The ravengers stuck behind the ground in hot pursuit as they navigated the web like catwalks that made up the circumference of the cave. Another crab tank was crawling along the walls towards the group. Markus stopped and fired on it with his cannon, hitting it three times in its front which punctured a hole through its hull before destroying its core. With the group stopped, the ravengers swarmed them again but Th’lak held them back with arc lightning fired from his staff.

“Glad you’re on our side,” Bec said before firing his hand cannon at several assaulting regs.

“Still can’t wrap my head around this,” Yuki said as he parried a halberdier, cutting it through the torso. “The hell’d you find this guy?”

“I didn’t,” Nel added before she was pounced by a blade-wielding reg, dodging its downwards swings before stabbing it in the head with one of her knives before kicking the creature down. “Sasha, Rodger and Mary did.”

Markus brought out his chain-gun, suppressing several ravengers coming at them from the flanks. “Needless to say, we are grateful for your assistance.”

“Assistance. Deal.” Th’lak said after casting another energy spear. “Sabotage fleet. Stop Shanks.”

“Didn’t you already do that?” Yuki gestured to the flaming ships below.

“No. Half. Cannot leave. Shanks rebuild.”

“You know you’re quite the slave driver,” Bec said as he reloaded in the momentary respite. “And I only had one core and there’s no way in hell they’ll let us anywhere near the eather cores again.”

“What about those explosives?” Nel pointed out.

“Oh, this,” Bec pulled out one of the cylinders. “It’ll blow the refinery but won't cause that kinda reaction. What we need is a powerful eather shot like outta a special cannon or a grenade containing a good dose of mana. Hell, I’d take that little kids eather casting.”

Markus approached the edge of the walkways. “.... I believe I should be able to deliver the intended ordinance to cause a chain reaction from here.”

“You can?” Nel looked up.

“Oh yeah. Slipped my mind.” Bec said. “Alright Markus, let her rip.”

Markus threw out his left arm which began to morph into a rail gun, smaller in size from the one he used to destroy the warframe back at the black ops base.

“This will only take a minute. Please stand back.”

Before he could fire, there was a loud crash in the middle of their formation followed by a shockwave that blew everyone but Markus off their feet. Markus turned and saw Shanks, freeing his spear from the ground, twirling it in his left hands as he stood to his full height, standing an inch above Markus.

“... I don’t think we’ve got a minute,” Bec said.

Markus quickly brought his railgun around but was pierced through the chest by Shanks. Markus then threw his right fist at Shanks's torso, cracking a part of his armor while forcing the krell back, the spear ripping out of Markus's chest.

Markus fell to one knee, examining the hole on his chest. The ravenger stood back to his full height, letting out a cackling croak that could pass for laughter.

“None. Will leave. Alive!” Shanks slammed his staff on the ground creating a small shockwave as his spear pulsed with energy. He then roared to the heavens, amplified by the speaker in his helmet.

Grunting, Markus morphed his right arm into his chain-gun and opened fire. Shanks took several hits as he lunged, bringing his staff overhead. Markus stopped firing and brought up his left arm. The spears blade cut into the plates, the energy emitting from it pulsing through the wound created.

Bec fired at Shanks back as Nel charged in. Shanks withdrew his weapon and swung it at the assassin. She leaped over it, missing the weapon by a fraction. Shanks continued his spin, attempting to bring his weapon to bear on Markus again, only for the cyborg to dodge by zipping across the floor firing at shanks’s main body. Unfazed by the barrage from both Markus and Bec, Shanks brought his spear to bear on Nel. The assassin sidestepped as the spear smashed into the ground, creating a shockwave that threw her off her feet. Shanks freed his weapon and swung at Nel. In a blue mist, Th’lak appeared, throwing forward his staff. A barrier of shimmering hexagons appeared and blocked the blow, and in a pulse blew Shanks’s weapon back.

“Move.” Th’lak teleported back. Nel performed a quickstep as the spear scythed through the ground.

“Tough son of a bitch.” Bec reloaded his weapon as Shanks turned his attention to the rogue, coercing lightning through the tip of his spear. Shanks spun in the air before slamming it into the ground. A fissure of blue light flowed towards Bec. He leaped out of the way letting it pass before it hit the capsule behind him and subsequently detonated, throwing Bec onto his front.

As Shanks retracted his spear, Yuki rushed in, slicing into the krells front armor leaving a small trickle of turquoise blood. With his blade overhead, Yuki swung downwards. With his lower left hand, Shanks caught Yuki’s sword. Twirling the spear in his upper right arm, Shanks lunged it towards Yuki attempting to impale him. Yuki narrowly freed his blade and dodged the strike. Yet as he got back to his feet, Shanks had already freed his spear, spinning clockwise bringing his spear to bear once more. Yuki blocked the strike with his katana, skidding across the ground by the force.

