Shadows of Atlantis: Emergence of the Engi (24 page)

“You have four broken ribs. How are you still on your feet??” asked Dahlia incredulous.

“I’m just happy to see you're okay.” beamed Eiris as Dahlia smiled in appreciation.

Suddenly Obsidian and the other beast guardians began fiercely growling and looking towards the sky.

“What is it boy?” asked Eiris.

Dex then began grabbing his head in pain as he was brought to his knees.

“Dex!!! What’s wrong?” asked Kezzy.

“..............It…...it’s here.” Dex grimaced in excruciating pain as the skies were filled with giant Engi destroyers over the city.

“Dex!!! Talk to me!!!” cried Kezzy as he continued to grab at his head in agony.

“We need to get him out of here Kezzy!” yelled Eiris.

Suddenly a novaship came hovering nearby, shooting at the destroyers as it landed. Running down the boarding ramp was Azonei accompanied by a small group of Blue Storm members.

“Get in!” yelled Azonei as he and the Blue Storm members covered Eiris and the others.

Eiris, Kezzy, and Dahlia then helped Dex, who appeared to have passed out, into the
Atlanticus
while the dire wolves followed Obsidian, Awesome, and Nava into the lower levels of the ship.

“What’s wrong with Dex??” asked Azonei as the
Atlanticus
took off.

“We’re not sure yet. Where are we headed?” asked Eiris.

“To Pluvia Central. We evacuated the city and established a defensive perimeter there.” replied Azonei as he relieved the co-pilot and began flying to Pluvia Central.

Kezzy sat with Dex as Dahlia tried to identify the source of his pain in the medical room. After checking to see that Dex was being cared for, Eiris went to speak with Azonei.

“It’s good to see a friendly face. How is it out there?” asked Eiris.

“Intense. Definitely nothing the flight simulator can prepare you for. Did you get the signal sent?” asked Azonei.

“Yeah. Hopefully it’s not too late.” replied Eiris tersely.

As the
Atlanticus
landed in Pluvia Central, Eiris and others carried Dex out to a medical tent nearby. The beast guardians and the dire wolves also emptied out to aid in the defense of Pluvia Central.

“What’s wrong with him?” asked one of the medical personnel.

“We’re still not sure. He just began grabbing at his head before becoming unresponsive.” replied Dahlia.

“Okay. Let’s get him on the table.” remarked the medic as they helped Dex onto the table.

All of a sudden, to their astonishment-Dex regained consciousness, hopped off the table and pulled out his weapons! He then grabbed the closest medic and put his pulse blade to his neck, while pointing his plasma charger at Eiris and the surrounding soldiers, who now had their weapons drawn in response.

“Whoa! Whoa! Hey! Dex, it’s us!” pleaded Azonei as Dex threatened them all with an evil smile.

Eiris then looked closer at Dex’s eyes, which were now emitting a strange purple fluctuation. He quickly understood what was happening.

“No. Not Dex.” remarked Eiris. “It’s you aren’t it? The hive mind.” he glared.

“Perceptive.” replied the hive mind through Dex in a deep, reverberating voice.

“Get out of his head you flash drive reject!!! yelled Kezzy.

“Kezzy.” cued Eiris as she restrained any other insults. “Why have you declared war on us?” he asked calmly.

“You are our prey.” the hive mind replied through Dex.

“Prey? I think your drones would disagree with that.” Azonei scoffed.

“Ditto that. Now Eiris, why don’t you just let me bang Dex around a few times until he starts working properly? He’ll be fine. I do it to my remote all the time.” growled Kezzy through clenched teeth.

“Enough guys.” snapped Eiris. “Is there any chance for peace?” he pleaded.

“Invalid.” replied the hive mind through Dex.

“Then what do you want?” asked Eiris.

“I think it’s clear what they want. Can’t we let Ms. Kezzy use her remote trick? whispered the medic as he was still being held hostage.

“Capitulation.” said the hive mind.

“Surrender? I don’t think so.” Eiris responded flatly.

“Your defiance is in vain. Your destruction is inevitable.” replied the hive mind.

“I think we’ll take our chances.” Eiris said in contempt. “Kezzy?” he cued.

“With pleasure.” glared Kezzy as she moved towards Dex.

Controlling Dex, the hive mind threw the medic aside and swung his pulse blade at Kezzy. Kezzy then effortlessly used her jyndo training to sidestep the attack and followed that with a spinning heel kick to Dex’s head, downing him instantly. After staying down for a few seconds, Dex slowly got up, groaning as he held the side of his head that Kezzy had kicked.

“Argh. What’s going on?” he asked groggily.

“The hive mind just took over your brain and used your neural implant to communicate with us. So I kicked you in the head.” smiled Kezzy.

“Interesting” said Dex coolly. “What did it say?” he asked.

“Oh, just the usual imminent destruction spiel. Welcome back.” smiled Kezzy as she kissed him on the cheek.

Suddenly tens of thousands of Engi destroyers began pouring in from out of the sky. The xenogeeks looked on as countless Engi drones began dropping into the city. Marz, Paseo, Authore Masterson, and the three shadows all ran over to where Eiris and the others were as the Engi began closing in.

“We are so dead.” said Paseo.

“Ditto.” said Azonei as he looked at the armada coming to destroy them.

“On the contrary. The fact that the hive mind made an attempt to convince us to concede, suggests the very opposite.” remarked Dex.

“As in we won’t be completely obliterated?” asked Paseo sarcastically.

“Precisely.” nodded Dex.

“I agree.” nodded Eiris. “Dex give me the numbers.” he ordered.

