Wednesday 20 January 2016

1.9 Harbinger Part 3

The screen shows live news footage of a snowy city as a large hulking humanoid monster with beastly features rampaging through the local buildings. It is roughly six storeys tall with its features constantly twisting and changing, but always remaining brutish, hideous, hairless and inhuman.

The local parahumans are trying to stop it as are the local police forces. But they are failing as clearly seen when Armageddon blasts a burst of energy that can only be described as hot, red and ugly at a SWAT team.

It tears though the van and kills almost half of the team with all, but one of the survivors sustaining serious injuries. Suddenly the road erupts beneath them as jagged pillars attack the remaining members of the SWAT team, piercing all of them. And if to top it all off, the half gone van explodes.

And the jagged pillars remain along with the burning wreckage, the mangled corpses and the broken road.

Who is Armageddon?

One of the Dozen Harbingers of the End Times.

The Dozen Harbingers of the End Times?

They used to be the Thirteen Heralds of the End Times before they met the Guardian. They are old enemies of the Guardian with a grudge. They are also some of our most dangerous foes. There can be no holding back against them.

I understand.

You will need Gord’Ang.

Gord’Ang?

A Linx Blade, the Guardian’s weapon.

Where it is it?

Trapped between dimensions after our battle with Oblivion. We can summon it, but at this stage it will hurt.

How much?

A lot. Just follow my lead

Legacy reaches out with her power, following Ceta’s directions. As a sense of discomfort grows, Legacy feels the sword Gord’Ang trapped in the middle of nowhere and grabs its hilt.

As she does so, Legacy feels the discomfort turning into the pain. As she holds onto Gord’Ang, the pain grows stronger as the sword materialises in her hand.

As the pain reaches burning and unbearable levels, Legacy topples over, but maintains her grip on Gord’Ang. She vaguely hears Joan cry out, but is unable to make out the words through the searing pain.

As Gord’Ang finishes materialising into her grip, Legacy feels something detach from the blade.
Legacy collapses on her side as Gord’Ang finishes materialising. The hot, burning pain throughout her entire body is still there, but it is fading. Slowly.

Was Gord’Ang worth that?

Yes. You now have one of the most dangerous weapons in the Multiverse.

Really?

Indeed. While Gord’Ang might lack the raw power and range of many other weapons, it is unmatched. It can cut through anything and deflect or block anything. It also contains unique and special properties that might be relevant in the future.

That sounds pretty cool and useful. I don’t have to worry about people with nigh invulnerability anymore then.

Only if you can get within reach of them.

Yeah.

With most of the pain gone, Legacy staggers to her feet. She stumbles for a moment before Joan holds her steady.

“Are you feeling better now Legacy?” asks Joan as she looks at Legacy with concern, “You seemed to be in a lot of pain and weren’t responding to me.”

“I’m fine,” replies Legacy as she looks down at the sword in her hand, “I was just retrieving Gord’Ang.”

Gord’Ang is an impressive looking sword or at least it is to Legacy. The hilt is six inches long with a round pommel and a good grip. The crossguard is curved downwards towards the hilt while the double edged blade is roughly twenty four inches long.

It lacks bright colour with a dull metallic hilt while the blade is a green tinted grey.

“Whoa,” says Joan as she notices Gord’Ang for the first time, “What is that?”

“Gord’Ang,” answers Legacy, “The Sword of the Guardian. My sword.”

“It looks pretty cool,” says Joan, “Any reason you just decided to get it?”
“Thank you,” replies Legacy inclining her head towards Joan as she accepts the compliment, “I need it to fight Armageddon.”

“Armageddon,” repeats Joan as she looks up at the screen displaying said monster, “That doesn’t sound good.”

“It is not,” answers Legacy, “Excuse me, but I must get my armour on and face Armageddon in battle.”

“Okay,” says Joan, “I’ll go and tell Leo.”

Mother,” says Jaylyn, “Father has collapsed in the recreation room at roughly the same time as Legacy, but is recovering more slowly. I would recommend that you check on him.”

“Okay,” says Joan with some worry in her voice as she darts off, “Which way?”

As Jaylyn directs Joan, Legacy heads to her workshop. Every moment she spends here is another one that Armageddon is on the loose.

It is odd that Armageddon is the first to take his turn.

What do you mean?

Usually their leader, Ragnarok goes first. It is a matter of pride for him. But to let one of their brutes to go first is something new.

You speak of them as if they were a conventional team.

When it comes to their group, they are surprising conventional when it comes to strategy and organisation. Something that makes them all the more terrifying and dangerous.

I suppose that is true.

Legacy drops Gord’Ang on a table as she puts on her spare primary set of power armour. Once that is complete, she grasps Gord’Ang once again.

“Tirn dor lin,” says Guardian.

2 comments:

  1. So I'm tired so I'll do have of this comment now and the second half in the morning once I got some sleep.

    First of all, I got the idea for the Harbingers from Worm's Endbringers. But I since I wanted to make them different from the Endbringers, I decided to alter their backgrounds, organisation and goals so the Harbingers are more like Worm's Slaughterhouse. Because a team of psychopathic monsters with vicious internal politics with the goal of causing destruction and growing stronger. At the moment, they are looking to find a suitable replacement for their fallen thirteenth member.

    I talk more about Gord'Ang and Guardian in the morning.

    Just a couple of things before I go for bed. Gord'Ang is Deltaen (Legacy's species) for "Good Sword" while Tirn dor lin is Deltaen for "Time for battle".

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  2. So second comment. First of all, I'll say this, read Worm if you having. It is an absolutely brilliant read if you don't mind the darker tones of it.

    Second of all, Gord'Ang is a masterpiece of technology. While it lacks any actually supernatural effects, outside of certain universes, it does have a lot features that run on Clarke's Third Law. As for being able to summon it, Guardian shouldn't be able to use that ability yet, hence why it was so painful for her.

    Anyway, while Gord'Ang is a really cool sword and pretty much impossible to out do swordwise, it is still just a sword and comes along with all of the weakness in addition to the strengths of one. For example, it is pretty much useless in ranged engagements though it can be used to block bullets and other projectiles if you got good enough reflexes.

    As for next time, Guardian battles Armageddon.

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