Chapter 6 Nightcrawler Problem
"So, they're finally doing something. Keep loading the dust once they handle them. We will lead another attack on them when they think they can breathe. " Back to Mirfield Xavier along with the people gear up, holster their blaster. "Alright, everyone, let's recap what we need to do. Team 1, your job is to focus on covering team 2. Team 2 will bait the nightcrawlers out of the trench. once they pull them, we need to hold until Lady serenata gives the order to retreat back so they can fire the cannon." Edon Meka tells everyone, the commander that Serenata put in charge of the task at hand.
Xavier checks his gear one last time before they move out. as they step into the corridor leading to the gate. The gate opens, and Edon shouts. "Team 2 GO!!!!" rushing out the gate Xavier along with many others, getting close to their position they near the trench plateau. "Team 2 nearing the trench." the leader of team 2 says over the coms to team 1. as they walk up over the slope, they hear noises of a large number of nightcrawlers. the leader pulls out a pipe bomb, launching it over, getting their attention. The Nightcrawlers let out a loud screech charging at them.
The bomb goes off, killing a small number of them. team 2 starts running back, firing. "Team 2 has engaged the nightcrawlers pulling them to rendezvous point." The teams leader report say they slowly retreat. swarming in the nightcrawlers uses their tails to grab members of the team, dragging them away. Xavier dodges lunging to the side, shooting the tail as it tries to get him. "This is crazy! how can their be this many!" Xavier thinks while constantly moving and shooting, guarding himself and others.
Meanwhile, in the corridor of the west gate. "Everyone prepare to cover team 2!" In the command post, Serenata overlooking the operation. "It's going well so far. Team 2 has baited them out. Only 91 meters left before there're in range of the cannons. Team 1 engage!!" Serenata tells Edon, sending them out to help team 2. Back to Xavier in the mist of the hoard of Nightcrawler's, aiming with precision Xavier and the other rushes to the rally point. "There's no end to them!!" Dust begins kicking up as blaster fire illuminates the surrounding landscape, arriving at the rally point team 2 regroups with Team 1. "Alright we have to keep them here while the cannons prepare to fire." Logan's shouts to the groups.
In the command post Serenata gives the order to begin charging the dome cannon, as the worker start up the cannon an alert suddenly flashes telling them that the systems are being forcibly invaded. "What is happening?!" Serenata shouts at the workers. "I don't know, someone has taken control of the dome's cannons!" a worker replies saying. "how is this possible, no one should be able to hack into our system especially not those pirates!!! inform ground team to retreat back into the dome now!!!" scrabbling around the command post workers rush to reverse the hack while sending a message to retreat to Logan. Meanwhile in the dome near the refuge area, an mysterious hooded person slips away from the Atlas people.
back outside the dome Xavier and the others finally arrive at the set location for the cannons to fire, Logan get the distress message from the command post. "What did you say!?" Logan then tells everyone to run back to Mirfield, unable to explain the full situation to the rest of the teams not everyone reacts fast. Xavier along with a few people closest to the rushing Nightcrawler are still engaged with them. moments later Xavier looks back seeing that everyone is retreating. "everyone come on the rest are retreating!" Xavier tells the other near him. as they rush back they hoard of Nightcrawlers follow. energy begins dispersing around the barrel of the cannon as it ready's to fire.
"Hurry up and get out of the blast radius!!" Logan shouts as he watches Xavier and the others rush back. In that moment Xavier thinks to himself. "Were not going to make it....!? What If I can use that weird ability, its has saved me in these type of situations. but how do I use it? I've never used it on command before...but if I don't try now everyone behind me is dead." Suddenly Xavier shouts. "Get behind me and stay low!" the cannon fires and the beam approaches him from the front kicking up dust. closing his eyes Xavier takes a deep breath then as soon as the cannon blast meets him, the energy shyers into him.
The force from the wind stops the rushing Nightcrawler's, shocked the onlooker witness a miracle. Illuminating Xavier falls to his knees grunting. The people by him gather closer, "No!! Don't approach me…..hurry and run to the others." Xavier says to them struggling to hold the energy back surging through him as small bursts spark off of Xavier. In the command post Serenata is shocked seeing the blast from the cannon be absorbed by a human. "how is this possible?" Serenata states aloud. "Madam, we have taken back control of the cannon…do you want us to try to fire again." A worker says. "No!! Even if we do they it will be past the point where it will help." Serenata replies telling the worker.
Outside the dome of Mirfield the rest of the team watch as the Nightcrawler's start to surround Xavier. Letting out a shout Xavier unleashes the energy gathered from the cannon blast. Creating a shockwave with a violet color to, it evaporate the Nightcrawler's surrounding him only leaving their blood staining the ground. Falling unconscious right after, waking up sometime later Xavier is slowly waking up seeing the ceiling of the entrance tunnel. "Ahh" feeling pain all over. "Stay down, you received a lot of damage….I don't know what you did but thank you. You saved lots of lives." Logan says to Xavier while he is getting treated by a medic. The people in the tunnel look a Xavier in disbelief, after seeing what he did saving them.
Xavier hears them murmuring before falling back unconscious. In the Command post, Serenata runs a system check to find the source of the hack from earlier. "It was definitely pirate tech but I don't know how they breached our dome's security…..scan the for any suspicious activity, we may have to have a intruder in Mirfield." As the run the check, the doors to the command post open revealing the mysterious hooded man from earlier. Drawing a blaster he fires shooting at the workers. Serenata dives to the side taking cover arming herself, "So you must be the Pirate scum who rigged my cannon." Serenata shout at the man holding the exit and entrance to the command post.
The mysterious man pulls his hood down revealing his face to Serenata and the few workers alive. "!? How are you alive? You shouldn't been here!" She says seeing Zang Zaoran an exile Royal who killed a Novis Elder. "Hello Seren, It's been a while hasn't it? You've done great ruling Mirfield, the elders listen well to you." Zang acknowledges saying to Serenata. "Your working with the pirate!!, how low can you get!" Serenata shout shooting at Zang. He take cover behind the wall, peeking around. "Low? Those pirates happen to save me from that death pod you sent me into space in. It just so happen that they where looking for our planet for resources, I told them I would tell them the location for tools to reclaim what's mine here in this planet." Raising his arm showing them a trigger his hand. It's time to purge this place." Pressing the button four loud explosions sound off,making the dome rumble.
"What did you do!!!" Serenata shouts worried about the explosion.s "Bawahahaha, let's see how Mirfield survives now." Suddenly a worker shouts. "Madam look at the screen!" Looking up serenata see that the four gate of Mirfield has been destroyed leaving the civilians defenseless. At the same time Xavier is woken up by the sudden explosion. "!?" Struggling to his feet, walking out a tent he sees people ruining in panic. "What…what's going on!!!" He shouts. Without warning Xavier is grabbed by Roy, "We need to evacuate too our bunker sector, Come on!!!" "What's going on?" Xavier replies confused. "The gates has been destroyed and Nightcrawler's are swarming in!" Xavier limps off looking towards the gate seeing the door blown open, turning around he goes along with everyone to the bunker sector in the dome.
18 minutes later, he arrive at the large entrance down into the ground. entering a underground cave half built with metal called the Dry Deep Bastille. Back in the command post Serenata and Zang have a fire fight resulting in her getting shot in the leg. Zang escape leaving her and a worker in the post.