The Terra Episode Chapter 18
Hostile at Ground Zero
By Magicite54
Boom!
A very loud explosion originated from behind the assembled troops outside Warehouse 5. Everybody was startled by it that some were seen to have ducked reflexively. The troops all lowered their weapons pointed at Warehouse 5 and turned around to face a different structure where the explosion came from.
It was from a Magitek Facility. The main gate was on fire and smoke screened the inside from view. The troops were all benumbed, staring at the burning entrance with alarm. Then, a familiar figure emerged from out the thick smoke. It was a powered Magitek Armor in battle mode.
The front of the Armor that resembled a dragon’s mouth slowly opened as a dazzling blue energy spiraled inside.
General Fencross’s eyes widened in shock. The Armor was preparing to fire at them.
"Take cover!" he shouted as loudly as he could. The order was not necessary. When they saw that the primary blaster energized, they all started running away. General Fencross hit the ground, as did many others.
Crack! The Armor shot an angry energy bolt at Warehouse 5. What followed was a thundering explosion that shook the ground. The warehouse went up in furious flames. A second explosion came from the warehouse again, though the Armor had not fired a second shot. And then another. The explosives within were set off, grinding down what remained of the warehouse to vapors. The blast killed all that were inside as well as some outside who weren’t quick enough to take cover.
The heated air scorched the back of their necks. The roaring of the flame drowned the shouts and yells of the soldiers around. The area was lit with the red flame’s light. The siren did not cease though the situation had become worse. After a few seconds, General Fencross risked raising his head up to spy on the Magitek Armor that fired. It was moving towards them slowly. They were unsure what the rider would do next, but two things were all on their minds--they had a heavily armed Hostile in the Bronze Compound, and it had to be taken down as quickly as possible.
General Fencross stood up ignoring the aches he felt all over his body. He wasn’t sure whether he was injured for it was simply not the time. He ran towards another soldier who was on the ground, too.
"Soldier! Soldier, give me your radio!" he barked. He barely heard his own voice above roaring of the fire.
The soldier did not move so Fencross assumed that he was unconscious. He turned the soldier on his back and snatched the communication device from the soldier’s weak grip. Fencross pressed the emergency button and shouted to be heard over the commotion.
"This is General Fencross, Vector-three-zero-ten-gamma! Heavily armed Hostile in the Bronze Compound! I repeat! General Fencross, Vector-three-zero-ten-gamma! We are under attack by a Hostile in a Magitek Armor. We need reinforcements now! Get me some Magitek riders, and lock down the Bronze Fortress!"
Static hissed for a while then an answer was heard.
"We copy that, General! Can you give us your position?"
Before General Fencross could answer a smaller explosion was heard as the
Magitek Armor fired another shot at the running soldiers. The radio hissed
again. "General! Can you give us your position?"
Fencross was enraged. "Position?! Warehouse 5! South of Magitek Facility…
at sector--oh, just look out the damn window!"
Fencross pocketed the radio and then grabbed the unconscious soldier’s blaster. It was set on stun as he ordered it to be just a minute ago so he reset it to maximum blast intensity. He knew that it would not be enough to bring the Magitek Armor down, but he had to do something to keep the Armor from firing at the retreating soldiers who were all outgunned.
He fired a volley of shots at it and continued firing until he got the rider’s attention. The Armor faced his way, and he stopped firing. "That’s right. I’m over here," he thought aloud. "You just keep your eyes on me now."
Fencross ran away for cover as he fired a few more shots. The Armor fired back a quick energy bolt from the front blaster. It was a thinner blue beam compared to a fully charged one that blew up the warehouse. It was less accurate, too, for the shot missed him by a few feet. Fencross fired back a few more shots that actually struck the hulking Magitek Armor. They did no damage, though.
