Zyr: Chase
Larasab fled north out of Frade, and Zyr gave chase.
He and Vena had barely brushed the dust from their armor, and shot him full of meds, before they were out of the ruined Frade market and speeding across the salt flats of Pormos. The Pterri aimed their stealth speeders at the small jagged mountaintop right on the horizon, and as the Orb slowly sank into night, the mountain rose up into the darkness. Though the mountain was unnamed, it dominated the area as equally as any labeled peak.
The Orb was the thinnest line of burgundy off to Zyr’s side now, and the light was just enough to put his helmet’s night vision at a disadvantage, which was why he never saw the first laser bolt core his speeder’s stabilizer. There was no fighting gravity or inertia this time: the speeder wobbled, dug its front into the hard Pormos earth, and started a somersault.
Zyr jumped before the speeder cartwheeled off into the night. He twisted in the air, landing on his shoulder and scrubbing his momentum with a series of rolls.
Blue, red, purple, and green laserfire streaked over him, blasting through the night air faster than lightning. The Pterri slid to a halt, and as he got up on one knee absorbed a laser bolt meant for his head and returned it to the attacker’s own face. Glancing around, Zyr saw he and Vena were surrounded. Dozens of Vijari were clambering from cracks in the ground, aiming for anything taller than them: like two Pterri.
Zyr dug his fingers into the hardened salt and heaved his shoulders. A shockwave ripped through the dense Pormos mineral, exploding in a perfect circle well away from the two commandos. Salt and shocked Vijari fountained into the air. Their screams trailed them into the air as they pinwheeled skyward and just as quickly followed them back down as gravity took hold of their small bodies.
Adrenaline crackling through his system, Zyr didn’t wait for bones to shatter against hard soil. Drawing his sword from its vortex, he followed through in a quick arc, lopping the nearest Vijari in half. Both pieces glowed bright green in the helmet’s night vision, and so too did the thick gouts of blood and ribbons of gore that spilled out along the ground. Racing ahead, countless slashes worked the same violent deeds against more Vijari, and Zyr’s energy armor sizzled as it burned the blood and flesh off its surface. Off to his right, the Pterri could see his comrade down on one knee, quickly racking up headshots in the finest game of skeet ever played on Pormos.
Night vision flaring to his left, Zyr turned and Absorbed another laser bolt. He shot it out his right hand, behind him, and heard a rewarding scream in return. Bringing the sword up with both hands, he cleaved one of Larasab’s raiders up to her collarbone. He pushed the twitching corpse off with a boot, heard footsteps behind him, spun, and brought the blade down.
This Vijari was ready. He stopped the blow with a pair of long, fang-like knives much like Larasab’s, but he quickly disengaged, rolling behind the Pterri as the momentum from his own strike caused him to stumble forward. Rocks skittered and air hissed as the Vijari leapt up, slashing at Zyr’s neck. The blades bit into hardened steel, screeching against the energy barrier and leaving twin gouges in their wake right above the crater from Larasab’s shot.
Zyr did a roll of his own, going to the right, coming up in a guard. His Vijari opponent landed on both feet, clicked his heels together, and bowed. Even though the night vision’s green glow fused his opponent’s features together, Zyr could make out the wide grin.
He charged forward, sword ready to spear the short bastard.
As Zyr expected, the Vijari juked right, neatly dodging the attack, and he swung one knife around for another slice to the Pterri’s neck.
Zyr Countered, stopping hard, knocking the knife to one side with his elbow, and planting his heel in the Vijari’s head with a roundhouse kick. The impact shuddered Zyr’s entire body, but it sent the Virjari spiraling through the air.
The wiry-framed assassin hit the ground. Forcing himself up on one knee, he tried to bring his knives up, but found that difficult with a meter of titanium blade lancing through his chest. He coughed once, twice, and dropped to the ground.
Zyr flicked his wrist, calling his sword back from its latest victim. Surveying the scene, he took deep satisfaction in how he and Vena had performed.
Dozens of dead Vijari scattered the small plateau Zyr crafted with his shockwave, and dozens more lay in shallow ditches and destroyed crags. Cleansing the blood from his blade, the Pterri commando returned the sword to its vortex and turned toward Vena, who was approaching him. When Zyr’s visor switched to thermal, he could see the heat bleeding off Vena’s rifle; the waves of red bled into purple and then dissolved into the cold, blue night.
“Shall we, Vena,” Zyr asked, nodding at the mountain in the distance. Nightfall in Pormos badlands was so complete the peak was only visible because it was a black shadow against a blinking backdrop of stars.
“Affirmative. However, they got my speeder as well.”
“We can run,” Zyr said as he cracked his knuckles. “The blood of our enemies will light the way.”