Thunder roared overhead and bolts of lightning lit up a bruised skyline adorned by thick and dark rainclouds which had dropped huge amounts of water over the area around Mount Noobus. Large, heavy drops of rain poured over the arena where the rumble had begun though now it had taken off, the spectators had abandoned the so-called indestructible arena and taken shelter where ever it could be found.
Amidst the darkness above two figures remained locked in a battle which was soon to come to an end. Two streaks of energy trailed across the sky colliding with each other in violent power struggles; one a vibrant violet and the other darker than the black skies it sat amongst.
One final collision and the skies roared as if to cheer the victor, the purple streak stalling and then beginning to fall from the sky, the tiny figure landing on the side of the mountain which had spawned the creature he had attempted to defeat.
* * *
In the midst of what had begun to unfold before the remnants of the moderation team Skyrider had succumb to memories of that fateful day. A day where he had witnessed a long list of things go wrong when they never should have.
He stared blankly at a screen, though the video feed streamed to it was distorted and difficult to see he still stared not even attempting to comprehend the situation. Panicked and confused voices surrounded him each asking questions of each other, no one entirely sure how best to proceed with the situation before them.
* * *
Looking from atop the Admin Tower through binoculars Skyrider could see the figure who had won the fight in the sky. The dark aura which had accompanied him before remained, unnaturally moving around him as though it were alive. A new figure now stood before him, this one yet to show an aura of his own.
Inside the Admin Tower Skyrider and a few of the remaining moderators stood, sheltering themselves from the events which were playing out right in front of them. Cucumba had yet to be seen since the arena had been abandoned and now with the Rider approaching the tower it was assumed he had already been killed.
Vibrant flashes or amber lit up the area before the team giving brief relief from the darkness which had befallen the area since the rain had begun as the figure threw himself at the Rider landing one savage blow after another. Though as the sky roared once more the figure cloaked in amber was felled; the wry smile which had grown on Skyrider’s lips disappearing.
Slowly the figure pulled himself back to his feet and drew his weapon, the blades of amber whirring around like a tornado as he quickly attacked and withdrew in flashes of energy but soon enough the Rider caught him, knocking the weapon from his hand with a unseen force, causing it to fly through the air towards the Admin Tower until one of the large amber blades dug into the thick glass which protected the observation level of the tower. The blade buzzed and crackled with energy before dissipating, leaving the staff which harboured the blades to fall inertly to the foot of the tower.
Skyrider looked away, shame crept over his body. He didn’t even know the figure out there was who was attempting to stop the Rider and yet here stood all that remained of the moderation team who had escaped with their lives; cowering in their last place of refuge.
The startled voiced of his comrades drew his attention back to the battle but this time he did not stare through the binoculars. The sky had opened up and the inky darkness of space flooded through the widening gap, the stars shining brightly beyond. The storm which had surged through the clouds lashed out unnaturally as they were pushed opened by an unseen force accompanied by an ominous crimson glow.
Glancing through the binoculars at the figures Skyrider could see the area around one rippling as if surrounded by an invisible aura, but as a flash of lightning lit up the area from the distance he could barely make out a black aura which barely showed reflecting the flash of lightning with a red glow, the ground around the figure scorched black and blowing away what appeared to be small crystals or glass.
The figure cloaked in the aura of darkness for the first time looked uneasy, his frame holding itself from his deliberate march toward the tower. Caution had taken over.
His weight began to shift and Skyrider could tell why, gravity for everything under the gaping hole in the sky had lowered he felt light but unable to control his body, no doubt the Rider felt the same and then in a discharge of crimson energy the world returned to normal.
Everything happened in slow motion, like a train wreck Skyrider’s attention turned immediately from his dilemma to the figures, the ground around one of them had sunk in a huge diameter and a shock wave of dust and debris rolled outward gathering momentum like that of an atomic bomb being detonated. The world shook in violent protest as a pillar of crimson energy burned brightly around the source of the attack folding outward the closer it got to the ground.
A minute passed and the next he knew Skyrider was pulling himself from the metallic floor of the tower. Looking up he could see what had been left in the wake of the attack. Buildings on the outskirts of the city had collapsed or were on the verge of doing so, the area around the two was destroyed and a smoking indent in the earth was all that remained. The Rider still stood and his assailant dropped to his knees shortly after. It had been his last resort, a feeble attempt in which Skyrider had assumed he’d exerted every last bit of energy he had to draw upon.
