Toward the End [Lydyn + Namelesshero]

[namelesshero]

"Nature makes only dumb animals. We owe the fools to society."
Honore De Balzac

------------------------------------------------

The night attack on Base 56, a military base serving as protection to the inner excavation site, was supposed to be perfect. Unflawed. Scout reports mentioned the lack of guards on the particular time. The base was supposed to be vulnerable for six hours starting midnight due to annual maintenance session.

This was the particular time the brave group of ten swarmed in. The base, located far from civilization in the center of Golag Desert, was usually filled with hundreds of soldiers and researchers, making it impossible to breach. On maintenance session, however, most of them returned to Headquarters. Only a handful of low-ranked soldiers were left to guard the precint.

Rumors of recent discovery on this base reached the Rebellion's ears a few days ago. They spoke of ancient relics unknown even to current advanced technology. Relics of great power. The Rebellion quickly formed a plan to infiltrate the base. Whatever happened, they couldn't let the Technocracy utilized that power against them. Of course it's a lie not to say that they also hunger to gain that power.

Or, if taking it was not an option...they planned to destroy it altogether.

Thus the ten volunteered for this daring mission.

At midnight, the attack commenced. They didn't even required a complex plan. Soldiers assigned guard on the base's wall didn't foresee it coming: a ball made of flame, akin to a meteor, appeared out of thin air and blasted the steel gate open.

The power of Magic.

The ten emerged from the sands, riding atop their Lupo Harenaes. Each of them fired energy blasts before the guards could shoot their weapons. It was an unfair fight as the guards were caught off guard. Taking less than five minutes, they've neutralized the enemies.

"Easy, just like the reports said," one of them, acting as their leader, opened a scroll. Map of the base was drawn there. "It should be down here. We had no choice but to take their Elevator."

It was a small, box-shaped building housing intricate machineries. Inside was another cage made of steel fitted with buttons containing numbers. The leader motioned for all of them to enter and then pressed for the lowest floor.

"It's only for a while, stop being so nervous. Roo, you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine," the man called Roo waved his hand. He didn't like this Engine. Precisely, all of them didn't like it. The same reaction could be seen from their face when they got in contact with those soldiers' weaponries and machineries.

What seemed like hours of journey ended in almost an instant. A few seconds later they found themselves stepping on white corridors. White rooms. A place of white. It was a contrast to dark steels found on the upper levels.

"Keep moving. It's on the deepest part. It shouldn't be too fa..."

His words ended midway. Something was moving on the far corridor. Slowly, its silhouette grew clearer and clearer, as well as its mechanical sounds. He suddenly realized what that was.

Automaton Fighter.

"READY!"

His yell came out on the same time the machine's railgun arms opened fire. The men raised their Magic shields, effectively deflecting the Automaton's bullets. One of them fired energy blast through a small opening made in their shield; it blasted the Automaton right on its Heart Circuit, rendering it useless. The bullets stopped.

They sighed, both in relief and confusion. Information Department didn't mention this on their reports!

Before anyone of them could react, more bullets flew. From behind. This time, they couldn't make it on time. By the time the shields was erected, two of them were shots.

Dead.

More Automatons appeared from behind them. The white walls suddenly opened, revealing the same Automatons. It was a trap laid for strangers dared to enter the premises.

No matter how powerful Magic was, they couldn't hold long against the uncountable barrage of bullets. Quickly the shields were exhausted, and three more fell.

"Damnit! We can't hold on anymore! Retreat!"

"Where? They're on our way out!"

"...Only one option," the leader glanced toward the dead Automaton. The only one guarding what seemed to be the path to the deepest room. Trying to hold the shields as long as they could, they ran toward the corridor's end.

One locked door couldn't stop the desperate men. They shot it down with whatever strength they had left for energy blast. To stop the Automaton's barrage, they destroyed the ceilings. Rubbles left from its destruction blocked the entrance.

Finally safe, at least for a while, they fell to their knees. Shaking.

Perhaps it was because of exhaustion so that they didn't notice it right away. Right in front of them was the thing they sought.

Relics of the past.

In a statis, something floated mid-air within strange devices unknown to men.

A something which was shaped like human.

[Lydyn]

She floated there, in suspended animation via a giant ice crystal with folded arms over her chest and her blade at her feet. Her hair was a burnt terra cotta and her skin beautifully tanned to a sexy milky caramel shading, her armor forming a strange combination of fantasy-like designs and a strange white marble-like metal, her blade sharing much of the same design about it. The machine attached to the crystal seemed more and more like it was modern as one examined it, though of a design that was strange, but only because this woman was put in stasis by something neither science or magic could fully explain.

