{"sf1_id":863123,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Legacy of the Precursors, Chapter 3: Destiny","author":"Drake_The_Traveller","words":5742,"posted_at":"2015-05-19T00:06:00.000Z","tags":["Action","Anthro","Character Development","Drama","Halo","Human","Sci-Fi","Starfox","Story Progression","Story Series","Violence (not In Yiff)"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/863123-legacy-of-the-precursors-chapter-3-destiny","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/863123","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=863123\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Legacy of the Precursors\nChapter 3: Destiny\nYour destiny is to\ndie but it is what you do in between in life that matters...\n-Anonymous\n \nSix and Varn crossed\nthe expansive bridge and stopped inside a strange courtyard. As anticipated, it\nwas made of the same material that spanned the entirety of the fortress. The\nrain gave the fortress a glowing sheen, and as the spartan and sangheili passed\nthrough the courtyard and headed farther into the citadel, Six ran a passing\ngauntlet across a rain splashed barrier jutting out of the floor. It felt\nsmooth and metallic under the spartan's gauntlet. \"Curious...\" He muttered\nquietly to himself. It did not feel like any natural material he knew of. \nIntrigued, the spartan\nflipped open the hardcase on his right vambrace and typed on the TACPAD that\nlay within. He ran a composition analysis on the partition, scanning it with\nthe device. It would take some time for the program to gain results so the\nspartan closed the case and resumed moving. \nHe found the sangheili\nstanding at a pair of massive doors leading further into the foreign fortress.\nVarn placed a four fingered hand on the doors and was slowly feeling it across.\nAs the spartan made his way over to his companion, the sangheili began to\nspeak, astonishment filling his voice. \"This structure strikes me as\nfamiliar....spartan.\" He may have dropped the Demon title when addressing Six,\nbut he could not bring himself to use the spartan's name. \"And yet....\" He\ntrailed off, removing his reptilian hand slowly. The sangheili looked directly\nat the approaching spartan. \"I can discern no method of opening these gates.\" \nSix stopped next to\nVarn and looked at the doors. He could see no visible switch or handle, and\neven his great strength could not move them, with or without his cohort's help.\nThese portals towered above him, twenty feet in height and composed entirely of\nthe material that pervaded every inch of this place. Nor did the spartan have a\nsufficient amount of explosives to even consider blowing the doors open,\nindeed, until he knew what it was made of, he wouldn't even know if explosives\nwould work in the first place. \nAt the moment, it\nseemed that their journey had come to a sudden and impassible conclusion. An abrupt\ntorrent of rage bubbled to the forefront of the spartan's awareness. He would\nnot...no...could not, accept defeat so soon. Six tightened his gauntlet into a fist\nand brought it crashing down onto the thick metallic doors, provoking a deep\nresonant boom that faded into a dull echo. \nSix's helm lightly\nconnected with the gates and he sighed softly. \nHis journey ended\nbefore it could even begin, but the spartan was not one to give up so easily.\nSix would just have to find another entrance into this accursed fortress. To\nthink that a single set of doors could stop the determination and fortitude of\na spartan was preposterous. \nIn the meantime, Varn,\nwho had been watching the spartan with a curious, began to notice a slow\nprocedural change in their surroundings. A soft blue light gradually emerged\nfrom the epicenter of where the spartan's helmet was, branching out in\ngeometrical lines all across the black surface of the large gates. \"Looks\nspartan, something is occurring.\" \nSix lifted his head,\nseeing the orderly sapphire lines splintering off from where he had laid his\nhelm. The spartan backed up and observed as the cerulean streaks soon reached\nthe edge of the gates and then continued to advance, sprawling across the\nentirety of the visible citadel, outlining it all in a blue hue. Soon, the dark\nand stormy night was given light by the illuminated manifestations. It was one\nof the most remarkable things either individual had seen in their lives. \nAn unexpected clang\nsnatched their attention and they looked back to the massive doors. A vertical\nazure light split it down the center and a ponderous groaning reverberated\nthrough the air as they sluggishly opened, revealing a large darkened corridor\nthat slowly began to fill with a lax blue light, the same pattern of lines\ncrawling along pre-destined paths on the walls. \nIt reminded the spartan\nof UNSC installations that had been