Gah! I had posted this on Saturday! But it AGAIN was saved as a draft instead of being published! -_- Bother, bother, bother... I'll be posting on THursday this week to make up for that...
Pts! Warbaron: 13, Bessie Lark: 3, Elspeth: 1
Part LXXXVI: Moving On
Date: Kornun 20th, 114 A.U.
The sun’s breaking rays had just begun to peak over the mountains as the foursome entered the long-abandoned quarry, looking for any trace of Zarien. Astrid glanced back at the forest behind them, back where they had hidden the airship, Hagion standing guard, before looking back ahead into the quarry. Monty began signaling Zarien with his walkie-talkie as he moved in, ducking into a side-cleft of the quarry as Flek, Number 994, and Astrid followed him in, making sure that no one could see them (not that anyone was supposed to be in the deserted quarry) as Monty continued to try to signal him.
“He’s not responding,” Monty said. “He might have broken his walkie-talkie in his escape. Spread out and see where he’s hiding.” The foursome split up, nervously looking around as they combed the relatively-small quarry, but an hour later when they had all come back, Zarien was still nowhere to be found.
“We have tracked the signal of their radios to one of the quarries we had been working at decades ago,” the orc said. “I’ve pinpointed it here on the map.”
“I see,” Number 1,314 said, gazing at the spot on the map before looking up. Take a well-armed force of elves and orcs and capture these intruders who worked with the elf. Take them alive if need be, but if they put up too much of a force…
“…Don’t be afraid to kill them.”
“We have to assume the worst,” Monty said. “If he didn’t get here, then he must have been captured.”
"He said that he’d be able to get back easily, though,” Flek protested. “Maybe if we gave him just a little more time."
“No,” Monty said. “I’ve worked in enough secret missions and operations to know that we can’t just assume that. If Zarien had escaped he would have made it here easily, and if not he would have used his walkie-talkie. Most likely he made some mistake and was captured, and got his walkie-talkie taken from him, which means…”
Monty jumped up from the rock that he had been sitting on. “We have to go. If they’re anything more than complete fools, they would have received our messages and will be sending out a force to capture us. We have to vacate the area immediately.”
“But what about Zarien?” Number 994 asked, running behind them. Forasmuch as he was still unsure what he should think about helping a team dedicated to taking out the Empire, and as much as he blamed Zarien for getting him into this muddle, he still seemed to have a curious bonding to him, an explainable sort of friendship with the elf.
Rule Number 23: Never let yourself be friends with anyone, especially the enemy
But Number 994 wasn’t sure if the rules worked in this situation. Not that he’d been trying to keep them as of late. He had broken so many since joining them, there wasn’t any hope of becoming a normal orc again among the ranks of the orcs of the Mothership.
“There are some planes heading this way,” Flek said, gesturing to some planes flying up from the city in the distance. “We have to find cover. Now.”
"The forest is up ahead once we climb out of this quarry!” Astrid said. “We have to get there in time.”
“Move quickly,” Monty said. “Use the ziplines to get up the quarry!” Using the ziplines, they moved up out of the quarry and began racing toward the trees, racing for cover as the airship came up behind them, firing as they drew closer. Trees rushed by them, gunshots firing behind them. Number 994 looked back to see two of the planes trailing behind, but one having already made it to the forest—and a large group of fighting elves and orcs ziplining down from the ship. Their escape hadn’t worked according to plan; Number 994 didn’t think they could outrun them and make it to their ship and get it into the air before they were shot down.
“Behind us!” Number 994 yelled, and he ducked behind a tree, preparing his lightning. There shouldn’t be any orcs in the group that were higher than him in lightning; Emperor Jaigran tended to pick out the best of the orcs to serve on the Mothership. Getting a group of orcs down might be a little more tricky, especially given that Number 994 was much more skilled in using electronical equipment than fighting with lightning, but he still thought he had the advantage with the other companions. The other members of the Xavier Team moved behind trees as Flek scurried up one, disappearing into the foliage, as the group of enemy combatants moved forward.
