Ex Nihilo - Abyssal Prophecy

Chapter 11

Lord Cornelius stood on the rampart made of the fallen abominations and their humanoid allies. From this vantage point, he could see his men firing from their positions. Fresh dead fell across the deck plating in the hailstorm of weapons fire. Gunsmoke from the spent rounds wafted through the air. A massive roar echoed before the large abomination came around the buildings and into the view of the Dredges.

            “Cover me while I take care of this creature,” he huffed.

            A wave of Chitterers swept in, screeching and howling through gunfire. Lord Cornelius waded through the dead. Talons and beaks scratched and claws’ left gaping wounds on his arms and face. The pain was nothing he wasn’t use to, and paled in comparison to the whips and lash scars still on his back. He raised his hands to cover his face and charged towards the trudging abomination. A large tentacle wrapped around him, squeezing him tight and bringing him up to the level of the creature’s gaping maw.

            Drool dripped from the creature’s blackened teeth, and it reached out with its tongue to taste its meal. Dredges focused their fire on the creature, trying to bring it down, but their ammunition did little more than bounce off its leathery skin. Lord Cornelius could feel the tentacle tightening with each passing second, and it forced the air from his lungs each time he breathed. Struggling, he ripped first one arm and then the other from the tentacle. It renewed its grip, squeezing his flanks now, and he let out a great howl of pain as he felt his ribs crack under the pressure.

            Lord Cornelius grabbed the creature by the cheeks of its face and squeezed hard, tearing the flesh with his fingernails. Blackened blood oozed from the wounds, and the creature roared in pain. He drove his thumbs into the creature’s eyes. A loud pop echoed when the eyeballs exploded under the pressure. Disorientation from the pain caused the creature to drop its prey.

            Lord Cornelius grabbed the back of the creature's skull to hang on. His breaths came in short rasps. Swaying from the creature's head, he kicked off the creature’s chest to add momentum to his swinging. One of the Dredges threw an improvised explosive underneath the creature, and the explosion sent shards of metal into the creature’s leg, causing it to lose balance.

Hitting the ground, Lord Cornelius drove his knee upwards. He drove his hard metal greaves into the creature's face, and the culmination of two forces caused the creature’s skull to explode.

            “Is that the best you got?” Lord Cornelius shouted with fury.

The humanoid creatures fell back to regroup and took position to rain fire.

            Several Dredges broke ranks, raced to grab their lord, and began dragging him against his will towards cover. Lord Cornelius didn’t fight them but kept opening fire on his enemies with rage burning in his eyes. He finally fell back towards the corpse ramparts to find shelter. He could feel burning in his lungs and throat with each gasp of air. Once behind cover, one of the younger Dredges approached, pulled out an old rusty stethoscope, and began to check his lord.

            “You’re a good boy, Geoffrey.” Lord Cornelius hacked, spitting some blood onto the ground.

            “One of your lungs is wounded, my Lord, and perhaps even punctured. This is why you are having trouble breathing. You must fall back for treatment or you could die.”

            “I’ve survived worse wounds, kid,” Lord Cornelius joked. “We hold this position as Lady Nemesis requested. Only way I am leaving is if you drag my corpse away, and that will take half these Dredges to accomplish that feat.”

The Dredges guarding the corpse rampart let out a roar of laughter.

Continuing to fire, Lord Cornelius used  his neural implant to contact Lord Hector.

            Great force rattled the gate of the main lift. Lord Hector knew the lift was still damaged, but it provided the most direct route to the bridge. The gate rattled again, causing the metal to bulge inward with each hit. He supervised his men to open the valves to the hydraulic fluid. The viscous fluid poured into the main lift, filling it to knee level. With a motion of his hand, he ordered his men to seal the hydraulic pipes and fall back to safety. Another great rattle echoed from a hit, and metal screeched, giving way.

            “Lord Cornelius, we are almost ready at the main lift. We’re going to burn these demons in hell’s loving embrace,” Lord Hector reported with a thought. He watched the creatures ripping and tearing at the metal, and then the abomination broke through the gate. Flooding into the chamber, the creatures ignored the men and women beyond and instead began climbing. With a smile, Lord Hector turned to take a flaming torch from one of his men.

            He tossed the torch into the lift. Within seconds, the fluid roared into an inferno. Creatures fell into the burning inferno with screams of agony. Lord Hector’s troops watched for the order. Without a word, Lord Hector opened fire, and his troops joined in, filling the lift with a hail of rounds.

            “Lady Nemesis, we’ve stopped the force at the main lift,” Lord Hector reported with a thought over the neural network.

            Underneath the lift, Matthew and his sister watched the metal platform rise. He wasn’t sure this plan was going to work. He could hear the clanging of the abomination against the gate, and looking back, he could see the fear on his sister’s troops’ faces just beyond the other gate. Another great rumble from the metal gate echoed in the lift chamber.

