Seeth and Diego approached the stairs cautiously, SAFU and baton drawn as they ascended together. They stepped into the orange lit stone work, their silhouettes dancing on the wall behind them under flickering torch light. The next floor unveiled itself as a sprawling library. The tower once again seemed to expand past its actual geometry on the inside in multiple directions, as where the outer wall should have been, there were instead towering floor-to-ceiling pillars, and extra space behind them to skirt the edge of the room. Coating the flat wall and expanding into east and west wings respectively were rows of bookshelves, all of which had red-brass metal doors locked via a padlock on the front, with glimpses of multi-coloured book spines peaking from between the patterned metal. It was a spacious and inviting area, also lined with the same fiery crystal torches as downstairs. Deeper into the wings were bursts of twinkling colours dancing over the heavy wooden floors, cast from grand stained-glass windows which peaked between the breaks in the shelving.
Flanking a large fireplace against the flat half of the semi-circular design were once again two more staircases again leading further upwards.
It was like something out of a fairytale.
But before Seeth and Wex could admire their surroundings, the sound of rushing fluid, clicking gears and harmonious hydraulics cut through the cosy quiet of the room. A fourth figure was lurking, standing just a little way off to the side and facing away from the gang. Half in shadow, its looming silhouette creaked unsettlingly in its stillness.
It was only as the gang stepped forward, cautiously, silently, trying to get a better look, that they realised there was one substantial difference between the figure, and the rest of the room. Despite it being seemingly still -
- it didn't have the same coating of dust that the rest of the library did.
And without warning the creature suddenly whirred to life, its armoured bulk shifted with alarming speed, a faint crackle of power shimmering over it as it swung its heavy chassis aggressively to face them.
It was an enormous silver bi-pedal battlesuit, thick with shaped metal armour plating and numerous dripping ports across its frame. Its construction was meticulous and well-honed, a far cry away from the plodding suits of GLYPH. What stood out the most though was the giant ghost-green dome that made up its 'head,' spanning from shoulder to shoulder and textured with diamond-shaped panels that hummed with energy. Clutched in one of its hands was a huge rifle made from the same silver metal, which the machine dragged up from the floor and hoisted into the air as Seeth felt its gaze land on her.
Wait - does this thing… have a pilot?!
"Geist!"
It towered above all of them, standing at least fourteen feet tall as it came to life. With each movement it made it groaned from its cello vocal chords, like an unholy orchestra serenading its behemothic motions. Every movement it made sent several tons of war-forged metal moving as it began to approach the team, its every step shaking the tower with its presence.
Diego roared aloud with a defiant thump of his chest, coating the team with his golden protection.
"Enemy?!" Wex asked, pistols already aimed at the Geist's dome.
"Enemy!" Diego confirmed, raising his shield.
Wex and Seeth opened fire, the crack of the pistols and the thunderous boom of the SAFU. Their shots struck true, impacting the dome directly with a series of loud pings and pangs.
And yet, the Geist was unmoved. The carriage simply stood still and watched, waited, learnt, leaning back slightly to accommodate the sheer size and weight of its own enormous rifle.
Tungsten pellets bounced and sparked off the carriage without so much as leaving a blemish. Finally, as their shots ceased it bellowed in retaliation with its harrowing, orchestral, booming laugh, before lowering its rifle towards the crew.
"INTO COVER!"
They dived behind the pillars opposite the Geist as it took aim, and fired. A pulse of searing energy erupted from the barrel with an obstreperous, core shaking bell-toll that rattled the entire tower. The blast rang against the pillars, shaking not just the room but shifting the tower's foundations with the force of its impact.
The pillars were luckily not damaged, but the sheer noise would've been deafening if it weren't for Diego's psyonic shielding.
Seeth frantically ejected her shells from the SAFU and retrieved fresh armour piercing slugs from an ammo strap on her thigh. She quickly loaded in a full mag of rounds, each one clicking into the port with the same satisfying shhh-clunk before she checked the corner and took aim.
As the Geist nudged the tip of its rifle and fired another blast at Diego and Wex, shaking the room violently in much the same way it did before, Seeth took her shot.
BLAM!
Another perfect shot, right to the centre of the dome.
It barely even scratched it. The projectile shattered on contact, sending shrapnel back scattering into the air. The attack caught the carriage's attention though, and it turned to face her, and swung the barrel towards Seeth with a menacing air of enjoyment.
She quickly ducked behind the pillar, fumbling for rounds that might have more penetration power, when an unusual… feeling gripped her. A tingle ran down her back, as though someone were dragging a violin bow across her spine.
