"Seismic disturbance increasing; something is coming!" Inanna reported, as the three of them stared toward the monitors in trepidation. Something that can cause such massive seismic activity would likely not be a good thing, Inanna thought.
"Look over there!" Selene stood up and pointed at a specific spot on the monitor. Following Selene's direction, Inanna zoomed in on the monitor toward the highlighted area. On the ground, cracks were gradually forming as the metal started bulging upwards, as if something was trying to push its way through.
The location of the cracks was right under one of their defensive lines, further back, underneath a couple of mobile artillery platforms. "Inanna, get those vehicles out of there. Selene, fire three shots of the Minotaur-EPW (Earth-Penetrating Weapon) on that location immediately!" The mobile artillery quickly untethered itself from the ground and tried to escape the area.
From the Failnaught, three missiles were launched from its onboard VLS. The Minotaur-EPW missiles flew through the air and penetrated deep into the ground where the cracks were forming. Explosions rang out deep within the ground as the missiles detonated.
Despite this, a massive worm-like creature with a mouth that had opened up into four parts burst forth from the ground, scattering metal fragments and debris into the air. The mobile artillery could not escape in time and was thrown into the air, crashing straight down to the ground soon after, disabling them. The worm-like entity released a massive roar as it made its entrance, settling back down into the ground with only its visible.
"Fire everything we have at it!" Ria quickly commanded. Even before she gave her order, Inanna had already turned a number of Phase Destructor Turrets towards the massive worm, showering it with salvos of explosive fire. Despite suffering damage, the worm's outer skin proved to be very durable and resistant to impact, so no fatal damage was managed to be inflicted on it.
The worm opened its gaping mouth, filled with rows upon rows of large teeth, and from within its depths, revenants began spilling out. The revenants quickly made work of the nearby turrets and tanks. The frontline, which was holding just fine a moment ago, was now in ruins due to a huge outbreak of revenants coming out from the worm's mouth from behind.
If the worm was not dealt with, their defense would definitely be quickly overrun. Selene acted fast and commanded the Failnaught to launch 2 more Havoc Missiles. The missiles flew through the air and were manually guided into the mouth of the worm. The missiles detonated deep within its belly, causing it to screech in pain; its body violently jerked out of the ground before crashing down on the surface dead.
Though the outside might have been well-armored, most creatures would not be well protected from attacks from within. The worm could not handle the massive explosions deep within itself and died, trapping and stopping the flow of revenants.
Despite its death, it had already done its job and released large amounts of revenants into the defenders' backline. The revenants wreaked havoc on the less defended rear. Though they were unlikely to be taken out by the numbers released, it would surely cause enough havoc and disruption to negatively impact the front.
The gate to the main base opened, and more troops were being deployed to fill in the ranks of those that were destroyed by the ambush of the giant worm. The revenant forces that came out from the worm had already been dealt with by the combat forces in the rear. The worm had been managed to be dealt with quickly; if not, who knows how many more revenants it could have released.
More time passed as Avalon attempted to stabilize the frontlines; however, they were slowly getting pushed back due to the disruption caused by the worm. During that time, the frontlines lost much support from the rear as they were busy dealing with the revenants behind, allowing the revenants in the front to approach closer.
Just then, lights could be seen moving in the skies ahead, signaling the arrival of the revenant flyers that made it through the Phantom ASF screen. The flyers were small bat-like creatures with some sort of stinger-like appendage coming out from their backs. The Anti-Air (AA) Turrets tracked the flyers, and as soon as they got into range, they opened fire. Countless blue lasers illuminated the night sky as the turrets attempted to shoot down the flyers; silvery white explosions occurred in the air as the flak cannon released their nanite-filled shells into the air.
The bat-like creatures dipped and dived in the air, trying to avoid the AA fire. The flyers flew closer to the ground, approaching the AA turrets. From their stinger-like appendages, they fired glowing green projectiles. When the projectiles impacted the turrets, they scattered the green liquid everywhere; the liquid was apparently highly corrosive, as it began to slowly chew through the turrets' material. Enough hits, and the turret would likely be disabled or destroyed.
"Release interceptor drones, take out those flyers before they can deal any more damage." Drones were released into the airspace above from the hangers on the command center. They tried to take out the revenant flyers, which were attacking the AA turrets. If they switched to the other ground targets, it could cause untold damage.
