DragonZ Chapter 21
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Act IV------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21
--The Final Hours for the Bravados--
>UGAC Raines Adrian, J
>DragonZ Squad
>Elapsed Time: 10:45:23 p.m. (Ark Time)
>Location: The Pendulum Cluster, The Ark
We stood there on the Observation Deck gazing in disbelief. None of us had to say anything to piece it together, The Ark is the Gate to the Heavens and to Hell. None of us wanted to believe it but, we had to prepare for the worst just in case. The Ark can't be evacuated and possibly can't be saved.
A voice came up on the comm, "Ark Security patching an urgent message from Chancellor Black. Patching...now."
The holocron projected an image Chancellor Black standing looking just as shocked as us, "Adrian what in God's name is that?! You better have an answer for this! And...you're not Adrian. Selina I demand you explain this."
"Um sir this IS Adrian Raines." Selina spoke.
"What? BAH forget it; just tell me what that thing is!"
"Sir we don't have time to explain! You need to get Ark Security on full alert and have every ship within the cluster come to our aid!" I instructed him.
"Ok ok! What about the UGAC?"
"We've sent a message to the Sword of the Star but, we've not got a reply. They might not be able to arrive in time sir." Kelsey regretted to say that to him but there was no easier way to put it.
"I...I will inform A-Sec immediately. And...Adrian?"
"Yes sir?" I quickly replied.
"I do not fear death but, please...for us all" He stood firm and proud but, the look in his eyes said it all. He didn't fear death but he fears for his people.
"Sir...Black. I will do my very best."
He nodded, "I will return home and be with my family."
"Ok...see you soon."
"God Speed Adrian Raines." The intercom closed.
I didn't know how to take that wish of luck seeing how I am a God. "Team before we go. I would like to say..." Tears of happiness came in a few small drops from my eyes, "It truly has been an honor serving with you all and..."
Gun interrupted, "Adrian. We are NOT gonna die tonight, we came this far and look at what you have forged."
"Besides Obscurum maybe a freakishly huge Dragon God but you missed one detail...he bluffed." Selina seem uplifted.
"WHAT?!" We shouted in disbelief.
"Selina please say that again!" I couldn't believe what she said.
"He bluffed Adrian! He is a Dragon God and with a massive Dark Energy field surrounding him but, Obscurum himself without that field is ineffectual! Meaning that he has none of his powers that he apparently used to have 40 million years ago! And on top of that vulnerable to one good shot with the Electric Eye. He can still do some massive damage to The Ark and us if we let our guard down."
"Alright! That's what I like to hear!" My eyes glistening with hope.
"One catch..."
"AH! There always a freakin' catch!"
"Sorry Adrian. But the only weak spot I can pinpoint is inside him where the heart should be, and it's extremely small I can't figure out what it is for sure."
"I know who it is..." Wolf was in the back on a bench looking down. "It is Jeremy Bain who feeds Obscurum life."
"How did you know that Wolf?" Kelsey asked.
"We...have a history with each other. As children we grew up together parentless. We were trained in the Siberian Arts of Assassination and Black Magic. We were partners throughout the school and contracts. He used Black Magic and I used my bear hand. We were known across the galaxy as The Magician and The Gunslinger."
"That...was you?" Gun leisurely sauntered over to him looking him in the eyes. "You...you killed my father?! NO!" Her efforts to beat his face in were futile. She did it without any strength. She loved him too much.
He looked up at her, "Gun I am sorry but there is more to this. One day he became so hell-bent on discovering who we were and why our parents were gone for all of our lives that it consumed him and he accidently opened a portal to, now I know, Obscurum's Prison." He began to weep now. Something deep inside him was surfacing, "Adrian...when he revels himself...I...I want to be the one to put him away and send him to Heaven."
"Ok...ok Wolfgang..." I whispered.
He reached into his jacket and with one hand he pulled out a book labeled 'Siberian Art of Black Magicka' and with the other he held a necklace, "He...was more than a friend to me...more than a brother..." He sniffed and stood up crying now but with a smirk. "He...We...we were mated for life Jeremy and I."
Wolfgang's tears showered out of the corner of his eyes now and smiling. "That's why you fought in all those wars. Drank yourself to death...Oh Wolfgang..."