Number 994 leapt out, sending crackling lightning among their ranks as they dove for cover. Flek dropped down from above, slicing through the surprised guards with his corsha blades as Monty and Astrid fired their guns. The lightning orcs turned towards Flek as Number 994 desperately tried to counter their lightning powers to keep them from overwhelming Flek. One of them was shot down by Monty, another killed by Flek. Number 994 brought down two others, leaving five elves, surprised that their elite force had been cut down so quickly by these strangers. Two of them were instantly shot down. And then Number 994 stunned another as Flek brought down the remaining elves.
“I just stunned this one,” Number 994 said, running over. “We can get info out of him.”
Flek lightly kicked the elf, who groaned in response. Number 994 pulled him up, giving a light shock of electricity to get the elf up and moving, staring at the four people that now surrounded him.
“What do you want?” he spat.
“Just some information and we’ll let you live, by my word of honor,” Number 994 said, making a halo of lightning around his head to try to frighten him into giving information. “We were caught by trying to communicate with an elven rebel named Zarien. What do you know of him and where is he?”
The elf stared at them, conflicted between telling and keeping his mouth shut for a few moments before he spoke. “He-he’s gone!” he blurted out. “Number 1,314 sent him off to the Emperor for questioning! He left last night—he’s gone and I had nothing to do with it!”
“He looks like he’s telling the truth,” Monty muttered.
“Then that’s all we need,” Number 994 said. And he stunned the elf again, who slipped into unconsciousness as Number 994 stood back up.
"He’ll live,” Number 994 said. “When he comes to his senses at least. And now we need to go.”
“What about Zarien?” Astrid asked.
“We need to track down the Mothership,” Monty said. “It’s time anyways to be leaving to meet up with the others at the meeting point. Once we meet up with the rest of the team we’ll try to figure out where the Mothership is… and how we can rescue Zarien.”
Question of the Day: How will Zarien re-unite with the rest of the Xavier Team?
Pts! Warbaron: 13, Bessie Lark: 3, Elspeth: 1
Part LXXXVI: Moving On
Date: Kornun 20th, 114 A.U.
The sun’s breaking rays had just begun to peak over the mountains as the foursome entered the long-abandoned quarry, looking for any trace of Zarien. Astrid glanced back at the forest behind them, back where they had hidden the airship, Hagion standing guard, before looking back ahead into the quarry. Monty began signaling Zarien with his walkie-talkie as he moved in, ducking into a side-cleft of the quarry as Flek, Number 994, and Astrid followed him in, making sure that no one could see them (not that anyone was supposed to be in the deserted quarry) as Monty continued to try to signal him.
“He’s not responding,” Monty said. “He might have broken his walkie-talkie in his escape. Spread out and see where he’s hiding.” The foursome split up, nervously looking around as they combed the relatively-small quarry, but an hour later when they had all come back, Zarien was still nowhere to be found.
“We have tracked the signal of their radios to one of the quarries we had been working at decades ago,” the orc said. “I’ve pinpointed it here on the map.”
“I see,” Number 1,314 said, gazing at the spot on the map before looking up. Take a well-armed force of elves and orcs and capture these intruders who worked with the elf. Take them alive if need be, but if they put up too much of a force…
“…Don’t be afraid to kill them.”
“We have to assume the worst,” Monty said. “If he didn’t get here, then he must have been captured.”
"He said that he’d be able to get back easily, though,” Flek protested. “Maybe if we gave him just a little more time."
“No,” Monty said. “I’ve worked in enough secret missions and operations to know that we can’t just assume that. If Zarien had escaped he would have made it here easily, and if not he would have used his walkie-talkie. Most likely he made some mistake and was captured, and got his walkie-talkie taken from him, which means…”
Monty jumped up from the rock that he had been sitting on. “We have to go. If they’re anything more than complete fools, they would have received our messages and will be sending out a force to capture us. We have to vacate the area immediately.”
