The power went out in the ship, and instinctively Kayden switched on his cloaking field and his night vision. He watched the panic of the other Revenants, and knew they were going to try something foolish. Who am I to leave them to their fate.
Kayden, unbeknown to the rest of the Revenants, snuck aboard the escape pod. The small craft fired what little blasters it had, just barely taking down the enemy ship's hanger shield. Sparks flew as the escape pod scraped along the hanger floor. The Revenants opened the door and were greeted by hundreds of demonic aliens who looked constructed rather than born. Between the seams of the terribly grafted rock and metal and flesh, dripped a thick florescent liquid. It smelled of ozone in the enemy ship, no doubt caused by the thick liquid dripping from the creatures onto the floor of the ship, sizzling as it tries to eat its way through the hull.
There was not a moment's breath before the battle was on. Kayden joined the fight still cloaked, in an attempt to take out as many as possible before they realized another was in their midst. He ran quickly, slashing out at every monster within blade's reach. Kayden kept tabs on his brothers in arms as the fight went on, and watched as Scorpius lost limb after limb, and was slowly torn apart before finally being crushed beneath the massive foot of an alien so large it had to keep it's head tucked down to avoid bumping against the hanger roof.
Kayden worked his way to the others, cutting and slashing as quickly and efficiently as he could, and in mid step felt a huge impact on his right side. The blow sent him skidding across the hull floor. Dazed, Kayden realized that victory was unattainable. Meth flew through the air and crashed against the durilium wall, leaving a large dent. His body fell in a heap on the floor, blood trickled from his skull. Across the room, Oltu was suddenly completely obscured by the swarm of crazed aliens. He attempted to scream out, but quickly met his fate as he was ripped into pieces by the hideous beings. Dorf and Venom looked to be still trying to win the fight, but Kayden knew that this would be the end for the Revenants.
Explosions rang out in the hanger. Dorf was nearly finished off by a blaster bolt to the head when he grabbed the offender and leapt into the fire and explosions, honorably killing himself and the alien commander.
Venom had left the hanger bay, hopefully in search of the ship's power core. Perhaps he sought to annihilate the entire ship. Kayden made it to his feet, cloaking field still working, although his power levels were reaching critical. He felt a sharp pain in his rib cage which his visor displayed as a fractured rib. Kayden readied himself for when his cloaking field would wear off, and he would be on his own fighting to his death. He positioned himself with his back towards a viewport, which he glanced through, imagining the life he might have led on some distant planet.
One of the beasts sniffed. And Kayden knew he had been discovered. It was then that the ship buckled under him. The ship warped and began to twist under the stress of some massive explosion. There would be no time to run or escape, as the explosion began to fill the hanger bay. One of the remaining aliens came hurling through the air, colliding with Kayden. The blow sending them both careening through the viewport, and out into space. The cold instantly siezed up most of his armor joints. And he felt the pressure on his suit, as the void of space tried to rip him apart, but his suit held fast. The alien wasn't quite as lucky as his flesh instantly froze. As every bit of moisture in the alien's body froze, the skin began to shrink, and as it did, it cracked. The entire body was covered in these cracks. The beast would never again kill innocents.
Kayden imagined the fate of drifting in nothingness until his stomach shriveled and he starved to death. But the universe wasn't that cruel. Kayden realized that he was hurling through space towards a planet. He entered the atmosphere, and he felt the suit free up. The heat instantly melting the ice. His armor glowed red and flames began to flick off his body. This is how my life will end. Burning up in the atmosphere of some unknown planet.
----------------------------------- A brother and sister played on their swingset, the sun had finally gone down. They heard their mother call for them, but they had not a care in the world. They would play until their mother dragged them inside the house for dinner.
"A shooting star" The young boy announced, as he pointed up at the sky.
"Make a wish" Said his little sister, as she closed her eyes dreaming of fancy shoes and pretty dresses.
The boy's wish was far different. He dreamed of far away battles, of hundreds of star systems streaking by the ship cockpit, of vanquishing hundreds of foul aliens. He dreamed of being a warrior. A hero.
Electricity buzzes as weapons pierce through armor; thick red gore sprays across blood that has already begun to congeal; the familiar sting of sweat trickling down the inside of the mask and burning the eyes; the dust in the air is choking, kicked up from the limp bodies crashing to the ground.
Kayden had made his way through the mob of warriors, closing the distance towards General Shinko. Meanwhile, John Swiftblade slashed through the soldiers and moved in from behind the General. Their timing would have to be perfect.
Kayden parried away a glancing blow and punched his wrist blades into the chest of his opponent. John swiped his blades low severing the tendons in his foe's knee, the leg buckling under the soldiers weight. The two Revenants had nearly converged, and poised to strike. General Shinko raised his hands at Kayden, ready to deliver the killing blow. And yet, the General hesitated, as the 2 blades from behind him reached out to claim his life.
*Ding*
"Attention Revenants. We will be landing on Bormunth soon."
Dorf gave his perfectly ill timed speech once again.
"Do we ever get some time to ourselves!! Dammit!!" Screamed Kayden.
The pent up fury had to go somewhere, and so he swept his maul out at the still frozen General Shinko. But Kayden's anger wouldn't be sated. The blade didn't meet flesh and bone, spraying out blood and gore, but merely caused a slight wavy ripple in the hologram.
"AHHH!! End Simulation." Kayden said bitterly, malice licking the edge of each syllable. The world shifted and melted back into flat durillium walls and floors of the combat chamber.
"See you in the cargo bay." He said curtly. And Kayden stormed off.
General Shinko raises his right hand, fully extended, and sweeps it in the direction of his opponent. Kayden is sent careening towards the river of lava, and digs his blades into the ground, stopping his slide. His body hanging over the edge.
A voice rang out in the valley, "Mind some company in there?"
"Come on in, the weather's fine!" Laughed Kayden, as he leaped back up into the fray. Kayden collided with another massive Troscka warrior, and pounded both blades through the soldier's chest. Out of the corner of his eye, Kayden saw the General preparing another attack. Kayden kicked the dying Troscka body in the direction of General Shinko, in an attempt to absorb the blast. It was a feeble attempt, as the 250lb Troscka body slammed into Kayden, sending them both flying.
"What are you waiting for?!" Yelled Kayden as he once again crashed into the ground.
Kayden began to get bored waiting around for the next mission, and started to tinker with his blade to see if he could increase the energy blade intensity. After some rearranging of the focusing crystals, he ignited his maul blade and noticed that the blade now crackled with the sound of miniature lightning. "We'll see how this does in the next battle."
Kayden, still bored, made his way around the ship, where he eventually found the holographic combat room. "I'll give you a try."
"Activate Random Level, difficutly 1." And the world morphed about him into a green open field with a rainbow off in the distance. A small rabbit came hopping slowly towards Kayden. "You've got to be shitting me!" And with one decisive motion, Kayden picks up right boot, and brings it slamming down upon the rabbits frail skull, blood oozes out from under his boot.
