Eran Dyre's Story

Eran frowned in all the chaos. Carl was nowhere to be seen and Sharlene was getting herself into a panic. Jessica was in bits at everything and there was an officer telling them they had to go. Sharlene wasn't going to be staying and looking for her son, not while she had Jessica. She had to find somewhere safe for them both. He'd find Carl. He wouldn't leave with his nephew.

"Take Jess and get out of here." He told his panicked sister. "I promise you. I'll find Carl. He'll be fine. I won't come back until I've got him. But get Jess to safety." He wasn't going to hear any other option.

People were bumping and pushing them in panic but there was still no sign of his young nephew. "Go!" He told Sharlene before pushing himself into the crowd into the opposite direction where all the chaos was.

"Carl!" He shouted. "Carl!"

With all the screaming and chaos it wasn't going to be easy to find the boy and he hoped that he was small enough to avoid been crushed to death. No. He was going to find his nephew. "Carl!"

He saw a boy standing and crying in the crowd that looked like his nephew and grinned, pushing towards him. His smile turned to a frown when he turned the tearful child around. It wasn't Carl. He picked the boy up and was about to say something when someone grabbed him and pulled him from his arms.

"I'm his father." He called before running off, hugging his son tightly. Eran frowned. At least one child had found his father. Now it was time for Carl to be found. He had to remain calm. He'd find him.

"CARL!"

Multiple pops as officers fired on Messor, as Hatchet fell from his view. Snarling with blind rage, the draconian turned towards the police, rounds pinging off his scaled hide with screaming ricochets. Normal bullets were such an insignificant threat to him, for his armor was one of metal, overlapping plates that distributed the kinetic shocks with contemptuous ease. Unleashing another ear-splitting roar that seemed to shake the air, he launched himself forward.

"Holy fuck it's fa-" The leading officer cried as Messor crossed the gap between them with terrifying speed, raking a talon across his front, splitting flesh as it tore through the bulletproof vest as would a knife through paper. This time the fire on him redoubled, hammering blows of close quarter gunfire slapping into scales as he whirled, scuttling sideways with surprising agility for his apparent size, deftly dodging out of the way to leap into the fray once more, slapping aside an officer into another with a stroke of his tail. Leaping as another officer managed to level a shotgun his way, he hissed as the man missed a fellow comrade by scant inches, the lucky officer managing what her predecessor couldn't. Buckshot smote him in the chest, a full blast that tossed him back, arching to land on his feet.

"Gonna need heavier firepower!" The cry went up, some officers remaining to pepper the air about the fast weaving Messor as most went to police vehiclesto retrieve more powerful weaponry. The hybrid was kept dancing in the streets, snarling as stray rounds caught him, slamming one officer with enough force to hurl them across the street, another losing an arm to a devastating downward sweep of talons. Kicking that one away, Messor bellowed a roaring challenge, eyes ablaze with hellish bloody light, a strange twisting as his features seemed to blur yet even more draconic. Rage was his weapon in this fight, and it seemed that it was further twisting him into a weapon of its preference.

By then, heavier rounds began to split the street around him, the heavy ordinance of the police roaring in answer to the threat. Dropping another officer, minus their face, and spitting gore from his maw, the draconic beast turned in time to receive another shot to the chest, the power of the shot rocking him back, scales falling to the ground shattered, twisted. Blood dripped on the pavement, sizzling where it landed.

Messor answered in kind, his jaws opening wide as a stream of lightning arced out, catching and hurling the burnt husk of the shooter back into, then through, a building's glass front.

Gunfire continued to fill the air as rounds pelted the dragon's scaly hide with unrelenting fury, but it had taken on an almost surreal quality. It was as if the scene had grown sluggish and he had all the time in the world to think.

Several yards in front him a phantom image took form, that of a familiar woman. She too had a surreal quality to her, and her form seemed to lack full substance as it stood between him and the officers still firing upon him. None save for Messor would see the phantom image.

"Messor..."

One look at the grief reflected in Whisper's eyes was all that was needed to reveal to him what he was becoming.

"Please."

And then the moment was past. Whisper was gone, and Messor's senses would be assaulted once more by the shouts of officers and gunfire.

Carl shook his head and he hugged his arms around his knees all the tighter as Julian offered him a hand. He could hear the gunfire, and the dragon down the street. Each roar from its massive maw was nothing short of a sonic boom that left the shattered bits of glass quivering and shaking upon the pavement at Carl's feet.

