Chapter 13, Part 2: Jailbreak
Adder gazed through the door with his heat-sensitive pits active. He was now totally aware of all enemy positions in the area, and he had the advantage. It was time to-
The serpent was interrupted from his thoughts as the shrill cries of the alarm ripped through the air. Dangit! he cursed in his mind. Some idiot raised the alarm. Even though this now made the humans on the other side cringe, then shift into ready stances with weapons ready, he could still do this. After all, he was a master of clandestine operations. The alarm was raised, but if nobody knew about his escape, nobody could do a thing about it. He let his pits rest, then cocked his magnum and extended his energy scythe.
Adder quietly opened the door, not wanting to attract too much attention, though he still startled the humans on the other side. Adrenaline rushed through into his head and time's pace seemed to slacken. He leapt forward while spinning, cutting the humans at the sides of the door in half with his energy scythe (and part of the door itself as well). When the farther humans were in sight once more, he opened fire with his magnum. Though the shots sounded like lengthened, distorted wisps while in he was in bullet time, in truth, they were like tiny clicks in the real world. The powerful bullets, not wavered by the decrease in muzzle velocity by the silencer, ripped into the chests of the humans, staining the walls behind them with red ooze.
Unfortunately, there was one human he neglected to kill or injure. Adder reached the limits of his adrenaline rush as time resumed its normal pace. He rolled onto the ground while dodging incoming fire, then kicked forward at the end, resulting in him leaping toward the foe. The serpent tackled the human into the wall, causing him to drop his weapon. Adder then flipped his magnum so that he was holding the barrel, then used its hilt as a bludgeoning weapon. He whacked the human's head time after time, spraying blood everywhere until the lifeless corpse fell limp.
There was some shouting coming from the next room, and Adder swore under his breath. They must have heard the last human firing, the serpent thought with a scowl on his face. I'm loosing my touch, he reloaded his magnum, Gotta stay cool. No fear. No hesitation.
Adder reactivated his heat-sensing pits and saw that the next room over was another cellblock with tons of Lylatians in there. And a bunch of enemy soldiers. They were all over the place in ready positions, with two taking aim at the doorway he was about to go through. Before he went into action, the snake noticed a rather large heat signature in one cell. Make that a very large heat signature. With wings. Aloysius, he thought.
Adder deactivated his energy scythes and took out his M-56, holding it by the barrel in his left hand. Then, he stepped back from the door and ran towards it, jumping about three-quarters of the way there into a jumping back-kick in which he swung around his rear leg into the door. The bulkhead entry was blown straight open, and Adder slid on his shins while leaning backwards as the two nearest humans fired over his head. While kicking himself back up, he fired a magnum slug into the neck of the right human, blowing his head off after his neck exploded. The other human was smacked squarely on the head with bone-cracking force from the M-56 rifle butt as he was coming up.
After the serpent got back to his feet, he chucked his rifle at an enemy across the room, hitting him squarely in the chest, knocking the wind out of him as he crumpled to the ground. He then leapt to the side, dodging incoming fire from the surveillance platform, and fired two well-aimed shots into the heads of the humans, sending a shower of shattered glass from the windows and blood from the soldiers.
Adder came to rest and panted from fatigue…just as something nudged against his head. He looked to see a smiling guard holding the M-56 he threw. The human pulled the trigger.
However, nothing happened. The soldier pulled the trigger more frantically, then looked back at Adder, his smile gone and one appearing on the serpent's face. The Lylatian's fangs were in his flesh before the hiss left his ears.
Adder picked up his rifle as the dead human fell and mocked, "Forget something?" He flipped the switch from Safety, which he set to beforehand, to Auto. He then looked around the room to see the rest of the Lylatian POW's gaping in awe, "Soldiers, you might have to wait a little longer to get freed. Aloysius, you there?"
"Y-yes, sir… In…here…"
Adder looked at the cell a few yards away and walked up to it. His companion was inside a full-body lock, restraining his movements. There were two strange spheres dangled from long rods on either side of his head.
"Aloysius, are you alright?" the leader asked. Aloysius stayed silent and he continued, "Oh, of course you're not. Hold on." He slung his rifle on his back and extended his energy scythes. With a few slashes, the hexagonal grating was gone, and so were the locks on the full-body lock.
Aloysius roared after getting free and smashed the two spheres next to him with his fists. He fell to his hands and knees, panting.
"Those…freakin' humans," Aloysius rasped. "They put ultra-low frequency radios in my cell! I'm gonna have that ringing in my head for the rest of this stupid day!" He emphasized his anger by smashing the remains of a nearby radio into bits, leaving a small crater in the floor.
"Nice to see you in your normal self," Adder rolled his eyes. "Present for ya." He relieved a nearby corpse of its M-56 and handed it to the armored bat.
"Uh," Aloysius looked at the rifle, "I'm gonna need more than just one rifle."
"Good luck reloading, then."
The hulking Lylatian grunted and took the weapon in response. He knew his superior was right. Dual wielding two small arms and reloading them was hard enough. Dual wielding two assault rifles and trying to reload them was even more arduous.
"Shall we?" Adder asked, holstering his magnum and getting out his rifle, removing the silencer.
"We shall." Aloysius replied with a nod.
* * *
Wolf had his back to a pillar while bullets tore small chunks from its front. He let out another blind burst at his human adversaries, whom he believed were trying to flank him at the moment. He heard the shots ricochet off of the walls, and he cursed at his predicament. It was about to get even worse as a grenade landed near the pillar he used as cover. In the precious moments before the explosive detonated, he had two choices- run away from the grenade and get torn apart by bullets or avoid the bullets and get blown up. The former seemed to be a better choice.
