Rise in Revolution (Chapter Sixteen)
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Chapter Sixteen
Vengeance of the Fallen
Control Center IAL, Sector IAL. January 18, 2272. Time instance 842N.
“Geek!” Tanadin shouted, waving her over. The demon nodded in acknowledgement and disengaged from the fight she was in, racing towards Tanadin and Seven at full speed. She glanced briefly at the cyborg fighting her friends, but didn’t pay it much mind.
As she skidded to a stop beside Tanadin, she heard Seven mumble, “He’s damaged.” Upon closer inspection, Geek realized that he was right- some kind of damaged metal attachment, likely what was once some kind of weapon, was connected to the cyborg’s shoulder. Part of it had been sliced off and most of the wires connecting it to the main body of the cyborg had been cut, leading to the ends sparking. He had some damages to the armor around his neck as well, and seemed slightly disoriented.
“He’s bleeding power.” Seven mumbled. “That’s a main energy conduit in his shoulder. I doubt he can put his shields up, and he’s missing his primary weapon. He doesn’t seem to be functioning quite right, either, based on-”
“That’s great. We need to get going, now.” Tanadin shoved him gently.
“Right, right.” The three of them, joined by Cap, Hawk, and one of the mages, turned and raced into the control center, pushing past the doors with weapons ready. Geek gripped the Nethernomicon tightly and followed as they navigated the uniform gray hallways, destroying turrets as they encountered them.
“Do you know where we’re going?” Tanadin asked as they ran.
“No.” Seven admitted. “This was a terrible idea.”
“You don’t remember this place at all?”
“I do- oh.” Seven stopped running, turned around, and started off in the opposite direction. “This way. If something to get Geek’s collar off is here, it’ll be in the armory, which is this way.”
“Why didn’t you mentioned that before?” Hawk demanded.
“I didn’t remember until prompted. I now have a map.” Seven informed them, shooting at a turret before leading the way up a flight of stairs to the second floor.
It took them several minutes to reach the armory, but once they did, Seven walked past the racks of cyborg weaponry to a familiar-looking device on the wall. He picked it up and charged it, motioning Geek closer. “Once this is off, you need to go assist the others with the nine thousand unit. We’ll shut down the control center.”
“Yes, yes, yes, just get this collar off of me!” Geek had to struggle not to grab his arm and force the device closer to the collar faster, waiting until she heard the quiet beep and saw the light flash green. The lock clicked quietly and opened.
Geek threw her head back, knocking the collar to the floor, and roared, green flames pouring from her mouth and hands and lighting her eyes with fury. The Nethernomicon thrummed and the text on the cover glowed faintly. Geek spread her wings and pointed at the ceiling, barking a magical command that blasted the stone into ash, not only hitting the ceiling of the second floor but of the third floor as well, opening the area to the sky.
She opened the book to a page near the back and pointed at the page with one hand and ahead of her with the other, leaving the book floating mid-air. “VEL’KEX!”
Flames poured from the book’s pages and solidified into a tall figure, almost seven feet, in front of her. A demon with dark hair and blazing blue eyes knelt before her, the magma patterns running across his skin glowing faintly. “You summoned me, mistress?”
Geek grinned evilly, shutting the book. “Vel’kex. Destroy the nine thousand unit.”
“Yes, mistress.” Flaming wings spread from his back and he took to the air, flying out of the control center and into the sky. Geek cackled and took off as well, not far behind him. Her eyes burned with green flames and the Nethernomicon thrummed with power, floating along beside her. She pointed a claw at a small group of two thousand units, discharging a powerful blast of demonic energy.
“WELCOME TO THE PARTY, MOTHERFUCKERS!”
Geek’s wings adjusted to carry her closer to the nine thousand unit as she giggled quietly to herself. She watched with interest as he released an anti-magic pulse. Zahnra, a massive force of fur and flesh, ignored it entirely. Kyir barely managed to get out of the affected area before he was hit, but M was struck by it.
He seemed to entirely ignore it, darting around a group of bullets and using more of his magic to attack the unit.