They homed in on the flyers and fired their two lightweight laser repeaters at the revenants. Though the lasers did not deal much damage, they were fast and very accurate, their damage slowly accumulating over time.
The situation seemed to be going well. The frontlines were slowly gaining ground again, and the flyers were being dealt with by the AA turrets and interceptor drones. However, the ground began shaking once again. "Seismic disturbance detected once again; it's even worse this time. Multiple breach points detected." The monitor focused on six spots on the battlefield, where the same cracks began forming on the ground.
"Selene, how much longer before the Void Pylon is ready?" Ria hurriedly questioned Selene. Selene brought up her portable terminal and connected it to the Void Pylon's master terminal, checking the progress of the activation. "95 percent; we only need to hold on a few more moments!"
"Alright, pull back the frontline toward the outer walls, release all our reserves. Selene, fire everything we still have on the Failnaught!"
The combat droids at the front started retreating along with the support vehicles, the static defense covering their retreat. From the Failnaught, the battleship released its remaining havoc missiles into the densely packed revenant horde.
The worms soon broke through the ground and released their payload of revenants onto the battlefield. The revenants intercepted the retreating forces, surrounding them and tearing them to shreds.
"Come on, we are heading out!" Ria gestured toward Selene and Inanna for them to follow her as she left the CIC center. The three quickly left the command center and headed for the front lines to help hold the frontlines for the final moments.
Just as they left the gates of the main base, a loud screech echoed throughout the battlefield. "Wait! High-speed object approaching from the North. Contact in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Contact!" At the end of the countdown, a blinding blue light pierced
through the dark skies, striking the Failnaught situated high above the battlefield.
"What is that? That attack just broke through the shielding in an instant. Hull breach across decks 3 to 5, ground attack systems offline!" In the skies above, the Failnaught became visible as fires broke out throughout its decks. Another blue streak impacted the Failnaught again, causing a massive explosion in its aft sections. "Another hit! More hull breaches across all decks, all weapon systems have been disabled!"
From the heavens above, a massive red-winged serpent descended: a dragon. The crimson red dragon roared in the air, having four limbs, a tail that ended in a spear-like shape, and a massive pair of wings on its back. Between the dragon's interlacing scales, a bluish-gold light glowed. Its form inspired awe and terror in those that gazed upon it; its presence was majestic yet solemn.
The red dragon gazed down onto the battle below, a soft roar escaping its jaws. It raised its head, and within its mouth, a massive amount of bluish-gold energy began gathering. The sheer amount of energy electrified the surrounding air, causing the illusion of the surrounding space to tremble.
"That is... Get behind me!" Selene ran up toward the front and gestured for the others to get behind her.
"From the deepest pits of the seven hells to the four corners of paradise... our story has yet to end... surge forth, blessed waters of the isles; protect us from all adversity and heal our weary wounds... Insula Avallonis, 'Our Journey Shall Not End Here.'"
From beneath Selene's feet, a spring welled forth, and the waters spread throughout the surrounding area, slowly covering the area of the main base. Once the waters had enveloped the surface of the main base, the waters at the edges rose up and enveloped the entire base, forming a protective veil of water.
The red dragon then unleashed its breath. The beam of light crashed against the veil of water and scattered into smaller beams into the surrounding area. Anything that came into contact with the beams of light was instantly vaporized, be it friend or foe. The damage wasn't isolated to the area around the base, as stray beams crashed into the surrounding cityscape, destroying many of the surrounding buildings.
The veil of water was buckling under the destructive force of the red dragon's breath; the waters were slowly being whittled away as Selene struggled to maintain the veil's integrity, quickly focusing on any weakened areas and reinforcing them.
The struggle between Selene and the red dragon soon died down as the dragon's breath slowly lost its intensity and fizzled out. The blinding breath now gone, the three could see that their surroundings had turned into a scorched wasteland. Fire raged throughout the surrounding city, and the ground not protected by the veil of water had turned into a sea of molten metal.
The water veil also collapsed as Selene could not maintain it any longer, the waters turning into particles of blue light and disappearing.
Despite the destruction wrought on the surroundings, the three had managed to complete their objective. From above the Command Center, the Void Pylon released a beam of green energy into the heavens, piercing the dense clouds above.
