There was nothing special about the rock face. The rough surface looked exactly like every other spot on the tortured rock wall that surrounded the parade ground. Yet Fallenz and his team stood staring at the rock, expecting something special to materialize. “You sure about this?” Fallenz asked.
“Yes,” the Phoenix replied. “I missed it with my spell, but fortunately I was standing close enough to spot it visually. You can see the outline of the door there and there.” She traced the outline of the opening with her finger.
“I almost missed it, too,” said MonochromeMolly. “The high-energy power lines were very distracting. It didn’t occur to me to search for metal instead of magnetic fields, but I remembered Nemesis uses steam as well as electricity, so I switched scans. There’s a high concentration of refined metal behind this rock.”
“It’s a masterful job of camouflage,” Lucius praised. “He always did have a flair for misdirection.”
“Will there be anyone to slay inside?” Grog asked expectantly.
Warbow kneeled down in front of the rock. “I doubt it. There’s no trace of foot traffic. If anyone’s been in or out of there, it hasn’t happened anytime recently.”
Captain Glacier cut in, “Don’t forget, Wahbow; this is anothah woahld. Youah tracking skills ahn’t as reliable heah. Weathah, soil, and gravity ah different from Eahth.”
“Then let’s get inside and check it out for ourselves,” Fallenz growled. “If there’s evidence in there, we’re just wasting time out here.” He tapped on the rock with the pommel of his sword. “Where’s the switch to get in?” MonochromeMolly gently pressed a spot on the rock wall. A click, a hiss, and a slow rumble preceded the appearance of a small crack in the rock. The crack expanded quickly to reveal a man-sized opening into inky blackness.
“Cave?” Flog grunted.
As Fallenz stepped inside he replied, “Yeah, Flog, it’s a cave. We’ll go check it out, but… uh oh.” He stopped short as he noticed the two sentries standing on the other side of the chamber, posted on either side of another opening. They stood stock still at attention, long rifles resting with stocks on the ground. At Fallenz’ entry, they came to life.
“Intruders!” they cried. “To arms! To arms!” They picked their weapons up off the floor and readied them to repel Fallenz and his team.
Grog materialized next to the one on the left with a bright purple flash of light. He raised his huge sword and brought it down on the right arm of the Nemesis soldier, neatly severing it below the elbow. “Hah! Now you have only ONE arm!”
Fallenz charged the second sentry. He flicked the energy blade of his Talsorian sword on in mid-flight, parried the rifle away, and let his momentum carry him into the body of the soldier, slamming him hard into the wall. The collision gave Fallenz all the information he needed about his adversary. He punched upward into the sentry’s jaw, rocking his head back, and followed up with a downward slash that cut deep into his chest. Steam and unidentified fluids gushed from the opening, confirming Fallenz’ guess: the sentries were automatons. Restraint was unnecessary.
He looked over at Grog just in time to witness him run the other sentry through with his sword. The blade punched completely through him, almost severing his torso, and buried the point into the rock wall. More steam gushed around the huge gap, and the automaton folded over and collapsed. Grog wrenched his sword free and frowned. “No blood, again. How disappointing!”
The sounds of troops readying themselves broadcasted from the inner cavern. Ominously, Fallenz could also hear the heavy footsteps of Warhulks and the crackle of Nemesis force staves. Whatever was in there was loaded for bear.
Grog poked his head around the corner, and was rewarded by an explosive blast. He ducked back and, while grinning, boasted, “There just might be enough of them in there for me to kill!”
“Save some for the rest of us, big guy!”
“That all depends on how fast you are!”
The rest of the team gathered around the opening, being careful not to show themselves in the opening; Nemesis snipers had incredible eyesight and range. “What’s the plan?” Warbow asked.
“FLOG SMASH!”
“That’s not a bad idea. Phoenix, Glacier, shield Flog.” While they worked, Fallenz spoke to the caveman in a conspiratorial tone. “Hey, Flog, I think this is the place where the mastodons went. Maybe these are the guys who took them! You should go take a look.”
That was all Flog needed to hear. He sprinted into the room, bellowing at the top of his lungs. Explosions and gas clouds bloomed in his wake.
“NO!” Grog howled. “Those are mine!”