Logic screamed to take the man's hand and to run, but instinct had all but incapacitated the boy once he had been separated from his family.

Take cover, sit and wait for them to come back. It was one of the most base of primal instincts that had taken hold through the boys terror.

The cackle of gunfire rang against his eardrums as the officers fired furiously, but to no avail. Round after round flattened against the beast’s hide but they powerless to stop the ensuing gore. The agonized cries of the felled defenders only fueled his desire to enter the fray. It’ll have to wait. His number one priority was to get the child to his parents immediately; he wasn’t sure how he’d fare with the death of a kid on his conscience.

“We need to get out of here.” he insisted, “I’ll get you somewhere safe.” Julian tried to be as inviting and ensuring as possible but Crowd control wasn’t his strong suit, he was better at fighting, pummeling and ripping people apart. He had thought about just grabbing him and dropping him off somewhere safe until he finished with the raging saurian. It wasn’t a bad idea… Fuck it. Julian crouched in front of the boy to scoop him up in his arms. He expected his sudden actions to trigger Carl’s protests, but he would pay them no mind. The street was mostly empty at this point, mostly occupied by Wing City’s first responders and the few pedestrians brave enough to remain. At least he could navigate easier; it didn’t take long before he managed to rush the young lad to the side of a building away from the chaos. “Stay here.” He demanded. After giving him a thumbs up Julian turned around and whistled loud enough for the dragon to hear him.

The six-limbed humanoids stalked silently in the background, scaling the buildings on either side of the street until they obtained the desired position. Thanks to the psionic link between Julian and his Outbringers, the time required to relay a command was significantly less than a spoken one. He used this to full effect. A few seconds pause and the creatures sprang forward, ripping into the nearest daemon with clawed hands. Julian quickly moved to a reasonable range from the dragon and pointed a knife hand toward him. His fingers were suddenly engulfed in a yellow plasma which immediately morphed into nine inch spikes with a serrated edge before he fired them. Albeit far from his maximum temperature, the superheated plasma was more than hot enough to eat through the most durable of substances.

Julian's efforts to physically grab the boy were met with the child's shouts. Carl shrank from the man and an unseen force lashed out to strike him in the chest and send him sprawling in the street. The child meanwhile scrambled to his feet and took off down the street at a run.

He threw a look over his shoulder, and what he saw was a creature straight out of nightmare and for a moment he couldn't tear his eyes free of the spectacle.

With his gaze locked on Messor, he ran headlong into Eran and fell back onto the ground to land on his backside.

Looking up he immediately recognized the man he had collided with. "Uncle Eran!" he exclaimed.

The panic he was starting to feel the longer he went without seeing or hearing from his nephew was off the chart. Even for Eran, a man that was so laid back panic wasn't even in his dictionary, he was starting to feel the unusual emotion. So his relief when his nephew ran into him was welcomed immediately.

"Carl! Thank God I found you!" He said grabbing the boy and pulling him into a hug. Thank God his nephew was okay. Eran didn't have kids himself yet, but he spoiled his sisters kids rotten and he loved them dearly.

"Come on. We have to get back to your mother and sister." Eran told him, picking him up. "Can you run?" He asked, seeing the boys cut knees and not knowing if he'd injured himself more from colliding into him. He started to move at a quick pace still, not running unless Carl gave the all clear, but they had to get out of there and fast.

For a moment in time, rage filled draconian eyes found awareness once more, captured by the specter of a woman he'd thought left behind to the wayside, just one more failure. A wrenching twist in the mind buried beneath the beast he'd embraced, triggering a resurgence of the man. And then that moment was gone, leaving nothing but guilt and hatred for himself and what he'd allowed to happen. His mannerisms changed, a hand raising to ward rounds from his face, his snarling more full of pain than it was.

What...what have I...done?

A moment's brutal clarity, from the gore streaking his talons to the crumpled bodies, the screams. No more, then instinct asserted itself, throwing his weight backwards as a streak of boiling energy screeched past him. Glancing that way, the rage threatened to surface once more, but Messor asserted control, turning from the battleground and running, running for all he had. Claws ripped pavement and flung it as he rapidly accelerated, fleeing the horrors he'd wrought, even as within...