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On the bridge of the Avalon, Elisha and Eres were set up around the Master Control Terminal, waiting for any signs of contact from the surface below.
The bridge of the Avalon was an absolute mess, empty bottles and bags littered the ground. Elisha was lying face up on a mattress that she had set up on the bridge, in her hands was a game console that she was focused intently on playing.
Also on the mattress was Eres, who had fallen asleep hugging a giant stuffed polar bear that was bigger than her, the sounds of her soft rhythmic breathing filling the area.
Just then, the doors to the bridge opened, and Sebastian along with a wheelchair-bound Alyssa entered the bridge.
"What happened here..." Alyssa's eyes looked around the bridge, spotting the trash littered about. Her eyes locked onto the lazing around Elisha who was so engrossed in her game she did not realize that they had entered the bridge. "Clean up your mess!" Alyssa yelled at Elisha.
"Hyah!" Alyssa's loud angry voice startled the sleeping Eres awake. Eres looked around and locked eyes with Alyssa, her pupils dilated, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Sister Alyssa... did Eres do something wrong..."
"No, wait..." Alyssa hurriedly tried to defend herself, feeling guilty for scaring Eres. "Ah... Alyssa made Eres cry. What a bad person she is," Elisha teasingly chimed in, still focused on her game.
"Silence, you... the bridge is not your garbage dump!" Alyssa exclaimed, pointing at the mountain of trash littering the ground. "It's fine; the drones come in to clean the place daily, anyway."
"That's not the--" Before Alyssa could finish her sentence, the Master Control Terminal activated and displayed a 3D image of the planet, a ping originating from a corner of the planet. 'That is..." Elisha finally put down her gaming console and stood up, walking toward the Terminal.
"That is a Void Beacon. To think that could be activated over here." Elisha summoned a holographic display and let her fingers dance across it. "Attuning to the beacon... complete... incoming emergency transmission."
"This is Ria, Avalon, do you read?" Ria's voice came over the comms, along with the sounds of gunfire and explosions. "Ria, this is Alyssa; we read you loud and clear."
"Alyssa, are you-- never mind. We need assistance ASAP. Bring the Avalon over to our position immediately. Establishing battlefield uplink..."
From the Master Control Terminal, live footage from a high-altitude surveillance drone was transmitted to the Avalon, showing the state of the battle. The turrets built on the main base itself were firing at the red dragon. The red dragon had landed on the ground of molten metal, with Ria, Selene, and Inanna engaging it in close-quarters combat, trying to prevent it from taking to the skies again or firing its breath.
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Back on the ground, the three were cooperating with each other, trying to pin the dragon to the ground. Every time the dragon tried to take flight, Inanna would appear behind the dragon, slamming Shamash down on its back, knocking it back down to the ground. Selene was grabbing the dragon's attention; with her high-speed regeneration, she could take damage without much consequence.
"Ria, we are positioned right above the battlefield, transferring controls of the Orbital Bombardment Cluster to you, fire away." Alyssa's voice came through the comms. "Got it! Selene, Inanna, we are bugging out!" Ria then quickly retreated from the dragon, followed by Selene and then Inanna, who had left the dragon with a final parting gift: sending it down to the ground once again.
"Coordinates locked, beginning solar lance bombardment."
From the Avalon, a beam of concentrated solar energy was fired toward the surface. The temperature of the beam was hotter than even the core of a
star. The Solar Lance parted a small portion of the clouds as it almost immediately reached the surface and swallowed the entirety of the red dragon's body. The Solar Lance did not let up as it continued to bore further into the planet, with the red dragon being exposed to its heat the entire way.
The Solar Lance Bombardment lasted for around 30 seconds before the beam stopped, and the clouds above closed up again. The air around the Solar Lance's strike zone had turned into plasma, and a massive crater was opened up in the ground, stretching deep down below the surface.
Nothing could have survived that, being exposed to such temperatures for that long. But evidently, that was not always the case. From the depths below, a roar sounded out as a shadow flew out of the crater. The red dragon was grievously wounded, its flesh had melted off its bones in many locations, its body charred black. Its incandescent yellow eyes stared down hatefully at Ria's group before it turned toward the north and escaped.
