Chapter 2.3: The Team

Chapter 9: The Team

Two hours after Kent’s return to the material realm the sky Raiders converted the temple into a forward operations base to allow the squads to resupply and the wounded to be transported out of the battlefield.

While Yuuno and a group of templars escorted her to the underground catacombs to rescue the council of 12 and the surviving priestesses. Kent on the other hand was giving a heated scolding towards his commanders when they almost did the unthinkable.

“So you mean to tell me that because we disappeared you were going to blow up the temple doors to get us out of the center hall when we were both transported to the realm of dreams?” Kent asked furiously. 

“Forgive me, It was my idea to blow up the doors so we could not lose you again.” Khorn explained.

Kent sighed, frustrated with his mentor knowing well that if they succeeded in destroying the hall doors the demon would have turned his fury from the new kingdom towards the Sky Raiders.

Though Rex did try to stop them from committing the act luckily he was able to pull out the firing pins in time and removed any other part of the explosive that could have destroyed the temple.

“Fine I will let this slide but I expect this not to happen again. I am a bit surprised that there was little to no sassing in stopping all this Rex?

“For the record Bossman the Boss Cap did try to stop everyone from doing something stupid and there was a LOT of sassing involved.

“There it is…My goodness and here I am thinking that there was going to be no sassing involved.” Kent chuckled. 

The Demon rolled his eyes knowing well the fury he would unleash if they destroyed the temple doors but he was glad at least some of them tried to stop them from doing something dangerously stupid he quoted. 

He then snapped his fingers banishing the demons who occupied the dead Silver hand back into the chaos realm. Clearing the demons out of the temple’s territory with the area around the temple cleared of demons the Sky Raiders continued to push forward into the central capital district giving them some time to recover.

As the night hawk landed within the temple with permission from High Priestess Yuuno, they were able to get supplies from the Storm Raider to the war front and retrieve the surviving sisters away from the battlefield. 

“Everyone grab something to eat and load up on meds and ammo we are leaving in 5 minutes!” Kent shouted in the intercom.

“Okay, you heard the general gear up everyone that means you too Lady Aisha.” 

As the team rushed to the Night Hawk’s rear armory and stacked up on ammunition.

While the team was busy getting ready Kent on the other hand was busy helping the two with their suits.

Micheal walked towards Kent with a juice box and a straw tapping him on the shoulder.

"Yes?" Micheal asked.

"Sure Micheal, give me one moment." Kent replied.

Micheal had a huge smile on his face when Kent helped him with his juice box.

Despite being an 8-foot tall genetically engineered superhuman he had the brain of a 5-year-old.

Yuuno could not help but giggle at Micheal's fascination with his juice box as his older sister Willow gave him some crackers to go with his juice.

"Yey!" Micheal smiled as he left the armory.

"Kent, forgive my curiosity but why is that soldier acting so differently?"

"Miss Yuuno, I'll answer on behalf of my brother." Willow sighed.

She tapped her fingers upon her bow's grip remembering the harsh days they had in Vega.

Growing up in the slums of Vega was not easy especially when her father abandoned them and left their mother to fend for themselves.

Their mother did her best to raise Willow and her brother but later died because of bone cancer.

Though her brother is now very ripped, the epitome of what a man can achieve. Back then Micheal was very sickly he could barely leave his bed because of malnutrition.

She vowed to keep her brother safe and out of harm's way thus she decided to join the military and at the astounding age of 21 she made it into the Vega's rangers called Sparrows

With her salary and health benefits, she was able to give Micheal a better life but that all changed when the special research division called Xeno-Tech took an interest in Micheal's unique genetics.

After a long 2 month mission at the Wislok system due to their mission's complete secrecy, they had to remain radio silent. 

Upon returning to Vega, she learned her brother died in an accident but she never believed her superiors for one second thus she began investigating on her own.

Going behind her superiors and did not give up on her brother only to find him becoming a part of the Apex super-soldier program.

She realized that if she fought the government of Vega she can't protect herself or her brother if she were to rescue him.

While she devised a way to save her brother Willow heard rumors about a new faction that appeared from the rift. 

There are many rumors about the faction how they wipe out pirate raiders who tried to pillage their colonies and even provide medical aid to the outlying planets left by the governments to fend for themselves.

