Life is a fickle thing. Sometimes it gives you a type 1,it let's you have your way, sometimes it gives you a type 2,it compromises, sometimes it does a type 3, throwing stuff at you. And if life wants to be a total douche, it can do the latter but the stuff is something so unbelievable you have to question your sanity. That is called type 4. Or for the less eloquent, Shitty day.
And fighting magical animated homicidal roots is a confirmed type 4. Unless your the kind whos sanity is in the realm of the gone. Then you can be excused.
"Maribel! How long more?" Dutch yells as he reloads his rifle.
"Give me thirty seconds." She returns as she steadily uncovers the final parts of the second moon.
"We don't have thirty seconds. Hurry up!" Dutch pulls the charging handle of his gun and fires away at the roots.
It pretty much was a losing battle. For every root that Dutch sent back into it's hole, 2 more would show up. The only reason they were not dead yet was because the roots were concentrating their efforts on the larger group of 8 men in the central platform of the chamber.
8 men armed with guns. Guns that in the right hands might have lasted them long enough for someone to send reinforcements. But this men had minimal training, being selected off the street of their love of money, not combat skills.
So they were all dead men. As Dutch sent another root back into it's hole, one sweeps over the floor of the platform, smashing into one of the soldiers with enough force to break ribs and send him flying into the array of bamboo spikes that jut out of every other section of the floor.
The man screams were short lived.
Finally after a lifetime of fighting, the moon was uncovered. The door gave a rumble and it started to rise.
"Head for the door!" One of the remaining men yelled. But as the group started to move, roots suddenly burst through the floor of the platform. One unlucky man was speared through his crotch. He hung in midair, his lifeblood eagerly absorbed by the root.
And in all this chaos was Renko. Helpless, she could only watch as men died in front of her.
"Let's go!" Dutch yelled. Renko suppressed her emotions and turned to run for the door. She could recollect later when she was alive and safe.
But as the door rose, a trio of roots came out and reached for the door. They started to push the door down.
Dutch looked at the door. It had risen high enough for a person to go through if the person bend his back. But it's upward progress was being slowed by the roots. Eventually the roots would push the door back down.
"Get through the door before the roots close it!" He yelled.
Maribel and Renko run through the door as Dutch does a fighting retreat to cover them. Once both of them were on the other side, he dashed for the door.
But as he almost reached the door, a root wraps around his leg. He falls hard onto the stone floor. His rifle falls in front of him, just beyond reach.
The root starts pulling.
Cursing, Dutch grabs his pistol and fires repeatedly at the offending tendril. After a whole magazine of 15 rounds, the root finally let's go, leaking clear sap.
Dutch picks himself up and runs for the now slowly lowering door. He picks up his rifle along the way and slings it onto his backpack.
The opening underneath the door was only high enough now to crawl through. Dutch launches himself at the opening. He lands with his body halfway through the door. He quickly starts crawling as the door continues it steady progress downwards.
Just as it seemed that Dutch will lose part of himself, he puts a burst of speed and he was through. The door slams with a echoing BOOM, shutting out the noises of battle and death on the other side of the door.
"Everyone okay?" Dutch asked as he picked himself up.
"Yes." Maribel answered.
"It's just us?" Renko asks.
Dutch nods."I'm afraid so."
"All those men..." Renko whispers.
"There's nothing we can do for them. What we can do now is find a way out of here. I don't think this place had thrown all it has at us." Dutch spoke as he looked around him. They were in a corridor that lead on. It was lighted by small crystals just as the same as the ones in the room behind.
"Maribel, see anything?" Dutch asks as he unslings his rifle and aims down the corridor.
"There's are no magical boundaries other then the ones surrounding the crystals. I thinks we are safe for now." Maribel notes as she concentrates down the corridor.
Dutch starts walking down the corridor, his rifle lowered. Maribel follows, concentrating to spot any traps. Renko looked back at the door, turned and followed them.
