Dust of the Ages (MK)

[GEAR]

The Armorlion and the Leonisis fought back to back, driving away whatever monstrosities attempted to approach, the split beams and shock-rifle blasts making short work of any that thought to draw near. In the distance they could see the creatures affixing themselves to the walls of the Colonies, melting their way in... And the glow of spreading fires within as the population panicked.

"Hard to say, at this point." Hazarded Ed, trying to look every direction at once; "The Directory garrison left a short while ago... Couldn't be worse timing. The Colonial Militia is doing what it can to drive them off, but there's too many. They're calling them... Lamalice."

His machine turned on its heel, blasting a Lamalice through one of its eye-sockets as Nick mowed down another in a hail of gunfire. The Armorlion's map of the Colony cluster lit up, indicating a spaceport not too far from them, on the L5-2 Colony. The head of the Leonisis turned back towards him as Ed reloaded, spying more of the creatures beginning to close in, evidently wondering how long his own ammunition would last against the endless hordes.

"There's still a Directory vessel in port... An older type, scheduled for decommissioning. If we fight our way to it, perhaps we can mount a counteroffensive."

 

[MKR]

"Lamalice huh, sounds fitting." Nick mentioned, having looked over to his map "That does seem like our best chance." the thrusters on the back of the armorlion had returned to life, the twin buttons were once again revealed. The blocked path seemed like an appropriate use of the last Claymore volley.

"I'll open a path then!" his hand slammed into both buttons again, the missiles spread out, each went to their closest target. "So lets figure out what the directory left us with." the armorlion moved forward, its split beams had been primed should any of the Lamalice have survived the explosive payload.
Nick guessed that whatever the Directory left behind was either something they wanted to be rid of or of no importance at all to them. In all likelihood it was nothing at all, just an empty ship they left behind on a doomed colony. But a ship was still a ship, about to be decommissioned or not.

 

[GEAR]

Ed's Leonisis gave a nod, and followed Nick's lead. The Leonisis and the Armorlion shot across the stars, weaving their way through Colonial debris, beams spitting in every direction, driving back the Lamalice that barred their path. All around them, more Lamalice swarmed, beginning to clump together in grotesque spheres - their purpose unknown.

At length, they reached the spaceport in question - and below beheld a spectacular sight.

Nestled and cobwebbed in a berth, was none other than the Hiryu - the very first ship to travel into the depths of space, and return unscathed. It had been lauded as a key moment in the history of humanity, one that deserved to be kept in a museum... So what, then, was the Red Dragon doing here? As the two approached, their communications line would have crackled to life, as someone reached out to them:

"H-Hey! Excuse me! Unidentified Mobile Weapons, um... Stay right where you are! That's an order!"

It was a young woman's voice, shaky and uncertain, seemingly coming from the ship below. That being said, it had no visible weapons with which to threaten them...

 

[MKR]

The Hiryu? This was quite unusual well he had already seen one museum piece blow up and he didn't want to see a second one detonated by these lamalice. "Whose order, because if you've noticed the Directory has all but abandoned the colony." Nick replied over the comms. He looked over to the grape like beings clumping together.

"What the hell are they doing? Whatever, that's not important right now." he looked over to the map of the area "Okay, Hiryu, this is as formal a request as currently available but we need to protect the civilians, your ship is the largest and the only currently available." As he spoke he would continue to ensure none of the monsters would get close to either the Hiryu, Leonisis or himself.

 

[GEAR]

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and the sense that something was being deliberated amongst the crew.

"U... Um. This is Captain Bernadette Harris. Trainee Captain, actually..."

At length, a picture appeared of a young woman on their screens, as the communications link stabilized. She couldn't have been more than thirty, with wavy black hair and pale features - a designer child, perhaps? She bit her lower lip, and there were small bags under her eyes - understandable, given the situation.

"My crew and I are... All just trainees." She said, eyes downcast.

"I'm not really sure... We can do what it is you're asking of us."

 

[MKR]

Nick looked to the woman for a moment, the inexperience was clear. Reminded him somewhat of himself in his younger days but with less guts and self confidence. Before he spoke up he took a deep breath. "Captain Harris, whether you are a trainee or have the longest track record doesn't matter to me. The fact of the matter is that you have the ability to save countless people right now. You sit at the helm of the Hiryu, the ship that traversed these stars." Nick said, taking a moment.

