AP 2XX
Amduscia
Volcanic Caves
1435 Hours
“There they are.” Said Moriah.
She pointed forward. “I only see two of them.” Said Xiphos.
“Huh? But I’m sure there were three of them.” Said Moriah. “Maybe it just went behind a boulder?” “Hmm that could be a problem.” Said MultiCore. “We will wait one minute to see if it will appear. After that we will have to take the risk.” The ARKS trainees nodded.
“Is it there yet? Asked Kanade.
“No.” Said Moriah. “MultiCore, the minute has passed.” Said Xiphos. MultiCore answered with a brief silence.
“Sir?” “There is no help for it. Prepare for combat everyone.” Said MultiCore. “I shall take point. Xiphos, right behind me. Kanade, rear guard. Moriah, prepare to flank, when given the signal.” Xiphos and Moriah nodded while Kanade complained. “Heh!? Rear guard? Can’t I switch with Xiphos?” “No.” “Aw.” Pouted Kanade.
MultiCore opened up a sheet metal box on his leg and grabbed a cylindrical object from it. “What’s that?” Asked Kanade. “Just watch.” Answered MultiCore, while loading it into his under mounted launcher. “Everyone prepare for combat.” “Yes.” The three said in unison. MultiCore turned around. - Combat Mode activate. - A series of photon lights flared up under MultiCore’s armor panels for a short time. MultiCore stepped out of cover and they had their rears exposed.
aimed at the Kartagots. “Fire in the hole.” Said MultiCore. He fired the grenade from his rifle attachment with a hollow –thump- sound. The grenade hit one of the Kartagots straight on the rear core and exploded. The blast ripped the upper body loose from the lower along with some Dagans. MultiCore had loaded another grenade by the time the Darker parts landed on the ground. By now the Darkers had realized they were under attack and the remaining Kartagot slowly turned to the threat, while shielding up with its hardest wing-like parts. “No you don’t!” MultiCore fired before the Kartagot has turned his core away from view. This grenade too, flew straight to the Darkers core. Then two Dagans jumped in the grenade’s line of fire. Killing the Dagans without leaving a single trace, but giving the Kartago enough time to completely hide its core and to angle itself. “What!?” Said MultiCore. “Did those Darkers just sacrifice themselves?” Said Xiphos in disbelieve. “I have never seen this before.” Said MultiCore also in disbelieve. “Is it that bad? Can’t we do it the normal way?” Asked Kanade. Her look jabbed MultiCore. “….. That’s right.” Said MultiCore. He sighed. “But the easy way is always better. Anyway, here they come.”
The Dagans charged forward. MultiCore picked them of one by one from a distance with his rifle, reducing their numbers by half. Only 8 Dagans reached the ARKS. Now within melee range Xiphos and Moriah charged the Dagans. Again Xiphos from the front and Moriah from the side. Xiphos ran with his shield in front and slammed into the first Dagan and bashed it into the ground. While raising his body he made a cutting motion towards the Dagan. Again the Darkers relied on swarming and the third Dagan was already preparing to attack. “Shit.” Xiphos raised his shield. The Dagan leapt into the air and then disappeared from his sight. Xiphos lowered his shield to see where it went. He saw Moriah crouched on the Darker’s corpse with her short sword in the body. “Got it.” She said and winked. “Y-yea….of course.” Said Xiphos.
Meanwhile MultiCore circled to the left. “Kanade, on me!” “Eh? What’s on you?” Said Kanade. “Eeug…..Just…just follow me, Kanade.” Said MultiCore. “So what’s up?” “Moving counterclockwise to nine o’clock. You. Flank hard. Watch the shadows.” “Can you like? Drop the jargon, so I can understand?” Said Kanade. MultiCore fell in silence. “Look for the last Kartagot while we attack from the side.” “Right. Let’s do this!” Said Kanade. While Xipohs and Moriah were fighting the Dagans, MultiCore suppressed the Kartagot with his rifle. With the Kartagot being unable to fire lasers, Xiphos and Moriah could fight without worrying being split in half.
