Chapter 12:Dark side

It was a beautiful explosion, powerful, brilliant, engulfing Moo's training base. Then it disappeared, as do most things of beauty, leaving death and carnage in it's wake. There had been no time for the poor monsters to act, no chance of escape. Like the symbol of death it was, the raven parted the clouds and decimated all that stood before it. Now there was only ruin, nothing had survived the blast, no tower left standing. In his black chamber, shrouded in perpetual darkness, the Master watched and gloated over this victory. The first test of the ravens power was a complete success.

Meanwhile, Talus was feeling quite pleased with himself, staring at the nearby vid screen. He was full of himself for the moment, and with good reason. It was he who built the weapon, with nothing to go on but an ancient blueprint and spare parts. It was Talus who repaired the massive ship by himself. Now, looking at the huge crater left by the ravens cry he was overjoyed. That massive power was his doing, as if seeing all those lives wiped out in true overkill made his long, hard years all worth it. But even he didn't expect it to be so damaging. Shielka looked over his granite encrusted shoulder, almost in shock at what she had witnessed.

"Talus,"She said in a strange, slightly nervous tone."I think you set the thing up to high..."

"No, it is correct."Talus said smugly"You've just seen the ravens cry on it's lowest setting."

"That was it's weakest!?"Shielka gasped"What could this thing do on full power?"

"Are you kidding?"The Gaia laughed"At it's max capability, the blast would destroy...."(Some grinding sounds came from his processor)"35% of the continent. Of course, there would be a major power drain so we'd have to convert to stationary mode."

Shielka opened her mouth to speak but just then the voice of the master was heard."Attention, my second in command is to report to me immediately! Talus, IMA forces approach, show them my power as well." Shielka left quickly leaving talus to his job. The Gaia looked at the vidscreen and saw an army of monsters. They were scattering, a few escaping into the nearby swamp, but there is no escaping the masters will. Talus punched in the commands and the raven fired into the center of the fleeing army. The explosion that followed was as glorious as the last, hurling bodies far and wide.

The dust settled and Talus went to work on his masters plan. Settling over the field of dead, the raven began to gather up the butchered corpses. As fresh meat filled the storage bay, Talus brought up an image on his screen. It showed an unusual creature, short and muscular with long talons and some henger like components. The Master himself had designed it and it's capabilities were truly frightening. The monster could render itself invisible making it an excellent stealth unit. Hammering in more commands, working with speed only a machine could manage, he activated the monster generator. The ancient device strained as it did it's job despite the repairs but it did work. After a few minutes a disc stone was produced and fell onto a conveyerbelt. The belt carried it to a mechanical arm which placed the disc onto yet another device. A moment later the monster was released from it's temporary prison. It stood before talus, eagerly to awaiting instruction.

"all right prototype 001,"Talus said"Lets see if you can be of use. Your first mission will be to hunt down and kill our enemies who have escaped into the swamp."

"Affirmitive."It said in a mechanical voice. The thing displayed no hint of emotion and lacked any will of it's own. It's only purpose to serve the Master, it was incapable of disobeying him.

Shielka flew with all the speed her wings allowed her. It had been three days since the testing of the raven. Three days since that horrible power was first unleashed upon the world. She had been summoned by the master that day and given a new mission, one the daina didn't particularly care for. She was to proceed to an island that was vital to the masters plan and ensure that her three comrades, Vor, Darklon and Flood had accomplished their task of wiping out the human settlements. Shielka had no love for humans, but Vor's methods were often too cruel to stomach. At least it would be a short mission, after all, they were three of the masters more loyal followers.

Finally, the first town came into view. It was still burning, which meant she might find them nearby. The daina landed in the center of town, fires raged all around her but were slowly dieing out. They didn't have much to burn since nearly every house was made from brick and stone, how stupid Vor was at times. Dead bodies littered the streets like pieces of discarded trash. There deaths had been painful ones. Close by was a fountain, perhaps it had been beautiful once, before a human had been impaled on top so that the waters came out red and bloody. Shielka stared at it for a moment before turning away in disgust.

"Vor, you sick...."Her voice trailed off. Why was she berating her fellow warrior? Why did she feel sorry for these humans, after all they'ed done to her, to her mother, to all monsters. The daina shook the feelings from her skull, this was not the time to grow soft, not when victory was so close. With the power of the raven it was only a matter of time before humanity surrendered, then they would be enslaved. Remembering her mothers fate she felt her anger and hatred anew, for a moment at least. Then she heard the cries.

Someone was alive and weeping in the dead town. Shielka scouted the area and found the source soon enough. It was a human girl, no more then three or four years old, crying over an unmoving body. At first, Shielka only felt her new for vengeance and gladly recalled her Masters orders"Wiped out human infestation, leave no one alive." The daina approached, summoning a fireball in her hand. The little girl paid no heed and continued to kneel over a women's body. At last Shielka stood right in front of the little one, but the girl never looked up, then she spoke.

"Mommy, please wake up."The girl said. Suddenly Shielka stopped, the fireball dissipated in her hand. She felt dizzy and fell to her knees. The daina looked at this girl and saw herself, so many years ago when her own mother had died. How could she kill this girl?

"What are you doing?"Said a cold voice behind her. Both the young human and Shielka were startled by it, icy and void of mercy. It was Vor, his long saber dripping with warm blood. Another of the Master warriors appeared as well, Flood. He was a pressure Golem/Zilla, a huge brute that caused the ground to thunder as he approached. He was also something of a quite type, rarely bothering to speak unless addressed by the Master himself.

"Get off you knees!"Vor demanded, as if he was the superior"There is such a thing as pride among us."

"Who do you think your talking to??"Shielka asked angrily"I'm the masters second in command! I'm in charge here!"