“Don’t worry, Grog, you’re next. Phoenix, Glacier: do your thing.” Grog restrained himself just long enough to receive the protective wards. As soon as the last of them was applied, he vanished. The pitch of battle in the room increased immediately. Fallenz flexed his shoulders. “Now that the Nems are distracted, it’s our turn! Phoenix, Glacier, let’s see some more preventative medicine. Once you’re done, we all go in as a group. Head left. Again, don’t stand too close to each other or the explosions will rip us apart, and definitely don’t stand too close to me. I’ll be drawing a lot of fire.”
Warbow paused. “Charging Nemesis troops doesn’t sound like a good idea. You sure you want to do this?”
“Are you kidding? I live for this!” Fallenz rocketed through the opening and darted left.
“I see Scrapperlock is contagious…” Warbow smiled and ran in after Fallenz. The rest followed.
The room exploded. Shot, shell, smoke, and flame filled the cavern and turned it into a nightmarish charnel house. Shrapnel flew through the room in clouds dense enough to block sight and pattered off rock walls and steelwork in what sounded like a hard rain. Gas and smoke filled the air, scouring lungs and scorching the sense of smell. Any mere human entering such a room would have no hope for survival.
Fortunately, Fallenz was no longer an ordinary man. With every step, every injury, his bio-armor thickened and reacted instinctively to reduce the damage he received. Explosive shells smacked into his bio-armor and detonated, yet achieved no more injury than would be dealt by a child’s fist. Bullets and shrapnel ricocheted off his Impervium armor; those that found the gaps in that protection chewed into his flesh, but soon found themselves ejected from his body as the bio-armor pushed them out and sealed the holes, and Fallenz continued to advance like a raging juggernaut. His armored skin provided much less protection against flamethrowers, however, and almost none against poison gas; it took very little time before Fallenz was at the limits of what even he could sustain on his own.
Fortunately, again, Fallenz was not on his own. An arrow whistled past his head. Fallenz ducked just in time; the flash of light temporarily blinded the Nemesis troopers he was about to engage. Not far away, another squad that had targeted Fallenz was bowled over by an expanding green wave of sorcerous force. The attacks directed towards Fallenz ceased almost immediately. A concentrated stream of nanobots hit Fallenz shortly before he reached his first opponents and, in less than a second, repaired nearly all the damage he had sustained during his charge. Fallenz did not stop to thank his teammates; there would be time later for that. For now, each had their own part to play, and his was putting every hostile target in the room to the sword.
The Talsorian sword thrust out, point first, and impaled one Nemesis soldier through his chest. Fallenz hit that same soldier with a shoulder block, knocking him off the blade and setting himself up for a powerful spinning slash that cut into everyone around him. The sword continued fluidly along its path of devastation: first up, then down, leaving severed limbs in its wake. Next, it flew side-to-side, removing heads and knocking weapons from hands. At times it would flit unpredictably, darting this way and that to intercept and deflect incoming bayonet thrusts or spinning blades. While the blade flew through the automatons like a cyclone of death, Fallenz danced along, more a follower of the sword than its master. He gave no thought to the next attack, the next parry. His training in the Four Winds sword style subsumed his conscious mind, overruled the instinct of his body, and carried it along like a leaf on the wind.
Occasionally even the wind will trip on something. For Fallenz, that moment came when a lucky bayonet thrust caught him in the ribs. The bio-armor did its job of halting the entry of the blade, but, for a moment, Fallenz was fixed on the point. Fallenz grabbed the rifle to pull the point free, wrenched it out, and twisted it off to the side. The move, however, left him exposed, and a squat Jaeger automaton smashed into his legs during the moment’s inattention. Fallenz almost went down on his back. His wings shot out like arms and propped his body up. It saved Fallenz from falling, but not from the point-blank shots. Now that they had a stationary target to shoot at, the automatons walked fire from the heavy rounds up his chest into his face. Shrapnel lacerated his exposed skin. Fallenz went down, bleeding from scores of wounds. The automatons clustered around to finish him off.
