Hey… So I realized that when trying to copy and paste this series from my word document I had made a big mistake. That I mixed up chapter 3 and 4 sections. To make it up I will be posting those chapters in their entirety with Chapter 4 todayAfter that. The sections will continue as normal with chapter 5 tomorrow.
I apologize again. Now, enjoy the chapter in full!
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Class 4 – Anisian Assault
Period 1
Hinotomi furiously typed away on her laptop. She had a handful of windows and tabs open. In one window played the live video of the hostage situation unfolding just a football field away, in another window was a video editor, and in a third window sat the hacked in code of the news station’s website. She was robotically cutting and pasting the live news footage into the video editor.
Damon closed the back doors of the van and locked it and booted up his laptop then took the seat behind her. “Send me what you have, and I can help edit this,” he said.
“You got it,” Hinotomi said. She sent the files she had to Damon, and they split the workload. She would continue to send and update the video editor with the live footage while added as many distorting and damaging filters he could find on the editing software. Hinotomi’s phone rang. “Hello?”
“I just opened the video,” Jerry said. “I can’t believe this.”
“Neither can we,” Damon yelled.
“What are you guys doing now?” Jerry asked.
“We are covering up the raptors the best we can by adding distortion filters to the footage in order to make it grainy,” Hinotomi said. “We are still sending you the normal live footage but will patch in this to all news outlets.”
“Good,” Jerry said. “We do have a problem.”
“What’s that?” Damon asked. He rolled over next to Hinotomi and leaned over the phone.
“The team, and our contact with the DOD want some better footage than just public news station video.”
“What do you suggest we do Jerr?” Damon asked.
“Do you still have the drone?”
Damon and Hinotomi both looked at each other with surprise. “Ahh well,” Hinotomi began.
“Let me check,” Damon said. He got up and went over to a box near the front of the van. He unlocked it and removed a black drone. It was as wide as the top of a nightstand, with four propellers on each side, and cameras along the bottom. “We got it,” Damon said. He waved it in the air.
“We have it, sir,” Hinotomi repeated.
“Good,” Jerry said. “Start that up, have it send me live video to give to the military to as evidence f our progress, and for the rest of the team to look at what they can tweak and improve as we go along.”
Damon rolled back over, with the drone sat on his lap. “Sounds good Jerr,” he said. “There is just one problem all this news footage editing won’t solve.”
“I have that handled,” Jerry said. “I put in a call to our DOD guys, and they should have the military on the way to clear up any confusion of what happened.”
“Good,” Damon said unsure. Hinotomi winced her face. “Good,” he said again with more resolve.
“Great. Get me that video,” Jerry said, then hung up.
Damon leaned back in his chair. He felt Hinotomi’s conflicted mixture of sadness, and anger of what they were doing fill the room. She pulled her shoulders in and bounced her leg up and down like it was in an earthquake. “I know,” Damon preemptively said. He rubbed her back. “We just have to do this until Dieous is complete and can be mass-produced for others to use.”
She looked back over at her screen with a hunched back. “Let’s just get back to work,” she said.
Damon nodded. He rolled back to his desk. He plugged the drone into his laptop and set up the controls and video feed. He turned the drone on. A red dot blinked on top. He opened the video screen and saw himself looking at the laptop. He turned on the live footage and emailed the link to Jerry. He then opened the back door up, placed the drone on the grass, got back into the van, and had the drone take off into the air by using the arrow and WASD buttons on his laptop.
Dieous stood triumphant in front of both the police, and Eorapst army. The helicopter’s light shifted onto her, making the armor shine. Kyane examined the scene. She saw Eorapst at home plate, with the 10 raptor soldiers around the hostages, and Desmond off to the side on the ground. She turned to the police. “I’ll take it from here,” she said. Her voice was pitch-shifted and distorted. “Just back your men up, and don’t fire. You could injure the hostages, or worse.” She turned her attention back to Eorapst.
“So, you’re the mighty Dieous,” Eorapst said with a hiss.
Dieous sprung off the roof of the cop car, and onto the grass below. “That I am, who are you? I hope not my number-one fan. I haven’t been around long enough for that.”
“You really did a number on one of my soldiers. He just barely made the trip home. He didn’t even make it to sick-bay,” Eorapst said.
“He attempted, and possibly succeeded in hurting innocent civilians,” Dieous said.
“What kind of dino is this guy?” Kyane asked.
“I am Lieutenant Eorapst,” he said.
“Die?” Kyane said.
“On it,” D13 replied.
