Dark Matter Ascension-Chapter 45B2 - : General Logistics: The Approach

Jace led the whole group under the effect of his Dark Matter Cloak (Rank 3) [Group] and they ventured through the portal from The Cosmic Corridor leading to Earth. He approached the kiosk and tapped the button for Beijing.

The pastel-blue portal appeared, and the group entered. They emerged in the center of a densely populated city. People in the same dull-green jumpsuits were going from place to place. Checking the time, Jace saw it was nearly evening. They must be going home, he thought. Shifts ending.

Mizarion clapped his hands together, “Okay! Let’s head out!” He raised his palms above his head and there was a beam of sunlight that cascaded down on the group. “Light’s Path!”

Jace’s vision was filled with glimmering sparkles that blinded him, and after a few seconds of blinking he saw that the city was far off in the distance, and they were on the enormous highway leading to the General Logistics facility. It was empty, as all the shipments had either gone out or raw materials had already been shipped in.

Quinn’s voice came over the comms. “Okay. Jace, you’re splitting off at this point. Good luck.”

“Thanks. Stay safe, everyone,” He stated as he looked at Priam, Greg, and Dee.

Quinn’s voice came over once more, “Drop the cloak on them, Jace.”

He did so, and the Star Council Ascendants, including Mizarion, and his party all appeared on the highway. Warning klaxons blared, and he saw the multi-colored cascade of various Skills being activated by the Star Council members. Mizarion let out an odd, trill battle cry, and led the group in a jog towards the General Logistics facility, about a mile off.

Jace cut off to the side and went to the train tracks, sprinting along them far faster than the rest of the group, leaving them behind as they continued their frontal assault. Using his eyes’ ability to zoom in, he saw an army of mechs, corpo-troops, gunships, armored vehicles with weapons on them, and an imposing series of redoubts and defenses. There was an odd shimmer in the air, as if a Skill was active on all of them.

Ollie gulped, “That is a lot of hardware,” he stated.

Jace nodded, and Xera’s voice came over the earpiece. “Last one. Then, this world can be taken by the Star Council, and you’ll have practically saved the entire human species from a megacorporation hell. I’m so proud of you, Jace, and what you’ve done so far.”

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Jace felt the warm sensation of comfort in his body. Someone lauding his efforts. “I won’t let you down,” he whispered back as he redoubled his sprint and tore across the landscape. The loud tap tap tap tap of his prosthetics on the metal rail was firing off like a machine gun.

I’ve got this. I’m going to get past all of them, get inside the facility, get Quinn the access she needs via Ollie, and then take this whole thing down.

Greg jogged after the Ascendants for the Star Council. Several of them had lifted off the ground and were beginning to fly up. He felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he saw the hostile force ahead. The loud crack-bang! of enormous rounds firing off in the distance and slamming into the ground nearby shook him to his core.

And his adrenaline pumped. He was alive. This was his element. A real, proper battlefield.

The bullets began flying towards him and the sphere that encircled him, Priam, Dee, and this Mizarion fellow: who seemed to be a support-type Class of some flavor. They were all inside the Sphere of Protection. Every round that impacted the sphere dropped to the ground, and Greg felt the tiny, almost impossible to discern impacts of the vastly reduced damage. Priam’s barrier took the hits first, and to Greg’s satisfaction, he saw that his damage reduction Skills applied to defensive effects that were placed on him by others.

Resolute Guardian is amazing, he thought as he let out a laugh, leveled his rifle, and peered through the sights. Flipping a small switch, the magnification amplified, and he saw the General Logistics soldiers. Squeezing off rounds, he saw them begin to go down. Person by person, they fell to each of his exacting shots. Every bullet resulted in a kill or casualty that took those foes out of the fight.

“Incoming!” Mizarion shouted as he clapped his hands, and an enormous sphere of golden light surrounded the group.

Greg would have been blown back if not for the sphere. An enormous spire of metal crashed down from the skies, onto the top of Mizarion’s barrier that began to wobble. Looking up, he could not identify where the rounds came from. Rods from God, he thought. Damnit. “Everyone keep moving!”

He kept pushing forward through the hail of bullets that were akin to a wall. Every single projectile that impacted the sphere continued to be redirected to him, and he saw Priam’s barrier begin to crack ever-so-slightly. “Dee? We close enough?”

“Not quite! A bit further for me to get in range.” She sounded anxious but excited, and Greg swore he could hear her whispering under her breath, “Come on come on let’s go blow stuff up!”

The Star Council Ascendants reached the enemy’s front lines: and vanished. Greg stopped in his headlong charge, “What the hell?”

Mizarion frowned, “That should not have happened.” He tapped his ear, “Star Council, report…”

Another rod slammed down from the skies just behind the group, and Greg grit his teeth, “We have to keep moving towards whatever it is!”

