Another Side: Chapter 8, concluding chapter of part one

Chapter 8

Wallace sat hunched over on a boulder just outside the empty rebel base, his head in his hands. His helmet lay next to the rock, powered off. This had been his first big mission, and he’d completely blundered it. No, Morg had. It was his fault. He’d run off, leaving those wizards to kill off most of his squad. He’d have a few words to him when he got back. All but six of the soldiers making up the second squad had already arrived to help with search attempts, but he knew it was pointless. The only prisoners they’d got were three Avos kids, and he knew they were hardly enough to prove rebellion. These rebels were good, and they’d already be halfway out of the forest by now, likely on some stashed vehicles. He wanted to pursue, but he had strict orders to keep all operations out of public eye. Wallace thought he was completely insane, but he didn’t blame Alek. He had fought in the secret Vesper war, and not many soldiers came out of that right minded. Wallace had heard that most of the soldiers were in the only human mental asylum they had on caliber, and only about 15% of the soldiers that had fought on Vesper were reportedly still sane. But even with his high status, Wallace was still restricted access to any reports on that war, as were most people. Wallace was snapped out of his thoughts by an approaching soldier.

“Sir,” the soldier began. “Should I recall our troops? If the rebels were still out there, then we would have found them by now. We still have the ship on this side of the mountain we can use for extraction, even if we don’t have our usual pilot.”

“Sure. Tell everyone to head back to the ship they came in on. I can pilot the one we used. And someone, find out where the hell Morg went.”

“Yes sir.”

The soldier walked over to the folding table that the communications officer had his equipment set up on. There were several other soldiers milling around, looking just as depressed as Wallace felt. They had lost comrades, and hadn’t gotten one rebel in return. They definitely had reason to be upset. Wallace stood up from the rock, stretching his arms. In his business, it didn’t pay to pull a muscle in the field. Then again, being in top shape didn’t pay much more than not working at all, so what did he know? Wallace suddenly was alert, sensing something was wrong. He looked around, seeing only his soldiers. Then Wallace saw that one of them near the tree line had gone unnaturally still.

“Soldier, you ok?” Wallace shouted out to him. The soldier still just stood there. Some of the other soldiers noticed, and nervously raised their weapons. Wallace walked closer, and noticed that the soldier’s armor was covered in what appeared to be ice. Wallace was about to take a few steps closer when frozen soldier toppled over, his arm breaking off as he hit the ground. Surprised, Wallace took a step back, bringing his own weapon up, but an icicle pierced the weapon, damaging the feeding mechanism.

“Drop it.” A voice that could ironically be described as cold said.

Wallace looked up from the soldier, and saw what had shoved him over. It was an Avos. An adult one judgingfrom his voice and size. He was dressed in a black military like suit, but it had glowing letters in some strange language covering the suit. Plus, he had some sort of purple aura around him. He had no guns of any kind, just a long black sword, but Wallace had heard about how talented in magic Avos were. The surrounding soldiers had their weapons trained on him, but he didn’t seem to mind at all.

“I said drop it.” The Avos said again.

“It can’t shoot anymore.” Wallace explained.

“But it can be used as an effective melee weapon, and as I’m sure you know, my people aren’t known for having the most durable bones. So drop it.”

Wallace did as he was told, but he still had plenty of support from his other men.

“Look, let’s not do anything either of us will regret. If you come with us peacefully, we’ll make sure you’re returned unharmed to Arcadia.” Wallace reasoned with him.

“After being tortured for information by your military and dissected by your scientists? I don’t think that’s an option.” The Avos continued. Wallace could see the soldiers adjusting their position, trying to surround the Avos, who seemed too distracted to notice.

“I’ll make sure neither you nor the others we found will be harmed. You’ll get immunity, and after your trial, we’ll send you and the other three back home.”

The Avos looked taken back by this.

“Only three? You do not have much of a bargaining chip, now do you?”

