“Morcii made Planetfall?!”
“Ye…yeah…” Kevérin replied
slowly, staring dumbfoundedly at the information feed on his glasses. “…He
obliterated the Siionkagh primary generator in one strike.”
“What?!” Kaoné exclaimed, “But,
how did he–? How could he…?”
“Fuck if I know,” the
Pyrotechnic scowled, “He’s never– …there haven’t been any reports of Morcii
breaking through shielding on any of the other planets. He didn’t– it’s not
possible. He would have needed at least a teraton’s worth of force to even begin scratching those shields! That’s–
if he hit the planet itself with that force, that’d be enough to cause an
extinction event, I mean– …if Morcii can really output that much force, that’s,
that’s, that’s insane!”
“Aren’t… aren’t Kevken, Vélunis,
and Wilkas all stationed at the Siionkagh generator?” Kaoné questioned,
beginning to wring her hands in worry, “If they… are they okay?”
“I don’t know,” Kevérin furrowed
his brow in frustration, “They aren’t important enough to post about on the
info feed. The Genesis isn’t close
enough to their location to get a focused sensor reading, either. So… there’s
no way for us to know.”
“You know what this means for us, right?” Davídrius cut in
impatiently, “Morcii attacked the generator because the Ayas was there, didn’t
he? Well guess where he’d go next then, huh?!”
“There are many different
reasons for him to attack the generator…” Kevérin countered, “…but all of them
would have him hitting Oriciid’kas as a follow up anyways. You’re right. But
what can we possibly do against that? Nothing short of a Capital ship could
stop that kind of force!”
“…I hate to say it,” Davídrius
frowned, “But our best bet might be to grab the Ayas and run. If Morcii can
really output as much force as you’re saying he can, none of us stand a chance
against him.”
“Where would we run?” Kevérin questioned, “The ‘Gate’s blocked; we
can’t leave the planet. And even then… we can’t just abandon Oriciid’kas, not
this quickly.”
“You say that, but sticking
around won’t help much either, you know!”
“Weren’t you the one who wanted
to fight Morcii?”
“Sure, before we learned that he single-handedly broke through the
Ayas-reinforced planetary shields,” Davídrius snorted, “Fuck fighting him now –
we can try that later when we have more Ayas with us!”
“I wonder if the Ayas actually
mean anything, now,” Kevérin responded warily, “They sure as hell didn’t stop
Morcii.”
“But…” Kaoné glanced between the
other two Chaotics worriedly, “…what do we do?”
The three sat in uneasy silence
before Kevérin sighed and spoke up again. “I’ll try to contact the Genesis through the system’s Relaynet
and just hope that the relays are still intact. Hopefully, Krick will have some
more input…”
“Sounds like a plan, now get to
it,” Davídrius urged.
“Right, right… Command: contact
the Genesis. …Command: contact the Genesis…!”
“Uh oh…” Kaoné muttered as
Kevérin’s frown deepened. “What’s wrong…?”
“Comms have cut out…” the
Transfer Captain replied uneasily, “…There’s nothing coming or leaving. …We’ve
gone dark.”
* * *
“Chaos
Cannon!”
Morcii lunged forward,
effortlessly knocking away the Chaos Energy projectile as he grabbed one of
Vélunis’s many weapons out of the air and swung it toward Wilkas. The
Superstrength Introtechnic blocked the blade with his palm, allowing his
armor’s shielding to protect his hand as he thrust his other first forward,
impacting Morcii’s chest with enough force to launch him across the grounds at Mach
speeds. Vélunis immediately summoned dozens of railguns and fired them all
simultaneously, obliterating the entire far wall and further exposing the outer
tower of the Polar base to the elements. Kievkenalis quickly cleared the
resulting smoke and debris with Chaos Massive Impact but was suddenly whacked
in the face as Morcii burst through the invisible force with his fists forward.
He grabbed the Chaostechnic by his arm and whirled him through the air before
throwing him at Vélunis just in time to leap into the air to avoid a metal beam
thrown by Wilkas. Upon returning to the ground the Nanocreature leader
attempted to leap upwards again but was smashed back into the ground by a
massive sword that simply dropped on top of his head, completely shearing his
body in two.
