CHAPTER 12: LAIR OF THE BEAST
"Shit Edmund. What was that beast?"
Edmund stared down at the bullet ridden creature. He shook his head. "I don't know. But it was not a beast. It was a sentient creature for sure. Didn't you hear it talking?"
Aaron raised his eyebrows. "It was talking?"
"Yeah. Wondered how it knew my name..."
Aaron handed Edmund his M32 Duster. "It knew your name? Whoa. You sure about that kid? Maybe you heard me instead calling you."
"No. It was this creature. I'm sure of it."
Aaron nudged the creature. Then paused, and looked at his leader. "You don't suppose that this core thing has something to do with it?"
Edmund shrugged. "Come on, it should be close now. Let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps. Down that passage."
Running down the passage together, Edmund and Aaron soon found themselves in a tunnel instead. They were out of the sewers. Unlit light bulbs lined the wall ceiling. The Liandri were here. They were doing something, but apparently decided to abandon whatever the project was. They reached a locked door. On it was the symbol of the Liandri.
Aaron whistled. "What do you make of this?"
Edmund shook his head. He quickly brought up his map on the HUD of his helmet. The screen glowed green, then the map appeared. He studied it, then shook his head again. "This map must be really old. This door isn't supposed to be here either. The Laindri have been busy."
"Yes. And look, the floor here's halfway tiled. And look again at that. That sticker on the wall. It says left wing. Perhaps they planned to build some secret lab or something here in the sewers?"
Edmund frowned. He wiped away the dust and cobwebs from the lock panel. It was old and cracked. Edmund placed his palm on the panel and waited. Nothing. Not even a beep. "This door has been shut down. That means the Liandri had abandoned their plans for quite sometime. Years maybe. Why?"
"They were planning to convert the sewers into a base? And maybe they stumbled upon something they didn't expect?"
Then it hit Edmund. "That creature! They didn't expect it. It was guarding the sewers. You saw those skeletons. Some of them had Liandri armor. The Liandri stumbled upon the creature and it must have killed their men. They couldn't kill it or didn't wasn't willing to sacrifice any more men, so they locked the creature out."
"Some of the bodies were new and recent."
"The sewers here go up to many places in new Earth. And it has to eat. I'm sure there are many unsolved cases of missing people..."
Aaron nodded. "I'm glad we killed it then. But how are we gonna get past this door?"
Edmund raised his assault rifle. Suddenly, they both heard a gunshot ringing behind them.
Instantly, both Edmund and Aaron whirled around, weapons brought up. The spotlights of their armor shone down an empty passage way. "Aaron. Guard my back."
Aaron nodded. Cold sweat was bathing his face. "I got your back kid."
Edmund turned back to the panel, and fired two shots into it. He then stepped up, and with the help of the Juggernaut armor, he pushed the door open. He could not have possible done it without the armor's strength enhancer.
The room behind the door was empty and unlit. It was huge, and seemed to be devoid of any furniture. There was a door at the other end, and the lock panel was glowing green. Unlocked. Edmund grinned. "All right. Aaron, get in."
Aaron's shotgun discharged. Edmund turned just as Aaron came stumbling in. "We got to leave kid. Now! Go!"
Edmund needn't be told twice. Together, Edmund and Aaron ran towards the door at the other end. Aaron was breathing heavily. "How many are there?"
Aaron shook his head. "You don't want to know."
The door hissed open. The pathway branched into two, left and right. Voices were coming from the right; they had heard the shotgun's fire. Edmund chose the left passage. Heavy boots clanking noisily against the cemented floor, Edmund charged down the corridor. An alarm sounded throughout the installation. Rapid fire gunshots sounded behind, followed by harsh screams. A voice sounded in the public address system. "All Liandri security personnel. The Quagrim have breached the barricade. Head immediately to sector 6 to stop the intruders. I repeat. All Liandri..."
Edmund heard the same chilling call of the creatures, which the Liandri have identified as Quagrim. "Edmund......EDMUND......." He knew then, that the creatures were coming for him. But he did not know why. And why was he the only one who could hear them speak?
"Captain! Wait up!" Edmund looked over his back.
It was Rita, Lee and Steven. They were all dressed in Juggernaut armor.
"What in the name of hell..."
Aaron was roaring. "What are you kid's doing here!?"
Steven scoffed. "What do you think granpa? We've been tailing you ever since you entered the sewers. Though now that all hell had broken lose, why bother keeping our presence a secret any longer. Really granpa, I can't see how you were ever a marine."
