Chapter 19
Rhiem sat on the hard metal bench inside the Vertical Jet-Takeoff Transport, the VJTT. He stared blank, but fiercely at the bench set up on the other side of him. Captain Herus Auder sat across from him, his eyes never wavering, always focused on Rhiem. The man's scarred fingers made intricate, mind-bending weaves around an eight-inch knife blade, sending the gleam of the carefully sharpened edge scattering all around the crowded passenger bay of the VJTT. Only the low hum of the twin jet turbines made a sound in the stoic cabin. Every hunter and soldier was steeling themselves for a terrible fight, the fight for their lives.
Riu 's eyes zipped between the face of the man who had tried to execute her, who was cooly staring at Rhiem, to the face of her friend, which was contorted in hardly containable anger. She was afraid flames may burst from their eyes, based off the way the two were staring each other down.
If looks could kill...
She trembled at the thought.
* * *
Five hours had passed. The VJTT had barely made it up one-third the face of Mount Et. The snows of the mount formed heavy drifts all around the soaring cliffs in this area.
Inside VJTT #1, the Captain unclipped his belt, and never breaking eye contact with Rhiem, he made his way up to the cockpit.
* * *
The pilot was getting sleepy. He yawned, and checked himself in the reflection of the windshield. He always did that when he was nervous, to no end of annoyance from his co-pilot. As soon as the pilot set himself back, two ice-blue eyes greeted him in the reflection.
The poor man jumped up a bit, and turned around; the hard face of Captain Herus bore down on him.
"S-Sir! What can I do for you?"
The Captain cleared his throat, and bent down.
"See here, buddy, I need you to do a quick mechanics check on that flat snowdrift there.
The Captain pointed to what would be a cove in the Mountain's hard rock. The cliff above provided decent cover from the heavy snow, leaving only the soft powder on the flat area below. A tunnel turned into the caves, and another path led up into the mountain. The only other side was a steep slope of pure snow that stretched a mile down to sea level, where it turned to water.
"S-Sir? May I ask why? All systems are gree--" The Captain squeezed the poor pilot's shoulder. To the man, it must have felt like a crushing vice.
"Do it. Signal the four other VJTTs."
Quivering, and scaring the shit out of the man's co-pilot, the pilot set the radio channel.
"Callsign: Eagle One, this is Eagle one, Hawk two, bar five, do you copy?"
-Bzzt-
THe radio crackled to life.
"Eagle One, this is Hawk Two, we read you, what's the problem?"
"Hawk Two, we seem to have a bit of a - a" The pilot looked at the Captain, who nodded. "A fuel problem. We need to touchdown in the coordinates 'Foxtrot, Beta, Niner, Six, scale twenty-thousand thirty-four.'"
"Eagle One, we read you, shall we stand-by?" THe Captain stepped in.
"Hawk two, this is Captain Auder here. Proceed on your route. Eagle One will catch up with up you soon."
"Copy that, Eagle One, Hawk Two out."
The four other VJTTs gunned it, leaving the lone VJTT, Eagle One, above the snowy cove.
The Captain walked back into the passenger bay, where most of the occupants were left wondering why their ride had stopped. But only Rhiem knew why.
The Captain walked down the aisleway, and stopped before Rhiem.
"You know what I plan to do." The Captain made his way to the cargo bay, and left the door open. Even as the rest of the passengers stared at him, Rhiem got up and followed him.
"No! Rhiem, don't go!" Riu took off after Rhiem. "Rhiem! It's not worth it!" Rhiem got in the cargo bay, where it was pitch-black.
Riu dashed ahead of him, and blocked his way, arms spread.
"Rhiem... Don't give him what he wants! He wants to kill you!"
"I won't die."
"I - DON'T CARE!" Tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes. "Don't scare me like this, Rhiem, please!" Rhiem averted his gaze. He stared at the cold hard floor of the VJTT.
He sighed, sending a stream of foggy breath into the room. He ran his hand through his hair.
"You're right, Riu. I'm sorry."
Rhiem called out to the Captain. "Sir? You know what, I can't fight you! I'm done here!"
Rhiem turned around, leading Riu back to the passenger room.
But something was off. The humming of the jet turbines of the VJTT seemed to be louder, and more guttural than smooth.
The Captain's voice sailed out the dark cargo bay.
