Julian touched his bear with his left hand and pointed forward with his right. The bear lunged forward onto six, swiping him with his sharp claws. Six jumped back and Cassandra closed the gap next to him, swinging her axe upwards. Six quickly pushed his hammer onto her and out of her hands. The axe was slammed against a wall, and Cassandra jumped back to get it. She was then also slammed into the wall by three hundred.
Julian got his bear to swipe left, and three hundred appeared behind six in an instant. Six swung his hammer down once again, and Julian got his bear to catch the hammer. The bear struggled to hold the hammer down for a few seconds, just enough for Cassandra to get her weapon back.
The bears claws were smashed off the corpse after a few seconds. Roxanne dove down to grab them, barely escaping a hit from the hammer. Three hundred slammed into her back. The bear claws were scooped up by Cassandra and thrown back to Roxanne, before she barely blocked another strike by six.
"Take care of the bear!" Six commanded. Three hundred nodded and moved forward to Roxanne. Roxanne threw one of the bears arms towards her, and it bounced off her as she planted a hand into her stomach, slamming her against the wall.
Okay, this was good. She assumed her powers were teleportation, but the claw bouncing past her confirmed it was something else entirely. She took some blank pieces of paper out of her back pocket and held them in her hand.
"Julian, focus on the hammer guy!" Roxanne yelled. "I figured the girl out!"
"I only got a minute left." Julian muttered, fusing the arms back onto the body.
Three hundred focused her gaze towards Julian. Roxanne threw the papers to the ground, and three hundred burst forward before she could register the sheets. She slipped on the papers on her way to Julian, and Roxanne closed the gap.
She got one good punch to her stomach, and three hundred wheezed with pain. Three hundred looked up, and she saw the ghostly eyes of the bear in front of her. The arms clasped around her, and she was thrown into the wall at full force. As she tried to get up, Roxanne quickly ran up to her and gave her a swift knee into her stomach with as much force as she could muster. Three hundred retched, and Roxanne grabbed her head. With a quick "Sorry!" she slammed it against the wall with all the force she could muster, and she fell to the ground, motionless.
Julian watched as the white slowly began to fade from the bear's eyes. He laid a hand on it, and it left the room instantly. Six looked onwards at three hundred, then focused his eyes on Roxanne. He kicked Cassandra out of the way. The hammer came down to the floor with a mighty swing. The paper was the first thing to go upwards, followed shortly by all four humans. Six floated against the wall and kicked off towards Roxanne. Julian went behind her and pushed her downwards by the head. He tried kicking off from her but took a hammer to his stomach before he could react. A cracking noise was heard as he hit the wall.
Cassandra saw Julian lie motionless. She felt the breath leave her lungs. But her axe felt weightier, more refined in her hands. She felt the axe fill with energy around her, and the incomprehensible whispering of her weapon started once again.
"Roxanne. Get behind him, but don't touch him."
Roxanne did as she asked, floating behind Six. Six looked on as the electricity leaking from the axe enveloped Cassandra. He once again kicked against the wall and made his way towards Cassandra. As he swung his hammer down, the electricity surrounding Cassandra moved to her head to shield her without Cassandra thinking about it. Six looked terrified as the lightning dispersed as they fell to the ground. He once again tried to slam his hammer against the ground, but Cassandra's axe clashed against the hammer before he could. And a quick jolt of electricity shot upwards and took Six by surprise. He stepped back as Cassandra gripped the axe and slashed forward, cutting his stomach.
"Roxanne. Take Julian out of here."
Roxanne did as she asked, dragging Julian's scrawny body out of the room, with the last thing she saw before the doors closed being lightning covering Cassandra.
The whispering of the weapon got louder. Cassandra still couldn't make anything out, but it was growing louder. The electricity within the weapon grew, and Six tried to once again strike. Before he could swing downwards, the electricity burst forward and struck his limbs. He dropped the hammer, and the anti-gravity lifted them upwards once again.