mothballed. It had that same feeling of\nabandonment and neglect, as if the owners had up and left in a hurry, shutting\nout the lights and locking the doors. But what really interested the spartan\nwas why they had opened. What had caused such an immediate change? All he had\ndone was touch the gates and he didn't think that was what had done it. And\nyet, where he had placed his head was where the heart of the lights originated\nfrom. \nBut the spartan did not\ncare as much about that, as the result of whatever happened. The doors were now\nopen, and they could continue on inside. Six jerked his helm, motioning for\nVarn to follow and the baffled sangheili complied as the duo marched on into\nthe alien citadel. \nAs they walked along\nthe barren and pristine hall, Six had an odd thought. This thing they had\nentered was leagues ahead of the technology he had seen so far on this planet\nfrom its less than friendly residents. In fact, it appeared to be more advanced\nthan anything he had seen being actively used in the UNSC. The walls and lights\njust screamed future tech. What was this place? What was this world? He had\nnever seen its like before, and he had been to many plants in his service. The\nspartan had many questions, and no answers.\nNoble Six looked behind\nhim to see the elite staring at the walls in wonder. Clearly, he was enthralled\nby it, for what reason, Six could not say. \nThey followed the now\nlit corridor until it branched off into three sections. At this point, the\nSpartan-III didn't know what he was doing, at the moment he was running purely\noff instinct and hypothesis. He felt the need to head to the center of this\nstrange place. \nHe decided on a logical\nconclusion and chose the center tunnel. The deeper he and Varn progressed into\nthe facility, the more changes he began to notice. The corridor was beginning\nto subtly narrow, the process was so slow that he had almost not noticed it. In\naddition, there were large protrusions every couple hundred feet or so, one on each\nside, facing each other. A blue symbol was splashed on the bottom of the\nsquare-like out-crops and they looked like hatches of some sort. \nHe noted that Varn was\ntaking particular interest to those, as if he knew what they were. And so the\nspartan asked him.\nThe sangheili swiveled\nhis head away from his survey and acknowledged his inquiry, mandibles clacking\ntogether. \"I have seen something like this before, but not in the way it is\nhere. But if my speculation is accurate then we have stumbled upon something...magnificent.\"\nThere was a hint of something in the elite's inflection, but he did not know\nwhat. It reminded him of apprehension, or perhaps reverence.\nSix and Varn progressed\nthrough the obviously alien structure and eventually arrived at a colossal\nrotundas chamber with a vaunted ceiling that rose up hundreds of feet in the\nair. Its interior was a dark silvery color, like an ashen black. And in the\ncenter of it all was a pedestal.\nThey approached the\npedestal and stopped. It was the first object they had seen since entering the\nfortress. The plinth stood up to their chests and the top was slanted with an\ninterface on the top. It was roughly in the shape of a hand, but had no\ndiscernable traits apparent. It could have taken any hand of any species. But,\nit was a large hand, big enough for both Six and Varn.\n\"What should we do?\"\nThe spartan asked, looking to the elite by his side.\nThe sangheili took a\nlong time to answer. \"I am uncertain. We have made it this far...\" He dropped\noff.\nSix watched as the elite\nstepped forwards towards the pedestal and hesitantly placed a palm on it. Both\nindividuals sat in silence, waiting for something to happen, but as time\npassed, Varn removed his hand. Nothing had happened.\nBut, a spark of\nrecognition lit up in the sangheili's eyes and he turned to Six. \"Spartan,\nplace your palm on the device.\" \n\"Why?\" He questioned in\npuzzlement.\n\"Because, when you\ntouched the gates they opened. I do not know why, but it is possible that this\nwould work as well.\" Varn backed up, waiting for the spartan to comply.\nSix shook his head but\ndid as the elite had instructed, a strange sense of Déjà vu urge to touch the\ndevice welling up inside him, almost an imposable driving force, and so he\nplaced his gauntlet upon the surface.\nAlmost immediately, it\nlight up brightly, the same blue lines trickling down the stand and spreading\nacross the floors. In tandem, a holographic interface materialized in front of\nhim, the screen filled with incomprehensible symbols. \n\"It is as I thought;\nthis is a temple for the gods!\" Varn exclaimed in veneration, dropping to his\ndigitigrade knees and genuflecting, whispering what sounded like prayers to the\nspartan. \nSix gazed at the\nsangheili in confusion, that is at least until he understood what he had meant.