"When did you two get your abilities?" Dutch asked. The trio have been walking for a minute or so down the corridor.
The two women gave a surprised expression at the sudden question. Renko searched her memories.
"I was born with it. Mary here was the same as me." Renko answered after a short while."Both of us did not tell any one about it, not even our parents."
"When we met each other, we just hit it off, I guess. When I told Renko about my eyes, I expected her to reject me. I was very surprised when she accepted me and even more surprised when she told me about hers. That was when we formed the sealing club for the both of us." Maribel recounted with a smile.
Dutch chuckled."Well then, I try to get you two out of here so the two of you can go have more club activities."
As they continued down the corridor, a rustle echoed from deep down the corridor. Dutch whipped up his rifle and slowly advanced.
"Maribel, do you see anything coming?"
Maribel concentrates."There no magical boundaries approaching us but there is one about 10 meters away. It's moving deeper down the corridor."
Dutch approached the boundary with his rifle aimed up. When he got to the boundary, he saw roots moving out of the wall and heading down the corridor. They paid him no attention even after he prodded it with his rifle.
"It's safe." He announced."Although this place is starting to make me have an urge to burn everything."
His companions came up to the roots."I second that." Renko said after looking at the roots.
The three follow the roots. It snakes across the walls of the corridor until it opened up into a large room.
In the center of the room was a massive bulb of roots. The roots from the corridor were moving into it, with no noticeable increase in the size of the bulb . The bulb itself was pulsating.
"Ugh. That's gross." Renko says as she looks at it.
"Maribel, anything?" Dutach ask as he scans the walls. Standing in alcoves in the walls were 4 statutes. The statutes were humanoid shaped. They had a stocky body with long arms that ended with three claws and legs and a helmet for a head with wing like protrusions. When Dutch looked into a statute, he realized that the statutes were hollow and that they were at least 2 meters tall.
"Nothing. No boundaries other than the roots."
The trio cross the room, making sure not to touch anything moving. When they reach the other end of the room, they were confronted by another door.
"How many doors are there?" Dutch yells as he look at it. He was tempted to shoot it. Just then, he remembered something. He was carrying a backpack all this time.
I should shoot myself, he thought as he reach around for his backpack. But just as he touched it, the door let out a pulse that knocked them all to the ground.
"What the hell was that?" Dutch yelled for the second time in a row.
"Sorry! I touched the door." Renko sheepishly admitted as she got up. As Dutch got up, he heard a rustle behind him.
He whipped around with his rifle up but there was no threat towards him. Instead, the roots were leaving the bulb, snaking along the floor towards the statutes.
As the three watch, the roots snake up the hollow statutes and into the eye holes. After a while, the ends of the roots appear from the bulb. When the ends of the roots enter the eye holes the statutes creaked.
By then, Dutch's danger sense was screaming again. He motioned Renko and Maribel to hide against the door as he too moved backwards to the door.
And his danger sense did not lie.
Suddenly one of the statures screeched. It jumped out of it's alcove and flexed it's claws before charging. Dutch fired, sending bursts of triple shots as fast as he could. The barrage of bullets chipped away at the statue until the roots underneath was exposed. A final burst sent three bullets that penetrated the roots and caused the statute to collapse.
But now every statute was screeching as well. The remaining three jumped out of their own alcoves and advanced towards Dutch.
BALLS! Dutch mentally yelled as he reloaded. As he slotted another magazine with a click, he calculated the factors in his situation. The statute he took down needed 3 bursts to break it's body armor with 1 more burst to finally kill it. He has 30 rounds in his rifle, enough for 10 bursts. And there are 3 of them, meaning in all 12 bursts are needed to kill them all. Unless he goes for a head shot.
Dutch turns to the nearest statue and fires for the head. The statute dodges the first burst but Dutch compensated and fired. This time, the helmet-like head crumbled in under two bursts, exposing the root underneath it to damage that allowed it to die.
