Sorry for the long delay between updates. Been a bit busy with university work. Just so you know, however, this probably won't be the only long gap, so you'll have to bear with me despite delays.
Anyhow, here's the sixth chapter.
CHAPTER 6: RUINS OF INFINIS
It was nighttime in a set of wastelands in the Yin-Tos province of Rados. All that could be seen was more wasteland and the stars and twin moons shining above. Down near a clustered series of rock formations, a hooded figure walked invisibly through the area; all that could be seen of him was a rippling outline. As the figure stopped in the middle he removed his cloak, revealing himself. It was Saturos.
Saturos looked around the area to make sure no one was around, despite feeling safe at the moment. He had learned that as an assassin he could never afford to be careless, for carelessness was an invitation for death. After checking his surroundings, he felt assured that no one else was present. He then raised a hand, palm facing upwards, and a glowing black and violet sphere appeared floating above his hand. The sphere soon formed into a small orb, which came to rest in Saturos' hand.
Saturos shut his eyes at this moment and the orb began to swirl with dark colors.
"Shadows of Rados," Saturos chanted, "show to me thy secrets. Reveal that which I seek through the twisting darkness."
As Saturos chanted, the orb began to react through his magic. Dark clouds swirled into the orb, and then parted to show another area of the Yin-Tos wastelands.
"Reveal to me the destroyer. Reveal yourself to me, Crea."
The orb swirled with dark clouds again, and when they next parted, they showed an area of wasteland next to a large castle. The castle floated high above a large crater, suspended by a series of magical chains. And on top of the crater's ridge there stood a young girl with long dark blue hair.
Saturos knew where Crea was. In a flash of violet light, the orb vanished in his hand. Saturos then wrapped his cloak around himself, becoming invisible again, and sped off into the wasteland.
--
On the outskirts near the entrance to Nazmul's Keep, Crea stared up at the impressive structure. The many towers still stood strong, and a dark aura still seemed to permeate the walls even after the loss of its lord and master. Now, the castle was but a monument of stone to the Order of Infinis.
As Crea stared she said, "So this is the place of my creation… cozy."
Crea wasn't there for the scenery, however. Something she had been told earlier by the Megalith had given her an idea. Since Nazmul was her creator, there was the possibility that Nazmul may have left something in his stronghold meant for her. As unlikely as the idea sounded, it was worth investigating.
"It's little more than a tomb now."
Crea then walked across the bridge to the main entrance of the keep. As she reached the arching entryway, she heard the sound of electronic buzzing and whirring all around her. She turned to see multiple robotic turrets expose themselves and turn toward her. Obviously they thought she was an intruder.
Unimpressed by the defenses mounting against her, Crea said, "Some security system."
The turrets opened fire on her, firing rapid laser blasts. Crea stood still as the blasts harmlessly struck a dome-shaped barrier around her. She then raised a hand to a turret above her and fired an energy blast, destroying it. She then began systematically targeting individual turrets and one by one she destroyed them. Soon, there were none left; piles of scrap metal lay at Crea's feet.
"Obviously needs an upgrade," Crea said as she strode into the keep.
As Crea entered, she heard more whirring and turned to the source. It wasn't another laser turret, but a surveillance camera; its lens was trained on her. Crea merely stared back at it for a moment, then turned and continued through the hallways. Though she was sure someone was watching her, it wasn't a concern. Whoever it was would show their face eventually.
--
Elsewhere inside the keep, an officer looked at a security screen, which showed Crea striding through the hallways. The officer, a colonel, was a tall, muscular, yet ugly looking man, who had a large black beard, yet no mustache, and short slick black hair. Otherwise, he looked like any other officer. He was one of the few remnants of the Yin-Tos army forces under the command of Lord Brackus, who was presently presumed dead. His men had survived the collapse of the Order of Infinis, and had set up a base inside the fortress.
After a moment staring at the screen, the colonel turned and said, "Captain Zaitan."
A lower ranking officer ran up to him and said, "Yes, Colonel Jeld, sir?"
"We have an intruder," Colonel Jeld said, pointing toward the screen, which still showed Crea. "Ready our men to deal with the problem."
As Zaitan stared at the screen he said, "A kid?"
"Did you mishear me, Captain? I said deal with the problem! She got through the sentry guns, so she's obviously capable of something."
"Y– Yes sir!"
Zaitan quickly turned around and ran out of the room. A moment later, the sound of his voice began to bark out orders. From within the room, it was hard to tell what the captain was saying. Jeld turned back to the screens on the computer and continued to watch the hallways.
--
As Crea continued to look about the hallways of the keep she realized that she might have gotten herself lost. It didn't worry her, though; she could've just blasted her way through the walls, but felt it would be a waste of effort and energy.
"Hmm," Crea mused, looking around at several corridor entrances. "Which way now?"
At this moment, Crea suddenly felt several presences enter the area. She shut her eyes and focused her thoughts on the oncoming beings. She sensed they were humans and that there were plenty of them. Their numbers didn't concern her, though.
Elsewhere in the hallways, a group numbering ten armed soldiers slowly advanced up the hall, led by Captain Zaitan. Zaitan signaled two lower ranked soldiers to advance ahead of the group, which they immediately obeyed. As the soldiers advanced, they saw the silhouette of another person in the middle of a room at the end of the hall. Zaitan signaled for the troops to stop and get to cover, which they did.
In the middle of the room, Crea smirked. She had figured out where the soldiers were now that they were close enough. She also knew how many of them there were.
Crea turned toward the wide corridor and said, "Plan on hiding from me forever?"
A moment later, a number of the soldiers popped up from their cover and aimed their blaster rifles and energy staves at Crea. Crea noted how they seemed to be well equipped. They were definitely members of the Yin-Tos army, but Crea noted at how they seemed more like a ragtag group.
"I take it I'm not welcome," Crea cooed.
Down the hallway, Captain Zaitan stood up and said, "You are trespassing in Yin-Tos army territory. If you leave now, you might just live."
As the soldiers readied their weapons to fire, Crea laughed and said, "Now that's a good one. But, you see, I came here looking for anything Nazmul might have left behind. I'm under the impression that he might've left something for me and that it would be of use to me. So I'll make this simple: you can let me continue with my search, or we can do this the hard way."
"Anything that old lunatic might've left behind is our property now. So you might as well leave now while you still can."
Zaitan signaled his men forward and they began to slowly advance on Crea. Crea then sighed and said, "The hard way, it is."
Crea flicked a hand to the soldier in front of the group and fired a quick blast at him. The blast hit him directly and he fell to the ground, dead.
"OPEN FIRE!" shouted Zaitan.
The soldiers immediately began shooting at Crea, who raised a hand to the attack. The blasts from the soldiers struck a barrier in front of Crea and bounced off harmlessly. Crea swung her other arm and a fireball flew forward, striking another soldier out in front. He screamed as he was incinerated.
