Might as well return to work. I'll try to pick up update speeds, since I'm out of school for a while. College winter breaks are awesome.
Frank Lyte, Greg Darc, and Samus were alone, facing the strange insect-like machine of the space pirates. They were the only 3 on both sides of the firefight that had survived. One thing Samus almost immediately noticed about the other two soldiers was that Frank, unlike Greg, was serious and emotionless. Greg was slightly more naive. He had probably never seen battle until today, and Samus was willing to bet the memory would haunt him forever. She wasn't immune to the after effects of the battle, despite her ability to conceal her emotions. She turned her thoughts back to the cybernetic weapon. Weavel claimed it was immune to her weapons, but that could be false. Everything in her experience had a weakness, even things considered to be invincible. It was just a matter of finding the weakness and exploiting it. The machine had a human-like torso, with glowing red lights where eyes would be. She was better those were visual cameras, so Weavel was able to see the battle through the machine's vision. She doubted that Weavel was actually controlling the machine remotely. He could see the fight, but had no part in it.
The machine's body was held up by 6 mechanical legs, giving it the appearance of an insect. It had 4 additional limbs, each holding a weapon. Samus studied the weapons carefully. One was a Blue Pulse gun, another was one of the weapons that fired miniature explosive shells. A third appeared to be an energy blade, much like Weavel's Half-turret blade. The fourth was a targeting laser cannon. So the machine could fight at both close and long range combat. The entire surface of the machine was bronze colored, except the 'head' which was black. "Ready?" she muttered to Frank, who nodded grimly, readying his weapon. Greg nodded affirmatively, aiming his gun as well. Samus fired a missile at the machine, but it reacted immediately, firing a burst of energy from the laser cannon, intercepting the missile and destroying it. Samus scowled, but a thought came to mind. If the machine was immune, why bother countering it? It reminded her of the battle with the Dark League's Dark Dragon, where Spire noted the dragon only blocked certain attacks, while ignoring the others. Next to her, Frank had fired a laser burst at one of the machine's arms, trying to cripple the weapons. The machine moved its arm, the shot missing. Greg focused his weapon fire at the machine's legs, but the machine backtracked, the shots all coming short or overshooting.
"Don't worry, General. The machine's defense maneuvers are perfect." the Space Pirate officer assured Weavel, who scowled slightly.
"Why bother with defense? There are 3 opponents. If this machine is as powerful as advertised, it should be able to finish them quickly." Weavel replied coldly. The officer nodded nervously and spoke quickly into a communication device.
Samus fired more missiles, hoping one would strike the machine before being intercepted and suddenly, Weavel's voice came from the machine again.
"By now you realized the machine's defensive abilities are more than a match for you. Now try the offensive abilities!" Weavel laughed coldly and the machine raised its weapons. Samus gasped as a pulse of blue energy flew at her. She dove aside, rolling as she hit the ground, and ducked behind a small rock shelter. A small shell exploded overhead and she ducked from behind the shelter and fired missiles. A laser shot intercepted the missiles, one shot narrowly missing her head. Frank and Greg were unsheltered, firing their weapons bravely at the machine's limbs, but the machine continued to sidestep and dodge the shots with ease.
"We're not getting anywhere with this!" Greg muttered angrily, moving forward slightly, still firing at the machine's legs.
"Careful, private!" Frank said worriedly, watching the weapons carefully. This was not going to be easy, but they had to stop the machine. If they couldn't, the Federation base was in danger. Almost as if the machine could read his thoughts, the laser cannon jerked upwards, firing a powerful burst at the base itself. "Damn it!" Frank muttered, throwing a large stone at the beam, intercepting a portion of the blast. The laser hit the base, creating a small crater in the wall. It would ordinarily have blasted half the wall apart. Frank had to duck as a pulse of energy was fired at him, missing by a hair. Meanwhile, Greg was now trying to avoid the spinning energy blade, as the machine advanced upon him, slashing the arm that held the sword-like energy beam. Greg tripped backwards over a large boulder, firing up at the machine, to no effect. The machine's body was immune to the laser rifle he held. Desperately, he tried to crawl backwards, as the energy blade was slammed down towards him. Samus, noticing the danger, fired an Imperialist shot from her temporary shelter, hitting the arm that clutched the blade. It jerked, the blade slicing only a minor gash across Greg's chest.