The electricity held itself within the axe until Cassandra pointed it towards six. His vision was blocked by the room's blinding illumination, and he was finally struck on all sides by searing lightning. It only lasted a second, but he was left floating the room in a daze. With nothing left to do, Cassandra kicked the wall behind him, cleaving him in two with one more swing.
The two of them fell to the floor. Six's torso seemed to be burned by the electricity within the axe, and he was already dead. Presumably the electricity got to his heart. She offered a small prayer to the corpse. Wherever the human spirit goes after death, she hoped whatever governed it forgave him. Maybe even a shot at a better life.
But once again, she started floating. She looked across and noticed three hundred barely holding up the hammer. She looked dazed and worse for wear, but she was breathing. Before a word was uttered, she ran out of the room. Cassandra dropped the axe and floated after her.
In the main hall, three hundred was wildly swinging the hammer with what little force she could muster. She managed to knock out a security guard and get to the airship docking station and take the last one. She let the hammer down gently and punched a few buttons into the ships main computer. And within a few seconds she had made her escape.
"Shit! We got any ships?" She yelled at someone on the deck.
"Nothing that isn't carrying the others." The security guard yelled back.
"Damn it!" Cassandra yelled. "Look. We secured the axe, anyway. You can let the ships down. Now if you excuse me, I gotta check something else.
She ran into Julian's room and saw him lying on his bed with his shirt off, the stench of beetle radiating off him.
"You okay?!" She screamed.
"Probably." He groaned. "It took all my backup beetles, but I should be good after a few hours."
"Okay, okay." Cassandra sighed. Julian was okay and the axe was secured. That's all that mattered. "What about Roxanne?"
"She's recovering from everything that happened, she's probably fine."
Cassandra went into her room, and Roxanne was sleeping peacefully like nothing ever happened. An assured smile crept over her as she slept. But the next question was who was in charge now. The higher ups were dead. She got the axe, so was she in charge? She probably had the most claim to the title out of anyone here.
She went back through the halls, picking up the axe and heading back to the meeting room. The corpses were starting to smell, but she tried not to focus on them. Instead, her attention was turned to the computer. The small square box with a simple on button at the bottom. She pressed it, and the moniter came to life, making a small beeping tune as it did so.
She looked at the icons. This was her first time using a computer, so she just went by which icons would have communication features. One of the icons was of two people with a line between them, so that had to be it. None of the other ones made even the slightest sense.
Once she opened it, it was several nametags in two separate categories: grand owners and small owners. At the top left was the name Al Storm, the former owner. There was a small notification under the name 'Rory.' She clicked on the profile, and it seemed to be Rory O'Shaughnessy, the leader of Saoloro. Cassandra clicked the notification.
'Are you still there?' Sent five minutes ago. She clicked the message, and a small chatlog came up. The old members organized a meeting to discuss the weapons.
'We got invaded by the new legion and everyone died.' Cassandra typed. 'There's only a few of us left. I think I'm in charge now.'
There were a few seconds of a typing box. 'Oh no. If you're able to get to the Saoloro grand, come to discuss this as soon as possible.'
'I will. If it's possible, could I come alone? I'll have a lot of people hunting me down for this weapon, so I don't want to involve them if I don't have to.'
'If you want. I'll try to accommodate any people left in your crew.'
'Thanks.'
'But before we go, can I have your name? Just so we know it's you when the ship lands.'
'Cassandra.'
'Surname?'
'Don't have one.'
'Excuse me?'
It was true. She didn't have one. She didn't have any identity besides a name. She just woke up at the agency with no memories of how she got there. In fact, that was why she went on all the expeditions. To try to spark something about where she could have come from. Three years and fifteen expeditions later, and no memories to show for it.
'Well, I could just write down Cassandra Nothing if you want.'
'Can I use my boyfriend's name?'
'You can.'
'Cassandra Torres.'
'Alright. I'll be waiting for you.'