“What are you a lieutenant in? If I may ask?” Dieous sauntered up to the fence Desmond was just smashed against. “Don’t look like a navy guy.”
D13 scanned Eorapst face, and body and ran it through the web. He brought up an image of a multicolored raptor looking creature. “He is closest in appearance to an Eoraptor. Species: Lunensis. A normal Eorpator would only be about three feet tall,” D13 said.
Eorapst walked up to meet her. “I would be closest to your American army,” he said. “But I am much more than just that.”
“Oh, I believe it,” Dieous replied. “You look like you could kill a bear.”
He then ran the lieutenant ranking. “If he is a lieutenant, well, it is not good.” D13 brought up a webpage of the different Army rankings with images of their patches for images. Lieutenant sat only third from the bottom, with Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier General, Major General, Lt. General, and finally General, and General of the Army up top. “He is still closer to the bottom of the rankings. I would assume by how the raptors have behaved they act as officers, and cadets as a closest comparison.”
“So, if this guy is tough, we’ll have problems,” Kyane said.
“Exactly,” D13 said.
“You don’t talk much do you?’ Eorapst said getting in close. He grabbed the fence with his claws.
“Why have you requested me?” Dieous asked.
“You’re really going all-in on this superhero speech stuff,” D13 said.
“I’ve watched enough movies and stuff,” Kyane said.
“Like I said,” Eorapst began, “you really did a number on one of my soldiers and I just wanted to pay you back.”
Desmond slowly backed away from the fence and crept into the dugout. He stayed low, but kept his head peaked over the edge to see all the action. He reached for his phone in his pocket. The pocket was empty. He rolled his eyes and smacked his forehead on the wood.
Dieous nodded. “I understand.” She looked at the hostages. “Let them go.” She pointed to the group. “You only wanted me, not them.”
Eorapst looked at his hostages. He raised an eyebrow. He slowly backed away but kept his eyes on Dieous. He stopped in the middle of home plate and the pitcher’s mound, then extended his arms. “Come on this side of the fence,” he extended a claw to the closest hostage. It was one of the players. “Or I’ll just kill him and move on.”
Dieous raised his arms up. “You don’t have to do that.”
Dieous backed up. “Is this a good idea Kyane?” D13 asked. The engines began to hum and blow blue flames.
“We don’t have much choice,” Kyane said. “Can you mark the raptors, so we can keep track of them?” D13 extended a radar out into the baseball diamond. The 10 raptors turned a highlighted blue with blue numbers above their head.
Eorapst leaned closer to the student. His clawed finger pressed against the student’s neck. “Come over! I have no patience, now!”
“This takes a minute,” Dieous said. She leaned down, then leaped into the air. She glided over the fence and dropped onto the baseball diamond. “Now, release the hostages.” She paused. “Please?”
Eorapst removed his claw and snapped his finger. The raptors backed away from the hostages, and the hostages rose. They looked at each other confused, scared, and unwilling to move.
“It’s okay now,” Dieous said.
They still refused to move.
“Go!” Eorapst yelled. Contempt brewed in his screech.
Everything suddenly slipped into slow motion for Kyane. D13 argued otherwise, but the way Kyane processed the actions were in slow motion. The hostages stood up. Outside of her view, Desmond motioned Jamie and Harry over to him. The hostages ran to the safety of the police officers. Jamie saw Desmond signaling him over, grabbed Harry and broke off from the group. The hostages made it to first base, then Eorapst snapped his fingers. The raptors spun toward the group, then pounced at them. Kyane watched them glide with all the grace of a leaping spearman. D13 yelled for Kyane to go. It took what was in real-time only seconds, but for Kyane felt like minutes to leap into action.
The engines hummed, and blazed blue fire. Kyane leaped forward. Dieous’s HUD read that the 10 tagged raptors were in a mixed order with number 3 in the lead followed by 4, 7, 2, 5, 8, 9, 1, and 10 being the closest. Eorapst walked to the now empty pitcher’s mound and watched the carnage.
Dieous quickly reached Raptor 3 and collided into him. Raptor 3 tumbled to the ground. She targeted Raptor 2, lunged at it, knocking to the side. She felt Raptor 5 bite down on the armor. The strange black metal rushed to her back and neck to guard against further damage. D13 brought up an image of the neck armor and flashed a red blotch over it. Kyane grabbed the tail of Raptor 7, spun it around like a top, smacked Raptor 5 to the ground, then tossed him onto Raptor 4. They fell at the heels of one of the students. She turned and faced the three remaining raptors. She placed her hands on her hips. “Do you still want to do this?” she said.
