Coir's visage disappeared from the screen, leaving Kiah feeling numb and confused. The genius had forgotten to mention one thing; the location of the monsters. She discussed it with Fafner and Mëm, mostly Fafner, as Mëm didn't input much, and they pulled out one of the holo-maps. Fafner input the coordinates of Shuret, and coded all the cathedrals in the place. Seven places showed up, but only two of them were still standing.
"Coir said they were gathering at an old cathedral site, so those two there are ruled out."
He nodded, seeing the logic. He punched the keypad a couple times, and the remaining five swirled in the slowly revolving map. Kiah got an idea.
"Center on Holo-map site one," she commanded, and the map read her voice commands, noting the treble and frequency. It read negative, and Kiah glanced at Fafner, the only one besides Coir who could control these things without bringing it all down around his holy ears. Fafner grinned guiltily.
"Bring up Holo-map sites, center on site one." The map immediately registered his voice and brought up the former cathedral site. There was an industrial building built on top of it.
"Tell it to scan for unusual energy spots."
The holo-map read her voice negative even then, and she scowled. Fafner waved at her to signal to be quiet if she didn't want that to happen.
"Scan for abnormal readings." They couldn't scan the entire city because the space was too large, and besides, the holo-map recorded every little tiny bit of abnormal energy, including electrical devices, thermals from humans and animals, and, of course, the monsters. The holo-map scanned the site, coming up with a radio and several rats.
"Center on site two." The area had been paved over, and a scan showed nothing signifying creature activity. Neither did three or four, which were ruined and eroding. Site five, however, had a similar appearance to third and fourth, but there was a spike in 'Other' activity.
"It's the site, no doubt about it." Fafner muttered, and gave the coordinates to Treo. They were nearing Shuret, which was at least six hundred miles from base. Coir was proud of the Phoenix Wing just because of the fact that it was so fast, and the other members certainly valued it for this reason as well. Kiah noticed something that made her heart skip a beat. It was so absorbing she didn't even notice when the holo-map obeyed her. "Bring up grid point 44." There was some kind of symbol on the ground in the site, but the green gridlines didn't show it properly.
"Scan color and depth. Bring up coordinates 4.6 and 13." The holo-map quickly scanned across, the gridlines turning into a perfect map of the area, giving color and shape to everything. Then it brought up the grid sect she'd been looking at. It was a giant cross, written by the monsters in what looked to be ash, and Kiah felt mesmerized slightly as she traced over the cross's pattern with her eyes. "Hey, Fafner. Found something." He was immediately by her side, gazing at the cross. "That must be their unity cross, where they join entities." He murmured, and the Phoenix Wing reared up as Treo prepared for a landing.
"What are you doing, Treo? We're not even near the site," Fafner said over the ship's landing fires.
"We can't get any closer, or they'll realize we're here. This is only a stake-out right now, remember?" Fafner was about to say something, probably 'Oh,' but at that second, the Phoenix Wing landed with a huge thump that threw everybody but Mëm and Treo to the back of the ship.
"Are we going to use the hologuise or just sneak around like spies?" Kiah said half-sarcastically.
"The hologuises will probably be detected by our own stuff. Remember that they have Siven and Abrena's tech? Coir equipped it with the hologuise penetration." Treo said, and they nodded.
"Then should we take weapons?"
Fafner was the one who answered this time. "We can't take any metal, but Kiah can take her staff and Treo can take his arrow amplifier, but that's it. We'll even have to leave our communications and armor in the ship." Kiah began unloading her weapons she'd packed, and Fafner put down his gun reluctantly. That gun was his baby, his only physical weapon.
Treo laid down all the armor and weapons he'd packed, which were quite a few, and Mëm sat silently, waiting for them. She never carried much metal on her, except for her sword, and that was currently being repaired because she'd killed an acidic monster with it, almost melting the blade.
They quietly stepped out of the ship, careful to check for the creatures even this far out. They neared the site, and as soon as Kiah came within sight of the unity cross, she felt the crushing aura of the creatures, only much stronger than any they had ever encountered before. They gathered behind an old wall, and Fafner and Treo glanced around the corner. Both of them turned back around, pale.
"They're there, all right. Dozens of them. I didn't see the two most powerful ones, though, the imposters." Fafner said, and Treo shook his head.
"We need to split up, because we must find out where those two, or more, are residing so that Coir can get us a plan." He said, and Kiah nodded.
"Mëm, you and Kiah are the fastest, so you two can go and scout out the big ones." Kiah briefly thought about making a comment on how cowardly they were, but decided against it as Mëm was already dashing from behind the wall. Kiah ducked low and ran after her, leaving the protective wall behind. They stopped behind another ruin, Kiah breathing hard.
