Chapter III: No mausoleum for the respected
"He who tramples in the darkness shall learn the desperation of light."
- Prophecies of Tenelor
Lilith's eyes stared as the red mist made its way to her mask. The organs rained down in a disgusting splatter as all remaining bile sank into the sand and trickled off the dune. She couldn't speak. She didn't want to. The sounds of gunfire and cries sank deep into her consciousness as all she could think of was the sight she was staring at. The beast threw debris at Daise with extreme velocity. It had… practically phased through her, destroying all her internals, dissolving her physical body.
Lilith stared down at her hands, amazed at the fact that she was still alive, but Daise wasn't. She chuckled. Her hands trembled as she entered a haze of maniacal laughter, unable to control her breath as she fell to her knees. She clutched her stomach and held her head in her hands. She laughed, and laughed, until there was no more oxygen left in her. Her fists crashed the ground, each with increasing power, as her laughter was quickly replaced with painful wails, as the painkillers slowly dissipated from her nerves. The wind was alive, at it was taunting her. The city breathed, but it lured. The wind… it was alive… but it was hungry.
"Vance, take him! I'll get a clear shot!" Sermänt demanded, making sure not to focus on Daise.
Vance was in a daze, however, staring at Lilith and the pink puddle forth from her.
"Vance! Sumner!" the pleas increased, as Sermänt's voice began to tremble. The beast stood in the middle, still, terrifying, as if it were proud of the horrendous act it had just done. It started Sermänt straight at the eyes with its sharp and blazing pupils, growing ever smaller, focusing on him.
Sermänt aimed his ironsights straight into the beast's eye as he cocked his rifle slowly. His finger hovered over the trigger; his breath heavy, fogging his visor, C'est Fayt.
A loud crash then erupted in front of him, followed by a shot, as Vance had thrown his seeker to the side of the beast, taking its attention before shooting at the flap by its ears.
"Move it. There's a slit by the flap covering its ears." The sunscrapers were blind, forcing their nature to adapt to the volume, scent, and heat of the area around them. "Take his ears out, and we'll have one less thing to worry about."
Sermänt looked down at his utility belt, grabbing an explosive charge, "The fight continues."
Vance held his hand out as blue charges flowed through the outline of the gloves. The seeker seemed to obey, as it hovered back into his hands.
The enraged creature shrieked with great animosity, shaking the dune beneath it. Its muscles swelled as it horrifyingly grew second by second. The sounds of the tense muscles growing pulled hairs off of Vance's skin as the two watched the creature devolve into a terrifying, disgusting behemoth.
"Segnus, Senerate Scraper!" Vance yelled out as the creature had grown three times its size.
It immediately pursued Vance, thrashing and crashing through all the ruins it passed by. Vance slid through a ruined doorframe of the Valiquet as he tugged on one of its metal supports, breaking it loose.
Sermänt followed close behind, taking glimpses of the grieving Lilith and scoffing at the thought of her weakness. He caught sight of the slit that Vance urged about, and knelt on the ground with his left leg anchored on the sand. He sighed, exhaled all he could so that his body could regain stability with his mind. Vance led the beast in a fiery pursuit around the dune, as all Sermänt needed to do was aim.
The beast's skin ricochets my rounds. All I need is for it to drop into the ear.
Vance climbed onto one of the support beams, waving at Sermänt to await his command to fire. He stared down the raging sunscraper as it barreled down towards his direction, growling with fierce indignation. It was disgusting to his eyes, as he tightened his grip on the metal pole in his hands. It grew closer, as it charged forth towards his direction, like a ravaging bull scouring through the escapades, aiming for the waving flag.
It grew closer and closer, as Vance left out sighs and tightened his grip.
Bless me on this O' Holy night, Ver'As. C'est Fayt.
The beast crashed into the beam, and Vance leapt off just in time, swinging towards the flap. He struck the beast by its slit using the metal pole, wedging it between the crevice, holding the slit open for a clear view of Sermänt.
"FIRE!" Vance yelled as he rolled into the ground.
Sermänt pulled the trigger, sending a round propelled by the explosive charge, as it sent straight towards the beast's exposed and disgusting ears.
A loud explosion shook Lilith to the bones, followed by a painful shriek and a large thud. Lilith looked over to see the sunscraper, alive but twitching on the ground, immobilized. The grains of sand shifted with every movement the beast tried to make, as she saw the silhouette of a man appear forth of her once again; Vance.
"I'll get you up. The time should be inactive. The overheader's arrived."
Vance took Lilith and wrapped her arms around his shoulders as they limped towards Sermänt, who was recuperating from the stunt.
"There, by the horizon." Sermänt pointed, "North, the silhouette of the overheader comes."
Vance dropped Lilith as he sat down next to her, recovering his mind from what had just been done and witnessed.
"The hoverports," Lilith said in agonizing pain, though the shrieks of the immobilized senerate far outclassed hers.
"There's only one left," Sermänt said, as he peered down to the bottom of the dune, where the second had rolled off to.
"Is retrieving the fallen one not an option?" Vance suggested.
"I'm afraid not. Senerates are mere scouts for the true hive to infest. We have about five minutes until the rest come burrowing in our wake."
The Overheader landed by the dune. It was gray, moderately sized, and powered by hoverports. Its cockpit, sharp, as it bore the three Chimeran insignias. The shape was clunky and broad, but it flew in silence.
Vance assisted Lilith to her seat, strapping her up by the harness, "We'll get you medicine in Studos ♡, hold on."
Lilith stared at Sermänt as he laboriously carried the remaining hoverport into the hull of the overheader, as the tainted pink sand of Daise could be seen behind him. Every one of them was fatigued, as Vance slumped on his harness. Sermänt carried laborious breathing, as his skin flushed red with warmth once again after entering the vehicle.
The sounds of scraper shrieks could then be heard in the distance, at the bottom of the dune, just as Sermänt had predicted. The hull of the overheader closed shut, as Sermänt tapped on the pilot.
"Transporter, send for Chimera."