Chapter 19: We Will Fight In the Shade
The battle was rejoined with gusto and trepidation, the Revengers surging out of the camp with burning eyes and ready weapons as they poured across the fields towards the advancing Silver Thorn forces. Having already known that they would be coming, we had picked a camp site that made their infiltrator scouts much less effective, between that and the fact that the Shadow Paladins knew Pale Moon tactics... That pretty much left them with the more direct route. Star-vaders… Well, their ambushes tended to rely on the fact that even with dragons and other flight capable creatures, few beings tended to focus on "up."
I had found a comfortable ridge to watch the battle from the back, Raging Form beside me, bristling at the sight of his comrades plunging into enemy lines without him at their fore. It was all we really could do at that point, as we were tasked with clobbering any Star-vader forces that popped up on our end.
Gravity Ball was looking up and called out, "Fifteen seconds. Clockwork."
"Y'all hwat?" I inquired, my own gaze turning upwards to see gleaming white, red, and black comets shooting for just behind us and off to my left. With a sigh, I spun about, balled fists coming up as I readied myself.
There was a series of cracks and booms as craters formed from the landing Star-vaders smashing into the barracks. Figures rose from them, their armour gleaming in the afternoon sun. Above the rest, two black halos hung, red lines so faint as to be mistaken for pink lighting up through circuitry. Two more massive writhing black rings around the wrists… Star-vader, Freezeray Dragon blew away his personal dust cloud with a single beat of his wings.
{"Arrogance will reap its reward."}
Dozens of black rings flew out from the Freezeray and Locked unfortunate Shadow Paladins.
A beast ripped from the cratered complex, claws burning orange as its dual canine heads let out digitized howls. Before I even had the chance to plan out my own defence, Raging Form had blurred forward, his spear coming down and tearing the Cyber Beast in twain as he seethed.
"Contact."
A moment passed, both sides seemingly frozen for a moment before the Abyss Dragon was back in motion, his shining palm alight with his fury as he roared. I was never the most brave or gung ho person, but I knew that there was a time to fight, so I pulled on the energy of the Locks the Star-vaders had just provided me with as I charged after Raging Form.
I didn't know if Gravity Ball had followed in the wake of the spearhead that the Яeversed Dragon and I had formed, but I saw the Colony Maker following out the corner of my eye. Ashlei heading to do damage control in another part of the camp.
Of course, even with that, the enemy marshalled their own forces. If there were more of us than expected, their cybernetic bodies didn't show it. Their movements had no hesitation, no conscientious decision.
A familiar figure slid into my path, its sword raised high and ready to strike as it matched my pace. The Cyberoid's bluish hair blew back behind it, its black and crimson armour drank in the sunlight, leaving only Void. Memories flashed unbidden through my mind, even as a queasy feeling settled in my stomach.
They aren't human. They aren't human.
The Selenium collapsed against the tree with the crushed face haunted me. I don't know if it ever won't.
It's psychological warfare. It's all a cruel ploy to distract and cripple us.
The torn apart Palladium briefly took the place of whole one before me, but I stepped past it with a shout as the blade descended slowly. My fist, wreathed in Void energy lashed out and even though I didn't know what sort of expression I was wearing, I knew one thing at that moment.
I have to keep moving forward.
No matter how conflicted I was, I was in a fight for my life. If I stopped or hesitated, I'd be signing my own death certificate. Even with bile building in my gorge, if I stopped… I'd be lost.
My fist caught the Grade One in its right wrist, breaking the joint and the slash. The limb bent oddly, but the Cyberoid refused to release its sword. In response, I stepped on the blade before it could pull it up, rendering it useless to the Prison Gate Star-vader. I pulled my arm back even as I drove forward with my left, pouring my strength into the blow.
There was a series of sickening crunches and snaps. Its free hand had come up to try and intercept the attack, and paid the price.
My arm was speared into the Cyberoid's chest, the arm that had tried to block broken and crumpled in front of the heart... which, coincidentally, was where my fist had entered. I panted, my insides at war with the situation, making me feel like I was going to puke even as I jerked my arm back and let the body fall to the ground with a mix of sparks, blood, and sputters.
I was tempted to stop and stare at the corpse, but couldn't bring myself to. My gaze snapped up and around the battlefield.