Something grabbed her by the arm and forcibly tugged her out from behind the pillar. She stumbled out into the open, staring in horror as she dropped directly in the path of the rifle. Her head filled with the sound of the bell as it tolled its imminent approach…
When a black blur slammed into Geist and forced it backwards. Diego smacked the gun away with his baton and raised his shield, which the Geist reacted to with surprising speed. It backhanded Diego, slamming its heavy gauntlet straight into his shield and sending the lizard flying towards one of the library wings, and immediately swung its rifle at the new target instead. Seeth raised her SAFU, aiming for the rifle instead -
- and they pulled their triggers.
Diego was sent hurtling backwards, disappearing into the east wing with a distant thud, but the SAFU had done its job; the Geist's rifle shattered, its metal remnants sparking and hissing with a static fizzle as it died.
"Diego?!?"
The Geist let out a deep, dissatisfied bellow as it turned again to face Seeth, discarding its rifle angrily as it heaved its entire chassis into a thunderous charge. Each step rattled the floor as it threw itself at Seeth, the Controller barely dodging the charge as it smashed into the pillar. The sheer impact force sent a stinging sensation up Wex's feet and through his legs, as the captain flanked around the room to keep some distance and continue firing. He felt utterly useless, his pistols were doing nothing to the carriage, no matter where he shot.
"... Keep… fighting!" Diego called out, his voice echoing around the room.
Despite its ferocious impact with the pillar, the Geist continued its combat unabated and spun on the spot to engage Seeth, bullying her backwards, throwing punch after punch at her. Seeth skipped back, nimbling dodging its assault until, all too soon, she felt the bump of the wall behind her… She was cornered. It raised its fists and threw them down at her, victory all but certain -
- when the Controller met its fists, the fierce ringing of metal on metal echoed sharply around the chamber as her new knuckle dusters blocked the attack, centimetres from her head.
She trembled under the Geist's strength, barely holding on as the carriage pushed her backwards against the wall…
… But she held.
It forced more and more weight onto her, bearing down on the Controller as it tried to crush her. Her teeth grit, muscles shaking as it pushed her to the limit, before she eventually managed to raise her leg and kick off the wall, using all of her body weight to throw the Geist back, if only by a couple of feet.
Fuck! This thing is strong!
It paused for a moment. It seemed surprised. Calculative. Angry. Despite having no visible face or eyes, Seeth could absolutely feel it staring straight at her.
As Seeth brought her fists up and began to move forward, the Geist took a single step back and raised one of its gauntlets, clenching it in front of Seeth. That same pulling feeling rippled down her spine again, like coarse hair being dragged across her spinal cord -
And Seeth was suddenly swept off her feet by an immense force, the SAFU clattered from her back, tumbling to the floor loudly. The metal doors on the bookshelves began to shake loudly all around them, filling the room with an ear-splitting rattle as Seeth rose helplessly into the air.
It reeled her forward, so she was hovering just in front of it, barely out of reach. It bellowed another deep, cello note, sickly green fluid trickling from the various ports across its chassis and drizzling over the floor, when a cracking noise joined the rattling chorus.
The psyonic scales across Seeth's body began to crack and break, being forcibly stripped away from her as the Geist clutched its fists tighter. Crack after crack, strip after strip, Diego's psyonic protection was torn away, leaving Seeth floating defencelessly before the Geist. Desperate now she reached for a grenade, strapped to a belt across her thigh and pulled it free, but like the SAFU, this too was quickly, forcibly torn from her grip before she had a chance to pull the pin. The grenade floated in front of the Geist too. It stared at it almost quizzically for a brief moment…
Before it was swiftly and violently crushed.
The grenade shattered and splintered, and was dropped to the floor with a discarding thud. Useless, and broken.
The Geist turned its attention to Seeth once more.
"Oh no you don't!"
A loud hiss emanated from the Geist's back as the fizzling blue glow of a plasma charge began to drill into its armour. The attack was smart, but inevitably futile, and before the weapon could even begin to crack the suit's shell, it was plucked away by the same seemingly invisible force that suspended Seeth, and slung it back at Wex.
The captain narrowly dodged the charge, bending backwards as it flew between his ears and disappeared into the west library wing.
"I can't damage the fucking thing! I got nothing!" Wex cried out, running over and drawing a heated blade from his belt. He drove the blade into the back of the carriage's knee and forced it as deep as he could. The blade snapped as the Geist adjusted its stance, its gaze fixed on Seeth's twisting body, caught helplessly in its grasp.
"I-It's fucking ignoring me! Seeth! Fight back!"
The Controller swung with all her might, but there was nothing to hit… She reached out as far as she could but it merely floated her backwards in response.
It was toying with her, and they all knew it.
Suddenly, she felt an immense pressure across the entire surface of her body as the Geist squeezed its fist again, forcibly curling her into a foetal position. It was like being in a car compactor, pressing on her from every direction with immense force.
