sorry for the long chapter this time guys. got carried away.
CHAPTER 16: ONSLAUGHT (iii)
In a flash of light, Edmund found himself respawned back at Blue Base. Next to him, on his right, Rita appeared. On her right, Steven appeared and cheered. A little further ahead, Sud and Aaron blurred into existence, whooping.
"Yes! Round one is ours!"
Then Lee blurred into existence. Edmund could hardly contain how proud he felt of his friend. Laughing and grinning, he grabbed Lee and gave him a hug. Lee vomited blood on Edmund's armor.
"Holy crap!"
Quickly, the rest of the team rushed forward. Lee collapsed noisily on to the cement floor. Ignoring the blood dripping off his armor, Edmund knelt and raised up Lee's head.
"He okay?" Aaron asked anxiously. The rest of team waited for Edmund's answer. Edmund quickly checked Lee's pulse. Lee's heart was beating fast. Too fast. His face was pale and white like a ghost. Edmund cursed.
"Damn it! The Graff Effect. He must have taken a bad hit before this!"
Rita's hand clasped Edmund's shoulder. "That means we're one man short. Lee can't possibly fight in his condition! And the Blood Fists are undoubtedly already on their way! We have got to leave him behind!"
Edmund nodded. What Rita said was true. They had to get back to fighting. "Steven and Aaron, take Lee into Blue Base and keep him somewhere safe. Rita, get into that Hellbender and rev it up, then wait for me! Sud, you're in charge of-"
"Wait a darn minute! You're going to leave Lee behind!?"
"I have no choice!"
"Those robots will kill him if they get into Blue Base!" Sud pushed Edmund into the wall. Edmund's armor clanged noisily. Rita stopped and turned around. Edmund shook his head.
"Then he will respawn, he'll survive..."
"No he can't and you know it god damn well! He's already suffering from that Graff Effect! Respawning would kill him anyway!"
"The Blood Fists must be defeated!"
Sud stared incredulously at Edmund. Then his facial expression changed to one of disgust and contempt. "My god. You are going to abandon him? Just like you abandoned Jakob!!"
Of course, Edmund thought. Sud did not know what was at stake, he wasn't there with them. Rita seemed about to rebuke her teammate, but Edmund raised his hand to stop her. Sud could not know the truth yet. There was something strange about Sud, something Edmund had never seen before. He did not trust him with the information about the Kulgans.
"Yes Sud. If I have to abandon Lee and everyone else to win, then so be it!! But for now, I'm still your captain! Now get your ass into that Goliath Assault Tank and provide protection for Blue Base!"
Sud raised clenched fists. "Why you little..."
"Do as you are ordered!!"
Sud stopped. His fist was still aimed at Edmund's face. Rita took a step forwards, her assault rifle at the ready. The safety was off. Sud glanced at her, looked at her weapon and remembered her vicious men killing. Sud suddenly felt fearful of this woman. He dropped his hands, and turned to face his captain. "I will remember this...Edmund." Sud turned and stalked off.
Aaron and Steven came out of the Blue Base. "Whoa, did we miss something?"
"NORTH POWER NODE CAPTURED. EAST POWER NODE CAPTURED"
Edmund cursed. The Blood Fists were fast. And Edmund could no longer employ the earlier trick he had used. The robots had underestimated them. They won't do it again. This time, life would be much tougher. And now the Truth Sayers were a man down.
Edmund quickly stocked up on weapons and ammo. The others hurried to the same. Edmund looked around. He caught sight of four brand new Manta Hover Bikes.
"Aaron, Rita , Steven. Get into the Mantas. We're riding them."
Steven eyebrow's went up. "Mantas? They blow up to easily! Their side plasma guns are slowly and their armor is paper thin! We'll die out there!"
Edmund quickly got into his bike. Rita and Aaron did the same. Despite his protests, Steven followed. Edmund answered, "That may be so, but these bikes have got speed, which would make us harder to hit. We'll strike them quick and hard, they'll never know what hit them. Besides, Sud is providing us artillery cover fire. Now, let's ride!"
