28
Rhiem inched forward upon the lip of an old, rickety water tower. The huge steel structure miraculously managed to retain most of it's cargo, sever hundred thousand gallons of dirty, brown water. As he neared the edge, some bright blue flashed in front of him. A thick water pipe, traveling far down to the amphitheater. To his right, the towers of the central command complex loomed like so many sentinels. To his left, the hills and valleys of Dasiokas' surrounding area sprawled across, colored in only so many shades of brown and gray.
And before him, the amphitheater. The amphitheater was shaped like a dome, with a rectangular shaped ring that encompassed the edges of the dome. At the direct center of the face, some artillery shell or wyvoid's breath blasted a hole straight through. It was to this hole that the thick blue water pipe ran, from the huge water tower. Guild Proper was plotting something. And only one way to find out.
He pulled himself onto the PVC pipe and slowly, carefully, he shimmied his way down to the roof of the amphitheater.
After a minute of strenuous climbing, he had made it to the face. He dropped down, and bent over to catch his breath. He recovered with a new determination in his eyes.
He stealthily approached the hole blasted in the face. He dropped down and drew his gun.
He held his breath, then flipped over, prone, just over the lip. Past a net of rebar, and down a long way...
Screaming. Men were being dragged out a pit in the center of the amphitheater, wet and bleeding, by the lugus amphibious drone. The lugus were part of Archeria's third stage of development, vicious, dog-like creatures with the face of a dog, the body of a komodo dragon, and the stout legs of a crocodile. They dragged out their victims by the collar, not caring if a few inches of the nape of the neck were caught, and tossed them into a pile of humans off the side. The tangled mess of legs and arms grew larger as the lugus dragged out more an more living victims.
Above them, a Guild Knight stood, marking tallies on a clipboard attached to his arm.
Rhiem felt shivers in his spine, reminded of O'Connell and his V-Preys.
What was Guild Proper doing with wyvoids?
The Guild Knight consulted his chart, and then a small radio attached to his chest.
He nodded, then turned to his large group of hostages.
"Well, friends, I have some bad news." He stopped at a girl, wet and dripping, face hidden by a gray cap, and her black hair matted against her. He pulled her chin up, but she didn't not look up. "I can't keep you guys. Pity."
The Guild Knight turned away.
"Sic 'em, boys."
Howling, the lugus charged the group of clutching people.
The girl with the cap looked away; away from the snapping teeth and vicious claws.
Rhiem made his decision, and stood up for a better shot. His bullet rang out, punching through the lead lugus, just as 8 shadowy figures leaped out from the shadows of the amphitheatre, guns drawn.
The Guild Knight turned around, to see a young man charging out.
Drawing he snarled, and drew his short sword.
"You goddamn worms!" The huge man swung, just as his assailant pulled out hands, with piles of powder in each fist. Holding them together, the assailant breathed, sending both piles of powder into the air at the Knight.
As they mixed, they ignited, bathing the Guild Knight in flame.
"ARRGH!" The man fell back, flames eating at his suit.
The assailant turned, and breathed fire at another lugus that was snapping at his friend with a shotgun.
All over, men were kicking at the lugus, blowing them apart with shotguns and bolt rifles- Old antiques, but still effective.
The girl looked up, and smiled a smile full of joy.
"KJ! KJ!"
KJ, the Knight's Assailant turned, and ran to the girl, arms out.
He stopped.
The Knight had appeared behind the girl and clasped hard. He gripped the girl at the neck, short sword in that hand, and a pistol outstretched, pieces of lugus lay broken all around him. The assailants handed the former hostages weapons, shotguns and bolt-action rifles, until the Knight was surrounded by 30 armed and angry militia.
The Knight growled, and pressed the blade to the girl's neck.
"Stay back! Don't think I can't take her entire head off in a stroke."
A stalemate ensued. One nervous man fired off a shot at the Knight. The round struck the Knight in his white bomb helm, and bounced off the bullet-proof padding. The Knight laughed, and then fired his pistol into the gut of the man, killing him.
