Oath of the Survivor

It was disconcerting to think about just how much had changed in such a short time.  He had been genuinely surprised by the explosive rounds that had been fired at their group, but his STORM SHELTER easily blocked the concentrated fire.  Even now, rifle fire struck his armor and barely left a scratch.  The man from the gate before hit him square on with lightning attacks, and they didn’t even register to him as real damage.  It was a little disappointing, as he’d hoped to give his ADAPTIVE REGENERATION an opportunity to heal from electric shocks.  Unfortunately, between the quality of his armor and his Enhanced Carapace, attacks at that level weren’t even worth noting anymore. No denying you’re a monster now.  With a sigh, Kyle activated HASTE.  He wasn’t going to enjoy this. 

Speeding ahead, Kyle closed the distance to the wall in just a few seconds.  The Mages atop the battlements seemed surprised at the speed, not having yet been able to finish casting their skills.  With Auric Perception, Kyle could tell that there was a variety of different mana being channeled above.  Wind, lightning, ice, and whole lot of fire.  What was it with the Central Authority and making people choose fire? 

A group of nervous soldiers leveled weapons at him, keen on keeping him in range for the attack from the Mages.  Kyle, of course, had no intention of letting that happen.  He continued charging forward, slapping the head of a spear aside with his baton as he closed in.  The soldiers clearly didn’t expect this response, and he felt the mana around him swirl as they, too activated their skills.  Kyle spun and struck four of the soldiers, knocking them aside as he broke through their line and ran up the stairs.  He heard a loud explosion as the combined skills of the mages crashed down.  

Jumping over the last step and landing on the roof, he saw panic and fear on all the eyes around him. 

“Alright everybody, it’s time to surrender.  Put the weapons down, stop channeling skills, and we can end –“ Kyle was interrupted by four separate gunshots striking his chest, and he sighed. 

They didn’t do any damage, but it wasn’t something he was willing to overlook.  More gunfire erupted, and Kyle activated HASTE as he got to work.  

Roughly ten seconds later, Kyle had thrown all the offending gunmen off the roof.  While it wasn’t a short drop, it also wasn’t high enough to prove fatal to the folks who were tossed off. 

“Now, like I was saying, if you just put your weapons down and stop using skills, we can end it –“ 

BOOM!  The wall shook, and Kyle looked over to see a large hole had been blown into it.  Duroc and the others had made it to the wall, and based on the mana Kyle could feel swirling around the pig-like alien’s shield he was fairly confident that Duroc was responsible for the breach.  Before he could get a word out, Skippy ran to another section and held his arm back.  Not to be outdone in destructive power, he slammed his palm into the other section of wall, pulverizing the material and causing an entire section nearly twenty meters wide to collapse.  If they weren’t scared before, the defenders certainly were now.  In the span of minutes, Nierburg’s defenses had been breached by four people. 

The terrified survivors on the battlements with Kyle had all frozen, and he turned to them. 

“I’m not going to try to say the line again because something is almost guaranteed to go wrong.  So how about we skip to the part where you put your weapons down and we all go down the stairs nice and slow.”

One man seemed about to argue, but before he could say anything C.H.A.D.D. chipped in. 

[DR. MAYHEW, IT APPEARS AS THOUGH TWO HUMAN MALES ARE CURRENTLY TRYING TO CONDENSE SKILLS BEHIND THEIR BACKS.]

Kyle nodded, having detected the flow of mana with Auric Perception. 

“Thank you C.H.A.D.D.  I really don’t want to do this again, knock it off and walk down the damn stairs.” 

Pale and having been discovered, the men both dispersed their skills and did exactly that.  Several short minutes later, the fighters were gathered at the gap in the wall.

Skippy had a broad smile on his face as he looked at his handiwork. 

“That means I win.”

Duroc, for his part, didn’t seem to care. 

“Looks like you did.  So… what now?  Didn’t you say the boss was gonna show up?  He better come soon, it’s almost time for lunch.”

It was around this time that Garth showed up, carrying an unconscious Porter over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.  Kyle nodded in greeting as Garth deposited the man on the ground with a thump.  “C.H.A.D.D.?” 

[STILL IN STABLE CONDITION, DR. MAYHEW.] 

