The Decapitator’s
Hunt
I woke up
on the ground, a cold sweat adorning my forehead. I glanced around for a
moment, a few pairs of feet in front of me with one person… I think it was Lina
who was speaking with a worried expression. My ears were ringing, leaving me
unable to hear anything that they were saying. I knew that Lina was speaking,
but I was unsure about the others.
Through
sheer will, I reached up to grab hold of the nearest thing, which happened to
be an armored hand. I think it was Arlissa and my assumption was shown to be
correct as she pulled me up to my feet. I sadly couldn’t read lips, so I simply
spoke. “He’s coming. The Decapitator… Mandrake… He’s here.” I stated, the woman’s
eyebrows raising up in surprise as she seemed to recognize the title.
They moved
me over to the bed and, after a few moments, I eventually settled down. We
spoke for a time, but after they pushed my worries off to the side, we came up
with a plan to transfer the contents of their ship to our own and then move to
one of the worlds. It didn’t take long and, with the help of my crew, it was
completed very quickly. During the visit, we picked up a few partial STCs that
still seemed to be functioning… Aka, mini-factories and blueprints, along with
a Vivisection Gage, which I gave to Lina… and the Pleician Tome, which I gave
to Fia as she would have the best chance of understand it. With time, of
course.
As we were
climbing back onto the ship, having had to camp out for a few hours to let the
Void Kraken pass by, I felt a sudden, heavy chill fill the air. It was quite
dark, the black star hidden away by the very planet we were on and the only
light being that from my own ship and the embers of the fire we had made. I
didn’t realize it until I heard Cierra call out ‘Duck, Tadek!’, the Sister of
Battle rushing forward with her chainsword in hand. I ducked just in time to
avoid the sweep of a large cleaver.
Arlissa grabbed
me with one hand and tossed me off to the far side, toward the other three
Sisters as she attacked what appeared to be a humanoid figure. I could only see
it by the glowing, green tattoos that adorned it’s body, a few rather sadistic
giggles coming from it’s general direction as if it was a butcher going to the
slaughter.
The cry of
the chainsword filled the air as they began to attack one another, Arlissa’s
power armor protecting her as the mandrake ducked and evaded her attacks, the
cleaver gleaming in the light with every swing. It moved it’s weapon from one
hand to another, going around in wide circles in such a manner that it was
difficult to tell where it might come from at any given time.
Just as the
being had arrived, it vanished without warning. “Get to the ship!” I called
out, followed soon by the other three and, of course, Arlissa took heed. We all
retreated toward the ship, which was thankfully a short distance away. I was in
the back, the mandrake appearing in front of me and, in an instant it slammed
the extended point of it’s cleaver into my shoulder, my armor managing to stop
the rest of it’s… his… weapon, but that did not help as he simply jumped and
grabbed Fia in-between his legs, his other two arms reaching out to grab the
other two Sisters by their necks and, in one quick motion, spun and brought his
limbs in close.
I cried out
in agony as the extension turned and duck further into my body, forcibly
pulling me along as the others were slammed into one another, the audible
sounds of their unprotected heads bashing into each other like coconuts while I
went to the ground, going over onto my back with a thud and a cloud of dust.
The
mandrake TORE his sword out, hooking it before pulling it out with a sharp
twist, tearing tendons and muscle as he went that happened to be on the outer
portion of my shoulder. With a flourish of his blade, he brought it up high and
then down like a guillotine toward my neck.
Just as I
thought that I was dead, sparks filled my sight as a chainsword came into view.
Arlissa apparently saved my ass a second time today, if not a third. ‘Come
then, Daemon! Fight someone who knows the Emperor is behind her every swing!’
She called out and forced the blade back, following up with a sharp jab toward
the mandrake’s jaw. Her armored fist slammed into him, but he simply pulled
back, rolling with the punch and brought his blade around toward her neck.
I moved to
climb back up to my feet, watching as she parried the strike and moved to riposte,
the mandrake turning to the side and attempted to grab her neck with one of his
hands, a second following up just after the first at a farther distance than
the first on purpose. The Celestian pulled back to dodge the first, unaware of
the second as her poor depth perception and having only one eye practically hid
it from view.
With a
quick snap motion, I drew my pistol, having lost my plasma gun when I fell, and
shot toward the mandrake, just barely able to see him from my current position
as his fingers closed around her throat and a third hand reached to grab the
wrist of her weapon hand. The three bullets that I shot missed as he turned and
physically lifted Arlissa over his head, using her armored body to protect him…
I should have seen that coming… and slammed her into the ground.
To make a
point, he brought his foot down onto head with a sickening crunch… I couldn’t
see where he hit, specifically, but no matter where that could not have been
good as her body went limp. He turned toward me, my gaze turning toward the
other three Sisters that were just now starting to stir even a hint. He was
after me, more than likely. The mental image, the fact he went after me first
when there was a bigger threat. With that knowledge, I turned and sprinted off
toward the wreckage of a large ship that we had cleared out to try and draw him
away.
With a loud
crash, I slammed into a torn portion of the hull and forced my way inside,
stumbling all the way before running into a pipe. I continued on and moved
through the ship as quickly as I could. I knew as soon as I was forced to duck
under the quick swing of a large cleaver that he had took the bait. I continued
on through the ship, evading attacks as I went by just a hair and, more often
than not, that was much more literal as the top of my head was cut down to the
length I kept it back home on all sides, my ears nicked and bleeding in quite a
few places along with a few scratches along my neck and cheeks.
It wasn’t
until he went for my legs, the hook in his sword slamming into my leg, just
below the middle of the thigh where my own momentum led to it tearing into my
muscle and through the right side. The metal creaked and gave way as my weight
hit it, breaking away and leaving me to fall to the cargo hold that was hidden
away by years of dust and sand. I laid there, one of my hands grabbing at my
thigh while the other pulled me forward.
The pain
was agonizing, my blood leaving a trail that he could easily follow. Now that I
was crippled, he even appeared, giggling as he slowly followed along… Savoring
it. He was savoring his final kill. I slowly pulled myself up close to a bench,
turning and curling back up against the piece of metal that just hanged on the
wall to look toward him. “Shit… Not how I thought I would die… The one time I
didn’t just fight.”
In defiance,
I reached for my pistol, but only came to realize that I dropped it when I
fell, so… I simply reached back underneath the bench to try and find something.
Anything. Just anything to try and take this monster with me. My hands closed
around a handle, one finger locking around a trigger of sorts. Well, better
than I thought I would get… Damned convenient.
Thinking it
was a gun, I waited till he was close and started to raise his blade up for the
finishing blow before quickly bringing it out and pulling the trigger. Instead
of a bang and him dropping, he jumped back quickly to avoid the rolling coils
of a chainsword. It was pitch black, even the teeth that barely gleamed in the
light that came from the mandrake’s body. “Not convenient enough… but, I will
take it.” I muttered as I set the chainsword down on the tip and forced myself
up to my feet. “Fucking convenient for you, though, heh… I am already wounded
and you’re just letting me monologue. Going to work for your final head?!”
I turned to
face him and hefted the chainsword up so that I could wrap both my hands around
the handle, one of my thumbs coming to find a switch. With a quick flick of my
thumb, the teeth of the chainsword lit up along the edges, small sparks of
electricity arcing across. “Well then? Any words?” He replied with a small flourish,
positioning his blade up high with two hands while the other arms readied
themselves. “Right… Well, as a friend of mine said… I came into this world
kicking, screaming, and covered in blood… and I will go out just the same!”
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