Altiris Knights:The Fall

Chapter 17:Distress Call

Everyone gathered in the operations room, as a message had been received.

"This is Yaellor, reporting from Kaeltos, Soren. Our position has been overrun. The uriaks swarmed the area. We had to abandon most of our heavy weapons in a retreat, and only 6 are still alive, two of them severely injured. We are critically low on ammo and supplies."

"We can not delay", Pyros said. "No, we can not. I need at least 5 volunteers to go with Pyros", Arlen said. "Count me in", said Kirtan. "We are going as well", said Reyna, as she and Maior stepped over to Pyros and Kirtan. Kaira and Olsur joined in as well.

"Go swiftly, but cautiously. Kaeltos may be even more dangerous than Xaraeon", Captain Kollves said.

...

"Everyone strap yourselves in and brace yourselves. Looks like this will be a rough landing", the pilot said.

The ship rocked, as it flew through a thunderstorm, occasionally struck by lightning and buffeted by the strong winds. At last, they touched down next to another Helkaites ship, and they were able to exit.

Pyros contacted Yaellor, but was met with static. Kirtan placed his hand against the ground, checking for nearby movement.

"There is something on our 4 o'clock", he said. "How far?" asked Pyros. "Couple hundred meters or so", Kirtan replied. They took off at a fast jog, weapons aimed forward. At first, they only saw the corpses. Only then, did they pick up the flash of an energy sword. "That's Yaellor alright", Olsur said.

Yaellor, and two others were fending off a group of uriaks, one of them a Greater Uriak, while another was tending to two others on the ground.

"Pyros, tend to your comrades. With your lack of an element, you will be in too much danger", Kirtan said, drawing his energy sword. Reluctantly, Pyros obeyed, knowing what little static electricity he had, would be next to useless here.

Yaellor swung his energy sword, the orange blade cutting through an uriak's head, and drove it through another's heart. One of his comrades attacked a creature trying to flank him, cutting it down with her steel swords. The other blasted two more with her blaster.

Kirtan intercepted the Greater Uriak, turning its attention away from Pyros and his comrade tending to the injured. Reyna and Maior reinforced him. Together, the three Altiris Knights kept harassing the creature, striking with their energy swords. Kirtan drove an earth fist into its gut, and Maior buffeted with a torrent of air. Reyna cut it on the back with her double bladed energy sword. Maior leapt away from its arm and hurled one of his energy swords into its chest, before recalling it with an air wave.

Kirtan unleashed a barrage of earth balls and spikes, preventing it from following Maior.

"Give me a boost!" Reyna said. She leapt into the air, and Kirtan generated an earth tower under her, from which she leapt down once high enough. Before she collided with the uriak, she covered herself with a lightning net, and altered her positioning, sinking her energy staff in the creature's head. Coupled with the lightning, the attack stunned it. Maior and Kirtan rushed towards it, and cut through its chest with their weapons, before pushing it over to avoid getting crushed under its weight.

Kaira, Olsur, Yaellor, Teolara and Orkala carved through the remaining uriaks with renewed vigor, but they remained unfazed, as more of them arrived. Winged uriaks appeared, splitting their attention. Fortunately, several fighter squadrons came to their rescue from their escort fleet. For the moment, they had achieved parity.

Pyros, Kaleor, and the now healed Korin and Ertalas joined the fight, the latter three providing cover fire along with Orkala, while the Helkaites, Republic and Altiris Knights kept the uriaks occupied. Teolara sent volleys of ice shards at the winged uriaks, and Yaellor backed her up with fire waves. They shot down 3 of them, but the rest were a different story, forcing them to go to great lengths to survive.

Pyros grasped an uriak by the neck, and squeezed, the static electricity in his system aiding with the attack. He blocked several strikes from a Reaper, and blocked its etheron burst with his electrified palm. He retaliated with his sword, but the Reaper met each of his strikes. The two went back and forth, until the creature unexpectedly bit his shoulder.

Pyros felt his body freeze, and a sickening, burning pain travel to his brain. He felt the transformation begin, and a spike of hunger. With the last of his strength, as he was losing himself, he drove his sword through the Reaper's heart, before he lost himself completely.

Olsur froze, as he saw Pyros, now covered with uriak growth, his eyes glowing pure white, attack Kaira and bite her in the neck. He unleashed a storm of black lightning, concentrating it on the two of them, temporarily knocking them out.

"Everyone to me!" he called, and the rest obeyed, puzzled. "Seems like we have a new infestation that took Pyros and Kaira", he explained. "We are not leaving them behind", Yaellor said. "No. But we must leave now. Reyna and Yaellor, help me maintain a perimeter as we take them and retreat back to the ships", said Olsur.

The fire and lightning wielders rained down elemental waves, while the rest managed to restrain Kaira and Pyros. With the assistance of the operational fighters, they retreated back to their ships. Then, disaster struck. The rescue ship that Kaira and the rest landed in, crumbled, as vines tore through its hull and launched at them. in the chaos, Kaira and Pyros freed themselves, and Korin, Orkala and Maior were immediately bitten.

Kirtan stunned them with an avalanche of earth, and locked them between thick walls. Winged uriaks arrived, taking out most of the remaining fighters, and one of them carved through Yaellor, mortally wounding him. Maior and the rest broke out of the earth walls, and descended on them. Korin collapsed, as Ertalas blasted him with his rifle. Orkala tackled him, and the two grappled on the ground.

Maior, Kaira and Pyros attacked Reyna, who was barely able to keep them at bay. Kirtan struck Pyros from the back, and drove his energy sword through his gut, distracting him. Before the zombie could retaliate, he struck him with earth shards in the temples, disabling him. Reyna pummeled Maior with a torrent of purple lightning, and Olsur and Teolara managed to subdue Kaira. All the while, Kirtan kept the winged uriaks and the vines away from them single-handedly, as all of the remaining fighters went down.

He slammed his hand against the ground, and pillars of earth rose into the air.  They took the incapacitated Maior, Kaira, Pyros and Orkala, and the corpses of Korin and Yaellor, both in body bags, and rushed on the old Helkaites ship.

"Let's see if this bird still has some power", Teolara said, as she and Ertalas sat behind the controls, while the rest guarded Maior, Kaira, Pyros and Orkala.

"Come on, old girl. Don't let us down now", Ertalas said, half to himself, as the engine sputtered. Then, it revved, and slowly, lumbered off the ground, and rose into the stormy sky. They flew through the swarm of winged uriaks and vines, and managed to fight them off with onboard guns and the artillery fire from the escort fleet. At last, they broke through the orbit, into the vacuum of space. The fleet recovered them, and they jumped to lightspeed, away from the nightmare that Kaeltos had become.