Here's as promised, part 8.
Part 8: Trouble on the 2nd floor
***************************
Next stop, 2nd floor. Again, poorly lit . Red lights were flashing on and off.
The doors of the turbolift opened and 5 Necris fired their guns.
10 Kraylins later they ceased fire.
“Coast is clear”, Visse sighed.
“Yeah you’d never knew, suppose one of those trooper teams was actually waiting for us, here at the lift!”, Rhaynor whispered, “ anyway, the tensor is picking up several lifeforms, but .. it has trouble confirming their position.”
“Don’t tell me”, Loque mumbled.
“Oh yeah”, Rhaynor sighed, “apparently our tensor is damaged.
“How did that happen”, Jared snarled.
“LOOK”, Visse yelled,” I thought we agreed to forget about that tensor and rely on our instincts and reflexes?”
Rhaynor frowned and nodded.
“Yeah you’re right Visse”, he said with a husky voice.
She scratched her chin.
“Now look”, Visse spoke with a firm voice, “we need to make our way past these teams of storm troopers. They’re hiding somewhere, behind these walls, in the rooms. We need to be very careful. I want you to stay frosty, and be ready for anything!”
Loque smiled. Now that was the Visse he remembered.. ready for anything, strong and determined. It was as if Malakai had caused her to doubt her qualities as a fierceful blaidenmaiden. As if he had been holding her back from a better future.
Malakai was a good leader yes, but he had one flaw though.. It appeared that the most important Necris in his live was himself. Visse understood that now.
It was as if the bird had finally broken free from her open cage.
“So, where do we go from now?”, Cilia sighed.
“Fortunately for us, we still have the g-c image right?”, Jared smirked.
“Oh indeed,” Cilia smiled,” hey Visse, show us the image again?”
Visse grabbed the small g-console on her belt and pressed a small button.
The image appeared in front of her.
“Ok”, she whispered,” apparently we need to proceed to the left, down the corridor, and then to the right.. and cross a large.. room right.”
“A large room”, Loque mumbled,” that doesn’t sound very good.”
“Wait a triniton”, Rhaynor whispered,” look at the image, there are only 5 rooms on this floor.”
Jared raised her eyebrows.
“It’s a pretty big floor”, she sighed,” and only that many rooms?”
“Apparently the other end of the corridor is another dead end”, Visse continued,” so we have no other choice but to proceed to the left.”
Visse shut down the g-console and put it back on her belt.
“O.k., let’s move it”, she whispered. And the group of 6 made their way through the poorly lit corridor.”
“Yes!”, Aryss yelled,” that was the last one!”
He had finally taken out all the snipers behind the barricade.
“Whew”, he sighed,” this took me longer than I thought would.”
“Good work sir”, a young soldier shouted.
The large lasercannon had fired at a squad of Razors again.
“Now to take out that annoying lasercannon”, Aryss yelled,” all troops, proceed to the barricade!”
The first Necris soldiers jumped from behind the debris, but then it happened.
A loud cry, a soldier reduced to little gibs.
Aryss’ face turned green. He was shocked! This couldn’t be happening!
“Retreat!”, he yelled at the soldiers,” retreat now!!”
Only 5 made it back.
“What is it sir”, a member of the Vultron clan asked him.
“They.. they..”, Aryss stumbled,” they.. they’ve got…. Enhanced shock rifles!!!”
“Bah”, Visse snarled,” only 3 this time.”
“Took us only 1 triniton to take them out”, Loque whispered,” this doesn’t feel right.”
“Yeah”, Rhaynor sighed,” things are way to easy up here.”
“It is as if they want us to reach that large room”, Jared growled.
Visse frowned. A worried look came on her face.
“It’s a trap of course”, she whispered.
“Well yes”, Cilia answered ,” we do realise that.”
“Ok”, Visse said with a hoarse voice”, but what about Laque her team?”
Loque swallowed.
“I.. I’ll try contacting them”, he stumbled. He couldn’t imagine anything bad had happened to his sister, but you’d never know!
He typed in a code, trying to open a com channel, hoping someone would answer his call.
Nothing happened.
Loque tried again. But still, nothing happened.
“Oh ****ing ****!”, he yelled and kicked the wall.