“MultiCore behind you!” Yelled Kanade. MultiCore instinctively rolled away and turned around. He readied his rifle while on his side, scanning for the threat. However Kanade had already started her attack on the Darker. She held her katana sheeted to her side and jumped in the air. “Eleventh photon art! Gurentessen!” Kanade vanished from sight and reappeared behind the Kartagot. Then she drew and slashed her katana in a fluid motion. From slash materialized a photon wave that cut even deeper than her blade itself. The Kartagot instantly died. “Got it!” Said Kanade. “Good job.” Said MultiCore, while getting back on his feet.
While MultiCore was kept busy by the third Kartagot’s ambush
, the second Kartagot found the time to fire its laser towards Xiphos and Moriah. “Xiphos!” Said Moriah. “On it.” Said Xiphos. Xiphos readied himself. He watched the beam scorch the ground as it drew faster in seconds. “Almost….now!” Said Xiphos. “Just guard!” Xiphos swung his shield in front of him. He held it slightly angled, then a thin layer of photons materialized the shield. He deflected the majority of the beam upwards while reflecting a small portion back at the Darker. The laser cut of an armored wing, effectively halving the Kartagot’s defense.
The Kartagot crawled backwards with the intent to retreat. Moriah would not let it however. She charged forward, ran past the remaining Dagans. The Kartagot fired another beam while retreating. Moriah dashed to evade it. Using that momentum she stepped up some boulders. Now running along those boulders she leapt off towards the Kartagot. She made herself as small as possible in the air with her short sword and a dagger readied to strike. As she landed on the Kartagot, her weapons were driven in the Darker’s core. Moriah then made a backflip to make distance and rolled to lessen her impact on the ground. Moriah readied her weapons, but the Darker was already dead. She sheeted her dagger in one motion, while still holding her guard with her short sword.
MultiCore and Kanade started engaging the remaining Dagans. While MultiCore suppressed the Dagans from moving by shooting of their limps. Kanade’s afterimage flashed through the battlefield leaving cleanly split Darkers behind her. After suppressing MultiCore decide to save time by straight out shooting two Dagans through their heads. Leaving their bodies twitching on the ground. Xiphos killed the last Dagan. He held down the Darker with his shield and plunged down his sword from above through its body.
AP 2XX
Amduscia
Volcanic Caves
1445 Hours
“Phew, that was a nice workout.” Said Kanade. “Was that really the last of them?” Said Xiphos, while looking around. “Dunno, not seeing anymore. Let’s get those eggs!” Said Kanade. “Wait a moment.” Said MultiCore. He activated his comm. “Sergeant MultiCore here. Mission accomplished. The Darkers in this area have been eliminated. Location team Hotel. Can you confirm? Over.” “Yes, we receive no remaining Darker readings. Well done.” Said Staff Officer Linda. MultiCore gestured it was safe to the others and they left to search for the eggs.
“The minimal amount of time spend for the exam necessary is nearing so you can let the students take a breather if you think you have enough data. Over.” “About that. ” Said MultiCore. “We have stumbled upon and acquired a number of dragon eggs.” “Dragon eggs? Really?! “ “Affirmative. I don’t see anything on the evaluation sheet concerning this. Over.” “hmm I see.” Said Staff Officer Linda. “Sorry, currently I don’t have information on this matter either. I will ask around. For now I will send down a collection portal. Over.” “Affirmative. That’s all there is then. Over and out.” Said MultiCore.
A portal appeared on the ground. It was shaped as a triangle compared to the circle shaped telepipes for people. MultiCore gestured towards it. “Everyone, you can drop the eggs there and wait until exam time is over.” “Wait, we will send them to our ships?” Said Moriah. “Didn’t we save them for the dragons?” “Well, all the dragonkin here are dead.” Said MultiCore. “And don’t think that another clan will take care of another clan’s eggs.” “But.” Said Moriah. “The only way to save them from corruption now is to take them with us. Not only that, dragon eggs are a highly sought after source of information by ARKS researchers.” “Will they be hatched and released after being researched?” Asked Xiphos. “I’m unable to answer that, sorry.” Said MultiCore. “Does that mean they might never be released?” Asked Xiphos. “I’m unable to answer that, sorry.” Said MultiCore once again.
The students protested a little with their expectations being different than reality, but complied shortly after. “The exam will end shortly for you. I understand you are disappointment, but really the other option would be far worse, I assume you all understand what that option holds.” MultiCore saw some vague nods. “Take some time alone until the telepipe appears.” Said MultiCore.
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