The lupine leapt to the side, firing on his adversaries with his assault pistols, managing to catch one twice in the chest. As Wolf fell, he went into a roll just as the grenade created an orange blossom of fire. He was lucky enough to be just out of range, but the force of the explosion blew him sideways.
Wolf skidded along the floor, coming to rest a few yards away. He viciously fired into the incoming humans, taking another down while the rest sought cover behind the alcoves.
Alcoves?! Wolf thought. Did these humans anticipate a prison break or something? Suddenly, precise aim blew the two assault pistols out of his hands, and the soldiers were upon him, barrels aimed at his chest.
"Get up slowly with hands on your head, Lylatian," the first one ordered, spitting the last word out with distaste. As the lupine got to his feet…fire came from behind him, easily taking down the soldiers. Wolf wheeled around to see none other than Fox, his AK-96 raised.
"Hey Wolf," the vulpine smiled, "didn't you say something about whenever a war breaks out, you are the one saving my hide?"
"Shut up, pup," Wolf growled taking two plasma pistols from the holsters of the fallen enemies, "and how come you get the AK'?"
"It just happened to be available, now let's get going. The quicker we get out of this place with our friends, the better."
Wolf, as Star Wolf's leader, wasn't one to enjoy taking orders. It hurt his pride as if someone hooked him up to a dogsled and told him to "mush". Then again, it was either start arguing over the chain of command or get the heck out of this infernal place, so he had better start learning to. However…that wasn't the only thing troubling him right now. Something about Fox had changed a bit since they last saw each other…something he couldn't quite put his finger on…
"Hey," Fox's shout jogged the lupine from his thoughts, "I said 'let's get going'!"
Wolf gave a barely-audible snarl and headed after the vulpine. Why the heck did he have to be the first one I meet?
"So what exactly are we lookin' for first?" Wolf asked. "A way outta here, or our team members?"
"I'd like to find an exit route, but it's better that we increase our firepower before we do. There's no telling what'll be waiting for us."
Jeez, he's startin' to sound like a brigadier general now. Wolf mused.
"Alrighty, then," the lupine spoke, "so we're gonna rescue our comrades. So what's the plan?"
"We can't just be walking around this facility like blind mice," Fox replied. "We need to find some sort of map of the base, so that we can find both our friends and possible escape routes."
"Well, I didn't see any. The humans must've had to memorize it themselves so that they didn't have to put up any maps for us to use."
"Then we're just gonna have to find one and…encourage him to tell us."
Wolf stopped in his tracks, "Now that I think about it, this doesn't sound like the real McCloud I know."
Fox turned around and asked, "And why's that? Things change when you're a fugitive."
"Well, you seem a little smarter in terms what to do in this situation…and you have no shadow."
The ersatz Fox smiled and spoke, "That would have been a good way to find me…too bad it would have been more useful yesterday!" The kitsune's body twisted itself into the disproportionate, wretched body that was the Epitome of Shadow. Wolf noticed it was the same one from Iradanus' office and the day before, patches of bone showing and all. The lupine raised both plasma pistols at his foe, but four humans came from around the corner.
"Lylatian!" one yelled, "drop your weapons and put your hands where I can…Oh, hey, Abyss! Got him, eh?"
The Epitome of Shadow smiled, a difficult feat considering his mouth's placement, "You could…say that…" He turned to Wolf and, before he could react, bonded with the surrounding shadows.
The lupine looked in all directions, trying to find where the Epitome would strike…but for some reason…it never came. Suddenly, the Epitome lunged from next to the group of humans, making them jump in surprise, and let out its horrible howl-shriek. However, this particular howl-shriek was much more intense. Wolf had to drop his pistols, flatten his ears against his head, and put his hands over them to try to block out the sound. Meanwhile, the humans were immobilized by cold terror as the Epitome lifted its right, smaller hand, which now boasted a sharp, sliver-like middle finger. It made a single horizontal slash, and all of the humans dropped to the floor.
Wolf looked from the dead humans to the Epitome, then back to the bodies, then back again, "What the hell is goin' on?!"
"Heh, I'm really surprised you…haven't noticed a thing yet, Lylatian," the Epitome hissed. "Maybe this will…refresh your memory." It extended its smaller arm toward the corpses, causing a dark aura to surround them, reanimating the bodies.
"Y-you helped me earlier!" Wolf finally figured it out. This Epitome of Shadow was helping him!
"So now…you get it," the Epitome sighed. "The bodies reanimating…your cell door returning from the shadows from where it rose…It's about…time."
"So why the heck are you helping me?"
"It's not only you…I'm helping…but the rest of…you lot…You Lylatians will be aided…by the Epitomes…We have our own…reasons…for aiding you…"
"Does it have anything to do with the suffering you go through with the humans?"
"Close enough…but not really…come…we have ground to cover…," it levitated some shackles from a corpse's belt and slipped it over Wolf's wrists. "Just follow…my lead…"
The lupine nodded, "Alright, I get the idea."
"Good…which of your comrades…would you like to free first?"
He contemplated over this question for a moment. What would they need at the moment? Strength and firepower were already in his current disposal, due to the Epitome of Shadow. At the moment, there was no ideal person to rescue.
"Which one's the closest?" Wolf inquired.
"I believe it was…a certain fox…a blue one with strange eyes…"
Sweet! Marcus! Wolf smiled, "Alright, then. Let's do it."