"So far, so good. The guys'll be covering our backs from their spot, and we have to find the big monsters." Mëm merely nodded, getting ready to dash out again. Kiah only had the faintest idea of how she could be so quick and know exactly when to run when she was blind, and it had to do with her heightened senses and the vibrations. She always got lost if it was explained to her. She watched Mëm duck behind shelter again, and waited for her own chance. She couldn't know without looking, so she took her own peek around the corner. She saw immediately why Treo and Fafner had turned pale. There were at least twenty-eight of the things out there, most of them normal-sized, but a couple hunkering over the rest like skyscrapers. None of the units hardly ever had to fight the huge ones, because they were powerful, but stupid enough to get into territory fights and blow each other up.
She waited until the way was clear and raced next to Mëm. She looked around the corner and was taken aback. She found herself looking at Abrena and Siven. They had been bound to crosses like some morbid crucified sacrifices, and both looked barely alive. She turned back to Mëm.
"Are they…dead?" Mëm shook her head.
"Not at all. They'll recover quickly if we can get them out—"she cut off in mid-sentence, inhaling sharply. "Look over again. I can feel the big ones." Kiah peered over the corner again, and sure enough, there were Siven and Abrena, still on the crosses, but in front of them were copies of themselves.
"Are you still not willing to give up the location of the rest of your partners, human?" the one imitating Abrena growled to Siven's form. The monster slapped him hard so that he woke, and she repeated the question. "Hmph…never…" he chuckled weakly, a hint of his former arrogance still in his voice, and Kiah felt a warm rush of gratitude for Siven.
"You think your heroics will save you? Or maybe your friends?" imposter Siven asked, waking Abrena at the same time.
"Like we'll…tell you…anythin'." She muttered, her yellow eyes turning up to meet eyes of the exact same color and shape.
"You will. Yes, you will. It's only a matter of time before your bodies break and you give in."
Abrena gave a feeble but mocking laugh. "You haven't studied humans enough, have ya? Our bodies are already at their limits. Anymore, and you'll kill us."
Imposter Siven picked up her own weapon, as if he were going to threaten her with it. He skipped threatening completely and drew the daggers, stabbing her in each shoulder. She merely laughed, making them even angrier. Imposter Abrena growled, her form giving out. She turned back into her original form, a deep red monster with a hideous smile stretching across its sickening face. It swiped a clawed misshapen hand against Siven's cheek, sending blood spraying.
"We'll be back later, and I hope by then you'll have decided more wisely." It rasped in gravelly harsh tones that sounded as if it had gargled with razor blades. It bounded off, Imposter Siven turning after her. Kiah made a move to rush to her beaten friends, but Mëm stopped her.
"We are only scouting, remember? We can't handle any of these monsters without a plan of attack. We have to wait. Let me listen and hear where the big ones are going." Mëm listened, Kiah as silent as possible, and finally she opened her useless eyes.
"I know where they are. We can go back to the ship." Kiah nodded, and they began the careful sprint back to their waiting comrades.
"Did you find them?" asked Treo, and Kiah smiled evilly, feeling starved for violence.
"Which one? We found everyone." They went back to the ship; Treo automatically starting for the communicator.
"Phoenix Wing to Base, do you read me?"
No answer, no reassuring crackles from Coir's side.
"This is Unit two, finishing the stake-out of the old cathedral site." Just as Kiah began to worry, Coir appeared, looking dazed.
"Yeah? Oh, yeah. You finished. Plan; plan…" he said, disappearing again temporarily.
"You okay, Coir?" Treo said, and he reappeared, looking less stunned.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just…found something out." Treo glanced back at Fafner and Kiah shrugging.
"What is it?"
He shook his head. "It's not important now. Right now, Unit one retrieval is most important. How many big ones were there?"
Mëm spoke up. "Only the two, but I counted forty-two complete auras around the entire site and in town." The regular monsters. Kiah had forgotten about them.
"Alright, this should be a lot easier. Send me a layout of the site with hotspots marked." Mëm one-upped him, drawing out the entire map, giving Siven and Abrena's location, the big ones' locations, and moving holo-dots of all the regulars. It was an amazing map. She sent the file to Coir, but kept a copy of it open on the floor display screen. Coir looked it over, impressed with the tracking dots.
"Awesome, Mëm, this'll come in handy for both me and you." He examined it a couple more seconds, reappearing on the screen looking happy.
"All four of you have your separate jobs. Here's the deal. Treo, you stay at the wheel of the Phoenix, ready for medical emergencies." Treo raised an eyebrow.
"I was expecting you to say 'Get ready for a quick escape.'"
Coir shook his head. "Nope. You won't need one, because Mëm'll take care of all the regular creatures. She'll also be the first one the monsters will see. Unit three will free Siven and Abrena while Mëm serves as distraction. Then unit three will take unit one back to the ship and return to help Mëm beat the last of them."
