[BF20] Dios Resurgent

BrikWars fiction in long-prose form. Trigger warning: Walls of text

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Bragallot
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[BF20] Dios Resurgent

Post by Bragallot » Thu Dec 24, 2020 12:21 pm

The APC shook as it traversed the bumpy underground at top speed. Comandante Esmeralda Lacruz braced herself and grimly checked the power level of her sidearm. The red bar on the side of the heavy pistol lit up red, indicating a full charge.

She looked into the APC at the commandos who were traveling with her. Their armour, helmets and face plates hid their physical features, but their weapons and gear allowed her to tell them apart.

Esme only knew them by their call names. Psychic. Gunslinger. Heavy. Assassin. Berserker. Flamer. Blaster. Vanguard. Captain. It was enough. In each soldier's eyes she saw the cold determination that she also felt, and the knowledge of what was at stake. More importantly, she saw the certainty that they would succeed.

Today, Dios would be free.

The APC was slowing down. As the sound of the engines lowered to a hum, she heard the cracking of lightning and the rattling sound of guns, mixed in with the occasional explosion. It seemed the distraction was working. They would be hard-pressed to keep it up, however, so it was imperative that they would succeed, expediently.

The APC turned sharply, pressing her hard into her seat. She closed her eyes to shut out the disorienting motion of the vehicle until it ground to a halt, then opened them and pushed herself up, her fingers grasping the sleek black hilt of her nova sword.

The APC's door fell down, exposing her to the howling wind, which picked up sand that hit her armour. Behind her she heard the clanking of metal as the commandos rose up. Safeties were switched off and power weapons hummed to life. Esme was the first one out, the familiar buzz of her nova sword being activated sending a welcome jolt up her arm.

She ran across the platform created by the APC's door, her boots thunking hard on the metal. She felt the commandos' heavy footsteps reverberate on the metal sheet as they followed her into a barren red-brown wasteland.

Her feet kicked up dust and her body weight seemed to increase as she pushed forward through the sand. A steep ledge, crested with large boulders at its top, appeared before her. Lightning cracked, briefly illuminating several helmeted heads among the rocks.

A blue-hued laser cut past Esme's left, cutting into the sand and leaving a crystallized streak across it. She looked across her shoulder, realizing it had come from behind. The APC closed its door and returned fire. Then it sped headlong into the approaching threat. Then the enemy opened fire from the top of the hill.

They had already been discovered.

Esme batted a laser away from her with her nova sword. The commandos spread, some returning fire. For Esme, it was useless to fire her sidearm at this range, so she pumped her legs as well as she was able to. Her red armour must have made an alluring target, for many blue-hued lasers came her way. She slashed her nova sword wildly, deflecting them all, but was forced to slow her step.

The Vanguard, his large combat shield making him unmistakable, pushed past her, putting down suppressive fire with his carbine and covering her. A rocket flew by, causing an explosion among the rocks, and she saw the Assassin kneel down to her right, shouldering his sniper and aiming a shot at the rocks. One of the helmeted faces was knocked back and shrouded in a cloud of blood before falling away.

The team scaled the hill, fired upon from both directions. As they got close enough for Esme to start firing her heavy pistol at the entrenched defenders, the Vanguard swiveled around to guard her back. The Captain, nova sword in hand, was similarly deflecting projectiles coming from the bottom of the hill, trusting in his squad to further the advance.

An explosion cleared the rocks directly to their right, and a bout of flame erupted from the Psychic, flying high and then striking behind the rocks that were giving the defenders behind them a false sense of security. Esme and the commandos quickly scuttled to cover. Shots flew around them and she realized the enemy had set up a secondary defensive line straight ahead. She glanced behind her and caught a glimpse of the now burnt out APC. They were exchanging fire, but they couldn't stay here long.

The Heavy, crouched down beside her, suddenly rose up from cover, his heavy laser cannon humming loudly as he fired a sustained blast, cutting from right to left and forcing the enemy on the other side of the rocks to duck, but not before they fired their weapons at his exposed frame. Several shots struck hard into his armour, but the Heavy held his ground.