The reanimated corpses and the Epitome escorted the lupine down a few hallways and T-junctions, passing through several security checkpoints without suspicion before reaching their destination. The Epitome commanded a body to slip its card key into the slot when the door was kicked open. Marcus was standing on the other side, pistol extended outwards.
After laying eyes on the scene in front of him, he merely cocked an eyebrow and fired two rounds into the Epitome's head. The being took the hits and cracked its neck.
"I'll try to ignore…what just happened…," the dark being spoke. "Wolf, do you mind…explaining before he gets on my nerves?"
"Whoa, Marcus," Wolf held up a hand to stop the kitsune from firing any more rounds. "It's cool, it's cool! Apparently, this guy's on our side!"
"How can I be sure you're not an illusion?" Marcus replied, not believing a word of it.
"I have a shadow, for instance."
Marcus cocked his head toward the Epitome, "He could be creating it."
"Can you hurry up?" Abyss snarled. "I'm running…out of patience!"
"Alright…," Wolf tried to search for a way to earn the boy's trust, "Ah! You were with me on the research station! I remember you missed a shot!"
"Embarrassing," Marcus lowered his pistol and started to reload, "but true. First time I missed. Ever. Because someone had to lean their head in the way!"
"Now that this game…of Twenty Questions…is over," the Epitome growled, "…can we get going, already?"
"Sure, but one thing," Marcus held up a lone index finger for emphasis. "Can I have that guy's assault rifle?"
Abyss sighed, "Just take it…so we can get…a move on!"
The corpse traded weapons with the vulpine and removed Wolf's shackles.
"I thought you wanted more inconspicuous approach?" the lupine raised an eyebrow.
"I'm too bored now…" Abyss smiled with his grotesque mouth, "I want to have…a little fun…"
"Works for me." Wolf got out his two plasma pistols.
* * *
Xamuros stood erect against a wall, hoping that the clacking of his spiked feet against the concrete floor hadn't caused much attention. Apparently, the humans had thought ahead when they imprisoned him and had deactivated his weapons, Longsword mode, shields, and most of the readouts on his built-in HUD. Luckily he was able to override the functions, though most of his HUD and Longsword mode were still down.
The field master leaned his diamond-shaped head around the corner, but only enough for his two right photoreceptors to view what was around the side. There was a squad of five soldiers- each in ready position, covering each other's blind spots.
Smart, he thought, but not smart enough. A targeting reticule appeared in his limited HUD and zoomed in on one of the humans- the commander by the looks of it. The reticule then swooped upwards to the halogen light fixture above the human, and then returned to the commander…who was without a helmet. Maybe. Just maybe, if I get my shot right…
Xamuros finally revealed himself and fired a single Jackhammer shard into the end of the light fixture, causing it to detach from the ceiling and swing into the soldier. Not only did the glass, which shattered on impact, cut his face, but the deadly halogens inside burned at the wounds, causing him to scream in agony. This caused panic to rise among the human soldiers, whose focus shifted away from whatever was the cause of the catastrophe to their leader's pain. And this was the moment Xamuros was waiting for.
The supersoldier fired with both his Daggerblade and Jackhammer with precise shots, nailing the humans in either the chest area or head. As the supporting soldiers fell, he dashed up to the commander- still screaming- and tackled into him. When they were on the ground, Xamuros laid his photoreceptors on his bloody face. He was the one who started firing at the Spades back on Corneria, causing all of his kind to go into containment. He remembered all the pain, all the sorrow, and all the malicious discrimination. Anger coursed through the Spade, making him tremble with rage.
"Remember me?" he hissed, or rather crackled with static. The human stayed silent, but breathed heavily, "This…is payback!" He plunged his lower arms into the chest cavity of the human and ripped it open. After additional cries, the human finally fell limp. While Xamuros was reveling in the feeling of satisfactory from his act of vengeance, the door that lay in front of him was opened. Two humans accompanied by a Sentry were on the other side.
"Holy-" one began. He was cut off as Xamuros dashed at him and performed an uppercut slash into his stomach, then blew his head apart with a Jackhammer burst. Before the Sentry could react and fire its advanced DEB cannon, he spun his head around horizontally, the sharp edges beheading the mech and slitting the throat of the other human. The soldier fell to the ground, dropping his weapon to wrap both hands around his throat. He looked up pleadingly to Xamuros, who instantly performed a roundhouse kick to his head, slicing it in half and spraying its insides everywhere.
"You dang SOBs can all burn in hell!" Xamuros roared. He stood up…only to get rewarded with a shotgun blast, knocking him off his feet and onto the ground. Why the hell does this always happen?! He looked up to his assailant, a human along with several others.
"What's this about us 'burning in hell'?" one mocked. "You're finished, rebel. Give it up and surrender. We promise we might not kill you."
"On one condition," the Spade spoke calmly. "Think fast." He swung himself back onto his feet, and fired into the electricity regulation device on the wall near him with his Daggerblade. The room instantly went completely dark. Sporadic weapon fire from the humans created a lightshow of flashes until-
"Stop, stop!" a human yelled. "We're not hitting anything! Joe, hit the breaker switch!" Sounds of fumbling around the walls could be heard until the soldier found the switch and flipped it. The lights went back on, but there was no sign of the golden Spade. That was when the humans noticed a humanoid and rather pointy shadow formed on the ground below their superior.