“Maybe their com channel is disturbed, maybe they’re experiencing intereference..”, Visse whispered. She tried calming him down.
“Maybe”, Loque sighed,” I really hope so. Suppose they were ambushed in that large room?
What if they’re killed, every single one of them.. Laque as well?”
“Look Loque”, Visse whispered,” don’t think about that ok? They do have a g-console image right? Like we do ? So, they were prepared. Maybe they’re just cut off , and trying to establish a link with us, open a com channel ?”
“I h..ho..hope so Visse,” Loque stumbled.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure they’re fine”,Visse laughed,” Laque is one of the strongest Necris I know. And her team members are pretty good as well. They’re fine. Now come on, we need to keep on moving.”
Rhaynor put his arm on loque’s shoulder. “Yeah c’mon compadre”, he smiled, “the lady is right, let’s go”.
10 scary trinitons later, the team arrived at the large room. The doors were opened. A small ray of light came through.
“Well c’mon then”, Jared whispered,” what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
“Okay”, Visse whispered back.
Carefully one of the Necris stepped into the large room. The others followed, looking at all directions.
“This room is HUGE”, Rhaynor sighed.
Indeed it was. The Necris were standing in a large console room, crates to the left and right, and several storm troopers outfits on the left wall. The entire room measured up to 50 metres in length and 30 metres in width.
“Look at all those crates”, Nocturna whispered.
“Perfect for an ambush”, Visse said with a husky voice and shouldered her gun.
“Be prepared”, she continued,” we might be walking into a trap!”
The Necris walked through the room, as silently as they could. Jared and Tchi checked out the left side of the room whilst Nocturna and Cilia roamed the right side. Loque, Rhaynor and Visse strolled between the large consoles standing in the middle of the room.
“Not of any use to us”, Visse mumbled,” these things are broken.”
“Broken”, Loque whispered,” well afcourse, look at the date.. 2299. These consoles are over 60 terran years old. Wasted I’d say.”
“This probably is a room for stocking old materials they might want to .. re-use?”, Rhaynor smiled.
“Could be”, Visse smirked,” humans are really weird.”
Cilia arrived at the other end of the room. A metallic door appeared to be opened.
“Hey compadres”, he yelled towards the other Necris,” I’m at the end of the room.”
“We’re almost there”, Visse shouted back,” we’re not that far away.”
“Ok”, Cilia shouted back.
“I don’t like this”, Nocturna whispered,” why are all the doors open?”
“Heck I expected a trap in this room”, Cilia sighed, “maybe they’re testing us?”
“Testing us”, Nocturna laughed.
She frowned.
“Maybe ..” but Nocturna couldn’t finish her sentence, a trapdoor opened beneath her and she disappeared into the hole. Cilia tried to rescue her, but he fell in as well.
When the other Necris arrived, they didn’t know what to think.
“Where .. where are Cilia and Nocturna?”, Loque stumbled.
“Damn, what happened”, Visse hissed,” one moment I hear Cilia’s voice, and a couple of Kraylins later he’s gone, and so is Nocturna!”
Visse shook her head.
“We better stick together from now on”, she sighed, “shoulder your gun, we’re proceeding through this door.”
Carefully they opened the door.
Aryss wiped the sweat from his face.
“How many losses?”, he sighed.
“20 so far”, a young soldier growled,” .. those human cowards!”
“Well, I would prefer to call them sneaky bastards”, Aryss said with a grim voice,
“Apparently they had something up their sleeve we weren’t expecting”.
“Yes, I thought we had stolen all their ESR’s ?”, the soldier sighed.
“Guess not compadre”, Aryss mumbled.
“What are we going to do know sir”. The soldier’s voice sounded desperate.
“Open a com channel to the Phalanx”, Aryss whispered.
Space. The Phalanx was still orbiting earth.
“Sir”, a tech cried to Zenith,” an incoming message from Aryss.”
“Put him through!”, Zenith said with a quiet voice.
“Go ahead commander.”
“Captain”, Aryss spoke,” we have a problem on our hands!”
Zenith frowned. She had never heard Aryss sound like this… confused and worried.
“What is it, commander?”, she whispered.
