I stared at the Coelohim, now standing over Melissa's twitching, whimpering form. Good grief, she looked like crap.
That made my blood boil. My grip tightened around my zaw, Unwritten Destiny. Yeah, absurd name, but I wouldn't change it for the world.
"Know that your efforts defeat me are pointless," intoned the beast. "I am far beyond your ability to outmatch-"
It prompted shut up when a targeting laser appeared above it.
"You were saying."
"...One moment."
Suddenly, a pulse of light shot out form the monster, which caused my vision to screw up, as if I had been hit by one of the magnetic bubbles the Tenno created from sabotaging a reactor.
"Warning: Commander Network compromised. Only forces within a fifty kilometer radius will remain under your control, Commander."
"You were saying?"
...Welp, time to go to plan B.
"..Does anyone read me?"
"We read you LOUD AND CLEAR!" intoned Asaru.
"Good. I apologize to ask, but could you help me with one last problem?"
"YES! JUST GIVE US THE WORD!"
"...That was a lot more forceful than I had expected."
"You are way to humble for your own good," intoned Cassidy.
"Oh. Well, just listen and do what I say...sorry if that sounds demanding."
"It does, but you have earned the right to do that," replied Etran.
"Okaaay."
Then, I turned my attention to the Coelohim.
"Let's end this."
"As you wish. But do you really think that fragile form can stand up to my might?"
I could only respond to that by smiling, much to the monster's surprise. "Who says this will be the form you will fight?"
Then, my body glowed bright blue, and a moment later, an angelic figure replaced it.
This was my pinnacle of warframe research - Marcosias, the Nephilim. A hybrid of heavenly and infernal power, attuned to the designs of Equinox. Currently in its angelic form, it allowed me to fire forth a blast of light, blinding the monster, after which I charged toward it, shifting into its demonic form. When I was right up to the beast's form, I unleashed its darkers powers, blasting the body with explosive force and setting it alight. The result was larger than anticipated, to my immense joy.
As the beast tried to recover, I unleashed Hellfire upon it, igniting it once more, before transitioning into its angelic form and bathing it in Heavens Light, leaving it damaged and confused.
"What the-"
"I still have a few tricks up my sleeves. Now, bring it on!"
"FINE!"
AN: Soundtrack Start: Europa by Globus
Howling I anger, the Coelohim somehow created an ax and leapt into the air. Side stepping it, I transferred out of my frame and used a void blast to knock it back, before beginning to pepper it with my Kitgun. When the creature recovered, I returned to Marcosias, pulling out the weapons I had crafted for it - an automatic shotgun that could switch into a semi-auto rifle, which I had named Nephilim; a set of dual pistols that could be treated as separate weapons known as the Twin Judgements; and a sword and shield combo known as Malebranche and Seraphim. I'd really wanted to make a duality motif for this thing, okay?
As the beast recovered and charged at me, I aimed the rifle and pulled the trigger, catching it in its leg and sending it tumbling down. As it rolled past, I switched to shotgun mode and blasted it away. No way I would lose to this monster!
From Agincourt To Waterloo
Poitiers And Then Ajou
The Roses War, The Hundred Years
Through Battlefields Of Blood And Tears
Standing tall once more, the monster threw something into the ground, causing it to grow into another plant, which soon grew a bow from one of its limbs, as well as organic arrows. Taking aim, the beast let loose the pointed objects.
Quickly bracing with my shield, I transferred back out of the suit and used my E-DNA powers to ignite the tree, forcing the Coelohim back.
From Bosworth Field To Point Du Hoc
Stalingrad And The Siege Of York
The Bloody Turf Of Gallipoli
Had No effect On The Killing Spree
As it reeled from the assault, I summoned forth my avatar and fired a null lance at the humanoid, sending it flying back. As I advanced toward it, though, the monster released another pulse of energy, turning the ground around it into a field surrounded by what looked like anemone.
Well, I can work with that.
'Jegudiel, Cyreesia, and all you Clumpies, your time is up.'
"Can't find a way to outmatch my defences?"
"Actually, I can!"
The creature looked perplexed by that.