Whatever sensation of victory they had evaporated as they witnessed hardened plates of bio-armor erupt from his face. They enclosed his entire head, staunched the blood flow, and locked onto the faceguard. Fallenz stood quickly to stare at his surprised adversaries. As he reach his feet, two plates slid aside to reveal a reflective visor, all made from the same fantastic material that composed the rest of his bio-armor. With his head now enclosed and armored, he looked more machine than man. “I was hoping to avoid this,” he growled, voice distorted by the helmet and faceplate, “but at least now you won’t be able to take me out with a head shot!” Fallenz lashed out, cutting down the remaining foot soldiers in one swift stroke. The Jaeger went for his legs again. This time, Fallenz was ready; he leapt off the floor and hovered over the Jaeger in its blind spot. He plunged his sword deep into its body, angled his boot jets, and spun around in a circle over the Jaeger, coring it like an apple. The automaton collapsed in a pile of parts.
Fallenz landed and quickly took in the rest of the room. He now saw how large the room was; Flog had a group of Nemesis soldiers all to himself along one wall, Grog a second, the rest of his team were bouncing between two more squads and a few outliers, yet there was still room to maneuver and fight. Lucius methodically cut down the humanoid automatons, and enjoyed the support of Captain Glacier, who kept the larger and more dangerous targets from interfering with his swordplay. James Cagney, Robert Mitchum, and Humphrey Bogart engaged another squad in fisticuffs, courtesy of MonochromeMolly, while the Phoenix and Warbow took turns firing arrows in support of the noir actors. Flog was content to smash everything that moved; the wreckage strewn around his section of the cave gave mute testament to his effectiveness. As was his custom, Grog had gathered the largest and most dangerous foes in the room to himself and summarily executed them. Fallenz watched as a Dragoon worked his way around Grog to his back. Grog did not seem to take notice as he finished off a Fake Nemesis with an overhead slash from his gigantic sword, and while he was still distracted, the Dragoon opened fire with his multi-barreled gun. Bullets sparked off Grog’s plate mail. Grog turned slowly to face his attacker, unconcerned about the deadly fusillade that ricocheted off his armor. He calmly stood his ground and took the fire until the Dragoon ran out of ammunition. The mighty warrior paused a moment to guffaw loudly at his helpless foe before splitting him in two from crown to crotch.
“When will they learn not to trifle with Grog?” Fallenz murmured. As soon as the words escaped his lips, he smacked himself in the head. “I’ve been hanging around the big guy too much; I’m picking up his catch phrases!”
A pair of gas clouds blossomed and spread over the spot where Warbow and the Phoenix were taking cover. They fell back, choking on the gas. Fallenz quickly scanned the room, spotted two Nemesis snipers at the back, and threw himself at them. He covered the distance before they could reload and chopped them into scrap. No sooner had he completed his work than something slammed into him from behind. Fallenz went sailing through the air and crashed hard into some piece of machinery. His back felt like someone had tried to rip out his spine. He clung weakly to the machinery, flopped around, and looked for the source of the attack. The search was completed quickly; a Nemesis Warhulk stomped his way, pieces of Fallenz’ wings hanging from the huge claw on its left hand.
“Looks like Grog missed one… somehow,” Fallenz grumbled. He dragged himself back onto his feet and squared his shoulders.
The Warhulk boomed, “You show great aplomb when facing your death, intruder, but your bravery will not save you!” It closed the last few yards in a dead run and swung the claw at Fallenz’ head. He ducked and rolled to the side. The claw ripped through the machinery as if it were paper. With surprising speed, the Warhulk swiveled its torso around and swiped at Fallenz again. He got the sword up just in time to block it, but he wasn’t able to deflect the claw away. Pistons whined and the claw snapped as the huge machine bore down on him. The bio-armor flooded Fallenz’ body with adrenaline. Blood roared in his ears, his heart thundered, and his muscles swelled. The claw’s advance slowly halted, reversed course, and then, with a final burst of strength, was shoved away with violent force. The Warhulk staggered backwards and crashed into the machinery.
“Hey, Robo-Samurai! You might want to duck!” Warbow shouted. A green force bolt slammed into the Warhulk at the same time as an explosive arrow detonated against its hull. The tandem attacks bowled the huge war machine over, and nearly sent Fallenz rolling as well. He kept his feet, though, and strode over to where the Warhulk lay. It tried to right itself. Fallenz brutally hacked its left arm off. The right arm swiveled up to point the barrel of its cannon at Fallenz. He parried it high, spoiling its shot, and then hacked that arm off as well. Next went the legs, one at a time. Weaponless and immobile, the Warhulk could do nothing as Fallenz climbed on top and pointed his blade at the operator’s compartment.
