Re: Iwaku SHATTERED
[size=+1]
The lines are drawn in the bloodstained sand.
Our enemies are approaching, a tidal wave of gas-masked terror out to tear us limb from limb.
And unless this old bitch of an airship opens up we are, as the old saying goes, totally fucked.
I almost panic when initially I can't find the spot on the hull I located earlier... but with a quick glance to the shifting tattoo on my wrist I'm able to find it again. Behind us, I can hear the sounds of the other survivors battling back the Collector attacks as I point to the spot and roar at Jake over the sound of battle and gunfire.
"THERE! START CUTT'N' THERE! FAST AS YOU GODDAMN CAN, WE'RE RUNN'N' OUTTA T'ME!" There's a man wearing a crown and a wild-eyed woman waving her arms at me nearby; I don't stop to explain (there's no time), instead just pointing them towards the rest of the group fighting the Collectors. "Help keep them off us as long as ye' can! GO!!"
In times of panic people like a bit of direction, I've found. And I've got no time to give them the rundown; I have people to save.
Jake's not wasting any time, thank the Cycle; he's already fired up his tools and got to work slicing through the hull. As he cuts, the symbol I was able to faintly able to make out earlier starts to light up from the heat of the cutting-tools, illuminating the path he needs to follow.
He doesn't question it, not yet at least; he's a soldier and he's been trained to get his job done and not ask questions. I'm grateful for that, as I don't have time to explain it to him. I don't even know if we've got time to cut through and get everyone aboard before they breach our makeshift barricades.
Not much time left for any of us...[/size]
[size=+1]Rift Town has just flatlined.
The buildings buckle, their burning beams no longer able to support the weight. The slums and shanty-towns, built close together and from flammable materials, are up in smoke. There are few survivors left in the town aside from the centre; just about all of them have been slaughtered or dragged away to the ships hovering above the burning wreckage.
They still stalk through the streets, though.
Their laughter has reached a crescendo. It can be heard everywhere; above the din of the fighting, through the crackle of the burning ruins. They rush towards the town centre, ready to snuff out the final candles of life that remain in this settlement and leave nothing but terror, death and darkness.
And unless the survivors escape soon, they will succeed.[/size]
[size=+1]"Almost there!" Jake bellows over the cacophony around us, "Not much more to cut--" He's interrupted mid-sentence by one of the survivors defending the barricades having his head carved open by a Collector wielding a vicious looking meat-cleaver, who charges past the man and straight towards us. Jake spins and tries to bring the cutting-tools up to defend himself, but the Collector's moving faster.
Fortunately, I move faster still.
I've pulled the revolver from my belt and snapped back the hammer just as the Collector reaches Jake, and sink two rounds into the thing's chest and another through it's mask in quick succession. It's momentum keeps it coming even in the wake of such an impact, sending it careering past Jake and into Marvin's back. The two topple to the ground with Marvin yelping in panic.
"Keep go'n'!" I shout to Jake as I haul his comrade to his feet again, "Ah've got yer back!"
They keep coming. There's so damn many of them; more than I've ever seen before. No rhyme or reason to their attacks; they just keep throwing themselves upon our improvised defences with reckless abandon, a total disregard for their own lives. We're killing them, but that's not stopping them.
Hell, they're not even scared. I don't think you even can scare these fucks.
Me, on the other hand? I'm scared.
I don't think we're going to survive this.[/size]
[size=+1]As the settlement collapses all around him, Raziel carries the unconscious Chanter and follows in the wake of Doctor Surgeon.
The chaos and turmoil has thrown them together with Liana, also making her way to the centre of town. Little does the small group know that they are amongst the last still alive within Rift Town. The good Doctor Surge (or _____ for short), has abandoned his Collector disguise upon drawing close to the centre. However, the closer they get the greater the numbers of Collectors are looming both ahead and behind.
They are surrounded. And unless they find a way to break through the trap shall close in on them, a sea of gas-masks swallowing them up.
With his two revolvers out and blasting away at their assailants, Doctor Surgeon is peforming aggressive treatment strategies upon the Collectors. Raziel lays down as much covering fire as he can as well with his free arm, the other keeping the unconscious woman securely on his shoulder. They've cleared a path so far but the route ahead is growing thicker and thicker with masked killers.
The Collectors close in, blades and weaponry at the ready as their laughter echoes through the burning ruins. Doctor Surgeon and Raziel pump round after round into them, but they keep coming.
All in all, the situation is looking particularly grim... until Liana steps in.