* * *
His last memories of that day were of a flood of emerald; nothing else was clear. It had been discovered later that Kelesk had been the fighter who stood alone and attempted to stop Pride. His attacks had been ruthless and savage and when he had realised that nothing could be done to physically stop Pride he had drawn upon a power bestowed to him by his brethren who were apparently caged by Cucatoth and left in the deepest regions of space. It was an infinite power source which he rarely drew upon for more reasons than one and only ever used sparingly when he did.
It was a long and interesting story left in a voice recording by Cucumba. His last little bit of insight before he’d abruptly returned to his slumber. But now everything he’d seen that day was happening again.
“Sky, what the hell do we do?” A voice yelled from behind him, pulling Skyrider from his daydream.
The video feed from the Tripod’s underbelly camera revealed an orb of energy in Kelesk’s hand gathering energy though with the stream in black and white it was impossible to make an accurate call.
“Maj, what colour is that orb he’s holding?” Skyrider spoke hurriedly into the headset he donned, an answer coming back almost immediately.
“It appears black, but depending on which way the light shines off it its red.” A distorted voice rang back. “It’s pulsing with some nasty power though; I can feel it on my chest.”
“Fall back inside the Tripod’s shield, now!” Skyrider screamed into his mic.
The Tripod shuffled to brace itself as its sensors picked up Kelesk’s attack, his arm reeling back before launching the orb sidearm as the monstrous machine. The modiwans before it scurrying inside an unseen barrier which lit up the second the orb collided with it, spreading outward in a huge panel like pattern which ate into the road and rubble on either side of the giant. Crimson sparks of energy surged around the ball of energy as it sat pressed against an immovable shield, the Tripods rear leg sinking into the concrete as it stood its ground against the opposing force.
The next thing the modiwans knew the orb detonated, the ground beneath them shaking violently. As the shield held strong the modiwans watched as the blast covered the other side of the shield with dust and destruction, the ground being torn apart. As the dust cleared Grega was nowhere to be seen, blown away by the blast leaving Kelesk by himself, his arms back at his sides, the transparent black aura reignited around him.
“We told you the shield was stronger Kelesk.” One of the modiwans yelled from behind a deep cut in the ground where the Tripod’s shield had dug into the earth.
In the distance rocket fire could be heard echoing off across the empty plateau which was once the art district as a multitude of LRM launchers which had been called in by Skyrider and the moderation team in order to provide additional fire support opened up.
Rocket trails soared across the open skyline and slowly tipped down towards their target. Slowly Kelesk turned to face them, his aura flared once and died in a burst of crimson and he traced a line in a semi-circle in front of him. A visible tare of black rippled in the air where he’d traced his fingers and then shattered into thousands of tiny shards. Flinging his hand around past them they shot forward, disappearing into the distance and with no more than a handful of seconds notice the missiles detonated across the sky.
Before the explosions had even cleared Kelesk turned, energy brightly glowing in his hand as it gathered power before he threw it toward the location of the LRM’s. Like the shards of energy before the orb disappeared from view as it flew seemingly only coming back into existence as it hit its target, detonating with a tremendous roar which shook the earth violently as it annihilated everything around where it detonated.
Slowly Chaos spun back to face the Tripod, the modiwans who cowered within its shield looking past Kelesk to the area where his orb had detonated. He said nothing, raising only one arm outright, his fingers roughly directed around the Tripod’s body.
“Kelesk.” One of the modiwans spoke, his voice still full of confidence. “You tried once before to breach the shield and failed. Why bother wasting your energy a second time?”
Grega, who had picked himself off the ground stood several metres behind Kelesk watching closely as the events unfolded.
“You. . .” Kelesk spoke quietly, barely loud enough to be heard. “You honestly think that my brother’s technology scares me?”
The modiwan stopped in confusion, throwing the hood back from over his head revealing Optimus.
“Your brother?” Optimus questioned, ****ing his head to the side.
“Cucumba. . .” Kelesk’s face twisted to an excited sneer.
A small glow of energy emitted from around Kelesk’s hand and an invisible force hammered into the Tripod’s shield. The visible sections of shield rippled outward as it once more dug into the ground and the Tripod shuffled it’s legs around in order to keeps its balance. Seconds passed as the invisible blast bored into the shield without any sign of detonation and then without warning it stopped. The modiwans turned their gaze back to Kelesk from the Tripod and once more Optimus spoke.
