Guardians Downfall Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Location: Aegis, onboard Military Transport Vessel Unity
Date: November 25, 2776
The Captain of the Unity, Taylor Mendoza, sighed as he watched hundreds of gunships fly towards his ship. Leben had been under attack and just now they decided to bring these things on board his ship and send them off to the battlefield. Talkenshi, beasts that would more than likely be capable of tearing through the men on his ship, and had the appearances of werewolves, scared the hell out of him. The young male Human tore his gaze away from the viewscreen and studied the small data pad in his hands, Scrolling through all known information on the Talkenshi, plus battle reports from Leben. The good news is that the Serenity was able to score an eighty-five starship kill by using an antimatter missile. God only knew how well the Pelzigan and Human Governments would take to it, especially seeing that, as of late, they had taken a strong stance against super weapons for fear that it would do more harm than good. Given Human history, it was typically causing more harm than good, more fear, with super weapons. The enemy forces were now outnumbered however there was no telling when reinforcements for the enemy forces would, or if, arrive to bolster their numbers. According to intelligence, the vast majority of the Lothian fleet was currently above Leben, fighting for their lives, slowly getting backed into a corner. The few hundred Human vessels that had sided with Admiral Whitcomb were beginning to be either crippled, or destroyed.
"Captain Mendoza..." Said his first officer, Commander Roland.
Mendoza looked up at him with his piercing blue eyes and nodded, "Go ahead Commander." He said.
"Remaining Talkenshi have been brought onboard, all stations report green sir." Commander Roland stated.
Mendoza took a deep breath, then nodded exhaling, "Take us away to the battlefield then Commander." He ordered.
Their Helmsman started to run all calculations for their jump, when he was ready, he said "Jump initiating Captain....now!"
With a flicker of pseudo motion, the Unity and the support group that was attached to it flickered out of existence. Within a matter of seconds, they reappeared over Leben. The ship shook violently, alarms and klaxons wailing. "Report!" Shouted Mendoza.
"Taking heavy fire sir! We exited Jump directly in the middle of the battle!" Reported the Helmsman
Damn! How the hell did they screw up the calculations?! They were supposed to exit Jump just outside the battlefield and then use a series of safe zones to get to the planets surface and land the ship! "Shields?!" Mendoza shouted.
"Shields are down to seventy percent!" Shouted his Tactical Officer. Suddenly, one of the sensor stations monitors blew out, the crewman that was stationed there screamed in horror and pain as they flew out of their chair and landed on their back, a piece of shrapnel embedded in their skull from where the monitor blew out.
"Get us towards the nearest safe zone!" Mendoza shouted as the ship shook once again.
"Volley of torpedoes just struck our engines! Leaking coolant!" Reported his Tactical Officer.
This wasn't good, at this rate, they would be dead in the water soon, and the Talkenshi wouldn't be able to get to the surface of the planet. Mendoza examined the bridge, crewman hard at work at their stations as the ship continued to shake violently. "Commander Roland, tell the gunships to deploy! Lieutenant, maneuver the Unity into a position where we can act as a buffer between the oncoming fire and the gunships! Evacuate all non-essential personnel!" He ordered.
"Sir?" Asked Commander Roland.
"Shields down to fifty percent!" Reported Tactical.
"Just do it! We won't be able to transport them all the way to the planet's surface. Best we can do is cover them as they launch!" Mendoza shouted as several more consoles on the bridge blew out, a few more crewmen screaming out in surprise and pain. At the rate the fight was going, with the amount of fire coming at them, the Unity would be unable to cut through the fight and make it in one piece. Best he could do is use the ship as a shield for the gunships and buy them as much time as he could. "Report on support ships?!" He said.
"Two of the five ships were immediately destroyed!" Reported Commander Roland. "The Endeavour is venting atmosphere, Normandy is dead in the water being slammed with torpedoes, and the Trucado is evacuating its personnel!"
