Chapter Ten
The Truth Is Never Easy
We begin, our feet the only thing sound within the hollowed and abandon walls of the mines. I begin to notice the piles of old and rusted down machinery all around us. Computers, machinery old droids, and Cast models all lay on the ground, rusted, broken, or badly damaged. Small sounds of electric shorts and groans of old machinery churning is all that disturbs this empty and lifeless place.
I move a little ahead of the group and to the right. They continue on by as I stop to look at an old model robot, a Gillchich I believe is what it was called. They have not been seen or used since Pioneer 1 left for Ragol. I stare at the lifeless visor now, wondering what it was doing down here, these were mostly service robots and droids. "Colt? What are you looking at?" Sage approaches me and kneels down with me as well staring at the dust covered Gillchich. "Oh, nothing I am just wondering if it was still active that's all." Sage looks at the machine taps its metal head a few times, not getting an angry response from it he smiles and then states "I doubt this one has been active in the last couple of years, this one seems to be long gone… We should move on before we are left behind." ".. Yes of course."
I rise and head towards the door, I hear a sudden sound, a whirring of metal parts starting up, a small motor coming to life and… A laser charging? I turn around and see the once inactive Gillchich up, mainframe running at blistering speed and aiming its deadly laser at me. The bolt of energy lances through the air, I do not have time to dodge and the bolt slams right into my left shoulder knocking me down and across the floor. I slide to stop and stand gripping my shoulder where the laser struck. I carefully lift my hand and discover my armor has melted right off the shoulder, my shoulder, now burned badly the pain begins to flare up in it. I cast Resta upon the wound and it heals, sending a cooling sensation through my skin to ease the burn.
I stare at the Gillchich as it charges up its laser attack again, I crouch down ready to dodge or duck out of its aim. A small tink is heard, the Gillchich moves toward the noise and then suddenly, its head falls off exposing its internal assembly of wires and circuits. Its body crashes to the ground where upon sparks shower from the neck. I turn and notice Samus standing within the door way. A small Custom Ray trained on the sparking body of the Gillchich. the others are moving along…" I rise and walk out the door way, I stare back at the Gillchich and wonder, if there are any more surprises I will encounter here…
Minor note, I am going to try this in third person now for the rest of this chapter as a test. If you the readers prefer it this way then tell me and the rest will be in third person as well. If not I will switch back to my original form, or if you want a mix of the two please tell me. Thanks.
The group soon reunites. They begin to wander the mines returning from the way Cranberry Samus and Mewone fought to reach the other three. Colt, peering over his shoulder constantly is uneasy about the encounters with the thought deactivate Gillchich. Mint turns to Colt, looking at him and asks, "Colt? What's up you seem…? Uneasy…" "Huh? Oh… It's nothing…" Colt says, his eyes telling a different story to the others. Colt continues to wonder why the Gillchich would suddenly react the way it did… It just didn't seem right. How could it reactivate on its own…? Its not like the machine had come in contact with an active power source at the time either, it had just suddenly come to life after he had turned from it, as if on a command…
Colt's head suddenly snaps up in realization, turning his back on the group he draws a Red Handgun from his belt, a gift from a friend. Cranberry is the first to hear Colt holster the weapon; she turns to him confused and asks "Colt? What is it? Why do you have your weapon out…?" The others slowly stop and turn to stare at Colt, his eyes still trained on the darkness, concentrating with his ears more then his eyes to determine if he is right.
"Sage, you remember that Gillchich a couple rooms back?" Sage looks at Colt puzzled why he would ask such a question, he hesitates in his answer unsure of its merit. "Sage! Do you remember!" Colt asks again, haste and worry in his voice now, Sage unsure for the sudden fear and anxiety in Colt's voice responds, "Yes, I remember the deactivated one." Colt slowly turns his eyes towards the small group, away from the darkness yet his hearing remains keen to it.
