Kyle did not stand around in the open circular chamber, immediately retreating to the entrance. He fired the rest of his magazine at the two closest hobgoblins, overwhelming their point defence systems.
His hand instinctively grabbed a magazine to reload the handgun while feeling his belt. Only two more magazines left after this one – thjrty-six shots left, including my current magazine.
Instead of exposing himself to attacks from all sides, he funnelled them into the tight, narrow space of the entrance, bending over to grab a shield into his left hand from the earlier hobgoblin guards he killed.
The first three hobgoblins charged through the gap, earning themselves a full strike of the shield right onto their faces, sending them stumbling back into their allies who crowded around behind them.
Osir roared.
Kyle ignored the obvious taunt and swapped to close-quarters combat, changing out his handgun for the hammer and going to town on the closest hobgoblins. He swung and smashed, using the shield on his left hand to fend off the sword attacks as well as break their necks with a forward jab of the shield’s edge.
Penchant for Violence!
The same surge flowed through the veins of Kyle’s body, granting him an increase in strength, allowing him to easily dispatch the incoming hobgoblins as he fought them three at a time. None of the improved hobgoblins were a match for his sheer strength and fast reflexes.
Osir roared, prompting the hobgoblins to charge forward with even more vigour, using the fallen bodies of their comrades to try and block the attacks of Kyle.
“No chance.” Kyle grinned as he expertly focused on any hobgoblin trying to get past him. At some point, he dropped the hammer and grabbed the ankle of an injured hobgoblin, using him as a weapon by wildly swinging him around.
With a single swing of the hobgoblin’s body, the ankle bone snapped off cleanly as Kyle launched the body towards the hobgoblins, knocking them out like dominos back into the circular chamber. Osir was astonished by the sheer strength of the human, only recalling the line infantry that they had fought in the past. Since when were humans this competent? I must capture him alive and find out his secrets!
Already half of them had died, leaving only a dozen hobgoblins alive and afraid to re-enter the death trap of the entrance, where Kyle stood over the corpses of their comrades, drenched in goblin blood.
Penchant for Violence only lasts for a while; I need to make the best use of it right now! Kyle did not wait for them to muster up the courage to come back in and fight, instead using his handgun to fire at the hobgoblins, taking them out one at a time.
With precise calculations on how much their point defence system could block, it took four shots to kill one of them, prompting Kyle to finish off three of them with rapid fire as he sprinted around the circumference of the chamber.
Just as Kyle began to reload his magazine while running, his brain screamed danger as a hail of particle beams flew straight at him. The speed of the beam made it unable for Kyle to avoid the hits, his personal energy shield wobbling before it dissipated. The particle beams seared through the skin and flesh of Kyle’s right arm and thigh, penetrating all the way through and carving a smoking wound out.
[WARNING: BATTERY DEPLETED!]
The personal energy shield warned as Kyle fumbled onto the floor, blood cauterising on the sizzling wound while his handgun and shield clattered onto the floor. The remaining hobgoblins began to rush Kyle while Osir held a smoking turret gun in both hands, astonished by the existence of the personal energy shield on Kyle.
Osir exclaimed.
But before the hobgoblins could move any further, an all-encompassing feeling of dread fell over the hobgoblins and even Osir himself, his heart palpitating slightly as his neck broke out in cold sweat. Osir had never felt this way for a long time – the last being his first trial hunting a sabretooth in the ravine near his home tribe.
Intimidation Aura!
Kyle stood up quickly, wincing at the pain while he used his undamaged arm to grab the health potion vials, stuffing them into his mouth and activating the necklace of healing as well. A bright green surge healed Kyle back nearly instantaneously, but he knew this would be the last full healing he would get for a while.
The effects of the Penchant for Violence began to taper off, but the Intimidation Aura allowed Kyle to buy time to pick up his handgun and reload.
Osir was the first to snap out of it, squeezing the trigger on the turret gun. However, only smoke and sparks were ignited along the frame of the turret gun, causing it to malfunction. Instead of hesitating, Osir tossed the gun with a loud roar towards Kyle, forcing Kyle to leap out of the way.
Kyle immediately emptied his clip into the next three hobgoblins, nailing them while they were still frozen to the ground. The sight of their comrades falling to the ground amplified the fear they felt in their hearts, prompting the remaining six hobgoblins to scamper out of the entrance, afraid of fighting against Kyle any longer.
Osir did not bother with them, knowing nothing he did now would be able to bring them back. He cracked his hands as he marched towards Kyle, who reloaded his handgun and fired the entire clip at Osir.
The projectiles were all deflected by the personal energy shield, with Osir completely unfazed. With a loud battle cry, Osir charged forward in a tackle with unexpected speed, slamming right into Kyle with his right elbow and pinning him into the wall with his sheer body strength, being nearly one and a half times larger than Kyle.
Kyle gagged as the impact ran through his body, his guts churning as Osir’s humongous left hand grabbed Kyle by the neck, lifting him with ease before being thrown headfirst onto the floor.