"Activate Random Level, difficulty 15."Once again, the world shifts and morphs into a new world. The sky blends from the clear blue, to a blood red, now on a distant planet orbiting 2 red giant stars at the center of the system. Kayden is now in a valley of some kind, where jagged black and yellow rocks cover the landscape. He begins walking through the rough terrain, towards the valley entrance. RROOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!!
A massive toothy feline animal bellowed out in anger from high up one of the rock walls. Kayden turns just in time to see this massive beast leaping down upon him. Shhhhhhinkkk!! The blades flick out, the crackle of electricity coming from his newly altered maul. Kayden crouches, charging his power armor, and explodes skyward to meet his foe. Kayden swings out, as he passes by the twisting beast in mid air. The smell of burnt hair and flesh fills the air.
CRRAAAAKOOOOOM!!!
The feline crashes into the ground, landing solid on it's feet. Kayden flips in mid air, half expecting his enemy to already be slain. But the large cat only was cut on the side, and showed it's prowess at aerial combat as well as ground combat. Kayden landed on one knee, cracking the jagged rocky landscape around him. Before he could stand, the feline monster had already lunged again at Kayden. He rolled out of the way, flicking his maul upwards as he moved. The blade sliced into the belly of the animal, where muscle was now visible. RRREEEEAAOOOOWWWWW!!!!!
The beast screamed, and was shocked that this tiny person had hurt him so badly. The feline turned slowly around to face it's rival once again. But the giant cat wouldn't get the chance. Kayden plunged his maul deep into the forehead of the creature, burning away the hair where small bolts of lightning flicked against the skin. The beast lay still.
"Activate Random Level, difficulty 47."
The world shifted once again. The heat was what he felt first. This time Kayden found himself standing precariously on a small pillar of rock suspended mere feet above a flowing river of molten stone. The sky was dark, the blackness obscuring his vision. He quickly switched to night vision to see his new enemy. On the banks of the lava river, stood the group of around 200 heavily armed Troscka. The group parted down the middle, revealing the unmistakable red armor encasing the legendary General Shinko. The great Troscka who once defeated a Bull Krilexian Dragon single handlely. Most armies wouldn't take on that task. The story goes that war had become too easy for him, so he took his Battleship out beyond the Outer Rim, into uncharted space, in search of a challenge. That was nearly 100 years ago, and no one has heard from him since.
"Finally a challenge." Kayden says with a smile. He crouches, charging his jump once again, and launches into battle.
The giant Reptylia warrior that Kayden continued to fight, blinked heavily, giving Kayden just the moment to deal the killing blow. Kayden kicked out his leg against the knee joint of the Reptylia, exploding the bone out the skin in the wrong direction. He then swept his maul upwards, severing the Reptylia's arm from it's body.
Kayden jumped, and in one final motion, plunged the maul straight down into the skull of the beast. The massive Reptylia fell to the ground and finally laid still, and the few remaining Reptylia in area, turned and fled.
"We must leave now!" Oltu shouted to the group.
"Good timing" Said Kayden, exhausted from the fight.
Kayden accompanies the rest of the Revenants back to the Ungaru camp, where they recieved their insignificant pay. Once they had left earshot and were nearly at the ship, Kayden said to Oltu, "Next time, can we get a job from someone who pays better?"
Whiteness flashes across Kayden's display for a microsecond as a massive force crashed into him. The force of the blow throws Kayden from his feet, bowling over several Reptylia as he skips across the ground. He stabs his wrist blades into the ground to finally bring himself to a stop. Kayden didn't have to search for the source of the blow, because the aggressor stood straight in front of him 30 ft away. Before him stood an 8 ft tall massive Reptylia, spikes covered the lower half of his tail, and his skin looked especially thick. This warrior Reptylia wore a heavy armor that partially covered his chest and shoulders and carried a massive axe in one hand and a giant war hammer in the other.
Kayden stood slowly, tightening his grip on the maul. The Reptylia started in Kayden's direction with pure hatred filling it's eyes, weapons at the ready. Kayden begins walking towards the warrior Reptylia, his weapons held low to his sides. A couple strides seperate the warriors now. The Reptylia roars. Kayden lunges.
The Reptylia moved like lightning, dodging Kayden's strike, and swung the battleaxe, meaning to seperate Kayden's head from his body. Kayden ducks, the wind of the axe letting him know how close he was to being beheaded. Only a moment later, the Hammer came crashing down, Kayden doing the best he could to deflect the blow with his armored forearm. The dampers did their job, but the pain still buzzed up his arm.
Kayden had no time to react to the pain, and swept his maul towards the feet of the warrior Reptylia. But the blade met nothing but air as the Reptylia catapulted himself flying over his opponent. Kayden spun with his maul, in an attempt to catch the beast offguard, but Kayden's weapon embedded itself into the heavy metallic alloy of the axe. The Reptylia yanked and flung both weapons away, leaving Kayden now unarmed save for his wrist blades. The Reptylia raises the hammer with both hands. Kayden crosses his arms in a feeble attempt to block the blow. The hammer begins it's decent to crush the human...
"Meet you in the middle." Said Kayden, as he sprinted off full speed towards the side of the encampment. Skin shifters, Infrared. He thought to himself as he switched his helmet display to Infrared, and the world exploded into a field of blues, greens, oranges and reds.
Kayden didn't wait for Dorf to crash open the gate. Instead, he crouched near the 20ft fence, charged his powered legs, and exploded upwards. He sailed over the fence, his Heads Up Display selecting the immediate targets on his projected course. Kayden came down right in the thick of the Umbazi Reptylia, which appeared as solid white against a background of blues and reds.
Kayden landed on the back of one of the Reptylia, and with both of his arms extended, he pierced his blades straight through the tough hide of the lizard man. He tore the maul from the Reptylia's side, intestines spilling out as the blade pulls free. In the same outward motion, Kayden swiped the blade to his side to impale another Umbazi in the throat, a sick gurgling sound coming from the creature's mouth. A dozen Umbazi begin surrounding Kayden, and move in to strike.
BOOOOOOM!!!!
A loud crash sounds out, and Kayden feels the earth tremble for a second, as Dorf's hammer smashed into the ground. Good, the others have joined the fight. Kayden used the momentary distraction to his advantage, and slashed out at the legs of several lizard men, severing their limbs from their bodies.
The HUD in Kayden's helmet flashed a brief warning, as a spear was released, and flew through the air, destined to impale him. Kayden rolled away, his blades ripping free of his victims. The spear deflected off Kayden's shoulder armor, and slammed an Umbazi in the stomach, spraying blood out the lizardman's back as the sharpened spearhead burst free of the flesh.
Kayden got to his feet, and punched out with both blades straight to his side, catching two attacking Umbazi's in their chests. The bone crunched, and the bodies slumped as they began to fall free of the blades. Kayden began to march towards the gate of the encampment, his blades cutting a bloody path through the swarms of lizardmen.