The Colony Maker had intercepted an enemy that had been charging from the side to ambush me, her arms tearing into the multiple heads of a metallic hydra. Lasers spewed from its mouths as it tried to catch her with them and wipe her out, though she was managing well enough seeing as she managed to grab one of the heads and used it to cut off another.
A shadow fell over the battlefield, and I turned to see it… Multiple rings and partial rings concentric rings flared behind it's back. Black and chrome armor and skin merged together so seamlessly it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began, aglow in the red light. Two rings around each ankle. Blades for ears and a horn, with a secondary flare at the back of the head like a half-moon. Down purple wings ran red lines in hexagonal patterns. Star-vader, Nebula Lord Dragon.
My heart leapt into my throat at the sight, the Cyber Dragon looming over the battlefield looking almost comical in design were it not for the fact that I knew just what it was capable of. I faltered in my movements, unsure of how to proceed with its appearance on the battlefield. Though I wasn't the only one, multiple Shadow Paladins looked up at the thing that had appeared in horror.
"Its got no brain!"
With all the information she needed, Ashlei tore forwards with a supernatural speed and grace that had her shine like a beacon of hope. I was tempted to jump in and help her, but knowing that I'd probably only get in her way, I decided to throw myself at the Negligible Hydra that the Colony Maker was handling.
I'd also have to thank the gremlin later, but that could wait.
The other main attraction was the all out brawl that was Raging Form against Freezeray. Locked units littered the battlefield, and both looked significantly damaged. But only Raging Form was slowing.
I watched the battle from the corner of my eye even as I grappled with hydra's necks to give the Colony Maker some extra space to maneuver.
The Яeversed Dragon was the cornerstone of our forces, the rock that the majority of them were following and supporting. Without him, who knew how they'd react? He stabbed forwards quickly with his spear. The Star-vader sidestepped the point and smacked it away only for Raging Form to retaliate by swinging towards the Cyber Dragon's face with the other end of his spear for a stun and then trying to stab it again.
But after the hit another Shadow Paladin was Locked and Freezeray caught the stab and snapped off the tip of the crystal weapon, fracturing the entire length. The Shadow Paladins might follow Raging Form… But they also knew that he had lost to this thing once before… And it wasn't looking good now.
I tore my eyes off the fight even as I pulled and pulled on the base of one of the hydra's necks, my fingers hooked into the metal plates. With a groan, the material beneath gave, and with the tearing of cables and other fibers, the neck came free.
Hurling myself off the Cyber Beast as the Colony Maker reengaged, I called out, "I'm going!"
She caught one of the rampant beast's feet as it tried to step on her, her gaze darting to mine as something shone in her eyes. After a moment, she replied, "Take care. I'll follow after this is done."
I didn't wait for anything else as I sprinted towards the dragons battling, drawing as much energy from the Locks littering the battlefield as I dared. Black and red flitted across my vision as I got a run up and crossed my arms in front of my head, hurling myself into the air at the Freezeray, just as it tried to punch through Raging Form's spear and guard.
I didn't really register the few moments that I was soaring through the air, only that I slammed into the Cyber Dragon's elbow like a freight train, knocking it just off course enough that the strike hit only air. The blast was still enough to knock down a building behind Raging Form. I automatically jumped back to the ground, and hopefully out of Freezeray's punch range.
The Abyss Dragon seemed stunned for a moment, but roared as he drove his own folm, hazy with Shadow Magic, forward into Freezeray and forced it back.
{"Arrogance reaps its Reward."} Freezeray pointed to me and I began to feel something. Something oily felt like it was wrapping around me, plugging up my nose and filling my throat with a cloying stench. There was a sensation like something wrapping around my legs and dragging me under the surface.
I hated it, it made me want to puke, it was so wrong. I opened my mouth and screamed, pulling on as much Void as I could, ignoring any consequences as I struggled against the sensation. It didn't matter how much I used the Void, I wasn't getting caught, I wasn't letting them take me.
I wasn't going to let them stop me, not when I'd come so far.