Jace was about fifty feet away when he passed some weird, invisible film and ground to a halt. What in the hell did I just run through? He thought. The whole scene had changed. In front of him, the army that he had seen firing at his allies was far more advanced than he thought. They were wearing some type of futuristic power armor, and their weapons appeared to be augmented forms of the firearms that he’d seen on Earth, with odd cylinders strapped to the barrel.

The sparkle I saw earlier was some type of illusion? A Skill to masque people’s appearance?

The rounds that were fired sparked with crackling energy, passed through the film, and then…shifted, to look like regular bullets. Jace raised his hand up, “Arbiter’s Anathema.”

The Skill vanished.

Glancing up, he saw the various Star Council members engaged in melee combat in the skies above the army with various Aspirants and Ascendants of all manner of Cosmic Powers: but they were all marked with the hue of the Nebula Alliance on their fingers, hands, or tentacle-like appendages in the case of one of them.

Some of the soldiers were shooting up at the Star Council members, and he saw their barriers taking hits. A few began to even suffer injuries.

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Ollie must have recognized something in his body tensing up, “Stick to the plan. Your allies can handle this.”

Jace grit his teeth, but I could take all of them out with Wrath’s Embrace and Raging Cleave.

“Stick. To. The. Plan.”

Jace nodded and kept running along the train tracks, towards a closed, heavily fortified, metal door that looked like it would let vehicles in and out.

Dee got into range. “Finally!” she shouted with elation. “Nebula Explosion (Rank 22)!” The enormous globule of acid flung up in an arc before growing and crashing down in the distance. The enormous kaboom of the shockwave was thrilling, and she felt her goop flutter with excitement.

“Good job!” Greg shouted as he swapped his rifle for the rocket launcher. “Focus on the infantry, I’ll get the tanks!”

Mizarion tapped the weapon, and it glowed with a golden hue, “Here, this should help out.”

Dee didn’t need to be told any more, and as the acidic fog began to settle on the ground from her first Skill use, she fired off another. Each time, she felt her energy drain slightly. But this was just too much fun! Firing again and again, she let off a manic laugh. “Melt! Hahaha!”

The infantry was being turned into acid-filled sludge of skin, bones, metal, and caustic bile. She felt a rush of wind as Greg’s rocket found its first target: exploding in an enormous explosion that was followed up with a miniature supernova that seared everything to a crisp. “Holy shit,” he muttered. “Can you do that more, Mizarion?”

“Yeah. Here, Dee, take this.” She felt him tap her on her shoulder, and the next Nebula Explosion that was in her hands shifted hue to a gold tinged with her characteristic, neon green.

“Okay!” she shouted as she fired off the Skill. It grew in size: far larger than before: and when it exploded there was a burning series of golden flames that seared across the ground and throughout the acidic cloud.

Oh yeah, I made the right choice signing up with this group, she thought as another rocket exploded in the distance. She let out a laugh of delight.

Jace cut his way through the rail-door and entered the main facility. Terminal, gotta find a terminal for Quinn, he thought. Running inside, he saw that there was a smaller, more-well-equipped army inside that looked like they were gearing up to head outside. They were dressed and outfitted in very advanced-looking armor.

Ollie whispered in his ear, “Power armor. This is the heaviest of the heaviest types of armor a person can find.”

Jace nodded as he saw a few mechs nearby and the men in the power armor were only a little bit smaller than the mechs. “Can our group take them on?”

“They should be able to…” Ollie’s voice dropped to a nervous tone, “Oh no. They are Tier 8 mercenaries. Hurry! Finish the mission!”

Jace nodded and kept running into this main receiving and delivery depot, finally coming across a computer terminal that was unmanned. It was just a door control: but it would be enough. Ollie held up his paw, and Quinn’s voice crackled over the earpiece. “I’m in.”

Jace froze as a group of soldiers in power armor turned towards where he was standing and leveled their advanced-looking rifles. Crap.

Priam saw that the fight was not going well for the Ascendants up in the skies above. They were being overpowered by the Nebula Alliance’s Signers and members. “We have to help them out!” Priam shouted.

Dee shook her head as her chitin had dulled to a very, low luster. “I’m tapped on energy,” she muttered.

Mizarion shook his head, “I can go help them. But I can’t fly.”

Priam grinned, “I can! From on High (Rank 4)!” A pair of spectral, golden wings made of cosmic sparkling starlight extended from his shoulder blades. Grabbing Mizarion around the torso, he took off. 25 seconds of flight is all I get, he thought. He could also feel a surging energy in his torso, and Bloopa patted him on his head.

You can just will a target to throw the bolts at. They will manifest from behind you and strike out. 100-foot range, remember.

Priam nodded and flew closer to the raging battle in the skies. He saw a Star Council Ascendant begin to fall from wounds he had suffered. “Not on my watch! Pulsar Physic (Rank 10),” he shouted out. The golden and blue glow suffused the falling Ascendant and five others within 480 feet of him.

