Rise in Revolution (Chapter Sixty-Seven)
Oct. 20th, 2016 04:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Chapter Sixty-Seven
Rise
Fourth ring, Mainframe. April 24, 2272. Time instance 842N.
Visper swarmed into the fourth ring, quickly overwhelming the remaining cyborgs as their minds linked and their protection soared to impenetrable levels. Emma charged in with them, Nightbane shearing through the arm of a nine thousand unit that was too preoccupied with visper to deal with her. She let them finish it off, skidding to a halt next to Jimmy and Gali.
“You did it! Where are Fall and Mars?”
“Dunno. They ran off as soon as the last emitter fell.” Jimmy grinned at her. “I know you wanted to go on ahead, so go. We’ll be moving onto the third ring soon.”
Emma nodded and saluted, racing off into the battle to find the nearest door. She dispatched cyborgs as she went, careful not to hit anyone friendly, and stopped as she came face-to-face with a nine thousand unit.
She was pretty sure she was about to die before it jumped back, avoiding the paws of the zombie bear. Spikes of ice rose from the ground and stabbed through chinks in the armor, holding it still enough for Emma to cut a nasty slice through. Scott slid in beside her, punching his way through the metal of the cyborg’s chest, winking, and vanishing once more, leaving her bewildered.
A second nine thousand unit fired an energy blast at the bear, instantly vaporizing its head and breaking whatever magic held it together. It slumped to the floor and Shawn tumbled off, growling and getting back to his feet. The nine thousand unit shot at a flaming figure that got too close and released an anti-magic pulse, making Shawn stumble and the phoenix scream. Its blade sliced through the phoenix, dissipating its form instantly.
Instead of turning to ash, wisps of flame condensed into a single crimson feather, glowing faintly, that floated down from the ceiling. Emma felt her heart drop, worried it was Clash, but no, there he was, winging his way up to it and flipping himself around to seize the feather in his talons, expression unreadable as he circled back around to Scott.
“Shawn! I’m heading towards the first ring to meet up with Tanadin and the others! Are you coming with?”
Shawn looked sadly at the bear. “Yeah. I guess.”
Emma put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll get you a new zombie bear.”
“His name was Kevin. There isn’t another Kevin.”
“C’mon, Shawn.” Emma grabbed him by the arm and dragged him down the hallway.
~~~
Tac barely avoided getting decapitated by the nine thousand unit as it swung at her, only being saved by her injured leg giving out as she stepped back. She rolled away and got to her feet, watching Zahnra rip the unit’s head off while Steelwings swarmed around it. They were fighting their way into the second ring, and while most of the turrets in their area had been destroyed, the nine thousand units had not.
Neves, beside her, drove his sword through a one thousand unit with his left arm and helped her up with his right. “Be careful. Shawn will kill me if you die.”
“I’m really glad that’s your biggest concern.”
Neves flashed her a grin before stabbing another cyborg. He didn’t seem to be having any problems at the moment, but Tac wondered how long that would last as Geluu raced past them, ice impaling a half-dozen one thousands and shattering against a nine thousand.
She could barely stand but stubbornly did so anyway, swinging at anything hostile that got too close. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see a nine thousand unit approaching, aiming its gun at Neves. She shouted a warning but was muffled by Zahnra’s roar as she leaped forward in front of it and went into melee. Neves shot it a few times to help her out and frowned at her as she paused to breathe.
“Why are you suddenly so concerned with my wellbeing?”
“You’re alive, aren’t you?” Zahnra swiped at a two thousand unit. “You’ve made me see that.”
They fought for several more minutes, Tac feeling weaker and weaker every moment. I won’t give in. I can’t give in. I won’t go down. I can’t go down. Not now. Not like this. Not like-
She screamed as a bullet slammed into her shoulder, making her drop her sword. The two thousand she was fighting tore a gash down her body from her other shoulder almost to her hip, making her stumble and fall, howling with pain as it raised its gun.
And collapsed. Neves lowered his arm and knelt by her side, looking her over and cringing.
