The One Left Behind [Part 3.5]

In the dimly lit interior of the VTOL, Nightfall Team sat in contemplative silence.

Krag checked his claws and practiced the more subtle of his Silent Killing Arts, breathing in Ki and combining it with Renshu to create his presence concealment technique. His muscles rippled and flex underneath his layer of scales, weakly reflecting the low light of the VTOL interior.

Giovanni wove intricate spell patterns between his hands and prepared the team-wide communications that would play a vital role in the coming operation. Magic pulsed in his open hand and his teammates felt a presence touch upon their minds; benevolent and calming, slowly making its way into their consciousness.

Iyera checked her arrows and applied some last-minute enchantments on those she thought she would need to use in the coming mission, layering offensive magics onto her arrowheads and bow. She set them into her quiver and pulled her hair back, tying it into an efficient ponytail.

Tobias chanted under his breath, breathing in magic as he girded himself for battle. The interior of the craft warped and pulsed like water before settling back into their set forms, proof of his boasts in the art of metal manipulation were no mere boasts but also an extravagant truth the few could live up to.

Mellow watched it all from his seat, mechanical thumb running over the edge of his bastard father’s sword and augmented eyes looking over each one of his teammates. They were all powerful warriors with their own set of strengths and weaknesses, and he doubted he could take them all on by himself even with his current set of augments and weapons.

But individually—

“Mellow, I understand you are not satisfied with your current circumstances,” Giovanni spoke. “But could you think of something less treasonous when you are in the presence of your teammates for the upcoming mission?”

—There was no way he could get his ass whooped by Tobias and his loud mouth.

“Hey!” the Bull Anima cried, insulted. “I can certainly whoop your ass, you robot prick!”

And it helps that the dumbass was as hard-headed as the animal he’s related to.

“I am NOT hard-headed! I use my horns to kill people!”

By head-butting them on occasion.

“Well, sometimes, but—“ Tobias fell silent and stared at Mellow’s smirk, Giovanni cracking a smile and Krag barking a short laugh. “Fuck you.”

“I’m flattered but no.” Mellow chuckled, and turned away from Tobias' fuming. “So what’s the plan, Gio?”

“Straight forward always worked best for our team.” The young man nodded at Mellow. “We infiltrate, get the target, and exfiltrate. No ruckus, no chaos, no unnecessary killing; in and out without a trace.” He turned to the other members of the team. “Krag, you and Mellow will drop in and scout the area. Myself and the others would follow once you given the all clear.”

“Roger that.” Mellow nodded, and Krag nodded. “What’s the plan in case there’s complications?”

“We improvise.” He shrugged. “What else?”

Mellow burst out laughing, genuine mirth coloring his features. It seems that some things really didn’t change across universes.

The internal lighting turned green, prompting Mellow and Krag to stand. The Ji’Ialeay and augmented human walking to the rear loading door as it lowered and the VTOL’s engines cut out. Krag stepped out, falling into the forest below. Mellow turned, donned his mask, and saluted the others before hopping out.

x-x-x-x-x

The castle-fort was a thing of heavily reinforced beauty; with all manner of magic-based enchantments keeping it sturdy against all but the most dangerous of attacks and some conventional sieges. Catapults and balistas lined the fortifications, and an rough estimate put the garrison to number between eight hundred to a thousand and two hundred able-bodied soldiers of various kinds. From his spot on a tree, a cloaked up Mellow took it all in and relayed the info to Giovanni, not liking their odds of a clean infiltration.

He hopped up a few more branches and settled amidst a cluster of leaves as the wind blew, concealing his movements. His altered eyes swept past the area in search for potential problems—

He paused and zeroed in on the window of the most heavily warded part of the stronghold. He switched vision types, confirming what he was seeing.

/”Boss, I think see a complication.”/ Mellow reported from his hiding spot in a tree, his voice echoing through the mental link. /”He’s big, dressed well, and has a very powerful magic sword on his person.”/

/”Description?”/ was Giovanni’s curt reply.

/”Older male, tall, stuffy, flowing blue-purple robes and a brown hair. He has a very obvious set of jewelry on him.”/ Mellow cursed internally. /”Check my view; I think he’s the 14th Blade of Varces.”/

/“Confirming.”/ Mellow felt his perspective shift into four as the presence in his mind grew more prominent. Giovanni watched, then sighed in frustration. /”…Confirmed. We have the 14th Blade in the Operation Area.”/

/”The 14th Blade? Who’s that again?/” Tobias complained.