The humans sheepishly looked right into Xamuros, who was hanging onto a light fixture's corners. With just a little increased pressure on the corners, he and the light fixture dropped towards the ground, and the field master barely had time to flip himself and the fixture over and onto a human, crushing him and breaking his spine in two. He then fired onto the remaining soldiers, who fell easily to the might of his powerful weapons.
"Think faster," Xamuros spun his head around. Now to find a cellblock and free a comrade. He continued down the hallway, searching for any sign of a cellblock. He came to rest at a large doorway. With a simple shot to the opening mechanism, it swung open…to reveal a feeding pen with two hungry-looking Epsilonian Raptors, who leered right at him. "Aw, crap."
* * *
Fox walked cautiously while refreshing his current clip. Behind him was a whole mess of bullet pockmarks, blood, and corpses. The kitsune kept his AK-96 level with his chest, ready to stab and slash with a recently-obtained trench knife he had attached to the underside of the barrel to serve as a bayonet. Just as he was about to round right into the next T-junction, Xamuros ran screaming past him.
Stunned for a moment, Fox called, "Hey Xamuros, over here!"
"Run! Run, you idiot!" he yelled back.
Puzzled, Fox looked at the opposite hallway to learn the reason why the supersoldier hadn't stopped. Actually, two very big and hungry reasons. Soon, the vulpine was also running screaming after the Spade away from the Epsilonian Raptors.
"Why didn't you say that you were being chased earlier?!" Fox screamed to the faraway Xamuros.
"You never asked!" was his reply.
Humans that lay ahead of them aimed down the sight to fire…then saw the reason why the Lylatian and Spade never raised their weapons. Sure enough, humans, a Lylatian, and a Spade field master were sprinting as fast as they could down the hall, not even bothering to concentrate and fire at their enemies.
"Why they hell doesn't anyone shoot at them?!" Fox growled.
"Raptors have too thick of a hide!" a human panted back, "Anyone got a frag 'nade?"
"¡Tengo cuatro!" another yelled.
"Throw all of 'em!"
The soldier hurriedly pulled the pins off his grenades, cooked them, and then simply dropped them on the ground. After four explosions went off, the two beasts still lumbered after their prey.
"Any more?" a human yelled. Not even bothering to reply a flurry of grenades was chucked at the monsters. Explosions echoed throughout the hallways before the raptors finally fell.
Relieved, everyone panted and put their hands on their knees, some laughing a bit. Then, the laughing ceased and smiles faded. Everyone looked at each other a few times…then sought cover and fired away.
Fox actually ran all the way back to the lifeless bodies of the raptors, taking cover behind a behemoth. True to the humans' words, the bullets actually glanced off of the corpse's hide, sometimes sending sparks flying. The Lylatian returned fire with his own weapon, nailing a human in the head and another twice in the neck. However, the AK was notoriously inaccurate, so Fox had to go for two-round bursts in order to make the rounds meet their marks. Xamuros, being a supersoldier, easily killed the rest.
The orange vulpine reloaded his rifle and met up with Xamuros, "Still not the best of luck, eh?"
"Hmph, so you noticed," the Spade huffed. "You?"
"Not much better. Well, that was an interesting course of events. Shall we move on?"
"The sooner we get out of this wretched place, the better."
Fox and Xamuros continued down the hallway, keeping a watchful eye…or photoreceptor…for any enemies. Strangely enough, they found none at all. First it was all hectic, and now it's all empty. the kitsune thought.
"Something's not right here," Fox spoke, narrowing his eyes and tightening his grip on his weapon. "It's way too quiet and it's way too empty around here."
"I'm not liking this either," the Spade dryly replied. "Stay on the lookout for anything that moves." As if on cue, a tile on the ceiling above collapsed to the ground, the corpse of a human falling with it.
"Like dead bodies dropping through the ceiling?" Fox raised an eyebrow.
"Well, that was unexpected," said Xamuros.
"Hey! Was that Xamuros I just heard?" came a voice from above. "Hold on, I'll be right down!" Suddenly, a familiar albino pit viper dropped from the hole in the ceiling tiles and landed with slightly bent knees on the floor in front of the pair.
"Ta-dah!" Ace smiled and held out his arms like a circus clown welcoming and audience. "Wouldn't you know that the ceiling tiles were so brittle?"
"Ace!" Fox sighed. "Boy, am I glad to see you!"
"Same here, but…" Ace's smile faded and he got out two assault pistols, "I have some bad news…Um, what's that thing behind you guys?" Fox and Xamuros wheeled around to come face to face with an Epsilonian Raptor.
"I thought we killed both of them!" Fox's heart fell.
"So did I," Xamuros turned around. "Run!"
Without further ado, the trio ran down the hallways (much to Fox's and Xamuros' dismay, since they were doing it…again), with the Raptor quickly closing in. Fox could almost feel the hot, vile breath of the creature on his neck. Suddenly, a projectile streaked from the side and smashed against the Raptor, with a good-sized explosion following that ripped the beast apart.
As the trio halted in their tracks, a gray-furred lupine revealed himself, holding a carbine with a grenade launcher, "I keep saying it, Fox. I always have to save your sorry hide every time a war breaks out."
"Funny, Wolf," the kitsune replied sarcastically. "Who's your friend?" he pointed at the Epitome of Shadow following shortly behind.
"Him?" the lupine tilted his head at Abyss. "It's cool. Apparently the Epitomes are on our side."
"Can we trust them?" Fox asked Xamuros.
"I believe so," was his reply. "Oxan did mention some new allies he wanted to show us after he freed me."
"You mean the human that made you Spades? So we're not the only ones betrayed by our own kind, then. Okay, Wolf and…whatever your name is. C'mon, let's go!"
