Bondrewd, a new beginning

Level five, Dawn's base (Idofront).

Since the departure of Mitya and her companions, several weeks had passed. The Idofront had not easily recovered from the effects of their visit. The laboratory was 70% restored and the number of 'praying hands' had been restored to their previous levels. Meanwhile, a dark figure dressed in a long cloak over an elegant suit. A helmet as dark as coal completely covered his face, this helmet was no ordinary helmet as a purple light burned in a slit in the centre. Bondrewd, stood with his hands resting on the desk where countless books, reports and papers were spread out. 

The Dawn Lord was head over heels in his favourite scientific pursuits. His mind was spinning with only one thought, how to penetrate the sixth level again without falling victim to the Abyss' curse. The old option was cancelled at once, Prushka went with the uninvited guests, even if not quite alive. It would take a lot of time to create a second similar test subject. And it had its price, Bondrewd intended to catch up with Mitya and her friends, but not out of a sense of revenge for the destroyed base and years of painstaking work that had faded into oblivion, they were of scientific interest to him. Above all, a cyborg. The Lord of the Dawn was always consistent in his actions and did not stray from his goals.

"There must be some way out." Bondrewd's voice sounded mundane, without a hint of anger or irritation. Suddenly the hiss of a speaker integrated into his helmet interrupted his musings, one of the "praying hands" was speaking

"Mr Bondrewd, a seven-tailed scorpion is approaching the base, we were unable to drive it away with signal sabers, in order to avoid destruction of the base, we ask you to come to our aid."

 "Understood. I'm on my way," the Dawn Lord glanced at his gear, everything was in place: the Dawn armour, restored after the incident, fit like a glove, the Shaker with the damn needles was on his right arm and the Sparagmos on his left. The helmet, on the other hand, was almost never parted with. Making sure he was ready, the Dawn Lord left the office and walked briskly to the lift.

"There's been a lot of creatures lately." It was the third invasion of the base perimeter in the last week. The creatures were getting more and more brazen, and the attacks on the search teams were increasing day by day.

He was met at the lift by a group of "praying hands" - low, stocky creatures in white robes, wearing helmets similar in appearance to those Bondrewd himself wore. They were armed with flamethrowers with massive tanks carried on their backs. As the lord approached, they stood as still as they could, and one of them immediately reported.

"Scorpion is moving towards the base, estimated time of arrival is 5 minutes, does not react to scarecrows, according to your previous instructions sentries did not engage in combat. We are waiting for your orders." Having finished the phrase the group commander stared at Bondrewd, waiting for his answer.

"You will come with me, keep at a distance, do not engage in battle without my command, make sure that on his shoulders the little things did not slip to the base." "Hands" nodded silently and with a steady gait piled into the lift, the Lord of Dawn following behind them.

The lift touched down and drove upwards to the crackle of the mechanisms, the attendants being illuminated by a single old, flickering light bulb, giving the figures of the passengers a slightly intimidating appearance. 

 In his mind, Bondrewd was contemplating the possible reinforcement of the base, he was not happy with the constant threat of invasion, and thus the slowing down of his research. The lift stopped and its doors opened.

All that lay before Lord of Dawn was a wasteland of white limestone. The support group scattered around the area, while Bondrewd walked calmly towards the perceived threat. It didn't take long for the invaders to arrive, pillars of dust began to appear from behind the horizon, and after a couple more minutes their creator.

A four metre long beast, with seven tails, each crowned with a sharp stinger the size of a human leg. A massive red body on small paws approached the defenders' position. Bondrewd took 20 steps forward and waited for the creature to get closer. 

300 metres...

100...

30...

The beast was almost in close proximity to Bondrewd. The Lord of Dawn raised his hand, the right moment must be about to come.

The creature sprang full speed at Bondrewd, intending to demolish him with its weight, and a few moments before the collision, a thick beam of glowing light emerged from the man's left glove with a deafening sound. But to Bondrewd's surprise his attack failed to find its target, and at the last moment the beast, with a jerk almost imperceptible to the eye, drew away. Of course, with its size, it was almost impossible to escape from such a close attack, and as evidence of this, three scorched stumps, which had been tails before, dangled behind the beast's back. The creature's howl of pain and rage reverberated through the neighbourhood.

 "Marvellous reaction time." The creature took the man's inappropriate comment as a signal to attack. 

The massive carcass did not risk approaching its prey again, not understanding why this leather pouch was so unexpectedly painful to fight. The beast made a decision quickly, it still had 4 long tails in its arsenal and it would be foolish not to use them. An attack, another, another and another, the blows found no target, it seemed the sting was about to pierce the prey, but in vain. "Lord of Dawn" masterfully dodged the attacks of his vis-a-vis. "Time to call it a day," thought Bondrewd.

And during another dodge to the side, he grabbed one of the creature's tails and pulled sharply on himself. Lord of Dawn's strength far exceeded that of a human. The tail, accompanied by the crunch of breaking chitin and the painful roar of the creature, remained in the man's hands. 

Blood and gore dripped to the ground from the recently dangerous murder weapon, but Bondrewd was not about to stop. The man tossed the unwanted trophy aside, touched his helmet and said quietly. - "Gunblade."

Many dozens of purple beams shot out in all directions, filling the nearest space, and just a moment later, rushed towards the monster's body. The crunch of bones and chitin, the long scream and the smell of burnt meat, marked the victory of a small but very strong man, or not quite a man.

After waiting for the dust to settle, Bondrewd saw an unsightly picture - the beast with numerous holes in its body was slumped over on its side, dirty brown blood gushing out of the wounds onto the white ground, its shell, all cracked, continued to rise, and nothing remained of its tails - each of them had been cut in at least several places.

"Still alive? - The man asked in surprise." Do me a favour and die, I have to get back to work. 

"Lord of Dawn" was about to finish the agonising animal, when suddenly an idea struck his head. An idea like a comet that would disperse the darkness and give the traveller a point of reference in the dark forest. An idea that would help him get his bearings. 

Bondrewd walked up to the creature and fired one of the many wounds from the Sparagmos. The black needles cutting through the dusty air cut into the flesh of the beast and with small fountains of blood went in. 

The beast made one last awkward attempt to move and fell silent. "Lord of Dawn" turned around, "praying hands" were wielding flamethrowers, burning out the small creatures that were so desperately trying to make their way into the base. Anticipating future accomplishments, he walked towards the lift he'd come here on, activating his helmet headset at the same time.

"Scorpion to be patched up, immobilised and brought to the base, the battle site to be cleared, not enough for all the locals to come to the smell of blood."

"It will be done." said the eldest of the hands, in a dry, inexpressive voice. 

Bondrewd had already passed the position of his subordinates and headed for the lift, but his attention was attracted by a small creature - a worm and centipede, brown in colour and only a couple of centimetres long, which was trying so desperately to get through the steel doors of the lift. Without the slightest hesitation, Lord of Dawn crushed it with his boot, and with some frustration switched the headset back on.

"Be careful to burn the little things, completely, we don't have time to smoke them out of the vent again." And in this the man was right, the local inhabitants multiply very quickly and where now there was one tomorrow there will be a hundred, even if he did not have to personally smoke them out of their nests, but the noise and fuss created by the creatures, or subordinates, was not conducive to fruitful work. 

The closest of the "praying hands" nodded to the man in agreement, Bondrewd opened the lift, pressed the button and with the creaking of the mechanisms went away downstairs. The Lord of Dawn had no time to notice when the lift doors opened, and the enthusiastic man disappeared into the depths of the base, fully occupied with his thoughts. 

Before he knew it, a small creeper had detached itself from the hem of his cloak and disappeared into a small wall crack.