Post by Gigachad on Dec 27, 2021 12:52:12 GMT
Collective territoty-Austral Expanse
Shankun stepped onto the landing pad with a metallic thud,taking a deep breath at the thought of what would come next. Of course,the frozen world of Netix had no air to speak of,having been deprived of a star and forced to wonder the void millenia ago. It was this isolation that made it an attractive site for secretive facilities and penal holding centers for particularly irritating individuals who were needed alive.
The ride from the port started out smoothly enough,lasting only a few minutes by maglev to a small settlement built around a mining operation. What came after however was much more grueling,consisting of a multi hour hike through the barren and airless landscape,eventually coming upon a gate built into what seemed to be a mountain.
The colossal thing opened,allowing the alien to step inside the holding facility unabated,being saluted by rows of insectoid guards which were armed to the teeth. Waiting for him was a hunched figure,boasting a reptilian visage and glowing orange scales.
"I see you've arranged a welcoming party for me" he said,walking up to the bulky goliath.
"It is not often that we receive visitors,it tends to be a unique occasion"
"Yes well,it is good to know you have some sense of pleasantries,Vulgoth. Let us begin this inspection" the lithorian said,starting to walk as the golden warrior followed suit
"I hope you are aware that our security staff and resources have faced a significant decrease in the last few cycles"
"Yes,well,our lord has asked that security in the throne system be increased tenfold. We wouldn't want those refugees from the Zarathustra massacre to cause any incidents"
"I see…"
The two walked by a number of holding cells,each containing agents of Ka'thogs many enemies,kept here for interrogation and potential indoctrination,plenty however had nothing short of termination ahead of them. Unlike the outside,the facility had air,very thick air at that,almost reminiscent of Chyrix's.
Things quickly took a turn for the worst however as some sort of reptilian creature with tendrils for a lower half burst through a side corridor, throwing off a guard that had been desperately attempting to restrain it before seemingly vanishing from sight. Claw marks began manifesting upon one of the walls before a great impact was heard and cracks formed on its surface. Vulgoth was quick to act,catching the creature's arm just before it could strike at his guest. The thing stopped bending light around its frame,prompting Shankun to leap back and unfurl a pair of wings with shimmering metallic feathers in response.
He was however,slammed away by the creature's other lanky arm,sending him of a ledge which he barely grabbed onto with his regular arms,watching as some of his feathers were torn off and gently gliding down the central pit that formed this facility's backbone. Vulgoth hoisted the fugitive over his head with one arm before slamming the beast into the ground. He grabbed one of its arms and forced it behind its back before planting a foot in its side. A couple of motions later and the appendage was ripped cleanly off,allowing a group of guards to properly haul the screeching thing away.
Vulgoth approached the ledge,helping out the other lithorian in getting its footing.
"I apologize,that one is particularly slippery. Couple that with our current handicaps and….."
"It's fine,at least none escaped. I understand that this is a hard time,but I'm really only here for….him. So long as his measures are as strong as ever,Ka'thog should be satisfied"
"Ah,I see. Come with me then" The reptilian gestured,leading the other lithorian through hall after hall build in the great pit,holding onto its edges. Eventually,they arrived at the bottom,a great door opened,and a hardlight bridge extended to a flat and circular rock formation which protruded from the inky blackness. In the middle of this circle was a creature,the most dangerous inmate of the whole facility.
The thing looked humanoid,albeit with a very top heavy build,long burly arms and shorter digitigrade legs,all four appendages sporting bladed digits. Its form was covered in overlapping plates of metallic substance,dirty and scratched from all the time spent here. Its face was rather horrid,lacking any lips to hide the daggers it had for teeth,four particularly large canines among them. It seemed to have no eyes,just gaping empty sockets where they should have been. Aside from those,it's entire head was featureless save for five horns,one shot straight up from its forehead,another two trailed off to the sides before a sharp incline led them upwards as well and a much larger pair of similarly shaped growths sprouted from its temples to finish the set. The beast also seemed to have two tendrilic appendages sprouting from its back,thin like sheathed of fabric,they ended in short blades.
The amount of measures taken to keep this lithorian contained surprised Shankun. First,each of its palms were sheathed in what seemed to be extremely heavy restraints,connected to a bundle of wire that snaked through contraptions that were bolted to the ground,then trailing off the sides of the rocky platform to a pair of braces wrapped around some rather large boulders. This must have been why the creature was kneeling,being forced to by all that weight,though the fact it could do even that made him feel somewhat nervous. A strange rocky contraption also seemed to encase the beast's body cavity,being made of intersecting hexagons and pins.
"What does that device do?" he said,carefully approaching to have a better look.
"For one it keeps him down with the weight and prevents breathing while it's locked. Those pins connect to needles that we jammed into his organs and blood vessels,just in case he ever tried testing it" Vulgoth said rather matter-of-factly,pacing around the bound prisoner and making sure to step over the wired when passing by.
"You said locked. You're telling me it can be unlocked?"
The reptilian stepped forward,placing a hand on a hexagon section with a winding serpentine gap in it.
"We put a key in here and run it down the mechanism for unlocking. We're supposed to have it opened once we pried all the info from his head to have him shipped for termination. Key's being stored off site for now,safety precaution"
"So you're telling me he hasn't moved or breathed in five years?"
"Yes. His mods are top of the like however,so he'll live"
"Is he conscious right now?"
"Very much so" Vulgoth said,proving his point by stomping on one of its bladed tendrils,earning a metallic screech as the bound one clenched its toothy maw.
