The raider swarm began it's dive down at full speed towards what was left of the enemy platoon. They were all fully enraged beyond word's at seeing some of their mighty brotherhood having already died or currently screaming in anguish thanks to a single sniper's accuracy from far beneath their collective shadow.
A few were briefly surprised by how skilled this lone marksman was at shooting from such a great distance below, and through the rain no less. But it did not matter how talented she was. She would soon die and be torn limb from limb. Just like the rest of the exhausted soldiers around her struggling to keep the rest of their fearless sisters at bay. They had a role to play below. As the rest of them did above. And they would see it through no matter the cost as was their purpose in life.
The Army ant flyers continued in their daring free-fall huddled closely beside one another through the cold windy air, unfazed by the clear approaching danger beneath them all. The grenadiers preparing to bomb the little shark and her last meager soldiers with their entire arsenal of shrapnel grenades while the headhunters cut through what was left. The deadly ordnance would either tear the seven of them to bits instantly or leave them with an amusing slow and painful death for their brotherhood to watch from above. But as the mob of flying insects continued in its descent, the entire swarm suddenly stopped to hover in place. All momentarily stunned by what they saw getting closer.
A single enemy flyer was fast approaching right towards their entire swarm alone. Some of the brothers grinned and snickered at this fool's idiocy. Maybe he had come for a quick death at their hands instead of their ferocious sisters below. They laughed slightly with malicious smiles on their faces before resuming their skydive downward. It did not matter who he was either, this lone fool would also be dispatched easily before moving on to his comrades below.
"Take him down!" Commanded the headhunter ultra leading his brothers in front. The sound of collective gunfire from shredder guns and canister grenade launchers erupted throughout the night sky. Their spent ammo cartridges pouring down in greater numbers than even the rain it seemed.
Fereen continued flying higher and higher at full speed. Barreling and evading every shot and blinding orange flash detonating in mid air. His heart raced furiously as he finally clashed in the middle, but he was not attacking back at all.
Not yet.
To the swarm's absolute bewilderment; the lone flyer avoided the deadly ant's assault against him entirely and continued to fly upward. Ignoring and steering clear of the legendary warriors strikes completely as if they were nothing. The flying fish continued his ascent higher until he emerged right through the top of their entire swarm, but to their amazement still breathing.
Confusion and frustration began to grow among the swarm in response to the clear fact that not a single one of their brothers had not managed to stop this fool from getting through their ranks. Now they were angry. The insult of this one halfwit to think himself capable of charging on the full might of a famed elite swarm and think it possible to escape directly through their ranks still alive. They would never allow this suicidal cretin to make a mockery of their hard earned reputation and live to tell of it. They all now envied the chance to be the one to pluck the limbs and cranium off his feeble frame one by one, and let his torso humorously drop from the sky.
It would be oh so entertaining.
The vast majority of elite flying ants stopped right in their descent and turned upward to give chase into the sky above. Not willing in the slightest to let him escape their grasp when they so easily could finish him off and return to the battle below. Almost every flying ant in the sky at this moment flew higher and higher towards the lone flying fish just barely out of reach in front of their swarm.
The deadly black storm clouds raged with increasing furry. Emitting lightning in every direction faster than a cobras fatal bite. It's mighty rain becoming heavier and harsher upon all flyers below; whether they be royalist or raider who dared to climb higher into the endangerment of its vast murky shadow that stretched for miles across in every direction.
Fereen heeded no mind to the increasingly deafening sounds of the thunder. His helmet would provide some protection from the noise at a distance, but that didn't mean it still was not agonizingly loud to have to listen to and endure. He continued climbing upwards. Increasing his speed even faster than before with droves of bloodthirsty army ants trailing right behind reaching to tear him limb from limb. He just needed to keep evading their attacks for just a little bit longer until.....
Suddenly the lone royalist flyer entered into the darkness above; with the watery fog being pushed apart upon his sudden brash entrance. Fereen had finally reached the heart of the storm. And so had his pursuers. He stopped to hover in place and waited.
"So now what genius!? '' He thought to himself nervously while contemplating how to dispatch his many followers now that he finally had reached the top alive. Fereen looked around to assess his current situation in the thundering clouds that would soon also engulf the raiders. He smiled, he knew just what to do.
But not just yet.
The raiders suddenly emerged through the clouds one at a time before looking aimless in every direction for sight of their prey. "There he is! With me my brothers!!!" The elite captain snarled after managing to spot Fereen's fluttering wings hovering in place high above. The lead ant rushed in first in the hopes to make the kill himself personally; with his younger brothers trailing close behind, careful as to not lose track of their captain or each other. They all knew that their strength was when they were together. And together they would triumph easily.
Fereen quickly raised his arm toward the side of his helmet and activated its scanner. His visor illuminated even brighter as the only source of light throughout the foggy dark haze that now surrounded them all. As the helmet surveyed through the air for him, he then shut his eyes completely for the remainder of the fight.
At that very moment, one hundred and fifty deadly highly trained, battle tested, army ant elites were rushing towards him from every conceivable direction within a few dozen yards away.
