November 13, 2111
James Stone
The blazing heat and lack of any breeze made the walk down the streets of Garatopia sweaty, with a side of discomfort; I guess whoever was in charge of those breeze-fans decided to take a slack-off day. In the distance, I could make out the leftover destruction war brought. Captain Yundor's overnight attack had managed to kill a major chunk of the enemy forces. His last message made this clear, but I was sad nonetheless. Losing brave men like him always left a cloud of dread lingering over my head.
"James. I see the Trinity Towers." Uslar, just in front of me, pointed out. The rest of the squad was right behind me, armed and ready for combat.
"The Trinity Towers. A landmark of innovation," Valiic added.
High into the sky, the towers stood. If this maze of buildings within Garatopia had a finishing point, the Trinity Towers was it. Massive, unique, and declarative, these towers were a firm reminder of what beauty was all about.
Closer to the Trinity Towers we walked. As the tallest place in the city, they would be the best place to formulate an attack plan against the warlords and their remaining korkyran warriors. I may have one of the artifacts the Wersillian Legion so desperately wanted, but one of those two warlords had another. After disobeying orders, I expected an earful; however, presenting the stolen artifact, along with the one I already had, would certainly provide a soft remedy for our actions.
As we were almost at the landmark, I suddenly had a sickening pain in my gut. My stomach seemed to flip upside down, and I felt the urge to escape. Something was wrong, something was about to happen--
"JAMES STONE!" the barbaric growl rumbled from the distance.
Everyone stopped dead in their tracks and looked back at our pursuer. Closing in on us, step by step, was some unholy devil of a dytirc. It was the same one Kalvin and I had witnessed on the security camera at Station 9: A warlord. The monstrosity stopped a mere twenty meters away from my squad. Vines, thorns, and branches rustled around the thing's bark body. In her tough, thorny hand was a black sack, filled with something. However, the object inside the sack was certainly too large to be the artifact.
"Oh shivf! Lady, you just set a new record in ugly," Frost taunted her.
"Who in God's unholiest of hells are you?" I asked.
"Dearie, I am the nightmare you don't want to screw with! I am the head warlord of the Wersillian Legion. I am Airra!"
"So you're the scum who's to blame for all of this… for everything this war has caused!" Uslar raged.
"No! I'm a futurist… here to push our great galaxy into a safe, wonderful place."
"Ruled by you, I assume?" Valiic hissed, showing his disdain for the despot.
She laughed hysterically and maliciously. "Maybe. Then again, why would I unveil my plans? You must see me as some laughable cliché, but you'd be ruddy wrong! I'm just here to strike a bargain."
"The Order of Aegis doesn't negotiate with abominations!" Frost retorted.
"Look in the mirror, dearie! I see your eyes; flowing clouds of smoke. Those are no ordinary human eyes. No, those are signs of an ace. You, me, James… we are all from the same tree."
"The Order of Aegis would disagree with that bullshivf… flat out." Frost spat out the flower branch he was chewing on, clinching his fists, obviously preparing for a fight.
"The Order of Aegis isn't in charge of your squad, ay? So, my bargain only applies to James."
"First, how did you find us?" I asked.
"You're gonna hate the answer." Airra tossed the black sack she was carrying over to us. Out rolled a decapitated head; it was the Garatopias' mayor. "All I had to do was walk in the weakling's house for him to blab out all the answers I needed. Didn't save him though." She unleashed a devilish laugh.
"You monster!" Valiic growled.
Airra ignored our spiteful comments. "I'm still waiting for an answer! Will you hear my bargain?"
I abhorred the idea of this, but curiosity had its noose around my neck. "As much as I hate even the fiddle-idea of what you could possibly want, I will listen." I held my weapon ready at my side. My stomach still twisted as her malicious eyes fixed on mine. Those red spheres were unnatural and downright evil - more evil than I'd ever seen before.
"The bargain is simple: Show me what I came here for, and I'll show you what you are here for."
"The artifacts?"
"If that's what you call them, dear."
"And what do you call them?" Frost interjected. She shot him a sharp glance but ignored him.
"Wait, wait... how did you know he had it?" Uslar added.
"Alliance secret!" she snapped.
"But--" Uslar started, but I put my hand up to stop Uslar from finishing.
"Fine. On three. One, two, three."
I pulled out the artifact I'd found. Likewise, her bark skin retreated, and she pulled the artifact she'd stolen from the vines on her back. Each of us got a clear visual of each other's artifact.
She began to laugh in the same way she had before; it was like a signature for her. "You are an idiot, dearie," she snarled. "I can't believe you actually showed it to me. Now I know exactly where you are hiding the itty-bitty thing!" She put the artifact back against her skin, and it disappeared below the branches and vines.