            “We’re almost set here, Lord Hector, but once we disable this lift, we’ll have no way to get up to the higher wards, officer level, or bridge. Lord Cornelius, tell me you’re holding the last lift.” Nemesis sent the message out. Pulling another grenade from the utility slot on the armour, she placed the charge on the third lift chain and looked to the last one. Racing over, she activated the charge and synced it to her neural device for remote detonation. Looking up, she pulled out a small camera device, loaded it into a gun, and shot it at the ceiling. With a loud clunk, the device stuck to the underside of the lift.

            She motioned to her brother to follow her, and, together, they darted towards their troops huddled around the gate. Brother and sister took cover behind a slab of metal the troops had turned into a rampart in the middle of the gate. She saw the terror on her troops' faces. Each slam against the closed gate only heightened the fear in the air. Metal bulged inward with each forceful slam against the gate.

            “We’ve got this lift under control,” Lord Cornelius reported.

Pain came with his message. She knew Lord Cornelius would never admit to needing help. She wasn’t sure she could afford to send anyone. Throug the link, she could feel calm coming from Lord Hector. It told her that the situation was under control in the main lift.

Another slam against the gate caused the metal to groan. She raised her arm to tell her troops to hold their position. She glanced over at her brother with a wry smile, prepared to tell him her plan was going to work. Metal buckled with a shriek under the next hit, creating a crack, and the massive hands and limbs of the abomination began tearing the opening further. From the ramparts, Nemesis, her brother, and her troops held their position, watching the creatures forcing their way through.

Creatures poured through the widening gap. Instead of rushing across the lift towards the awaiting troops, the creatures began to climb the outer walls. With a great roar, the abomination tore the gate free and threw it behind it, trudging into the lift, ready to climb. Nemesis could see the trepidation on the faces of all around her, including her brother.

“Do it now,” Matthew urged.

“Not yet.”

With each passing second, more creatures filled the lift in their effort to climb. With her neural implant, she accessed the remote camera she’d shot up into the lift. From this vantage, she could see the creatures were intent on climbing to the top. There was no threat to her troops, and so she waited, watching the creatures climb. She watched them pass other doors, ignoring them. When the creatures had almost reached the top, she sent out the detonation command.

Explosions rippled inside of the lift, causing the creatures to howl. The chains holding the lift counterweights snapped with great force. Everything in the path of the chains was sliced to pieces. Groaning metal resonated and the lift platform began to fall. Picking up speed, the large plate of metal descended, catching all beneath it in a tidal wave of metal. Screams and howls echoed into the Lower Wards, but were cut off when the platform crashed into the floor, crushing all beneath it. Blackened blood, entrails, and body parts were flung through the open gate.

“We’ve secured this lift and taken out most of the enemy forces. Lord Hector, can you afford to send any troops to reinforce Lord Cornelius and hold the last operational lift?” Nemesis asked with a thought. Glaring through the smoke and darkness, she struggled to make out any movement. Motioning, she sent her troops in a furious charge into the lift.

She charged in with her troops, drawing her two energy blades. More of the humanoid creatures poured into the lift but were met with Nemesis's and her troop’s fury. Together, the ragtag band hacked and slashed the creatures into pieces. “It’s a beautiful day for a fire over here,” Lord Hector reported. “I’ve sent a detachment of my troops to assist as you requested, Lady Nemesis.”

She heard the report echo in her mind, but it didn’t slow her down. She led her people to the far side of the ward, intent on driving the creatures back to whatever hell they’d come from. Glancing backwards, she saw her brother following close behind her, firing his gun in steady bursts.

“Matthew, I need you to take half of the troops on the other side and go meet up with Lord Hector’s forces. I need you to make sure the last functional lift holds. Fight to the last man, if you must. I shall lead my forces to flank them from behind,” She saw her brother nod in response and head off.

It was tough, pushing through the onslaught of Clan Pleb, but Matthew knew his sister was right. He broke through to the other side and marched towards the ramparts. There were still hundreds of people scattered throughout the area, holding the position. He didn’t want to leave his sister vulnerable to an attack from behind. Walking towards one of his sister's people, he grabbed hold of them by the shoulder to force them to turn towards him.

“You grab half of these men and follow me. Tell the remaining to hold this position to give Nemesis a place to fall back to,” Matthew ordered. He was afraid the man wouldn’t listen and was even more shocked when he did.

“Yes, sir. Whatever Lady Nemesis commands,” the man stated. He motioned to his followers  to break from their cover. These people followed Nemesis without a second thought, but what shocked him more was that they would follow him. He had no military training, but his sister's word was enough, it seemed.

“What is your name?” Matthew asked.