The force nearly knocked Kyle out, but his combat training kicked in, his body instinctively rolling out of the way to dodge an incoming stomp by Osir.
Aero Shoes!
Kyle’s shoes glowed brightly, accelerating him even faster as he circled Osir, grabbing his hammer and picking up yet another shield. His eyes darted across the room as he analysed every single opening and opportunity that he could exploit. He was no stranger to fighting larger humanoid aliens, having fought countless slovesas in the liberation wars of his home nation during the Galactic Era.
Osir felt a slight tingle run down his spine as the analytical eyes of Kyle sized him up like prey to be chopped up, making him wonder who was the real predator here. However, there was no time to hesitate – only the battle mattered.
As soon as Osir made the first step, Kyle sprinted towards Osir, swinging the hammer at the extended leg that was stepping forward. But before he could complete the swing, his instincts prompted him to retract his arm and support his shield with both arms as Osir immediately countered with a backhand swing, sending Kyle flying across the chamber.
Kyle twisted his body and negated the force through his recovery landing before dashing out of the way as a broken command console came hurtling towards him, smashing into the wall in a burst of sparks and metal. The fragments pelted Kyle’s face, impeding his vision.
Before Kyle could shake them off his face, Osir was already a step ahead of him, lunging towards him. Kyle’s eyes glinted as he spotted an opening, pivoting on his right foot and side-stepping the heavy punch coming in. With two rapid strikes to the waist of Osir, Kyle immediately retreated before counterattacking.
Osir grinned as he prepared to fight back, but suddenly, the two points on which he had been struck flared up with a severe jabbing pain, causing him to flinch involuntarily. With his movement temporarily hampered, Kyle took the chance and delivered a brutal combo, landing five strikes directly onto Osir’s right forearm.
The delayed pain retook effect, neutralising Osir’s right arm for a short moment, allowing Kyle to continue the devastating series of strikes, continuously swapping over to the other side. Kyle’s brain raced as he mentally calculated the time taken for the pain to kick in, timing it with his follow-up attacks to prevent Osir from retaliating effectively.
Osir bellowed, his warlike blood and animalistic instincts pounding non-stop, the adrenaline causing the effects of the hammer to become insignificant. Kyle was caught off-guard by Osir’s sudden cry, another heavy-handed slam hitting his shield. The vibration from the hit nearly caused Kyle to drop his shield as his bones were rattled from the sheer force.
Kyle immediately knew what was happening, quickly backing off and leaping from side to side, no longer interested in fighting back.
Osir heaved the bodies of his fallen warriors, using them as projectiles to force Kyle into dodging before charging forward. However, Kyle was far too nimble for Osir to catch up with, especially with the activation of the Aero Shoes.
The song and dance continued for another minute or so while the pain that Osir had been ignoring began to creep back slowly, the dull aching sensation no longer able to be avoided. The very moment Kyle noticed Osir slowing down, he launched a vicious counterattack, rushing straight at Osir unexpectedly.
It was a simple tactic every frontier explorer of the Galactic Era learnt when dealing with native alien lifeforms – avoid when enraged, strike when weak. No sane explorer would fight an alien who should be braindead while the body is still unaware of its own death.
Just like that, Kyle held the unequivocal advantage over Osir, easily hitting all over the body. Osir yelled out in pain as the multitude of delayed pain effects kicked in at the same time, causing him to suffer tremendously.
Osir knew that Kyle had more than enough strength to beat him over the course of the fight. Osir would have given up and retreated if it wasn’t for the fact that this was a life-or-death duel. His head hung low, dejected as he slumped against the wall, unable to move his limbs any longer.
“Good.” Kyle took a deep breath, his head covered in sweat, grime and blood as he tried to wipe it off with an equally bloody hand. “I have a few questions. What is the Oracle?”
Osir was dumbfounded.
“Answer the question.”
“You keep talking about the heavenly war; what is it?”
Osir spoke with a pained expression as he breathed deeply, his lungs aching. Osir coughed out blood, dripping down his chin.
“How long ago was this… heavenly war?” Kyle asked with hesitation, afraid to know the answer. He already had hints from the skeletons and rusted exosuits.
Osir’s voice started to get weaker. Kyle quickly moved forward to heal him with the Necklace of Healing, but for some reason, the green aura that enveloped Osir was not enough to fix the internal bleeding.
“What are the chambers for? What did the console tell you?”
“The Oracle, what did she tell you?”
Osir’s voice trailed off, the small amount of healing unable to stem the severe wounds Kyle had inflicted on Osir.
Kyle stopped trying, noticing Osir’s hands losing their tension. The chamber was a complete wreck, with many of the chamber doors smashed in or broken apart by their brutal fight. He stood up, glancing around the room. One of the doors out of the chamber looked different – an administrator room of sorts.
He readied his shield and hammer, preparing for the worst. Time to find out what Installation 12 is.