Edmund felt the Manta hum to life as the hover bike lifted off the ground. Edmund hit the throttle, and the four teammates sped out of Blue Base.
Edmund checked his HUD and spoke into his mike.
"We head eastward to that red power node and recapture it. That will immediately bring down the Red Power Core's shield. Then we immediately attack the base and take it out. Arrowhead formation!"
Immediately, the others took up position. Rita at his right, and Aaron and Steven at his left. Steven's voice came on the communications link. "You do realize that this leaves Sud alone to resist whatever forces the Blood Fists have massed at the northern power node."
"Yes, I do. But I'm quite sure that his Goliath heavy tank will be able to resist the Blood Fists."
"Right. That's as long as Sud doesn't face down another Goliath heavy tank."
Edmund closed his eyes. It was a gamble for sure; a move so irrational that Edmund hoped the robots would not expect and be ready to counter.
Rita's voice came in frantic. "Contact! Two enemy Mantas at twelve o clock!"
At the same time, Edmund's head's up display blared in alarm! Looking at his radar, it flared red, signaling a missile lock on. Edmund swore. "There's a Raptor somewhere in the sky! Look out! Split and scatter and take down those two enemy Mantas!"
Rita's bike veered sharply to the right, its side plasma guns spitting bolts of plasma at what Edmund supposed were the enemies. Edmund had his own problems. Crossing his fingers, Edmund slammed the brakes. The hover biked jerked to a stop. The missile slammed into the ground ahead of him.
"Yes! Ha ha! Missed me!"
Edmund immediately restarted his bike and sped ahead. He could see the two enemy Mantas now. They split up, firing at Edmund's team mates. One went towards Steven and Aaron, the other towards Rita. His HUD identified Rita's opponent as Mandible. Edmund quickly made his decision.
Adrenaline coursed through his body. He brought the bike around to face Mandible's left flank as he zoomed past him. Edmund pressed the trigger.
Plasma bolts slammed into the side of the vehicle. Several bolts smashed into the rider, Mandible. Despite the injuries, Mandible surprised Edmund by not bailing. Instead, he fired his own hail of bolts into Rita. Rita returned fire, but her shots went wildly off their mark.
Edmund watched in horror Mandible's aim went true and melted armor of Rita's Manta. The hover bike swerved dangerously, and Rita's scream filled Edmund's head set.
"Rita! Eject! Get out of the bike!"
"My arm, I lost my arm! Oh my go-"
A missile from the hidden enemy Raptor slammed into Rita's hover bike. It exploded in a fiery ball and its wreckage slammed into the cliff wall. Edmund cursed. Now Rita would have to respawn back at Blue Base. There were no more Mantas left and she would have to use a slower vehicle. Edmund had to proceed with the plan without her.
Quickly, Edmund slammed the bike to the left, spitting plasma bolts at the elusive Mandible.
"Aaron, Steven! What's the score with the other guy?!"
"Not too good. Him lots and me none. I bet he's Widowmaker. I've taken some bad hits and my bikes not moving at top speed. I haven't been able to place any hits on..."
"Aaron! Look out!"
"Son of a-. Thanks Steven! That missile nearly took me out! Edmund, we've got to get some air cover!"
Edmund's comm link buzzed. "Rita here. I've respawned, good as new. What's your orders captain?"
"Sud here! I have the rest of the Blood Fists biting huge chunks out of my ass! Contact with two, I repeat, two Goliath tanks! I'm collapsing to Blue Base! I need support!"
"Edmund, this is Steven. I suggest asking Rita to provide our air support!"
"Blue Base is under attack! I'm abandoning my Goliath and moving on to the static defense turret!"
Another missile slammed into the ground behind Edmund. Mandible was already bringing his bike around to Edmund's rear. Widowmaker raced by chased by Aaron and Steven and scored some hits on Edmund's Manta. His heads up display alerted him of a fifty percent armor loss. Alarms blared again warning of yet another impending missile attack.
