Z
Zack
ON > Planet 188604, during the battle of Osman city
Bright white streaks would come down from the sky, and moments later Grant would hear a series of blasts. By the time he'd be able to turn around he'd see his cannon crews had all been turned into smoking craters, large plumes of smoke rising up from where they once were. Celeste would dive towards the ground, have pushed by the blasts, covering her head as she hid in the dirt.
Moments later the Government's cannon teams would be hit by bright white lances, causing them to erupt in flames.
The sheer intensity of the light was enough to make his eyes water, and those that followed the trail of light up towards the sky would see a small delta shape cut through the air above them at high speed, followed by a dull 'BOOOOoooommmm......'
This was followed by another large blast, as fast moving objects fell from the sky and landed right in the middle of the fight, kicking up a large cloud of dirt and dust that obscured what was going on.
"Aaron!? What's going on!" Celest asked, getting up and running over to the general, putting her hand on the horse's side to calm it as she did her best to hide herself against it "Are they aliens? Osmans?" It wouldn't be long before they could make out the shapes through the dirt, a ring of human shaped metal soldiers, one with massive metal wings, all formed around another who was busy literally tearing apart his soldiers.
The General cursed under his breath the instant he turned to look at the craters that used to be his cannons and the crews to fire them. No way the Government had weapons that precise, they would have used them by now. The only conclusion he could reach was that the aliens were here. He looked for Celest to make sure she was alive. He climbed off his horse to go get her, thinking a lone man on a horse wearing red was too conspicuous.
He had barely taken a step when the second explosion hit, thankfully on the opposite side of the battlefield, but he dropped to his knees behind the horse. The third blast sent a cloud of dust into the air, obscuring his vision. Celest's voice made him jump up to his feet. "Thank the heavens! You're alive!" He said as he threw his arms around her. "The Osmans couldn't do this. It must be the aliens." He gave her a quick kiss then let her go. About that time the smoke began to clear. Just in time for him to see a metal soldier ripping people in half.
His hands fumbled with the buttons on his coat for a second. He finally just tore it off and threw it to the ground, along with his hat. "Get rid of your coat and anything they can use to identify you. They will probably ignore us if we don't fight or look important." He untucked his shirt and covered his silver plated revolvers the best he could. "We can't take the horse, but without a rider he should be fine." He gave the horse a pat. "If we take advantage of the confusion we can get in the city, find a place to hide." He gave her a moment to get ready and ran towards the city, attempting to skirt the edge of the battle so they wouldn't get shot.
Celest would unbutton her coat as quickly as she could with how bad her hands were shaking, tossing it aside along with the flag, her buttons, even her belt buckle. In moments the pair of them looked like they once did, wearing simple shirts and pants without the finery that a General could command. "Aliens? Why would they come back? What are the doing here? Oh... oh gods...." Celest covered her mouth a bit, watching as their soldiers were quite literally torn apart. Sure she had seen people shot, even blown apart by cannon fire, but the sheer ease in which their former friends were flung apart was terrifying.
Almost as soon as they started to leave, they'd see one of the metal figures come towards the hill. In a few large leaps she closed a distance that would take minutes for them to run. The figure would land right ontop of Aaron's jacket and take a look at it. The figure then turning her head slowly. In moments she would see them running for their lives.
*CLINK!*
A bullet bounced off the figure's head. One of their soldiers had tried shooting it with his revolver. This only seemed to draw the alien's attention... Celest was already looking away by the time it picked up a cannon ball and walked over to the soldier.
Rubi was exhausted, all the sprinting and and climbing had finally caught up to her. She had climbed her way to the capital, dogged through alleyways and streets, and charged her way back through the frontlines. And now god-knows-what was bombarding the rebel encampment. Despite all this, she was pushing on to see if the General was alive or not. Just on the outskirts of the camp she nearly passed to strangers before doing a double take, barely recognizing Grant and his apparent lover.. She hopped down on to tired, wobbling knees before heading over to him. "Hey General, what the hell is going on?"
