Chương 33: Ch. 30 - Battle of Et'ium

"I appreciate your eagerness," said Luna.

"No, sorry. It's dumb."

"No. Go ahead, Luna. What's up?" I said.

"It's just, he doesn't have a Frame." I turned back to Jeromy who had a dumb grin on his face.

"What's so funny? She's right."

"Actually," he pushed up on his non-existent glasses.

"That is a Frame."

"What?"

"Yeah. Weirdest thing too. My ex squad, those good for nothings, they beat an exit boss on the second floor. When they did, they left me. Left me in the dust after seeing what I had picked. No amount of me telling them it was a Frame and not from the ship swayed their opinions. But when I saw it I had to pick it, it was pretty much the only one I'm good at piloting. All those hours of practice and I figured, why not. At first I thought someone was fu-" he turned to Luna and corrected himself.

"Messing with me."

"I don't think she cares if you say a naughty word," I said.

"Look, you might not have a problem with that. But my mother raised me right. I'm not some delinquent that gets by on good looks alone. I have proper manners."

"Uh-huh. So you were telling us about how your Gatherer unit is actually a Frame."

"Ah, right. So, there I am, looking at this thing and that's it. I picked it. It's what I was most comfortable with. But when I did pick it and finish the boot sequence, I was crinkling my nose so I have to do that every time now." Luna perked up.

"I was puffing my cheeks!" she exclaimed.

"I have to puff my cheeks every time too! Not all the way, just a little air is fine I noticed."

"Isn't that something?!" said Jeromy.

"I look angry when I pilot now. The scowl. I'm scared it'll wrinkle me young."

"Focus," I said.

"I am focusing. This is important stuff, Stefo. Anyway. They left and like a fart in the wind, I was lost. So I flew to the first settlement I could find. And wouldn't you know it, I stumbled onto a quest. The goblinoid bloke. With the name 36, he wanted me to fetch some sulfur. Well I ran into my old squad here and saw them making friends. Told them about it but was rightly pissed that they abandoned me. I got the sulfur and was shanked when I didn't add them to the party.

They must've thought that 36 would accept sulfur from anyone."

"Yeah, we saw him," I said.

"That settlement got bombed too." Jeromy had a sad look on his face.

"That's a shame. It was a nice place. I'm thinking they picked up a quest then as well. How else would they ally themselves with a goblinoid settlement?" His gaze fell to the ground.

"It was Hilbert that stabbed me. Did you see him?"

"No," I said.

"Only Hernando, Quinton and Felicia. Quinton said, Hilbert is dead."

"So, squad leader is dead. Hernando is a turncoat and I'm alone." An explosion shook the ground.

"Let me ask you something real quick."

"I got all the time in the world it seems. Go ahead."

"How sure are you that they don't believe you about your Frame?" Jeromy had a puzzled look on his face, pondering an answer.

"I'm not sure. It's not like I have a sticker that says, 'Jesus take the controls.' Or some such."

"What level? What can it do?"

"It's level 15. It acts almost like a Gatherer unit. Some surprises here and there, but it's genuine."

"And they didn't scan it? See the description?"

"I don't know, Stefano. Its not like we have ever seen a Gatherer Frame before."

"E rank?" asked Luna.

"Yeah. E Rank. Got a steal, all things considering," said Jeromy.

"Then that's going to be our ace. They aren't expecting anything from you. I can handle maybe one of them," I said.

"I've seen you pilot. I'm more scared for them," said Jeromy.

"They aren't that high level. 20 I think. Around 20. But it's from a bunch of low level equipment. I don't think they reached a cap on any of it."

"Are you talking about Hernando or SunEater?" I asked.

"Hmm. Fair point. I'm not sure about SunEater, but Hernando was low 20's when I last saw," said Jeromy.

"A lot of unknowns. Only good thing is they can't leave," I said.

"So their mechs aren't an issue." Another explosion rocked the ground. We tumbled as the shields strained against the impact.

"So we have goblinoids bombing us. One Frame outside and two murderers stuck here with us." Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"What's the bad news?" said Jeromy.

"We need to get the SunEater squad to use an exfil portal," I said.

"We have incoming," said Caddie.

"They are parachuting." Yula held the same ornate stick that the other were outfitted with. The loose and elegant Elvian dress she was wearing was replaced with a more form-fitting suit with tassels for each extremity. It seemed to allow for easier movement and around her was a belt of… water? It was a bandoleer of canteens that went around her waist and chest.

"Is that a musket?" asked Luna.

"It looks like a musket. Or an old rifle."

"I have no idea what she just said," said Jeromy.

"But she sounds smart."

"It's an old Earth weapon Luna is referencing," said Caddie.

"With that said, she is wrong. Earth weapons fire ballistics. These weapons are powered by mana. Standard issue for the Elvian armed forces."

"So they use, magic?" I asked.

"It is not magic," said Caddie.

"But as a simple explanation. Yes. We are out of time." Caddie reformed into an earring and the map on my HUD flashed with the small dots to indicate hostiles. There were tons. Yula took a step forward, peering through the window and took a deep breath.

"Palina. I will stabilize. I will kill. Give a prayer that the Nexus should join us if tomorrow does not come for me."

"By the light, Mother. May you not see the void. But may the Nexus be kind should it happen."

"And Lixana?"

"She is at the manor. Prepping."

"Not one shall see the inside." She turned from the window, gave a long glance to her daughter before heading outside.