“As it stands, we currently have a 0.8 probability of surviving this battle.” informed Dex.

“Well those are very convincing odds.” said Kezzy sarcastically. “We’re ridiculously outnumbered Eiris.”

“It’s certainly better than nothing. Besides, you know what they say about odds.” remarked Authore Masterson.

“What’s that?” asked Kezzy.

“They’re meant to be defied.” said Eiris with a wry grin.

“Wise words your majesty. What will you have us do?” asked Marz.

“Marz, you and Paseo will take the primary Atlantian Guard and set up a defensive perimeter along the Pluvian shoreline. Authore Masterson, take Azonei along with the student fleet and defend the sky over Pluvia Central. Myself, the secondary Atlantian Guard, The Blue Storm Guild, Kezzy, Dahlia, and the beast guardians will attack from the ground. Dex, the three shadows, and The Black Horde Guild will follow with an attack from the rooftops.” replied Eiris.

“Very well your majesty. May Turanii be with you.” Marz said sincerely as he grasped forearms with Eiris.

The Xenogeeks and Atlantian Guardsmen then began scrambling to their novaships while Eiris and the others lined up with the beast guardians on the ground. As the Engi drones charged forward, they all got their weapons ready.

“So, what do you have in mind?” smiled Dahlia.

“Let’s run.” smirked Eiris.

Eiris then charged forward alongside Obsidian and the dire wolves, while Dahlia and Kezzy rode their superbikes. Dex freeran on the rooftops with the three shadows and the Black horde guild as they shot plasma chargers and bonded from a distance. As the Engi and the alliance of Atlantian Guardsmen and Xenogeeks began clashing, the battle got underway.

Kezzy and Dahlia sped ahead of everyone else on their superbikes and simultaneously jumped off, as the bikes crashed into clusters of Engi. Once enough Engi were near the bikes, they shot multiple plasma charges at their tanks, making them blow up. Dozens of Engi were obliterated instantly.

Next, Kezzy ran up to a drone and jumped in the air, leg tackling it while she shot it repeatedly with her dual plasma chargers. She then got up while continuing to fire them both masterfully as she hit her desired targets. Dahlia stealthily bonded multiple shadow clouds as she weaved in and out, using her twin luridium daggers to dice several drones to shreds.

Eiris ran with Obsidian and the army of dire wolves on all sides of him, oblivious to the pain in his ribs as they pressed forward. The Engi drones fired plasma beams from a distance, hitting several dire wolves. But not before the army of wolves reached their marks and began biting and clawing their way through the Engi ranks.

Eiris joined in the carnage by sending his shadow forth which hacked its way through multiple drones. He cleverly fired his plasma chargers from a distance until he got close enough to engage them in close combat also. Once in the fray, he drew his twin pulse blades and spiked them into the ground, triggering massive electromagnetic pulses. He then dodged multiple plasma beams as he cut his way through droves of Engi, showing his immense battle skill.

While running the city rooftops, Dex fired his plasma chargers until he got close enough to throw his pulse blade into one of the Engi drones, triggering an electromagnetic pulse. Retrieving it magnetically, he spun as he sliced his way into the mass of drones, using his training to best several of them. Once he got overwhelmed, he took his hoverboard from off of his back and threw it off of the roof. Shooting Engi as he went, he then ran and jumped off the roof, landing perfectly on his hoverboard as he glided to where Eiris and the others were on the ground.

Reizen and the other Darkren doubled their numbers by sending their shadows forth into the mass of Engi drones. Once close enough, he bonded fire waves into the clusters of drones before jumping high in the air and landing right in the middle of them. Drozen and Reina followed his lead with high jumps of their own, landing directly in the middle with him, using their bonding and weapons to attack the Engi and defend each other.

The sea and sky defense squadrons performed well as they successfully fought off swarms of Engi drones. Marz and Authore Masterson led them valiantly in the defense of the city for a substantial amount of time. The alliance of Xenogeeks and Atlantian Guardsmen fought bravely as they held off the Engi, but eventually the unending numbers began to overwhelm them.

“Eiris, there’s just too many! We’re not gonna last!” yelled one of the Blue Storm members as they continued fighting.

“It doesn’t matter! Just keep fighting!” encouraged Eiris as he continued to destroy multiple Engi drones.

Suddenly, a tiny blue ray of light could be seen from a distance speeding from the sky to the crowds fighting below. As it closed in on its target, something horrible happened.

“Eiris!” warned Dahlia as she realized who was the target of the beam.

Eiris turned his head to see that he was too late to dodge it and braced himself for the blow. Suddenly, Obsidian jumped in front of the beam, taking the piercing shot in his side. He let out a loud yelp as it hit him, falling limp to the ground. Kezzy and the others continued to fight bravely as Eiris crouched over Obsidian. Sensing the agony of their alpha, the dire wolves fought with a ferocity no carnivore could match, clawing and biting countless Engi drones to their destruction.

“Why’d you do that boy? Huh?” asked Eiris stunned, as Obsidian whimpered in pain.

Obsidian then licked Eiris’ face as a tear came running down his cheek. Eiris was rendered speechless by this act of supreme self-sacrifice from such a noble creature.

“Your Majesty, the Engi have broken through our sky and sea defense lines and we are now falling back. I fear this fight won’t last much longer.” informed one of the Atlantian Guardsmen urgently.

Eiris clenched his jaws at the truth in those words and issued one final order as he rose.

“Tell everyone to regroup. We’re going to run one last time.” Eiris said as his eyes glowed purple.