“Kelesk, I told you it is no use.”
The transparent aura Skyrider knew so well glowed dimly, the only real giveaway was that Kelesk’s hair tugged gently in an unseen breeze. His arm remained outstretched and his face changed ever so slightly.
In the mobile HQ the monitor which had been giving off power readings had come back online. Skyrider and Karrde watched them intently as Kelesk’s energy levels remained lower than they had been before the sky had opened up above them.
“I don’t understand.” Spoke Skyrider softly. “The last time I saw this Kelesk destroyed everything within a hundred kilometre radius of himself.”
“And this is a bad change?” Karrde retored.
“Not bad, just worrying.” Skyrider replied promptly. The image feed from the Tripod underbelly was no clearer now than it had been five minutes ago, but it was still clear to see Kelesk wasn’t troubled by its presence despite the fact he’d been unable to breach the shield.
“Sir, Kelesk’s power is beginning to surge!”
Skyrider’s attention snapped back from the Tripod monitor to the energy readouts and his jaw dropped.
“Everyone! Brace for impact!”
The aura around Kelesk slowly disappeared into rings of black and crimson energy which whirled around his outstretched arm like a corkscrew into the palm of his hand as a small speck on energy began to glow with a bright crimson halo. It wasn’t until a high pitched shriek began to emanate from the speck, which sounded much alike a scream of pain, that Optimus and the other modiwans fled the safety of the shield and scattered either side of the Tripod.
As the shriek reached its highest pitch the blast burst from the palm of the deity’s hand and a single compressed wave of energy hit the shield with unforgiving force. The ground immediately in front of Kelesk was torn away and as the blast pressed against the shield it began to spread out against the Tripod who refused to give ground. Like a wave around a rock, molten earth and debris flew in every direction around the shield flinging off with such force that typhoon like winds could be felt as far back as the mobile HQ and a clearly visible shock wave pushed itself backward towards Kelesk from the impact point on the shield spreading out in the air.
The modiwans on either side of the Tripod now looked on in awe as the beam of energy reflected a vibrant crimson for all but a second. More earth around the shield was stripped away turning into molten rock as it flew outward around the shield and from the mobile HQ all that could be seen was a gigantic pillar of flame which extended several hundred metres backward from where the mechanical monstrosity attempted to stand it’s ground, it’s hind leg slowly sinking into the ground behind it as the unrelenting force pressed against the shield.
From behind Kelesk, Grega stood speechless. Before him a wall of flame and if not for having seen it standing there earlier he would have never known what was behind it. The earth on both sides of the Tripod had been ripped apart and turned to nothing more than molten rock which had been flung around the shield and suddenly there was a huge detonation behind the Tripod; hills off in the distance where the tanks and artillery had been melted into a wave of molten rock and steel. Slowly Kelesk lowered his arm, the Tripod before him making an unnatural metallic groan and dropping to the ground with a heavy thud.
Kelesk smirked in appeasement as the Tripod fell in a crumpled and smouldering pile before him casually turning his gaze to Optimus.
“Your unyielding faith in the toys my brother makes on short notice has failed you, modiwan.” He muttered, his raspy tone overshadowed by the fear instilling look his glowing red eyes gave off.
Optimus shuffled uncomfortably looking over Kelesk’s shoulder at Grega who was also visibly uncomfortable with how the situation was turning out. He had never once seen Kelesk lose control like this and couldn’t even begin to imagine the power the deity had unleashed in order to bring the Tripod down and though the smouldering wastes behind its remains spoke for themselves he did not want to be on the receiving end of one of Kelesk’s attacks while he was like this. As the earth-shaking roar of Kelesk’s last attack echoed off into the distance the silence was voided by a soft rumble with seemed to emanate from around Kelesk as his hair began to tug against an unseen breeze, though looking closely Grega could see the aura gently flaring around the deity.
“Enough games maggot.” Kelesk rasped still staring at Optimus while slowly raising his hand upward directing his fingers around the modiwan as he had the Tripod. “Your wasted existence ends here.”
As it had before a speck of energy appeared in the palm of Kelesk’s hand, a vibrant halo of crimson adorning it as his barely visible aura disappeared and rings of energy spiralled around his arm towards his palm.