“The hell…?” Yuki panted as he got back to his feet, feeling his arms trembling. “How’s this thing so strong?”

“He’s a patriarch of this clan,” Markus said. Blue light shimmered around his left arm as he repaired the damage. “Among ravenger clans, the big and strong become the leaders of clans.”

With the damage on his left arm repaired, Markus morphed it into his cannon. He then fired two shots at Shanks, with his spear he deflected both but a third shot hit him square in the chest. The blast knocked Shanks back, causing him to stagger to one knee. As he tried to get back up, Th’lak let loose a torrent of electricity from his staff, shocking the krells body stunning him.

“Chance! Head!”

Nel charged in, keeping her body low. Shanks swiped his staff, sending another energy attack towards Th’lak. The ravenger disengaged as the attack passed him by, exploding on the wall behind him. Now free, Shanks swooped up and grabbed Nel by his lower left arm, hosting her up, reaching for her head with his upper left arm. With only her right arm free, Nel stabbed her knife into the incoming hand, cutting right through the limb. Shanks withdrew his arm. Nel then stabbed at his wrist, causing him to drop her before backing away before Shanks retaliated.

The krell eyed both her and Th’lak, slowly advancing on the two. He then stopped and turned about as Markus fired his cannon. With a swing of his spear, the shot was deflected. However, a grappling hook caught him to the right of his helmet. Bec pulled himself towards the krell, landing on his torso before unloading his hand cannon rounds into the helmet, leaving dents and small punctures. Bec retreated before Shanks caught him. As he landed on the ground, Yuki shot past him, skidding to a meter of Shanks with his weapon sheathed.

Stance 4: Rasshu!

In a flash, Yuki drew his blade. A large rent appeared in the krells armor with sparks and steam spewing forth. Stunned, Shanks took a step back as he inspected the damage.

Markus suddenly rushed him, sparks coalescing around his left arm as it morphed into a large round cone with three glowing cylinders on top. Seeing the incoming threat, Shanks swung his weapon down on the cyborg. Markus grabbed the type with his free left hand (losing a finger in the process) and slammed his left into Shanks's chest.

A loud boom came as Markus fired point-blank. Shanks was sent flying back, crashing into one of the capsules.

“.... Did that do it?” Nel asked as everyone regrouped, keeping vigil over the collapsed capsule.

“Wouldn’t count on it,” Bec said as he reloaded.

“Shanks, patriarch,” Th’lak said. “Patriarch, strong.”

Shanks then burst from the wreckage. The front of his armor was badly damaged, leaking both fluid and the ravenger’s blood. Yet despite that, Shanks showed no signs of injury.

“You don’t say…” Yuki growled.

Instead, he banged his spear to the ground before tensing. A blue mist began to coalesce around him before bursting like a bubble. Shanks, now emitting a shimmering hue, twirled his spear before standing at the ready once more.

Shanks then rushed forwards, ferociously swinging his spear leaving behind a trail of mist in its wake. Everyone scattered, putting distance between them and the krell. The krell continued his deadly dance, singing his spear towards the group, creating a trail of mist in its wake.

Markus zoomed around the battlefield, firing a continuous volley with his chaingun that peppered the armor. Unflinching, the krell turned his attention to Markus, leaping into the air raising his spear over his head. Markus quickly changed direction as Shanks slammed his spear into the ground, creating a small explosion of blue energy. Markus pivoted around on his axis, throwing up a barrier to block another swipe from the krell. Morphing his left arm into his cannon, Markus fired point-blank into the krell, finally causing him to stagger. Bec raced past the cyborg, firing non-stop into the krell before sliding under his feet throwing a cylinder into the air. The krell turned to impale the rogue when the cylinder landed on him before exploding. Despite the damage to the armor, Shanks was still in the fight, swinging his spear towards Bec once more. A torrent of energy suddenly ensnared him, pulling him back like a chain. The energy came from Th’lak. With his staff embedded in the ground.

“Fleet…” He said.

Understanding, Markus retreated away from the krell, moving to the edge of the platform to once again bring forth his railgun.

Shanks overpowered Th’lak, breaking free of his fetters. As he turned, both Nel and Yuki were standing before him, both ready to finish the fight. Yuki charged in first, blocking an overhead strike from the krell, gritting his teeth as the blades connected. Nel then rushed forwards, leaping over Yuki before plunging her knives into the krells chest. As Shanks withdrew his spear, he reached to pry Nel off his chest with both right hands. In the opening, Yuki rushed forwards and sliced into Shanks’s right foot, infuriatingly not severing the limb. Nel leaped off the krell before she was caught as both her and Yuki retreated.