She focuses her will, keeping her cool despite the terror, and with her abilities begins to warp the very air around her. Compacting it, strengthening it, crafting a barrier of force around the four survivors. The bullets whistling towards them are blown back and as Liana starts forwards the Collectors are forced to part around the invisible force.
Like an apocalyptic Moses parting a sea of masks and death.
But she can't maintain it for long. Hopefully just long enough to see them to safety.
"Come on!" she yells to the other three, "I can't keep this up for long!" Wisely the two other survivors choose not to question this, rushing after the seer and towards the promise of safety...[/size]
[size=+1]Eyes hidden from the bright glare of the cutting tools, Jake finishes cutting along the glowing symbol that's appeared on the side of the hull.
"That's it! Now what?" He doesn't have to wait long for an answer. With a metallic groan, the plates of the hull start to shift and move, retracting and changing position to create an opening in the side of the hull. At first it's just big enough to fit a few people through, but it's widening all the time.
We're in. Now we need to get everyone inside before the barricades are overrun.
I spin to look about for Spears amidst the chaos, spotting a few final survivors sprinting inexplicably through the Collector lines towards our barricade before finally catching sight of the soldier. He's still got that .50 Cal and is laying down hellfire upon the approaching gas-masked fiends alongside Karsikan, who's cleaving into any Collector stupid enough to get close with his sword.
"SPEARS!" I yell at him, "SPEARS, WE'RE 'N! START GETT'N' EVERYONE 'NS'DE AS SOON AS YE' CAN! WE'RE GON' GET TH'S TH'NG STARTED!"
He doesn't have time to reply; the Collectors just keep coming, and he's got to keep shooting. But he gives me a quick nod to show he understands before continuing his onslaught, bellowing orders at the terrified survivors. I'm glad to have him on my side. He knows how to organise these people, keep them alive.
All I have to worry about now is getting this old bitch flying again.[/size]
[size=+1]Elsewhere in the burning madness that was once Rift Town the final survivor fights for survival.
Skye utilises her ability to call upon water to clear a path ahead of her, dousing the flames that block her passage to safety. It's fortunate she has such an ability as well, for the Collectors are right behind her, laughing as they track their prey through the ruins. The fire and smoke is all around her; she can barely see, relying solely on putting one foot in front of the other and pushing towards what she hopes is the centre of town.
More figures loom through the smoke ahead of her, laughter following them. A group of Collectors pause in their hacking apart of a family to join the pursuit of Skye, moving to cut her off. If she pauses to think about how they could have reacted to her presence without even first seeing her she might start to get the idea that there is some method to the Collectors' madness... but now is not the timing for contemplation.
Now is the time for trying to stay alive against all the odds.
Suddenly veering off to the left, Skye crashes through a door hanging off it's hinges and into one of the burning buildings, her pursuers moving after her. She rushes up the stairs, her foot almost getting caught when one of the steps gives way beneath her, and onto the second floor of the burning house. She can barely see through the choking, acrid smoke and knows that she needs to get herself an exit now or else asphyxiate in the burning building, easy prey for her pursuers.
So she does the only thing she can.
When the Collectors reach the second floor, they are not greeted by a human woman as they'd been expecting. In her place is a vast wolf standing on it's hind legs, dressed in the clothes the woman had been wearing, it's pelt the same colour as her hair. They don't so much as pause, rushing the wolfwoman without any regard to their safety.
It's fortunate for Skye that she never planned to attack them.
Launching herself at the weakest of the walls just as the building begins to buckle under the weight of all the people inside, she crashes through the burning wood and out into the smoke-filled air, a trail of splinters and debris trailing after her. Her momentum sends her sailing across burning roofs and dying citizens straight into the centre of town, where she tucks herself into a roll upon landing and comes skidding to a halt near to the makeshift barricade. The defenders almost light her up on sight, but fortunately she looks decidedly different from a Collector that they don't attack immediately.
The final survivor has reached the centre of town.[/size]
[size=+1]We're having to practically climb up through the ship towards the bridge because of the angle she crashed at, through old hallways who's lights begin to crackle begrudgingly on, awakened at last from their long sleep by our presence. I should really be in awe of this place; it's a relic undisturbed by time since the Shattering, a preservation of something from the time before all this madness.
But we've no time for awe right now. There's lives to save, our own included.
"We're almost there!" I yell to Jake and Marvin, who are climbing right behind me, "The Br'dge 's jus' up ahead!"
"Do you know how to work this thing, lady?" Marvin shouts back, "Goddamn, please tell me you know how to work this thing!"