“Do you?” Eorapst said. Dieous looked over and saw him standing by Jamie, Harry, and Desmond. His claws inches from their faces.
Dieous frozen. “We have to save them,” Kyane said.
“What about the hostages behind you?” D13 asked.
“We have to protect them too,” Kyane said. “Okay!?” An alarm dinged, and a pop-up blinked onto the HUB showing her spiked heart rate. “You’re an AI, can’t you figure out a plan here?”
“I am working on it, Kyane,” D13 said.
“I said do you want to keep fighting!?” Eorapst yelled.
“You don’t have to hurt them,” Dieous said. She raised her arms. “I don’t mind you dealing with me. Just leave them out of this.”
“That is what I find so… intriguing about your species,” Eorapst said. He inched his claws closer to the three. “You always think you can rationalize your situations. Not just deal with them but find ways not to.”
“Is there any way for us to reach him before he can strike and kill Jamie, or Desmond?” Kyane asked.
D13 ran a diagnostic on the suit. “If we had any number of the weapons we were supposed to, then yes, but at present only our wit.”
“I don’t have a lotta that,” Kyane said.
“Send them over with the rest of the hostages, and we’ll talk,” Dieous said. She pointed her chin over to the three.
“I could just kill them,” Eorapst said.
“Ya could, but then I’ll kill your men here, and we’ll both be back to where we started. So, could you just send them down this way?” She nodded toward the rescue workers.
Eorapst removed his claws and tossed them out of the dugout. Jamie stumbled, and tripped on his own feet before catching himself. Desmond and Harry had no problems staying up. They jogged to the pitcher’s mound. Jamie smiled at Dieous when he passed. Dieous nodded. “Kyane!” D13 said. He then zoomed in on Raptor 9’s tail curling around Jamie’s foot.
“No!” Dieous exclaimed.
Raptor 9 pulled Jamie’s ankle. He fell to the ground. The raptor attempted to mount him. Saliva rolled down the raptor’s chin. Jamie screamed. Dieous twisted, fist ready, and clocked the Raptor 9 in the skull. The raptor turned over. Dieous then knelt to Jamie’s level. He had already started unwrapping the tail. Dieous grabbed it and ripped it off. Jamie hopped to his feet. “Tha…thank… thank you,” he said.
“No problem,” Dieous replied. She patted his back and he ran to the nearest ambulance. A coach stood at the entrance to the field and waved Jamie on by. Dieous looked and saw Eorapst staring at the coach. She activated her engines. Eorapst darted toward the coach. Dieous forced the flames out faster to meet him. They both reached the entrance faster than it took to read this sentence.
“I’m going to block with my right side,” Kyane said.
“Already on it,” D13 said. He sent the metal and reinforced the armor’s right side. From the top of the skull, to the tip of the toe.
Eorapst saw Dieous stop right in front of his line to kill the coach. He saw the armored human lean his shoulder toward him. Eorapst skidded to a halt just centimeters from impact. Eorapst smiled. “I like you,” he said. He jerked his hips. His tail curled around Dieous’s body, and through the coach’s chest. Dieous didn’t even look. By his body language, Eorapst could tell he knew what happened. Dieous pulled his arm back and jabbed Eorapst. He dodged to the side. He removed his tail from the human, then spun himself around, tail whipping the armored hero to the ground. With him gone, Eorapst saw the impact his tail left. The stabbed went clear through the human. He watched as the skewered human fell over a moment later. His blood mixed in with the dirt and created shallow mud.
Dieous pounded the grass with her fists. She heard police approaching and cock their guns. She got to her knees and raised her hand out. “No, stop where you are and take care of the remaining hostages. It is too dangerous here.” She stood. D13 scanned the coach. A screen appeared showing that he did not survive. “What are you going to do with him?” she asked.
Eorapst wrapped his tail around the coach and lifted him into the air. He motioned a claw over to him. Raptor 9 walked over to him. “We are like you humans in certain ways. I hate comparing a superior race to you, but I guess some evolution is the same across time and space.” He grabbed Raptor 9 by the neck and began to squeeze. The raptor submitted. “We must eat for energy. However, we measure our fill and give the remaining to the next generation. The stronger generation.” He crushed Raptor 9’s neck. The snap vibrated across the air like a sour note. He let go, then stabbed the raptor in the chest. “We have had our fill, so this human is going for them.”
