"Bet you I can beat you back to base!" Naomi turned to face her sister. "Oh you're ready to lose again so soon?" Naomi said with a smirk. Mia shrugged a shoulder and floated a foot off the ground. "To be seen, my loving sister." Naomi turned to see Sarah and Tasha had caught up to them. As soon as she turned, she heard Mia's plasma core activate to full, and blast into the air. She whirled to see her sister, now a dot in the sky. Naomi smiled and shot upwards, chasing her down. "You know it doesn't count if you cheat!" She called through her helmet radio. "Sounds like something someone about to lose would say!" Came the reply. Naomi fired towards her sister. They were flying above a canopy of a widely spread forest. The distance between her and Mia rapidly closed. Mia turned her head to see Naomi almost right behind now, then suddenly pointed downwards, and disappeared beneath the canopy. Naomi's smile grew wider, and she followed into the brush. She spotted Mia zig zagging around trees at full speed, dodging and flipping with the grace of an eagle. Naomi was struck with a sense of pride and happiness at the sight. Her sister was one of the best. Naomi burst forwards, chasing after her. They spiraled around each other, rising and dipping over hills and dodging trees with inches to spare. They came to a small clearing together, flying next to each other and laughing. Naomi looked Mia in the eye as they flew. This is what they were meant for. Mia sped up and catapulted forwards, sailing through the tree line at the edge of the clearing. Naomi followed. The trees here were thicker, and she had to slow down. Mia had flown further forwards, and Naomi couldn't see her now. She flew forwards a bit more, and the trees started to part. She burst through the edge of the trees, and found herself in a battlefield. A gigantic ship loomed above her. She stared up in horror at the hulking mass. A glance downwards and she saw her sister on the top of a pile of rubble, her leg stuck. She flew to her side and frantically clawed at the debris around her leg. "No, no no not again!" She screamed as tears fell down her face. She aimed her weapon and blasted the rubble, trying to remove the concrete and rock. Mia rested her hand on Naomi's. She looked into her sisters eyes. "Mia, don't leave me again!" Mia raised her weapon and fired.
The blast jolted Naomi awake. Her eyes opened and darted, trying to make sense of reality. She was on her back on cool, squishy earth. Her head fell sideways, throbbing with intense pain. Her sight outwards revealed a figure standing above her and facing away. It was a Fencer, firing his massive miniguns into the trees. Another figure streaked above, a Wing Diver, firing salvos of energy and plasma. Another perched on a massive tree branch, a thin green laser spewing from her weapon. She could hear screeching and chittering all around her. The clicks and scratching of insect legs over rock and wood filled her ears. Her soul overflowed with terror. It looked as if the entire forest she could see was alive and moving. Her head rolled back and she stared straight up. Her muscles weren't responding to her mental pleas, "get up Naomi. You need to get up." She sat there, chaos and battle ensuing around her. A glimpse of movement directly above her caught her attention, and the sounds of battle seemed to fade around her. A huge, slimy, elongated figure slithered its way across a branch above her. Naomi spotted countless, arm length yellow legs skittering slowly across the length. They connected to a long, almost translucent body. The figure coiled a short length of its twenty foot body around the branch and hung. It slowly uncurled itself downwards revealing bright red, long and slimy antennae. They waved and curled and swung as it slowly descended towards Naomi's face. Pincers the length of her forearm opened and closed ready to make a meal of her. Evil eyes as black as the void stared down at their next victim. Her voice didn't work, she couldn't call out or scream. The antennae from the monster made contact with her cheek, slithering and curling, and leaving a foul, slimy substance where it touched. The monster's front legs landed on her chest, the length of the beast still hanging from the tree. The creature seemed to study her for a moment, its dark and beady eyes fixed on her face, antennae dragging across her body. It reared, fangs opened.
