Write 2 Rank 2022: Girl Fights

Round 7, Brown Belt: One-Shot with a Cliffhanger

Twenty-four hours ago...

The troop carrier hums as it rises, following the contours of the wave-like sand dunes of the contested lands. This vehicle has never seen combat because it is the personal property of a cenobite. The chariot of a king.

Twenty elite clerics do last minute equipment checks. Their commander, Paladin Christina Kiko, watches from the shade of the transport. 

The transport plows through the crest of a dune, spraying sand into the air on either side of the prow. Explosions in the distant necropolis mark where Megachurch and Corporation forces clash. The clerics start to pray for glory.

Paladin Kiko prays for a second chance. She'd damaged her reputation once and been punished. Like the transport, this is her first time away from Megachurch territory.

"Paladin, His High Holiness commands an audience."

Kiko pats her second on the shoulder. Gum is a mirthless knot of a man with a keen intellect. 

"Get them ready," she says, heading to the hatch and ladder.

"As you command."

She leaves the dock and climbs up to the deck, sand drizzling down from above. Two cleric sharpshooters stand guard, scanning for threats. The driver guides the vehicle through the ocean of course granules. Standing at the center is Cenobite Jobs. Bathed in the light of the harsh sun, his white and gold robes glow with magnificence.

Paladin Kiko kneels at his feet.

"Rise, Paladin," his voice is deep, fatherly like all cenobites, but with a harsh edge. "Report."

Kiko does as instructed.

"Megachurch forces have met strong corporate opposition. Fighting has broken out on five definitive fronts in addition to clashes in the street."

The cenobite gestures for Kiko to follow as he begins to walk.

"Which corporations are we engaged with?" asks the religious leader. "SynthTech and Amazyx?

"It looks like Aramark."

"One corporation has mustered an offensive this large... " The cenobite's brow furrows, "They know why we're here."

Paladin Kiko studies the cenobite before speaking. "Your High Holiness, how is that possible when I don't know why we're here."

"The enemy has eyes everywhere, as such, we alway move in the way of the word," he intones.

The transport shakes as it barrels through another dune, creating a wave of sand that washes over the top deck. The cenobite stands resolute, unbothered by the particles that blast him. He stares off into the distance.

"It seems we have been spotted."

"Contact!" shouts one of the cleric sharpshooters. "Corporate aircraft, coming in hot!"

A sleek egg-like vehicle drops low, skimming the desert surface. Turrets emerge from its hull and the sharpshooters open fire. The sound of their rifles create a steady boom boom pop as they take out the first and then second automated gun. A drone strafes from the opposite direction, peppering the deck. Kiko  throws up a barrier around herself and the holy man at her side. One of the sharpshooters falls from the transport, his body ravaged by bullets.

An explosion rips through the cockpit of the Aramark aircraft, sending it spinning out of control.

"Brace for impact!" the pilot warns, taking evasive maneuvers.

Kiko grabs the cenobites collar and drag-carries him to the ladder before tossing him down. She slides down behind him, moving into the midst of her clerics.