"You wouldn't have been put there if your superiors did not have trust in your ability. So I have all confidence you can take the people here under your protection. But we don't have all day so I want to hear from you now, are you going to help us save the people here?" working with the crew of the Hiryu was not something he expected when he woke up today. None of this was anything close to what he expected.

 

[GEAR]

"I-I see." Captain Harris mumbled a response - but then, her resolve seemed to steel itself, buoyed by Nick's compassionate words. Even Ed gave the man a sidelong glance, eyebrows raised - as if he had not expected it from him.

"Yes. Yes, you're right." - She reached down, and pulled a captain's hat over her brow, one decorated with a faded bronze dragon - a relic of a time gone by, but appropriate for the moment.

"We're doing our best to bring the ship's engines back online, but... It'll take some time." She said - as she did so, a file was sent to the Armorlion's control system. Opening it would reveal... A set of glowing coordinates, more than twenty of them. As he watched, some of them were winking out of existence... and more were following, at a surprisingly rapid pace.

"L5's Civilian shelters have begun to launch... Please gather them. We'll focus on taking in as many civilians as we can from this branch."

 

[MKR]

"Yes Captain." A smile came across Nick's face, perhaps he had underestimated the captain's resolve somewhat.

"Mr. Casker, I apologize but I must ask you to remain here with the Hiryu. We cannot leave it undefended at a time like this and your machine is better at defending a single point than my armorlion could ever hope to be." the new map he had obtained from the Hiryu was checked, as much as he didn't like to admit it some of the rescue vessels were lost causes.

Nick tried to figure out a pattern to where the signals were lost so he could rescue a shelter just before the Lamalice would go after it. If at all possible avoiding the monsters was preferred but he wasn't going to let people die over it. Of course he would do his best to utilize all the shortcuts and his surroundings, this was his home turf after all.

 

[GEAR]

Ed's Leonisis nodded in agreement, shouldering its long rifle as it did so. Who could tell what he made of the situation? He seemed remarkably calm, only further adding to the sense that he was... Something other than human, but even if that were the case, their goals for the moment aligned. Below, lights were winking on the Hiryu, as space-suited crews began to remove dock locks by hand, and the ship began to slowly come back to life. Another set of suited personnel were making their way into the colony itself to search for survivors, their white forms just barely visible on Nick's screen.

"Of course." Said Eduardo firmly - but before he began to lower himself towards the ship, he gave a glance back.

"Be careful, Mister Mallor."

***​

Nick's careful navigation of the space surrounding them, and his familiarity - proved to be an asset. Ducking and weaving through the Lamalice, he was able to recover four of the closest capsules with relatively little difficulty - but time was running out for the remainder, and all around him, the destruction only worsened by the second. There was still no sign of reinforcements, or help of any kind - the remaining Colonial militia units were being slowly snuffed out, suffocated by hordes of the nightmares - or were rallying at the Hiryu, as word got out that there was, at least, hope.

As he traveled towards another cluster of shelters adrift in space, the Lamalice horde unexpectedly began to thin... And as he pulled around a large chunk of debris, he would have beheld a peculiar sight.

A voice came in over the communications line - an open channel, no less.

"...Ahh."

A machine was present at the center of the maelstrom untouched, as if nothing were happening. The Lamalice passed it by, as if it were invisible. It was simply... Watching.

It was unlike anything he had ever seen. Its form was wrought of ebony and gold, ornate and... Almost ceremonial in nature, as if it had been designed as an art piece first, and a war weapon second, almost as an afterthought. Its arms were like long, wound stems terminating in disks, from which spindly, articulate golden figures spread out - currently held wide, as though it were conducting an unseen orchestra. Its face was concealed by a bleach white mask, which spread back into a mane-like helm, cascading down its gangly back, a pair of glowing red eyes present.

"Travelers through the dark. Through the abyss. From nowhere, and yet... Somewhere..." - The voice, firm - a man's, yet with a distinctive tremble to it as it tapered off, paused gently, his machine turning its head quizzically as his voice turned into a harsh whisper, bright with revelation.

"...Between places!" He rasped, excitement creeping in to his tones.

If he had noticed Nick's arrival, it didn't seem so. The newcomer's arms were spread wide, and before him, he had assembled some of the aformentioned capsules. His voice returned, a pleading edge to it as he spoke, as if... beseeching the monstrosities around them:

"Reveal to us your secrets. Your knowledge. Your truth, which dwells in the abyss... where the weak dare not tread!"

