Omega felt bullets bounce off his armour and he turned to where they had come from. 'Stupid Chaos Marines don't they know their weapons are inferior to almost every kind of armour out there,' Omega thought as he used the sand around him to create a wall behind them which fell on top of them, creating more black shards.
He tried his best to not hit or kill any of the people dangling from the roof but the bullet fire that came from every direction confused him about where everything was. He created more walls of sand and sent them this way and that. Luckily it was easy to know how many he'd accidentally killed as they would be the only bodies on the ground, or hanging from the roof.
The firing stopped and Omega finally got a good look around the room. It was larger then it had looked from the outside and had several tables with dead or dying people on them. Each table had a stool next to it, with tools that looked like they were most likely intended for torture. The building was clinic white with large puddles of blood under each table and hanging body. There weren't any lab coats or any kind of clothing used for surgery. It seemed that the Chaos Marines just wore their armour when dissecting or torturing their victims.
One Chaos Marine was left and he seemed to be radioing for back up. 'Humph, like you'll get your back up - by now Bravos will have already killed most of your Chaos Marine brothers,' Omega thought, seeing the Chaos Marine try and try again to get any response through the radio. The Chaos Marine gave up on the radio and instead aimed his rifle at the people that littered the room. Omega ran for him and caved his skull in with one swift punch. The Chaos Marine crumbled into shards.
Omega wondered what to do about the people around him. They seemed oblivious to the conflict around them and were all still mentally scarred from the torture. Omega wondered what kind of information they had or hadn't given up. 'I'll call base to come and pick these people up once we're done here. Damn Chaos Marines,' Omega thought to himself as he exited the room and headed to help Bravo.
Bravo jumped down from the ledge and landed with a thud. The Chaos Marines still hadn't noticed him - either that or there wasn't a General around to control them. He encased both of his fists in ice and ran for the Chaos Marines nearest to him. They shattered like glass as his fists ran through various body parts in a series of punches, jabs and slams. They quickly noticed his presence and began to fire upon him, and a few drew their swords and ran for him.
Bravo erected a wall of ice in front of him and slammed his fists into it, sending it through whole squads of Chaos Marines. He drew ice further up his arms and created a shield of ice on his right forearm and a blade extending out of his left arm. He blocked the Chaos Marine swords with his shield and brought his blade around to slice off one of their heads. They kept coming at him with their swords and rifles and it began to anger Bravo. He dispersed his shield and blade and began to create massive waves of ices shards which he then sent in random directions.
Once about half of them had exploded into shards, he changed his tactic and began creating large spines of ice that erupted from the ground, piercing and shattering the Chaos Marines. As more and more Chaos Marines burst into black shards Bravo kept changing how he fought, from creating ice golems to encasing himself in ice and fighting them head on. He'd gone through most of his fighting styles when Omega came to his side and helped him defeat the rest.
"Well done, Bravo," Omega congratulated him. Bravo didn't say anything in response. He just stared at the Chaos General in front of them.
The marines were led by the General down to a large series of caves below the base, each leading off deeper into a labyrinth. The General led them to a large open frozen cavern, where everything from the floor to the ceiling was encased in ice. A cool breeze came from a gaping hole in the roof of the cavern. The hole was the only source of light, illuminating the frozen dust that drifted through the hole. The light shine upon a large wall of see through ice.
"Why are we here, Dad?" Matthew asked, looking puzzled.
"This is the place that will determine your Elements."
"Ay? How does a cave tell us which Element we possess?" Taine asked in his normal, cynical tone.
"It's not the cave, Taine. It's the stones inside. This cave is riddled with small crystals that can only be seen by their chosen wielder, and these crystals will tell you which Element you wield. Once you've found yours, come back here and it should reveal itself to you," the General stated.
The General blasted the see-through ice with a beam from his staff. The blast shattered the ice and revealed an entrance to the Element Cave.
