Sanctuary of the Turncoats
Back at the ruined ship,
Clytemnestra sat alone before the bonfire; she hugged herself against cold but her skimpy clothes did little to protect her. Not far from her, the Accretia warrior leaned upon the jagged ruins. It was on the shutdown mode in order to preserve the power. The Cora muttered silently,
It is better for you, tin can… Then someone called,
"Cly, are you alright?" The Spiritualist turned and saw the young ranger behind. She responded surly,
"Oh, it is you! If you want to accuse me, go ahead! Don't waste your time!" Instead, Ran said,
"Look, Cly. I am sorry for what happened…" Slightly impressed, Cly asked,
"Are you apologizing, infidel?" The young Bellato replied,
"I don't know what happened inside the ruined ship! But I do believe you didn't do such thing…"
The Cora immediately threw her face, "Then don't! I don't need your pity!" Ran sighed,
"You are very stubborn…suit your self!" he gave the blanket to her, "To keep you from the cold; good night!" After saying that, he left her alone. Cly glanced around and quickly took the blanket, covering herself.
Once inside the ship, Ranskye found Maya waiting with both hands on her sides. She asked with unfriendly tone,
"What are you doing with the Cora?" The ranger answered,
"I just try to be nice with our POW…" The Chandra frowned,
"You don't have to nice with the prisoner! She is our enemy…" Annoyed, Ran said,
"Do you have to hate her so much?" Maya raised her voice,
"I am your officer, remember that!" To this, Ran countered,
"You might be my officer, and I will obey your command! But you can't order me to hate her !" Maya was about to slap him, but the ranger shouted aloud,
"If there is nothing to talk about, Ma'am, I request to be dismissed…"
"Request is…" The female Bellato lowered her raised hand, "…granted," When Ran left, she thudded the control panel angrily, asking,
Why? Why does he defend her? I thought I was his object of attention…what does the Cora have, while I don't? She was unable to find the answer. For the first time in her life, Maya felt abandoned…
Far from the ruins,
Penthesilea watched the ruined ship from her binoculars. The Corites usually shunned use of such technologies, but the female Stealer was pragmatic. She believed that anything useful for the Alliance, despite they acknowledged it or not. Through the binocular, she saw a familiar figure nearby the bonfire. She commented,
"Gotcha, I have got you now!" Without wasting time, Penthesilea began to communicate via telepathy to the nearest Spiritualist.
At the Cora Colony on Novus,
The Corites still busying their daily life, as a secret meeting was held by Minister Quiane Khan. Almasyr and Alcyone was hurried their pace to the private chamber, where Patriarch Ladenus Quiane and Teiresias were waiting. Kowtowed, the Warrior asked,
"Patriarch! Minister! What is going on? Is any news about Cly?" The Minister immediately rebuked him,
"Watch your attitude, young one!" After everyone calmed, she turned to the Dark Priest, who began to speak,
"Few hours ago, I have received Penthesilea's mental messages. It tells that the Patriarch's lost daughter were still alive…" Barely holding his feeling, Almasyr stammered,
"Cly…she is…alive…" Teiresias continued,
"Unfortunately, she was taken hostage by the infidels. To be more complicated, they were at the forbidden area where the Turncoats rules supremely…"
Alcyone gasped, "The traitors…" Then Quiane spoke,
"Yes, I summoned both of you to hear the news. Patriarch and I agreed to assemble a rescue team to retrieve Clytemnestra out. For this situation, we also decide to send an Inquisitor to aid you…"
"An Inquisitor?" Almasyr was aghast to hear that, "Is it necessary, Minister?" The female Cora Minister answered,
"Yes, to send the strong message for those unbelievers that no crimes was gone unpunished! I will send Volturi to join you…" At the same time, the white, short-cropped man with black-red armor appeared before them. He was handsome, but his stare was cold. His smile was more like a smirk. Seeing the man's appearance, Alcyone instantly remembered the ancient stories from Earth about the blood-sucking Vampires. The stranger was accompanied by a female Cora. He spoke to them,
"Elmyra! Perhaps we should pause for a while," The silver-haired woman obeyed. Then he bowed to the Patriarch,
"Greetings, Patriarch Ladenus! Your servant, Volturi had come and ready to wait your order," The old man gestured,
"Get up, Volturi," The Black Knight rose, as he spoke, "I assign you into a secret mission. My beloved daughter was not died, but she was taken against her will by the infidel Bellatos. Not only that, they were at the area, where the traitors controls," Volturi said,
"You want me to take your daughter back and punish those unbelievers at the same time, am I right?"