"Don't you find it a bit odd and un-nerving that once our backs were turned that it would some how, magically, was able to re-activate it self and attack us?" Sage looks upon Colt still unsure of where this is going and slowly answers, "No… Not truly, yes it is strange that this would occur but it could have for a number of reasons…" Colt still keeping his eyes on the group says, "Some of those reasons would be…" "Well some would be that we accidentally started it when we touched it although that is highly improbable another would be that we cast a Zonde type tech upon it but I saw neither of us do that… The only other rational explanation would be that… Oh no…"
Sage suddenly comes to the realization that Colt has… That wasn't a Gillchich at all… It was a Dubchich, an enhanced version of the Gillchich, one that can be activated upon whim, one that also can not be destroyed until you destroy its hub, its controlling unit… Only problem is that it remains hidden and Dubchichs are never, never alone…
Suddenly the clinking of metal and grinding of gears is heard from the darkness, Colt's eyes snap back to the dim hallway, he aims carefully and pulls the trigger to his Red Handgun, a green photon bullet streaks from the muzzle to the darkness, the bullet disappears, a sound of photon and metal colliding is heard, soon followed by the sound of a metal shell crashing to the floor.
Just as soon as the body falls though a groaning is heard, one of electricity and metal parts being dragged across the ground. Soon the single sound of one machine is joined by a symphony of others all moving towards us… Samus draws his Custom Ray once again takes aim and begins to pick them off one by one with no wasted shots. His steady aim precise in its execution, even if he was built for this it is still not hard to admire the power and precision exuded by him.
Mewone and Sage both draw mechs from their belts and open fire on the darkness… Unlike Samus with his precision shots Mew and Sage are rather more reckeless with their aim… Firing in the general direction of the sound rather then waiting and trying to decipher where they could be in the darkness. Mint Draws, a Diska of the Braveman, a throwing blade type weapon, she waits for a Dubchich to appear from the darkness, when first sighted she slings a blade at it, the photonic blade screeches through the air with a distinctive whistle as it crashes through the Dubchich and into another.
Cranberry stand behinds the rest of them, she slowly closes her eyes and begins to concentrate; she soon gets into a casting position and in-powers the group of a fresh does of Deband and Shifta. The energies pulse through their bodies giving them new found strength and making their attacks and defenses stronger then before.
Colt slowly squeezes the trigger of his Red Handgun into the darkness trying to decipher from where they will appear next, although he is more accurate in this then Mewone or Sage, his shots are not as precise or deadly as Samus's are. Slowly though, the Dubchichs begin to break through the barge of bullets, blades and techniques cast upon them. Colt cursing to himself, "Damn… this isn't going to work… They just keep coming and reforming as soon as they are brought down, everyone is growing tired, Cran must be close to exhaustion right now, I haven't seen a FOnweral, much less any force continually cast techs as often nor as fast as she is doing. We have to end this now or they will just win us over with pure numbers…"
Colt slowly turns to Cran, the furthest from the fight and the most drained mentally and physically. Cranberry, slowly begins to waver in casting stances, the pure mental pressure from casting so many techniques in such a short span of time has nearly wiped out her technique energy to its breaking point. Sweat has plastered her black bangs to her face, her neat and cheerful ponytail has lost its bounce, its now loosely held together by the red bow in her hair.
She turns to Colt wondering why he has stopped firing he begins to walk towards her slowly, as if thinking of something to ask of her something. Colt begins to walk towards Cran an idea in his head, the controlling unit must be close by to control such a large number of Dubchichs and be able to reform them so quickly that it seems like an endless wave of them. He goes behind Cran and very quietly and slowly to her says, "Do you think you could light up this whole room for us? I have an idea but I cant see a thing, the low lights are not helping, I need just an instant of light, I know you tired and nearly drained but could you please just light up the room for us, all I need is one second…"
Cran looks at him puzzled, and then it clicks to her, she smiles and replies, "One light show coming up Colt…" She now shifts into a different stance, she begins to concentrate and chant. The air around Cranberry begins to heat up, the temperature spikes in the immediate vicinity of her, suddenly her eyes snap open and in the middle of the chaotic maelstrom of photon bullets and blades a huge explosion occurs.