As Crea shot forth several more energy bursts the soldiers ducked behind their cover. Zaitan then activated his earpiece communicator and shouted, "Dako Team reporting! Hostile has engaged us! We are pinned down! Need reinforcements, ASAP! I repeat we need backup, NOW!"
Zaitan continued to call for reinforcements as Crea turned to a fallen pillar two men were using for cover. She swung her arm backas if preparing to throw something. As she swung her arm forward, a large energy ball flew at the pillar and exploded as it struck. The men behind the pillar flew a short distance across the hallway as the others continued to fire on Crea. Their effort was useless, though, as Crea's shield continually deflected the shots.
After a moment, Zaitan stopped yelling into his communicator. He then turned to his men and shouted, "Fall back! Fall back!!"
The remnants of Zaitan's force, now numbering only six men, began to flee Crea's attack. One of them took a direct hit from Crea to the back and died instantly. As his men passed him, Zaitan turned to Crea and pulled out a small metallic ball from his belt. He clicked a button on its side and the ball began flashing a blinking red light. Zaitan then threw the ball at Crea, which landed in front of her. A moment later, the grenade exploded in a large fireball. Crea shielded her eyes from the blast, and then quickly looked back down the corridor. She watched as the soldiers fled her.
Though Crea at first thought to leave the remaining soldiers alone, she then sensed the presences of more men entering the vicinity. She knew then that the keep wasn't as abandoned as she had thought, and that she would never be able to find what she was looking for if the Yin-Tos forces remained. In any case, she was sure the men who had just run from her would return with more firepower.
"Hmm… for their sake, they'd better have a lot of guys," said Crea. She then took off in pursuit of the Yin-Tos remnants.
After about a minute of running, Crea reached a set of stairs. At the top, a group of new troopers were positioned, counting about twenty men, and they immediately opened fire on Crea. Again, she raised a barrier and the shots from the soldiers' weapons had little effect. As Crea almost began to pity the soldiers' futile effort, she noticed four soldiers raising infantry bazookas onto their shoulders. The rocket troopers took aim at her and fired, launching small rockets at Crea that struck her shield with a series of powerful explosions. Crea staggered back from the force of the blasts, surprised by their power. As she looked up again, she noticed her shield begin to weaken. The blasters now were actually causing some damage; although the damage was minute, it was slowly starting to take its toll.
Crea, slightly annoyed, said, "Alright, time to get serious."
She then began to sprint up the stairs, her arms glowing with a white pattern. As she ran, she thrust out her left arm and fired a salvo of blasts at a group of three soldiers. One was hit by the salvo, killed instantly, but the other two took cover. As Crea reached the top of the stairs, she instantly swung her fist at one rocket soldier, downing him with a single punch. She then swung her arm around and backhanded a soldier behind her. He slammed into a small set of stairs and slumped over. Crea then spun around again and with her left hand blasted a man as he tried to lance her with an energy staff, disintegrating him. She quickly grabbed the staff and swung it around, and it met another soldier's head with a crack. The staff broke, and the soldier fell over, his head bleeding. A small burst of blaster shots hit Crea's shield from behind. Noticing the soldier, Crea spun around and delivered a hard kick to his helmet, breaking it and sending him crashing down the steps.
At this moment, an energy grenade landed near her feet, but Crea saw it and jumped away just before it exploded. As she flew through the air, Crea swung her left arm and threw a blast at a pair of troopers. The blast exploded as it hit the ground, blowing away the two troopers. As Crea landed near the bottom of the steps, a barrage of blaster fire flew at her. Knowing her barrier was weakening, Crea took cover behind a large pillar, which sustained severe damage as the soldiers continued firing.
As Crea hid behind the pillar she said, "Not bad. These guys are definitely professionals." She then began to focus her energies on restoring her barrier as blaster fire slowly chipped away at the pillar she was hiding behind.
--
Meanwhile, back in the keep's control room, Colonel Jeld looked at the security screens, unable to believe how well Crea was fairing against his troops. The sight of his troops being decimated so easily by one enemy, let alone a child, was unreal. Jeld growled furiously at the screen.
Zaitan's face popped up on the screen and said, "Colonel Jeld! The intruder, she's–"
"I know, Captain!" Jeld snarled. "Send another squad into the area. I don't care how you do it, just get rid of her!"
"Yes sir!"
The image went to black. After a second, Jeld pressed a button on the console and an image of several techs working on some kind of machine appeared.
One of the techs turned to the screen and said, "Colonel Jeld, we are presently aware of the situation and we are–"
"What's the status on the Prometheus?" Jeld interrupted.
"Oh, well, um, the unit should be working now at full capacity. All systems are working–"
"Perfect. Prepare the unit for deployment. I'm on my way down now."
"Uh, yes sir!"
The screen went blank at this moment as Jeld turned and left the room.
--
Back in the corridors, the Yin-Tos troopers retreated under a field of suppressing fire. One of them stepped forward with a bazooka and fired a rocket down the corridor. At the other end, Crea, who now had an energy blade around her right arm, saw the rocket streaking toward her and quickly fired a small blast. The two projectiles collided with an explosion. As the explosion still lingered, Crea dashed through the fire and ran at a nearby staff-wielder. As he raised his staff to defend himself, Crea swung her blade, hacking the staff in two. She then followed up and slashed through the man, killing him with one stroke.
As blaster and staff fire continued to pelt her shield, Crea raised her left hand to the troopers and fired several blasts in quick succession. She shot down another three men; now there were no more than eight or so. Another soldier fired a rocket at Crea, but this time she shifted to the side and it missed, exploding behind her. At this point, the soldiers firing on her turned tail and began fleeing. One of them tossed an energy grenade at her, but she quickly saw it and intercepted it with a blast.
As Crea watched the soldiers flee she felt a strange satisfaction in how they were terrified of her. It made her feel as though she were truly dangerous, and truly powerful.
"Hmm… I almost feel sorry for the poor bastards. Nah…"
Crea raised her right arm and the blade surrounding it vanished. She prepared herself to pursue the soldiers, but then heard a loud whooshing sound approaching. She knew what it was. As the men moved into one of the many corridors in the hallway, a Yin-Tos light tank moved into position and fired on Crea. She leapt backwards, and the shot barely missed.
"Finally," Crea said, "things get interesting."
Crea raised her hands in front of her chest, with two fingers extended each, and touched them together. As they touched, an electrical charge began to build up in her hands. While Crea charged up the attack, the tank fired again, but the blast hit her shield and only damaged it somewhat. As the electrical charge entered her right hand, Crea swung her hand at the tank and fired a bolt of lightning at it. The bolt struck the tank and after a moment of short-circuiting its reactor exploded. The hull of the tank crashed to the ground and smoke rose from its engine. As the tank lay smoldering, another light tank moved in and fired on Crea. Again, she dodged the blast. She then kicked forward and began speedily floating toward the tank in a zigzag pattern, dodging the tank's repeated fire. As she reached it, she jumped up whilst charging a blast and landed on top of the tank. As she landed, Crea quickly fired the blast into the tank's interior; the inside of the tank exploded and its hull fell to the ground with a crash.