\nFrom briefings, he had gathered that the Covenant worshipped the long dead and\ndecidedly advanced race, the forerunners. Now the spartan grasped why the\nfortress seemed to be familiar. He had seen the forerunner excavations\nunderneath SWORD base, and they held an uncanny resemblance to this place. The\ndeciding variance was the colors, these were far more edgy then the bright\nsilver he was used to. It gave the structure a markedly different feel to it,\nmore along the lines of a derelict military base then an exotic ruin. \nIf he still had contact\nwith the UNSC, this would have been an invaluable find. The possibilities in\ntechnological advancement from an intact and operational forerunner ruin were\ninconceivable. It could skyrocket military technology and allow humanity a\ndistinct fighting chance against the Covenant. But considering there was no way\nto contact the UNSC, if indeed he was in the same dimension as previous, it was\nuseless. \nThe irony was palpable.\nHere was something\nvital to humanities expansion, and it would most likely never see use. Yet, it\nwas possible that it could at least serve him. If there was a starcharts, he\nmight be able to find out where he was, and possibly if he could find a way\nback to human space. \n\"Greetings. I am 266 Indeterminate Warrior. I am the Monitor of Instillation\n17. Oh, a Reclaimer! I have been waiting eons for you to come!\" \nAt the sound of the\nbizarrely cheerful and light tinny voice, Six whipped his head up to the left\nand grabbed one of the shotguns magnetized to his back, leveling the barrel at\na strange spherical object hovering a few feet away.\nThe metallic orb had a\nlarge red eye taking up most of the center of its ebony chassis; it was concave\non three sides and a little larger than the spartan's head. There was a slight\nhumming noise as it hovered close to him, looking down with what could only be\ncuriosity as the orb tilted to the side marginally. \nSix was more surprised\nthat the floating cyclops could speak English, than that it was there.\n\"Reclaimer...wait, why you are speaking English.\" The flabbergasted spartan\ndemanded.\nThe orb bobbed and\nreplied in an airy tone. \"It was rather\nsimple Reclaimer, a quick scan of your cerebral cortex and I was given all of\nthe data I needed. This...English, as you so call it, reminds me of a far older\ndialect. I also detected trace elements of tachyon particles on your persons...most\ncurious...most curious indeed.\" The eye orb muttered to itself, some things\nabout causality and time. Six didn't give the strange things ramblings much\nthought.\nSix shook his head in\nconfusion. What in the hell was a tachyon particle? All of this new\ninformation, while welcomed, was overwhelming.\nVarn looked up from his\nreverential prayers and saw the floating machine. \"This is a holy oracle. They\nspeak the words of the olden gods. But I have never seen one like it before.\"\nHe added, studying the oracle's odd coloring. \nThe monitor tilted its\nred eye to examine the sangheili. \"Ah,\nspecies-37, otherwise entitled Sangheili, it is good to see that your race has\nadvanced as well. That must mean that our directive is proceeding as scheduled,\nmost wonderful news!\" \nVarn shook his head in\nconfusion. \"Directive, what is this that you speak of, oracle?\"\nInstead of answering,\nthe oracle flew in a lazy circle and stopped above the holographic displays. \"Please follow me, we have much to\nprepare!\" The monitor giggled oddly and began to zigzag away, humming to\nitself.\nSix reluctantly turned\nto the elite for advice, considering he had some sort of experience with these\nthings. \"What should we do?\"\nVarn answered with a\nsemi-hesitant frown. \"I believe it would be wise to follow it....for now.\"\nThe spartan shrugged\nand mag-locked his shotgun, following after the oracle. He was not thrilled\nwith the strange little machine, it gave off all the hallmarks of an AI\nsuffering from the long term effects of rampancy, but it also seemed that it\nmight have the answers they desperately needed. Perhaps it could even tell them\nwhere they were and if they could somehow get back to their respective leaders.\nOf course though, that would cancel their alliance of convenience. But that was\na problem to consider afterwards, not that the spartan was not prepared to do\nwhat he had to do.\n**********\nThe cerulean vixen\nwalked through the extraordinarily wondrous halls of the palace, staff in paw.\nShe had heard tales from the CloudRunners that spoke of this obscure citadel.