Sigma Triad Entry #2 (7/23/10)

As soon as that word was spoken, the Triad sprang into action. Terios quickly charged, and was charged by, half of the Colik platoon. He drew his sword, Katahtre, and leapt into the fray. The Power of the Sigma family gives a Warrior, such as Terios, increased speed, stamina, and endurance. Thanks to this power, as well as the athletic and acrobatic training that he subjected himself to as a youth, Terios was able to easily outmaneuver the Colik Warriors. He did not bother to use his pistol, Ahtrif, as the force field on his enemies’ fronts and the armor on his enemies’ backs were invulnerable to small-arms fire, but Terios’ superior speed and agility allowed him to get around behind them, where the force field did not reach, to swiftly dispatch them with Katahtre.


When he could, Terios tried to get a glimpse of how his friends were fairing. Umbris was doing well, as expected. One second he was surrounded by the other half of the Colik platoon, and an instant later, his bloodied swords were in his hands and the Coliks were all dead. The Power of the Moonshadow family allowed their Warriors to distort time itself; all Umbris did was slow time down to a near halt and quickly dispatch the Coliks. The price of that power was easy to see, however: only a few seconds into the battle and Umbris already looked exhausted. That show-off, Terios thought, he did not have to slow time that much for those Colik Warriors! He needs to learn to conserve his strength.

Pyrik also seemed to be doing well. The Maxentius family’s Warriors are elementals, whose Power gives the ability to create and manipulate fire. Terios could see the exertion on Pyrik’s face as he stood still, keeping a blazing glow burning around his body as the other platoon shot their guns at him, vaporizing the projectiles before they made contact with his body. Terios already figured out what Pyrik was doing: he was letting the battle, the fight-or-flight situation, increase his adrenaline level, while the constant use of his power, in addition to shielding him from harm, increased the levels of drakoline, the Warrior hormone, in his body. This synergy of the drakoline and the adrenaline allow the former to keep rising. And when his drakoline peaks, Terios said to himself, I wouldn’t like to be a member of that platoon.

As he dispatched the last of the Colik Warriors, Terios turned to the Close Combat Automaton. “Umbris!” he called out, “I could use a little help with this one!” Umbris nodded his acknowledgment as Terios rushed the twenty-foot, four armed metal figure. As Terios charged at the automaton, the metal monstrosity swung one of its gigantic swords at him. At the apex of its arc, the great blade suddenly slowed, and not just the sword, but the rest of the automaton. Terios then rushed right up to the twenty foot mass of armor and blades, leapt onto its back, and slashed it in a spot where the armor plates did not quite meet, exposing the wires and other mechanical paraphernalia underneath. The metal beast started collapsing in slow motion, as Terios dropped back to the ground. As he was walking away from the automaton, it continued to collapse at normal speed. “Nicely done, Umbris!” Terios called to his friend.

Just then, an explosion was heard. Terios and Umbris instinctively turned toward the source of the noise: Pyrik. After a few seconds of shielding himself from the other platoon’s projectile fire, he was able to unleash a powerful attack. Orange fire bursting from his hands, Pyrik laid waste to the platoon, now invisible behind a curtain of flame. When the fire subsided, however, the Triad was in for a shock: the platoon was still there, it was still shooting at Pyrik, and none of the projectiles seemed to make contact. Terios then knew what was going on. Illusions? That’s not just a Platoon, that’s a Xintar Elite! And if they were illusions then. . . Mekus! Surely enough, when Terios cast his eyes about the clearing searching for the Legate, he was not to be found. So it was all an illusion, a Xintar Warrior was sent to make an illusion of Mekus and that platoon, with the Colik platoon sent to make it seem genuine. The Xintar is in the woods somewhere, just outside the clearing, setting this all up. Why? To buy time, because Mekus was not sure that we would show up, and he did not want to waste his own time. But if this was just to buy time, and we are here, then that means. . . Terios looked up in the sky, and saw his suspicions confirmed. Floating up on antigravity thrusters, propelled by jets, run by fusion, and bristling with weaponry, Terios, Umbris, and Pyrik saw the transport-battle vessel of the Utopian First Legion, the flagship of the Utopian fleet, the airship Lord of the Flies.

Terios turned to Umbris and Pyrik. “Well guys,” he said, “I think we overstayed our welcome. Umbris, would you kindly facilitate our escape?” Umbris nodded, and then everything around Terios turned into a blur. He felt a strong wind, and a sonic boom rang in his ears. After about half a minute, the world stopped again. He was lying on the ground, Umbris standing beside him, hyperventilating, with Terios and Pyrik in tow. “Nicely done,” Terios said. “Are you doing alright, Umbris?”

“Yeah,” Umbris replied. “I just need a couple of minutes to rest. I haven’t slowed time that much for that long in a while, and my drakoline level was already starting to fall. But I did manage to take us three miles from the clearing. I did a little loop so that we’re not in the same direction that the exited the clearing. We should be safe from pursuit. . . . .” Umbris suddenly collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.