He barely stopped to speak to Rubi. "The aliens are here, like I've been saying. Now, move it, we need to get the hell out of here." He said hurriedly. "And don't call me that. These.. metal men aren't screwing around. We'll talk later." Grant started running again, not even stopping to see if Rubi was following. He planned on living so he could make these aliens pay for every inch of soil they took in blood. He wasn't sure if Rubi would go along with trying to fight the aliens. As far as he could tell their best chance of surviving and not being captured was getting into the city. Maybe they could find a boat or something to cross the body of water near the capital and get to one of the smaller cities. After that he had no idea how to fight these things. He hadn't been able to see if they had even taken any damage, but they clearly had a huge advantage.
Rubi looked back at the burning camp before looking over at Grant, seeing him head towards the burning city that she help set on fire. She thought for a moment before, either way would be fire and probably death but at least the city had a probable chance to hide from... whatever Grant thought was invading. The idea of aliens and metal men invading still seemed fictional but Grant's ramblings seeming to be coming true. Finally, Rubi decided that alien invasion or not, she still had a job to do. She followed after him slowly, her legs feeling like giving. "Wait, wait! If you're trying to get into the city, me and the men discovered another through the mountains. It's a bit of a hike and climb but will keep you and Celest out of the fighting."
The General, or perhaps now former General, stopped in his tracks and turned around. He only had to think for a second. "Right, good idea Rubi. You lead the way." Suddenly he noticed how worn out she must be after all of this. "You, uh.. you okay? Need a little help staying on your feet? If you lean on us maybe we can move faster."
Rubi waved off the offer, noticing the how she looked now. "I'm alright. Tuckered due to all the running I had to do but alright." She began leading them along the route she led the men on, trying to hide her exhaustion. "I would like to remind you that we're heading towards a city full of government forces who want your head and is also on fire due a special mission that you authorized. "
"I think I will take my chances with them, than with the metal-men," Celest said, trying to stay close to the General as they ran BACK towards the city they had just set on fire.
Not to far away was the main line of Osman troops, for a brief moment it looked like they were organizing to fight, grouping up, preparing TNT, there were yells and screams as they made their heroic charge..... what happened next was almost too fast for them to see. Hot, white, beams lanced down from the sky. What was once a line of soldiers had been reduced to a cloud of dirt and blood. Then a second large blast sent a pile of body parts and blue coats flying into the air. The metal men didn't seemed to be slowed at all by anything, though for a brief moment the metal men abducted what looked to be a child and possibly his mother, singling out the best dressed among the rebels and dragging them off.
There were now two types of soldiers remaining, those that had given up entirely, falling flat to the ground, begging for their lives... while others choose to flee entirely, running away from the metal men as fast as they could. The soldiers that had been with Rubi had also decided to flee... heading out into the wilderness. of course, they didn't get far. Before they were able to get out of eyesight those beams from above would reduce them to dust.
The familiar sound of musket and pistol had stopped entirely. No one was bothering to shoot at Rubi anymore. The government soldiers that had been chasing her had long sense given up. the path back over the mountain was clear and a path directly through the government's trenches had also opened up.
Rubi took in the quiet as she led the two around the cliff and through the trenches. It seemed that only a few hours ago they were filled with men ready for battle. Now she walked along emptied fortifications and cannons as she brought them to the outskirts of the town. "Hopefully anyone with it out for us is either running for the hills or fighting the fire at this point."
Grant nodded in agreement with Celest. "I reckon the government will hang me, but who knows what those creatures will do." He wasn't sure why they had even come here. After all, there was nothing really valuable on this world. None that he figured would interest people who can travel the stars. He followed Rubi quietly the rest of the way, watching for any sign of government forces or alien invaders.
As she led them beyond the former defenses into the city, she seemed to get a bit more life back in her step. She eyed around and saw the smoke still rising from the burning inferno warehouse. "We're going to have go more downtown, too many people can call me out here." She continued to walk along, leading them deeper into the burning city. After quite a few more blocks of sneaking, the life in her step seemed to die down. She hobbled into an abandoned shop and sat down behind one of the shelves. "Let's hold up in here for tonight and hope we weren't tailed."
The city was still burning, but it hardly seemed of importance now. Only a handful of people were in the streets fighting fires. Most were either fleeing right past them, or locking down their own homes hoping that they would be ignored. Off in the distance they could hear a rather loud voice... speaking a language quite close to their own.