Before any of the Chaotics could
sigh of relief, however, the two body halves sprung forward, knocking Wilkas to
the ground before reconnecting to form Morcii’s full body and allow him to
stomp the Introtechnic’s back with enough force to instantly create a two-meter
deep crater. Kievkenalis immediately replied by launching several Chaos Cannon
attacks at Morcii, driving back the Nanocreature leader and allowing Wilkas to
jump back to his feet and punch the crater wall, shattering the ground under
Morcii and causing him to stumble. Vélunis quickly launched a hail of bladed
weapons, darkening the sky just above Morcii as Kievkenalis dashed forward from
the side, gesturing for the two other Chaotics to stand back. Then, just before
reaching Morcii, he shouted, “Chaos
BLAST!”
A massive sphere of purple
energy exploded from the Chaostechnic, obliterating everything within twenty
meters and blowing back everything within fifty. Vélunis and Wilkas both
quickly recovered and dashed up to the crater created by the blast before
eyeing the results in surprise.
“You never told us you were an
explosive type!” Wilkas shouted down at Kievkenalis.
“It never came up–?!” the
Chaostechnic replied, but was interrupted as Morcii burst upwards from the
ground beneath him, nailing Kievkenalis in the jaw with a hardened fist of steel.
The Chaostechnic flew up and back, covering several meters of damaged terrain
before tumbling back down to the ground painfully.
“As
expected…”
Morcii smirked, observing Kievkenalis as he quickly climbed back to his feet
and massaged his jaw, “The Chaos
State has raised your durability significantly, but I can still overwhelm it if
I desire.”
“You tryin’ to say you’re not
being serious?” Wilkas countered.
“Of
course not,” the Nanocreature replied dismissively, “If I were truly fighting for victory, then
the lot of you would have been pounded to dust before you even realized the
battle began.”
“...Right,” Vélunis drawled, “Those
are some big words for a scrawny guy like you. Storm Blade!”
Wilkas and Kievkenalis
immediately jumped back as nearly a hundred blades appeared several meters over
Morcii’s head. Within a second of creation Vélunis slammed them all into the
ground, piercing Morcii’s body in many locations and littering the area
around him with embedded metal rods – rods that Kievkenalis quickly charged
with Chaos Charge, and then shouted, “Chaos
Strike!” The strike of Chaos Energy hit the rods instantly, amplifying
the electrical charge in the area enough to create actual lightning strikes
that stunned Morcii and prevented him from moving as Wilkas leaped into the air
before bringing his fists down over the Nanocreature’s head. On impact Morcii
disappeared into the ground as the entire area inside the outer tower shattered
and cratered, further destroying the outer tower and launching loose debris and
dust clouds into the air.
“…I knew he was all words,”
Wilkas smirked, wiping his hands as the dust began to settle.
“No… this isn’t right,”
Kievkenalis frowned, “This is nothing like our encounter back on Maasen. He
might still be around–”
“How
very astute.”
“What–?!” Vélunis spun around to
face the section of obliterated wall behind him. Standing on top of a loose
metal beam hanging precariously several meters in the air was none other than
Morcii himself, arms crossed as he stared down at the three Chaotics.
“How’d he get up there?!” Wilkas exclaimed incredulously.
“Ha,
this battle has proven mildly interesting,” Morcii remarked, “Though your unearned confidence is
painfully typical of Aldredanoids, I find. Let us see if you can keep me
further entertained for the time being, hmm?”
“…Guys?...” Vélunis muttered
uneasily as he brandished two rifles.
“We can’t outrun him; we’re
stuck until the Genesis can pick us
up,” Kievkenalis scowled, “…We just have to last until then. Chaos Assist!”
* * *
“The Nanocreatures are beginning
to transfer their fire to Siionkagh itself!”
“Of course they are. Intercept
the larger ships! How are Siionkagh’s shields holding?”
“…Not well. The destruction of
the North Pole generator reduced the shield’s overall strength by over
ninety-nine percent, and the increase in fire from the Nanocreatures is very
quickly eating through what’s left. We don’t even have twelve hours at the
current rate…”
“Damn,” Krick scowled, pursing
his lips as he impatiently glanced between bridge displays, “…We can’t wait any
longer. Petition the Battle Group leader to move to the Polar Fleet – wait for
a response, but we’ll be moving out regardless of what it is!” The Captain then
sat back in his chair, rubbing his chin absentmindedly as he awaited the
completion of his order. Morcii appeared
out of nowhere… not even our sensors could pick him up. We have no way of
knowing if he’s still on Siionkagh, or if he’s moved out again, and that means
we have no idea if he has the Ayas that was plugged into the generator… damn.