Kayden emerges from his room once the ship had settled from the crash landing into the planet Fauna.
"I hope we don't have to deal with more rough landings like that." says Kayden as he enters the cargo bay.
He listens to Dorf's explanation of the crash landing, and chimes in "I should be able to repair the ship if someone can diagnose exactly what was damaged in the crash."
"alright boys let's move out" Dorf commanded. Kayden readied himself as the crew moved out to the enemy camp. The appetite for blood radiating from each soldier.
"Ready when you are" he whispers to the team, his blades extended, prepped for battle.
Kayden retracts the blades on his left arm, and extends a friendly hand, still a little cautious.
"I apologize for my bluntness, I ran into trouble on the way back to the ship. I'm Kayden, welcome aboard." Kayden says, realizing the man is telling the truth.
Kayden was about half way through the bottle of whiskey when the communicator crackled with static as Dorf's voice announced that it was time to head back to the ship.
"Son of a bitch! Just as I get some time to myself, these bastards call me back again"
"Is there a problem?" A well built, ugly human asks. "Mister, you better mind your own business and get out of my way."
"Uhuh" The man steps aside, fingering the hilt of a blade hanging from his belt.
Kayden heads outside, to find that the sun has gone down. Kayden finally feels at ease in his element. Just when he starts down the street on his way back to the ship, Kayden's helmet sensors pick up somebody moving at a quick pace from behind. Kayden takes a turn into an alley, and moves swiftly to the shadows while engaging his cloaking field.
The burly man from the bar comes running around the corner, with his short energy sword at the ready.
Kayden waits patiently for the man to jog past where he is hiding. As he does, Kayden gets up and moves quickly and silently behind the burly man, the dampers in Kayden's boots working flawlessly. The twin blades on Kayden's left wrist extend to their full 18" length. He pulls his arm back, and slams it into the man's left shoulder. At the same time, Kayden bends the bar patron's right arm behind his back, feeling the pop of a couple ligaments in the man's shoulder. The shortblade falls to the ground.
"Aaaahhhhh!!! My arm!!!"
"The only reason you aren't dead right now," Kayden says in a deep menacing voice, "is because I have simply, killed too many today."
"Do not try to follow me, because I will know."
"Who... who are you?"said the man in a gasping, pained voice. "Kayden Darkstryde, Hardblood of the Kiss of Midnight gang."As he said this, Kayden kicks the man away. The wrist blades doing more damage coming out than they did going in, and now the man's left arm barely hangs on by a few strands of muscle and sinew.
"Shiiii..." The man trails off, as he falls limp to the ground in a pool of his own blood.
Kayden disappears back into the shadows, and runs to the ship. He decloaks just as he rounds the corner to the docking bay, slowing to a brisk walk. Kayden walks into the cargo bay, and heads to his room to wash the blood off his blade. He walks past the ship's armory and see's a man that he hasn't met before, just sitting on a bench, working on some goggles.
Kayden moves toward the man, adrenaline still pumping, ready to gut this man like a fish if he tries anything.
"Who are you? And what are you doing inside this ship?"
Kayden woke up to the silence of an empty ship. He rolled out of bed, feeling the shock of pain from the bio mortar that cauterized his wounds. It hasn't subsided much, so I must not have slept long. He steps outside his room to find a bag of money, larger than expected, and a thin piece of metal that he recognized as a communicator. I'll need to get a coat and hat to cover up. He thought to himself, since his gang didn't have the best of reputations here on New Earth. And the emblem on his armor is an open invitation for somebody to start trouble, something that the Revenants don't need.
He steps off the ship, and heads straight for the nearest clothing shop, and digs up a worn, dark brown duster coat, and a dark brown western hat. Both have seen much better days. He payed for the clothing and made his way outside to the alley behind the shop. He pulled the duster on and left it unbuttoned, just covering the insignia, but still allowing him to get to his now concealed maul if he had to. He took off his helmet, pushed a button on the inside. The helmet folded in on itself, becoming no more than a curved thin strip of metal, which he held at his left side, magnetically fastening it to his hip. Kayden then pulled the hat down just above his eyebrows, casting a perfect shadow across his face.
Kayden then made his way down the main street, and eventually came upon a couple of themed bars. A rainforest themed bar, and a western themed bar. Well I'll fit in just fine. He thought as he made his way inside the western bar. As soon as he walked in, he noticed a group men with matching cropped haircuts and perfectly creased pants, obviously military pilots on leave. Best to avoid these guys. He thought to himself as he discretely made his way to the other end of the bar. "Barkeep, get me a bottle of whiskey."
The bartender, dressed as a cattleman, pulled a bottle of whiskey from the middle shelf and was about to set it down when Kayden interrupted.
"I don't think so. Get me the good stuff, one of those bottles on the bottom shelf." He said, slapping a wad of cash on the table.
This is a day for celebrating. He thought, pouring a shot and tossing it down his throat. He immediately refilled the glass and pounded it down as well. The perfect start to a good day.
Kayden let out a bloodcurdling scream of pain that pierced right through the door of his room and echoed out into the ship. The biological mortar that he used to seal up his wound felt like a mixture of fire and acid entering his body. He used the small spatula-like item to scoop up more of the smoldering blue mortar, and pressed it into the wound on his front this time.
Kayden squinted his eyes, clenched his jaw and balled his fists as the mortar went to work. The pain would have been unbearable, save for Kayden's training.
----------------------
Kayden flashed back to a time when he was still a young boy, only 8 years of age. CRAAAAACK!! went the whip as it connected with his back, Kayden biting down on the piece of wood, grimacing in unrelenting pain. CRRAAAAACK!!
Now 12 years old, bruised and battered Kayden is sitting over top the chest of another boy. They are undergoing the Chiva, the demanding physical and mental requirements of the Clan, The Kiss of Midnight, or in the ancient language Nan-de Thangaun. Kayden levels punch after punch into the other boy's now swelling, bloodied face. SMAAACK!! SMAAACK!!
Kayden is now 16, and is undergoing his Young Blood ceremony. The leader, the current Old Blood of the clan, removes a long branding rod from a smoldering pile of the clan's blue biological mortar. The tip of the rod has the emblem of the Clan, a man crouched down with his head in his hands completely engulfed in fire. The rod glows a frightening blue, the smell of ozone lingering in the air. The Old Blood speaks some words in the old tong, "C'ntlip di Cetanu, Mei'hswei Kai'dien thin-de le'hasuan 'aloun'myin-del bpi-de gka-de hasou-de paya. H'ka-se, z'skvy-deTAREI'THWEI!!!"
He jams the rod into Kayden's bare chest, flesh burning...
---------------------- "GAAAA!! FFFFFAAAAAAAAAAKK!!!"
Kayden screams, and lets out all his fury by punching the wall as hard as he could, landing with a loud metallic THUNK, denting the metal hull in the shape of his knuckles. Trying to catch his breath, Kayden forced himself to think of something else. At least the repairs on my armor won't hurt. "Hu Hu Haa Haa." Uncontrollably trying to laugh away the pain, but he knew the pain wouldn't fully subside for at least 12 hours.
