Embrace The Ether

"d.a.m.n it, d.a.m.n it!" He cursed aloud to himself, "I suppose I can"t have prepared for everything… I"ll just have to wing it for Thaddeus."

The Nijaden had begun moving again as a rough scratching sound shot through the air. They were sailing toward the enemy location, directly into the enemy"s nest.

With everything packed and prepared, Deus ascended toward the top of the ship, breaching out into the outside. Several straps sat across his chest and legs as different things dangled, from a small satchel of grenades which Elias had given him, to his pistol that he had selected over an alternative - more expensive - grenade.

His sword draped across his back as he rushed over toward Elias, who had the most sinister of smiles glued onto his face.

"Elias! What the h.e.l.l is going on… why are we moving?"

Elias turned to face Deus as a haunting chuckle escaped his lungs, "Hah! I"ve unloaded most of the boys down onto that ridge over there!" He pointed off toward a large wave of black salt which had formed into an overarching ridge, "I decided on a new plan while I was meditating. Why charge our enemies on foot and use the ship as cover when we can just use the ship as a means to plant us directly on them."

Deus stared at Elias slack-jawed and concerned, "But what about the centipede?"

Elias chuckled out another guttural laugh, "I"ve prepared for that, of course. You see, during my mediation… I had a burst of genius. .h.i.t me…"

"Oh, did you now…" Deus did not seem convinced.

"Oh, don"t look at me like that. I"ve brought along something spectacular with us today, something that Roland had wanted me to test around with… so I figured, why not test it here and now? It would be the perfect opportunity to do so, after all."

Deus stared at Elias in concern and anger as he asked, "So we"re going to be relying on something untested? Why change the plan so suddenly… unless this was the plan from the start…"

"Heh. I don"t like what you"re implying, Deus. Are you trying to claim that I lied to everyone?" Elias accepted Deus"s verbal challenge and met it head-on.

"I"m not implying anything, I"m simply saying how convenient it is that the plan was changed so suddenly even after you had already laid everything out in front of us… Oh no, I"m simply saying just how convenient it is that you had just the little experiment lined up for this exact situation."

Elias and Deus met eyes for a moment as they both attempted to ascertain the other"s intentions. Elias was ensuring there were no traitors among his group, while Deus was protecting himself and Droh.

"Oh don"t you worry, the plan is still the same… we"ve just got different placements. Here, take a look…" Elias gestured off toward the ridge, "The gunners are already prepared up top, and once we"ve started taking fire… they are to provide us with a suppressive covering fire."

A siren exploded forth from the ship as Deus turned his attention forward, toward the enemy camp. Rufus spoke over the loudspeaker to everyone onboard, "Enemy forces have taken notice of us, prepare yourselves, we"re about to take fire!"

With that declaration, the ship rocked as the sounds of explosions erupted through the air around them. They had begun to take on enemy fire as they continued to decrease their distance.

The Nijaden sailed closer and closer toward the enemy as the hull of the ship had been coated in shrapnel. It was only thanks to the st.u.r.dy metal which the Nijaden was built from that the enemy fire hadn"t pierced their ship.

In reality, even if their ship was still in an undamaged condition, that didn"t mean it hadn"t been rocking and shaking under the stress.

Deus lifted his head over the railing, allowing himself a clear view of the enemy encampment. He could only do this for a moment before his exposed self-became target for enemy fire.

"Oh my lord… the centipede has begun to move…" He grumbled to himself as he lowered his revealed face back down, safely behind the st.u.r.dy railing which acted as a barrier.

"Elias! The centipede is coming!"

"The centipede is coming already?" Elias replied back as his eyebrows rose in exclamation, "Fine then, Deus, come with me below deck… it"s time to bring out the welcoming party!"

"The welcoming party? What the h.e.l.l is he planning?" Deus thought as he hurriedly followed Elias down into the inner levels of the ship.

They pa.s.sed by several previously occupied rooms as they stopped before the last door in the corridor. Elias had specifically declared this room restricted. It was one of only a handful of rooms which were off limits, this room and the room which Thaddeus had been previously snooping around in.