As Crea stood atop the tank, she heard more men shouting and turned just in time to see another group of soldiers, about twenty more, fire on her from the corridor behind the tank she had just destroyed. She then leapt high into the air and made several flips as she careened toward the ground. As she landed, the impact created a large shockwave that sent multiple stone spires up from the ground, streaming in a wave toward the troopers. They fled the attack; six of them were killed by the attack. Crea then raised her hands at her sides in a motion, and several small rock pieces began floating up beside her. She thrust her hands forward and the stone pieces flew forward in a flurry. Most of them hit the troops, but it didn't do more than distract them or knock a few of them over. As the soldiers attempted to reorganize, Crea spread her hands to her sides and they glowed with a red pattern. Flames then immersed her hands and she swung her arms, throwing a pair of fireballs, one after the other. The fireballs struck near the soldiers, spreading flames around them. The men clamored and shouted as they tried to flee the flames and smoke.
Crea looked on at the chaos with a hint of satisfaction and shouted, "That's right, RUN!" She then strode after the soldiers as they fled.
--
Meanwhile in another part of the keep, a group of techs were finishing the preparations on a humongous war machine. The machine looked like a large four-legged robot, with a low profile head that had a wide visor with a single red glow in its center. Its arms and shoulder areas all sported large weaponry, the most curious of which was a long-barreled cannon on its left shoulder. All over its gray body was thick armor, but its four legs did not necessarily look as though they were meant for walking.
The Prometheus had originally been built as an answer to the mechanized power of the Omegar Confederation Army. It was easily five times the size of a tank and packed enough firepower to destroy ten.
Up on a walkway, Colonel Jeld walked up to what looked like a cockpit entrance to the mech. Another man walked up to him and said, "Sir, the Prometheus should be all ready. But sir, are you sure about this? I mean the Prometheus hasn't been tested in the field and–"
"What better way to test it," Jeld interrupted, "than by pitting it against a live target?"
"But sir, in such confined quarters–"
"That child is ripping our forces apart, tech officer! Now, what would you prefer: the Prometheus causing SOME damage to our new headquarters, or that kid utterly destroying it and us included?!"
After a moment of pause, the tech said, "You've, uh, made your point, sir."
Jeld then stepped his way into the massive cockpit of the Prometheus and seated himself inside it. The controls appeared as though they would confound anyone, but Jeld had thoroughly read up on how to control the mech. He also knew its capabilities, and was confident it could defeat whatever the girl was. Jeld worked away at several parts of the cockpit controls and the mech began to whirr as it started up.
As the heads-up display before him activated, a screen popped up showing Captain Zaitan's face. He shouted, "Colonel! The target has us pinned down in sector Yin-Dako-Ogama! She's unstoppable! We need help down here!"
"All remaining units are to converge on that location. I'll be there shortly. Hold your positions!"
The screen vanished on the Prometheus' heads-up display. Outside the mech, the techs began to scatter as the Prometheus rose up. As it rose, the red glow in its visor began to shift from side to side, like an eye. After a moment, its four massive legs began to walk it forward. After it took a few steps, several jets fired up along its legs and on its back, propelling it forward at a high speed, while keeping it almost off the ground. It was as though it were skidding across the floor.
Back in the cockpit of the Prometheus, Jeld grinned evilly as he laughed in his throat.
--
Blaster fire filled the air in the reactor room of the keep. Much of it had already been damaged, but in actuality, most of the damage had not been caused by the present battle. Nearby a collapsed generator unit, five men held cover as they took pot shots at Crea. Crea continually darted from side to side, dodging as much fire as she could, but still some attacks were hitting her shield, which now had been partly damaged. Crea looked to her left and saw a man fire a rocket at her, to which she dodged to the right, causing the rocket to miss. Crea countered with an energy blast, which killed the soldier.
Crea then turned around as she heard a man shout, "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"
A series of energy grenades landed near Crea. She quickly jumped away as the grenades exploded. The force of the blast blew her slightly off balance, though, and she slightly stumbled as she landed. As she looked around herself, she saw three staff-wielding soldiers poise their weapons at her. Crea smirked at their predicament, and then quickly slammed a fist into the ground. A wave of energy spread across the ground and blew away the three men.
Crea then turned to look at a pair of light tanks that were moving towards her. She raised her right hand, two fingers together, and fired a piercing shot at the first tank. The shot went clean through the tank, which exploded a second later. She then swung her left arm upward, two fingers together, and a thread of golden light appeared from her fingertips like a whip. The second tank fired at Crea, but she leapt to the side and the shot missed. She then swung the thread at the tank, slicing it neatly down the middle. The tank exploded just as it began to split in two. Crea stood still for a moment, the thread vanishing from her fingers, and she then turned to the remaining soldiers, numbering about fifteen remaining, who had regrouped near a set of fallen power pylons.
She heard Zaitan's voice shout, "Keep up the suppressing fire! Support's coming! Hold here!"
"Not smart," Crea said to herself, as though talking to Zaitan.
Crea turned to the group as it fired harmless blasts at her and brought a hand up. Her shield began to regain some color as it strengthened. After finishing this, Crea raised her hands to the group and fired a blistering amount of small pulses at the group. Four of them were killed and Captain Zaitan took a glancing hit to the shoulder. He fell over and began nursing the wound with his hand.
Grunting painfully, Zaitan turned to his men and shouted, "Fall back! Get out of here!"
The soldiers quickly began to run again. As they did, Crea noticed and said, "You had your chance before. Now you get to DIE!" Crea sprinted forward and her arms began to charge with energy.
Suddenly, there was a loud crashing sound. Crea turned to the source to see a gigantic robot-like machine break through a far wall, strafing sideways through a series of jets built into its legs. As she stared at it, the long-barreled cannon on its left shoulder lowered and pointed at Crea. It had already built up a large amount of energy. The cannon fired a large burst of violet and magenta plasma energy that streaked at Crea. Unable to react in time, she was hit by the blast. Crea's shield broke almost instantly, but it took most of the blast. The force of the blast sent her flying and she crashed into a downed power pylon.
Inside the cockpit, Jeld laughed triumphantly at his surprise attack. Around him outside, the soldiers whistled and shouted, "Woo hoo! Yeah! You got her, sir! You sure showed that little bitch!"
At this moment, an explosion sounded at the other end of the room. Jeld looked back to see Crea stand up again, panting heavily. She was clearly wounded, as several green lights were converging on various wounds on her body. Soon, however, the wounds sealed themselves.
Astonished, Jeld stuttered, "What?! How did she…?"
At the other end, Crea looked up angrily at the large mech unit, aggravated that it had destroyed her barrier with a single shot. Wasting no time, Crea spread her arms and focused her energies. After a moment, a new shield formed around her. Crea made sure this time, however, not to put too much energy into this shield; she guessed her shields wouldn't matter against the mech's cannon. She only needed enough for the infantry fire.
