by Max Jager
Jackson stuck his bloody hand back in his gauntlet and felt the powerful gravity force wear off, he saw Christie stumble and knew a high-tier spell like that must have taken a heavy toll on her stamina. But he too was feeling the burn of exhaustion from using his kinetic enchantments so much, he now had lost almost all function in one of his hands, and he was dealing with severe blood loss. But he refused to back down, not when he was this close. Jackson lunged at her, she ducked immediately expecting another jab and swept for his legs again but he jumped over her kick and sent a kinetic empowered kick right back at her head. Christie rolled to the side to dodge the kick and stabbed her rapier up at him from her crouched position, but Jackson grabbed her rapier again with his good arm and threw a sloppy, kinetic empowered chop at the blade with his other arm, snapping the blade in half.
Christie sprang to her feet and moved backwards to put distance between them, but Jackson sprinted straight at her and threw a running kick at her chest. Christie jumped at the wall and adjusted the wall to be the center of gravity so she could stand on it, then as Jackson stumbled and fell towards the wall she fired another shot down at him. Jackson quickly sidestepped the bullet and jumped onto the wall beside Christie. Christie took a few steps back but then stumbled and suddenly jumped back towards the ground again.
Jackson followed her as he too jumped back towards the ground just in time for gravity to revert to normal. He could tell she didn't have the stamina to keep up with the gravity spell anymore, she had used it too much and exhausted herself. They both landed on the ground. Jackson could feel his body starting to go numb, and the lightheadedness along with the slow loss of vision that came with blood loss began setting in. He knew he could only resist unconsciousness a little longer. He was at the end of his rope, but so was she. He was determined to finish this, taking this woman down would clearly be a heavy blow against Zane. If he can't take Zane down today, she'd have to do. He wasn't going to leave without something, he didn't want all of this to be in vain.
And it was in that moment that the door to the room burst open and two people rushed in. One of them was a big burly man wearing priest's clothing. He carried a bible in one hand and an utterly massive steel club in the shape of a cross in the other hand. The other was a heavily armored woman with very long, braided red hair who carried an axe. The woman waved her arm and what looked like a see-through bubble appeared around Charles and Christie, then she focused and her hand began emitting a green glow. A green light connected her hand to Christie and Christie's wounds began slowly healing.
Charles tightly gripped his club and suddenly took off in a dead sprint at Jackson. The man also moved super-humanly fast, almost as fast as Christie, and he must have had superhuman strength to even lift that massive club, never mind to run or fight with it. He cleared the room in a split second and was beside Jackson, slamming the massive metal cross down at the smaller man's head. Seeing a former acquaintance only spurred Jackson's anger. He sidestepped the club and threw a kinetic powered punch at the man's chest. The club struck the ground with such force that it cracked the stone floor, but Charles immediately twisted the club and parried the punch with the handle before he swung his club back at Jackson again. Jackson ducked under the horizontal swing and punched the bottom of it with his kinetic gloves, the force of the punch left a massive dent in the club and almost knocked it out of Charles's hands. But then there was a gunshot and Jackson felt the sting of another bullet strike his side before he could turn his attention back to Christie, who was mostly healed by now and preparing to shoot him again. To make matters worse Jackson also heard the clanking footsteps of Em, the axe woman, sprinting at him from the other side. This wasn't a fight he could win in his condition.
As Charles slammed his club down at Jackson again, Jackson suddenly fell through the floor and into his own shadow as if it were a hole in the ground. Then the shadow zipped out the window and away from the fight.
The camera caught the last few seconds of Charles and Em rushing in to provide medical treatment for Christie, before the camera shut off and the broadcast ended.
Kaden, in the middle of the broadcast, had closed his portal since the camera was offering a much better view of the fight. Even if it didn't include sound. Kaden was applauding the television as best as he could with his metal suit of armor on. "Wow that was a good one! I wonder what they'll do for episode two. He should fight a kraken for episode two."
"Well, whatever message he was trying to put out got interrupted." Estellese pointed out. "And I doubt that fight went as smoothly as he planned if he had to bring in the guards."
"She." Kaden pointed out. "That wasn't Zane. Pretty clever trick to avoid assassins I'd say."
"Something tells me you've tripped that trap before." Estellese teased.
"Pooossibly." Kaden laughed. "You know me too well."
"The message didn't get interrupted." Mendelen replied. "If anything, the civilians will believe that that man was a Moderator and will rally behind Zane. Assassinating a leader, or attempting to, is a blatant act of war and it backs up everything he was saying about us trying to silence him."
"So what does that mean?" Estellese questioned.
Mendelen sighed. "Well, with that, with everything he's been saying, and considering we are about to attack them. I think it's safe to say that this is going to unfold into a war. We need to start preparing."
"I'm still trying to preemptively assassinate him and shut this whole thing down." Kaden pointed out.
