Fantasy Kaizoic: Earth Reborn

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo ran over to the staircase railing as the events ensued, In panic, his heart threatened to jump out of his chest. This was absolutely brutal, and as Dracon sinks his sharp teeth into Stryx's mechanical arm, he also began to realize that this outcome was the last thing he had wanted to happen. They'd fucked up big time. None of the two parties understood each other at all, and now they were paying the price for it.

As Kairo watched the two in their silent standoff, Kairo couldn't help but wonder what he could do to help. He racked his brain for any kind of possibility, any small thing that could prevent what was about to ensue. It wasn't surprising when he came out blank. No. There had to be something. He wasn't just going to stand here again. He'd thought he'd gotten over that back with the wasp. Even if there was nothing else he could do to help. He at least wanted to be there. At least for his own sanity.

He pushed himself away from leaning on the rail, and started running down the stairs. He'd figure out what to do when he finally did get to the bottom floor. Hopefully by then it wouldn't be too late.

 

[Da Doofus]

Dracon leapt again with his sword primed for a thrusting strike, which Stryx dodged with trained agility and elbowed Dracon on his jaw hinge.
The Archo yelped in pain as it was the already damaged side of his jaw Stryx hit. The pained sound quickly turned to a threatening growl fueled with pained agitation. His right eye began to twitch and he lashed out at Stryx again, this time hitting him in the chest with his unarmed palm.
The human was knocked against the nearby wall, and Dracon snarled in a follow up lunge with the blade that pinned his prosthetic to the wall. Stryx attempted a slash with his knife, but Dracon slammed his head into Stryx’s before the blade did any damage.
Dracon growled loudly at the dazed man and glared upward at the approaching Kairo. His lip curled to reveal his bloody gums and he leapt upward. His claws clutched near Kairo’s foot and his jaws were ready to clamp down on the closest ankle.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo watched every moment of the skirmish between the two. His nerves becoming harder to control with every hit and injury. By the time that Stryx had been pinned down and dazed, he felt as though he was ready to break a wall in his adrenaline rush. His mind was so focused on his goal that he almost didn't notice that Dracon's new target was himself. He stumbled back slightly as the Irokai leapt up at him. Those claws only inches away from his ankle. He caught himself before he tripped on the stair above his foot, and took a quick leap back to the very end of the staircase. With that he aimed his crossbow at the Irokai claws, making sure to aim a bit too far backwards to actually hit Dracon. He wasn't going too hurt the irokai. Not over some dumb misunderstanding like this one.

He aimed, and pulled the trigger, hoping that the threat of a crossbow bolt would force the Irokai to move his claws. As soon as that was done, he needed to figure out a way to get down below. Dracon blocked his path, so his only option now was to jump from the railing. He did just that, vaulting over and onto the rest of the staircase below.

 

[Da Doofus]

The threat of the crossbow bolt did nothing to halt Dracon’s advance, and the Irokai had his focus trained on Kairo as he leapt. A second swipe of his claws raked past the man mid-leap and tore a hole in his cloth shirt.
Once Kairo landed, Dracon leapt too from his perch and tackled Kairo to the stone floor of the house. Just as swiftly, Dracon gripped Kairo by his shoulder and slung him away as though he were near weightless. He crashed into a dust caked bookshelf and shattered the brittle foundation of the furniture.
Dracon was drooling his own blood from his teeth and glared at Kairo with a primal ferocity, his scarred eye twitching in sync with his curled lip. Both now stood in the light of the open door.
Nearby was Stryx’s knife on one of Kairo’s sides, and on the opposite was his rifle. Each were within the same reaching distance, but Dracon was closest to the gun.

 

[Chai_T3a]

The impact against the bookshelf was hard and painful. And as the bookshelf broke, he was pretty sure that not all the cracking sounds he heard was from just that. Still, as he weakly stood up from the rubble, he found it possible to work past the pain. Once he was on two legs again, his eyes met those of Dracon's. The irokai's eyes, they always looked intimidating to Kairo. But this was something else. There was no traces of a civilized being left, just animalistic ferocity. A stark contrast to Kairo's, scared yet determined browns.

Kairo breathed heavily, taking in his environment to judge his next step. He needed to Dracon to calm down so he could at least talk some reason into him. If that was not possible, then he'd just have to get Stryx away from harm. Both of those options didn't seem possible unless Kairo had the upper hand.