And Fereen could feel every single one of them.
With his scanner now active, he was able to sense the full presence of all the approaching raiders from every angle as they surrounded him; with each ant's location marked as a dark silhouette with faint blue outline. All thanks to state of the art electro-receptive sensors emitting from all sides off his helmet. Courtesy of Shena of course and her remarkably mimicked ability.
The artificial attachment had been specially designed to duplicate the evolutionary sixth sense of other aquatic races like Stingrays, platypuses, or even Sharks like Shena herself , who had long trained fereen personally in how to make better use of the modification to his advantage. The rare ability allowed for Shena and sharks just like her to sense their surrounding area and hidden organisms if their eyes could not by sensing the weak electrical signals that all living creatures emit in faint electrical sensing pores scattered throughout their faces resembling freckles. And now so was he.
Ahh... the miracles of modern science.
The Nightmarish shadowy creatures charged, screaming as they drew their weapons toward this foe who had so graciously offered himself into their grasp right for the taking.
Not yet. He had to save as much energy for the right moment.
He dodged the swings of the first headhunters axes and gunshots one at a time almost effortlessly as the elites approached him all at once. He continued to avoid and evade as the fight further progressed with explosions from the grenadiers going off all around him. All without ever allowing his eyes to open even the slightest.
He would trust in his helmet and Shena's training.
Not his eyes.
The enemies anger and frustration began to mount, while their discipline and composure slowly began to deteriorate with each failed attack. They slashed wildly, having tossed aside all thought or strategy in the hopes that one of their brothers' strikes would finally split this nuisance in half.
Fereen continued to elude them all in an elaborate aerial dance. Not fighting back, and managing to stay just out of reach of his attackers just barely. The sound of lightning continued to rise in frequency as the battle beneath continued to intensify further.
A raider shot at the infuriating royalist. Barely missing his shoulder by just inches.
"Missed me," Fereen exclaimed aloud mockingly.
Two more raider headhunters swung their axes in succession, missing the bottom of Fereen's boot heel just barely.
"Missed again!"
The raider headhunter ultra slashed his axe wildly toward Fereen's helmet, only to miss and cut straight through the thin air.
Come on bugs! Is this the best you have for me? This is getting boring real fas..
Suddenly a single bolt of lighting emerged from the hectic clouds above, just barely grazing and trailing sparks as it scorched the side of Fereen's helmet to then pass by and make contact with one unlucky armored ant directly. The deadly electrical discharge sent the young insects smoldering remains tumbling down to the earth below while trailing burnt ashes from behind. Everyone including Fereen suddenly stopped fighting for just a brief moment. All shocked in response at the sudden intrusion by the storm interfering in their pathetic aerial skirmish.
"Woa! you almost had me there...." Fereen said aloud, startled and shaking. His heart now beating faster than even his quick wings.
"But no!!, Not tonight storm, I'm a bit busy right now!!!!!!" Fereen said victoriously and angrily with a wicked grin forming under his helmet at his sheer stroke of luck. The energetic flying fish then spread his arms and wings far apart to let gravity guide him, dropping down through the rainy sky with a fully invigorated spirit. His helmet trailing the scent of burnt paint and seafood close behind. A few of the younger raiders looked at each other briefly, visibly confused at the seemingly insane flyer.
Maybe the bolt did manage to fry his head after all.
They banished their feelings of bewilderment deep down, and returned to the aerial dogfight alongside their cautious brothers, who all now feared the wrath of the storm much more than this idiot of a warrior. But they still all had a job to do, and so they dived down after the prey. Undeterred by the deadly weather starting to obscure their vision even further.
The storm continued to rage on. Fereen continued in leading the chase, evading their blows as skillfully as ever as if the attempt on his life by nature itself had not just happened. His ears still rung in pain however. Not even his helmet could shield his ears from the intense deafening crack of sound that had almost just cost him his life.
Another Raider swiped at Fereen's arm with a massive axe, just barely managing to scrape his arm. The weapon sliced through the blue cloth easily, leaving a large painful gash. Fereen reached over and clutched the bloody wound tightly, visibly upset under his helmet.
'Well shoot, so much for making it back unscathed.' he thought to himself enraged. Shena would never let him hear the end of this when he got back. He swallowed the pain down and ignored it just as his good friend would. But unlike Shena, he wasn't above having some good old fun at his enemies expense.
"Not bad, but still standing guys! I thought you freaks were your queens finest! She must be so disappointed with you all if this little scratch is the best you can do! Fereen zipped away swiftly through the air yet again, trailing feint drops of blood from behind. He turned his head back while still in shouting distance to let another mocking remark to his frustrated pursuers. Hot blooded enemies make for easier to kill enemies.
"I know I certainly would be if I had mediocre kids like you!!!!"
The blood pressure of every frenzied sky raider began to boil impressively within seconds.
Fereen resumed his game of cat and mouse once more; all the while being now just a bit more careful than before as he continued to steer clear of the screaming raiders furiously charged attacks. They wanted him dead now, more than anything else in the world. Shena would never understand how Fereen could possibly make fun of an enemy so gleefully while in danger each time he took flight when it could be his last.
