Sixty

The sun was setting as Kon got close to Alpha. A thick lather of sweat covered his body as he ran, his chest heaving like a bellows as he closed in. It was the hardest he'd pushed himself since the plateau and he could feel the fire in his limbs. His nodes were burning, drawing strength from the energy reserves inside of his body to heal the microtears in his muscle.

A cold wind began to pick up, a drizzle began to fall in a mist that did little to cool him off. Kon took a deep breath, filling his lungs with crisp air as he crested the hill across from Alpha. He had managed to shave hours off his trip this time back by really pushing himself. The entire time Diur's betrayal and fear of what awaited him had propelled him. The two emotions had fed on each other in a toxic fuel that had propelled him to heights he hadn't thought possible.

Kon walked past the tree line and was able to look across towards Alpha. Fire raged across one of the walls, bright red flames licked upward against the blackening skies. Lights flashed from the tops of the walls, shapes exploding in bursts of light across the cleared forest. The giant cannon in the center flashed, a beam of sizzling red light illuminated the world and Kon's breath caught in his chest.

The entire forest was crawling with monsters. Hundreds of smaller, man sized beasts were running toward the camp without hesitation even as the defenders slaughtered them. Flashes of yellow-red light suddenly blossomed like a wall in a circle around the fort. A split second later the crack of explosives pummeled his ears.

"Noooo," the word was long and drawn out, a sigh of denial as he stared, legs frozen in indecision. Kon breathed deeply, sucking in the scent of burnt air and blood, the heavy smell of battle filled the world.

The first step was the hardest. A staggered step that rippled through his body, the inner energy that filled his body alighting with purpose. A shaky breath rolled out of him and then he was running. His arms swung side to side as he kept the laser rifle close to his chest. Fires on the far wall had kept the defenders from mounting the steps to hold the wall, the defensive fire from it weaker than the other three.

A single figure stood outside of that wall, gray armor reflected firelight as the Knight swung around a warhammer nearly as long as the Knight was tall. Monsters exploded in bursts of blood and chitin as the Knight connected with every blow, holding an entire quarter of the Camp's defenses by themself.

Kon zeroes in on the Knight and ran hard toward them. The Knight froze for a half second as their eyes locked onto Kon, then the Knight was back in motion. A pair of bugs burst apart, white innards flying around to rain across the ground. Kon cursed and shot a monster that was starting to turn to look at him. The laser seared right through its face, killing it instantly.

They were large, round, bulging creatures with brown carapaces that had black markings all over them. Glittering eyes blinked slowly as they turned to look at him, Kon firing the rifle with every step. They were weak, slow, and died easily. His senses were nowhere near as advanced as the others, but Kon had to think these were F-Grade and nowhere near the peak of the grade.

"These couldn't have caused this level of damage." Kon dodged another of the monsters slow swiping attacks, its long segmented arms razor sharp. Kon shot it almost lazily as he ran past it.

"Cadet?" the Knight's voice boomed across the battlefield. It was hard to make out who the Knight was, but it sounded like McGuire.

"KNIGHT MCGUIRE!" Kon yelled, having to raise his voice to be heard over the crackle of flames. So close to the burning wall the heat pressed against him, his skin growing uncomfortable wherever his armor didn't cover him.

"Cadet report!" McGuire said. The man swiped out with the massive warhammer and a series of the bugs popped loudly as he cleared the space between them. Kon stepped into the newly found gap, getting within reach of the Knight's warhammer. There was something reassuring about being within reach of the armored giant.

"Camp Bravo is gone sir, wiped out. Freymis orders a retreat to the main base, rescue is incoming," Kon spoke as fast as he could, the words mingling with each other.

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"Retreat? Impossible," McGuire snorted as he looked around the swarms of monsters coming at them.

"We could escape, but the Squires would be brought down quickly. We must hold!" McGuire spoke more to himself than to Kon, shaking his armored head back and forth as he turned to look at Kon.

"Report to Bosch. She should be inside coordinating the defense," McGuire ordered. Kon nodded and ran along the base of the walls, the continuous fire from the defenders keeping the rift monsters from getting close to him.

The last rays of the sun faded from the world as it sank behind the horizon, the cold wind increased in intensity as rain began to fall harder. It wasn't to the brutalizing power of the plateau, but it was getting there.

Kon reached the gates and swallowed hard as he saw the broken gates. A massive stone monster was embedded in the wall, its giant torso split in half, green blood gelling in the rain. Another of the colossal creatures sat with its back pressed against the wall, a clean hole bored through its chest. They were nearly twelve feet tall and half as wide, craggy stone gave them an unnatural, asymmetrical appearance.

Kon didn't think these ones were weak F-Grade monsters. He stepped over a leg and dropped to the ground as a Squire spun and fired without hesitation. Heat boiled him, his borrowed armor only protecting bits of him.

"I'm human!" Kon screamed. No more bolts chased after him.

"Hands up! Slowly!" the Squire ordered and Kon complied. The Squire looked him over, as if not believing Kon wasn't a monster.

"Daniels! Stand down!" Mathis barked as he appeared from the shadows. The lead Squire's armor had a long furrow down the center where something had failed to split the man in half.

"Kon. You made it! Bosch is down by the tower," Mathis said, pointing down at the tower. Kon nodded and jogged towards the tower.

All around him the camp was filled with shadowy figures, the light of the far wall ablaze the only constant source of light. All the lights around the camp had been extinguished. Kon wished he'd taken a few more minutes to practice with his helmet and the multiple optic settings.

"Kon?" Bosch asked as she walked out of the tower. Kon skidded to a halt as he saw the large dent in her shoulder pauldron. A bit of rusty red blood dripped out of the damaged suit, but the Knight didn't appear to notice.

Kon quickly and succinctly gave his mission summary, the Knight not reacting as he quickly told her everything.

"B-Grade?" The words were quiet.

"Yes, ma'am," Kon said. Bosch turned her head up, looking up at the black sky.

"Shit. How many hours till evac?"

"Freymis said ten hours, it took me nearly three hours to get here."

"Takes about five hours if we push hard to reach the main camp. We need to move now. Willis!" Bosch turned to roar at the darkness and the other Knight seemingly materialized next to her.

"Get ready to sound a withdrawal. You and Mcguire will lead them back, do you understand?"

"Evelyn? Evelyn, what do you mean?" Willis's voice was thin and scared as he looked at her.

"Someone must hold the creature's attention. Now, go!" She barked the words and Willis slowly turned around and walked away. Bosch turned to look back at Kon.

"Your friend, Diur. Is she with you?"

"No. I left to come back and she didn't follow," Kon said. It hurt to say it, that she hadn't come with him.

"Unfortunate. It was a pleasure meeting you Kon. I wish you success in your future endeavors," Knight Bosch said. Kon realized what was happening and he shook his head slowly.

"No. I won't run again," Kon said. Knight Bosch paused and looked at him, the fire reflected off the lenses in her helmet.

"It is a blessing to choose when one dies. Most are not so fortunate. I will not tell you no, but I advise against staying."

"I will stay and fight with you to protect the others as they retreat," Kon repeated.

"So be it. Come and I shall show you the power of humanity."

"Runes?" Kon asked, confused at the sudden turn.

"No." Bosch chuckled darkly as she walked inside of the tower.

"Overwhelming firepower," Bosch said as she disappeared into the tower. Kon chuckled, the quip breaking the tension in the air. He followed after her, shutting the heavy metal door that led into the tower behind him.

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