|
VxR Productions
 IT Support
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Philippines
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by ghazghkull
"Base Attack"
|
finally, here's something once again
Spoiler for Half a day later...:
It was… carnage, to say the least. Dust that littered all over the surface of whatever was left of the outpost’s exterior. Heck, there were even uncrumbled ashes of the creatures that were destroyed, the last vestiges of what they once were.
A young boy of what seemed to be about ten was wandering about, dressed in an orange windbreaker and a pair of black pants and carrying some sort of large cylindrical rod wrapped in white cloth.
“So much dissonance... So much suffering. This is the worst I have seen since the Unification Wars…” The boy mused. “One has died here, at the very least... Her Score still echoes, but it is already completed- she died nobly and fulfilled- she knew. And now...”
Something interrupted his thought, another prescience was nearby- behind a crumbled wall about a meter from him. He looked at the wall and motioned for someone or anything to come out.
"Oh, it seems that we have someone here as well."
A cloaked man stepped away from the wall, his face obscured by the covering shadows.
"Yeah... And who might you be?"
“I am just... a person who manages a ceremony of cleansing,” the kid introduced himself, looking back at the ruin once again. “Some refer to me as Khamsin. Names bear no meaning to me. As you can see, this place has undergone some rough time. Or, to put in the words of people these days… This place’s gone through some pretty tough shit.”
Somehow the man was unsure of how to deal with him.
“I see. Well then, go ahead. I believe there is a family that wants a loving mother and wife to be returned to them... I must find her body and allow them to mourn.” the cloaked man replied, now starting to rummage thru the ruins.
“I see as well,” the boy Khamsin replied awkwardly as well. “Ever wonder what happened here?”
“I was watching. A TSAB force was protecting this place from some bunch of weird bioengineered creatures or something. Well, not so much of bunch than torrents of them, but yeah I wanted to assist them, but given my current situation…”
Just then, a quivering pile of rubble collapsed, revealing an almost-dead Orphenoch that survived the blast. The cloaked man quickly leapt into action, taking out what seemed to be a deck of cards but he got stayed off.
“There is no need to set up your device,” Khamsin announces as he approaches the creature. “I see… The inclusion of a series of distortions… is this what the Coders call a virus? Even so, something of this level, I doubt even they can do anything more than we can at this stage…”
The man observed, curious- as if this kid was not even one. Khamsin soon stopped his musings, and the man watched as he unloaded the unknown wrapped cylindrical object from his back and unwrapped it, revealing a large metallic rod that he placed before him. The Orphenoch suddenly charged towards him but was stopped by the rod that was now pointed towards him- earning disbelief from the man- from his view, the rod was an impossible thing for him to lift, yet this... kid simply heaved it like it were some twig.
“Qadesh’s Heart…” Khamsin then said solemnly, “Activate.”
The area began to glow, and as it happen, the man began to see what seemed to be music, and could also felt the glow on his skin. Looking back at the Orphenoch, he saw the creature slowly changing back to the entity it once was. The menacing creature simply faded into nothing with a screeching sound, and the almost dead man that replaced/came out of it simply slumped to the ground, his breathing almost no-existent now.
“It is done now,” Khamsin then said, as he began to wrap his iron pillar. “At least he can now die as a human.”
“I have no idea what you just did,” the man could only say in awe. “But you are merciful. Most of the creatures that came here were simply destroyed without any regard.”
“It is my duty to Tune out Distortions,” Khamsin replied simply. “And there are still a lot more to fix in this place. Now, if I am not bothering you, may I ask as to what you are doing here again?"
"Me? Like I said, I'm here to help find closure." The man replied again. "I'm pretty certain the body's blown to bits already, but at least some remnant of her device should still be lying around... I'd bet it's near the corpse- if any of her still remain that is. Say, this Tuning thing.... Are you able to find where she is?”
“Ahhh, I hear only the echoes of her life. All I can do is listen to that child’s swansong post-mortem.”
“Well then,” The man says, trying his luck as well as trying to be confused with that musing. “If it’s possible, does it tell you where the body is?”
“Hmph, don’t underestimate us Tuners, kid,” Khamsin says, a confident smirk plastered on his face now, as though he enjoyed the idea of showing off to an ignorant child. “And more importantly, don’t underestimate what I can do.”
The man seemed to feel a bit indignant about that statement. He was about to voice his opinion on the matter when Khamsin pointed at the bottom of the pile of rubble they were on right now.
“It is there. The Tune is faint, but it is broadcasting nonetheless. For now, in any case.”