\nAccording to ancient legend, it has stood atop the mountain since they first\nbegan to record history. \nIt is not known what\nrace built the obsidian fortress, but most of the tribes of Sauria consider it\nto be the abandoned home of the gods. And for that reason, very few are allowed\nto enter, and even few have the courage to enter its halls. As Krystal took in\nits advanced splendor, she could understand how they reached such an\nassumption. \nIts hallowed corridors\nshown with a soft and beautiful artificial light, which emanated from the blue\noutlines scrawling along the smooth alloyed walls and gave the palace a\nprimordial and yet cutting-edge air. \nThe vixen was trying to\nfind the earthwalkers that had activated the distress beacon, but so far had\nnot seen them. The signal had originated from somewhere in the citadel, near\nthe far eastern side. And as time crawled onwards and no sight of the earthwalkers\nwas uncovered, her unease was only nurtured. The CloudRunners had also warned\nher of the vicious and warlike sharpclaws that had been building in power and\ndominance across the planet. Something had changed for them and their usually\nineffective assaults had drastically increased in success. Most if not all of\ntheir newfound tactical brilliance could be attributed to their leader a\nparticularly nasty saurian called General Scales. \nSomething had happened\nand he seemed to have gained a knack for waging war beyond what was expected of\nhis species. To compound that startling bit of news, they had recently come\nacross the knowledge for creating firearms, and while crude in nature, they\nwere easily sufficient enough to give them an unnatural advantage over their\nrivals. \nAll in all, it seemed\nthat something was not right here on Sauria and the vixen intended to find out\nwhat that was exactly. \nKrystal walked towards\na large metallic door and watched as it slid open easily, exposing a small\nchamber with a smaller array of machines that baffled even her vast intellect.\nIt was more than alarming to find technology on this world that she could not\ncomprehend. Sauria was a class-C planet, meaning that its locals had not yet\ndiscovered the secrets to metallurgy or the secret to harnessing energy. So a\nplace like this should not be here, and yet it was. \nShe walked among the\nstrange machinery, speculating as to where its origins were derived from.\nPerhaps some race had set up this during the early years of this world's\nexistence. But what race was responsible for that?\nWith questions\nunanswered, she left the odd room and continued in her journey, passing through\nanother series of doors and emerging once more on the outside of the citadel.\nBy this time the rain had stopped and the skies had cleared to unveil the two\nsmall moons that orbited the planet. There soft light inundated the courtyard,\nrevealing a large shadowy mass prostrated near the railing at the edge. It was\none of the earthwalkers.\nSeeing the large noble\nsaurian in their current state, the vixen rushed over to its side. \nShe ran a paw across\nthe dinosaur's flank, trailing across a dozen slashes and lacerations that\nleaked dark red arterial blood onto the floor. She raised her paw, seeing the\nthick and warm coating of blood staining it, and had to hold down the urge to\nvomit. She had never seen so much blood, and it affected her deeply.\nHer paws began to shake\nand she tried to take her attention away from the wounds and focus on the\ninjured dino. It had two dangerous looking horns on its armored forehead and a\nthird on its snout that was broken, split in half down the middle. The weapon\nthat had done that was still lodged in the dinosaur's horn, an axe of some\nsort. The unfortunate creature was too far gone to help, and had been rendered\nunconscious by its injuries. \nShe could feel the\ngreat beast's labored breathing as it gave its last breaths. She crawled over\nto its head and gently placed her paws on it, slowly humming a tune as she\nconsoled it with long caring strokes across its bloodied snout. She serenaded\nthe fallen warrior, and its breathing evened out, the melody easing its\npassing. \nEventually, the great\nand noble saurian gave its last breathe and was still.\nKrystal rose up from\nher crouch near its head, tears tracking down her face. Its death had ripped\nthe barely healed scars of her homeworld's annihilation, reminding her of what\nshe had lost. Sniffling, she cleared her throat and wiped away her tears.\nShe had to be strong,\nfor herself and her lost family. It would be unconscionable to break down now\nafter all she had been through. Krystal owed it to herself and her family to\nsee this to the end, and perhaps then she could rest, but not a moment sooner. \nThis had been a grisly\nmessage, up ahead, there were sure to be sharpclaw, the perpetrators of this\nheinous act. She would have to rely on all of her training and wit if she was\ngoing to survive this planet. \nKrystal whispered a\nfarewell and prayer to the deceased saurian and took her staff off of her back.