He cursed himself.

Julian groaned in displeasure as he got up; first rolling over on all fours before standing to his feet. He wasn't quite sure what had happened. There was no way the kid could hit that hard, but he was the only one around it. When he started to look around in search for the child that had escaped him, he felt relieved when he spotted him in the arms of what was most likely a parent--or relative at least. Easy enough. Though he would have preferred to help the boy without getting floored by some invisible force.

With one problem now resolved Julian returned his attention to the draconian rampaging in the streets. To his disappointment, however, this too was nearing an end. Something had changed the beast. There was a few seconds of hesitation, a look in its eyes that was more Human than carnal..

And then it bolted, turning its back to the waves of police and the bullets they fired in retreat. Although he could have ordered his vassals to pursue, he saw no sense in it. It wasn't long until the hulking creature vanished from sight completely, leaving the city's defenders to assume the roll of clean-up.

This would be the perfect place to kick shit up. Okay, so bringing his ten year old nephew into the picture wasn't his brightest moment, but he was going to show the boy how to fight for what was right without getting violent. He'd told the boy not to tell his parents what they were doing because, if Daniel found out, Eran would have his ears chewed off. Plus, Carl's mother, his sister, wouldn't be happy either.

"You know I told you about what happened to that man, the one we saw on TV that everyone is talking about?" He spoke to his nephew. Though Carl hadn't seen the beheading, too his knowledge, the man's picture had been in the news none stop. "And you saw that they arrested the other girl for no reason, well this is the man that will have the power to stop immigrants coming here. The same people that caused that man's death and that man's arrest..."

He took a seat and nodded for Carl to do the same. "There was a lot of wrong-doing there. The man might have been a criminal, but no trail was held. No proof. If we don't make a stand now, Volaria will get away with doing this to more innocent people. And immigrants will get away with stealing our jobs, making crime rise and everything else. We need to know what he's planning on doing to stop this and help protect Terran citizens." He nodded.

And if it meant causing a shitstorm to get answers, Eran was well prepared to do so whether his nephew was there or not. "It might be a little boring, but I promise it'll become clearer. It's best you learn about politics early too. Stops them screwing you over as an adult."

As Ereb and his security team made their speech, there would be nothing out of the ordinary transpiring. That was until a sleek, black form that was hard to discern darted over the city.

It was completely silent.


That was at least for a few seconds until a deafening boom followed, and it's engines could be heard. The craft was long gone before anyone could realize exactly what was going on.

"As we draw near to the first official election of the TNG," he continued. "I hope to see you all in the voting booths to bring those among us to power that can bring our new nation into a bright future. But let's focus on you, Asteria, for a moment... Asteria is home to a thriving center for education and business. However, your gutters are overflowing with gang violence and illegal immigrants that seek to leech from our budding economy! So far we have swept the refuse under the rug. Out of sight, out of mind, correct? But how long until the rampant crime, which has been escalating for weeks according to statistics, spill out into the streets where you walk to work in the morning or where your children play?"

It was then that the aircraft roared over the city. Gabriel Ereb paused for a moment as the sonic boom passed.

"As representative, I will pass legislation to raise the budget of the police force so they can get the equipment and personnel they need to keep our streets safe. Together, we can clean out the trash from our gutters and make all of Asteria safe for Terran citizens."

3(b) stood in relative silence amongst the bustling crowds of Asterian citizens with his eyes fixed on the wooden stage. He mimicked the actions of the crowd, erupting into applause as the expensively-dressed politician stepped out to greet the public. Once the cheering had died down as the man prepared to speak, the white-eyed male glanced throughout the city square, taking note of the positions of every armed guard and the weapons they carried.

The CEO of Ereb Industries would be no easy target, but that didn't discourage him. He had been given a task that he intended to see through to the very end. Albeit the sizable reward for the assassination of such an important figure was enough for him to take the job, 3(b) was doing it for the personal satisfaction. In his eyes they were just crooks in suits, using their elevated status to their personal gain. The more politicians dead, the happier he'd be. He dug into his pocket to fetch his phone, causing the screen to light up when he held it to his face.