"Thanks." The man nodded, moving carefully as to not lose his footing and/or in the process, probably compromise the stability of the literal mountain of rubble that they were on.
“Move aside, with me doing it, it’ll be faster excavating the body.” Khamsin warned a few seconds later.
The man had barely enough time to jump aside as the rubble of concrete and metal formed a sort of trough. He managed to get a grip but it failed him moments later, sending him sliding down to the bottom, and making it sore for him as well. He barely got out a grunt of discomfort when Khamsin slid down as well- and on his feet, using his now-wrapped pole as a brake. He then pointed the still wrapped pole at the place where the bottom of the trough was and again, the rubble shifted, this time forming a tunnel small enough for one to crawl in.
"Somewhere in there. But I have my doubts if you can still pull out something."
"I need to do it... for them..."
Spoiler for In the Meantime:
Meanwhile, we turn ourselves over to other, seemingly unrelated groups of people, in what seemed to be a "town" beside a river. There were crates upon crates of equipment, all of them with the label "Reclamation" on it- denoting that not just this location, but the planet was currently being worked on by the Reclamation Utilities Commission or RUC as it is known- a branch of the Ordered Space Government that deals with reclaiming habitable planets lost by any order of catastrophe, human, natural or artifact.
But not all of them are from Reclamation. A groups of mages from the Bureau were called in a week prior due to the RUC discovering several artifacts in locations around the planet, most of them presumed to be dangerous and of the Lost Logia variety. Among these groups was a small detachment from the Second Fleet's Elite Recon group, Magiforce Assault Recon - Zeta- MARZ as it was known. But now, all the artifacts were taken out, and the ruins secured, allowing the RUC to conduct its job safely and quickly- and leaving the remaining Bureau forces with one thing to do- pack up and leave.
A lone figure emerged from the the central building, with signs of both stress and relief on his youthful face, signs that are appropriate considering what he was wearing at that moment- a Naval Lieutenant's Uniform. He was Hazu Mertens, the overall head of the MARZ as well as the detachment that was on site at the moment. He stopped to yawn a deep one before heading to the neighboring building, which housed one of three mess halls on site- this hall was special for the fact that asides from the usual (free) offerings, one can order other dishes that are given to you freshly cooked- for a price.
"What will it be?" the head cook of the hall asked as he entered, usual practice.
"Just a chair for now please."
"Be my guest."
And off he went, placing himself at an empty table. It was lively at the moment, most of the remaining Bureau personnel, among them members of his detachment, were having a wonderful lunch time, seeing that today was the day before they all left for home- and for him, a day before he can take a leave he so badly needed- as per recommendations. As he was settling down, another figure approached him and placed a tray before and to his right- revealing herself as she faced him and sat down.
"Karistrial..." Hazu simply greeted and tuned back to his silent musing.
"I have a name Sir... it would be Ellen Karistrial."
No response from the lieutenant- it was sometimes like this with him, always too silent- a total opposite of his usual optimistic self.
"Quite lively isn't it?" he then asked. "Just look at them. Most of them are in their first mission."
"I agree with their liveliness, and as such, I am against your gloominess Sir."
"Yeah... I've been working too hard again, and add the fact that the workplace Shiina's sister worked in was attacked."
"Is Airi alright?"
"Yeah, she got trapped but okay. Shiina is taking her to Marcus as of this moment. And speaking of reports..."
"All the newbies have returned here and the only ones that are left are the regulars that are still with the expeditions." Ellen spoke as she took out a piece of data crystal and handed it over. "They will arrive by nightfall."
"Good. Now I just need to do something before I take a nap- it's been a week." Hazu then sighed as he pocketed the crystal. "Hey Joe!"
The head cook placed himself near the table, ready to take an order.
"A Fresh Fry of the day please."
"Nice choice, for we just had freshly caught river fish. Don't worry they are all edible if you're asking." the cook gleefully wrote down the order. "It will be ready in a few minutes."
And as the wait began, the hall began to have a livelier atmosphere. The television was currently tuned in into the Finals of the Symour Cup, one of Ordered Space's premier leagues. It was the 4th and final period and the score was tied between the two teams. By the time the half of the period came, a platter of freshly fried fish was on the table, as well as some rice.
"Let me have some too Chie-" Ellen spoke as she took one by the body, but instantly dropped it. "Hot!"
"You're supposed to hold it by either the tail or the head." the lieutenant could only chuckle as he held his fish properly, taking a chunk of the freshly fried flesh down the hatch. "Man, this sure is good."