"Rita here. Sir, what's my orders? Do I provide air support or help Sud with the defenses?"
Thoughts raced through Edmund's head. They had to win. They must win. A good defense is a good offense. A good offense is a good defense.
"Rita! Help Sud out with the defenses! We can handle this on our own!"
"Confirmed."
"Thank god."
"What!? Are you out of your mind? We can handle this on our own? We're getting chewed apart here!"
"I have to agree with Steven captain. We will never be able to drive them off."
"We won't have to. Disengage and head for the power node both of you! Its not far! Go!"
Immediately, Steven and Aaron disengaged from their target. Bringing their bikes around, they accelerated towards the small out post where the power node was situated. Widowmaker saw this and also quickly turned to give chase. Edmund grimaced.
He slammed down on the pedals and the Manta shot forward. At the same time, he squeezed hard on the trigger, firing three salvos of plasma at Mandible. He aimed the Manta at Mandible.
The plasma slammed into the robot's hover bike's engines. Dark smoke belched from the bike. The distance between the two bikes closed. Quickly, Edmund braced himself and jumped off the Manta. Still stuck in full gear, Edmund's vehicle slammed head on into Mandible's. The Mantas crashed, entangled, and broke apart. Mandible died with them.
Edmund quickly picked himself up and readied his Link Gun. Widowmaker smartly raced his hover bike out of Edmund's weapon's effective range, then did a sharp turn, making the bike bear down on Edmund.
"Captain. The power node is ours. Get on my bike, and we'll head for the Power Core!"
Edmund took aim with his weapon at Widowmaker. "Go on ahead. I'll hold them off!"
Edmund barely heard the affirmative over the roaring of the Raptor overhead. He immediately threw himself to the left, crashing into some bushes. The Raptor slammed down into the ground where he stood just a moment ago. The pilot had obviously tried to flatten him. Edmund turned, threw aside his Link Gun, and drew his Shock Rifle. The Raptor's engine screamed in protest as it tried to quickly get back into the air.
Edmund raised the rifle. The turreted dual laser cannon slung underneath the Raptor swiveled at him. Edmund squeezed the trigger.
The powerful shock beam slammed into the side of the craft, just below the cockpit. The hit did nothing more than melt the some armor, but it did knock the craft aside a little. The bolts from the turreted cannon missed wide.
The sound of whirling blades. Edmund turned to see Widowmaker trying to run him down with the hover bike. The Raptor behind Edmund was threatening to get off the ground. He had to tie these two up to buy time for Aaron and Steven. He had to delay and not kill them, or else they'll simply respawn back where his teammates were heading, the Red Base.
Edmund fired wildly with his shock rifle, taking care to hit the hover bikes hover blades. Success! The blades snapped, rendering the bike out of control. He saw Widowmaker struggle with the bike, and then jump out, abandoning it. Edmund turned again to face the Raptor. It was almost of the ground. Screaming in desperation, Edmund flung himself at it. Left had clutching the AMSD Shock Rifle, Edmund grabbed hold frantically of the Raptor's wing.
Grunting in pain of his twisted position, Edmund tried to aim the rifle at the Raptor's engines. Meanwhile, the craft rose steadily into the air. Twenty feet, fifty, hundred, two hundred, five hundred, one thousand. It turned to give chase to Aaron and Steven. Edmund realized it was trying to gain a missile lock on their Mantas! And his impossible position was not allowing him to bear the rifle towards the engines.
Edmund's hand bled and threatened to lose his grip on the Raptor. His feet failed to find purchase on the craft's sleek metal hull.
Nothing left to it. I have to stop him from firing those missiles.
Edmund let go and abandoned himself to gravity. The ground rushed towards him. The air whipped about him. Edmund fired his shock rifle where he thought the engines of the Raptor would be. The rifle bucked once, twice, thrice. He kept his finger on the trigger. And was rewarded with a satisfying explosion. Then Edmund hit the ground at more than five hundred miles per hour. This time, even his heavy armor did not save him.