Sam ran into the cave followed by his team. Sam steadied to a walk, scanning his surroundings for any glowing crystals. He looked around and noticed that he was alone. His team must have split shortly after they entered. He came upon a large crystal latent cavern, where a soft blue glow emitted from each crystal, illuminating the cavern.
Sam looked up. The ceiling lit up like the night sky, with crystals dotting the roof and sparkling like stars. One of the crystals shone brighter then the rest, dead centre of the ceiling and high above his head. He thought of flying up there but dismissed the thought, thinking it would have been too easy. He scanned the wall and found a natural ladder-kind of formation which led right to the crystal on the roof. Sam began to scale the crystals, trying each one as he went.
The crystal was right above his head now, just out of reach. He didn't want to get closer as he would have to go horizontal. He decided to take a leap of faith and tried to grab it in mid-air. He counted to five in his head before leaping off - one wrong move could spell broken bones if he fell.
He jumped.
Delta managed to slip past the Chaos Marines without being noticed, and made his way over to the large building. He hid behind a corner, putting a wall between him and the main Chaos Marine force, which Bravo was dealing with. Delta activated his cloak and walked softly around the building trying to find an entrance.
The sound of metal banging against metal became louder as he approached a large metal sheet which looked like a garage door. He grabbed it with both hands and sent lightning through it, shocking anyone on the other side. Delta then sent strength to his hands and tore the metal door free, flinging it away. A burst of heat slammed into him as soon as the door was gone.
He peered inside and saw that there was no-one around. The whole factory appeared to be robotically operated. Delta stood in the doorway wondering what to do next. He heard footsteps on a metal walkway above him. He climbed up to it as quickly as possible and found himself standing on it, facing two Chaos Generals.
They both wore Chaos Black Armour with bold white lines running down the helmet and down the body. Each carried a rifle and had a sword slung over its back.
They both drew their weapons and threatened Delta so he got down onto one knee and pressed his hand to the metal. Delta felt a surge of power as a thousand volts of lightning was sent down the walkway, shocking, burning and killing the two Generals. Delta could see smoke rising from the eye holes of the armours.
Delta made his way along the walkway to a small room, where he could hear muffled words as he approached. Delta entered the room and found the boy he was looking for. He was young, aged anywhere from seven to nine, Delta guessed. Delta couldn't get a good look at the boy because of the darkness of the room and the red glow of the melted metal of the factory.
"Don't think you're leaving here with him."
Delta spun around and felt his head begin to ache. Then his world went black.
Sam ran to catch up with Lachlan, who was just ahead of him.
"Lachlan! Hey, did you manage to get your crystal?" Sam asked, slightly out of breath.
"Yeah, it was a real bitch to get though. I had to fight off these huge ice golems that kept regenerating themselves. It sucked so much. But I got it in the end."
They approached the entrance to the cave and found Cheyenne and Taine waiting for them.
"Have you both already gotten your crystals?" Sam asked
. They both held up there crystals as response.
"So who are we waiting on?" the General asked.
"Just Matthew and Jareth," Sam replied, trying to catch his breath.
"Well, if they don't hurry up they're not gonna make it," the General said, seeing that the cave entrance was beginning to freeze over.
Seconds turned to minutes as the marines waited. No-one came through and Sam was getting worried. He began to think about what would happen if his brother and/or his second in command didn't make it. The thought was quickly dashed as a shadow came from inside the cavern.
A creature burst through the ice. It looked like the Chimera Jareth turned into with his beast mode but this one was real and not made out of metal. It had a real lion's face with real fur and a real mane. Real dragon wings spread from its real back, and a real cobra was its tail. The beast roared, causing the cavern to shake. Everyone was scared of the beast.
"Oh come on guys. My own brother doesn't recognise me? I would've been fine if it were just my girlfriend but c'mon Sam, you gotta recognise me," the beast said.
"Jareth?"
"The one and only."
"How the hell did this happen?"