“See this?” Fallenz lectured. “You think it’s just my sword? Well, you’re wrong! It’s my will; my will to protect the innocent, my will to defeat you! My sword is an extension of that will! Don’t think that you lost because of a sword, or because of some superpowers! You lost because I won’t let you hurt my friends any more!” Fallenz drew back for the final stroke. “You’re finished!” he snarled as he stabbed deep into the compartment. The blade punched through the armored glass and plunged deep into the machine’s bowels. Fallenz gave the blade a savage twist, and then withdrew it. Strange fluids gurgled up from the hole in the glass. The stumpy remains of the Warhulk’s limbs ceased their thrashing.
“For… Lord… Nemesis…” it croaked. The exhaust from its powerplant increased dramatically as it built up to detonation.
“Useless!” Fallenz spat. He hopped down and walked away slowly and purposefully. The machine exploded in a gigantic fireball. It engulfed Fallenz, surrounding him, obscuring him from sight, but when it died away, he was still upright, still walking away. He never looked back.
As he walked back towards his friends, he slowed his heartbeat and breathing. With a measure of calm, his control over the bio-armor returned, and he forced the helmet back into his body. The sounds of battle were tapering off. Each group or individual was finishing off their chosen foes. Fallenz reached Warbow, MonochromeMolly, and the Phoenix first. “Thank you for dealing with those snipers,” the Phoenix said gratefully. “I could stop their shots, but not the toxic vapors.”
“You should have left the helmet on,” Warbow joked. “It’s a distinct improvement on your looks.”
“Warbow!” MonochromeMolly chided.
Fallenz mildly replied, “I like the look, too, but I’m always a little bit worried that my face’ll stick that way.” He looked around the room. Grog was busy pillaging. Flog had finished off his foes and joined Lucius and Captain Glacier to assist with cleanup; it wasn’t long before those, too, were defeated, and the men joined Fallenz and his group. Fallenz looked them over. “You all make it?”
The cuts and burns on Lucius’ body healed and vanished as Fallenz watched. “Nothing wrong with me that my armorer can’t fix,” he replied.
Captain Glacier chimed in. “I healed up the wohst of whatevah my suit didn’t stop. I’ll take caeh of the rest latah.”
“FLOG SMASH!”
“You sure did,” Fallenz assented. He took another look around. “There’s something familiar about this stuff.”
The heroes looked around as well, giving the scenery their full attention. “I think you’re right,” said MonochromeMolly. “Those rings there are very similar to the ones used in Portal Corp’s dimension-spanning equipment. This place may have what we’re looking for.”
“Food?” Flog grunted.
“Uh, maybe the mastodons are somewhere nearby,” Fallenz lied.
Lucius squinted into the dimness, then pointed. “That looks promising.”
The group turned to look. Off to one side lay a bank of storage lockers; these were the subjects of Lucius’ attention. One of the lockers was more solidly built than the rest, and had a hefty lock on it.
Fallenz shrugged. “Not a bad place to start looking. Let’s… SCATTER!” He dove behind an elevated walkway. Everyone else leapt for a hiding spot. The timely dodging saved them all; the place where they had been standing was shredded by a salvo of explosive shells. Bullets buzzed about the room. Muzzle flashes strobed in the entranceway.
Grog perked up. “Huzzah! More foes to slay!” He ceased looting the room and charged for the entrance.
“Reinforcements!” Lucius observed, unnecessarily.
“It’s nevah easy, is it?” Captain Glacier complained.
“No,” said Fallenz, “but if it were…”
“…it wouldn’t be fun!” Fallenz and Warbow finished together with a grin. Fallenz got up and charged for the doorway. The Phoenix erected a protective force dome, and everyone else moved up under its cover.
Not everyone waited to coordinate the defense. Sword in hand, Grog stepped out into the choke point. He vanished in a familiar cloud of smoke, flame, and gas, but this time, there was also a flash of sickening yellow in the mix. Grog dodged back behind the wall into cover. He took a moment to readjust his horned skullcap, then, as Fallenz watched, grinned widely, threw his head back, and laughed like a madman. “Oh, today is a good day!” he crowed. “I’m so glad you called me, Fallenz!”
This went beyond Grog’s usual blood lust. Concerned, Fallenz asked, “Why? What’s made it so good?”
Grog’s grin shifted from mirthful to predatory. “Today I get to kill Positron!”