Seeth screamed in pain as she felt her eyes trying to pop free of their sockets, her bones twisting and creaking under her skin, her blood vessels beginning to burst and the air from her lungs forcibly squeezed out.
"I can't stop it! Seeth!" Wex cried out, fumbling for any ordnance he had on him. The captain unloaded every shot his pistols had into its knee joint, but they all pinged off, ineffective and useless. "SEETH!"
Her vision started to cloud with darkness, she fought back with all the strength she had, pushing out against the endless weight, but it was hopeless. She could feel her neck being forcibly twisted to the side, further and further, her body shaking furiously as she tried to resist -
- when the Geist was launched across the room! A brief but heavy silence followed its thudding impact as the bookcases stopped rattling, chunks of destroyed baton slamming against the wall like a shotgun blast. The Geist soared through the middle of the room and impacted the ground like a car crash, its metal screeching across the stone as it came to a stop. But it immediately brought itself to its feet with a cello groan. Seeth gasped for air as she fell to the floor, scrambling towards the SAFU and scooping it up as the battle was far from over.
"You okay?" Diego called out, rolling his shoulders in anticipation.
"Y-Yeah. Fine."
Diego growled loudly as threw the handle of the now broken baton to the floor, a trickle of blood dripped down his nose and from his ear as he stood his around against the Geist, directing his scathing words at it as if they were weapons themselves.
"Honourless vermin. You'll fall like your empire did." Diego spat.
The Geist had no words to return. It raised its fist once more and clenched it tightly… that same feeling as before vibrated through the entire room this time, making both Seeth and Wex bristle uncomfortably.
Yet, Diego did not move.
His runes flared and shone across his body in response, the golden rings in his eyes intensified, and the lizard remained flat against the floor, clicking his knuckles in response.
"That's all you got?"
An enraged bellow followed as the Geist charged straight at him, thudding across the room with the grace of a freight train. It raised both its fists once again and slammed them down onto Diego with all the force its shuddering chassis could afford, but the lizard caught the machine by its arms as his body flushed bright red with psyonic power.
It lashed out and booted Diego firmly in the chest with one of its metal, hooven feet, but the lizard tanked the blow and retained his grip, rooting the Geist in place.
"GO FOR THE UNDERARMS!" He yelled, forcing the Geist's arms up to expose his designated targets.
Seeth and Wex instantly leapt into action, ducking round the side of the Geist as Seeth shoved the SAFU into the chassis' armpit, and unleashed an armour-piercing round.
Finally, with a resonant boom, the round actually punctured the suit, disappearing into its body and leaving a significant hole in the thick wires and alien hydraulics that made up its internal frame. The Geist responded in kind and thrashed around more violently, struggling against Diego and trying to free its arms from his grip. Seeth felt its ghostly grip claw at her spine once again, but a fresh surge of psyonic golden power arced through the suit, and its grip slipped away from her. The bookcases began to rattle violently again, multi-coloured sparks rained from the cabinets as chunks of rubble rose into the air and a fireplace chair hurtled towards the side of Diego's head.
FFFTANG
Moments before the collision, Wex drew his pistols and fired a repulsor round, sending the chair skittering across the room and smashing into bits against the far wall.
Seeth quickly hammered every single shot she had loaded into the underarm of the Geist, punching three more gaping holes into it, before slamming her hands back into the dusters and punching the metal with all the strength she had. She felt like a blacksmith, relentlessly hammering at the ungiving metal for any sign of change, when she saw the shoulder armour shift - It was working.
And the Geist knew it too. The creature screeched, a long, harrowing sound as though someone were dragging screws down across its cello strings as more items were desperately hurled at her and Diego, chunks of wood and metal, the fireplace grating, another chair - but Wex repelled every single one, blasting the projectiles back and away from the team until finally -
PSSSSHH-CLANK
With a gout of fowl smelling steam and a splutter of its oozing green oil, the arm tore free and crashed to the ground. The Geist stumbled backwards as Diego's grip finally loosened, his red aura quickly fading.
It retreated a few steps, seemingly wounded, its cello voice sounding uneven, and maybe even tired.
"Holy shit… Nice one guys! We can finish this thing!" Wex called out with a happy flourish of his pistols.
"We need to do it fast. I'm very low on psyonic energy. I can't do that again." Diego replied, his gaze never once leaving the Geist's frame as it leaned against a wall for support.
"Diego, what the hell is this thing?" Seeth asked as she caught her breath. "Should I be gunning for the pilot?"
"There's no 'pilot.'" Diego panted. "Carriages have a sort of ghost co-pilot, an enslaved soul anchored into the chassis. It's how they use the psyonics, they hi-jack the soul's psyonic potential."
Wex and Seeth both felt an uncomfortable chill shudder down their spine.
"Great, necromancer warmachines. Fucking hell."