"And I know the same tap of knowledge! I'm not getting the difference." I stuffed my artifact back into my pocket.
"The difference! Dear, the difference is that I'm going to be the one who takes yours!"
"Bitch, I dare you! Yah stand dere unarmed az one… one 'gainst all six of uz." Brad pulled up his shotgun and aimed it at Airra's head.
She didn't even blink. "I'll give you a chance. Hand yours over, and I won't kill every one you!"
"Call her bluff," Valiic whispered to me.
"I don't think all the marbles are turning in your head. We are armed to the bone, all six of us. Now, I'm inclined to throw the same offer back at your face. At least, I have the means to back it up." I stood strong, ready to face whatever she had in store.
"My, my! Do you even have the slightest clue who in the ruddy hell you are talking to?"
She unleashed a wall of vines at our group, and we all jumped aside, two of us on one side, and the other four on the other side. She'd just spilt our group.
"Oh! Da bitch haz trickz!" Brad, on the opposite side of me, fired bursts of shotgun shells at the wall of vines.
Her face appeared in the mess of vines. "Call me that one more time!" she snarled.
"Bitch!" Brad spit out the words immediately.
Suddenly, the wall split apart into dozens of knee-high tree beasts. Each of us was unloading rounds of ammunition into the mongrels, but they just kept regrowing! The street became overcrowded fast, and we were forced further apart.
Suddenly, vines linked together into a cage around me and Frost, keeping us separate from the rest. The monsters jumped into the vine wall, and out popped three Airra clones.
"You can separate us all you want, baby. You still won't hurt Big Daddy and my uzzo here," Frosted hyped, pointing to me. He was full of piss and vinegar, I'll give the kid that.
"Who said anything about hurting you?" one of Airra's clones said with a smirk.
"We just wanna play," another one said, giving us a pouting face.
Frost tugged at my shoulder and whispered into my ear, "I'll distract them. You go for the head bitch."
I nodded in response. Frost geared up, stretching his arms. I noticed my squad trying to break through the vines to us. As soon as one got close to the wall, thorns blasted at them; so, they were forced to try something else.
Suddenly, Frost let loose a massive blast of ice shards, followed by a wave of ice, all aimed at the clones. I dashed behind the waves, getting ready to engage. One clone dipped into the vine wall and appeared beside Frost. They were now engaged in a scuffle. The two remaining clones used their branches to shift the ice away and block the shards; however, I saw an opening to attack the Airra wearing the clothes and snuck behind her, blade in hand, then jabbed my knife towards the back of her throat.
She ducked - without even seeing me. I then noticed a different clone was staring at me. Could she somehow see through all the clones at once? This was unreal.
Boom!
An explosive grenade finally burst open the wall. Frost and I took the chance to dip from the cage fast, leaving the clones in our dust. Not one to give up, the cage and Airra's bodies split back into dozens of miniature monsters.
I dashed towards the Trinity Towers, firing behind me. "To the towers!" I shouted at my squad.
Leaping around the beasts, we helped each other out until we all were heading towards the tower lifts. Running like a massive wave was on our tail, we hauled our way through the streets, over decorations, all while being pursued by a swarm of tree beasts.
"Running?! You think that will work?!" Airra's voice seemed to echo from all the creatures at once, deriding us every chance she got.
Suddenly, the tree creatures shot thorns like arrows. "Ergh! Damn!" I cursed as a thorn stuck into my left leg, then another sent me stumbling down to the unforgiving street. I slid and rolled as the street tore at my arms. "Ergh!" I forced myself up and popped my shield in defense.
"Take cover!" Valiic shouted.
He slammed his shield into the street and protected Uslar and Shadow-Walker as they dove behind a large tree pot. I noticed minor cuts on both of them. Frost created a wall of ice, and he and Brad fired from behind it.
"Is that all you got?!" Airra's voice rang through the streets.
The storm of thorns stopped, and her many minions quickly jumped into each other, creating bodies. Soon, there were six bark-skinned Airras running at us – and one came for me.
I withdrew my shield and shot at the clone's face with my pistol; nothing. Wildly, she threw a jab at my jaw. I caught it but skidded back from the force; she was stronger than any dytirc I'd ever faced.
"Dear, oh my! You are one strong human to be able to stop a punch from me!" Airra hissed the words, inches from my face.
"Jesus, you need to swallow some mouthwash!"
I grabbed her with my free hand and tossed her to the side. She was up in an instant, launching thorns at my eyes. I ducked, only to meet a thorn-covered uppercut to my throat.
