Blitzkrieg!
Part II
09.55 AM
At the Turncoat Settlement,
AIM GX-6 still held the IR locator. The skies above it suddenly brightened…the blast instantly targeted the locator, and hit the target. First, the force field stood the barrage. Slow but sure, the barrier yielded under extreme bombardment, and broke inside. The blast focused upon the locator and,
At the same those blasts incinerated the poor Accretia. The following explosion created the flame. Chaos reigned inside the settlement. Everyone was panicked. The fire quickly ravaged the compounds, before move to another. The situation was completely uncontrollable.
10.05 AM
Inside the Great Hall,
The hall was in disarray and filled with dust, yet Titania sat calmly. Maeve also showed the same expression, while Ranskye and Clytemnestra look nervous. The Ranger took cover beside Zero. Nobuseri and its comrades didn't move at all. The reason why the Turncoats were so calm…they were protected by a magical barrier summoned by Titania and Maeve. The female Turncoat Cora spoke,
"Lucky, I was able to summon the barrier! Thanks to you, Maeve!" The Bellato grinned,
"Your welcome!" She glanced to the rogue cyborg, "What do you think of that, Nobuseri?"
"No comment now…this is irrelevant now!" Then Nobuseri turned to its Scientist, "What is the situation now?" The nearest Accretia replied,
"Not good! The Imperial cruiser had discovered us…the bombardment has destroyed our defense system and life support. Suggestion: evacuate within five hours!" The Turncoat Bellato responded,
"In that case, we must prepare it quickly!" Titania added, while rising up,
"I am agreeing with you; we must depart from here and rendezvous at the designated place immediately!" She turned to the female Serial Killer,
"Erzebet, prepare everything!" Maeve ordered,
"Calico Jack, tell everyone to evacuate!" Meanwhile, Nobuseri barked,
"Unit Smiley, come with me!" Without wasting time, the Turncoats began to left the hall until someone called,
"Wait, how about us?" Everyone turned to Ranskye, Clytemnestra and the still-inert Zero0X.
Maeve answered, "All of you free now; you can go…" The female Spiritualist countered,
"Not so fast, what will happen to us?"
Titania smiled, "It is up to you now," Staring those Turncoats, Ranskye shouted angrily,
"That is? You are done with us? Do you have any concern to us when the Imperial found us?" To this, Nobuseri said,
"You are no longer useful to us now…you can go as you like! Unit 0X, active!" Instantly, the inert Accretia activated…
UNIT CONSCIOUSNESS SAMPLE:
Restarting…
Rerouting power sources…
0…20%…50%…70%…90%…100%Complete!
Primary Database recovered
Secondary Database recovered
Modifications recovered
Download Combat Procedures
All systems activated…
Static that filled Zero's field of vision instantly replaced with a clearer one. Faces of Ranskye and Clytemnestra greeted it.
UNIT CONSCIOUSNESS SAMPLE:
Analyzing situation…
Primary Subject: Ranskye of Bellato…FRIENDLY
Secondary Subject: Clytemnestra of Cora…FRIENDLY
Appropriate Action: PROTECT RANSKYE OF BELLATO AND CLYTEMNESTRA OF CORA WITH ALL COST.
Ranskye asked, "Zero, are you okay?" Instead, the cyborg asked back,
"Ranskye…Clytemnestra, are you alright?" The Cora replied,
"It seems the tin can was intact…" When they turned, the Turncoats had vanished.
"Those cowards…" The ranger stopped her,
"Nevermind of them, we should go from here…" Together, they left the destroyed hall.
Inside Maeve's compound,
When the earth shook, Maya crouched to avoid the rubble and debris. After the shaking was over, she saw an opening. Not wasting time, she went out.
For the Corites,
Huge smoke came out from the burned settlement. That didn't escape from Volturi's attention.
"It seems the infidels were burnt into crisps…however I found out that was too merciful for them. It is my duty to give the just punishment under my authority as an Inquisitor!" To this, Almasyr asked,
"Where are you going?"
"I won't wait here…I will go inside!" The warrior quickly stopped him,
"You can't! It is too dangerous, beside Priestess Teiresias don't feel well…" the Black Knight brushed him,
"Do you want to save your fiancée or not? I won't waste my time with you…" Volturi immediately went off with Elmyra.
