Akkadian Forever, Part 4 of 5

Is this the final chapter for the Akkadian Knights?

Akkadian Forever, Part 4 of 5

The sun was fully up over the horizon by the time the Defender set down in the hanger bay and Drax, Mortitrixter, and Sammy joined the team.  Batman had successfully stabilized Quan and he was actually conscious, although not his normal self by any means.  

After a quick assessment of the situation, Wyld briefed the team, apprising them of what had transpired.  Drax offered to use the scanners on the Defender to search for their missing teammates, but Wyld turned him down, “We managed to get the communication array working again and scanned a hundred miles out.  Something to the West of us is jamming our radar and Batman’s connections can’t seem to pick up anything through the thick layer of trees in the forest abutting the moor.  Looks like we do this the old fashioned way…”

Sammy was on it quickly, “trust me; I’ve got this one…”  Using a superpower Wyld didn’t begin to understand, he found Cal’s tracks leading away from the remains of the keep.  “She went this way…”   

“You’re not going without me…”  The weak voice was from Quan.  

“You’ve got to be kidding me!  He’s in no shape and will slow us down…”  Sammy was less than thrilled that Quan might be joining the team.  Wyld studied Sammy for a second.  Sammy was an interesting character.  He couldn’t quite tell if he had reptilian ancestors, but his skin was comprised of small iridescent scales.  Sammy had reptilian eyes with opposing lids, reminiscent of most snakes.  Most of the time he was green in complexion, but Wyld had seen him color-shift once before, reminding him of a chameleon.  In a lot of ways, he reminded Wyld of some aliens he had met on Nexus once before, but he couldn’t quite place it and Sammy was less than forthcoming about his origins or species.

Never the less, Sammy was often harsh with others and did not like to be held back by anything.  Even though he and Quan had a great relationship, Sammy would surely be looking at this from a pragmatic perspective.  Wyld was sure that he meant no disrespect to Quan.  Glancing at Quan, he could see that Quan understood.

“Sammy, the fact that the five of us managed to repel the attack in our pajamas indicates that this foe is not quite as strong as he seems.  We should be fine with Quan coming along.  Having said that,” he looked at Quan, “if I think for a second that you are in danger I’m sending you back to the keep… understood?”

Quan nodded.  Wyld studied him for a second.  He did look beat up…

“I want you in the Defender, Quan, and stay close to us.  Everyone else, follow me.”  With that, the team bolted off into the woods on Cal’s trail.  A few minutes later, Quan lit up the team’s conveyance and lifted off from the hanger to follow…

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Cal moved through the low lying brush and swampy terrain easily.  The forest had truly given way to the moor, and a wetter part of the moor at that.  To the East could be seen a rise of steep hills.  Time had eroded them considerably, but she recognized them none the less.  Eons ago, this was the Forge.  And although the ground was moist and marsh like now, it wasn’t always this way.

Periodically, she would pass some small wildlife, but in general little flourished here.  The bushes were little more than overgrown weeds and not even the insects truly proliferated.  This was undoubtedly where Curse had raised the army that assaulted the keep and she recalled it being much larger than what he had brought.

She was in the Fields of the Dead, the battleground in which the remnants of the peoples of this land had first defeated Curse so many years ago and sent Legion back to Hell.  She knew where Curse was headed.  She didn’t need to guess any longer.  He was going to a place few others could recall.  

It was obvious now that this was a trap.  It was obvious that Curse had planned this out well.  

She was no longer following his tracks.  She was headed towards destiny…

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The Defender slowly and noisily moved forward over the thick canopy of trees comprising the forest Cal had rushed through not too long ago.  Underneath, Quan could easily see the team, following Sammy’s lead, charging headlong towards the marsh ahead.  

“Quan, you see anything?”  

Quantum Elemental was diligently working on the sensors.  “No.  Something unusual is blocking the scanners.  It’s like we’re being jammed.  I can’t read a thing.”  After a brief pause, he continued, “Wait, I’m reading a weapon discharge.”

With that, a missile shot up trough the canopy of trees about a mile away.  Quan engaged the pulse lasers on the front of the Defender, but they bounced harmlessly off of the missile’s reflective shell.  Quan took evasive action to avoid it sharply banking the Defender, yet the missile would not be denied.  It slammed into the Defender’s wing, exploding with a concussive force that sent the craft spinning forward and flattened several of the trees directly below it.

Drax, seeing the projectile darting towards the Akkadian ship, yelled out to his team and they took cover as it hit.  Even so, Vex was caught immediately under the blast and hit the ground hard.  

Inside the Defender, Quan struggled to maintain control with one of the engines completely destroyed.  The craft fell towards the earth.  Alarms and lights blared in the cabin and the plasma displays surrounding the cabin were flickering on and off.  He managed one last message to the team before the craft broke the thick canopy of trees, “the reactor is breached.  Brace yourselves!”

