U.S.S.A HellField

Chapter 23 Judgement from Beyond

I don't know why I agreed to stay another day, I wanted to turn down his offer, but part of me couldn't say no. He did have a point about us staying until it was safe otherwise. - "Happy to hear it. Though if you don't mind, would you walk with me to see if there are any more remaining?"  He asked, his tone shifting more calmly. - "That sounds like a good idea."  Alice said. I nodded in response. We walked through the village. On the ground, there lay the bodies of Mechites that weren't here before. Alice noticed me looking at them. "Oh, those. The commotion you made finally woke me up and then I made these lovely...gentlemen's acquaintance. Oh right! You left some of your armor right outside the cabin."  She said. I was well aware of that. - "I didn't have enough time, I got jumped by one of them before I could. Later I'll have to show you the mark he gave me."  I said, rubbing where it cut me. As we walked through the village I noticed there weren't any bodies of the villagers, either they had already cleaned up the bodies or they all got extremely lucky.

"Were there any casualties? I'm only seeing dead Mechites."  I asked Sarkon. - "As far as I'm aware no one has died. We have injured of course, how could there not be with the amount of firepower they used on us?"  I assumed he asked rhetorically. "Still...I want to be certain they're all gone. Not a single one can be left." He said intensely. He was hiding it pretty well, but I could tell he was furious. We came across the corpse of one of the Mechites, this one I hadn't seen before, its construction was more refined and it had very little rust. - "This Mechite was of the last ones I killed before I came to find you, he was a good deal tougher than the rest, other than that big one you were sparring with."  Alice said, poking it with her spear. I got down on one knee to get a better look at it. It was taller than the rest and had reinforced armor and joints. - "This one might be the commanding officer, I'm surprised I didn't come across him. Mean-looking bastard."  I said. Alice breathed out nervously. - "Count yourself lucky you didn't, he nearly cut my head off a couple of times. Look at the blade on its arm, it's a lot more refined than the rests."

She was right, this one was built of a much better quality than the others. Who or what could build monstrosities like this? At some point, we'll have to find where they were coming from and shut it down. - "Sarkon, do you have any idea what or where these things come from? Why has no one tried to stop them?"  I asked as I stood up. He grumbled as if contemplating. - "No one knows, nobody has been able to discover where they are being made. We've tried to help those who have had their communities fall victim to their scourge, alas, most turn down our words of salvation and offer of aid."  He said, even to me the pain in his voice was evident. - "Well that's a mystery I'd like to figure out as we find Artemis, speaking of which is there anything else...?" Alice's voice was drowned out by the cessation of all sound, even my thoughts sounded mumbled as if it was being filled with someone else's mind. - "HELP...Please...free me."  A hushed pained voice spoke into me from nowhere.

- "Ahh what the hell!"  I threw off my helmet and gripped my forehead in pain until it was gone. - "Huh? Damien, What's wrong?"  Alice came over to me, putting her hand over my shoulder. She gave me a worried look as she kept trying to meet my gaze. - "Your eyes and nose are all bleeding, what happened?"  She asked surprised. The pain was gone but I still felt like something rocked the shit out of me, I've never felt anything like it before. - "I...I don't know, everything went quiet and then I heard this voice. I must be going crazy or something."  I said between breaths. I looked up to see Sarkon staring into me with his burning yellow eyes, the way he did was unlike any look he had given me before, it was enough to fill me with dread at the sight of his gaze. Alice helped me up then she picked up my helmet and handed it to me. - "Thanks. Sorry about that Sarkon, I'm good now." I said, trying to brush it off. - "Perhaps you should clean up, I'd imagine all that blood is irritating to the eyes."  He said, looking toward our cabin.