Against the patio-streets, I coughed out drops of blood. Suddenly, her hand wrapped around my neck and dragged me toward one of the Trinity Towers.
"What? Nothing else to say?" she taunted, dragging my shaking body over the lift before raising me and slamming me into one of the three towers' walls.
My face was surely turning purple and blue. Using my elbow, I tried to bash her grip off my neck, but she held firm, staring into my eyes with hatred. Vines from her body pinned my limbs into place. I was a sitting duck!
"Oh shivf!" Airra released me and dove out of the way of a massive ice shard. "You've got good allies there!" she hissed. "I was so close to killing you!"
My squad and their battle all seemed to push back to the towers. Each tower had a lift outside its wall, a platform that would elevate us past each floor, and all the lifts were only a meter apart; it seemed our battle was about to get vertical. Simultaneously, three of Airra's clones pressed the button to the top floor on each of the three lifts. She then broke the panels by smashing vines into them.
"It's time to take this fight into the sky. Be aware of the edges, and don't look down, because this will be the worst elevator experience of your life," Airra mocked.
My squad and Airra's clones were split across the lifts as they began to raise. Valiic and I were accompanied by two clones on one lift. Brad and Frost faced two more on the second lift. Shadow-Walker and Uslar had two more to face on the last of the three lifts. From here on out, there was no escape.
Fighting ensued. I jumped back, dodging a sharp vine thrown at my face. One clone jumped at me, and I grabbed it and tossed it to the wall. Sprinting, I made the leap over to another lift. Frost was freezing the limbs of a clone before he shattered it.
"Wow! I know that's gotta hurt! Look at your limbs, they're hanging off!" Frost taunted. Those limbs grew back in seconds. "James, catch!"
Above me, Frost created a sledgehammer from ice. I caught it and smacked the holy Christ out of a clone, shattering the ice sledgehammer into pieces! Suddenly, Brad tossed his knife behind me, impaling a clone in the face. I grabbed it and tossed it back to Brad, who blasted one back with a shotgun, then turned to grab the knife before sending the blade into the clone's neck.
"I'm not done with you, dearie!"
Vines latched around me and pulled me back to the lift I'd been on, then slammed me onto the clear floor of the lift. We were already almost a hundred meters in the air, and the wind had picked up. Valiic swiftly slammed his shield into the vines holding me, severing the connection. I kicked up and met face-to-face with a clone. She kicked me backward, but I regained my footing.
"You know--" From the clone's hand appeared a sharp thorn. She swiped at my face, but I ducked. "--what's funny, dearie?"
She took another swipe, and I dodged. She then kicked me to my ass.
"There isn't a damn thing worth a chuckle here, Airra!" I kicked back to my feet.
She jumped at me and laughed. "Just how much do you actually know about this rag-tag band of misfits on your squad, James?" She tried to stab me again.
"Enough to place my life in each of their sweaty palms!" I continued to fight her off.
"Really? Did you know Shadow-Walker, your long-time friend and brother-in-arms, used to work with us?"
"Bullshivf!"
"James, dearie, I wouldn't lie. Ask Shadow about the Raid on Tathen."
"The Raid on Tathen… that was the battle that started this forsaken war - the first move your alliance made."
"And your ruddy ally, Shadow, participated in it! He was one of many mercenaries that did!"
Her cogent words were difficult to ignore. Was she trying to distract me? Was she speaking the truth? I couldn't let myself dwell on this.
"You're wrong!"
"Am I? And your buddy with the marked helmet… would you trust him with your life?"
"Bet your ass!"
"May cost you one day. That man… he has a darkness that follows him around… like me. I can feel it in his moves… the passion behind each attack. That man is sure kicking my clone's ass."
"Then Brad is doing a hell of a job!"
She laughed. "Brad… so that's his name. Brad... he has a very interesting way of fighting. Such ferocity… like me! He and I share something - a passion and urge to kill! Although I prefer to play with my toys."
"You're psychotic!"
"So are you… so is everyone. We all have demons, James, waiting in the deepest shadows of our hearts… waiting for a chance to jump into the light and reveal themselves!"
She knocked me down. I flipped back up.
"Where do you get off trying to carry on a conversation with the people you are trying to kill?" I took a swing at her face but missed.
"Nobody I have fought--" Airra blocked my kick and tossed me backwards, "--has ever lasted this long against me! I thought I'd pass the time," she hissed.
I forced out a chuckle. "You're insane."
She charged at me, and we were brawling again. She laughed while jabbing at my gut.
"Nobody has ever said that to my face!" I dodged her. "You want to know something cool?" Before I could give her a snarky response, she laughed with malicious intent. "I don't feel pain!" She unloaded thorns at my face. I dodged. "So the closest I get to feeling pain--" she took a swing, "--is when I feel someone else in pain!"
