Subsequent Fall Part 33: Lines in the Sand

The last sunrise happened as each beacon became actively lit above each remaining clone commander. Astral finally needed to help Adam on the ground as they fought their way to the beacon using Zane as the lure hovering above them all. Achilles tried to sneak up on them, but Astral's fight versus him was a simple one.

"You seek their freedom once more, I have a better bet." Astral touched his forehead as Achilles felt a powerful message. "Get Neigel to the finish and you are free to leave, I also will never deploy your troops. It is your choice to use them on certain fronts."

It hit like a truck to him, he could stay with Astral and not worry about any foreign threats to his kingdom, but he will never send them to the frontlines again? 'It's my choice to deploy them?' Achilles sprinted back to his team as he felt mystical in the moment, making it back just before a void creature ripped out Neigel's throat.

Astral's speed made their first place seem almost untouchable. James had a different idea however, he was single handedly keeping pace as the void had swarmed his team, he asked them to just keep moving. His hair turned as white as their beacon as he was able to make an aura around them where he would be if any void creature crossed it, he would come back and take care of it.

Airsoft was looking into the distance as he saw the orange beacon getting close from the mountain top. "Are you girls ready to start sledding?" Airsoft pulled out his bo staff and stood on the edge of their nest as the beacon closed in on them. They had the feeling getting closer would mean a payday. Tipping the nest it started sliding down from the mountain peak, the snowpack around then falling with them taking the void creatures with them as they got to the bottom and became swarmed.

"CLEAR THE WAY AND LET'S EVACUATE!" Omaha was holding her finger down on the trigger of her launchers as they were destroying everything in it's wake. Utah was keeping by her side as Mississippi kept the flank side as they charged forward, Jax slid into the evacuation zone as a chime was heard. They did it. Their kill count was the lowest but they completed the task. Utah and Omaha hugged each other as Mississippi softly patted Jax's back.

Achilles heard the chime. Someone successfully made it to the zone. How were they able to make it? He felt smothered due to him pushing forward as the clearing person! He took a glance upward as he saw who made it. "That team was first!" Achilles went into overdrive as a different feel unlocked around him. The lenses on his eyes fell out as the cyan and gold eyes shined brightly once more. He saw perfectly and knew what to do. Blitzing through the environment all of the void fell in three swings as Nevada and Wash made sure to protect Neigel at all costs.

"We are three miles out! We got this!" Neigel looked around as Achilles had hit a second tier not thought possible by any of them. Was it something that Jaimie showed Achilles before and he never used or a tactic he had kept hidden forever?

They made it to the evacuation zone as the four inside were cheering them on. Achilles stayed outside of the area as he defended them from being swarmed by the others, their kill counter racked up quickly as they passed Angel's team in total kills. Neigel was about to take a step through as a void feather sliced his cheek open as he stepped through.

"As per the rules, beacon team neon yellow is eliminated." Shiro announced as the bottom three standings are beacon team red in sixth, neon yellow in fifth and black in fourth. Nothing could change that unless the other three lost their clone commander.

Astral, Adam and Zane crossed into the evacuation zone with everyone else and looked around. "First place is ours, without a doubt." Astral looked at the scoreboard, he had a lot of faith in James and Angel, not enough for James to get two million kills and Angel double that.

"Well this fucking blows." Achilles entered the zone and sat down in a sour mood. Neigel went to rest a hand on his shoulder as he recoiled back, every surface of Achilles was scalding hot. Astral looked out into the empty field. James was a few miles out. Angel over triple of how far James was.

"For those still inside of the arena, you have three hours to evacuate." Astral shouted out through the system as they all heard it. James didn't panic one bit. He knew what was needed. He transferred all his built up stacks into speed and the bare minimum into strength as he ripped through the void like mesh paper.

Airsoft saw the orange beacon right on top of them as their beacon was overran. Sal placed the transfer sticker on them, turning the area into a vibrant orange sky. "Achilles do you have a device that could launch us to the evacuation zone?"

"Angel! How fast can you go?" Airsoft did the math in his head and saw how perfect the timing had to be. Angel was focused on the void as Indy stood in front of his teammates and gunned down more void.

"I like the idea. Angel transfer any stacks evenly between strength and speed!" Sal gave the order as she did. Airsoft launched his tether cable onto the mountain once more having it wrap around four times.

"If you shown up sooner this would be easier. Angel, take this and fly directly upward!" Airsoft shot a tether directly into the center of the nest as she lifted off. Pulling them all with five g-forces. "Holy shit this is going to hurt a lot."

Angel had them suspended in air as she looked at where the evacuation zone was. She tried pulling the nest there. The mountain shifted as her wings beat audibly. "Angel, bring us around the mountain, then when I tell you to let go, do it!" Airsoft shouted up as the others were feeling woozy.

She complied, seeing how the cable was wrapped up she pulled them in that direction. 'She is crazy strong.' Airsoft thought to himself as he braced himself, one loop around. He looked as his tether cable was starting to snap on the frills. Two loops, two more to go, this all fails if it snaps or if he mistimes it. One loop to go, a sonic boom was heard as James twitched his ears. They were a few steps from the zone as Hawaii and Proto stood still, stopping Pete from entering safety just yet.

"We need more kills, you two stay here." James looked up a the scoreboard, they were only one million behind. His claws had their normal white glow as he glided through the void. Smiling, he was carving them as he lost count. He killed just enough to take first place as he tackled and drove Pete, Hawaii and Proto into the safe zone.

"YOU DID IT KID!" Proto shook him as James popped up and looked at the scoreboard, they were in second? Astral in third? What happened? How did Angel catch and pass all of them? They all looked up to the sky.

"Release your cable now!" Airsoft judged her speed off of double his, she let go as it all was on him now. Releasing his tether cable snapped the peak of the mountain off as it slid down and was crushing the void creatures.

Angel hovered in the air as she looked down into the sea of void that tried to swarm them. She pulled out Astral's rifle with the light rounds and started softly gliding around and unloading into the masses as they evaporated with contact from her rifle. Once she looked over and surpassed both other scores she launched herself with another sonic boom and soared to the safe zone.

The nest was flying through the air. "We may overshoot our target!" Sal was looking around as the loss of momentum with the distance was too much. "Can everyone jump when I say so?" Murmurs were heard as everyone was still dizzy.

Airsoft grabbed a hold of all of them and prepared his tether one last time. "Just let me know when!" Sal nodded as he had it calculated. The rest were watching this nest soar through the sky. Astral watched it as it would fly over, the rest were worried about it hitting their safe zone.

"NOW!" Sal shouted as Airsoft fired his tether into the ground just in front of the safe zone, pulling them to the ground as the nest kept flying for another mile. The void swarmed the ground where the cable was. "Well, we had a good run right guys?" They all were trying not to vomit from extreme motion sickness.

Another sonic boom was heard as Angel grabbed all six of them and crashed into the safe zone, the area turning from green to gray as they were back to the training room with a flash of light. Jaimie, May and Shiro stood inside of the observatory as the glass opened. Jaimie hopped down with May in her arms as Shiro floated down.

"Congratulations beacon team orange, the rewards will be deposited into your bank accounts. As for the rest, the subsequent prizes are also being deposited, thanks for partaking." Shiro beamed. They all were happy at the end of the day as they were successful.