"Rhiem... I'm sorry for tricking you a second time." The humming turned into a whirring. "I made you think you had a choice.
Pistons hissed, and a huge, striped-camouflaged arm with a massive claw gripped Rhiem all around the torso.
"Gah! What?" He struggled against the huge claw-like fingers. The serrated edge dug into his chest and arms, leaking small amounts of blood. "What the hell!"
Riu went up and started beating on the arm that trapped Rhiem; crying and screaming.
"Let go! Let go of him!"
The Captain's voice sailed out of the darkness again.
"Young Riu, I'd advise you to hold onto something."
A second, striped-camouflaged arm slammed the emergency release. As the floor fell away, Rhiem and the huge thing gripping him fell twenty feet into the soft snowdrift below. An explosion of powdered snow fell everywhere, causing instant cloud cover.
"RHIEEMM!" Riu clung desperately to a service pipe, trying to spot where Rhiem might be. The emergency relocks engaged, and then the doors closed, blocking her from view.
* * *
Below, Rhiem pulled himself up. He became faintly aware of the mechanical pistons and gears that were whirring throughout the supposed silent cove. The powder cover cleared, and then Rhiem could see was grabbed him.
EX Tiger. The Exoskeleton of a fearsome animal, all wrapped around a single human in a harness where the chest of the EX tiger would be. The powerful arms and deadly tail swung in slow, deliberate movements, resembling most like a tank. A face like a Tyrannosaurus Rex adorned the area above what would be the harness. This, however, was different from standard Archeries design. One being that the operator inside was almost completely exposed, the structure of the exoskeleton being little more than a frame with powerful limbs. However, this raised the speed and agility to incredible levels.
That different from the design, and the insignia of a Lion over a rose field painted on the left arm.
"Like it, Rhiem? It's the epitome of Rubina technology." The head on the EX tiger snapped it's teeth. "Far more powerful, and faster than anything you ever faced!"
Rhiem pulled himself into a crouched position, out of breath.
"Captain... what happened to you? You were honorable. You were magnificent, the kind of man I wanted to grow up to be."
The Captain's eyes narrowed.
"A why are you using past tense, boy?"
Rhiem gazed right back into the Captain's eyes, and then up at the glowing red eyes of the EX Tiger.
"You've become what the Archeries are: encasing themselves in machines. You would execute a defenseless girl. You would lure me out here against my will, and intend to kill me with that thing? Is there a shred of honor left in you?!"
The Captain was silent for a moment.
"You mistake me for a fool bound to fairness. My value is upon duty, and then honor. I failed my duty when I failed to stop you and the girl from escaping. I failed my duty when I was preoccupied with a public spectacle and left my troops vulnerable." The Captain's eyes shone determination. "You will be the first of my reclamation of duty to my country, and so then my honor."
Rhiem was busy checking his slide.
"Che. You talk too damn much. Time to die." He let the slide fall back.
-CHACK-
The Captain grinned slightly.
"I couldn't have said it better myself."
* * *
Riu was above, pleading with the pilot.
"Please! Turn back! He's going to kill him!" The pilot could only shake his head sadly. There was nothing he could do. Lest he suffer the Captain's rage.
"Please! Please!"
Trying hard to ignore her, the pilot checked his altimeter. 1/2 the way through. Only eight hours left. And he had a bad, bad feeling about this run.
* * *
The EX Tiger threw itself forwards; the Captain inside swung his force-feed back fist, sending the proxy claw slamming into the snow where Rhiem was. A tidal wave of frost bore over Rhiem. He dashed to the right, steering clear of the never-ending slope of snow to the left. He pulled the Fallen Tigress up, trying to aim for the vulnerable harness of the EX Tiger.
Clang! Kam! The bullets smacked into the raised forearm of the EX Tiger.
The bullets couldn't even find purchase on the smooth armor of the EX Tiger, and splattered harmlessly around the harness.
The Captain swung his arm forwards, sending the Tiger's arm in a low sweep, and would have knee-capped Rhiem if he hadn't sunk to the ground, and lay as flat as he could.
The air pressure from the swing seemed to try to lift him up and send him flying.
"Rhiem! Give up and save some dignity!"
The EX Tiger spun in a circle, sending the sharp and elastic tail flying everywhere. One edge caught Rhiem right below the armpit, and sent him tumbling.
