Spherical Sabotage

[yastubb]

The Russian air that night was crisp and cool.

Of course, Kenneth couldn't tell from the inside of a cockpit. The instruments and screens around him hummed, a soft teal glow filling the fairly cramped space.

"Systems, all green." He placed his hands on the now-familiar controls.

The sky was clear; the moon was full, illuminating the testing grounds before the machine. It was the first night test of the Virgola, so Kenneth was used to seeing this place in the day. The surrounding ground was stripped-away wasteland: remnants of the failed secession, all bathed in an ethereal glow by moonlight.

"Alright. I'm ready to go." he said.

A voice crackled over the comms: "Pick up the-"

"I got it," he laughed. "How many times do you think I've done these tests?"

Kenneth pushed a control stick forwards. The Virgola's right arm extended, reaching forwards and grasping the all-too-familiar Gunnery Carver. The machine briefly strained, hoisting the large brick of a weapon under its arm.

"Alright...energy connections are green. Let's proceed."

A point appeared on his map. Fifteen-point-eight clicks away.

"That far?" Kenneth pushed both control sticks forwards, the Virgola first taking steps, then running, before its plasma thrusters flared to life and it began to hover across the landscape.

 

[BlackSheep]

In the cold of the night, one could hear sounds of wild animals in the distance, although those sounds were strange, almost as if they were beasts.

As the unit was approaching the point, a red crystal that was almost as tall as the Virgola rose up in the horizon, this crystal gave away a strange feeling similar to being watched by someone. Around this crystal were a couple of regular DAMONs running in circles around it, as if they felt attracted to it. Yet, if anyone dared to approach and hence interrupt what seemed like a ritual, they would attack without mercy, aiming to kill whoever entered their territory.

A mysterious figure was quietly monitoring the place from where the Virgola launched. "So they've already implemented the Sorrowful Maiden, that is yet another one. I'll see what I can take from here before the sorrow starts."

The preparations were ready, all it needed to do was taking the bait and then the stage will be set.​

 

[yastubb]

Kenneth lazily slouched in the cockpit, listening to the hum of the various screens and instruments around him while keeping the control sticks jammed forward with his feet. The machine was no longer hovering-the Virgola simply cannot maintain hover for very long, and he didn't want to waste fuel.

A sensor alert came up on the screen, flashing while blaring an alarm.

"Hm?" Kenneth took his feet off the sticks, leaning forwards to tap the sensor reading, bringing the machine to a halt. The Virgola's thrusters cut, the machine sliding to a stop, still three clicks from the designated point.

ALERT:
ABERRANT ENERGY READINGS
ANALYSIS IN PROGRESS: 18%

Kenneth furrowed his brows, reaching over to a control panel. He pressed a button, seeking to contact the testing base. "Control, I'm getting an aberrant energy reading. Advise?"

 

[BlackSheep]

A certain scientific talked to the pilot in the communication channel, it was the same voice that talked to him before. "These readings are strange. Could you try and retrieve the source of that energy?" said the scientific.

He was reviewing the data and specifications of the Virgola that was deployed while he was talking to Kenneth.

Meanwhile, one could still hear sounds of beasts in the vicinity of the laboratories, almost as if they were going someplace to hunt.

The DAMONs that were running around the crystal sensed something, someone coming over to ruin their ritual. Their jaws opened, letting a slight green gleam show up, but it disappeared quickly before they changed their formation. Now that they weren't running around the crystal, they were facing the direction from where they sensed something with their tails ready to be thrown to whoever dares enter their territory.​

 

[yastubb]

"Can't I just analyze it from my current position?" Kenneth moaned. He moved the Virgola forward carefully, his hands tightening on the controls.

Two clicks away, he sees the crystal and the movements of the DAMON surrounding it.

"Hm...movement?" Kenneth brought the Virgola to a stop yet again, zooming the machine's sensors in on the DAMON.

"Oh shit..."

Simultaneously, the analysis Kenneth started earlier completed:

ALERT:
ANALYSIS COMPLETE
RESULT: DAMON

Kenneth contacts base yet again. "Base, I've got DAMON surrounding some kind of crystal. Advise?"

