Points of View
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic
by Intrasonic
Setting: Entering the Shrine of Kaddan
"Lady Nel... Forgive me... I couldn't stop them from entering the shrine..."
"It would appear so." Nel knelt near the head of the mortally wounded soldier. As much as she would have liked to believe otherwise, she was far too qualified to judge when a wound was fatal. In times like this... all one could do was to assure the fallen that they hadn't died in vain... "But don't fear. We'll protect the Sacred Orb, no matter what."
The man smiled weakly, his expression only betraying a hint of the pain he was obviously in at the moment. "Thank...the...gods..." Giving one last, strangled breath, the man's body finally went limp, his eyelids closing gently.
Nel grimaced, eyeing the gaping wound in his side, bleeding far less than it should have, given the severe cauterization that had been inflicted on it at the same time. The same fate that had befallen many soldiers on the battlefield only a short time ago. Whatever else could be said about these 'Vendeeni', they clearly didn't believe in a clean kill. And now they were running rampant through the Shrine of Kaddan, trying to lay their murderous hands on the Sacred Orb...
"They'll pay for this," she muttered under her breath.
Steeling her expression, she gave the other with her a warning glance. "You'd better brace yourselves. Only members of the royal family or messengers of the gods have been allowed in here until now. I've also heard that countless traps have been set to prevent looting."
"It'd sure make things easier if those traps would take care of them for us."
Cliff was, all things considered, reassuring to have beside her in the upcoming fight. As was Fayt, less-experienced though he might be. Mirage was remaining back at the Castle, serving as an 'emergency communication relay' between them and their 'ship', although Nel privately had no idea what that was supposed to mean.
"Don't get your hopes up. They'll most likely be carrying power scanners."
It was their 'boss', Maria, that was warranting the most concern. It wasn't that Maria didn't come across as an efficient, dedicated, and intelligent leader. It was that Maria also came across as the kind of leader who was prone to overcompensating in an effort to insure that she stayed that way.
For several obvious reasons, Nel carried no prejudice against a female in command, but she did like knowing a commander's credentials beforehand. Thus far, all she knew about the young lady was that she was in possession of an unknown power, and both Cliff and Mirage followed her command. While she was reasonably certain that both Klausians were possessed of good judgement in their own fashion, that alone wasn't enough to make a believer of Nel.
"Cliff?" Maria indicated the body, clearly inviting an opinion.
Cliff shook his head slowly. "Well, if this guy's any indication, the Vendeeni are packing disruptor rifles. No problem for me one-on-one, but..."
Maria nodded slowly, apparently well-versed in Cliff's combat abilities. "And your... friend?"
"Nel's one the kingdom's best," Cliff vouched.
"I see." Maria frowned. "The Vendeeni haven't met with any significant resistance yet, but once we engage them, they'll be warned. We need to hit them hard and fast enough that they can't get a distress signal out. Or alert their ship to my or Fayt's whereabouts."
"Sounds like a plan to me."
"You're more familiar with this territory, your recommended approach?"
Cliff looked thoughtful. "You and Fayt stay back, boss."
"And me?" Nel inquired.
Cliff grinned. "You may not be a Klausian, but you're pretty damn fast all the same. You can take point with me."
While his confidence was reassuring, Nel had questions. "These Vendeeni? They use runology?"
"Runology?"
"That's what they call symbology on this planet," Fayt supplied.
Her glance towards the badly burned dead body must have been self-explanatory. Maria shook her head in response. "No, their weapons are called disruptor rifles. Do your people use any form of projectile weapons?"
"Their runological weapons are similar," Cliff pointed out. "Disruptor rifles are the same idea, except that they just use energy, and they're handheld. And any dumbass can use one."
"Well," Maria observed, a smirk on her face, "it's nice to know that I'm held in such high esteem by my friends."
"Darn!" Cliff slapped his forehead theatrically. "And Mirage and I had managed to keep it a secret for so long! But you know what I mean, right?"
"Absolutely. And the next off-site mission we're on, guess who's getting latrine duty?"
"Ah, dammit."
Her scepticism, Nel felt, was entirely justified after the earlier statement. "A handheld runological weapon that requires no training? Yet still powerful enough to do that?"
For an answer, Maria took hold of the contraption attached to her belt and lifted it easily in one hand. Stretching out her arm, she faced a wall away from the others.
"Observe." A twitch of one finger, and a blast of energy erupted from the end, blowing several sizable chunks of stone loose from the wall.
"The Vendeeni have weapons just like that, except more powerful," Cliff elaborated.
Nel nodded slowly, feeling her scepticism rapidly drain away. These days, it just seemed to be one thing after another... the speed of the energy blast, the power behind it... "And the most effective way to deal with these weapons?"
"You ever rushed someone with a bow and arrow?"
"Numerous times," she affirmed.
"Same idea here," he assured her. "You know that that once that arrow's fired, it's going to keep going in the same direction. And you know that the direction it's going to go is the direction it's pointing. So you just move as fast as you can, and try to keep them from getting a clear shot on you. And if they do get a shot off, make sure that you're already out of the way. Sound familiar?"
"Quite," she agreed. "And once you close the distance, the weapon becomes a liability?"
"Right. They'll probably be in groups of two, so you work from the left side, and I'll work from the right side. If there's more than two, you aim for the centre, boss."
"What about me?" Fayt wanted to know.
Maria gave him a reassuring smile. "The Vendeeni will want the two of us - especially you - alive. Your job is to make sure any capture attempts fail."
"There may be more than just the Vendeeni down here," Nel added. "Similar to the monsters we've dealt with this far. Or possibly worse - this place has been sealed for quite a long time."
"Good," Cliff approved. "Nothing like a little variety to keep things interesting, I say."
end