The outside base operations continued as normal as soldiers rotated duty stations, switching at the same intervals.
Mechanical figures transported boxes of scraps and rumble to the central city wall dumping them down the open grate shoots.
The wasteland remained silent as the operations moved at their predetermined intervals.
Veera reclined at her desk, resting her chin in her hand.
Her eyes watched the two devices before her, looking at the green screens resting in between the rusted metal.
Veera's teeth—
Seethed.
As they grinded together.
There's been nothing even on these monitors.
The small dishes on the tops of the boxes turned around the air, picking but different frequencies of communication.
Veera reached for the small metal box in her pocket, setting it on the desk before her.
The lid—
Clicked.
Opening to a piece of dark red candy.
Her fingers—
Reached.
Tossing it up into the air.
Veera chomped down on the hard candy, shattering it between her teeth as she continued to monitor the waves on the screen.
This is useless.
A rhythmic beeping filled the quiet office space as the spinning dishes creaked clockwise.
Her finger tapped the desk as her jaw began to tighten.
When is—
The screen—
Stuttered.
As the satellites rotated out of sync.
Every wave—
Broken.
Destroyed from the center.
The beeping—
Static.
A faint smile began to form across Veera's lips as her fingers slowly rose, covering her mouth.
The monitors—
Returned.
As the dishes began spinning again.
Veera reached for the screen, shifting the display to a grid of the western district.
That's where the disturbance came from.
She stood to her feet, knocking over the chair behind her.
Her veins—
Flickered.
Slowly forming with dark red light.
A cut—
Formed.
Veera had moved to the door already having her hand on the handle.
Her heart—
Raced.
Like a predator hunting its prey.
The door—
Opened.
To a thick grey fog.
Veera stepped past the threshold, checking the bandages around her torso.
You're mine.
…
A cold night breeze passed over the western district, flowing its air through the rubble and cracks in the fallen buildings.
The metal chamber of a large gun slid open, having a high caliber bullet placed in the empty space.
Art continued to monitor the watchman base as her hair flowed in the breeze.
Her scope shifted across the base, searching for any possible targets.
Is there a watchman there?
The base continued doing its base functions, transporting the broken stone and scrap metal from the land.
She had—
Paused.
Stopping her scope at an open door.
It was—
Dark.
As a dark red huge slowly Immerged from the veil.
A woman clad in black and gold stepped out into the fluorescent light.
Soldiers—
Paused.
Immediately saluting the tall woman.
Her slim figure was wrapped in bandages around the exposed parts from her uniform.
Art had taken aim, placing the iron sights on the left side of her head.
There that's—
A large—
Grin.
Rested across Veera's lips.
Art flinched back at the sight of sharp teeth.
Veera's hand twitched as her veins surged with a brighter glow.
There's a rat.
A holo-red broadsword manifested in her right hand, resting the blade's edge on her shoulder.
Her eye—
Shifted.
Looking directly at Art's scope.
Art's finger squeezed the trigger sending the heavy bullet towards her.
She moved her head up, cocking back the empty chamber.
Did I get—
A diagonal cut—
Immerged.
Connecting to the ground below her.
It stretched across the wasteland, reaching back to the point Veera was standing.
Only the ground was cut evenly as buildings in its path stayed intact.
How did that reach me?
Art took aim, looking to the same spot once again.
Her scope—
Blurred.
As if an object was placed before it.
A shadow—
Loomed.
Covering Art's silhouette.
A glint of dark red shone from the silver railgun, resting on her left eye.
FLEE.
Her senses—
Screamed.
Jolting her body back.
Art had jumped to her feet, holding the railgun up as she steadied her stance.
What was—
Her eyes focused forward glancing up at the woman standing before her.
Veera adjusted her grip on the broadsword, as she rested the holo-blade across her slender shoulders.
She pressed her thumb into her chest, below the golden sashes strung across her uniform.
"Veera."
Art's ears—
Twitched.
Listening to the crumbling of buildings behind Veera.
The rubble slid into the cut along the ground swirling clods of dust below them.
This woman is insane.
Art lifted her railgun feeling a shift in the weight from before.
The metal—
Slid.
Splitting the gun in half.
It's barrel—
Slit.
Cut in a diagonal line.
Art glanced down at the ground, looking at the second half of her weapon.
When did she—
Veera sighed heavily, tapping the sword's point onto the concrete roof.
"State your name, rat."
Art reached to the holsters at her side, unhooking the top leather strap.
"Why should I?"
Veera's jaw tightened.
"It's natural for two people fighting to introduce themselves."
Art pulled her handguns from the holsters.
"Fine…Art. Now tell me what's your number?"
Veera raised her sword, pointing it towards her.
"Six."
Art's veins surged with a white light as she took aim at Veera, crossing her arms over one another.
"That's much lower than the last."
Veera's teeth—
Seethed.
Grinding together.
Her knees—
Bent.
Slightly leaning her forward.
"Those numbers…"
Art's finger—
Curled.
Slowly squeezing the trigger.