"I see…..I suppose it is good to know that the precautions are extensive"
"There's much more! Follow me please" the reptilian said,urging the two to travel back up the hardlight bridge and through the gate. The bridge receded shortly afterwards,leaving the prisoner in darkness.
…….
"Dralnok,awaken my child" a voice rang out in the prisoner's head,causing light to begin flickering in his empty sockets.
Soon enough,glowing eyes of purple hue materialized in their sunken crevices,pupils widening as they darted around.
"Lord Arkheon?"
Shankun and Vulgoth,by now walking about the bridges high above,were caught off guard by the noise.
"Did he just speak?" Shankun said,peering over the ledge into the darkness below,struggling to make anything out.
"I need you in my service Dralnok,there is a craft coming for you,but you must break free from this place." The voice continued,still being audible only to his thoughts.
"Understood,I will not fail" The creature said to itself,just as something caught its attention. The glow of its own eyes illuminated one of Shankun's metallic feathers gently making contact with the floor in front of him,having been ripped off earlier by the other rampaging detainee. Dralnok smiled,this was all he needed.
With a grunt,he began to extend the tendrils,their flat nature allowing them to slink between his back and the contraption sheathing him. The movement of muscle still caused the needles to do damage however,so he needed to be quick and precise.
Quickly,he picked the feather and planted it in the locking mechanism,beginning to push it along the path and listening for the noises that the device made,remembering the sequence from back when the thing had been put around him.. Once at the bottom of the opening,he pressed the feather downwards,earning a release of steam as the hexagons distanced from one another and the needles slinked back into their pins. He immediately bent down,gasping in lungfuls of air for the first time in half a decade.
His pupils soon narrowed to thin slits as he felt his strength returning,bolstered by rage.
"Something is very wrong….." Vulgoth said,hearing the commotion happening down there and becoming increasingly worried. With a gesture,a set of lights were activated to illuminate everything,making what came next all the more terrifying.
Dralnok took a deep breath again,grunting as his muscles began to flex and the restraining shell groaned around him,soon bursting to pieces with one powerful motion. He got to his feet,looking up to meet Vulgoth's gaze with his.
"EVERYONE IN POSITION! PRISONER 689-Y IS TO BE TERMINATED" He roared,beginning to make his way further up the complex with Shankun shortly after.
Already,insectoid troops began swarming inside battlements built in the walls surrounding his holding area. Dralnok growled in response,testing his remaining binds as he pulled on the wires.
One of the guards already aimed an auto rail-cannon at him,letting loose a burst of 30mm slugs. Thinking quickly,the lithorian blocked with one of his arms. The bulky shackle around it took the first few shots before falling apart,resulting in it being pulled away as the boulder it connected to plummeted to the depths.
The assault stopped,the guard frantically trying to reload as he gripped the wire of his other restraint and pulled with all his mind. The mechanism pinning the thing to the ground gave in,allowing the lithorian to swing the giant rock straight into the construction,crushing his assailant inside. He then moved the thing across the battlements,crushing or knocking off dozens until all were dead. With that taken care of,he plunged his talons into the other shackle,ripping it off and freeing his other arm before roaring victoriously.
This triumph was short lived however,as large poles began rising from the floor all around him,glowing growths pulsating at their tips as the lithorian dropped to his knees,screeching in torment. Waves of psionic tidal waves slammed against his mind,drowning out everything else.
"Don't lose sight of yourself,you must press on" the voice chimed in,calming the maelstrom that plagued his thoughts.
With this newfound clarity,the creature's back tendrils sprung into action,elongating and slicing off the psionic growths on every pole in a sweeping motion. He slowly clambered back to his feet,regaining his composure,much to the stunned disbelief of those above.
"That's impossible….how did he-
Those were top of the line neuro scramblers!" Vulgoth exclaimed,a sense of anxiety finally starting to wriggle through his confidence.
"RECALL THE ELEVATOR! LET HIM ROT DOWN THERE" He exclaimed,figuring this was the best way to salvage the situation.
Dralnok shifted his gaze to see the industrial grade elevator rising,packed with fleeing troops. He needed that to get out,but first he also needed to leave the platform that was his cell. A quick survey around told him he could not leap to the stone walls around him,at least not in his current state,far too risky. A stroke of brilliance struck him as he gripped one of the poles around and ripped it from the ground,a quick examination showing that it was tough yet elastic,with a sharpened tip to interface into the tissues below.
This would do,he hurled the thing like an oversized javelin and it sunk into the rock without issue. Pleased,he began ripping more poles with his tendrils and threw them as well,above and off to the side compared to the first. The last one he placed opposite of this contraption he made,then gained as much distance as he could from it,the next part would be taxing. He dropped on all fours,taking a breath before blasting off with impossible speed. Once close to the pole,he leapt and oriented himself mid air so his legs would make contact. The thing bent,and bent,straining against the impact and threatening to snap,yet it did not. Dralnok found himself propelled through the air as the pole returned to its shape,flinging him up just high enough to grab the lowest pole in his stairway.
He began swinging upwards,gaining speed as the elevator threatened to flee out of reach. Vulgoth looked on in shock,which quickly turned to rage at the persistence of this thing.
"Initiate a purge of the lower levels,we can't let him up here" He demanded,an alarm beginning to sound off as swarms of insects began flowing past them ever downwards,their abdomens glowing with chemical fuels stored inside.
Dralnok had just made it to the final pole when he noticed the cacophony of chittering and glowing forms above the slowly ascending elevator. He swung around the thing to get all four limbs clutching onto it,sitting like an animal as he eyed the distance intently. Without a second thought,he leapt out for the elevator's underside,just as the bugs burst and released a wave of flame traveling downwards.