"I saw this weird symbol on my gauntlet so I drew it and walked though it, turning me into my beast form," Jareth explained.
"Okay, well, you guys can talk that over but I'm gonna go rescue Matt," Sam said, running past his brother and back into the cave, ignoring the many attempts his team made to stop him.
Sam quickly found Matthew collapsed onto his knees, clutching something in his hands and crying.
"Matthew, come on. We have to go. What's wrong?"
Matthew opened his hands and Sam saw that there was an orb of Darkness in them.
"I'm a Dark Elemental, Sam," Matthew said through his tears.
"I don't care. Come on!"
Sam hoisted Matthew up and the two of them made their way back to the main cavern. They both collapsed at the entrance.
Everyone was now standing in a circle - everyone except Jareth. He was still in is beast form and sitting off to the side. One by one they each crushed the crystal in their hands and announced what element they were.
"Lightning," Taine said with a grin on his face as he saw the crackling orb in his hand.
"Light," Cheyenne said, the soft glow from the orb in her hand making her face light up.
"Ice," Lachlan said, his breath seeable.
"Fire," Sam said, not flinching from the heat on his hand.
"I'm Earth by the way," Jareth said from behind them all.
It was Matthew's turn but he didn't want to show anyone his element so he just said that he didn't find his crystal. Everyone now had an Element and they were ready to face Chaos again.
6: A Battle for Supremacy
Matthew felt a sting of guilt as Sam stared at him. He really didn't want anyone to know about his darkness element. Sam looked at him with a disappointed face. Matthew stared at the ground as everyone conversed amount themselves about their elements, while he stood alone away from the group.
Sam and the General left them after a while. Matthew heard them say that they were going to talk about him, which made him feel like he wasn't appreciated, and made him feel angry. Jareth, still in his beast form, came up to him.
"I overheard Sam say that he wanted to talk to the General about you."
"And?"
"Well, maybe it means that Sam's regretting making you his second in command and is considering making me it," Jareth said arrogantly.
"If you want it then you're gonna have to beat me for it," Matthew said, his anger peaked.
"That can be arranged. How about right here, right now?"
"You're on!"
Matthew's gauntlet began to glow. He took a second to peer down at it and in that second Jareth rammed into him. The movement sent him sprawling across the ice. In the distance he heard gasps from the other team mates.
Matthew regained his footing and the light from his gauntlet became too much. He looked at it and a symbol of three rings next to each other was flashing on the screen. He held his gauntlet out and drew the symbol, which surprisingly held its shape. He stepped through it and got thrown onto all fours.
His body began to expand and grow larger. His skin turned pitch black and began to grow fur. Matthew grew to around six feet in height and grew two more heads. The heads became dog heads, and three tails lashed out behind him. Yellow eyes and mouths were the only part seeable on each head.
"Shadow Cerberus!" he yelled, almost methodically.
The two beasts faced each other - Cerberus versus Chimera. Taine, Lachlan and Cheyenne stood by, watching.
Jareth was the first to make a move. He charged toward Matthew, his claws and teeth bared. Jareth swiped at one of Matthew's heads, but the paw passed right through the head. Matthew retaliated by biting with the two outside heads, each head grabbing one of Jareth's wings. Matthew opened his other mouth and darkness spewed out and wrapped itself around Jareth's head. Jareth encased his head in earth and rammed into Matthew, knocking him into his back.
With his wings free Jareth flew to roof of the cave and began to launch large rocks with each beating of wings. The rocks pelted Matthew but he didn't seem to be in pain. Matthew's rage had taken over him and had stopped him from feeling pain. Matthew stood up on his hind legs. The fur and features disappeared until he was just a large blot of darkness with three sets of yellow eyes and mouths. He reached up and grabbed Jareth's tail, which was trying to bite him. Matthew swung Jareth around and flung him through into the cave, sending him shattering crystals in the cave.
"Earthen Horn Smash!"