The one known as KJ grit his teeth, arms in his pouches of powder, but he could not act.
The Knight started shifting to the exit, talking into his radio.
He looked up, a craziness bled into his eyes.
Rhiem could see his muscles tense up, and the blade started to cut-
KJ screamed, arm out,
"NO!"
Rhiem fired.
The magnum round spun through, smacking into the Knight's helm. The heaver round drilled through the bullet-proof fabric and padding, coming to rest a half-inch into the Guild Knight's skull.
The man groaned, and stumbled back. He had gone only 3 steps before the round detonated, instantly killing him. The Bomb Helm did it's job, not yielding to the power of the explosion, and only flexed out slightly as the man's skull was turned to mush.
The Guild Knight fell, brain dripping out his visor.
KJ ran forwards, and hugged the girl.
"Kaejun... thank God."
KJ turned to Rhiem, and nodded at him.
Rhiem returned the gesture, and to the amazement of his onlookers, jumped down from the hole. He fell, and hit the ground with a large THUD! His suit flexed with the impact, and he pulled himself off the floor.
KJ walked up to him, and shook his hand.
"You... thank you. My name is Kaejae. You?"
"Rhiem," he hesitated, and decided to lie for convience. "Pvt. Rhiem. Spec Ops," He added quickly.
"Rubine? You're young for SpecOps, aren't you."
"You're young too."
KJ couldn't help but laugh at this. "Touche."
KJ was slightly taller than Rhiem, with a black ponytail tied back, and a bandanna across his crown.
"Rubine, huh?" He drew a Taser. "Sorry. Can't take any chances with Rubines."
Rhiem threaded his fingers behind his head. He was doing this for intelligence, he reminded himself.
All was forgot as the Taser darts shot into his neck, and he fell writhing.
29
Sun fell through the holes in the walls of the old, ruined hotel like rain made of light. Dust floated, scattered, throughout the room, catching the sun, and creating pillars of light in the structure of ruins.
Yet everywhere there wasn't light, was a suffocating blackness, enveloping everything.
And in the far back, a shadow moved.
Tiana looked up, tired. Was Rhiem back?
No. It was too early. So what-?
The shadow moved again, and slipped out the entrance.
Tensing, Tiana crept up, and moved silently across the room, like a cat.
"Riu?" Tiana whispered. "Is that you?"
All that was before her was a dark doorway, blackened by darkness and fire.
'Ri-" Then, something grabbed her hard, by the waist, and struck her in the head. "Aggh!" She didn't lose consciousness. Instead, pain flanked her brain and swirled about her thoughts.
Coughing, moaning, she struggled against the force that grabbed her.
"God! Stay still!" The Guild Knight who grabbed her struggled to restrain the fighting girl; his movement was hampered by his huge bomb suit.
'I said..." He raised his fist. "STAY STILL!"
Tiana, still struggling, found what she was looking for. A small derringer, strapped to the inside of her thigh. She cocked and fired the tiny gun in one motion. The tiny bullet, at point-blank range, was like a heavy fist into the Guild Knight's chest.
The man stumbled back, growling.
"God! You bitch!" He drew his short sword. "Stay still! I'm just going to take a few pieces off of you!"
She didn't feel inclined to listen, running down the opposite way, into a dark corridor.
"GET BACK HERE!"
She came to a dead end.
Turning, she fired one shot down at the advancing figure. The huge man just laughed off the tiny .22 bullet.
"So... should it be a finger, or an ear?" The man's face was covered by a helmet, but one could feel, even smell the evil grin on the man's face. "Such a pretty face. It'll look better bloody."
He raised the sword high.
Tiana closed her eyes, and was slapped.
"What?"
The Knight looked surprised, too. He looked down at his right hand.
Ten feet from his wrist.
"Ugh...ARGH!" Blood started pouring from the perfectly sliced stump.
"Tiana!"
Riu ran down the corridor, AG saber in hand.
The Knight turned, mind blank with fear and rage.
He charged at Riu, intending to crush the small girl with his weight.
She drew her second sword, and stepped past the man.
