Data file 380: Q-9 Rattler Cannon

  Inventor: Helios

  Type: Weapon

  [The Q-9 rattler cannon is a previously mass-produced infantry weapon for use against large groups of lightly armored opponents. The barrel unleashes two energy bullets at a time and can launch up to thirty volleys before overheating.

  Use of these weapons is now banned everywhere except the western outskirts.]

  ***

  A sensation like being stabbed barrelled through me as I slammed against the cave floor. The hole I had fallen through was closed by the shifting rocks, leaving the area quite dark. I lay there trying to find my bearings. I wasn’t sure how far I had fallen, but my back throbbed with pain. And when I tried to use my jetpack, I realized it was broken. I clenched my fist in frustration, and felt the dagger that I still held.

  “At least I didn’t drop it," I mumbled. But the wall was too steep to climb without a jetpack. I would have to find another way. I tried to see through the darkness around me and noticed something nearby. I crawled over to it, putting aside the dagger. “What?” I said aloud. It was a racazoid! A dead racazoid, fortunately. Its eyes were still open, while its face bore an expression of surprise. Curious, I felt through its body cautiously and found the cables and coolant tubes were still warm, which meant it had been killed recently.

  Slightly worried, I searched the corpse promptly for the cause of death. I understood as I saw the large hole in its power core, dripping a blue liquid. Cannon shot residue. I grabbed the dagger and jumped to my feet, still pained from the fall. I ran deeper into the cave, finding more dead racazoids at every turn. Discarded weapons and armor pieces crunched under my feet as I searched for a way out, a way past him.

  “I know you’re in here, Helios!” I yelled as I sighted a tunnel, “But I don’t want any trouble!”

  A quiet voice replied, “That never stopped you before.”

  I heard the hum of a Q-9 rattler and lunged to the side. Two blue projectiles flew just over my head. I shifted my gaze to where they originated. Helios charged out of the shadows at me, firing the cannon mounted to his shoulder. He fired several more blasts, but this time I was prepared. Magnetized surfaces can absorb or deflect power crystal bolts, which is why I still had the dagger. I lifted the blade and blocked the shots, skidding backwards from the impact. Then, I dashed for Helios. “You can’t beat me at close range, Helios.”

  “I know,” He replied, “which is why you won’t reach me.” He flew backwards and continued firing. This forced me to stop running and dodge the blasts. Helios smiled as he saw me struggling to close the distance; his ego was spiking. As I tripped trying to reach cover, he laughed, “What’s wrong, Rasil? Finally met your match?”

  “Not even close," I said as I rushed him again. He fired two more shots, but I ducked and slid along the ground. I vaulted into the air, my steel combat boots emitting sparks as they connected with his chest plate. We both rolled in a heap before he knocked me back with a concussive blast. We both stood, recovering, a mere couple of feet between us. He was wearing down steadily, his frame not built for close combat. I charged and, with a quick slash, cut into the metal plating of his wing. He grunted from the feedback of the wound and deactivated his deadly cannon.

  “What’s wrong, Helios? Outmatched without your wings?”

  “I don’t need them," he muttered, lifting himself up to reveal his talons. Incredibly, his self-confidence was still strong. He lunged and took a swing at my leg. I responded by sliding into a defensive stance and jabbing him in the face with my free hand. He was faster, and pulled his good wing up to block the sudden move.

  For a split second, his wing blocked his vision, and that was my chance. I sank my weight onto my left leg and lifted my right knee into his chest. He crumpled as I hit right below his weakened chestplate. I delivered another slash to his unarmored shoulder joint, and he toppled, both wings disabled. I pointed my dagger at his face and said, “Helios, you are under arrest... finally.”

  ***

  We sat there for a while nursing our respective wounds. I was still mostly fine, though I was notably tired from the fall. Helios was in worse shape. “How’s the wing?” I asked, pointing to the gash that was still leaking coolant fluid. He responded with a quick hiss. We both knew he had a self-repair system, but his pride had suffered a blow, it seemed. I did feel mildly guilty for cutting his wing like that, but then, I remembered him trying to shoot me, and the feelings of guilt quickly subsided.

  I wasn’t sure exactly why he was in this cave, but a mercenary could have any number of reasons, good and bad.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “How did you get down here?” he asked when his wing had stopped bleeding. His eyes hummed a bright blue, illuminating our surroundings as he spoke.

  “I fell," I replied, turning away from his gaze.

  “Don’t be like that," he urged. “I’m inquisitive by nature. Give me details.” He inched closer, gripping onto my leg. I brushed his talons off.

  I had never really talked to him before, and I thought I might as well try it. However, I was still going to give him a hard time. “A wave of some weird energy tore through the ground. There, I gave you details.”