Geek blinked in confusion before shaking it off, getting Vel’kex’s attention and pointing at 9099-α. He nodded and circled around to the other side, roaring a challenge. The three below seemed to get the hint, quickly moving away from the unit.
Vel’kex and Geek opened fire at the same time, blanketing the area around the cyborg with powerful blasts of demonic magic. The unit was lost in the red and green flames, shockwaves of energy shaking the battlefield and drawing the attention of everyone in the area.
Once the flames had faded, the cyborg rose shakily back to its feet, already-flickering shields dying out. Its armor was singed and slightly melted in places. It raised its arm, metal shrieking in protest, trying to take aim at Geek.
He didn’t get the chance. Geek spat out a quick incantation and a whirlwind of green flames formed around her. When she beat her wings, the inferno arced down towards the cyborg and the surrounding area. With a roar, Vel’kex sent his own waves of blinding red energy into the mix, causing an explosion where they hit, lost in the flames.
As light and heat died down, nothing was left of the unit other than a smoking metal husk, broken apart in several places.
Cheers broke up amongst the survivors. Geek roared in triumph.
This was a good day.
~~~
The moment Geek flew out of the room, Seven turned and left the armory, leading the way through more hallways. He shot at a turret before turning left into a room. There were several computer terminals, but he didn’t even glance at them as he walked past.
“Shouldn’t we destroy these?” Hawk asked, motioning around them.
“No. These aren’t what we’re after. They might hold important files or information that we could use.” Seven told her, leading them into another room.
Tanadin tapped his shoulder and pointed at a console they were passing. “Look.”
Seven had already seen it and had stopped to look, frowning slightly. The machine had several cables slashed, likely by a sword, and had an arrow shape carved into its surface pointing in the direction they were headed.
Tanadin frowned slightly as Seven blinked a few times as he looked at it, kneeling down to get a better look. He traced the arrow with a finger- on his right hand, she noticed- before shaking his head slightly and standing.
“What?”
“I don’t know.” Seven admitted, shaking it off and continuing to walk. “It seemed…” He trailed off, thinking.
“What was that, do you suppose?” The mage asked. “That damaged console.”
“I have no idea.”
“And how was it damaged? Obviously it wasn’t one of the units. Did someone get in here? When? How? I have a lot of questions and no one that knows the answers.” Tanadin muttered.
“They might have security footage.” Cap told her.
“What makes you say that?”
“Well, they have cameras.” Cap pointed at one mounted in the corner. “It’s odd that it’s not attached to a turret.”
“No. They don’t want to be shooting live rounds inside these rooms. They could hit their own equipment.” Seven paused in front of a door and, without further hesitation, kicked it down.
“Oh, by the way, there’s a one thousand unit in here,” he said mildly as the cyborg pointed its laser pistol at his head. He ducked under the shot and charged forward, blade extending from his arm. He easily dispatched the cyborg and kicked it away. He looked over the various machines in the room as the others filed in, trying to determine which would be the most effective to destroy.
“So now can we blow up the terminals?” Hawk asked.
“No. We’re only cutting the wires. We might need something.”
“Dang it!”
Tanadin patted her shoulder. “It’s okay, Hawk. You can say damn.”
“No. I do- AH!” Hawk jumped as Seven suddenly swung, slashing wires and causing the buzzing terminals beside them to click softly and the quiet whirr of machinery to slow to a stop. One of the monitors flashed a warning in red letters- interestingly enough, the second line of text was in a different script with different lettering that none of them recognized, but it was gone in a moment. Seven slashed a few more wires before nodding.
“Control Center IAL has been shut down and disconnected from the Mainframe.” Seven turned and pointed at Kyir and Tanadin. “We need to get the train tunnel, right now. We need to get the turrets there set up to shoot anything that comes through- they can shred a nine thousand unit in seconds. If we don’t, forces from SOV will come in here and flatten us.”
“Me?” Tanadin demanded. “Why me?”
“Because. Human communication.”
“What about the rest of us?” Cap asked.
“Tell the others it’s down.” Tanadin suggested. “Send a runner to the Black Market. Get rid of any leftover cyborgs.” She grinned, a wild look even on a fire elemental. “The revolution has only just begun.”