/”Baudouin Sabla.”/ came Iyera’s quiet answer.

/”A powerful foe.”/ Krag rumbled, and Mellow whistled internally; even in a shared mental call, the lizardman sounded scary. /”He must be here to guard the target. Can’t see a different reason than that.”/

/”Well crap.”/ Mellow sighed. /”How’re we improvising on this, boss?”/

/”…I’m open to ideas.”/ Giovanni asked. Mellow grinned.

/”Infiltrating anything with this Baudouin guy here and taking the mark from under his nose would be impossible, yeah?”/ Mellow asked. /”I don’t know if there’s a term for on Advatus, but back home, we call this move the ‘bait and switch.’ Whenever we find a place heavily guarded, we set a diversion to distract the defenders, infil while they’re busy taking care of it, and leave without anyone the wiser.”/

/”We don’t have the means to make a diversion big enough for that, though…”/ Giovanni said.

/”Oh, we certainly don’t.”/ Mellow grinned; Cancer’s earlier words coming back to mind. /”But the Orks in the area do.”/

There was silence in the mental link as the group considered the implications of Mellow’s suggestion.

/”…Consensus?”/ Giovanni inquired.

/”Fine.”/ Iyera agreed.

/”I can do it.”/ Krag rumbled

/”…I’m not doing this because I like it, okay?!” Tobias whined. /”Shut up!”/

/”Nightfall Team, you have your new objective; find and lure an Ork horde here. Use whatever means necessary.”/ Giovanni commanded. /”Once we have the defenders properly distracted, we can begin our infiltration. Go.”/

Mellow smiled and dropped out of the tree, rolling with the impact of his fall and sprinting through the forest. Trees blurred past until he found a crude encampment composed of thousands of rough teepees and lit with weak torches. Large, musclebound figures stood guard and tensed as they heard Mellow’s footfalls.

“Surprised, maddafakka!” he laughed as he shoulder checked one of the guards, rolling with the impact to draw his sword and behead him. He leaped off the spasming body to behead the other one. “Wake up ya grots!”

The encampment stirred and tepee flaps opened for confused heads to lean out. A few saw Mellow, cursed, and gathered their weapons. The young man sprinted past, kicking and spitting on groggy Orcs as he went.

He ran to the biggest tepee, slaughtering guards and setting fire to the tent. Its inhabitant roared and stood as it went up in flames, the heat doing little to affect the rippling muscles that layered the Warboss’ large frame

“Who dares—“ Mellow cut him off but kicking his face hard enough to send hims tumbling back. “Ow!”

“Ah’ do, biatch!” the young man heckled. “You’re orks, yeah? Big and green and mean and shit?”

The Warboss roared, swinging a massive bone axe in a clumsy offhand swing. Mellow ducked under it and punched its face.

“Well, ah’ve heard ya' boys ‘aven’t been doin’ things roight and proppa!” Mellow laughed at the assembling Orcs. “Hidin’ and cursin’ at those hummies over there like grots! Are you lot jacking off, or—“ he took a deep breath. “ARE YOU SO PATHETIC AND WEAK THAT YOU CAN’T EVEN FIGHT THE PUNY HUMANS HIDING THERE?!”

The accusation made the Orks roar and bellow in mad rage, some of them rushing forward to face the daring fool who thought it was a good idea to insult an Orc about their lack of power. The Warboss’ own roar was the loudest of the mob, and he too rushed at Mellow with mad tenacity. The young man simply dodged the axe swing and kicked off the monster’s head, sending him into tumbling into his fellows.

“YOU THINK YOU CAN PROVE ME WRONG?!” Mellow cried. “THEN COME AND GET ME AT THAT FORTRESS!”

Mellow dashed out of the encampment as the Warboss roused his mob, roaring red war and calling out for the daring human’s blood.

/”This is Serpent. I’ve got an Orc Mob heading for the castle.”/ Mellow reported.