A scream of rage and terror broke the spell on Naomi's mind, the sound of battle crashed back to her. An ax crunched through the monster's exoskeleton, resulting in an ear splitting screech. The ax was wrenched out and struck again. Over and over the ax was torn and ripped from flesh. Blood gushed and gore flew. The monster was cut in half, its head and front legs collapsing onto Naomi, the other half still hanging from the tree. The corpse was shoved off of her and a woman's figure filled her vision. It was Sarah, covered head to toe in translucent yellow blood. Chunks of meat slopped off her armor as she stood there breathing heavily, one of Naomi's axes in her hand. She held the weapon out. Naomi felt her hand rising, her fingers squeezing around cool steel and leather. She traced her hand down the shaft and felt the inscription on the handle. 'Never.' The sensation of the weapon in her hand centered her, bringing feeling back to her body. She sprung upwards to her feet and studied the war zone. Leonard was practically buried under shell casings as his weapons continued to fire into the trees. Naomi could hear the squelch and crack of rounds finding unseen targets. The forest in front of him was shredded and splintered. A few trees had been felled. Tasha perched on the limb of a tree above, raking her laser back and forth, slicing through the darkness. Sarah had turned around, and was firing off bolts behind her.
With one ax in her right hand, Naomi reached down and drew the other, slightly levitating as she did so. She closed her eyes, and over the course of a second, she felt her world slip. Psionic energy exploded from her brain and down her spine. Invisible power burst from her arms and legs, enveloping her as a whole. She was in tune with every last cell in her body, and those of her armor. Blue plasma fired from her wings as the energy rippled through her very core. She was no longer holding her axes, they were a part of her, an extension of her own flesh. Her eyes opened, tendrils of energy sparking across her irises.
She fired forwards like a bolt of lightning, straight towards a monster that had managed to crawl its way through the defenses. Her right ax came down over her head, crunching and splitting the face of a giant ant. She brought her body up and forwards in a front flip, ripping the weapon from her prey, blood spraying. As she twirled, she let go of the weapon in her left hand, launching it into the side of what looked like a mosquito the size of a mini fridge. The thing was cut in half and the ax embedded into a tree behind it. Her body now pointing straight, she hit the overcharge on her core, flinging her forward at an immense speed. Movement to her right caught her attention. Without even a glance she cocked her right hand and swung the weapon as she flew, slicing through the flesh of a giant spider rearing to snatch her out of the air. The things front legs were cut clean through, and yet another screech pierced the battlefield as the monster fought to keep upright. Following the momentum of the swing, she spun, and brought her feet up, her chest now facing the sky. She planted her boots on the tree her other ax was stuck in, and clasped her hand around the weapon. She ripped the ax from the wooden surface, sending splintering wood flying, and shot towards the spider still spewing blood and screeching on the ground. She brought both weapons down in the center of its eight beady eyes. The weapons cut deep, and the beast went limp. Looking up, she spotted one of the monsters that almost had her for a meal hanging above Leonard as he fired. She speared towards the monster, twirling sideways as she approached, spinning as she blasted through the air. The weapons sliced through the thick exoskeleton like a saw blade through a stick of butter. The beast was promptly cut in half. She came to a stop and flung both of her weapons back towards and past Leonard, striking two of the giant mosquitoes out of the air. Their corpses landed on either side of the Fencer. She flew to the man, reaching down and tearing the axes from flesh. He nodded.
The almost deafening clicks, scratches, and chitters of the monsters surrounding them suddenly faded away in an instant. The sound of silence flooded the space, the only sound being the heavy breathing from each soldier. Tasha flew down from her perch, and Sarah came up behind them. The four of them stood back to back in the clearing, waiting for what came next. They sat there for a good twenty minutes, not one single sound of monsters, not one word spoken. A sudden rustling in some bushes in front of them prompted Leonard's miniguns to start spinning up. "Woah woah woah!" Came a voice beyond the brush. "Make yourself known or we will fire!" Leonard's guns kept spinning. An EDF Ranger burst through the brush and fell to his hands and knees, Immediately attempting to raise his hands and falling on his face. "God dammit." Leonard said as he lowered his weapons. "Holy shit I'm sorry!" The man said, still on his knees and hands up. Tasha walked over and yanked him to his feet. He was shaking. "I-I didn't know we had other teams out here. We heard shooting and-" Naomi cut him off, "We?" She asked with a raised brow. The man hesitated a fraction of a second. "Yeah, we have a base out here." Leonard cut in, "Where is here? What the hell is happening?" The man wore a confused look. "The Amazon? Rainforest? I'm sorry, you don't know where you are?" The group looked at each other, all with worried faces. "We need to get in touch with command, figure out what happened, and get transport out of here." Leonard said as he looked at the soldier. The man fidgeted and said "Um, yeah, I can take you to our base and you can talk to our le- er, commander." There were nods all around.