\nThe cold azure metallic grip of the pole in her paws gave her comfort; this\nweapon had been passed down through her family for generations. And with it she\nwould be able to face any challenge that might be pivoted against her. \nShe turned to face the\ndoor that would lead deeper into the palace and hopefully towards the beacon\nthat had summoned her. Then she could find out what it was exactly that needed\nto be fixed.\n**********\nSix sighed in\nfrustration for the thousandth time since the so called monitor arrived. All it\ndid was lead them farther into the forerunner instillation and ramble on about\nthings that he didn't give two shits about. \nHe was a soldier; all\nhe wanted to know was if he there was a communications room or starcharts that\nhe could use to get in contact with the UNSC. He still had a fight to win, and\nhe would like to know if he was still in it. \n\"This instillation was created by the Didact after\nthe interstellar war with their cre-\" The\nmonitor's rambling was interrupted when Six growled.\n\"I just want to know\nwhere the communications center is, there is one here correct!?\" He barked in\nannoyance as his frayed patience finally snapped. \nThe monitor seemed\nunfazed by his outburst, as it responded. \"Why\nyes of course, every instillation has a communications chamber.\"\n\"Then take us there.\"\nSix ordered quietly, calming himself down. \nWarrior was silent for\na moment. \".....Very well, follow me.\"\nThe monitor flipped on its axis and switched corridors, traveling down one that\nled east, if the spartan's compass feature on his HUD read true.\n\"Finally...\" He muttered,\nturning to follow.\nVarn gave the spartan a\nserious look as he walked in step with him. 'It would be wise to not seek to\nanger the oracle; they have fearsome power at their disposal.\"  \nSix scoffed at that,\nthe little machine was far from intimidating and he doubted it had that much\npower to bear. \"Yeah right, next you'll tell me they shoot lasers from their\neyes.\" \n\"Heed my words\ncarefully spartan; do not play with powers you do not understand.\" \nAt that, the blue\narmored human rounded onto the sangheili. All that repressed rage harbored for\nhis entire life found an outlet. \"Look...Varn; I have a duty to my people. And in\norder for me to do that, I need to get in contact with them. Now I don't know\nwhere the hell we are, or even if we are still in the same universe, but I WILL\nDO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET BACK!\" He snarled at the elite, gauntlets closed\ninto fists. \"Don't forget, it was you're people that sought to destroy us!\" \n\"You may have a duty to\nyour people, but so do I.\" Varn retorted. \"I have given much, lost much, all in\nthe effort to fulfill that obligation.\"\nSix surprised Varn,\npushing him into a wall and wrapping a gauntlet around his throat. The spartan\nused his enhanced strength to lift the alien up, dragging his armor across the\nalloyed wall in a shower of sparks. \"Loss....\" The spartan hissed\nmenacingly.\nVarn tried to make the\nspartan release his vice-like grip, desperately trying to pry the unforgiving\ngloved fingers off of his throat. But the spartan refused to budge an inch,\ninstead leaning his helm to hover scant inches from the elite's jaws. \n\"Because of you, I lost\nmy homeworld when you burned it to ash...because of you I lost my family when you\nand your precious Covenant killed\nthem...because of you I was turned into a monster and lost my innocence...because\nof you I LOST EVERYTHING!\" The spartan bellowed into the sangheili's face. \"You\nare the one who does not understand. The very reason you live is because I\nallowed it....out of some misplaced sense of decency I thought it would be wrong\nto kill you. Do not make me reconsider that.\" \nSix growled as he\nreleased his binding hold on Varn's throat, letting the sangheili fall to the\nground. The spartan scoffed as he turned to walk away. \"What would you know of loss?\"\n\nVarn's rage boiled and\nhe almost activated his blade to run the spartan through. But for all that\nanger, he could not, because deep down inside, under his faith and conviction,\nhe knew the spartan spoke truth. \nThey burned human\nworlds, turning them into ash to cleanse them. They killed human families,\nbecause they were told they deserved to die. They sought to drive humanity to\nextinction as it was decreed by the prophets.\nBut....why? \nWas it because they\nwere indeed the heretics as the hierarchs decreed, or was it simply because\nthey had been told to? It was true, very few sangheili demanded to know why it\nwas that these humans truthfully needed to be silenced. All the prophets had to\nsay was that they defiled holy relics and needed to be purged. \nAnd yet the irony in\nthat was profound. For the hierarchs themselves had tampered with the holy\nrelics long before the discovery of humanity, indeed they had gone to war with\nthem over that fact. So what made it right for them to delegate that power?