"You do that." Mendelen replied. "But we aren't going to count on it. This guy really has this whole thing planned out, he's a step ahead of us every time. I get the feeling that even you won't be able to get at him."
Kaden sighed, and nodded. "Yeah. But I'll keep trying." He replied. He opened another portal beside them, leading back to the Spartan tower. The group walked back through it before Kaden spoke up again. "So, we ready for the battle? Only got a couple days left to prepare."
"Yeah, we're ready." Mendelen replied.
"Yes." Estellese perked up. "And on the thought of that, I must speak with you privately."
Kaden gave her a quizzical look. "Alright?" He unsurely replied.
"I need you to open a portal at these coordinates." Estellese added and quickly wrote down a few coordinates on a piece of paper. Once she was finished she focused for a moment, and a small earthquake shook the tower.
Kaden looked thoroughly intrigued by the strange request, but he opened a portal to the desired location and gestured for her to go first. "This is getting more and more interesting by the second." He mused as Estellese stepped through the portal. Kaden followed along right behind her and the portal closed behind them.
"So, what do you think of this?" Zanath asked Mendelen.
"This war? I think it's a terrible idea with the way things are right now. But I can't stop her, Cora is her friend." Mendelen replied.
"Zane is right though, these are all nothing more then AI." Zanath pointed out. Mendelen was about to respond but Zanath cut him off. "Although, even if they are AI, that doesn't mean they are not alive. There comes a point when AI becomes so advanced that it gains its own sentience. That's what we have here, they are just AI, but they are fully sentient and alive at this point."
Mendelen nodded. "Exactly." He leaned back against the wall. "We've met them, we've befriended them. Well, I mean, I'm not great friends with any of them. But you were friends with Esyll, Estellese has numerous friends among the other races, and I think we're all friends to some degree with Pex. They are just as alive as we are, and technically if our bodies are in the game like Thomas said, we are also just ones and zeroes now. But on the same note, I'm not so sure it's worth risking everything for them like Kaden and Estellese are trying. They really are just AI. It's just..." He hesitated. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't really conflicted."
Zanath nodded. "I trust the two of them to handle it. I intend to ask them both to gather some data on this Sasumi guy whil
e they are there. He seems like he's going to be a problem if we do go to war with them. Even if he is truly immortal, I'm sure if I study him a little I'll find a way to stop him."
"Do you have something in mind?" Mendelen asked.
"Kind of." Zanath answered. "If he really is immortal, I could probably make a sarcophagus out of gemstones. Then we could get the gemstones enhanced with enchantments that would, collectively, dramatically reduce his strength and prevent him from using magic. Thus, trapping him inside and rendering him unable to get back out. I could then power said sarcophagus with a few machines and energy-to-magic converters."
"Should you really be saying all that out loud?" Mendelen replied.
Zanath nodded. "I'm doing that on purpose. Saying things out loud often aids me in my research and will help me find the answers I need."
Mendelen understood and looked impressed. "Alright then. I'm going to go do a few things to help Estell prepare for the battle."
"I left the new Spartan armor in storage." Zanath added. "The schematics are with it, but can only be accessed by magic. We should be able to armor up a good number of Spartans over the next few days."
"Done early?" Mendelen smiled a bit. "Maybe we do have a better fighting chance then I thought."
Next Chapter: The Battle of Port Redwarren
Chapter 31: The Battle of Port Redwarren
- Chapter 31: The Battle of Port Redwarren -
Estellese, Fate, Kathryn and Katy stood inside of Estellese's personal stash. She had a lot of odds and ends neatly assorted in the room, along with a bed.
"So what is the purpose of this armor? It doesn't look very sturdy." Kathryn questioned. The armor was made of kevlar, with a lot of wires and electronic parts attached to it.
"It isn't traditional armor. It's a new high-tech armor that Zanath and Mendelen worked on together." Estellese explained. "It projects a kinetic barrier around the wearer, protecting them from harm. And it's bulletproof material."
"So it is like your magic barriers? Only created by technology instead of magic?" Fate questioned.
"Exactly. It will recharge on its own, at no cost to your stamina, in ten seconds. However if the barrier is completely broken it will require thirty seconds. So it is best used for short bursts of aggression. Attack, let the shield absorb all the damage, then back off before it completely breaks and play defense until it recharges." Estellese explained.
"Huh, that actually sounds useful," Fate murmured. She would put the new armor on underneath her dress, keeping it hidden from sight. Katy and Kathryn follow suit, hiding the armor under their clothes. It was thin enough to appear like they didn't have any, they hoped to catch their foes off guard with it. Estellese wore hers over her clothes, but underneath her pink, lightweight platemail armor.
There was suddenly a loud knock on the door and Estellese sighed.
"Who's that? Drake?" Fate asked as she uneasily took a step away from the entrance.
"Probably Kaden. Don't worry, it's impossible to enter someone else's stash without permission." Estellese replied. "I'll go let him know everyone is changing."