“We need to get you out of here. There’s nothing around here that I can use to heal you with, and I just don’t have the energy.” He glanced around and visually wilted. “We’re...not doing well, Tac.”
Geluu moved to stand near them, breathing heavily. “Zahnra! What’s going on?”
“There’s ten nine thousand units incoming,” she called. “With what we have left here, we might be able to take them, but not without heavy losses.”
“Shit.”
Neves reached down and scooped up Tac, relying on his metal arm to take most of her weight. “I need to get Tac out of here. She’s too injured”
Zahnra nodded, narrowing her eyes. “Go. Take everyone. Regroup.”
“They’ll just follow us,” Geluu protested. “We don’t have time to-”
“I will buy you the time you need.” Zahnra turned to face the oncoming nine thousand units, raising her claws.
“Zahnra, you’ll be-”
“Killed? I know. Don’t waste the time I’ve brought you.”
No. Zahnra, don’t. Tac couldn’t speak, feeling her energy fleeing faster than her blood. Don’t!
“I…” Geluu swallowed a few times. “It was an honor serving with you, Zahnra Kerice.”
“And you. All of you.”
“Steelwings! Pull back!” Geluu roared, motioning towards the hole in the wall. “Regroup!”
Neves wasted no time in sprinting towards the exit, refusing to look back, but Tac did.
She watched as Zahnra bounded forward to engage the nine thousand units, and she watched as the werewolf was filled with bullets and blasted with energy but just kept fighting, fighting past the point that anyone else could, for she had nothing to lose and all the time in the world to gain.
As she fell, purple eyes half-lidded in pain and resignation, Tac passed out.
~~~
Geek lowered her hands as the nine thousand unit fell, smoking, to the ground. She grinned in satisfaction as Vel’kex moved to stand beside her, folding his wings against his back.
“Good. We didn’t lose anyone that time.” Seven looked over the small remaining group of Steelwings that followed them. “Let’s keep moving.”
“When are we blasting through the wall?” Cataclysm asked, unsharpening his feathers and folding his wings. “Does it matter where?”
“Yes. I’m trying to get us to blast through as close to where we need to be as possible. We don’t want to have to go into the first ring until it’s entirely necessary.” Seven continued to lead the way down the hallway, M ghosting silently after him.
“What are we expecting to see in there?” Dare asked.
“A fuckton of nine thousand units,” Geek guessed. “Probably some turrets.”
“No turrets. They wouldn’t risk them inside such an important building.” Seven shot a one thousand unit. “We’ll only have the nine thousands to deal with.”
“Well, that’s reassuring,” Cataclysm mumbled. “How many are in there?”
“Enough.”
“Enough?”
Seven turned to look at him. “I don’t know! It’s probably not the same as it says in my files! They might have drawn some back in or sent some out, or they changed something since January, which is how old my information is.”
“Incoming!” Caroline barked, turning around. “Nine thousand unit!”
The group quickly turned, hearing the footsteps, and fired the moment it came around the corner. It seemed unfazed as it charged them, destroying several seven thousand units before they took it down in the matter of just over a minute.
“We’re getting good at that.”
“It’s easier when they can’t evade us so easily. Fighting them outside is hell,” Cataclysm grumbled.
“Hell is a wonderful place,” Geek protested.
“Bullshit.”
“Focus. Mainframe first, hell arguments later.”
“Sorry, Dare.”
“We’re almost there,” M informed them.
“Good. I just want this to be over.” Cataclysm crossed his arms.
“We all do,” Geek assured. “And it will be. Soon.”
Eventually, they came to a section of wall that Seven turned to and motioned for them to back up. He opened up his trenchcoat and reached into one of the small pockets lining the inside, pulling out a weapon much larger than the pocket.
“How did you do that?” Dare demanded.
“Science,” Seven whispered, and shot the wall, creating a massive hole in it.
“I enchanted it,” Geek explained.