The Armor retaliated with three quick shots that almost found their mark hadn't Fencross jumped for cover behind a parked utility vehicle. The vehicle absorbed the energy bolts. Though the vehicle could never be back in service ever again, it has certainly saved the general’s life. But General Fencross’s problem was not over yet. He stuck his head out to take a quick peek and saw that the Magitek Armor was powering up for a stronger blast. He knew it was too late to run away so he took a few steps backward from the vehicle, held his hands in front of him in a defensive position and cast a spell on himself.
"Safe!"
A magical barrier formed around him in the shape of a sphere. At the very next split of a second the already ruined vehicle in front of him exploded, sending it up in the air and deadly, flying shrapnel in all directions. The barrier glowed bright yellow like the sun for a quick moment as it absorbed most of the physical threats. But the energy beam from the Armor was just too strong, and he was just too close to the vehicle. He was thrown a good ten feet back by the blast and landed roughly on his back. He hit his head roughly on the pavement, making him lose his consciousness. Despite the damage that his own body had received, the magical barrier had done a marvelous job keeping him alive.
The rider turned her attention away from him thinking that the threat was dealt with. The rider soon found new targets.
**********
"Are you getting all of these, Tayan?"
"Yes, master. Every move is being documented."
"Perfect! Just remind the cretins to keep Terra safe at all cost. Though the chances are slim, we cannot afford to lose her."
**********
A red beam shot straight for one of the barracks. The building caught fire and was quickly burning down to cinders. With the alarm siren having gone off minutes ago, it was likely that the barracks had been evacuated. Two watchtowers came crashing down next due to another red blast from the Magitek Armor. The consciousness deep within the enslaved shell was horrified more than ever at the carnage. The screams coming from everywhere beat on Tina’s conscience as though she was totally at fault.
From the dark sky, two Spitfires, airborne Magitek Weapons, dove at her while they shot bullet after bullet at an incredible rate. The bullets that hit the Armor simply ricocheted off while the ones on the mark for the rider disintegrated before they could pierce flesh. Only a telltale yellow glimmer that surrounded the rider could explain it.
The Spitfires past Tina overhead as they regained altitude to try another attack. Her Armor swiveled around and faced the retreating Spitfires. Since the primary blaster was immovable and could not aim at high targets she had to rely on the secondary blasters.
**********
"Switch to the guided missiles and destroy the Spitfires," Kefka said through his radio.
**********
The arms of the Armor moved as they aimed for the flying threats. Four small missiles shot out from each of them and raced towards the Spitfires as they circled back. The first four all found their target. The Spitfire towards the left exploded in the air, sending broken pieces back to the ground in flaming heaps. As for the other four missiles, two missed while the other two were direct hits. The last Spitfire was out of control. After a few seconds of clumsy attempts of emergency landing the aerial Magitek Weapon crashed into the side of the Bronze Fortress itself.
Ricocheting sounds were heard from behind. Tina maneuvered the Armor around and saw a line of soldiers with long-range blasters, firing a barrage of energy bolts at full intensity. She opened fired still using the secondary blasters. Rapid shots of ice energy did their job of sending the formation into disarray buying her enough time to charge up the primary weapon again.
Shoom! Hummed the furious red fire beam targeted at the soldiers. It struck the pavement that the soldiers were standing on leaving a crater. The soldiers who were not fast enough in running felt the shock and died instantly.
**********
"Master! They’ve deployed five Magitek Armors, and more are coming!" Tayan said in alarm.
"Then it’s time to get her out of there. Give my Devouts the signal."
**********
The first Magitek Armor fired an ice beam at full blast which was dead on target, however, a green magical barrier took the bulk of the blast. Tina’s Armor shook, and her console flashed a warning sign. It was damaged but not heavily. Tina fired back with a full Bolt beam. It missed the Armor that fired at her, but it completely destroyed another Magitek Armor right behind it.
The first Armor fired an ice beam again. This time, it missed. Tina initiated a standard evasive maneuver that successfully dodged three other beams from the other Armors. Tina fired rockets from the secondary blasters, and they all found their marks. However, the four remaining Armors were only damaged but not completely taken out of commission. Tina followed the rockets up with a fully charged Fire Bolt that finally destroyed the first Armor.