“Touch son of a bitch,” Yuki groaned, holding his katana out.

Shanks did not give them the time for a respite, charging once again swinging his spear out. Yuki blocked the blade, planting himself like an anchor, gritting his teeth as he felt his bones rattle. Sparks erupted from their blades clashing. Nel tried to flank Shanks but was thwarted when the krell disengaged, swinging his spear towards her. Nel leaped over the weapon.

Bullets then peppered Shanks’s head, fired from Bec.

“Hey scrap king! Over here!”

Shanks let loose a projectile of energy towards Bec before turning to Yuki once more, parrying a blow. Th’lak once more attempted to hold him down but failed following a release of energy from Shank’s body. Spinning his body clockwise, the krell unleashed a whirlwind of energy blasting both Nel and Yuki away.

“Fools.” Shanks said as he banged his spear on the ground. “What. Do you seek. To achieve! Do you intend. To kill me?!”

“That’s part of it,” Bec said as he helped Yuki get back to his feet. “But we’re also hoping to distract you while our friend over there blows up the rest of your fleet.”

Slowly, Shanks looked over his shoulder. At the edge of the platform, Markus had morphed his left arm into a rail gun. Before the krell could even respond, the cyborg fired. The long beam traveled to the collection of capsules where the wires converged. A large explosion followed as the eather detonated. The same chain reaction occurred as one by one the other half of the fleet began to detonate.

Shanks roared with rage, charging towards Markus with his spear raised. The cyborg quickly turned, his right arm morphing into a large chainsaw blade. The weapon slammed into Shanks’s exposed right flank, sawing off his lower right arm while grinding against the krell’s armor. He was then forced away, skidding across the ground before falling down a gap.

“Target destroyed,” Markus said as both his arms morphed back to their original form.

“Shanks… defeated,” Th’lak said with disbelief.

“Sure hope so…” Yuki groaned. He looked out onto the fleet nestled within the chasm, now nothing more than a sea of flames as the ships continued to detonate. “The hell’d you do?” He asked Markus.

“I targeted the eather reactor that supplies energy to the ships. What you see is a result of a catastrophic eather overload that is currently destroying everything the reactor was connected to.”

Yuki looked sideways at Markus. Bec put a hand to the swordsman’s shoulder.

“Don’t expect any simple answers from this guy,”

“Now what?” Nel asked.

“We must leave as soon as possible,” Markus said. “The ravengers will not sit ideally to allow us to escape.”

“Way ahead of you.” Bec pointed to a phantom that was getting closer. Yuki and Markus both stood at the ready.

“Heyyyyy!” Max’s voice could be heard. In the open door, the salamander could be seen along with the rest of the party.

“Looks like they made it out,” Nel said, folding her arms.

“Escape,” Th’lak said.

“Ha, nice going.” Yuki chuckled.

All of a sudden, the ghost began to flutter, shaking in front of Th’lak. The ravenger himself looked shocked.

“Bad news?” Bec asked, readying his hand cannon.

“Back.” Th’lak scuttled to the edge waving his arms as the phantom got closer. “Back!”

Whatever warning he was giving was too late. For a layer below, Shanks, wounded and damaged, pounced. With mist trailing in his wake, the enraged Krell sored over to the phantom, stabbing his spear into the front of the ship.

*****

“WHAAA!” Otto squealed as a spear’s tip suddenly burst through the roof, coming close to skewering him.

“Otto!” Larek yelled.

“Why can’t we catch a break here?!” Dale yelled.

****

Hissing, Shanks turned to look at the startled group. His spear was embedded deep into the phantom and his intention was clear.

“Not good. He’s going to bring it down!” Nel yelled.

“Stubborn son of a bitch,” Yuki growled.

“.... Do not wait for me,” Markus said. Light shimmered at the souls of his feet. Flames bellowed, sending the cyborg flying like a rocket, straight into the krell, freeing him from the phantom. As the afterburners gave out, both plummeted to the ground. Markus pushed himself away from Shanks, giving his afterburners another blast. He slowed his fall, slowing his landing on a damaged cruiser. Shanks had slammed into the hull, creating a large dent. Once the shock wore off, the krell pushed himself up, steadying himself on his spear looking down on his foe.

“Pay! You will!” He hissed, slamming his spear into the ground.

Markus morphed his right hand into his chain gun. “Removing eather drive LV 1 restriction.” Steam erupted from his back as two cylinders ejected, glowing blue before retracting.