In the distance, the few remaining members of the team could hear the automatons trying to dig their way through the rubble left behind, and they all knew the truth; it was only a matter of time before they made it. With no escape, the only hope they seemed to have was this strange woman, but even then - would she be friendly? Was she even human at all? Controls laid out on the computer that was connected to the entire crystal and a small cursor icon blinked slowly, text reading; "Open?"

It seemed like they were just about to try and release the woman, giving away to the sight of a dead researcher on the side of the room they didn't happen to see before. The man was dressed in a white lab coat with his back singed from pure magic. He must've gotten the backlash after the bolt of energy passed the first automaton.

[namelesshero]

"W...WHAT...THE HELL WAS...THAT?"

Crackled voice slipped through Roo's lips. Even from their distance separated by space generated from the device, the mysterious woman's presence shook his very soul. It was his instinct. Magic, after all, came from the power of soul.

The disturbance proved that the woman held power. Power far stronger than he'd ever encountered before. He couldn't tell precisely what it was, but its existence instilled primal fear within his body.

The others felt it as well. It was dominating their mind. The deafening sounds of those Automatons' bullets piercing hard rocks fell in comparison to what they're seeing right now.

At the same time, the logical side of their brain also knew that this was what they're looking for; the ancient Relic. That which hold power greater than anything imaginable.

Also, the only thing capable to get them through this life-or-death situation.

However, could they trust this...woman to help them? No, more importantly, was she human at all? Her form screamed that she was, but...he didn't know. He'd heard about statis pod before, created to contain people while they're recovering from wounds so effects of time wouldn't hit them hard. This...Engine, if he could say that, didn't give him the same vibe as a statis pod.

"Doe, what should we do with it...?" one of his team member murmured, his gaze was fixed on the woman within her crystal.

"I don't know..." He'd noticed the display since a while ago. It'd only take one touch to "open" the device. However, as the leader of the team, he couldn't make that decision easily...what if she's an enemy? True, the Automatons would try to kill them anyway, but at least with them they knew what they're fighting against. In a battle, lack of information could prove fatal...

He was so engrossed in his thought such that he didn't realize.

Roo had placed his hand on the display. As if enchanted, he slightly pushed the icon, just enough to activate it.

"Wh...ROO! NO!"

It was too late. It had begun.

[Lydyn]

The entire crystal structure began to shake, the artificial machine that the Technocracy had installed started to wind up as it began power, preparing to split the stasis crystal in half.

13% power ...

27% power ...

56% power ...

79% power ...

100% power ...

The display panel blinked every few seconds, showing the team how much power the machine had built up. As it reached one-hundred percent, the arms on the device pulled at the crystal as a giant crackline appeared down the middle. A flow of energy and fog escaped from the stasis crystal and when the view was cleared, the woman was still laying up against the crystal. Given no time to react much, the automatons had finally made it through the rubble and were pouring in from the barely large enough hole. Being machines, they took no time in the wonder of Leona's freedom and started to fire on the group.

In but an instant, Leona woke up and with inhuman speed, picked her blade up and lunged at the group of mechanized warriors. Most of the bullets hit against her armor, doing literally no damage to either her or the metal as her blade cut clean strikes through each one of them with seemingly little effort. Battles were often quick, but the one woman versing several machines only last a couple of seconds, leaving piled heaps of metal on the floor and a woman with only a few bruises from the bullets and no actual wounds. As she stood up, she looked over to the resistance group and spoke calmly, but with confidence, "where am I?"

[namelesshero]

It was pure beauty. Each passing moment was like countdown toward the grand finale of some orchestra. When the power reached its peak, the crystal splitted open, revealing a being far exceeding their wildest imagination. Finally out of her outer shell, the pressure grew stronger. It could've easily suffocated weak Magic-users. No, they would as well, if they put down their guard even once.

"What are..." John Doe whispered weakly. The team couldn't stay fazed for long, as Automatons' bullets started to get inside the room. The rubbles had been breached. The hole produced only allowed one to enter at the time...two if they could find effective way to do. Nevertheless, their final barrier had failed.

The team instinctively raised their shield, although they knew it was futile. As they prepared themselves for the barrage, though, the woman had moved much to their surprise.

She enchanted them with her dance. Rain of bullets grazed her armors and skin, yet to no effect except a few bruises. Meanwhile, her blade cut through steel like butter. In an instant, twenty Automatons were reduced into scrap metals. All in a few seconds, which in their eyes seemed to be days.

"where am I?"

Her voice slapped them back into reality. It didn't grant them the ability to speak, though, so they stood there in silence like children got caught in their pranks.