Rita spoke up. "I was outside Aaron's room. I overheard everything. I told this two about it, and we decided to join up."
"You were tailing us? Why didn't you help out when we attacked by that...Quagrim?"
Rita shrugged. "We didn't have any weapons."
Edmund and Aaron looked down at the assault rifles the trio were carrying.
Lee explained. "We got this from the circular chamber. After you left, we pried this weapons from some of the old Liandri guard's hands. These babies are old no doubt, probably a few years outdated, but they're better than nothing."
Rita jerked her head at Steven. "Though this idiot nearly gave us away when he accidentally fired his weapon."
Steven smiled. Edmund shook his head. "All right. Since you smart alecks decided to tag along, it's time for you to earn your pay. Come on. Move!"
Together, all five of them marched down the corridor. Edmund jogged up to Rita. "Where's Sud."
"We didn't find him in the room captain."
Edmund frowned. They took a turn, and stumbled into a Liandri patrol of eight men heading towards the breach. Edmund's team, the Truth Sayers were quicker to respond. "Have at them!"
Four assault rifles and one shotgun choked. Edmund ran his fire across three targets. Rita downed two. All died instantly without returning a shot.
Rita discarded her old assault rifle and removed a new one from the patrol's limp hands. "Much better." Lee and Steven followed her example. Edmund called to Aaron. "Discard your shotgun, Aaron."
"Huh?"
"Take an assault rifle. That way we can share ammo if things get too dicey."
Aaron considered, then threw aside his shot gun.
"Good thinking kid."
The rest of the journey was uneventful. An odd security personnel or two, which was quickly dispatched by the four men and one woman army. They followed the signs on the walls. To the Unreal Core, it said. Until they finally came to locked door. Edmund placed the explosive charges he had brought along, and stayed back as the explosion blew the door apart and inwards. They charged in.
And found themselves in an empty huge room. Empty except for the a huge round metallic object with hundreds of wires sticking into it, hundreds more computer monitors lining the wall, and a figure standing between them and their objective. It was...
"Xan Kriegor!"
The battle droid whirled around, a shock rifle in its hands. Rita sneered at Steven. "Nice going there, mr.bigmouth." Edmund squirmed. "That's not Xan. It's different."
The battle droid spoke in a computerized voice. "I am defense droid BAP-156S. No one is allowed in the chamber of the Unreal Core. By order of Stacie Liandri..."
Steven laughed nervously. "Ha ha. Er. We are Liandri security. Just making sure everything is alright."
"...All intruders must be annihilated." The shock rifle was brought up.
Edmund shouted an order. "Scatter! Now!"
The Truth Sayers immediately flung themselves away in different directions. The battle droid fired a shock ball where they were a moment ago, and just as quickly fire a shock beam into it. The result was an explosion which sent the five sprawling further than they had intended. Lee was the first to recover. His assault rifle chattered.
The bullets struck the droid. Most of the bullets bounced off the thick armor, only a few managed to pierce it. Sparks flew from places where the bullets found their mark. The droid turned on its heels and fired a shock beam.
The purple beam caught Lee in the chest, and even weighing at least a ton in his Juggernaut armor, Lee was thrown across the room. Lee slammed into the wall and collapsed in a heap.
More bullets struck at the droid as Edmund, Rita and Aaron opened fire together. Steven rushed to Lee's side.
"Steven! No!"
Steven stopped dead in his tracks and turned. Three shock beams struck him. One at the thighs, two at the chest. Steven crashed against the computers and fell. Edmund thought he saw blood.
"Keep shooting!"
The droid turned and fired at Edmund. A shock ball raced towards him, then another and another. Edmund cursed, as he tried to dodge the slow moving energy balls of death. But there were too many. A shock beam lanced into a nearby shock ball and exploded. The chain reaction started. The place exploded around Edmund. But he felt nothing.
Edmund found himself on an elevated catwalk staring down at the explosions at the place where he was a moment ago. "What the-"
The droid was just as bewildered as Edmund was at Edmund's sudden translocation. It whirled and pointed his shock rifle up. Then the whole room glowed blue. An electrifying beam arched out of the unreal core, striking the battle droid.
The droid shook, rattled, then exploded, sending armor fragments to every end of the room. Edmund picked himself up shakily. "Status check!"
"Rita here. Clear captain."
"Aaron here, I'm all right kid."
"Lee here. Oh man. Shaken but okay."
"Steven. Arggh. Damn it. I think I broke a rib."
Then a huge booming voice filled the chamber.