The team started their way out of the clearing and into the brush behind the Ranger. He glanced back every moment or so. They stepped over mounds of pulverized exoskeletons and mushed piles of shredded meat. Insects lay dead in droves, multicolored blood still dripping from the surrounding vegetation. As the group trudged along, Naomi's mind wandered. How were they in the damn Amazon Rainforest? They were fighting the leader when… that pink light… "Damn bastard." She thought angrily. As she walked and thought, she made the slow realization that it was absolutely silent around her. No sounds of clicks or chitters. No animal cry's, or croaks. The forest was silent. It chilled Naomi to her core. The group walked along in silence for about ten minutes. Leonard slowed his pace and walked next to Naomi. "How are you doing?" He asked softly and with a slightly worried tone, studying the brush around them. She hugged her chest and looked at the ground as she walked. "I um…" she glanced around. "I'm confused." She closed her eyes. The memory of the last time she saw her sister's face flashed before her. Her fists clenched and she looked up, opening her eyes, tears streaming, "I'm fuckin pissed." She snarled. Leonard put a hand on her shoulder and stopped. She looked down at him with wet eyes. He took his helmet off, releasing his full long beard and revealing beautiful silvery white eyes and dark skin. He looked at her, stone faced and stern. "I understand," His voice was soft, yet carried strength. "I lost two of my brothers in that battle." He leaned forward and growled, "I'm pissed off." He leaned back, his voice not faltering. "We will find a way out of here. We will find and kill that bastard." Naomi felt a sting of resolve rise within her. She stood a bit straighter. She wiped her tears and the pair continued after the others. As they walked, Naomi was struck with a thought, "Don't you think it's odd that the monsters just stopped out of nowhere? What happened?" She asked, glancing at Leonard. He strode forwards confidently and turned his gaze towards her. "I'm not sure. These creatures stop for nothing. We should have been drowned in the beasts, especially in a place like this." He looked around, eyes locking on the back of the Ranger leading them. "He doesn't seem too worried about our surroundings." Naomi followed his gaze. The Ranger walked forwards without a care in the world, only glancing back at the group every few minutes. His weapon was slung across his back. "Maybe we're close to the base now. Maybe this area is safe?" Naomi questioned, raising a brow. "We're not too far from where we were just fighting. You couldn't pay me to believe it's safe out here." Leonard replied. Naomi silently agreed and glanced around. The total silence in the forest was terrifying, whether or not there were monsters out here.
The going got easier as they went, the heavy foliage and vegetation seeming to be intentionally cleared the further they walked. As the group continued, a path became apparent beneath them. It wasn't as wide as a road, but was big enough to accommodate small vehicles. Naomi started to see tracks. The path curved sharply ahead, shooting off to the left. The Ranger that was leading them stopped at the corner and waited for the team. He gestured towards where Naomi couldn't see, and with a smile on his face he said, "Welcome to project Rebirth." As the team rounded the corner, their eyes were met with the purest beauty any of them had ever seen. Huge trees with trunks as wide as helicopter pads jutted into the sky and lined the path. Their branches were a lovely deep brown and were as thick as a small car. They dangled low and reached over the path, intertwining with the trees on the opposite side. Bright green leaves hung down over the walkway, some of them falling and fluttering to the ground. Flowers every color you could imagine sprouted from the tree trunks and branches and along the forest floor beneath. As they walked along, the flowers seemed to grow in size. Clumps of the huge, beautiful vegetation dotted the forest, growing wherever it could. The flowers and general foliage soon towered over Naomi as they continued.