A green energy emanated out of the dead raptor like a hum. It enveloped the creature, then quickly compressed him into a crumpled ball of light. Eorapst ripped into the light and created the sound of ripping cellophane. He then tossed the coach into the tear in space-time like he was tossing out a paper towel. “You will be going their next, followed by the rest of your sub-standard species.”
“This is bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad,” Kyane said.
“You have nothing to fear. I am with you,” D13 said. “I will protect you.”
“I use you. It’s not the same thing.”
“We work together,” D13 said.
“I would like to see you try,” Dieous said. She faced Eorapst and got into her fighting stance.
Eorapst put his arms around his back and stood calmly. He used his blood-soaked tail like a quill and traced on it along the dirt. “Well? What are you waiting for? Attack her!” he commanded.
A red warning popped onto the HUD. “Behind you!” D13 said.
Dieous spun around and saw the saliva filled jaws, and razor edge teeth of the 9 remaining raptors.
Period 2
Jamie laid his head back on the stretcher next to an ambulance. The EMT wrapped his ankle up, then left to deal with another student. He tried to rotate his ankle. A sting ran up his leg. “Ow!” he exclaimed. He sat up and rotated himself to get off the stretcher. He took a handful of breaths. His hand clenched the cold metal bar.
“Let me help you, man,” Desmond said. He and Harry walked up from one of the ambulances, and placed Jamie’s arm around his neck, and helped him down. “There… you… go, bro.” He chuckled to himself. “That rhymed!”
“Yeah,” Jamie’s pitch was up. He nodded. “Yeah,” he repeated. His voice dropped. It was dour.
“You were not kidding. We do have ourselves a real superhero,” Harry said. His gaze was firmly planted at the action unfolding on the field.
“Yeah, man.” They walked away from the crowds of people. “Hey, I shoulda listened to you, man. Dieous really did show up.”
“You shouldn’t have done something stupid,” Jamie said.
“It wasn’t stupid. Here.” He leaned Jamie against the brickwork of the building. The police and camera lights cast shadows behind them.
“It was kind of stupid,” Harry said. He rubbed his neck. His legs were still a waterbed of stability, and sweat covered his everything.
“He was gonna kill you, Harry! He was gonna kill everyone!” Desmond said, “I had to stand up and say it was me.”
“He was and is clearly just going to kill us all anyway. I’d have just been the first,” Harry said.
Desmond pointed his finger as if his comeback would follow. Only air escaped his mouth. “No, you’re right. I was stupid.” He scratched his head. “But look, it was the only thing I could do.” Neither of the other boys said anything. They just looked at him blankly “But hey, was kinda a hero. I bought time for Dieous to arrive.”
Jamie tilted his head up at them. “Kyane did more of that than you.”
“Hey!”
They paused. Their eyes widened, as a question they hadn’t even considered crossed their minds: Where was Kyane, and was she okay?
“Where did she go?” Jamie asked.
Desmond scanned the horizon. “I think she said the bathroom.” Desmond’s voice faded upon seeing the concession stand.
Harry pointed to it. “There.”
“I’m not going over there. She’s going to the bathroom. That’s private.”
“You also just don’t wanna walk,” Desmond said.
“I also don’t want to walk. My ankle hurts.” Jamie pointed to his wrapped appendage.
“He also can’t walk, dude,” Harry added.
“That’s why I’m here,” Desmond said. He bent over and waved his hand. “Com’ere. I’ll walk you over.” Jamie took a limped step over to him and looped his arm around his neck. Harry sighed and joined them. They walked, slowly, in tandem over to the concession stand.
Dieous sprung backward, just missing the gnarly chomps of the nine remaining raptors. They were in a jumbled line of 1,5,4,3,2,7,8, 6, and 10. Dieous leaned forward, sitting on the tips of her feet, and kept the engines running. She knew she couldn’t keep the latter up. A warning popped up showing their low energy remaining. “This is bad. Got any ideas, Die?” Kyane said.
D13 brought up footage from martial arts movies of one man facing off against hordes of thugs, then played them. “I found these. Can they help?”
Kyane nodded. “I can see moves, but I can’t really copy them.”
“I have basic self-defense videos as well.” Videos of women chopping and kneeing instructors in padded suits replaced the martial arts.
“No time for jokes,” Kyane said. “Just scan for where they are going to hit us and reinforce those areas with whatever this metal is. Please don’t explain it to me now. Arms.”