\nVarn found himself in a\nspiritual crisis, and there was no solution in sight.\nWith a sigh, the\nsangheili rose back up to his cloven feet and moved to follow after the\nspartan, no longer intent on seeing him dead.\nHe would allow him this\none small victory. \n**********\nSix turned away from\nthe elite in disgust. That creature had the gall to tell him what loss was. He\nhad done more, and given more than most of mankind would ever have to. He had\nsacrificed his future, his innocence; he had given all that he could besides\nhis life, which was only a matter of time anyways.\nVarn, he could go home\nonce it was all over, whether the war ended in a truce, ceasefire, defeat or\nvictory. The alien had a home to go back to. Six had nothing. All he had to go\non was his heritage. He could not see himself settling down, having a family,\nalthough at times he wished that was possible. He had heard marines telling\nstories to their fellows about the family they had waiting back home, their\nwives and husbands, daughters and sons, mothers and fathers. \nSix's mother and father\nwere dead, he had no brothers or sisters, and no women would ever love him. He\nwas...fundamentally, a broken man. War would always haunt him, the night terrors\nwould never go away, nor would the memories. He had seen so many die, marines,\nODSTs, civilians, even fellow spartans. Death would plague him; he would never\nescape its icy grasp. \n\"I am detecting high levels of aggression and\ndepression. Are you alright Reclaimer?\" \nSix looked up to see\nthe monitor hovering a few feet away to his right, chassis tilted to the side\nlike a curious dog. \"I'm fine.\" He responded.\n\"That is a lie.\" Warrior\nrefuted simply. \"My scans indicate that\nyou are suffering from a severe psychological syndrome in relation to rage, you\nshould seek assistance as soon as possible.\" \nSix grunted. \"Just get\nme to the communications chamber.\"\n\"Will that cure your\nailment?\" Warrior inquired curiously. \n\"It'll be a start.\" The\nspartan grumbled, rolling his shoulders.\nThe monitor bobbed its alloy\nframe and increased its speed, and the spartan followed, giving a quick look to\nthe sangheili. \nVarn was following at a\nfarther distance than before, but it looked like he was still sticking around.\nHe had a grim twist to his mandibles and walked in a hunch. Six disregarded him\nand turned away, it would take a while before he calmed down. The elite had\nsnapped something inside him, something he had been holding back for a long\ntime. Only time will tell if that was a good or bad thing.\n\"Oh dear, Reclaimer, I am detecting indigenous\nlifeforms inside the communications center!\" The\nmonitor declared in alarm before zooming down the corridor at a higher speed. \nSix and Varn picked up\nthe pace, keeping with the flying orb. \nThe spartan did not\nlike the sound of that. So far the locals seemed to be the bad sort. And if\nthey trashed the comms center, that would leave them most likely stuck on this\nworld. And that was something he did not want. \"How did they get in?\" Six\ndemanded.\n\"After the instillation was shut down, I left a\nsmall portion of the facility open, in case the species that the forerunners elevated\ndeveloped far enough to access it. But they were not supposed to gain entry to\nthe communications room. That is strictly off limits\" it explained with a hint of irritation in its metallic\nvoice.\nSix shook his helm in\nconfusion. What did the monitor mean by elevated? And more importantly, why would\nthey do that in the first place? To the spartan, it sounded like a poorly\nthough out plan.\nAs his boots thundered\ndown the corridor, the spartan grabbed the pistol from his thigh and his kukri,\nplacing them in the left and right gauntlet respectively. He was unwilling to\ntake any sort of chance. If these were the same creatures as before, there\nwould be no mercy.\n**********\nKrystal yipped in fear\nas she threw herself to the floor, a sword hammering down to the ground where\nshe had been standing seconds before. She rolled over quickly, sticking her\nstaff up to let it catch an axe that had been destined for her throat. The\nimpact numbed her paws and forced her farther into the unforgiving ground.\nThe vixen knew that staying\non the floor would spell her death and so she pounced back up to her feet and\nlaunched a fully powered swing to slam into the snout of one of the saurians.\nShe felt the cartilage in the creature's nose give way under her staff and the\nsickening crunch almost caused her to heave up her breakfast. \nThe saurian screeched\nin pain and stumbled backwards, clutching its ruined snout as blood trickled\nthrough its clawed hands. But before she could celebrate her meager victory,\nanother beast announced its attack as it charged at her, club raised high in\nthe air.