"Dang, his attitude might kill him someday!" Penthesilea cursed, "Almasyr, you are staying here with Priestess! Atalanta and I will follow him; hopefully we'll find her…"
The youth protested, "I should accompany you…" To his surprise, the female Hunter said sternly,
"No! You and Alcyone stay here until Teiresias can go out…" Then she turned to the Archer, "Atalanta, let's go!" Atalanta nodded and they departed, leaving Almasyr, Alcyone and Teiresias.
Back on the space,
Brutez66 went to another room where the drop hatches were lined. The Mercenary turned to its second-in-command,
"Grudge DX, you are in charge of the command ship. Make sure that nobody escape, or else, you will be at the Melting Plant next morning!" Grudge replied,
"Affirmative, Leader! Your order shall be carried!" The cyborg and its soldiers entered the hatches, which automatically closed."
Few moments later,
The drop pods immediately launched to the ground with the high speed…
Back to the ground,
The Bellato squad saw the incoming pods. Zephyr muttered,
"Cursed! The tin cans have sent their ground force!"
Novem asked, "What shall we do, Major? If we had our MAUs here…" The wizard quickly turned to Brood,
"Corporal, I want you to go into the settlement now and find our objectives!"
Brood replied, "Yes, Sir!" The Mental Smith added,
"Corporal, take Nelysa with you! She can help you…" The female Chandra quickly joined the Hidden Soldier. As they disappeared, Zephyr whispered,
I hope they aren't late…
In other place,
Another explosion shattered the rocky wall nearby. Then Gruudx76 and Tri-EdgeX8 came out from the opening; each bore the launcher. As Gungnir inspected, Shadx13 reported,
"Leader, the bombardment has opened the way. It seems the Turncoats were falling back.
Phalanx Brutez also led the reinforcement to aid us!"
"Excellent," the Destroyer commented, " Invictus, lead the units to fan the surroundings. Our objective is to find the primary one; the Turncoats will be our secondary objective!"
"Affirmative, Leader!" The Gladius immediately led the others, while Gungnir stayed behind with Exvion. The cyborg asked,
"Have you found our target's whereabouts, Unit E47?"
The Engineer replied, "Negative, so far there were no signs of them!"
"Nevermind, we will find them sooner!"
Meanwhile,
The Turncoats had evacuated themselves through the secret tunnel. The Leaders stood to oversee the evacuation until Titania quipped,
"He won't be pleased to hear this…"Maeve turned,
"You mean Lord Blackside?" There was a tone of wariness in her voice, "Yes…it is true!"
"It doesn't matter!" Nobuseri interjected, "Lord Blackside might suspect something behind the huge explosion…" Before the cyborg continued, Calico Jack called,
"Leader, the enemy advance team had spotted us…"
Maeve ordered, "Jack, deal with them with impunity! Do not leave them alive!"
The Serial Killer licked her lips maliciously, "Yes, Ma'am!" Then she vanished behind the smoke. Watching her, the Turncoat Cora asked,
"Shall I send Erzebet to aid her?" The Bellato nodded her head. Instantly, Erzebet joined her Bellato counterpart. Seeing that, Smiley asked,
"Leader, can I play with them too?" Nobuseri replied,
"Stay here, Unit Smiley! This is no time to play!"
Few moments later
Amidst the smoke and chaos, Volturi walked with ease like someone enjoy sight-seeing. The panicked people ignored him. Not for long, he met his first quarry…the white-haired Cora before him.
"I assume you are a Turncoat…"he said to her.
"Yes, I am!" Erzebet mocked, "Unfortunately, I was not in good mood to deal with you…"
"I see…" the Black Knight replied calmly, "Are you ready to accept the judgment? Repent or be judged!" The Cora Serial Killer instantly threw a flurry of throwing knives to her target. Yet, Volturi stood still while muttering,
"Barricade…" Instantly, those knives impacted with unseen barrier around the Inquisitor. Erzebet stormed toward him, and ready to cleave his skull. Instead, her attack hit an empty space. To her shock, a cold steel impaled through her ribcage, and…Volturi had stood behind her, while holding his katana.
"You…bastard…you use illusions…" she cursed. The Black Knight whispered,
"Save your breath, traitor…while waiting you to die, I will relish it," With that, he licked her blood on his handsome face.