His eyebrows furrowed in concentration. His goal was simple, all he needed was that rifle. With that, he'd have a fighting chance of fixing things up. That was the only way. His eyes darted from Dracon to the firearm, making a lunge for it. He hoped he could get it before Dracon would.

 

[Da Doofus]

Dracon’s foot stomped on Kairo’s outstretched hand, cracking his fingers and sending sharp pain up his arm. The Irokai shoved the man away, sliding his body closer to the front door, and knelt to snatch up the rifle. Dracon took aim at Kairo from the hip and let out a guttural growl.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairos pupils dilated as his hand was crushed by the much stronger irokai. The pain in his crushed fingers was almost unbearable, causing a loud, pitchy scream to leave his system.

Before he could recover from the hit, he found that gun he had initially gone for was now aimed straight at him. His heart dropped, as he looked at the irokai. The man looked ready to kill him.

“Please.” Kairo pleaded, hoping his words would get to him. “Just give me some time to explain what’s going on.”

 

[Da Doofus]

A gunshot pierced Kairo’s ears, and it seemed this was the end. No other pain rang across his body aside from the sprained fingers, and even Dracon was looking over Kairo to the outside.
********************

Earlier . . .


Rufus finally had restocked on ammunition and gotten a freshly filled canteen. He ignored the glares of the soldiers around him, knowing well that he would always be an outsider to them despite their world being lost to time.
The awkward tension was interrupted when watchman atop the wall had a different worry to bring up.

“Heads up, it’s one of those things.” He shouted as he aimed his weapon. “It’s got a gun.”

“I can also understand Sapish, prick.” A familiar voice said from outside. “Please let me in, you’re about to be attacked.”

All of the armored troops tensed at the utterance of their language from a nonhuman speaker.
Rufus placed the speaker’s identity however.

“Darrek?” He whispered to himself as the soldiers manned the walls and trained their weapons on the young Irokai.

“Drop the weapon.” They warned.

“Whoa whoa.” Darrek tensed and got down on his knees. “Ok.
But please listen, you’re in danger.
Please let me in, I’m in the open out here.”

Rufus had an idea what ‘danger’ Darrek referred to, and bolted for the wall doors. “Come on in, kid!” He shouted and began to drag open the rotting doors for the young Archo.

“Get away from that door!” One of the soldiers warned from above.

Rufus ignored the stooge’s warning and ushered in Darrek, who ran inside despite the threats of the soldiers.
All but one trooper ran down the wall and surrounded the Irokai with their guns aimed at him.
“Down! Get down!” They ordered. “We will shoot you!”

Terrified of the Archaic weaponry, Darrek fell to the ground and put his hands behind his back. Rufus stood next to him, attempting to calm the situation before any harm was done to the Irokai.
Just then, a gunshot blasted loudly across the canyon walls and the remaining soldier fell from the wall with a bloody hole through his helmet.
Rufus glanced through the partially open door to identify the shooter. A partly burned orange Irokai was approaching the Dakovis wall with a gang of armed men behind him. Among Bazin’s small army were the familiar faces of Seythe and Victor, and the Syndroid from the trading post shootout. This time however, its body had been traded out in favor of a vehicle-sized heavily armored, three legged assault chassis of rusted metal and a pair of ballistic weapons in place of arms.

“Oh shit.” Rufus gawked as a missile was fired from the robot’s shoulder.
*******************

An explosion shook the house’s foundation and caused Dracon to briefly lose his attention on Kairo.
When sounds of exchanging gunfire thundered across Dakovis, he glared at Kairo once more.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” He roared, tossing away the rifle and lunging at Kairo, grappling him and carrying him outside with his claws holding him up by his shirt collar. Now on the front porch, Dracon could see fire and the glowing streams of crossfire blinking along the walls. He snarled again.
“What. Have. You. DONE?!”

 

[Chai_T3a]

Dracon’s expression didn’t change, those same ferocious eyes still looked at him in complete anger. Seeing those angry eyes, Kairo knew that these would be the last few seconds of his life.

He didn’t want to die here. They’d just found Stryx again, and would probably head back to camp if he was just given a bit more time. It felt almost as if his life was ending before it began. If only he could have done better. Made a few different choices. Then none of this would have happened. But now, he couldn’t change anything anymore. He closed his eyes and readied himself for the inevitable.