Up at the top of the shaft,two guards looked down as the inferno cleared below them,leaving a mangled capsule still ascending up the cable. Still,their orders were clear,moving their specialised saws over to the last bundles of fibers,they finally cut the thing,watching as the capsule descended into the abyss. They looked at eachother with glee,yet this was quickly interrupted as two tendrils leap out of the shaft and anchored themselves in the ceiling,followed swiftly by Dralnok who swatted the two away. Vulgoth saw the two insectoids fly through the walls of the chambers,their screeches echoing as they fell. He had failed again. The enraged lithorian slammed his fist into an adjacent wall,leaving a dent as the rock around cracked.
"I want half of you down on the bridges,if he leaves the cell block,hit him with all you have"
Dralnok meanwhile,had little intention of going through the cell block at all,time was of the essence and he couldn't allow his keepers respite lest they overwhelm him. Thinking quickly,he grabbed the cut elevator cable still attached to the mechanism and leapt through one of the holes he made. Swinging downwards,he gained momentum before pivoting up and launching himself to one of the rock faces. Plunging his talons inside,he began running up the wall,eventually leaping up onto the first of the upper bridges.
Standing in front of him was a group of the Xer'sai guards teeming the place. These ones were armed with lighter automatic weapons,small and weak enough to wield with one hand while the others wielded double bladed glaives,their edges a blur as they vibrated rapidly. He took off,slicing one in half before they even had time to turn to him,talons now stained with blackened ichor. His tendrils shot forth,impaling another fair of the creatures before flinging them in the abyss. Without skipping a beat,a bladed chain of interlocking plates shot from his wrist,impacting another guard and pulling it towards Dralnok. He slammed the xer'sai into the ground on contact,caving in its body cavity.
He then lifted its body up,using it as a shield against a hail of slugs from the remaining guardians. He ripped the weapon from the corpse's still tightened clutch,returning fire and dispatching another three of the creatures. One of them leapt at him,cleaving through both his weapon and the corpse with one swing of its glaive. Before it could strike,Draknol's tendrils grabbed a glaive of his own from a downed guard to block the hit. After gripping the thing with his hand,he knocked the foe off its feet with a sweep of his tendrils and slashed it in twain with the weapon.
Another thrusted its blade at him,missing narrowly as he launched himself off the ground by way of his tendrils. Quickly rolling in the air,he reoriented to deliver a kick to another's head upon landing,caving its skull in. Turning around,he threw the glaive at the one that charged him,pinning it against the rocky wall on impact. And so,all opposition had been vanquished.
He quickly made his way to the bulky doors,ripping each off with one hand before running inside. Above,on the second bridge,a larger group of xer'sai had just finished blocking the entrance door with a hydraulic mechanism,though it proved quite futile when the doors were blown off regardless and crushed the drones setting up the lock.
Draknol was atop the destroyed entrance on all fours,roaring before leaping into another fight.
Vulgoth looked down at the darkness below,illuminated only by the flashes of gunfire and sparks of blades clashing. Occasionally he made out the figure of a xer'sai falling off the edge,or rather,being thrown off all while his hearing was assaulted by a cacophony of screaming and distinctive roars of his escapee.
Speaking of him,he leapt forth from the darkness,landing upon the final bridge at last. Turning around,he saw the main gates,his freedom,but of course it wouldn't be that easy. Standing right between them and the end of the bridge was a formation of Xer'sai,with Vulgoth and Shankun at its front,the former of which holding a plasma cannon in his arms.
"This is the end of the line. Give yourself up and I might only have your limbs removed." He demanded,training his weapon on the lithorian as he just stood there,silent.
He began to take steps forwards,causing the unit behind him to tense up.
"Are you mad? This is it,there's 50 sai rifles pointed at you. There's nowhere to go but through us,now stop before I blow your head off right here and now"
The lithorian stopped,outstretching its hands
"Just put down your weapon,old man. You can't stop me and you certainly don't scare me"
The reptilian growled in response,but his disdain quickly faded to make way for a grin.
"Alright then,tough guy. Let's see you get out of this one. Heads up" He said,pointing his arm towards the ceiling.
Dralnok glanced up to see dozens of explosive satules on the cave ceiling high above,his pupils contracting at the realization. With a quick psi impulse,Vulgoth detonated them all,bathing the ceiling in explosions. Soon enough,hundreds of boulders began falling,some the size of people,others as big as buildings. The first landed just behind Dralnok,destroying the bridge leading back and leaving but one way to go,forward.
He took off on all fours,running even as a giant piece of debris smashed the ground ahead of him,leaping over the gap and gaining ever more speed.
"Open fire! We have him this time!" Vulgoth ordered,readying his own weapon as a wall of shells was sent off towards their quarry.
The lithorian kept coming,dashing off to the sides to avoid hails of fire and even leaping onto a boulder falling near the bridge to avoid a plasma blast from Vulgoth,leaping back onto the path. Another piece of debris crushed a part of the bridge ahead,further compounded by Vulgoth letting off another shot. He thus leapt,firing his wrist chain into a smaller boulder which he flung in the direction of the shot. The two impacted and vaporized,creating a cloud of smoke which Dralnok burst from. The alien then leapt onto another falling piece of debris,firing his wrist chains into another higher up which he used as grappling hooks to pull himself onto it. He then leapt off,aiming to land into the congregation that was guarding the entrance.
As he was descending however,arms outstretched and ready to fall upon Vulgoth,disaster struck. The reptilian was quick enough to raise his plasma cannon,blasting a shot straight into the alien's center mass and knocking him back into the trench. As he fell and his metallic plated sizzled from the heat,he could heat the enemy laughter echoing in his ears.