As Crea finished, Jeld flicked a switch in the Prometheus' cockpit and said, "All units, open fire!"
After a second, the troops obeyed and fired their weapons at Crea. She immediately dashed to the side and retaliated with several pulses. Another four troops were killed. At this time, the Prometheus moved its right arm forward, which held a large version of the blaster rifle the infantry troops had. The rifle blared as it rapidly fired pulses at Crea, who quickly moved to dodge them. As the mech continued firing, a box-like weapon rose up onto its right shoulder and several parts of it opened up. The weapon fired six missiles at Crea, which began chasing her. Noticing the missiles, Crea fired a flurry of blasts at them, destroying a couple, while three more crashed into nearby debris and exploded. Crea turned to shoot the last one down, but it was too close as she shot it. The explosion knocked Crea back through the air, but she quickly compensated for it and balanced out her trajectory. As she did, she looked to see a large amount of blaster fire strike her shield in the front. She then quickly looked behind her and saw she was about to impact on a power pylon. Crea positioned herself and landed neatly against the pylon, then pushed off toward the ground, avoiding more blaster fire for the moment.
As Crea sprinted across the ground, shooting more energy pulses as she strafed, she turned her head to look at the solder formation and the large Prometheus. She knew this battle wasn't going to be a cakewalk, but she hadn't expected the Yin-Tos soldiers to have a weapon like the Prometheus. It was actually putting her on the defensive.
Crea's strafing attack killed three more soldiers; now there were only about ten or so left, not including the Prometheus. As Crea began to move out of the Prometheus' range of fire it started up its jets, forcing the other soldiers to scatter.
Inside the Prometheus, Jeld, having noticed his forces had been reduced to only a few soldiers, shouted, "GAH, you idiots! I'll kill her myself!"
The Prometheus strafed to its right as it continued firing its blaster machine gun at Crea's relative position, only hitting her shield occasionally. After a second, Crea suddenly reversed her direction, moving through the field of blaster fire, raised her hands, and fired a large pulse at the Prometheus. Just before the blast hit the machine, though, it struck a shield surrounding the mech. This came slightly as a surprise to Crea, but it was more of an annoyance to her.
"Shields… just my luck…"
As she watched the Prometheus, it lowered its right arm as it raised its left, which held a curious weapon in its hand. It looked a bit like the blaster rifle in its other hand, but had a longer barrel, and what looked like a six-round loading cylinder. As the Prometheus locked on Crea it fired the weapon, lobbing a large shell in an arc, which Crea leapt to the side to dodge. The shell landed with a large explosion, but the blast had missed Crea completely. Crea then moved toward a set of still standing power pylons and hid behind them.
Possible strategies raced through Crea's mind as she tried to think of a way to fight the mech. As she thought, the Prometheus fired again at her position with its machinegun. Some of the blasts pierced through the pylon, but none connected with Crea's shield. Realizing she could not stay, Crea kicked off toward another set of pylons and began dashing quickly at them. As she came into view of the Prometheus, it slowly turned to trail her. It fired another salvo of missiles at Crea from its shoulder, but most of them struck pylons as Crea weaved her way through them; Crea only had to shoot down one missile.
After passing another pylon, Crea turned on the Prometheus and began firing several energy pulses at the mech. The shots hit the shield, however, causing minor damage. As Crea fired, the Prometheus' massive plasma cannon lowered into position and began charging up a blast, whilst the Prometheus' blaster machinegun continued to rain lasers at Crea. The Prometheus fired its cannon. Seeing the blast coming at her at a high speed, Crea jumped away from the blast at the last second. The plasma blast struck a nearby pylon, setting off a massive explosion. Crea was caught in the blast and screamed as she flew into another pylon, which fell over from her impacting on it.
After a moment, the glowing red light that was the Prometheus' eye shifted from side to side, looking for the point where Crea had impacted. Inside the Prometheus, Jeld's eyes quickly darted from screen to screen, watching for any movement.
Elsewhere, Crea slowly pushed a small set of debris off her side and pushed herself up. She grunted painfully and said, "Damn, nasty weapon." She then looked at herself and saw that several wounds across her body were slowly recovering. However, they were at a rate far slower than usual. Realizing why, Crea said, "Oh, perfect."
The battle was starting to take its toll on Crea's energies, and she was beginning to run low. However, she was not as concerned as usual; ever since she had received the energies of the Megalith, she hadn't ever been required to extract energy from other sources. Crea had concluded that this was because she was now capable of recharging herself on her own, but she also noted that the process was far slower than siphoning. It was too slow for the battle; the Prometheus would find and kill her before she could even get enough energy to get away.
Crea was then distracted by a crackling sound next to her. She turned and saw she was lying on top of a damaged power pylon, which was leaking energy. Acting quickly, Crea placed her hands onto the pylon and they began to glow a golden aura. Energy began to stream into Crea's body, recharging her. Soon, all the remaining energy in the pylon had entered Crea's body.
"Well, that takes care of one problem."
Crea heard the loud steps of the Prometheus as it slowly lumbered through the area. She couldn't see it, but sensed it was nearby. Crea took cover behind a still standing pylon and peered around. After a moment, the Prometheus walked into view on the other side of the room. When the Prometheus' eye turned toward Crea, she pulled her head back.
It wasn't that Crea was afraid of her adversary. Rather, she felt the Prometheus was a frustration, since she was having so much trouble fighting it. The main thing about it that concerned her was the plasma cannon. A weapon that could instantly destroy her strongest shields was something Crea wanted to be careful about. She would've taken it out of the picture by now if the Prometheus weren't shielded. Crea first thought just to hammer at the Prometheus' shields until they broke, but felt the risk wasn't worth it.
After a moment, Crea was suddenly struck by inspiration. She shut her eyes, put her palms together, and began to focus her energies through her body. As she did, her body began to shimmer with a faint, multicolored light. Soon, a pattern appeared, constantly shifting with rainbow colors across her body. On the backs of her hands, a pattern of Sigils appeared around the gemstones embedded in her hands.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the reactor room, Jeld continued to look at the screens inside the Prometheus, attempting to find Crea. Suddenly, he saw one of the screens acting up; it showed a large, irregular energy source nearby. Jeld grinned and moved the controls, turning the Prometheus toward the source. As he finished turning, he looked to see Crea standing in plain sight before him on the other side of the room.
Jeld laughed evilly and said, "Well, well, being an easy target, are we? Well, don't fret." As he said this, he flicked a switch and the plasma cannon on the Prometheus' shoulder lowered its barrel and locked on to Crea. He then continued, "I'll make it quick."
Across the room, Crea looked on at the Prometheus' cannon. Her eyes shone a golden light, and Sigil energy flowed tremendously about her. Yet this time, Crea was still conscious of her actions; she knew what she was doing this time, and was pleased that the Prometheus was doing what she had expected.
Crea raised her hands before her and, in an otherworldly tone, chanted, "Dako, Infinis, Nega, Altas."