 

[MKR]

A pause, the... Show before him had caught the Armorlion's pilot by surprise. Lamalice ignored the thing which could scarcely be called a combat machine as it spoke. Nevertheless the voice had assembled some of the capsules before their mech. He didn't like this situation, not at all. Regardless he would begin recording the machine's 'conversation' halfway through and transmitting it to the Hiryu.

"Hey, you! What are you doing with those capsules?" He had decided that a blunt question would be better, with any luck the weird mech didn't want to be disturbed and would just hand off the capsules as a way to get rid of him. Nevertheless he was ready should the unknown try to go for the other way to get rid of the intruder.

In the meanwhile he tried to make sense of the nonsense being said over the comms, the phrase 'Between places' had him puzzled, mainly what sort of places it alluded to.

 

[GEAR]

Finally, the machine seemed to take notice of the Armorlion as Nick spoke, cocking one side of its head in his direction.

"An interloper." Noted the voice.

No introductions seemed to be forthcoming, and it gazed upon the assembled boxes in front of it, full of human life, quizzically... as though just now questioning their existence. It finally turned its gaze back to Nick, to whom now even the Lamalice were giving a wide berth - possibly as a result of whatever this man was projecting into the world around them. The piece of debris Nick had looped around had been stained with blood... In a distinctly purposeful fashion, it appeared, forming concentric, thorned rings that pulsed out from the center of the design. How recently it had been applied was uncertain, but the liquid looked... Fresh.

"Have you come to see it with your own eyes?" He asked suddenly, stretching his machine's fingertips out over the assembled group. Small bolts of dark electricity began to crackle from its hands, playing over the capsules, linking them together like a length of chain. He seemed focused on his work, but willing to humor Nick's intrusion... To some degree, at least.

"A miracle?" He asked, the Worth Dean Bell's eyes boring into the Armorlion's own;

"A great, terrible, disastrous... Miracle?"

 

[MKR]

Disgust washed over his face as Nick saw the rings on the debris. Just what today needed on top of the Lamalice he was now dealing with some sort of mental ward escapee with a mech or something as unhinged at least.

"I thought miracles were meant to be welcome events. These monsters are not." The armorlion would begin to advance forward, Nick keeping his eyes on both the Lamalice and the weirdo with the black electricity.

"No, I've simply come to bring the people in those escape capsules to safety. I honestly couldn't care less about what you're trying to achieve here. I'll gladly leave you alone if you just let me bring them to safety too." Somehow between the blood, the seemingly hostage situation and the insanity he doubted that this guy was just going to let him walk away with the escape capsules. The joints seemed like the best thing to strike first on that thing, or perhaps the gems around its limbs were a better target.

 

[GEAR]

"...Unwelcome?"

The 'conductor' paused briefly in... Whatever it was he was doing, giving Nick a curious... Almost, pitying gaze. What was behind those eyes...? Was it truly a madman, as he suspected? Or... Perhaps, something more?

"Tell me..." He asked at length: "Did you ever wish to be born? Did you consciously decide to come into being? No. Your creation was no accident. Something cannot come from nothing. So too, it is the case with these... Lamalice."

The chains of light from the machine's hands pulled taught, and another faded red circle began to pulse into being about the assembled cradles. Lines drew themselves quickly across it - and Nick may have recognized it as a magic circle. The kind that were otherwise impossible to use in space, so far from the Earth... And he may have felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle, as reality itself began to shudder around them, magic beginning to condense.

"These creatures were beckoned here, much as we ourselves were. The energy they pulse with is a reflection of ourselves... Of the foulness, the vileness, the ugliness that lurks within human hearts. What you see before you... Is us!"

The madman raised his hands high as energy concentrated itself about it's form. If there had been an opportunity to halt whatever ritual he was conducting... It seemed as if that time was past, as it built to its climax, jolts of lightning crackling between small stones and pieces of debris around Nick's Armorlion as stray magic arced through the air.

"This is the catalyst!" Cried the pilot of the Dean Bell, "The hubris of the human heart...! The alchemist's folly! The Silver Key to the Ultimate Gate!!!"

It crossed its hands over its chest, eyes glowing a brilliant crimson, as the final lines were drawn into place.