CHAPTER 16: ONSLAUGHT (iii)
In a flash of light, Edmund found himself respawned back at Blue Base. Next to him, on his right, Rita appeared. On her right, Steven appeared and cheered. A little further ahead, Sud and Aaron blurred into existence, whooping.
"Yes! Round one is ours!"
Then Lee blurred into existence. Edmund could hardly contain how proud he felt of his friend. Laughing and grinning, he grabbed Lee and gave him a hug. Lee vomited blood on Edmund's armor.
"Holy crap!"
Quickly, the rest of the team rushed forward. Lee collapsed noisily on to the cement floor. Ignoring the blood dripping off his armor, Edmund knelt and raised up Lee's head.
"He okay?" Aaron asked anxiously. The rest of team waited for Edmund's answer. Edmund quickly checked Lee's pulse. Lee's heart was beating fast. Too fast. His face was pale and white like a ghost. Edmund cursed.
"Damn it! The Graff Effect. He must have taken a bad hit before this!"
Rita's hand clasped Edmund's shoulder. "That means we're one man short. Lee can't possibly fight in his condition! And the Blood Fists are undoubtedly already on their way! We have got to leave him behind!"
Edmund nodded. What Rita said was true. They had to get back to fighting. "Steven and Aaron, take Lee into Blue Base and keep him somewhere safe. Rita, get into that Hellbender and rev it up, then wait for me! Sud, you're in charge of-"
"Wait a darn minute! You're going to leave Lee behind!?"
"I have no choice!"
"Those robots will kill him if they get into Blue Base!" Sud pushed Edmund into the wall. Edmund's armor clanged noisily. Rita stopped and turned around. Edmund shook his head.
"Then he will respawn, he'll survive..."
"No he can't and you know it god damn well! He's already suffering from that Graff Effect! Respawning would kill him anyway!"
"The Blood Fists must be defeated!"
Sud stared incredulously at Edmund. Then his facial expression changed to one of disgust and contempt. "My god. You are going to abandon him? Just like you abandoned Jakob!!"
Of course, Edmund thought. Sud did not know what was at stake, he wasn't there with them. Rita seemed about to rebuke her teammate, but Edmund raised his hand to stop her. Sud could not know the truth yet. There was something strange about Sud, something Edmund had never seen before. He did not trust him with the information about the Kulgans.
"Yes Sud. If I have to abandon Lee and everyone else to win, then so be it!! But for now, I'm still your captain! Now get your ass into that Goliath Assault Tank and provide protection for Blue Base!"
Sud raised clenched fists. "Why you little..."
"Do as you are ordered!!"
Sud stopped. His fist was still aimed at Edmund's face. Rita took a step forwards, her assault rifle at the ready. The safety was off. Sud glanced at her, looked at her weapon and remembered her vicious men killing. Sud suddenly felt fearful of this woman. He dropped his hands, and turned to face his captain. "I will remember this...Edmund." Sud turned and stalked off.
Aaron and Steven came out of the Blue Base. "Whoa, did we miss something?"
"NORTH POWER NODE CAPTURED. EAST POWER NODE CAPTURED"
Edmund cursed. The Blood Fists were fast. And Edmund could no longer employ the earlier trick he had used. The robots had underestimated them. They won't do it again. This time, life would be much tougher. And now the Truth Sayers were a man down.
Edmund quickly stocked up on weapons and ammo. The others hurried to the same. Edmund looked around. He caught sight of four brand new Manta Hover Bikes.
"Aaron, Rita , Steven. Get into the Mantas. We're riding them."
Steven eyebrow's went up. "Mantas? They blow up to easily! Their side plasma guns are slowly and their armor is paper thin! We'll die out there!"
Edmund quickly got into his bike. Rita and Aaron did the same. Despite his protests, Steven followed. Edmund answered, "That may be so, but these bikes have got speed, which would make us harder to hit. We'll strike them quick and hard, they'll never know what hit them. Besides, Sud is providing us artillery cover fire. Now, let's ride!"
