Ch. 16 Rescue in the Ruins

[Jet]

Despite being a fresh recruit to the resistance, Jody was transported into the forest alongside who she assumed would become her squad for the foreseeable future. She was surprised by how many of them had fought in the arena and how well they had done. They were so experienced, so far beyond her that she wondered if she'd just slow them down. Her weapons were laughably primitive, a short metal sword and a crudely cut steel shield. A step up from the trash can lid, but it certainly wouldn't hold up against the lazer weaponry that came standard issue to Neo Arcadian infantry.

But mingled with her fears and apprehension were new feelings. Curiosity. Excitement. Wonder. All Jody had ever known were the slums of Neo Arcadia. Who knew that such a vibrant, albeit mechanical jungle lay within Neo Arcadia's boundaries? She'd never been allowed beyond the slums, where she tried to keep a low profile and just survive one day at a time. This job was undoubtedly dangerous, but at least she'd get to see the world before she died. And it wouldn't be alone.

She was shaken from her thoughts by a swarm of robotic bees. Her group opened fire, destroying several, but they kept coming. One had targeted her, Jody raised her shield at the last moment to protect herself, but the mechanical bee's stinger punched through the shield like paper. Jody shrieked in surprise and the bee buzzed angrily, apparently stuck on the shield it had impaled. Jody raised the sword in her other hand and sliced the bee in half through the abdomen, which apparently triggered a detonation. The bee exploded with the force of a small bomb, further fragmenting the shield and throwing Jody backward into the trunk of a tree.

Fortunately her allied had fared better, fighting through the swarm and destroying the hive that had been the source of the bees. The group advanced through the jungle, with some of the allies scouting ahead through the air and through the trees. many of them were exhausted after the fighting in the arena, and despite her handicaps when it came to armor and weapons, physically she was in better condition than many of the resistance forces present. As they headed toward a rocky patch of the forest hoping to find more resistance soldiers, the enemy activity picked up. More bees, and a couple green pantheons here and there, crawling stealthily down from the tree tops. They moved so quietly that one almost got the drop on Jody, it pushed off from the tree trunk and launched itself at her exposed backside, but it was shot out of the air by one of her allies, she didn't know which one.

Meanwhile, someone had started a fire, clearing away foliage and unexpectedly revealing traps. A mechanical venus fly trap of unusual size, it could easily snap off her head, Jody knew, if she let it. It lunged at her with incredible speed, snapping its jaws shut powerfully, but fortunately it wasn't quite within striking range. Then surprisingly, a human boy came to stand alongside her and unleashed a gale of wind at the plant. It didn't appear to damage it, however, the wind forced its jaws up, allowing Jody to dart underneath it and sever the stem from its roots. No doubt there would be more plant traps before they reached their destination, Jody decided she'd stay close to her allies so they could watch out for one another.

Immediately after this a squad of pantheons emerged from the forest bearing sturdy golden shields and powerful spiked flails. The gunman fired a few shots and backed up. A chain rod snaked out of the trees, snagging one of the shields and ripping it upward. The other flails thudded against the tree, felling it and knocking the blond haired resistance member to the forest floor. Jody wanted to defend him, but she looked with disgust at her fractured shield, it wouldn't hold up against those flails. But then she saw something that would. Jody flung her battered shield aside and rushed over to Rai, where she picked up the golden shield he had brought down with him.

"I'm going to borrow this," she said quietly, more to herself than to Rai, and raised the shield up to rebuff the oncoming flails. She felt the heavy impact batter against the shield. When it fell harmlessly at her feet she stepped on the chain link and sliced it apart, leaving one of the attackers with only a shortened chain to work with.

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Elpizo was monitoring the group's progress, they'd sent back two members of Isos and Pasos' squads. One of them had succumbed to his injuries and died moments after he transferred back in. The other was alive and well but Elpizo was furious with his cowardliness and for blurting out information about the Baby Elves and the true purpose of their mission. For the time being the soldier had been shut up in a med bay, but at the rate the mission was unraveling, the loud mouth probably couldn't make the situation much worse. There would be a fallout, Elpizo didn't know to what degree, but he'd deal with it when it happened. Right now only the mission mattered. Time was short and they still needed to raze the outpost before they could reach the ruins. And even now, Elpizo knew Neo Arcadia was scrambling reinforcements. Once they arrived any hope of escape would be lost.