He heard the shot that rung out. Surprisingly, no pain ensued. That didn’t make sense? He swore he heard a gunshot!

He slowly opened his eyes, nothing had happened. He was fine, but then what the hell was going on? He didn’t get much time to think about it before something had caused the entirety of the houses foundation to shake? Earthquake? No, definitely not. An earthquake isn’t followed by the sound of more gunshots.

Kairo had still been trying to figure out what was going on when the irokai made a grab for his shirt collar. Being dragged outside, his eyes were met with the sight of one of the most gruesome scenes he’d ever witnessed. His mouth hung agape as he saw the warfare play out. Dracon screams said that he’d done it. There was no way all of this could have been caused by him right? Right?

“I...I don’t know.” Kairo mumbled, clearly shocked. “I...I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

 

[Da Doofus]

Dracon’s bloody teeth were bared once more as Archaic automatic weaponry defended against the superior numbers of Bazin’s gang. The door had been blown into burning pieces by JR-8’s missile, and over a dozen armored men wielding short range firearms began to swarm the gates.
Dracon caught a glimpse of a silver Irokai taking cover further down the street and shooting one invader with the dead soldier’s weapon. He was shooting from behind a block of rubble, and next to him was Rufus clutching a piece of splintered wood currently embedded in his leg and bleeding.

Dracon’s eyes widened at the sight of Darrek.
“No . . .” He gasped and dropped Kairo. A growl built in his chest as the fighting continued, and more of Bazin’s gang sought to overwhelm the Republic troops with their numbers.
The Tattered Feral let out a thunderous roar of rage, and charged down the street toward the chaos.

Behind Kairo, back inside the house, Stryx was attempting to free himself from the wall.
“Kairo!” The Commander shouted. “Help me get loose!”

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo's would barely notice the immediate threat of Dracon as he watched the battle ensue. After the initial shock, he realized pretty quickly that the opposing force wasn't the republic, but rather member's of Bazin's group. Him and Rufus must have led them straight to Dakovis! His already lead laced heart began to sink even further into his chest. They fucked up big time, and now everyone would pay the price.

His breathing became more sporadic as he watched on, eyes darting every which direction until they locked onto something that caught his eye. Behind the cover of rubble, he saw a familiar silver Irokai. How did Darrek end up here? Wasn't he supposed to be in the safety of Drafisl? And that person next to him. He squinted his eyes to try and make out who it was. It didn't take long to recognize him. His panic grew as he realized that the man who he treated as a brother was injured and in pain.

When Dracon dropped him on the floor. Kairo's first instinct was to run over to help the two. But hearing Stryx's voice from the back changed his priorities. He looked back to see Stryx, now conscious, attempting to free himself from the wall. Taking one look back at Darrek and Rufus, he decided that the two could hold out for just a bit longer. He shakily got to his feet and made his way back into the house.

"Stryx! Fuck! Thank gosh you're okay." He stammered, grabbing the sword with his two hands, he had to grasp his injured hand with his good one, as that hand was completely useless at that point. "Let's get you out of here." He remarked, using all his strength he could muster in an attempt to pull out the blade.

 

[Da Doofus]

The blade didn’t budge and Stryx rubbed his forehead; clearly made sore by Dracon’s attack.
“The arm’s broke, Hunjan.” He said. “You’re going to have to detach it from the shoulder socket.
I’ll walk you through it.”
**************

Three armored gang members blasted through the smoldering wreck of the gate house. Around them, the remaining ten Republic soldiers were engaged in melee or close quarters shootouts with over two dozen men either atop the wall or bunkering in defensive positions inside the stone ruins.
Rufus had his pistol in hand to cover Darrek’s flank as the Irokai kept most of Bazin’s gang at bay. But he knew that the Irokai would soon run out of ammo on the borrowed weapon.

A Vindav mercenary painted in blue and black markings crept behind the two with a blade in hand. The human caught a glimpse of the approaching assassin and fired off a quick shot that hit its mark in the small saurian’s chest.
He groaned at the swift act that flared a shooting pain from his wounded leg. The three men were suppressing Darrek with their own semi-automatic weapons and closing fast.

“How can you shoot these things?!” Darrek shouted over the pelting bullets and echoed ricocheting. He slapped the side of the assault rifle that was dwarfed in size in comparison to his own height. “I can’t hit anything with all those bullets sputtering out.”