Then it heard the sound of aircraft approaching. Before it could react, though, I opened fire - not going to let it escape.
Bannockburn To Austerlitz
The Fall Of France And The German Blitz
The Cruelest Of Atrocities
Europa's Blood Is Borne Of These
The creature didn't notice the airstrike until the first hits came. And before it could recover from being hit with a Seraph and a Scimitar, several kestrels and Mecha Clumpys started peppering it with lasers and bullets.
Heaven Help In All Our Battles
Heaven See Love
Heaven Help Us
As the creature regained its feet, something huge burst out of my ship, turning toward it, the Coelohim found itself facing the mass of technocyte flesh that had been part of me until recently...and which I still have control over.
Roaring, my old body shot a gout of flame at the Coelohim, which soon dodged and countered by, to my surprise,modify its skin to secrete a flame retardant fluid.
Then, to the bafflement of my sensors, it began increasing the gravity field around itself, causing my old body to begin to collapse under its own weight.
Well, two can play at that game.
I opened up a portal beneath the my technocyte form, causing it to vanish. The Coelohim tried to find where I had moved the monster, but stopped when it noticed that a shadow had suddenly appeared above it.
A moment later, and the creature was pancaked by my old body, whose weight had been increased to 1,000 times its current one. Amazingly, my form survived this and managed ot roll out of the impact crater it had made.
Bolshevisks And Feudal Lords
Chivalry To Civil Wars
Fascist Rule And Genocide
Now We Face The Rising Tide
Crying out in anger, the Progenitor creature leapt at me, and managed to knock me back. Keeping its momentum, it beat me with all its might, only to find itself weakened when I transferred back into Marcosias, unleashed its demon form, and sent a Malediction its way. Kicking free from its legs, I wrapped my own around its neck and lifted, slamming it into the ship.
Of New Crusades, Religious Wars
Insurgents Imported To Our Shores
The Western World, Gripped In Fear
The Mother Of All Battles Here
Returning to angelic form, I sent a Benediction toward Melissa, before sending a signal to XCOM and the A.R.C...god, I hoped I never wnet to the Primeval Universe - too much confusion there.
"Getting tire-"
The Coelohim was cut off when a plasma sniper shot flew toward it, causing tis head to jolt sideways from the impact. Jumping away, it readied for another attack...just as it heard the whistling.
Fun fact: SABR Artillery platforms hit very hard.
Heaven Help In All Our Battles
Heaven See Love
Heaven Help Us
Smirking at the creature's pain, returned to my normal form, then opened fire with an assault rifle of my own design - variable bullet firing combinations with underslug laser and grenades. Needless to say, those hurt a lot.
Avant hier, avons être
Déja demain, (nous) sommes éclairée
I barely got to use it, though, before the creature tackled me and started wailing away-ARGHSGBHTSBL
SO MUCH PAIN! MAKE IT STOP!
Yet the blows continued, until I felt my consciousness fading.
How did this thing manage to still have this much strength?
...Had I even put a dent in it?
…..Could I really hope to beat it? Maybe I had bitten off more than I could chew.
Maybe this was how I was going to die...how my empire would die...how my Ro...my spons...my friend, would die...