Dieous jumped in the middle of the group, with a direct aim for Raptors 3 and 2. She close-lined the two in the throat. They tumbled back. Raptors 4 and 7 attacked from the sides. Dieous widened her stance. The two raptors struck. Their claws flew into the air. She then leaned, grabbed Raptor 7 by the neck and torso and hurled him into Raptor 4. A domino effect knocked both Raptors 1 and 5 down as well. She then jumped, and kicked 8 in the chest, forcing him into Raptor 6, and 10. “Stop now so I don’t have to kill you,” Dieous said. Not that I want to, thought Kyane.
The raptors stood up. D13 quickly scanned them. He highlighted their bruises beginning to form. Aside from that, and some busted claws there was no serious damage. “You’re going to have to kill them,” D13 said.
“No,” Kyane said.
“You’re going to have to kill them,” Eorapst said.
“Eerie,” Kyane said.
“It is the only way they are going to stop,” Eorapst continued. “If they stop before then, they will not live long past that.” He popped his fingers. “If they die, then they were not meant to live on.”
“You’re sick,” Dieous said. She raised her fists, ready to fight.
“You’re weak.” Eorapst snapped his fingers again. “And in the middle of a raptor pack.” The raptors bared their teeth. Their breath seeped from their mouths like fog machines.
“We need to escape,” Kyane said.
D13 brought up the engine’s fuel gauge. “You have one jump or move left. We used the rest of it getting here and being flashy.”
“Just use it!” Kyane commanded.
Dieous’s engine flared up. She leaped into the air, glided into the outfield, then puttered out on the landing, landing like an anvil. The HUD picked up Desmond and Harry helping the limping Jamie over to the concession stand restrooms when she landed. She collided to the ground with a thud. She shook off the fall. “Now, you have to prepare yourself to kill them,” D13 said.
“I… I can’t take a life,” Kyane said. Her voice would be shaking if she used her vocal cords. “They’re people.”
“I understand, Kyane,” D13 said. “But remember their bodies cannot sustain being here. That’s what happened soldier Eorapst sacrificed. He turned into a portal. Also, this,” D13 brought up recorded video of Eorapst making his genocidal proclamation. A bar scanned his face in the video and gave a reading of truthfulness. “They will. I mean will kill every single human being to survive. You must protect those human beings.”
“Okay. Okay, I’ll do it.”
Dieous took her fighting stance. Raptor 4 led the charge at her. Kyane aimed a targeting reticule on the square of the raptor’s chest. She ran toward the dinosaur, leaped the rest of the way, then put all the momentum into her fist. Her punch connected on the marked area of the chest with explosive force. Raptor 4 flew backward, rolled into a ball, then quickly compressed like the sacrificed raptor into a green ball. The green ball flew into the portal, leaving eight raptors and their lieutenant remaining.
Desmond and Harry helped lean Jamie against the wooded wall of the concession stand. He peaked over and saw Dieous clock a raptor in the face. “Oh man, that’s so cool.”
“Focus, Desmond,” Jamie said. He tried to stand upright. He turned to Harry. “Is he… Is he often like this?”
“More than he should be.” Harry finished fixing Jamie’s body along the wall.
Jamie’s foot shook and felt a series of stings. “We have to find Kyane and save her from the other raptor before something bad happens.”
Desmond looked away from the action. “Right right,” he said. He pointed to the front of the girl’s room. He isn’t here, so maybe he’s keeping guard inside.” He turned to Jamie, his eyes bulging. “Do you think he’s like-“
“Eww dude! No!” Harry said. “Haven’t you listened. These guys see us like animals, like dogs. They wouldn’t do anything like that to us.”
“No, I meant watching guard,” Desmond said. “Man, you’re nasty.”
“I’m just saying,” Harry said.
Jamie’s face burst red, like a sunburn. He placed his hand against the wood and started limping to the restroom. “Let’s just go save her.”
Desmond caught up with him. He placed his hand on his shoulder blades. “Need help, man?”
Jamie shook his head. “No, I need to just walk it off. I’m surprised you didn’t tell me to do that since you’re all athletic and stuff.”
“I mean, yeah, I thought about it,” Desmond said. “But I figured if I was with you, walking you, they’d leave us alone because you were hurt, or something. I don’t know.” He stopped and waited for Jamie to reach the door. Desmond held the handle, ready to open it. Harry took a position behind Desmond.
“Switch.” Jamie waggled his finger back and forth. “The able-bodied guys should go through the door first.”
Desmond nodded his head. “Right, right.” They swapped sides. Jamie grabbed the handle. Desmond leaned himself against the wall and tried to listen on inside. He nodded. Jamie flung the door open. Desmond and Harry rushed in, only to pause at the scene.