Veera's veins surged with a dark red light as she burst forward.
"...are worthless."
Two rapid shots rang across the quiet rooftop, barreling towards Veera's direction.
Her torso—
Bent.
Sliding her beneath the bullets.
The sword—
Scraped.
Across the stone ground.
Art had already repositioned, shifting her body towards the far edge of the roof.
She stood on the corner support beam, shooting rapidly at Veera from a different angle.
Veera's attention—
Turned.
Focusing on where Art was moving towards.
The sword—
Slashed.
Cutting a thin diagonal.
Art glanced towards the end point, looking at the open rooftop.
She miss—
Her eyes—
Blinked.
Veera was—
There.
Already slashing with her sword.
Art's veins surged as she bent her torso back, watching the sword glide above her body.
She continued flipping, catching herself with her hand before landing on her feet.
Veera glanced to her side watching Art recover.
Annoying.
A pebble fell off the side to the ground behind Art.
Her heel touched the edge of the building as she took aim at Veera.
Three shots—
Echoed.
As she leapt off the building.
Art dropped down to another broken building, turning around to the previous one.
Did I get—
Veera had—
Slashed.
Swinging her broadsword.
The building—
Slit.
Getting cut into two even pieces.
A booming earthquake shook the immediate area around the collapsing building.
Rubble crumbled to the ground joining with the rest of the destruction.
Veera's tongue—
Clicked.
"Those guns are aggravating."
Art's head quickly turned to her right as she scrambled to her feet.
A flash—
Cut.
Faster than Art could react.
Veera's sword rested in her palm as the tip sat at the start of a diagonal line.
It stretched across Art's hands, keeping its connection as it moved into the night sky.
A cloud was slit, revealing the stars behind it.
Art's pistols—
Split.
Dropping to the concrete before her.
Her hands—
Shook.
As if they had been sliced.
Their…okay?
She tensed her fingers as if she was testing her feelings.
Veera's leather boot tapped on the cracked concrete as she inched closer.
"Done already?"
Art's being—
Shook.
She couldn't—
Move.
As if there was no escape.
Her breathing began as she began to steady herself as she raised a guard.
I can't run anyway…Might as well try this.
Art clenched her fists holding up an orthodox southpaw.
Veera's stride paused, looking at the serious expression in Art's eyes.
She'll be…
Her lips—
Parted.
As her sharpened teeth aligned together.
A wide smile—
Formed.
Across her lips.
…a good appetiser.
Veera stuck the edge of the sword into the concrete building next to her.
Its light dissipated into the passing wind, being swallowed up by the night sky.
Her veins—
Flickered.
Keeping the same dark red hue.
She punched the palm of her hand, widening her stance slightly.
A single—
Cut.
Formed on the ground behind her.
"Come."
…
A hurricane of destruction rested beneath the calm moonlight, having a singular center point intact.
It was quiet as no living creature made a sound through the thick clouds of debris.
The air—
Shifted.
Around the exact center.
Dust—
Rose.
Around a singular person.
Kane stood in the center of the destruction, facing the direction of the central clock tower.
A breeze flowed through the air, passing through the desolate area.
It never—
Contacted.
As if it couldn't reach him.
Kane's chains remained silent, aligning with the hollow inside.
A crack—
Shifted.
As if it was pulling something towards him.
Sound had—
Muffled.
Like he was underwater.
A fracture—
Formed.
Breaking the air next to him.
Wires creaked and tensed in the air next to him sounding as if they were testing their own tension.
Fragments of a split arm, connected with veins of stripped metal, floated near him.
Ruin was—
There.
Standing one step apart.
Their shoulders aligned as they faced the opposite direction from each other.
Ruin's head—
Lifted.
Towards a resonance feeling.
There's someone close to my nature.
Something—
Aligned.
With his inner being.
Kane's left eye glanced over as Ruin copied, glancing with the opposite.
A dark—
Veil.
Enshrouded Kane's right arm.
A purple—
Crack.
Manifested along its skin.
Ruin's right arm—
Collided.
As the floating fragments slammed together.
Their torsos—
Turned.
Swinging the opposite arms at one another.
The fragments burst forwards, forming a fracture in the air before Kane.
A crack was formed from Kane's slashing arm already being open before the fracture occurred.
It was—
Consumed.
As if it had never occurred.
Kane's left hand—
Brushed.
Removing the specs of dirt on his clothes.
The movement—
Perfect.
Almost Mechanical.
Ruin's arm—
Broke.
Returning to the fragmented state.
The two stood across from each other, being shifted from the shattered reality.
Kane's gaze—
Distant.
As if he was looking beyond him.
A crack—
Opened.
Beneath his feet.
Ruin was—
Focused.
Looking at the space before him.
I wonder…what that will shatter into.
Kane was—
Gone.
As the crack had already closed.
Ruin's wires—
Tensed.
Moving the number along his chest.
A fracture formed in the reality before him, breaking the air like glass.
He had—
Followed.
Searching for Kane.