“The humans are using ESR’s!, he cried.
Zenith fell back in her chair.
“Tell me you’re joking”, she sighed.
“No captain”, Aryss shouted. Nearby another Razor crashed.
“I.. I think this calls for the executioner?”
“The executioner..”, Zenith whispered,” but we’re not sure if this thing is stable enough to use in the field. We brought with us, in case of .. but we never expected..”
“Oh ****”, Aryss mumbled,” we were foolish not to bring back any ESR’s!!!
All of the sudden Zenith jumped out of her chair.
“Wait a minute”, she laughed,” ok, maybe the army didn’t think of it, but I always have my ESR with me. It’s right in my quarters, in the top drawer of my closet.”
“Only one rifle”, Aryss sighed, “what good will this do?”
“I do believe you have a good aim, commander?”, Zenith smiled.
“Yes I do”, Aryss sighed, “ I took out 15 snipers a while ago, but I’m out of ammo, and.. our supplies are shrinking fast.. the humans are constantly changing position…”
Zenith interrupted him.
“I’m sending JiggaR down with the rifle”, she smiled, “and in the mean time, we’ll check if the executioner is save to use in the field, or not…”
Aryss nodded and sighed again.
“Ok, thanks Zenith”, he smiled,” I know, once I have the executioner, the humans won’t stand a chance. But this ESR will keep do the job in the meantime. When will it arrive?”
“Within 15 trinitons”, Zenith said with a firm voice and ordered JiggaR to collect the weapon from her quarters and take of to earth in a Razor.”
“JiggaR is a fine pilot and a trained scout”, she whispered,” she’ll bring you the rifle”.
“What can I say, captain”, Aryss laughed,” I’ll be expecting her. Aryss out.”
Zenith closed the com channel and ordered 5 techs to check out the executioner.
“Are you picking up any signals from team 5”, Visse whispered.
“No, nothing..”, Loque sighed. He closed his com channel.
“So that means”, Rhaynor said with a hoarse voice,” that we’re the only ones left?”
“The others..”, Jared whispered,” they .. they can’t be dead... right?”
Tchi looked at her. He had a sad look on his face.
“What if they are?”, he said in a whining manner.
Visse pressed her lips together and slammed the wall.
“What if, what if?”, she cried,” enough with these assumptions. Maybe they are, but what if they’re not? What if they’re in need for our help? We can just stand here and give up...right?”
“I.. I. Ne…never mentioned giving up”, Rhaynor stumbled.
“Well ok then”, Visse hissed, “so.. are we just going to keep standing here and look silly?”
“She’s right”, Jared shouted,” on to the next floor!! The turbolift is probably around the corner!”
“No it’s not Jared”, Rhaynor smiled,” we’re standing right in front of it”.
“Oh oh yes oh heh”, she stumbled,” .. got to excuse me.. the strain..”
Rhaynor smirked. “I understand.”
“I wonder”, Tchi said with a heavy voice,” what could be waiting for us on the 3rd floor?”
“Only one way to find out compadre”, Loque whispered and stepped in the turbolift.
“Wait!”, Visse yelled,” what if there are more of those troopers on top of the lift?”
Loque grinned:” Well, it’s your turn this time.. go ahead, perforate the damn thing.”
Visse smiled and turned the ceiling of the turbolift into a “swish cheese”.
“Whew”, she sighed and whipped the sweat and dust of her forehead, “ I guess the coast is clear.”
All of the sudden a rat fell through the ceiling. The poor thing had been turned into a leaky piece of meat.
“Nice going girl”, Jared laughed.
“Yeah, that rat won’t hurt anyone anymore”, Rhaynor jested.
“Oh do shut up”, Visse said with a husky voice but she had to agree, it was kind off funny.
The team stepped into the turbolift. The doors closed and the lift took off.
A Necris came running up the hall.
“No wait!”, the man shouted,” wait for me!”
It was Barak, from team 5. Like a madman he smashed upon the buttons of the on the control panel, trying to make the damn thing turn around and descend...
No use. It wouldn’t work.
“Oh ****,” he cried,” It’s too late..”
Barak took a step back, shook his head and ran down the hall, making his way back to the sewers. He had to warn the other necris!