She risked it all to find them spending every last bit of her earnings to buy a small ship and traveled south along the Litmos hyperlane.

While refueling at a nearby station pirates had attacked the Tyfos fueling station they were all taken captive when the pirate lord Hammerfist was about to have his way with her when they arrived.

A patrolling fleet belonging to the Vanguard sentinels rescued the captives and eliminated the pirates without mercy. 

Willow took the risk and asked for help from one of the sentinels. 

They agreed to help but when word reached the Archon council they were skeptical if they would aid in rescuing her brother.

A lingering question came to their minds, should they try to rescue her brother will the Republic of Vega try and wage war against the Zerrohnians. 

With the risks too high the council was about to deny her request as the Zerrohnian kingdom was not ready for battle just yet. 

All hope seemed lost when Kent came into the picture and his team composed of Rex, Clayton, Genji, Marky, Lily, and Winter helped save her brother. 

"Though the Rescue mission was a success and my brother is with me again… He wasn’t the same after all the torture and experimentation did to him I thought my brother was a monster.”

"By the gods, how could anyone treat such a person like they are nothing?" Yuuno asked.

"The researchers and scientists wanted to create the perfect super-soldier. That's why I betrayed the government who helped my brother only to use him as a weapon."

"We did everything we could to help Micheal but the crude and brutish tampering of his body that even the Bio-machine cells could not reverse the effects but we were able to at least heal his mind to some degree." Kent added.

"Maybe I can help miss Willow once this war is over. I would like to assist Micheal to regain his former self if you will permit it?"

While the two talked Kent realized that their dream of a peaceful world would come given time and the right push.

Before he could speak his good friend Genji Carmive tapped his shoulder.

"Boss I hate to interrupt and all but the last of the survivors had been moved out of the temple. All squads are waiting for your orders?" Genji saluted.

Willow thanked the priestess as they went out of armory as the gunships dropped off the last of the supplies for the ground team.

With the temple secured the templars stayed behind to defend the temple and acted as a fallback point should any squads need to rearm or need medical treatments. Khorn and his berserkers returned to the center flank drawing the attention of the Silver Hammer towards them while the Marines chose to fight and push forward to take the two fortresses in the eastern district.

Despite being delayed the teams under Kent’s leadership pushed forward with a slow and steady pace despite being pelted with arrows, bolts, and massive boulders were constantly thrown at them while the Knights included their shield to defend their weaker brethren.

While Kent and Genji sliced off some of the Boulder that could have hit the others. They were heavily pinned down when Genji started to notice the number of enemies increasing.

"We can't keep this up boss, we're going to get cornered at this rate!" Genji shouted.

"I know, Marky, do you have a sight of the enemy ballista?" 

Marky looked through his sniper scope as he reported.

"I have a visual, General but they are guarded by several large black bioforms."

"Marky, you know what to do!" Kent ordered.

"Understood general!" Marky nodded.

He flipped down the extra scope on his helmet as he faded into the darkness. Aisha was dumbfounded at how he was able to disappear without the use of magic.

Before she could ask him several loud crackling sounds echoed from a distance as they covered their ears.

The Knights broke their shield wall formation to see the golems and the ballista formation was destroyed as if something tore into them.

"General this is Phantom 1-9 enemy defenses are cleared you are free to move up!" Marky reported over the radio.

"Roger that Marky, feel free to move up and clear the path won't be far behind." 

"Understood, Phantom 1-9 moving up!" 

"So Marky is the Sharpshooter of your team Kent?"

He nodded explaining that like Clayton and Genji, Marky once lived in the Knight Empiria but for some special reasons he was forced to leave his home.

Despite his calm and gentleman-like attitude towards others. He is one of the most well-versed snipers in the entire team. 

Though not a lot of people trust Markt for his cold-hearted attitude towards others but in the team, he had come to respect Kent and Rex for their honor and leadership.

As they moved forward Marky managed to clear out the silver hand and the possessed with a clean shot to the head and chest. 

Marky had to work twice as hard to ensure his place in the team was not taken away. Though Clayton could have cleared the path by using Esmeralda it would have been problematic if he used her right away.

"Don't use that gun Clay, remember last time you used her? You nearly melted the NightHawk's left-wing… And singed my eyebrows off!" Kent sighed.

