Testing: A Little Sci-Fi Adventure (Chapter 8)

Chapter Eight
When Archons Battle

TWO HOURS AGO, Fanue Centrino Commercial Docking Bay 3,

“I forbid you from going in there!”
“And leave Layenne to the hands of that madman? I think not!”
“How do you even think you can get by Weiss?”
“Luck.”
“I give up… you leave us no choice. We’re going with you.”
“I agree with Naomi. It’s better if we do this in a group.”
“You don’t have to come.”
“You have no choice.”
“We’re coming along as well.”
“I don’t think you’ve proven yourself useful yet.”
“It’s our fault this happened. Trust us, we’re better fighters than you think.”
“Very well… just don’t get in the way.”
“There’s no more time! Let’s go!”

BEYOND THREE, Abbey of Winter Ridge,

The team of five stepped up onto the slabs of marble leading up to the front door of the abbey. The building was old and crumbling. Tall spires loomed above, topped with great gargoyles. The stained glass was broken and the walls were covered in graffiti exclaiming distasteful words. The faded marble doors were shut tight and a great cross sealed the opening. In the center of the cross was a bright red round ruby, extracted from deep within the core.
Weiss was there to greet them. He had that same warm smile but a hypnotized Layenne was floating next to him. He bowed.
“Have you decided? Is the course that you wish to take the harmless one?” He asked sympathetically.
“No. I stand firm. I’m sorry but I can’t break my word.” Isaac replied, as humbly as he could. In his heart, he too wanted to avoid a fight.
“Then I will just have to keep this beautiful creature instead. Terribly sorry but it is what I must do.” He disappeared along with Layenne.
“What now?” Hiryu asked.
“Simple. We go in.” Isaac explained.
“How? Can’t you feel it? The place is protected, shielded from everything. We need the power of the elements to go in and I fear fire isn’t going to be enough.”
“Let’s see wind.” The cloaked man suddenly exclaimed. He took off his robes and jumped at the door. He was dressed in military fatigues, with a plate of armor covering his right shoulder. His hair was cut short was colored brown. He withdrew a simple sword and jabbed it into the heart of the ruby. A vortex of wind encircled the blade and smashed the ruby to pieces. The door blew open and destroyed the back of the wall inside the holy building.
The man landed gently onto the ground, with the aid of a wisp, and shafted his sword.
“I could have done that.” Hiryu retorted. They walked inside, covering their mouths from the dust and particles the drifted in the air. The faint sound of a playing piano came from deep within the halls of the sacred, or used to be sacred, place. The stood there for a while, admiring the architecture of the main entrance. Pillars stretched out to the ceiling high above. The entire place was laden with a diamond covering. A huge statue stood in front of them, with a plain speech-box in front of it. Benches, broken and wrecked, lay at both sides. Each one of those could have seated fifty people. It wasn’t hard to imagine the mass congregations that used to be held there before the nullification set in.
“The republic is coming. We have but three minutes to retrieve your friend.” The man blurted out. He was holding a sort of compass with a radar signal on the face. It was labeled Rep-Tec, short for Republican Technology. These items were rare and difficult to obtain, even in the black market.
“Then let’s get to it.” Said Hiryu, eying the item with suspicion. Together, they ran past the statue of a forgotten god, and headed towards the sound of the music. They could hear the rustling and slow creaking of the front doors moving back into place. Already the illusion of off worldly magic was descending upon the abbey.