Back inside the Prometheus, Jeld heard the chanting and said, "Huh? What the? What's she– No! She couldn't be!"
At this moment, Jeld roared as he pulled the trigger on the controls and the plasma cannon fired. The blast struck in front of Crea, but did not strike her or a shield. It was more as though she had caught the blast in her palms. The plasma energy began to condense in a magenta-colored ball in her hands, which after forming she raised above her head.
"Infinis, Yin, Yan, Nega, Altas!"
Crea threw the crackling ball of plasma and Wizard energies forward, and it careened at the Prometheus. As it flew, it wrecked everything within a short radius around it. Inside the Prometheus, Jeld looked on in horror at the attack. Instinctively, he punched away at the controls, attempting to reroute any energy he could into the shields. The blast struck the Prometheus' shield, and there was a tremendous explosion as the two met, enveloping the Prometheus. At the other end, Crea raised her arms to shield herself from the blast, which blew her back off her feet. As she flew back, Crea positioned herself with a flip and dug her hand into the ground as she landed, skidding several meters back. She slowly stood back up, tired from the spell, and looked at the smoke cloud that covered the devastation she had just wrought.
The smoke soon cleared, revealing a heavily damaged Prometheus. Its left arm had been blown off, as well as its shoulder-mounted missile launcher. Its legs were also damaged; the mech was attempting to get to its feet, but apparently could not. It also had several parts of its armor apparently melted or otherwise blown off. And most importantly, its shields were gone.
Inside the Prometheus, Jeld looked around at the damaged screens in front of him. He had been slightly injured, but his injuries weren't a concern to him at the time. At that moment, he was concerned about the damage the Prometheus had sustained; its legs weren't working. As he continued to try and make the Prometheus move, Jeld looked up and saw Crea begin to stride toward him.
In an utter rage, Jeld shouted, "YOU LITTLE BITCH!" as he pulled the trigger, firing the blaster machinegun that still was attached to the Prometheus' right arm.
As blaster fire flew wildly at Crea, lightly damaging her shield, she sprinted forward at the machine. She ran up a large slanted rock spire and fired several blasts at the Prometheus' blaster machinegun, damaging it. As she reached the top of the spire she leapt at the Prometheus. At this moment, the plasma cannon aimed right at Crea.
Jeld shouted, "DIE!" as he fired the cannon.
At the very instant before Jeld fired, Crea thrust out her right hand and a gust of wind pushed her to the left. The plasma shot narrowly passed to the right her as she flew through the air. As she flew over the Prometheus' head, a blade of energy formed around Crea's right arm and she swung hard at the plasma cannon. The energy blade hit home, severing the weapon from the mech's shoulder and sending it falling off behind it. Crea quickly whipped around as she flew past the Prometheus and thrust her left hand forward in a fist. An energy chain flew out of her wrist and attached to the back of the Prometheus. The chain began recoiling, and the force of the pull sent Crea careening at the Prometheus' back. As she landed, the chain shortened to a length where it kept Crea hanging from the Prometheus' back. Crea swung back her right arm and yelled as she thrust her blade into the machine's back.
Inside the Prometheus, the systems of the mech began to go haywire. Jeld, almost in a panic, shouted, "What?! What did she do to–"
At this moment, the computer on the Prometheus said, "WARNING! CORE CONTAINMENT BREACHED! ENERGY FIELD DESTABILIZING! MELTDOWN IMMINENT!"
"WHAT?! NO!"
Outside the Prometheus, Crea sensed the destabilization of the mech's reactor, which she had just pierced with her blade. The chain around her left arm disappeared as she kicked off, landing several meters away from the Prometheus, which was now surging uncontrollably with energy. Crea watched as a blue surge of energy began to leak out of the Prometheus' back where she had penetrated its armor. As the energy surge reached its peak, Crea brought her hands together in front of her and created a shield. At that moment, the Prometheus' reactor detonated with a tremendous blast. Crea focused her energy into her shield as the explosion passed.
The explosion soon passed, and Crea lowered her arms as she looked around. The Prometheus had been blown to burnt pieces; all that was left intact of it was the plasma cannon, which still lay behind Crea. Crea turned back toward the cannon and walked up to it.
"And to the victor the spoils," Crea said as she knelt over and placed a hand on the huge cannon.
Crea shut her eyes in concentration and her hand began to glow golden. The cannon soon glowed in a golden light, and then it turned into several small golden lights, which began to swirl tightly around Crea. As she stood up, the lights entered her body with a flicker of light.
As she opened her eyes, Crea quickly turned to the sound of shifting stone. Standing a good distance away from her were about ten troopers, led by Captain Zaitan. The instant Zaitan knew he and his men had been noticed, he signaled his men to retreat, which they did hastily.
Crea smirked as she watched them flee and then said, "Should've done that in the first place." She then strode off toward a set of stairs and began climbing them. She didn't feel like getting rid of the rest of the Yin-Tos soldiers; she felt she had got the message across.
As Crea made her way up the stairway, she stopped upon seeing what looked like a pool of green liquid. It was almost like blood, for the green liquid was moving in a trail up the stairs. Crea knelt over to the green pool and moved her hand to touch it. Before she did, however, an image of a skeletal figure flashed through her mind, prompting her to stop. She realized who the figure was immediately: Nazmul.
"Nazmul… he was here." Crea stood up and took off up the stairs, following the trail of green bile.
She soon reached a room behind a particularly well-made door. Something about the decorations made them seem to serve more purpose than just being fancy. The trail of ichor and its energy seemed to lead through the doorway. Crea walked up to the door and raised a hand to touch it, but her hand was forced back by an energy field. Crea winced in pain as a slight energy surge ran through her hand, causing her a slightly painful sensation.
"Sigil-hardened. And from the looks of it, this door's pretty physically solid as well."
Crea took several steps back and raised her hands to the door. The gemstones on her hands began to shimmer with a magenta-colored light, and a pattern of the same color appeared lining her arms.
"What better way to give this power a test?"
As the energy in Crea's arms surged, a large ball of plasma energy surged forth at the door. The blast exploded, blowing apart the door in an instant despite its protection. As the smoke cleared, Crea stumbled through the entryway, somewhat tired.
"Damn, quite a punch. Ugh, better save that for the big ones, though."
Crea soon straightened up and looked around the vast room. It wasn't entirely different from what Crea expected; the room clearly was of the style of a madman, yet it had a sort of fancy atmosphere to it. It was very tidy, aside from the mess Crea had just made. Of most interest, Crea spotted a large computer terminal in the middle of the room. She walked up to it and inspected it for a moment.
"Well isn't this just grand? Even great Wizards are reduced to using these pieces of junk."
Crea then laid her hands on the terminal controls. As if on instinct, Crea began rapidly typing away at the controls, knowing exactly how to hack into the system. This came as a bit of a surprise to her, but Crea quickly rationalized the knowledge as something from her past.
