A Small Payback.
When Asuka had recovered from her frightening encounter with Ogre, the others filled her in on what they would do next. The empire's begun construction of a new base, along the road west to Duscae. They needed to put it out of commission. If left unchecked, it will cost them access to the west, and all the royal tombs that lie beyond. So now they were meeting up with Monica near the Norduscaean Blockade.
"From here we will split into two groups. Prince Noctis, please join the marshal up ahead. The rest of you will assist me in the diversionary effort" Monica instructed.
Noctis turns to the others "I'll see you guys later".
"You go give 'em hell. We'll do the same on our end" Gladio said.
Noctis squeezes through a narrow crevasse to join up with Cor. While he did that, the others began heading for their spot so they could attack head on. This would distract the enemies so Noct and Cor could do some real damage from within. It was a perfect plan, attacking from both outside and from within, no way the imps would be able to withstand such a overwhelming assault from several highly trained fighters. No denying that Cor was a brilliant strategist.
As they were moving to their spot, Prompto spoke to Asuka "Hey Asuka, you sure you are ok?".
"I'm fine, I am in good shape and ready to beat up some tin cans" Asuka said in confidence.
"That is not what I mean. I mean are you ok after... last night?" Prompto asked.
Asuka was silent for a moment and noticed Gladio glancing behind him, clearly wanting to know the answer to that question himself. Asuka sighed "Honestly, meeting the monster who destroyed my old life was horrifying. But after what he said, I believe it will be a while before I see him again. So don't worry, I will be fine. Just focus on the mission for now".
"Alright, if you say so" Prompto said as they got closer to the base.
"Alright everyone. Are you ready?" Monica asked.
"Say the word" Ignis confirmed.
Monica scanned the area before giving them the signal to attack. Everyone charged out of their hiding spots and attacked their enemies head on. Asuka let out a battle cry as the punched one of the robotic soldiers, hard enough to shatter it's body. Gladio soon followed up with a swing from his large sword which cut two of their enemies in half. The Magitek troopers began to open fire, but Prompto was happy to return the favor, firing a expert shot in to one of their heads, making it drop it's weapon and fall down. Prompto rushed up, grabbing the rifle that was dropped and used it to gun down two more Magitek troopers. With that distraction, Ignis threw his daggers in to the backs of two enemies. The third one turned around to shoot him, but Ignis kicked in the chest as he retrieved his daggers and sliced of the machine's head.
Asuke grabbed the arm of a trooper before ripping it of and kicked the enemy away. One tried to stab he from behind, but using a move her first father taught her, Asuka used the Magitek's momentum against it before slamming it head first in to the ground with enough force to shatter the head. She then jumped and delivered a kick to a Magitek which sent it flying towards Gladio who quickly cut it in half with his sword. Asuka called out to her brother as she ran towards him. Gladio held out his hand, allowing Asuka to grab it and he swung her around before throwing her towards a Magitek, allowing her to deliver a flying kick that knocked it's entire upper body of. She then stomped on it's head to finish it.
"Oh yeah!" Asuka cheered before high fiving her brother as their friends cleared out the rest. Soon the the front gate of the Norduscaean Blockade opened up, revealing Noct and Cor who had clearly done their part well. No surprise, Cor could've handled it all on his own, adding Noctis in to the mix was over kill. Asyka would've felt sorry for the enemies... if she didn't utterly despise them for what they did.
"Noct!" Prompto greeted happily.
"Marshal. It's good to see you again" Ignis said respectfully.
"Alright on your end?" Noctis asked.
Gladio smiled "Right as rain. The Niffs couldn't take their eyes off us".
"Yeah, we were simply to awesome for them" Asuka said proudly.
Cor smiled "Thanks to you we were spared their attention".
Suddenly an imperial drop ship flies in, the imperial officer aboard addresses Noct and the others "Stay right where you are. Well, well, if it isn't Cor the Immortal. So you survived the Citadel. But you won't survive what I have in store for you. It's past time your legend came to an end".
He enters the cockpit of his MA-X Cuirass magitek armor, then deploys to the ground. Asuka looked at Cor "You know this guy?".
"Loqi Tummelt, a brigadier general for Niflheim. Get ready, his magitek armor is more powerful than the other ones" Cor instructed.
Asuka cracked her knuckles "The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Let's put this punk in his place".
"You will be the one who gets put in her place!" Loqi declared as he launched missiles at the team.
Everyone were forced to run for cover as the explosions rocked the area. Loqi advanced threateningly towards them, fire a barrage of bullets to keep them pinned. Cor glanced out of his hiding spot before quickly dashing past the hail of bullets and slashed at the legs of the large mech with his sword. Loqi growled as he tried to stomp on the Marshal. But this distraction allowed the others to rush in, each scoring a good hit on the mech. Logi made the mech spin a bit to force them away, but Asuka had jumped of a higher spot and delivered a strong blow on the top of the mech's head.