The time on the screen read 1:00. Time to get this train running. After sliding his cell back into his pocket, 3(b) started to make his way to the front of the crowd. Once he was about twenty-five feet away from the stage, he reached behind his back to retrieve the revolver secured in-between his belt and denim jacket. There was a sudden cry of distress as the black-haired man raised the firearm toward Gabriel Ereb and squeezed the trigger five times, causing the cackle of gunfire to echo throughout the plaza.
Shortly afterward more than six individuals indistinguishable from the original attacker emerged from the now scrambling crowds, each drawing their own weapons one by one before firing on the stage and the guards within the square.

"In addition to cleaning up our streets, " Ereb continued, "we must reinforce our current strengths. When I am in office, I will propose legislation that will raise grants and scholarships for education, and cultivate an environment where small business enterprise will thrive..."

Meanwhile, Shadow-Sabre and Verhasst stood vigilant at opposite ends of the stage. Terabytes of data flashed across their visors as their internal supercomputers scanned the area with a vast array of sensors. They monitored body language, skin temperatures, faces, and audio. As they scanned, each person was highlighted with a green or yellow aura with possible weapons and weak points tagged with yellow circles.

As 3(b) approached the stage, his form was highlighted with a flashing red aura across their visors. A yellow circle targeted the revolver beneath his jacket.

<< WARNING! IMMINENT THREAT DETECTED! >>

"GET DOWN!" Shadow-Sabre bellowed on his external loudspeaker as he and Verhasst lept in between Ereb and the shooter. The revolver rounds collided with the reactive mesh of their nanosuits like pebbles before ricocheting into the concrete.

"Code red!" Shadow-Sabre called out on their secure comm' link as several more shooters appeared. "Multiple hostiles! Move in! Surround them! Set weapons to stun. Paia, call the authorities and paramedics."

Verhasst and Shadow-Sabre simultaneously lifted their rifles, braced the butts against their shoulders, and aimed them at the assailant. High voltage streams of electricity screeched from the weapons towards the would-be assassin. The stench of ozone filled the air as the paralyzing volts hit the man with the force of a battering ram. Meanwhile, several Alpha Troopers materialized around the edge of the rally. They weaved between the fleeing spectators and attempted to surround the other shooters before firing bolts of electricity from their rifles and pistols.

The innocent civilians scrambled in every possible direction to avoid the volley of bullets and energy blasts. 3(b) sucked his teeth in minor annoyance when his shots missed their target. He assumed a low-crouch position as he hurried over to the nearest fountain, just barely missing the beams of electricity that jolted from the soldiers' rifles. He used the brief window he'd been given to reload his revolver before peaking from behind his cover-point to fire a few shots at Shadow-Sabre and Verhasst, returning to cover immediately afterward. Damn those suits of theirs! Why didn't they get suits? Things we be a lot easier if they did.

Seeing that they were quickly being surrounded, the other clones moved to take cover behind anything they could find. They grabbed a hold of any pedestrian they could reach, some snagged two, others only one. Though it could be seen as an attempt to initiate a hostage situation, these offenders had another idea in mind. The Asterians that fell into the gunmans' grasps were violently and rapidly transformed into a carbon copy of the man who had attempted to assassinate Gabriel Ereb moments earlier. In addition to the change in appearance, the new Chain clones each sported a unique weapon that somehow appeared out of thin air; this included a high powered plasma rifle, a futuristic rocket launcher, and a couple other weapons that would level the playing field.
The clone--5(c)--mounted the rocket launcher on his shoulder and fixed the head of the grenade on a path leading straight to Shadow-Sabre and Verhasst. The targeting display of the weapon's optic sight highlighted a rectangular boxes around the armored guards, giving him the okay to squeeze the trigger. The grenade burst from the barrel with a deafening boom and flew toward the two super soldiers at frightening speeds. Even if it missed its mark the grenade would still detonate, engulfing everything in proximity in a pernicious haze of super-heated plasma.

As the firefight in the city square raged on, 1(a) sat in the comfort of his apartment with his eyes fixed on his TV. By now the reporters and camera crew of the local news station had gathered on the scene, providing live footage for everyone in the city to see. It didn't seem like the wisest decision to him, but at least they were dedicated to their craft. He kicked back in his recliner and folded his arms behind his head so he could watch the scene unfold.

Panicked bystanders fell to gunfire from both sides. Some lay spasming in the streets from the bolts of electricity that had struck them instead of the 3(b), which made them easy targets for the clones to nab, or to be trampled beneath the feet of the people scattered and tripping over one another. Others fell to the volley of bullets from the clones, and the destructive explosion of the grenade.

