Chapter 12: Unlimited Firearms
At last the day for my recommendation exam has come. I've spent the last few weeks watching other hopefuls take their recommendation exams. From what I can gather the exam changes according to the proctor. The exams range from something like a doubles team death matches (minus the death of course) to retrieving an Object hidden on a world. As such I've kept track of which proctor gives which exam so at the least I have some idea what's coming. But right now…I'm more concerned with actually getting to the exam location.
"Why'd you wake up so late?" Saya yelled out as we ran full speed towards the exam location.
I responded "Hey, Ange was the one who failed to tell me that I had accidently shut off the alarm in my sleep!"
"We can play the blame game or we can all haul ass…it's up to you two" innocently replied Ange.
Yeah you're just trying to shift the blame off yourself. But she does have a point. If I don't speed it up, I won't make it. Wait…speed it up? I gave myself a mental facepalm. I forgot all about Blitz, the speed enhancement spell Ange copied off of Fate. I asked Saya to stop and tell me the directions for the rest of the way. Upon getting the directions off of Saya I activated Ange, loaded up two cartridges per gauntlet and sped off. Thankfully Celestian airspace is like the German Autobahn: no speed limit. Hope I don't break any windows down below…
Thankfully I made in time to register for the exam. The registrar quickly led me off to where the exam was taking place. Entering the room I quickly felt singled out. From the looks of the various cups scattered about the room the others have been here for a while. Hmm that's weird…everyone seems to be off in pairs. I guess that means the exam is being done in groups of two.
"Sorry man but you're stuck with me" said one of them as he approached me.
I replied "Why would you be sorry? If anything I should be sorry for being late."
"The name's Jonathan Winchester. You probably should know that I have no other special power other than being able to slide. The only trump card I got is my Object, Unlimited Firearms" explained Jonathan.
Noticing that the proctor had entered the room I told him "Well better than nothing right? Anyway the proctor is here so we should probably listen up. Don't worry I won't hog all the action."
The proctor had everyone gather around the large screen in the room. A topographical map came onscreen. He explained that the exam is escorting a VIP down a mountainside. To throw in an additional obstacle there would be small clusters of Demon and enemy sliders along the path vying to stop us from getting the VIP down. Not surprisingly quite a few of those taking the exams were worried when they heard Demons and enemy sliders were involved. Considering my own run in with Demons I don't blame them. The proctor then added that this would all be done in a virtual setting, akin to that of a virtual reality game. Safety aside this would ensure everybody is taking the exact same exam. Those that were worried breathed a sigh of relief.
"However before you do the exam keep this in mind. If you're that scared about engaging hostile forces you should consider a position that doesn't involve fieldwork" finished the proctor. "You have 15 minutes to create a strategy. Once prep time is over I'll escort you all to the simulator. Good luck."
Everyone dispersed to their own part of the room. The room was filled with the hushed murmuring of people trying to come up with a strategy. Eventually Jon and I found a fairly secluded part of the room for us. Before we could discuss any strategies we had to first know what the other was capable of.
"Well like I said before I don't have any special powers. My Object lets me create any known firearm so long as it isn't magical or requires magic. One of the drawbacks is that when I summon a weapon is that it only has one magazine worth of ammo loaded. If I want more I'd have to summon the gun again which sometimes takes longer than the actual reloading process. On the plus side as long as it doesn't require magic or anything like it I can use whatever attachments or ammo I want. So now you know what I can do. What about you?"
"Unlike you I can use magic. Synthesis, Regeneration, flight, damage and enhancements are all the things I can do. For my primary weapon I use one or two swords called Hand Sonic. Speed and firepower are my primary strong points so I'm not exactly security escort material. I do have a homing ranged attack but it can't track unless I tag the target with a spell that acts like an IFF. My Intelligent Device, Ange, can provide me with an armor protected by an energy shield, a barrier and a HUD which displays enemy positions. So overall with some minor tweaking I can adjust as I need to."
The two of us looked over the map. This escort mission was gonna take longer than either of us thought. As for the path itself we divided it into sections we referred to as 'terraces' due to its geological structure. In all there were twenty of them, each one descending approximately 100 meters. Given my defensive capabilities I would be the one escorting the VIP. It was also my job to take out any enemy contacts that Jon can't or couldn't take out as well as those that are within my striking distance. Jon on the other hand would act as ranged support and scout out the area ahead for enemy units. After working out some specifics like where his sniping positions would be we got ready to undertake the exam.