"Hey I'm just saying bossman it would be easier but for the record, at the time the plasma conductors on Esmeralda weren't fully calibrated to 90,000 gigajoules but now if I use her we won't get our faces melted off… I think…" Clayton quoted.

"That doesn't put any confidence in me Clay just promise me you won't use Esmeralda when it is necessary?"

Clayton smiled with a thumbs up despite his can-do attitude and his excessive trash talking. He is a Promethean through and through a warrior with a heart of gold and steely muscle. 

While they pushed forward with many odds stacked against them the two learned Kent’s unit was surrounded by good people though some are very eccentric and battle-hungry.

Though the battle was getting closer and closer to the castle Kent and his team were the first to reach the main gates with Khorn’s unit not far behind them. While they waited for the other teams to converge on their location Genji took the liberty of scouting the area ahead of them.

“Bossman this is blader 6-9, we might be in trouble here there’s a whole load of baddies here from possessed to Abominations we won’t make it close to the castle at this rate.” 

“Okay Genji, regroup to our position. I have an idea.” 

Kent turned off his intercom letting out a heavy sigh as he rubbed his eyes knowing the battle ahead of them would be difficult. 

“Desperate times call for Desperate measures, Clay front, and center now!” Kent ordered.

“Yeah, Bossman you called?” 

“Clay I cannot believe I am saying this it's time to deploy Esmeralda 

“AW HELL YEAH BOSSMAN!” Clayton smiled.

Clayton jumped out of cover as he pulled out Esmeralda from his backpack and set it with the Highly experimental 150mm Plasma railgun. The marines took cover behind the fallen buildings while Kent gave the two helmets before Aisha could ask anything she uttered.

“Wait, is it just me or is it getting a little hot in here?” Aisha pondered.

“Do not ask my Lady because this is going to get loud. EVERYONE TAKE COVER NOW!” Kent shouted.

He grabbed the two and used his body to shield them, knowing that Esmeralda rapidly built its charge, the revolver cylinder that held the plasma rods started to overheat from the plasma coils and energy cells were slowly overloading.

“Okay baby let's show these ass hats what you can do, let them hear you sing!” Clayton laughed.

With a fiendish smile, he pulled the trigger as the railgun barrel cracked and burned with blue electricity as a high-pitched whine echoed around the barrel when all of a sudden it fired a massive burst of pure energy that melted anything in its path. 

The plasma shot tore through the enemy defenses melting anything in its path molecule by molecule destroying everything in its path through the heavy doors to the castle and reinforced by magic. 

Though the doors were blown off from the sheer force of the railgun Clayton on the other hand was nailed into a wall. The recoil was powerful enough to push him back several meters before being nailed into the wall right after the plasma power cells ruptured destroying Esmeralda in the process.

The blast was enough to scorch the surrounding area around the heavy gunner but his gun was left in ruins after the blast. 

Kent pushed off the rubble that got on top of him after checking on the two making sure they were safe. Kent ordered a sound off and to his surprise, everyone was alive, especially Clayton who was upside down at the time.

“Should we pull him out now?” Marky asked.

“Yes… In a minute.”

“Oh, Captain Willow let me get a picture of my brother being upside down… This is going on my social media account oh man everyone at home will surely laugh!” Genji said as he pulled out his holo phone.

“DON'T YOU DARE SEND IT TO MAIKA AND GET ME OUT OF HERE NOW!” Clayton shouted.

Genji and Willow rolled their eyes as they laughed at the sergeant as they tried to pull him out by grabbing his center and groin plate. 

“I will hand it to you Clay despite Esmeralda blowing up. I am more impressed that you didn’t get torn in half by that explosion.”

“Well Bossman I am awesome and I got plot armor!” Clayton bragged.

“I would not count on it, you are merely a lucky mortal.” The Demon grunted.

“Right Clay, are you still good at fighting?”

“You know it bossman!” Clayton said as he was pulled out of the wall.

Kent shook his head knowing that despite the struggles they had gone through together he then ordered the marines and knights to secure the palace through the entry point Clayton made.

As the fighting outside the castle died down he received a report from one of his captains in the eastern district who had captured the noble collaborators as they were trying to escape through a portal that the captured mages were forced to make. 

While the Captains were busy detaining the nobles along with the mind-controlled soldiers. Kent along with his team and Khorn's unit entered the castle to face off against the enemy.

Only to find the battle was more troublesome than one believes.