This does not bode well for Oriciid’kas.
“Permission to move to the Polar
Fleet granted, sir!”
“Set a course immediately!”
Krick barked, “Full thrust! Be prepared to beam up as many survivors on the
ground as possible, particularly the Nimalians, and especially the Ayas!”
“Yes sir! Setting course for
Polar Fleet! …Some of the Nanocreature ships have broken off, they’re following
us! Twenty-five ships, all Cruiser-class!”
“Engage the cloak! Begin
acquiring targets immediately – account for weapon power, spread, and accuracy,
and begin firing periodically with all weapons in sync. I want each blast wave
to wipe out at least five ships!”
“Yes sir! Engaging cloak!”
“Twenty-five Cruisers, huh…”
Krick muttered to himself, “They must really not want us to reach the Pole. Or
maybe they’re catching on to how dangerous we are to them…”
“Weapons primed! Targets
acquired – firing! …Twenty targets remaining!”
“Keep it up, keep it up,” the
Captain nodded approvingly. We’re losing
the battle for the system, but on a personal level, we’re doing perfectly fine.
I can’t help but feel wary about this… but there’s no time to worry. The Ayas
comes first.
* * *
“Will someone please tell me what’s going on here?!”
“If I knew, I’d be more than
happy to explain,” Kevérin retorted as he led Kaoné and Davídrius away from the
communications center. “No one knows why comms are jammed. If we did, we’d be doing something about it.”
“I can tell you what we can be doing about it,” Davídrius insisted,
“Getting the fuck out of here!”
“We can’t do that, either,” the
Transfer Captain countered, “Even if the base commander had issued an evac
command, we need to stay with the Ayas and protect it. We can’t let the
Nanocreatures have it.”
“Then just take it with us!”
“Take it where?”
“Take it, uh…” Davídrius paused
for a moment to think, falling behind Kevérin and Kaoné before dashing back up
to the Pyrotechnic. “…I dunno, somewhere not
here, maybe?”
“And make it easier for the Nanocreatures to breach
Oriciid’kas’s shields and surround us?” Kevérin snorted, “Morcii might be able
to puncture the shields with ease, but none of the other Nanocreatures have
shown the same ability. The shield is still important.”
“It’d be pretty bad if we lost
Oriciid’kas faster than even Bouy’Xis, too,” Kaoné commented.
“…Hn,” Davídrius grunted, “…I
don’t like this one bit.”
“No one does,” Kevérin responded,
stopping at a small observation deck to stare out at the arctic tundra
surrounding the base’s outer tower. “…But the thing is, there’s really nothing
we can do, aside from hunkering down. This is
a military installation, so at the end of the day, this is the best place for
the Ayas to be.”
“Are you sure? Maybe there’s a
more secure base on the planet somewhere?” Kaoné suggested.
“Not on Oriciid’kas. This is
primarily a civilian world; the largest bases are at the poles, where the
primary shield generators are.” The Pyrotechnic sighed wearily. “If we were on
Siionkagh, then there would be alternatives. But this base is literally the
most fortified it gets.”
“Question: how much of that ‘fortification’
is because of the climate?” Davídrius retorted, “’Cause if that’s what it is,
then it won’t do much against the Nanocreatures because they’re, well, you
know. Machines.”
“Relax,” Kevérin replied, “We’ll
still have plenty of warning time before the base itself is attacked. The
Nanocreatures still have to break through the shield, after all–“
The entire building suddenly shuddered
violently, interrupting the Transfer Captain’s statement as the three Chaotics
were thrown to the ground. Immediately alarms began sounding as all of the base
personnel began scrambling in every direction in an urgent yet surprisingly
calm manner.
“…The fuck’s goin’ on?” Davídrius
scowled.
“…Oh no,” Kevérin’s face fell as
he turned his attention to his glasses’ information feed.
“…No,” the Introtechnic stared
at the Pyrotechnic incredulously, “No, do not
say Nanocreatures. It is not the
Nanocreatures.”
“…But it is,” Kevérin looked up
at Davídrius warily, “…The Nanocreatures just attacked the base. Directly.”
* * * * *
==================== End of Chapter 62 ====================
* * * * *
Data Entry: {null}