"Now then! Witness for yourself... the depths of mankind's depravity! LET THE BANQUET BEGIN!"

"Bloody Dogma! EVISCERUS!"

With a horrifying, silent roar, the capsules burst open like caskets, bolts of blood red lightning arcing from their interior, twisting up into the stars before it burst into a supernova of light pulsing out into a radiant sphere of pure magical energy - a violent, gaping hole formed in the fabric of reality from the sacrifice of those below.

What he might also have noticed... Was that the Lamalice had, all of a sudden, halted. They were staring at the new star... And slowly, one by one, they started to be drawn towards it, beginning to flood towards it. The Worth Dean Bell held its arms over its head the whole while, gazing up at its work in pure glee... But what he had wrought, and why... Was uncertain.

 

[MKR]

The man took a few deep breaths as the massacre played out in front of him, he'd open a comms channel to the Hiryu and spoke into it.

"Captain, I'm not going to be able to rescue any more capsules. The feed I'm currently broadcasting should show you why... Get out of here as quickly as possible once you are a safe distance away from this guy send me a message and I'll come over as quickly as I can." Anger was laced in his voice and before getting the chance for a vocal response he would cut the comms and return to the public channel.

"You say they're us? That they are all things evil about humanity?" Nick scoffed "THE ONLY DEPRAVITY I'M WITNESSING FROM MANKIND RIGHT NOW IS YOURS!" The armorlion's thrusters sprung to life, going forward full force.

"The only vileness and evil here is yours! The only hubris and folly here is yours! You have no right to speak for mankind as a whole but you yourself are twisted!" the sabers on his arms flared to life, the Lamalice were distracted the bastard was wide open and he had no more hostages. Although those circles were something to be watched out for, perhaps some sort of ranged explosive?

He had no more claymores, this wasn't going to be as straightforward as he wanted. That didn't matter, this guy had just killed his people, on his home turf. The Roche saber on Nick's left arm would aim to slice off the Dean Bell's arm while the one on his right would aim for the leg. Stabilizers collapsed out from the Armorlion's legs, if these both connected he could do a maneuver he had come up with in his early days...

 

[GEAR]

"Mallor? What's going on? We've evacuated as many as we can, but there's something huge-"
*Ksshkk*
"Nick, it's Ed - You need to get out of there! The Lamalice are converging on your location! Do you read us? Hey!"

"My folly? MY HUBRIS?"

Lit by the unholy glow of the bloody star above, the Worth Dean Bell's disk-like fists tightened, a pair of golden spheres rimmed with oscillating magical circles forming about them. As Nick charged, it lunged forward to meet him, swinging its fists - which collided with the plasma blades, both machine struggling against one another to gain ground. The clockwork machine was... Surprisingly powerful for something so ornate, and the Lion's servos may have given a treacherous creak as it's thrusters engaged, aiming to slam the Armorlion into the debris panel behind it.

"This world - Isola! These people! THEY are what is twisted! Unnatural!" - Were it to connect, it would swing its hands down in a hammer-like smash with the magic spheres, aiming to cave Nick's machine's head in with a brutish crush unbefitting of its refined exterior.

"And you... You are defending this world of lies? Of deceit? Of comforting falsehoods? Why...? Who in the world are you?"

 

[MKR]

Nick grunted, his idea had been put to a halt by the ornate machine. But another one came into his head shortly after. A burst of speed forward as the arms came crashing down, it came at the cost of the two upper thrusters but he had managed to avoid a blow right above the cockpit and... Energy crackled over the Armorlion's horn as it went forward. It was designed to cut through the plating of a Peregine class spaceship and now he had a straight line to the chest of the Dean Bell. However he wouldn't be able to stay and fight much longer after that.

"YOU DON'T GET IT!" The armorlion had grabbed onto the enemy mech's arms, Roche sabers deactivated.

"You blame the 'other' without basis! Put all the faults and the blames of the world onto them! You think everyone but you is to blame! Let me tell you something!" The enemy's chest was now right in front of the activated heat horn, this was not an opportunity Nick would let pass.

"In my eyes you are a madman reflecting his own issues upon a world because it does not accept him and you cannot accept your issues!" The armorlion's legs moved forward, trying to clamp itself around the legs of the ornate machine.

