Happy Friday, it’s ya boy Choujin, the guy who writes, writes and never lets up.
Today’s another fan-work friday and now we’re sharing Chapter 2 of my Slayer of Foultongues story.
If you want to see the story, click here to see the last chapter .
Last time on Slayer of Foultongues…
Bit, A Kiralin wanderer, found himself on Bindi X due to an Acheronite Blockade. He intervenes to save Maria, a Lizard Augment from a band of Acheronites that were after her. However, the Acheronites sent small group of their troops to find out what happened to the group. Suddenly Finely and a group of terrans took this as a chance to attack the Acheronite group, leading Bit into a current situation.
And Now the Conclusion
Slayer of Foultongues: Chapter 2
Written by TheChoujinVirus
Bit ran to cover as the town erupted into chaos with Acheronites and townsfolk in an all-out war. The Kiralin firing shots at the acheronites from his cover, felling two attackers but missing the others as they took cover too. Maria was taking shots from the same shelter Bit was at as she fires with a rifle she picked up from one of the townsfolk killed in battle. Finley, still on the upper floor of a nearby building, used one of his grenades and threw it at a group of Acheronites hiding in an alleyway. Finley’s smirks as he watches that group flee the projectile all while getting picked off by Maria and her cohorts. Maria notices that Bit has stopped firing his gun.
“Why did you stop firing now?” the lizard augment yelled, weapon fire making it hard for her to speak.
Bit replied back, yelling like Maria “I need to reload my gun and I’m looking for their leader.” He scanned the battlefield from behind his cover as he noticed the APC in the area. Positioned to where it was serving as a makeshift barrier for some of the soldiers while blocking off the road out of town.
Inside, the leader of the attack group was furious at the degrading situation as she told the soldiers “Gah! These blasted humans! How can one Kiralin embolden them so easily?!”
“We need to call for reinforcements,” one of the soldiers informed.
“Better yet, use this vehicle’s main weapon,” the leader stated.
They obeyed their order as they activated the APC’s cannon.
Meanwhile, back outside, Bit noticed the APC and asked Maria “What is that vehicle?”
“It’s a Terran Federation Armored Personnel Carrier, Bulldog class,” a townsperson said from an adjacent cover near Bit, “It’s armored to repel small arms fire and armed with a Gorgon class anti-barricade cannon.”
“Armored huh?” Bit stated but was forced from his cover by Maria as the Acheronites fired the cannon. Their cover reduced to blown pieces of metal and stone, surprising the Kiralin gunman of what power that cannon has. He quickly ran for new cover as he turned to his gun.
“Piercing shot.”
The gun began to make some clicking noises as Bit started opening fire on the vehicle. Maria and another townsfolk saw the bullets punch a hole through the interior of the occupied APC. One of them felled, struck her in the head while the other crippled by a shot in the shoulder. The Leader quickly took control of the APC’s cannon as Bit aimed again. He fired again as the bullet left his gun in a brilliant flash, flying through the air like a silent angel of death and entering below the hinge of the Gorgon cannon before striking the leader through her neck. Her panicked motions caused one of her arms to brush up against the vehicle’s controls. The Acheronites using the vehicle as cover found that their cover was moving away from then then crashing into one of the buildings.
The remaining Acheronites were either routed or retreated to safety; Bit sighed as Maria looked at him with surprise and amusement.
“Damn, you took down an APC. Those things are heavily armored to hell, how did you make short work of it.”
“I’m just as surprised myself,” Bit explained “It shouldn’t have happened, but…even a cockroach can still die.
Finley, who was behind Bit and Maria, said to the two, “There’s no way that gun of yours could have done that…”
“It can,” Bit said
“Well, do you think they’ll learn of our uprising??” Maria asked.
“Probably,” Finley replied “Acheronites aren’t the kind to fold upon one fight”
—————————————————————————————————————————————–
News of this sudden uprising spread to the orbiting Acheronite Cruiser, the Vigilance. Orda, a tall and powerful class of Acheronite known as an Amazon, was on her way toward the quarters of their leader, the one overseeing the occupation of Bindi X. Her silver and bronze armor served as much as a badge of honor among the Acheronite Soldiers as they saluted or moved out of her way. She arrived at her destination: which was a large room resembling an exotic zen garden. An acheronite with large dragon-like wings, two sets of arms and dressed in a billowing robe would be meditating in this sanctuary.
“What do you have to report, Orda?” the robed acheronite looked at the Amazon at the entrance
“Our troops retreated out of sector Ortega nine.” Orda reported.