“Shh! Science!” Seven put the weapon away, stuck his arm through the wall, and started shooting turrets. Cataclysm, Geek, Vel’kex, and the other seven thousands moved to help him. M watched for almost a minute before darting out into the sands, avoiding bullets easily and dispatching turrets. Dare watched moodily.
They moved out of the second ring and approached the first, quickly grouping up as nine thousand units poured from nearby doorways. They moved out and fought, Geek gratefully taking to the air and raining down death from above. Unfortunately, the nine thousand units could now fly as well, so taking them out was more difficult than it had been previously.
Geek deflected a few bullets with magic and noted that their seven thousands were going down a lot faster than they had before. She moved to fire an explosion at a couple of nine thousand units standing close together, but paused, hovering, as an explosion created a new hole in the wall nearby and some awfully familiar faces came through.
She dove back down towards Seven. “Nine and Tanadin are here! We have backup!”
The nine thousands were caught between two forces of Steelwings and quickly went down, letting the two groups merge once more. Tanadin hugged Seven tightly, only for a moment, before stepping back. “I was afraid I wasn’t going to ever see you again,” she admitted quietly. “It’s...bad, out in the outer rings. We’ve lost Sub.”
Geek flinched. It wasn’t necessarily surprising, but it was an emotional blow to the Black Market nonetheless. She’d been one of the youngest rebels, and now she was no more.
Nine sighed. “We have to push on. We’re so close.”
“We are,” M agreed. “This will finally be over, and I can go home.”
The group agreed and turned to face the first circle, ready to face their final challenge.
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Date: 2016-10-20 10:15 pm (UTC)Instead of turning to ash, wisps of flame condensed into a single crimson feather, glowing faintly, that floated down from the ceiling. Emma felt her heart drop, worried it was Clash, but no, there he was, winging his way up to it and flipping himself around to seize the feather in his talons, expression unreadable as he circled back around to Scott.
No brain = no more zombie bear. RIP zombie bear.
Also RIP other phoenix that was likely the one that Clash talked to a few chapters ago that was safeguarding the heart feather of an elder phoenix.
Emma put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll get you a new zombie bear.”
“His name was Kevin. There isn’t another Kevin.”
Again RIP Kevin.
She shouted a warning but was muffled by Zahnra’s roar as she leaped forward in front of it and went into melee. Neves shot it a few times to help her out and frowned at her as she paused to breathe.
“Why are you suddenly so concerned with my wellbeing?”
“You’re alive, aren’t you?” Zahnra swiped at a two thousand unit. “You’ve made me see that.”
Nice to see that maybe in this battle Zahnra's gaining some perspective on her cyborgism.
She watched as Zahnra bounded forward to engage the nine thousand units, and she watched as the werewolf was filled with bullets and blasted with energy but just kept fighting, fighting past the point that anyone else could, for she had nothing to lose and all the time in the world to gain.
At least she got some more character development before her death. RIP Zahnra.
“It’s easier when they can’t evade us so easily. Fighting them outside is hell,” Cataclysm grumbled.
“Hell is a wonderful place,” Geek protested.
“Bullshit.”
Yeah Geek and Cataclysm aren't ever going to agree on their views of Hell.....
Eventually, they came to a section of wall that Seven turned to and motioned for them to back up. He opened up his trenchcoat and reached into one of the small pockets lining the inside, pulling out a weapon much larger than the pocket.
“How did you do that?” Dare demanded.
“Science,” Seven whispered, and shot the wall, creating a massive hole in it.
“I enchanted it,” Geek explained.
“Shh! Science!” Seven put the weapon away, stuck his arm through the wall, and started shooting turrets.
Geek gave Seven Tardis pockets? That's very handy.
Nine sighed. “We have to push on. We’re so close.”
“We are,” M agreed. “This will finally be over, and I can go home.”
I wonder what plain home is for M....
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Date: 2016-10-20 10:23 pm (UTC)We'll see. Soon.
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Date: 2016-10-20 10:27 pm (UTC)Yes the Mystery of M will be solved! At least the Mystery of the RiR version anyway XD
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Date: 2016-10-20 10:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-20 10:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-21 01:01 am (UTC)