She forced my back to the other lifts, and my senses flared. "James, watch out!" Valiic and a few others warned.
I jumped to the side and saw thorns and vines pass by, but there was more!
"ERGH!" Pain shot up my body, and I looked down to see vines had pierced right through my gut! As blood poured down my sides, I looked back and saw all six of her clones had taken shots at me, guaranteeing I'd take a hit. My squad stared in shock as I fell to my knees and coughed up blood; one vine had grazed my lung.
One clone walked up in front of me. "James, I feel your guts. Looks like you are still just human!"
I felt the vines in me begin to grow, piercing further inside me. "ERGH-ARGH!"
I forced myself up and grabbed the vines behind me. I yanked to the side and snapped the vines off - at the expense of excruciating pain. I then fell back to my knees and was rendered helpless as Airra took full advantage, firing thorns in my direction.
Valiic rushed to my rescue, shielding me and pulling me to the furthest edge of the lift. As he stood in front of me and protected me from the clones, Frost launched a flurry of ice shards into them.
"You are really annoying!" Airra hissed.
Suddenly, all the clones dashed at Frost, who quickly put up an ice barrier while the rest of my squad fired at them. It wasn't enough, though, as the clones smashed through the barrier and knocked him off the lift! I looked down and saw him flailing in the wind.
"Hot damn! That's a far drop!" he shouted.
Quickly, Frost created an ice ramp that let him slide inside one of the Trinity Towers unharmed. With me down, too, this left us to face a four versus six battle - with the odds against us.
The clones went for Brad next. Airra was trying to single us out, until we were all dead. As if an act of luck, Brad flipped over the first clone, leapt off the top of the clone's head, and flew past the rest.
"Form up!" he commanded.
All my squad came over to me, and Brad tossed out a stasis field barrier, separating us from the clones. All of Airra's clones lashed out vines and thorns at the barrier, but thankfully, we were safe for the moment.
"What do we do?" Uslar cried out, practically shaking. "You take an army against Airra, and she wins! What hope do we have?"
"James, we can't kill her. Our weapons barely dent her, and anything strong enough to pierce her… well, she just grows back what she lost!" Valiic blustered.
"It's like fighting a forest that walks and talks…and wants you dead," Shadow-Walker said with a chuckle. "Man, I really hate forests!" Even in the grimmest of situations, you can always count on Shadow-Walker to crack a joke or two.
"What about fire?" I coughed out. I was still gravely wounded, and every breath I took was filled with pain. Uslar came over and pulled out his medical bag.
"Nah. I tried dat shit 'ready," Brad stated. "Used some spare airjin fuel tah light dat bitch up, but she jus' shed outta new layer of skin."
Uslar had begun pulling out leftover bark from my wounds using pliers. Each time, I cringed with pain. "What about the bomb she stole? She is probably hiding it in her bark skin, like the artifact. We could use it against her." Uslar pulled out another piece of leftover bark.
"We don't know what it does. What if we are collateral damage?" Valiic countered.
Brad jumped in. "If y'all are scared, I'll detonate it."
"It might be our best chance," Shadow-Walker agreed. "James?"
They all awaited my response. "It's worth a go."
I got a simultaneous nod from them. I could see in concern in Valiic's eyes.
The barrier protecting us was almost broken; likewise, we were almost to the roof of the Trinity Towers. In either case, we would have to fight again.
"Enough of this coward shivf!" Airra screamed from the other side of the barrier. Suddenly, her clones jumped into each other, again and again. Her body grew and grew until an eight-meter giant was formed!
Smash!
The three-legged giant crushed through the barrier.
"Are you kidding me? Is there anything this chick doesn't have up her sleeve?"
Shadow-Walker leaped to another lift, followed by Brad. They fired at the monster in an effort to distract her.
The lifts reached the top of the Trinity Towers and extended out, taking away the gaps between the lifts. We were now high in the sky, with high winds to sooth the blistering heat. The triangle-shaped lifts combined with the roofs and almost made the Trinity Towers feel like a symmetrical-wishbone-shaped arena where the winner walks and loser dies.
Airra swiped at Brad, who barely managed to slide below her thick arm. She went for Valiic next, her large foot rushing down at him. Time slowed, and I prayed for a miracle.
No! I can't lose another member of my family!
Bang!
The door to the stairwell blast open, and Frost threw himself under Airra's tree-trunk foot. Rapidly, he created a column of ice that forced itself against Airra. It was enough to overpower Airra and push her back, saving Valiic.
"Is that the best you've got?" Frost teased.