 

[BlackSheep]

"Just retrieve the crystal." said the scientific with a firm voice, giving an order just before cutting the communication channel. Only silence would remain in the channel.

Meanwhile, the scientific was reading the reports on the other two Virgola units who didn't accompany Kenneth in his current mission. "Interesting." he muttered to himself while passing through the reports and reading information about their combat data.
At the same time, the sounds of the beasts got closer to the laboratory, almost as if they were waiting in the dark for a signal to hunt down their prey. If one looked closely, some faint green lights could barely be seen in the surroundings.

In the meantime, the zone were the Virgola pilot was didn't see much change, the crystal was still shining and the dimensional beasts were waiting for it to do something.​

 

[yastubb]

"Hmph." Kenneth will be paid to do this-he might as well go through with it. It's not like he can't handle a few DAMONs either, even if he's never fought one before. But why go through all the trouble to get a potentially useless crystal? The Virgola's development data is more valuable as a whole.

Whatever. He'll do what he's told to do...for now.

DATA RECORDING ACTIVE

Another push on the control sticks, and the Virgola raised the giant block of a weapon known as the Gunnery Carver, the weapon splitting open to reveal an internalized barrel.

"Ray Stray Turret...now firing."

The Virgola hoisted the Carver, shifting its torso and feet to point the weapon at the closest DAMON. Purplish-blue energy began to build inside the barrel, a distinctive hum audible even within the cockpit.

After a brief charging period, a medium-width beam of purple energy lanced from the weapon, crisscrossed by black sparks of lightning-like energy.

 

[BlackSheep]

After the purple beam of energy was fired, the DAMONs inmediately spread their formation, although one got hit by the attack that came from the Virgola's weapon. The remaining beast fiercely roared at the one who disrupted their peace and threw its tail at the machine like a deadly boomerang, cutting through the air and going straight to its right arm, aiming to cut it.

Meanwhile, the scientific calmly went to the hangar where they held the other two Virgola units, he stared at them for a moment, plotting how he would use them for his future plans. "Right, they can serve as my personal hammer of justice" he said to himself, while some engineers thought it was a bit strange that he would come to the hangar, but quickly discarted their suspicions, thinking that if he came here, was to order them something.

"So, anythin' new, doc?" Said the chief engineer to the scientific while the others were finishing up maintenance on the other units.

"Yes" He answered. "Your work has finished for today, good job, everyone."

Right after he finished that sentence, the walls of the hangars were charged by 2 BullDAMONs along with a RhinoDAMON, the debris fell onto the engineers, crushing them to their deaths, although the scientific managed to don't get hit by it. "With this, the Sorrowful Maiden will be one step further into awakening" said the scientific, as his disguise slowly disappeared, leaving a middle-aged man with dark hair which already had some gray in it, glasses and a slightly sharp chin. "Leave no one alive" said the impostor.

As he spoke, he jumped into the DAMONs. One of the BullDAMONs placed its head so he could land safely in it. "Let's see how it fares in real battle." said as he was leaving with the BullDAMONs, figuring one RhinoDAMON should be enough to destroy the rest of the laboratory. Also, the BullDAMONs left carrying the Virgola units in the hangar, surrounding the heads with their tails and dragging them.

Kenneth quickly got a call of distress as soon as the attack happened. "We're being attacked! Return to the base, quick--" and then, the communication was interrupted by the sound of debris falling.​

 

[yastubb]

"An attack on the base?" Kenneth cried out.

Now he's done it. The DAMONs before him will no doubt pursue if he heads back for base now...in other words, he'll need to deal with these now.

"Dammit! Was this a trap?"

Kenneth pulled back on the control sticks while depressing the foot petals, the Virgola's thrusters flaring to life in a burst of blue as the machine jumped up and backwards, barely dodging the incoming tail-boomerang as the Gunnery Carver closed up. The Ray Stray Turret wouldn't be effective anymore...

He aimed, firing a series of ballistic shots one of the DAMONs. One, two, three, four rounds fly out as the Virgola descended, its fall slowed by its thrusters.

"I know!" Kenneth reached over, tapping a series of buttons on a nearby console.

