Aaaaaaaand...the conclusion!
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“How do we do this thing?” asked Protesilaus, cocking his head curiously at the control panel.
<Thought speak, please use thought speak,> Dolon asked, rubbing his ears.
The three were standing in front of the primary generator, staring at the control panel. The generator was tall enough to reach two floors, and they were on the rafters of the higher floor.
<This was Camilla’s idea, she should be here doing this,> Protesilaus complained. <Or Achates, the tech guy.>
<I’m just as qualified as either of them.> Amphinomus studied the panel, and pried a panel off. <There. We set off some sort of explosive device here, and it’ll expose the energy chamber. A strong burst of electricity will start to overload the generator, but give us enough time to reach the nearest exit.>
Suddenly, they heard the door to the lower floor room open, and saw Sir Beys pace into the room.
<Lemme take this shot,> thought Protesilaus, silently cocking his pistol and aiming.
Amphinomus nodded. <Kill him.>
Suddenly Sir Beys’ head shot up, and his eyes bore into them. <I can hear thought messages too.>
Suddenly the three of them were pulled off the rafter, falling to the lower floor. Dolon, with his catlike reflexes, successfully rolled out the shock, but Protesilaus cried out as his leg bent painfully. He tried to get up but couldn’t.
Amphinomus cast his arm out and grabbed the railing before getting pulled off the rafter, and barely pulled himself back up. Turning around, he saw Sir Beys float up to meet him, landing a meter away, unarmed.
Amphinomus fired with the electric rifle, but Sir Beys pulled it out of his hand and sent it scattering under the control panel. Amphinomus drew his knife and sent it pinwheeling through the air. Sir Beys sent it flying with a flick of his wrist.
“How are you doing this?” grunted Amphinomus, charging forward and taking a swipe.
Sir Beys blocked it with his forearm and smacked Amphinomus in the right cheek with his other. “I was a scientist at the original base where Dragonstorm started. I was experimented on, given powers, and later abandoned and left to fend for myself.”
Dodging a kick, Sir Beys jump-kicked Amphinomus in the chin, sending him tumbling down the stairs leading up the rafters. Backflipping off the rafter, he landed softly a few feet away from Protesilaus.
“I don’t appreciate what was done to me,” he sneered. “So I’m doing my part to end Dragonstorm once and for all.”
Protesilaus drew the micropistol and fired once, twice, three times. Sir Beys held his hand in the air, and the bullets stopped inches away from him, and clattered to the floor. Then he leapt forward, and put all his momentum behind a judo chop to the forehead. Protesilaus crumbled silently.
Dolon made a run for it. Sir Beys waved his hand, and sent Dolon tumbling back to him. Rearing down on him, Sir Beys sent his fist flying at Dolon’s face.
Dolon clicked the repulsor on, and forced the punch back. “Why did you wait until now to use these powers?” asked Dolon, blocking an attempted kick with the repulsor. “You’ve had several opportunities.”
“I recognized one of you from before, and out of respect, waited until they were harm’s way. They are now currently safe outside the building.”
Dolon guessed he meant Camilla, who had been to the facility before. Switching to the offensive, he whipped the repulsor to the left, sending Sir Beys’ arm flailing, and smacking him with a left hook. Amphinomus came up from behind Sir Beys, forcing him into a headlock, and kneed him in the back.
Suddenly Sir Beys spun around, slashing Amphinomus in the face with the claws on his left foot. At the same time, as Amphinomus staggered backward, clutching his face, Beys pulled Protesilaus’ micropistol into his hand and shot him in the arm. Amphinomus fell backwards, landing on Protesilaus.
Sir Beys kept his pistol trained on Dolon. “Bow to me” he ordered, pushing his hand down. Dolon’s head smashed into the floor, and he felt his nose break. Suddenly he felt his head get snapped back up, to see the micropistol cocked, aimed at his head and about to fire.
“Any last words?” the dragon asked.
Suddenly the micropistol was blasted out of Sir Beys hand. Sir Beys and Dolon spun around to look at the rafters.
On the rafter holding his assembled sniper rifle was Hippolytes, wild-eyed and badly bleeding, but standing.
“It’ll take more’n tha’ to bring down a MacLee!”
With that he fired again, but Sir Beys blocked the bullet and sent it flying back at Hippolytes. It shattered the sniper rifle and sent Hippolytes sprawling.
<Hippolytes!> yelled Dolon. <Destroy that control panel!>
<No!> yelled Sir Beys, making a powerful leap that carried him towards the rafters. But it was too late. With the last of his effort, Hippolytes unclipped a grenade from his belt, pulled the pin, and jammed it into the open panel.
A massive electrified explosion burst from the generator, ripping the roof and sending tons of debris raining towards Dolon’s position. The whole building was falling apart.
With seconds to act, Dolon sprinted for Protesilaus’ and Amphinomus’ position, leapt on top of them, and pulled the pin on his backpack.