"It's Abyss…" the Epitome grumbled, "and we…have a bit…of a problem here…"
Marcus rounded the corner, back turned towards everyone else while firing. Before Fox could greet him, he spoke hastily, "Hi dad (phibphibphib went his assault rifle), I'd really love to talk (phibphib), but we really gotta find cover (phibphibphib)!"
"Stop whining…" Abyss held up his larger arm, palm open, then curled his hand into a fist. A disgusting series of bursts accompanied by short cries sounded off as drops of blood dotted the walls and parts of Marcus's armor, making him cringe, "Ooh…there's still some…more coming… I believe now's…the best time for us…to leave…Gather around me…" The three Lylatians and Spade reluctantly stepped closer to Abyss's foul body, "Now close your eyes…and do your best to ignore the dark, cold feeling…"
Before anyone was able to ask, Abyss expanded a shadow beneath all of them, and merged them all with it. Meanwhile, the humans' bullets and plasma bolts passed through or shattered against the floor where they had stood mere moments earlier. The soldiers gathered around the spot, some cursing.
"Non!" one growled. "Ils sort partis!"
"Yeah, they got away," another went, "but we can still catch 'em at their only exit. To the hangar, triple time! Go go go!"
* * *
"Now I'm going to say it nicely again," Adder whispered into the ear of the human he was choke-holding. Aloysius and he were in a damp, dirty corridor lined with human corpses. The armored bat was keeping a lookout while Adder was interrogating the last soldier alive, "Where is the nearest cellblock?" The human stayed silent, "Just cooperate and give the answer. If you do," The serpent opened his maws wide, exposing his seven-inch-long fangs, and then quickly closed it, "I promise I won't condemn you to eternal darkness."
"Erstes rechtes zweimal," the soldier muttered, "an dritter Stelle verlassen"
Dang, he doesn't speak in a way we can understand, Adder thought, then spoke, "Look, you speak in a language we don't understand. Make motions indicating your directions." The human held up one finger, then pointed, "Is that your right or my left?" The German pointed to himself, then repeated the motion and added two fingers, "First right twice," Adder understood. Three fingers, then a left point, "Third and that's your left, correct?" A short nod confirmed it, "Thanks for being cooperative. Lucky for you, I keep promises." And with that, the pit viper-cobra bashed his head into the human's with enough force to knock him out.
"What'd he say?" Aloysius queried, slightly impatient.
"First right twice, third left," Adder replied. "If cellblocks around here are identical, it should have a security checkpoint before it…and a bunch of humans around."
"Fine by me," the bat started off for the junction. "Just kill anyone with plasma, or I'm totally screwed."
"I know the drill. Let's see if any of our friends are in there."
The two took the turns indicated, made a few shots and punched a few skulls in, and came to rest at a turn near a security checkpoint. A Sentry flanked either side of the heavy door. Adder made a point toward the Sentries, then made a fist and pumped it forward. Aloysius nodded in comprehension. The juggernaut rounded the corner and dodged a few beams of powerful directed energy, then fired his grenade launcher smack dab in the middle of the Sentries. The fragmentation grenade detonated on impact, sending a shower of shrapnel in random directions, mostly into the enemy mechs, tearing them into large pieces of metal and torn wires. Any of the deadly bits of metal that headed for Aloysius merely bounced off of his armor without harm.
Adder came around the corner and the partners took their places on both sides of the heavy door. The humans on the other side had obviously heard the commotion and had probably gotten into ready positions. He used his heat-sensitive pits to locate them, though he couldn't quite distinguish any of their fellow team members, as every Lylatian prisoner in there was either of the canine, lupine, or vulpine variety.
"Aloysius," Adder began his order, "kick the door as hard as you can, preferably straight, after one moment," He gave a harsh punch to the door with his left arm, perforating it and weakening the hinges, "Go ahead."
The war-ravaged bat made a jumping back-kick to the door. As if it were made of cardboard, the door flew into the room all the way across to the other side and into a human, sandwiching him against the wall behind him and crushing the life out of him. The pair headed inside and easily started taking down humans, Aloysius pummeling his bullets into the enemies and Adder taking down the biggest threats with dodgy flips and combat rolls.
After everyone human in the room was indeed dead, Adder began searching for any team members when-
"Adder?" came a soft voice behind him, "Is that you?"
The serpent turned to see Cris behind a metal grating, "Cristi- ah, Cris! Alright, stand back." He extended the energy scythes on his arm and sliced through the grating, causing a large circle to fall out, the sides red-hot from the heat of the blades. After they cooled, the white fox easily stepped through.
"So how many times does this make?" Cris blushed and scratched the back of her head.
"Counting the other wars and that one time with the gunboat," Adder spoke, "eleven times that I had to save you."
"Well, uh," Cris walked towards one of the many human corpses lining the area, "I'm gonna go get some armor and something with a scope, I guess."
"Alright, you do that," Adder acknowledged as Cris began stripping the armor off of its owner.
Aloysius, in the meantime, walked up to the snake and whispered, "You like her, don't you?"
"Huh?" Adder squinted an eye at his friend (snakes don't really have eyebrows to raise, so they squint instead). "Who?"
"You know who I'm talkin' about," Aloysius crossed his arms still whispering. "You like Cris, don't you?"
"Of course I like her," Adder tried to end the matter quickly. "Wouldn't you like the team members you have if you've worked for them for years?"
"No, Adder," Aloysius leaned closer, "like-like."