Kiah nodded, impressed. It was a good, simple plan.
"Just one problem, Coir," Fafner said, and Coir looked at him from the screen. "What about our weapons? We can't use any armor or weapons because they have unit one's stuff." Coir grinned.
"Here's the tricky but cool part. I'll deactivate all machinery for two minutes, or at least until Mëm reaches the site and can serve as a distraction. That way, you can put on all the communications and armor you need, because by the time they'll be able to detect you, they'll have their hands full dealing with Mëm, so they won't have enough time to see you and Kiah help Siven and Abrena out." They nodded. "Put on the shard-radios so that I can see exactly what's going on in case something goes wrong."
The shard-radios were tiny little one-way microphones and cameras that allowed Coir to see exactly what they saw and give them instructions from his computer. They were one of the many things he had invented to make him at least participate in field missions. Mëm, Fafner, and Kiah all grabbed a radio after stocking up on their weapons again.
"Okay, Coir, power off."
He obliged, and their connection went dead. So did their weapons, communication, and the Phoenix Wing itself. In the midst of the dark Mëm found the door, letting light in.
"Let's get going."
The three of them slipped out the door, leaving Treo in the dark. They neared the site, and Mëm went off in her own direction. She made her way back to the original wall they had used for shelter, and Coir waited until unit three had reached unit one before he switched the power back on again. There were roars as the monsters realized Mëm was there, and she quickly glided out from behind the wall, beginning her assault on the monsters single-handedly. Kiah directed her shard-radio's camera at Siven and Abrena, waiting for Coir's signal.
"Okay, the map's clear. All the monsters have begun fighting Mëm. Go!"
Fafner and Kiah darted out from their cover, each of them going for a target. As they began untying the ropes binding them to the crosses, Siven and Abrena woke up.
"Fafner! Kiah!"
Kiah silenced them with a frantic shake of the head, gesturing toward the fight between Mëm and the monsters. Siven's eyes grew wide, and they were quiet as they were freed. Kiah and Fafner carried them back to the ship, where Treo immediately sedated them and began medical treatment.
"Unit three here, targets acquired. Heading for site one to join Mëm."
Coir answered back with, "Be careful. The big ones haven't come out yet. I don't know what they're playing at, but they're not anywhere near our equipment, so I suspect they're somehow sleeping through this. Mëm is almost done with the regulars."
Fafner and Kiah quickly joined the brawl, finishing off the last dozen cackling monsters. Mëm wasn't even breathing hard, but she had blood on her; whether it was the monsters' or hers, Kiah didn't know.
"Objective complete." Kiah panted, and Coir said to all three of them, "The big ones are still in the cathedral ruins to your right. Careful." They slowly made their way around to the back of the cathedral ruins, and Fafner looked in one of the windows cautiously. He turned back, mouth open in shock. "It's a trap!" he yelled, just as the creatures came flooding out in a torrent. They were only regulars, but there were at least two hundred, and the imposter monsters were grinning as they watched the ambush.
"You didn't know we'd altered the machinery, did you? We knew all along your machinery was still controlled by the main panel, so we just modified the equipment a bit."
They ignored them, too busy battling their minions. Kiah barely avoided being blown up by one of the things, and as she impaled one of the smaller flying things, she thought of something.
"Fafner, lend me a bullet!"
He quickly jumped back, unloading a single cartridge from his gun and tossing it to her without questioning. She quickly jammed the Arc Shell with the cartridge, and then, dodging claws, she bit one of the wires of the Blossomb, running it into the end of the lodged bullet.
"Cover your mouths!" she screamed to her companions, and threw the makeshift weapon. It exploded, but not in the way it was ever intended by its creator. The Arc Shell went off first, sending out the electricity, but it was mixed with the poison from Fafner's bullet, meaning the lightning was as poisonous as a pit of vipers. The voltage spread from one monster to the next, first electrocuting them and then sending a shock of fatal venom through their ugly distorted bodies. Almost all of them exploded in a series of blasts when the shock had faded. Then the last effect hit. The Blossomb connected to the cartridge burst as the last of the energy spread through the last of the poison in the bullet, causing a massive explosion that, true to its title, blossomed out, enveloping them all in its lethal yellow-blue blast. Kiah felt her ears pop, and she curled up in a ball, trying to cover up both her ears and eyes. When the dust cleared, she slowly opened her eyes. Fafner was blinking, astonished, in the bright sunlight, and Mëm was already up, surveying the damage. The cathedral ruins, or what had been left in the first place, had been razed over, leveled completely. Kiah laughed, getting up and cheering. There was blood and dismemebered limbs everywhere, and they would have to get rid of them, but for now the job was done. They had rescued their teammates and gotten rid of every single one of the creatures.
She heard Coir say in her shard-radio, "Don't start cheering yet!"