TERRAIN SCAN ACTIVE

 

[BlackSheep]

The remaining DAMON recieved the rounds, and as they pierced its skin, it charged a small blast of energy in its mouth. Looking at the Virgola, it roared as it shot towards the machine with the last ounce of strength that was left in it as it finally died.

While the battle was ending, the impostor stood in the surroundings, having called his mech and waiting for it and Kenneth to arrive at what would no longer be the laboratory. "Looks like he's taking his time. Well, I can already prepare myself for the second act." He said while he took out a PDA, and started to look for capable mercenaries. Both Unit 2 and Unit 3 were left with him, with the BullDAMONs guarding the vicinity, ready to attack.

When the terrain scan activated, it would no longer detect any more DAMONs around him. If its radius reaches the laboratory, it would detected two lifeforms in the surroundings, along with a big lifeform inside the laboratory. One could see the smoke coming out of the laboratory, along with a light in the darkness of the night, a light provided by the scorching flames of the facility.​

 

[yastubb]

Kenneth growled, the Virgola jinking to the side midair to dodge the ultimately futile beam.

"Hrrrrg." The Virgola landed turning for the lab and running, thrusters occasionally firing to increase speed.

It'll take time to get back.

12 clicks and counting.

His palms were sweaty. The air conditioner was working perfectly fine.

Combat. Kenneth realized he'd never been in real combat. Witnessed real death.

How horrible.

11 clicks.

 

[BlackSheep]

There was still time until his target would arrive, he had to do something in order to prepare his dinner were it to stray from his meticulous plan. He went to open the cockpit of Unit 2; already knowing he faced a biometric lock, he saved the contacts he was looking for in his PDA before switching his appearance between the ones of the test pilots that worked in the base the RhinoDAMON was already destroying, simple success or failure.

Once he gained access to it, he wired his trustworthy PDA to the terminal, looking to temporaly insert his identity in the mech, so he could pilot it for later. For the moment, it was enough to be a test pilot for one of its first deployments.

And so, he awaited in the deep dark, waiting for the right moment to strike while the beast was ravaging the laboratories, if the Virgola pilot doesn't arrive soon, it'll all be lost forever.​

 

[yastubb]

3 clicks.

Close enough.

The Virgola jumped into the air, aiming the Gunnery Carver at the RhinoDAMON. Even at this distance...

"Eat this, asshole!"

The weapon split open once again, the internalized barrel flaring with energy.

A click on the trigger, and another beam of purple energy fired from the weapon.

 

[BlackSheep]

In the chill of the night, and in the midst of the raging fire, this flaming inferno that once was known as a laboratory had its wall of flames opened by an incoming attack. This attack came from none other than the Unit 1, who had finally arrived to what was left of the facility. The beam from the Carver hit the RhinoDAMON, who managed to reduce the power of the blast by employing its Dimensional Fault. Once it felt the attack, it turned to the direction from where the attack came in, huffing furiosly with his horn gleaming thanks to the fire that was beggining to accumulate in them.

The beast howled at the attacker, and started to bomb his surroundings with flames coming from its horns. As the flames hit the ground, they instantly freezed, creating sharp ice crystals in the ground.

At the same time, the other BullDAMONs threw their tails at the attacker. In the middle of the trayectory, these tails changed their shape, becoming something reminiscent of a leech, aiming to bite the arms of the machine that dared attack them.

The battle still needed to unfold before the time for the Sheep to intervene came, he patiently waited while configuring the machines. He already had plans for them, and if the pawn acts unexpectedly, he may have to rewrite his script in order to make room for a brief act featuring the two stolen units.​

 

[yastubb]

The Virgola's thrusters fired, and it drifted closer to the base.

2.5 clicks.

Kenneth saw the incoming attacks, a veritable storm of them, too. Slightly panicked, he started to jink the machine back and forth midair,
barely managing to dodge the RhinoDAMON’s bombardment, flames barely missing the Virgola's limbs and body.

As for the BullDAMONs, these maneuvers clearly wouldn’t do. The Virgola shifted the Gunnery Carver to one hand, grabbing its Ray Pistol and firing it at the incoming projectiles in a desperate attempt to destroy them before impact.