"You mean-" Adder now looked directly at his comrade. "Aloysius, now is definitely not the time for this kind of talk."
"Look, man, you can easily tell she likes you. She blushes when she's near you and she's not as rough as she used to be. And I know you like her, too."
"A war's not the best time for this. Maybe I can think about it when it's all over."
"Adder, there might not be a time. Don't you remember? The humans have our blueprints now- Ace's blueprints! If they make a single antimatter cannon, they'll win easily! You gotta make your move and-"
"Um, can I help you two?" Both of them turned to see Cris, now dressed in combat armor and totting a scoped carbine, looking quizzically at the two of them. "Can someone tell me what's goin' on here?"
"Cris…" Adder spoke slowly, "how long have you been standing there?"
"I heard something about Ace's blueprints, and making a move or something."
That was a close one, the snake thought, then sighed, "Okay, then. We better get moving so we can-"
"Adder said he likes you."
The veteran wheeled to see Aloysius, and even though he couldn't see it, he knew the bat was smiling inside, "Aloysius! You weren't supposed to-"
Cris giggled a little, which was such an uncommon thing that it made Adder stop talking even in his indignant feelings toward Aloysius, "Alright, that's enough. So Adder, is it true?"
"Well, ah, um…," Adder stammered, searching for something to say that could get him out of this uncomfortable situation. He didn't have to, because at that exact moment, a shock trooper stepped into view, its black armor gleaming against the white walls and floor. The snake was both relieved and angry at the same time- relieved because he didn't have to say anything to get him out of the previous mess and angry because he now had to deal with the shock trooper. The strange thing was that the shock trooper's helmet's left eyehole was darkened…
"Hm, quite a coincidence that we meet again here, eh?" it spoke in a strangely deep and commanding voice. "This time," it extended its claw gauntlets, "you're all dead."
"You again?" Cris groaned. "Why doesn't this guy leave us alone?"
The shock trooper leapt high into the air and at Cris. Seeing the adversary about to slash into his comrade, Adder extended his energy scythes and blocked the attack, then deflected the biogenetically-altered human so that he ended up on the ground. However, the shock trooper then used the hooked part of his left claw gauntlet to trip Adder, causing him to end up on the ground as well.
The two wrestled on the ground for a few seconds before Aloysius walked over…and simply picked the shock trooper up like a child picking up a new pet received for his or her birthday. The shock trooper swung his claw gauntlets at the bat…which all broke instantly on contact with the armor. Not daunted one bit, the shock trooper threw a punch at his helmet's visor, then cried in pain and withdrew his ruined hand. It had been like punching at a tank.
"You don't give up easily, do you?" Aloysius shook his head, then gave a light (or at least light by his standards) punch to the shock trooper's helmet, causing him to go out like a match. He then simply dropped the trooper on the floor.
"Why'd you let him live?!" Cris cried. "Now he'll never leave me alone!"
"Ah, well," was Aloysius' reply. "He was quite entertaining."
"Well, what're we waiting for?" Adder started off. "Let's get out of here. I think the hangar's close."
"Gladly," Cris replied. "Wearing a male human's armor…it just feels all wrong!"
In his mind, however, Adder was happy that the matter had been put to rest…for now, at the very least. But…still…did he really…love her?
* * *
"Yeah, baby!" Wolf screamed, "The hangar at last!" The lupine was on his hands and knees on the floor, overcome with happiness.
"Abyss," Fox huffed, "I hope we never have to do that again."
"Well…" he rasped, "it got us…over here, right?"
"All that aside," Xamuros spoke, "does anyone realize that the entire hangar is almost empty?"
Wolf and everyone else looked around. The hangar was practically empty, aside from the ships, fighters, and equipment you'd usually find in one…save for four people. Tallon, Krystal, Leon, and another Epitome of Shadow were in the middle of the hangar.
"Krystal! Tallon!" Fox ran along with Marcus to the rest of his family and embraced.
"Heh," Wolf smiled, "he's such a family man. Leon! How's it going?"
"All good," the viashino replied, "I see you already know the Epitomes are on our side now. Tallon over there's a little weak, so we needed to watch over him. Have you seen anyone else?"
"Nope."
"Speaking of which," Ace turned to Abyss, "do you know when everyone else'll be comin'?"
"Apparently, yes…" the dark entity confirmed. "They should be…here right…about…now…" Right on cue, a Seraph's shadow lengthened before an Epitome of Shadow came out of it, along with more of the team members- Brutus, Panther, Falco, and Slippy, all of which collapsed to the floor.
As everyone else went to greet their friends, Wolf went up to Panther, "Alicia seemed to be with you on this one, huh?"
"Ah, you got here through the 'shadow express' too?" the wildcat asked.
"Yep. I ain't goin' on it again. Hey, wait a minute…we're missing Adder, Cris, and Aloysius!" Just then, a loud toopha went off as Abyss was nailed in the head by a carbine round.
"Yeah, well I didn't miss his head," Everyone turned to see Adder, Cris, and Aloysius enter the hangar. Cris' carbine had a trail of acrid smoke rising from the barrel.
"Whoa, whoa!" Wolf held up his hands. "Stop! They're on our side!"
"How can we be sure you're telling the truth?" Adder pointed his assault rifle directly at the one-eyed lupine, "Or are you even the real Wolf?"
Wolf grinned, then answered in a sarcastic accent, "Is that guy an idiot or something? BAM! Headshot! Remember that?"
"Hah! I'll never forget that!" Adder laughed. "Yeah, that Venomian was kinda stupid, choosin' to stand in front of the tank instead of behind it for cover! It's you."
