Chapter Sixteen: His Prey
It shouldn't have been possible. Goshenite wouldn't believe it, but the evidence was literally staring her right in the face. Somehow, Teptromina had been able to find them again. This whole attack couldn't have been a coincidence; he had likely been here since the beginning, waiting for the right moment to make his move.
None of the Gems were sure what to make of this strange-looking Interloper that had just appeared. Most of them had no idea who he even was. The Quartzes held their weapons, waiting for the order to attack, while several of the Peridots prepared to run to safety. Those who knew Teptromina were just as surprised as Goshenite that he was here.
The momentary lapse in the fighting was brought to a halt by Zoisite. "All units, open fire!" The Quartzes armed with projectiles, as well as Tenrit, let loose on the Primax. But despite the barrage of laser beams directed at him, he was unaffected.
"A poor decision," he said. "Allow me to show you the error of your ways." Nine beams, from his eye, hands, and all six fins that made up his wings, streaked through the room. The beams cut through every Gem in their path, sweeping all across the room. Goshenite, as well as any other Gem who wasn't immediately destabilized, took cover behind the cannon.
Zoisite climbed over the top of the cannon, setting herself down next to Goshenite and Nines. "This is not good," she said.
"Yeah, that about sums it up!" Nines shot back.
"We need to prevent Primax Teptromina from destroying the binary fusion generator," Zoisite continued. "Without it, we will be unable to fend off the invasion."
Interloper troops were starting to round the cannon to confront the Gems. Goshenite speared a Predator through the optic as it peered around the corner. "And how do we go about doing that?"
Teptromina's assault had slowed by this point. Zoisite lifted herself back up atop the cannon. "I am reminded of the popular phrase, 'the best offense is a good defense.' I suggest we employ this tactic." She threw herself over the top to engage their attackers.
Tenrit held up his borrowed blaster. "It's worked for us so far!"
Goshenite, Nines, and Tenrit joined the rest of the Quartz soldiers in fighting off the Interlopers that were pouring in through the hole in the blast shutters. The shields around the base were slowing their approach somewhat, but there was still a steady flow.
Nines carved through the Scavengers with her twin blades. "How are we going to stop them from coming?" she asked.
A blast of red energy streaked past her, narrowly missing her. Teptromina held his arm outstretched, and prepared to fire again. "You won't," he said. "Once again, you find yourself in a position of no escape."
Nines turned to face him. "If we're in that position again, that means we escaped from it the first time!" she pointed out. "All in all, not the greatest metaphor!"
Crimson energy crackled across Teptromina's metal form. "Let's see if you can escape from this!"
"Gladly!" Nines took off running towards him. One beam; she dove to the left. Another; she dove right. Teptromina swung his arm as she got close; Nines dropped to her knees to avoid it, slicing a gash into his side as she slid past him.
Undeterred, the Primax whipped around to counter. Three of his wings speared into the wall, narrowly avoided by Nines. She swung her khopesh again, aiming for his eye. He dodged, the blade cutting into his shoulder instead.
From behind, a javelin pierced through the Interloper's middle. Several Citrines descended on him at once. He turned his wings on them, the beams cutting through several of their numbers. Those that remained survived mainly because Nines distracted Teptromina with a khopesh through the chest.
Teptromina growled in anger, grabbing Nines by the wrist. He spun around, hurling her into the oncoming Quartzes. "Merely a trifle," he growled, yanking the javelin from his stomach. "Now we finish this." He extended both arms towards the Quartzes.
A barrage of energy collided with him. As before, it had no effect on his armor; it did, however, hit his eye. The unexpected loss of vision, though it only lasted a moment, was enough to cause him to miss his targets. Teptromina turned his attention towards the source of the attack: an unassuming Tenrit, who tried to back away once he had been noticed.
He didn't get far. Teptromina flew towards Tenrit the moment he saw him. He opened fire with his blaster, trying to slow him down, but to no effect. Teptromina slapped the blaster out of his hands, and lifted Tenrit up by the neck.
"Troublesome Valurian," he said. "You may wear our armor, but you are no Koh'i'Noor." Rather than kill Tenrit then and there, Teptromina threw him back, where he collided against the wall. "Now, where is my true foe?"
"Right here." Goshenite pulled her staff from the body of a fallen Raptor. Twirling her weapon around, she then charged at him. Teptromina charged up his beams, while Goshenite charged up an attack of her own.
Just as Teptromina fired, Goshenite released a flash of light from her body, blinding him. The lasers scraped by her body as she leapt into the air. She drove her staff downwards as she fell, sending it through his chest. However, he only gripped the end in defiance. "There is no escape for you, Supreme General!"
Goshenite fought for control of her weapon. "I wasn't planning on escaping!"
As they fought, Tenrit got to his feet. His gaze fell on the hole the Interlopers had made in the wall. In addition to the multitude still entering through it, he could see a handful of Apexes approaching the base. The one they had destroyed with the cannon had been swiftly replaced, another titanic machine being deployed by the equally-enormous dropship. But what he really noticed was the Broodmother further back, from which dozens if not hundreds of Interlopers continued to spill like water.
After making sure that Teptromina was being kept busy by Goshenite, Tenrit hurried to find Zoisite. Although not made for combat, she was grabbing, tossing, and smashing Interlopers together with her hair tendrils as best she could. "Hey, Zoisite!" he called. "How long 'till we can charge that cannon up again?"
"A mere thirty seconds," she answered, hurling a Predator across the room. "But our main concern should be in this room, currently!"