Bright white streaks would come down from the sky, and moments later Grant would hear a series of blasts. By the time he'd be able to turn around he'd see his cannon crews had all been turned into smoking craters, large plumes of smoke rising up from where they once were. Celeste would dive towards the ground, have pushed by the blasts, covering her head as she hid in the dirt.
Moments later the Government's cannon teams would be hit by bright white lances, causing them to erupt in flames.
The sheer intensity of the light was enough to make his eyes water, and those that followed the trail of light up towards the sky would see a small delta shape cut through the air above them at high speed, followed by a dull 'BOOOOoooommmm......'
This was followed by another large blast, as fast moving objects fell from the sky and landed right in the middle of the fight, kicking up a large cloud of dirt and dust that obscured what was going on.
"Aaron!? What's going on!" Celest asked, getting up and running over to the general, putting her hand on the horse's side to calm it as she did her best to hide herself against it "Are they aliens? Osmans?" It wouldn't be long before they could make out the shapes through the dirt, a ring of human shaped metal soldiers, one with massive metal wings, all formed around another who was busy literally tearing apart his soldiers.
The General cursed under his breath the instant he turned to look at the craters that used to be his cannons and the crews to fire them. No way the Government had weapons that precise, they would have used them by now. The only conclusion he could reach was that the aliens were here. He looked for Celest to make sure she was alive. He climbed off his horse to go get her, thinking a lone man on a horse wearing red was too conspicuous.
He had barely taken a step when the second explosion hit, thankfully on the opposite side of the battlefield, but he dropped to his knees behind the horse. The third blast sent a cloud of dust into the air, obscuring his vision. Celest's voice made him jump up to his feet. "Thank the heavens! You're alive!" He said as he threw his arms around her. "The Osmans couldn't do this. It must be the aliens." He gave her a quick kiss then let her go. About that time the smoke began to clear. Just in time for him to see a metal soldier ripping people in half.
His hands fumbled with the buttons on his coat for a second. He finally just tore it off and threw it to the ground, along with his hat. "Get rid of your coat and anything they can use to identify you. They will probably ignore us if we don't fight or look important." He untucked his shirt and covered his silver plated revolvers the best he could. "We can't take the horse, but without a rider he should be fine." He gave the horse a pat. "If we take advantage of the confusion we can get in the city, find a place to hide." He gave her a moment to get ready and ran towards the city, attempting to skirt the edge of the battle so they wouldn't get shot.
Celest would unbutton her coat as quickly as she could with how bad her hands were shaking, tossing it aside along with the flag, her buttons, even her belt buckle. In moments the pair of them looked like they once did, wearing simple shirts and pants without the finery that a General could command. "Aliens? Why would they come back? What are the doing here? Oh... oh gods...." Celest covered her mouth a bit, watching as their soldiers were quite literally torn apart. Sure she had seen people shot, even blown apart by cannon fire, but the sheer ease in which their former friends were flung apart was terrifying.
Almost as soon as they started to leave, they'd see one of the metal figures come towards the hill. In a few large leaps she closed a distance that would take minutes for them to run. The figure would land right ontop of Aaron's jacket and take a look at it. The figure then turning her head slowly. In moments she would see them running for their lives.
*CLINK!*
A bullet bounced off the figure's head. One of their soldiers had tried shooting it with his revolver. This only seemed to draw the alien's attention... Celest was already looking away by the time it picked up a cannon ball and walked over to the soldier.
Rubi was exhausted, all the sprinting and and climbing had finally caught up to her. She had climbed her way to the capital, dogged through alleyways and streets, and charged her way back through the frontlines. And now god-knows-what was bombarding the rebel encampment. Despite all this, she was pushing on to see if the General was alive or not. Just on the outskirts of the camp she nearly passed to strangers before doing a double take, barely recognizing Grant and his apparent lover.. She hopped down on to tired, wobbling knees before heading over to him. "Hey General, what the hell is going on?"