 

[BlackSheep]

As the Virgola still dared to dodge the incoming attacks, the beasts decided to continue putting up pressure. Sooner or later he will exhaust, and that'll be the moment when they'll finish him.

The RhinoDAMON roared at the machine, with what resembled eyes shining in bright green. It started to glow in green energy, running at the Virgola in an attempt to pierce its torso to leave the cockpit more vulnerable. Along with this frontal assault, the BullDAMONs ran to the ice that appeared from the RhinoDAMON's fire, hopping on top of it. And as they ran through it with small leaps that kept them from tripping and falling, the two of them stood each at one side of the machine (left and right), charging their horns with electricity and patiently waiting for the RhinoDAMON to finish his move, so they could continue with their attack.

People was trying to get out of the lab, but without any success. One could see parts of corpses in the surroundings: beheaded scientifics, workers who had half of their body eaten and people who, in flames, tried to get out of there. It was an horrific sight, and as he got nearer the base, it would only get worse.​

 

[yastubb]

Kenneth jerked the control sticks back as the Virgola hit the ground. The machine took three steps back, before raising the Gunnery Carver again. But not to fire a beam, no. The large, heavy brick of a weapon is raised above the machine's head, the stocky butt of the Carver pointing downwards.

At the same time, one floor pedal is depressed. The Virgola turns, twisting its hip and torso to turn the RhinoDAMON's direct charge into a glancing blow.

Kenneth also noted the BullDAMONs. How will he deal with those? No time. If he jumped now, the BullDAMONS will surely get him. Blocking the RhinoDAMON is the only option...

 

[BlackSheep]

The time had cometh for his intervention, the target was close enough to the laboratory and engaded into battle with the beasts. The beasts were no longer that important, so he had now to sacrifice his royal guard. Having finished his work with both Unit 2 and Unit 3, he hid them in the depth, having called already a suitable transport that would take care of them. Apart from this, he stepped on his own personal mech which had already arrived, a giant mech surrounded by pink crystals in its chest, shoulders and legs, black joints and a white face with a pink sphere and two horns.
Once he stepped into the cockpit, he started to move patiently towards his target, focusing its power in the meanwhile, for he had something really big to do.

As the Virgola blocked the attack from the RhinoDAMON and was struggling with it, the pilot could hear a faint voice that he could hear: "...help..."
There was no one alive in the vicinity, where could it come from? Were Kenneth to stare at the foe that was in front of him, he could see an employee of the lab, naked, shining in white and with merged with the RhinoDAMON's head from the waist down, begging him to save him from the hell he was in.
The same happened with the BullDAMONs. Kenneth could see people in their heads, a female engineer and a male scientist, both begging him for help.​

 

[yastubb]

"...Why..."

Kenneth shuddered. What the hell is this nightmare? Why...? This isn't happening. That's stupid-how can people be-

A brief hesitation at the controls.

"Forgive me..." the words escaped his mouth, less than a breath, before the end of the Gunnery Carver came crashing down upon the RhinoDAMON's head.

 

[BlackSheep]

The instant the Gunnery Carver succesfully pierced what serves as a brain in the RhinoDAMON's organism, killing it in the process, Kenneth could hear a blood-chilling scream from the employee who was in the head. He had just killed an innocent person, and he could hear a last voice from him: "¡DAMN YOU... DAMN YOU TO HELL, I'LL NEVER EVER FORGET THIS, I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN FOREVEEEER...!" screamed the employee as he was dying.

The moment the RhinoDAMON died, the BullDAMONs let out a fierce roar, that was it, they were prepared to kill him. As they finished charging their horns, they jumped at the machine from the sides, hopefully stabbing it near the cockpit, but without piercing it. If they complete their attack, they'll surely render its arms useless, at least temporarily.

The Sheep was already watching it closely with his arms crossed, he was ready for his plan. But since this part was folding out better than expected, he decided to wait a bit more until he was finished with his last minions.

The fire at the lab was already diminishing, with various support machines helping with the rescue operation since, after all, the base was large enough so there could be people helping. But sadly, this wasn't what Kenneth could see, for his eyes, all there was were ruins and massive readings of dimensional energy, almost as if something of the size of a leviathan would appear in that place.