Looking around frantically Grega’s eyes fell of the modiwan robe which Kelesk had previously discarded and then on the broken ban sabre hilt which lay atop it. Without thinking he rush towards it and grabbed both items, with Kelesk in the unstable state he appeared no other options remained.
* * *
“Holy Christ. . .”
Skyrider pulled himself from a mess of unconscious bodies and broken glass rubbing his head. The mobile HQ he was in had tipped on its side and only two monitors remained unbroken from the blast.
Doing the best he could to look up at it through blurry eyes he noticed one was the energy readouts and alike before, Kelesk’s was rising rapidly.
Hurriedly searching around for Karrde he manage to find him underneath another soldier who had sat up rubbing his head and violently shook Karrde awake.
“Karrde” Skyrider yelled drawing the attention of a couple of soldiers who were regaining consciousness. “We need to get out of here now!”
In a groggy haze Karrde was pulled to his feet by Skyrider and dragged from the wreckage of the mobile HQ with several other soldiers in tow, Karrde only managed a brief glance back towards the remnants of the Art District seeing the enormous crimson halo glowing from an unseen source which gave him reason enough to want to keep moving away from the wrecked field of tanks and artillery parts and what little remained of any soldiers who hadn’t been entirely swallowed by the wave of molten rock which had ensued the blast.
* * *
The fear was clear in Optimus’ eyes as the swirl of energy began to scream aloud as it had before, a high pitched wail which sent a shiver down his spine and at that point none of the others waited one by one the rest of the modiwans threw themselves forward, their hoods falling back from their heads each tailed by a trail created by their ban sabres. A whirring mixture of blue and green flew toward the deity from multiple angles as the screaming drew closer to its highest pitch and as Optimus lowered his sabre in defeat his eyes widened in shock.
Each modiwan stopped in their tracks and the scream ceased along with the vibrant crimson glow that accompanied it, now replaced by a dim violet from a ban sabre impaled through Kelesk’s right shoulder which gently hummed at the same level as the rumble. Kelesk’s body did not move an inch, only his glowing red eyes which had locked on the sabre’s blade which stuck out from his shoulder in front of him and the smirk which smugly sat on his face had turned to a disgusted snarl.
Slowly his twisted his head around, looking over his shoulder at a short man donning the modiwan robes Engar once wore, torn and tattered, the ban sabre in his hand seemed new, undamaged and as he pulled it from the deity’s shoulder and swung it around into a horizontal position in front of him a second violet blade burst from the opposite end.
“Rogue. . .” Kelesk muttered softly, the wound in his shoulder seemingly not bothering him.
Kelesk slowly spun around to face the one who wore the shredded modiwan robes, steadily circling around him as the figure followed his every movement.
“Old friend. . . You would dare betray me too?” Kelesk croaked softly.
“Now!” Optimus yelled from behind Kelesk, his ban sabre igniting in a flash of yellow as he lunged forward amongst the other modiwans.
Kelesk swung around wildly firstly receiving a haymaker to his cheek from one of the modiwans before another managed to plant a spinning heel kick into his ribs which sent him reeling backward, struggling to regain his balance.
Stumbling to regain his footing Kelesk reached around behind him to where he kept his staff clipped to his belt grabbing frantically at something which was no longer there, the look on his face spelling out his frustration to a tee once he realised it was no longer there though a simple glance around was all he needed to locate it. Held in Grega’s hand was the staff and donning both Engar’s ban sabre and robes a copy of himself.
“I’m sorry Kelesk.” He muttered shamefully. “You’ve become something more horrifying than I’ve ever dreamt of.”
Kelesk’s eyes turned piercing his face marred with nothing but absolute anger, yet he said not a word.
“If we’re both still alive at the end of all this, please forgive me.”
Turning his head slightly hearing a ban sabre blade approaching him from behind Kelesk threw out his left hand. An orb of energy sparked to life within it adorned by large discharges of crimson energy bolts, swiftly he swung around to face the modiwan who held his ban sabre above his head preparing an overhead strike and threw his arm forward literally planting the orb into the modiwan’s stomach which flew out his back ripping chunks of flesh and bone from the body and spraying it over the group of attacking modiwans who halted their attack instantly watching as the body fell a metre in front of them, pools of blood spattering the area.