"Yes!" The Inquisitor asked again,
"Milord, what if your daughter had been contaminated by their lies…" Before he continued, Almasyr had cut him first,
"How dare you! Watch your words…" At the same time, Elmyra came forward to defend her master. Quiane shouted,
"Silence, young one!" The Warrior and Volturi's Spiritualist withdrew several steps. However, Patriarch was looks displeased with those events,
"Almasyr might be rash," he said, "But perhaps you should be careful when speaking your mind…"
"I just say the possibilities…" Volturi answered nonchalantly, "It is my utmost duty to maintain purity of DECEM's teachings…" Ladenus followed,
"Your concern is well-noted, but only I who decide about my daughter. Is that clear, Volturi?"
"Then forgive my insolence, milord. I don't mean to!" Quiane briefed,
"Volturi won't be the only one who joins you," Doors glided and a slender Cora woman entered the chamber. A bow and quiver of arrows were behind her back. The Minister continued,
"Atalanta will aid you further; she was the best archer that we have…" Finally, the Patriarch rose and declared,
"Then,Teiresias, Volturi, Atalanta, Alcyone and Almasyr! All of you shall return to the place where Penthesilea wait. Your mission now is to retrieve Clytemnestra safely and punish her kidnappers! Nothing more!" Everyone bowed,
"We will obey Patriarch's order!"
Meanwhile,
The Accretian team gathered before their commander, awaiting the orders,
UNIT CONSCIOUSNESS SAMPLE:
Analyzing Situation…
Gungnir TII began the briefing, "Unit Shadx13 had just contacted me; he had spotted the survivors at the crashed Bellato spacecraft. The stray unit Zero0X was with. The present problem was the site was located at the Turncoat-infested area. It was imperative for us to reach them before the other races do!" Then Gruudx76 asked,
"What about the Turncoat? Should we worry about them?" The lead warrior answered with a half-dismissing tone,
"They were the least of our concern. We will depart here at 0700. Is that clear?" Everyone answered,
"Yes, Leader!" The Accretians immediately dismissed and returned to their designated functions. However, ExvionE47 still stayed behind. Gungnir asked,
"Why are you not dismissing?" The Scientist asked back,
"You don't tell your subordinate about last night…" The Destroyer turned away, as he said,
"It won't help our objective…beside they were trolling useless things last night. I decide to not inform my soldiers about your 'private' collections…" Hearing that, the white-armored cyborg mused,
"Hmm, put over the interests of the Empire above the personal curiosities…interesting…"
The sun greeted the ruined ship, and begun to wake the sleepy creatures. Clytemnestra was the first one to rub her eyes and…saw a huge armored robot before her. She brushed,
"Tin can, go away…mind your own business!" Instead, the Accretia spoke with unfamiliar tone,
"Would you play with me?" The Cora was alarmed; she instantly recognized that it wasn't Zero. Before her, a white-armored cyborg stood. Its right hand brandished a Hora Throwing Knife. Beneath the metal helmet, the Spiritualist recognized the strange gleam behind it…it was madness. The cyborg continued,
"Smiley likes to play with you…" Cly felt her whole body shaking with fear.
In other hand,
Zero just restarted his CPU and recovered its field of vision. The cyborg saw the Cora and…an unknown Accretia! The initiative kicked in.
UNIT CONSCIOUSNESS SAMPLE:
Analyzing Situation…
WARNING, UNIDENTIFIED ACCRETIAN WARRIOR
POSSIBILITY: TURNCOAT ACCRETIA
Objective: PROTECT RANSKYE OF BELLATO AND CLYTEMNESTRA OF CORA WITH ALL COST.
The Accretia Warrior was about to charge, when a cold feminine voice spoke,
"I sUggEsTs YoU MuSt not MoVe, eVen an InCh…" Zero glanced to the female Bellato behind it. She was black-haired like Maya, but the cyborg was quick to recognize the difference. Despite human, it wondered the lack of expression upon her face. Her eyes were cold like the death itself and she wore the purple light armor. Slowly, the Bellato pulled a Hora Throwing Knives, as she spoke rhythmically,
"You are just one of the pawns! You will be my next victim until…I can avenge my family by bring your kingdom down!" Zero could see those cold eyes constricted and showed the depth of madness inside her,
"Before you die abomination! Remember my name, Calico Jack!"