"I need no one's pity, I feel no shame in revealing my mate. He is still of good heart I know it; he can't just do this all for his one personal gain. I know him."
I thought to myself for a moment, that's why when he killed me he reached out for my hand. "We believe you Wolfgang. Are you very sure you can kill him?" I spoke.
"Yes. There is a Blood Magic that the teachers would not teach us..."
"Blood Magic?! But that is forbidden in ALL forms of teaching!" Sasha spouted not in fury.
"I know...that's why I'm going to learn only ONE ritual. It will take his life...and mine."
"NO! YOU CAN'T! YOU'VE GOT SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR! PLEASE I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO!" Gun for the first time I seen with mine and Sasha's eyes, cried heavily into him.
"Gun. I am a Sinner...I must be punished for my sins...and besides. It wouldn't have worked out between us...but know this...when I am gone...I will watch over you." He looked back up at us, "I will watch over you all..."
"Sir. I don't mean to break this up but, Obscurum is still approaching The Ark." Selina had regret in her voice.
"It's ok Selina...it's time for them to go anyways." Wolf however said without regret. "I need you all to buy some time for me to learn this, shouldn't take but five or seven minutes to figure out how to do it once." He joked.
"Ok. What's YOUR plan Wolf?" I asked gung-ho.
We gathered around the holocron and Selina projected The Ark and Obscurum, "I need all of you to be in both the Dragonflies and Arwings, and bringing his barrier down. Once his barrier is down try to open a hole in his chest for me to enter. Once I'm in, I'll perform the ritual. But here's the catch..."
"Again with catches..." I sighed in aggravation.
"Yeah and you're NOT going to like this. I need Obscurum to open the Gate to Hell..."
"WHA! NO WAY IN...just no way, I cannot allow that!" I shouted.
"LISTEN TO ME DAMMIT! I need him to open it so we can permanently dump his body in there. He's not going to want to go in there so that's where the Electric Eye comes in. Selina you over-charge that thing to where it acts like a battering ram. Once I know we're in Hell, Adrian you need to close the Gate, you're the only one who has that kind of power."
"But you'll still be inside Obscurum! You'll be letting yourself into Hell!" Fox pointed out.
"Then that is my fate. I would rather dam myself to Hell than anyone else. Does everyone know what they are doing?" Only silence. No need for a yes answer. "Then may Fate and Destiny be upon our side tonight. Go now, there isn't much time to waste."
We all sprinted down to the hanger bay and readied ourselves for one last fight. Taking in one last breath of calm before the storm. Wolf and I stopped and looked into each other's eyes, "Wolfgang...I...huh I don't know what to say."
"What is there to say? We have said enough throughout these years. Just having you by my side is enough."
"Not for me, I never knew about you and Jeremy and now that I do it's like...all the relationship problems I've cried over seem like nothing compared to yours."
He pulled me in hug a passionate brotherly hug, "Adrian don't worry about it. Just promise me something."
"Anything..."
"You close that Gate with me in it. Will you do that for me? Without sorrow?"
"I will..."
He pulled me off hi but still holding on to my shoulders, "Promise it Adrian!"
"I promise. Upon my honor, duty I will close that gate."
He pulled me back in now in a loving manner, "Call me a Sinner, call me a Saint, call me your favorite, call me the world cause I don't want you to hurt. That's all that I can say..." I began to cry, "So I'll be on my way..."
I cried like a baby on his shoulders, he was like a brother to me and for him to just sacrifice his life for billions of people was just so overwhelming. "Wolf...I will miss you." I uttered.
"I won't...I'll be watching over you especially." He chuckled a bit and wiped the sadness from my face. "Now go Adrian. We have a God to kill."
I nodded and instantly ran into Slippy, he was holding a suit of armor that I saw the rest of the Squad wearing. I gazed at the armor, its metallic dark blue with two blood red stripes that ran parallel and vertical down the chest. On the back plate were two upside down u-shaped that extended up and hit a point and continues down, wing covers they were. The helmet matched my entire head perfectly except for my horn which there were two holes at the top for them to reach through. Finally, on the chest piece was an emblem of the upper half of a dragon, its wings curved and pointed upward and his head pointed to the right a bit seeming to gaze into the sky, under it were the letters UGACDZS, "United Galaxy Alliance Corp. DragonZ Squad."