"Gah!" Thrashing in the snow, he quickly brought his arm to the injury. He could feel blood and small fragments of bones poking out of his chest. He capped a morphine pill, and the pain quickly waned to a dull throbbing.
The EX Tiger set it's claws in the snow, with the Captain inside, imitating the pose.
"Rhiem! Give up already!"
The EX Tiger charged towards the prone Rhiem. It seemed as if the machine were swimming through the powdered snow, like a shark from hell.
"*bleep* off."
Rhiem squeezed off three shots, all at the left claw. One bullet caught in the mechanisms, and then detonated, tripping the EX Tiger. The EX Tiger thrashed about, trying to regain balance, sending waves and waves of snow everywhere.
Rhiem sprinted up to the EX Tiger for the finishing blow, machete in hand.
A cold explosion knocked him backwards.
* * *
The pilot glanced backwards. It seemed as if that silver-haired girl had given up. She now sat on the steps behind him, morose. He felt sorry for her, but he had a job to do.
The pilot glanced at the monitors, and saw that he had caught up to the rest of the VJTTs.
"Hawk Two, bar, Five, do you copy?"
Counting off from two, each Hawk from two to five confirmed Eagle One. "Listen, we are two miles from the known effective range of the Dao Ku-Long. Fire up the anti-airs, and keep your eyes to the sky."
"Eagle One, are you certain we are out of the Dao Ku-Long's range?"
Confused, the pilot replied.
"Affirmative, the Dao Ku-Lng never attacks out of a certain radius."
"Well, then what the hell is that?!"
The pilot stared at the radar, and then noticed a small blip, right above their group!
"Hawks! Scatter! Scatter! Objecti-" Like a ton of bricks, the Dao Ku-Long fell from the sky. The heavy weight of the wyvoid's claws crushed the wing of Hawk Four, sending the transport smashing into the side of the mountain. Unlike in movies, there were no explosions. Only the awful sound of crushing metal against rock, and human lives into death. The VJTT broke in three, and fell a hundred feet before catching against a sharp crag, where the broken pieces of metal tore itself against the blade-like rocks.
The pilot of Eagle One looked in horror as Hawk Four was just wiped out before his eyes.
"Hawks! Open fire!" The Air-to-air combat gun blazed in the evening sky, lighting up the side of the mountain with it's tracers. Bullet after bullet flew at the black armor of the Dao Ku-Long, and merely swerved away. The heavy winds of the Dao's air armor flung the slugs every direction, punching holes in the mountain, or falling out to the sky.
"Ah-Shit! Fire is ineffective! Switch to missiles, and continue ascent!"
Immediately, the remaining four VJTTs let loose their rocket pods, sending hellfire missiles out to fill the sky. The burning trail of their exhaust drew clear lines in the shadow of Mount Et. As the missiles careened to the black form of the Dao Ku-Long, the VJTTs shot up towards the summit.
Hawk Three remained behind, still firing hellfire missiles.
"Hawk Three! Pull up! You have no chance!"
"N-no...We have to kill it here! Everyone will die! It's not possible!"
"Hawk Three!!"
The foolish VJTT continued to fire hellfire missiles, remaining in place. Then the first hellfire missiles reached the Dao Ku-Long. They veered off-course, sending the majority smashing and detonating against the mountain; rocks and ice tumbled off the sheer face of the Mount.
Then the Dao Ku-Long lunged towards Hawk Three. It grabbed the transport by the top, and flung it against the mountain, where the VJTT slammed and buckled against. Then, the Dao Ku-Long sucked in the wind shield from around it, like it was EATING the wind. The catching snow spun and spun into a sphere at the maw of the Dao Ku-Long.
KRIIIAAAAEEEN!!
A huge screeching filled the side of the mountain; the swirling sphere shrunk until it was the size of a baseball.
* * *
The injured co-pilot of Hawk Three looked up. The whole world was smeared red with his blood, which was running down into his face. Vertigo struck his eyes, his left arm was numb and crushed; the sheer blood loss he took was making it hard to focus. In the fuzz and blurs that was his vision, he saw that the windshield had been crushed, and his partner was nowhere to be found.
What did he do to deserve this?
He looked up, and saw a white spreading across his vision. He would have thought that death be a bright, vibrant white, but this was cold, and icy.