"Edmund....."
"Shit Edmund. What was that beast?"
Edmund stared down at the bullet ridden creature. He shook his head. "I don't know. But it was not a beast. It was a sentient creature for sure. Didn't you hear it talking?"
Aaron raised his eyebrows. "It was talking?"
"Yeah. Wondered how it knew my name..."
Aaron handed Edmund his M32 Duster. "It knew your name? Whoa. You sure about that kid? Maybe you heard me instead calling you."
"No. It was this creature. I'm sure of it."
Aaron nudged the creature. Then paused, and looked at his leader. "You don't suppose that this core thing has something to do with it?"
Edmund shrugged. "Come on, it should be close now. Let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps. Down that passage."
Running down the passage together, Edmund and Aaron soon found themselves in a tunnel instead. They were out of the sewers. Unlit light bulbs lined the wall ceiling. The Liandri were here. They were doing something, but apparently decided to abandon whatever the project was. They reached a locked door. On it was the symbol of the Liandri.
Aaron whistled. "What do you make of this?"
Edmund shook his head. He quickly brought up his map on the HUD of his helmet. The screen glowed green, then the map appeared. He studied it, then shook his head again. "This map must be really old. This door isn't supposed to be here either. The Laindri have been busy."
"Yes. And look, the floor here's halfway tiled. And look again at that. That sticker on the wall. It says left wing. Perhaps they planned to build some secret lab or something here in the sewers?"
Edmund frowned. He wiped away the dust and cobwebs from the lock panel. It was old and cracked. Edmund placed his palm on the panel and waited. Nothing. Not even a beep. "This door has been shut down. That means the Liandri had abandoned their plans for quite sometime. Years maybe. Why?"
"They were planning to convert the sewers into a base? And maybe they stumbled upon something they didn't expect?"
Then it hit Edmund. "That creature! They didn't expect it. It was guarding the sewers. You saw those skeletons. Some of them had Liandri armor. The Liandri stumbled upon the creature and it must have killed their men. They couldn't kill it or didn't wasn't willing to sacrifice any more men, so they locked the creature out."
"Some of the bodies were new and recent."
"The sewers here go up to many places in new Earth. And it has to eat. I'm sure there are many unsolved cases of missing people..."
Aaron nodded. "I'm glad we killed it then. But how are we gonna get past this door?"
Edmund raised his assault rifle. Suddenly, they both heard a gunshot ringing behind them.
Instantly, both Edmund and Aaron whirled around, weapons brought up. The spotlights of their armor shone down an empty passage way. "Aaron. Guard my back."
Aaron nodded. Cold sweat was bathing his face. "I got your back kid."
Edmund turned back to the panel, and fired two shots into it. He then stepped up, and with the help of the Juggernaut armor, he pushed the door open. He could not have possible done it without the armor's strength enhancer.
The room behind the door was empty and unlit. It was huge, and seemed to be devoid of any furniture. There was a door at the other end, and the lock panel was glowing green. Unlocked. Edmund grinned. "All right. Aaron, get in."
Aaron's shotgun discharged. Edmund turned just as Aaron came stumbling in. "We got to leave kid. Now! Go!"
Edmund needn't be told twice. Together, Edmund and Aaron ran towards the door at the other end. Aaron was breathing heavily. "How many are there?"
Aaron shook his head. "You don't want to know."
The door hissed open. The pathway branched into two, left and right. Voices were coming from the right; they had heard the shotgun's fire. Edmund chose the left passage. Heavy boots clanking noisily against the cemented floor, Edmund charged down the corridor. An alarm sounded throughout the installation. Rapid fire gunshots sounded behind, followed by harsh screams. A voice sounded in the public address system. "All Liandri security personnel. The Quagrim have breached the barricade. Head immediately to sector 6 to stop the intruders. I repeat. All Liandri..."
Edmund heard the same chilling call of the creatures, which the Liandri have identified as Quagrim. "Edmund......EDMUND......." He knew then, that the creatures were coming for him. But he did not know why. And why was he the only one who could hear them speak?
"Captain! Wait up!" Edmund looked over his back.
It was Rita, Lee and Steven. They were all dressed in Juggernaut armor.
"What in the name of hell..."
Aaron was roaring. "What are you kid's doing here!?"
Steven scoffed. "What do you think granpa? We've been tailing you ever since you entered the sewers. Though now that all hell had broken lose, why bother keeping our presence a secret any longer. Really granpa, I can't see how you were ever a marine."