His blank stare was quickly caught by something however. One of the satules,wrapped around a giant formation on the ceiling,hadn't gone off. An idea crossed his mind,and his spirit returned. He slammed his back tendrils into the rock wall,propelling himself onto a falling boulder,then leapt onto another,and another.
Vulgoth stared in utter disbelief as his enemy entered his view once more,currently running up a particularly massive falling shard and actually gaining altitude.
"FIRE MICRO MISSILES! KILL HIM NOW"
Like clockwork,pairs of tiny racks revealed themselves on the frames of the Xer'sais bulky rifles,letting forth a fusillade of missiles.
Dralnok jumped off the piece of debris,anchoring himself with a wrist chain which pulled him up just fast enough for the barrage to pass below his feet. This was but a brief respite however,as the missiles soon began to wind back and prepare for another run. By then he reached his grappling point,a much smaller rock,only a few timed his size. With all of his strength,Dralnok moved the thing between him and the barrage,being blasted up as the piece of debris was completely pulverized.
This was to his advantage however,as the momentum only got him closer to his goal,spinning around mid flight to grab onto one last stepping stone before his objective. He ran as fast as his arms and legs could take him,scaling the falling monolith and leaping off of its tip,his arm just barely clutching the tip of the massive stalactites he had tried to reach.
That was enough. After gaining proper leverage,he ascended up to its base and grabbed onto the satule,hearing a familliar voice in his head.
"Excellent my child,use it. Earn your freedom"
Without a second thought,he leapt off the formation,ripping off the explosives in the process. He mentally interfaced with the device as he was falling towards his enemies,setting it to blow before spinning around several times for momentum and flung the thing towards them.
An explosion blasted a gash into the immovable gates of the prison,sending a tide of debris and mangled lithorian bodies out onto the icy ground outside.
Vulgoth got up from the pile,some newly formed snow steaming off of his body as he desperately searched for something.
"Are you looking for this?"
Vulgoth looked towards the massive gap in the entrance,seeing a familiar pair of purple eyes glowing through the dust and smoke. Dralnok emerged,holding the reptilian's plasma cannon before promptly breaking it over his knee.
The golden warrior got up,meeting his former prisoner's gaze with his own as the pupils of both narrowed to thin slits. The disdain was palpable in the air,only growing in intensity as the two began to circle the other,letting off inaudible growls due to being out on the airless surface.
Dralnok broke the stalemate,leaping forth and preparing to slash at his foe. Vulgoth narrowly avoided the strike however,running his leg in a sweeping motion into the back of his adversaries while a hand pushed on his chest,making him loose footing and be slammed into the ice covered ground,cracking it. He then raised his arms and slammed them into his foe,but missed as well when his quarry rolled out of the way.
Getting on all fours,Dralnok quickly retaliated as his bladed tendrils sunk into the reptilian's arm,drawing stale and blackened ichor. The rusted reptile ignored this,spinning its arm to get the tendrils wrapped around it before a mighty effort had the escapee dragged through the snow and slammed into the side of the mountain.
His foe adapted,pulling him with the tendrils before imitating his earlier move and slamming him in the stone with a hand to the chest. Dralnok followed up with another slam,this time grabbing his enemies head. Unrelenting,he leapt onto the adjacent surface and came down,delivering a round house kick to Vulgoth's cranium.
The reptile struggled to even get up on his feet,his head ringing. He wouldn't have the chance however,being kicked onto his back before the other lithorian leapt on him. It lunged in for a bite,its daggers sinking into Vulgoth's arm as he tried to keep it away. He then ripped off Dralnok's central horn with his other hand,plunging it into the beast's neck repeatedly,giving him space as it recoiled.
Dralnok stood on all fours,regaining his composure as the reptilian stood up,holding the ripped off protrusion like a dagger. He leapt at it again,but the warrior weaved around his talons and plunged the horn into his side,a set of strange membranes rolling over its eyes as it did so.
As he tried to strike again,Vulgoth's scales erupted in a flash of light,blinding him and allowing the reptile to duck under the swipe,stabbing his leg this time. Another flash sent him stumbling back,only for the warrior to weave behind him and pierce his back. In retaliation,his tendrils shot for the opponent's face,one gouging out an eye while the other was parried with the horn. It was all he needed,Draknol spun around and delivered a punch into the lizard's gut,then followed with a side kick sending him tumbling backwards.
Leaping forth,he delivered another series of kits to the chest,getting under a slash of retaliation then getting behind his foe and suplexing them into the ground. Getting up quickly,he slammed their head into the ground several more times,making sure to daze the reptilian for what would come next. He pinned the warrior down with a foot,grabbing onto an arm proceeding to pour his strength into breaking it,causing it to bend unnaturally. This wasn't the end,as he promptly ripped the thing clean off,earning a grunt from Vulgoth as he struggled to the best of his ability. Draknol grabbed his head,prying his jaws open while the fusion reactor in his chest was overclocked,glowing even beneath the armored plates. With a heralding sizzle,a torrent of plasma leapt from Dralnok's maw and down his opponents throat. His remaining eye popped out of its sockets as his own vaporized blood blew out,the creature falling to the ground and convulsing as anything besides its armour and bones could not handle such heat. In the end,all that was left was a husk,with a growing pool of liquefied insides coming out of its mouth.
"A flawless performance my child,as was expected of you. Now come,we have a craft waiting to retrieve you" the voice rang again,and Dralnok was poised to follow its guidance,taking off into the frozen wasteland,leaving corpses and ruin behind…..