This caused the three remaining Armor to scatter to change their tactics. One of them fired back two quick Fire Bolts from the left. They hit her Armor squarely to the side. The magical barrier absorbed some of the damage, but this only made it weaker. Her Armor was more advanced and more capable than the deployed ones which was why the Empire soldiers were having a hard time to bring it down. But being outnumbered, Tina would never stand a chance in the end.
Smaller blasts came from behind her again. Another group of soldiers was attempting to take her out from behind. From above three Spitfires arrived to join the fray. They kept circling around waiting to get a clear shot. Her magical barrier was slowly diminishing. Tina stood up from her seat and sent her own fireballs towards the group. Half the soldiers in the group went up in flames, screaming while the other half tried to douse the flames. Tina sat right back down and drove the Armor hard to the right just in time to dodge another red beam from the Armors. She fired back a few of her own, but they all missed. She was surrounded now.
The three Spitfires dove at her in a triangle formation, unleashing a barrage of bullets. The bullets ricocheted off the thick armor plating again while the ones that were on the mark were vaporized by the Safe magic she had on herself. Even that was slowly fading away. The Spitfires flew past her again and circled back together to try again.
Three red shots from the Armor to the right were fired. Two hit her Armor, but the damages were small. One Bolt beam hit her dead on from behind. The Armor rocked roughly, momentarily losing her control. The magical barrier around her had completely dissipated.
Tina regained control as quickly as she could. She targeted the closest Magitek Armor and fired. Boom! A third Armor exploded. She maneuvered her Armor around to look for the last two Armors. She found them close to each other. Her secondary blasters fired the last of the smaller rockets to keep the Armors off balance. Most of the rockets missed, but they served their purpose of keeping the Armors on their toes. The three Spitfires circled back and started pelting her again with bullets. The Safe magic held still, but for the last time. Tina stood up from her seat once more and shouted with her right hand aimed at the middle Spitfire.
"Fire!" she shouted.
A great ball of fire hit it directly, engulfing it in flames. The pilot lost control and collided with the second Spitfire. They both crashed on the ground in flaming heaps of metal. The third Spitfire lost control and crashed into another watchtower.
Tina wasted no time. She fired a fully-powered blast of Fire beam towards the fourth Armor, and put it out of commission permanently. The last Armor fired a weak shot that nevertheless damaged her Armor since her magical barrier had gone out. Tina retorted with her own fire magic aimed at specifically at the rider rather than the Armor. Fortunately, it was all that was needed. The rider jumped off his Armor, screaming in burning pain.
Tina’s Armor was low in energy, and more were coming her way. She could never survive another confrontation with one Magitek Armor again. From a speaker installed on her Magitek console, Kefka’s voice was heard.
"Game over, Terra. The cavalry’s coming. Stand down your weapons."
Indeed, smaller types Magitek Armor raced towards her own. They fired shots of Bolt energy that did not do much damage even without her magical barrier. They kept coming fast. One rammed her bigger Armor on the right side that almost tipped over her own. The other two rammed the front and left side.
The rider from her left side climbed out of his seat and onto to hers. She noticed that it was a Devout. The rider grabbed her by her wrist and uttered a single word that made them vanish from the scene.
"Warp!"
**********
"Death toll approximated to be sixty. Damage of at least one million kirians worth of property. Elapsed time starting from the destruction of Warehouse 5... ten minutes and forty-three seconds. Hostile threat neutralized by Devouts. Master, this is a new record. The first fifty died in under three minutes."
"Fifty in three?" Kefka thought. "I think I can do better next time."
His mad cackle filled the room again.
~END~
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Author's Notes: This ends the short but devastating account in the history of the Empire known to its citizens as The Terra Episode. And as everybody knows, this isn't the end of the story. Yep, the sequel to The Terra Episode is now up! It continues this story with a major POV shift--Celes's! The title of the new fic is The Celestial Rise. Enjoy!
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