Part 8: Trouble on the 2nd floor
***************************
Next stop, 2nd floor. Again, poorly lit . Red lights were flashing on and off.
The doors of the turbolift opened and 5 Necris fired their guns.
10 Kraylins later they ceased fire.
“Coast is clear”, Visse sighed.
“Yeah you’d never knew, suppose one of those trooper teams was actually waiting for us, here at the lift!”, Rhaynor whispered, “ anyway, the tensor is picking up several lifeforms, but .. it has trouble confirming their position.”
“Don’t tell me”, Loque mumbled.
“Oh yeah”, Rhaynor sighed, “apparently our tensor is damaged.
“How did that happen”, Jared snarled.
“LOOK”, Visse yelled,” I thought we agreed to forget about that tensor and rely on our instincts and reflexes?”
Rhaynor frowned and nodded.
“Yeah you’re right Visse”, he said with a husky voice.
She scratched her chin.
“Now look”, Visse spoke with a firm voice, “we need to make our way past these teams of storm troopers. They’re hiding somewhere, behind these walls, in the rooms. We need to be very careful. I want you to stay frosty, and be ready for anything!”
Loque smiled. Now that was the Visse he remembered.. ready for anything, strong and determined. It was as if Malakai had caused her to doubt her qualities as a fierceful blaidenmaiden. As if he had been holding her back from a better future.
Malakai was a good leader yes, but he had one flaw though.. It appeared that the most important Necris in his live was himself. Visse understood that now.
It was as if the bird had finally broken free from her open cage.
“So, where do we go from now?”, Cilia sighed.
“Fortunately for us, we still have the g-c image right?”, Jared smirked.
“Oh indeed,” Cilia smiled,” hey Visse, show us the image again?”
Visse grabbed the small g-console on her belt and pressed a small button.
The image appeared in front of her.
“Ok”, she whispered,” apparently we need to proceed to the left, down the corridor, and then to the right.. and cross a large.. room right.”
“A large room”, Loque mumbled,” that doesn’t sound very good.”
“Wait a triniton”, Rhaynor whispered,” look at the image, there are only 5 rooms on this floor.”
Jared raised her eyebrows.
“It’s a pretty big floor”, she sighed,” and only that many rooms?”
“Apparently the other end of the corridor is another dead end”, Visse continued,” so we have no other choice but to proceed to the left.”
Visse shut down the g-console and put it back on her belt.
“O.k., let’s move it”, she whispered. And the group of 6 made their way through the poorly lit corridor.”
“Yes!”, Aryss yelled,” that was the last one!”
He had finally taken out all the snipers behind the barricade.
“Whew”, he sighed,” this took me longer than I thought would.”
“Good work sir”, a young soldier shouted.
The large lasercannon had fired at a squad of Razors again.
“Now to take out that annoying lasercannon”, Aryss yelled,” all troops, proceed to the barricade!”
The first Necris soldiers jumped from behind the debris, but then it happened.
A loud cry, a soldier reduced to little gibs.
Aryss’ face turned green. He was shocked! This couldn’t be happening!
“Retreat!”, he yelled at the soldiers,” retreat now!!”
Only 5 made it back.
“What is it sir”, a member of the Vultron clan asked him.
“They.. they..”, Aryss stumbled,” they.. they’ve got…. Enhanced shock rifles!!!”
“Bah”, Visse snarled,” only 3 this time.”
“Took us only 1 triniton to take them out”, Loque whispered,” this doesn’t feel right.”
“Yeah”, Rhaynor sighed,” things are way to easy up here.”
“It is as if they want us to reach that large room”, Jared growled.
Visse frowned. A worried look came on her face.
“It’s a trap of course”, she whispered.
“Well yes”, Cilia answered ,” we do realise that.”
“Ok”, Visse said with a hoarse voice”, but what about Laque her team?”
Loque swallowed.
“I.. I’ll try contacting them”, he stumbled. He couldn’t imagine anything bad had happened to his sister, but you’d never know!
He typed in a code, trying to open a com channel, hoping someone would answer his call.
Nothing happened.
Loque tried again. But still, nothing happened.
“Oh ****ing ****!”, he yelled and kicked the wall.
