Colossus By Choice: Book 1 Verse 6

3001 P.G.E. (Post-Godzilla Era)

[Universal Date: Day 118]
[Planet: Pyrestar]
[Capital: Silver Sun City]
[Location: City wall limits]

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Tigrex, the Roaring Wyvern.

A member of this muscular quadrupedal Flying Wyvern species has found itself locked into combat with the first expeditionary assault force of the Iwi-ki. Despite its impressive strength and ferocity having allowed it to charge into this camp relatively unimpeded, the beast now finds itself surrounded on all sides by armed soldiers who have recovered from the shock of the initial attack and are ready to push back the Monster. Tigrex starts to show signs of fear and unease at being forced into an indefensible position and begins roaring at the Iwi-ki warriors as it attempts to back away.

However, soldiers prevent it from escaping with taser shots from their casters; the 2 sides are now at a standstill. While the Tigrex is now trapped, it's still a powerful Monster that can easily plow through individual infantry with ease should its instincts drive it to do so.

During this brief interim, the Apceros-driven carts ferrying the prisoners are sent off, including the one carrying Taum, Skrill, and Yun-Tao; they quickly leave behind the commotion with the Tigrex.

With the driver focused on getting the Apceros to head towards the intended drop-off point, the prisoners in the cart behind his seat set about with their escape plan. Yun-Tao brings her head down to Taum's face, allowing him to bite down on the metal cap of her downward-curving right horn; he gives it a big pull and takes off the mechanical addition, instantly activating a small cord cutter knife. The popped out utility knife catches Taum briefly by surprise, but he quickly gets over it and spits out the cap that was covering it up.

Without any words so as to not alert the driver, the Oxbul blacksmith cuts the bindings of Taum and Skrill slowly and carefully; it's especially hard to aim the cord cutter with her head due to the rocking and bucking of the Apceros cart. Luckily, she manages to cut through almost the entirety of their bindings after several minutes. Before she can finish, though, the cart starts to slow down; the trio look up and see that they're arriving at the ape soldiers' intended destination. This prompts Yun-Tao to quickly engage the laser burner and make some emergency welds to where she used her horn's cord cutter. She manages to finish just in the nick of time as the Apceros carts reach the storage rooms.

The cart drivers step off from their seats and begin rounding up their prisoner loads.


(Iwi-ki Blooded): Alright, line the prisoners up into 3 groups!


All of the ape soldiers line up the prisoners in a single file line; they then split them up into 3 groups.


(Iwi-ki Blooded): We only need a select few prisoners alive now. Execute the ones who aren't significant enough to warrant retaliation from the major powers.


The ape soldiers train their guns on the other 2 groups, leaving Taum's group uncovered.


(Taum): NO!


Without any second thought, the youngling Draconi city scout breaks his loosened bindings and tackles the guard overseeing his group slated for survival. As he struggles with the Iwi-ki soldier over his caster, the other guards come over and train their guns on Taum. Before any of them can subdue him, Yun-Tao breaks her bindings and plows through the other 3 guards, knocking them down to the ground. The Blooded warrior is about to fire upon her, but Skrill takes the opportunity to break out of his own bindings and leaps onto the large ape soldier's face, causing him to misfire and hit one of his own underlings.

The Blooded soldier grabs the elderly Radent by the back of his neck and throws him off to the ground. As he prepares to fire on him, Taum manages to fire the caster in the ape warrior's grip as the 2 of them struggle at the elite officer, briefly stunning him. Skrill takes this opportunity to give a leaping kick into the back of one of the Unblooded that Yun-Tao is struggling with, knocking him down to the ground and freeing up the Oxbul blacksmith's other hand. She then hoists the Unblooded by the neck and throws him into the Blooded warrior, knocking him over. While this is going on, Taum knocks out the minor grunt with his own caster; he then picks it up and fires several Dragon Plasma rounds into the Blooded officer's head, killing him quickly and efficiently.

Skrill and Yun-Tao knock out the remaining troopers.


(Taum): Alright, cut their bindings. I grew up in the city limit expanse, and I know routes that will provide cover while we make our way back to Silver Sun City.


The blacksmith mistress pulls the cord cutter out from her horn and starts cutting the bindings of all the prisoners; one by one, the prisoners are freed of the wiring binding them by Yun-Tao. Soon enough, 15 individuals spared by the Iwi-ki raid force from the city scouts, travelling blacksmiths, and a few civilians are free of their shackles. Some of them thank the youngling Draconi apprentice of the city scouts, with the senior city scouts in particular congratulating him on formulating a successful, if unconventional, escape plan.

