by Sam Hval
The war raged on, and nothing could stop it. This was the reason Corridan hated war. It wasn't just because he didn't want the responsibility of handling it. It was because war was uncontrollable.
Corridan watched R5-37 cargo ship lift up from the ground at the docking bay below. The blurry mirage of heat oozed out the bottom of it. After a few seconds of continuous rising, the ship blasted off and out into space, leaving a trail of white smoke behind it.
Every few minutes Corridan could see the dragon peek out behind the walls guarding the city. The smooth, yellow flames blurted out of its long snout.
Corridan didn't know when the pair of unknowns would come back, but he hoped it would be soon.
***
The clustered mobs of citizens underneath the city were more active than usual, the guard noticed. Perhaps they were frightened? Or maybe a little frustrated? He didn't care. His job was to stay there and stand guard until the war was over.
Now, a group of stong, burly men came out of the crowds. About five of them, the guard noticed. They stormed up the rocky incline to the gate outside.
"We're running out of wax," The man with the bushy moustache said.
"We need more!" The skinny one yelled.
"What do you mean?" The guard asked.
The mustached man answered, "The candlelight is burning out! If it goes dark in here, all hell breaks loose."
"What do you want me to do about it?" The guard asked.
"We want to go out and get more."
"Do you know where?"
"Yeah," the skinny man said. "There's a shop across the street from here."
"Alright, I'll let you through," The guard gave in. "But be careful."
He stepped to the side and pulled the large, heavy chain to the side of the gate. Slowly, but surely, the metal gate cranked and climbed its way up.
Then, the guard noticed that the man with the moustache looked over to someone towards the front of the crowd. He winked, and before the guard could stop him, one of the men pinned him to the ground.
Hordes of people charged, screaming and yelling. The made their way through the gate, trampling anyone who was too slow.
And like that, the Undergrounds emptied. The bloodthirsty people poured out into the streets, and soon, to the battle.
Chapter 20
The screams of war raged on, as both the Corridian army and the Oldies started to become lesser in numbers. The behemoth scorched its way through the battle, killing anyone and anything it saw.
The rolling, sandy hills of Sector 5 were now covered in deep craters filled with the debris of what were once purple Corridian vehicles, or large Oldie catapults. Both sides were smart, and strategically built barriers around the craters. The deep holes in the sand made great cover.
Oldie knights were in greater in numbers than at the start of the battle. Their long, glimmering steel swords clashed against the Corridian soldier's deadly-at-close-range battle rifles. The soldiers had practiced a unique and effective technique beforehand though.
If an Oldie were to strike them, they would block the strike with their guns, push them away, and aim for the head. They trained endless hours with dummies, in order to be able to use this correctly and efficiently. It may be a simple strategy, but it sure did work.
"What the hell are we gonna do about that damn dragon!" A squad commander screamed to one of his scouts.
"What do you expect me to do?" They replied.
They ducked behind their deteriorating mounds as the beast swooped overhead. Fire erupted around them.
"I think we're getting closed in!" Another one of the commander's squad members screamed, the noise of the battle drowning out his words.
And only a few moments later, he was looking straight into the eyes of the dragon, as it opened its wide jaws, while diving down towards him.
***
The newly piloted Whiskey 2.0 blasted out of the atmosphere of Sector 5, the streams of thick, hot air clouding behind it. William kept a steady grip on the control stick, and flew to the best of his ability. They needed to get the Novidian fleet, and fast.
"You ever heard of Novidia?" William asked Angel to his right.
"No. What is it?" She replied, curious.
"It's basically a city in space. Except, only members of the fleet are allowed to live there. Novidia used to be a thriving province during Pre-Breakout times, but it was wiped out during the implosion. The Alistone military built a huge, floating city to house their fleet of combat ships. Then named it in memory of Novidia."
"It must be pretty big," Angel suggested.
"Oh yeah. Huge," He said with a slight chuckle. "We'll be there pretty soon. I don't think it's-" William was cut off by small smack against the side of the ship.
"What was that?" Angel said, worried.
"Someone's on to us."
"Who?"
"How the hell should I know?" William was getting anxious and frustrated at the same time.
He looked down at his radar screen, and searched for any blips, while also keeping part of his vision and thought on where he was flying. Then, within the blink of an eye, two red blips popped up on the bottom of the radar.
"Shit," William mumbled.
"What!?" Angel asked, also getting anxious.
"We've got pirates on our tail," He said, noticing dozens of blue blips appearing towards the top of the radar. "And we're headed towards a field of debris."
***
Varik caught a small, unusual glint shine from near the vehicle division of the front wall of Corridia. He continued to let his eyes follow where this glint was traveling.
It strutted forward, and then gradually lifted up into the air. It was some sort of floating, glowing ball of light. Unexpectedly, it traveled towards the beast.
***
Cross held on tight as Stelly began swooping the invisible vehicle upwards into the air, straight through the colorful fireworks of explosions, arrows, and laserfire. He seemed to be flying quite well, until something unusual caught his eye.
The front lights of the speeding vehicle were shining.
