Echelon Chapters 7-8

          Chapter 7: Up in Flames


     His energy quickly draining, it was all Fross could do to maintain his field of sheer cold. Sweat beaded on his forehead, dripping from his chin and matting some of his blue-streaked grey hair to his head. He was sure that the first bug to break through would go after him, forcing him to break his concentration and release the field so that he might defend himself. And with Grave and Oak trapped in the bloody tree's ward, Shadow would be the only support he would get.

     As the glowing vines ignited from Shadow's deflected lighting blast the creatures grew even more determined. They began shrieking and pushing themselves and those above them into the killing chill, thinking to use the topmost corpses as shields. Oh, well done! Fross thought to himself, Not only have you pissed the bloody things off, but you've made them smarter as well!
    
      His sarcasm vanished instantly as one actually managed to push through the cold. Covered in a thin layer of ice and missing an arm, it sped at Shadow with murder in its multi-faceted, glowing red eyes. He nearly lost his concentration at the sight of the thing, but caught himself. Shadow was distracted and in the midst of spell-casting, so Fross called out a warning with what voice he could muster.

     Shadow only then appeared to notice the creature as it was almost upon him. It was closing the distance too quickly for even Shadow to bring his blades up in defense. Fross cursed himself and his inability to aid his friend.

* * * * *

     Shadow didn't bother with his scimitars. As he completed his spell he let his blades dissipate into darkness and warped the remaining distance between him and the bug, surprising the creature. He palm-heeled the creature in the face with his right hand, a vicious blow that snapped some of the bug's chitinous face armor, and clutched what remained of the thing's face in his hand. He then uttered the final syllable of his spell.

     The bug's face violently combusted as five vicious blasts of fire shot point-blank into it. Five similar blasts erupted from Shadow's left hand, which he had cast out in a sweeping motion towards the vine-covered wall. The fire bolts were scattered across the wall, igniting whatever vines they touched instantly. The fire began to spread and soon covered a good portion of the circular wall.

     As the flames spread the bug's ear-piercing shrieks grew even louder, and the red glow of the wards trapping Oak and Grave grew dimmer. Shadow seized the opportunity and grabbed at his Weave-cloak, pulling chunks of the shadowy material and casting them around him, shouting "Tierlos!" as he did. The bits of shadowy Weave-silk straightened and elongated into a dozen dark apparitions of long swords and all darted toward a single point in the ward, stabbing into it with tremendous force. The ward finally cracked, sending streams of energy bleeding like blood from a wound. Shadow summoned his scimitars back to his hands, crossed his arms, and shouted "Tyrn!" with all his might.

* * * * *     

     The terrible slash of darkness slammed into the ward at the center of the cracks, completely shattering it. Grave didn't wince as the shards of the ward flew past him, evaporating into formless energy. He reacted immediately, shouting the incantation for a Concussive Round and shooting it at the tree, propelling him and the unconscious Oak he had tucked under his arm away from the tree and finally managing to blast some of the bark off the damn thing.

     He planted his feet against the wall to steady himself and began shooting through the failing wall of cold, each shot generating a blast of force that sent bugs slamming into each other and falling down into the darkness. Shadow was below him now, constantly shouting his enchantments and sending streaks of darkness and disembodied blades into the horde, annihilating great swathes of screaming bugs at a time. But as Grave glanced past the few that had survived long enough to fly through the now-diminished wall of cold, he saw three bugs to replace every one they had slain. And they were coming fast.

     "I know…I'm not…the man in charge here," Fross panted, "but I would…definitely suggest…that we get the hell out of here!"

     "Grave, use some Explosive Rounds and shoot them along the perimeter of the wall!" Shadow shouted over his shoulder, "That should buy us at least a little time!"

     "I've got a better idea..." Grave muttered. He turned to Fross and unceremoniously chucked Oak at him. The surprised and exhausted man barely managed to catch him. "What the hell…!?" Fross began, not understanding why he was now holding Oak. Grave ignored him, taking out an incredibly heavy bullet made from obsidian darksteel, one of the densest materials on the face of Carenthar. He loaded it into the feed of his gunblade, which immediately began to reconfigure itself. The barrel widened and elongated, beginning to make a very low, ominous hum. As the final pieces of metal slid into place, Grave aimed his newly reconfigured gunblade and aimed it towards the rapidly approaching horde.