Esme instinctively charged from cover, firing her heavy pistol blindly. The Captain, Psychic and Berserker followed her example, one brandishing his flaming energy sword while the other activated his OTC. As the Heavy's sustained blast ended the heads popped up again like whack-a-mole's and opened fire again, slowing their advance.

Esme looked behind her briefly to see the Heavy collapsing backwards. From the corner of her eye she noticed two figures darting across the rocks to her right and soon coming down upon the defenders' flank. The Gunslingers' cape billowed in the wind as he leapt at the enemy and fired both of his pistols straight ahead while the Assassin's katana slashed into an enemy upon landing.

Esme and the commandos quickly surged forward and ran among the rocks. The black-uniformed soldiers drew electro sabres as they closed to melee, but they were no match for Esme and the commandos' superior skill and equipment up close. They created a slaughter among the rocks.

Esme took a moment to study an enemy she'd impaled on her nova sword. He wore a Neo-Prussian uniform, but had a peach skin tone she had not seen among them. A freed slave, no doubt. She could not blame their reasons for fighting them, but they had to die all the same. More importantly, the soldier had none of the traits of the mutants who had unleashed hell on Dios, which meant that particular breed of soldier was either distracted by their diversionary force, or waiting for them further ahead.

Esme had no time to ponder. She gave the Captain a meaningful look, and he understood what had to be done. He made several quick hand gestures. The commandos nodded in acknowledgement, the Vanguard setting up a position among the rocks and the Assassin jumping up and disappearing among the rocks to set up a position to punish their pursuers.

Esme beckoned the other commandos to follow her. A brief stretch of sand lay in front of them, followed by a high fence enclosing a series of buildings that together made a small city, as well as a military encampment. The Berserker's chainsaw quickly saw to the fence, and once they were through they entered the streets of the downtrodden city.

Esme had memorized the entire city and quickly led her squad into it, figuring the enemy was probably busy setting up an ambush ahead. Her suspicions were confirmed as she rounded a corner and a bullet ricocheted off her armour. Esme peered around the corner, and saw a pillbox not far from her position.

Esme did not remember this from the blueprints, and reasoned it must have been newly built. The construction was clearly of Prussian design. They had reached an important crossroads, so it made sense that this place had been fortified. Going around would take too long.

Esme looked at the commando standing closest to her.

"We're going in. You know what to do."

"Yeah. Start a fire," came the sly response.

Without a moment's hesitation Esme started forward, firing her pistol at the pillbox while deflecting several shots. The Psychic surrounded them with a bright red barrier, which absorbed several shots before it cracked and disappeared. The Berserker sped straight towards the pillbox, drawing fire, while the captain followed Esme’s example, providing cover for the Blaster, tried to get into a firing position.

The commandos, even the Berserker, were quickly forced into cover. A shot struck into Esme’s shoulder, numbing her sword arm and leaving her vulnerable. Then a bout of flame engulfed the pillbox, and the screams of those inside sounded like sweet music to her ears. The Flamer stepped out of the smoke and nodded, a gesture she returned.

"We'll stick to the plan," she told the Captain, who only required confirmation. Arriving at this junction with only seven people hadn’t been the plan, but they would continue it regardless. The Captain continued straight down the road, accompanied by the Psychic and the Flamer, while the others accompanied Esme to the right.

The communications array, a huge tower with a disc-like structure near its top, loomed ahead of them. The Prussians couldn’t fully understand its importance, and would probably concentrate their defenses elsewhere. She had to believe that.

They made their way through the streets uneventfully, the communications array appearing in front of them. It almost seemed too easy. The thought had barely passed when the screeching of mechanical legs announced trouble. They ducked into cover as a two-legged, open-topped mech rounded the corner and skid to a stop, blocking their way. The upper body turned and the side-mounted machine guns of the Schattenlaufer instantly started opening fire on their position.

A heavily-armoured pilot sat protected and partially covered inside the mech's cockpit, and it would be useless to shoot him at this range. The suppressive fire he was putting down was too much to advance through, and the mech was not giving the Blaster time to get a shot off.