“Is that possible? I thought we had control of the planet? How can we be having trouble?”
“We’re enduring small pockets of resistance, but it shouldn’t be any-,” Orda said. The robed Acheronite then interrupts her.
“Small pockets?” the robed Acheronite said. “Orda, I gave specific orders for you to ensure the troops kept this planet under control.”
“Yes, Priestess, but-“
Orda saw the robed Acheronite stand up and heading toward her with fury and anger.
“How can we save them if we can’t control these…jii’alks!” The priestess fumed.
“We’re on it..but we believe they’ve been motivated…by a Kiralin” the Amazon explained, “They reported he took down three soldiers and was able to defeat Field Captain Esvesta….”
The Priestess looked at Orda with concern, “A Kiralin? Here? I thought they were staying out of our war with the Terrans?”
“It seems so, but…” Orda looked down.
“But what?”
“one of the soldiers reported that he had some unique firearm on him,” Orda stated.
“a gun?” The Priestess’s face grew confused “just one weapon?”
“yes, Priestess,” Orda stated.
She looked at her Amazon companion then headed toward the door out of the Zen Garden, “Inform my mother that we need more reinforcements, and call an old friend of mine…”
“Yes, Priestess,” Orda said.
The amazon politely bowed before leaving the priestess alone. Said priestess began to rest her fingers under her jaw, pondering about as she wondered about the firearm. She only heard rumors, but this may confirm something her people wanted.
——————————————————————————————————————————————
Night crept upon the now battered town as the townsfolk began to rally at the sizeable local building most refer to the “Community Center.” The Center was filled to the brim as everyone started to contemplate about the inevitable.
“…you know they’ll be coming down here with greater numbers.”
“What do we do?”
“Should we run or fight?”
Bit quietly watched the whole ordeal unfold as the barkeep yelled: “SHUT UP!” Like obedient dogs, everyone turned and quietly listened to the barkeep.
“Now, I know what happened was something of a surprise. We managed to chase those Acheronites out of the area. However, we know that they won’t be beaten that easily. They will be back, with greater numbers. They’ll keep coming here until we’re overrun should we stay and fight”
“So what do we do?” Maria asked, “Where do we run or flee to?”
“We’ll head to Neo Austin,” Finley said. On cue, the group looked at the African American like he was crazy as hell.
“are you nuts?! That place is under total control by the Acheronites!” one person stated.
“You’re proposing we go marching into enemy lines and expect them to give mercy?”, a female townsperson yelled at Finn.
“It’s better than heading to the Mother Lode Quarry, where they have their best troops there. Also, we got our savior over there.”
Finley motioned to Bit, who remained quiet but stoic as he felt dragged into this conflict.
“Hey now! I’m no soldier,” Bit stated to the group “I was dragged into this conflict, alright! I’m not here for your rebellion or such.”
“What!? You’re going to leave us here!” Maria said shocked.
Finley looked at Bit and replied “You might not have been, but you killed their squad leader and pushed back their attackers. They won’t tolerate this little turn of events and will go out of their way to kill you.”
“and getting off-world is impossible thanks to their ships in orbit,” The barkeep said.
Bit hated to admit this, but Finley was right. He did kill three soldiers and took out their squad leader. He was more or less a dead man, but he would ask Finley a question “So what is your plan? It seems everyone’s terrified of Neo Austin.”
“The Acheronites occupy it, but most of them are soldiers and their wet nurses. Nothing out of the ordinary in that area”, Finley stated.
“but what about the people? What are you going to do?” Bit asked.
“We’ll start a caravan,” Finley stated.
“A convoy?! We’ll be sitting ducks!” one villager said in fear.
“They’re right” Bit agreed “These people aren’t soldiers.”
The barkeep stepped up, “Why not Smuggler’s Gorge?”
“Smuggler’s Gorge?” Bit asked.
“It’s an area out of the way. Small enough that most people don’t know exists. It’ll be a perfect place for the civilians to hide.”
Bit was amazed that the people knew their planet, as he was just an alien (no pun intended) to this world.
“Smart girl,” Finley complimented “and I know some of the guys here who are willing to fight.”
The group agreed as they looked at Finley then back at Bit over the situation on what to do next.
“So when do we move?” Bit asked Finley.
Finley cracked a smile at the Kiralin, “We started yesterday.”
Everyone began to start packing essentials aboard large vehicles resembling hover freight trucks. Civilians were quickly gathering their belongings, weapons, and essentials from whatever they can as several volunteers armed with firearms keep an eye out for the group to ensure the Acheronites weren’t arriving.