“I shoot them carefully, kid.” Rufus laughed weakly as he kept pressure on the wound, daring not to pry out the banana sized splinter stuck in him.
A loud roar echoed across Dakovis, and the two glanced behind them to see a familiar Feral barreling down the main street with mad rage in his eyes and blood dripping from his mouth.

“What the fuck?” Rufus gawked as Dracon sprinted past them bellowing snarls like a wild beast and tackling one of the armored men pinning he and Darrek down.
He couldn’t see the carnage with his back against the stone, but he could hear Dracon’s roars mixed with the shouts and screams of the men as he tore then apart.
********************

“What’s going on out there?” Stryx tapped his broken communicator as new sounds joined the chaotic orchestra of mayhem outside.
Kairo would be nearly finished detaching the former pilot’s arm from his body at this point.

 

[Chai_T3a]

“Thing’s will be fine.” Kairo gritted out as he continued detaching the arm. The arm with the broken hand wrapped around the bio-mechanical limb, while his other hand worked diligently in untighting a bolt off the frame. “I have a feeling our friend that just attacked us may have switched sides.” He said, he’d have to thank Darrek for coming here. His presence may have inadvertently saved all their lives.

 

[Da Doofus]

“Hunjan!” Stryx began sounding like he did back in the Expedition’s training program. “I need a straight answer. Those are my men down there.
Who is attacking?”

Another roar came from Dracon as he rampaged through the gang’s forces near the entrance.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo looked at Stryx, dead in the eye. Clearly conflicted as to what he should do. There was so much riding on this one decision. He knew he could reveal everything. There were promises he made that couldn’t be broken. Especially after what he’d heard what happened after previous Noah’s discovered the Saurians. But Stryx’s team was in danger, and if not just for the fact that he was his commanding officer, the group also needed all the help they could get.

Kairo shook his head. This shouldn’t even be a hard decision. Right now, him and everyone he cared about were being attacked, that should be enough reason for him. He took a deep breathe and continued back to his work, thinking about how he should phrase this.

“Me and Rufus....we had a job delivering some supplies to a trading post. The guys shooting us right now, we met them there. They’ve got a bounty on anyone who came from our Noah. So they must have followed us here.” Kairo said, finally getting the bolt loose. “It sounds like there numbers may have increased though.”

 

[Da Doofus]

“When you get me loose, I need you to get that transmitter running for a short range transmission.” Stryx said as he began to assist Kairo with the last bolt.
“Get on there and the signal should be heard by the men down there. Tell them to fall back to this house, they’ll have covering fire.”

 

[Chai_T3a]

“Can do.” Kairo grunted, keeping most of his focus on wrenching off that last bolt. Neither the ferocious snarls of Dracon, or the screams of the casualties of the fight fazed him. “What are you going to do when I get this off?” He asked, the bolt at this point almost ready to come off.

 

[Da Doofus]

“Find a defensive position and defend it so my men can retreat.” He explained. “You will be on the top shooting with that crossbow of yours.” He met Kairo’s eyes.
“Are you willing to kill someone?”

 

[Chai_T3a]

As Stryx’s eyes met Kairo’s, the older man would see a more then just a bit of confliction on his face. Kairo thought it over as he did his best to quickly remove that last bolt. He’d never taken anyone’s life before. In his old life, he never would have imagined doing something like that either. But now, with the entirety of Dakovis falling around him. The lives of his friends at stake, that prospect didn’t seem that atrocious anymore.

It was just something he had to do. It was the enemy’s lives or theirs. He would be damned if the outcome was the latter.

“Eh. Might give it a shot today. Who knows, it could be fun.” He joked, cranking the last bolt one last time. The thing fell with a clunk on the wooden floor, freeing Stryx from his own body. His eyes locked onto Stryx’s at that moment. Clearly still desperate for some kind of reassurance. “Tell me this will work out.”

 

[Da Doofus]

“This will give us our best shot.” Stryx answered, picking up his rifle and shouldering it over his metal stump. “Get going.” He ordered. “I’ll set up by the window down here.”

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo smiled, giving the man a quick nod. He didn't waste any other time before rushing up the stairs.