Wallace could tell from the question that there had been more Avos here than just the ones they had already caught. For all he knew, it could be an entire strike team of them.

“I put out my offer. Do you accept?”

The metaphoric gears were turning in Ladnar’s head. If this human was telling the truth, he could get his apprentices and get home without any bloodshed. But, he would be a known human rebellion affiliate, and would likely be denied access to this continent. Plus, if they only had three, then one of his apprentices was still missing.

“I thank you for your offer. I didn’t know humans had such a… noble side to themselves. Unfortunately, I must decline.”

Ladnar released a burst of his stored up dark energy, throwing Wallace backward. The soldiers immediately opened fire with lasers and bullets, but before they had even started firing, Ladnar surrounded himself on all sides with walls of ice. The bullets pitifully ricocheted off, and the lasers were just absorbed. Lasers were after all made of light, and Ladnar was currently using his dark power to absorb any light that hit the ice. The soldiers continued firing, hoping that at least one bullet would get in. Wallace had gotten up, and was firing with his sidearm. He had taken the armor piercing rounds from his rifle and had inserted it into the pistol, but even they weren’t enough. The capture order had gone, and now all Wallace cared about was getting the body. The other search squads were now on their way back, and then the Avos would really be outnumbered. He regretted it, but the safety of humanity always came first. Inside the wall Vanitas continued to guide Ladnar.

“Their armor has kinetic barriers to deflect any physical object. Your sword will be useless in its current state. You know what to do.”

Knowing exactly what to do, Ladnar willed his sword into a different form. The blade changed from it’s black metal into what appeared to be a sword made of black mist. This form allowed the sword to pass through any material to strike at an opponent’s body. Good for heavily armored foes, but a basic armor spell could easily stop the sword. Luckily, they didn’t know magic. Ladnar shattered the walls, sending the fragments flying in all directions. Two soldiers were hit by some of the fragments, sending them sprawling. Panicked, the other soldiers began spraying the area, hoping to hit Ladnar, but he was now moving in on the soldiers with laser rifles. Ladnar forward rolled under a hail of stray bullets, rising up and slicing a soldier across the waist. It appeared as if the sword had done nothing, but the soldier screamed in pain, collapsing to the ground. Ladnar had cut right through his torso, separating all connection with his legs. Ladnar sliced the soldier down the middle, silencing the soldier. The sword had completely destroyed the soldier, but hadn’t even done damage to the armor, which was now the only thing holding the soldiers body into a human shape.

“Good work. Imagine their horror when they open the armor to find the body of one of their soldiers destroyed so easily. Not even technology can protect against the might of magic.” Vanitas said.

The soldiers, realizing one of their comrades was dead, turned toward Ladnar. Instead of opening fire though, they simply kept their weapons trained on him, waiting for Ladnar to make a move.

“There are only two laser rifle equipped troops left. Once they are dead, the rest can be slaughtered with ease. But make haste, as reinforcements will arrive soon. I would recommend using shadow jump to dispatch the remainders, but use it sparingly. Rely too heavily on your power, and it will corrupt you.”

The soldiers were still aiming at Ladnar, who was still just standing there listening to Vanitas.

“Shoot him with a tranquilizer dart. I don’t want to take any chances with this one if he’s surrendering.” Ladnar heard the soldier he had spoken with earlier say. One of the soldiers with a ballistic rifle ejected his half empty bullet cartridge and slammed in one with five tranquilizer darts. He took aim right at Ladnar and fired… into open air. Ladnar had vanished, and reappeared behind the soldier who had fired. Ladnar stabbed his sword into the soldier, carving upward. The blade felt no resistance as it cut the soldier right up the middle, killing him before he even knew what had happened. The remaining five soldiers reacted to slow, and Ladnar disappeared again. This time he appeared between the two soldiers with laser rifles. He made a clean slice through one’s head, and cut the other at the neck, likely decapitating him.

