Ambition of the Illuminous: Lands of War

Episode 2: From the Abyss and Beyond

Chapter 4: Ultimate Misinterpretation

Her screams were loud, clear and deafening. It was like the unheard war cry from hell beating against the ear drums of the Guardians. It seems this development was more than enough to satisfy Howzer, because he was the only one making noise except for the seem-to-be out of control Sierra. Some Fortefighters and Wartechers were even clutching their ears in pain. Rayo, as alert as ever, was getting ready to leave his post to help, but he was stopped quickly by Sen's arm.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sen didn't even look at him.

"It's not safe. I can see it from here." Rayo's face showed anger inside his helmet.

"More like she's in pain!" Rayo shouted. Sen stayed still.

"More like everybody else will be if we're not careful." Rayo face changed from anger to confusion.

"What do you mean?" Sen pointed to the main battle field.

"You're about to find out." Rayo looked on in horror at what he saw next...

...Sierra at that moment just stopped screaming and curled up into a ball for her own self defence. The nearest Guardian came to her aid.

"Excuse me miss, are you ok?" He asked softly. Her head turned to him and the expression he got back made him flinch. She wore a demented smile on her face while giggling like she was possessed. Too shocked to give a reaction, the Fortefighter was frozen in terror while she was laughing. Her expression turned instantly from amused to rage as she grabbed him by the throat and threw him into the crowd of the rest of the Guardians. The Guardians around her instantly drew her weapons, but Sierra was far from phased.

"Bring it!" She screamed which caused an immediate reaction out of Laia.

"Suppress her!"

The first wave of oncoming fighters was knocked back instantly as Sierra casted Regrants. She instantly threw out her whip and caught the nearest Wartecher and swung him around in a circle knocking out all oncoming Guardians. Another Fortefighter cam charging in from behind her and leaped into the air with Bukuu Rensen-Ga. Sierra caught him on the way down with an upward thrust to the groin with her light Blackheart, the results were obvious. He crashed the ground in pain while Sierra swiftly moving on to the next Guardian slashing him down with no remorse.

"Laia, were almost out of mainstream fighters. She's just too strong." Laia was already working on it.

"Send in any Fighgunners or Acrofighters we have and set the gunners to aim for the Warship." The Guardian nodded quickly and ran off to give the orders. Laia got ready to charge the Fighgunners and Arcofighters into battle.

Sierra was making light work with anything with two legs. As one came charging in with an Anga Dugrega, she sliced through the axe on the upstroke and caught the Fighter behind it with the down stroke. She then chained the slash into a spinning strike and jumped from fighter to fighter while cutting them down. As she got on the last bit of the combo, she drop kicked through the circle of fighters sending them flying and knocked them out. Anything else that came charging at her was swiftly frozen in place with a quick Gibarta spell and the wiped out with a Gifoie follow up.

After beating through the front line, she was met with a bunch of Acrofighters readying there slicers. Her lips curved into a small smile of satisfaction as the grip on her weapon tightened.

"Fire!" Laia roared as the let loose a barrage of ninja stars and throwing blades. Sierra cast a simple Regrants and knocked all oncoming fire off course. They then switched to single handed weapons and charged at her. She let off a ferocious war cry and ran at them with every intention to take them down.

With Rayo, Sen and Eugy, the watched as Sierra mindlessly slaughtered a group of Acrofighters in awe. They could not believe that she had ripped through everyone to get where she was now and still advancing at tremendous speed. Sen watched what was strange in her pattern of direction and decided that it was now time for action.

"Alright Rayo, stay here. We're going to buy you sometime." Eugy looked at her shocked.

"We?" Sen nodded.

"I know that you would rather not have him end up dead." She nodded and drew here Okanoh. Her face flushed before nodding with newly formed determination.

"Let's go!" She cried as the two ran off to the battle field below.

"This does not look good." He said to himself simply and waited for the madness to end.

As Sierra clean out the last of the Fighgunners, she noticed that there were two remaining. It was just any two though that was left, it was Red Ghost and Blitza left. Sierra smiled ever so slightly at the two challengers. She readied her Blackheart and drew a stance. Both of them looked at each other before nodding. Before they made their move, two of the front lines Guardians were left. Chiyoko and Faynt Light drag themselves her way. As soon as the all charged Sierra readied herself to take Blitza out first. She parried Red Ghost's Blackheart with her own and then rewarded her with a kick to the chest that sent her back a few feet. To Faynt's surprise she received a reverse elbow strike to the face that knocked her off her feet. Chiyoko managed to get her first swing off but got a knee to the chest before the second one could land. Blitza was the last one to come charging in but was stopped with a swift kick to the groin. He instantly doubled over in pain then dropped to his knees, holding his crouch. Thinking she done enough, she walked off without looking back until she heard a voice.