"Stelly what is that!" Aliah also seemed to notice.
"I don't know!" Stelly yelled over the loud noise of the ongoing battle.
"Does the cloaking feature run on any sort of refillable fuel or battery?" Goldan asked, who also appeared to be staring in shock at the bright lights.
"I don't remember!" Stelly replied, trying his best not to attract too much attention with the bright lights. "And I don't care! We need to swoop up towards the top of the dragon, line up our shots, and drop some of them stickers down on it!"
"Got it!" Aliah said, gripping tightly on the bucket of explosives.
"Let's hope this stupid plan works!" Cross finally muttered.
***
"A cargo ship of some sort appears to have left Sector 5," An unknown Oldie Sentinel announced, as he stepped into the room Devil was resting in.
"Why is this news?" She scowled, uninterested.
"We had reports earlier saying that Corridan had blocked off any sort of leave. And shoved all people into the Undergrounds."
"Well, I knew about the people.”
"No worries ma'am. I just thought you would like to know. We have no further details on who it was, and where they were going, but we will try to find out."
"Thank you. I will be leaving to head towards the main office soon."
"Of course, I will let the guards know."
Chapter 21
The vicious mobs of once hidden civilians of Corridia stormed out on to the battlefield, stealing weapons and armor off the grounds, soldiers, and restock areas. They carried their violent new toys out on to the fields and fired. The sense of chaos dragged even further throughout the battle.
The colors of red, purple, and blue soldiers on the ground transitioned into a peculiar mix of every color in the spectrum, as the crowds of multicolored clothed people joined them.
An added, yet weaker, force
came into the battle now. The citizens of Corridia were ready to stand in defiance towards the Oldies. They were ready to defend their homes, families, and friends. This rebellious act of courage sent streaks of softness into many Oldies, but they’d sworn an oath, an oath to protect their families as well.
***
Corridan started to feel less like a King, and more like an observer. He had given most of his control over the ongoing war to General Terren. But even he was losing control, now that the hordes of civilians broke out from the Undergrounds.
As the swarms of inexperienced people raged throughout, something quite peculiar caught Corridan's eye. A whitish glow buzzed slowly around the imposing image of the dragon above.
"What is that?" Corridan asked the guard next to him in confusion. The stout man was as equally intrigued as him.
"I'm afraid I have no idea," He replied, with a hint of worry in his voice.
"Whatever it is," Corridan said. "Let's hope it makes itself known."
***
Aliah began to carefully lean the upper half of her body over the edge of the vehicle. The thick, strangulating air burned down her throat, as she took a deep breath. She was ready to do her part.
Aliah grabbed one of the small, black sticky C-Nades, and lifted it out of the bucket, as Stelly lined up the vehicle with the dragon below.
"Hey Aliah!" Cross yelled. She was caught by surprise and turned her head around to look at her commander crouching at the end of the vehicle. "I want to let you know how brave you are."
"Yeah yeah," She said, turning back around to finish before her time ran out.
"And if we don't survive," Cross continued, not bothered by the fact that she was ignoring him. "You should all know that it was an honor to lead you."
She turned her head back around, saluted, and slid her scout goggles down her forehead on to her eyes. She looked down at the dark orange scales of the dragon, as they rippled with the wind.
She gripped the ball, and decided to change her tactic. She put it back into the bucket and tipped it upside down towards the beast below. The shapes became smaller and smaller and eventually stopped. They stuck to the left wing of the dragon, and began blinking small red lights.
"It didn't explode!" she screamed in disappointment.
"Dammit!" Stelly yelled, slamming his fist in the controls. "We forgot to set the time!"
"Is there any way to set them off?" Goldan asked.
"The only way is to manually set them off!" Stelly groaned.
"I'll do it!" Aliah exclaimed.
"What!? You'll get yourself killed!" Cross told her.
"Remember what you said about my bravery?" She said.
"Yes, but it doesn't mean you should sacrifice yourself!" He replied.
"Well maybe I'm brave enough to save all of you! I don't care whether or not I make it out alive! This is our only option!"
"She has a point!" Stelly said over the noise, still trying to control the vehicle. "This is our only chance. And none of us are courageous enough to do it but her! It's either all of us die! Or only one of us!"
"We can make it back safely to the city if you turn around!" Goldan added in.
Aliah finally snapped back. "What are the chances of that! The beast will notice us before we even get a chance."
"Fine," Cross gave the final command. "Just go!"
***
William took The Whiskey 2.0 into a deep curve around one of the large blocks of Sector 3 debris. He then ducked the ship abruptly under another jagged piece. He swooped around the maze of junk, in hopes of losing his pursuers.
"What the heck would pirates want with you?" Angel asked.
"Let's just say I'm a naughty man sometimes," William said nonchalantly.
Just when he thought the two small pirate smuggling ships had lost him, several large blasts of brilliant green lights flashed across the view from his cockpit. The blasts splashed against the chunks of debris in front of him, forcing William to pull the ship back quickly, and turn away.