      "Shadow."

      "Kinda busy right now!"

       "Move."

     Grave waited an instant for the command to register in Shadow's head and fired. Upon hearing the bang of the shot firing, Shadow had taken the hint and had immediately warped back next to Grave, his fiercely glowing eyes tracking the rounds progress. The enchanted slug left a very odd trail in its wake, it seemed almost as if it was absorbing any light it touched. Shadow's eyes widened as he noticed this and turned to Grave.

      "You didn't." Shadow asked as much as said, a concerned look on his face.

       "I did."

     The slug slammed into the forehead of a bug in the very center of the horde. As soon as it impacted the bug collapsed in on itself, exoskeleton snapping like twigs. The bugs around it where drawn into the field as well, and soon the hole area was being violently ripped apart as all the mass and light in the area sped to that center point. The tree bent and the vines and stone where ripped from the walls and sent into the swirling mass, being sucked into the void and crushed into nothingness.

     "What have you done?" asked a very groggy voice from above. Shadow and Grave turned to see Oak levitating upright, an arm across Fross's shoulders for support. His face seemed paler and his hair looked a bit lighter, and he wore a horrified expression on his face.

     Grave smiled at the question, looked back at the carnage, and began that awful chuckle of his.



          Chapter 8: Eye of the Storm


     The murderous shrieks that had been filling the shaft suddenly turned into wails of despair and agony as the vortex hungrily devoured everything near it. The air was filling with debris being torn from the walls. Amidst the dying shrieks of the bugs and the sickening crunching sounds that accompanied them was an ominous, low hum. It was the sound of the world being ripped out from under them.

     Mixed in with all this noise was the sound of Graves sick, sinister chuckle.

     "You know, for a man who just ripped a hole in the laws of physics, you seem rather pleased with yourself." Shadow muttered to Grave, shaking his head.

     "Damn right," Grave replied, "This is my favorite part."

     "Do you realize what you've done!?" Oak snapped, seeming much more alert now that he remembered where he was.

     "I think we all realize that floating here while a black hole is tearing the complex down around us is A BAD IDEA!" Shadow yelled as the walls began to collapse around them. "Let's move!"

     And with that the Shade wrapped himself in darkness and warped to the roof of the shaft. He appeared with his blades out and crossed and sent a great slash of energy at the ceiling. The blast gouged a great scar across the metal, but it didn't completely pierce it. Undeterred, Shadow summoned a set of shadow blades and sent them into the few places he could see light poking through from the room on the other side. He pushed the blades as deep as they would go, and with an outward sweep of his hands he wrenched the blades to the sides, tearing open a big enough hole for everyone to get through.

     Shadow glanced over his shoulder to check on everyone else. Despite the pummeling bits of debris, everyone was almost caught up with Shadow. Oak was well enough to move on his own now, and had even mustered enough energy for some minor rejuvenation spells for Fross and himself. Fross seemed to greatly appreciate this, for though he still looked tired, he didn't look nearly as exhausted as he did just moments before. Grave shrugged off any offers for healing. He didn't seem like he needed much anyway, the way he was still giggling himself.

     Not wanting to waste any element of surprise, Shadow quickly refocused and picked a spot near the ceiling of the above room. He noticed that support beams and pipes lined it, much like the ones in the service tunnel from before, and settled on his destination. He blinked his eyes for the jump.

    He had no idea what he was looking at when he opened them.

* * * * *

     "Don't you just love it when everything goes according to plan?" Fross quipped sarcastically. Despite how drained he was, he was never too tired to complain.

     "Oh yeah, this is just fantastic!" Oak answered Fross's sarcastic tone with his own. "I just love it when I get knocked out by a life-sucking TREE and wake up to a BLACK HOLE tearing the place apart!" He shot another glare at Grave as he finished. How could anyone be reckless enough to put a singularity in the middle of a building while his whole team was still inside?

     "Ah, quit your bitchin Woody. I had to drag your ass away from the stupid tree!" Grave didn't see what everyone was freaking out about. As far as he was concerned, he had saved everyone's life, AND he was getting the job done. The black hole was sure to tear the whole complex apart, killing everyone in it. Including the Captains they were sent to kill in the first place.