Meanwhile, inside the ruined Command ship,
Ranskye and Maya were sleeping side by side, when the sunshine greeted them. The ranger awoke first and startled to see the Chandra beside him. The female officer yawned, and saw him. She screamed,
"KYAAAAA!!!" She instinctively punched Ran, sending him fly to the corner. After her shock subsidized, Maya found out that it was Ranskye. She apologized,
"Soldier…I mean, Ranskye…I am sorry!" Pulling himself out from the rubble, the swollen-faced ranger replied,
"Apology accepted, beside I am…" He was frozen to see the slender Cora woman behind Maya; the woman caressed the Chandra's hair and placed her Hora knife upon the throat. She wore a white armor. She warned icily,
"Don't try anything stupid, midget…or else, you can say farewell to your girlfriend…"
Ran shouted, "Who are you? You aren't Clytemnestra!" The woman licked her lips,
"Oh, so is there one of my kin here? Well, I might visit her after I spill this Chandra's blood. She shall be the best sacrifice for me, Erzebet," Maya was shaking with fear.
The ranger proposed, "Let her go, and take me instead…" Erzebet shook her head,
"My, my…I don't have any grudge to you…This Chandra had eloped with my lover, so she must pay the price…" Hearing that, Maya retorted,
"Huh? Since when I took your boyfriend?"
The Cora shushed, "Hush, I know you are a liar. So, please don't waste your breath anymore…"
Ran muttered, "You are sick! You know that?"
Erzebet laughed only, "Sure…follow me if you don't want her to die…" Ranskye glanced to his beam bow; he could snatch it and shot the demented Cora. But if he did so, the Cora might slice Maya's head off. Struggling with such notion, the ranger decided to against it. He followed Maya and Erzebet out from the ship…
Zero was unable to let her sight off from the insane-looking Bellato.
UNIT CONSCIOUSNESS SAMPLE:
Analyzing situation…
Hostile Presents:
Identify…
Primary Target: Calico Jack
Status: Serial Killer. Fugitive
Assessing variant…
Status: Unstable mental, unpredictability
APPROPRIATE ACTION: Nothing…
The cyborg had a second thought to pull his primary weapons; however from the recent data about Jack, it realized its actions might be high risk. Its CPU was calculating almost 100,000 possible scenarios facing of the Serial Killer. The prospects looked bleak. Then Jack glanced over her prey, and it piqued Zero's curiosity. It turned backward and saw an unknown Cora herded Maya out…
Once outside, Erzebet spread her sight around and saw a female Cora with an Accretia. Her countenance turned dark. Fast like a lightining, she pushed Maya away and threw her Hora Throwing Knives toward her left side…
Smiley was quick enough to detect the incoming strike. He also threw his throwing knives, and distanced away from Clytemnestra. The Spiritualist sensed the wheezing noise and quickly rolled herself out of danger. The Accretian serial killer lifted its head toward Erzebet…
Before Erzebet thought more, a blurring figure appeared before her. The Cora immediately struck the figure, who actually is Calico Jack. The Bellato warned,
"StAy AwAy fRoM mY KiN…" The Cora mocked,
"You should take care the abomination first, before fight with me…" Two of them turned and saw Smiley joined the fray. Ranskye took Maya away, while Zero and Clytemnestra joined them.
Before the battle continued, suddenly someone shouted,
"Stop right there, Calico Jack!"
"Stay where you are, Erzebet!"
"Be still, Unit Smiley!" Three of them instantly stopped; Ran, Maya and Cly saw there were a band of people from their respective race. The Bellatean, the Corites and the Accretians. Yet, their hopes were dashed as they realized that those people were the Turncoats. The female Turncoat Bellato turned to her Cora and Accretian counterpart,
"Well, shall we end our truce here? I don't think you will let your kin killed…"
The Cora answered, "That's depend on the situation, Maeve… these people weren't the deserters like us. But you are right…" She glanced to the rogue Accretia Warrior, "How about you, Nobuseri?" The blue-armored cyborg replied,
"The feeling is mutual. The best recourse is to take and interrogate them." Maeve, the Bellato Turncoat leader nodded,
"I think that the best way," she turned to her fellow Bellato, "Calico, let the Accretia go!"
