She watched. A shadow flew across. Her vampiric sight sharpened. Her eyes narrowed, her fingers twitched, and she turned her attention towards the sky. She could feel its blood getting hot with each stroke of its wings. She caught her breath. And a chill embraced her. It felt so familiar. As the rising clouds of dust and muck rose and fell over the garden, the beast burst through, leaving a swirling vortex behind it. Its leathery wings spread, blotting out the dimming light. as its darkness fell across the garden like an inky cloak.
The beast, a horrifying fusion of dragon and vampire bat, circled overhead, rolled over, and flew directly towards them. Its massive wings and crimson eyes gleamed with hunger, and jagged fangs dripped with venom.
Mikoto braced herself, her body humming with electromagnetic energy. A low growl slipped past her lips. Ears pricked forward. Her heart quickened with the thrill of the impending battle. Feeling Fear and chaos feed the surrounding air. The sounds of hundreds of scared beating hearts, whimpering, nervous breaths. The little ones buried themselves together in a mass grave. Listening to their boots on the rocky ground, Vita and the others quickly got ready, spreading out. The clicking and charging of the weapons. As if it were an intelligent being, sensing the attack, it quickly changed direction, and the beast swooped higher, gaining altitude.
"Hold.." Vita whispered.
Standing close by, Aya steadied her railgun. The stock pressed tight against her shoulder. She peered down the scope, lining up her shot as the beast circled above. The air filled with high-pitched whines as she charged the weapon. Wisps of steam rose from the reddening barrels, the smell of ozone sharp in her nose. The electromagnetic coils surged. She grinned, exhaling slowly. The railgun could punch through a meter of steel or ten meters of solid rock at full power. She hoped it was enough to pierce the monster's hide. "Say the word!" Aya nervously mumbled.
The winged horror sailed high overhead, leaving behind it a rain of fetid fluids dripped from its body, spattering the already-putrid ground of the sunken garden. The reeking blend of bile, urine, and gore added another sickening stench to the wafting miasma. Warriors gagged, some quickly vomiting as the rancid smell thickened.
It came around for another run. This time, it is faster and lower to the surface. The dust and muck kicked up behind it as it flew. Not willing to miss this chance.
Vita yelled, "Open fire!"
The air filled with thunderous cracking of railgun discharges and chattering automatic weapons. Lines of tracers streaked, striking thick, leathery skin. But the rounds barely penetrated, leaving tiny speckles across the dark skin.
Vita watched in dismay as their firepower barely scratched its leathery skin. Beside her, Aya's eyes were wide. Her reaction mirrored Nya and Gullah's concerned expressions.
"Its hide is too thick!" Aya shouted. She steadied her railgun, teeth gritted as she focused on another shot.
"What the fu…!" Nya called, reloaded quickly, hands trembling slightly.
The dripping horror glided undeterred through their futile barrage. A quick change of tactics. Each adjusted their angles, aiming for the thin membrane of the wings. But the nonstop gunfire bounced away, and the railguns only managed a few tiny holes.
Vita's expression grew grim. Their weapons were not enough.
As the monster sailed out of range, an uneasy silence fell with the fading echoes of gunfire.
Gullah spoke, voice tinged with doubt. "How can we fight…?" her barrel slowly dropping.
Vita steeled herself and looked over to her Mistress. "We will find a way." Yet in her eyes flickered the first hints of anguish.
Something felt off, something felt wrong. She was standing alone by the edge of the collapsed cliffside. The little ones were below. The others were a few hundred yards away.
They were getting ready for another attack. The railguns fired high. It swooped low, its taloned limbs nearly scraping the fetid muck coating the garden's floor. Foul fluids sprayed in its wake as it hurtled toward the sheer cliff face.
Vita tracked its trajectory. "Concentrate all fire in front of me!" she yelled, rushing to the jagged rim of the garden.
As the winged horror neared, Vita drew on her vampire senses - the rush of wind, the steady beat of gigantic wings, and the creature's hot, fetid stench. Standing close to the edge, waiting for the beast to rise. Running her tongue over her fangs and lips, leaving them a brilliant red. Her heart beat faster, the thrill intoxicating.
"Now!" she commanded, peeking over the edge to see the winged beast nearly grazing the rocky edge as it ascended. The air thundered as they unleashed a wall of lead and fire. Tracers streaked by in a blinding discord, randomly bouncing off its hide. "Keep firing!" Vita shielded her face from the backwash.
Its shrieks echoed as it climbed away. The combined barrage finally ripped through the beast's leathery skin, spurting blood from the wounds.
Nya stared in astonishment. "We wounded it!"
Vita allowed a grim smile. "We've found its weakness. Continuous fire can pierce its skin."
Aya nodded, her own smile breaking through. "And if it bleeds…"
"… It can die," Gullah finished, pumping her railgun.
Their eyes tracked the winged beast as it retreated into the sky, leaving a dripping red trail in its wake.