The titan grumbled again, its voice shaking the room and began to stumble towards the other staircase, when the creaking groan of old wood filled their ears from below.
From behind the Geist, the peak of a ghostly veil emerged from the staircase. Floating in an almost graceful manner, the Bride entered the room, standing in much the same manner as she'd done in the church, her hands crossed in front of her, completely cloaked in her veil.
"Shit…" Wex's eyes widened, his pistols falling back to his sides. "Sorry, I spoke too soon."
That screech - it was calling for back-up!
"Into cover! Stay with me!" Diego called out, falling back behind a pillar with Seeth and Wex. As Seeth peaked the corner with her SAFU, she felt Diego pull her back and shake his head.
"Don't aim at her. Or else she won't drop her guard…" The lizard took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Gods… brace yourselves. The pillar will hold but…"
They heard together the shimmer of the veil dropping and the heavy clunk of weapons being deployed, before the most unholy roar of their lives ERUPTED across the room.
Twin bleaching black and white jets of fluid were fired at either side of the pillar, trapping them between each screeching, blaring wall of hell. It screeched like TV static, drowning out anything and everything else as the cannons blared their hell-siren.
"I have an idea!" Wex called out, his words all but drowned out as Diego forced his eyes open. But a bristle suddenly ran down his spine and a new panic suddenly took hold. Both Wex and Seeth felt that same spine tingle of the Geist grip them and attempt to drag them out from behind the pillar, straight into the monochrome wall of fizzling death that had them trapped.
Diego reached out towards both of them, gripping them tightly around the waist as he felt the Geist try to pull them out of cover.
Under the screech of the static cannons, Diego cried out as he felt Seeth slipping from his grasp, but when he hugged onto her tighter, Wex began to slip instead.
"I can't hold on!"
But the words simply didn't exist… All but drowned under the deafening hiss that surrounded them.
Seeth fumbled for another grenade, but the action made her slip further, just mere inches from the static now. The tips of her long dreadlocks made contact with one of the beams, and it sliced straight through the jelly flesh. Diego had been telling the truth. Anything that touched the static was annihilated.
And so she abandoned the idea, and clutched onto Diego tightly with all the strength she had. It was enough for Diego to focus his strength on Wex instead, throwing his arms around his brother tightly.
But just as the bleaching screech was reaching near unbearability, Wex drew his pistols, flicked some fresh rounds into them and aimed straight at one of the bookcase locks to their side. But he paused his shot as his arm twisted and bent, the Geist intent on ruining this shot.
Despite Wex fighting with every ounce of strength he had, it wasn't enough, the Geist was too strong to beat by force alone… At least with his arm fully extended… Instead, Wex fought and pulled his arm closer to his chest, using his ribcage to guide to the tip of the pistol…
BLAM!
In one shot, the lock was punctured and clattered to the ground, along with a sizable amount of tomes and books, but the second the books thumped to the ground, each of them spat and coughed a chaotic array of multi-coloured projectiles into the room, spraying sparks and colour everywhere. The Bride retracted her weapons immediately, and hid within the safety of her veil, ceasing the violent walls of monochrome death that had the three of them pinned.
The brief moment of safety offered a moment to retaliate; they knew the Bride could not be allowed to pin them again, but as Wex and Seeth both went to open fire but felt Diego grab both their wrists. The lizard roared into the air again, before collapsing back against the pillar as he gasped for breath, clutching at his chest.
A new psyonic shield enveloped Wex and Seeth, this one was a deep purple, similar in hue to Diego's eyes. Compared to the afterimage-like protection of the warcry, this one was much more subtle, and seemed to coat their skin in a protective fog.
"This will stop the Geist from pulling you, but it will not protect you physically." The lizard's expression hardened as he spoke. "Now go! Before she traps us again!" Diego wheezed painfully, pushing himself up against the pillar.
"No more." Seeth whispered to him as she crouched next to him, her eyes filled with worry. "We'll handle this."
Their eyes met just briefly enough to see the struggle and strain within both of them, speckles of red blood dotted both of their sclera as they were pushed to their absolute limit…
The crack of Wex's pistols gave Seeth just enough time to kiss Diego on the nose, before she reloaded the SAFU and charged out to another pillar to split the team up.
The books continued to crackle and fizzle, seemingly directing most of their energy at the two carriages before eventually spluttering to a stop and falling to the floor. Within the chaos, Wex had dashed to the other side of the room, reloading one pistol with standard rounds and the other with repulsor rounds. Suddenly, the two carriages found themselves surrounded, with Seeth on one side and Wex on the other.
The Geist raised its fist once again, its fingers curling through the air towards Wex, but the captain stayed put this time, he tutted his head in response.
