Chapter 20
The battle at Fort Daggerpoint was a grueling meat grinder on both sides, but the NKR managed to break through due to about half the fort's forces fighting to finish off the remains of the raiders in the region. With them about to return, most of the NKR's army stayed to secure the location while a small team broke through to secure the center and hopefully find Dee.
The team was led by Lieutenant Zade and consisted of: Sergent Lauren, Annai Oran, Helios, Melany, GR-0-WL and Cambu. The six of them stormed across the bridge where Dee had first been ambushed with Helios at the lead, fighting through the Ultra-Hybrids that had been set loose to try and stop them and even the three Mewtwo that had been Dee's guards sent to reinforce the defense.
They finally arrived at a massive door at the end of a security checkpoint. Zade checked the computer at the side of the door, "Not encrypted, could be a trap."
Helios gripped his assault rifle as his tail flame flared up, "We'll go through anyway!" A chorus of agreement followed his declaration.
"Everyone get ready," Zade entered the door command then stepped back as the giant door slid down into the floor.
Beyond the door was a massive chamber the back half of which was filled by a massive machine that sparked with white energy. Guzma and Plumeria stood in front of the machine with plasma rifles at the ready and in-between them at the machine's controls floated Lusamine and Nihilego: The Mother Beast.
Lusamine withdrew one of her back tentacles that wore a bracelet around its thin tip from an access port on the machine and turned to face them. Everyone took a step back in shock, other than Annai.
The Mother Beast looked like a massive black Tentacruel with a completely transparent head inside which was suspended the head, arms and torso of a woman with long black hair; her legs dangled below the transparent dome unmoving. The four back tentacles tapered to a small width before a disk at the end and the four front tentacles widened into club-like appendages with four spikes protruding around small eye-shaped gems at their ends.
The Mother Beast grinned at them and spread her tentacles wide, "NKR! Welcome to my Cosmeon Engine! It doesn't have the original power source, thanks to you Lillie, but I finally have the power to open an Ultra Wormhole!"
Annai felt energy emanating from the machine painfully pulse through her swollen muscles as it flared to life and she grit her teeth against the pain, "I'm not Lillie anymore, if I ever was! I won't let you unleash that horror on this world!" she quick-drew her pistol and fired at the Mother Beast which struck the empty dome only for the small injury to heal moments later.
"You can't stop us!" The Mother Beast aimed four of its tentacles at the group as energy gathered at their tips.
Zade had recovered enough to shout "SCATTER!" in time for them to avoid the four Power Gem beams of black energy The Mother Beast fired at them, ripping the floor apart.
"Light em up!" Guzma shouted as he and Plumeria opened fire with their plasma weapons.
Helios barely avoided one of the beams and opened fire on Guzma, who shook from the bullet impacts that bypassed his armor until he finally fell.
Zade took a plasma shot to his combat armor as he tried to dodge around Plumeria's plasma shot and launched a Thunder Wave at her. The moment she was stunned Zade unleashed a thunderbolt which seemed to fry her, though she remained standing. GR-0-WL charged at the stunned woman and bit down on her arm. Plumeria cried out in pain and tried to shake GR-0-WL off only for her arm to be ripped out of its socket!
The Mother Beast was taking a barrage of bullets and plasma from the group before she unleashed a blast of energy that sent everyone flying back, even GR-0-WL with the severed arm still in its mouth. The Mother Beast laughed as her shredded body regrew, save for the injuries to her dangling legs which didn't seem to bother her even as they dripped blood.
"We can't die!" The Mother Beast pointed tentacles at Plumeria and Guzma, both of whom stood up despite their injuries. Plumeria's severed left shoulder stump shook and suddenly sprouted a new arm made entirely of black cables that ended in a hand of six thin yellow fingers while Guzma's shredded head regrew into a horizontal cylindrical shape with yellow teeth and a long black tongue, "With the energy from Ultra Space flowing through my Cosmeon Engine we will never stop regrowing!" Her expression changed from glee to a serious glower, "Because you forced me to activate this so soon my experiments in human immortality will have to start over. But you can feel it, can't you Lillie?"
Annai felt her face pulse with hot energy, it crept up to her brain and started to overtake her thoughts.
Dee felt the pulse of energy too as she opened a side door that led from the corridor she had followed since she left her cell and into the Cosmeon Engine room. She saw the whole scene unfold from the side and had heard what The Mother Beast had said before she opened the door.
"NO!" Melany fired her plasma rifle at The Mother Beast's head, over and over until its microfusion cell was drained. The Mother Beast took most of the shots but dodged her head aside so the plasma bolts struck the other inside of the hollow head of Nihilego before the burned hole regenerated.
Dee's mind raced as the battle resumed with Plumeria shooting electricity from her regrown limb. If Lusamine actually dodged the attack instead of letting it strike her there must have been a reason and The Mother Beast's dangling legs had several bullet holes and were bleeding instead of regenerating… that was it! Dee grabbed two grenades from her belt and pulled the pins before she charged and High Jump Kicked at The Mother Beast's head.