The situation was rapidly escalating into a blood bath as the Alpha Troopers engaged the would be assassins in the crowd of innocent bystanders. Super soldiers were met with heavy weaponry and grenade launchers.

"Uncle Eran, what's going on?" Carl yelled over the screaming.

The scene was very much reminiscent to the shooting that had transpired just outside of the ten year old boy's home back in Wing City, and his head filled with the memory of the panicked crowds knocking him to the ground and separating him from his family. He edged closer to his uncle.

"Uncle Eran!"

The boy was terrified.

Well, when Eran had planned to kick up a fuss, he hadn't planned for someone else to go bigger and better than he had planned. He hadn't even had time to shout out his protests before someone kicked up a shit storm. But all that mattered was getting Carl out of this mess safely. It didn't matter about anything else. He had to get his nephew out.

"Hey." Eran used his body to cover his nephew. "I won't let anything happen to you, okay? I promise. I came back for you before, but I'm not even going to let you get lost this time. I'll keep a hold of your hand, and you're to stay in front of me as we leave, got it. I promise, nothing is going to happen to you. And if something happens to me, I want you to run as fast as you can out of here and back home. But nothing is going to happen to me. You know me, I'm like a superhero." He smiled, trying to get his nephew to think about something else.

He took Carl's hand and carefully, using his own body as a shield against any stray bullets, tried to get them away without getting hurt. If his sister and brother in law found out about this, he was going to be royally fucked. And if Carl got hurt, he was going to be killed.

The Alpha Troopers advanced with a quick pace, keeping the muzzles of their weapons lowered to the ground. A few attempted to funneled bystanders out the area while staying between them and the shooters. When met with clear shots, they fired their stun pistols at the terrorists with flawless robotic accuracy. The shock had faded. Their training had kicked in.

Shadow-Sabre leaped from the stage, taking the plasma grenade full in the chest. He tucked his body into a somersault, attempting to contain the blast, before landing in a roll. The Alpha Trooper stretched out his hand towards 5(c) and clenched his fist. A telekinetic vice would envelope the man before slamming him into the ground, knocking him unconscious. With the major threat dealt with, Shadow-Sabre locked onto 3(b) and launched himself towards the fountain with a single leap.

Meanwhile, Verhasst draped his body over Gabriel Ereb and attempted to shield him from any attack. The Parliamentary candidate crouched behind his body guard. A bloodied hand gripped his shoulder tightly.

"Damnit!" Gabriel cursed to himself. "It wasn't supposed to be like this! All those people..."

"No, come on- get the camera- no, not there! Oh, it doesn't matter, just keep it pointing vaguely at me... are we on? We're on? Oh for-" Martin Langford, TerraCast anchorman and reporter hastily straightened his tie from where he was half-standing, half crouching at the edge of the crowd.

"Of course we're on, we're filming live, you idiot," Fernando hissed from behind the camera.

"Well, I don't know, I thought the rain of bullets might have..." Martin hissed back, before coughing and clearing his throat. "Anyway, I apologise for that interruption ladies and gentleman, but as you can see behind us, Mr Gabriel Ereb's speech in Asteria City has been brought to an early end by some sort of terrorist attack. It's hard to tell exactly what's happening out here but it seems as though Ereb Industries private security have responded by returning fire into the crowd..." He cut off with a muffled curse as a bullet ricocheted off the ground a few metres away.

"...I've seen several casualties already, at the hands of the terrorists who appear to be able to morph people into clones, and to the stun guns." he went on, "It's turning into a massacre out here folks. It seems as though Mr. Ereb has some ruthless enemies."

Appearing in a windowsill cyprus held a SKT0-Rail Rifle and looked for a target. He didn't have to worry about being seen because of the shadows, his dark powers, and a perception filter added to the armor. He panned the thermal plasma scope across a area to get a good look a the Chaos ragging below he quickly tapped the hair trigger on the fully automatic gun and dropped an Alpha Trooper. He congratulated himself, a perfect headshot. Then he panned the area again searching for Erib, who was nowhere to be seen. Cyprus scowled, his target gone he decided to help the others below by picking off the Alpha troopers.


Later:

Cyprus noted the casualties then packed up and left the building. He will complete his mission, no matter the cost.