“Do not rely on the wisp blade for too much longer. It fatigues the user, and there are many more soldiers coming. Use your elemental magic to finish off the others.”

Ladnar obeyed, returning his sword to normal. The soldiers fired again, starting to realize just how outmatched they were. Instead of teleporting, Ladnar raised a wall of ice again, catching all the bullets. Like last time, Ladnar broke the wall and sent the fragments at the soldiers. The chunks hit the soldiers, knocking two down and damaging the barriers of all of them. With their barriers weakened, Ladnar sent icicles imbued with dark energy at the remaining soldiers. Normally their armor would protect them from the attack, but the dark radiation of the icicles allowed them to penetrate the armor like it was butter. Each icicle hit a soldier in the helmet, killing them all instantly. Ladnar surveyed the carnage, satisfied with each kill. Then he remembered there was one more. The last soldier gave his position away when Ladnar heard the click of an empty gun behind him. He turned, seeing the soldier with his sidearm drawn, but now useless. He reached for another clip, but found they were all gone.

“Heh… looks like I lose.” He chuckled, accepting the fact he was about to die. Just one more ammo clip and Wallace might have survived. His only regret was that he wouldn’t be there for his family.

“Don’t let him die fearless. Make him fear death; make him dread what awaits him. Make him question his religion, his faith, and his very existence. That is the ultimate revenge one can take. Words cannot only cut like a sword, they can cut deeper. They are the weapon for destroying the soul. Use them.”

Somewhere in the part of his brain that still had light, Ladnar hesitated. He had taken the course, and it had seemed so easy. To use words as a weapon was something he had learned well. And yet facing a living being, even a human; he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“He will kill you unless you kill him. No matter how civilized they seem, they are still creatures. It’s survival of the fittest, no matter how evolved one is. Use the darkness and destroy his mind. Extinguish his hope, destroy his memories. Shatter his soul!”

Ladnar put his hand to his head, Vanitas’s influence getting to him. Wallace saw his chance and sprinted at Ladnar, his suits advanced hydraulics giving him the speed he needed. Putting all his strength into the blow, Wallace pistol whipped Ladnar across the beak. The impact sent a small shard of beak flying and knocked Ladnar onto his back.

“You see! Humans prey on weakness. Don’t give him another chance. I would settle for a quick death at this point. Just kill him!”

Any remorse Ladnar might have felt was gone. That punch had angered him, and now his rage had turned into pure power. Ladnar tossed his sword aside, and unleashed a wave of frigid air at Wallace in a shout of anger. Wallace didn’t stand a chance. The cold washed over him, so cold that it destroyed his kinetic shield in seconds. His armor frozen, Wallace toppled over. Miraculously, he wasn’t dead. He tried moving, and was relieved to find he could still move all his body parts, even if they were stuck in the frozen armor. But Ladnar wasn’t finished. His shields down, there was nothing to protect him from the razor sharp ice spike that erupted out of the ground, skewering him and lifting him several feet off the ground, much like the other soldier before him. Yet still Wallace wasn’t dead. In a matter of minutes he would be, but until then Ladnar would make him suffer. Walking up to the spike, Ladnar placed a complex curse on it. Wallace would see hallucinations beyond reason and have his mind torn apart. As Vanitas had said, it was the ultimate revenge.

“Good Ladnar, good. I knew there was a reason why I favored you over the others. But now is not the time for adulation. A large force of soldiers is approaching. Kill them all and you can rescue your apprentices.”

Feeling absolutely nothing, Ladnar turned toward the direction his life detection spell told him the force was, and walked over in their direction. Not one would survive.

“We’re leaving.” Morg told the pilot. He had come back from hunting, and he had picked up a whopper of a scent. There was something out in the forest, and it was stronger than anything Morg had ever met.

“The commander is still out there, and I’m not leaving until I get the order.”