Edmund felt the Manta hum to life as the hover bike lifted off the ground. Edmund hit the throttle, and the four teammates sped out of Blue Base.
Edmund checked his HUD and spoke into his mike.
"We head eastward to that red power node and recapture it. That will immediately bring down the Red Power Core's shield. Then we immediately attack the base and take it out. Arrowhead formation!"
Immediately, the others took up position. Rita at his right, and Aaron and Steven at his left. Steven's voice came on the communications link. "You do realize that this leaves Sud alone to resist whatever forces the Blood Fists have massed at the northern power node."
"Yes, I do. But I'm quite sure that his Goliath heavy tank will be able to resist the Blood Fists."
"Right. That's as long as Sud doesn't face down another Goliath heavy tank."
Edmund closed his eyes. It was a gamble for sure; a move so irrational that Edmund hoped the robots would not expect and be ready to counter.
Rita's voice came in frantic. "Contact! Two enemy Mantas at twelve o clock!"
At the same time, Edmund's head's up display blared in alarm! Looking at his radar, it flared red, signaling a missile lock on. Edmund swore. "There's a Raptor somewhere in the sky! Look out! Split and scatter and take down those two enemy Mantas!"
Rita's bike veered sharply to the right, its side plasma guns spitting bolts of plasma at what Edmund supposed were the enemies. Edmund had his own problems. Crossing his fingers, Edmund slammed the brakes. The hover biked jerked to a stop. The missile slammed into the ground ahead of him.
"Yes! Ha ha! Missed me!"
Edmund immediately restarted his bike and sped ahead. He could see the two enemy Mantas now. They split up, firing at Edmund's team mates. One went towards Steven and Aaron, the other towards Rita. His HUD identified Rita's opponent as Mandible. Edmund quickly made his decision.
Adrenaline coursed through his body. He brought the bike around to face Mandible's left flank as he zoomed past him. Edmund pressed the trigger.
Plasma bolts slammed into the side of the vehicle. Several bolts smashed into the rider, Mandible. Despite the injuries, Mandible surprised Edmund by not bailing. Instead, he fired his own hail of bolts into Rita. Rita returned fire, but her shots went wildly off their mark.
Edmund watched in horror Mandible's aim went true and melted armor of Rita's Manta. The hover bike swerved dangerously, and Rita's scream filled Edmund's head set.
"Rita! Eject! Get out of the bike!"
"My arm, I lost my arm! Oh my go-"
A missile from the hidden enemy Raptor slammed into Rita's hover bike. It exploded in a fiery ball and its wreckage slammed into the cliff wall. Edmund cursed. Now Rita would have to respawn back at Blue Base. There were no more Mantas left and she would have to use a slower vehicle. Edmund had to proceed with the plan without her.
Quickly, Edmund slammed the bike to the left, spitting plasma bolts at the elusive Mandible.
"Aaron, Steven! What's the score with the other guy?!"
"Not too good. Him lots and me none. I bet he's Widowmaker. I've taken some bad hits and my bikes not moving at top speed. I haven't been able to place any hits on..."
"Aaron! Look out!"
"Son of a-. Thanks Steven! That missile nearly took me out! Edmund, we've got to get some air cover!"
Edmund's comm link buzzed. "Rita here. I've respawned, good as new. What's your orders captain?"
"Sud here! I have the rest of the Blood Fists biting huge chunks out of my ass! Contact with two, I repeat, two Goliath tanks! I'm collapsing to Blue Base! I need support!"
"Edmund, this is Steven. I suggest asking Rita to provide our air support!"
"Blue Base is under attack! I'm abandoning my Goliath and moving on to the static defense turret!"
Another missile slammed into the ground behind Edmund. Mandible was already bringing his bike around to Edmund's rear. Widowmaker raced by chased by Aaron and Steven and scored some hits on Edmund's Manta. His heads up display alerted him of a fifty percent armor loss. Alarms blared again warning of yet another impending missile attack.