With a sudden compression of oxygen in the room lit with a mental spark, a heat spike surges through the room, metal plating on the Dubchichs begins to bend and melt with the intense heat brought on be Cranberry's Rafoie Technique. The room suddenly aflame with light and heat, Colt shields his eyes for a brief moment from the sudden heat but removes his hand to scan room, soon he spies what he is looking for, the controlling unit of the Dubchichs. It sits just above the entrance door, hovering, sending out its small signals of kill and destroy to the mindless drones below.
The light suddenly dissipates along with the intense heat; Cran collapses into an outstretched arm held up by Colt. He smiles at her saying softly, "Thank you Cranberry you have done your part now rest." Colt slowly raises his Red Handgun to where the intended target is; he looks back at the group. The sudden explosion and heat caught all of them off guard; they have all fallen to their feet and are slowly getting back up, their bodies drained and their minds exhausted; only Samus remains standing from the aftermath of the Rafoie tech. Unaffected by the mental or physical fatigues of a body of flesh.
Colt takes careful aim, although he saw the target, this still a shot in the dark He looks at the photon charger on his Red Handgun, three shots left before it over heats and becomes useless for the next few hours while it cools and recharges… He aims and lets of the first shot; nothing is heard to confirm a hit. He fires again; silence is heard yet again… One shot left, he has to be on target with this shot or else they are done for, the Dubchichs know no bounds of mental fatigue, all they understand are the tiny electric signals sent by their controlling hub. The Red Handgun lets out a screeching wail, warning of its overheating and low photon power core.
One shot left, Colt raises the Red Handgun to eye level looks through the sight and fires, the green photon bullet lances through the air into the darkness and soon disappears… Nothing happens the Dubchichs keep coming, he has missed, the Red Handgun is out of power and over heated, Colt's arm gauntlet is still lodged in Sato's stomach un-enabling him to gain access to his Chain Sawd. Colt draws his Yamato intending to go down fighting, suddenly though the Dubchichs stop. Their visors red in a menacing sickly glow begin to dim and die away. Soon they lose all color in them, their metal frames slump and then crash to the floor in a resounding metallic bang one after the other.
Mewone, Sage and Mint all slowly rise in disbelief; they turn to Colt still aiming his Red Handgun at the darkness. He slowly lowers the weapon and holsters it to his belt. He stares at the others now, relief shows in their tired and warn faces, sweat stems from every pore on their visible bodies.
Sage's neat and cropped short ponytail is now in shambles, his hair let down reaching about shoulder length. His half spectacle glasses lopsided upon his nose now, begin to slip once more from the sweat that has been flowing freely. His once crisp brown robe is now stained with oil at the end by his feet from a Dubchich that came to close.
Mewone's bandana once tied tightly to his head has now become lose and lax, his hair once in neat and trim spikes of gray have now lost some of their sharpness and have begun to droop. His light blue robe has now become darker with perspiration and the after effects of the Rafoie technique effectively singeing it.
Mint is the worse for wear in appearances; her black hair once combed neatly is now in shambles, her bangs sticking to the front of head from the sweat that has appeared. She slowly brush them out of her dark brown eyes to only have fall back in almost the exact same spot.
Samus soon turns to the rest of them. His once bright orange and green paint scheme now blackened and charred, numerous impact sites of the laser charges line his body as well as the charring effects of Cranberry's Rafoie technique are present upon his body. Being the closest to the chaotic maelstrom had its benefits and draw backs. Although his metal skin did not corrode or bend and melt like the Dubchichs, it lost most of its former glory. A now darkened shade of its former self, though the small white emblem upon his top right breast remains as brilliant as it ever was.
Mint soon begins to swoon and sway upon her legs, the effects of battle on her body and mind taking their toll upon her swiftly now that the adrenaline pumping through her veins has ceased. Colt walks slowly over to her, while shifting the unconscious Cranberry in his arms to have her own small arms draped around his neck so he seems to be carrying a small child within his arms. Before she falls Colt places Mints arm around his right shoulder and lets her lean on him for support, she looks up at him relived and mouths thank you to him, tired and near exhaustion she only has the energy now to put one foot in front of the other.