“The commander is dead, and every single soldier not here is likely being massacred right now. Unless you want to join them, get this ship in the air.”

The pilot was dumbfounded, but nodded. Satisfied, Morg walked back into the seating area of the ship. The three Avos they had caught were there. With Avos hands underneath all their feathers being too slim for handcuffs, the soldiers had resorted to the more unorthodox duct tape. Their hands were tied behind their back and they themselves were buckled into the seats. The one Morg had beat up was still out, but the medic had assured Morg the bird would live. The medic was currently dressing the wound of the soldier had taken an arrow in the shoulder. The other two were still out from the dart, but the medic predicted they would wake soon. Morg walked over to the opening of the drop ship and shouted down to the few soldiers still guarding it.

“Get up here, we’re shoving off!”

These soldiers were actually smart and didn’t question the order. Morg lowered the cable ladder they would climb back up to get into the ship. Sensing anger, Morg turned around and saw the swan had woken. Morg was not in the mood for an emotional conversation and so ignored her. When the soldiers were halfway up the ladder, Morg began to manually winch it up. He could’ve sped up the process by pulling the ladder up himself, but he was in no mood for physical work right now. When the last of the soldiers got up, Morg closed the hatch.

“Aren’t we going to wait for the others to get here?” One of them asked.

“You fellows are all that’s left by now. Congratulations on surviving. If I ever form a commando squad, I’m putting you guys on it.’ Morg said jokingly.

“What? How?” The same soldier asked.

“Not even I know. Maybe some unidentified creature living in the woods here. Either way, the mission’s over. Pilot, take off. Let’s leave this God forsaken forest behind.”

As the ship prepared to take off, there was no one around to see the mysterious amount of shrubbery clinging to the top of the ship. Gren had lashed himself to the top with more seeds, and hoped that he would get the opportunity to slip away once the ship landed. Then, he would rescue his friends. No matter what it took.

Ladnar stared at all the bodies strewn about the forest, each one killed in a more creative way than the last. But Ladnar felt nothing. In fact, he had fallen unconscious long ago. His body walked away from the massacre. He would need a safe place to sleep for the night and recharge. Tomorrow, Ladnar would wake and find himself back to normal, his dark powers off again. He had relied too heavily on them, and had gone corrupt. He would wake tomorrow with no memory of events past his placing the curse on the ice spike. It was for the best. He had enough bad memories as it was. But every good memory has to have a counterpart. He wouldn’t remember them that night, but he would have to remember them at some point. For every good thing that happened to him, something bad would happen to someone else and vice versa. For every memory he had, there was always…

Conviction arrived at their stashed hover craft. They travelled fast and would get them to the factory in no time. Once there, Blake would warn the Plutarchs of the incoming threat and offer his and his teams support. Alek Desoto would fail in this phase of his plan, but what bothered Blake the most is that the entire attack was too random. There had been little to no warning, leaving him to have to put together a plan and a team on short notice. Whatever the reason, the attack was too random for Alek to have come up with it by himself. He had an accomplice, someone working in the shadows, manipulating him. Not many people knew that Blake had fought in the Vesper war, and so had Alek. Blake had been only twenty at the time, yet he had come out of it with a clear mind. Obviously Alek hadn’t been so lucky. Perhaps if he had noticed, he could have gotten help for Alek. He had seen the insanity, but he had also seen the kind hearted general that had led his force to victory. He had convinced himself that even though Alek was somewhat mentally damaged, he still had…

Wallace gasped for air, looking up into the stars. He could hardly remember his name at this point, or anything. Not his wife or kid, his friends, or even what food he liked. There was one thing that he could remember though, if only for a little longer. His philosophy. No matter the enemy, no matter cruelty, he had to forgive. No matter the conflict, it always had two different points of view. Every story, every dispute, and every war had…

Another Side

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jndQz2Z2FfY

(Selected Book 1 theme song)

Song is owned by the creator

End of Part one

To be continued in Part two