“Mind tilting the ship a little?” Yoshi shouted towards an open cockpit door.
“Hold on! We’re coming around for another pass.” A voice shouted back from within.
“Your friend also had something to say to you. Now playing it in the hold.”
“Yoshi, if you can hear me. We got our hands tied over here so we won’t be there to assist you. Drinks are on me when we get out of this. Flying Ears, out.”
“More like give me an excuse to go drinking.” Yoshi said while chuckling to himself.
Sluggishly turning as fast as it could, the left engine had several sparks of electricity dancing upon it. Taking advantage of its weakening state, the ship tilted to allow both turrets to target the Ragne below. The giant black bug roared as the ship soared by. Lifting its legs in the air, it attempted to swat the ship out of the sky only to lose the exoskeleton protecting the rear legs. Upon crumbling to the floor in pain, several Hunters popped out of the bushes to strike at a giant red core. Dropping a turret for extra measure, the man watched as the box fell like a brick to the ground. His face wincing once it broke upon the floor, he turned to look at the Lillipan firing the cannons above him.
Looking back out into the burning forest, smoke filled the man’s lungs. Watching various firearms going off within the sea of green through the open ramp door, he didn’t dare walk into the cockpit. Refusing to hear all the cries emitting from it, he continued to use his time scanning the ground below for any injured parties. Leaving the scene to look for other encounters, two transports flew overhead causing a gust of wind to blow into Yoshi’s face. Clinging onto his hat, he summoned a barrier to protect his face. Now partially protected, brown eyes studied the radar as several numbers, shapes and colors slid across the map. A bump on the ship made him cover his head as the turret continued to fire at objects above. Spotting various forms of Foie spitting out of a cave opening, Yoshi immediately tried to get a closer look. A blue screen appeared on his glasses as the reflecting image zoomed in on a particular area. Gripping onto a handle bar, he shouted to the pilot,
“Ijiraku, get closer to that waterfall. I want to see what’s in those nearby caves.”
“What makes you say that?” She asked.
“I don’t think natives know how to shoot fire everywhere.”
“You better hold on to something then.”
Before being able to ask why, the ship started to free fall through the sky. Hugging the handle bar closely, it rattled on the ramp’s doorframe. Closing one eye as the ground drew near, a feeling of inspiration couldn’t be resisted as the Lillipan continued to fire. Just when he thought the ship was going to hit the ground, the sound of power flooding into the thrusters filled the air once more. Now gliding close to a river, several insect like corpses slammed onto the floor. With a sigh of relief, he subconsciously activated the landing gear.
“How’s it looking out there?” The female voice asked.
“All clear for now and the landing gear is deployed. I think I saw a few wounded out there.”
Too impatient to wait for the ship to safely land, he ran down the open ramp that hovered inches above the ground. Instinctively drawing his gunslash, he slowly scanned the environment with the gun raised in pistol mode. The gunfire on the turret ceased when Ijiraku walked out of the ship. Following close behind, she shouldered her rifle. Forming into a two man group, the two carefully made their way to their wounded. Upon reaching the cave entrance, they both hid on each side. With a gesture made with the muzzle of her gun, the Caseal said to him
“Go ahead, Yoshi. I got you covered.”
Increasing in speed, the cowboy dashed towards the others. Blood painted the scene as a party of eight rested on the floor. Moving from the waterfall, through the blue cave openings and into moss covered surroundings; he glanced around for any signs of life. Moving over black scars, he noticed three men huddled by a large boulder.
“Hey!” Yoshi shouted. “Are you guys able to walk?”
“Oh, thank goodness.” One of the men said. Pushing off the ground, he limped towards Yoshi with haste. Having trouble stopping, his rescuer noticed that the blond man was violently shaking in his yellow FOmar suit. “They came out of n-nowhere.” the man uttered. “They weren’t like the u-usual lot either. They were organized… t-took us out systematically. Please, please get us out of here. I don’t want to die.” The man’s lip trembled as he resisted breaking into tears. Yoshi placed a hand on the man’s shoulders only to notice a stub sticking out of a bloodied sleeve.
“It’s alright; we’re getting you out of here. Who else is still alive?” Yoshi said trying to give a reassuring smile.
“J-just two others.” The yellow suited man replied through shivering breathes.
Walking alongside the man towards the others, Yoshi handed them each a dimate. Noticing that the third in a HUmar suit didn’t respond, he dropped the green container and kneeled for a closer look. Shaking the HUmar a few times, Yoshi quickly twisted back to call for Ijiraku. The sobs of the man grew quiet as the other force took his drink and slumped on the rock they hid by. Leaping over the mossy rock, the Caseal gracefully landed while sheathing her gun to her back.
“Area is all clear, Yoshi. Lilliman and I bagged all the bodies.”
Looking back towards the HUmar next to him, Yoshi said with sorrow in his voice “We’re going to need another one.”
Pushing Ijiraku out of the way, the force pulled at Yoshi’s sleeve. “No, no, no. H-he’s just napping. H-he can’t be d-dead. Not, Rejol. What will I tell his wife?”
Regain composure, Ijriakru calmly responded “I’m sorry, sir. It appears he bled to death. There’s nothing we can do.”
“He has a good gash on his back. I assume you lost your hand before his injury?”
Before anyone could respond, Ijiraku rearmed with amazing speed. Placing a finger by her ear, she shouted “Lilliman, get that turret back up.” Grabbing the dead body, Ijiraku ignored the streams of blood that slid onto her chassis. “Yoshi, we have to leave, now.”
Listening as best he could, he felt trembles in the earth and the sounds of earth crumbling from a distance. “She’s right; we have to get to the ship.”