At the same time, Kiah was thrown several feet into the air and then backwards, landing hard on the unforgiving stone of the cathedral. She looked up, pain wracking her ribs. There, standing before her, was one of the big ones. She didn't know whether it had been one of the imposters, because it was now back in its original form, a scarlet beast with a two huge claws and the trademark enormous grin. She glanced at her comrades; Fafner was cornered by a cackling monster that moved faster than she'd ever seen them move, and Mëm was warily moving around a third one; this monster had red and deep purple splotches, no legs, and chilling scythes attached to each arm .
"Yes, little human, there were three of us all along. But you and your overestimating will cost you dearly. Your life, in fact, will be the price." With these gravelly, fairly cheesy words, the monster leapt at her. As if on cue, his buddies began lumbering (or floating, in Mëm's monster's case) toward their prey as well. Kiah, on instinct, began dodging the creature even though she knew it was hopeless. Come on, brilliant ideas, she thought to herself, Save us. She knew she had used up her little luck, though, and continued avoiding the monster's advances frantically. The creature swiped at her, and she was surprised as the disgusting thing turned white with spirit power and struck her across the chest. She jumped back, trying to hold all the blood in with one hand. She glanced again at her compatriots. Mëm was blocking the beast more easily than her, but she wasn't getting in any good blows, either. Fafner was shooting bullet after bullet at the creature, but they weren't hitting because his monster was dodging at an inhuman speed, taunting him and striking him softly each time, just to show him it was toying with him. None of them were doing well, and the fact that these monsters were still laughing and not exploding was a very, very bad thing.
"You don't really think you have time to watch them, do you?" her monster asked, diving at her and striking again, this time clawing her shoulder brutally. She stumbled back in pain, and landed on her back. Her monster laughed, a grating sound that made her shrink back. She felt something push against her back. She rolled over, pulling it out. It was the Phantom. The idea she had been hoping for came to her.
"Fafner, Mëm! Gather into the center with me!" she yelled to them, and the monsters turned.
"Like we're going to let you execute your plan." The yellow-and-orange beast snarled, and all three of them moved to the inside, blocking their passage to the center. Perfect. Kiah pulled out the tiny key, and tossed the Phantom into the center, between all three of the creatures. It exploded, and a huge half-sphere encompassed them completely, and they froze, lost in the confusion of the loss of their senses.
"Move quickly, I don't know how long it lasts!" Kiah screamed at them, and the three of them finished off their creatures.
"God, it's finally o—"
"Move, Kiah!" cried Fafner, and Kiah turned to see another big one, poised over her, ready to kill. Then it was dead, blood running from the single red spot on its forehead, and it laughed one last time before blowing up in a blast of red. It had been shot. Kiah, Fafner, and Mëm turned to see Siven, standing with Abrena, and he had his gun out, smoke still coming from the muzzle.
"Yes, little bastard, there were six of us all along. You and your overestimating will cost you dearly." Kiah cheered, and then she collapsed.
"Kiah?!" Fafner cried, running to her side. Her view blurred in and out of focus as she heard Abrena murmur, "She's lost a lot of blood. We need to carry her back to Phoenix." Then she blacked out.
She woke back in the base, with Coir and Abrena standing over her. "Oy, she's awake," Abrena said in her heavy accent. Coir brightened as she blinked to clear her vision.
"How's everybody?" she muttered, her mouth incredibly parched.
"Everyone's fine. Siven and Abrena's wounds were superficial because of Abrena's heal-field, so you received the worst damage." Siven shoved to her side.
"No fair, Kiah! You got to try out the Phantom!" Fafner pushed in beside him.
"But it saved all of us, that and the crude triple combo." Lumé threw them both out of the way, hugging her. Surprisingly, she didn't feel a jolt of pain from her wounds.
"That was some awesome thinking, Kiah!" she cheered, and Treo squeezed in, grinning.
"I'm smart enough to have done the same thing, but Coir just had to stick me with medical techie." Mëm stayed where she was, at the other side of them room, silent and deep in contemplation.
"You can get up now, your wounds weren't bad enough for Abrena to not be able to heal them."
She sat up, blood rushing to her head.
"Whoa…"
"You'll be dizzy the next coupla hours, tema? I had to give ya a blood transfusion, so the blood's takin' its sweet heavenly time working into ya system." She grinned, and then they all backed off as she got up.
"Thanks, Abrena. I feel good as new." She waved, her golden eyes glowing warmly.
"S'no problem."
"We got all the big ones in the place, and were fortunate enough to handle all the little ones as well. We got lucky this time, because those guys certainly were a much bigger deal than our usual missions," Coir said, leaning against the wall. Treo shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts.
"Hey, Coir what was it you found out? You said it wasn't important and we'd talk about it when we got back?"