"Sorry big man. You're gonna have to play fair now." He grinned, ducking behind the closest pillar as he weighed his options. The carriage responded with a sustained rumble of discontent, before retreating backwards towards the Bride, putting its heavy chassis directly between Wex and her. "Protecting your babe, huh? We'll see about that."
But before the captain could continue his sassy retort, he heard a sustained crunch behind him and quickly dived out of the way as an entire bookshelf was torn free from the west library wing behind him and hurled straight at his location, rattling loudly as it clattered to the ground. The final fireplace chair was levitated and lobbed at him in the same aggressive fashion, but Wex rolled cleanly to the side and blasted the furniture-made-projectile with a repulsor round, sending it flying straight back at the Geist.
The chair exploded into splinters on contact, without so much as rocking the carriage in the slightest as it prepared more projectiles to hurl at the captain.
"Oh come on. That is not fair." The captain growled, preparing for the most intense game of tennis of his life.
Across the room, Seeth stepped out from behind her pillar and lined up the SAFU with the approaching Bride, who moved unnervingly towards her, sheltered in her ghostly veil.
An armour-piercing slug erupted from the SAFU and connected with her veiled face, where the projectile merely fizzled away with a disconcerting hiss as the Bride hovered closer.
Seeing the dismal lack of effect, Seeth ducked back into cover and considered her options. She wondered if telefragging into her would be a good idea, when her gut wrenched painfully at the idea. She had no idea what they were composed of and it was all too risky to attempt… Her thoughts landed on what Diego had said earlier, the Bride would not drop its defenses whilst it was being threatened…
That, and don't touch the veil.
The Controller sighed heavily and grumbled to herself; she knew what needed to be done.
She stepped out from behind the pillar, staring the Bride right in the face as Wex and the Geist volleyed bits of the room at each-other. She threw the SAFU away, hearing it thunk-thunk-thunk down the stairs as it tumbled to safety, far away from the Bride's annihilating firepower.
The carriage paused for a moment, curious contemplation resonating through her stoic posture, but her gaze never once leaving Seeth. But its curiosity only persisted until Seeth ducked back behind the pillar, her retreat punctuated with the ghastly noise of the veil peeling back and revealing the deadly weaponry concealed within. Seeth's eyes landed on the impossible wings of the tower just behind them, a maze of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, all locked up tight. A perfect spot of breaking line of sight and getting the jump on the Bride.
The hellish screech of the static cannons blared through the room as the Bride unleashed its firepower at Seeth's pillar directly. The crunch of stone kickstarted her heart and she turned towards Diego as a plan knitted together in her head. Their eyes met as Seeth waved at him, pointing towards him, then towards one of the corridors. The lizard wore a seldom seen fear on his face.
The Bride continued her slow, almost graceful approach towards the pillar, intent on flushing Seeth out of cover as her cannons slowly wore away the stone, when a bullet pinged off the wall ahead, and caused her to retreat into her veil, just as she was cornering the pillar.
"Sorry! I'm trying to stop her but the damn Geist is blocking me!"
In the shuddering, vacuous quiet that followed the static cannons ceasing, Seeth bolted from her position, snatching Diego and surging into the book maze as the sound of gunfire and smashing, crackling wood faded into the distance. A quick glance behind her revealed the Bride's looming figure turning the corner, its gaze landing on them as Seeth turned a corner to break its line of fire.
"We've got this! Keep the Geist busy! I'll handle the Bride!"
She needed a suitable ambush location. Somewhere where the Bride would focus one way, but allow her to teleport on her flank.
"What are we doing?!" Diego asked, breathing heavily.
"Finding a T-section in the corridors! I need you to bait her cannons!"
A flash of fear froze the lizard's face for a second, halting his tongue entirely.
"Do you trust me, Diego?" Seeth asked, sensing his unease as they took another sharp corner in the wing's geometry.
"I do." Diego replied, without so much as a hint of hesitation. Their hearts pounded together as the sound of the Geist's heavy, thudding footsteps echoed down the wing, covering the Bride from Wex's rear fire.
Sprinting through the wings book-lined corridors revealed all sorts of hidden nooks and winding walkways, most of which would have spelt certain death should they have taken the wrong turn. They ran together, hand in hand, finally skidding to a stop at a break in the shelves, revealing a dead-end illuminated by a multi-coloured stained-glass window, casting an array of colours through its intricate panelling.
This'll do!
The pair hovered at the junction for a second as the Bride rounded the previous corner, its featureless, veiled face turning towards the pair with an unnerving twist.
With their 'hiding' spot confirmed, the pair dashed into the dead end, where Seeth slipped her hands into her knuckle dusters and thunked them together in front of her.
"Okay, hun. You just need to close your eyes and hope I time this right…"
Diego nodded and rested against the wall, taking one last good look at Seeth before closing his eyes with a quiet, nervous sigh.