“Maybe their com channel is disturbed, maybe they’re experiencing intereference..”, Visse whispered. She tried calming him down.
“Maybe”, Loque sighed,” I really hope so. Suppose they were ambushed in that large room?
What if they’re killed, every single one of them.. Laque as well?”
“Look Loque”, Visse whispered,” don’t think about that ok? They do have a g-console image right? Like we do ? So, they were prepared. Maybe they’re just cut off , and trying to establish a link with us, open a com channel ?”
“I h..ho..hope so Visse,” Loque stumbled.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure they’re fine”,Visse laughed,” Laque is one of the strongest Necris I know. And her team members are pretty good as well. They’re fine. Now come on, we need to keep on moving.”
Rhaynor put his arm on loque’s shoulder. “Yeah c’mon compadre”, he smiled, “the lady is right, let’s go”.
10 scary trinitons later, the team arrived at the large room. The doors were opened. A small ray of light came through.
“Well c’mon then”, Jared whispered,” what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
“Okay”, Visse whispered back.
Carefully one of the Necris stepped into the large room. The others followed, looking at all directions.
“This room is HUGE”, Rhaynor sighed.
Indeed it was. The Necris were standing in a large console room, crates to the left and right, and several storm troopers outfits on the left wall. The entire room measured up to 50 metres in length and 30 metres in width.
“Look at all those crates”, Nocturna whispered.
“Perfect for an ambush”, Visse said with a husky voice and shouldered her gun.
“Be prepared”, she continued,” we might be walking into a trap!”
The Necris walked through the room, as silently as they could. Jared and Tchi checked out the left side of the room whilst Nocturna and Cilia roamed the right side. Loque, Rhaynor and Visse strolled between the large consoles standing in the middle of the room.
“Not of any use to us”, Visse mumbled,” these things are broken.”
“Broken”, Loque whispered,” well afcourse, look at the date.. 2299. These consoles are over 60 terran years old. Wasted I’d say.”
“This probably is a room for stocking old materials they might want to .. re-use?”, Rhaynor smiled.
“Could be”, Visse smirked,” humans are really weird.”
Cilia arrived at the other end of the room. A metallic door appeared to be opened.
“Hey compadres”, he yelled towards the other Necris,” I’m at the end of the room.”
“We’re almost there”, Visse shouted back,” we’re not that far away.”
“Ok”, Cilia shouted back.
“I don’t like this”, Nocturna whispered,” why are all the doors open?”
“Heck I expected a trap in this room”, Cilia sighed, “maybe they’re testing us?”
“Testing us”, Nocturna laughed.
She frowned.
“Maybe ..” but Nocturna couldn’t finish her sentence, a trapdoor opened beneath her and she disappeared into the hole. Cilia tried to rescue her, but he fell in as well.
When the other Necris arrived, they didn’t know what to think.
“Where .. where are Cilia and Nocturna?”, Loque stumbled.
“Damn, what happened”, Visse hissed,” one moment I hear Cilia’s voice, and a couple of Kraylins later he’s gone, and so is Nocturna!”
Visse shook her head.
“We better stick together from now on”, she sighed, “shoulder your gun, we’re proceeding through this door.”
Carefully they opened the door.
Aryss wiped the sweat from his face.
“How many losses?”, he sighed.
“20 so far”, a young soldier growled,” .. those human cowards!”
“Well, I would prefer to call them sneaky bastards”, Aryss said with a grim voice,
“Apparently they had something up their sleeve we weren’t expecting”.
“Yes, I thought we had stolen all their ESR’s ?”, the soldier sighed.
“Guess not compadre”, Aryss mumbled.
“What are we going to do know sir”. The soldier’s voice sounded desperate.
“Open a com channel to the Phalanx”, Aryss whispered.
Space. The Phalanx was still orbiting earth.
“Sir”, a tech cried to Zenith,” an incoming message from Aryss.”
“Put him through!”, Zenith said with a quiet voice.
“Go ahead commander.”
“Captain”, Aryss spoke,” we have a problem on our hands!”
Zenith frowned. She had never heard Aryss sound like this… confused and worried.
“What is it, commander?”, she whispered.