Calico protested, "BuT I mUsT AvEnGe My Family…I must KiLL HiM!"
Maeve said with a stern tone, "I won't repeat myself! There would be another stray Imperial Warrior for you to kill. That's an order, Calico!" Reluctantly, the Serial Killer left Zero alone. In other hand, Nobuseri gave command to its comrade,
"Unit Smiley, leave the female Cora! We shall take our comrade back…" The Phantom Shadow Turncoat whined,
"But I…want to play with her…just a little bit…" The Turncoat cyborg repeated,
"That's an order…or perhaps you prefer quarantine, Unit Smiley!" Suddenly, Smiley withdrew from Clytemnestra, leaving her. Erzebet grew nervous as she noticed her leader. Then Titania said,
"I won't brook any discussion, Erzebet…" With dejected face, the Cora serial killer threw Maya away. The Chandra immediately hugged Ranskye. He said,
"It is alright, Maya…" Gathering his courage, he turned to the Turncoat leaders and asked,
"What are you going to do with us now?" Maeve answered,
"We want to know why you are here…and of course, to glean valuable information from you. Therefore you were invited to our place,"
"What if we refuse?" Nobuseri replied,
"Then we leave you to Calico, Smiley and Erzebet…their reputations were well-known," The young ranger noticed the mentioned persons. From a glance, he knew that those persons were deranged and sadistic killer. They had no other option. Pulled his breath, Ran asked again,
"Then I ask your promise to protect us from any harm! You might be the deserters, however you may have still honor to ask for," At first, there were silence until Maeve and Titania chuckled. The Accretian Turncoat leader commented,
"This youngling has courage to ask such thing from us…the Turncoats usually not make promise nor hold to one," Then the Bellato Turncoat clapped her hands,
"Nevertheless, the request is so bold that I have to agree with that," she said, "Fine, boy! What is your name and rank?" The ranger answered,
"Ranskye…Ensign Ranskye!" Maeve continued,
"Very well, Ranskye! I, Maeve will make promise to not harm you and your girlfriend, however I couldn't do the same to your Accretian and Cora friend," To this, Clytemnestra shouted,
"I would rather die than accept protection from the traitors like you!"
Titania responded, "Mm, what a faith to DECEM! Maeve, you take yours and I take this girl…"
"Nobuseri shall take this stray unit to the complex!" Suddenly, Zero pulled his Beam Saber, which elicited the violent reaction by the Turncoats. All of them pointed their weapons to the cyborg. Ranskye quickly ordered,
"Unit Zero0x, I order you to disarm your armaments! The resistance is futile in this situation!"
Zero quickly scanned its surrounding; it was filled with Turncoat Warrior, Destroyer, Champion, Graizer, Psyper etc. In human view, that was a hopeless situation.
UNIT CONSCIOUSNESS SAMPLE:
Analyzing situation…
Hostile Presents: 134
Identify…
CLASSIFICATION: Turncoat Brigade + 3 Serial Killers
PROBABILITY : Escape (0.01%)
Fight (0.01%)
Survival (49.9%)
APPROPRIATE ACTION: SURRENDER as RANSKYE ORDERED
Then the Accretia warrior dropped its Beam Sword and quickly restrained by the deserters. Clytemnestra saw that with disbelief, and she turned to the ranger with accusing look,
"Why are you surrendering so easily to these traitors? I was wrong to trust you…I might kill myself for DECEM!" Ranskye barked,
"Death won't answer anything, Cly! If I had a chance, I would fight them fiercely. Yet, our situation is tight now! Are you afraid to live?" Those sentences struck the Cora Spiritualist at the heart and she was unable to say anything. Titania came forward and uttered a strange spell. Instantly, Cly's hand was tied tightly by an unseen force. The female Turncoat said,
"This is for precaution…I promise that you will be treated well…" The Ladenus princess replied with a snort. Maeve quickly gave order,
"Alright, guys! Move your ass quickly before someone else finds us…Move!" With one accord, the Turncoats left the ruined area, bringing along their prisoners. Ranskye helped Maya to walk, while Zero was dragged along. Clytemnestra followed them with a heavy heart. A cloud of dust blew to the sky as they walked, obscuring their tracks further.