"This is amazing!" Sarah almost shouted. She flew up to one of the flowers towering above and gave a long whiff. She fluttered around above the team as they walked onwards. Tasha ran her fingers across one of the massive tree trunks, and even Leonard seemed to be taken back with the sights. Sarah came flying down to Tasha and put a bright blue flower into her hair. With a giggle she floated back up and explored from above. Tasha reached for the flower in her hair but seemed to think about it. She lowered her hand, leaving the bright blossom where it was. Naomi was filled with happiness for a moment. Her team had been through so much in the past couple of days, let alone the past few years. They deserved to have this moment. Sarah dropped in front of her with a bright red flower in her hand. She herself had a green one in her long blue and purple hair. She reached up and placed the red one in Naomi's hair. They held each other's gaze for a moment. Sarah took Naomi's hands in her own. Naomi didn't realize tears were welling again. One trickled down her cheek. Sarah said nothing, she just pulled her friend in and the pair embraced. She sobbed into Sarah's shoulder, thinking of her sister. Sarah pulled away and stared with her deep turquoise eyes. She was crying as well. Leonard walked by at that moment, and Naomi spotted a bright purple flower behind his ear. She couldn't help but let out a chuckle. She wiped away the tears and the pair continued on.
As the Ranger led the group down the path, Naomi could start to make out a tall gate further down. Vines snaked in and out of the links and crawled up the metal face. A fence, shorter than the gate, extended on either side, shooting into the fantasy forest. A high pitched alarm suddenly wailed throughout the beautiful space, and the gate slowly opened. From behind, a small group of five people stepped from the threshold. A woman led the way with four Fencers behind her. Her hands were clasped behind her back and she walked tall and straight. Her short silvery hair fluttered in the slight breeze as she strode forwards. She was wearing a white suit jacket and black pants, and had thick rimmed glasses hanging on her nose. Her clothing was immaculate, not a single smudge or stain. Her face was expressionless, staring straight forwards. Her stride made it seem as if she was floating towards the group. The Fencers behind her had holes in their armor, and were covered in thick layers of sludge and grime. One of their helmets was broken on the lower face, revealing cracked lips and a pointed chin.
The woman stopped about five feet away from the group, staring through them. Her head slowly turned towards the Ranger that led them here. The man stood straighter and his eyes stared forwards. The woman took a small sideways step and raised a hand, lightly gesturing towards the open gate down the path. Naomi swore she heard a soft sigh of relief from the man. Not even acknowledging the team, he slowly made his way to the gate. "Umm excuse me?" Tasha asked. The woman's eyes snapped and locked onto hers. Tasha slightly recoiled. She stared for a long moment, her expression not changing even slightly. She then turned back around, and walked back towards the Fencers posted up behind her, gesturing for Naomi and the others to follow. They started after the woman, her Fencers walking on either side of them down the path. Naomi glanced at Leonard with a worried look. He was stone faced as ever. A chill ran down her spine as they continued. Something didn't sit right with Naomi. The group made their way through the gates and it closed behind them.
The compound paled in comparison to the beauty outside, there only being a single large building surrounded by the tall fence. As they rounded the corner of the building, Naomi could see down its length and past it. There were smaller buildings, a bit bigger than a large shed, lining the fence. The group made for the smaller structures. It was a long walk considering the massive building to their side was extremely long. They finally made it to the 'houses' and the woman leading the way stopped at the first one and gestured towards the door. "Wait a minute." Leonard said as he came up behind her. "We need a way out of here. Not a place to stay." The woman didn't even look in his direction. She just kept her hands up towards the door of the house. "Hey!" He raised his voice to just under a shout and stepped closer. The words rolled out like thunder. "What the hell is going on here? We need transport out of this place!" The other Fencers stepped forwards and blocked his path to the woman. Sarah and Tasha stepped up behind Leonard. "Talk to us dammit! At least let us know who you are and exactly where we are!" Tasha was saying. Sarah was trying to de-escalate. Naomi studied the confrontation from afar. She too was curious where they were, and she did have a few questions to ask this woman. Tasha was getting a little too heated, and even Leonard was shouting now. One of the fencers suddenly pushed Leonard with a force that sent him and his heavy exo-armor backwards and to the ground. He landed on his butt and skidded. Naomi's hands instinctively reached for her axes on her hips. She was about to draw the weapons when a woman's voice came from behind where Leonard landed. "Dad?"