Mendoza gritted his teeth. "What about the gunships?!" He asked.
"They have deployed as well as majority of the Unity's escape pods. All non-essential personnel have been evacuated!" Shouted Commander Roland.
"It's been an honor!" Shouted Mendoza as a section of the floor blew out, sparks flying and dancing across the bridge. One of the monitors next to their helmsman was now on fire. This was it, he thought, I did my duty.
......................
Grim watched through the canopy as the Unity's hull began to disintegrate and blow away with each successful hit from the enemy ships. He bowed his head towards the Unity, wishing them a better time in the afterlife. The Gunships pilots continued to maneuver the gunship through the plasma and torpedoes that were streaking across space. "How much longer?" Grim asked, calmly.
The pilot looked up at him, a tight expression on their face. "Nearly through! ETA Is thirty minutes!"
Grim gripped the pilots seat as they made a series of maneuvers that spun the ship every which way, avoiding almost getting hit by plasma and torpedoes. The debris of hundreds of ships floated in front of them, the bodies of the ships crew drifted through space. Soon, Grim thought, he would be able to fulfil his duty as a Talkenshi, and help the Protector Bloodline.
................................
Lupin had arrived to pick up Akutenshi and his team, and they were speeding off towards the town where the temple resided at. He had read through most of the information they had on the location, and shook his head. It was hard to think that a myth, like Sin, was real. He looked over at Haki, his fur was matted with blood and grime, and he looked exhausted, just like the rest of them. The tide of battle had turned, they stood a chance now, but they still had a long fight ahead of them.
Within the next hour, they arrived at the Town along with a full squad of marines. They exited their dropships, with Lupin behind Akutenshi, and they slowly moved their way through the village. There were bodies everywhere, some of them not in one piece. He grimaced as he saw a mother Wolf with her pup, laying on the ground. He thought about his mother, about that day, and shook his head to try and clear it. All of them wearing their full suits of armor, glistening black with red markings for Akutenshi, green for Haki's suit, white for Lee's, Miranda's pure black, and Lupin wearing standard armor that covered his torso and head with shoulder attachments.
Lee slowly moved towards one of the shops that lined the main street of the town, the smell of death filling his nose. He reached the shop and took a look inside, saw the keeper on the floor, dead. An older Male Human wearing a necklace with a cross on it. He sighed and looked back over to Akutenshi and shook his head. They had begun to search the town the best they could while making their way towards the Temple to find survivors, but no luck.
Miranda entered a small tavern, its old wooden door creaking loudly. She stepped into the tavern, its mixture of wooden and metal tables, with some of them, along with the chairs, knocked over. The acrid smell of blood and death permeated from here, but there was another smell. She sniffed, her ears twitched slightly as she heard the sound of small feet. "Miranda to Akutenshi." She said into her com.
"Go ahead." Responded Akutenshi.
"I have something, I believe, running scans now." She told him. She tapped a small button on the side of her helmet and the HUD began to pulsate blue, scanning the area in front of her.
"Roger, I'll be over shortly." Akutenshi said then cut the com off.
She slowly made her way through the tavern's main area, the bar at the back end of it with the tables facing towards it. There was a small holographic video table that displayed a Human game that she had never seen before. The lights within the Tavern were flickering, most of them out. She looked to her left then her right and suddenly saw a small heat signature appear. "There you are." She said, quietly, to herself. She slowly made her way towards the heat signature, which was hiding behind the bar, scanning the area for any hostiles with her weapon. She reached the bar then looked over the counter and behind it, and gasped. There, huddled against the rows of alcoholic beverages, was a young Ferret, shaking. "Miranda to Akutenshi, I found a survivor. Ferret Pelzigan, unsure on gender yet." She said into her coms. There was a quick reply from Akutenshi, and then silence. "Hey there." She said, calmly towards the small thing. "It's ok, I'm not going to harm you."