One broke the silence. He suddenly jumped down from the platform and faced her straight up. "I'm Roo. We're from the Rebellion, and our mission is to retrieve the Rel...uhh...I think it meant you."

[Lydyn]

Leona raised a slight eyebrow, unaware of her own impact on the group. Her magical aura was suppressed for so long in the stasis, she hardly realized it was lashing out so much. 'Rebellion?' she thought, looking over the rest of the men and looking back to the automatons. She had only seen such machines in the ancient floating isle of Elyi, though these were merely crude suits of armor made of fire compared to the magitech that Elyian Golems were made of. At least the golems of Elyi had stood some sort of chance against her blade, while these tin cans were hardly more than a thin sheet of metal facing a diamond-sharp edge.

Her gaze fell back on Roo, examining him over for a few moments as she slid her blade onto her back. She presented a small smile, but still seemed completely serious. "I'm sorry, I know of no rebellion ... who do you rise against? Not King Flar V, I hope," she replied. King Flar V was the king of an ancient kingdom that had fell over two-thousand years ago, making her question seem a bit outlandish at best and confusing at worst. Apparently, she possessed no knowledge of the current war.

[namelesshero]

Many thoughts crossed the five as they looked at her from numerous point of view. One thing was constant, though. Her outfit looked like those in storybooks, armors made of steel for soldiers in the long forgotten past. The ominous presence, while it's similar to magic, somehow felt different. It was inexplainable, one couldn't logically tell what it was. Call it a Magic-user's basic instinct which distinguished it.

Yep, she was weird to the bone. And this Roo conversed to her as if she's normal...

"...Flar what? I don't know what are you talking about...eh, tell me, are you the ｢Relic｣ we're looking for?" Roo examined her from head to toes, admiring the design on her armors. The intricate patterns embezzled on the pieces intrigued him, although due to its magical properties or simply from his artistic thirst was something even he wasn't sure of.

"Anyway, thanks for helping us, miss ｢Relic｣! ...okay, do you have a name? I'm Roo," he extended his hand, a common gesture of friendliness when introducing oneself.

[Lydyn]

"Leona," she replied, taking his hand and shaking it calmly. And what do you mean by 'relic?' I.." she then glanced to the stasis chamber, seeming thoughtful, "how long have I've been in there? Last year I remember was year two of the third era." By now, it was year two-hundred six of the fifth era, making the woman over two-thousand years old. Leona pulled her hand back and gave a quick glance to the scenario behind her and the small hole that been made, though she didn't understand that alarms would soon be raised because of the group's break in.

[namelesshero]

He gripped her hand casually. Despite her being a woman, her hand showed strength and firmness. Wow. Roo didn't dare to tease her about that.

"Year...two...era...what?" he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. It was a little bit out of his league. What he knew was, after all, limited to the present era and a few years before that.

"That means you're...what, two thousand years old?" John Doe quipped as he walked toward Leona with the rest of the group. "What the heck? Statis pod existed even back then? I thought it was times of legends, when dragons roamed the world and stuff..."

Doe is well aware of the eras division as he's studied it before. However, what was written beyond the fourth eras were mostly speculations made by historians from the excavated Relics. It was more than two thousands years ago after all.

It made sense if he thought about it. What they found were mostly fragile stuffs, what they called swords and shields made of unknown but weak metals. Clearly different from today's black steel, which could even withstand weak Magic attack. However, that didn't mean everything from that era had been found. This crystal, and this woman specifically, was something beyond expectation.

It wouldn't surprise him anymore if the third era was far more superior than the present.

"Uh...you lost me there, John," Roo sighed. Well, all of the team did.

"Aah...sorry, it's just a personal interest of mine. Anyway, miss Leona..."

Red lights burst through as loud siren blasted in the entire base. The alarm system fired up like angry monster, screaming through the hall. It's time to leave.

"I won't ask why you're inside the crystal or anything at all. For now, we need to leave. And I want you to follow us, okay?" He didn't really know how to handle this...Relic? Darn, she looked human. She must be human, right?

[Lydyn]

She narrowed her eyes at them for a few moments. Two-thousand years old? Was she really in stasis for that long? She was only meant to be put in there long enough to heal and then be released. What happened to cause such a folly and ... oh no, she would never see Ieryis again. At that thought, her entire expression was adorned with sadness, one that only a man or woman who has loved could truly understand.

Still the loud yells of the distant siren alerted her that something was going on and probably more pieces of junk would come storming in to capture her or something of the sort. She looked at John and nodded lightly. "Let us retreat so I can gain some bearing on what is exactly going on ... it sounds like I was asleep for a very long time."