บท 5: Valley of the Deep
Dinah cruised the hovercar to a stop, outside a worn and gravel filled access road down towards the valley. She pulled the car into a patch smoother than the rest and set it down.
"We're here guys, Jean, Jezebel? Y'all best get a move on. You want to make it into the base before night."
"Thanks, Dinah, I appreciate it. Please take the car somewhere else, we will signal when we are ready to leave. If all goes well, you can pick us up in front of the base. "
"Yes, M'lady. I shall see you later!"
Dinah brought the car back into the air, and sped off into the blue horizon, kicking up some gravel as it flew past. Jezebel and Jean walked down the worn path, occasionally they slid across the particularly fine parts of the path when the gravel couldn't properly hold them. The path quickly narrowed and flattened, leading into dense foliage that greatly blocked visibility. Moss had crept into view, it grew in between the rocks, leaves appeared to hang at head height over the path as well, causing Jezebel to lead and chop away at the thick vegetation. The path gradually enlargened again. Jean pointed out that the path leads to a clearing in the forest. They walked into this clearing and had immediately noticed something off.
"That... should not be here."
In the middle of the clearing, she had observed a small base. It appeared empty and quickly mashed together, due to how clean the exterior of the small roofless cube was.
"It appears that there are currently people inside of the Arrythian base. Hopefully, they are not too violent. That would be quite unfortunate."
"I do believe so Miss. Let us make our way to the base, shall we?"
They walked past the new base and viewed how small it was. Both of them quickly passed it and came along to their main objective. The Arrythian base. It was covered in moss and shrouded in greenery. The walls that had clearly once shined brightly, were now covered in a gloomy aura of abandonment and age. The doors to the base were stuck open, and the moss that surrounded the base could clearly be seen having attempted to breach into the building. Jezebel and Jean walked in, they quickly became accustomed to the darkness of the powerless base. As they roamed through the tight metal halls of the interior, they infrequently heard the footsteps and whispers of people as they traveled further inside.
"It's about time we reach the center of the base," Jean whispered.
"Yes, I'm very surprised we haven't Miss."
"Look, Jez, you can drop the 'Miss' and 'm'lady' act now that we're alone."
"Alright Jean, so, got any ideas on where to go?"
The path forked in front of them, one side would lead to the heart of the base, and the other to somewhere entirely different.
"Well, since you fancy yourself a universal translator, go translate where to go. There should be some wordage and other bits along the walls."
"Alrighty, Jean, shall do."
Jezebel broke off from her, and began to look upon the walls, his sunglasses artificially induced night-vision and made everything much easier to see. He looked along the path to the right, no traces of writing or anything could be found along the walls. The same could be said about the path to the left, it had no writing or indications of the right way. He looked back at Jean, she waited impatiently. He had a quick thought and called out to Ags.
'Hey, Ags, which way do I go to lead us to the heart of the base?'
[You take the path to the left, Jez. Would you like me to also queue up the plans for the Hyperspace Gattling Gun onto the main computers of the base?]
'You can do that?'
[But of course, I can also activate the defense system and... rid the intruders in the control room.]
'There are people already here?'
[Yes, 17 of them. All of them are trained at the door ready to fire whenever.]
'I do think that we should wait to see if they are truly bad. Thanks for the advice though, it's quite helpful.'
[Of course, Jezebel. Don't forget, though she looks a bit young, she is around your age!]
'Jesus Christ Ags! What did I say about not wanting to start the kingdom just yet?'
[Oh no, I wasn't talking about Jean. I was talking about the other two currently in the control room.]
'Other two?'
[Yes, they're the only ones without any firearms on their person. I do believe them to also be Elari.]
'Then we'll be safe when we initially get there anyway. It appears this is a trap for us.'
[Well then, I wish you luck. Don't forget, I am also programmed to save your life when need be.]
'I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Ags!'
[No problem Jezebel. I am always here to help.]
"Hey Jean, it's the path to the left, let's go."
He leads Jean down the worn metallic hallways, their steps rang out and echoed in the tight space. They occasionally turned with the hallway and found themselves at the closed doors of the control room. A bright light shining from the inside forced itself through the glass in the doors.
"This is it, Jean. Ready to pop in?"
"Yes, I do believe we shall Jezebel. Let us go. Press the button and lead us in, to whoever awaits."
Jezebel pressed the button next to the door. They slowly creaked open, it created a loud announcement of their arrival to the control room. The bright light blinded them as they walked in. A voice could be heard as soon as they arrived near the middle.
"Ahahaha! Welcome, Jean! How has ya been? Heard ya treated Buxah real well."
"Hello, Laurelynn. Can't say I'm quite surprised to see you here. I honestly expected it."
"Well, good news for you! This is gonna be your resting place! I guarantee that you'll be buried here, and never found again. 'Death by Misadventure' I believe they'll attribute it to." Laurelynn displayed a devious grin. Jean didn't back down.
"Well, that'd be quite unfortunate with me being the next in line after all. They don't call me Jean Quincy Klarranti the Fourth of Her Name without reason of course. When it comes to challenges like these, I'm quite used to getting my way."
"Dear sister, I had hoped you wouldn't back down," Larueynn let loose a fiendish cackle
"For you see Jean, I have more than just planned your death. I have already started the acquisition of your weapon that you wished to contribute to the war efforts. With you dead and me in favor? It's a clear choice for the next in line."