Yes! Ditch thought as he turned to the next target, already planning a course of attack for the last two statute. But plans in combat rarely go accordingly. By the time he was facing the next statute, it was right in front of him. A upward swipe knocked the rifle out of his hands.
Dutch moves backwards, taking out his knife and pistol. He dodged another swipe and bought up his pistol, firing repeatedly into the head. The impacts of the bullets on the statute's head causes it to stumble backwards. It screeches as the helmet starts to crack.
Finally after the head armor breaks, he rushes with his knife, avoiding another swipe and stabbing into the vulnerable roots. When the knife entered the roots, the statute gave a screech and collapsed.
3 down, 1 more.
But before even Dutch could turn, 2 meters of wood and stone knocks him onto the ground.
The statute screeches in triumph. It raises its arms and slams down it's claws to finish Dutch off.
Dutch quickly jerks his head aside. The claw slams down onto the ground right beside his head. It leaves deep indents on the stone floor.
Yelling, Dutch stabbed the statute's body repeatedly, trying to find some kind of weak spot. The statute raises its arms in preparation for a swipe that would take Dutch's head off. Dutch continues to stab but the steel just bounces of the stone. Just as the statute arm was about to drop, a lucky strike penetrates a part of the armor that was weakened by the effects of time.
The statute froze in mid swipe and fell on him. The sheer weight of it knocks the breath out of Dutch.
/Warning/
/High weight detected on operator/
/Activting countermeasures/
Increased strength
In Dutch's body, nano bots in his muscles link themselves with his muscles fibers.. They boost his strength until he was able to push off the dead weight.
/Deactivating strength countermeasures/
Dutch sucks in a breath. He gets up and asks Maribel and Renko,"You okay?"
The two nod. Maribel asks him,"A better question is are you okay?"
Dutch collects his weapons on the ground."Don't worry, I had worse." He answers as he checks his weapons for any damage.
Suddenly from behind him, the bulb let's out a screech. Dutch turned around.
The statutes were being pulled in by the bulb. They spilt into different parts and joined with the other parts until Dutch was facing a 3 meter tall super-statute. It charged at him.
"Shit!" Dutch cursed as he dodged the titan of stone rushing at him and the door. Maribel and Renko! He remembered and turn to find them. Lucky, the two had scattered when they saw the charging statute. It smashed it's way through the door like it was paper. "Get away from the door!" Dutch yelled.
The titan came out of the smashed door. Dutch fired at it's head then the gun clicked on empty. The statute swiped at him. Dutch dodged aside but one of the claws caught his backpack. It sent him flying in to one of the alcoves.
This is not my day, he thought as he slid down. Mentally checking his available weapons, he came to the conclusion that they were dead on account that there were no weapons on hand that could really damage the statute. There has to be something! He thought. Then he spied his backpack. The swipe had torn it from his shoulders and opened it.
And what fell out could save them.
As for Maribel and Renko, when Dutch was sent flying by the swipe, they literally saw their death coming for them. The statute stomped until it was right in front of them. It raised its arms for another swipe, ready to kill the two young women.
Then a small object trailing smoke smashed into it's arm and blew it's claws clean off.
The statute screeched. Dutch nonchalantly reloaded his grenade launcher, pulling the spent shell out of the tube and inserting a new one form the backpack at his feet.
He aimed again."You might want to make a move." Dutch told the two woman. They quickly ran, running through the legs of the statute as fast as they could. Dutch fired again.
The grenade this time hit the left knee of the statute. It fell on to the ground. Ditch reloaded again and this time, aimed for the head of the statute.
"This time, stay dead." He spoke before firing. The grenade sailed through the air and impacted onto it's head. The statute stopped moving.
Dutch pulled a deep breath. The swipe just now made him feel hurt all over. Maribel and Renko ran to him.
"I'm okay." He told them before they could say anything. He checked his ammunition. 2 magazines left and 3 grenade shells. Not good.
He slotted the shells into the empty holding bands of his armor."So through the door we go?" He asked the two women. They nodded.