Kayden was thankful that he wouldn't have to use a thread and needle on the cloth underarmor, for the nanotech suit had already stitched itself back together. Kayden removed the plates of armor that had been pierced, he started up the plasma fusing torch, took a deep breath, concentrated on the pain, and set to work.
A third rifle shot echoed across the battlefield. The beast was hit again, and reared up tossing Kayden like a rag doll, tumbling through the air. Kayden hit with a heavy thud, his armor taking most of the shock. He began to stand up, the dirt sticking to two different colors of blood covering his armor, grey from the zombies, and red from the robotic lizard. Just when he got to his feet, the beast crashed to the ground, shaking the earth again.
"Hey your back looks pretty bad there, need me to put some temporary stitches on you?"
"DON'T touch me." Kayden said, the bloodlust still not worn off. He would not be shamed by being stitched up, his wounds required his ritualistic healing methods. Kayden switched his suit to maintenance/medical mode, and the cloth undersuit began to pull tight around the wounds, stopping the bleeding almost immediately. It felt like the wound was a clean one, punching through the outside edge of his lower ribcage.
Kayden made his way over to the fallen robotic lizard, that now had a crushed up building on top of it. He found where the tail lay limp, and began to cut off the tip of the tail, a section around 5 feet long, covered completely in thick metal armor with a sharp pointed blade attached to the end. Kayden reached up to his left shoulder armor and pulled off a plated section. He pushed two buttons simultaneously expanding the box in all directions and opening it to reveal miniaturized versions of several trophies, including skulls of various creatures and a few trophy weapons.
There was also a bizarre tool inside the box about 4 inches long with a small bag attached to the end. Kayden dragged the tip of this oddly shaped tool from where he cut the tail section off, all the way down to the tip of the blade on the end. The tool stored the information it had just recieved, and replicated a miniaturized version only 2 inches long. Kayden pulled this from the bag and placed it inside the trophy box.
Time to get going. He thought to himself as he quickly put everything away and made his way to the ship, where he could begin to repair his wounds. Kayden made it to the ship uneventfully, and climbed aboard.
Kayden witnessed the crew working as a team now. Shots rang out putting out one of the eyes of the robotic tyrant lizard, and yet the beast only slowed for a moment. The brain of that beast was as tiny as a peanut, so it is no surprise that the bullet didn't find its home there. A second shot was fired, with a similar result to the first, but this time, it gave Dorf the opportunity to move in for an attack, who willingly climbed into the jaws of the monster trying his luck.
Kayden was right behind Dorf in their assault of the creature. The blades of kayden slashed out across an armored leg, testing the armor, which was even thicker than expected. In midattack, a sharp pain went through his lower right ribcage as something hit him from behind, sliding Kayden across the ground away from the mechanical monster. Kayden grimaced as he watched the spiked tail of the creature pull free of his armor.
Kayden's eyes now glossed over in red as a rage filled him that he hadn't felt in over a year. He cried out a scream of bloodlust and sprinted back at the behemoth, planted a foot in midstride, and exploded upwards. Kayden climbed up the giant creature by digging his blades into its side, one after another, working his way up. He clawed his way to the upper back of the monster, trying to avoid being impaled on the spikes adorning the beast's back.
Kayden raised his maul, and plunged it as hard as he could into the back of the creature. He didn't remove the maul, but rather began to drag it through the armor, bone and flesh. Yet even with the energy blade technology carving it's way through the body, Kayden still struggled against the thick hide.
Kayden's own side began to ache and burn as his HUD continued to flash that his lower back armor had been pierced. But there was no time to worry about that, even as his blood flowed out of his back.
The Revenants found the talisman in the gang's camp much easier than expected, but Kayden knew that on Old Earth, you can't walk 100 meters out in the open without being attacked by some kind of wild animal or a gang ambush. The crew stepped outside the seemingly abandoned building to the sight of thousands upon thousands of what appeared to be people running directly for them. "The Hunt has begun." He said quietly to himself with a smile spreading underneath his helmet.
Kayden engaged his cloaking field, and sprinted at maximum speed towards the enemy. He covered the distance in the blink of an eye, and if he wasn't cloaked, he would have still been nearly too fast for the human eye to track. Time seemed to slow down for Kayden as the combat receptors in the visor began to predict the movements of the enemy. In mid stride, Kayden planted one foot into the ground, charging the leg in an instant to 100% before releasing and launching him nearly 30ft into the air. As Kayden spun and twisted in the air, he reached down to his right leg and disabled the magnetic fasteners holding his maul. With a flick of both arms downwards, the dual blades in his left gauntlet extended to 18 inches, and at the same time, the maul blades sprung out to their combat position making that weapon nearly 5 feet long.
Kayden hit the ground in the densest group of humans who appeared to be decomposing more by the second. His arms exploded in a flurry of attacks. Kayden plunged the gauntlet blades on his left arm just under the collarbone directly beneath the creature's neck. Kayden then kicked the body with his left foot and the neck made a sickening sucking sound as the head came clean off, greyish blood and gore spraying over the crumpling corpse.
Before he had even finished decapitating that enemy, the maul in Kayden's right hand had cut straight across the chest of another zombie, the intestines spilling out onto the ground. The creature glanced two very human eyes down at it's own intestines with a curious look on its face as it started to fall to the ground dead, and yet Kayden's maul had already swung backwards impaling two gangrenous humans on the blade. With a flick of his elbow, the maul ripped sideways out of the stomach of the creatures.
Kayden noticed out of the corner of his eye, another zombie was closing in on his left side with jaws gaped wide open. These creatures aren't trying to fight, but actually just trying to bite me. Odd. Kayden brought his arm low and in an uppercutting movement jammed the gauntlet blades underneath the jaw of the zombie. He then pulled his blades towards him, ripping the face of creature off, revealing brain and bone as the tongue of the zombie hung limp without the support of a jaw.
Only a few seconds had passed, and Kayden had already dropped a dozen of the zombies when a voice rang out "Everybody fall back. We need to make it back to the ship."
"What, to much for ya?!?" Kayden yelled back, as he swung his maul in a circular motion, cutting a perfect diagonal line through 4 zombies as he leaped deeper into the swarm. Those youngins must have been having trouble already, and I'm just getting limbered up! He thought as he cut down 3 more zombies in two swipes of his blades.
"There are survivors stealing our ship! hurry up!" Was announced across the battlefield. "DAMN!! Can't you guys do anything right?! Where's Blindside to cover the flank?" Kayden said as he swept his blades in a circle through the legs of a dozen zombies, giving him a clearing enough to charge his suit for a jump towards the ship. He sprung forth with fury and determination. He would be mocked for getting stuck on the very rock he left in order to begin his Ritual Hunt. Kayden slashed through the zombies, running as fast as the suit could move his straining muscles. Push yourself.