After a moment, several files popped up on a hologram before her. They were mostly data on her, recorded by Nazmul, but a lot of it was about thirteen years old. For a time, Crea did not find much; most of the information was detailed explanations on certain abilities she knew about. After a bit of searching, Crea opened a folder titled "Project Log", and found it contained several video recordings in it. Crea went to the first one and opened the file.
A video feed popped up, revealing a man's face. It was a younger Nazmul, the one from Crea's memory. The video was dated approximately thirteen years ago. Nazmul then began to speak.
My servants have recently managed to obtain a portion of materials from the Megalith. Were the beast under my control at this time, surely more would have been obtained, and with much greater ease. In spite of this, I believe the materials, consistent of a large amount of the Megalith's molted skin and extracts of its bodily fluids, will serve a suitable purpose for my needs.
Controlling the beast itself at this time has proven to be an unwise venture at this time. Without the proper spell or materials, I foresee that any attempt to tame it would prove suicidal. Pending this, I shall have my scientific counsel come up with several possibilities on how best to use what we have gained. Presently, Doku seems very eager to work with the Megalith's materials. Likely, this is out of his pathetic need to earn favor with me. Nevertheless, perhaps he will have something worthwhile.
End Entry.
The video stopped at this point.
Crea thought the video over for a moment. The information, though little, was quite intriguing to her. She opened the second video file. It was dated a couple of moon cycles after the first one. Once again, it was Nazmul who spoke.
It is amazing how those who are genuinely insane can inspire grand ideas. Doku has come up with a rather interesting prospect on how to use the Megalith materials we obtained recently.
His proposal was the creation of a special Guardian, using the Megalith materials as the primary components of the design. At first I thought to immediately dismiss the idea as a waste of resources, but an addition he made has piqued by curiosity in the matter.
Doku has recently been working on modifying a quantity of Pure Ore, turning it into a potent power source. When I questioned him on it, he said the original intent of the project was to improve the power supplies of our forces, but due to the rarity of Pure Ore the project was to be discontinued. However, he has proposed using this special Pure Ore in conjunction with the Guardian form to further empower it.
Presently the idea fascinates me. I have approved of the plan, but I have decided to personally oversee the project. Though Doku's plan is ingenious, his lack of wisdom in arcane sorcery would surely make the result far less impressive. In any case, the project would call for the use of all the material we obtained from the Megalith. As such, I do not wish to take chances, and will head the project myself.
End Entry.
The video ended, and Crea opened up the next one. Again, this one was a few moon cycles later.
Progress on the project has been going smoothly. My acolytes have been working zealously in preparing the ritual necessary for the creation of the protoform, as I have called it. As for myself, I have taken the liberty of using my own sorcery to manipulate the Pure Ore sample Doku has supplied me.
His work on the sample was excellent, but I have managed to improve upon it even further. Doku has no mind for Wizard magic, hence his reluctance toward my modifications. His obedience, however, makes up for his lack of insight.
Within a few moons, I believe I shall be ready to perform the ritual. For some strange reason, the anticipation of the moment has left me with both keen interest, as well as slight concern for what could happen should something go awry.
End Entry.
Crea opened the next file, dated three moon cycles later.
Everything is prepared for the ritual. The site where I shall bring life to the protoform has been set up as instructed. The Pure Ore heart, which I have molded personally, is complete, and the body of the protoform has been made to my specifications.
Doku recently questioned me on the matter of the protoform's appearance. He believes that making it in the image of a human being was a waste, but yet again this displays his lack of insight. He does not realize the potential that lies within the human form. The human being is a cunning, clever, and decisive species, something I have planned for the protoform to be. It will be able to function in terms of mental capacity similarly to any human, but its loyalty will be bound to me. I am hopeful, however, that the protoform will perform in a manner superior to humanity, physically.
It is time. The ritual must start soon and I am needed to perform it. It is time to breathe life into what will either be my greatest creation, or an utmost failure.
End Entry.
Crea activated the next one, which was dated the same day, just a few hours later.
The ritual has proven successful and the protoform now walks among us. Presently, my scientists and acolytes are studying her physiology to determine any advantages she may have. I trust that they will have some promising results soon.
I have to remark on the moment that the protoform rose from the ritual site. It was as though witnessing the birth of a sort of divine being. Admittedly, even I was awestruck by the result of my work. Though I expected the end result to be powerful, nothing could have prepared me for the amount of Sigil energy that now dwells within the protoform's body.
I have decided to name the protoform Cretia, or Crea as the others call her, after the ancient Bakkorian goddess of Destruction. It seems to suit her; already Crea has shown great potential for causing devastation, but she is also highly aggressive. Several acolytes were slain attempting to contain her. Truly her power is impressive, but I shall need to quickly devise a way to control her. If I cannot, the project will have been for nothing.
The matter should be resolved in a short while. After I have gained control of her, I shall move to testing her ability in battle, in preparation for my conquest of the Realm.
End Entry.
Again, Crea moved to another entry, which was a week later.
A remarkable development has turned up concerning Crea's powers. During a training simulation where she was pitted against several drone units, Crea acquired one of the energy weapons used by the training drones. In what I can only describe as miraculous, Crea assimilated the weapon into her energy-based body, gaining its firepower as a new ability. However, her physical appearance did not change, nor did it seem to affect her mental capacity. I will need to research this ability further.
Having such a power at her disposal is very curious. With it, she could very well have limitless potential for growth. If she were to assimilate enough power and abilities from other beings, she could very well become invincible. However, this raises a concern among my staff; they fear that should Crea ever decide to rebel against us, there would be nothing to stop her. Of course, their concerns are sound, but the method I have devised for controlling her is presently keeping her in check. I am concerned, however, as to how long it will prove to be effective.
Nevertheless, the potential Crea has is something I cannot just throw away. With such a weapon at my disposal, no one would dare to oppose me. For now, though, I have decided to continue investigating Crea's power; perhaps as a result, I will be able to increase her power further.
End Entry.
The video ended. Crea looked through the next few ones, but most of them were just progress reports on her development. As she neared the end of the list, one video, dated about four months after Crea's creation, caught her attention.
It seems there may be a problem concerning Project Crea. My staff reported that Crea ended up killing several training staff and security team members during a routine combat exercise. Eventually she was subdued, but the issue troubles me. It seems my control method on her may be losing its effectiveness on Crea. I will need to devise a new method soon, or I could risk losing control of Crea. If such a thing were to happen, it would surely be disastrous.
Presently, Sari, who has been working with me on the Nova Stone project, has been the most outspoken against the continuation of Project Crea. She believes that I should not be taking a further risk with Crea, and that I should destroy her immediately. I have disregarded the concerns, as Crea is a powerful asset I cannot just dispose of.
It is strange, really. I see the logic in Sari's suggestion, and yet I cannot compel myself to destroy Crea. She is a work of art, nearly a goddess reborn, and I cannot bring myself to destroy such a magnificent creation. I feel as though if I can retain control of her, I will not need to destroy her.
No, I will not destroy her. I shall continue to work on devising a new method of controlling her. I pray I will be able to come up with something shortly.