“Ahh, you gotta see this,” Harry said.
Jamie limped in. “Oh god,” he said.
On the floor, sprawled out, was the raptor. His face was bloodied, with welts beginning to form. Along the floor was a chunk of porcelain sink. There was definitely a fight in here. Desmond kicked the stalls in. It was empty. “Where’s Kyane?”
“I don’t know,” Harry said.
Jamie limped to the door and opened it and scanned the area. “I don’t see anything.”
“We better look around.”
“Where else could she be though?”
“We have a bigger problem,” Jamie said.
“What’s that?” Harry asked.
“What should we do with him?” Jamie pointed to the unconscious raptor.
“Tie him up?”
Desmond removed his jacket and wrapped it around the raptor’s arms. “Okay, let’s go.”
Period 3
Dieous turned around. The eight remaining raptors kept their pace, almost unfazed by Dieous’s one-hit punch. She ran to the next closest raptor, Raptor 6. She clocked him in the face. The HUD beeped, indicated an incoming attack to the left, it was Raptor 7. She leaned back, away from his strike, grabbed his arm, pulled him in front of her, and kicked him in the side of the rib cage. His body then started to violently shake and vibrate. He then instantly compacted into green energy and flew away. “You’re doing good,” D13 said.
“Just keep those signals coming,” Kyane replied.
“Behind you!”
“Got him.” Kyane reached her arms back. She felt one of the raptor’s claws nip her. She flipped him over her head and onto the ground. It was Raptor 3. She lifted her leg up, then kicked him in the chest. His body dematerialized into the orb and floated away. “Why are they so easy to get rid of now?”
“Let me run some tests,” D13 said.
Raptor 6 ran back up to her. He swiped at her multiple times. She dodged out of the way of each attack. Raptor 6 drew both arms back, then swiped at her from both sides. Dieous blocked the attack. She stepped forward, punched him backward, then uppercut him. She felt his teeth crunch and break on contact. He flew into the air and turned into energy before hitting the ground.
The five remaining raptors spread out and encircled her. They bared their teeth and claws, showing their vile in every inch of their demeanor. Dieous got ready to fight them off. Raptor 1 was in front, 5 on her left, and 8 right, with 10, and 2 on her back. They pounced. Dieous punched 5 in the face, kicked 1 back, spun her body to the side, punched 8, then dropped to the ground, having 2 and 10 soar over her back. She sprung up and spun around. The five raptors stood up.
“Got anything yet?” Kyane asked.
“Would you like the complex version, or a simple one?” D13 asked.
“Do you really need to ask,” Kyane said.
D13 brought a green filter over the HUD. On the filter it highlighted the portal with a meter marked “Energy” along with similar meters for the five remaining raptors. The meters for the raptors were dropping, and the meter for the portal grew. “The closer they are to the portal, the stronger the portal grows, and the weaker they become. It is a kind of symbiotic relationship. I theorize they use the portals to get here, but it taxes the portal’s energy. That would be why they have not sent a full-scale assault. Similarly,” he brought up a meter for Eorapst, “he created the portal using one of his raptors, meaning they have that energy in them, and use it to power the portals. But he isn’t losing any energy. My best guess is that he can only manipulate the power and took a hit in strength when he created it. That is why he isn’t fighting back. He just wants the portal to build up, to escape.”
“I said simple,” Kyane joked. “But this means he is too weak to fight. Which means we can beat him!”
“I think so,” D13 said. “We must move closer to him, so he has less time to escape.”
“Can do,” Kyane said. She darted closer to Eorapst with fakeouts and dodges from the pursuing raptors. In a handful of movements, she went from the outfield to third base. Raptor 1 leaped at her. She grabbed him by his throat, slammed him into the ground, then smacked it with her elbow. He turned into the green energy orb and flew into the portal.
“You must get closer,” D13 said.
“I’m still working on it,” Kyane said. The four raptors closed in. She swept their feet, knocking them to the ground. She stood up and charged backward to between home and third. She could feel the nervous energy emanating off Eoraspt. Kyane checked the energy meters on her HUD. The four raptors were almost done. They knew it too, so in a final attempt they charged her at once. Their numbers got mixed up in the shuffle. Kyane just moved. She stepped up and punched Raptor 8 in the face, quickly grabbed his throat and chucked him at Raptor 2. They collided and turned into the green balls of energy and flew away. She then kicked Raptor 5 in the jaw. The raptor spun around like a drill before swirling into a ball and flying away. Raptor 10, the final raptor soldier, sprinted at her. Kyane punched, the raptor flipped over her, and took off to the portal. Kyane turned around and chased him from third base to first. She got one kick in the small of the back. The raptor rolled into the portal, unable to confirm if he was defeated or not.