He neared the crew, battling their way through the mob of undead, on their way back to the ship. Kayden zoomed his visor towards the ship only to see more than 3 dozen surviving gang members piling gear into the ship they were trying to steal. It was then that his HUD displayed a tremor of 3.5 on the Richter Scale. What was that?
The ground in the core of the zombie force exploded upwards, launching hundreds of zombies sailing into the air. A massive beast over 60ft tall crawled out of the gaping hole in the ground. It's natural form was obscured by the glint of warped steel armor covering the already horrific body. Shit! It can't be!!!
EVERYONE TAKE COVER!!! Kayden yelled at the top of his voice.
The Ritual Hunt Archives recorded some battles from hundreds of years ago, where the greatest warriors of his clan joined together to hunt massive beasts of war. When Kayden reached the rank of YoungBlood, he was taught that ancient humans once cloned creatures from the Jurassic Period and used them for battles. They were even known to modify the bodies of the terrible creatures to make them more combat effective. It was clear that the battle we waged above the earth awoke one of these terrible monsters of destruction from ancient times.
The Demon from below stood on two massive and powerful legs with a tail stretching out as long as the creature was tall. It had two arms that looked to have large amounts of metal grafted to them to compensate for what seemed to be limbs that other wise would have been very useless. Now they were justified killing machines. The head of the beast was enormous, and could easily swallow a human without swallowing, despite what the hundreds of dagger-like teeth would do. Where the body wasn't covered in large metal spikes or blades, it was covered in thick plate metal. Even a handful of the zombies, whose brains were rotting, realized that they would do better to flee this terrifying sight, and those few did turn and run.
We would have to work together to have the slightest chance to defeat this creature.
Kayden had just reached Dorf, who had slowed his slaughter of zombies when the beast looked directly at the two warriors, let out a roar, a combination of animal and mechanical noise that cut right to the core of the hardest warrior's soul. And then the tyrant lizard charged.
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Kayden, unbeknown to the rest of the Revenants, snuck aboard the escape pod. The small craft fired what little blasters it had, just barely taking down the enemy ship's hanger shield. Sparks flew as the escape pod scraped along the hanger floor. The Revenants opened the door and were greeted by hundreds of demonic aliens who looked constructed rather than born. Between the seams of the terribly grafted rock and metal and flesh, dripped a thick florescent liquid. It smelled of ozone in the enemy ship, no doubt caused by the thick liquid dripping from the creatures onto the floor of the ship, sizzling as it tries to eat its way through the hull.
There was not a moment's breath before the battle was on. Kayden joined the fight still cloaked, in an attempt to take out as many as possible before they realized another was in their midst. He ran quickly, slashing out at every monster within blade's reach. Kayden kept tabs on his brothers in arms as the fight went on, and watched as Scorpius lost limb after limb, and was slowly torn apart before finally being crushed beneath the massive foot of an alien so large it had to keep it's head tucked down to avoid bumping against the hanger roof.
Kayden worked his way to the others, cutting and slashing as quickly and efficiently as he could, and in mid step felt a huge impact on his right side. The blow sent him skidding across the hull floor. Dazed, Kayden realized that victory was unattainable. Meth flew through the air and crashed against the durilium wall, leaving a large dent. His body fell in a heap on the floor, blood trickled from his skull. Across the room, Oltu was suddenly completely obscured by the swarm of crazed aliens. He attempted to scream out, but quickly met his fate as he was ripped into pieces by the hideous beings. Dorf and Venom looked to be still trying to win the fight, but Kayden knew that this would be the end for the Revenants.
Explosions rang out in the hanger. Dorf was nearly finished off by a blaster bolt to the head when he grabbed the offender and leapt into the fire and explosions, honorably killing himself and the alien commander.
Venom had left the hanger bay, hopefully in search of the ship's power core. Perhaps he sought to annihilate the entire ship. Kayden made it to his feet, cloaking field still working, although his power levels were reaching critical. He felt a sharp pain in his rib cage which his visor displayed as a fractured rib. Kayden readied himself for when his cloaking field would wear off, and he would be on his own fighting to his death. He positioned himself with his back towards a viewport, which he glanced through, imagining the life he might have led on some distant planet.
One of the beasts sniffed. And Kayden knew he had been discovered. It was then that the ship buckled under him. The ship warped and began to twist under the stress of some massive explosion. There would be no time to run or escape, as the explosion began to fill the hanger bay. One of the remaining aliens came hurling through the air, colliding with Kayden. The blow sending them both careening through the viewport, and out into space. The cold instantly siezed up most of his armor joints. And he felt the pressure on his suit, as the void of space tried to rip him apart, but his suit held fast. The alien wasn't quite as lucky as his flesh instantly froze. As every bit of moisture in the alien's body froze, the skin began to shrink, and as it did, it cracked. The entire body was covered in these cracks. The beast would never again kill innocents.
Kayden imagined the fate of drifting in nothingness until his stomach shriveled and he starved to death. But the universe wasn't that cruel. Kayden realized that he was hurling through space towards a planet. He entered the atmosphere, and he felt the suit free up. The heat instantly melting the ice. His armor glowed red and flames began to flick off his body. This is how my life will end. Burning up in the atmosphere of some unknown planet.
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A brother and sister played on their swingset, the sun had finally gone down. They heard their mother call for them, but they had not a care in the world. They would play until their mother dragged them inside the house for dinner.
"A shooting star" The young boy announced, as he pointed up at the sky.
"Make a wish" Said his little sister, as she closed her eyes dreaming of fancy shoes and pretty dresses.
The boy's wish was far different. He dreamed of far away battles, of hundreds of star systems streaking by the ship cockpit, of vanquishing hundreds of foul aliens. He dreamed of being a warrior. A hero.
Kayden had made his way through the mob of warriors, closing the distance towards General Shinko. Meanwhile, John Swiftblade slashed through the soldiers and moved in from behind the General. Their timing would have to be perfect.
Kayden parried away a glancing blow and punched his wrist blades into the chest of his opponent. John swiped his blades low severing the tendons in his foe's knee, the leg buckling under the soldiers weight. The two Revenants had nearly converged, and poised to strike. General Shinko raised his hands at Kayden, ready to deliver the killing blow. And yet, the General hesitated, as the 2 blades from behind him reached out to claim his life.
*Ding*
"Attention Revenants. We will be landing on Bormunth soon."
Dorf gave his perfectly ill timed speech once again.
"Do we ever get some time to ourselves!! Dammit!!" Screamed Kayden.
The pent up fury had to go somewhere, and so he swept his maul out at the still frozen General Shinko. But Kayden's anger wouldn't be sated. The blade didn't meet flesh and bone, spraying out blood and gore, but merely caused a slight wavy ripple in the hologram.
"AHHH!! End Simulation." Kayden said bitterly, malice licking the edge of each syllable. The world shifted and melted back into flat durillium walls and floors of the combat chamber.