\nShe rotated the tip of\nher staff to face the attacker and a ball of flame roared out and exploded as\nit made contact with the sharpclaws chest. The fireball set the saurian aflame\nand it howled and fell to the floor, rolling in a futile effort to extinguish the\nflames. \nKrystal panted as she\ntried to recover, but did not get the chance as her sense picked up on imminent\ndanger. She threw herself forwards roughly and whined in pain as she felt a hot\nlines crisscross her furred back. The vixen fell to the floor and turned herself\naround to see a large red saurian standing over her, holding a wicked curved\nsword in either hand. Around the large reptile, six other of its smaller kin\nwere spread, all with dark grins.\nAs it looked down at her\nwith yellow eyes, it brought the bloodied sword up to its reptilian snout and\ndragged its forked tongue across the blade, a sinister grin painted across its\nfeatures. The monster obviously planned on making her suffer.\nKrystal whimpered\nfearfully as she gazed up at her soon to be killer. \nThe attack had come as\na surprise to her and only her quick thinking and powers had saved her from a\nsudden death. \nThe vixen had walked\ninto a large room filled with strange devices and bright lights. Inside, three\nother earthwalkers were sprawled on the black ground, hacked apart in a gruesome\ndisplay of knifework. \nAs she began to\nregister this, her sense kicked in and she ducked, avoiding a slug aimed for\nher head. After that, several sharpclaw had swarmed out from their hiding places,\nbehind the butchered corpses of the earthwalkers and the machines that littered\nthe room. \nShe had fought as hard\nas she could, but it became obvious pretty soon that she was not experienced enough\nto take on so many. There brutality and ruthlessness had shocked and horrified the\nvixen, who could didn't understand that there was such a thing as true evil in\nthe universe. \nShe had been raised on a\npeace loving and noble world. That made her ill-suited to face the harsh realities\nfound abroad. \nHer back burned hot\nlike a furnace and brought tears to her eyes. And with those tears, fear\nfollowed. \nShe didn't want to die,\nespecially at the hands of beasts like these. She wanted to live a full life,\nfind love, and start a family. This was not what she had envisioned when she\nset out on her journey. \nThe massive red reptile\nraised its blades; a menacing guttural chuckle erupted out of its throat. As\nthe weapons of her demise began their seemingly unstoppable rise, she whimpered\nand closed her eyes, unwilling to see her end. She instead filled her thoughts\nwith her family and past.\nBut the blades never\nfell, at least not in the way expected. \nFour thundering booms\ndeafened the chamber and triggered her to shoot her emerald eyes open in\nsurprise. \nFour of the smaller\nsharpclaws fell to the ground, blood seeping out of neat circular holes in\ntheir heads. Seconds later, she heard the a howl of pain and saw that a small\nsword had impaled the seven foot beast, the hilt sticking out of the center of\nits torso.\nFollowing that, an\nequally tall blue and white blur collided with the saurian, slamming into it with\nenough force to send it hurtling to the floor. The figure caught both of the\ncurved swords from the air and brought them down hard, impaling both of them\ninto the saurian's abdomen and ripping them out savagely.  \nBlood sprayed from the\ngory kill and splattered across the chamber. The tall blue and white entity\nstood up from the dead reptile and looked to its left, where a silvery armored\ncreature emerged, bellowing a war cry. \nAt first, the disoriented\nvixen, also suffering from blood loss, though it was going to attack it, but\ninstead it rushed over to the two surviving saurians, a blue-white blade of\nlight igniting from its fist. Faster than she could see the reptilian cut down\nthe two sharpclaw contemptuously; afterwards it turned off its blade and walked\naway. \nThe hollow thump of footfalls\ngrabbed her attention and the wounded vixen turned her head to see the first\nfigure that had emerged. Her vision was a little fuzzy but she could still make\nout that it was encased in deep blue armor, with white runes etched across it. Where\nshe could have seen a face, a stark black visor concealed it from view. \nThe armored figure\ncrouched down beside her, blank visor studying her, almost curiously.\nEventually, her wounds and the series of shocks to her system did her a favor,\neasing her into the worriless ease of unconsciousness. ","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/860005-legacy-of-the-precursors-chapter-2-somewhere-someplace.json"}