  He huffed and replied, “Same here, actually.” Really? Now I actually was interested.

  “The energy, did it glow purple?”

  “Very purple. When it hit, it made a crack in the ground below me. As in, the crack just... appeared, no visible cause for it, no spreading, and no damage beyond the hole. After that, I flew down to check it out, I killed those racazoids, and you know the rest.”

  “The tunnel led to me?”

  “Yeah, but when I saw you, I figured I should hide, and I kept my distance.”

  “Helios, I could immediately tell you were in here when I saw the cannon fluid," I said with a chuckle.

  “Yeah,” he said while taking flight, “That stuff doesn’t make for a very clean crime scene. I’m gonna have to find a better power source. On another note, if you saw the same wave, but we weren’t near each other beforehand, there might be a reason we both ended up here.”

  “That’s a leap.”

  “It’s a theory, at least," he hissed.

  At this point he unfolded his wings and flew deeper into the tunnel. I reluctantly followed him. If there was a way out of this place, I wanted to find it. So anything else, like his criminal record, would have to wait.

  ***

  It got much darker as we walked, and my eyes quickly adjusted to compensate. “Got a flashlight?” Helios asked me, “I don’t exactly have your supersight.”

  I questioned how he knew about my above-average vision that I had inherited from my father, but I held the question for later. I fished through my satchel and tossed him an emergency flare, which he immediately lit, casting a red glow around us. I said suddenly, “It’s not some superpower, okay? It’s hereditary.”

  “Right, from your parents?”

  “Yes.”

  “One of which was the late king, correct?” He asked. I froze, the memory stinging momentarily.

  “Yes,” I replied. “My father was King Philip.”

  “He married Marcus’ sister, Maria, right?”

  “Yes and yes. Why are you asking?”

  “Inquisitive by nature, remember? I’ve been alive for a long time, and I knew your uncle Marcus back in the day.”

  “He never told me that.”

  “He was probably ashamed, honestly," he sighed. “Did he teach you those moves?”

  “Yep.”

  “Lucky. You got your training from the best of the best.” He cast a glance at me, widening his eyes with... admiration?

  I refocused on my surroundings. The ground was getting softer, and I could feel moss along the walls. The walls, however, were clearly chiseled, unnatural. We emerged into a vast cave lined with obvious pillars and weathered supports. Beams of light flooded the room through cracks in the ruined ceiling above us. The place must have been built by humans and abandoned long ago, perhaps around the time the chemical lab was first constructed.

  “Hey, can you read this?” Helios said, pointing to a column of runic words written on one of the pillars. I walked over to take a look, and after several seconds, I said, “I can’t read all of it, but it seems to talk about a relic, about a hundred years ago.”

  “That’s all?”

  “All I can read.”

  Helios rolled his eyes and pointed to another pillar, saying, “Well, at least that symbol’s obvious, isn’t it?” The pillar he was looking at bore a mark like a large diamond shape, sideways in a way that vaguely resembled an eye. I did recognize it.

  “The Watcher’s Eye symbol," I breathed. The “Watcher” was the insignia of my ancestors, primarily the Terran Knights. They had been the warriors who originally fought against the racazoids and established our kingdom, though Marcus was officially the last living member.

  The symbol was scratched by means of a sword onto the pillar, and there was more writing below it. Hints of English, Latin, and a little of the Runic language that racazoid speech is derived from.

  Helios and I sat down while I tried to decipher it. Most of the translatable text was talking about a sort of time energy, something that could manipulate reality. I didn’t pay it much attention, considering how often I had heard those myths already. Then, it clicked. I looked at Helios as my eyes widened. I saw the same expression on his face and blurted, “The energy wave moved through the ground just before it opened, but there was no impact that cracked it open.”

  “This place was obviously abandoned long ago, with runes mentioning time energy.”

  “Which means that the cave entrances, over time, were covered up by rocks and dirt... buried and preserved.”

  “The reason the ground split open was that time itself changed!”

  “The cave opened back up because it never closed in the first place!”

  “It was time energy!” we shouted simultaneously. We both stopped, realizing we had been shouting.

  Gears had been right, I realized. The Shadowbane Amulet must have activated and caused a time-altering wave. It was actually real. Although I was probably the one who activated it with that satellite, go figure.

  Helios and I were broken from our rare state of agreeability by the sound of a dropship outside. “Rasil, are you in there?” Gears's voice sounded. Helios seemed to recognize the voice and likely would have crept away if I hadn’t grabbed him. I dragged him by his wing to a passageway on the far side of the cavern. Through the tunnel ahead, I could see a dropship waiting outside.