"What was that?" asked Caddie.

"A prayer," said Palina.

"I will add that to the databanks."

"What are we supposed to do?" I asked.

"I will protect this place. Protect you," said Palina. She looked way too young to be saying that. She might be hundreds of years old, but she looked no bigger than a 12 year old. It didn't sit right with me.

"Caddie," I said.

"Tell me there is something in my inventory. A weapon I can use. Anything."

"You don't have the augmentation to resize your equipment. The flashlight was the only exception but that was because it was attached to me," said Caddie.

"So. What? We just sit here until the fighting is done?" I asked, incredulously. Blasts fired outside. Shooting and screams filled the air. Orders were barked as more and more death rained.

"Stefano," said Luna.

"Jeromy is in no shape to pilot. Much less fight outside of a Frame. What are you hoping for?"

"I don't know. Something. Anything! We can't just sit here." I had been searching through the house for anything that resembled a weapon. The shouts from outside were blood curdling. Each scream was potentially someone who was defending us. Someone Palina knew. Footsteps above us, on the roof stopped me cold. Palina followed the movements, the runes on her face glowed a brighter blue than any time I had previously seen. Her eyes went completely red. No pupil. No iris. Just pure red.

"Two of them," she whispered.

"I can see the flow of blood on them. But I can't do anything unless I can see them directly."

"That's terrifying," said Jeromy.

"What exactly can she do?" He groaned as he went to one knee to lower his profile.

"She said she could boil my blood," I whispered. I found a spoon-knife and held it in my hand, sharp side out.

"What? No way," whispered Jeromy. A jump to the terrace shocked us. Palina ducked as she raised her hands at the door. Luna hid under the bed. Jeromy behind the table. And me next to the door. Spoon-knife up in the air. The door slammed open. The goblinoid, short and green. His hair patchy at the top of his head. He held a single shot rifle in his hands. His chest was slung with two bandoleers, crossed over each other. On it were sticks of explosives, just the right size to fit into the weapon he carried.

He looked up just in time for me to swing the spoon-knife into his eye. I dug the spoon as he yowled in pain. He dropped his weapon and it fired. It shot a hole through the far wall. The blast rung in my ear as it resonated through the enclosed space.

"I'll kill you, worm!" yelled the Goblinoid. He reached at his eye for the spoon. I fell back. My legs shaking as the terror of what just happened caught up to me. My hands were shaking. The adrenaline rush had seized and all my limbs locked. I couldn't even breathe as he eyed me with his good eye. He drew the dagger from his pouch and made a sickly grin. He dropped it as he screamed in pain.

"No you won't," said Palina. The runes on her face exploding with brightness. Steam came off the Goblinoid's skin as he dropped to the floor, rolling as if he was on fire. A second bang came from the doorway and Palina fell to the ground. The three of us went pale as the second Goblinoid stepped through the threshold. His weapon open as he reloaded another shot into it.

"Get a grip, 'U Seven-Five.' The big bad and scary little girl can't hurt you anymore. Pathetic." His gaze turned to the three of us as his grin grew malicious.

"Oh. New scalps for me." Panic rushed through me. Anxiety. Fear. I couldn't breathe. The dagger on the ground. I stared at it. I was the closest. But I couldn't reach it. I gasped. I couldn't breathe.

"Damn it. It's jammed. Get up already!" My hands were shaking. Jeromy held his stomach. Luna had tears streaming down her face. I held my breath. I lunged at the dagger.

"What?" He stepped back. Surprised by the sudden outburst. I drove the dagger into the Goblinoid's leg. His blood hit the ground and he yelled in pain. He pointed his weapon at my face.

"Ah! I'll kill you, monkey," he yelled.

"Your hair will look nice on me." He closed the weapon, cocking it. I scrambled, pushing myself up. Not thinking. I ran through him. We both tumbled over the railing. My full weight landed on his chest. His head smacked the ground with a sickening crunch. He lay on the ground. Motionless. His blood was all over me. I couldn't look away. I couldn't stop panting. I had killed him. I took a life. I looked at my hands as they trembled.

"Stefo!" That stopped me from spiraling. I pulled the dagger from the Goblinoids leg. It was buried to the hilt, but I pried it free. I stumbled up the stairs. Faster with each step. At the top, I searched for the Goblinoid that was supposed to still be on the ground. He was, but he wasn't picking himself up in obvious pain. He was crawling to his weapon. I stopped him.

"Just kill me," he whimpered.

"It hurts." Blood rushed from his eyes in steam and he went limp in my hands. I let him go. His body smacking against the ground. Palina was holding her abdomen with one arm. The other was pointed at the Goblinoid. She screamed as the runes on her face dulled. Luna crawled from under the bed and gently escorted her down to the ground. She held pressure on her wound, but it was larger than her hands could surround.

"Caddie," I said.

"We need to put her in the stasis pod."

"That is ill-advised," said Caddie.

"Why?!"

"It is not a sterile environment and cross contamination is likely-""Help me, Jeromy," I said, ignoring Caddie. We gently picked her up and placed her inside, not sealing it.

"We need to go the manor. We need to get her there."

"It's a warzone out there," said Jeromy.

"It's not a Sunday stroll."

"We're not letting her die," I said.

"She protected us. We save her." I grabbed a handle as my legs shook with anxiety and fear.

"Let's go." We each grabbed a handle and headed through the door.