Sons of the Earth

Sons of the Earth Bunker, February 20th, 2020 1000

     The half-collapsed granite hillside hiding the Sons of the Earth bunker was quiet and peaceful as the Artifact hunters approached. That was shattered a moment later when the first land mine exploded with a roar. From where they waited, the Swordsman and Lancer could feel the tremors. "Showtime," the Lancer called, reaching out for the Swordsman. The two promptly vanished, passing into air and water vapor, and headed out to the sky.

     Dark clouds suddenly appearing in the sky gave the Artifact hunters pause. They'd been using various powers or Artifacts to set off the remaining land mines, wary of other booby traps. But when nothing else happened, many relaxed. They were caught completely off-guard when hail the size of baseballs began to rain down from above.

     Within the clouds, the Lancer continued creating ice for the Swordsman to blow around, forming bigger and bigger hail. But now he paused. "Hey," he called, "I've got an idea."

     The hail was a problem, smashing through equipment, cracking heads, and making footing treacherous. But the jagged knife-like blades of ice that suddenly began swirling through the ranks of attackers were considerably more troublesome. Shrieks of pain echoed. Blood flew. More injured began to stagger back, joining the concussed and bruised with cuts, stabs, and amputations for the medical teams. But the Wizard was already waiting, hidden among the shadows under the transport vehicles. Now he pounced, shadows racing forth to take out the wounded.

     The mixed group didn't take long to realize what was happening. Immediately, a portion of the leading group turned back, bringing their weapons to bear on the shadows. Near the front was a familiar, red-haired woman in a grey coat that made the Wizard blink in surprise. Apparently, Hunter Rosen had an identical twin. Unfortunately, she seemed every bit as powerful as her deceased sister. He barely managed to withdraw before her light ability blasted the ground where he'd just been. Not good. Everyone who had come back to fight with him had similar powers or was armed with a piece of powerful tech or an Artifact. Most of the tech was a joke, lasers and powerful lights that were annoying and limited him but didn't otherwise do much harm. The Artifacts were another matter entirely, and so was the powerful Huntress.

     Fortunately, the Swordsman and Lancer had seen his dilemma. The swirling blades of ice shifted, focusing on the group attacking the Wizard as the pair swooped down to help. But now, another challenge presented itself as more tech came into play, powerful fans and heat emitters aimed into the air where the two hovered. Worse were the Hunters and Artifacts wielding fire and air abilities. A couple of Hunters who had some control over water nearly succeeded in knocking the Lancer out of the sky, forcing the Swordsman to move quickly to drag him into the plane of air. Then, the wind slackened when he was attacked. Immediately, the Wizard struck, shielding his brothers while sending his shadows to take down the water controllers. That resulted in his being attacked again by the light welders. But the Lancer recovered, and two of the Wizard's attackers immediately shriveled and dropped. The Swordsman responded with gale-force winds that blew the trucks over onto their attackers, forcing them to scatter and temporarily shielding the Sons of the Earth.

     "Phase two!" the Wizard yelled, racing through the shadows in the grass. The other two followed, moving through the air and following the Wizard back toward the base.

     Somehow, the Artifact hunters detected their movement or guessed their actions. Once again, they regrouped and turned, chasing after the three. But now the attackers were clustered together, in perfect position for the hidden artillery. The weapons immediately sprang to life, pouring lead at anything that moved. Meanwhile, all but invisible, the Sons of the Earth moved quickly behind the rows of weaponry and ducked behind a group of boulders to catch their breaths.

     "Wow, you weren't kidding about how tough these guys are," the Lancer panted. "I was not prepared to get knocked out of the plane of water!"

     "It's worse than you thought," the Swordsman warned, peeking around the boulder. "Looks like we're taking down most of NARD, but bullets aren't hitting the Grey Coats. Another of their damned Artifacts must protect them. We're going to have to work on this, brothers."