As Razzo enters the bridge of the ship all the Minerau direct their attention towards him except for one Minerau staring out into the night sky. Through the thick glass at the bridge a panorama unfolds. Down below the whole city is visible with semi light up lamp posts and electricity running to different areas.The alien spaceship continues to hover over the once majestic city of Rome, the landscape below is far from scenic but provides a calmness to it as well. The one Minerau observes the aftermath of their invasion from the vantage point of their spaceship bridge, taking in the eerie painting before him. The once grand architecture of Rome now lies in ruins, battered and broken by the advanced weaponry of the alien forces. Tall skyscrapers and historic landmarks have crumbled into rubble, creating a chaotic and desolate cityscape. Alien technology has left its mark, with strange and otherworldly structures emerging amidst the remnants of ancient Roman buildings. The streets, once bustling with life, are now quiet. The remnants of vehicles lie abandoned, covered in dust and debris the same way they did when seen from the ground not too long ago. The alien invasion has disrupted the balance of the ecosystem, leaving a surreal blend of alien and Earthly elements. The alien invaders have yet to begin their plans for the area as they attempt to rid themselves the last of the opposition. The once vibrant Tiber River now flows through a city transformed by destruction. Its waters are murky, carrying the remnants of the fallen city downstream. The alien invaders have left behind traces of their extraterrestrial presence along the riverbanks, with peculiar artifacts and unknown substances polluting the water. Amidst the ruins, survivors eke out a bleak existence, scavenging for resources and continuing to remain as unseen as possible from the alien ship. The invaders' imposing frigate hovers overhead, a constant reminder of the city's subjugation. The Minerau simply admires his work and remains unphased until he hears the scuffling behind him. The turns to see many of the Minerau gathering at the entrance unsure of how to proceed. He moves away from the glass and towards the rest of the bridge. His frame slowly moves from all the weight it carries or maybe that’s just how it seems from afar. Around his neck is a cloak that goes down to the ground. He wears metallic armor although it doesn’t seem like he’d need it. He has a rugged look not polished like the rest of the Minerau as he never refined his jagged appearance. He wears no boots or gloves and has a human-like face chiseled into the rock of the head. As he moves through the bridge and arrives at the edge of the crowd the others open up a direct pathway from him to Razzo.
“Let them pass, they are mere crew members of this ship and help fly it. You are here after me are you not?” - asks the Minerau.
Razzo disagrees with a shake of his head: “That may be true, but they are as much to blame as you are. You can’t partake in a galactic invasion and not take on the blood that spilled on your hands simply because you weren’t the one directly doing the killing”.
“Maybe if we had faced a stiffer initial resistance it wouldn’t be like this. The fact of the matter is my people are as much to blame for this invasion as your people are” - the giant Minerau says confidently.
Razzo ponders this concept for a minute and the Minerau gives a subtle head nod for the rest and they slowly start creeping past Razzo. Razzo considers stopping them but realizes that it will just make everything take more time and who knows how the crew is doing in the hangar bay. Soon they all leave the room to just Razzo and the Minerau leader in front of him. From a distance it looks as though there’s quite a size discrepancy as the Minerau is almost the size of Chorion.
“Do you know who I am?” - begins the Minerau.
Razzo shakes his head: “Not in the slightest, but it doesn’t matter who you are, you're the reasoning my home was destroyed. And for that you have to pay”.
Razzo sprints forward lunging with a slashing at the Minerau with the greenish purplish glowing blade. The Minerau merely side steps the attack and pushes Razzo forward letting the humans momentum carry him forward past the middle of the bridge.
“I am Oryx, the general of this ship. One of five generals of the Grand Minerau Army. And you care not who I am? That’s quite foolish of you not to know your enemy” - elaborates Oryx as Razzo turns himself around.
Razzo leaps forwards once again trying to land a blow on the massive Minerau but for as big as Oryx is he is a master in all close combat techniques available to Minerau. He for one prefers the idea of exhausting opponents by evading attacks as much as possible in single combat. Although the strategy is typically useful versus most opponents Razzo is the exception with his boundless amounts of energy. Razzo continues his relentless pursuit against Oryx by slashing away and throwing punches but Oryx casually counters or parries the strikes without ever going on the offensive. Simply toying with Razzo until he sees fit to end the contest. In a moment of another counter and shove off to create separation Oryx reengages the conversation.
“I remember you from the ancient arena when your people tried to free the prisoners. Do tell what is your name?” - Oryx asks.
Razzo collects himself before answering: “My name is Razzo Rossi not that it should matter who I am to you!”
Oryx shows poise and composure in his response: “That is where you’re completely wrong, Razzo knowing your opponents is everything and the reason why we were able to be so successful in our invasion of this star system”.
“What do you mean by that?” - asks Razzo starstruck.
Oryx looks at him with a smug expression: “Do you really think we chose to come to this star system on accident? It wasn’t a mere coincidence that we invaded your planet at its weakest moment. We knew your cannons were outdated and wouldn’t offer much of a resistance. The same reason we went and invaded the Automatons on Mars”.
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“But how can that be…” - responds Razzo with a distraught expression.
Oryx looks at him with a cold yet sympathetic expression: “Because many people have a price, and more specifically for some it’s a fraction of what you’d think it would cost to betray their own people… Just to live lavishly in a foreign land”.