Suddenly the Gunslinger burst into motion. He launched himself up the side of a building, running and jumping from one balcony to another and firing his twin pistols at the mech to gain its attention. The mech turned his guns on the Gunslinger, leaving bullet holes in the walls.

"Now!" Esme shouted to the commandos.

The Berserker and her ran forward while the Blaster rose up and shouldered his bazooka. The mech, recognising the threat, kept one machine gun trailed on the Gunslinger while the other barrel moved towards Esme. It stopped and clicked into place.

The next moment the Schattenlaufer's cockpit burst into flame. An explosion hurtled the pilot away, the mech collapsing forward. Esme grinned as she looked back to the Blaster, who lowered his bazooka, when suddenly blood spurted from his helmet and he collapsed.

"Sniper!" Esme shouted.

The Gunslinger disappeared into a building with the keenness of a lynx. Esme and the Berserker ran for the array’s entrance. They reached the doors, when a shot shook Esme’s armour. She gasped and felt blood trickling down her side.

She struggled on, holstering her heavy pistol and switching her nova sword to her right hand. The berserker through the door and covered her back while she ran inside. A shot hit the remains of the door, missing him by several feet, then he followed her inside. They were in a spacious entry hall, which was mostly empty aside from a reception desk and some seats.

"The elevator," Esme said, nudging her head towards a pair of metal doors at the end of the hall.

The Berserker gave her some support as she struggled towards the elevator. Esme wanted to argue, but realized she was slowing him down and decided to save her breath. The Berserker raised his chainsaw at the elevator doors, but Esme motioned for him to stop.

"No. No chainsaw this time," she said, spotting a twinge of disappointment in the Berserkers' eyes as he lowered his OTC.

She entered a code on the panel, and beamed when the doors opened to welcome them. They entered and she punched the button to take them to the top floor. Halfway through, the elevator stopped. Esme and the Berserker shared a look of confusion. The doors opened to reveal a dark room, filled with shadowy, motionless silhouettes. Faint light filled the corridor as dozens of eyes suddenly flickered to life, and slender security bots with claw-like hands, all turned on the intruders as one.

Esme quickly started entering a code on the panel. Someone was probably tampering with the elevator from a distance, but she could override whatever they were doing. If she had the time. The bots swarmed towards them. Not needing any orders, the Berserker roared and launched himself at the bots. The OTC slashed, sending bot components with fizzling wires skidding across the floor. Others replaced the ones who fell instantly, and some were able to push past.

Esme drew her pistol and fired at the bots as they closed in, while entering the last of the code with her right hand. She kicked a bot from the doorway and then jumped back right as the doors begun to close, catching one last glimpse of the Berserker as he and his OTC were buried underneath clawing bots.

The elevator stopped at the top floor, and Esme quickly shot the panel with her pistol, so no one could use it to come after her. She was in the spacious, disk-like structure at the top of the communications array, which overlooked the entire city. Through the narrow windows, she could see flashes of light and fires in the city below. She walked to the biggest console and activated it, then slid a data card out of a panel in the sleeve of her armour and jammed it into the computer.

"Upload, starting," an AI's voice said as more systems hummed to life.

Esme smiled as the upload finished. Now all she had to do was input a code that would start the transmission. Her fingers played across the keyboard, when a sudden shattering of glass alerted her. The lights flickered as a shadow crept into the room. Esme turned away from the computer, reached for her pistol and fired several shots at it. It was like attempting to shoot the wind.

Something smacked into her, knocking her back and sending her skidding across the floor. Her head bumped hard against the wall. Searing pain shot through the left side of her body. She barely registered the alarming sound of her pistol skidding away.

A dark silhouette approached. Her right hand reached for her nova sword, the blade humming to life and casting light on her attacker. The black uniform and blue-visored helmet was similar to that of the soldiers she'd just fought, but the unnaturally large red eyes and the deformed mouth were clear signs that this was one of the mutants terrorising Dios.

"Your time is at an end, inquistador," he hissed.

"Vete a Freír Espárragos," Esme growled, pushing herself up.