Jareth smashed through the cave and rammed Matthew with horns encased in earth. Matthew was thrown backwards and his beast form deactivated. He was now in a new armour but he didn't get any time to look at it as Jareth pounced on top of him and began to slash him with his claws. Jareth sliced through Matthew's armour and began to draw blood.
"Jareth, stop! You're hurting him!" Cheyenne yelled from the other side of the room, her voice filled with despair.
"That's the point! I have to hurt him. He must be hurt, and he must die," Jareth said, not sounding like himself.
"Cheyenne, get Sam down here now. I'll get Jareth. Taine, once I get Jareth off him, I want you to get Matthew to the med bay," Lachlan commanded.
Matthew could hear voices but they were drowned out by Jareth's slashing and the pain from his arms. It came to an abrupt stop as large spines of ice erupted from the ground on each side of him, throwing Jareth off him. Matthew heard someone say something about Jareth's darkness but the pain from his arms was too much. He began fade in and out of consciousness, feeling like he was carried then felt soft sheets underneath him, and then nothing.
Omega and Bravo watched in shock as the Chaos General threw Delta onto the ground in front of them. He was unconscious but they knew that he was alive. The boy they were looking for was slung over the Chaos General's shoulder. He too was unconscious but alive.
Omega and Bravo looked at each other, neither muttering a word. They looked back to the Chaos General who stood there with a chain sword in one hand and the boy over his shoulder.
"How old are you?" Omega asked.
A grunt came from Bravo and Omega guessed it was a laugh but he couldn't be sure with Bravo. Even the Chaos General seemed surprised at the question.
"Seventeen."
"Oh, okay, so I'm not gonna have a problem ripping out your eyeballs and shoving them down your throat," Omega yelled with rage swelling up inside him.
"I know you're not gonna remember this, because you'll be dead, but my name is Riley and I am one of Chaos' top Generals. I'm glad to have the pleasure of killing you both as I know how much of a pain your team has been in my master's side."
"Well when we're done with you, you can tell him - well actually you won't, because you'll be dead. But you can tell ... him ... that umm … well since you'll be dead I guess you won'
t be able to tell him anything. Never mind, dismiss that thought. Let's just fight."
"Agreed. I'm gonna enjoy slicing off each one of your limbs and seeing your face as you see how defenceless you'll be," Riley taunted, readjusting the boy on his shoulder.
"Enough of your senseless prattling! Let's settle this here, Riley!" a voice boomed from the sky.
A man in an armour that was similar to Omega's landed with a loud crash, creating a crater between Omega, Bravo and the General. The man's armour was black with the Theta symbol on his gauntlets. Theta was an Unbound Elemental.
"I'm glad we caught up with you two. You wouldn't have been able to defeat this guy without us. He has quite the reputation," Theta said, looking back at his team.
Another one in silver armour landed beside him. This one had the Gamma symbol planted firmly on the left breast plate. Gamma was Light Elemental.
"It's good to see you too, Theta, Gamma," Omega replied, seeing the rest of his team climb out of the crater Theta had created.
"If I had known Riley was here I wouldn't have sent you three here alone. Now that we're all here we don't have to worry about any of you dying here," Gamma said as she took her place next to Omega.
"Yeah, well, Delta's been taken down. He's next to Riley over there," Omega said, pointing over Theta's shoulder.
Theta sighed, seeing one of his team lying unconscious.
"I thought I trained you guys better than that," he said, turning back to his team.
"Are you guys gonna keep talking or are we gonna fight?" Riley yelled from across the crater.
"Omega, you're with me. We're gonna show this guy why he shouldn't have messed with one of Alpha's Chosen. Bravo, Gamma, stay here and wait for Riley to drop the boy, then do whatever you can to get him and Delta out of there," Theta commanded.
Theta and Omega made their way forward toward Riley.
"So Theta, which one are you gonna use today?" Omega asked.
"Hmmm … I think I'll use Fire for this one," Theta responded.
The Chaos Saga Page 12