"Alright…" Abyss grumbled, "now that…we're all here…let's get out of…this place!"
"Hold on," Xamuros stopped him. "We need to wait for Oxan. He's gonna get us out of here."
"Huh?" Krystal asked. "Guy with glasses and brown hair?" Xamuros nodded, "Yep, that's him. He slipped me an energy pill through the bars as he passed by my cell."
"Wait," Falco spoke. "So the humans have a traitor, too? Sweet, now it evens all out!"
"It sure has, Mister Lombardi," the scientist stepped from the doorway, a suitcase in his right hand, "it sure has."
"Oxan!" Xamuros spun his head around. "I'm glad you're-"
"Xamuros," Oxan's face suddenly turned pale, "why are there three Epitomes of Shadow here?"
"Them? Didn't you say you were going to show us new allies?"
"Yeah, Oxan, or whatever your name is," Ace smirked. "Man, these guys are awesome! They can do all sorts of-"
"Guys," Oxan spoke slowly. "They aren't with us or for us." Every smile in the room disappeared, and eyes turned to the Epitomes of Shadow. Wolf looked straight at Abyss, who was smiling in his wicked way.
"Crap!" Fox yelled. "Ambush!" Before the Lylatians, human traitor, and lone Spade could react, static crackled all around them as Hunters, cloaked humans, and Alpha mechs appeared in all directions around them. They were completely surrounded.
"It was a trap," Wolf spoke, a bewildered look on his face. "A setup this whole time…"
Abyss laughed in a fiendish way, causing those nearby to cringe, "Of course it was! …Not even I, the Epitome of Abyss…could generate enough power…to return a cell door…to the shadows…from whence it came!"
"What?" Marcus asked. "Epitome of Abyss? Isn't it Sha-"
"Within each breed of Epitome," Oxan interrupted, "is a leader- the one that is most powerful. The fact that Abyss is here right now is bad enough already. But being trapped with all these guys plus him is even worse."
"So this is the traitor in my midst," a familiar voice called out. Soldiers parted to allow Iradanus, who was accompanied by Oikonny, to step into view before forming the wall again, "Oxan, when I smelled a rat, I had no idea that it was you who would be foolish enough to betray your own kind when victory is still impossible for the Lylatians."
"Iradanus-" Oxan began, but was cut off.
"You shall address me as-" now Iradanus was interrupted.
"Address you as what?" Oxan stood firm, "'My lord?' You shall never be my ruler, Iradanus. The new government you created for all of humankind is a mockery of the glorious democracy that was before it! I want to put a stop to this, even if it means betraying my friends, my family- my race! It's the same way these Lylatians," he turned to everyone else, then quickly turned back to Iradanus, "felt about monkeyboy, over there."
Oikonny stepped forward, but Iradanus held up an arm to block his passage, and glared, "I never would have thought that such a remarkable scientist as you would stoop so low and commit such treachery! But…so be it. If you wish to side with these Lylatians, you will die along with them. Oikonny, I like how you say it better, so go on ahead."
The simian smiled and roared, "Soldiers! Allow no hesitation! Fi-" He was cut short as a bullet hit him squarely in the head. Wolf was amazed to see Adder aiming down the sight of his M-56. Unfortunately, Oikonny was still alive, and he merely cracked his neck, "I'm surprised that you haven't noticed that I cannot die, you idiot. I should have killed you when I had the chance, but why not just now? As I was say-"
"Two words, Oikonny," Oxan smiled after seeing the monkey stamp his foot on the ground from being interrupted again. "Two very short-but-meaningful words- trump card."
Wolf was puzzled as to what Oxan meant by this as the wind kicked up behind him and started blowing small bits of debris and light objects towards the back of the hangar. The lupine, as well as everyone else, turned to see a Cornerian battleship ascend into view. The spear-shaped ship was lined with homing laser beam cannons and laser machine gun ball turrets. As the humans and Hunters took aim at the battleship, two identical-albeit-smaller Cornerian cruisers flanked either side, and space/atmospheric gunships came into view as well.
The intercom crackled to life as the commander of the battleship hacked into the comm network, "Iradanus of United Earth, this is General Hare aboard the ULS Glory! The United Lylat System Armed Corps will allow you ten minutes to leave the premises of this station before we board, evac the POWs, and then blow this whole thing up! If you fire, our gunships will return fire at will and slaughter every human or human ally in there!"
Oxan merely smiled and turned back to Iradanus, "So what's it going to be? Fire and die, or flee and live another day?"
"Fine," Iradanus narrowed his eyes. "I, Lord Iradanus of the United Earth Armed Forces will concede to your demands and leave this station," he then turned to the troops, "Everyone, let's leave this place. To the escape pods, on the double! Order of rank does not matter!" As the soldiers and mechs scurried off, Iradanus turned to Oxan, "Mark my words, Oxan. I will have your head." Then, he and Oikonny walked off for the escape pods as well.
"Dang, man," Wolf smirked. "If that isn't the best news all day that we get outta here, then I don't know what is!"
"Heh," the scientist grinned. "That it is, Mr. O'Donnell. I believe it is time for us to leave." A transport landed in the hangar, opening its doors wide as everyone filed inside.
As the pilot lifted the transport off and zoomed off for the battleship, Adder spoke, "You know…Richard Oxan, isn't it? You know, Dr. Oxan, you will now be marked as an enemy against humankind. Plus, with the way things are now, we'll most likely lose the war anyway, and you'll be executed."