Shankun stepped onto the landing pad with a metallic thud,taking a deep breath at the thought of what would come next. Of course,the frozen world of Netix had no air to speak of,having been deprived of a star and forced to wonder the void millenia ago. It was this isolation that made it an attractive site for secretive facilities and penal holding centers for particularly irritating individuals who were needed alive.
The ride from the port started out smoothly enough,lasting only a few minutes by maglev to a small settlement built around a mining operation. What came after however was much more grueling,consisting of a multi hour hike through the barren and airless landscape,eventually coming upon a gate built into what seemed to be a mountain.
The colossal thing opened,allowing the alien to step inside the holding facility unabated,being saluted by rows of insectoid guards which were armed to the teeth. Waiting for him was a hunched figure,boasting a reptilian visage and glowing orange scales.
"I see you've arranged a welcoming party for me" he said,walking up to the bulky goliath.
"It is not often that we receive visitors,it tends to be a unique occasion"
"Yes well,it is good to know you have some sense of pleasantries,Vulgoth. Let us begin this inspection" the lithorian said,starting to walk as the golden warrior followed suit
"I hope you are aware that our security staff and resources have faced a significant decrease in the last few cycles"
"Yes,well,our lord has asked that security in the throne system be increased tenfold. We wouldn't want those refugees from the Zarathustra massacre to cause any incidents"
"I see…"
The two walked by a number of holding cells,each containing agents of Ka'thogs many enemies,kept here for interrogation and potential indoctrination,plenty however had nothing short of termination ahead of them. Unlike the outside,the facility had air,very thick air at that,almost reminiscent of Chyrix's.
Things quickly took a turn for the worst however as some sort of reptilian creature with tendrils for a lower half burst through a side corridor, throwing off a guard that had been desperately attempting to restrain it before seemingly vanishing from sight. Claw marks began manifesting upon one of the walls before a great impact was heard and cracks formed on its surface. Vulgoth was quick to act,catching the creature's arm just before it could strike at his guest. The thing stopped bending light around its frame,prompting Shankun to leap back and unfurl a pair of wings with shimmering metallic feathers in response.
He was however,slammed away by the creature's other lanky arm,sending him of a ledge which he barely grabbed onto with his regular arms,watching as some of his feathers were torn off and gently gliding down the central pit that formed this facility's backbone. Vulgoth hoisted the fugitive over his head with one arm before slamming the beast into the ground. He grabbed one of its arms and forced it behind its back before planting a foot in its side. A couple of motions later and the appendage was ripped cleanly off,allowing a group of guards to properly haul the screeching thing away.
Vulgoth approached the ledge,helping out the other lithorian in getting its footing.
"I apologize,that one is particularly slippery. Couple that with our current handicaps and….."
"It's fine,at least none escaped. I understand that this is a hard time,but I'm really only here for….him. So long as his measures are as strong as ever,Ka'thog should be satisfied"
"Ah,I see. Come with me then" The reptilian gestured,leading the other lithorian through hall after hall build in the great pit,holding onto its edges. Eventually,they arrived at the bottom,a great door opened,and a hardlight bridge extended to a flat and circular rock formation which protruded from the inky blackness. In the middle of this circle was a creature,the most dangerous inmate of the whole facility.
The thing looked humanoid,albeit with a very top heavy build,long burly arms and shorter digitigrade legs,all four appendages sporting bladed digits. Its form was covered in overlapping plates of metallic substance,dirty and scratched from all the time spent here. Its face was rather horrid,lacking any lips to hide the daggers it had for teeth,four particularly large canines among them. It seemed to have no eyes,just gaping empty sockets where they should have been. Aside from those,it's entire head was featureless save for five horns,one shot straight up from its forehead,another two trailed off to the sides before a sharp incline led them upwards as well and a much larger pair of similarly shaped growths sprouted from its temples to finish the set. The beast also seemed to have two tendrilic appendages sprouting from its back,thin like sheathed of fabric,they ended in short blades.
The amount of measures taken to keep this lithorian contained surprised Shankun. First,each of its palms were sheathed in what seemed to be extremely heavy restraints,connected to a bundle of wire that snaked through contraptions that were bolted to the ground,then trailing off the sides of the rocky platform to a pair of braces wrapped around some rather large boulders. This must have been why the creature was kneeling,being forced to by all that weight,though the fact it could do even that made him feel somewhat nervous. A strange rocky contraption also seemed to encase the beast's body cavity,being made of intersecting hexagons and pins.
"What does that device do?" he said,carefully approaching to have a better look.
"For one it keeps him down with the weight and prevents breathing while it's locked. Those pins connect to needles that we jammed into his organs and blood vessels,just in case he ever tried testing it" Vulgoth said rather matter-of-factly,pacing around the bound prisoner and making sure to step over the wired when passing by.
"You said locked. You're telling me it can be unlocked?"
The reptilian stepped forward,placing a hand on a hexagon section with a winding serpentine gap in it.
"We put a key in here and run it down the mechanism for unlocking. We're supposed to have it opened once we pried all the info from his head to have him shipped for termination. Key's being stored off site for now,safety precaution"
"So you're telling me he hasn't moved or breathed in five years?"
"Yes. His mods are top of the like however,so he'll live"
"Is he conscious right now?"
"Very much so" Vulgoth said,proving his point by stomping on one of its bladed tendrils,earning a metallic screech as the bound one clenched its toothy maw.
"I see…..I suppose it is good to know that the precautions are extensive"
"There's much more! Follow me please" the reptilian said,urging the two to travel back up the hardlight bridge and through the gate. The bridge receded shortly afterwards,leaving the prisoner in darkness.
