[writing] Project Chaos - Chapter Nineteen

[djtenku]

Title: Chaos
Word Count: 1605
Summary: Hiding. Attack. Explosion.

There was no place to hide, at least, anything that was feasible. The empty fuel barrels became shrapnel as they exploded when a hail of bullets cut through them. Chaos roared in frustration; the result of trying to eliminate its opposition. Just how did they disappear like that? “Come out!” Lang bellowed. “Come out and fight me!”

Shin glanced across the hangar at Kento and noted a unfamiliar look on his scarred face, and narrowed her eyes. It was the same from two days ago. “Kento,” she said firmly, probably snapping whatever thought he had in half. He turned to her and for a moment, Shin saw a hungry look in his eye.

“What?” he asked tersely.

“Don’t,” she simply said, and left it at that.

Kento snorted as he went back at glaring at the raging mechanical beast. As far as he could tell, there wasn’t a visible weak spot. It was flawless…maybe Xander was right? “Rowan, how you holdin’ up, man?”

+Not exactly great,+ he responded. Rowan glanced up from his hiding spot. It was only enough room to turn and duck into. He squatted again, cradling the long rifle. “I can’t get a decent view or anything.” He cringed as he felt the sudden heat of a nearby explosion and swore. “I don’t think I’m gonna last long in this spot.”

Rowan waited for the second explosion to die off before emerging from the hole. Chaos had its back to him for a few moments, and he saw its long grey tail sway anticipation as it thought it had sighted life somewhere. As it glanced over its shoulder, he dove behind one of the wide support beams, just stopping inside of the long shadow. “Clear,” he whispered.

Rowan waited a few moments before peering around the corner, and returned after seconds. “There’s a problem,” he started. “For the most part, everything is about sealed.”

+Even the joints?+ Shin asked.

“Yeah. There’s something spinning on its left shoulder; see it?” He heard the short confirmation from both and nodded. “The best thing I can think of is disabling that and maybe something will happen.”

+ I don’t think I even have enough ammo for that…+ said Kento.

“Don’t worry about it,” Rowan insisted, pressing his back against the wall where the light did not dare touch. The camouflage adjusted to the new setting instantaneously, cloaking him in black and grey.

He scoped out Chaos as it moved erratically, screeching angrily. Rowan noted a circular disc in its mouth as it opened, and promptly fired at it twice. Chaos threw its head back in pain, emitting a wail that shook the hangar. A ghost of a smirk parted his lips.

It didn’t last long.

Chaos suddenly charged towards him, head down. Rowan bolted from his spot, towards the other side. The level above him shook violently as Chaos’ head met with it and backed off, snarling. There was a indistinct sound of a hatch opening, and the hairs on the back of his neck rose sharply. Instinctively, Rowan cleared into the open; he watched in amazement as a white light exploded from the mouth and swept its head left to right, with a thin solid beam, leveling the former hiding place within a few seconds, and filling the air with dust and fire.

Rowan suddenly found himself staring at Chaos as it leapt in the air, until his mind was practically screaming to move. He barely got clear of it as it landed, but the shock wave stunned him completely. Chaos neared, claws ready until bullets ricocheted the surface of its head, blemishing the smooth black glass with tiny spider cracks.

Chaos turned to its new target and screeched. Shin sighted the small rotating object and fired rapidly in succession, pelting the object with the equivalent power of a magnum in the same spot before Chaos was in range of striking. Shin barely had time to duck as its mobile tail swung to dispatch her for good. She ejected the empty clip and slammed home another fresh clip until the shoulder exploded.

The mechanical beast was hardly phased at this and opened its mouth again, creating a ball of unstable light and threw its head forward, creating another thin beam. The beam shot by Shin and hit the wall moving up, leaving behind a clean trail embedded in the hangar’s wall.

Chaos stuttered in confusion as an invincible bolt of electricity struck the barely rotating object and traveled all of its body, paralyzing it in mid-movement. It glared at Kento next, who was smiling. Before it could react to anything else, rounds attacked the head and shoulders, destroying small gun mounts. The glass became more obscure until it finally shattered, the shards raining down.