"Don't make me do it..." She heard a very high pitch Blitza say. She laughed out loud.

"Do your worst!" She told him. Blitza snapped.

"Animality!" Blitza roared as he Nano-blasted into his power form. The red aura from his newly transformed body pulsed like every new muscle on his body. He shook his head free before twisting the kinks from his temporary body.

"Fight me!" He barked. Sierra turned to him, and she was not impressed.

"Who the hell do you take me for!" She shouted at the top of her lungs as she launched off a ball of megid right at Blitza.

"Uh oh..." Caught wrong footed by this move was struck by the megid and incapacitated on impact. Then the megid drove through Red, Faynt and Chiyoko who were all recovering but the megid knocked them all out like dominos.

Sierra stalked on in Rayo's direction to only have Laia Martinez in her way. Laia's rough attitude was being was being shown as her determination to stop her in her tracks was loud and clear. Sierra smirked at the challenge, gestured her to make the first move. Never to put down a challenge, Laia charged at with fury and started the move off with a running spear attack. Sierra jumped over her and grabbed one of Laia's locks in the process. She pulled on it and Laia was forced right into Sierra's waiting shoulder. A little dazed after taking a shoulder block to the face, she didn't see Sierra pass behind her. Before she noticed that she was gone, Sierra picked her up by the neck from behind and raised her into the air. Laia felt she could barely breathe and was gasping for air. Sierra cut her gasps short by slamming her face into the ground. Laia couldn't even get up as she was on the edge of consciousness because should could barely get up. Sierra reached down and lifted her by the waist band of her pants and hoisted her into the air. Laia babble was completely incoherent as Sierra dropped her face first into the ground again and stepping on her as she walked past.

The next three in her way was Scarlet Starlet, Noxia and Kyta. Kyta shook nervously as she stood behind Scarlet and Noxia.

"This isn't a good idea you two..." Scarlet turned to her in determination.

"We can do this, you just have to be careful" Noxia turned around and nodded. Kyta nervously nodded back.

"Alright, be careful and I'll try to keep you healed." Kyta told them. Scarlet turned around and smiled.

Sierra walked up towards them like the angel of death. He next prey was before her and she was ready to take them.

"Sierra, stand down!" Scarlet ordered. Sierra only laughed.

"Make me bitch!" The synthetic blood vessel pulsed in Scarlet's forehead.

"Fire at will!" Scarlet and Noxia fired from their twin handguns repeatedly but was to be in vain when Sierra called up a huge Dambarta spell. The photon bullets and shells were deflected and rebounded off. Scarlet couldn't believe what she was seeing, it wasn't having any effect.

"Time to play..." Sierra whispered as she moved at the speed of light and appeared in front the two gunners. Totally stunned by surprised the two gunners couldn't react to the oncoming attack. Sierra spun around and gave a saber slash to Noxia's face while knocking her down in the process. With gained momentum, she backhanded Scarlet and sent her spinning to the ground. Kyta who back peddled before Sierra came, let off a few foie blasts in her direction. Sierra saw this and caught the fireballs in her right hand. Noxia then recovered and the switched to her dagger but she received a kick to the side from Sierra while her weapon was changing. Scarlet that got up, was nailed in the face when Sierra slammed her left elbow into her with no remorse. As Noxia struggled to get up Sierra grabbed a clump of her hair and pulled her into the ever growing rotating fireball she was holding. She submerged her hair and face in the fire against her muted screams of protests. Noxia was brought to tears before Sierra pulled her out and finished her off with a hard hitting left haymaker to the face. Sierra turned to Kyta who was scared stiff by her display, and placed her arms like she was Samus Aran and got ready to send the fireball back.

"Hellfire Cannon!" Sierra roared as she let go of the rotating fireball and with rocket speed (note: this looks like a level 40 foie). This hit the floor just in front of Kyta and the explosion looked like someone had just used a level 31+ rafoie. Kyta flew back blackened and smoked as she hit the ground with a muted thump. Scarlet watched now livid with fury.