As the white swept over him, his helmet cracked in two, frozen to the point of fragility. The director simply lay down, and let the ice sweep over him.
* * *
HIIIIIAAAAAAAN!!
The sphere exploded outwards, and bathed Hawk Three in sub-zero temperatures. Very quickly, the transport was lost in the swirling torrent of snow. Metal snapped, flesh froze and crumbled away; the VJTT was forever fused by ice and frost to the side of Mount Et. When the Dao Ku-Long finished, a white skeleton of the transport craft lay fused to the mountain, preserved forever in frost.
It fell back, bobbed, and shot upwards into the night sky.
***
"GAAH!"
The EX Tiger sent out a earth-shaking roar, smashing the snow around it in every direction, and sending Rhiem tumbling; ears ringing and balance destroyed. The roar was low in pitch, but contained crushing volume and power in it's range. Rhiem could only stumble about in the snow , the world spinning, and his legs useless.
"Ugh! Son of a bitch!" Rhiem tried to bring the Fallen Tigress up, but as soon as he looked up, the captain swung his fist, Ex Tiger's massive claw swatted Rhiem away, across the snowy drift, bouncing once, twice, three times before rolling to a stop at the edge of the face. Captain Auder moved his right arm up, lined up with Rhiem.
"You're out of luck, kid." He pulled a red trigger off the side of his control; the great claw of the EX Tiger opened up to reveal a small minigun.
Captain Herus Auder then pulled the red trigger to it's full pressure, and the minigun sprayed lead, sending bullets soaring, and burying themselves around Rhiem.
Rhiem was not hit by the scattering bullets, but he could feel the danger of letting this situation continue... the bullets were destroying the snow!
Rhiem pulled out his gun and puled off two shots, both of them wide, smacking harmlessly against the toughened shoulder plates of the EX Tiger.
Captain Auder took a second to glance at Rhiem's pathetic shots.
"What a pathetic last stand. No more of this." Captain Auder raised his left arm, which raised the EX Tiger's massive left claw. "You are done." He slammed the claw down, sending a shock wave of energy around the snow drift.
At once, Rhiem could feel himself slipping away... ice crumbled away, snow became as solid as flowing mud. Rhiem tried desperately to find something to grab on, but the torrent of snow and ice made this task futile.
"Aggh! No! Not yet! You're not!--" Rhiem drew his machete, and raised it high above his head. He then slammed it into the growing avalanche. "Going!-" He plunged the blade further. "To kill!-" The blade finally stuck it into hard rock. "ME YET!"
He grit his teeth, and gripped the handle of the machete as hard he could, but the avalanche eventually swept Rhiem down the slope.
"GAHHH!" He fell back, into the inky depths of the mountain, one arm stretched out in a last ditch attempt for survival.
Is this where I end? Rhiem thought. I had plans, yet...I'm dead, good as dead.
He fell further down.
How easy would it be for me to just give, he thought.
How troublesome it would be, to survive and have to win this fight, if he even could.
How easy... but Riu...
Rhiem felt something click inside him.
That's right... I already gave up an easy life, easy death! For her!
Rhiem threw his left arm, stretching out to the black night sky...
Above, Captain Auder took a long, cold glance at where Rhiem used to be. Only Rhiem's black-bladed machete stood as his last mark upon this world. How fitting.
And then, a sound apart from the tumbling of snow.
Zing!
Captain Auder glanced around. That sound was familiar...
Whirr....whirr...
A black thing flew ten yards into the sky. Captain Auder stared at the object, disbelieving. Shit! His tomahawk! It was in the air!
The tomahawk curved down, and wrapped itself around the machete; the chain grew taut. And then, a hand appeared off the lip of the slope. With a sound of extertion, Rhiem pulled himself up from the depths itself! In one hand, gripped the black chain that belonged to the Tomahawk he threw at the last minute. In the other hand, an unknown white substance.
But the scariest part of Rhiem was his new, quiet confidence.
"You..." Captain Auder stared in cold frustration. "You goddamn roach!"
Captain Auder pulled the trigger again on his minigun, but Rhiem was quicker on the draw with his gun. He pulled his trigger three times; the magnum slugs slammed into the minigun appendage on the right claw of the EX Tiger, and sent the entire arm flying back from the impact. As the arm reached it's zenith, the slugs destroyed the minigun with their explosions, leaving the former weapon nothing more than a heap of twisted pipes and levers.
