first shot.
"Weapons free! Take him down!"
Veigar POV
The door to my right explodes, I hadn't expected more company.
Those gas masks are a dead giveaway, I instantly identify them as omega squad, Bandle City's special forces.
One of them fires off a dart, the projectile zips through the room silently in a blur towards me.
Time slows as my instincts kick in, I dive right behind the dashboard and charge another spell.
Footsteps to my right let me know one is rushing for a flank.
It doesn't take much, I launch a barrage over the wall and obliterate the immediate threat, his corpse hadn't even hit the ground by the time I had recovered and was spinning the staff in another direction.
"No!" One of them jumps down the metal railing and charges me with a rifle bayonet, the steel tip gleaming with a purple tint.
Poison, no doubt.
The steel barely clips my shoulder, the cloth easily parts under the razor sharp edge as I sidestep his thrust with a leftward feint.
He makes another forward stab, however I bring the staff up in a diagonal right, trapping the poisoned edge and sending his thrust wide.
The gauntlet on my right arm burns bright, I twist my torso right, letting momentum slam itself into his chest.
The blow collides with an arcane impact, his throat gurgles violently before being launched off the ground onto the wall adjacent the right entrance, body crumpling into a motionless heap.
A barrage of gunfire sends me diving for cover, the bullets rattle against the steel deck, gunfire rattling against the metal in sharp staccatos.
I counted 7.
7 more lives I have to take this day.
The room lurches with a creak, the mothership had taken flight and was entering airspace.
I grip the staff with a shaky hand, the nerves finally getting to me.
Those bastards.
I will make this world fear me, even if I have to slaughter every last person on this ship.