"BITCH!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as she ran with only anger backing her up. Sierra saw this and smirked as she tripped Scarlet over and planted her saber into her chest.

"That's a shame..." Sierra brought down her other arm and a quick blast of Razonde hit directly where her saber was. Scarlet's screams where muted out by the sound of the thunder hitting her prone body. Sierra then trotted over to the seeming to be open Rayo who could only watch on.

Her pace was slow, her actions were wicked but her face seemed at peace. It seems that this was the real Sierra, because she looked comfortable where she was. The condition of her strange and twisted mind seemed to be absolute, but the downfall of her best friend seemed to be next until...

"Stop right there!" Eugy leaped out of cover while in mid-flight with a Jabroga. Sen was doing the same but with the second part of Dugrega was both stopped at the point of impact with a tremendously chilling gibarta. They watched in horror as Sierra planned her next course of action. She took a moment to inspect Eugy why she was encapsulated in her block of ice. Eugy's expression hardens as Sierra pressed her face into the solid surface. Eugy's expression changed again when Sierra lightly kissed the block of ice and stepped away from it. With a click of the fingers, Eugy and Sen were both released from their frozen prison. Both were taking gasps of air to get them self steady but they were interrupted as Sierra caught Sen to a knee to the face while she was crouching. Eugy tried to ambush Sierra when her back was turned and got caught by Sierra's hand to her face. As Sierra heighten her grip on the CAST female until Eugy began to cry out in pain. Sierra then threw Eugy up into the air and leapt up with her. At the height of the throw, Sierra towered above her body in midair and drover her down with a double thrust stomp to the back (Like Captain Falcon's meteor smash attack in Smash Bros). Eugy rocketed to earth with a tremendous crash to the floor. Sierra made sure that she landed directly on her back on the way down causing whatever was left of Eugy to cry out in pain.

Sen saw the end of this and tried to go to her but Sierra launched her upwards with a knee to the chest that hit her so hard that she performed several summersaults in the air before landing on Sierra's hand. Sen croaked out as she felt Sierra's hand violate her insides of her back. Her knife like hand twisted and turned to maximise the pain before slamming her into the ground. Sen spat out artificial blood as she withered on the floor wanting the pain to go away. For the first time today, Sierra looked back at everything she accomplished. Just a sea of bodies and it brought a sweet smile to her face. She then turned towards her target, Rayokarna aXcess.

Rayo had no-one else to defend him, but he wouldn't allow it now anyway, so many people have gone down already, he wanted to be the last one, if he was going down at all.

As the rain showered down on the two squaring off, all she could see was the dampened reaction through the eyes of his helmet. There was no doubt in her mind that this was wrong, but she feels that she needed to prove something. She looked up at his eyes, longing for an answer, he needed her, but she couldn't accept, not yet anyway. As she took step towards him, he backed a little, raising his Ank Dedda in light defence. She smiled mockingly at him, which caused him to flinch visibly. She dashed forward and made her move as her opponent prepared for impact.

"Sierra!" Someone called above them. Rayo looked up to see Howzer's Warship hovering above them. "Save him for another time. We have other plans!" Sierra looked up and nodded.

"Yes Lord Howzer." Rayo snapped. He charged at Sierra looking to grab her before she got away. But Sierra jumped up to grab the rope hovering above them. Rayo saw this at the last moment and jumper up too. He managed to grab the end bit of the rope but was kicked off it by Sierra; he just about landed on his feet. Out of anger he switched to his Hirokteri and began to fire random shots into the air hoping to get his Warship down but nothing happened except the bullets bouncing off.

"Damn it!" He cursed. He knows deep inside who should have done more. But it's just the way life turns in the end. He looked out upon the battle field at the carnage that has taken place today. Bodies lying everywhere, people screaming and blood all over the place. This was truly a dark day for the Guardians, and to bounce back from this will be more than difficult. At the Rayo was already on his communicator to HQ.

"HQ coming in, aXcess what's wrong?" Rayo took a gulp over the mic.

"We need a full scale clean up, it's an emergency. Call all medical staff and get them out here!" Mina sound confused.

"What happened!" Rayo took a deep breath.

"The fleet was wiped out." Mina almost choked.

"By what!"

"A Newman Acrotecher..."

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