"Go get her, Seeth."
The quiet hum of hover jets signalled the approach of the Bride, growing closer and closer. Diego suddenly felt a burst of icy air envelop him, and his eyes flicked open to reveal an empty corridor ahead of him. Seeth was gone. His scales bristled uncomfortably, a shot of cold fear ran up his spine as the Bride emerged from around the corner, and turned to face him.
She paused for a moment as it spotted him, twisting its head slightly in an almost curious manner as she watched the lizard intently.
Then, the moment was over.
The veil dropped, retracting into her chassis as the Bride raised her arms. The static cannons unfolded from her forearms, its cabling lighting up with the same ghostly hue of the veil as psyonic energy shifted from defence to offence.
Without the veil, the Bride's elegance was lost. Her chassis had a similar build to that of a charred corpse. A grey-black, skeletal structure was lined with numerous bits of vital arco-technical infrastructure, all linked together by visibly pulsing cables and pipes. Her nightmarish face, however, was in a league of its own. A blank holographic faceplate sat above a jawline full of crushing, oversized metal teeth. But in the milliseconds they had had to look at one-another, the faceplate flickered and morphed with the image of a shifting skull. The longer Diego stared, the more the shape resembled that of a coralith komodo…
The Bride's cannons aimed at him down the corridor, their barrels flickering with a flashbang of static energy, when a purple blur smashed straight into her head.
Seeth threw herself with all the force her body could muster, her muscles rippling across her body as she leapt for the Bride's throat. It was all or nothing, Diego's life in her hands… Either this would work, or this tower would become their tomb.
She heard the Bride's throat creak as her guns lit up, a gurgling simper that sounded half like a baby laughing, and half like the hull of a shipwreck, creaking beneath the weight of the sea bearing down on it.
The flat bar of Seeth's knuckle duster smashed into the Bride's face with a hearty, deep thwack, wrenching its neck awkwardly as a gout of static erupted from her guns. She slammed into the book shelf beside her with a croak, her aim completely disrupted as the static splashed over the window as monochrome met stain-colour.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Seeth followed the Bride to the floor. The Controller's limbs moved faster and faster, outpacing the fall and crash of the Bride. Seeth squeezed the metal in her lands tightly, her eyes narrowing to daggers as she threw punch after punch against the back of the Bride's head.
Chunks of cable and metal flew off the Bride in seemingly slow motion, Seeth's knuckle dusters pummelling at their prey until the carriage's neck finally snapped, spluttering a gout of vile ichor over the floor. A static crackle rang out, half drowned out by the repeated thudding of the Controller's knuckles against the rapidly flattening frame.
"Seeth!"
The world returned to normal again the moment Seeth felt Diego's eyes land on her.
"What the hell was that?! It sounded like a machine gun going off!" The lizard blurted out, before his tone suddenly lifted. "Y-You got her! You fucking did it!"
"You need to lift the shroud!" Seeth replied, unsure of what had exactly happened, but feeling a sense of pride filling her chest.
"Right! We still have a Geist to deal with." Diego nodded, gathering himself as the two began to make their way back to the central chamber.
Their quick journey was punctuated with a loud, angry, rumbling cello note, one that almost sounded a little mournful… As they found their way back, they were met with the sight of a frantically dodging Wex, rolling out of the way of yet another bookshelf being flung towards him. The Geist was quick to follow its attack, rampaging into the room and throwing itself at Wex.
Diego hovered for a second, glancing up the next set of the stairs before looking at Seeth and Wex.
"Go! Lift the shroud! We'll be fine!" Seeth ordered, charging at the Geist from behind.
Diego nodded again and quickly set off, scrambling up the stairs as the Geist bellowed from below.
Seeth threw a couple of heavy punches against the back of its frame, metal slamming against metal violently as the Geist shuddered and twisted around, raising its fist against Seeth in response.
But its spectral grasp could not seize the Controller's body, its grip slipping off her shrouded skin repeatedly. Furiously, it squeezed its fist tightly and thrust it towards Seeth, sending a huge surge of broken wood and stone from around the room at her.
There were far too many projectiles to dodge and the sheer mass of stone and wood threw the Controller back, slamming her into the chamber wall. But the Geist only squeezed its fist harder and added more debris to the crushing blanket, keeping Seeth pinned to the wall as more and more weight bore down on her.
She could feel splinters digging into her skin, rock tearing at her flesh and weight squeezing the life out of her as another haunting cello laugh filled the room.
Behind the Geist, Wex desperately searched for a solution, knowing his pistols wouldn't shake the beast's grip, when his eyes landed on the mangled bookshelf sitting in the middle of the room.
"Time to bail, Seeth!" Wex called out.