A knot in his stomach slowly released as he breathed a little easier.  There were a good number of injuries, but nobody had died.  In Kyle’s view, that was a win.  All that was left was to see if DeRosa would show up.  They waited five minutes, then ten.  Kyle was considering if they should try to enter the city, then he felt it.  An enormous pillar of mana seemed to explode upward from the center of Nierburg, ascending like a tornado.  Clouds of dust and debris were caught up in the cyclone as it slowly moved in their direction. 

“What is that?” 

Kyle figured it was some sort of weapon, and it was impressive.  The sheer amount of mana moving was well beyond anything he’d seen the Central Authority deploy before.  Garth snorted before responding. 

“That’s Victor DeRosa.  And I don’t think he’ll be happy to see you.”

“What do you mean that’s DeRosa?”

By now, the others had stopped their conversation to listen.  Garth continued. 

“He has a variant Mage class, and he’s strong.  Probably around Valentine’s level, but focused almost entirely on mana and casting.  Definitely not D-Grade though, at least when I left.”

Kyle nodded, thinking that made sense.  Even if the display was powerful, that didn’t mean his combat ability would be higher than Kyle’s, much less the other D Grades.  They didn’t seem to be too worried, though Chester did have a thoughtful look in his eyes. 

“What’s on your mind?”

Kyle asked, wanting to address any issues before the Central Authority’s leader arrived.

“You mentioned another individual around this level of power just now, which was nowhere in our briefing.  It won’t change anything here, we can handle quite a few at this level, but I would be curious to know why you didn’t think it pertinent to mention.”

“He wasn’t affiliated with Nierburg, and Kyle took him down already.” 

Garth’s answer was simple and blunt. 

“You mentioned he was different from this Councilman, mostly focused on physical attributes I take it?”

“That’s right.  What’s the issue?”

“None whatsoever.  Variant classes are just incredibly rare for E Grades, and to have two so close, yet pursuing opposite paths is even more so.  When we have time, I’ll share some stories of the twin legends of the Alabaster Court.”

Kyle barely caught the last words as he saw two figures approaching.  One was a gigantic older man wearing ornate golden armor and holding a large halberd.  He was clean-shaven, with a large scar across his face visible even at this distance.  The other man wore a deep red robe, and looked to be about the same age.  His dark hair was perfectly slicked back, though there were streaks of silver in it.  He had a prominent widow’s peak and a beard that came to a sharp “V.”  What struck Kyle the most was the man’s eyes.  This wasn’t the look of somebody who was cowed by a show of force.  They weren’t the eyes of a defeated or nervous man.  No, this was the gaze of a man who held all the cards.  We’ll see how long you think that, DeRosa.  As the men approached, the Councilman released his skill, allowing the mana around him to disperse.  He didn’t seem concerned that there were two aliens in the group, instead fixing his gaze directly on Garth. 

“Boltsbury, I take it you’ve come for my head?”

The words weren’t what anybody expected, and Garth took a moment before responding. 

“That depends on you, Councilman.” 

He gestured to Chester, Duroc, and Skippy. 

“They have a message for you, and your response will determine a lot.  Sir.”  He tossed the last word in with the hope that it would buy at least a little goodwill, though Garth wasn’t optimistic.

DeRosa seemed thoughtful for a moment, before turning his gaze to Kyle. 

“I suppose that makes you Kyle Mayhew.  I should have expected you were involved in this somehow.  Give me the message.”

Chester stepped forward, causing Reynolds to tighten his grip on the halberd. 

“My name is Chester Drake, a representative of Corthian Mining.  The event that resulted in the condition of your world has done more damage than you likely appreciate.  Your planet is dying, and if we do not begin work on an evacuation plan, all your citizens will die.”

DeRosa stood still as a statue, the thoughtful look returning.  Finally, he spoke. 

“I see.  You mistrust me, which I can appreciate given your circumstances.  I would explain why I did what I did, but it wouldn’t change your mind and would only waste precious time.  Whether you believe me or not, I do not want to see unnecessary deaths.  I will assist how I can.  Otherwise, if you determine me to be irredeemable, I’d ask that you get it over with quickly.  I’m certainly no match against multiple D Grades, there’s no purpose in trying.” 

With that, he closed his eyes and crossed his arms.  This… was not how Kyle thought the plan would go.  Uncertain of what to do next, he turned to Garth.  Kyle knew Chester, Duroc, and Skippy would follow his lead, just as he knew that he didn’t have enough information to judge that.  Garth met his eyes, and drew in a slow breath before speaking. 

“If we want this to work, we’ll need him.”

~~~

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