̵͉͉͚̣̩͔̣͔͇̝ͧ̽̒̊́̓̓̑͘͠...̨̔͐̽͗̄͗ͯ̊̄̆̆ͩ̂̅͆ͧ͌ͯ̚͞͏̠̬̟͚͕͙͚̬F̡̪͕͖͎̮̃͌ͧͯ̿̔͞Ṳ̧̮̠̯͍͙͎̰̞̲̻̜̲͓̼̏̌̓̓́̔̍̿̔͌͆ͬ̚̚̕͞͠ͅC̢͙̲̖̙͉̬̲͉̻͍̹͍͇̟͍͉͖ͩ̋̓̋ͨ̓̾̽̀͗̉̐̃̌͒ͭ̎̈̉͝K̴̛̟̙̬̜̜̮͔͔͎̹̝̳̫̠̣̼͐ͮͮ̎ͭ̉̃ͬͣ́̚͡ͅ ̋͂̋̈͗ͤ͐҉̼̗͚̫͓̳̯̜T̢̛̙̜͈̞̫̭̲͗̊̽̒͑͗̉͊ͤ̍̿̂̊̓̈̚͜͜H̙̻̺̟̼̥̘̙̬̜̜̩̊̿͆̋̿̓͋̽̉ͨ̄͋́ͥ̆͘͢Ạ̡̬̟͖̩͔͇̹͇̯͙̻͇̲̞̠͍͋͒̏ͤͭ́̃ͫ̃́͌̎ͤ̉́̉̇́͋ͅͅT̡̬̦̖͕̣ͭ̃̓ͪ̀͋̌ͨ̅ͫ̉ͯ̊̓̕͘!̢̯̹̫̭̽̊̽ͪ̒̏̇ͯ̏̄͊̽ͧ̄̌̎
Forcing myself to remain conscious, I called forth the form of Umbra, then unleashed a howl. As the organic drone reeled, I kicked it away, impaled it upon my swords, then transferred out and resummoned Marcosias.
All Glory, All Honor
Victory Is Upon Us
Our Savior, Fight Evil
Send Armies To Defend Us
Charging up my frame, I unleashed its ultimate, Perdition. Then, as the damage increased, and the numbers on my hud soared, I switched to angelic form, and unleashed my second ultimate, Salvation.
Instantly, the shards of hide and bone in my body were expelled, whilst my wounds, and those on Umbra, and on Melissa, began to heal themselves.
THERE WOULD BE NO MERCY FORM HERE ON OUT!
Empires Built, And Nations Burned
Mass Graves Remain Unturned
Descendants Of The Dispossessed
Return With Bombs Strapped To Their Chests
Charging at the monster, I unleashed all I had, beating and tearing at it, pumping it full of bullets, burning it with lasers, and ravaging it with my blades and fists. It would not win this fight!
There's Hate For Life, And Death In Hate
Emerging From The New Caliphate
The Victors Of This War On Fear
Will Rule For The Next Thousand Years
Hurling it around, I dodged its counterattacks, rolled with its punches, and even managed to kick it in the gut when it tried to increase the gravity around us, which ended up cancelling that attack. I soon returned to my human form to lay into it with E-DNA, Psionic, and MC based attacks.
All Glory, All Honor
Victory Is Upon Us
Our Savior, Fight Evil
Send Armies To Defend Us
Europa, Europa
Find Better Days Before Us
In Kindness, In Spirit
Lead Us To A Greater Calling
Me and Umbra continued to pound the beast, and when it tried to fight back, a Dread Lord launched meteor knocked it away.
Then, using all my strength, I hurled it into the air, tearing one of my arm muscles in the process. Oh well.
Determined not to lose, I leapt into the air, using a supercharged version of a bullet jump (pretty much shredding my leg muscles in the process).
Pain does not matter now - only victory.
As the creature tried to aim at me, I pulled out my rifle and charged up its under-slug laser.
Fun fact: said laser was a scaled down annihilaser.
And while it wasn't capable of shattering planets anymore, said laser was still more than capable of tearing through moutains...or roasting the poor Coelohim beneath me.
Not letting up for a moment, I went into freefall toward the monster, zaw drawn. It was time to end this.
Lennigrad, Berlin Wall
Rapidly, we fell downwards, creature and Commander locking eyes. The Coelohim's expression turned hateful, ready to slaughter me...until it realized that it couldn't move its muscles. They'd been roasted to the bone and, despite the creature apparently possessing a rapid regeneration ability, it still needed time to heal them.
March On Rome, Byzantium's Fall
Desperately, it tried to bite at me, but found itself unable to extend its neck far enough to reach any part of me.
Lightning War, Dresden Night
As we neared the ground, my blade moved into position. Two seconds after I had it ready, we made impact.
Drop The Bomb, End This fight
Without missing a beat, I swung down...and free the Coelohim's head from its neck.
NEVER AGAIN!
At last, it died, it died. Slowly, it body ceased twitching, whilst its shocked eyes slowly glazed over, but didn't close.