Close to the sunset,
The Turncoats and their 'guests' entered the rocky canyon, where the jagged rock surrounded it. They followed to the dry, barren gorge until arrived into the opening. The opening was bowl-like shape, with sky above them. Yet, the makeshift settlements adorned the surrounding of the opening. The spires were equipped with solar panels in order to provide powers. The Turncoat Accretians, Corites and Bellateans swarmed around the settlements. Few Elves and Callianas were spotted on the kiosk, buying several weapons from the merchants. At first, everyone didn't notice the band until one by one turned their attention to the 'guests'.
Clytemnestra didn't like this; she hated to being stared. She tried to keep her head high, but it was hard to do so. In other hand, Ranskye amazed to see the surrounding, while Zero and Maya kept silence. Then Maeve called,
"Welcome to our city! We used to call this 'sanctuary for those who had been sent away by the Empire, Federation and Alliance," Titania followed,
"But the city wasn't the only one…there were many like this, scattered throughout Novus, Elan and Ether. The Accretian Empire had tried their best to destroy our settlements…"
"Only to fail, as we utilize the stealth technology to keep us hidden." When arrived at the intersection, three Turncoat commanders turned to each other and spoke,
"As we agreed before, we will take our respective prisoners to our own. Now it is about the time." Nobuseri turned, "Unit Smiley, take Unit Zero0X with us!"
"Aye, Sir!" The white-armored cyborg quickly dragged Zero to them, along with a bunch of Turncoat Accretians. At the same time, Titania gestured toward Clytemnestra. Before the spiritualist manage to answer, Erzebet had pushed her off,
"Move, or I will cut your legs!" Cly glanced to the ranger with pleading look, but Ranskye said,
"Cly, don't worry…" When the Accretia and the Corites left, Maeve turned to him and Maya,
"Now what?" she asked sarcastically, in which invited irked response from the Ranger,
"Do as your wish!" Suddenly the Turncoat caressed his cheek,
"My…my…what a brave! Unlike Titania and Nobuseri, I consider you as my guests…and of course, what does the host do for his guests?" Maya stared her suspiciously,
"You mean?" Maeve nodded,
"I invite you to my place…"
At the Turncoat Corites,
Titania's quarter looks elegant and richly decorated. Seeing that, Clytemestra almost remembered the Cora HQ. She was ushered inside by Erzebet, while the Turncoat leader waits. Titania sat upon the well-polished, when the Spiritualist came.
"Come, sit here," she called her. Cly obeyed reluctantly; once sitting she warned,
"If you want to convert me, it will be useless!" The female Turncoat chuckled, before she gestured to Erzebet to leave. Once only both of them, she said,
"No, I won't even try to convert you…Princess! Should I say that you are the daughter of Patriarch Ladenus?" Cly asked warily,
"How do you know about me?" Titania answered,
"I once…a faithful servant of DECEM until the tragedy changed me. Erzebet is no different than me. She lost her lover because of the unfaithfulness. I decide to defect since the Alliance was too rigid and dogmatic with their rules…" The other Cora hissed,
"Blasphemy!" Instead of angry, Titania continued,
"As the Turncoat, I meet with the others who had the same view. Strangely, we didn't kill each other here…unlike when I still at the Alliance. As I say, I won't convert you…but soon or later, you will see that I am right, Clytemnestra Ladenus!" Cly threw her face, refusing to believe her words. The female Turncoat followed,
"In this community, we shared common cause. Not only that, we will share everything here, not based by castes and social strata. For example, this…" Then Titania began to sing and calm, soothing feeling enveloped the surrounding. Cly could felt it as well. Before she managed to ask, the Turncoat explained,
"That's belonged to the Bellato…the Light Force! I've learned this from Maeve's predecessor after overcoming my prejudice. However, I didn't throw my Dark Force…" A strange feeling appeared inside Clytemnestra. She was interested with the Force, however she still suspicious with the Turncoat's motive. She asked,
"Do you plan to ask the ransom from my father?" Once again, Titania smiled and answered,
"That might be Nobuseri's plan once they knew your identity…but I don't tell them. What I want is to make you see my view…you believe or not, it is yours…" Still suspicious, the Spiritualist pondered and finally said,