Airra retaliated by spinning her body at dizzying speeds, then unleashing a shower of thorns and vines. Brad and Shadow-Walker dove behind a staircase door. Uslar ducked beside a tree pot. Valiic and Frost bodied in front of me and shielded us all. It was mayhem. This warlord was beyond anything anyone could have imagined. How could one individual have such power?
"Frost! Put a stop to that!" I shouted before falling into a flurry of coughs.
Frost extended his hands and sprayed ice at Airra, and it started working as her body began to slow. Soon, she was stopped and her arms were encased in ice. Brad jumped from behind cover and shot out a grenade from the mounted grenade launcher beneath his shotgun.
Boom!
Airra's arm exploded, and out tumbled the stolen Devisor bomb. It clanked and bounced around the roof, nearing the edge!
"I've got it!" Shadow-Walker jumped over his cover and chased after it.
Suddenly, Airra's arm grew back. "So you want the bomb!" she screamed and split back into clones of her original body.
Each one unleashed a wall of vines, and she nabbed the bomb before Shadow-Walker got to it. Quickly, Valiic bashed into the wall with the bomb, and Shadow-Walker grabbed it. He tossed it to Uslar, dashing toward another roof.
"Annoying bunch, aren't you?"
Airra hissed, and her clones chased after the bomb. Uslar tossed it to Frost, and soon the battle became a game of keep-away. Uslar came to my side during the distraction and continued to patch me up.
Airra intercepted the bomb. "If you want the bomb so ruddy bad, I'd be happy to give it to you all!
Her clones jumped back into her, and she was now just one person again. She had the bomb in one hand, and with the other she reached to the top of the cylinder contraption and activated it, emitting a blinding white glow.
"Errr!" Airra growled, and her eyes began to glow a hot white.
"What the hell is happening?" I found myself whispering out loud.
Airra tossed the bomb between all of us, at the center of all three Trinity Towers. She collapsed to her knees as if drained of energy. The bomb started beeping and projected foreign symbols out from the top - probably a timer.
"Move!" Uslar shouted.
Everyone dashed to the nearest edge of whatever tower they were on. Uslar grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to the edge of one tower, slowly but surely. Brad was by himself on the opposite end of the tower Uslar and I were on. Valiic was on a separate tower. Frost and Shadow-Walker were on the tower with Airra, who'd mustered enough strength to slide to the far side. I saw a small flicker of regret in her expression.
Beep, Beep, Crack!
The bomb unleashed a sound similar to lightning. A beam, meters in diameter, shot toward the sky and ground. The lift below the bomb was vaporized, and the Trinity Towers shook under an earthquake of a shockwave. The beam reached the sky and spread a dense, red mist over the clouds, blocking the sun and moons. In seconds, the entire sky was ablaze in red and the heat from the sun's rays were gone.
The Trinity Towers shook and cracked as they swayed from side to side. I could hear the beams and supports crushing under the sudden force the bomb had released; the towers were going down!
"Uslar! Pull us to that tree pot!" I said, pointing a meter ahead.
Uslar pulled with all his might, his veins popping out and jaw clenching. The building tilted more and more as it began to fall. Once we were close enough, I reached for the tree pot and grabbed onto the trunk. Uslar followed.
"Hang on to your ass!" I yelled.
The skyscraper tipped and was headed for another skyscraper. The beams under us creaked, and the edges of the roof broke off. Floor by floor, tremors ruptured through each tower and clouds of smoke smothered my eyes and mouth.
"Get ready to jump!" I yelled over the crumbling tower.
Faster and faster, the tower fell. The next building was getting closer and closer; thirty meters, twenty--
"Ready! Jump!" I let go of the tree trunk. Sliding down the building, I used what little strength I had left and pushed off with my legs.
Crash!
I barrel-rolled through the glass of the next building, Uslar right behind me. The whole building shook as the last tower crashed into this one. As I crawled further away from the flying glass and debris, the Trinity Tower behind us crumbled to the ground before our eyes; luckily, this building held strong.
Relieved for a brief moment, Uslar and I rested against a wall. My cyberwatch blinked red, and I answered.
"James. Wha-what the hell just happened? The sky… it's completely red!" It was Wild-Heart, captain of the commando unit.
"It was the Devisor bomb. One of the warlords set it off." I coughed up debris and smoke.
"James. I can't get any signal through to command."
"Back channels?"
"Nothing. Whatever that mist is, it's cutting off any signals from getting through."
"Inform your men: Dead-zone confirmed. Command will no longer aid us in this mission." I nodded to Uslar to do the same for our squad. He sent out a message.
Wild-Heart responded, "I'm lonely already."