September 20, 2152
Jask chimed, "Five hours until arrival. Incoming vessel will be undetectable in one hour. Please use alternative tracking methods." Emory rubbed her eyes as she heard Jask's repeated message. As she sat up and looked around, she found Soren already awake and channeling his magik. A brief smile crossed both their faces as they met eyes.
"Meet me back at the teleport pad in thirty minutes, ready for battle," Emory said as she stood up, "It's time to show them we're not playing games." Soren gave her a thumbs up before she left the room of the barracks. She made her way to the commander's room and knocked on the door, pleasantly surprised that Innes and Nephenee were already getting ready as well. Emory took over the large bathroom and got ready for the day. Like the day she had been picked up by the commission for school, she soaked her hair and shook it violently until it puffed into a large ball of curls. Normally, she would tame them down a little bit, but when she looked at her reflection in the mirror with her golden eyes, she smiled. "Today could use a little wild," she told herself.
When she came out of the bathroom, she was wearing the military's combat suit under shimmering forest green chainmail armor. The legs on the pants stopped just below the top of her black combat boots while the sleeves on the chest piece came just below the end of her gold and silver gauntlets. A faint glimmer surrounded her, lifting her hair lightly as if blowing in a breeze. Innes and Nephenee gasped as they took in not just her beauty but also her fierce presence. Emory gave them a fierce look, "Let's do this."
After everyone met at the teleport pad, Emory led them to an area Jask had suggested. It was at the edge of a large forest that overlooked an expansive savannah. This would allow them cover until they found their targets and slow down the enemy as they traveled through the forest. Furthermore, they were more than ten miles away from the outpost, so their individual fights wouldn't impact it. They huddled just within the tree line while Emory walked out into the field alone. She stood onto the savannah about a hundred feet and raised one hand towards the sky, forming an orb in the palm of her hand. Then a beam of magik roughly ten feet in diameter shot out from the orb, causing shockwaves to pour out like pressure waves. Grass and weeds began blowing away as the force continued pulsing into the sky. Emory hoped this little show of power would draw the recon ship's attention and lure them into the trap.
She tapped her arm a few times, "Jask, any change in the inbound ship's trajectory?"
"Scanning now," Jask beeped, "Target is attempting to mask current location and trajectory, deploying cyber warfare suite. Affirmative, ship has changed course for current location. Alert, I will lose the ability to track this vessel in five minutes."
"How long until arrival?" Emory asked.
"At its current speed, it will make landfall in three hours," Jask responded, "However, it has increased its speed since the last scan. Based on what I know about their ships, they could be here in less than two hours."
Emory walked back to the group and told them, "Okay, the trap is set. Based on the readings from Jask, we've got as little as two hours until the ship lands. We'll hide out here at the edge of the forest, wait for them to land, and pick them off one at a time. I recommend just channeling your magik until they arrive. May you not invoke the Void."
Everyone nodded and spread out across twenty feet under brush and in the trees. Time trickled by like cold molasses, but each person continued to wait in silence. The dread was only made more haunting by the fact that Emory's blast had scared all the wildlife away from the area. But they didn't have to wait long as forty minutes later, what looked like a comet came into view. Over the next hour, the comet grew larger until they could finally see a gigantic metallic dragonfly in the distance. Then came the hum of the engine which reminded Emory of a cicada's call that grew louder as the ship made its final descent. It landed with its tail facing the forest from where bay doors opened up. Just like in Emory's vision, two Mantoan, three Uthid, and a Laxtros all stepped out of the ship with a variety of weapons in hand.
The Laxtros gestured to the rest of her team and pointed to various points along the tree line. Moments later, the five others split off and headed towards different areas of the forest. Emory locked eyes with each member of her team and motioned for each person individually to begin tracking and eliminating their specific targets. One by one, the two groups dispersed until Selena stood alone by the edge of her ship and Emory sat atop a nearby tree, just out of sight. She took a deep breath before gliding down to the ground and creeping to the edge of the shade. A concussion blast rumbled through the area to the west, momentarily drawing Selena's attention until Emory emerged from the shadows.
Selena's sickly-sweet voice called, "Are you the Ancient we seek? If you surrender peacefully, I'll allow your comrades to escape."
"I wouldn't trust your word even if you were bound and restrained," Emory firmly replied as her golden eyes glared at Selena, "And unfortunately, I won't give you the same option to turn and run. Your fate is sealed, Selena."
"What's this, you know my name but still roar like a fearsome beast? You primates are all the same; honestly, I haven't met one of your kind worth the time of day," Selena cackled.
"You haven't met one of my kind before," Emory hissed as a ball of magik began forming in one of her hands, "But I'll tell you this now; you shouldn't have come."
Selena grinned, revealing her sharp, pointed teeth and elongated fangs, "You remind me of another strong woman I met several years ago. Hopefully, you'll be a better challenge than she was. The woman talked tough, but in the end, I cut her down like wheat."
"That was my family, you bitch!" Emory screamed as a beam fired from the ball shot out faster than Selena was expecting, but she still managed to counter it with a dark black beam of her own. When the beams collided, a pulse of color-absorbing energy flew out and distorted the area between them. Three more beams surged out, yet each one was deflected in the same way by Selena's beams.
"So, you are the Ancient," Selena remarked as she took a step forward, "I had hoped for something different than those Elandrian, and that you certainly are. Still, you are but a child; this will be short-lived." Four beams, one from each hand, seared through the air from Selena towards Emory, but they hit nothing except air. Selena blinked a couple times before a fist connected with her cheek that sent her flying ten feet away.
Emory scoffed, "What, didn't you see that coming? All I've heard about you Laxtros is how intimidating you are in combat, but I see the hype was just a story."
