"What are you? Elite?" He heard a voice behind him. "Order? Legion? Mantis? Dominion?" The unknown assailant pushed his weapon slightly against Carbon's head, threatening him. "Do you support the inklings?"
Carbon slowly raised his hands. "I… uh.." He cleared his throat, cold sweat beading down his forehead. He then reacted quickly, grabbing the unknown assailant's hand, as he pulled the trigger. He moved the gun away from him, nearly missing his suit as it fired wildly.
He elbowed the arm of the assailant, and disarmed him. He took the pistol, and aimed it at the assailant. "Who the hell are you?!"
The unknown soldier looked at Carbon in surprise, suddenly realizing that the tables had turned. He raised his hands into the air, and looked around. The soldier looked at Carbon's HAZMAT suit, and saw a blue hexagon printed on his shoulder. "T-The Hexago-" A loud crack sounded off from a distance, and the soldier fell down instantaneously.
"Shit!" Carbon dove to the ground, and shortly after, another shot sounded. The bullet hit the ground where he was exactly standing. He rolled sideways, as another shot was fired.
"I need to get out of here." Carbon stood up, and fled to the forest.
Armed with a flamethrower, a mysterious weapon, an assault rifle effective against inklings, and a knife. All those weapons were useless if he were to fight a five-front war.
He emerged from the forest, now on the other side, and he saw a multitude of soldiers, bearing different uniforms, fighting for their lives in a grass plains, littered with small villages and towns. He took the large, mysterious weapon and was confused on how to wield it.
"Maybe… no, that's not right." He tried to hold it like a gun, but it was too bulky. "Maybe like a… okay!" He held it like a rocket launcher, and aimed at the biggest one in the plains.
It seems that the Legion was fighting in the war, after all. A large, robot with crab-like legs, armed with a plethora of weapons walked around the field, firing at the other soldier with little to no problem at all. Carbon knelt down, and turned on the weapon. The weapon hummed, and Carbon aimed down the sights. In the holographic sight, everything was tinted red. Two circles were moving around, one seemed to be moving slowly while one seemed to be moving faster. He aimed it at the robot, and the circles locked in. The slow one immediately went to the robot, but the quick one circled the robot of a while before locking on. The circles went green, and Carbon pressed the trigger. He held his finger pressed on the trigger, letting the weapon charge up it's projectile. A small, dim red beam of light shot from the weapon, targeting the robot. It seemed to be penetrating it, but it did no damage. After a few seconds, the weapon finally fired.
It produced two more red beams of light, one at the left and one at the right. They slowly joined with the middle one, which locked on the robot and went brighter. With a single release of the trigger, Carbon instantly saw the robot being shot, a large hole appearing where the beam was originally pointing at. It fell shortly afterwards.
Carbon pressed a button on the weapon, and pulled the hatch where the battery was placed. He removed it, and replaced it with a new one. He closed the hatch and locked it in place. He then slung the weapon back on his back, and took the assault rifle.
"I have a Weaponized High-powered Particle Beam Accelerator." Carbon said in astonishment. He then pumped his fists, now knowing that he wielded a rare weapon, only made scarcely.
"The beam came from there!" He heard a voice come from nearby. He quickly ran away, holding his assault rifle in his hands.
"I'm going to name you, Artemis." He said, and pointed at the Particle Beam Accelerator. "And you. I'm going to name you Cyrrus." He pointed at his assault rifle.
He looked at Cyrrus and held it tightly on his hands. He traversed through thick dense foliage and punishing terrain.
It was about sunrise, when he found his first clear patch of land. A small village was nearby, also ransacked by the battle. He decided to go to the village, and wait for Marie and Callie.
He neared the village, sprinting to it with only the dark veil of night and the sound of gunfire drowning his footsteps and camouflaging him as he moved stealthily to the village. He slung Cyrrus back, and went closer.
He hid behind a house, and took deep breaths. It was then another man also had the same idea, and didn't notice him.
"I gotta get back to Adams." He said, breathing heavily as he looked back at the battlefield. It was then that he turned around, and saw Carbon. "Wh-" Loud bangs of gunfire sounded nearby, and the man fell dead.
Carbon covered his ears to shield them from the loud reports of the weapon being fired. It was louder than his weapons, maybe because that his weapons were used for swift, silent kills.
He ran to the other side of the house, and saw an open window. He got inside, and found himself inside a bedroom. Multiple soldiers were already inside, taking shelter from the outside elements.
Carbon hid beside the door. He knocked twice, and waited for someone to answer. A bit later, a soldier went inside. Carbon lunged from behind, and choked the soldier into submission. He went limp, and Carbon then hid him in a dresser. Carbon took out his knife, and sneaked outside. He wandered throughout the house, avoiding guards as much as possible.
As he neared the front door, someone came in. He immediately noticed Carbon. "Hey!" The soldier took his weapon, a gray assault rifle.
Carbon jumped to the side, taking cover behind an upturned table. The bullets penetrated the thin wooden table easily. "Why did I do this?!"
He chose between his weapons.
Artemis is too large and slow.
Cyrrus is only effective against inklings.
The flamethrower would just burn the house and everyone inside it.