The CAST of gold now leading the others away, Yoshi followed behind with his gunslash raised once more. Without warning, a creature busted out of the dirt. Now on the floor coughing in dust, he crawled backwards as fast as he could while aiming his weapon towards the shadow within. A shrill cry echoed in the cave, causing hairs to stand and his eye to squint in pain.
“A Gwanahda? Here?” Yoshi cried in shock.
Jumping back on his feet, he dash away while shooting the weapon over his shoulder. The walls became a blur, water splashed into his face; he narrowly avoided a bizarre looking pillar emerging from the ground. The vessel appeared in his refocused view. With a bite of his lip, he ducked low as several blue bolts flew overhead. The sounds of the turret rung louder in the air the closer he got to his ship. The vessel’s engines humming in harmony while waiting for its last passenger to climb onboard. The teal haired man climbed onto the ramp, he heard the force screaming “He’s on. Lift off, lift off!”
Listening to orders, the ship took off. Without proper footing, the wind was knocked out of Yoshi, who fell onto his belly. Clinging to what he could with dear life, the human struggled to climb back into the ship. Feeling the leaves bashing against the tips of his shoes, it became clear to him that getting back in would be harder than it looked. A shriek was heard due to a giant purple sword grazing the side of the ship. Looking behind himself and back into the hold, he watched the force rise out of his seat while staring back at him while he hanged. Glancing at a glowing orange button on the hull’s frame and back, he kicked the cowboy in the face and slammed on the panel. Wide eyed, a red shoe mark on his face; Yoshi fell as the plated doors closed in front of him.
Tree limbs broke, leaves showering the floor, the man shouted several profanities while making his painful return to the grassy surface. Following after him with blazing speeds, a helmet shape mag flew next to the fallen man and blessed him with a green aura. Grumbling in anger, he felt around for his weapon. Going from an expression of indifference to worry, his hand froze in place upon feeling pebbles bounce around underneath it. A push to the ground to lie on his knees, he looked up to see a humanoid figure slowly walking up to him. Drawing his gaze from red eyes, tears blurred his vision as he helplessly listened to the muffled screams of a female body squirming in its hands. Un-phased by the attacks to free herself, the Darker lifted her in front of the two and crushed her skull. A lifeless body falling to the floor, the cowboy jumped onto his feet with a backup weapon in hand. Being one of the standard issue models, the blue blade vanished as Yoshi switched it into pistol mode. Aiming the weapon towards the figure, it spoke to him.
“Good, good. You’ve seen death before, and are prepare to defend yourself. You now have my interests. Please tell me, you can be entertaining as well. Come, I’ll even give you a free hit.”
Hesitant at first, Yoshi stood his ground while the figure patted the closest thing he recognized as a cheek. Feeling the blood drain away from him, he ignored the rejecting feelings as he whispered “We’ll I’m dead anyways.” He dashed. The blade glowing once more, three successful strikes were performed before running off to achieve distance. Lookin back to see the figure dust itself off, it then said “Good, you’ve also know how to kill a man. Those blows would have worked had i’ve been the average human. Sadly, now it’s my turn.” Leaping into the air, Yoshi began to back up. With a simple click, the gunslash began to fire several shots at the inbound figure. Ducking under just in time, he barely managed to keep his balance as the shockwave of the kick pressed against his body. A duck under a roundhouse, a jump over a low sweep, the defender hopped from object to object hoping to slow him down. However, he watched as they were simply destroyed from one backhand to the next. Tired of his games, the purple figure began to sprint after him. Blasting holes into any trees that blocked its way, It pounded the ground, creating red shockwaves to fly towards the man.
In a moment of panic, he leaped away in a random direction. Launching himself over a vine covered tree root, the frighten human discovered his beloved gunslash embedded in the dirt waiting for his return. The wooden handle left untouched, a yellow canister by the hilt gave a pulsing yellow glow; Yoshi eagerly lunged to hold it once more. While pulling it out, the figure chopped the tree in half and stared down upon its victim. Both weapons raised, the man twisted his torso to fire with both gunslashes. Unable to handle the recoil, his right hand lost grip on his backup; causing it to fly out of his hand. Shifting back to see a raised fist in the air, Yoshi back flipped off the tree root to avoid death. In a desperate attempt to make something happen, he closed his eyes. Pointing to the ground, he pulled the trigger. Dragging his aim from the ground to the sky, the yellow canister on the gunslash’s handle began to give off a brilliant light. Both sides felt shock waves collide as smaller red pillars met with the attacker’s larger ones. With a stroke of luck, the larger ones were over powered and caused damage to the purple darker. Stumbling backwards with a cry of pain, a hand covered the opposite shoulder. Struggling to lift the weapon due to the uncontrollable shaking of his arms. With tremendous might, he leveled it with the figure’s face. With a dark expression, his organs knotted when it began to laugh.
“Oh ho ho. Ha ha ha ha! Wonderful! I’m impressed. Yes, I can see there is talent in you. Count your blessings, Arks. You won your lives for today. We shall leave you be for now. We got what we wanted anyways.”
Stepping back into a swirling red and black ball, it then continued to say “Don’t die just yet, human. There are others who won’t remove the Darkers from this field. Until then, I shall await our next meeting.”
Fatigued, he collapsed onto the floor to rest. His mag floating by, laid a monomate on top of his forehead. Poking a hole on the side with one of its sharper corners, Yoshi slowly drank the contents that traveled in branching veins. Smacking the container off his forehead he looked to the looming mag with a hand reaching out to it.
“Thanks buddy. But could you stick it in my mouth next time?”
Watching trees leaves blow in random directions, he began to close his eyes to the sound of a landing transport ship.
“That must be them.”
The sounds intensifying only to fade away, dreams soon followed after.
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