Bit watched, studying how these humans, despite all their odds, are helping each other. He heard stories as a child about the tale of early humans and how their “warlike nature.” To him, he was surprised about their communal nature in helping their own.
If it weren’t for the current situation, he would have asked Finley more about humanity more academically and casually. However, he turned toward Maria, who was getting her hover bike revved and ready with a question on his mind.
“Care to explain more about Smuggler’s Gorge?”, Bit asked.
“Just an old mining area,” Maria said, “when the mining colony was in the initial phases of setting up, Smuggler’s Gorge was the first mining area. Then when we discovered the Mother Lode, the place more or less became a place teens and the degenerate hang out.”
Bit listened and nodded quietly to Maria’s story; he never knew that a human teenager’s hangout spot would be survival for these people. Once the last of the supplies were packed, and the last person got on, the convoy left their small town. Should the Acheronites arrive at this area, they would only find a deserted ghost town devoid of life. By the next day, the convoy stopped in an arid cracked desert-like badlands nicknamed Satan’s Nook due to the harshness of the area. The drivers needed a break as well as the townsfolk, as they need to stretch, eat and tend other needs. Bit was with the heavily built African-American human on lookout duty. Both kept an eye out to ensure no Acheronite patrols found the convoy. As Bit was cleaning his weapon, Finley started a conversation with the Kiralin.
“In all my years here on Bindi X, I’ve never seen a weapon like yours,” Finley said, admiring Bit’s weapon, “What company manufactured it? Razzo Arms? Hugo? Kami-Tek?”
The Kiralin replied back, “It’s neither Rissan, Human or third party made. Manufactured back on the homeworld.” Bit then continued to show off his gun to Finley but keeping the gun safely in his hand as he continued to explain the gun.
“She’s a Mjolnir Magnum, a Class VI weapon by Division 9 standards. Multiple firing capabilities, the perfect all-around handgun for your Kiralin soldier. Also comes with a built-in security system that will burn a thief’s hand off should they steal it. Durable enough to withstand any abuse thrown at it.”
Finley looked dumbfounded at Bit’s description of his gun, “Shoot, what can’t that thing do? Make French fries?”
“It can’t create complex explosives like bombs or grenades,” Bit stated, “but I heard that some third-party manufacturer had modified some makeshift mine dispenser for the gun.”
“Interesting,” Finley said. Their conversation had to end as the human noticed something on the horizon.
“Aw, crap!” Finley cursed, “looks like they’re on the move.”
Bit noticed as well, “We best get the caravan moving then.”
With that, the two of headed back to the caravan and notified the group. Some protested as they didn’t get the chance to relax enough.
“We have to go? But my kid needs to use the bathroom!”
“Some of us are still hungry!”
“Listen! Finley stated that the Acheronites are patrolling so we need to get moving!” the barkeep stated. He was more or less the head of the private caravan for the time being. With enough prodding, the convoy continued on its way to Smuggler’s Gorge.
The small Acheronite scouting force was scouting about the area, providing the recon against any resistance. One of them spotted the convoy on the horizon and reported to her superiors via commlink.
“Recon to 25th, enemy convoy detected,” she said.
On cue, a group of 3 alien fighters with insect-like wings began flying over the recon squad and headed toward the convoy.
“Be advised, current status on enemy is unknown. Do not open fire unless needed”, said another pilot.
Bit, riding backseat on the hovercycle Maria was riding as one of the Acheronite fighters buzzed the convoy . Maria nearly caused the bike to tumble due to the shock while one of the drivers of the convoy also panicked.
“Shit! They found us!” he yelled on the radio. Bit looked up as the fighters turning back toward the convoy.
“25th to recon, confirm enemy convoy may have armed escorts.” The pilot said on the radio, “proceeding with attack run.”
The fighters opened fire and took out one of the convoy vehicles, flying debris smashing into another one as Finley’s voice is heard on the raido.
“Damnit! We don’t have any means of killing their air superiority! Bit, find a way of fixing the issue.”
“Can’t do that” The Kiralin replied, “The Magnum’s not equipped to deal with moving armored targets.”
“Great, we’re sitting ducks out here!”
The lizard augment noticed a raging sandstorm in the distance, “Hey! Let’s head in there.”
“Are you crazy? That sandstorm will flay us alive,” Bit said in concern.
“That’s the point,” Maria reassured, “Those Acheronites would be crazy enough to try it.”