"I know, but that Broodmother out there's pumping out reinforcements!" he replied. "If we take it out, that should put a dent in their advance!"
Zoisite paused. "That may just work," she said. "But we will have to be quick. Primax Teptromina will do everything in his power to destroy the binary fusion generator."
"Isn't he already?" Tenrit said. "Just tell me what to do!"
"Hold on!" Zoisite lifted Tenrit up off the ground, carrying him over some incoming Interlopers and over to the cannon's control panel. "Cover me while I align it."
"Got it!" Tenrit took aim, firing on any Interlopers that were targeting Zoisite, or came too close.
Teptromina seemed to instantly realize what they were planning the moment Zoisite reached the console. He quickly broke off from his fight with Goshenite, racing over to stop her. "You can't run away from me!" yelled the Beryl, throwing her staff at him. It pierced into his back, but this only slowed him down for a moment.
All of the Interlopers present were now attempting to stop the cannon. The Quartzes were able to keep most of them at bay, but a few climbed atop the weapon, trying to damage it in any way they could. And their leader was still gunning for Zoisite. "Keep them away from the generator!" she cried.
Nines and a handful of Citrines mobbed Teptromina, attempting to keep him from moving. His beams fired off seemingly at random, vaporizing any of them caught in the path. Nines repeatedly hacked away at him with her weapons. "He's still struggling, pull harder!"
"He's stronger than he looks!" another Citrine said, armed with a chain that was currently wrapped around Teptromina.
The bay doors were open now. Zoisite had one hand on the console, the other on a datascreen. "Preparing to fire!"
"Enough games!" All of Teptromina's beams fired off at once. They cut through the chains holding him, threw off the Citrines and Goshenite, destabilizing the ones who were hit directly. The beam from his eye raced directly towards Zoisite. She closed her eyes, preparing for the impact.
Moments before it hit, Tenrit dove between it and her, taking the hit. He was thrown back by the impact, Zoisite catching him with her hair. His metallic body was burned and broken, but he was still alive. "Take the shot!" he said weakly.
"Firing!"
Zoisite lowered the shields, and fired the cannon. The green projectile streaked through the air as the one before it had done, before colliding with the Broodmother some distance away. The ground shook from the resulting explosion, and Interlopers around it were thrown into the air by the shockwave. As soon as the shot had been fired, Zoisite lowered the shields again. She pulled Tenrit out of harm's way, and Nines rushed over to his side.
"Tens!" she cried. "Are you okay!? Please don't be dead!"
"Don't worry about me…" he said. Despite how damaged he was, he still sounded spirited. "Say what you will about the Interlopers, their bots sure are sturdy!"
If Teptromina had been angry before, he was beyond furious now. He didn't even bother saying anything as he flew up into the air. His wings orbited around him, all of his guns pointed at the cannon. His body changed shape, almost seeming to become a cannon itself.
"Now what's he doing?" asked Nines.
"Nothing good," said Goshenite. "Go, now!"
Everyone made a run for the stairs as Teptromina charged up. All nine of his beams fired at once, coalescing into a single larger one. This giant beam tore through the cannon like it was nothing, causing a chain reaction with the rounds within. The entire room went up in a gigantic explosion, consuming Gem and Interloper alike. The entire outpost shook from the blast.
Goshenite got to her feet as the smoke cleared, trying to locate anyone she could. "Citrine, report!" she called. "Nines, are you there? Tenrit? Topaz? Anyone, respond!"
"Supreme General!" Zoisite hurried over to the sound of Goshenite's voice. "How fortunate you are uninjured."
"You too," she replied. "What about the others? Did everyone make it out okay?"
"I...cannot say," said Zoisite. "The Citrine and the Valurian were ahead of me, but I lost track of them. The others, I do not know. But that is not the worst of it: the binary fusion generator has been destroyed."
Goshenite's already-dark expression darkened even further. "And our hopes of surviving went with it, I assume?"
Zoisite looked around carefully, as though making sure nobody was eavesdropping. "Not entirely. Here." She handed Goshenite a compressed holoscreen. She opened it, revealing a map of the facility. "Head to the lowest level. There is a hangar where-"
A beam of red energy streaked through the air. Its target was the holoscreen, which shattered into pieces. Goshenite recoiled in pain; her hand and half her forearm had been seared off, light shining from the wound.
The source of the beam revealed himself through the smoke. Teptromina's form came into view, his arm still glowing. More Interlopers came into view behind him.
"Your Brilliance, I know how he is tracking you!" Zoisite said frantically. "He can see-"
Teptromina lunged forward, cutting her off before she could reveal his secret. His beams sliced through her physical form, destabilizing her instantly. Goshenite dove out of the way, but some of the beams still nicked her. He leaned down, picking up Zoisite's gemstone. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting?"
He tossed the gem over his shoulder, where it was caught by a Predator. A panel on its chest slid open into which it placed the gem. Yellow light shone from within as it absorbed Zoisite's energy. Its body changed as well, as four metal tendrils, each tipped with a claw, sprouted from its back.
Although he was still in fighting shape, Teptromina had been damaged by the explosion. And this was on top of the damage he had received in the fight prior. It was like Tenrit had said: Interlopers were sturdy.
But Goshenite was sturdy as well. She pulled herself up, shaking off her wounds. Her hand had already begun to grow back. "It's gonna take more than that to keep me down," she said.
"Is that so?" Tenrit began to hover, as his soldiers stepped closer. The enhanced Predator stood beside him, lifting itself up with its tentacles. "Just as well. I am prepared to give more. Much more."
Goshenite pulled her staff from her gemstone. "Let's see it, then."