Vor shrugged and took notice of the girl."Well now, how did you get away." He said, raising his blade."I must be losing my edge Flood, I could have sworn we'd gotten them all. Oh well better late then-

"Stop!"The daina jumped in front of him."There's no need to kill the child, she probably won't survive anyway. You've finished here, lets move on."

The Lorica laughed and stated"The Master ordered ALL human's purged from this island. I will obey that command in his name. I'd think you of all would understand this...but then again all you do is stand in the back and issue orders to us, the true warriors of the Master. Now step aside before you anger me."

She didn't move and Vor pushed her aside and went after the girl. In a matter of seconds the girl would be dead, left with no time to think Shielka simply reacted and cast a mega ray into his back. The lorica was lifted into the air by the blast and flew right over the childs head, landing hard on the cobble stone path. The girl ran away and hid as a very angry Vor got to his feet.

"Vor, I'm..."Shielka could scarcely believe what she'd done. Turning on another monster to save a worthless human, what was she thinking? Unfortunately Vor wasn't interested in apologies and called over Flood.

"Seems we have a traitor on our hands,"He said"You know the rules daina... traitors will not be tolerated! I will now enforce the masters law, you will wish you had never betrayed us Shielka!"

Suddenly she found herself between two dangerous opponents, Vor in front and Flood moving in behind her. They both charged, shielka turned and used flame against the pressure before taking to the air. Flood didn't go down, but the crimson fire was enough to stun him and stop his charge. Vor ignored his comrade and hurled his sword at the flying daina. She avoided it, barely, the sword passing through her right wing. Shielka couldn't stay airborne and was forced to land atop a building. Before she could even catch her breath, the building began to tremble. She leaped off mere seconds before the entire thing erupted in a hugh explosion. Landing on the street, Vor was there, waiting for her.

"Stand your ground!"He said, rubbing his gauntlet along saber."Can't you even die with a single shred of dignity?"

"I'm not going anywhere."She said.

Vor charged, trying to cleave his enemy in half with his blade. Shielka dodged the lightening fast attacks until Vor planted a kick to her midsection. Reeling from the blow she couldn't avoid the lorica's fist as it cracked against her skull. She fell, dazed, Vor hovering over her like a crimson vulture. Shielka wasn't beat yet however and blasted Vor with an orb of dark red energy. The force of it carried him 15 feet and straight through a brick wall before exploding, leveling the entire building. He was down, flood was nowhere to be seen, she seemed to be safe. But one thing had been forgotten...

The ground began to shake under footfalls far greater then the pressures. The sky itself began to darken at the approaching sound. Then it appeared, a massive creature, deep black with blood red eyes. It was Darklon, a jaggernaut, perhaps one of the Masters most powerful and certainly the most feared. Shielka knew it was useless to try to escape, and even more useless to try to fight him. She hoped she could reason with Darklon, for despite his fearsome appearance and dark personality he was in fact the least aggressive of the warriors. Perhaps that was why he wasn't to popular with the Master. Then, the Dark Raven appeared from the heavens and settled over the town. The jaggernaut looked up at the raven and spoke.

"Come, the Master will decide if you are traitor or not."

"I'm disappointed in you Shielka."The Master said from the shadows of his chamber. It had been mere hours since the failed assault on Torlormec and his plans had hit a nasty bump. His ancient foes had located him at last, and, after the retreat he came here to gather his servants for the next stage. Grapper was lost, hundreds of his minions destroyed, the last thing the Master wanted to hear was that his second in command had turned traitor.

"Master, I haven't betrayed you."She said. The other warriors surrounded her, with liqua and a battered Vor on ether sides. This was all just an excuse for the Lorica to take her position, which he always coveted."This is nonsense! I have done nothing wrong!"

"She let a filthy human escape, defended it and attacked me!"Vor spoke, looking down on the daina like a lowly bug, one he was looking to crush."I have two witnesses, there is no doubt of her guilt."

Shielka was about to protest, even lie if she had too. After all, this was just hearsay, her word against Vor's. Suddenly her head began to ache, the pain quickly became more intense. A horrible sound filled her ears, a presence, probing into her mind. Then, just like that it was gone, leaving the daina dizzy and drained.

"Vor's words are true,"The Master said disapprovingly"I made a mistake it seems, you are much like your mother, too much. I wonder how I could have been so wrong...well we learn from our errors. Life goes on."

"W-What are you saying??"She asked.

"Your command is terminated shielka,"The Master said calmly"I have no use for a weak leader. You are soft and compassionate at heart, traits I tried to beat out of you and failed. Disappointing.....get rid of her."

"You can't! It was just one girl!!"Shielka pleaded, her dispair slowly boiling into anger."For years i've served you, faithfully and without question. I did anything you asked of me, I'd lay my life on the line for you...and this is how you repay loyalty!? Zarzaas, say something!"

The salamander shook his head and wispered"Are you kidding? I'm not getting kill for you." That said she looked to Talus, the only one she considered a true friend. Alas, the gaia held his metal head low. "I'm sorry child,"He said"It's out of my hands...."

"Fine,"She said, feeling angry and most of all betrayed."Damn all of you!

Then, the entire ship began to shake as if in heavy turbulence. It had been a very long time since the Master had to deal with such insolence and was quickly losing patience."Repay?? You live only because I will it. An honor it is to serve me, to share in my victory and taste the fruits of the world I will create. I owe you nothing. Liqua, Vor, put her in a cell for now, we can always use some extra meat for our creations."

"Yes Master!"Vor said with some personal delight as they took Shielka away.

"Now my warriors!"The Master said"The time has come for the next stage, our next target...is Moo himself."

-- Black Razor (Allanmontalvo@mindspring.com), July 06, 2000