Chapter 26: We Don't Want Your War
Bluestone is silent besides the occasional gust of wind and chirp from birds flying by. The group makes their way to the entrance of Rozay Rocks. The broadcast wasn’t lying, that is one hundred androids.
Henry: “What’s the plan, Jace?”
Jace: “We’re gonna split up.”
Luke: “Oh, no…”
Jace: “Ren, you’re with me. Ana, you’re teaming up with Henry. Luke, you’re with Mythril.”
Ana: “I work better alone.”
Henry: “Same.”
Jace: “Then fight far away from each other, I don’t know! It’s roughly 33 androids per group. I think that should be manageable.”
Ren: “You better be able to keep up with me after our fight.”
Jace: “Hmph, I should say the same.”
The two look towards each other and smile. This isn’t a fight for them, it’s a competition. Mythril stretches his arms and cracks his knuckles with his Aura hands. Luke summons a scythe and twirls it in his hand. Ana looks at her still recovering knuckles and smirks. No pain is going to keep her down. As long as she can still breathe, she can still fight. She clenches her fist to form a Pulse crystal around it. She clenches the other fist and forms another crystal. Henry cracks his neck with one hand and manifests his Aura tail. Ren and Jace both raise their fist in the air before thrusting back down. They create that wall of fire again, but this time the flames begin to accept each other. No more repulsion, only unison.
Jace: “GO!”
Jace and Ren dash out from amongst the group and steamroll through a few of the androids. The other two groups break off and begin their assault.
Above the entrance to Rozay Rocks is a camera. A camera that takes us to a hidden laboratory. Within the laboratory, a man illuminated by various neon purple lights can be seen in his chair. He has his feet kicked up on the desk as he watches the live feed.
???: “This is sure to work. One hundred androids against six of them? This’ll be done in no time.”
The door to the laboratory opens and two figures enter to join the darkness.
Vayne: “Hey, Bos-”
???: “GET OUT!”
Dredd: “Sir?”
???: “You imbeciles gave the son of my mortal enemy the second of Titan’s newly invented metals! He has two now! TWO!”
Vayne: “T-That was my mistake…”
???: “It was you?”
Dredd: “Please, sir. Take your anger out on me instead.”
???: “You’re too useful for me to lose, Dredd. Vayne on the other hand…”
Dredd: “They killed Benjamin Jr.”
???: “I retract that statement then. Where’s the money?”
Vayne: “The money?”
???: “The money you and Dredd were supposed to collect whether he had to die or not.”
Dredd and Vayne give each other horrified looks. Even with their face covered, Dredd’s eyes gave it all away.
???: “Fine, here’s the deal. If this lousy group is able to vanquish all one hundred of my androids, then you two will be my next line of defense.”
Dredd: “Understood.”
Vayne: “Anything to keep these circuits running.”
???: “Good. Now, move out!”
Dredd nods and Vayne gives a dumb salute before they make their exit. The man sighs and looks back to the camera. There are only ten androids to go.
Back at the entrance of Rozay Rocks, the groups begin to merge together as the horde gets thinner. Luke slices into one, Mythril rips it in half. Ana punches one, Henry fatally impales it. Jace and Ren? They’re doing their own thing.
Ren: “How many are you at?”
Jace: “I lost count after 25. You?”
Ren: “25!? I got rid of more than eight of them!”
Jace: “Psh, yeah right.”
With that, only one android remains. Jace and Ren look at each other again. They stay silent for a moment.
Ren: “Dibs!”
He blasts off towards the android and with a kick, breaking it into two pieces. They try to recombine due to Shiftium, but Jace grabs one half and burns it until it melts. Ren looks at the torso of the android crawling around and stomps its head in, ending the battle.
Jace: “Fine. How about we both got 15 and stopped counting there?”
Ren: “You just don’t wanna admit you were immediately upstaged after having me tag along.”
The group laughs and joins together. They look over at Rozay. It’s…empty. Did everyone hide from the androids? They cautiously walk in and observe their surroundings. Heads poke out of windows and immediately shut said windows. Curtains are closed. Lights are turned off. Suddenly, they begin to feel a rumbling.