Sage and Mewone place an arm around each others shoulders, though it is clear neither can support the other well enough for them to both move foreword. Samus walks in between the two and drapes their arms over his metallic shoulders; he turns to both and nods his head, as if to give them a reassuring smile. Sage and Mewone grin at him and they all begin to move foreword slowly. Colt, soon turns as well with his two charges in arm and hand and walks on down the hall as well, leaving behind them the scraps of Dubchich that are once again lifeless.
"…. Curse those mechanical atrocities, even in optimum working order and with superior numbers and surprise they were still too weak to defeat them…" Achrion spats to himself, disgusted that he was built by the same hands as those things, now wasted life-less shells littered upon the ground. "Worthless piles of scrap…" Achrion slowly descends from the ceiling, his slender and sleek HUcast body barley making a sound as he lands, only the small cloud of dust that has risen from his feet signals he is there. His green paint scheme glimmers in the low neon lights of the mine's halls. His bright white emblem blazes with intensity, "Heh, so he is here as well… Echon… The teacher…" His arm gauntlet vibrates suddenly; he flips open the display case. An image projects from the gauntlet and a man's face appears.
A FOmar, his hair slicked back into spikes facing away from his face, a bright red bandana keeping his bangs out of his blazing red eyes. "Achrion report…" The man speaks slowly, drawing out his words, as if he already knows the answer to the question asked. Achrion regards the man with his yellow electronic eyes for an instant. As if testing to see if it truly is who it appears to be.
"… It was just as you predicted, Sojorian. He has improved greatly since his years as a child. Even when I fought him last he showed signs of progression beyond our expectations… Athanos has awakened as well…" Sojorian runs a black gloved hand through his hair, wondering how far the young vessel has truly progressed in his abilities and worth… "What do you make of him Achrion? Is he within grasp to his true capabilities? Does he even know the truth yet…? Heh doubtful I am sure." He runs his hand through his hair again slightly chuckling to himself. Achrion replies in a cold metallic laugh, "Heh Sojorian don't make me laugh, He is no where near his true capabilities, the seeds of doubt have been planted in his mind though, soon enough he will know the truth… The truth of what he is."
Sojorian ponders for a moment, wondering which would be more fun to him. To let his victim find out the truth fully, or watch him squirm with half answers, then discover the truth on his own, once brought before him. "Heh very well, Achrion, make sure he finds the console that holds his answers, yet do not let him read all the truth… Let him find out that he does in fact have family, but do not let him know anything about them. Heh let his mind holler in pain with the questions of where his mother is… I await the show Achrion."
"Haha, very well Sojorian, Achrion out…" Sojorian switches his arm gauntlet off, rising from his chair he turns and walks out his office doors. He enters into a dimly lit hallway. Continuing on down the hall, flights of stairs, to more halls and doors, his mind ponders. "Damn… This vessel is becoming more and more of a nuisance then a key to our goals… He must be dealt with… Brought under control, his spirit must be broken… Then, we can truly begin what we started… Seventeen long years ago… It will truly be over soon… Heh I will truly be a god soon… Haha."
Sojorian turns down a corridor and enters another doorway. He stands before the door, a retina scan begins, he then swipes his key card and the door unlocks and slides slowly with an electronic groan out of the way. It leads to a dimly lit hall with an end, upon either side of this hall lay cells. Bars made if pure photons and electricity barricade the cells. Their slow electronic vibration the only sign they are still working. He walks down the hall his foot steps the only things penetrating this soundless hallway. Sojorian comes upon the last cell and turns to peer inside it, a young RAcaseal dressed in black and orange, sits in the cells back corner, clutching to a small purple ring. She holds it to her chest; a small tear goes down her cheek from her piercing blue eyes and falls upon the small ring.