The mutant, probably not understanding the insult, but recognising the challenge, drew an electro sabre from his hip, and waited. Esme charged. Her right hand was definitely not her best, but she was no stranger to improvisation and fell into the rhythm of combat quickly. Slash. Parry. Thrust. Back up. Dodge. Attack again.

The mutant answered her movements with skill and grace. His sabre was the inferior weapon, and he didn't wear heavy armour like she did, but he was unnaturally fast and strong. Esme knew he wanted her to wear herself out so she would provide him with an opening he could exploit, but she had no choice but to attack. She had to finish putting in the code.

She lunged as if to thrust, then suddenly swung her nova sword in a semicircle trying to cut past his defenses. He had left an opening, but twisted his body aside right on time. He struck her face with his pommel produced a pistol from his hip, shooting her in the right shoulder and forcing her to drop her nova sword. Esme cried out and crashed down.

"Well fought. But this is the end," the mutant said, raising his sabre for a coup de grace.

"Tienes la Cara Como una Nevera Por Detrás," Esme growled, grimacing through the pain.

"Whatever that means," the mutant mumbled, unaware of the shadow that entered through the window he had broken before.

With blazing guns, the Gunslinger revealed himself.

The mutant blocked two shots with his sabre, though one caught him in the hip and one in the shoulder, and returned fire on the Gunslinger, then closed the distance. Esme wasted no time and crawled to the console, inputting the rest of the code. She heard the clash of steel on steel as the mutant used his sabre against the Gunslinger, forcing him to use his pistols in melee and driving him into the elevator.

Done! Esme thought, her hands sliding from the console as she collapsed, exhausted.

She looked into the elevator to see the Gunslinger crumpling silently against the wall, several red gashes in his uniform. The mutant turned on her again, walking over to the console as the room suddenly grew almost unbearably bright, and all of its systems started to hum.

“Why are you smiling? What have you done?!” he asked, when suddenly he gasped and fell to his knees, dropping his weapons.

The mutants’ hands clutched his face, fingers digging into his skin as he writhed in pain. His features gradually returned to those of a regular Minifig.

“My time’s not over. It’s only just begun,” Esme said, recovering her pistol and aiming it at the Prussian’s face.

She pulled the trigger, putting him out of his misery, then looked out across the city, the pain of her injuries forgotten for now. The communications array gleamed like a diamond in the night sky, casting its light across the city, and soon, all of Dios. The signal it was broadcasting would return mutants everywhere to a normal state of being, crippling them and their ability to terrorize the inquistadors. Dios was free.
Fantasy battles - Scifi battles
Kommander Ken wrote:
Mon Dec 28, 2020 9:04 pm
Wtf is this thread?

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Gorvoslov
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Re: Dios Resurgent

Post by Gorvoslov » Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:16 pm

Fyi, you forgot to actually include the [BF20] tag, but it's tagged in the top thread and I've already written this up so here goes!

Dios Resurgent
Concept and Theme: 10 - Hard to go wrong with what is effectively a "liberation day" story.
Form: 9 - All moves forward nicely.
Voice: 9 - Pretty simple to follow.
Style: 18 - Near TPKs are definite recipes for cerebral engagement.
Presentation: 10 - Nothing's jumping out at me as an issue.

Total: 46
Total (Tiebreaker): 56

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SirZaphod
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Re: [BF20] Dios Resurgent

Post by SirZaphod » Tue Jan 19, 2021 10:11 pm

Concepts and theme: 8 A true Brikwars! setting, reminds me of Rouge One.

Form: 9 Layed out in an effective and easy to digest manner.

Voice: 9 clear and concise.

Style: 16 It is a very solid story, well written, includes lore from Brikwars!

Total: 42
Spoiler
Show
Presentation: 9 one minor wording kerfuffle.
51

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RedRover
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Re: [BF20] Dios Resurgent

Post by RedRover » Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:39 pm

Concept and Theme -- 9
Great representation of a battle, full of Brikwars lore.

Form -- 9
Felt like I was reading a book!

Voice -- 9
A lot of personality communicated with characters without having to rely on heavy dialogue

Style -- 18
High style

Presentation (tie breaker) -- 8

Total --45 + 8 for tie breaker

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