***
They sound of blaster fire came from a few flights below them. The stairs that they were ascending were ceaseless and to add more salt, they’re three minutes were up. Crack troops and Republican police flooded the abandoned building, carrying with them weapons of great destruction. Already the infantry were chasing them up the tower, firing off warning shots and smoke grenades.
As Isaac shot down yet another buff soldier, a massive hulk of rock came running down the stairway. It had the face of a dragon and had arms wielded with maces. Easily it could have been twice as tall as any of them. As it tumbled down the cracking stone flights, it smashed down a few surviving chandeliers from the ceiling. Closely behind it came another of its kind, but with the looks of a goblin and horned wings to the extent of enormity. The man ran forward to attack.
With two strokes of his wind-infused blade, he sliced off the torso of the mountainous creature. The vacuum threw the other through the wall, making it fall down to oblivion. More came running down the stairs. Some of them ugly, some monstrous, some devilish, but all were big. Along came a plethora of weapons, banging on the walls and making the situation unbearable.
“This is impossible! Isaac! Get to the top of the tower! We’ll hold them off! Just try to take out some of those gargoyles on your way up!” Naomi shouted in the midst of the din. Isaac nodded, they had been in situations like this before, and he could tell that Naomi was rather enjoying herself. He jumped onto the head of a falling gargoyle and flew across the rest. He narrowly avoided swings from the massing number of gargoyles. He also had to contend with bolts of concentrated light flying across the area.
“Ms. Light! Get out of here as well! Follow him!” The man said while sending three stone soldiers to their doom.
The girl, now known as Light, quickly obeyed and sailed over the soldiers heads. She danced around the falling footsteps and rubble until she caught up with Isaac. Isaac was surprised to see the hooded girl run as fast as him through the density of the destruction. Not wishing to be left behind, he too increased his pace. Together, they ran past the battle, and up the grayscale tower. Every step brought them closer to the music, closer to their target.
The moment they moved out of view, the brick walls of the tower crumbled and two gargoyles fell out onto a scourge, the policing, rapturous birds of prey. The military had brought in their heavy equipment, in the form of lanky three legged abominations, and had blasted away the remnants of the powerful shield. As one crumbled under the weight of stone monuments, the other rider swerved the Vyborg to face Hiryu and his band. An armored shell fragmented the stairs and spontaneously, the tower broke apart.
Now the structure magically flung all its combatants out of the gaping hole. Hiryu jumped from falling stone to falling stone while still fighting all the various Policia Republicia. The Vyborgs swayed as they made their way towards the falling men, firing off some projectiles once in a while. Hiryu could hear the orders shouted by the Vyborg’s pilot as he moved in for the kill. The monumental creature split in half and spewed out oil and blood as it screamed its final, shrill scream. The feel of the wind in his hair as Hiryu plummeted was a fantastic feeling.
The wooden doors burst open. The heavy bolts which held them in place shattered under the heavy force. The penthouse section of this infernal tower was pure white and sparkled as the slow rise of the sun climbed over the distant hills. It was circular and had three slits at different corners of the rooms to allow the fresh air in. In the middle was a grand piano, made of ivory, and sitting there playing it was Weiss. His hands moved vividly as he moved to the rhythm. As the song came to an end, his bodily movements came to a smooth halt.
Weiss got up and smoothened his pants. He turned around and looked at them, still smiling that wholesome smile. He gave a short bow, which Isaac felt inclined to return.
“I’m afraid we don’t have much time, Mr. Isaac. My comrades will be here any minute now and I dearly wish for a non-violent ending to this dilemma. Please just hand over the captives.”
“I remain true to my word. I’m here for Layenne if you may.”
The girl shifted a little. The dim sound of humming engines came from outside. Weiss shook his head and retreated to the back of the room. The window to Isaac’s left was blocked and before he realized it, had expanded to match the size of the occupants exiting the craft. Both of them were familiar, one was in the overcoat and dark glasses, hat slanted to a side, the other was covered in clothing of metal, and shone brightly. Behind them, the ship took off and the window returned to normal size.
“Well, well. We meet Isaac! How nice to see you again.” Kerrigan spoke after examining him for a while. “Does he want to bargain, Weiss?”
“You know that we can’t return without the credits. Do your job before we do it for you.” Said Five, exasperated.
“Please realize that I am really against violence. Let’s give him another chance shall we?”
“You are too merciful. You need to lose that or you’ll soon meet my master.” Kerrigan laughed out aloud and turned to look at Isaac.
“The thieves. And I might consider letting you die another time.” He bellowed.
“I dare you to try.” Isaac calmly replied.
“Very well.”
Kerrigan withdrew his handle fro the blade of shadows and tried to ignite it. He tried a few times before he gave up.
“This is a holy place Kerrigan. That desiccated flame will not light here.” Weiss spoke from behind the group.
Without answer, Kerrigan kept the handle back inside his long, thick overcoat. He then tightened his gloves and smiled evilly. In a split second, he was holding Isaac’s face with one hand. The girl screamed and stepped back, slowly withdrawing her staff.
“I wouldn’t do that Ms. Light. I happen to remember you perfectly.” Five muttered. He was obviously bored.
Kerrigan had jumped up and slammed Isaac into the opal room. Isaac heard some bones break just before he was smashed through the ivory-tiled floor. The tiles were thrown into the air and a crater remained at that very spot. Isaac thrust his gun into Kerrigan’s stomach and activated the laser-blade. Kerrigan winced in pain but was still smiling. He held the gun with his free hand and crushed it. Isaac felt his hand break under the immense pressure. It was amazing that Kerrigan, being an average sized man and rather skinny for a fact, had within him, the strength of gods.
Suddenly and surprisingly, Five shouted out, vexed and infuriated. He was contorted in anger and had withdrawn his dual rapiers. The blades emitted a blue steam and he was poised for attack. In the blink of an eye, He had brought down both the heavy, curved swords onto Kerrigan, who was blocking them with his bare hands. He was surprised but was still smiling. Five and Kerrigan dueled, and the way that they fought was graceful yet frightening. The tower was beginning to sway as Five sent orbs of energy at Kerrigan who countered with his overcoat. They battled at such speed and skill that it was impossible to tell who was winning, but Five was clearly having the advantage.
“Why are you doing this Five?” Kerrigan breathed out.
“Never! Never! Destroy one of my treasures!” He was shouting so loud that several whirrs and chirps came from within the usually silent metal armor.
Isaac felt a tap on his shoulder. He saw Weiss standing over him. He bent down to whisper in his ear.
“Take Layenne. I fell that when the battle stops, Five would have completely forgotten his purpose. During that time, you must try to escape.” Isaac looked up at his radiant face. He was smiling, as usual but had concern written all over his face. He handed over Layenne who was sleeping and went back to his post.
Kerrigan landed with a crash onto the piano. He had slashes all over his body. He struggled to get up, but quickly, Five had placed his feet onto his chest and unbroken arm. Kerrigan chuckled something like ‘you win this time.’ But before he could finish it, Kerrigan had cut him up into hundreds of fragments, not necessarily nicely as the center of the room was now covered in blood, arteries, organs and flesh. Only the legs of Kerrigan lay on the piano. Five was swearing under his breath and swiveled to face Isaac and his companion.
“You let him destroy my treasure…you…must…pay!” Isaac felt something deep within one of his pockets. His hand felt the strange object which he had purchased. He felt the forbidden button and poised himself. He saw the Ms. Light sensing something wrong.
As Five attacked, Isaac’s reflexes heightened. He narrowly avoided the blades of the weapon as he pulled himself and the girl to the side. Then, he pulled her along with him as he jumped out of the hole, still smoking, which Five had managed to make. Five attempted to jump out as well but Isaac threw the contraption, activated, into the room. Isaac could see the horror in Five’s expression, seconds before rings of all the elements began to spin around the tower. Along the rings were ancient runes, undecipherable. Isaac put himself in front of the screaming girl, not only to cover her mouth but to shield her from the imminent destruction.
Hiryu could barely catch the sight of a multicolored bird hovering above the tower. Naomi, who was bandaging the stranger, was also looking up and absent-mindedly pricked the man. The bird disappeared but all the rings formed orbs and began to make a circle. What followed was the complete destruction of the abbey, believed to have survived all the End of Space wars, as each orb sent out the fury of the element it held. People on a passing ship could remember seeing a great flare of light lighting up the moons around the planet.