The little Ferret looked up at her, and Miranda could then tell it was a little girl with a few spots of blood caked onto her clothing and fur. She started to whimper then reached for one of the bottles and brought it up at Miranda's face screaming in rage. The bottle collided with her helmet and she grunted as the force of the impact shattered the bottle over the helmet and left a little knick in it. Miranda stumbled backwards, shaking her head as the young girl leaped on top of the counter then off of it and made a run towards the door. "Wait!" Miranda shouted to her.
Suddenly Akutenshi appeared in front of the young girl and caught. She started to kick and scream at his emotionless visor, cursing him. "Enough!" He shouted at her, the speakers of his helmet amplifying his voice. "We aren't here to hurt you, calm down!" She continued to hit his helmet, kick his at his legs, and scream at him. He sighed and took one of his hands off her and placed it on his helmet, then took it off revealing his matted fur. "We're one of you!" He said, and she stopped panicking.
"It's alright." Miranda said. The young girl turned to face her, then quickly went to hide behind Akutenshi. "Both of us are the same as you." She said, slowly taking her helmet off to reveal her matted white and red fur and her black eyes staring into the young girls barely visible eyes.
She slowly nodded towards Miranda and came out from behind Akutenshi, gripping his left paw tightly. Akutenshi smiled a bit, and squeezed her small paw lightly. "Are there any other people?" He asked her. She slowly shook her head to them, and Akutenshi nodded. "Miranda, could you take her back to the shuttle, get her situated. I'll continue onwards to the temp-"
Suddenly the coms crackled and Lee's panicked voice came through. "Akutenshi! We have contacts! Lots of contacts!" Lee shouted.
Akutenshi growled. "Get her to the shuttle now!" He ordered, she nodded to him and reached out a paw to the young ferret. "Lee, this is Akutenshi, What's your location?!" He said into the coms as the young ferret took Miranda's paw.
"We're just outside the temple! A lot of Lothians decided to say hello!" Lee responded. "Haki has been hit and Lupin's men are being pinned heavily!"
Akutenshi swore as Miranda and the young ferret ran off towards the shuttle. "I'm on my way!" He said into the com before turning it off then sprinted down the street towards the center of town.
He could hear the gunfire, could hear Lee and Lupin shouted out orders to the remaining men, and below that, the screams of Haki. He howled in rage as he leaped upwards to one of the rooftops, not fully knowing what he was doing, let alone how he was able to leap so high, and landed onto the nearest roof top and began to run across it and jumping to the next one. Within a matter of seconds he could see the exchange of gunfire. He bared his teeth as he leaped off the roof and towards the center mass of Lothians. The closest one to him seemed to gasp in surprise as he lashed out at it, his claws somehow getting through it's scaley neck and tearing it open, blood pouring out of the wound as it reached up trying to cover the gash and falling down. He let out a primal howl of anger as he aimed the plasma rifle towards the small group that had taken cover behind a small set of barricades and opened fire. Their scales melted under the extreme heat and they let out loud screams of agony as they fell over, their wounds cauterized before much blood escaped.
Suddenly a shot hit the paw that was holding the rifle, and he winced as the weapon flew from his paw. He snarled and reached to his wast where a small handle was at and flicked a small switch on it. He began to pull it away from his waist and a black blade formed, nanites taking shape and refining the blade to a hardened form and he leaped towards the Lothian that had fired and sliced straight through him. Blood sprayed into his fair, and onto the chest of the armor he was wearing. He saw another Lothian that had backed away a few feet and was aiming at his chest, and Akutenshi raised his right arm towards the Lothian and felt the magic build up within him. The Lothian fired several shots that turned into, what appeared to be, red dust that floated around him. The Lothian panicked and continued to fire at Akutenshi unsuccessfully. Akutenshi bared his teeth at the Lothian, then flicked his wrist and the swirling red dust reformed into multiple shards of plasma that slammed into the Lothians chest, then detonated leaving a gaping smoldering hole in it's chest.