Elias approached the door in a rush as he shoved it open, the entire corridor and ship rocked as a heavy impact collided with the hull. The screeching sound of the midnight centipede echoed through the air as if to declare that impending doom was approaching with every pa.s.sing breath.

"Come on, we don"t have much time!" Elias shouted out as he ran inside, ignoring the pitch blackness that had overtaken the now opened room.

Deus followed slowly behind him, carefully extending his arms out in front to ensure he didn"t slam into a wall. As he did, the ship once again shook as a thunderous clash bellowed out from around them, dust came flying off the rafters down through the air.

From the other side of the room, Elias pulled a switch that sat on the wall. As he did, a faint light illuminated the room as it flickered on and off. Deus glanced around, and to his shock and concern, he saw what appeared to be a ma.s.sive gun sat on a rotational plate.

"What the h.e.l.l is that thing?" Deus asked, a stern glare on his face.

In response, Elias simply gave out a slight shrug as he approached it, gliding his hand across the metal"s soft sheen. "This, my good sir, is a ballista. You see, our clan specializes in weapons, as you can imagine, so we"ve been working hard on this new tool."

"A ballista?"

"Exactly. We"ve taken to calling it the Skyfire, and it"s designed to be the perfect counter against those worms… after all, this entire time we"ve been forced to run in fear at the sight of "em, but now, now we"ve got the means to win."

Deus looked over the ballista, Skyfire, with a concerned but also slightly impressed face. His eyebrows rose as he noticed the mechanism attached to the weapon, which seemed to be built to allow the ballista free motion as it took aim. "Wait, but how are we going to get it upstairs? Just look at it, it won"t fit through the hallway like that."

The ship underwent yet another violent upset as even more dust came falling through the ceiling. "That"s the beauty of it. Here, go grab that lever over there and hold on tight, don"t pull it until I give the order!"

Elias rushed into action as he clambered up the side of the Skyfire. He placed his feet firmly against the metal as he hunched behind the ballista in a predetermined spot. While he did that, Deus had moved over toward his spot and awaited further instruction. He was still rather concerned, but he was also slightly excited to see what Elias had planned in order for him to be so confident. The more he could learn, the better.

Screeee! A terrifying tremor rocked through the thick metal hull as the mighty midnight centipede arrived upon the Nijaden. Planting itself firmly beneath them, it used the strength of the earth beneath it to spring itself further towards them in order to take out a huge chunk from their ship. The enemy opposition ceased their firing as to not accidentally harm their own weapon.

"Pull the lever!" Elias bellowed out from the deepest depths of his lungs, his shout even being heard from everywhere aboard the ship.

As instructed, Deus gave a firm tug against the lever. At first, it didn"t release, instead, it tightened up as rust began to weigh on it. After several panicked attempts, the lever gave way and moved, creating a domino effect that opened an unnoticed hatch, revealing lights and sounds from outside as a trapdoor slowly opened.

In order not to fall out, Deus clamped down firmly against the lever and hand-rail as the bottom of the Nijaden opened up to reveal the outside. The ballista began to slowly move as the sounds of an engine started. Elaborate mechanisms started to act as the Skyfire, with Elias sitting on top, swung into place.

Beneath them, the midnight centipede let loose an excruciatingly loud screech as it dived forward toward Elias. The black salt of Midnight kicked through the air as testosterone slowed the world to a halt.

"Yes! Come to me you big f.u.c.king worm!" Elias shouted like a madman as he sat on top of the ballista, continuing to hold his fire.

"Elias! Take the shot!" Deus shouted as the pressure from the outside started to pull him through, he clenched down hard on the lever and railing, but even then his fingers had begun to ache. "Take the f.u.c.king shot!"

"Hahaa!" Elias laughed as he lined his shot up. The centipede was midway through its dive as he moved his hand for a lever.

"Take this, you d.a.m.ned pile of metal!"

Swoosh! The gigantic rod of metal released, striking through the whirlpool shaped jaw of the beast.