"Prep time is up! Please follow me to simulation room!" ordered the proctor. We followed the proctor to a spacious room, made even more spacious by the fact it was completely white. He said "Please wait here while the simulation starts" and then left. A few moments later the pure white walls and floor were snaked by hundreds of what seemed like glowing conduits. With a blinding flash of white light our exam began.
Sure enough when we could finally see again we were on a mountain top. We walked over to where the path down began. Waiting there for us was a girl with long golden brown hair and violet eyes. When she spotted us she quickly ran over to us and introduced herself.
"I'm Alice Pendragon, nice to meet you both. Thanks for bailing me out. I was sent to scout this area after we had reports from Intel that there was an Object up here. Since I found nothing here I was about to head down. But then those guys showed up…"
Jon beat me to the punch by summoning a sniper rifle to look down the mountainside. "Well…I hope you can take out that many guys" he said as he handed me his sniper rifle. I looked through the scope and could see plenty of them all along the path down. So much for little clusters. And I'm pretty sure that's not all of them. There must at least be a few of them that have taken up hidden ambush positions.
"Jon start taking them out. The less there are, the easier it'll be for us to get down" I said.
"Are you insane? Look at how many of them there are!" he rebutted.
"Well they certainly aren't gonna kill themselves now are they?" I joked. He gave me a 'you good sir, are nuts' look. Nevertheless he started with his task, the thundering crack of his rifle echoing down, sending them scrambling for cover. "So, Alice…care for a stroll?" I asked her. "Don't mind if I do. Hope you can do your job properly" she said back. I hope so too, because if we don't its game over.
We proceeded down the first few terraces without resistance thanks to Jon's reluctant hard work. Though we were moving at a pretty brisk pace I still constantly checked my surroundings for any hidden hostiles. By the time we got to the seventh terrace we were finally being attacked by hostile forces. However they weren't much of a challenge. As we kept pressing on, the enemy resistance grew. We could still hear Jon hard at work but Alice noted that the time between shots was speeding up. That could only mean larger groups of enemies lay ahead. And sure enough our worst fears were realized.
"This isn't good. There's way too many of them down there. Not only that but they've started hiding behind cover and there's even some of them that are impervious to ballistics fire. I'll keep doing what I can but it won't be long before you'll have to deal with most of them yourself" Jon told us over the communicator I gave him before we started.
"It's going to get pretty crazy once we get to the last few terraces Alice" I said to her.
"So I hear. I wouldn't worry about it. After all I'm not completely unarmed" she replied. She took out an ornate longsword from an equally ornate sheath. She asked "So ready to slash our way through?" Working in tandem we kept clearing out group after group of enemies on each of the terrace. Those with the audacity to try and surprise us more or less tasted the edge of our blades. It's a good thing this AI can fight as well as she can. Soon we finally reached the last terrace before the end of the course.
"Hey Riku, Alice, watch it down there. The last group set fire to that last terrace so it might be a bit dangerous passing through there. I'll join up with you two in a couple minutes in case something goes wrong" warned Jon.
Just as Jon said the path ahead was lit on fire. Being cautious of enemy forces using this fire as a chance to ambush us I had Ange check the area for hostile contacts. "Well that's odd," she said, "there's a pretty huge enemy signature here but I don't see anything. And before you ask it isn't cloaked or anything." With the fire being an obstacle I synthesized some water to flood the path. As soon as the water touched the fire we heard what sounded like the pained cries of hundreds of people burning alive. Weird…fire doesn't scream.
A few moments later the ground shook as a large flaming beast rose up out of the ground. Its scales were like jagged pieces of obsidian while its main body was made of molten magma. A raging inferno burned all along its back and the pungent odour of burning flesh came off it. It once again let out what I considered was its roar.
"Oh that's why I didn't see it. It buried itself underground. Well partially at least" commented Ange. Yeah just a little late detecting where it was Ange. While I was at it I asked Ange as to what exactly this thing was. Unfortunately being a device of Midchildan origin it had little information on Demons. I asked both Alice and Jon if either one knew what it was.
"Salamander" the two replied in unison.
"Really that thing is called a Salamander? Who the hell came up with that? It looks like a dragon" I replied.
Alice explained that Salamanders were composed of the spirits of victims of fires and explosions. They seem to be a particularly rare type of Demon since the amount of spirits needed to create one is borderline ridiculous. Unfortunately she said it's much like a tank: explosive fireballs are its primary ranged attack and a torrent of flames are its secondary attack. On top of that its scales are as hard as diamonds. A living tank indeed.