Several other shots hit his right shoulder, damaging the armor. He turned to face the last five Lothians who continued to fire at him. Without even raising his right paw towards them, the plasma turned into the same red dust that it had before and swirled around him. He looked directly at the group, and multiple large shards of plasma pierced through the five Lothians and detonated leaving almost nothing left of them.
Akutenshi gasped and suddenly, he was aware of what he had done. Beforehand, it felt like he was only there for the ride, watching but not believing what was going on. Could this be the power of the Protector Bloodline? He turned to where Lee and Lupin were with their group and saw that they had been watching in awe. He then examined the area around him and realized that, it wasn't just the twelve he recalled killing, it was more along the lines of twenty Lothians. He took several deep breaths then walked over to Lee. "Where is Haki?" He asked.
Lee pointed to his left, and Akutenshi could see Haki, on the ground, his right shoulder armor disintegrated and a black smoldering shoulder along with several other punctures along his mid-torso, trickles of blood going down the armor and to the ground. "Lupin, get Haki out of here, we found a survivor, a kid, she is with Miranda at the shuttle." He ordered.
Lupin stared at him, "What about you and Lee?" He asked.
Akutenshi sighed, "We still have eight other marines with us, and Miranda can rejoin us once you've taken off. You need to get the girl and Haki out of here now and to safety." Akutenshi said. Lupin stood there for several more seconds then nodded in acknowledgement and then began to lift Haki up and drag him towards the shuttle. "Lee, the rest of you, let's go." He ordered.
They entered the temple, and Akutenshi let out a quiet gasp as the bodies of the monks hung by metal pikes that had recently been placed in the center of each row of seats with a priest, his once glistening white robes now smothered with red blood, was placed at the other end of the church. Everlont, his father, did this. Akutenshi snarled as he made his way down the row of benches until he reached the piew where the priest was hung over by the metal spike. He bowed his head towards the priest and muttered a quick prayer to him, and the monks of the temple. "He will pay for this." Akutenshi said. He wasn't very religious, but Akutenshi was spiritual. Despite what his job was, he still valued life, still thought that everything had the right to live, except the Lothians. The monsters of the night that slaughtered without remorse or regret.
Lee walked up behind him and placed a paw on his right shoulder, and patted him gently. "Where do we go from here?" Lee asked.
"Give me a minute." Akutenshi said as he tapped on the small computer mounted on his right wrist and a map was pulled up. "There is a set of tunnels to our left that go down beneath the temple. If what I read was correct, that should be where our objective is at." He said. Lee nodded. They motioned for the marines to follow them, and walked over to the stone wall and Akutenshi placed his paw on it, and found a stone that was protruding out of the wall and pushed it in and suddenly a hidden door lifted up. They entered the dimly lit tunnels and slowly made their way down them, and after about thirty minutes came upon a large circular room with the flags of old Leben nations hanging on the walls and a large metal spire at the center of the room. Akutenshi motioned for the marines to take up guarding positions as he and Lee walked down to the center of the room. It was well lit by torches that seemed to have been burning when they entered the room, and Akutenshi saw that, on the metal spire, were a set of inscriptions that were etched into it.
They were of the old Pelzigan language, and he could just barely make out what they said. "Here lies chaos." He said out loud, "A being made by the gods, but of which they could not control. The only way to successfully stop chaos, was to seal it away. The ways of old may pass, however this shrine may not be disturbed, less chaos, once again, awakens." He licked his lips and gently bit them. He examined another set of scriptures and then said, "This, Lee, is the spell that keeps this Sin contained." He placed a paw gently on the scriptures and examined them closer, and his eyes widened. He noticed that, at the bottom of the spire, the scriptures had been removed somehow. "Gods no...." He said softly. He began to try and remember what to do if the scriptures had been erased when the ground shook violently throwing everyone onto the floor. He winced as a loud roar could be heard through the ground.