Loqi was getting annoyed at this constant sneak attacks so he moved his mech and swings at Asuka before she could land on the ground. Asuka was forced to use her magical arm protections to block, and while the did some what soften he hit, she was still sent flying back, focring Gladio to catch her before they had to avoid several more shots from Loqi. That thing was tough, no question about that, so they needed to be careful, or the niff could fry them.
"Don't be so reckless Asuka!" Gladio said sharply.
"I know, that thing is a little tougher than I expected" Asuka said.
"Any idea Marshal?" Prompto said as his bullets had little effects on the magitek armor.
"Everyone has a weak spot. We just need to focus on them" Cor answered.
Asuka think for a moment before she got an idea, but for it to work she would need Loqi to fire missiles again. So she ran out of hiding avoiding the bullets before hiding behind something she knew no bullets would punch trough. She looked at Loqi, silently daring him to use the stronger weapons... and lucky her he did, and fired a missile towards her location. When he did, Asuka jumped out of hiding and ran at the missile, earning a panicked shout from Prompto. If this didn't work... well Asuka preferred to not think of the what ifs. As the missile got closer, Asuka got ready... and struck the under part of the missile making it suddenly change direction and flew right back towards the man who fired it.
Loqi was hit by his own missile, which damaged the armor. Cor was shocked for a moment but quickly snapped out of it "Now!".
Everyone charged it and began hitting the mech with everything they had. They kept this up for a long time until the armor looked like it was about to explode so they had to fall back. Loqi shouted something before the armor exploded. Everyone regrouped and noticed there was no body. Had Loqi somehow managed to escape just before it blew up. Everyone looked around but found no trace of him. Looks like he was smart enough to know that without his toy, he was helpless.
"The little weasel ran away" Asuka said in an annoyed tone.
Cor suddenly glared down on her, making her shrink back "Asuka Kazama. What you did was not just reckless, it was stupid and damn near suicidal! Do you have any idea what would've happened if you had been even half a second to slow?!".
Asuka looked down like a little girl who was being scolded by a parent "Sorry sir... it was the only thing I could think of that would finally put more than a dent in that armor".
Cor was silent for a moment before he sighed "And it worked, just don't take such risks again unless there is absolutely no other choice. Understood?".
"Yes sir" Asuka said.
Cor smiled at her before turning to the rest "Impressive. Seeing you in action puts my mind at ease. It's clear I don't need to worry any more. I'll return to watching the Niffs. 'Til next time, take care".
Cor and Monica leave. A moment later, Noct and his retinue move toward the open gate of the blockade, Ignis slowly driving the Regalia alongside the other three, who are on foot; Gladio's sword is resting on his shoulder.
"Ain't so bad out here once you get used to it" Gladio said.
"Still a lot we haven't seen, though" Prompto pointed out.
"And a lot for us to do" Ignis added.
"Yeah" Prompto looked at Asuka "Up to it?".
"Try to keep up" Asuka said kissing his cheek, making the choco head blush.
"Buck up. We're just getting started" Gladio declared.
Noctis smiles. The journey continues.
But he knew The empire is a powerful foe, and Noctis has far to travel before he can hope to reclaim the Crystal. He sets out across new lands in search of the power of his forebears.
Back in Niflheim, numerous imperial soldiers and commanders stand before the emperor, Iedolas, the man responsible for the destruction of Insomnia.
"So, the prince eludes death. And what of the elusive ring?" He asked.
"Lunafreya has absconded with it" Said the man known as Ravus Nox Fleuret, the older brother of Luna. He lost an arm during the assault on the crown city.
"Find and kill her. The ring is the final piece" Idolas ordered.
A man named Verstael spoke "We may do well to take her alive. The Six wield power beyond our imagination. The Oracle holds the key for the King. She could unlock many secrets, nay High Commander?" He looks at Ravus who says nothing "Lord Ravus, the imperial army is now at your disposal".
"A moot point while the fugitives remain at large. My men and I will continue our search for the prince and the Oracle" Ravus said, earning an annoyed look from Verstael.
"So glorious…my Crystal…" Idolas said before looking back at his followers "I do not question your abilities. But to make things a little easier. I will send someone with you".
Everyone turned around and saw a man who was silent as a ghost. He had a cold look in his eyes, no emotions what's so ever. And he had a scar on his face.
"Dragunov, you know what to do" The emperor ordered.
The silent man bows before walking out to begin his mission.
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Final Fantasy 16 is on it's way! And it looks epic! You can thank the trailer for this shorter chapter. Next one will be longer, I promise.
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Tell me what you think.