"Close combat, huh?" Selena brushed the dirt off as she stood up, "You are different than the others; too bad it won't make a difference." She drew two sickles as she stared down Emory before lunging toward her like an apex predator. Emory, though, saw the attack coming and evaded the dashing attack, redirecting the momentum past her and following up with a straight kick to her side. Selena growled before stopping her body a few feet away. With a light hop, she brought down her sickles hard from above, though Emory managed to catch both hands with her own. Selena's two free hands swooped in and hit Emory's chest hard, sending her skidding back several feet.
"Finally. I was worried that I'd done all that training for nothing," Emory gritted her teeth. As she dashed back into the fray, she released two spear-hand jabs towards Selena's chest. However, they were quickly swatted away as the two sickles clinked against the gauntlets and the other fists lined up for more body shots. This time, though, Emory was prepared and kicked the fists back just as she gripped the sickles. Her legs continued to push the arms back until she picked up Selena and hurdled her into the ground, causing a sizeable impact crater. Then she flipped back several times, landed on one knee, and charged two orbs pointed towards Selena. As the spider stood up, two beams of magik hit her shoulders and drove her back into the ground. A drop of blood snuck out from Emory's nose and splashed on the ground, something Selena instantly noticed.
"You're strong, no doubt about it," Selena smirked as she wiped off green blood off her lips, "But you're already overextending yourself. You won't last."
Emory snorted, "I only have to outlast your durability. I'm just getting warmed up." She disappeared again, moving so fast that she distorted the space around her. Then a loud bang sounded as her fist smacked Selena's open palm, holding her in place for only a moment. Two fists, one from each side, collided with Emory's stomach again, and this time, she spat out blood before flying back ten feet along the ground. Still on her hands and knees, Emory pointed towards Selena as hundreds of orbs appeared above her and fired like missiles. Selena reacted with an equal response of orbs, causing a deafening explosion of collisions. The attacks continued as Emory got to her feet and slowed her breathing. As the attacks picked up speed, a small miracle happened for Emory: her blasts were beginning to outpace Selena's.
First, only a couple of orbs made contact. Then a few more crashed into Selena's black armor. After five minutes, attacks hit Selena left and right, though blood was pouring out of Emory's nose too. With a huge wave of black magik, Selena destroyed the remaining orbs on both sides and panted slightly. Then with a wave of her hand, the air between them glinted like metal shavings were hanging midair. Emory's eyes widened at the sight; since her eyes were keener than average, she could see Selena had summoned millions of tiny metal needles.
"You've pushed me quite far; no one's seen my Million Pricks attack in a long time," Selena spit up a mouthful of blood, "Let's see how strong your defense is." Whistling filled the air as all the needles shot toward Emory who had cast her Arcane Shield. Each of the needles exploded on impact from the force being used to launch it, but strangely, Selena could see that not all of them were even hitting the shield. A quarter of those she flung ended up flying in some random direction, sometimes at the other needles. But after five minutes, Emory's shield held firm and impenetrable, though a little blood was trickling from the corner of her mouth. When they finally stopped, Emory took down the shield immediately with only a faint glow surrounding her body.
Bolting in once again, Emory struck with a knife-hand chop from above which Selena caught with two hands. A strong palm strike hit Selena's elbow, though, and a loud crunch could be heard throughout the field. Emory stomped hard midair at Selena's other elbow, making another loud snap before Emory freed herself and hopped back. Now, two of Selena's four arms hung limp and a seething rage covered her face.
Selena hissed as she rushed up to Emory, but the red head was faster, gone before the spider had even arrived. Or at least Selena thought she was gone until an uppercut pierced the ground under her feet and landed square on her jaw, sending her back twenty feet. Emory didn't relent, though, as she teleported right beside the spider and speared through an arm. With a single swing, the arm fell onto the ground with a resounding thud before Emory kicked Selena from the side and sent her skidding twenty feet to the side.
Emory collapsed to her knees and wheezed as blood now rushed from her nose, mouth, and ears. Selena, on the other hand, stumbled to her feet with only three arms now and green blood oozing from where the fourth arm had been removed. She coughed wryly, "You put a good fight, but you're almost all used up. Hopefully, there's still some of your body left to take back to my mistress."
"You're wrong. I'm not the one who's almost used up; you are," Emory wobbled as she stood slowly, "Any minute, one of my teammates will return, then it'll be all over. Face it; you underestimated us once again."
"Well, you may be right about that. However, I still have cards left to play. Can you withstand this?" Selena glared as she shot out a beam from the palms of each of her hands. Emory countered with two beams of her own, creating a shockwave that cut the earth as the beams collided. Moving her hands together, Selena's beam got stronger at first and pushed Emory into the ground. But she copied the technique, and since her feet were already cratered into the ground, she pushed back even harder. The beams looked equal in power at first, yet Emory could see the truth: she was losing little by little. So, she poured even more magik into her attack.
Slowly, the meeting point between the two beams started moving closer to Selena. After five minutes, the center point had reached just beyond Selena's grasp. Seeing this development, Emory heaved more magik into the beam, which overwhelmed Selena and pierced a hole straight through her stomach. The spider coughed up more blood while Emory collapsed onto the ground with blood dripping like tears from her eyes.
Selena groaned, "You were stronger than I expected of such a young child. Fine, you can keep your freedom today." She scurried into the ship which took to the skies moments later. Just as it turned to run away, Athos, Clarine, Innes, Nephenee, and Soren arrived behind Emory. Soren rushed over and laid his hand on her back.
"It's okay," he pleaded, "We're all safe and she left. You can rest now."
"I think I'll take you up on that," Emory smirked before passing out on the ground with a big smile on her face.
End of Act 2