Razzo pauses for a moment considering what he just heard, the emotions and thoughts rushing through his head as for the people that would cause millions if not billions of deaths for personal gain. The anger takes over his body as he leaps onto the offensive once again releasing his rage on the only source he sees fit, the general talking before him. Oryx directs his attention to the swinging blade as it narrowly misses him but misses the fist of energy that Razzo drives into his hip causing a shriek of pain from the Minerau. The punch causes him to stumble back but not nearly enough to defeat him. Razzo, seeing his opponent stumble, takes three quick steps to Oryx and jumps, raising the blade over his head ready to come down on top of Oryx. In the last second Oryx shields himself with the metallic cloak absorbing the blow on it. As the blade makes contact with the cloak it stiffens up acting as a forcefield causing Razzo to bounce off and fly back towards the entrance of the bridge. As Razzo tumbles to the ground Oryx takes a quick look at his damaged hip and unsheathes his own weapon that was previously hidden underneath the cloak. The weapon is the same one that Oryx had used during the battle of the colosseum. Just like many of the other Minerau it’s a ice shard spear but this one looks far more sophisticated as it has a rounded ball at the bottom that can be used as a club of sorts and sharp tip on the other side. The rounded bottom is attached to a blue energy cable that winds up in the staff and the first thing Oryx does is flings the ball at Razzo. Razzo is able to roll out of the way of the strike and get back to his feet. The Minerau general moves towards the middle of the bridge and is met there by Razzo. Oryx throws a jab with his spear and Razzo is able to evade it to throw a counter strike with the blade, Oryx grabs the blade with one hand and kicks Razzo back with his left leg. This ends up winding Razzo and causes him to stumble back. Oryx slightly limps as he moves in on the second strike, rapidly twirling the spear so the strike won’t be as predictable as the last. Razzo gathers himself and upon seeing this moves from side to side on the balls of his feet trying to be as light as possible. The Minerau general notices this and as he spins his spear around he fakes an overhead strike with the clubbed ball. Razzo reacts to this by spinning the opposite way but as he does so Oryx is able to shift the momentum of the strike from the bottom. The strike doesn’t have the full force of the general behind it but it’s enough to cut through the armor on Razzo’s leg and lodge a small ice shard into his calf. Even with limited feelings from the damaged nervous system the ice shard sends a spike through its entirety hitting all the points that remain. Razzo yells in pain as he takes another step back, almost pinning him to the entrance door. The Minerau continues his assault by moving to strike again with the spinning motion of his spear. This time instead of any deception Oryx decides that as his opponent is hobbled enough as it is that one simple jab through the chest should suffice. As he jabs at the human Razzo parries the strike and the spear tip lodges into the door. Razzo once again tries to stab at Oryx with the blade but Oryx simply smacks the blade away this time with one hand. He follows up by trying to tug at the spear but it’s stuck and won’t easily be removed. Razzo takes advantage of this moment of inattentiveness by his foe to draw more energy into his fists and with a quick blow from both his fists he sends the Minerau flying through the air crashing into the center console. Sparks fly up and the ship shakes as the console goes offline. The central console kept host to the command console, it’s found at the heart of the bridge, a central hub where the ship's captain and key officers oversee operations. The captain's chair is positioned prominently, on the other side of where Oryx lies. This way it can easily turn to face large viewing screens that provide a panoramic display of the surrounding space. As the ship shakes Razzo takes notice of this and an idea comes to mind. He looks at the semicircle of all the other key components found on the ship. While Oryx takes a moment to collect himself and lift himself off of the center console Razzo rushes to the area of the ship closest to him. Looks down on it and sees the holographic displays that were set up to the left of the center console. The holographic displays project three-dimensional representations of the surrounding space, object blueprints, and tactical overlays. These holograms aid in strategic planning, allowing the crew to visualize spatial relationships and potential obstacles. Razzo once again loads up his fists and smashes the console, the result doesn’t have the same effect as the central console but along the display screens above it says that another part of the ship is now offline. Razzo continues along to the next portion of controls that feature the communication channels to various parts of the ship. Once again Razzo slams down on these panels damaging them. Oryx finally gets up and sees the human causing more harmful destruction to various components controlling the ship and tries to stop him but as he tries grabbing him Razzo uses his momentum and strikes the Minerau in the chest causing him to fly back towards the doorway. Razzo moves on to the navigation hub. The navigation hub, equipped with a large star map display, is responsible for plotting courses and ensuring the ship stays on its designated route. Razzo slams a fist down on this hub bringing it offline. Oryx in the meantime gets up and picks up the blade that was disarmed from Razzo.
Oryx yells from the entrance of the bridge: “Enough of this human you’re going to get us both killed if this ship crashes!”
“THEN SO BE IT!” - Razzo yells back without turning around.
He moved on to the security panel and after a brief moment thinking about the crew on the ship in the hangar he slammed his fists down destroying the system and disabling the security measures. Right next to the security panel was a weapons hub that managed all the automated guns and turrets that the ship deployed. Razzo made quick work of that too. Scattered throughout the bridge are status displays flickering with alerts showing critical information about the damages to the ships controls. This in turn was reporting that the ship's condition, energy levels, and resources are unstable in a critical state. The helm station was next and typically is manned by skilled pilots who control the ship's propulsion systems. At this time the five seats were empty due to the evacuation. Adjacent to the helm are additional controls for fine-tuning maneuvers and responding to dynamic situations. Finally as Razzo looked to cap off the damage to the flight and helm control of the ship that’s dead center in front of the glass Oryx had quietly moved behind him. Through the loud sirens and flashing screens Razzo had failed to keep an eye on his opponent and just before he went to smash the flight controls he turned back to find Oryx right in front of him. Without a moment to spare, Oryx lodged the blade into Razzo’s stomach. The blade pierced his armor and cut through the skin. Razzo felt life slipping through his hands as his vision grew dark.
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