The convoy made a B-line right into the sandstorm, all while the three fighters picked off another convoy transport. Once they got inside, the fighters had no choice but to back out and retreat. Inside the sandstorm, Bit felt the sheer winds whipping his face hard. He has never had to deal with sandstorms, especially ones on Bindi X.
“Any convoys lost?” Finley asked on the radio.
“we lost three to them..” The Barkeep said, “One of the convoys had children.”
“Damnit! Are we near Smuggler’s Gorge?” Finley asked.
“Should be a good mile and a half until we get there,” said the barkeep, “Once there, we shouldn’t have any problems whatsoever.”
Bit overheard the conversation the best he could and realized that they were not expecting that level of an ambush.
Eventually, they would arrive at an old, abandoned mining quarry. Bit looked around as the convoys began to unload the survivors and supplies. Everyone was doing a headcount of who was here, and some were giving condolences to those lost. Bit was curious at what was going on as he asked Maria.
“You humans are an odd lot. I’ve never understood why you would risk everything to resettle here, especially after what just happened.”
“We have something aliens like the Acheronites don’t have or understand: The Human Will to fight,” Maria boasted before snorting in laughter, “That’s what Finley would say, but I’m as clueless as you are.”
Bit remained quiet as Maria headed out to help unload the supplies. All he did was look up to the sky, ensuring the Acheronites didn’t follow them.
“Air Support….shit.,” he said to himself “It’ll be difficult to deal with them
**************************
Back at Satan’s Nook, the scout force that intercepted the area began to inspect the wreckage of the convoy. The lot of them mortified at their discovery.
“Children?! There were Children here?!” an Acheronite scout growled.
“The reports claimed the same forces from quadrant Ortega. The Pilots reported that this was a military convoy before they retreated into the sandstorm,” the second scout explained.
“Orda’s getting blind if we’re shooting children,” The first scout angrily stated “I want to know who ordered the attack?!”
“I agree, but I feel that our priestess is becoming weird and obsessed as of late. As though she’s becoming mad,” The other scout spoke, “Her madness is not going well with troop morale or order-“
Her partner hushed her “shhh! What would Orda or our superiors hear you?! They won’t tolerate this.”
The second scout sighed as she started to feel this was becoming more than just an occupation.
————————————————————————————————————————————-
Nighttime crept up to Smuggler’s Gorge, as the remaining survivors managed to set up for the time being. The Civilians were either doing some basic drills or chatting with each other. Finley headed to Maria with a flask of alcohol.
“Here,” he offered Maria, “I’m sure you need it.”
Maria, too young to drink alcohol, decided it was the only time she could get the chance. Taking a quick swig, she nearly spat out the alcohol.
“Gah! This drink tastes like piss!” she complained to Finley
“Welcome to the world of alcohol, missy,” Finley replied, “Though I thought you augments had a stronger taste.”
“I’m part lizard you black douchebag! My taste buds are much more sensitive than others,” Maria replied, “It’s like snorting beer up your nows.”
“Well then, sorry princess,” Finley apologized before heading back toward a different group. Bit was watching the whole thing as he asked Maria.
“Not a beer drinker?”
“I don’t mind beer, just Finley’s shit tastes like piss,” Maria replied
“I see…” Bit stated.
“Why? Do they have beer in your world?” Maria asked
“on Alderyr? Never really did drink the stuff, I assumed all earthborn love to drink it,” Bit explained
“Hey! I’m no earthborn augment, got it?” Maria scolded Bit “I’m a Frontier born girl, not a Federation one.”
Bit only smirked, “I can see why the barkeep keeps your attitude in check.”
“Yeah well…sometimes I got a mouth, and the old guys gotta keep me from snapping off at people. We’re at war with the Acheronites; we got a Kiralin who happens to arrive on Bindi X while the Federation fleet is probably fighting near the border of Federation Space. Of course, I have to have that stubborn attitude. ”
“Sounds harsh,” Bit interjected
“Hey, we’re on our own here. Until we can retake our home, we’re stuck with what we got,” Maria replied back. “That’s what we have.”
“we?” Bit looked puzzled
“us! Humanity! We have a never give up attitude that got us out of 3 world wars, several conflicts, colonization and outright survival. We never say die, and we never stop,” Maria continued.
Bit nodded as he then began to ask several questions about humans as a whole and what they did. Not all Kiralins learned about human history and how it led to the rise of the Terran Federation. It was a respite for the time being for another event to happen.
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