"See you in the cargo bay." He said curtly. And Kayden stormed off.
A voice rang out in the valley, "Mind some company in there?"
"Come on in, the weather's fine!" Laughed Kayden, as he leaped back up into the fray. Kayden collided with another massive Troscka warrior, and pounded both blades through the soldier's chest. Out of the corner of his eye, Kayden saw the General preparing another attack. Kayden kicked the dying Troscka body in the direction of General Shinko, in an attempt to absorb the blast. It was a feeble attempt, as the 250lb Troscka body slammed into Kayden, sending them both flying.
"What are you waiting for?!" Yelled Kayden as he once again crashed into the ground.
Kayden, still bored, made his way around the ship, where he eventually found the holographic combat room. "I'll give you a try."
"Activate Random Level, difficutly 1." And the world morphed about him into a green open field with a rainbow off in the distance. A small rabbit came hopping slowly towards Kayden. "You've got to be shitting me!" And with one decisive motion, Kayden picks up right boot, and brings it slamming down upon the rabbits frail skull, blood oozes out from under his boot.
"Activate Random Level, difficulty 15."Once again, the world shifts and morphs into a new world. The sky blends from the clear blue, to a blood red, now on a distant planet orbiting 2 red giant stars at the center of the system. Kayden is now in a valley of some kind, where jagged black and yellow rocks cover the landscape. He begins walking through the rough terrain, towards the valley entrance.
RROOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!!
A massive toothy feline animal bellowed out in anger from high up one of the rock walls. Kayden turns just in time to see this massive beast leaping down upon him. Shhhhhhinkkk!! The blades flick out, the crackle of electricity coming from his newly altered maul. Kayden crouches, charging his power armor, and explodes skyward to meet his foe. Kayden swings out, as he passes by the twisting beast in mid air. The smell of burnt hair and flesh fills the air.
CRRAAAAKOOOOOM!!!
The feline crashes into the ground, landing solid on it's feet. Kayden flips in mid air, half expecting his enemy to already be slain. But the large cat only was cut on the side, and showed it's prowess at aerial combat as well as ground combat. Kayden landed on one knee, cracking the jagged rocky landscape around him. Before he could stand, the feline monster had already lunged again at Kayden. He rolled out of the way, flicking his maul upwards as he moved. The blade sliced into the belly of the animal, where muscle was now visible.
RRREEEEAAOOOOWWWWW!!!!!
The beast screamed, and was shocked that this tiny person had hurt him so badly. The feline turned slowly around to face it's rival once again. But the giant cat wouldn't get the chance. Kayden plunged his maul deep into the forehead of the creature, burning away the hair where small bolts of lightning flicked against the skin. The beast lay still.
"Activate Random Level, difficulty 47."
The world shifted once again. The heat was what he felt first. This time Kayden found himself standing precariously on a small pillar of rock suspended mere feet above a flowing river of molten stone. The sky was dark, the blackness obscuring his vision. He quickly switched to night vision to see his new enemy. On the banks of the lava river, stood the group of around 200 heavily armed Troscka. The group parted down the middle, revealing the unmistakable red armor encasing the legendary General Shinko. The great Troscka who once defeated a Bull Krilexian Dragon single handlely. Most armies wouldn't take on that task. The story goes that war had become too easy for him, so he took his Battleship out beyond the Outer Rim, into uncharted space, in search of a challenge. That was nearly 100 years ago, and no one has heard from him since.
"Finally a challenge." Kayden says with a smile. He crouches, charging his jump once again, and launches into battle.
Kayden jumped, and in one final motion, plunged the maul straight down into the skull of the beast. The massive Reptylia fell to the ground and finally laid still, and the few remaining Reptylia in area, turned and fled.
"We must leave now!" Oltu shouted to the group.
"Good timing" Said Kayden, exhausted from the fight.
Kayden accompanies the rest of the Revenants back to the Ungaru camp, where they recieved their insignificant pay. Once they had left earshot and were nearly at the ship, Kayden said to Oltu, "Next time, can we get a job from someone who pays better?"
Kayden stood slowly, tightening his grip on the maul. The Reptylia started in Kayden's direction with pure hatred filling it's eyes, weapons at the ready. Kayden begins walking towards the warrior Reptylia, his weapons held low to his sides. A couple strides seperate the warriors now. The Reptylia roars. Kayden lunges.
The Reptylia moved like lightning, dodging Kayden's strike, and swung the battleaxe, meaning to seperate Kayden's head from his body. Kayden ducks, the wind of the axe letting him know how close he was to being beheaded. Only a moment later, the Hammer came crashing down, Kayden doing the best he could to deflect the blow with his armored forearm. The dampers did their job, but the pain still buzzed up his arm.
Kayden had no time to react to the pain, and swept his maul towards the feet of the warrior Reptylia. But the blade met nothing but air as the Reptylia catapulted himself flying over his opponent. Kayden spun with his maul, in an attempt to catch the beast offguard, but Kayden's weapon embedded itself into the heavy metallic alloy of the axe. The Reptylia yanked and flung both weapons away, leaving Kayden now unarmed save for his wrist blades. The Reptylia raises the hammer with both hands. Kayden crosses his arms in a feeble attempt to block the blow. The hammer begins it's decent to crush the human...
Kayden didn't wait for Dorf to crash open the gate. Instead, he crouched near the 20ft fence, charged his powered legs, and exploded upwards. He sailed over the fence, his Heads Up Display selecting the immediate targets on his projected course. Kayden came down right in the thick of the Umbazi Reptylia, which appeared as solid white against a background of blues and reds.
Kayden landed on the back of one of the Reptylia, and with both of his arms extended, he pierced his blades straight through the tough hide of the lizard man. He tore the maul from the Reptylia's side, intestines spilling out as the blade pulls free. In the same outward motion, Kayden swiped the blade to his side to impale another Umbazi in the throat, a sick gurgling sound coming from the creature's mouth. A dozen Umbazi begin surrounding Kayden, and move in to strike.
BOOOOOOM!!!!
A loud crash sounds out, and Kayden feels the earth tremble for a second, as Dorf's hammer smashed into the ground. Good, the others have joined the fight. Kayden used the momentary distraction to his advantage, and slashed out at the legs of several lizard men, severing their limbs from their bodies.
The HUD in Kayden's helmet flashed a brief warning, as a spear was released, and flew through the air, destined to impale him. Kayden rolled away, his blades ripping free of his victims. The spear deflected off Kayden's shoulder armor, and slammed an Umbazi in the stomach, spraying blood out the lizardman's back as the sharpened spearhead burst free of the flesh.
Kayden got to his feet, and punched out with both blades straight to his side, catching two attacking Umbazi's in their chests. The bone crunched, and the bodies slumped as they began to fall free of the blades. Kayden began to march towards the gate of the encampment, his blades cutting a bloody path through the swarms of lizardmen.
"I hope we don't have to deal with more rough landings like that." says Kayden as he enters the cargo bay.