"Ah! That hurts!" Greg muttered, clutching the wound. The machine raised the arm to repeat the intended attack, and Greg rolled to the side, the blade missing by an inch, sending sparks as it struck the rocky ground, slicing through the rocks with terrifying ease. A second slower and he'd have been sliced in two. He fired his rifle at the weapons the machine was firing at Samus and Frank, hoping to at least disable one of them. The explosive weapon fired, the shell striking the base's gate, blowing a small, neat hole in the door. Greg took the opportunity and fired, hitting the mechanical claw holding the weapon. To his delight, the weapon fell and he managed to grab it, just as the energy blade swung towards him. "Least I'll be remembered." Greg thought to himself as he fired the weapon. The small, powerful shell exploded as it struck the machine's chest, doing no significant damage. He rolled as quickly as he could forwards, yelling in agony as the blade hit flesh and he collapsed, fighting the pain he was experiencing. He couldn't feel anything below his left knee. The energy blade had sliced it completely off. "Focus, Darc." he muttered to himself, firing the explosive shell at the offending arm clutching the blade. The arm shattered easily, proving either the inefficiency of the armor on the limbs, or the sheer power of the explosive shells. Greg was willing to bet his remaining leg that it was the second one.
"Greg!" Frank yelled in horror, probably just realizing the private's lower left leg was gone. Greg reached his arm desperately for the fallen energy blade, which was sizzling softly. He heard Frank firing his weapon at the machine and knew the machine must have aimed a weapon at him. He glanced up, seeing the blue pulse gun pointing at him. He lunged his weight forward, grabbing the energy sword's hilt and tried to prop his body up. He saw a brief flash of blue, felt it come into contact with his body, the force of the burst lifting him upright. "NO!" Frank yelled.
"Remember me..." Greg gasped, falling forward. Before darkness overcame him, he heard the energy blade sizzle. Even as his mind began to blank, he smiled ever so slightly before he knew no more.
Samus stared in mute horror as Greg was propelled upright by the blue pulse that struck his body. Frank let out a yell of horror, and Samus turned away for a moment. She knew Greg was dead. The pulse killed the target within seconds. He fell forward, still clutching the energy blade. She let out a shout of both shock and, inappropriate as it was, glee when she noticed that Greg fell at an angle so that the energy blade began cutting through the machine, severing the delicate mechanics of the cybernetic weapon. As Greg hit the ground, the blade fell from his limp grasp. The machine froze in place before falling to the ground as well, cut nearly completely in two, the red 'eyes' blinking before shutting off. Samus and Frank rushed towards their fallen comrade, knowing he was dead, but at the same time wishing that by some miracle he was alive. Frank quickly examined Greg's body, nodding solemnly. Samus carefully examined the machine, nodding as she ensured it was non-functional. She picked up the fallen energy blade, deactivating the blade's energy source. "He wants to be remembered." Frank said dully, a lone tear falling from his face. Samus nodded.
"He will be. He saved us, and the Federation troops in the base. He risked his life to stop this machine, and lost his life accomplishing it." Samus said. "Let's make sure his sacrifice was not in vain. This war must end before thousands more die." she said, leading the way back to the base. Frank followed, carrying the Greg's body with him. Ordinarily, Samus would have protested, but she knew that this time, the right thing to do would be to honor Greg's life, and his sacrifice. The horror of the battle had never been as awful as right then, at that moment.
"What happened?" Weavel asked dangerously to the officer, who stared at the visual with horror.
"I don't know General. The machine should have been able to survive any weaponry the Federation and Samus have!" the officer protested. Weavel scowled.