"Not exactly!"
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN 'NOT EXACTLY'?!" He's about to panic again; the confined space is probably getting to him.
"Let's jus' say ah'm pretty sure I can f'gure 't out! Ah'm a fast learner!" I look down briefly to my arms; already the marks are swirling into patterns, instructions.
Yeah. If we can reach the Bridge in time, I can get this old thing up in the air again.[/size]
[size=+1]"MOVE YOUR ASSES! DOUBLE-TIME! WOMEN AND CHILDREN ABOARD FIRST!"
Even above the sound of all the chaos swirling about them Spears' voice can be heard bellowing orders to the survivors of Rift Town. He and Raymond poured covering fire towards the oncoming Collectors as the injured and non-combatants began to evacuate onto the ship. Orion uses his board as a shield to help cover the survivors as they attempt to escape to the safety of the old relic, accompanied by Sakura. Across the barricades the defenders can hear Acquariana's song pushing through all the other sounds and chaos, keeping them calm, giving them the resolve to keep fighting. They are holding the line.
But the line is beginning to crumble.
With even less bodies to man the barricades, there are more holes for the Collectors to come through.
Zypher has joined the ranks of the defenders, his twin pistols blazing as they tear through oncoming attackers. Yet even he doesn't have enough bullets for everything coming at him; he's forced to dive to one side as a Collector comes out of nowhere and attempts to disembowel him with a pair of meat-hooks grafted to his hands. He brings one of his pistols up to put a hole through the thing's mask only to be jumped by another gas-mask wearing assailant, who knocks him to the ground and brings up his machete to finish him...
...only to have an umbrella opened in his face.
Curiose shoves the Collector back with her umbrella, who starts to come at her instead with a manic laugh. It's not expecting the blade to appear from the umbrella she's carrying; it slides under the thing's guard and through his chest, ripping a vicious wound in the Collector's stomach as Curiose pulls it free. Zypher seizes the chance to get back to his feet and keep shooting.
Na'va and Karsikan are back to back, hacking apart through anything masked that comes within reach of their blades. The man-mountain's slicing the Collectors apart in rows thanks to his size and strength, and Na'va is taking down anything that gets past him. Skye is fortunate enough to land near to the pair of them; Karsikan grabs the shapeshifter and pulls her behind the barricade before she can be overrun by the Collectors.
Raziel carries the unconscious Chanter onto the ship followed by Liana and Doctor Surgeon, who wastes no time with trivialities such as exhaustion and panic as he gets to work patching up the injured. Cyandie has manipulated himself back to the size and strength he had in the bar, beating back anything that tries to get past him, and Effort hurls debris into the oncoming Collectors, taking out several at a time.
They're holding the line.
But not for much longer.
Overhead the sound of engines grows louder and louder; something it approaching. Sure enough one of the attack ships appears out of the smoke and clouds that surround the survivors. It's guns open up just as Cressen manages to bark to the others,
"Get down!" High caliber round slam into the makeshift barricades, tearing apart the undead creatures that had been tailing the necromancer and mutilating several of the survivors still trying to hold the line.
It passes overhead, but begins to circle for another attack.
"Light it up!" Raymond yells to the defenders, "We have to hold out just a little longer!" Spears turns the .50 Cal onto the oncoming attack-craft, as do most of the remaining survivors armed with firearms. Yet even the heavy rounds of Spears' weapon can't quite punch through the hull of the ship.
Cyanide and Effort try a different approach, working together to grab one of the larger rocks and hurl it into the air at the attack craft. The pilot's clearly not expecting this, and is unable to pull the ship out of a collision with the massive piece of debri; the rock tears the ship's left engine off, sending it careering down towards the barricade. "Oh SHIT! EVERYONE DOWN!"
The sound of the impact is deafening. Fuel ignites and detonates, leaving the survivors' ears ringing; shards from the downed craft fly everywhere. Several are crushed by the pieces of the ship, a few more badly injured.
And one is trapped beneath the main body of the craft as well.
Cressen's upper-torso is free, but his legs are buried underneath the fallen ship. Spears attempts to pull him free but the Collectors have pressed the advantage, pushing forwards through the ruins of the barricade to charge the survivors. There's not enough time; the rest are pulling back to the airship, dragging whatever wounded they can.
"I'm sorry," Spears looks down at the trapped Cressen for a final time before turning away and sprinting for the doors of the ship.
The last the survivors see of Cressen is him being surrounded by the Collectors, and their laughter tells them exactly what fate is in store for him.