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Achates and Camilla dug through the remains of SORA Gas & Electric, looking for their team mates. <Ampy, Protes, Dolon, do you hear me?>
<This is Camilla. Achates and I got out of the base in time. Anyone, please respond.>
<How about you, Hippo? Are you in there somewhere?>
“What exactly did they do?” asked Achates. “This place looks like it was hit by a bomb.”
Camilla didn’t answer. She seemed disappointed that she hadn’t partaken in the leveling of the base.
ëI hate to say it,” admitted Achates, struggling to push a massive hunk of drywall out of the way, “but I don’t think anyone could really survive this. I mean, the place is leveled.”
“Shut up,” groaned Camilla. She walked over and easily pushed the drywall aside.
“Actually on second thought, the new kid could have made it,” realized Achates. “Because he had tható“ He broke off. “Wait. I’ve got a radio signal. Very faint.”
“Something’s getting through?”
“Here. Dig.” They pried slabs of concrete and metal away, until finally uncovering the top of Thor’s Iris, dust covered, scratched, and still buried under several layers of debris, but undented.
***
“So even though the Iris normally blocks thought signals, it turns out multiple signals in close proximity can break through,” Amphinomus explained to Branston. They were in the Dragonstorm infirmary, getting checked up. Protesilaus’ leg and Amphinomus’ arm had been set, and the others were recovering from light wounds and getting a good rest.
Branston listened patiently. “So the base is destroyed.”
“There was no hope. Sir Beys had already eliminated all traces of Dragonstorm long before we arrived.”
“What ended up happening to Sir Beys?”
“We never found the body. But it’s unlikely he survived the destruction of the building, especially as he was so close to the epicenter.”
“And DS-4?”
“Dead, probably on arrival or shortly after.”
“And the Iris?”
“In good condition. Some people are working on cleaning it up, and then it’ll be available for use, either in battle or evacuation.”
“Excellent. Well done,” Branston shuffled his papers. “In other news, I’ve put in a request to replace your deceased teammate. One particular scientist caught my eye. He’s an aardvark. Good with firearms. Has been working on the biological enhancements, which I believe he’s been using on himself
Amphinomus held up his hand. “Wait. With your permission, the team has discussed this and we would prefer if Hippolytes’ codename continues to represent the 6th member of our team. As sort of a tribute to Mr. MacLee.”
Branston paused. He looked at Zenarchis.
“Agreed,” said Zenarchis.
Branston nodded assent. “I’ll organize a time for you to meet with him in the near future.” He stood up. “While I would have preferred that you would have reclaimed the electric company rather than destroy it, I guess it’s a step up from your performance at Zzyzyx. And the enemy has been vanquished. I’ll mark this as a successful mission for the logs. Good work, DS-1.” He and Zenarchis left the room.
Dolon had been about to say something, but when Branston left, he closed his mouth.
Amphinomus looked over. “Dolon. Are you all right?”
“Yeah.” Dolon turned to look the other way.
Amphinomus switched to a private thought channel. <You sound troubled.>
Dolon sighed. <I’m not sure what it is. I’m…I don’t feel like I’m cut out for this work.>
<Your performance at SORA was one of the most impressive on the team,> reminded Amphinomus. <You incapacitated several guards while you were unarmed and outnumbered. And you saved mine and Protesilaus’ lives at the end.>
Dolon didn’t say anything, but he seemed a bit more relaxed.
<Also,> added Amphinomus, <Notice that when I talked about the new Hippolytes, I called him the sixth member of our team. He’s a scientist, so he should technically outrank you and be number five, but I’ve petitioned to promote you to fifth rank over him. It’s only been two days, and you’re no longer the new kid on the team.>
Dolon turned back. He had smiled temporarily, but at word ëteam’ his mood darkened.
<I also keeo thinking about DS-4. How they died, just like that. That could easily be us one day.>
Amphinomus nodded. <It easily could. And that probably will be our fate someday. This is a dangerous line of work. But everybody dies, and when I die, I hope it’ll be defending my team.>
Dolon didn’t smile this time. But he did seem to understand. Rolling back, he seemed to lose himself in thought.
Amphinomus turned back to regard the rest of his team. This mission was the closest they’d come to a total team wipeout, but they’d pulled through, like they always do.
The doctor swabbed his arm and injected him with something from a syringe. “You need to rest,” she said. “Let your arm heal.”
She started for Protesilaus’ bed, who drew back in fright. “You stay away from me with that needle!” he exclaimed.
Amphinomus chuckled as sleep overtook him. His last thoughts were of the upcoming mission; a reconnaissance mission to locate a Dr. Zanasiu. Shouldn’t be too hard. There’ll always be another mission… he thought peacefully to himself. And the thought comforted him.
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My idea was that Zenarchis could wear the Thor's Iris all the time, since as Dragonstorm leader he would want the best protection possible. This could introduce a plot point near the end of the RP, which I talked with Serris about.