Unfortunately it started firing off its explosive fireballs at us. When I tried to get closer for a hit it flooded the area in front of me with a wave of flames. Since I couldn't get close I tried to fire off Hell Hunt at it. It didn't finish it off but it at least did some damage. However all it did was enrage it further and it started to go berserk, raining down burning hot flames and explosive fireballs all around.
Seeing that the situation was grim Alice suggested "I'm not sure how true this is but I heard if you douse it with water it becomes weaker."
With few effective available options I unleashed a massive torrent of water down on it. A massively expanding cloud of scalding steam radiated from where the water hit the Salamander. I stood in between Alice and the cloud of steam using Phalanx to keep her from getting injured. Fortunately after the cloud dissipated it would seem that her suspicions were true. Everywhere the water made sufficiently long enough contact with the main body had solidified into brittle volcanic rock.
Not long after I heard Jon yell out "Fire in the hole!" A pair of rockets slammed into the Salamander's now exposed back. The twin explosions sent a shower of volcanic rock raining down on Alice and I but, they were thankfully deflected off by Distortion. While it seemed paralyzed from its injury I ran over to where the two rockets had blasted a sizeable crater on its back. Within the crater was a shining spherical object. Not knowing what it was I pulled it out. We all breathed a sigh of relief as the Salamander collapsed into a pile of ash and debris.
The same could not be said for my Barrier Jacket's shields. An alarm blared showing that holding the orb quickly decreased it down past the 10% mark. As soon as I realized what was happening I dropped it onto the ground where it broke. A myriad of what I could only think were the spirits that comprised the Salamander poured forth from the orb until it too was reduced to ash and debris. I made a mental note not to let my guard down until every possible threat was explored and eliminated, when possible.
With the final threat eliminated we headed to the end of the course. The simulated world around us began to dissolve away. As it did I heard Alice say "This isn't the last time we'll meet Riku…" in a rather unnerving manner. I hope that was just a glitch, not a Skynet in the making…
When our perception switched back to the simulation room everyone, proctor included, was looking at us with awestruck looks on their faces. What are they all worked up for? Jon and I seem to have finished last amongst all the other participants.
"Recommendations earned you two…" was all the stunned proctor managed to say before he dismissed everyone.
The proctor went into the control room for the simulation room where the previous group had just taken their exams. The technician in the room too had a stunned look on his face.
"The simulation for that pair exceeded the set parameters…by a lot" the technician managed to stutter out.
Regaining his composure the proctor asked "Whose recommendations were they trying to earn?"
"Furude's recommendation came from Commander Izumi while Winchester's came from a Vice-Commander I'm not too familiar with" he replied.
"Is there a possibility that High Command altered the simulation parameters?" asked the proctor trying to understand how what had just happened occurred.
"Negative. These simulations are all exactly the same for the purpose of acting as a control. However looking over the data now there seemed to be a third participant with them. And yes that third participant hacked in."
"An enemy spy?"
"Most likely. The source of the alteration came from the same system that the girl used."
"Good job. I'll alert other examination centers to check for such things although I think that Furude was their sole target. Highly unlikely that Winchester, who doesn't seem to have any power of his own, was the target. He could easily be an enemy agent as well so I'll have some Sliders keep an eye on him."
The proctor continued "But damn, that kid showed me up. Never in my whole career as a Slider field agent have I ever taken on that many contacts and a Salamander to top it off? I could see why Izumi chose that kid; he's got real potential. I look forward to seeing him in action on the field."
"I trust that assignment wasn't too difficult for such a great hero as you, Princess Pendragon?" inquired Serenity.
"As a Knight Errant, mind you this is a trope not my actual position, I don't dwell in any particular kingdom and thus rule over nothing. Neither am I considered a great hero" corrected Alice.
Serenity added however "Though it may be a necropolis now, Camelot is still a kingdom that is highly regarded. And do you not uphold justice where it does not reach? That to me is one way of defining a hero."
"The only princess that I am now is the Princess of Massacre. I'm hardly a shining example of the values of my father's once shining utopia, as such I don't even consider myself a hero in the making" she concluded.
"Don't get yourself down dear Princess. Nor should you let yourself be tied down by archaic conventions. I promise you that I'll aide you in destroying the organization that ordered the destruction of you beloved kingdom" reassured Serenity.
Alice didn't know why but recently it feels like she's just being strung along by Serenity. True organizations will have the odd corrupt faction. However the way Riku fought, both completing his mission flawlessly while keeping his 'comrades' safe, was admirable. How she wished she could be like that. Surely if there are people like him in their organization the razing of Camelot couldn't have been an official order.
Assuming it was unofficial…who was the one who gave the order?