~~~
Tac awoke to someone gently shaking her shoulder. “Come on. It’s over.” She blinked her eyes open to see Scott grinning at her.
“Scott…? What are you...when did you get here?”
“After I put you to sleep.” Devan told her as he helped her up. “You were freaking out too much to stay awake, but I figured you’d want to be up for this.”
“Huh?”
“We won!” Gali crowed, jumping up and down. She was holding the world flag in her arms, having taken it down from the wall. “The control center’s dead! It’s dead, it’s dead, it’s dead!”
“They shut it down!” Scott grinned. “And in better news, Chester got shot in the head!”
Tac blinked. “Why is that good news?”
“Because he’s a scumbag!” Scott grinned even wider. “Come on! Let’s go see everybody.” He picked up the pair of oven mitts he had stolen from Kyir and scooped up baby Clash, who peeped softly and buried his head further under his wing.
Tac blinked a few times. “What happened to him?”
“He got stabbed slightly. What happened to you?”
“Scott!” Devan hissed. “You don’t have to be so rude?”
“What? I d-” Tac glimpsed the stump of one of her arms and almost screeched as she remembered, suddenly. She froze and her eyes widened, locking on where her hands had once been.
“Kyir will make you some hands as soon as he can.” Devan told her quietly. “You’ll be okay.”
“Is everyone else okay?” She asked, voice quiet.
“As far as I know, mostly. Sadie got stabbed a bit but she’s been healed.” Gali bounced a few times. “Come on!” She led the way out of the Black Market, the others following her out and down the street, across the expanse and to the control center.
Tac tried to ignore the injured, the dead, and the dying that they passed, preferring to look at the back of Gali’s head as they walked. She was almost knocked over, however, as a man in a bloodied trenchcoat ran into her, hugging her tightly.
“You’re okay.” Shawn mumbled. “You’re okay.”
“Of course I’m okay! I slept through the battle! Where is all this blood from?!”
“Oh. I, uh, got a little cut in the side. I’m okay now, though! I’m okay.”
Tac frowned at him. “You’re sure?”
“Yes! What about you? How are you holding up?”
Tac shook her head slightly. “I’ve been better.”
“Tanadin!” Tac looked up at Gali’s shout. “I got the flag!”
Tanadin grinned. “Excellent. Find the highest flagpole you can and raise it to the top. Akrar is free of Mainframe control, and dammit, it’s time to show it!”
“We’ve got turrets ready at the tunnel.” Seven told them. “We should be safe, at least for now, unless the Mainframe decides to try to fly in three thousand units, which is unlikely. We can fix that by bringing up the anti-air defenses soon, but that doesn't have to be immediate, as they know the tunnel’s our only way out, and they also have turrets on their end.”
“Good.” Tanadin looked around at her friends, her allies, her fellow revolutionaries.
“Good.”
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Date: 2016-04-24 11:26 pm (UTC)Chester got shot it the head, I laughed at that, I have no idea why I just did :D
Yay, Sadie not dead, just a little stabbed.
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Date: 2016-04-25 11:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-04-25 02:18 pm (UTC)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdSLP-qz_fw
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Date: 2016-04-26 08:09 am (UTC)"Come back here! I'll bite your knees off!"
-the lurkiest lurker
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Date: 2016-04-26 06:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-04-25 06:16 am (UTC)Well done, Black Market and accomplices! First target down.
-the lurkiest lurker
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Date: 2016-04-25 11:41 am (UTC)sadie here
Date: 2016-04-25 11:36 am (UTC)Re: sadie here
Date: 2016-04-25 11:41 am (UTC)c:
Re: sadie here
Date: 2016-04-25 02:17 pm (UTC)Yes, Vel'kex. I hope he sticks around so that we can get to know him better ;)
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Date: 2016-04-25 07:13 pm (UTC)Sounds like there might have been an earlier revolutionary group trying to take back the control center. Or something else. Either way, sounds interesting! Can't wait for more!
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Date: 2016-04-25 09:54 pm (UTC)