"Why are we working with them?" Kathryn questioned.
"We need all the help we can get. The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Estelle explained.
"But working with murderers and criminals?" Kathryn questioned.
"I know." Estellese sighed as she walked out of her stash. When she stepped out of it she walked out of a glowing door frame that was missing a door. She was in the middle of what appeared to be an empty apartment building in Port Redwarren.
"I figured that stash was yours." Kaden took a step away from the door.
"The team is putting their armor on, so I can't let you in." Estellese stated.
"I don't need to go in. I was sent by Mendelen to deliver these." Kaden replied as he handed her a pair of earpieces. Just a simple-looking pair of plastic clips she could attach to her ears with a microphone on one side. "Zanath reverse engineered the malicious connection to our systems and used it to make these. They should allow all of us to communicate at long ranges."
"All of us?" Estellese asked.
Kaden nodded. "Zanath is breaching the systems as we speak, gaining access to their security cameras and such. Him and Mendelen will be watching over us from Belesara. I will have a pair, you have a pair. We also got a few for everyone in your group, Drake included, and a few people from my own forces have a pair."
Estellese smiled a little. "That's Zanath. Doesn't look it, but he must be worried about us if he figured that one out so fast."
"Yeah." Kaden nodded. "He hasn't slept much the last few days."
"So how does this work?" Estellese asked.
"The button on the left ear turns the mic on or off. The dial on the right ear changes the channel you broadcast to." Kaden explained. "You and your group are channel one. Me and my Moderators are channel two. Channel three is open between all of us. Channel four is also open to everyone, but doesn't have a use yet, they are saving it to make a new group if needed. You can only hear voices for the groups you're in."
"So speaking in group two would be pointless for me then?" Estellese questioned.
"Yes." Kaden replied. "But if you need to speak with me or my group just speak in group three where everyone can hear it."
Estellese nodded. "Alright, that's pretty simple and straightforward." As she spoke Katy and Kathryn walked out of her stash, then a moment after them Fate walked out as well. The three Spartans gave Kaden a look of disgust as they walked past him.
"Good, make sure we keep in touch. Communication will be key in this battle. I'm gonna be hopping all over the place with the Mods so I will need to know where you are so I can open my portals in the right places." Kaden said as he took a step back and leaned back against the wall, putting his arms behind his head.
"Yeah, just be careful out there." Estellese replied.
Kaden laughed a little. "Nah, since I mastered the use of portals I'm near invincible. The Royals won't know what hit em."
"Kaden! Take this seriously." Estellese scolded him. "This isn't like fighting with Mendelen or I. These people will actually be trying to kill you, they won't be holding back like we did."
"Comeon, it's me. I'll be fine." Kaden shrugged it off as he handed her the earpieces for her team. "Drake already has his." He added, and before she could respond he opened another portal and left.
Estellese sighed and shook her head once he left. She walked into the other room and handed out the earpieces to everyone, giving the brief explanation on how they worked to her group. Once everyone had their earpieces Estellese switched over to her channel and started to lead her forces.
"Drake? You around?" Estellese asked.
"Present." Drake replied to all groups. "The Royals are making their move, I see them setting up and preparing to surround me."
"Yep, we've spotted the vast majority of them and are ready to spring once the first shot is fired." Kaden said to all groups.
"You can handle this, right?" Fate worriedly asked.
"Yeah, I got this. Do what you guys need to do. I'll meet up with everyone as planned once they are dealt with." Drake replied. "Be careful out there ladies, I've got a bad feeling things aren't going to go to plan."
"Thanks Drake. You be safe out there too." Estellese replied, then switched to the channel to address all groups. "Alright everyone. Remember, your life is more important than your mission. If anything goes wrong, save yourself and your allies if you have allies by your side. There will always be another chance to complete the mission after we retreat and heal up. The elves are likely marching to the city as we speak, their attack is scheduled to hit in five minutes."
"What, no fancy speech?" Damion spoke up in the channel for everyone, and several others jumped over to it. "I thought you fancy hero-types always gave a corny speech first. I mean, that was pretty corny, but it wasn't much of a speech."
"Get off the comms Damion!" Fate growled back. "Nob
ody wants to hear from a lowlife like you."
"You don't want me to talk, but you need me to save your asses, huh?" Damion jeered. "Are the Spartans not tough enough to handle the real fights alone? Don't worry, we're used to handling the big boy problems you lot are too afraid of."
"We didn't ask for you assholes to be here! It'd be a lot better if you all just jumped off a cliff." Kathryn shouted back.
"Make me. Oh wait you pansies can't even touch me!" Damion laughed, and was about to talk but he was interrupted by Vincent.
"Now now Damion, be nice. We don't want to hurt their feelings. The Spartans are a fragile bunch, don't break 'em before the battle begins." Vincent jeered.