End Entry.
Crea was slightly taken aback by this entry. Crea pondered over this development for a moment, and then started up the next video entry, recorded five moon cycles later. What she heard was staggering.
Crea's disobedience is continually worsening as the days go by. Just three moons ago she caused severe injury to several of my scientists and acolytes over a routine analysis. The matter was settled when a security team subdued Crea, whereas afterwards she was confined to a Nega level isolation cell.
Then, on the next day, Crea somehow got herself into the weapons lab and assimilated several experimental systems, including levitation equipment, a new charge cannon model, and a prototype teleportation device. Security within the weapons lab has been doubled as a result, and now Crea is kept within an Altas level containment field. She cannot move within the field, but I am doubtful that even such a high level field will contain her.
I fear Sari's wisdom in the matter may be correct. Crea is becoming too powerful to control and she has become mentally unruly as well. Soon enough, she may completely rebel against me, and could very well destroy us all. My scientific and magical staff is unanimous in their view on the matter, and I agree with their judgement.
sigh Crea will have to be terminated as soon as possible. Though it pains me to have to destroy such a magnificent being, she has become too dangerous to keep alive. She is to be executed by the next moon. Perhaps, it is for the best. Perhaps, I will be able to try again, once I have controlled the Megalith itself. Yes… thought this first attempt may have failed, perhaps with a second, I will be more successful.
End Entry.
Crea played the entry again. Nazmul had given the order directly to kill her, and had called her an "attempt". Crea clenched a fist in anger, but managed to control herself.
Crea looked back up at the screen and noticing another entry opened it. It was unique among the others; it had been poorly set up. As the video feed opened, Crea noticed an alarm system blaring off as Nazmul spoke.
I was too late! Crea has escaped the keep and has rebelled against me!
If only I had acted sooner on the matter, I could have destroyed her. Crea managed to break out of her containment field just as I was about to execute her. During her flight, she managed to cause severe damage to the keep and my security forces. Brackus' forces are presently searching for her, but I doubt they will be able to stop her.
At that moment, a beeping sound was heard, and Nazmul tapped several keys on a keypad in front of him. After staring at something for a moment, he sighed and continued.
Brackus' forces have lost Crea's trail. It seems they were about to apprehend her when she vanished before them in a flash of blue light. I can only assume this was the teleportation device she had assimilated recently.
sigh Regrettably, I will need to deal with Crea at another point. My progress concerning the spell necessary to control the Megalith is nearly finished, and I must devote all my attention to it. Bringing the Megalith under my control is an opportunity I cannot ignore, even with Crea running around.
Hmm, perhaps once I have the Megalith, I will be able to deal with Crea. Yes, that will do. Despite how powerful she may be I am confident that Crea will not be able to withstand the Megalith.
Crea looked at the screen; there was only one entry left. Crea opened it; it was dated about a month after her escape.
The Megalith is under my command at its full power, and now Crea lies dead beneath the Binn-Yati Mountains. Still, it pains me that I had to do such a thing to such a powerful being.
At first, I believed Crea was too much for the Megalith to handle, but it seems that she was not the stronger of the two. Such a pity as well; I had intended for her to inherit the Megalith's power once I had obtained it. Oh well, perhaps once I have replaced her.
In the meantime, my conquest of Rados can now begin, with the Megalith leading the charge of my forces. A new age in Rados will soon begin, and I shall become ruler of a new Realm! First, I shall do away with my pathetic brother, Alnar, and his Di-Gata Defenders. Once that is done, the Realm will be mine!
The entry ended there.
"So…" Crea said silently, "I was just a tool to him after all."
This feeling of neglect began to turn to anger in Crea, and in her rage she screamed as she shot a blast of energy to her side, blowing open a wall. As the rubble fell, Crea breathed heavily with anger, outraged by Nazmul's intent to make her his personal weapon.
"You old bastard… I AM NO ONE'S SERVANT!!"
Energy surged around Crea as she shouted, wrecking a small area around her. As her anger subsided, so did the surge of power.
Still angered with what she had learned, Crea said, "I'm not some weapon, Nazmul. I am destruction itself!"
--
Outside of the keep, the remaining members of the Yin-Tos forces had regrouped in a rocky clearing. There were only fifteen of them left. After a moment, two more men returned and walked up to a weary Captain Zaitan. His shoulder was bandaged from the injury he had sustained.
"Any other survivors?" Zaitan said.
"No, sir," one of the soldiers said. "We're all that's left."
"Unbelievable. To think we were so easily beaten by that– that monster!"
"So, what do we do now, captain?" one soldier asked.
After a moment of silence, Zaitan said, "We make for the Gates of Yin. Hopefully we'll be able to spread about the info on that girl to the rest of the Realm."
"Sir?"
"The colonel is dead because of her, private! We have a job— no, a duty to inform Rados about her! I know it's not exactly what the colonel would've wanted. He would've wanted us to stay and fight, but informing the people's something we have to do."
"Such a pity then," said a voice from an unknown direction, "that you will fail your mission."
Immediately the soldiers readied their weapons and looked around the area. There was no one in sight. Zaitan's view jetted around, attempting to find the source of the voice, but he found nothing. All of a sudden, one of the men gasped breathlessly as something hit him from behind, and then fell over.
"What– what happened to him?" Zaitan shouted, as another soldier inspected his fallen comrade.
"Sir, he's dead!" the soldier replied.
As the other soldiers looked about frantically for the source of the attack, Zaitan shouted, "Switch to Sigil visors, now!"
The soldiers complied, activating their helmets. As one man activated his, he screamed as he saw a cloaked figure toss a set of spell stones at him. Dark Evisceration! A black mass of energy swarmed around the man, who screamed as the darkness engulfed him. Soon, the energy scattered and the man was gone. The figure then swung around and quickly unsheathed a long-slender rapier. He swung the sword at a staff-wielder, breaking the staff in two, and then performed a series of quick stabs at the soldier's chest. The man fell over with a silent groan. At this point, the other soldiers fired at the figure. The figure whipped around and quickly cast a set of shield stones. Fortify Front! A blue shield emerged and blocked the blaster fire. The figure then stood up and the cloaking field around him vanished; it was Saturos.
As energy blasts pelted Saturos' shield, Zaitan signaled one man to flank right. The man moved to flank him, but Saturos noticed him and cast a spell. Ashen Conflagration! A crimson fireball flew at the soldier and hit him, exploding and incinerating the soldier instantly. Saturos then turned back to the other soldiers as an energy grenade landed near him. He jumped back and the explosion merely scraped his shield. He then pulled out a guardian stone and cast it. Lerna, Multi-Strike! In the middle of the soldiers, Saturos' guardian appeared.
The soldiers trembled in horror as they looked on at Lerna. The guardian was an enormous serpent-like creature that had at eight heads. From four of the hydra's mouths dripped a corrosive acid, while the other four mouths constantly billowed with smoke. Each head had a Henge of Dako and Yan on its forehead, but the chest of its body was emblazoned with the symbol of the Ethos.