"The hell was that?!" Shouted one of the marines as the ground stopped shaking and they slowly got to their feet.
"It's Sin!" Akutenshi responded. "We're too late! Everlont already erased a part of the scriptures! The barrier that contains him is failing!" Akutenshi could feel his heart racing, remembering what The Lord of Time told him. If Sin was truly being released, what hope do they have of stopping him?
The ground shook once more, but this time sections of the ceiling began to cave in. "Everyone, get out of here now damn it!" He shouted. They all began to run back up the tunnels and into the temple then out onto the streets as sections of the temple crumbled away. Akutenshi watched as a massive claw emerged from the ground. The sky above them darkened and began to crackle with thunder as streaks of lightning crossed the sky. The bolts of energy were blood red. Another claw rose up from the ground and dug into the ground and Akutenshi watched, his mouth wide open in shock as a head slowly rose from the ground. It was like a mixture of a dog and a dragon with silver looking scales, short snout, and blood red eyes rose from the ground.
"I am free!" It shouted, it's mouth opened as it spoke. "The gods, the Protector Bloodline, I am free! They have failed." It's body slowly rose out of the ground, massive wings stretched from it's muscular body, preparing to take off. The air around them seemed to chill, the wind beginning to pick up as the blood red bolts of lightning struck into the ground. Akutenshi grabbed hold of Lee and brought them down to the ground as the massive monster, at least now, outside of the ground, appeared to be as large as a war frigate, took off. The sheer mass of its wings beating against the ground, the air it generated, flattened almost all of the buildings around it and it took off.
"Oh gods!" Lee screamed in horror as the sound the wings made reminded Akutenshi of thousands of fighters screaming through the air at top speed.
"Hold on!" Akutenshi said as the bodies of the marines flew past them, all of them screaming and attempting to grab hold of something. Within a matter of minutes, the monster had taken off, but was not heading towards the city, but further away, towards what was once known as the badlands. The two of them slowly got up, and they watched as the clouds began to part, and Akutenshi could feel the corrupted magic that flowed through the area. Lee began to breath heavily, then doubled over and vomited, then started to cough. "We need to find any surviving marines and get out of here." Akutenshi said. "The corrupted magic aura here is not good for you Lee."
"And what about you?" Lee asked. "Why aren't you being affected by it?"
Akutenshi sighed and shook his head, "Don't have the time right now to explain, come on."
.................................
Location: Lower orbit of Leben, Talkenshi dropship.
Grimm snarled as he saw the swirling black clouds with blood red lighting begin to dissipate. Sin was awakened, the bringer of chaos. "Take us down to that location, where the storm just dissipated." He ordered the pilot.
"But sir, we have orders to take you to Wachter immediately so the higher ups can deploy you where you're needed." Responded the pilot.
"I care not for what your higher ups want, something far worse is happening, and we need to get to that location." Grimm said, anger in his tone.
"I'm sorry sir, I can't." Responded the pilot.
Grimm nodded, "Very well then." He said as he walked back into the cargo area of the dropship. "All of you, be ready." He ordered. Every Talkenshi got up and began to equip the gear they had been given, which included thruster packs, and Grimm reached over to the panel on the right of the door to the cockpit and hit a button to close the door. It closed and then sealed itself, he then punched the panel.
"The hell are you doing?!" Came the pilots voice over the communications.
"Our job, just like you do yours." Responded Grimm as he opened the hatch that lead out. A gust of wind blew in, and Grimm could smell death in the air. "Tell your higher ups that we will see them later." He said as one, by one, the Talkenshi leaped out of the shuttle. Behind their shuttle was another carrying another group of Talkenshi who had taken the same action. He leaped out of the shuttle and felt the wind whipping against his fur as he sped towards the surface of the planet. He knew what his job was, to hell with the Lothians, a bigger threat was at hand.