Small bits of the flashy explosion sprayed against the window, then bounced back off of it. Angel flinched, and leaned back in her chair.
William swerved to the left around other pieces of trash drifting by. He swept back and forth, not only to dodge the debris, but the blasts coming from the pirates on his tail.
"Does this thing have any weapons?" Angel asked with the few breaths she had left in her.
"What a ridiculous question," William replied. "Go head down to the cargo area. There's a hatch toward the left side of the room that leads down to a gunner. Go!" He commanded.
Angel leaped up off of her seat and sprinted through the door to the cockpit. She jogged straight into the elevator, smashed the button with her fist, and wished the thing would've traveled faster than it already did. A dinging sound dragged through the elevator as the door slid open.
Angel stepped into the expansive cargo area and let her eyes pinpoint the location of the hatch. Only a few seconds later, and they locked on to the round, metal circle on the floor next to a few crates.
She gripped onto the small groove notched into the hatch and pulled. It wasn't opening. She tugged with all her might, but it wouldn't budge. Frustrated, Angel let go and fell backwards. She looked around for some sort of other mean of opening the hatch. Maybe a switch, a button, a...
A lever! She focused on the small bar that stuck out of the ground. She reached her arm out and pulled down on it, and watched as the hatch slid open. Angel crawled over to the hole and stared down into the darkness below.
She grabbed on to the two sides of the ladder that led to the bottom and glided down. Once inside, the lights flickered on and almost blinded her. A small doorway led into a room shaped similarly to the cockpit, except it was missing the parade of blinking lights and buttons on the controls.
There was also only one chair instead of two, and a control stick that appeared more complicated than the one up in the cockpit. Angel sat down in the seat and got comfortable.
A loud crack startled her. Then there was a long, electronic hiss that followed.
"You in?" William's voice boomed through the room.
"Yeah!" She yelled, unsure of how to communicate back.
"Pick up and put on the headset genius," William blasted.
Her eyes darted towards the two ear muffs with a long, thin wire extending out of them. She slid them on as quick as she could, positioning the thin microphone to fit in line with her mouth.
"I got it!" She yelled with pride.
"Ah! Crap!" She heard into the headset.
"What?"
"You don't need to yell kid!"
"Sorry," She apologized, embarrassed.
"Don't worry about it. Just listen closely to my instructions."
"Okay."
"If I remember from the previous ship, it should be pretty easy to shoot that thing. All you gotta do is grabbed both handles of the control stick," Angel looked down at the oddly shaped apparatus and held on. "And maneuver it around to aim. A holographic projection in the form of a target should show up on the window to let you know where you're aimin'."
The window flashed a hazy white several times, then a targeting circle came into view as she pulled the stick forward, backward, and side to side. "It's there."
"Good. Now you need to press the left button to lock on, then the right to fire."
"Alright got it," She announced.
"Okay, I'm gonna lean down so that you can get a good angle," The ship leaned forward, almost sliding Angel out of her seat. She pushed back up with her feet, and saw a small pirate ship buzz around the debris, with the black background of twinkling stars behind it. A second ship came in next to it. They continued to fire at The Whiskey 2.0 with their bright green cannon fire.
"You got an angle?" William asked.
"Yup!" Angel said.
"Go ahead and lock on!" Angel pushed the control stick around to drift the targeting symbol towards the ship on the right. Once the
target was near it, she pressed down hard with her thumb on the locking button. The target started blinking red.
"Fire!" William yelled.
She pushed down tight on to the firing button, as gazed at the brilliant red lasers shooting out from under her. Her eyes followed the deadly blasts, as they stuck into the pirate ship. Time seemed to slow down around her, before a fiery explosion of orange clouded outwards in front of her. The explosion became smaller and smaller as they flew away from it.
"Nice shot kiddo!" William congratulated. "But you still got one more, so lock on quick, or else-" A loud clank interrupted his sentence. "Oh no. This isn't good." He finished.
"What? What is it?" Angel demanded.
"They've latched on," William said with a groan. "And they're pulling us in."
Chapter 22
The whispers, the chants, and the screaming voices pierced her ears. William! William! Glenwood! Glenwood! Varik! VARIK!
Devil was pushed awake by these wretched noises. The sweat dripped down her wrinkled face. She took a good look around. She was back in her main office, wearing her usual attire.
She stood up from her squeaky, leather chair and looked out of the tall windows that lined her office. She watched the ever growing battle rage on in complete chaos outside. The dragon swooped around with its massive wings and spit out large flames.
The stress, the pain, and the death must have been jabbing at her head. Varik? She had never heard of such a name, yet it felt so oddly familiar. William. She knew that name, and she remembered her new goal: Finding him, then destroying him.
***
Aliah felt the humid, muggy air press against her face and clothes as she fell down toward the beast below. The laserfire and arrows from the battle swirled all around her, and occasionally, into her.
She fought through the pain, and eventually came close to the dragon. She gripped on to its massive wings. Hanging on for dear life, she began to climb up the flying behemoth. Aliah pulled up, alternating each arm for a steady rhythm.