Swiftly the modiwans turned their gaze from the bleeding body to Kelesk as a high pitched scream began to emanate from his direction and each darted in a different direction except one who had been hit by a large section of his fallen brethren’s spine. The reality had been too much to bear and his humanity was showing, though within an instant it no longer mattered as the blast ripped apart the ground in front of the deity and ate into the modiwan, detonating off in the distance in the same destructive scene as the first had. As the smoke cleared in the distance all which was left of the detached modiwan was a pair of modiwan boots which had small lumps of cauterized flesh sticking out the top.
Kelesk laughed without holding back; a sinister and demonic laugh which was marred by his raspy voice though it could only add to the ambience. Two of their own had fallen in the space of ten seconds and now the remaining six were seriously considering their chances.
The first to move again was Optimus who lunged forward followed quickly by the other five modiwans who all brought their ban sabres to bear.
“Yes. . .” Kelesk murmured.
Crimson sparks surged in the air around him as the first ban sabre drew closer before a huge discharge of energy burst outward from him cracking the earth beneath where he stood and blowing Optimus back. Digging his feet into the ground to stop his momentum Optimus saw a second burst flare out from next to Grega knocking him to the ground and shredding his clone. Without realising it he held his sabre up in a defensive position feeling an unseen force batter against it a burst of energy blowing him further away a second later and there the deity stood. His face coated with a maniacal, bloodthirsty grin his staff in hand.
From behind Chaos three modiwans lunged forward the hum of their sabres ringing in Optimus’ ears as the deity swung around spinning his staff wildly to deflect the volley of attacks which followed, sparks and flashes of light burst out from where the sabre blades collided with the staff and with one final blow a trail of emerald flew up into the air. As if to mock the disarmed modiwan a surge of crimson bolts sparked out around the deity as he swung the staff back around to his side deflecting a horizontal slash from a forth modiwan who had joined the fray.
“Are you all so eager to die?” Kelesk snarled, more small sparks of energy surging around the ends of the staff.
As the air born sabre inertly fell on the ground before them Kelesk swung the staff back around in front of him the teeth-like blades of his Rogue Scythe burst from their cages and battered into one of the modiwan’s sabres ripping the weapon from his hands and flinging it across the dirt.
Like monstrous teeth the blades buzzed with energy, black sparks eating into the air around the blood-red blades which seemed to fight against the restraints that held them in shape.
Swinging the weapon back around the remaining armed modiwans threw their weapons towards Kelesk attacking with powerful volleys in hope of landing a crippling blow though none could manage the break through the crimson wall which left black sparks of energy in the air in its wake.
Wildly the scythe swirled around Kelesk as the modiwans continued their assault attacking in pairs with attacks from every direction, when one was knocked away another would simply take his place and before long the majestic whirlwind of crimson was surrounded. Both of the teeth like blades flew around the deity parrying and knocking away attack after attack, bouncing from blade to blade in a flurry of sparks.
From the side Optimus watched, unable to comprehend the situation, raising a hand to his ear and pressing at the earpiece he had hidden there.
“Sky, you still alive?”
”Barely, that blast almost put me in the ground. What did you need?”
“I need you to activate it.”
A long pause followed, Optimus turning from the melee before him and staring up at the starry sky which was still void of anything.
“Optimus, we’re unsure if we can even control it yet, there’s a good chance it could go berserk after it sees KelesK.”
“Kelesk is going berserk now so take your pick, Cucumba isn’t around to save us anymore we can’t keep relying on him appearing to pull us out of the **** anymore.”
”Roger, we’ll have it sent in but you guys need to pull out before it gets there. There’s no telling how it will react.”
Optimus turned back to Kelesk who had cut down two more of the modiwans and had another on the back foot.
“I don’t think that will be necessary.”
Optimus pulled the earpiece out and threw it on the ground hearing Skyrider begin to say something as Kelesk’s scythe lopped the head off the admin he’d been attacking, the other two backing off immediately after.
“You two!” Optimus called out to them. “It’s time to retreat, I’ll hold Kelesk here.”
“Sir!” The two replied in unison turning back in the direction of the mobile HQ and running toward it, sheathing their blades.
Kelesk casually turned his attention to Optimus who held up his sabre hearing a whistling sound off in the distance.
“I may not kill you, you ******* monster.” He sneered, spitting on the ground next to him. “But I’ll be damned if I’m not going to give you another scar to carry.”
Optimus smiled wryly, he could hear the missile flying towards him and knew he only needed to last a few minutes until it arrived.
