Star Darlings; The Soldier

A Messy Chapter

Diana stood up from beside Colin. It had been an entire night of Colin sleeping, and he was finally stirring from his slumber.

"Well, it took you long enough to wake up," Diana said. "Come on; we need to get back."

"Yeah, I know..." Colin yawned, standing up and heading back to the base. Diana followed beside him.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Colin asked. "Oh right; you were too busy staring at me."

Diana blushed. "How did you know?"

"I'm an assassin; I'm trained to be aware of things even when I'm sleeping and I do remember you ogling at me the entire time," Colin said. "Have you never received the training before?"

"No," Diana said. "Why did you get the special treatment?"

"Nah; I think Grandmaster was the last one who knew how to do that and actually passed it down to others instead of yelling at them to run around the Northern Mountain as 'practice'," Colin said, not fazed by the fact that she was staring at him all night. "Hate those old bastards..."

"How are you not affected by... any of that?" Diana blurted. "You were right in front of me while I'm... not wearing a hoodie, and you know that I was staring the whole night yet you're so calm?"

"When there are a bajillion women in the Resistance trying to get you in their bed, you get used to it," Colin said. "It's really annoying, but the first few times were scary. Swear I nearly got PTSD."

"Hmm." Diana mused. She'd never considered how many girls were in love with Colin; though she knew none of them would get him no matter how hard they tried. Colin wasn't even interested in finding himself someone; he just wanted to get the war over with and retire to some stupid place. That's what she'd imagined him doing after this is over.

"Careful!" Colin said, pulling her back. "You nearly stepped on one of my traps. He pointed at the ground, where a well-hidden wire was. She traced it to where it was, and found another awaiting log, ready to impale her in a shish kebab.

"Thanks," Diana whispered flashbacks to the previous night.

"Yeah; come on." Colin stepped over the wire and helped her across. They continued the rest of the way back to the base without any troubles.

Dream shouldered his way past a battalion of troops, heading for the main meeting room. The troops moved out of his way without objections, though one did scowl at him as he passed. Despite him fighting for the last two battles, multiple people still don't trust him, though he expected it. Nothing can redeem his past, however, he tried.

He opened the door to find everyone already there. Colin nodded as he came in.

He took his usual spot in the corner and watched as they talked about their next move. He came forth when they called his name.

"We're planning on attacking one of the many supply chains you've told us, Dream," Hector said. "But as always, any advice?"

"Yes and that is not to attack them." Dream said. "They're not worth the chase; instead, attack here." he pointed at a spot on the map.

"That's up North. We need to be going South." Vega argued.

"This is where all the supply chains go in this area." Dream explained. "If I remember correctly, there are mountains of supplies that were never moved and is one of the important bases. If we get this base... all the other bases around us will starve."

"I'm all for starving out our enemy from a war of attrition," Colin said. Everyone nodded. "So all in for Base... Kitsap. Weird name."

Dream nodded. "One of the most jam-packed and easiest bases to take down, yet so important and undefended. They thought we'd never get past the Binary Bases back in the Nebulian Forest, and they didn't know we knew about this place."

"Confusing us as always, Dream," Sage remarked. Dream smiled, though no one could see it.

"So Base Kitsap it is..." Hector said. "I need to chart the course..." He walked off. "Meeting dismissed," he said as he walked out.

(Couple of hours later)

Hector (Wow hadn't done his POV for a while) raced through the halls of Fort Stalingrad, sweat dripping down his face as he arrived at the laboratory. Vega was already waiting for him.

"What's happening?" he asked. "Why did you say we need help?"

"Those monsters-- there's still some trapped in their vats," Vega said urgently. "And now for some reason-- either through a failsafe or program-- they're active and trying to break free!"

"WHAT!?" Hector asked. "Is there any way to kill them before they wreak havoc? It's the campfires! If one explosive target a big enough group..."

"No," Vega said. "We're trying to burn them in the incendiary room by leading them in, but they shrugged it off like it's nothing!"

"Oh, my gods..." Hector said. "Aren't they part machines? Can't we shut them down?"

"I've already sent people to do that, but they won't do it in time," Vega said. "They're breaking free as we speak!"

As if on cue, one's head burst through the wall, screeching and roaring. Hector pulled Vega behind him as he tried stopping it.

More walls crumbled down as 2 more appeared, breaking the wall down into nothing.

One lunged at the two, only to be stopped as Hector created a wall. It bounced off, but quickly came back a second time, hammering into the wall.

"Vega, go!" He said. "I can't keep this up; go get the others!"

"Hector!" Colin's voice yelled from across the room. "I'm here and- WHAT THE HELL!?!?!?"

"Colin help!" Vega screamed, but he seemed to be frozen in place, his eyes wide and filled with fear.

A claw broke through. Colin snapped out of his trance and ran forward, catching the claw before it could hit Hector or Vega. He yelled, and the monster went flying back into the wall. The other two snarled, clearly recognizing him in the data banks they were given.

A missile detached from one's shoulder, heading towards him only to be deflected back into its head. It roared, backing off, leaving only one to face him.

It lunged forward, its arms outstretched. Colin dodged the attack, moving forward, passed its guard and plunged his blade into its chest, ripping out the source. After years of fighting these guys, he knew how to kill them.

The one he'd thrown into the wall returned, enraged and trigger happy, because all the guns fired at him. Knowing it'll bring down the whole lab, Colin didn't deflect it, instead of trying to contain the weapons in a force field. A barrier circled the weapons, trapping them and making them go boom without any damage. The shockwave, however, was not containable.

A wave of force catapulted Colin to the ground, almost shattering his eardrums. Hector and Vega covered their ears, though it did little to stop the earth-shattering noise. The creatures, being closest to the epicentre of the shockwave, were thrown into the wall at Mach 25, making them into jam. Little bits and pieces of flesh showered the room.

But for all that, the lab was starting to fall. The shockwave had broken the main support beams (How LUCKY), and the room was starting to collapse around them.

"GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO!!!!!!" Colin yelled, pulling both Hector and Vega to their feet, joining the dozen people as they ran for the exit.