"Wow..." Was all I could say. It was astounding to see. I grasped it firmly in my hands, caressing it like an infant; this was the one thing that made me feel alive. An arrow piercing my chest and filling my thoughts with hope and content. The armor its self was lighter than a feather.
"Adrian check this out." Fox aimed his pistol at Falco's chest and fired. I flinched but, I saw that Falco and his armor were unharmed.
"What?"
"The armor has a light barrier coating it. I used the same tech that I used to make the Electric Eye with. All the suited have 2 oxygen tanks that last up to 8 hours in space, A.I. interface to where Selina can give you battlefield statistics. For a couple of examples, enemies are red, allies are green, and civilians are blue; and one cool feature to the helmet is that you don't have to use a scope, the helmet has 5000x zoom." Slippy explained.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yup. If you had to, you could pick out a tick through a K-9's fur. And with yours I modified the suit to transfer power from a nearby source to your body to give you that little 'extra' kick in you Element Bending. And also with your cybernetic eye, you can use as a laser designator, and a really cool feature, a remote hacking device just in case." Slippy briefed.
"Wow..." I was still blinded by the suits capabilities. "You really went all out on these suits haven't you?"I asked him as he chuckled a bit and had a hand behind his head scratching it. "Well thank you...for everything you have done for me, the crew, and the galaxy. If we survive this, I've got some contacts that would be more than happy to learn your..."
He stopped me by waving his wrench in my face, "Uh uh. My work is for the crew only, and if anyone else got hold of my equipment then they'll just make a copy and take all the glory."
I chuckled a bit, "Wow Slip...stubborn little frog aren't ya? Well I've got work to do and so do you."
"Got it boss."
We all packed ourselves into the Arwings and Dragonflies and prepared them for launch. The roar of the engines, the veering of the guns charging, and our prayers were the only sounds. "Opening hanger bay doors." Selina's voice was heard inside our cockpits as the door slowly revealed the vacuum of space.
"Through death lies honor..." I began to whisper to myself, "Through honor lies glory. Through glory lies victory." The door had finally opened once I finished. No need for a command to launch, we just did anyway. The final battle had begun. Our ships flew forward with a sudden burst of speed, 200 mph it read on the speedometer. Obscurum was slowly hovering toward the center circle of the Ark, which was probably the Gate into Hell and The Heavens.
We could see A-Sec craft trying to fight it off in the distance, they're tactics were just as good as a blind marksmen. "DragonZ Squad to A-Sec come in over." I called.
"A-Sec here we are a little busy as you can see at the moment!"
"Which is why we are here to help. We need your flyboys to distract him while we hit him in the weak areas over."
"And who are YOU, giving orders to me?!"
"Adrian James Raines over."
There was a quick pause, "Shit...uh...says you are under command of uh hehe the...the Chancellor...uh hehe sorry about that sir um I will give the order to distract out."
I didn't laugh nor chuckle at his misunderstanding. Instead we all flew into the battle and began our assault on Obscurum. "Use the Gauss cannons to punch at him and the guns to draw his attention elsewhere." I ordered to the squad, "A-Sec, I need those AA batteries online and firing none stop at him."
"Uh sir yes sir!" Instantly, the batteries came online and without hesitation fired repeatedly at Obscurum. We could hear Obscurum roar in pain as they pummeled him over and over, Sasha flew in and landed a gauss shot in his mouths making Obscurum roar louder in greater pain.
"Haha! Sucks doesn't it ya limy fuck!?" She screamed.
"Remember guys we need him to open the Gate to Hell in order to push him in got it." I reminded the squad.
"We gotcha Adrian. We're just softening him up for ya." Falco said.
I saw Foxes Arwing looped higher and higher around Obscurum trying to confuse him. Fox reached his face and fired a gauss shot at the dark matter hole, this made Obscurum grasp the hole with both hands. Now he was pissed as he swung his arms and hands like a fly swatter. Fox reacted and flew in between his fingers. "Holy shit!"
"Now that's flying." Gun yelled. She didn't see Obscurum's jaws coming straight for her.