"I am well aware of that, Mr. McBannon," Oxan answered. "But I doubt that'll be a possibility."
"And how so?" Slippy asked. "They've got all this siphoned energy to use, they've still got dozens of siphoning facilities, and now they have tons of the weapons and armor blueprints Ace and I made! We're gonna lose, no matter what!"
"In the order they have been presented, Mr. Toad," Oxan began, "I will first start off with that fact about siphoned energy. Now, it is very hard to manifest into the type needed for energy or warfare. In fact, Oikonny was resurrected practically through sheer luck. We don't really need to worry about that possibility. Also, I personally know the location of every siphoning facility on every planet and moon, so that's out of the way. As for the blueprints…," he took his suitcase and emptied the contents- several rolled up sheets of blue paper and a CD case, "I think you can find out the rest."
Ace immediately seized all of his precious plans, "Aww, yeah! Oxan, how'd you do it?"
"Being in the research and development department has a few benefits, Mr. Hawkins. You'll notice that all blueprints are accounted for, including the antimatter cannon."
"Wait," Brutus picked up the CD case. "Interesting. A disk to be used on a personal computer. Wait, is this what I think it is?"
"Yes it is, Mr. Kinsley," Oxan took it from him. "The codes to our encryption device."
"Yeah!" Ace smiled. "Now we can decrypt that hard drive's data and we have a better chance of winning this war! Oxan, I don't care you're a human, 'cause you ROCK!"
The last word caused the pilot, a squirrel, to turn around, "Sir, please excuse me asking, but may I ask for you to be a little quieter? It's a little hard to successfully land in a moving ship without concentration."
"Oh, sorry."
Wolf couldn't help chuckling a little and shaking his head, then remembered something, "Wait a minute. Oxan? Didn't you say you were going to show us some allies?"
"Hm?" the scientist gave the lupine a quizzical look. "What allies?"
"When you freed me from my cell," Xamuros spoke, "you told me you wanted to introduce us to new allies."
"What are you talking about? I was spending most of the day in R&D getting the blueprints and encryption code CD! Then, I contacted the Cornerian Defense Force and headed to the hangar to wait for them to arrive, not expecting you to be there already! I never visited anyone's cell!"
"Wha-?" Xamuros actually looked shocked, "Then who visited my cell?"
"Yeah, and who created all that electricity that freed me?" Fox added.
"And I was freed when one human started killing his own guys," Wolf also added, "then those guys were surrounded by some black stuff and started killing the rest! Then my cell door vanished!"
"And what about the energy pill I saw you gave me that restored my powers?" Krystal asked. "What are the reasons behind all of those?"
Oxan was speechless for a few seconds, then responded, "I don't know." Everyone fell silent as the transport touched down.
* * *
Aboard the Dreadnought
0947 hours
Xamuros was once again walking down the hallways of Star Serpent's magnificent mothership. He went down a series of white, clean hallways before entering the hangar…which apparently still had the hole from the test run with the antimatter cannon. There, Ace, Slippy, and Oxan were busy decrypting the files on the hard drive they had found previously at Research Facility Gamma.
"Oh, hey Xamuros," Slippy greeted. "What brings you here?"
"I was just seeing how the decryption's coming along before I leave," he replied.
"Well," Oxan spoke, "once we get the program running, we should be able to decrypt all of the information with a single click of a mouse."
"How long is that going to take?"
"Only a few moments more," Ace answered, "aaaaand…done! Alright, let's get it started!" he rubbed his hands together energetically, and then clicked on the same triple-A priority file he had selected earlier. Like before, it showed up as a series of numbers and letters that seemed to have no correlation whatsoever. Then, Ace right clicked to make a small menu pop up and selected "Decrypt". The seemingly random numbers disappeared as text took its place.
"Yes!" Slippy cheered, making a fist and pumping it into the air. "Sweet, now we can-" There was suddenly a scratching sound that came from the hard drive, "Wh-what was that?" Then, the newly decrypted text started to fade away.
"No!" Ace screamed. "No, no, no! Argh, can this get any worse?" Suddenly, a single line of text appeared. It read: "Nice try, Lylatians, but no cigar. You failed."
"Well, it got worse," Oxan sighed and removed his glasses. "Iradanus tricked us again."
"No," Xamuros spoke, anger welling up inside of him. "No! How could we let that jerkoff play us for fools so many dang times?!"
Then, another word appeared on that same line: "Godspeed.". Xamuros worked his mind to try and find out what it meant. Immediately, he went for the worst scenario. No, it can't be! We would've noticed it! he thought. His suspicions were confirmed as a beeping came from inside the hard drive, slowly building up speed.
"Crap!" Xamuros cursed, "It's a bomb! Run!" The two Lylatians, Spade, and human scrambled away from the desk and then fell to the ground as a gigantic fireball engulfed an area equal to a large garage. After the shock faded, the four looked to see nothing more than the charred remains of a work desk and unfinished inventions.
"Curse you, Iradanus," Xamuros whispered harshly. "Curse you."
The conclusion of chapter 13. We're getting close here, only a couple more chapters until the final one.
While working this part out, I had a serious, serious case of writer's block. For about a month, I was just plain stuck. No work at all. But at any rate, I finished it, and it's done. Moving on, turns out that something OTHER than the Epitomes are working for the Lylatians' cause. You'll see more of this, especially in the last chapter and even more especially in the sequel.
Aaaaaaand still more of that Adder-Cris romance stuff. =P Adder's not too smooth with women currently, but Tarkov saves the day! ...Sorta.