Furious, Chaos roared and its ‘scales’ opened, revealing an arsenal of missiles before unleashing all of them at once. For several minutes, the hangar became nothing more than fog and smoke, obscuring anything and certainly, everyone.

“Guys! Rowan! Shina!” Kento yelled in between coughs. “Guys!” There was silence on both lines, and he cursed aloud. He glanced up and saw a solitary glowing red eye staring at him and promptly readied the Gatling gun again for assault. It did come to life, but he heard rapid clicking and in confusion, he glanced down at the indicator, flashing bold, red letters: EMPTY. How could one thousand rounds have gone in that short amount of time.

There was definitely no shelter, and as far as he knew, there wasn’t any left anywhere else. The smoke began to clear, revealing the damage around. He could’ve sworn the ceiling creaked a little.

Kento heard a groan near a large amount of wreckage and immediately went towards it, temporarily washed over in dread as he saw a limb protruding from it. A explosion threw him off his feet and he landed awkwardly on his back, knocking the Gatling gun away from his grip. Thanks to adrenaline, he only felt dull pain that surfaced briefly. Then, he heard a voice, garbled at first until he realized that one of the links was active again. It was Rowan.

+I found Xander…+

“Can he stand?” he asked curtly.

+…yeah.+

He uttered a swear as he took temporary cover and sighed as he glanced at the indicator on the EMP gun. It read only three rounds left, and he only had three power cells left. The Gat alone took six. Just 500 rounds… “Rowan, listen to me closely. I need you to distract this thing so I can dig Shin out. After that, take Mr. Xander and high-tail it out of here. I don’t care how you figure that out; just do it. When you get clear of the base, contact Oni as soon as you find a clearing and stay right where you are. Tell him…I might be late. Got it?”

+Got it,+ came the hesitant reply.

Kento glanced at the mess again and made a quick prayer before he rose from his cover, catching Chaos attention, long enough for another round to strike it and turned away, seeking out its target once again. He dashed for the pile of wreckage and immediately dismantled and pulling aside the pieces, hoping for the best and dreading the absolute worse. To his surprise and dismay, it was a combination of both.

Kento tossed aside the largest piece and stared at Shin who was curled in a semi ball, and for the most part did not appear to be harmed, save for her bruised arm. She was unconscious, and that worried him the most. He looked up as Chaos smacked into a damaged wall, and noticed that how it recovered; it staggered a lot and became jittery, as if it became infected with tics. It was, in a sense, tired. “Alright Rowan, that’s enough! Go!” he commanded.

He laid the unconscious woman behind a crate that wasn’t destroyed gingerly, and took one of the power cells. “Don’t worry about me,” he said softly as he thought he had seen a barely open eye. Kento glanced at the prone Gatling gun and the still-recovering Chaos; he fired the EMP gun once again before taking off for it.

Chaos ducked in time to avoid it completely and charged for him, head down and mouth agape, to eat him whole. Kento knew better though, and the final round of the EMP gun struck the very center of the mouth, felling the behemoth. Chaos wailed as it dropped to its knees, seizuring wildly. Kento loaded up the Gatling gun and aimed it for the mouth again, with a cold smile on his scarred face.

Then, with a mighty roar, he pressed the button and unleashed a barrage of bullets, destroying Chaos, piece by piece. The revolving disc on its burnt shoulder ceased, and the red lights that acted as its eyes died away, never to light up again, all of it took only fifteen seconds. After he heard the clicking, Kento discarded the gun, clattering heavily on the steel floor. Before he moved forward, he had to catch his breath.

As he did move, he heard a unfamiliar buzzing noise, and by the time his hearing did pick up on it, it was too late. Bolts of energy traced the dead Chaos three times in rapid succession before stopping altogether. Light grew, filling up the hangar eventually before there was a thunderous clap and a sudden rush of air an hear.

The force threw Kento straight into a wall, stunning him before pain followed, and lost consciousness before he fell to the ground.