/”Good job. Tobias and Krag have theirs down too, currently leading their mobs to the castle.”/ Giovanni paused. /”Iyera is encountering problems. Serpent, divert and bail her out.”/

/”Copy that.”/ Mellow moved, following Giovanni’s orders and directions through the trees and arriving at a relatively small clearing. A small group of Orcs had surrounded the Elf archer, who stood surrounded by the dead bodies of dozens of other Orks. /”I see her. Reinforcing.”/

Mellow dove into the Ork mob, turning the monsters into sliced meat with his bladework and augmented strength. Those that failed to react in time were cut down or perforate by enchanted arrows.

The augmented human and Elf archer worked in tandem, displaying exemplary teamwork in the face of superior numbers. Mellow wove in between the musclebound Orcs, blades glinting with every swing and sowing chaos where he tread. Iyera's marksmanship reaped a bloody tally among the Orcs, with single arrows either piercing three Orc heads or nailing unfortunate Orcs in place long enough for Mellow to finish off.

In minutes, the last of the monsters were dispatched, and Iyera retrieved her arrows while Mellow stood guard for reinforcements.

“Y’know, a little thank you wouldn’t be remiss.” He suggested, looking at the treeline. “I did kinda save your life back—“ he turned around and found the Elf gone. He blinked and grumbled, hopping after her. “Bitch.”

x-x-x-x-x

The castle came under siege thirty minutes later, stone walls assailed by hundreds of Orcs screaming bloody murder at the humans for being racist pricks. Nightfall team snuck in through the chaos, with Iyera supporting the Orcs in their invasion of the castle and Giovanni helping Tobias in subtly sabotaging the defenders’ attempts to rally to prolong the distraction.

Krag and Mellow were ordered to separately move through the stronghold in search of the target, checking every room for any clues. The Ji’Ialeay had taken to scouting the unguarded areas of the stronghold, while Mellow tackled the large building he’d seen the 14th Blade in.

It didn’t take long to find them; the older man was in a large room, the defector wringing her hands in apparent worry. This room must have been one of the few places that was sufficiently protected from external threats, and would have been the best place to hold out if the Orcs overwhelmed the defenders.

The augmented young man had half a mind to engage from stealth and take him out, like an sensible infiltration/sabotage specialist would. But a part of him, the one that was shackled against his will and harbored for a release from the hell he’d been condemned to; roared for a fight that would test the limits of his augments, a challenge that would help him grow as a fighter.

A death that could release him from this torture.

Mellow dropped down from the ceiling, sword bared. From behind his mask, he winced as his body entered a stance without his input; the motion feeling completely alien to him. Across from him, the researcher cowered behind the tall knight. The sounds of battle raged outside the tower, but neither party paid much attention to it.

"You've got someone we need." Mellow spoke, voice distorted through the mask's speakers. "Hand her over and you won't end up dead."

In an instant, the knight raised his hand and shot a stream of water at a force strong enough to easily enough to cut through steel. Mellow dodged it and resumed his stance as the knight drew his sword, a masterfully crafted thing of enchanted steel and magic, worth far more than the dingy thing Mellow’s father had gifted him.

"As if I would listen to some impudent fiend." His voice rang through the room as the researcher scuttled away from the man a bit in instinctive fright.

Mellow feinted a lunge to the knight. When the warrior reacted, he twisted to the side and threw his sword at the researcher, aiming to impale her arm to the wall and keep her from running. A wall of water rose around the young woman, blocking the sword before sending it upwards through sheer explosive force. He dodged backwards and drew a sword he had nicked off a dead Varces knight.

"I'm no fiend. I'm just another pawn, like you." he darted forward, dodging attacks to engage the knight in melee. "In the grand scheme of things, neither of us mean anything significant."

A frown formed on Baudouin’s face when he saw the sword, and it grew when he heard the comment.

"I am Baudouin de Sabla, Second Son of the House Sabla, 14th Blade of Varces and Leader of the Order of the Holy Ghost. You might be a pawn, a speck of dust in history, but I have my purpose in the grand scheme of things." The two engaged in a swordfight, and it became apparent that the Knight was more skilled than Mellow owing to his greater age and experience.

It didn’t stay that way for long however; water shot out from beneath the Knight’s feet and quickly formed into a massive wave that surged towards Mellow. The augmented young man was forced backwards, back-flipping over the wave to land in a crouch.

"No you don't." Mellow's words tasted like ash in his mouth. "If you did, then you wouldn't be here."