"GUN LOOK OUT!" Kelsey screamed.
Gun turned see the jaws coming straight for her, "Gun do a barrel roll!!!" Falco yelled.
Gun barrel rolled right to avoid the first set of jaws, the wing tips cut inside his outer jaws and he began to close those up on her. Gun back flipped the Dragonfly and narrowly escaped the second set of jaws and flew off. "OW! THAT WAS AWESOME!" She banged her head and fist pumped the devil horns inside her cockpit.
DAM YOU ADRIAN! You will pay for this dearly! He continued his approach to the Ark's center circle.
"All ship within Ark Space come in over."
"I know that voice..." Kiddo spoke.
"All ships report for duty." Chills ran up my spine at that moment.
"This is Valiant, Reporting in."
"This is Revenge, Reporting in."
"This is White Knight, Reporting in."
"Shadow of Intent, Reporting in."
"This is Hammer of Thor, Reporting in."
"This is United We Stand, Reporting in."
"And this is Sword of the Star reporting in. You need some help Adrian?" Talieus spoke over the comm.
"YEAH DAM GLAD TO SEE YOU! YOU BET YOUR ASS WE DO!" I roared.
"What do you need us to do...oh my god...what is that thing Adrian?"
"No time to explain! Selina give him the load out and have him send every one of his ships fighters out."
"Yes sir!" Selina responded. We returned to the fight at hand. Turning left and right trying to dodge his defensive attacks all while trying to bring his barrier down. Each shot fired was done with of intimacy and anger. We didn't hold anything back, we were giving it our all to bring this thing down. "Sir the Electric Eye is charged and ready. And Talieus has ordered a launch of all fighters."
"Good let's keep pummeling him." Talieus's fighters came swooping like our knights in shining armor, firing away at Obscurum's barrier. We had every bit of fire power aimed directly at Obscurum, from Dragonflies, Arwings and UGAC fighters to AA defense batteries, gauss cannons, and 500 gigawatt bolt guns; but nothing seemed to bring the barrier down.
"Adrian how do we take the barrier down?" Talieus asked.
"Hold fire and wait for my command!" Adrian ordered. Confused all fighters and ships held their fire and waited, all the fighters looped around and waited as well. "FIRE!" Adrian roared and every round, shell, bolt, and all of the above shot out of the barrels of 800 fighters, 8 starships, and 20 well placed AA batteries and came impacting the barrier hard.
Finally after the barrage the barrier came down, and Obscurum was now vulnerable and he knew it. You may have taken my barrier but you will not succeed Adrian! You will FAIL! My world will become and you will BURN! He had finally reached the center circle and begun the opening process.
"Adrian get down there now!" Selina barked into my ear. I yipped and punched down on the throttle, racing toward the center circle. Flying fast and hard, pushing the dragonfly beyond its limits, and the limit I had reached. The Dragonfly ruptured, cleaving its self apart and I flew out into the vacuum of space, and the freezing temperatures stopped at my suit and didn't reach in and kill me, luckily for me I had my helmet on before.
"Shit shit shit...uh Selina a little help!" I pleaded.
"Flap your wings to propel yourself forward. And to gain speed, use your wind bending to capture solar winds."
I did as she instructed and flapped my wings and gradually I began to move forward. I chuckled a bit of how freaking awesome this was and capture a small gust of solar wind, "Ok...uh how about if I do this?" I asked myself and I threw my hands back. Smart move if I was to kill myself, I bolted like a bat out of Hell because of the solar winds intensity. Trying to keep my body steady was like trying to keep a human with full body terets still, just wouldn't work. I was bolting in the right direction but, I couldn't control my flight, nearing my destination at a speed 4 times the sound barrier.
Finally the solar wind gave way but, first law of space says an object in motion stays in motion until halted by an unknown force, the unknown force was a wall and a floor. The hole I made was instantly sealed up by a kinetic barrier to keep air from escaping and I was on the ground passed out. "What the fuck? Holy fucking crap! What is going on?! First this thing shows up and wreaks havoc and now falling...what the hell are you? Hey uh guy or um girl, whatever you are stay with me." His voice faded as did my sight and hearing. I was blacking out.