The intense fighting at the bottom of Table Rock hill proved too much of a draw for Chloe. The nine year old pushed her black bangs from her brown eyes and lifted herself out of her hiding hole in the rocks. Her sentinel disapproved.

squawked Mr. Sentinel.

“No, Rylan and everyone are in trouble, we have to help them!” she cried.

“Sorry Mr. Sentinel. If you want to protect me you have to help everyone!” Chloe barked trotting down the hill behind cover.

Mr. Sentinel quickly flew in front of her. His orders absolute.

Chloe reached the hill bottom and hid behind a boulder. Twenty feet in front of her, Anya Cesar huddled behind a large rock and fired her striker at Sorcia.

“Mr. Sentinel look! It’s Ms. Anya!” Chloe squinted further out in the dark, “She’s shooting at that pretty lady with the ponytail and- Eh? Oh no, I think Ms. Anya’s hurt!” she said noting Anya standing with her weight on her left leg and rubbing her right knee.

Chloe further scanned the scene. Away from Anya, in front of the headlights of Evan’s pick up and Ms. Anya’s black SUV, Rylan, Leif and Maya surrounded and attacked a tall big man. The big man defended himself with a long, scary looking, meat cleaver on a pole and appeared in control of the fight against the teens.

Hannibal’s bardiche*

“What a terrible weapon...Do you think they’ll beat that scary guy?” asked Chloe, her eyes focused on the battle with Hannibal.

said the emotionless Mr. Sentinel.

“Eh? Well that’s not good!”

Chloe shook her head and turned back to Anya and Sorcia. But as Chloe squinted hard in the dark, she saw something...no...someone...behind Sorcia.

“Oh no! Mr. Sentinel! It’s Evan!”

The sentinel peered out with it’s night optics and spotted Evan with an aluminum bat in his hand, crawling down a hill behind Sorcia.

Chloe jumped up.

“What? No! Mr. Sentinel, help him I order you, please go help him!” she shouted and pushed the floating sentinel toward the fray.

“I don’t care!”

Furious, Chloe sprang from her rock cover and ran toward Anya.

“Ms. Anya!” she screamed.

Mr. Sentinel chased her, The sentinel burst in speed and flew after Chloe as she ran toward Anya.

As Chloe reached Anya, the raven haired duchess spun around surprised.

“Chloe? What are you doing here?” shouted Anya as she grabbed the little girl and pulled her down behind the rock. “Did Rylan bring you out here?”

Before Chloe could answer, Mr. Sentinel arrived and hovered behind Anya with his laser cannon aimed at Anya.

he squawked.

“What? Shut up you dumb dumpster, you need to be helping my kids out there!” Anya barked pointing toward the teens fighting Hannibal.

“Ms. Anya, Evan is behind that lady you’re shooting at!” cried Chloe.

“Eh?” Anya peeked from behind the rock and squinted out at Sorcia, pistol in hand and advancing. Behind her crept Evan with an aluminum baseball bat, “Tch! Stupid boy, she’ll kill him!” she muttered.

Anya turned to Mr. Sentinel.

“Go draw her fire you manic robot!” she commanded Mr. Sentinel.

“Mr. Sentinel please!” cried Chloe.

The sentinel paused and computed.

Without another word, the sentinel flew straight up into the sky and opened fire on Sorcia. Before Evan could attack with his bat.

Mr. Sentinel blitzed the unsuspecting Sorcia, who reflexively formed a force field and fired back at the flying attacker. Evan, almost on top of Sorica, jumped backwards and ran for cover with his bat as the sentinel swooped down on the warrior baroness.

“Good, kill that bitch!” mumbled Anya as she turned her attention to Hannibal, fighting with her children. Her eyes squinted with hate, “Now I deal with you!”

The Baron

Hannibal, a battle hardened veteran, kept his three teenage attackers at bay swinging his bardiche. But when Leif’s sentinel attacked Sorcia, he noticed.

Oh? The battle is against us now? Hmm..

After blocking an attack from Maya and Leif, Hannibal glanced over at Anya, who stared at him as she advanced on him, striker pistol in hand.

Ho? Now you join the battle, duchess? Hm hm hm, I'll send your soul to hell.

As Anya advanced on the baron, Hannibal stepped up his attack on the teens. His first move, he fired a force field off the ground which blasted sand in the eyes of both Rylan and Maya, halting their attack.

“Crap!” shouted Maya as her and Rylan backed off blinded.