Saturos looked on at the soldiers as they face Lerna, then he grinned and snapped his fingers. As if on cue, Lerna attacked. Its smoking heads shot fire at the soldiers, while the others spewed acid. All around, there were the screams of soldiers fighting frantically against the hydra guardian. After about a minute, the screams were silenced, and all around the guardian there was melted rock and ashes. The only soldier left was Captain Zaitan.
Zaitan raised his blaster rifle at Lerna, but the hydra spat a ball of acid at the blaster, melting it. Zaitan stumbled back in terror, but tripped over a rock and fell over. As he tried to get up, Saturos walked up to him with his sword in hand. As Saturos looked down on the captain, he smirked.
"Who… who the hell are you?" Zaitan said nervously, noticing the Ethos' Sigil on Saturos' forehead.
"Me?" Saturos said nonchalantly. "I'm just a servant of a greater power." He then raised his sword and continued, "But for you, I am your executioner."
All around the wasteland, the sound of Zaitan's scream could be heard for miles.
--
Back inside of the lower levels of Nazmul's Keep, Crea looked around inside the abandoned science labs. As she looked around, memories kept flashing back into her mind as she remembered the training and conditioning she had to go through thirteen years before. She didn't like being back in the labs, but she had come to the keep to find anything useful Nazmul could have left behind. Eventually, Crea made her way to the weapons lab. She looked around, but at first didn't find anything particularly useful. Then, she noticed a very strange-looking suit of armor, which had been equipped with what looked like small jet thrusters at multiple points. On its shoulders were small missile launchers. Crea walked over to the armor and stared at it curiously.
"Hmm… bizarre."
Crea then noticed a terminal next to her. She quickly hacked into it and found the files on the armor she had found. The file's name for the armor was "High-Mobility Veriner-Thrust Power Armor", something Crea found a bit ridiculous. However, its function intrigued her: it was designed for airborne infantry combat, but its main propulsion system was apparently incomplete. The other systems of the armor were functional, though, which included a high-velocity maneuvering system, as well as homing missiles meant for anti-vehicle use.
"Neat."
Crea shut her eyes and her hands glowed golden. As they did, the armor turned to golden lights and the lights swirled around Crea as they entered her body. They finished with a small flash of light. As per usual, Crea's mind showed her how to use her new powers.
As the instruction in her mind finished, Crea said, "Ooh, that's handy. Maybe I should test it." Crea then looked at her surroundings and said, "Not enough room in here." She then left the room.
A few minutes later, Crea walked into a large cylindrical room. Almost instantly, Crea recalled her daily combat routines and how they had molded her into the destroyer she was today. Though she still hated Nazmul for only thinking of her as a weapon, she still knew that his training for her had been invaluable for her survival.
Crea walked into the room and the door shut behind her. Crea then looked up as several small spherical drones floated into the room. They were rather plain, with only a single glowing red eye on each, which all seemed to stare at Crea.
"Heh, a walk in the park," Crea said, as if to the drones.
The drones began to maneuver in various directions and began firing small lasers at Crea. Crea leapt to the left, avoiding the first barrage. One of the drones floated up in front of Crea and fired. As the laser neared her, a jet of energy to her right suddenly thrust Crea at a blinding speed to her left, causing the blast to miss. However, Crea did not account for a nearby wall and slammed into it with a loud thud. The impact jolted her, but she was unharmed.
"Whoa… damn, that's fast!"
Crea then turned and saw three drones move into position around her and fire. The lasers hit Crea, but they merely caused a stinging sensation. At her present power, it felt more like a pinprick. In any case, it annoyed Crea, so she fired a blast back at the drones. Almost instantly, the drones moved away and the blast missed.
"Right, they're meant to do that."
Crea pushed herself away from the wall and began floating shortly above the ground. As she began maneuvering through the area, she fired several blasts back at the drones, but they kept dodging. As they dodged, the drones returned fire, but Crea continued to use her new quick-thrust ability to dodge the blasts. In her head, Crea thought it was good practice; despite her knowledge of her new power, it was hard to control herself at such high speeds.
One of the drones flew up close behind Crea and hit her in the back with a laser. Crea growled and swung a fist around quickly. The blow hit the drone right in its singular eye, breaking it and causing the robot to clatter to the ground. A pair of drones flew in to Crea's left and fired beams at her, but she thrust backwards and avoided the blast. She retaliated with a flurry of energy blasts, which the drones were unable to dodge. They exploded and their fragments fell to the ground.
Crea turned around and saw the remaining three drones open fire on her. Crea raised a hand and a dim barrier appeared, blocking the shots. Crea felt she had done enough dodging and wanted to test the other ability the armor had given her.
Crea raised her hands at the drones, spreading out her fingers, and new symbols appeared lining her arms. Several small lights appeared on her arms in various places and shot forward in unison, streaming in random arcs at the drones. The drones moved to dodge the attack, but the beams altered their course to chase after the drones. Each one took a hit and exploded, causing their pieces to fall to the ground with a clatter. Crea lowered her arms and sighed.
"Why the hell am I doing this? I never liked fighting those things. They made every day back then a pain in the ass. Heh, I guess I'm just a sucker for nostalgia."
Crea turned around and left the room. Memories of her old training days continued to flood her mind; in particular, memories of the cruel treatments the scientists had subjected her to.
"So many memories… But I'm not their lab rat anymore."
Crea made her way to the exit to the laboratories and slowly climbed the stairs. Part of Crea wanted to destroy the lab to get rid of the terrible memories. But she decided to keep the lab standing, as a testament to what she had gone through to become who she was. It was part of who she was.
A while later, Crea found herself outside the towering castle. She turned to look at the place of her origin one last time.
"Hmm… maybe someday I'll come back…"
With that, Crea turned around and blue lights surrounded her. She then warped away.
--
Meanwhile, back inside Nazmul's private quarters, Saturos walked into the room, remarking at how Crea had managed to breach the security door. He also remarked at the destruction she had caused along the way. As he looked at the damage within the room, he walked up to the central terminal and activated it. The files Crea had accessed were on hand and almost instantly showed up before Saturos.
As he looked at the files, Saturos said, "Amazing… simply amazing. Nazmul outdid himself. Such a shame he isn't around to see just how powerful his little girl's become."
Saturos then reached into his belt and pulled out a small metallic cube the size of a spell stone. He inserted it into the machine and then typed in something on the console. As he finished, the files began downloading themselves into the small data stone. As it finished, Saturos removed the data stone and pocketed it. He then pulled out a set of spell stones and cast them. Black Purgatory! A black fireball struck the console, engulfing it in a pillar of red and black flames. After the spell finished, the console was ruined.
Chuckling as he turned and walked out of the room, Saturos said, "Well then, perhaps I should witness her power in his stead, personally."
Saturos wrapped his cloak around him and vanished. But his laughter continued to echo through the halls of the keep, but the only ears to hear it were those of the dead.
END OF CHAPTER 6
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