Mizarion tapped him, “Get me a little closer for a big buff Skill!”

Priam was about to respond when an arcing line of energy streaked out towards him. An Ascendant, covered in a deep, black that tried to ram into him. “Crap!” he shouted, and a golden bolt manifested from behind him. “Go away!”

The bolt launched forward and struck the figure, burning them with divine radiance from Priam’s bloodline connection to literal divine power. They screamed out but kept coming. “Fine, take more!” Priam’s other bolts fired off and impaled the person as they fell out of the sky.

Mizarion tapped his arm, “We’re good!” A golden mist spread out from Mizarion, and Priam felt…vigorous. He felt stronger and could swear things moved a little bit slower. The soldiers on the ground had continued splitting their attention on the flying Aspirants and Greg’s sphere far off.

And then the doors began to open, and Priam’s heart sank. “Oh crap.” Another, smaller army surged out.

“Retreat!” Mizarion shouted.

Dee was gasping for breaths. I overdid it, she thought as she looked with glee at the sundered battlefield before them. The entire front entrance was covered with caustic, melting acid clouds that hung around knee-height. Any who fell were given a burning, painful death from the clouds.

Greg frowned, “Shit. They’ve got reinforcements!”

Dee frowned and shuffled over to him, “Let me see.”

He handed her his rifle, and she held up the scope to her eyes. “Damn. Really? Vestibule’s Advent.”

“Who?”

“Mercenaries from a Tier 8 technology focused world,” she replied. “This isn’t good. We may want to pull back.”

Greg cursed under his breath, “How’d they bring mercenaries in? I thought that The Cosmic Corridor was locked.”

Xera’s voice came over the comms, “They have been. But they might have an Ascendant or Aspirant with some type of teleportation Skill that could enable inter-world transport. That would not violate the rules of this universe that I enforce with the System.”

Dee frowned, “I can’t help much. I’m tapped.”

Greg nodded, “What’s the plan?”

Priam’s voice came over the comms, “We’re coming back! Greg, can you throw up some walls to buy us a little time?”

Greg nodded, slammed his palm on the ground, and an enormous stone wall several feet thick sprouted up. “I’ve got you!”

Dee saw the Star Council Ascendants fly into Greg’s barrier: not all of them survived, and many looked quite injured. Priam landed among them, setting Mizarion down as his wings vanished. “Everyone group up! I’ll heal us all!”

Greg let out a gasp as his armor began to chip and buckle as an enormous metal rod slammed onto the top of his Sphere of Protection from above. “We have to move!” he croaked out. “I can’t take this much punishment.”

Priam repeated his Pulsar Physic over and over, healing as rapidly as he could. Mizarion put his hands on Greg’s back, and Dee watched with intrigue as some type of golden light flowed from the man into Greg’s body. “I’m transferring energy to you. You have to keep us alive while we run.”

“We can’t leave Jace!” Priam shouted.

“He’s better off on his own,” Greg growled back as he fought to his feet. “We’re all on our last legs, and a fucking army is coming at us with weapons I’ve never seen.”

“Laser weaponry,” Mizarion confirmed. “And power armor. Tier 8. This would be a rough fight if we stayed.” He glanced back at his Ascendants, who nodded in confirmation. But then he froze and held his palm to his ear. “What? He’s coming here?!”

“Who’s coming here?” Dee asked.

An enormous pillar of sunlight streaked down from the heavens. It forced Dee to shut her eyes from the sheer, blinding radiance. Then, it ceased, and she was able to look upon the figure that had landed inside Greg’s sphere.

A god of a man with pure, gold skin, starry black eyes, a silver tuft of hair on his head, and a large, bushy beard that was well kept. He was dressed in a business suit, and his hands glowed with the light of thousands of suns, all condensed into singular points.

“Sorry I took so long,” the man said. He raised his hands, “Greg, was it? Drop the earthen barrier.”

Greg nodded and waved his hand as the barrier faded. Thousands of shots arced towards the group and hit Greg’s Sphere of Protection. The man let out a grunt of pain as the redirected shots hit him.

The godly figure raised his hands, “Everyone, shut your eyes!”

Dee listened and turned around, hiding behind Greg. She forced her ‘eyes’ into her goop behind the chitin, and the refracted light through her interior was almost blinding despite her shutting off her visual receptors.

“You can open them,” the man’s voice stated.

Dee pushed her ‘eyes’ back to their sockets behind the chitin and gasped at the sheer devastation. It was as if the light of a thousand suns had crashed down to the planet’s surface and washed it clean. Anything that was not indoors was completely glassed.

That’s amazing! I want to be able to do that! “Who are you?” she asked.

He looked back at her and smiled softly, “I’m Star Father. Leader of the Star Council.”