One pistol shot punched the lock right off the front and in a split second, Wex dashed behind the shelf and lined up the bookshelf with the back of the Geist…
Do your thing, Seeth. Or I'm gonna look like a complete dickhead.
One squeeze of the trigger sent the entire unit flying across the room and smashing into the back of the Geist. But it was the aftereffect, the cacophony of psyonic bolts that poured out from the shelf like a cocktail of fireworks, that Wex had been counting on. Books seemed to launch themselves into the air and spit an array of sparkling bolts at the Geist, as if they understood their assignment. But the effect was exactly as Wex had hoped, the beast's chassis was riddled with a multitude of frozen, melting and scorched marks, shaking its grip free.
Seeth collapsed to the floor along with a half-avalanche of stone and wood as the Geist turned to face Wex with a furious, deep bellow. Yet, the captain was nowhere to be seen. He was already gone, out of reach of the Geist already with only the light patter of his footsteps down the stairs to indicate his location. With its rage reaching near unbearable levels, the Geist spun back around towards Seeth, lifting its heavy fist once more in an attempt to crush her…
But she was gone too. Without so much as a footstep, or a note to accompany it. Only a cold breeze washed over the Geist's battle damaged armour as its rage temporarily gave way to confusion. In the space of a second, it had gone from fighting two people, to fighting none.
It spun around again, turning left and right, but there was no-one there. Fury overtook it and it hurled itself at the wall, squeezing its fist tightly as it collided with the stonework. In a single furious charge, it erupted through the wall like a cannonball and slammed into the ground below, searching through the ruined city for its targets. Yet the town was empty, no movement save for the ashes blowing around…
The Geist turned back towards the tower, raising its fist once again as, behind it, a cloud of broken glass and bricks rose into the air. Its makeshift projectile storm surrounded its heavily stained chassis as it waited for the tower to show any sign of life. The tower remained still, however around it, the stormclouds encircling around the town faded away, ceasing as suddenly as they had started. Twinkling stars and the silhouette of the shattered planet peaked through the gap in the encompassing banners.
That, and two ships.
The Geist tilted back, bellowing a panicked cello chorus. It dropped its makeshift shrapnel cloud and hoofed it through the ashes, back towards the tower door.
The sound of clinking glass and falling stone was no match for the earth-breaking impact of several orbit to surface batteries, as both The Fang and Minitaur unleashed their own symphony onto the carriage.
Several huge projectiles punched through its frame, shattering its leg and dome as chunks of metal, stone and earth flew into the air and the Geist finally collapsed to the ground with a final cello roar, the strings of its vocal chords snapping in a pile of smouldering hatred.
Wex poked his head out from the tower doors, surveying over the hissing wreck; but, despite its still-twitching fingers, the Geist appeared to finally have been destroyed.
"Good shooting team! Fast response! Disengage armaments and send a shuttle for evac." His eyes landed on the Geist once again; despite the damage done, it looked worth scavenging. "Tell Ceri to get the crane going. We've got some heavy salvage to bring on-board."
*
"You fought fucking Carthonex?! And lived?!" A punky, feminine voice called out in surprise.
"I can't believe it either. And to think, those carriages we took out are just their infantry units… I can't imagine how you're supposed to fight an army of them. But I wouldn't have stood a chance without my brother there."
"Your brother sounds insane, Wex." A second, calmer voice chimed in. "As does the crew."
"Two god-damn Harleys! Fuuuuuck. That might be the edge we need! We have to meet him. It's not even an option at this point." The first voice continued, her excitement increasing.
"Well I know exactly where your brain is headed, Kelly. And I would state loud and clear for the record, he is taken by two individuals of extreme calibre. You'd be daft to try. They'd eat you for breakfast." Wex grinned, before his face dropped back to a more serious expression. "I'd love for you all to meet them, but we're not coming back yet."
"You're shitting me?" The first voice, Kelly, quickly broke into disappointment.
"No luck with Chalia?" The second voice asked, her voice heavy with concern.
"No. But my brother has agreed to accompany me back to Vig Ast to help us find some answers. His partner has Guild connections that might be able to help. I can't say when we'll be back."
"Well, don't take too long. We're missing you. Everyone is. Do you still think the SilverFish have something to do with it?"
"I do, Ray. I have a lot of questions around it, and I'll be happy to eat my words if I'm wrong. But I'm much more concerned with being right… If it comes to it, will you and the others stand by my side?"
"Damn straight. You call us and we're there! Sadie, Sasta, Lorna, Tander, Kayvaan, Dante… We're all there, crews and guns, ready to go." Kelly announced enthusiastically. "We got your back."
"How are things up there? Not too quiet I hope?"
"Tense, to be honest." Ray replied. "The SilverFish are squirming and it's making everyone anxious. No one knows what you'll find."
"Are they acting suspicious?"