As Wyld looked on, he saw the Defender descend below the level of the trees a half mile ahead as its momentum carried it forward.  He heard Quan’s warning but couldn’t think straight.  This was all happening too quickly. He stood dumbstruck as he heard the Defender hit hard.

A moment later, a deafening roar and shockwave sent them all to their knees as the Defender exploded, its miniature fusion reactor being breached by the attack.  The Akkadians stopped in their tracks and took cover.  A wall of flames erupted from the downed vessel scorching the earth and setting much of the immediate forest ablaze.  

The team was stunned.  Not so much by the explosion, for they all were more than capable of handling a little pain, but by the loss.  In less than a month the team had lost the moon base and the keep, their former leader, Eron, and now the Defender.  None of them could really process what had just happened.  

 

Vex sat on the ground staring at the downed craft, “Quan…”

The team looked in disbelief.  Drax put a meaty hand on Vex’ shoulder, “he was made of energy.  He may have survived…”  A second blast erupting from the vessel destroyed the remainder of the vessel and their hopes sank.

As they stared on, a deep voice resonated through the smoke and ash to their right.  “So, you’re the Akkadian Knights…  I was expecting more of a challenge.  One down and only a few more idiots to go!

Wyld turned to see Kzaz, leader of the No Mercy Death Squad, standing on a downed tree.  A smoking Surface to Air Missile launcher sat on his shoulder.  

He had had dealings with this clown in the past.  Kzaz and he went back a ways and it was never pleasant.  He led one of the most notorious leagues of mercenaries, villains, thugs, anarchists and contract killers on the planet, and had been expanding his organization lately.  In the past, it had always been his lackeys that had participated in such endeavors.  AK must have gotten on their radar for him to be here personally.

Dropping the launcher to the earth below, Kzaz pulled out a wicked axe and grinned from ear to ear.  “Boys, let’s have us some fun!”  Shadowy shapes appeared from the trees ahead.  Kzaz was not alone.

With that, the trap was sprung and the deadly mercenaries descended upon the team to finish the job their leader had started…

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Several miles away, between two large hills, Caledonia stood, staring Eastward towards the sea.  Nearly the entire mountain range known long ago as the Forge had wasted away over the years and fallen into the nearby watery expanse, creating a jagged, rocky coast.  These two small hills are all that was left of the passage in which Altius and Cal had defeated Legion and Curse, saving what little was left of the ancient Celtic people, long before they were known by that name.  

“I’m here!”  She yelled to the wind, bidding it to carry her words to the ears of her foe.  She didn’t have long to wait for a reply.

Descending from the hill on her right, Curse silently drifted to the ground below between her and the sea.  “I know.”

Cal knew reasoning with him would be pointless, but she tried none-the-less.  “Where Doc?  Where is the young lady you took?”

Curse didn’t move.  He didn’t respond at all other than to tighten his fists just a little more.  

“This is between us, Vercingetorix.  Leave her alone.”  At this, she did get a reaction.

“That’s not my name anymore.  That mortal name now holds no value for me.  You saw to that.  I am now Curse.  And as far as your associates goes…”

Cal started to press when she heard a deafening roar.  Looking behind her, off in the distance, she saw a mushroom shaped cloud rise from the forest.  She knew instantly what it was.  The defender was down.  Her team was under fire.  They had tried to follow her and walked into a trap themselves.

“That’s right.  You’re on your own this time, witch!”  Curse began drawing dark energy from the ether.  Behind Cal, undead creatures, mostly human, began clawing their way to the surface of the earth, bubbling up through the moor.  

“It turns out that your team has made a few enemies over the years.  Finding the right mix to wipe out your entire team all at once was fairly easy.”  Stretching his claws to the sky and extending his wings, an army began to stretch out silently behind her.

“I was recently asked what I would do once my vengeance is complete.”  Curse wasn’t talking to Cal, she realized, as much as he was justifying his own actions to himself.  “I’ll find a way to reverse this curse.  I’ll rule this land as I should have long ago!  Mercy is for the weak!”

She turned, realizing the depth of the trap into which she had stepped.   It was all up to her now.  She watched as explosions, smoke and energy beams rocked the forest behind her.  A fire began raging.  Her team was in a fight for their lives on that fiery battleground and it was all her fault.

Lifting into the air, she began to fly upwards.  An army that couldn’t fly would be little use against her today!  

Curse swiftly pointed at the ground at her feet and shadowy tendrils rose, catching her by the leg and forcing her back to the earth hard.  “Oh no you don’t!  You may have learned a new trick or two since we last met, for you couldn’t fly then, but so have I!  This one in particular was used to kill me and now it will kill you!”  

With that, with Cal trapped on the ground and an army of gibbering undead closing in on her, Curse attacked…

 

To see the battle, click here or copy to your address bar:

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http://superherocity.klicknation.com/game/pages/battle_replay.php?battle=850371294

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