Suddenly, the feeling was abated, a familiar but strained voice ringing out, "You know, Scrap... If you do things like that, you're more liable to blow yourself up than actually stop the Lock. Empty Void, I'm going to have to teach you how to safely manipulate Locks at some point…"
Freezeray stared down in surprise. {"Anomaly Detected. Assessing."}
The Gravity Ball had clearly done something that I didn't quite understand, but in that moment there was a spark of empty space before the Freezeray, which then exploded outward knocking it off its feet.
As the Cyber Dragon staggered and tried to regain its footing, I shouted at Raging Form, "The Hell are you doing, slowing down like that? You're the one who wanted revenge right? Well, one of the targets is right in front of you!"
Panting, I turned an eye up to the Abyss Dragon, "I get it, it's hard to face the things that have stopped you before, it's hard to look the things that have beaten you before in the eye and crush them, but you have to!"
I swung an arm out at the Cyber Dragon and its forces. "You aren't alone here, not just me and mine, but the other Shadow Paladins and Ashlei are here too!"
Pausing to breathe, I could see something incredulous in Raging Form's expression as I continued, "You're not the first member of the Royal or Shadow Paladins to have been taken in by the Star-vaders' machinations! Do you think that Thing Saver would have fallen to the lows of Phantom Blaster if there wasn't something influencing him and tainting his every thought?!"
"Oh, right… That mission… Not one of mine, but when it failed… Well, that was why I was promoted," Gravity Ball muttered, slightly nodding his head even as his body shook from his energy levels returning closer to normal. "Thought Shadow Paladin doctrine seemed familiar and aligned with Link Joker Ego."
Raging Form shook, his eyes locked onto the Freezeray as a noise built up in the back of his throat. The claws on his empty hand flexed a number of times as a glow built up in his eyes. Even someone not completely magically aware as me could feel the air thicken with power and the night seemed to come early as a shadowy haze covered our part of the battlefield.
I took a few steps back, watching with more than a little bit of wariness as I spoke, "So, again, what the Hell are you doing Raging Form Dragon? You already have the support of not just the Shadow Paladins and the higher ups of the United Sanctuary, but me and my losers as well! So get over there, and tear your Revenge from Freezeray's ravaged corpse!"
You could see it in Raging Form's eyes. His entire thought process was 'More Power. Kill it! Need More Power to Kill It!' And the air began to take a particular tinge to it even as it got even heavier and difficult to stand. Raging Form wasn't suppressing the Яeverse any more. The Void's power was flowing through him with absolutely zero restraint. But rather than fall to it… He was bending it all to one purpose. He didn't care what came later… Only about what he needed right now. And that was the power to obliterate this Star-vader, Freezeray Dragon.
I burst out laughing, I couldn't quite help it. With everything that had happened, hysteria had started to set in. Trying to swallow the giggles, I declared, "You have the power! Go, use it!"
The Abyss Dragon didn't let out a noise as he darted forward, the Shadow and Void Magic that had been rippling across his form twisting to take the shapes of various knights and warriors, some of whom I recognized as Shadow Paladins. His spear, which had been fractured and on the brink of shattering, became whole and glittered with it's own purple and redish light as it stabbed forward.
"VENGEANCE!" the word rippled through reality. Only a mass of Shadow and Void could be seen of the Dragon at this point. "Vengeance for me, for my Clan... For those you had us hurt with your hateful influence! You sought to break our Nation through war! And now you've shoved this same poisoned apple down my throat! Choke on our Vengeance in Relics!"
The horde of shadowy figures descended on Freezeray in droves, their blades, spears, claws, fangs, clubs, hammers, even pitchforks and farming and artisans tools... Cutting, stabbing, smashing into the Cyber Dragon and driving it to its knees. The Shadow Paladin strode forward, placed the tip of his spear against the Star-vader's chest as he exhaled, "You sought to drive us apart, but forgot one thing… We Shadow Paladins find unity in the shadows."
With that, he drove his weapon forward, the Cyber Dragon jerking to a halt in its movements as any form of consciousness within the vessel either died or escaped into the Void.
I almost fell to my knees in shock, but instead, all I could do was smile.
This was another undoubtable win for us.
The dragon didn't act surprised as it clenched its fist. It's opaline scales now a complete contrast to its mostly black armour. It seemed to shine with some internal light, even as it studied its changed form. It sent me a look and grunted.
"Yes, I think this will do just fine."