He listens to Dorf's explanation of the crash landing, and chimes in "I should be able to repair the ship if someone can diagnose exactly what was damaged in the crash."
"alright boys let's move out" Dorf commanded.
Kayden readied himself as the crew moved out to the enemy camp. The appetite for blood radiating from each soldier.
"Ready when you are" he whispers to the team, his blades extended, prepped for battle.
"I apologize for my bluntness, I ran into trouble on the way back to the ship. I'm Kayden, welcome aboard." Kayden says, realizing the man is telling the truth.
"So what is your specialty?"
"Son of a bitch! Just as I get some time to myself, these bastards call me back again"
"Is there a problem?" A well built, ugly human asks.
"Mister, you better mind your own business and get out of my way."
"Uhuh" The man steps aside, fingering the hilt of a blade hanging from his belt.
Kayden heads outside, to find that the sun has gone down. Kayden finally feels at ease in his element. Just when he starts down the street on his way back to the ship, Kayden's helmet sensors pick up somebody moving at a quick pace from behind. Kayden takes a turn into an alley, and moves swiftly to the shadows while engaging his cloaking field.
The burly man from the bar comes running around the corner, with his short energy sword at the ready.
Kayden waits patiently for the man to jog past where he is hiding. As he does, Kayden gets up and moves quickly and silently behind the burly man, the dampers in Kayden's boots working flawlessly. The twin blades on Kayden's left wrist extend to their full 18" length. He pulls his arm back, and slams it into the man's left shoulder. At the same time, Kayden bends the bar patron's right arm behind his back, feeling the pop of a couple ligaments in the man's shoulder. The shortblade falls to the ground.
"Aaaahhhhh!!! My arm!!!"
"The only reason you aren't dead right now," Kayden says in a deep menacing voice, "is because I have simply, killed too many today."
"Do not try to follow me, because I will know."
"Who... who are you?" said the man in a gasping, pained voice.
"Kayden Darkstryde, Hardblood of the Kiss of Midnight gang."As he said this, Kayden kicks the man away. The wrist blades doing more damage coming out than they did going in, and now the man's left arm barely hangs on by a few strands of muscle and sinew.
"Shiiii..." The man trails off, as he falls limp to the ground in a pool of his own blood.
Kayden disappears back into the shadows, and runs to the ship. He decloaks just as he rounds the corner to the docking bay, slowing to a brisk walk. Kayden walks into the cargo bay, and heads to his room to wash the blood off his blade. He walks past the ship's armory and see's a man that he hasn't met before, just sitting on a bench, working on some goggles.
Kayden moves toward the man, adrenaline still pumping, ready to gut this man like a fish if he tries anything.
"Who are you? And what are you doing inside this ship?"
He steps off the ship, and heads straight for the nearest clothing shop, and digs up a worn, dark brown duster coat, and a dark brown western hat. Both have seen much better days. He payed for the clothing and made his way outside to the alley behind the shop. He pulled the duster on and left it unbuttoned, just covering the insignia, but still allowing him to get to his now concealed maul if he had to. He took off his helmet, pushed a button on the inside. The helmet folded in on itself, becoming no more than a curved thin strip of metal, which he held at his left side, magnetically fastening it to his hip. Kayden then pulled the hat down just above his eyebrows, casting a perfect shadow across his face.
Kayden then made his way down the main street, and eventually came upon a couple of themed bars. A rainforest themed bar, and a western themed bar. Well I'll fit in just fine. He thought as he made his way inside the western bar. As soon as he walked in, he noticed a group men with matching cropped haircuts and perfectly creased pants, obviously military pilots on leave. Best to avoid these guys. He thought to himself as he discretely made his way to the other end of the bar. "Barkeep, get me a bottle of whiskey."
The bartender, dressed as a cattleman, pulled a bottle of whiskey from the middle shelf and was about to set it down when Kayden interrupted.
"I don't think so. Get me the good stuff, one of those bottles on the bottom shelf." He said, slapping a wad of cash on the table.
This is a day for celebrating. He thought, pouring a shot and tossing it down his throat. He immediately refilled the glass and pounded it down as well. The perfect start to a good day.
Kayden let out a bloodcurdling scream of pain that pierced right through the door of his room and echoed out into the ship. The biological mortar that he used to seal up his wound felt like a mixture of fire and acid entering his body. He used the small spatula-like item to scoop up more of the smoldering blue mortar, and pressed it into the wound on his front this time.
Kayden squinted his eyes, clenched his jaw and balled his fists as the mortar went to work. The pain would have been unbearable, save for Kayden's training.
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Kayden flashed back to a time when he was still a young boy, only 8 years of age. CRAAAAACK!! went the whip as it connected with his back, Kayden biting down on the piece of wood, grimacing in unrelenting pain. CRRAAAAACK!!
Now 12 years old, bruised and battered Kayden is sitting over top the chest of another boy. They are undergoing the Chiva, the demanding physical and mental requirements of the Clan, The Kiss of Midnight, or in the ancient language Nan-de Thangaun. Kayden levels punch after punch into the other boy's now swelling, bloodied face. SMAAACK!! SMAAACK!!
Kayden is now 16, and is undergoing his Young Blood ceremony. The leader, the current Old Blood of the clan, removes a long branding rod from a smoldering pile of the clan's blue biological mortar. The tip of the rod has the emblem of the Clan, a man crouched down with his head in his hands completely engulfed in fire. The rod glows a frightening blue, the smell of ozone lingering in the air. The Old Blood speaks some words in the old tong, "C'ntlip di Cetanu, Mei'hswei Kai'dien thin-de le'hasuan 'aloun'myin-del bpi-de gka-de hasou-de paya. H'ka-se, z'skvy-de TAREI'THWEI!!!"
He jams the rod into Kayden's bare chest, flesh burning...
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"GAAAA!! FFFFFAAAAAAAAAAKK!!!"
Kayden screams, and lets out all his fury by punching the wall as hard as he could, landing with a loud metallic THUNK, denting the metal hull in the shape of his knuckles. Trying to catch his breath, Kayden forced himself to think of something else. At least the repairs on my armor won't hurt. "Hu Hu Haa Haa." Uncontrollably trying to laugh away the pain, but he knew the pain wouldn't fully subside for at least 12 hours.
Kayden was thankful that he wouldn't have to use a thread and needle on the cloth underarmor, for the nanotech suit had already stitched itself back together. Kayden removed the plates of armor that had been pierced, he started up the plasma fusing torch, took a deep breath, concentrated on the pain, and set to work.
"Hey your back looks pretty bad there, need me to put some temporary stitches on you?"
"DON'T touch me." Kayden said, the bloodlust still not worn off. He would not be shamed by being stitched up, his wounds required his ritualistic healing methods. Kayden switched his suit to maintenance/medical mode, and the cloth undersuit began to pull tight around the wounds, stopping the bleeding almost immediately. It felt like the wound was a clean one, punching through the outside edge of his lower ribcage.