"So you wanted to know who in the world I am? I'm Nick Mallor, a man who devotes his life to defending the colonies from those who would harm them. That includes you!" Nick looked to the newly made 'star' just above him and an idea came up in his head, he began to make preparations for his own escape pod to launch. Comms with the hiryu were opened once more.

"I read you, but I'm a bit tied up right now. I might need an emergency evac. This guy opened a gate to hell and I plan to dump him in it."

 

[GEAR]

"Very well then, Nick Mallor!"

Metal screeched as the Dean Bell's magic spheres tore into the Armorlion, battering and flaying its surface as the two machines grappled with one another. Nick was able to get the Armorlion's legs around the clockwork looking machine's own - but to what ultimate effect was uncertain. As the magic spheres faded from view, the white unit reached down, grabbing the Armorlion's head, aiming to tear it free as it began to apply horrendous force - but was halted by the Armorlion's own arms, the two now locked in a death grip.

"Consider yourself honored..." Said the pilot with a triumphant sneer that could be heard even over the buckling of metal;

"For I - Abramelin Zahed! The Standing One! - shall personally compose your epitaph!"

Magic Circles lit up across the surface of its arms, and Nick might have seen electricity beginning to form in bands about its shoulders. Zahed, or so the man called himself, seemed to be planning to skip the tedium of tearing apart the Armorlion, preferring to simply electrocute Nick himself to death.

"FAREWELL!" He roared as the Dean Bell discharged its gathered magical energy into the machine that it had entwined itself with.

 

[MKR]

Nick grunted as the enemy mech fought back, its ornate appearance had disguised the sheer strength behind it and with the grip the enemy held on his head he could not apply the heat horn to their cockpit and just when he thought he could insert the heat horn into the machine's chest and start his plan, electricity.

The man's eyes were wide open, "How was this thing discharging electricity?" he asked himself. Honestly it didn't matter, but what did matter was what the end result of it would be. With the armorlion tied up as he was, there was no way he could release the enemy in time to escape, there were no conduits in reach but if he had just been a bit closer the empty escape capsules might've done the trick.

Nick sighed, slamming his hand into the escape pod release as the remaining thrusters on the Armorlion's back flared to life. There were too many things about this foe he didn't know, but he would avenge his people nonetheless. As the distance between the cockpit and the now hollow Armorlion dragging his foe into the red abyss grew Nick felt bad for his companion. He felt bad he had to leave it here and the fate he had assigned it to, a suicide mission into a red star.

"Abramelin Zahed. We indeed say farewell but I will not be going with you into death. May the souls you have killed today drag you down and the monsters you cherish feast on yours." he calmly said to the man, watching as the armorlion dragged the ornate machine to its likely doom. A moment later he would press the distress signal so that his allies could find him.

 

[GEAR]

"WHAT?"

One could only imagine the expression on the pilot's face as the Armorlion suddenly accelerated, Nick's cockpit block rocketing away to safety. Abramelin's focus was lost for a split second - and it cost him dearly. The Armored Module plowed forward into the grasp of the Dean Bell, impaling it through the chest with its heat horn - and didn't stop. The two climbed up, the clockwork machine's thrusters firing frantically in a desperate attempt to avoid the inevitable.

"You think this is over? You think you've won?" Screamed Abramelin, his voice becoming clouded with static as the two drew further and further away.

"When the Black Sun rises...! When all of creation burns, and the Gate opens...! Your soul... Nick Mallor… Will be...! Nn... Ghaaaaaa!"

With a final, bone chilling scream of hatred and agony, the two machines disappeared into the surface of the "Black Sun", along with countless Lamalice that were still surging forward. The tide of creatures hadn't yet stemmed... But for the moment, it seemed to have slowed, at least. The entity showed no sign of abating, at the very least... But whatever sinister work Abramelin had been guiding it towards was, for the meantime, delayed, its dark red light casting the entire landscape in a hellish shade. Nothing remained of L5 but empty husks.... The cluster that Nick had grown up in? Now nothing but wreckage, host to only teeming bands of monstrosities.

At length, Nick felt something grasp his escape capsule. A look through the external cameras would reveal Ed's Leonisis, a little worse for wear, holding him carefully. In the background, the shape of the Hiryu - as well as several smaller, civilian vessels - those they had managed to save - could be seen.

"Come on, you crazy bastard." He said, with a sigh, the Leonisis turning and making its way back towards the Hiryu, a drop of blue in an ocean of destruction.

"Let's go home."