"Ah but Laurelynn you are forgetting one important detail."
"Oh yeah? What's that huh?"
"I have quite the capable bodyguard. Jez, give her a bit of a fright."
"Yes miss, absolutely."
Jezebel drew his concealed pistol from the inside of his suit jacket. The white exterior and glowing blue lights exuded a sense of frost as he cocked back the slide of the vaguely Glock-19 look-alike weapon. He flipped the fire selector to single, and squeezed the trigger. Out from the barrel, came a shot of highly-energized blue plasma. It tore through the air, leaving a trail of smoke and the smell of burning ozone as it careened toward Laurelynn. Her eyes grew in shock, and adrenaline pumped heavily. Though she experienced the world in slow-motion. she couldn't move out of the way of the compressed plasma round. It slowly traveled past her shoulder, blackening part of her dress as it passed her, and stabbed into the wall, leaving a dark mark on it.
Laurelynn fell backwards and began to shake in sheer fear. She quickly recomposed herself, however, and issued one command.
"Don't just fucking stand there! Shoot back!"
Laurelynn grabbed Anna who had been standing next to her and retreated out the exit on the other side of the control room. A man donned in a fancy tricorne and around 4 others followed suit, they left the rest to end Jean and Jezebel. A man in the center asked "Any last words?"
"Why yes, I do have a solid sentence," Jezebel replied
"Well, best let it out now before we fire." said the man in the front.
"Alright, here goes... Ags, now!" Jezebel shouted.
Two turrets popped out of the walls and had begun to fire at the ten men left in the room. Immediately, four men were put down before they managed to scramble to cover. 'Six men left' Jezebel thought. He grabbed Jeans' arm and tossed her behind a conveniently placed metal table. The six goons began to fire back but to no avail. Their bullets couldn't pierce their cover, so they instead began to advance as the turrets stopped firing.
[Hey Jez, just thought it would be a good time to let you know the turret ran out of ammunition!]
'Ah? Alright. Thanks, Ags! Now I just have to deal with these six left-over men.'
[Yes you do, by the way. I wish to inform you that the people who escaped have left the area, in a ship stashed nearby.]
'Thank you again, Ags.'
[No problem, Jezebel.]
Jezebel looked in the corner of his eye and checked his remaining bullet count. '25 left in the magazine' he thought to himself. A piece of broken mirror in front of him displayed the six people who had begun to advance into his current territory.
"Now, Jean. I'm gonna need you to stay here for a minute. I've some business to take care of. And it certainly won't be pretty."
The mirror displayed the men as they quickly came nearer and nearer. Jezebel readied his weapon in his hands, he flicked the fire selector to automatic and quickly rose up. He aimed to the right of the group of men, and tilted the gun, he didn't bother to counteract any recoil. He pulled the trigger and allowed the weapon to curve to the left in an arc across the group. The bullets quickly exited the gun as soon as the trigger was pulled. The smell of burnt meat quickly filled the air as several loud thuds were heard.
Jezebel opened his shut eyes and was greeted by a scene undescribable. The horribly burnt corpses of the men who attempted to advance on him were on the ground. Smoldering holes littered their bodies, seemingly instantly cauterized.
"Let's get out of here, Jean. Get the blueprints and get out of here. I believe we've finished our business."
Jean peeked over the edge of the table, and nearly vomited in reaction.
"Jesus fuck! Why the hell did we give you a plasma pistol? What the actual hell were we thinking! I'm a princess, I shouldn't be forced to view this."
She covered her eyes as she quickly ran towards the console. Jean navigated to the power button and pressed it, the console and large screens in front of it lit up brightly, interrupting the light given off by the emplacements. She quickly typed in a few random commands and viewed the only file left on the system. "HyperspaceGattlingGunBlueprints.pdf" A cable was hooked to the computer, and the file was transferred to her bracelet.
"Let's get out of here, I don't quite want to stay here any much longer. I think I've experienced enough action for a day."
"Yes Jean, I shall lead you out."
Jezebel took Jean by the hand and exited the same way Laurelynn and Anna left. It was a few turns before they realized that they were quickly back on the surface. He took her to a large empty patch in the clearing and called Dinah.
"Hey Dinah, we're ready to be picked up- Yeah, yeah we have it."
Jean and Jezebel waited in the clearing for several minutes until Dinah came and picked them up. As they boarded the car, she asked him a question.
"I've been meaning to ask for a while, who is Ags?"
"Oh, uh miss. Ags is a personal AI of mine. Don't worry much about it."
"Ok then, sir Jezebel. Thank you for clarifying."
Jezebel wiped his brow as he fell back into his seat. The quick bout of action had mentally and physically drained him, and all he wished to do was fall asleep.
"Hey, Jean?" he asked. But he'd noticed that she was fast asleep. He smiled slightly, and notified Dinah that he'd be sleeping, and to alert him if anything happens. He closed his eyes and began to drift off and get some well-earned rest.
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SkyyeTheAuthorDude
SkyyeTheAuthorDude Hey guys! Sorry for the short chapter! I'm trying to get daily updates for the next two or three weeks for the contest! after that I'll peel back to about 3-4 a week? Honestly it's very hard writing enough chapters to satisfy every day a new chapter haha. Thanks for bearing with me! Vote if ya like the novel!
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