Love Child

fadingshadesofpurple

Disclaimer: Once again, nothing is mine. It is all copyright Naughty Dog/SCEA. Wish it was, 'cause that would mean I was filthy rich. 0.o;;;

And...

Chapter Seven. Mission's Up

Torn knew, as he lay there trapped beneath the Metalhead cloaker, that the jig was very well up for him. But he was a fighter, and he was determined to not let things end in such a way. As the Metalhead poised its mighty talons to make the final blow, Torn reached slowly for the knife attached to his back, and slowly brought it out, waiting and watching the poised Cloaker.

As the cloaker brought it's talons down in an attempt to finish off his victim, Torn twisted as hard as he could to the right, and brought his dagger up, jamming the pointed end of it into the glowing skull gem atop the Cloakers head.

His movement hadn't been fast enough, however, as the cloakers talons caught his side and tore through it like scissors to a piece of paper. A blinding pain seared up and down his side, and he nearly missed his mark with his blade.

The strike to the skull gem proved to be fatal for the Cloaker, however, and it crumbled on top of him, its body giving way to a pool of dark eco that faded into the snow.

For several moments, Torn lay there, his side throbbing, and bleeding lifeblood out where it mixed with the snow, and froze with seconds later. He felt as if all of his energy had been zapped from him, and he knew, that the longer he laid there, the shorter his life would be.

He turned his head ever so slightly, even as his vision blurred, and the pain in his side grew worse. Despite his blurred vision, and the harshness of the wind and snow that blew furiously around him, he saw a green glow in the snow not far from where he lay.

He knew it to be a health pack almost instantly, and while he could make this good judgement easily, it was getting over to the health pack that would be difficult.

He didn't have much of a choice though: it was either bleed to death in this frozen hellhole, or at least try to make an attempt to grasp at somehing life saving.

He shifted his weight, turning over on his stomach in the process. More pain seared through him, and he stopped moving instantly, gasping for breath and for a tiny second of relief that never came. He moved the green health pack in his sights, and, using his arms, began to pull himself towards his only hope. It was slow, painfully slow, as his side felt as if it had burst into flames, and new fire was constantly being added to it as he moved, but he finally reached the pack. Taking a sigh of relief, he ripped it open...

...only to find that it was nearly empty. Only a single pack of green eco lay in it, and he knew that, with his side bleeding so profusely, he would need more than that. Still, the sight of this disappointment, didn't slow him in the least bit. He took the pack and tore it open, pouring its contents on a bandage inside the kit, the only bandage left.

Once the bandage had been saturated enough with the life-saving green substance, he wrapped it around his side as best he could, feeling the warmth of it seep into his body as it went to work healing this vast and nearly fatal wound.

After that, he lost all strength, and lay there as still as possible half on his side, half on his stomach. He heard the sounds of fighting all around him: men screaming, guns being fired, searing balls of dark eco tossed by Metalhead stingers, crunching metal, and the sounds of rolling barrels. The darkness of the snow and the blizzard grew even darker, and the multitude of sounds he heard evantually merged into one single harmony of chaos and destruction.

Through it all he lay there helplessly, the feeling of the warmth of the green eco up and down his wounded side the only peace he found in such a state warfare. He felt it weakening, and he felt himself begin to drain even more. Evantually, it became too painful for him to even keep his eyes open, so he closed them, and willed silently for the green eco to work faster, even as it faded away some more.

The sounds around him dulled.

The sensations inside of him lingered for a short while.

Then darkness enveloped him...

Ashelin found her father in his usual position: pacing in front of his throne like an angry bear, some papers clutched in his hand. For a moment, she didn't know what to say as she stopped before him, fearing that he would be angry with her for obvious reasons.

He stopped pacing at the sight of his daughter, and called for his commander, Errol, who had followed her down all the way from her bedroom to the throne room, and handed him the papers before dismissing him.

Then he looked his daughter squarely in the eyes, and she gulped inwardly. She felt her whole body begin to cringe and then grow hot with anticipation.

"Ashelin, I have a new mission for you. One that only you can carry out."

Inwardly she breathed a sigh of relief, and her caved out to it. She only hoped, afterwards, that her old man hadn't seen that.

"Father, can't this wait until morning?" she asked suddenly.

He glared at her. "No, it cannot wait until morning. The mission is going to be carried out tonight, and later."

"T-Tonight?" she nearly choked. "B-but it's nighttime?" she found herself stammering.

He eyed her suspiciously, and she caught herself in check. This wouldn't be the first time her father had assigned her a nighttime mission, and during those other times, she had taken it without complaint.

"I mean, so it's nighttime. What is it that you want me to complete?"She said this as nonchalantly as possible, but inside she felt her heart sink. She would not be able to see Torn tonight as planned after all. She was pretty sure, judging by how set and stern her father's expression, that she would not be able to get out of this mission, at least not without some suspicious behavior.

"We've discovered a new cavern in the Wastelands to the west of here. It houses a multitude of important precursor artifacts that must not fall into the wrong hands, and by the wrong hands, I mean, the Metalheads. The creatures, I am sure, are also on to the location of this cavern and are taking as many precautions as we are to capture it before we do. Thus, your mission tonight is to take a handful of soldiers, fly out there, and grab all of the precursor artifacts before the Metalheads arrive."

"I see," she replied. "There will be a lot of fighting, I presume?"

"Yes, if you get there to late, then you will have to fight the Metalheads for it. Even if you get there early, expect hostiles, and be alert for them. This is no easy task, but I fully believe that you are capable of handling it."

She nodded in response.

"In half an hour, you will rendezvous at the port, where an air train will take you and those select few under your command to the cavern. After that, you're on you're own. Now, get moving..." he said, turning his back to her in the process.

For several seconds she stood there, her heart torn between defying her father's orders and heading out to see Torn herself instead, and carrying them out. She weighed the risks in her mind, however. If she defied her father's orders, she would undoubtfully bring suspicion to herself, not to mention many repercussions. Even though, she was the Baron's daughter, she was still apart of his military, and subject to the same punishments that everyone else in it was subject to if they acted out.

She turned to walk away, glad that her mind was weighing her options more logically, and ignorning her heart.

She would complete this mission, and then find a way to meet up with Torn afterwards.

It was the only choice she had left.