Back on the surface, the operation to deploy the Fuel-Air bomb on the chamber was nearly complete.
"Demo team, drop in the package." The Mask ordered. This whole expedition was a screw-up from the start, He thought. Now the people he bribed were getting cold feet and asking questions. If this bomb does not work, he will have to cut losses and run before someone finds them and reveal them to the world.
At the hole, a crane lifts an object, about the size of a small cow over the hole. It releases the object and it crashes into the chamber floor below.
"Bomb dropped. 1 minute to explosion." The Demo team answered.
At the same time...
The trio were through the smashed door. They walked along it until they came upon a crystal, suspended in between 2 poles. It gave a blue glow.
"That's the stone?" Dutch asked. For something that almost killed twice getting to it, it looked surprisingly...simple.
Maribel nods."That's it." She said as she looked at it with her eyes. It was hexagonal shaped and looked like something that could be bought at a jeweler.
"So what do we do now? Take it or blow it?" Dutch asks as he aims his grenade launcher at the crystal.
"Maribel?" Dutch asks again. All he got was a gasp.
"Renko! This place is linked to Gensokyo. We can enter from here!" Maribel practically shouted.
"Can we go there then? And where is that?" Dutch asks but was ignored.
"Are you sure?" Renko answers.
"Anyone even listening to me?" Dutch asks again and again was ignored.
"Yes! Very sure." Maribel shouted, excitement in her eyes. Dutch's patience finally broke.
"HELLO? We are stuck here with people that probably will kill us when they find us and plants that want our blood. WHAT IS THIS GENSOKYO AND CAN WE GET ESCAPE TO WHATEVER IT IS USING THAT?" Dutch shouted.
"Its a land of magic and yes we can." Maribel sheepishly answers.
Entry chamber
At the same time...
The guardian gave a satisfied shudder. The life aura it drained would keep it happy for the next hundred or so years.
As it drops the body that it has sucked dry, a object dropped down in a crash.
All the roots recoiled from the impact. The last time someone had entered the chamber, he had dropped explosive devices that exploded after a while. The roots had learned after that to treat anything that fell into the chamber without a life aura with caution.
But the object did not explode. Instead, it released a spray of vapor that spread out throughout the chamber.
The roots ignored the spray. This was not the first time someone had used liquids to kill them. Humans and their useless holy water. The roots were creations of the earth and so were not affected.
But this was not holy water, at least not the magical kind.
When the vapor in the chamber reached full saturation, the Fuel-Air bomb blew up.
The Fuel-Air bomb is one of the most powerful conventional weapons know to man. It falls under the category of thermobaric weapons and so are difficult in certain conditions. But when used in the right conditions, it destroys EVERYTHING in it's blast radius. It is so powerful that several organizations around the world call for it's classification as a WMD on account of it's raw destructive force. The most powerful have more power than a small-yield nuclear warhead on it's lowest setting.
Fought in the midst of shockwaves and flames, the organic roots were vaporized. The flames continue, entering the holes where the roots have occupied for centuries, destroying everything inside. The explosion blasts outward through the surface hole, knocking the crane over and sending every person nearby flying. Then a curious effect happened. Having all the air blasted out by the explosion, a vacuum effect happened as air rushes back in. The titanic forces working on the chamber is too much for it to handle and it start to collapse.
The Mask cursed. Now he never get the stone.
The shockwave shook the corridor.
"What's going on?" Renko shouted as she tried to maintain her balance.
"The Mask must have blew up a bomb." Dutch answers as he too tries to balance himself.
As the trio try to stand properly, Dutch falls forward and touches the crystal.
The crystal gives off a bright light and Dutch is now suspended in mid air by an energy beam.
"Dutch!" Renko and Maribel yell. Renko moves to grab Dutch and is caught too by the energy beam.
The crystal start giving off a pulsing light and then it suddenly opened a blue portal that sucked the trio in.
The portal closed and the whole underground structure starts collapsing.