The Legend of the Knights
Chapter Two
Storming the Outskirts
The lone human landed on the ground in a crouch position. He stood up, and ran towards the refinery city. Trees passed, and so did a small pond. A few tress had fallen down on the path he was taking. He jumped, landed on the first trunk, and kicked off from there, clearing the rest of the obstruction.
"Wow, I'm surprised I can keep going after all that had happened." Ino said to himself. A sudden explosion in front of him made him trip. "Damn it!" His face slammed into a rock. "Glad I have this mask on..." A missile flew overhead and made contact with a tree, engulfing it flames. Ino looked up. "What the hell is going on here?" Up ahead, a few people in black armor were fighting what looked like a pegasus wearing a CQB helmet, and using a Surpressor against the armored fiends. Ino raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I've hit my head too hard." Suddenly someone grabbed him from the back and yanked him up.
"What the hell are you doing lying down? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" The stranger yelled to Ino. The person had a full suit of black armor, but his helmet had a black visor instead of holes like the Shadow Knights have.
"Who the hell are you? Are you one of those knights?" Ino demanded. The armored stranger scoffed.
"First off: no, I am not one of them, so don't panic. Secondly, the name Maelstrom. I'm the Captain of the U.A.'s starship A Razor's Edge of Oblivion." He said with pride. Another stray missile headed in their direction. "Get down!" Maelstrom yelled. He pushed Ino back, who landed hard on his ass, and Maelstrom jumped back. It sailed by, and this time hit a rock, which became several stones and pieces of rubble.
"Damn, that was a close one. Lets try to be more careful, shall we?" Ino said. Maelstrom and him stood up.
"Sure, whatever you say." From behind Maelstrom, an large armored Shadow Knight leapt at him, broadsword raised high. He was about to shatter Maelstroms crown when a smaller, silver armored person crashed into the Knight's side. He had gold pauldrins with a emerald encrusted into the hilt of his sword. He jammed his blade into the knight's neck, which caused him to convulse. Then he jerked, and his armor fell into individual pieces.
"The damn thing nearly had yer head. We've gotta keep moving, Maelstrom." The person was about to start running to the aid of the pegasus when he noticed Ino. "Who's this?" The armored person asked. Ino made eye contact.
"I am Ino Shuma. An assassin. And you are?" Ino asked. The armored person stretched and popped his neck.
"Me? Oh, I'm no one special really. Nestis is what my creator called me, grant it he turned out to be a major asshole with an egotism problem."
"Ok, a little too much. I just asked who you were." Ino said.
"Hey assfucks! Quit dicking around and help me!!" The pegasus yelled at them. Thirty Shadow Knights had surrounded her, attacking her from all directions. Maelstrom shouldered a FAL rifle. He aimed at the nearest Shadow Knight, and fired on him. Three head shots, armor shattered. Nestis charged toward the cluster of knight surrounding the pegasus, sword drawn. He slashed at the first knight he reached, and it lost its head. The armor collapsed, and he did the same to three more knights.
"I guess I'll help these guys out." Ino said. He ran towards the fray, and unsheathed the Widow Maker. Four slashes cut through ten of the knights assailing them. He pulled one of the cylinders from his belt and smashed it into the chest of a very unfortunate Shadow Knight. Ino kicked the knight away, and it crashed into a couple of his fellow knights. The cylinder exploded, and engulfed them with flames.
XXXX
The fight came to a quick stop. All the Shadow Knights were executed. Ino sheathed his katana, and Nestis the same with his sword. The pegasus threw her suppressor over onto her back.
"What kept you two up? I was nearly killed back there!" She yelled at the two others. Ino fell under her gaze. "Who the hell are you? Is this why you guys were gone?" The Pegasus took her CQB helmet off, and she wore a eye patch over her left eye. It had a legendary symbol, like in Halo 3. She was grey, had golden eyes, and a blond mane. Ino sighed.
"My name is Ino Shuma."
"And I am Commander Hooves. But we're wasting time introducing ourselves. We have a mission to accomplish." As soon as she finished her sentence, a series of explosions surrounded them. Three black, twin propeller helicopters circled their area.
"Damn, Shadow Helos!" Maelstrom yelled. Bullets from the helicopters rained down onto the four.
"It's time to see how useful you are, Ino!" Commander Hooves yelled to him. Ino scoffed.
"Then sit back and relax. I got this." Ino said cooly. He gripped one of the cylindrical detonators from his belt and clicked it into place on his left wrist. He set it to timed detonation, 10 seconds, and shot the detonator to one helicopter. It hit and stuck to the belly of the chopper. Ino then hooked the grappling hook onto his device on his left wrist, and shot it towards another helicopter. The hook sailed towards it, and spun around the helicopter's tail. When it tightened, Ino pulled down on the cable. Set off balance, it spun and crashed into the third helicopter. Then the first exploded, and fire engulfed it as it became friends with the ground. Nestis chuckled.
"Not to shabby. You look like you could help us with our mission. What do you think, Derpy?" Nestis asked. The grey pegesus shrugged.
"I guess so. He better not slow us down though." She said to them. She looked up at the sky. Suddenly she went ridged, and her eyes widened. "Shit. We have a slight problem." The rest looked up. A Shadow Destroyer positioned itself above them. High above, four large metallic object were dropped from the Destroyer. After a few seconds of falling, the four crashed into the ground around the heroes. "Back to back!" Commander Hooves yelled out. Nestis drew up a M8A1 rifle, Maelstrom his FAL, and Derpy re-shouldered her Suppressor.
"You need a weapon?" Nestis asked Ino. He shook his head.
"I prefer hand to hand, but thanks for the offer." He said to Nestis. The four gigantic pieces of metal began to shift. They looked like Shadow Knights on steroids. One smashed a fist into the ground, causing the rock to fissure and split towards the heroes. A large piece shot up from the ground, and Ino jumped onto it, launching himself into the air. He drew the Widowmaker, and swiped his hand across it, hilt to blade. Electricity formed from his fingers when he did it.
"Lightning Strike!" Ino yelled. He slashed at the nearest of these behemoths, named Shadow Mongers. The electric enhanced blade touched the metal of the Monger, and blasted away. A massive hole was torn into the giant's chest. Ino landed, and sheathed his sword. The ex Shadow Monged stumbled backwards and exploded into thousands of metallic fragments. Ino turned around, just in time to see a metal fist smash into his face. He was sent across the clearing, tumbled, and then smacked into a wall, creating a human shaped imprint in it. Ino fell off the wall, and landed on his back, holding his face.
"Damn it, that hurt!" He yelled. He noticed that a shadow moved over him. He looked, and saw one of the Shadow Mongers standing over him. It raised a foot, and stomped on Ino. The force from the Monger caused him to lose conscious again. He turned his head, and just before passing out, saw Shadow Knights take down the others. He weakly raised his arm. "No....damn....you...." The darkness took over Ino once more.