At the other direction,
Calico Jack was ready to intercept the incoming enemy. She could hear them,
"Leader, we spotted the living here…"
"Good, just leave me to sport with them!" As the smoke receded, it revealed the handful of Accretia with the red-armored one as their leader. To this, the Serial Killer gave a deranged smile,
"WeLL, So MaNy AbOmiNatiONs HeRe…I tHinK ThiS WoN'T be EnOuGh…"
The red Mercenary moved forward, "Calico Jack recognized…your reputation had preceded you. Beside, you have killed many Empire's best warriors. This can't be allowed to continue…"
"YoU aRe WrOnG! I will CoNtinUe tHis UnTil YoUr EmPeRor DoWn…"
To this, Brutez66 said, "Then it is up to me as the defender of the Empire to finish you…" Instinctively, the other cyborgs gave them berth. The Mercenary pulled a mace,
"I hope you can entertain me than the last one…"
Calico Jack snarled like a beast, "DiE, AbOmiNaTiOn!" They charged each other…
At the secluded place,
The Turncoats had reached the safe place. Then Titania asked Maeve,
"Are you not worrying your underling?" The Turncoat Bellato answered,
"No need! Though she's gone, we could easily clone her again…and again. In other words, Jack was expendable…"
Titania whistled in amusement, "That's cold…but everything is fair in war,"
"She and Erzebet would delay them…" When they left the place with Nobuseri and the others, an explosion rocked and buried the entrance…
Back to the abandoned Settlement,
Ranskye, Clytemnestra and Zero0X surveyed the surrounding. It seemed bleak. The Cora asked,
"Now what?" The young ranger answered,
"We have to find the nearest entrance…the problem is I don't know which way…"
UNIT CONSCIOUSNESS SAMPLE:
Analyzing situation…
Zero suggested, "Perhaps, we should go to the East, since I noted the Turncoat also going the other way…" Clytemnestra stared warily,
"Are you sure?" Irritated, Ran shouted,
"Do you have any better idea?" She shrugged her shoulder. Then they went to East…
On the other hand,
Maya clamped her mouth tightly, as she saw the grotesque event from the secluded place. She saw Volturi threw the dead body of Erzebet unceremoniously. The Serial Killer was covered with blood from the stab wound to the feet. Then Elymra reported to him,
"Milord, I sense the Accretia had filled the place…shall we continue our search of Princess?"
The Black Knight said, "Perhaps, we should retreat first. Pity, I could only redeem this traitor's soul…anyway, it was better than nothing. The next one will be worse than this!" The Chandra was kept silent until someone held her from behind. She tried to struggle, but someone whispered,
"Be quiet! We are your friends!" After the Corites left, she turned and saw Brood and Nelysa,
"Thank Force! I thought you are the Accretians…" The Hidden Soldier explained,
"We're sent to retrieve the survivor from the explosion. Are you alone?"
"No, Ranskye is with me!" Nelysa added,
"Then we should find him fast, before the Accretian does…"
Ranskye and the others tried to found the entrance, but the entrance was blocked. At the same time, the Accretians were closing by. He realized that there was no escape. Silently, he took his composite bow and said,
"Clytemnestra! Zero! It is nice to know you, but now we have to fight to the end!"
The Cora replied, "At least, I can die with honor! By this, DECEM would bless me!" She lifted her staff in defiance. However, Zero was silent. It could hear the command from the nearby Accretians.
UNIT CONSCIOUSNESS SAMPLE:
Analyzing situation…
Combat configurations downloaded
Check armaments…
Primary Armaments: Beam Saber…ACTIVE
Secondary Armaments: Shadow Protector…ACTIVE
Auxiliary Armaments: 14-inch Throwing Knives sets… ACTIVE
Reviewing Accretian Doctrine…
"The Corites and the Bellato are the Empire's enemies…"
Primary Subject: Ranskye of Bellato…HOSTILE
Secondary Subject: Clytemnestra of Cora…HOSTILE
Appropriate Action: …SELF-PRESERVATION
When the smoke receded, the Accretians begun to converge at their place. Ran could see them all; the white-armored and the red-armored. He wouldn't able to take all of them, but with Cly and Zero, he might take some of them. He called,
"Cly, be ready…" The Bellato turned back and shocked to find…Zero had held the throwing knife an inch from Clytemnestra's throat. It also held her mouth closed. The Cora looks terrified. Then the cyborg spoke icily to him,
"Put down your weapon, Bellato…or the girl will die!"
Author's Note: At last, the cyborg's true colors was revealed. We also see Volturi and the Serial Killers in action. I apologize if the story was too short. How do Almasyr and Zephyrus deal with this unexpected change? Wait the next chapter 'The Desperate Gambit'.