“But what about Zarien?” Number 994 asked, running behind them. Forasmuch as he was still unsure what he should think about helping a team dedicated to taking out the Empire, and as much as he blamed Zarien for getting him into this muddle, he still seemed to have a curious bonding to him, an explainable sort of friendship with the elf.
Rule Number 23: Never let yourself be friends with anyone, especially the enemy
But Number 994 wasn’t sure if the rules worked in this situation. Not that he’d been trying to keep them as of late. He had broken so many since joining them, there wasn’t any hope of becoming a normal orc again among the ranks of the orcs of the Mothership.
“There are some planes heading this way,” Flek said, gesturing to some planes flying up from the city in the distance. “We have to find cover. Now.”
"The forest is up ahead once we climb out of this quarry!” Astrid said. “We have to get there in time.”
“Move quickly,” Monty said. “Use the ziplines to get up the quarry!” Using the ziplines, they moved up out of the quarry and began racing toward the trees, racing for cover as the airship came up behind them, firing as they drew closer. Trees rushed by them, gunshots firing behind them. Number 994 looked back to see two of the planes trailing behind, but one having already made it to the forest—and a large group of fighting elves and orcs ziplining down from the ship. Their escape hadn’t worked according to plan; Number 994 didn’t think they could outrun them and make it to their ship and get it into the air before they were shot down.
“Behind us!” Number 994 yelled, and he ducked behind a tree, preparing his lightning. There shouldn’t be any orcs in the group that were higher than him in lightning; Emperor Jaigran tended to pick out the best of the orcs to serve on the Mothership. Getting a group of orcs down might be a little more tricky, especially given that Number 994 was much more skilled in using electronical equipment than fighting with lightning, but he still thought he had the advantage with the other companions. The other members of the Xavier Team moved behind trees as Flek scurried up one, disappearing into the foliage, as the group of enemy combatants moved forward.
Number 994 leapt out, sending crackling lightning among their ranks as they dove for cover. Flek dropped down from above, slicing through the surprised guards with his corsha blades as Monty and Astrid fired their guns. The lightning orcs turned towards Flek as Number 994 desperately tried to counter their lightning powers to keep them from overwhelming Flek. One of them was shot down by Monty, another killed by Flek. Number 994 brought down two others, leaving five elves, surprised that their elite force had been cut down so quickly by these strangers. Two of them were instantly shot down. And then Number 994 stunned another as Flek brought down the remaining elves.
“I just stunned this one,” Number 994 said, running over. “We can get info out of him.”
Flek lightly kicked the elf, who groaned in response. Number 994 pulled him up, giving a light shock of electricity to get the elf up and moving, staring at the four people that now surrounded him.
“What do you want?” he spat.
“Just some information and we’ll let you live, by my word of honor,” Number 994 said, making a halo of lightning around his head to try to frighten him into giving information. “We were caught by trying to communicate with an elven rebel named Zarien. What do you know of him and where is he?”
The elf stared at them, conflicted between telling and keeping his mouth shut for a few moments before he spoke. “He-he’s gone!” he blurted out. “Number 1,314 sent him off to the Emperor for questioning! He left last night—he’s gone and I had nothing to do with it!”
“He looks like he’s telling the truth,” Monty muttered.
“Then that’s all we need,” Number 994 said. And he stunned the elf again, who slipped into unconsciousness as Number 994 stood back up.
"He’ll live,” Number 994 said. “When he comes to his senses at least. And now we need to go.”
“What about Zarien?” Astrid asked.
“We need to track down the Mothership,” Monty said. “It’s time anyways to be leaving to meet up with the others at the meeting point. Once we meet up with the rest of the team we’ll try to figure out where the Mothership is… and how we can rescue Zarien.”
Question of the Day: How will Zarien re-unite with the rest of the Xavier Team?
RSS Feed