Rita spoke up. "I was outside Aaron's room. I overheard everything. I told this two about it, and we decided to join up."
"You were tailing us? Why didn't you help out when we attacked by that...Quagrim?"
Rita shrugged. "We didn't have any weapons."
Edmund and Aaron looked down at the assault rifles the trio were carrying.
Lee explained. "We got this from the circular chamber. After you left, we pried this weapons from some of the old Liandri guard's hands. These babies are old no doubt, probably a few years outdated, but they're better than nothing."
Rita jerked her head at Steven. "Though this idiot nearly gave us away when he accidentally fired his weapon."
Steven smiled. Edmund shook his head. "All right. Since you smart alecks decided to tag along, it's time for you to earn your pay. Come on. Move!"
Together, all five of them marched down the corridor. Edmund jogged up to Rita. "Where's Sud."
"We didn't find him in the room captain."
Edmund frowned. They took a turn, and stumbled into a Liandri patrol of eight men heading towards the breach. Edmund's team, the Truth Sayers were quicker to respond. "Have at them!"
Four assault rifles and one shotgun choked. Edmund ran his fire across three targets. Rita downed two. All died instantly without returning a shot.
Rita discarded her old assault rifle and removed a new one from the patrol's limp hands. "Much better." Lee and Steven followed her example. Edmund called to Aaron. "Discard your shotgun, Aaron."
"Huh?"
"Take an assault rifle. That way we can share ammo if things get too dicey."
Aaron considered, then threw aside his shot gun.
"Good thinking kid."
The rest of the journey was uneventful. An odd security personnel or two, which was quickly dispatched by the four men and one woman army. They followed the signs on the walls. To the Unreal Core, it said. Until they finally came to locked door. Edmund placed the explosive charges he had brought along, and stayed back as the explosion blew the door apart and inwards. They charged in.
And found themselves in an empty huge room. Empty except for the a huge round metallic object with hundreds of wires sticking into it, hundreds more computer monitors lining the wall, and a figure standing between them and their objective. It was...
"Xan Kriegor!"
The battle droid whirled around, a shock rifle in its hands. Rita sneered at Steven. "Nice going there, mr.bigmouth." Edmund squirmed. "That's not Xan. It's different."
The battle droid spoke in a computerized voice. "I am defense droid BAP-156S. No one is allowed in the chamber of the Unreal Core. By order of Stacie Liandri..."
Steven laughed nervously. "Ha ha. Er. We are Liandri security. Just making sure everything is alright."
"...All intruders must be annihilated." The shock rifle was brought up.
Edmund shouted an order. "Scatter! Now!"
The Truth Sayers immediately flung themselves away in different directions. The battle droid fired a shock ball where they were a moment ago, and just as quickly fire a shock beam into it. The result was an explosion which sent the five sprawling further than they had intended. Lee was the first to recover. His assault rifle chattered.
The bullets struck the droid. Most of the bullets bounced off the thick armor, only a few managed to pierce it. Sparks flew from places where the bullets found their mark. The droid turned on its heels and fired a shock beam.
The purple beam caught Lee in the chest, and even weighing at least a ton in his Juggernaut armor, Lee was thrown across the room. Lee slammed into the wall and collapsed in a heap.
More bullets struck at the droid as Edmund, Rita and Aaron opened fire together. Steven rushed to Lee's side.
"Steven! No!"
Steven stopped dead in his tracks and turned. Three shock beams struck him. One at the thighs, two at the chest. Steven crashed against the computers and fell. Edmund thought he saw blood.
"Keep shooting!"
The droid turned and fired at Edmund. A shock ball raced towards him, then another and another. Edmund cursed, as he tried to dodge the slow moving energy balls of death. But there were too many. A shock beam lanced into a nearby shock ball and exploded. The chain reaction started. The place exploded around Edmund. But he felt nothing.
Edmund found himself on an elevated catwalk staring down at the explosions at the place where he was a moment ago. "What the-"
The droid was just as bewildered as Edmund was at Edmund's sudden translocation. It whirled and pointed his shock rifle up. Then the whole room glowed blue. An electrifying beam arched out of the unreal core, striking the battle droid.
The droid shook, rattled, then exploded, sending armor fragments to every end of the room. Edmund picked himself up shakily. "Status check!"
"Rita here. Clear captain."
"Aaron here, I'm all right kid."
"Lee here. Oh man. Shaken but okay."
"Steven. Arggh. Damn it. I think I broke a rib."
Then a huge booming voice filled the chamber.
"Edmund....."