     The hardest part would be keeping the black hole in check until they were clear from the complex. But he wasn't about to admit that to Oak.

     "WOODY!? What the hell kind of name is-!?" A thick, pungent wave of tainted energy slammed into Oak's senses, interrupting his retort. He had never felt anything so...tainted. It was on a plane of energy used for plant life, one that Oak was very attuned to and one that he often tapped into for his many manipulative abilities. But it felt nothing like the aura natural plants give off. It was very much like the feeling that had overcome him when he had been knocked unconscious by touching the tree earlier.

     He looked around to find the source of the awful energy, and then saw that Shadow had just torn a hole in the ceiling. The energy was pouring out of that hole like water through a collapsed dam. Whatever was in there, it was definitely unnatural…and immensely powerful.

     "You okay Oak?" asked a now concerned Fross. He seemed oblivious to the energy pouring out of the ceiling, though he was wearing a very curious look, one that he directed to Oaks right hand with a pointed finger.

      Oak brought his hand before his face and stifled a gasp. The veins in his hand seemed to be writhing around under his skin, convulsing as the waves of energy hit them. And they where glowing, giving off a red aura that was very similar to the one that was now emanating weakly from the tree that was fighting a losing battle against being torn apart. Oak pulled down the gray sleeve of his coat and noticed that the glowing, convulsing veins where slowly spreading up his arm, they had almost reached his elbow.

      Oak reacted quickly upon seeing this, clasping his arm at the elbow and yelling a binding incantation to stop the spread. He didn't know what this affliction was, what it meant, or what he could do with it, and until he did he wasn't taking chances.

* * * * *

     A good portion of the massive chamber was taken up by tables crammed untidily with documents, monitors, and lab equipment. Storage racks and writing boards crammed the walls all around the room. But in the center was a tangled mess of red branches, all of which were covered in golden leaves with emerald green, eye-like ovals in the center. The leaves shimmered slightly at regular intervals, as if pulsing to a heartbeat.

     Shadow was slightly surprised with the lack of resistance he had encountered upon entering the room. He had expected to hear people shouting and guns blazing over the din of noise emanating from the room below. But there was no extra noise as he warped in, just the plant.

     Or so he had thought, for as he traced the paths of the branches with his eyes, he found that the branches formed a protective shell around the trunk. He focused his vision and peered through a gap in the branches, and then he saw the bodies. The corpses of dozens of guards and scientists were attached to the tree by thousands of vein-like vines. They seemed to be in different stages of ruin, as if some had been drained more than others. As he watched, a muscular man with untidy brown hair was reduced to a shriveled husk, barely more than a skeleton.

     The tree is trying to heal itself! Shadow realized. The tree was making a last-ditch effort to save itself, and it was burning through its power sources fast. Shadow dropped from his perch and levitated to a few feet above the floor. He began to hover around the tree, trying to get a count on how many of the Captains had fallen prey to the tree. As he made his way around the tree Grave flew through the gap in the floor and stopped, staring at the tangled mess with a look that was half bewildered, with the other half telling Shadow that he was already contemplating where to place his next bullet.

     Shadow was about to advise Grave against that when he saw something that made his heart jump into his throat. There were four bulbous pods attached to the far side of the trunk, each one with a man in it. As Shadow peered closer he realized that these men were the Captains they had been sent to kill. The men were in full gear, each one wearing a set of military-grade Warden armor. The complex set of armor was the standard kit for advanced Gunblades, with overlapping plates and layered pauldrons designed to intimidate, protect, and still give full range of movement to the wearer. This armor looked...different though. Instead of the usual steel grey, it was tinted a reddish-brown and was covered in veins that formed unusual growths and protrusions.

     Oak entered the room at that moment, Fross right behind him. Oak immediately whipped his head to face Shadow and shouted for him to get away from the pods, something close to fear in his mismatched orange and green eyes. But Shadow had already gotten the message. For as soon as Oak had entered, all four Captains opened their eyes at once, each set of eyes glowing with a green light that matched the patterns on the golden leaves perfectly. Before anyone could react, before even Shadow could react, the Captain he was standing directly in front of burst through his sac and caught Shadow by the throat, holding him inches off the ground with apparent ease.