Everyone was shocked when Dee seemingly came out of nowhere and plowed into The Mother Beast's dome and right through to just barely strike her head. Dee yanked her foot out of the rapidly closing hole, shoved both grenades inside and jumped away to land off to the side of the room. The Mother Beast's eyes went wide and she only had time for half a scream before the grenades exploded, and filled the transparent dome with red mist.
"DEE!" Helios' cry was a mix of relief and surprise as The Mother Beast's body collapsed to the floor.
"DON'T SSSSSSSTOP!" Annai's voice buzzed as she began firing at Plumeria, taking a blast of electricity from her, "THEY'RE SSSSSTIIIIIL ALIIIIIVE!"
Bullets and plasma and fired barraged the two Skull leaders. Cambu bared his teeth, memories of his dead tribesmen from Team Skull and The Aether Enclave's invasion rose to the surface of his mind as he charged forwards, wreathed in flames, and plowed into Guzma before he could attack. Helios joined in as they both immolated Guzma with Flamethrowers even as he fell over then Zade shot a Thunderbolt at him which tore through his now weakened armor. Plumeria turned to try and intervene but GR-0-WL pounced on her and knocked her over, tearing at her combat armor until Lauren and Melany got close enough to unload on her.
Dee was about to join in when Annai shouted, "STOP!" the room thrummed with energy as a small blue and white point of light appeared at the top of the Cosmeon Engine and began to expand.
Cambu looked up and gaped at the swirling energy overhead, "Are these the evil spirits of the Ultra Beasts?"
Lauren aimed her assault rifle at it, "It's gotta be where they came from."
"The wormholes opening!" Annai panted as her oversized muscles bulged and she stomped over to the fallen body of The Mother Beast, making buzzing sounds on each S and I sound as she spoke, "We have to stop this machine or we lose everything!" She pulled the bracelet off The Mother Beast's tentacle. "Dee, I need your help!" her nose had turned grey and was becoming pointy.
Dee felt a pain inside her torso as she ran to Annai's side, "What's going on?!"
"Lusamine's Cosmeon Engine is going to open an Ultra Wormhole," Annai's face was turning red and her eyes were losing definition, "I can feel myself losing to the parasite in me. Even you might change from exposure!" She handed the bracelet to Dee, "Only an Ultra-Beast or Ultra-Parasite host can open the access then I can destroy it from inside!" She trudged towards the machine with Dee right behind her and pointed to the access port that The Mother Beast had used to turn it on.
Dee slid the Bracelet onto her right wrist, "What about you?" She felt another wince of pain as the machine pulsed again and the Ultra-Wormhole grew larger, strange noises starting to issue from inside.
"I'm too far gone and this can only be stopped by destroying it now." Annai tried to smile with what was left of her vanishing face, "Either I die or go to Ultra-Space where I will belong. Hurry then run!"
Dee stuck her right hand into the access port and just tried to 'will' the hatch to open. The display flashed the words "Ultra-Beast recognized" before the hatch slid open and Annai stepped inside. The door sealed shut as soon as Dee pulled her hand out and watched as Annai's face inside was almost completely overtaken by a long steel-grey spiked nose before she began her work and the machine began to shake.
"RETREAT!" Zade shouted which made everyone run for the exit as the whole place began to thrum with energy that seemed to be sucking at them even as they ran.
The rest of the NKR's company was still mid-battle with returning forces when the sounds of the Cosmeon Engine reached them and a moment later the squad with Dee came charging out with Zade at the head.
"Lieutenant!" a wounded but still standing Captain Jameson flagged them down, "What the hell's going on?!"
"Massive engine about to go critical sir!" Zade shouted without slowing down, "We need to go!"
Jameson didn't argue and instead turned to the Loudred-man next to him, "Send out the order now! Full retreat until the world stops shaking."
"Yes sir!" The Loudred-man took a deep breath then shouted as loud as he could, which only added to the area shaking, "EVERYONE AN EXPLOSION IS ABOUT TO OCCUR! RETREAT AWAY FROM THE FORT IMMEDIATELY! THAT'S AN ORDER! EVERYONE AN EXPLOSION IS ABOUT TO OCCUR! RETREAT AWAY FROM THE FORT IMMEDIATELY! THAT'S AN ORDER!" Before he turned and ran, occasionally shouting the order again and again. Everyone broke and fled, even the returning Aether, Skull and Mewtwo soldiers, knowing what kind of explosion might happen.
Everyone ran as hard as they could, some until they felt their lungs burning from the strain, some tripped or collapsed and were unfortunately left behind. Everyone pushed themselves as hard as they could until they heard a huge explosion that seemed to stop halfway through the sound and be replaced by a massive sucking noise. Fort Daggerpoint shuddered then the whole rock wall where it had once been collapsed inwards with a bright flash of blue-white light and left a spherical hole where rock had once been.
Everything was silent and still.
Dee was tired and rattled but she stood up and looked around, "I think we're safe."