And the two carried on, like the match that was on TV. Moments later, a couple of MARZ's regulars came by and sat beside them, prompting Hazu to order seconds. And the so match continued into overtime, making tensions between the personnel who were rooting for their respective teams more pronounced- as some of them made a betting pool out of the result. And finally, it was all over with a score of 2-1. Money exchanged hands and the hall was finally back to its usual air. And with that, lunch was over.
The Lieutenant, once again alone, was heading towards his quarters when he noticed a couple of Reclamation Workers acting like drunks and looked like they were covered in dark ash even if it was a cloudy 1PM. He approached them and finally took notice that something was wrong.
"Hey what's the..."
"a... a..."
"Hey what's the matter"
"...ttac..."
The words were halted by what happened next. The men's complexion turned a dirty white and with their next step, began to crumble into dust. The shocked Lieutenant stepped back as they finally crumbled, turning into piles of ashes. As he was trying to assess the situation, another scream came in and sent an unusual chill up his spine. He turned towards the direction of the scream and saw another Reclamation Worker, this time sitting on the ground and trying to get away from something. It did not take long for the scene to complete itself. The worker was trying to get away from what seemed to be a monster of a composite of human and some creature. Heavily armored and with an overall gray color it was holding another worker and what seemed to be tentacles from its mouth were entering the mouth of the victim. Moments later, the victim was released and burst into blue flames, finally crumbling into dust like the previous two.
"What the heck is happening now?" he could only think as the creature grabbed the second worker, prompting him to bolt into action, trying to break the creature's grip of the terrified worker. He failed the attempt and was promptly tossed aside.
More screams erupted as he was trying to recover, and all around him, and similar grayish creatures appeared out of nowhere and begun to attack people. There were some who were already in their jackets, trying their best to fend them off. But he had no time to watch as he focused himself back to trying to pry the worker off- who by the way was about to be invaded by a couple of tentacle-like objects from the creature's mouth.
[Get Ready]
And in an instant, a blade sweeps across the creature's arm, managing just enough damage for it to let of of the worker. Then a couple more slashes followed, dealing more damage to the creature- it seemed to take effect as the creature staggered and began to erupt in blue flame, finally crumbling to dust. And as it settled, a hand reached for the worker.
"Are you okay?"
It was Hazu, now in his Barrier Jacket, weapon cradled on his shoulder. The worker held on the hand and he pulled her up. In the meantime, We turn to Ellen and the two other MARZ regulars, also in their Jackets, fighting off more of the creatures.
"Kristel, Kiramena, you guys still okay?" Ellen asked as she converted her opened sword into a rather huge bow and shot off another one.
"Okay here..." The first regular replied, as he took out a creature, a couple of swipes of his batons did the trick.
"Same." The second regular replied. "Take this!"
[Vividheart Shift]
In an instant, the second regular's armored dress was replaced with a more cloth-like, waitress like uniform. She then quickly dashed past a couple of the creatures and by the time she stopped, all of them were already in flame and crumbling.
"Chief... Chief... where are you?" Ellen called over in the mental line, trying to contact the Lieutenant.
[Multi Shot]
Ellen then fired several shots over a group of approaching enemies, hitting them multiple times and defeating them.
"Chief... Chief... where are you? please respond." Ellen tried again.
Back to the Lieutenant...
"I'm okay." He responded as he rushed towards the enemies that were either trying to catch someone, or have already inserted their tendrils into them, turning the poor victims into ash moments later. "It's just..."
[Seeker Pulse] [Hi Shot]
The combination attack hits another creature, releasing its grip on a terrified mage. He then followed up the attack.
[Blitz Saber]
And with one pass, another creature turned to dust. He then helped the mage up, who he quickly identified as being under his command.
"Are you okay Arstein?"
"Chief... what are those things?"
A couple of "those things" suddenly turned towards them. And in response, Hazu dropped what seemed to be a grenade straight to the ground. It exploded into a half-sphere of energy that deterred and even took out the creatures that went after them. Inside...
[Get Ready]
Another device activated and from that half-sphere, the Lieutenant and Arstein emerged, the latter now with her jacket and staff out.
[Iso'len Dra'gess]
Arstein summoned what seemed to be a great serpent, out of "holographic" ice for that matter. And as she completed the summoning, more of the creatures headed towards them.
"Let's go..."
And with those words, the Lieutenant dashed towards them, while the other commanded the serpent to aid him.
- To be Continued -
And with that I am finished for now.
@ Keroko : hmmmm will talk to you soon and yes OC comments needed since the 3 of us slaved here to work on those 3
:3
and moving on, another possible person.
|