Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 4

Fading Force

Walked it off so to speak.

But it was the penetrating cold that told Adam things would be different.

Where the metal of the black trident buried itself in his chest, Adam could feel it tugging at his anima. It may not have been shaped like a sythe, but Adam felt the call of the weapon like the call of a reaper.

His anima would not be allowed back to the grace of revelation.

It would be used to power Kazna and her weapons

The pain didn't make him weep.

He cared very little for that now,

But what really got him was a single memory. The memory of the last time he had held his son?

Would kay even remember that moment? Or would he grow up with only vague memories of his father.

Would he grow up at all.

***

Everything happened at incredible speed. WIthout warning kazna drew back her arm and hurled the spear directly towards sunny, sunny was only just beginning to move as Adam made the first strike, leaping in front of her at impossible speed throwing himself between her and the tridents three bloody points. His aim was true, and the sound the spear made when it hit was one none of them were likely to forget, the screeching of metal, the tearing accompanied by a wet, meaty thud as the prongs penetrated deep through Adam's chest cavity.

He hit the ground hard skidding back a good ten feet with the shaft of the spear protruding from his chest.

Sunny screamed.

The sound was deafening using all the power of the Drev voice, her airway and the extensive network of sinuses in her neck and chest. The sound started low, and then grew higher until it was so powerful it made the ground shake. Maverick and ramirez's helmets cut off sound entirely to keep their hearting, and Everette went to the ground, his hands clasped over his ears in pain. Kazna stepped back.

Conn and Celex had both been rocked staggering back hands clutched to their chests as they felt the spear enter Adam's body.

And then Sunny was off, stepping over Adam's body and racing towards Kazna, the scream still building.

Kazna just had time to raise her secondary spear before being impaled, and their weapons crashed with the sound of rolling thunder. Kazna was thrown back and seemed almost surprised. Sunny screamed again and whipped into a flurry of blows that had Kazna staggering back across the floor.

With a roar Celex, Maverick and Etium followed after.

Off to the side Conn glared at Kazna with a cold intensity. With very deliberate movements he stepped to the side and folded himself into a neat lotus sitting position where he floated in the air. He then closed his eyes and for all the world seemed like he was mediating peacefully.

It would have appeared that way to everyone except kazna who was suddenly bombarded by an all encompassing metal assault dedicated to ripping her mind from its brain socket and shoving it up her ass.

And then

From where Adam lay in a slowly spreading pool of blood, there was a sudden soft shifting, and the containment unit on the back of his suit popped open with a hiss. And with that Krill came tumbling out onto the floor, the universe's most decorated surgeon, clipped to his back like an attachment on a swiss army knife.

Krill jabbed a finger over at Mitzen, "You get your ass over here and help me."

Generally speaking, Mitzen might have been the arguing type, but even krill scared him, and it was either that or get involved in the battle being waged around the room. The Gibb scientist had vanished somewhere, and Everitt was barely holding off Maverick, who seemed intent on crushing the life out of him.

The others were battling Kazna, who would have been overwhelmed many minutes ago if it was not for her dark ability to teleport, opening sharp rifts in the fabric of reality before vanishing through them with a sharp burst. Sunny continued to scream, though her anger didn't ruin her form, but seemed to lend her strength instead.

Metal shed sparks as she caught kazna high in the shoulder, staggering her into Celex's fist, which, with a burst of energy sent her crashing across the room.

Overhead there was a sudden thunderous roar, and the entire building around them shook. Inside their helmets, a little icon blinked sharply as the empyrean came back within range.

Inside Adam;s suit, Fealty was shoved bodily aside as the empyrean forced her way into the system. Fealty was shoved mewling into a corner as the massive presence of the empyrean overwhelmed the computer systems inside the suit.

Krill was just trying to figure out how to remove the armor when the suit split open like a cracked egg along seams that shouldn't have been there to give him access to the wound.

Krill grimaced.

It didn't look good.

The impact had cracked straight through one side of his ribcage, shredding one of his lungs for sure and probably puncturing the heart.

They didn't have long.

At his side, Krill's little bubble enclosure separated and collapsed apart at fealty's signal, turning itself into an array of surgical equipment. This was far beyond the sterile environment Kril was used to, but he had no doubt of his abilities as a combat medic even with the extra risks.

He grabbed a laser cutter from the pile and threw it at mitzen, who caught it with a look of confusion.

"Start cutting at the shaft of the weapon, try not to jostle it if you can."

Mitzen nodded, and, smart as he was began cutting chunks from the trident shaft that were small enough not to cause too much shifting.

With all four of his hemispheres operating independently, Krill began to work hands flying at speeds that should have been impossible but that were lent to him from years and years of practice as a surgeon.

In the red light, the pooling blood seemed almost black.

But even he knew.

It would take a miracle to fix what had been done.