He barely stopped to speak to Rubi. "The aliens are here, like I've been saying. Now, move it, we need to get the hell out of here." He said hurriedly. "And don't call me that. These.. metal men aren't screwing around. We'll talk later." Grant started running again, not even stopping to see if Rubi was following. He planned on living so he could make these aliens pay for every inch of soil they took in blood. He wasn't sure if Rubi would go along with trying to fight the aliens. As far as he could tell their best chance of surviving and not being captured was getting into the city. Maybe they could find a boat or something to cross the body of water near the capital and get to one of the smaller cities. After that he had no idea how to fight these things. He hadn't been able to see if they had even taken any damage, but they clearly had a huge advantage.
Rubi looked back at the burning camp before looking over at Grant, seeing him head towards the burning city that she help set on fire. She thought for a moment before, either way would be fire and probably death but at least the city had a probable chance to hide from... whatever Grant thought was invading. The idea of aliens and metal men invading still seemed fictional but Grant's ramblings seeming to be coming true. Finally, Rubi decided that alien invasion or not, she still had a job to do. She followed after him slowly, her legs feeling like giving. "Wait, wait! If you're trying to get into the city, me and the men discovered another through the mountains. It's a bit of a hike and climb but will keep you and Celest out of the fighting."
The General, or perhaps now former General, stopped in his tracks and turned around. He only had to think for a second. "Right, good idea Rubi. You lead the way." Suddenly he noticed how worn out she must be after all of this. "You, uh.. you okay? Need a little help staying on your feet? If you lean on us maybe we can move faster."
Rubi waved off the offer, noticing the how she looked now. "I'm alright. Tuckered due to all the running I had to do but alright." She began leading them along the route she led the men on, trying to hide her exhaustion. "I would like to remind you that we're heading towards a city full of government forces who want your head and is also on fire due a special mission that you authorized. "
"I think I will take my chances with them, than with the metal-men," Celest said, trying to stay close to the General as they ran BACK towards the city they had just set on fire.
Not to far away was the main line of Osman troops, for a brief moment it looked like they were organizing to fight, grouping up, preparing TNT, there were yells and screams as they made their heroic charge..... what happened next was almost too fast for them to see. Hot, white, beams lanced down from the sky. What was once a line of soldiers had been reduced to a cloud of dirt and blood. Then a second large blast sent a pile of body parts and blue coats flying into the air. The metal men didn't seemed to be slowed at all by anything, though for a brief moment the metal men abducted what looked to be a child and possibly his mother, singling out the best dressed among the rebels and dragging them off.
There were now two types of soldiers remaining, those that had given up entirely, falling flat to the ground, begging for their lives... while others choose to flee entirely, running away from the metal men as fast as they could. The soldiers that had been with Rubi had also decided to flee... heading out into the wilderness. of course, they didn't get far. Before they were able to get out of eyesight those beams from above would reduce them to dust.
The familiar sound of musket and pistol had stopped entirely. No one was bothering to shoot at Rubi anymore. The government soldiers that had been chasing her had long sense given up. the path back over the mountain was clear and a path directly through the government's trenches had also opened up.
Rubi took in the quiet as she led the two around the cliff and through the trenches. It seemed that only a few hours ago they were filled with men ready for battle. Now she walked along emptied fortifications and cannons as she brought them to the outskirts of the town. "Hopefully anyone with it out for us is either running for the hills or fighting the fire at this point."
Grant nodded in agreement with Celest. "I reckon the government will hang me, but who knows what those creatures will do." He wasn't sure why they had even come here. After all, there was nothing really valuable on this world. None that he figured would interest people who can travel the stars. He followed Rubi quietly the rest of the way, watching for any sign of government forces or alien invaders.
As she led them beyond the former defenses into the city, she seemed to get a bit more life back in her step. She eyed around and saw the smoke still rising from the burning inferno warehouse. "We're going to have go more downtown, too many people can call me out here." She continued to walk along, leading them deeper into the burning city. After quite a few more blocks of sneaking, the life in her step seemed to die down. She hobbled into an abandoned shop and sat down behind one of the shelves. "Let's hold up in here for tonight and hope we weren't tailed."
The city was still burning, but it hardly seemed of importance now. Only a handful of people were in the streets fighting fires. Most were either fleeing right past them, or locking down their own homes hoping that they would be ignored. Off in the distance they could hear a rather loud voice... speaking a language quite close to their own.
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