Tiana saw the piece of metal flash in and out of the man's body, and the huge Knight collapse.
"Riu...Ugh!" Tiana ran forwards, and hugged Riu. The girl started crying a bit. "I'm sorry," She sniffed. "Thanks."
Riu didn't respond, but kept on looking at the Knight.
"Riu..." Tiana saw the Knight's chest move slightly, up and down.
"Riu... Is he-"
"Yeah." Riu looked at Tiana. "He's still alive." She swung the second blade, sending blood flying off the edge. "This..." She held the weapon up. "This I've named the Mercy Blade. It's amazing. It'll cut through anything... but leave the victim with the last traces of their life. I like this one better than my first sword."
"Why..." Tiana shook her head. "Riu, these people are evil. Why would you want to spare them?"
Riu closed her eyes.
"As little death and pain as possible... That's what I want. No revenge. No righteousness."
She bit her lip. "It doesn't matter. Not with this one anyways. He's going to bleed out. Come on, we've got to go."
"...I'm sorry. And you're right.."
"Yeah. First things first, we've got to move."
Far up, in an over-looking building, the female Guild Shadow, her eyes closed, smilied.
"So..." She said to herself. "Those two managed to get out of that one, huh?"
She walked over to the window, and immediately found the form of two fleeing girls. She knew the most popular skill implant for the Guild Shadows, or Skillpac, was Precision, but the Auto-tracking was fun too.
The fleeing figures, to the woman glowing bright red, shone in the female Guild Shadow's eyes like a neon sign in the dark.
"I'll have fun playing with you two. Run, my little mice. The hunters are coming."
"Hey. You awake?" KJ stood over the slowly waking form off Rhiem. "Riiiiiiise and shine, mister SpecOps."
"Ugh..." First, the harsh glow of florescent lighting burned into his eyes. Then, the burn of two taser marks on his neck seared into his brain.
Rhiem sat up, gingerly touching a spot were the electric current burned it's mark into his skin.
Suddenly moving, Rhiem grabbed KJ and held his head against the bed frame. KJ twisted, and stuck a knife to Rhiem's neck.
Just in time, Rhiem grabbed hold of the knife, and started pushing it in the opposite direction.
"Why did you shoot me?"
"I...I told you, we can't take... any chances with Rubines!" He stiffened his arms, and started struggling the knife back to Rhiem's neck.
"HEY!" A large pot flew through the air, and struck KJ in the temple. He groaned, and collapsed, knocked out. "No fighting!"
The girl that KJ had rescued stood in the doorway with a frying pan, and she wore an apron that was pink and far too short. She looked to be around 14, but didn't carry herself like one.
"You." She pointed at Rhiem. "I don't know you, so you get one strike. But no fighting, got it?"
Confused, he nodded.
KJ got back up as soon as the girl closed the door.
"Ugh..."
"Who-?"
"My sister." He smiled. "The girl you saved back there." He stuck out his hand. "Sorry. We came off badly. My name's Kaejae, but everyone calls me KJ. She's called Kaejun."
"Right. Who are you?"
KJ puffed his chest, proud.
"We're the People's Freedom Army. Impressive, right? But actually, we're really just a bunch of guerrillas fighting against Archeria."
"Except recently."
"Yeah." He pulled out a chew stick, munching on the sweet gum and nicotine pad. "Recently, it's been the Archies and those Guild people."
"Hey!" Kaejun opened the door again. "Come on, eat something!" She closed the door, and KJ stood up, rubbing a lump on his head.
"Hope you like shellfish."
"What?"
A large desk, meant to fit in the corner of a room, was moved to the center, and fit oddly as the centerpiece. And almost every inch was covered with some kind of seafood, and not fish, Shrimp, crab, and clams all filled the desk. A single, swinging yellow light illuminated the food, giving everything a sickly yellow glow.
Rhiem sat at a rickety table, still adjusting to the strong smell radiating off his plate, a mixture of rice, shrimp, and abalone.
Kaejun seemed to notice Rhiem for the first time.