In truth however. He was terrified.
His heart was racing. His muscles and wings were beginning to ache, and his lungs were swelling with air as fast as they could to keep up with his straining body. But he swore that he would never let his enemy have the pleasure of seeing him die with fear in his eyes. And so he kept smiling, even if they couldn't see it. He was a vosento. Of the proud ancient house of flying fish sky duelists trained from a young age to defend the monarchy from air and sea. His kind had ruled and fought in the air across the ocean skies long before sea craft dogfights ever came into being. And they would be it's guardians still. Always.
Fereen continued leaving his desperate attackers in the dust through the rainstorm easily. Zipping and spiraling, twisting and turning. Much to the infuriating embarrassment of these famed insect warriors now struggling to keep up with or even see their nimble narrow prey through the dark clouds.
"Stand and fight coward! Snarled the Headhunter ultra. His eyes seething with pure fury. The same energy could not be said about its wings however.
The flying raiders strikes had become less frequent. Their wings slowly flapped slower in frequency from pure exhaustion, with each warrior now gasping desperately for air in order to keep themselves aloft for just a bit longer. The entire fight had been as if mobs of snails had been chasing a rabbit.
A very clever one.
The mysterious aquatic suddenly turned swiftly and vanished into the clouds; out of view completely from the flying insects' desperate searching gaze.
"Where'd he go!" the headhunter ultra yelled infuriated to his brothers; to which only one bothered to reply by shrugging his shoulders slightly.
"Form up!" The exhausted raider commanded.
The tired worn out swarm hovered in place closer together, just in case... But only as a precaution of course! They each assured themselves that they had nothing to fear from this arrogant small weasel who had so far eluded their grasp, through sheer luck alone...
"Show yourself !!!!" the ultra screamed heavily. Panting and struggling to keep himself airborne, let alone continue fighting. His heavy armor weighed him down and impeded his maneuverability in the air greatly. What was supposed to be a strength for him and his brothers had now become nothing but a hindrance to be exploited.
They had had enough.
Now was the time that he properly introduced himself.
A fluttering shape suddenly emerged, darting from the clouds at speeds the ants thought unattainable to themselves before drawing both its weapons from behind its belt. The elite royalist soldier aimed it's pistol in front to fire with one hand, while with the other he slowly reached across for his saber hilt....
As soon as he unsheathed the handle and started an arc of motion, the rain around the hilt stopped in place and followed alongside with the quick slash, forming the liquid into the shape of a solid thin blade of glowing water.
The ultra in front tried to aim his gun to fire but was far too slow on the draw. The blue liquid saber; sharper and thinner than the best surgical knife sliced easily through the center of the weapon and straight across the arrogant leader's chest. Killing him instantly and sending him falling lifeless to the mountains below. Now that he had finished making his first example; the mysterious soldier quickly vanished back into the obscure safety of the clouds before any of the leaderless little brothers could react to their leader's sudden demise.
Wow! That looked like it really hurt! But don't worry there's plenty to go around! So don't you worry! I haven't forgotten about the rest of you! Laughed the stranger before circling back around to do it all over again.
The speeding elusive flyer began to target each of the confused lumbering raiders with terrifying efficiency and speed, before quickly disappearing back into the safety of the black clouds that cloaked the uneven battlefield in refined darkness. The uncaring rainstorm now muffled the desperate cries for help from the quickly diminishing numbers of elites as they called out for any of their remaining brothers currently lost in the storm with them.
The fearful young ants had started to realize that they all had been fatally incorrect before about the lightning being their greatest danger. They were now far more terrified of this one warrior than any of them would ever care to admit to their fearless brothers. Who at this very moment, were all screaming in terror like newborn pupae as each fell from the sky one after the other still alive. All trapped in a hellish cycle of appear, attack, vanish. A few grenadiers were so desperate in fact, that they began wasting what little precious ordnance they had left by tossing it in every random direction through the veil of clouds hoping to get lucky and slay this trickster of the storm. But to their utter horror and shameful humiliation, this only did more harm than good to their now desperate cause. For they had accidentally wiped out a great many of their own brothers scattering in the wind beside them and making the flying fish's job all the more easier to finish.
The last of the surviving scattered elite's were now panicking and attempting to flee back to the safety of the ground, only to be halted by the frightening visor, sword, and reflective wings of this killer as it returned repeatedly to slash or fire a single shot at each of them before disappearing into thin air yet again as if he were a ghost.
Only this phantom in the clouds was not aiming for the army ants heads and torsos as most royalist soldiers had been trained to. He was a vosento.
This demon was aiming for their wings.
It knew what was most valuable to a flying soldier, even more so than a gun or sword. All he would simply need to do is deny them of their most precious gift and let gravity do the rest.
The sounds of the last few elite warriors screaming one by one, desperately attempting to flap what was left of their severed appendages while falling to their deaths, was both terrifying and oddly....
Entertaining.