He then fired his force field directly at both of them. Maya reacted and blocked with her own force field, but the blunt impact of Hannibal’s shot knocked her and Rylan on their asses. But Hannibal’s actions left him open for an attack from behind from Leif. And Leif took advantage.

“Eh?” shouted Hannibal as he spun around to find Leif swinging his sword down at Hannibal’s head, with all of his might.

And Hannibal smiled.

“Did you think I didn’t see you, boy?” he mumbled, stepped clear of Leif’s strike, spun, and smacked Leif in the back with his bardiche pole.

“Oof!” cried Leif as he keeled forward trying to keep his balance.

But Hannibal leapt in front of Leif, and with a forward thrust, extended his bardiche pole….

….into Leif’s rib cage, and out of his back…

“Gahh!” cried Leif, his eyes wide open, as he grabbed the pole impaled through his body.

Then Leif stopped moving and dropped his striker as Hannibal retracted the bardiche pole out of his body with a laugh.

“Hm hm hm, didn’t see that coming did you little prince? Haha!” cackled Hannibal as he turned back to the fight.

Behind Hannibal, Leif dropped to his knees, coughed blood and fell over, not breathing.

No

Anya watched her son hit the ground.

Leif?

Her face turned white as summit snow.

No...No…..

…..

“LEEEEEEEEIF!”

….Anya’s scream pierced the black desert. On her bad knee she bolted at top speed firing her striker pistol at Hannibal until it emptied. In an instant she shifted her pistol to a sword as she reached Hannibal and slashed at him.

“Get away from my son!” she yelled.

But Maya, also in berserker mode, swung viciously at Hannibal, pushing him back on the defensive and away from Anya.

“Leif!” Anya screamed again as she skid on the sand and lifted her precious son, “Baby, Momma’s here, baby please!”

She scanned him for vitals and found him eighty five percent dead.

There’s still a chance.

Chloe, in tears, ran behind Anya and dropped down trying to help.

“Ms. Anya, we have to get him to a hospital, now!”

Anya, with eyes sullen, looked out at her daughter locked in vicious combat with Hannibal in the dark desert.

“Maya! Mommy loves you..but dammit child, don’t you forget you’re a Cesar!”

Chloe stared at Anya puzzled.

“Eh? But Ms. Anya, we have to get Leif-”

Anya grabbed Chloe’s hand.

“Honey?”

“Y-Yes Ms. Anya?”

“You have to trust me.”

“Eh? I-”

Anya swung her wrist device to her mouth.

“Activate, now!”

In a fraction of a second the ampsediun laser device behind the rock burst into an amber light. A moment after that, Rylan on the battlefield and Chloe next to Anya, dropped to the ground screaming.

“Aaaaah, Ms. Anya, aah..what’s happening?”

Anya didn’t answer as everything from that point happened in a blink of an eye. Behind Anya and Chloe a swirling amber rift gate opened in the night desert. Anya lifted her son and pushed him into the transdimensional portal.

From there the battlefield shifted. Both Maya and Hannibal stopped fighting as the bright glow from the gate lit up the scene. Leif’s sentinel, now aware of the disturbance, rushed toward Chloe who screamed in pain on the ground.

Behind the sentinel Sorcia charged with her striker, her eyes fixed on Anya.

"You're not getting away, duchess!" she yelled.

But Anya wasted no time. She lifted the crying Chloe in her arms, and gave one last look to Maya, then jumped in the gate. Immediately after her, Mr. Sentinel flew in followed by a leaping Sorcia. After that, the gate closed, and the desert night returned.

Aftermath

Hannibal stood in awe of the event.

“I knew it!” he yelled at Maya, who stopped fighting to aid Rylan. “Your mother is a genius! Haha!”

Maya ignored Hannibal as she helped Rylan to his feet. Hannibal turned to them and lowered his weapon.

“Well..now that it’s just us lady Maya, it would be wise-”

Evan’s truck rammed Hannibal on his left and sent him flying ten feet.

"Raaah!" he yelled as he tumbled on the rocky ground.

Evan stopped the truck in front of Maya and Rylan and leapt out.

“Come on, let’s get outta here!” he yelled.

As Maya and Rylan jumped in the front, Evan floored the pedal and raced the truck away from the scene. Hannibal recovered as the teenagers escaped.

He stood up watching them flee in the only light source left at Table Rock...Anya’s crashed SUV.

“Heh heh, Don't worry lady Maya. We'll meet again.”

...