"Oh, mister, thank you very much for saving me." She stood up, and then folded herself, in what seemed to be a foreign bow. "I gave you extra abalone, I hope you like it."
"Um... thank you."
Kaejun shot a glare at KJ, who was trying to choke down a soup made with clams and broth; mostly clams.
"See? He says thank you!"
"Who...*hack*" KJ coughed on a piece of shell. "Who could say thanks after two months of straight clams?"
"You... jerk!" Kaejun turned her face, which was twisted in a lipped frown. "You like it, right mister?"
Rhiem nodded, all while eating something that tasted mostly like garlic and seaweed.
"He's just being nice." KJ muttered, "More than anyone else could be about this stuff."
"You...!" Kaejun ran out, and pulled the blinds. Rhiem was suddenly hit by a wave of light, and realized they were very high up.
"You miss my cooking if I was gone!"
"Maybe."
Rhiem looked back at KJ, who was munching on a shrimp, half-listening.
"I'll jump!"
"No doubt you will."
Rhiem turned to the open window, and then gaped in shock. Kaejun was hanging, her hips past the lip of the window, and her arms grasping the top.
"H-Hey!" Rhiem ran over, and pulled the girl back into the room. Glancing outside, he judged them to be on some double-digit floor of an abandoned apartment.
He pulled the girl in and set her down.
"Hey." KJ said, as if he was not yet sure whether he wanted to get involved. "Don't."
Kaejun looked surprised, and turned to Rhiem.
"Wow. You do care. Unlike someone!" Kaejun glared at KJ, who was munching on crab.
"Hey Kaejun... isn't there a sale on canned food this week in the black market? Probably crab or something."
Gasping, Kaejun clapped her hands.
"Ah! I forgot!" Kaejun grabbed a jacket that was hung on a rusty refrigerator, and ran out the front door.
...She forgot to take her apron off.
Sighing, KJ dumped his food.
"KJ..."
"I know, I know, what's wrong with Kaejun?"
"Well, not like that-"
"Yeah. It is. Don't worry, it's nothing weird.
KJ closed his eyes, and laid back on his chair.
"We used to live here. Well, not here, but in Dasiokas." KJ looked out the window. "That used to be our view. But then... then those *bleep*ing Archies laid siege to here. Everything changed right then. Mom, we lost her in a fire that blazed just after the first week of siege. Dad, he joined us and himself in the People's Freedom Army a year back. We lost him on a scouting mission."
Rhiem thought he saw tears in KJ's eyes, but they quickly disappeared.
"It was after Mom and Dad were gone, everyone heard rumors about how Archeria going to make one, huge assault. It was total panic. People went missing. There was so much looting and rape that people set fire to their stuff so that the robbers wouldn't kill them after they robbed them blind, and women would slash their faces."
He sighed, and heavy pain etched his face.
"It sucked. Kaejun was completely out of it. She avoided the sex-crazy men and the muggers, but she couldn't handle the stress of maybe being next. Once, Kae was curled up on our floor, hyperventilating, and sweating a pool into her clothes. Mind you, she had a mild case.
I just ran down to get her a blanket, and when I came back up..."
"What?"
"She was fine. And not just not-sick fine, but fine-fine. She got up, and started fussing over how she was going to keep her crab meat from spoiling in the siege... ...She just... ...snapped."
"Is she alright?"
"Like I said, she's fine. It's like the world just became... okay for her."
"..."
"She's a lucky girl."
KJ looked up, surprised, and then nodded.
"Yeah... I guess she is."
Rhiem noticed a small family picture that was crookedly hung on a rotted mantel.
"...Are you guys Sinoan?"
"Hah! Racist." KJ looked at the picture. "We're Hangulese. Dad was from Hangul. He just got out before everything went to shit there." KJ coughed. "All we do is live our life now... I wonder, would he be proud of me if he saw me now? My dad, I mean."
"You know, you saved your sister. Of course."
"...yeah-"
Tham!
A can of corn collided in exactly the same spot where KJ was hit previously. He went out without a sound this time, silently crumpling off his chair.
"He lied about the crab." Kaejun grumbled.