…….
"Dralnok,awaken my child" a voice rang out in the prisoner's head,causing light to begin flickering in his empty sockets.
Soon enough,glowing eyes of purple hue materialized in their sunken crevices,pupils widening as they darted around.
"Lord Arkheon?"
Shankun and Vulgoth,by now walking about the bridges high above,were caught off guard by the noise.
"Did he just speak?" Shankun said,peering over the ledge into the darkness below,struggling to make anything out.
"I need you in my service Dralnok,there is a craft coming for you,but you must break free from this place." The voice continued,still being audible only to his thoughts.
"Understood,I will not fail" The creature said to itself,just as something caught its attention. The glow of its own eyes illuminated one of Shankun's metallic feathers gently making contact with the floor in front of him,having been ripped off earlier by the other rampaging detainee. Dralnok smiled,this was all he needed.
With a grunt,he began to extend the tendrils,their flat nature allowing them to slink between his back and the contraption sheathing him. The movement of muscle still caused the needles to do damage however,so he needed to be quick and precise.
Quickly,he picked the feather and planted it in the locking mechanism,beginning to push it along the path and listening for the noises that the device made,remembering the sequence from back when the thing had been put around him.. Once at the bottom of the opening,he pressed the feather downwards,earning a release of steam as the hexagons distanced from one another and the needles slinked back into their pins. He immediately bent down,gasping in lungfuls of air for the first time in half a decade.
His pupils soon narrowed to thin slits as he felt his strength returning,bolstered by rage.
"Something is very wrong….." Vulgoth said,hearing the commotion happening down there and becoming increasingly worried. With a gesture,a set of lights were activated to illuminate everything,making what came next all the more terrifying.
Dralnok took a deep breath again,grunting as his muscles began to flex and the restraining shell groaned around him,soon bursting to pieces with one powerful motion. He got to his feet,looking up to meet Vulgoth's gaze with his.
"EVERYONE IN POSITION! PRISONER 689-Y IS TO BE TERMINATED" He roared,beginning to make his way further up the complex with Shankun shortly after.
Already,insectoid troops began swarming inside battlements built in the walls surrounding his holding area. Dralnok growled in response,testing his remaining binds as he pulled on the wires.
One of the guards already aimed an auto rail-cannon at him,letting loose a burst of 30mm slugs. Thinking quickly,the lithorian blocked with one of his arms. The bulky shackle around it took the first few shots before falling apart,resulting in it being pulled away as the boulder it connected to plummeted to the depths.
The assault stopped,the guard frantically trying to reload as he gripped the wire of his other restraint and pulled with all his mind. The mechanism pinning the thing to the ground gave in,allowing the lithorian to swing the giant rock straight into the construction,crushing his assailant inside. He then moved the thing across the battlements,crushing or knocking off dozens until all were dead. With that taken care of,he plunged his talons into the other shackle,ripping it off and freeing his other arm before roaring victoriously.
This triumph was short lived however,as large poles began rising from the floor all around him,glowing growths pulsating at their tips as the lithorian dropped to his knees,screeching in torment. Waves of psionic tidal waves slammed against his mind,drowning out everything else.
"Don't lose sight of yourself,you must press on" the voice chimed in,calming the maelstrom that plagued his thoughts.
With this newfound clarity,the creature's back tendrils sprung into action,elongating and slicing off the psionic growths on every pole in a sweeping motion. He slowly clambered back to his feet,regaining his composure,much to the stunned disbelief of those above.
"That's impossible….how did he-
Those were top of the line neuro scramblers!" Vulgoth exclaimed,a sense of anxiety finally starting to wriggle through his confidence.
"RECALL THE ELEVATOR! LET HIM ROT DOWN THERE" He exclaimed,figuring this was the best way to salvage the situation.
Dralnok shifted his gaze to see the industrial grade elevator rising,packed with fleeing troops. He needed that to get out,but first he also needed to leave the platform that was his cell. A quick survey around told him he could not leap to the stone walls around him,at least not in his current state,far too risky. A stroke of brilliance struck him as he gripped one of the poles around and ripped it from the ground,a quick examination showing that it was tough yet elastic,with a sharpened tip to interface into the tissues below.
This would do,he hurled the thing like an oversized javelin and it sunk into the rock without issue. Pleased,he began ripping more poles with his tendrils and threw them as well,above and off to the side compared to the first. The last one he placed opposite of this contraption he made,then gained as much distance as he could from it,the next part would be taxing. He dropped on all fours,taking a breath before blasting off with impossible speed. Once close to the pole,he leapt and oriented himself mid air so his legs would make contact. The thing bent,and bent,straining against the impact and threatening to snap,yet it did not. Dralnok found himself propelled through the air as the pole returned to its shape,flinging him up just high enough to grab the lowest pole in his stairway.
He began swinging upwards,gaining speed as the elevator threatened to flee out of reach. Vulgoth looked on in shock,which quickly turned to rage at the persistence of this thing.
"Initiate a purge of the lower levels,we can't let him up here" He demanded,an alarm beginning to sound off as swarms of insects began flowing past them ever downwards,their abdomens glowing with chemical fuels stored inside.
Dralnok had just made it to the final pole when he noticed the cacophony of chittering and glowing forms above the slowly ascending elevator. He swung around the thing to get all four limbs clutching onto it,sitting like an animal as he eyed the distance intently. Without a second thought,he leapt out for the elevator's underside,just as the bugs burst and released a wave of flame traveling downwards.