"A little. But it's hard to push them on it. You know what the Fish are like, the low-level grunts know nothing. They just do as their captains tell them."
"Alright. Stay on your guard, I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Love ya, babes! See you soon!"
"See you soon, Wex. Take care."
"Bye both. Send my love to the others."
The call ended with a low sigh from Wex, a mixture of feelings running through his veins. He pinched at his chin with his thumb and forefinger, trying to make sense of it all. Whatever was to unfold, he was glad to have his brother by his side for at least a little longer.
Sat in the corner of the navigation office, he reached to a nearby shelf and grabbed a small ball, throwing it up and down idly with one hand whilst reaching grabbing a remote control with the other. The room darkened, and the walls lit up with the image of the shattered planet, its destruction making for a hauntingly beautiful backdrop. Wex hesitated, then took a screen capture and saved it, before flicking next on the remote.
I've officially visited a dead Carthonex fortress. If that isn't worth a photo, I don't know what is.
The image of the walls shifted to various internal feeds within the ship, a lot of the usually busy rooms were sparse or completely empty in light of today's events. Instead, when he eventually landed on it, the engineering bay was completely full, with centre stage taken by the two Carthonex wrecks, laid out carefully in the middle of the floor.
He spotted Diego in the corner of the room, sitting on a cargo box next to Plasia and presumably Seeth, as Diego's other arm was currently hovering around nothing if the camera was to be believed. His brother looked tired and just as conflicted as him, with the thrill of the victory overshadowing what must have been an immense sense of guilt. The two czarites at his side seemed to know what to say to him though, as he slowly but visibly relaxed in their embrace.
Wex's eyes laid on the Bride next, her decapitated body otherwise in good condition, an exceptionally rare circumstance from what Diego had said. Recovery of Carthonex technology was incredibly difficult at the best of times, but what had Wex both intrigued and concerned was how much his brother knew about them. Wex could understand the outpost being caught in the crossfire, but the fact that Diego had gone toe-to-toe with them before? He didn't know much about the Warlocks, not really, but he hadn't heard of them having any qualms with Carthonex… which raised its own question that Diego still hadn't answered, how the heck had he found himself with the Warlocks of Detromus?! He'd clearly continued on with his psyonic training, had that been with them? And why was he being so elusive about it all?
And why had no-one felt the need to ask..?
The questions boggled the captain's brain, but his trail of thought was lost when a nervous tap rattled against the office door.
"Hm? Come in. Transmission's over." Wex called out, still playing with the ball.
He was still scanning the surveillance when Oxyi stumbled into the office, several pairs of hands of 'encouragement' waving about behind her before the door slammed shut unusually loudly behind the lioness, leaving the two alone.
"H-Hey!!! Wex!" She grinned nervously, her eyes flicking all over the room. She combed her fingers through her hair, anxiously smoothing it down.
"Oh, hey Oxyi!" Wex spun in his chair and smiled - tired, surprised, but genuinely. He clicked the surveillance footage off, and the office returned to its previous state. Oxyi approached the captain with an anxious but still charming smile, her hands balled into a clasped pair a fists behind her now. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, yeah! Everything's great! I-I mean, you know, as great as it can be. Busy day, huh? Kinda crazy down there!"
"Heh, tell me about it." Wex forced himself out of his chair, bruises and excess adrenaline aching through his muscles. "You guys did great with the follow-up. Don't know what we would've done if you hadn't been there to shoot that big bastard to pieces."
"Awh, you know, it was nothing…" Oxyi blushed and chuckled dismissively, twisting her body away in embarrassment. "Um, I did want to talk to you, just for a second, if that's okay?"
"Sure thing." Wex replied, placing the ball down and stepping forward to meet Oxyi. "What can I help you with?"
"W-Well…" Oxyi stammered. "I was talking to Seeth, and she said that we're sticking together for now! That we're coming back to Vig Ast to help you look for your friend?"
"Yeah, that's right. I'm really grateful for the help, so honestly, thank you to all of you. Be nice to spend some more time with Diego, too." Wex smiled. "We've got a lot of catching up to do. In a way, I suppose I'm glad things turned out the way they did today - don't tell him that, though."
"He's a great guy." Oxyi smiled back warmly with a sudden, surprising confidence. "If he helps you as much as he helped me, we'll solve this thing in no time."
"And with the rest of you lovely lot helping too, of course!"
"Y-Yeah!" Wex's words pulled her straight back into being a flustery mess once again. "I'm really looking forward to getting to know y'all better too! I-I was actually kinda wondering if, uh… if you could, uh…" The lioness froze, swallowing loudly and brushing her fringe to the side. "You know… uhm…" She stopped herself, taking a deep breath, squeezing her eyes shut and forced her body to face Wex directly. "Okay, here goes…
Would you like to go on a date with me?"