*****

“Markus!” Melvin called out from the side of the phantom.

Cliff and Mirage helped Nel, Yuki, Bec and Th’lak onto the craft. There was some confusion over their ravenger passenger.

“Otto, bring us down!” Bec called out. “Hover just out of range of the krell and be ready to pick up Markus.”

“I’m gonna jump down to help him!” Max announced before being held back by both Cliff and Nel.

“Don’t be dumb! Even you can’t get out of a fall from this height without breaking something!” Cliff snapped.

“Relax kid,” Bec came up beside Cliff looking down. “Against a half-dead krell with no one around, this’ll be a one-sided slaughter.”

****

Shanks launched at Markus before he could fire his chain gun. The cyborg however ignited his feet rockets, propelling him across the ground, dodging Shanks’s attack, putting distance between him and the krell before firing a volley. Unlike before, the chain gun fired in shorter bursts, yet each hit penetrated deeper into the krells taxed armor.

Ignoring the damage, Shanks lunged at Markus once again, his body shimmering with mist. Markus dodged again, circling clockwise while morphing his right arm into a chain saw. Shanks turned to face him, clashing his spear against Markus’s new weapon. The spear tip pressed against the rotating blades, showering the cyborg in sparks. The ravenger was the first to break the engagement, withdrawing his weapon before thrusting it again at Markus, who caught it with his left hand. Now locked, Markus pulled back his right hand, clenched it into a fist, burst an afterburner from the elbow, sending his fist colliding with Shanks’s helm. The impact hit with such force it created a loud ring as the krell was sent flying backward.

Slowly, the krell raised himself up, his helmet cracked on the right side revealing four shimmering blue eyes. Discarding the spear still in his hand, Markus brought his cannon to bear. Shanks dodged one-shot, pounding on all seven remaining limbs. Markus took another shot but missed again. Now closing the distance, Shanks drew two sabers from his back before leaping on Markus who threw out a barrier. The blades pierced through the veil of light. Markus raised his still morphed left arm, letting both blades sink through the metal. Morphing his right arm into a chain gun, Markus fired point-blank range. After two bursts, an explosion finally forced Shanks off. The krell staggered backward, smoke rising from the damaged armor, leaking with both fluid from the suite and blue blood. With a furious roar, the krell charged towards Markus again, leaving behind a misty trail. After a burst from his chain gun that missed, Markus dodged a powerful downwards swing with his feet boaters, turning sharply slamming a fist into the krells back. Shanks recovered and charged in once more. Markus raised his left hand, taking a blade through the metal while another jammed into his right shoulder blade.

With his right arm morphed into a chain sword, Markus plunged it in, finally breaching the armour, sawing through both flesh, augments before erupting from the back.

As the hue began to vanish, the grip on his sabers lessening, the light in his eyes vanishing, Shanks the pillager fell from Markus, landing on the deck before sliding off into the inferno.

Red lights emitted from Markus. Steam erupted from every joint. With a groan, Markus fell to one knee. He examined the damage to his body. Fortunately, nothing was seriously damaged.

Suddenly, the starboard side of the cruiser began to slide. Markus almost fell, regaining his balance in time. The flames below had grown more intense. The warships were beyond saving, with many consumed in flames, toppling over in pieces to the ground below.

I need to escape…

“Hey!”

A lone phantom began to circle the cyborg. All of Markus’s companions were inside waving at him. It attempted to get closer but was peppered by shots from below. Even amidst the desolation and loss of their patriarch, the ravengers continued to fight, determined to destroy them.

“Stay back!” Markus yelled. “I should have enough eather….” he activated his afterburners on his feet, launching him off the ship towards the phantom. He was nearly there before they gave out. He reached for the door but missed by a few inches. Before he could fall, Max and Cliff both grabbed ahold of his outstretched metal hand, almost falling themselves.

“Holy crap he’s heavy…” Max muttered.

“L-Little help!” Cliff called. Mirage grabbed hold of Cliff. Nel and Yuki grabbed Max and pulled with them.

“Come on you… metal bastard…”

As Markus was slowly lifted up, the cyborg reached out and grabbed the edge of the phantom. With more effort, Markus forced himself into the cabin.

“Okay! Get us outta here!” Bec yelled.

“Way ahead of you!” Otto replied.

As Markus was pulled in, the phantom began to turn before flying away. A rocket from a skar struck it in the rear. Despite the damage, the ship flew upwards through a hole in the rock, passing my more ravenger structures before flying out of the hole, greeted by a shade of amber illuminating the night sky.

Dawn had come, bathing the phantom in the fresh glow of the artificial sun as it cleared the valleys before losing altitude, crashing into the trash heap once more.