"It DID survive the Federation's weapons. Why was the machine given an energy sword? That can cut through almost ANYTHING!" Weavel shouted, withdrawing his own energy sword, which ordinarily was attached to his Half-turret, but since he was unlikely to use the tactic as a General, seemed more useful as a personal weapon. "Why weren't the machine's arms specially reinforced to prevent its own weapons from damaging them? The sword wouldn't have fallen to the soldier if the arm hadn't been damaged!" Weavel yelled.
"I didn't design the weapon, General. I merely have communication between you and the pirates who control the machine." the officer pleaded and Weavel scowled, before returning his gaze to the visual.
"We must withdraw for now. We aren't prepared for a second strike yet." Weavel said quietly and the officer nodded.
"General, you have a message. Source unknown, but the sender wishes to meet with you." the officer reported abruptly. Weavel turned to face the officer, puzzled.
"Where does this being wish to meet me?" Weavel asked coldly. The officer faltered.
"He said he'd send another message after, and I quote, 'Your machine is destroyed by a soldier's sacrifice'." the officer replied and Weavel's eyes widened in absolute shock.
"What did he say?" Weavel gasped, positive he had to have heard that wrong.
"The message was sent only a few minutes ago, but it said if you're interested in meeting him, he'll send a message with details after your machine is destroyed by a soldier's sacrifice." the officer stammered, unsure of Weavel's temperment. Weavel stared at the officer blankly for another second, processing the unusual information.
"I'm interested. Very interested." Weavel said softly, mind working frantically. Who could have known either about the machine, or the cause for its destruction...before it happened?
Servu stared at the visual and laughed. "For something so powerful, it fell so easily." he chuckled. Trek nodded and smiled eeriely.
"Indeed. Much like yourself. You are also very powerful, but your arrogance is your downfall. Weavel thought that gadget was invincible, but it was no match for its own abilities. Those energy swords are perhaps the strongest and most effective weapon ever designed, at least for close range. It's destiny, for observe..." Trek said, reaching for the cards he placed aside earlier, but Servu grabbed them first and gaped.
"The 'Destruction' and 'Sacrifice' cards?" Servu asked with shock, grabbing the paper Trek had placed with the cards. "The cards were Destruction, symbolizing the defeat of a great power, and Sacrifice, victory at a cost. The card at the top of the tarot deck symbolizes the victor. Servu will draw it after shuffling it, and will prove destiny is no hoax." Servu read, scowling at Trek.
"Go ahead, Servu. Shuffle and draw." Trek said calmly, watching the red kriken with a smirk. Servu seized the tarot deck and shuffled quickly, eye glaring at the yellow kriken. He flipped the top card and his jaw dropped.
"Still skeptical are we? The card you should have drawn is 'Invaders', upside down. Since the Federation controls this area, the invaders are the Space Pirates. With the card upside down, it symbolizes that the Invaders lost." Trek explained, not even looking at the card. Servu stared at Trek in surprise, then suspicion.
"How do you know?" Servu challenged. Trek chuckled.
"I saw the outcome of the battle long before the battle occured. Now, the question is your path, Servu. Do you do what you are destined to? I have an appointment soon, so you better make your choice." Trek said, retrieving the deck and cards and shuffling. He flipped a card and smiled. "I know your choice, Servu. You have your chance to change it now." he said with an eerie smirk. Servu glared at him.
"Are we back to the 'kill the Emperor' thing again?" Servu asked angrily. Trek smiled again.
"That depends on your view. I cannot force you to kill the Emperor, nor will I prevent you from doing so. It's your decision, Servu." Trek said, standing and walking through a wall panel behind the desk. Servu scowled and turned back towards the docking bay. He reached his ship and took off, pondering the question in his mind. He noticed he had a new message and quickly responded to it.
"Damn him!" Servu swore. The image of Trek's 'The Black Kriken' card appeared, placed upside down. "He knew what I planned! How the hell does he do that?" he muttered angrily. A second message popped up and Servu answered it.
"Destiny, Servu." Trek's voice laughed, echoing in Servu's mind as he flew his ship away from the Destiny Space Station.
I think this is my longest chapter ever.