“These soldiers are weak!” Eorapst said, emphasized with a snap of his tail.
DIeous assumed her fighting position. “Why is that? Do you not like losing your escape plan? Or do you not like trying to get out of dealing with situations?”
“Means I just have to take care of you myself.” He took a step and appeared in front of Dieous. Before she could say anything, she felt a thud against her chest, then flew onto her back.
“What was that?” Kyane asked.
D13 brought up an image of the damages from the thud and played slowed down images of the hit. “It was a tailwhip against us. But what we should be focusing on is that the hit wasn’t reinforced.”
“Meaning?”
“The chest plates are damaged and will take time to self-repair. And, if we take another hit like that we will be in more danger.”
“We can’t do that then,” Kyane said.
Dieous jumped to her feet. “Okay, that was your free hit.” Dieous swung at the lieutenant. He vanished, and Dieous felt a scratch cut across her left shoulder, and down her arm. A similar warning popped up on the HUD. “You got two.” Dieous roundhouse kicked Eorapst. Her kick phased through him, and she felt another scratch down her back. “Okay, three. It’ll take a lot more than that.”
“What the hell is going on?” Kyane asked. “We were so good before.”
“We both run on energy. You haven’t replenished yours since 2 o’clock, and you have been pushing the suit to its limits during this fight.”
“We’re boned,” Dieous said.
“Who’s ‘we’re’?” Eorapst asked. His tail slithered around Dieous’s legs and tripped her to the ground. He stepped on her back and began digging his claws into the metal. “You have multiple voices in your head?”
“You and me,” Dieous said. “If one of us doesn’t lose soon, we’re both going to be shot by the police. You must have heard about how trigger happy they are nowadays. I’m surprised they haven’t shot us already.”
Eorapst leaned down to where her ear would be. “You go from talking too much, to not at all real quick.”
“Hey, Die, I got a plan,” Kyane said. “He can’t move away when we’re tied down like this. We can use that to stay close and get hits in.”
“The suit should be able to last long enough for that,” D13 said.
“Like now,” Eorapst said
“Just trying to think of what to say to the stupidity you drivel out of your mouth,” Dieous said. She grabbed his neck with her right hand, then punched him with the left. “Can’t avoid this,” she said.
Period 4
Damon watched the smackdown from his drone view. “How is news editing going?” he asked.
“Good,” Hinotomi replied. She finished typing away on her laptop. “I just sent the last of the edited files to our contact at the DOD to push out into the mainstream. How’s our daughter?”
He turned to her. “Start the engine. We need to go soon. The suit’s never run for this long or taken this much of a beating.”
“Let me see.” Hinotomi swung herself around and saw Dieous punching Eorapst in the face. “That’s our girl!”
“Yeah. That’s also why we need the van going so we can make a quick escape.”
“I’m on it.” Hinotomi climbed out of the back and into the driver’s seat and started the car. The headlights dispersed the night. She shifted the van into drive and crept up to the treeline. “Call the drone back, I think we got enough footage for now.”
“Gotcha, honey.” Damon drove the drone away from the sky above the baseball field, and onto the top of the van. He tapped the control and alt buttons on the computer. The drone pinched the roof to anchor itself in place. “I’ll text Kyane to tell her we’re here, and to find us ASAP.”
“Good,” Hinotomi leaned on the steering wheel.
Period 5
“Ahh, guys, you may want to see this,” Jamie called into the girl’s concession stand bathroom.
“What is it?” harry asked
The other two stepped outside. “Holy crap!” Desmond pointed to the bright lights of the van. “What is that?”
“A van. It is probably what brought Dieous here.” Jamie adjusted his glasses.
“Let’s check it out,” Desmond said. He looked to Harry who nodded in agreement.
Jamie grabbed Desmond. “No. If Dieous is with the Feds or the Army, and they catch us we’ll be sent to Guantanamo for treason.”
“What’s Guantanamo?”
“Real bad terrorist prison,” Harry said.
Jamie hobbled back in and opened the bathroom door. “Let’s hide in here and just watch.”
“With the raptor?” Desmond asked
“Yes, the raptor! He’s already unconscious and tied up. He won’t be a problem.”
“He could wake up,” Harry said.