"Why so sad, your son is going to be joining you shortly. Heh, my plans are all coming together. To think I will finally achieve my ideal I have strived so long for!" A small fit of insane laughter grips Sojorian. The young RAcaseal simply stares up at him for a moment then stares down at the purple ring once again. Another tear is shed upon it, her eyes showing mixed emotions, excitement, happiness, sadness and anguish. She speaks softly to the ring, "… He is alive. I knew he would be, he was so determined when he was young… I just wish I could see him again, just one more time, just once… Yet, I can't, He can not be taken here again… If he does he will die… Oh Colt… Please, remain safe, please just leave your foolish quest and go back to Pioneer 2…"
"Hehe, oh I doubt he will do that, besides you know my powers spread to all of Pioneer 2, he isn't safe anywhere on this planet. I will get what I want in the end, weather he complies or not. Achrion is merciless in his pursuits; you know that all too well. He enjoys the feel of blood on his sword, Heh. It will be an interesting show when he encounters your son again. I just hope he doesn't have to kill him before we can extract the soul from him… Although, either way I will still be a god when this is over, and all aboard Pioneer 2 will bow to me or die!"
Another fit of insane laughter grips Sojorian as he walks away and exits the hall. His laughter echoing off the walls until it fades away and leaves the young RAcaseal alone to her thoughts in the darkness again. She slowly raises the purple to her chest and holds it tight. "… Colt, my son… Please be safe… Please…" She then begins to weep and her low sobs are all that penetrate the darkness…
Colt turns his head up from the floor once again, the halls seems to stretch on forever to his battle weary mind. Unable to stop though, he is close he can feel it now. His answers are within his grasp now. Mewone looks forward, "The path splits up ahead… Should we split up?" Colt ponders this for a moment, Cranberry is still asleep in his arms, Mint is no condition to fight right at the moment, turning to Samus Colt asks, "Samus what do you suggest?" Samus goes quite for a second, judging the options and running the scenarios through his head… "… Our best option is to split up… Power will be decreased but enemy encounter rate is at a minimum, within this area, safety is 96 guaranteed."
"…Very well, you heard him, let's split up, everyone keep your guard up as best as you can, Sage, Mewone, you two stick with Samus. Head to the right fork, I am going down the left. Meet back here in five hours, agreed?" They all nod their heads, Samus, Sage and Mewone begin their trek down the dimly lit right hallway, Colt waits until even the echo of Samus' foot steps die out and he is left alone only to hear the breathing of his two companions. He looks down at Mint, she is tired but ready to press on, and she looks up at him and nods. "Alright then… Let's go you two."
They begin the long slow trek down the left hallway, never noticing the green HUcast behind them, his foot steps soundless in the mines. "Heh, good choice young vessel, soon all will be clear…. Well not all… Hahaha…" Achrion follows Colt, Mint and Cranberry down the halls, his passing only marked by the disturbed dust behind him; even then it is as if he was never there…
Cranberry remains asleep in Colt's arms, like a small child. Her red bow loosely tied to her hair now, the pony tail has all but fallen out, her bangs once matted to her forehead by sweat slowly begin to part. Mint has regained some strength and is now walking on her own. Colt having a free arm uses it to readjust Cranberry's arms to make the effort of carrying her easier on him. Continuing down the hall they soon come to a door…
"Hmm this is odd…" Colt replies, he slowly goes to touch the door as if drawn to it. The door reacts to him and slowly parts. A computer terminal is inside, still operational by the looks as well. Colt moves forward and begins to type with one hand hoping for it to be here. He searches for the name Serena in the database… Two hits are found, the first is a basic diary. He skips over that and goes to the other, a combination of notes and a diary. He opens the file and begins reading…
Today the vessel is nearing completion… After many tries and failures we were finally able to do it. We have created Human life.
The young vessel has awakened and been left in the care of a young-- .
Suddenly a photon bullet lances through the air and smashes through the computer console. The screen flickers and then dies, losing all files with it as well. Colt whirls and sees the green HUcast, a Raygun pointed at the computer terminal…
"Long time no see young vessel…"