Taum motions to the group to follow him into the treeline; they follow in his lead. They begin walking deeper and deeper into the dense forest, eventually losing track of the city scout outposts that they left behind entirely; the sounds of the invading enemy force in the distance catches their attention.


(Taum): Hunker down and hide in those bushes marked with the yellow berries! They'll hide our scent and muffle our sounds.


The group of escapees does as the youngling orders, taking cover within the bushes filled with yellow berries. The berries' smell is absolutely terrible, a definite turnoff for any intrepid Monster that might be hankering for a snack. Luckily, this aforementioned stench and their dense foliage hides the former prisoners perfectly, allowing them to peer out from within without risk of being spotted or smelled out.

It's just as well, as the Iwi-ki assault force has started marching towards the city; members of the battalion on the fringes closest to the forest can be seen by Taum and the other escapees. They can see the body of the Tigrex that had charged into their camp from before being ferried atop a massive cart; such a cart was likely used for carrying the siege cannons that the ape soldiers had used to break down the outer limit walls. The leader of the force, Primatus Joa, marches alongside the fringe of his battalion within the forest's edge. He sniffs the air heavily, but grumbles in disappointment and continues walking forward.

Yun-Tao is hiding in the same bush as Taum and Skrill; she seems agitated and frustrated.


(Skrill): What's gotten your fur in a bunch?

(Yun-Tao): We're just letting these apes go ahead, without so much as a struggle!

(Taum): We're less than 20 strong and only just escaped after an entire day spent of barely any food or water. We barely have any armaments spread between us all, and they're still over 200 strong at the minimum.

(Yun-Tao): Their leader killed my husband!

(Taum): And he killed my sister! I promise you, if we get out of this, we can track him down and kill him. But we need to survive first to get there.


The headstrong Oxbul growls under her breath, but she ultimately relents and remains in hiding.


(Taum): As soon as they pass by, I'll show us an alternate route that will get us back to Silver Sun City fast. We need to warn them of the coming forces.

(Skrill): And hey, think of it this way. If we get there first, you can get everyone armed and equipped for battle!

(Yun-Tao): Okay... okay then. We wait, then.


The escapees hunker down and wait for the Iwi-ki assault force to pass them by. Their sheer numbers, along with all of their hauled equipment, means that it takes them nearly 2 hours for them to be far enough away to allow the group to finally get up and moving. With the ape soldiers now clear, they all stand up and take a few moments to gather themselves before then marching forward; they follow Taum's lead once more so that he can direct them to where they can go to hopefully beat the assault force to Silver Sun City to warn them and allow them to prepare for the siege.

With the youngling Draconi at the lead, the group of escapees heads down a path illuminated by colonies of glowing purple mushrooms along the roots of the trees. Thanks to the efforts of Silver Sun City's finest Monster Hunters, a large portion of the immediate surrounding area was cleared of any Large Monsters, allowing relatively safe travel and the formation of small settlements. The only Monsters that the group encounters are the occasional Kelbi and Mosswine, the latter of whom feed on the glowing mushroom colonies that the former prisoners now follow.


(Skrill): Remind me, why are we following mushrooms again? I've been a smuggler for most of my life, and I've never taken this route into the city before.

(Taum): Going the straight route means navigating rivers and jagged rocky terrain. The city limits may be clear of Large Monsters, but I grew up out here, and we country folk learned where the best routes were through the forests.

(Yun-Tao): So why mushroom patches?

(Taum): Simple.


Taum looks down at the ground by the glowing fungal patches that they pass by, drawing specific attention to the dirt itself.


(Taum): These mushrooms break down most planet material around here. This process softens up the soil and removes leftover organic matter, leaving it mostly flat and easy to traverse.

(Skrill): So you really are a farm boy at heart.

(Taum): Maybe, but I wanted to get out there while still being close to home. So, the City Scouts was the natural course of action. Anyways, if we keep following this path, we should end up at one of the eastern entrances to the city in a few hours.


The group marches on. Off in the distance above the treeline, the faint outline of the highest towers of Silver Sun City can be made out. However, the flags of the Iwi-ki can also be made out amid the tree line several clicks away from the group of escapees; both parties are steadily making their way to the city. The only question that remains is which will reach it first and determine the next course of action.