***
BEYOND THREE, Fanue Centrino Commercial Docking Bay 3,

Isaac was sitting on the self of their beloved ship. Hiryu was sitting on the fuzzy armchair and Naomi was leaning against the wall. They were all eying their guests who were standing in the middle of the room.
“Well? Explain yourselves.” Said she.
The man nodded and signaled for his female companion to remove her cloak. She did so, and there before them, stood a green-haired girl, with a pale face as if she had not seen sunlight in years. She wore an aviator’s jacket over a shirt and a pair of fading, torn jeans. Strapped to her back was a long golden rod, curved at the end and adorned with a bright emerald. She was smiling feebly and tried to dust herself properly. Her hair was messy and was cut short.
“Ahem.” Said the man as he tried to regain everybody’s attention.
“We, as you already know, are the thieves of the billion dollar credit. Our motives were not personal wealth and gain, but escape from this wretched life. We had been living in this disgusting city for three years when we realized that enough was enough. We decided to take leave but with no ship and no means of life elsewhere, we had to steal. Our luck turned when we overheard some Republican soldiers speaking about the credits in a bar down in the slums. Getting the money was easy enough, you saw my skills, but we did not guess that agents of the mist feared officer in the army was overseeing the operation. We found out that this money was supposed to be used in the funding of that certain officers war machine but it was too late. We were being pursued by that man which you were fighting.” He pointed at Isaac. “And many times, he offered a peaceful solution. We had to refuse, we knew what would come. We decided to try our luck at the ships in the bay and once again, fate was on our side when we chanced upon your group. We wanted a way out. You were our answer. I’m sure you can figure out the rest.” He ended his small speech and plopped himself onto the sofa.
“I see. May I know what you are going to do now?” Hiryu asked.
“That’s up to you. We entrust our lives to you.”
“Would you mind taking punishment for your crimes?”
The man sighed. “Very well. What be our punishments.”
“You would have to leave this city and stay on this ship as permanent crewmembers. We expect you to work your hardest as you continue to stay on board.” Naomi continued. A glint in her eye. She smiled and walked out of the room. The man was spellbound and was trying to say something but couldn’t. The girl had a look of happiness all over and had to sit down next to her companion.
“By the way, what happened to the money?” Hiryu asked.
“It was destroyed in the element bombing. Apparently, it was not made to withstand huge amounts of energy.” The man answered. Hiryu nodded and left the room as well. It was silent for a while as the two people stared at Isaac, as though expecting him to say something. Isaac was sipping his tea, and was trying to ignore their stares.
“I thought by now you would have recognized your own brother, Isaac.” The man suddenly said.
“I knew it was you since the start, Glave. I just didn’t want the others to suspect anything.” Isaac replied, not looking up from his clear, brownish, drink. “Not to mention you, Maÿrn, or more appropriately, Ms. Light.” He smiled at her approvingly. She was delighted that he had noticed her and threw her arms around Isaac. Who, however startled, managed to keep a drop of tea from spilling. She had some tears running down the sides of her cheeks as she crushed his in her deadly embrace. Isaac tried to say something but couldn’t find any air. When she finally released him he took a long deep breath. Glave, his brother, walked up and ruffled Isaac’s hair with his uninjured hand. From the corridors, Naomi and Hiryu were both peeking out from their rooms to take in the reunion.