He raced up, skipping steps as he climbed. The 30 feet of stairs he managed to quickly climb in just 10 or so seconds. The moment he reached the third floor, he made a beeline to the transmitter. He managed to set up the transmitter for a short ranged transmission as soon as he could with just one hand. The signal was established, and now it was just on him to give out the message.

Kairo took a deep breathe, before holding up the headset to begin his transmission.
"This is Hunjan. I've got direct orders from Commander Stryx for everyone to fall back to the manor. It's a big building, fenced off from the rest of the town and super hard to miss. Commander Stryx and I will provide backup fire during the meantime." He said, in the calmest voice he could muster, repeating the same thing a few more times just to make sure he'd gotten his point across.

 

[Da Doofus]

Back in the battle, Rufus and Darrek watched the soldiers begin to fall back up the street, defending one another from the onslaught of maddened men and Vindav climbing the walls and coming through the door.
Dracon continued to terrify a good portion of the forces within the guard house and away from the main entrance.

“Guess we’re getting out of here, kid.” Rufus groaned and tried to stand with no success.
“Fuck!” He groaned as he fell back down.

Darrek tossed away the Archaic weapon and helped Rufus to stand, carrying most of his body weight.
“Looks like they’re going for the house.” He said. “Think it’s safe?”

“Safer than out here. So get moving.” Rufus aimed behind Darrek and shot another charging human with a sword.
*******************

Stryx had made himself a mounted position for his rifle through the window. The butt of his weapon was magnetically connected to his shoulder for steady aim, and he was forced to fire with his left hand. He’d already put down two more rooftop Vindav and a man with a primitive scattergun as the remaining seven men gradually approached the manor.
He caught a glimpse of Rufus being helped by a silver Archo, and was unsure how to view the creature.

“Hunjan!” He shouted. “There’s another one like the Guest out there.
Grey. Friend or foe?” He asked as he considered taking aim.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Once the message had been delivered, Kairo didn’t waste any time in arming his crossbow. He had to loop his injured arm around the butt of the weapon just so he could hold it still. It’d affect his performance, but for now it was the best he could do.

“C’mon Kairo.” He said to himself. “Just pretend it’s target practice.”

With that, he took aim. An unlucky Vindav that made its way clearly into his line of sight becoming the first target. His heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest as he lined up the crosshairs with the approaching Vindav. He did his best to force his mind not to think, he could feel bad whenever he had the time. But now? Now he just had to commit. And that was what he was going to do. He pulled the trigger, hitting the Vindav square in the chest. He didn’t spend the time to watch the creature fall and writhe in agony.

He had been reloading the crossbow when he heard Stryx shout to him. Another irokai, grey. That must have been Darrek. “Friend!” Kairo hollered back. “Make sure no one shoots at him!”

 

[Da Doofus]

“You have the transmitter !” Stryx shouted back after landing a headshot on a rifleman atop the wall aiming at a soldier’s back. “Check your two o’clock!”

Now climbing atop the wall, and with both of his bayoneted pistols drawn was a familiar orange Irokai with healing burns on his arm and face. He was out of range of Kairo’s crossbow unfortunately.

“I’m guessing foe?” Stryx surmised as Bazin began commanding the remainder of his troops.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo looked down at the transmitter that lay next to him. His eyes widening slightly in embarrassment.
"Oh....yeah, you make a good point." Kairo added, with a nervous chuckle. He sent a quick message then informing the rest of the crew of Darrek's alignment, before taking aim with his crossbow again.

Once that was done, he turned to face the direction Stryx had shouted. It wasn't hard to recognize who that person was, he could recognize that familiar orange hide from anywhere.

Kairo grit his teeth, his anger boiling red hot at the irokai who'd caused all this. He wasn't sure if he'd ever hated another being as much as he did with Bazin. One thing was for sure, he wasn't going to let him get away with all this. "Oh he's definitely foe." Kairo shouted back. He set the transmitter to give out another message, while he kept his crossbow trained on anyone who seemed to be heading too close to an ally. Stryx's didn't authorize for him to give another message, but he didn't care at that point. This was information they needed to know.

"The.....thing. Climbing the top. Orange crested wielding two pistols" Kairo said into the mouthpiece, he wanted to say irokai but he was positive that none of Stryx's men would understand. "He's in control of this whole operation. Make sure you keep an eye on him. Taking him out will be a huge loss for them."