Scene 11: Aftermath

Stavikk and Evan Scorchfield were flying above the yellow wastes in the remaining helicopter, trying to use humor to distract each other and themselves of what had happened earlier. It was early night at the time, and everything around them seemed to be barely reality, which was good for their psyche, as it wasn’t exactly optimal what reality held for them beforehand, but they could take solace in knowing that they accomplished their ultimate goal: because of Benevola’s death, Nexactus wouldn’t be run in the same fascist way that it was before, but they had absolutely no idea who would come into play to fill that vacuum of power. Their nighttime revelry came to an end, however, as they saw multiple red lights in the distance. Stavikk’s emotions of mild solace and accomplishment were immediately replaced with grizzled dismay, as he knew what the red lights were, why they were there, and exactly what was going to happen. Immediately, Stavikk said to Evan: “Get the guns out”. “We’re gonna have a rough night”. The red lights in the distance came closer and closer until it revealed exactly what they were. They were Nexactus “Pheonix” spaceships designed similarly to fighter jets in purpose, though looked more triangular in shape. They started firing plasma blasts at their helicopter, slowly cutting through the hull of the vehicle, and causing it to lose speed and slowly lose altitude because of it. Evan’s railgun blasts from the side door managed to tear through one of the Pheonix fighters, but Stavikk’s assault rifle hardly dealt a dent in comparison, not having nearly enough projectile power to bust through their armor. Eventually, the hull of the helicopter took so much damage that they were quickly losing altitude, and were headed for a crash landing. Evan and Stavikk chose the slightly less definitely lethal option of jumping out of the helicopter with no parachute on, an act that was flirting with the reaper at best. Evan and Stavikk of course waited until the optimal time to jump, and then jumped downwards to their likely demise.

The more careful Ralph Woodhill understood the dangers of just trying to run out of the building, he understood how easily spotted he would be. He was finally able to get up right around the time that reinforcements were able to show up. He previously injected himself with a solution designed to induce blood clotting and increase healing, and so he had a good start against the odds. Another soldier nearby that was revealed to actually be playing dead was already walking around on the floor below him, he could see through a giant gaping hole through the floor caused by the torpedoes. He stealthily dropped down through the hole and slit the man’s throat with a machete, before stealing and wearing the Soldier’s armor and helmet. Nexactus armor was usually a case of one size fits nobody, so Ralph would definitely not stick out in a crowd, which was his exact intention.

All that Ralph needed to do now was act like he knew what he was doing and escape the building unnoticed. Identity theft wasn’t easy, though, and it was highly likely that someone, at some point, would eventually catch on. He descended the building with little-to-no suspicion, and was able to navigate the streets of Crescendurn with moderate difficulty, the glowing metropolis being the only barricade between him and his salvation. Ralph then took one of the Nexactus trains to get out of the city as soon as possible, using some of the GC’s he stole from Beacon tower.

As he looked out of the window of the train, he could see through his visor the Burning Beacon tower, seeing that it no longer projected the purple “N” from the two horns of the tower, and seeing the whole thing covered in flames. The train ducked, ascended, and twisted its way through the concrete and steel jungle before finally making its way to a stop. After the train ride, Ralph bought himself a motorbike and set out once more to Shallowstone, though he didn’t tell anyone that. As he rode out into the Burning Badlands once more, he was finally able to breathe easy.

He got up from the crash, with broken bones and bruised tissue, but still very much alive. He luckily landed in a bank of sand after rolling off of a rocky ravine, so his body didn’t suffer too much. He could barely focus, but looked around to see that Evan Scorchfield was not so fortunate. He saw the man, impaled by a sharp, rocky spike from the ground, with no movement or twitch. There was dried blood all over the rock, and he saw Evan’s railgun about twenty feet away from him, broken in half from the force of impact. Stavikk loitered, then sat against a rocky ledge, and started to cry for the first time in a long time. The last time that he actually broke down from crying like that was when he saw what happened to Blake Pierce. He shed tears for five minutes straight before yelling: “Damn you fucking fascists!” with his two middle fingers up into the sky, even though he knew no one could hear him. Stavikk eventually took Evan’s water bottle and drank the rest of the water, as it wasn’t like he was going to use it anymore. He then lifted Evan’s corpse from the spike, and threw him down a crevasse, nothing personal, but he couldn’t afford attracting more manticores to the area after what happened.

Stavikk eventually came upon an area that he hadn’t seen before, and he saw a whole city in the distance. Stavikk walked for hours before reaching it, and discovering the true ruination that Nexactus caused. It looked very abandoned, and all the lights that a city would normally have were off. Suddenly, a group he had never seen before ambushed him, holding him at gunpoint with Russian-esc assault rifles, shining silver in the daylight, and sporting a crimson emblem. He had no idea who they were, but he noticed that they were all of Asian descent, and were wearing white jackets with red clothing underneath, and a strange, crimson emblem on their shoulders, which Stavikk could not recognize. Stavikk knew that they weren’t Nexactus, though. Otherwise they would be covered with body armor and would have already shot him. They eventually captured him and took him back to a building he could not distinguish where they tied his weakened body to a cross, presumably for torture, but Stavikk just didn’t know why. 

Ralph came upon Shallowstone, or what remained of it. The town, mostly in ruins, was populated now only by scavengers of supplies, and the streets were filled with destroyed Nexactus robots, unrecognizable soldiers, and citizens that Ralph once knew of the town. After being spotted by scavenger patrols and shot at, eventually losing their trail, Ralph knew he had to leave-quickly. Ralph, understanding the danger there, unfortunately was forced to leave empty handed, but perhaps fortunate to leave at all.

Interlude:

Life is such a fragile thing.

Pharavanna was indeed not a place for the timid, but that didn’t mean that the bold were well off either. The difference was that the bold weren’t generally wiped out as easily, and would oftentimes put up enough of a fight to spare their lives, or be willing to do what others would not be willing to do to stay alive. Heroes like these are often tough in reality, but they are rarely tough enough against the overwhelming odds. And so ends the story of the Grave Guerillas, all of them putting up the good fight against Nexactus, and pushing through and persisting up until the very last breath they had. It was this good fight, however, that ended up getting them killed in the end. The question is, is it better to die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain? I don’t have all the answers, but what I can tell you is that I would rather die a hero, because even a long life of villainy isn’t worth living.

And so is the case with what remains of the lost rebel group. The Grave Guerillas’ time has largely passed. Now, Pharavanna needed new heroes to come by the side of good in the planet’s time of strife and turmoil, which was now being furthered by a debatably greater evil. The Red Sickle was never some sort of myth, or something that could only be run into in a few cities of the planet. It was an overwhelming criminal organization set on taking over the planet of Pharavanna completely, and killing anyone who stood in their path, torturing for information, and using other ruthless tactics. The mafia, ruled by the mob boss known as Kargas, or “The Butcher” by his followers, for his brutal tactics and his specialization in the Null blade, a weapon used to counter technological targets, disabling them, using the edge of the blade coated with signal disturbing viruses. 

As Nexactus was dethroned, some sections of the corporation abandoned its cause, some joining the red sickle, and others joining other uncivilized factions on the planet. Most of them, however, were killed because of acts of treachery from one another. Now, there was still an empty throne remaining in the corporation’s hierarchy, waiting to be filled by an ambitious soul. Our story began with Stavikk Smokecutter, but it is going to continue with The Red Sickle, and with its mob boss, Kargas.