Mellow rushed forward, feinting another attack by telegraphing a slash to the knight right side before darting left to punch into Baudouin's left side. He dodged the retaliatory strike and flipped back, landing a powerful upward kick to the knight's chin that sent him stumbling back.

"Those names and titles you have mean nothing. Every castle crumbles. Every nations falls. Everyone dies forgotten." he entered another stance. "You'll fade from memory, just like I did."

He rushed forward, intent on attacking. But at the last possible moment, he twisted to the side and struck the knight's leg with a vicious kick that could have broken bone. He summer-saulted back and snatched the sword he had thrown earlier, moving to pursue the researcher. But that too was a feint and he darted back and renewed his assault on the knight.

"Well if you go that far its only naturally that it will end. Until then..." Baudouin said as he countered Mellow's latest attacks. "... my name will have a thousand times more importance than yours, fiend."

With that, Mellow saw a massive spike in power inside of him and knew to begin jumping back. Before he had finished, the entire room was flooded with highly pressurized water. A glance at the researcher showed that she had been encased in an ice prison, protecting her from the water surge.

The entire room exploded outwards from the sheer force and mass of the water Baudoin conjured. Mellow was blown out of the tower, augmented eyes tracking the Knight as he pursued him in mid-air. The sword was aimed for his throat, intending to take off his head.

Mellow readjusted his stance as he fell, feigning panic as the knight inched closer and closer.

The moment he entered melee range and the sword sang for his head, Mellow twisted to the side and let the sword nick his skin. He reached out with one cybernetic hand and grabbed the knight's sword wrist to keep him still, the water lashing out against his arm and discolouring it through its heat.

His other hand shifted and the pincer gauntlet activated, snake-like and exceedingly dangerous, and struck.

The knight raised his unoccupied armored arm, to little effect as the pincer made quick work of the enchanted plating and magic protections. It bit into the limb, blood gushing out and bones creaking against the immense force they were subjected to. However, Mellow wasn’t able to finish the attack as he was sent flying to the ground by even more water shooting out from Baudoin.

The augmented young man impacted the ground in a painful explosion of dirt and scattering bodies. The water kept falling, the immense pressure forcing the young man even deeper into the ground. After a while it ceased, as the Knights voice reached his ears "You cracked the bones in my arm with that. It is quite the powerful weapon. But it is about time to end this.”

Mellow growled as his augmented eyes caught energy gather in preparation for a powerful attack.

"Krag?" he spoke up. "You're up."

The knight’s eyes widened and he felt the lizardman appear behind him, fist moving at great speeds. In the same instant, Mellow struck at Baudouin’s other leg with the other gauntlet as the hidden armblade sprang out from its hidden sheath, singing for the knight’s neck.

Trapped between the two, the knight grit his teeth and summoned more water. Pressurized fluids erupted from the ground in the moment the two attacks would have struck, the previously gathered energy being diverted to form an area attack that both cushioned the incoming blows from the two and reshaped the ground with body-throwing force. Mellow’s armblade cut into his armor but didn’t penetrate deep enough to actually hurt Baudouin. Krag’s fist struck the knight with enough force to nearly send him flying, but the force behind it was lessened from the summoned water.

The pair were sent flying, carving trenches into the dirt. Both flipped to their feet and reengaged, with Mellow rushing forward while Krag disappeared into the background. The augmented young man fought in the open with everything he could get his hands on; discarded weapons, throwing daggers, and melee attacks from his array of close-combat skills. The Ji’Ialeay struck in tandem with Mellow, becoming the sledgehammer to Mellow’s scalpel; where Mellow hit, the lizardman struck in the opposite direction to force Baudouin’s attention into two separate fronts against two powerful opponents. Where the lizardman was forced back, Mellow took over and gave the lizardman enough of a window to recover. Where Mellow was cornered, Krag stepped in to bail him out.

But the knight still proved to be a powerful foe; despite him being weaker, Baudouin proved to be far more experienced in fighting stronger opponents and he was more than capable of matching the two Agents in battle. However, as the fight went on, the head wound he suffered from the sneak attack slowed him down more and more. Things came to a head when Mellow and Krag managed to land another good blow on his side.

"You... damn brats...!" He panted furiously, coming to the realization that he couldn’t last long against either of the two fighters. He raised his sword and power gathered along its edge.