"Could you teach me some of your tricks?" The female Turncoat Cora nodded,
"Gladly, it won't take a long time…"
In other hand,
Nobuseri's quarter was looks like a salvage yard. Remains of armor surrounded them. Beside them, there was a melting plant. Other than the Turncoat leader, the other cyborgs also surrounded them. Zero was aware of that. It was shackled with energy chains. Smiley took his place beside Nobuseri, who sat upon the makeshift throne,
UNIT CONSCIOUSNESS SAMPLE:
Analyzing situation…
Hostiles present: 38
Well-armed
Primary Subject: Nobuseri of Turncoat…searching
Result: Nobuseri 667
Status: Revoked…declared Turncoat
Secondary Subject: Smiley …searching
Result: the Serial Killer
Status: Fugitive
POSSIBLE CALCULATIONS: Information gathering…
APPROPRIATE ACTIONS: Nothing…
In the midst of analyzing, Nobuseri barked, "Don't waste your time, Warrior! I know that you're analyzing me and the rest of us. Your analysis would tell you that there was no way to escape from here. We make sure of that…" Undaunted, Zero replied,
"Your assumption is faulty. Unit Zero is certain there was the way to escape…" The Turncoat leader replied,
"It is yours, not Nobuseri's. It seems you can think independently despite out from the Imperial's reach. One may think what the Bellato did to your database…" The Warrior responded,
"That's not your concern… I refuse to give the needed information without the Administrator's authority," Nobuseri rose from its throne and walked closer to the captive. Suddenly, he grabbed Zero's head and pulled something from above. It was a sphere with terminal cables. The rogue cyborg pulled one of the terminal cable and plugged it into Zero's USB terminal. He reminded,
"If you don't allow us, then we had to hack into your memories. I warn you to not fight, or else, you will know the new meaning of 'pain'…Our Bellato allies had taught this technique to us… Zero0X struggled, but jolted with electric current, which put it into inert mode.
Back to the desert,
Penthesilea cursed inwardly. She saw the Turncoats but unable to do anything as they were outnumbered her. She witnessed them taking Clytemnestra…she really hated this. However, her order was clear: wait the reinforcement! The female Hunter did that as an obedient soldier did. Not for long, a hissing sound came and the place was filled with light as a portal formed before her. Penthesilea was forced to cover her eyes, as several figures came out from the portal. She recognized Teiresias, Almasyr and Alcyone.
"Hey, what take you so long?" she shouted. The Cora knight rushed to her, asking,
"What happened to Cly?" The female Ranger answered,
"She…she was taken by the traitors…I was unable to do anything."
Almasyr was dejected, but the Dark Priest quickly comforted him,
"Be still, DECEM still merciful to us. I'd seen this coming…we'll bring her back," Penthesilea quickly noticed three additional Cora beside them. She was unable to believe her eyes,
"Atalanta? Volturi?"
The Archer called, "Sis, how are you?"
The Hunter sighed, "Well, thank to DECEM! You are welcome here, young sis…in other hand, why am I not being told about an Inquisitor?" Noticing Penthesilea's hostility, the Black Knight said,
"I have my order from Patriarch, are you disappointed?"
"As a matter of fact, yes!" Before they managed to argue, Teiresias hushed them,
"Silence!" Nobody dare to raise their voice, and then she continued,
"Fighting won't bring back Princess Clytemnestra; we must go to the traitors' sanctuary and retrieve her there…it might need more than our skill and strength combined to infiltrate the enemy's nest,"
Volturi added, "I shall bring judgment to them!" Almasyr and Alcyone watched him with concern, unsure what to do…
Author's Note: I manage to continue this chapter at my spare time. The situation turned from bad to worse, as our main characters were caught by the Turncoats. Each Turncoat leaders had their own motives for them. The Corites had sent more reinforcements to take the Spiritualist back. What is the Bellato and the Accretia teams to do? Wait the next chapter; 'Might of the Steel' see you later!
P.S.: Actually, Jack, Smiley and Erzebet were NPC Serial Killer at RF Online Philippines. I decide to include them, because they were unique. Nobuseri, Maeve and Titania were purely from my imaginations.