Up at the top of the shaft,two guards looked down as the inferno cleared below them,leaving a mangled capsule still ascending up the cable. Still,their orders were clear,moving their specialised saws over to the last bundles of fibers,they finally cut the thing,watching as the capsule descended into the abyss. They looked at eachother with glee,yet this was quickly interrupted as two tendrils leap out of the shaft and anchored themselves in the ceiling,followed swiftly by Dralnok who swatted the two away. Vulgoth saw the two insectoids fly through the walls of the chambers,their screeches echoing as they fell. He had failed again. The enraged lithorian slammed his fist into an adjacent wall,leaving a dent as the rock around cracked.
"I want half of you down on the bridges,if he leaves the cell block,hit him with all you have"
Dralnok meanwhile,had little intention of going through the cell block at all,time was of the essence and he couldn't allow his keepers respite lest they overwhelm him. Thinking quickly,he grabbed the cut elevator cable still attached to the mechanism and leapt through one of the holes he made. Swinging downwards,he gained momentum before pivoting up and launching himself to one of the rock faces. Plunging his talons inside,he began running up the wall,eventually leaping up onto the first of the upper bridges.
Standing in front of him was a group of the Xer'sai guards teeming the place. These ones were armed with lighter automatic weapons,small and weak enough to wield with one hand while the others wielded double bladed glaives,their edges a blur as they vibrated rapidly. He took off,slicing one in half before they even had time to turn to him,talons now stained with blackened ichor. His tendrils shot forth,impaling another fair of the creatures before flinging them in the abyss. Without skipping a beat,a bladed chain of interlocking plates shot from his wrist,impacting another guard and pulling it towards Dralnok. He slammed the xer'sai into the ground on contact,caving in its body cavity.
He then lifted its body up,using it as a shield against a hail of slugs from the remaining guardians. He ripped the weapon from the corpse's still tightened clutch,returning fire and dispatching another three of the creatures. One of them leapt at him,cleaving through both his weapon and the corpse with one swing of its glaive. Before it could strike,Draknol's tendrils grabbed a glaive of his own from a downed guard to block the hit. After gripping the thing with his hand,he knocked the foe off its feet with a sweep of his tendrils and slashed it in twain with the weapon.
Another thrusted its blade at him,missing narrowly as he launched himself off the ground by way of his tendrils. Quickly rolling in the air,he reoriented to deliver a kick to another's head upon landing,caving its skull in. Turning around,he threw the glaive at the one that charged him,pinning it against the rocky wall on impact. And so,all opposition had been vanquished.
He quickly made his way to the bulky doors,ripping each off with one hand before running inside. Above,on the second bridge,a larger group of xer'sai had just finished blocking the entrance door with a hydraulic mechanism,though it proved quite futile when the doors were blown off regardless and crushed the drones setting up the lock.
Draknol was atop the destroyed entrance on all fours,roaring before leaping into another fight.
Vulgoth looked down at the darkness below,illuminated only by the flashes of gunfire and sparks of blades clashing. Occasionally he made out the figure of a xer'sai falling off the edge,or rather,being thrown off all while his hearing was assaulted by a cacophony of screaming and distinctive roars of his escapee.
Speaking of him,he leapt forth from the darkness,landing upon the final bridge at last. Turning around,he saw the main gates,his freedom,but of course it wouldn't be that easy. Standing right between them and the end of the bridge was a formation of Xer'sai,with Vulgoth and Shankun at its front,the former of which holding a plasma cannon in his arms.
"This is the end of the line. Give yourself up and I might only have your limbs removed." He demanded,training his weapon on the lithorian as he just stood there,silent.
He began to take steps forwards,causing the unit behind him to tense up.
"Are you mad? This is it,there's 50 sai rifles pointed at you. There's nowhere to go but through us,now stop before I blow your head off right here and now"
The lithorian stopped,outstretching its hands
"Just put down your weapon,old man. You can't stop me and you certainly don't scare me"
The reptilian growled in response,but his disdain quickly faded to make way for a grin.
"Alright then,tough guy. Let's see you get out of this one. Heads up" He said,pointing his arm towards the ceiling.
Dralnok glanced up to see dozens of explosive satules on the cave ceiling high above,his pupils contracting at the realization. With a quick psi impulse,Vulgoth detonated them all,bathing the ceiling in explosions. Soon enough,hundreds of boulders began falling,some the size of people,others as big as buildings. The first landed just behind Dralnok,destroying the bridge leading back and leaving but one way to go,forward.
He took off on all fours,running even as a giant piece of debris smashed the ground ahead of him,leaping over the gap and gaining ever more speed.
"Open fire! We have him this time!" Vulgoth ordered,readying his own weapon as a wall of shells was sent off towards their quarry.
The lithorian kept coming,dashing off to the sides to avoid hails of fire and even leaping onto a boulder falling near the bridge to avoid a plasma blast from Vulgoth,leaping back onto the path. Another piece of debris crushed a part of the bridge ahead,further compounded by Vulgoth letting off another shot. He thus leapt,firing his wrist chain into a smaller boulder which he flung in the direction of the shot. The two impacted and vaporized,creating a cloud of smoke which Dralnok burst from. The alien then leapt onto another falling piece of debris,firing his wrist chains into another higher up which he used as grappling hooks to pull himself onto it. He then leapt off,aiming to land into the congregation that was guarding the entrance.
As he was descending however,arms outstretched and ready to fall upon Vulgoth,disaster struck. The reptilian was quick enough to raise his plasma cannon,blasting a shot straight into the alien's center mass and knocking him back into the trench. As he fell and his metallic plated sizzled from the heat,he could heat the enemy laughter echoing in his ears.