Kayden made his way over to the fallen robotic lizard, that now had a crushed up building on top of it. He found where the tail lay limp, and began to cut off the tip of the tail, a section around 5 feet long, covered completely in thick metal armor with a sharp pointed blade attached to the end. Kayden reached up to his left shoulder armor and pulled off a plated section. He pushed two buttons simultaneously expanding the box in all directions and opening it to reveal miniaturized versions of several trophies, including skulls of various creatures and a few trophy weapons.
There was also a bizarre tool inside the box about 4 inches long with a small bag attached to the end. Kayden dragged the tip of this oddly shaped tool from where he cut the tail section off, all the way down to the tip of the blade on the end. The tool stored the information it had just recieved, and replicated a miniaturized version only 2 inches long. Kayden pulled this from the bag and placed it inside the trophy box.
Time to get going. He thought to himself as he quickly put everything away and made his way to the ship, where he could begin to repair his wounds. Kayden made it to the ship uneventfully, and climbed aboard.
Kayden was right behind Dorf in their assault of the creature. The blades of kayden slashed out across an armored leg, testing the armor, which was even thicker than expected. In midattack, a sharp pain went through his lower right ribcage as something hit him from behind, sliding Kayden across the ground away from the mechanical monster. Kayden grimaced as he watched the spiked tail of the creature pull free of his armor.
Kayden's eyes now glossed over in red as a rage filled him that he hadn't felt in over a year. He cried out a scream of bloodlust and sprinted back at the behemoth, planted a foot in midstride, and exploded upwards. Kayden climbed up the giant creature by digging his blades into its side, one after another, working his way up. He clawed his way to the upper back of the monster, trying to avoid being impaled on the spikes adorning the beast's back.
Kayden raised his maul, and plunged it as hard as he could into the back of the creature. He didn't remove the maul, but rather began to drag it through the armor, bone and flesh. Yet even with the energy blade technology carving it's way through the body, Kayden still struggled against the thick hide.
Kayden's own side began to ache and burn as his HUD continued to flash that his lower back armor had been pierced. But there was no time to worry about that, even as his blood flowed out of his back.
Hit the eye with hollowpoints!! He yelled out.
Kayden engaged his cloaking field, and sprinted at maximum speed towards the enemy. He covered the distance in the blink of an eye, and if he wasn't cloaked, he would have still been nearly too fast for the human eye to track. Time seemed to slow down for Kayden as the combat receptors in the visor began to predict the movements of the enemy. In mid stride, Kayden planted one foot into the ground, charging the leg in an instant to 100% before releasing and launching him nearly 30ft into the air. As Kayden spun and twisted in the air, he reached down to his right leg and disabled the magnetic fasteners holding his maul. With a flick of both arms downwards, the dual blades in his left gauntlet extended to 18 inches, and at the same time, the maul blades sprung out to their combat position making that weapon nearly 5 feet long.
Kayden hit the ground in the densest group of humans who appeared to be decomposing more by the second. His arms exploded in a flurry of attacks. Kayden plunged the gauntlet blades on his left arm just under the collarbone directly beneath the creature's neck. Kayden then kicked the body with his left foot and the neck made a sickening sucking sound as the head came clean off, greyish blood and gore spraying over the crumpling corpse.
Before he had even finished decapitating that enemy, the maul in Kayden's right hand had cut straight across the chest of another zombie, the intestines spilling out onto the ground. The creature glanced two very human eyes down at it's own intestines with a curious look on its face as it started to fall to the ground dead, and yet Kayden's maul had already swung backwards impaling two gangrenous humans on the blade. With a flick of his elbow, the maul ripped sideways out of the stomach of the creatures.
Kayden noticed out of the corner of his eye, another zombie was closing in on his left side with jaws gaped wide open. These creatures aren't trying to fight, but actually just trying to bite me. Odd. Kayden brought his arm low and in an uppercutting movement jammed the gauntlet blades underneath the jaw of the zombie. He then pulled his blades towards him, ripping the face of creature off, revealing brain and bone as the tongue of the zombie hung limp without the support of a jaw.
Only a few seconds had passed, and Kayden had already dropped a dozen of the zombies when a voice rang out "Everybody fall back. We need to make it back to the ship."
"What, to much for ya?!?" Kayden yelled back, as he swung his maul in a circular motion, cutting a perfect diagonal line through 4 zombies as he leaped deeper into the swarm. Those youngins must have been having trouble already, and I'm just getting limbered up! He thought as he cut down 3 more zombies in two swipes of his blades.
"There are survivors stealing our ship! hurry up!" Was announced across the battlefield. "DAMN!! Can't you guys do anything right?! Where's Blindside to cover the flank?" Kayden said as he swept his blades in a circle through the legs of a dozen zombies, giving him a clearing enough to charge his suit for a jump towards the ship. He sprung forth with fury and determination. He would be mocked for getting stuck on the very rock he left in order to begin his Ritual Hunt. Kayden slashed through the zombies, running as fast as the suit could move his straining muscles. Push yourself.
He neared the crew, battling their way through the mob of undead, on their way back to the ship. Kayden zoomed his visor towards the ship only to see more than 3 dozen surviving gang members piling gear into the ship they were trying to steal. It was then that his HUD displayed a tremor of 3.5 on the Richter Scale. What was that?
The ground in the core of the zombie force exploded upwards, launching hundreds of zombies sailing into the air. A massive beast over 60ft tall crawled out of the gaping hole in the ground. It's natural form was obscured by the glint of warped steel armor covering the already horrific body. Shit! It can't be!!!
EVERYONE TAKE COVER!!! Kayden yelled at the top of his voice.
The Ritual Hunt Archives recorded some battles from hundreds of years ago, where the greatest warriors of his clan joined together to hunt massive beasts of war. When Kayden reached the rank of YoungBlood, he was taught that ancient humans once cloned creatures from the Jurassic Period and used them for battles. They were even known to modify the bodies of the terrible creatures to make them more combat effective. It was clear that the battle we waged above the earth awoke one of these terrible monsters of destruction from ancient times.
The Demon from below stood on two massive and powerful legs with a tail stretching out as long as the creature was tall. It had two arms that looked to have large amounts of metal grafted to them to compensate for what seemed to be limbs that other wise would have been very useless. Now they were justified killing machines. The head of the beast was enormous, and could easily swallow a human without swallowing, despite what the hundreds of dagger-like teeth would do. Where the body wasn't covered in large metal spikes or blades, it was covered in thick plate metal. Even a handful of the zombies, whose brains were rotting, realized that they would do better to flee this terrifying sight, and those few did turn and run.
We would have to work together to have the slightest chance to defeat this creature.
Kayden had just reached Dorf, who had slowed his slaughter of zombies when the beast looked directly at the two warriors, let out a roar, a combination of animal and mechanical noise that cut right to the core of the hardest warrior's soul. And then the tyrant lizard charged.