“Then you will take him,” said Jaime.
“Easy for the person who isn’t going to help fight,” Harry said. “Des, back me u here.”
Desmond looked at the splayed out raptor. Its claws rested plainly on the tile floor. Desmond felt a flash of heat and image of spraying blood splash across his body. “It’s fine,” Desmond said.
They crept into the bathroom but held the door open and watched the van.
Period 6
Dieous punched Eorapst in the face again. “You have an incoming text from your father, Damon,” D13 said.
“I know who my dad is. What does it say?” Kyane asked.
“‘Come back to the van when you’re done. Need to make a quick escape. You really kicked butt. Love you’ heart emoji.”
“Can’t keep the old man waiting,” Dieous said.
“What?” Eoraspt hissed. He tore his head away from the armored fist and stood up. He lifted Dieous’s legs into the air with his tail and started to spin around. His tail twitched in exhaustion.
“No, you don’t,” Dieous said. She forced her feet to the ground, flopped over and pulled Eorapst tail. He fell to the ground. Dieous climbed over to him and punched him as hard as she could. She felt his tail uncurl. “Nope, sorry pal.” She grabbed the tail and stood up. She swung her body around, turning Eorapst into the discus. “You threatened to hurt and kill innocent humans. You, and your people can’t do that, and won’t do that as long as I’m here.”
Eorapst said nothing. Dieous set the portal up as a marked target on the HUD. A prompt said release. She let go. Eorapst flew in the air and hit the portal. It cracked and sparked green lighting. Unlike the other dinosaurs, he didn’t turn into a ball of energy. The portal collapsed with Eorapst inside, crushing him, and imploded into a storm of green lighting, then nothing.
Dieous turned to the police officers, news teams, and first responders. She saluted them, then leaped over the fence toward the concession stand.
Hinotomi saw her daughter leaping over to her. She shifted the van into drive and sped up to meet her. “Open the door, and be ready to close it in a second, we need to split fast!”
Damon undid the latch on the inside of the van. The doors flew open. Dieous landed behind them and leaped into the back of the van. It bounced and shook from the drastic weight change. Dieous collapsed onto the floor. Damon pulled the doors in and latched it back. He sat down next to his girl and scratched the metal plates of her back. “You did really good, baby.”
Kyane did not hear her dad, both her and her armor needed to recharge.
In the concession stand bathroom, Jamie furiously scribbled on his hand with the pen that was in his pocket. Desmond looked over the scribbles. He could make out a series of numbers and letters. “What’s that?” he asked.
Jamie held up the black scribbles. “It’s that van’s license plate.”
Desmond grabbed his arm and pulled it close. “No way.”
They then looked at the raptor. “What about him?” Harry said.
“We better go,” Jamie said. “Now that the situation is resolved they’ll be searching the area. So being here would be difficult to explain.”
“Right,” Desmond said. They ran out of the bathroom like a racehorse.
Period 7
Raptor 10 rolled into the cave portal room. His bruises caught up with him. His bones ached to the very core of his being. The twelfth raptor, the raptor who tore the coach away from the hostages, came up to him. They both watched the portal, but no one broke through. They were the only survivors of the mission. Raptor 10 had to tell the commanders about what lied ahead.
Raptor 10 ran out of the cave, into the sunlight of his world. Past the other raptors at the camp, and into the War Tent. The War Tent was the largest tent not used for sleeping. It was three tent spaces long and made from fresh sabretooth and mammoth furs. This was the tent the commanders used to plan assaults. He barged in, his breathing labored, and limbs shaking.
Five dinosaurs were before him. There were around a bone table with plans written out on a tanned hide. Sargent Nyasan was the first to approach and calmed the remaining four captains down. The three all stared at the rookie impatiently. Their leader, Colonel Herreas, a Herreasaur, sat in a large woolly mammoth bone chair, with his two captains by his side. One was a long-headed and thick-bodied raptor named Saturn, a Saturnalia, the second was a tiger printer raptor named Alkeria, an Alwalkeria.
Herreas marched up to him. He had dark green eyes, and bright yellow skin, with red-orange underbelly. “Spit it out already,” he commanded the officer.
“Sir, we have a major problem,” Raptor 10 said.
“Does it have something to do with the missing Lieutenant, and word I just got from Dracorex’s inside man?”
Raptor 10 nodded. He felt his saliva get caught in his throat. “The humans…” he gasped for another spare breath, “they can fight back, sir,” he said.
Herreas nodded. That was all he needed to hear.