His blank stare was quickly caught by something however. One of the satules,wrapped around a giant formation on the ceiling,hadn't gone off. An idea crossed his mind,and his spirit returned. He slammed his back tendrils into the rock wall,propelling himself onto a falling boulder,then leapt onto another,and another.
Vulgoth stared in utter disbelief as his enemy entered his view once more,currently running up a particularly massive falling shard and actually gaining altitude.
"FIRE MICRO MISSILES! KILL HIM NOW"
Like clockwork,pairs of tiny racks revealed themselves on the frames of the Xer'sais bulky rifles,letting forth a fusillade of missiles.
Dralnok jumped off the piece of debris,anchoring himself with a wrist chain which pulled him up just fast enough for the barrage to pass below his feet. This was but a brief respite however,as the missiles soon began to wind back and prepare for another run. By then he reached his grappling point,a much smaller rock,only a few timed his size. With all of his strength,Dralnok moved the thing between him and the barrage,being blasted up as the piece of debris was completely pulverized.
This was to his advantage however,as the momentum only got him closer to his goal,spinning around mid flight to grab onto one last stepping stone before his objective. He ran as fast as his arms and legs could take him,scaling the falling monolith and leaping off of its tip,his arm just barely clutching the tip of the massive stalactites he had tried to reach.
That was enough. After gaining proper leverage,he ascended up to its base and grabbed onto the satule,hearing a familliar voice in his head.
"Excellent my child,use it. Earn your freedom"
Without a second thought,he leapt off the formation,ripping off the explosives in the process. He mentally interfaced with the device as he was falling towards his enemies,setting it to blow before spinning around several times for momentum and flung the thing towards them.
An explosion blasted a gash into the immovable gates of the prison,sending a tide of debris and mangled lithorian bodies out onto the icy ground outside.
Vulgoth got up from the pile,some newly formed snow steaming off of his body as he desperately searched for something.
"Are you looking for this?"
Vulgoth looked towards the massive gap in the entrance,seeing a familiar pair of purple eyes glowing through the dust and smoke. Dralnok emerged,holding the reptilian's plasma cannon before promptly breaking it over his knee.
The golden warrior got up,meeting his former prisoner's gaze with his own as the pupils of both narrowed to thin slits. The disdain was palpable in the air,only growing in intensity as the two began to circle the other,letting off inaudible growls due to being out on the airless surface.
Dralnok broke the stalemate,leaping forth and preparing to slash at his foe. Vulgoth narrowly avoided the strike however,running his leg in a sweeping motion into the back of his adversaries while a hand pushed on his chest,making him loose footing and be slammed into the ice covered ground,cracking it. He then raised his arms and slammed them into his foe,but missed as well when his quarry rolled out of the way.
Getting on all fours,Dralnok quickly retaliated as his bladed tendrils sunk into the reptilian's arm,drawing stale and blackened ichor. The rusted reptile ignored this,spinning its arm to get the tendrils wrapped around it before a mighty effort had the escapee dragged through the snow and slammed into the side of the mountain.
His foe adapted,pulling him with the tendrils before imitating his earlier move and slamming him in the stone with a hand to the chest. Dralnok followed up with another slam,this time grabbing his enemies head. Unrelenting,he leapt onto the adjacent surface and came down,delivering a round house kick to Vulgoth's cranium.
The reptile struggled to even get up on his feet,his head ringing. He wouldn't have the chance however,being kicked onto his back before the other lithorian leapt on him. It lunged in for a bite,its daggers sinking into Vulgoth's arm as he tried to keep it away. He then ripped off Dralnok's central horn with his other hand,plunging it into the beast's neck repeatedly,giving him space as it recoiled.
Dralnok stood on all fours,regaining his composure as the reptilian stood up,holding the ripped off protrusion like a dagger. He leapt at it again,but the warrior weaved around his talons and plunged the horn into his side,a set of strange membranes rolling over its eyes as it did so.
As he tried to strike again,Vulgoth's scales erupted in a flash of light,blinding him and allowing the reptile to duck under the swipe,stabbing his leg this time. Another flash sent him stumbling back,only for the warrior to weave behind him and pierce his back. In retaliation,his tendrils shot for the opponent's face,one gouging out an eye while the other was parried with the horn. It was all he needed,Draknol spun around and delivered a punch into the lizard's gut,then followed with a side kick sending him tumbling backwards.
Leaping forth,he delivered another series of kits to the chest,getting under a slash of retaliation then getting behind his foe and suplexing them into the ground. Getting up quickly,he slammed their head into the ground several more times,making sure to daze the reptilian for what would come next. He pinned the warrior down with a foot,grabbing onto an arm proceeding to pour his strength into breaking it,causing it to bend unnaturally. This wasn't the end,as he promptly ripped the thing clean off,earning a grunt from Vulgoth as he struggled to the best of his ability. Draknol grabbed his head,prying his jaws open while the fusion reactor in his chest was overclocked,glowing even beneath the armored plates. With a heralding sizzle,a torrent of plasma leapt from Dralnok's maw and down his opponents throat. His remaining eye popped out of its sockets as his own vaporized blood blew out,the creature falling to the ground and convulsing as anything besides its armour and bones could not handle such heat. In the end,all that was left was a husk,with a growing pool of liquefied insides coming out of its mouth.
"A flawless performance my child,as was expected of you. Now come,we have a craft waiting to retrieve you" the voice rang again,and Dralnok was poised to follow its guidance,taking off into the frozen wasteland,leaving corpses and ruin behind…..