"Rita here. Sir, what's my orders? Do I provide air support or help Sud with the defenses?"
Thoughts raced through Edmund's head. They had to win. They must win. A good defense is a good offense. A good offense is a good defense.
"Rita! Help Sud out with the defenses! We can handle this on our own!"
"Confirmed."
"Thank god."
"What!? Are you out of your mind? We can handle this on our own? We're getting chewed apart here!"
"I have to agree with Steven captain. We will never be able to drive them off."
"We won't have to. Disengage and head for the power node both of you! Its not far! Go!"
Immediately, Steven and Aaron disengaged from their target. Bringing their bikes around, they accelerated towards the small out post where the power node was situated. Widowmaker saw this and also quickly turned to give chase. Edmund grimaced.
He slammed down on the pedals and the Manta shot forward. At the same time, he squeezed hard on the trigger, firing three salvos of plasma at Mandible. He aimed the Manta at Mandible.
The plasma slammed into the robot's hover bike's engines. Dark smoke belched from the bike. The distance between the two bikes closed. Quickly, Edmund braced himself and jumped off the Manta. Still stuck in full gear, Edmund's vehicle slammed head on into Mandible's. The Mantas crashed, entangled, and broke apart. Mandible died with them.
Edmund quickly picked himself up and readied his Link Gun. Widowmaker smartly raced his hover bike out of Edmund's weapon's effective range, then did a sharp turn, making the bike bear down on Edmund.
"Captain. The power node is ours. Get on my bike, and we'll head for the Power Core!"
Edmund took aim with his weapon at Widowmaker. "Go on ahead. I'll hold them off!"
Edmund barely heard the affirmative over the roaring of the Raptor overhead. He immediately threw himself to the left, crashing into some bushes. The Raptor slammed down into the ground where he stood just a moment ago. The pilot had obviously tried to flatten him. Edmund turned, threw aside his Link Gun, and drew his Shock Rifle. The Raptor's engine screamed in protest as it tried to quickly get back into the air.
Edmund raised the rifle. The turreted dual laser cannon slung underneath the Raptor swiveled at him. Edmund squeezed the trigger.
The powerful shock beam slammed into the side of the craft, just below the cockpit. The hit did nothing more than melt the some armor, but it did knock the craft aside a little. The bolts from the turreted cannon missed wide.
The sound of whirling blades. Edmund turned to see Widowmaker trying to run him down with the hover bike. The Raptor behind Edmund was threatening to get off the ground. He had to tie these two up to buy time for Aaron and Steven. He had to delay and not kill them, or else they'll simply respawn back where his teammates were heading, the Red Base.
Edmund fired wildly with his shock rifle, taking care to hit the hover bikes hover blades. Success! The blades snapped, rendering the bike out of control. He saw Widowmaker struggle with the bike, and then jump out, abandoning it. Edmund turned again to face the Raptor. It was almost of the ground. Screaming in desperation, Edmund flung himself at it. Left had clutching the AMSD Shock Rifle, Edmund grabbed hold frantically of the Raptor's wing.
Grunting in pain of his twisted position, Edmund tried to aim the rifle at the Raptor's engines. Meanwhile, the craft rose steadily into the air. Twenty feet, fifty, hundred, two hundred, five hundred, one thousand. It turned to give chase to Aaron and Steven. Edmund realized it was trying to gain a missile lock on their Mantas! And his impossible position was not allowing him to bear the rifle towards the engines.
Edmund's hand bled and threatened to lose his grip on the Raptor. His feet failed to find purchase on the craft's sleek metal hull.
Nothing left to it. I have to stop him from firing those missiles.
Edmund let go and abandoned himself to gravity. The ground rushed towards him. The air whipped about him. Edmund fired his shock rifle where he thought the engines of the Raptor would be. The rifle bucked once, twice, thrice. He kept his finger on the trigger. And was rewarded with a satisfying explosion. Then Edmund hit the ground at more than five hundred miles per hour. This time, even his heavy armor did not save him.