“My friends call me Finnan, but my real name is Finnegan, my Lord,” Finnan stated.

“I am no lord, but I hope we can be friends.” Matthew extended his hand in friendship.

“Well, then, call me Finnan.”

He grabbed Finnan’s hand to shake it.

Together, the group headed towards the point in the Lower Ward that Finnan knew would be the best place to meet up with Lord Hector's force. Matthew followed his lead. Clan Pleb moved at a quick pace. Everyone breathed heavy, struggling to gain oxygen from the low-quality air, but not a single person slowed.

Arriving at the intersection, Matthew heard Lord Hector's force approaching in a thunderous march and spotted them. Uniting into one force, he led the mixed group towards the last operational lift. From the looks of the wounds on the troops and the blood on the deck plating, Matthew knew the fighting had to be fierce. Marching into the lift, he saw Lord Cornelius standing and holding his ribs. He could hear the Dredges pleading with their lord to be treated, but he continued barking orders to reinforce the line.

“I see your reputation for stubbornness is well earned, Lord Cornelius,” Matthew joked.

“Well, it’s about time you got here, boy.” Lord Cornelius smiled. “It’s just a cracked or broken rib. I’ve worked with worse injuries without complaint.”

Matthew surveyed the corpse rampart the Dredges were holding. It was now a mixture of corpses from the abominations and humanoid creatures, and he spotted the bodies of Dredges in the pile. When one of Clan Dredge fell, another rushed to take their place. Lord Cornelius watched with blood still flowing from his open wounds.

Placing a hand on the Lord’s arm, Matthew smiled.

“Get treated, Lord Cornelius. My sister sent me and these men. We’re going to drive these creatures back. You and your people have bled enough. Let us bleed for you now.”

“You’re one crazy kid, but if you insist. Clan Dredge honours your sacrifice on our behalf.” Lord Cornelius pointing at the battlefield. “They’re all yours.”

“Come, Finnan. It’s time to make these monsters pay.” Raising the magnetic assault rifle, Matthew charged forward. He could hear the sound of his sister’s force in the distance, and he refused to abandon her.

Caught between the two attacks, the creatures were panicking, and even the abominations falling into confusion. Pressing the advantage, Matthew and Finnan, together with their forces, overran the advancing enemies and drove them back. Matthew's accuracy seemed to increase with each shot. Enemies fell before his onslaught. His rounds struck an abomination’s skull, shattering it. Another abomination managed to flank Matthew and catch him unaware, striking the gun from his hand. It grabbed him to hoist him into the air. He struggled to get free, but the might of the creature seemed impossible to break.

“Hold on!” Finnan screamed before sending his small energy blade twirling into the air. He smashed a charging humanoid creature in the face, knocking it down. Reaching up, he caught the spinning blade and threw it at the abomination’s head. Without looking, he drove a second energy blade into the creature he’d knocked over.

Still struggling to break free, Matthew watched the blade sink into the creature’s eye all the way to the hilt. The abomination stumbled and lost its grip on its prey. Falling to the ground, Matthew dove out of the way to avoid being caught under the weight of the falling creature. He grabbed his gun and opened fire on two humanoids before they could fire their weapons. Disoriented, Matthew looked around to make sense of the chaos. Seeing a hand, he took it without thinking.

“Well, it looks like you lived.” Nemesis’s forces were making quick work of any remaining stragglers.

Standing up, Matthew looked around. Finnan and the mixed group of Lord Hector and the other half of Nemesis’s forces were pursuing retreating creatures. It took him a few seconds to realize that they had won the battle.

“Is it over?” Matthew asked.

Nemesis surveyed the situation for a moment to ascertain the answer.

“Our combined forces will kill whatever is still alive, but unless we get that lift clear and get to the higher wards, we’ll never know. Down here, I am pretty sure we’re victorious. But, it was not without loss. It looks like Father got his culling.”

Together, brother and sister headed back towards the lift to see if they could get to the higher wards and officer level.

Walking through the fallen corpses didn’t seem to bother her, Matthew noted, but he could tell something was eating at his sister. She didn’t often reveal what she was thinking, but worry was written across her face. He placed a hand on her shoulder in support.

Nemesis glanced back with a smile but didn’t say anything. She hated the fact that she was worried about the Upper Wards.

Whatever these creatures were, they definitely weren’t human. The upper lords didn’t care about the Lower Wards, but at the end of the day, they were all human. She didn’t want the people who lived above to suffer unnecessarily.

She blocked out the thoughts by staring ahead at the lift. Right now, she had to focus on the task at hand. Getting that lift operational would allow her and the troops to help the Upper Wards and protect the bridge. Even now, her hatred was overwhelmed by her sense of duty to the ship. This was her family, and she intended to make these creatures pay.