"Same," Lieutenant Zade stood up, "Everyone on your feet!" his shout got everyone to stand up as he turned to Captain Jameson, "I can't see or hear any Ultra-Hybrids, Mewtwo, Aether or Skull soldiers. We're in the clear for now, sir."
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Captain Jameson waited until everyone was on their feet, "Alright, everyone, we're heading back to base. No forced march this time, I want everyone to check with the medics if you're injured and everyone to get back safely and we'll get on the move tomorrow. Lieutenant Zade, get a headcount and casualty report."
Zade saluted, "Yes Sir, my squad took minimal injuries so I'll start on everyone else."
As the sun set Dee and Helios lay together, both too exhausted to do more than cuddle.
"I was so scared I'd never see you again," Helios whispered.
"Me too," Dee hugged him closer, mindful of her chest spike, "They wanted to use me for their experiments. Thanks for coming to save me."
"Thanks for saving us from that monster," Helios kissed Dee and she kissed back, "I love you, Dee."
"I love you, Helios." Their words slipped out effortlessly as they snuggled together and fell asleep.
The next morning, everyone was roused, fed and their injuries checked before they began the long march back to Trovitopolis.
OoOoO
It was over a week later that Dee, Helios, Captain Jameson, Lieutenant Zade, Sergeant Lauren, Cambu, Melany, Ranger Kerry Vargas and Gertrude stood in General Silverman's office with the General at his desk; Gertrude still carried her egg in the harness.
The Aggron-man has just finished hearing the entire report and looked at the group, with those in the military standing in the 'at ease' position. "I'm sorry to hear about the loss of Fort Daggerpoint, we could have used the resources there. But still, that's better than having a horde of Ultra-Beasts running around. Still, we can't leave what's left of Team Skull and the Aether Enclave running free. Ranger Vargas, Captain Jameson, I expect you two to work together to seek them out and eliminated them, and any other Ultra-Hybrids or Mewtwo who don't surrender."
"We can handle that," Ranger Vargas nodded.
"What about me?" Dee could literally see the tension in the room.
"The only ones who know about your parasite are in this room, or dead." General Silverman smiled, "I think we can all keep that under wraps, if what you've said is true then you'll be just fine."
Dee let out a massive sigh of relief and leaned up against Helios, who put his arm around her back.
Lieutenant Zade spoke up, "Sir, now that things have settled down I'd like to request transfer back West."
The General nodded, "In light of your achievements here, I think I can arrange that, I'll send you with the squad that's going to deliver the report once you help finalize it."
The Jolteon-man sighed, "More paperwork as usual. Thank you, Sir." He saluted.
Later the group, minus Jameson, Zade and Ranger Vargas, congregated at the Dubwool Shack for drinks as they shared their plans for the future.
Melany downed a whole bottle before she spoke, "I'm heading West with Zade and GR-0-WL. My pardon should have gone through by now and I want to get out of the frontier, maybe open a repair shop somewhere."
GR-0-WL barked, "I'm sure they'll appreciate someone to guard them at night."
Gertrude rubbed her egg in its harness, "I'm staying here, Alex should be back from his caravan routes soon."
Helios gave Dee a kiss, "I'm rejoining my tribe, you're still welcome to come with me."
Dee kissed back, "No thanks, I still want to see more of this world so I'm going to sign up with Kalos Express. But I can still come visit all of you in the canyon."
Cambu shook his head, "Sadly not. The Moltres' Embers are leaving this pass and heading East. Chieftain Raz Ooga has told of how tribes in NKR territory can be assimilated and lose their history and we will avoid that fate."
Gertrude nodded, "Its true, the tribes I visited when I was younger were mostly assimilated once the government got around to them, that or forced into reserves and no longer allowed to roam unless they accepted the NKR's laws."
Dee's face fell as she looked at Helios, "So we might never see each other again?"
Helios embraced her, careful to avoid her chest spike, "We will, I promise. We'll find each other again someday."
Cambu turned to Lauren, "Volca, do you wish to rejoin us?"
The Combusken-woman leaned on the table, "Not really, I mean I have a couple years before I can leave the army and I don't want to be a deserter. But I'm not going to re-enlist, maybe become a caravan guard or something after that," she looked at Dee, "Maybe we'll run across each other on the trail."
Dee looked over at Lauren, "Maybe. So I guess this is it, we're all leaving."
"Almost all," Melany nodded to Gertrude, "But that's the way things go." She raised a fresh bottle and invited the others to do the same, "To everyone who made this 'New Orange Pass' safe for the future!"
"TO US!" Everyone raised their glasses and bottles to toast and drink.
Dee and Helios were the first to leave, heading for Gertrude's home.
"One last night together?" The Lucario-woman asked as she undressed, including the access bracelet from the fort: a black band with a multicolored gem set in it.
The Charmeleon-man stripped down as well, "Yeah, but not forever," they hugged and kissed, "I love you, Dee."
"I love you too, Helios," then they lay down together.