“The humans are using ESR’s!, he cried.
Zenith fell back in her chair.
“Tell me you’re joking”, she sighed.
“No captain”, Aryss shouted. Nearby another Razor crashed.
“I.. I think this calls for the executioner?”
“The executioner..”, Zenith whispered,” but we’re not sure if this thing is stable enough to use in the field. We brought with us, in case of .. but we never expected..”
“Oh ****”, Aryss mumbled,” we were foolish not to bring back any ESR’s!!!
All of the sudden Zenith jumped out of her chair.
“Wait a minute”, she laughed,” ok, maybe the army didn’t think of it, but I always have my ESR with me. It’s right in my quarters, in the top drawer of my closet.”
“Only one rifle”, Aryss sighed, “what good will this do?”
“I do believe you have a good aim, commander?”, Zenith smiled.
“Yes I do”, Aryss sighed, “ I took out 15 snipers a while ago, but I’m out of ammo, and.. our supplies are shrinking fast.. the humans are constantly changing position…”
Zenith interrupted him.
“I’m sending JiggaR down with the rifle”, she smiled, “and in the mean time, we’ll check if the executioner is save to use in the field, or not…”
Aryss nodded and sighed again.
“Ok, thanks Zenith”, he smiled,” I know, once I have the executioner, the humans won’t stand a chance. But this ESR will keep do the job in the meantime. When will it arrive?”
“Within 15 trinitons”, Zenith said with a firm voice and ordered JiggaR to collect the weapon from her quarters and take of to earth in a Razor.”
“JiggaR is a fine pilot and a trained scout”, she whispered,” she’ll bring you the rifle”.
“What can I say, captain”, Aryss laughed,” I’ll be expecting her. Aryss out.”
Zenith closed the com channel and ordered 5 techs to check out the executioner.
“Are you picking up any signals from team 5”, Visse whispered.
“No, nothing..”, Loque sighed. He closed his com channel.
“So that means”, Rhaynor said with a hoarse voice,” that we’re the only ones left?”
“The others..”, Jared whispered,” they .. they can’t be dead... right?”
Tchi looked at her. He had a sad look on his face.
“What if they are?”, he said in a whining manner.
Visse pressed her lips together and slammed the wall.
“What if, what if?”, she cried,” enough with these assumptions. Maybe they are, but what if they’re not? What if they’re in need for our help? We can just stand here and give up...right?”
“I.. I. Ne…never mentioned giving up”, Rhaynor stumbled.
“Well ok then”, Visse hissed, “so.. are we just going to keep standing here and look silly?”
“She’s right”, Jared shouted,” on to the next floor!! The turbolift is probably around the corner!”
“No it’s not Jared”, Rhaynor smiled,” we’re standing right in front of it”.
“Oh oh yes oh heh”, she stumbled,” .. got to excuse me.. the strain..”
Rhaynor smirked. “I understand.”
“I wonder”, Tchi said with a heavy voice,” what could be waiting for us on the 3rd floor?”
“Only one way to find out compadre”, Loque whispered and stepped in the turbolift.
“Wait!”, Visse yelled,” what if there are more of those troopers on top of the lift?”
Loque grinned:” Well, it’s your turn this time.. go ahead, perforate the damn thing.”
Visse smiled and turned the ceiling of the turbolift into a “swish cheese”.
“Whew”, she sighed and whipped the sweat and dust of her forehead, “ I guess the coast is clear.”
All of the sudden a rat fell through the ceiling. The poor thing had been turned into a leaky piece of meat.
“Nice going girl”, Jared laughed.
“Yeah, that rat won’t hurt anyone anymore”, Rhaynor jested.
“Oh do shut up”, Visse said with a husky voice but she had to agree, it was kind off funny.
The team stepped into the turbolift. The doors closed and the lift took off.
A Necris came running up the hall.
“No wait!”, the man shouted,” wait for me!”
It was Barak, from team 5. Like a madman he smashed upon the buttons of the on the control panel, trying to make the damn thing turn around and descend...
No use. It wouldn’t work.
“Oh ****,” he cried,” It’s too late..”
Barak took a step back, shook his head and ran down the hall, making his way back to the sewers. He had to warn the other necris!