"Abîme!” he roared “Éveillez et les prendre à la fin!"

A tornado of water shot out of its tip, an enormous mass of water moving at such speeds and pressures that let the two Agents know how badly it would feel to be hit by it. The tornado surprised the two Agents further when it transformed into a dragon-shaped projectile, and raced towards Mellow.

"You will go first, worm!" Baudouin roared.

Mellow saw the attack coming and smirked under his mask as Krag leaped away.

"Maintenant tu me vois," he activated his cloak as the dragon projectile blocked him from view, disappearing from sight, life-sense, and soul-sense. "Maintenant tu ne me vois pas."

He dodged the tornado dragon, diving behind piece of rubble cover and using them as cover to crawl towards the knight unseen. Baudoin watched with some suspicion as to how quickly the Agent had succumbed to the attack, but shook it off as Krag reappeared before him and they engaged; the lizardman matching the Varces warrior's skill with pure physical strength and killing power. He smirked as he clashed his blade against Krag’s claws.

“You are next, lizard!” Baudouin declared.

“I doubt it.” Krag grunted, feeling the sword cut into his scales. He fought on regardless, and Mellow saw that the knight was slowly gaining the upper hand. The young man used the sounds of their battle to disguise his approach, taking up a position on a piece of rubble and waiting for a prime window to strike.

The knight forced Krag to a knee and raised his sword in an executioner’s swing. His back was exposed.

The perfect opportunity.

Mellow lunged, still cloaked, and activated his other hidden sword. He took careful aim at the nape of the knight's neck, aiming to sever his spine and kill him cleanly.

The weapon hit and Baudouin was taken by surprise, unable to do much than to wordlessly curse at the two as Krag impaled his claws into the knight’s chest to be sure of the man’s death. A moment later the man stopped moving

Mellow sighed and pulled his weapon free, cloak fading and dropping the corpse onto the ground.

"You good, big guy?" Mellow asked, feeling the uncomfortable sensation of his body moving on auto-pilot. "No injuries? We still have a mark to find and I don't want to bother you if you aren't up for it."

"I’m fine." Krag said, wiping away a bit of blood from his chest while bandaging another wound. "Minor cuts."

Mellow nodded and felt himself kneel to pick up the knight's sword along with its sheath; the 14th Blade of Varces. It glimmered under the low moonlight, the runes engraved along the weapon's surface glowing a dim dark blue before fading with an echoing hum of subdued magic. Mellow saw his mask reflected upon the sword's steel; it had partially cracked open from the stresses of the fight, revealing a single green eye that looked equal parts furious and sad beyond belief.

He looked so much like the monsters he swore to fight against back on his homeworld.

The young man cursed internally as his body gripped the weapon tight, not letting it go.

"Lets go." he spoke up, voice subdued. "We've got a snitch to find."

He motioned him to go first, looking around. Although Mellow had new eyes, Krag had shown to be able to smell things he hadn’t been able to see. This was one of the reasons why he usually stayed behind others; to guard their backs. A specialist in taking out others with their backs turned, after all, knew how to guard the ones of others too.

Nodding wordlessly, Mellow rushed ahead to allow the cleaner to keep their tracks hidden. He climbed back up the tower through the hole he’d been blow through earlier and surveyed the inside, looking for the target and possible tracks leading away from where he had last seen her. It didn’t take long for him to find the dazed researcher, the ice prison having melted by now, leaving her in a slightly freezing and exhausted state.

When she saw him and not the Knight, she simply collapsed to the ground, her hopes broken.

"You were an idiot." Mellow intoned sadly, grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet. "You should've ran when you had the chance. Now you're going to suffer like I did."

"I just... I thought I could something else with my knowledge... something to help my nation a bit more..." She whispered before fainting, the stress being too much for her.

"Well, you should've just given the info to the knight. Now he's dead." Mellow hauled the woman's body over his shoulder, calling it in to the rest of his teammates. /"This is Serpent. I've got the target. Heading back to the rendezvous point now. Boss, orders?"/

/”…for a stealth specialist, you sure make a lot of noise.”/ Giovanna sighed /”Get her to Iyera and she’ll take her to the rendezvous point. Us boys will stay behind to clear up the evidence.”/

/”Copy that.”/ Mellow nodded. /”Serpent out.”/