It was alien. That's what she thought. Something that shouldn't be here was here. Mikoto dropped to her knee, resting her palm against the cracked soil. Reaching out with her magnetic senses, she sent pulsing waves deep into the Earth. The readings that returned made her blood run cold. Far below, something shifted, primordial and impossibly huge. She could feel its coiled power resonating through the bedrock and imagine its mountainous bulk rolling in the massive caverns below the garden's surface. The sheer scale of its presence made her shudder, even at this distance. They were ants scrambling over a slumbering giant who could awaken and crush them without effort. The revelation chilled her to her core. She raised her head, focusing on the beast as it circled.
"Hey?" Mikoto said.
"hmm…" little misaka answered.
"Can you do what I need?"
"Of course I can," Little misaka said, puffing out her chest. She waved her hands, and the large monitors moved together. The pulsing waves rolled across the screens, slowly building a detailed area map.
Mikoto closed her eyes, the detailed map in her mind. "Focus on the shadow."
"I've got it…. and… not too happy."
"Neither am I."
Mikoto took a slow, deep breath as the ground beneath her shook, each slight tremor growing stronger. And she knew it wasn't from the massive firepower she had behind her. She muttered under her breath, "This is bad."
She could feel Vita's eyes on her. "Always the one with the keen hearing," little misaka said.
As a vampire queen, she could command respect and loyalty from lesser vampires and some supernatural creatures. But the animals fought back sometimes, leaving swaths of devastation and loss of life. She could hear what could not be heard. Magnetic, echolocation, and sonar waves are used for communication. High-pitched sounds to navigate, detect, and stay away from predators. She looked at the little ones cowering in mass. Her thoughts were nothing more than rolling indecisions and what-ifs. She needed something. Something she could use. Looking back at the beginning. When they had come through the portal. They had used the underground to hide themselves. Bahamuth and Katrina argued at each other's throats before everything went to hell.
"What are your thoughts? She asked her little avatar.
"I will never complain about my royal duties ever again," Mikoto whispered."We don't have much of a choice?" dhr grumbled, frustration bubbling. "Not unless you want to negotiate with it?" little misaka joked.
"And if that…" Mikoto's words quickly trailed off as sudden pain shot across her forehead.
"Save her!" a voice rang out, the agony almost unbearable. Heated pain rifled behind her eyes.
"Save her!" a piercing scream almost split her skull. Little misaka growled, hands pressing on her temples. "I hate when someone…screams inside our heads!"
"Save her…save my daughter!" a shrill, agonized voice echoed in Mikoto's mind.
She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Trying to block out the searing pain that felt like nails being driven into her skull. "fine but get the fuck out of my head," she muttered, her face twisted in pain.
Mikoto exhaled, her face reddened and flushed with anticipation. "First things first," tracking the shadow as it raced across the garden below. Once huddled together in fear, the little ones now sensed something different. Their eyes looked up at Mikoto as a calm spread over them.
Vita and the others were ready, Mini railguns raised, aiming at the beast as it flew towards them. The scent of the railguns heating, energy flowing through the coils. Steam rising through the small cooling vents, a faint crackling sound. The hum of energy grew louder as the barrels turned a glowing dull orange. The beast descending. Its black shadow larger and faster. "It's now or never," Mikoto whispered. "On my mark."
"Ready, mistress," Vita acknowledged. The others nodded. Vita, Aya, Nya, and Gullah raised their weapons, barrels humming and smoking. "On my mark," Mikoto reminded them.
The beast rushes towards them, quaking the ground like a fighter jet soaring over the trees. The little ones huddled closer together. Vita fretted her brow, sweat beading on her brow. "Mistress? Are we.."
The beast drew nearer and closer. Its predator focus, unwavering, as it charged forward. Mikoto stepped closer to the edge and raised her hand. A confident smile played on her lips. "Now!" she said coolly.
The barrier surged like a tidal wave, engulfing the little ones and charging towards the beast. It had no time to avoid the electric wall crashing towards it. It slammed into the electric barrier, ricocheted upward, dropped, and crumbled into a heap as it crashed to the ground.
A stunned silence swallowed everything. Vita smirked, dropping the nose of her railgun towards the ground. Aya, Gullah, Nya stared, mouths opened. The others, still as stone statues, and in awe.
Mikoto Misaka had set things in motion. Hearing the pleading voice of whoever or whatever was asking her to save her daughter. It attacked once in a warning. Everyone spread out, and Mikoto stayed close to the little ones. Its subsequent attacks were away from the little ones. And running over the data was when she knew. Mikoto whispered, and Vita had heard her.
She created a dome barrier around them to the garden's edge. She couldn't go any farther into the garden. She didn't trust what she was sensing. The mass underground. The others may have noticed, but no one said anything. The air became cooler and cleaner to breathe. And then she pushed the barrier out like a battering ram. Enough said.