Lila scampered through the forest in a panicked frenzy, her legs carried by nothing but fear and a smidgen of Psionic energy. As she toiled past smoke and dust, her breathing became labored, a prelude to her inevitable collapse.
"H-help." Lila gasped, her eyes darting around, looking for any movement. "Help."
After her separation from Ivy, Lila found herself abandoned and alone for the first time. Even during the beginnings of the first major trial, she had Yrix there to guide her. That was no longer the case.
The Earthling felt hopeless.
"Hello?"
A moment of silence ensued, followed by the distant scream of riven air. As if guided by mere instinct, Lila blinked away in a flash of magenta colored energy, just before the floor beneath her exploded.
"Ah!" Lila tripped over herself, her heart beating out of her chest.
Unsure of what had even attacked her, the girl ran around like an aimless dog, her Psionic awareness protecting her from a second explosion. A blazing inferno erupted from each crater, no doubt the workings of the Consortium's napalmic substances. With no air left to breathe, Lila continued her arduous flight away from the flames.
"Someone, anyone!" Lila pleaded.
As if to answer her call with a twist of cruelty, a gargantuan drop-pod landed in front of the girl, its bulbous shell obliterating its closest surroundings. Lila was sent flying backwards, her body covered in small cuts and bruises.
The Consortium had zeroed in on her.
She could still feel the burning sensation that had almost devoured her body from just a few minutes ago, and when combined with the seeping terror that gnawed at her heart, Lila was just about ready to faint. But all hope was not lost, as a mysterious sensation pulled her back into the fight.
It was her will to survive, coaxed and fostered by Yrix with the intention of boosting her Psionic abilities. That was, after all, the logic behind her brutal trials. From the beginning, it was her goal to expedite the Psionic evolution of her students with copious amounts of pain and trauma.
And it was working.
"Come on." Lila shook her head, snapping out of her feeble stupor as she whispered to herself. "Ivy's out there. Sonera too. And Lunae. And...my family. They need me."
The egg-like pod unfolded itself to reveal a golden Daregen, encased in almost a foot of plated armor. Much taller and lankier than its lesser brethren, the lumbering beast wore a white mask, conveying a haunting face with several eye sockets, each conveying an element of torment. Nestled tightly within its arms hung a mounted chaingun, already rotating with anticipation as it primed itself for action.
"You know who doesn't need me?" Lila's eyes narrowed, pointing a shaky finger at her enemy. "You."
The Daregen, whose rank clearly signified a higher form of power, pointed back at Lila and roared with the might of ten beasts, causing the leaves around Lila to quiver. It's back, bristling with pipes akin to a church organ, then began to release a hail of missiles as it clenched its fist.
Lila barely even leaned out of the way for the first missile, proving her increase in confidence as it whizzed past her cheek. Her eyes began to glow with Psionic energy, temporarily changing her iris into a pinkish shade of magenta. And as the next few missiles came screaming towards her, she felt ready.
Lila slid under the attack.
Looking back with a focused glare, Lila realized her enemy's munitions had a homing property as they began circling their way back towards her. But instead of experiencing fear or dread, she became filled with inspiration.
"Check this shit out."
Lila allowed the screaming warheads to tail her as she ran right back towards the Daregen, and just before the closest projectile could slam into her, she blinked out of the way. The missile finally came to a violent stop, covering its mark in flame and smoke.
But Lila wasn't done.
With each projectile staggering behind the last, the Earthling was given the chance to corral them one at a time, redirecting them as if they were her own armament. Each consecutive blast shook the forest harder than the last, with the final explosion knocking Lila to the ground.
Yet despite her success, she knew better than to assume her foe was vanquished. In fact, she was eerily prepared for the giant hulking alien that came charging out of the smoke, shattering the floor with a golden boot.
"Eh," Lila wagged her finger as she appeared behind the Daregen, too winded and concentrated to cook up a longer joke. "Nuh uh."
Firing its chaingun, the hulking beast unleashed a deafening flurry of bullets into the forest, altering its aim as fast as it could in hopes of catching Lila. But even as it splintered and shattered every last tree on the visible horizon, the girl was still standing.
She was far too quick.
Outrunning the angle of fire, Lila ran circles around the Daregen for some time, occasionally stopping to flip it off with both middle fingers. She was still losing steam, however, panting with exhaustion when the barrage finally came to an end.
It's not that she was stupid enough to feel cocky or superior to her enemy. Lila never felt that sense of pride. Instead, she thought it best to have at least a little bit of fun, in spite of her daunting situation.
Lila rested her hands on her knees, keeling over as the Daregen stared at her with visible disbelief. "Nope. Still naddah."
The girl stood pensively, blinking in a random direction as a sniper bolt flew past her, leaving a small trail of visible air. She was locked in the moment, unable to be caught off guard. Such was the power of Yrix's blessing.
In response, the Daregen pointed its wrist at the girl, unveiling a small laser that locked onto her body with an ominous beeping sound. Lila tilted her head in confusion before her eyes widened in a sudden revelation.
"Oh crap."
The girl looked up to see a formation of glowing, star-like objects high in the sky, their blinding fury growing larger and larger with each passing moment. It didn't take a battle strategist to see the impending doom. If the Consortium could tire her out with small munitions and ship-to-ship coilguns, then a full-on bombardment from its carrier would likely be more than Lila could outrun.
"So what? More napalm?" Lila pointed up at the sky. "You're just gonna rage quit? Kill us both?"
The Daregen looked up at the sky, and with a deep audible breath, stomped its right leg into the ground, causing the floor beneath it to cave in. In any other situation, Lila would just laugh and watch it fall into the abyss that had apparently been waiting beneath her.
But with the bombardment mere seconds away, that opened pit was more of an invitation.
Without a second of hesitation, Lila dove in after the beast, knowing full well she was likely to lose her advantage in such a cramped space. Just as she predicted, the surface above her was engulfed in flames nearly a mile away from the epicenter, killing any and all Consortium soldiers unlucky enough to be caught in the crossfire.
But even as the fires raged on, a single figure could be seen strolling through the leveled forest. She didn't seem to mind the scenery at all, whether it be the sorching flames or the dying screams of the warriors around her.
It was Yrix.
"Oh," The Arch-Flayer looked down at the hole Lila had fallen into. "I can't miss this. The finale. All my students, cornered in one place."
She had already seen every moment of the trial with a keen gaze from the minute it began. Both the battles and the heartfelt interactions between the girls were all a part of her memory. But as the end drew near, Yrix found herself unable to simply observe from a distance.
She would bear witness herself, standing tall as an unmovable object, reminding both her students and those under her command just how insignificant the dangers of battle were to her.
"Show them, my girls. Who you really are."
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"Concentrate fire! Push them into the caves!"
"Vain little creatures, always running like cowards."
Sonera and Lunae ran across the river stream as an entire battalion of Psions followed behind them, firing their rifles as they ran. The girls knew well enough how close they were to the end of the trial, but also how much harder they would have to fight to live to see it.
"It's a trap!" Lunae pointed towards a much larger cliff face in the distance, its rocky surface covered with several dark pores that no doubt led into a deep cavern. "I can hear them!" She clung to Sonera's hand as she nearly tripped over herself.
"It's all we have." Sonera looked to her left to see another full company come barreling out of the forest. "Hurry, Lunae!"