Which means that the most effective weapon to use in this situation is…
The knife.
Carbon took out his knife, and gripped it. He waited for the perfect moment, and…
"We heard gunfire!" Another soldier appeared infront of Carbon. He then stabbed the knife on the soldier's knee, causing him to drop to the floor in pain. He removed the knife and then thrusted it to his head, killing him instantly. He then took the soldier's holstered pistol.
"Fuck! How do you use these things!?" Carbon said, as he loaded a round in the chamber and peeked out his cover. The opposing soldier then started firing at him again, but it ended shortly as he ran out of ammunition. Carbon then jumped out of cover, and pulled the trigger. It only fired one shot though, before it clicked.
"Fucking dick!" He cursed, before holding the pistol at it's barrel and smacking the soldier with it. The soldier staggered, and Carbon attacked instantly. He threw himself to the soldier, making them smash through the door. Outside, were multiple soldiers pointing their weapons at Carbon.
"You! Suited man! Drop all your weapons and we may spare you!" The one at the middle spoke, as he pointed his pistol at Carbon.
He was surrounded. Carbon looked back, and saw two more soldiers inside the house, pointing their weapons towards Carbon.
He looked at their uniforms, and saw emblems of different variations. Many were colored green, many were teal. Heck, some were even pink. But what really caught Carbon's eye was a cartoonish print of a squid, with two eyes on it.
Carbon slowly raised his hands. "I support the inklings." Carbon lied, and many seemed to believe it.
The commanding officer suddenly jabbed Carbon on the cheek. "Liar! We all know what you would do to these precious creatures!" He spat at Carbon, and went back into the crowd.
"But sir, he knew of their real names. Most of the resistance call them 'Squidmen' or other kinds of names." One soldier spoke.
"Like you said, most." The leader said, seemingly untrustworthy of Carbon. "He is a spy! Sent to us by the Resistance to crush the Order's plans!" He gestured to his men, and they made Carbon kneel. The leader went towards Carbon, and pointed the pistol at his head. "I know this all too well."
Carbon closed his eyes, waiting for his end. But then, a loud crack sounded across the field once more, surprising Carbon and the soldiers.
"What was that?" One of the soldiers asked their officer. The officer suddenly dropped his weapon., and knelt down on the ground. He held his neck, and struggled to breathe.
Blood then gushed out from a large hole located on the middle of his neck, piercing the jugular.
A metal ball then suddenly landed near Carbon, it's parts twisting around. "It's the Resistance!" The soldiers scattered, having no one to lead them. Carbon looked down at the metal ball, which glowed red and ticked rapidly.
"Fuck!" Carbon then grabbed the grenade, and threw it as hard as he can. It landed on some of the soldiers, and exploded. A fine red mist then replaced the once active soldiers.
It was then he heard new voices speak behind him. "Sweep the area! Make sure none of these fuckers ever survive!"
Carbon ran and dove towards a square hedge, and hid there. He saw soldiers, dressed in green tactical gear and held basic weapons. "For the Empire!" One shouted, and tackled one fleeing soldier. The inkling supporter was pinned to the ground. The Imperial soldier grabbed hold of his neck, and tried to choke him to death. The Inkling supporter, however, never gave up without a fight. He clawed at the Imperial, trying to get him away.
One Imperial soldier kicked the door to a house not far from where Carbon was hiding. It was after he had kicked the door, that the Imperial was then killed instantly by a grunt as he swung an axe at his head.
The village became a battlefield. Every soldier using dirty tricks to gain an upper hand against their opponent. Carbon looked around, and tried to escape by sprinting away, but his passage had been blocked by what it seems to be an Imperial soldier. The imperial was then killed by someone who shot him from the back.
Carbon then took his chances and decided to run away from the small town. He stood up, and sprinted away. Bullets whizzed around him as opposing factions fired at each other.
He then tripped on a rock. He hit his head on the ground, thankfully, the suit's language translator took the brunt of the force.
"Fuck!" Carbon cursed, as he felt the translator, which had been crushed by the fall.
An imperial soldier then grappled him from behind. Carbon jerked his head backwards, hitting the nose of the imperial. Carbon took his knife, and lunged at the Imperial. With one quick slice, blood came rushing out of his throat.
He continued his way, away from the village as the Empire and the Dominion fought their war.
"Fuck, the translator's been crushed." Carbon said, removing his suit and checking that broken translator. A large crack was seen, the translator almost cut in half. Carbon then wore his suit back. "Fuck."
"If there's a temple around here, then there must also be a fort in this fucking land." He said, cursing his luck.
"Well, I'm on my own once more." He looked back at the village. Half of it was destroyed as the Imperial soldier put charges inside the houses to flush out the remaining Dominion.
"I wish Marie and Callie were okay."
End of ACT II
Author's Comments:
(I can see EVERYTHING!)
I'm feeling generous today.
Story Trivia:
There are actually twelve organizations/groups planned in the story.
So far, the ones who have appeared were the Legion, the Inkling Order, the Pro-Inkling Human Dominion, and the Paraline Empire/Paralinian Elite.
In war, there's always some who would vouch for the enemy team. Usually due to money, power, religion, but mostly, fear.