"Close the doors!" Spears snaps as he skids to a halt inside the ship, bringing the .50 Cal about and firing the last of the shots into the crowd of Collectors trying to reach them in time. The hull seals itself back up just in time; the survivors hear them pounding on the ship from where they stand.
They have made it inside.
But they aren't safe yet.[/size]
[size=+1]...Okay, this might be less easy than I'd hoped it would be.
We stand in the Bridge, staring at the array of ancient controls before us and for a moment I'm slightly at a loss as to what to do. This is Old-Tech, possibly the best preserved I've ever seen. Devices that date back to before the Shattering, their purpose lost to Iwakuans unless we can figure out how the hell it works.
Preferably before the Collectors get aboard the ship, too. No pressure.
Glancing down at my arms, I curse when I realise the patterns forming earlier are gone, replaced by nothing but strange lettering and meaningless symbols.
"Jake! Check mah back!"
"...I'm sorry?"
"Mah fuck'n' back! Check 't! The 'nstruct'ons for mak'n' th's damn th'ng work m'ght be there!" The soldier looks perplexed, but does what he's told regardless. Then he makes the excited exclamation,
"Wait, yeah! I found them! We just need to..."
He doesn't bother finishing the sentence, letting it trail off as he sprints to the nearest array of controls. Marvin and I tail along behind him. "Something about 'emergency startup'..." he mutters as he works against the clock, pressing several buttons before pulling a switch.
It works, whatever he does. There's a hum as power comes rushing back to the Bridge, the lights flickering to life. Marvin lets out a low whistle in awe of the sight.
"Now here's something you don't see these days..." he mutters, and I can't help but nod in agreement. Functioning Old-Tech. Something so rare people are happily ready to kill to get their hands on it. And our ticket out of this death-trap.
A glance at my arms informs me that the instructions are back again. Jake and I get to following them as quickly as we can.
"Fuel is all but gone," Jake informs me as we work, "We should have enough to get us out of here and clear of the Collector ships but that's it. Luckily, if your... uh, tattoos are right, there's something else we can use..." He scans the control panel before pointing to some sort of lever, "Yup, there. This thing comes with an 'Emergency Floatation Device', apparently. Dunno what the hell it'll do, but it should at least keep us in the air."
"Yeah," I mutter, "Unless 't's someth'n' t'do w'th water--"
"Guys, check it out!" Marvin shouts from across the room, "I can see Sarge and the others!" I spin around to see what the soldier's yelling about, expecting to find Spears in the Bridge with us. Instead I see Marvin watching a bank of dust-covered screens that he's scraped clean a little, revealing a moving image of the other survivors further down in the ship. "Lemme see if I can talk to them..." Marvin says, reaching for what looks to be a speaking device nearby.
Meanwhile Jake's found the engine start-up, near to the lever for deploying whatever the hell the emergency flotation device is.
"Looks like we're all set," he says, sitting down in the pilot's seat and strapping himself in, "Get yourselves seated." I don't argue, grabbing one of the seats near to Jake and watching out the bridge window. The smoke from outside lingers overhead even at this height.
There's nothing left for us in Rift Town. Time to get out whilst we still can.
Marvin straps himself into the seat before the bank of screens, still holding the device.
"Sarge? Everyone? If you can hear this, this is Marvin. We're at the Bridge and I think we've got this shit figured out. So strap yourselves in and hold onto your asses; this could get interesting!"[/size]
[size=+1]The survivors of the Rift Town massacre strap themselves in down in the cargo hold of the airship just in time to feel the force of gravity as the engines fire up. None of them can remember experiencing anything like this before.
The ship blasts itself out of the crater it has been hibernating in for years, the heat of the engines vaporising any Collector standing too close. Up and up it climbs, straight into the sky, until the weight of the vessel begins to level it out. The nose dips from the sky and begins to turn horizontal before starting to aim towards the ground, and for a terrible moment it looks as if the ship's ascent to the heavens will be all for naught.
And then Jake activates the emergency floatation device.
From the top of the hull, a vast Zeppelin balloon bursts forth, Old-Tech gases and chemicals inflating it faster than anyone in this time would think possible. The ship stops aiming for the ground and levels itself, but the engines are still burning up the last of the fuel, sending the ship shooting out of range from the weapons and pursuit ships of the Collectors.
Out of the burning ruins that once was Rift Town the ship travels, out of immediate danger and into the unknown of the Wastelands of Iwaku...
[size=+5]END OF CHAPTER TWO[/size]
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