Finally, victory.
Smiling I cried out in triumph.
Then, I collapsed.
XXXXX
I watched as my pawn fell to the ground, battered and beaten, but still alive.
I smiled, only for my face to ache in disagreement.
Well, that's it then - this fight is over. He won.
Not that it meant much for me. Flame might have healed me, but really, he was only delaying the inevitable - I'd taken too much damage to heal from here. At best, I had...fifteen minutes left. My Commander had won the battle, won the war even, but I wasn't going to live to see the fruits of his victory.
….Oh well. I guess that's how life went.
And really, this wasn't a bad way to go. Giving your life for a cause you believed in.
Of course, I'd be leaving Cassidy behind...and all of my followers...maybe this wasn't such a good end.
...Not like I could do anything about it - this was the end of the line.
Exhausted, I turned my face to the clouds...which had just parted, revealing the sun.
How cliché.
...still beautiful, though.
Well, at least I had one silver linning to all this.
Letting out a sigh, I closed my eyes. Might as well look my best ot meet the great shadow.
...Why did the sun get so much dimmer? I'm still hurting, so I haven't passed on just yet.
"..You look like crap."
….What?!
Opening my eyes, I found a very beaten up Commander staring right a me.
"Feeling okay, beautiful?"
"..Somewhat."
Before I could pester him for more, he put his hands around me and hoisted me up, bridal style. Oddly, while I had expected my wounds to hurt, the minute he laid his hands on me, I felt...soothed.
"Vermir."
...Oh. I guess he had paid attention when I taught him healing magic.
Suddenly, the ship around us came apart. Everything apart from the platfor we were on folded up, whilst said platfor rapidly descended through the ship. All around us, the crew had returned, hastily working to fix the damages to the superstructure and return things to the way they had been.
I could only observe this all for a moment, before my wayward pawn moved the platform to the hospital bay. In mere seconds, he had me on a bed, and was hastily trying to dress my wounds...even though he wasn't doing well at all. Even in comparison to me.
"...Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why are you healing me? You're practically on death's door yourself, but you're wasting time to make sure I'm okay before you get any help."
"Well, friends put friends before themselves."
"...We're, friends?"
"By this point, regardless of what either us say, yes. We're friends."
I know he'd said this over a transmission. He'd told someone else that I was his friend.
Still, hearing him tell me this to my face made me feel...happy.
"..Okay."
Slowly, my pawn pushed himself to his limits, using whatever powers he had to fix my wounds. After those were mostly treated, his hands started to glow purple...ah yes, Necrogensis. Power over fear...and anger...and the soul.
Using what remained of his strength, my amusement worked to heal my soul. I didn't know if he succeeded, at least not at the time, but it did make me feel...better.
Finally finished, my Commander let out a sigh. Then he fell over, unconscious, but still strong.
The fact he was taking a knap on my chest was...honestly? I didn't give a fuck.
...Well, he's saved me. Might as well return the favor.
I used some of my remaining strength to call in my best healers. Once they arrived, I left him in their hands.
Movement at the corner of my eyes turned my attention to a nearby bed...but there was no one there.
...Must have been the Man in the Wall.
XXXXXXXX
The Great Shadow watched on as the girl massaged the young man resting on her (rather generous) bosom, seemingly uncaring that he wore a coat of his own blood. In fact, she seemed to take enjoyment in cleaning the sanguine fluid off his face.
How cute. Perhaps they were lovers? At the very least, they were close friends.
One did not give up part of their soul to someone they were not close to, after all.
Indeed, the human had taken fragments of his soul and used it to heal the girl's. Unknowingly, he had also taken the torn pieces of her soul into his own, to repair the damage he had inflicted upon his own.
One could say they were soulmates, in the most literal way imaginable.
Amused, the Shadow chuckled, then prepared to leave. He had expected to take the girl's soul with him, but he could wait.
After all, he was Myrthir, Lord of the Shrouded Kingdom, Ruler of the Afterlife. He had waited millions of years for some souls to come his way, billions in some cases.
He could most certainly wait for this one to come his way.
XXXXX
AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!