"Damn!" Captain Auder clenched his teeth, and brought both his hands down. He sent the EX Tiger into a crouching position, and sent his machine lunging at Rhiem. Yet this time, Rhiem could see through, this too.
Rhiem took a step forwards, and tilted his head a bit to his left. The huge machine missed his face by a hair, but to Rhiem it was like it missed by miles.
The EX Tiger hit the ground hard, and then did a haphazard 180. It swung at Rhiem, the left claw slicing towards his face. Rhiem leapt up a bit, and clung onto the EX Tiger's left claw. Captain Auder was beyond expressing his rage over this humiliation by now, he was deathly focused on the task on hand, killing Rhiem.
A massive swing of the arm sent Rhiem flying off the claw, yet he landed on his feet, and had a grim smile on his face.
Captain Auder saw this face, and immediately knew something was wrong.
He glanced at his left arm, and saw, at the elbow joint, small white packet of clay-like material with a lone blinking light sticking out.
Semtex.
"Shi-"
Suddenly, the white packet flashed in a brilliant flare, and blew the entire left claw off the EX Tiger.
The claw flew up into the air, and struck into the snow, fifty feet away.
Meanwhile, The EX Tiger, out of balance, fell over and over, and rolled, closer and closer to the edge of the deadly slope. The left back leg and the tail hung precariously over the edge, with Captain Auder barely hanging onto the edge.
He tried to pull the EX Tiger up, but between only one arm, and two pitifully weak legs, it was an impossible task.
The Tiger was crippled.
The battle was finished, Rhiem had won.
Rhiem shifted to the side, readying to finish Auder off with a slug to the heart. He kept a good distance away from the Captain, as Rhiem knew how wounded animals can fight.
"Captain! Surrender now, or I'll be forced to end you!" Rhiem brought the Fallen Tigress up. He kept the barrel pointed cautiously at the harness of where Captain Auder hung.
The Captain took a while, as if still comprehending the fact that he lost.
"Heheheh..."
"..." Rhiem felt a bit uncomfortable with the Captain's calmness. "What's so funny?"
"Rhiem! You won't get your way! I'm not going to surrender, not to your demands!" Captain Auder brought the last, functional arm up.
"Goodbye, kid. I always thought of you like a son. "
Rhiem stood there, and realized what Captain Auder planned.
"No--!"
Captain Herus Auder brought the arm down. And pushed, and sent himself tumbling down the endless slope. The broken body of the EX Tiger fell deeper against the ever-steeper and steeper slope, faster and faster, deadlier and deadlier, towards the unyielding bottom.
Yet, Captain Auder felt unnaturally calm. He closed his eyes, feeling the icy wind rush past his face.
SLAP!
"You're too soft! Don't be afraid of the pain!"
A sharp slap came across his cheek, and Young Herus grit his teeth in frustration at his father, who was furious over belating his son's tears.
"What do I need to learn pain for, anyhow? I'm not looking for it!" Herus yelled.
Captain Auder gripped Rhiem's hair tight, and pulled him up.
"You think war is sunshine and daises?!" Elder Auder roared! "How can you expect to fight against the pain that your loved ones are suffering if you don't even know what it is?"
"Then--" Young Herus yelled back, "I'll just protect everyone! So that they won't suffer, and neither will I!"
"You're too naive!" Captain Auder said. "You won't protect a single soul that way with your selfish thinking!"
"Well," Rhiem yelled back, "Who's innocence do I first protect? Mine, or others?!"
"You fool! War-is-Sacrifice!" Elder Auder roared,
"You fool! War-is-Sacrifice!" Captain Auder roared,
"War!" Young Herus roared, "Is!" He swept his arm across the training tools, sending it scattering around their family training room.
"War!" Rhiem roared,"Is!" He swept his hand across the combat equipment,sending it scattering around the Rubine firebase armory.
"Us!"
"Us!"
"So screw you!"
Captain Auder didn't even notice the tremendous impact. But he knew it happened. His spine was snapped in two. he knew his neck was broken, and at least one of his lungs collasped. And yet, he never felt better in his entire life.
"Rhiem... you inherit my legacy. My duty against your honor..." Herus Auder slumped forwards, his harness suspending him. Blood trickled down his face.
"You...wi..n..."