The Dual Sentinel

A cold chill rushes out of a mysterious cavern. Two figures, both tiny by comparison to the massive, gaping entrance, stand defiantly against the short burst of wind. They cannot feel the temperature but gauge it nonetheless. Only a tad warmer than freezing, the taller of the two notes. After what seems to be ages of standing, the shorter speaks.

“Mas-“, she says briefly before catching herself. She attempts to cough, albeit fails with an electronic cackle, to cover her mistake. She speaks again, “4E…what is our mission today?”

The CAST says nothing for a few moments before speaking. “A mission called The Dual Sentinel, this file says. The description, like of other missions we have attempted before, is brief: Using the Denes RELICS as a base, the De Ragnus has been obstructing an investigation of the RELICS site. Suppress the De Ragnus!”

The small partner machine, Light, stands stiff. Her eyes brighten up, indicating a database search. “No way…we are attempting to incapacitate a De Ragnus? There are reports of multiple deaths in the rural areas of Parum!” She shakes, her imagination wild with thought of she and 4E being crushed to death by the massive feet of the two-headed dragon known as the Ragnus.

“Relax, we can take it. Come, we have a ways to go before we reach the inner chamber.” 4E strides with confidence into the ruins. Light is paralyzed with fear for a few seconds before realizing 4E has already entered, and runs rather clumsily following.

Inside, the chambers have ceilings higher than many of Holtes’s buildings and they seem to stretch into the distance, past the horizon. Perhaps they do. The walls, though ages old, show a renewed look as if the RELICS site were recently constructed – the strange technology left behind by the earliest inhabitants of the Gurhal planetary system. Along the walls are mostly inactive mechanical soldiers, known as the Stateria. Even though these ruins seem rather inactive, the ingenious people who created these places hid many security systems. Of course, the security only activates on what it feels like intruders, so many local species have taken residence since the abandonment of the RELICS.

Already in the first room, several Golmoro and Polavohra awaken to the two who just had just stepped into the ruins. However, these creatures, having absorbed most of the latent A-photons in the air, are violent and will attack any “intruder” by their own impulses. With a quick and fluid action, 4E leaps into the fray, equipping himself with a pair of katana. He swings upward while walking straight into the mob, sending most of the Golmoro flying and exploding into fine photon matter. The Polavohra resist most of his attacks, but Light runs to the side and pulls out a Raygun and fires, distracting them from potentially mauling the CAST. Luckily, Polavohra are slow to react, but one notices 4E rushing at it with the first swing of Cross Hurricane and stands on its rear two feet before slamming with all its weight onto the floor. The ground shakes, knocking 4E onto the floor and disrupting his attack. “4E!” Light yells, worried of her owner’s condition. But he is fine, and whips out a double saber made of the arms of an unfortunate Carriguine. In just a second, he spins the blades, slicing the last remaining Polavohra to shreds.

“Hmph. Nothing but a workout at this point,” 4E nonchalantly says, sheathing his twin katana. Light thinks otherwise; she's visibly worried about what might come next in this mysterious long forgotten tomb of Stateria. 4E begins walking over to the next door, while Light tries to follow, albeit clumsily. Every little detail in the chamber seems to scream to her, wracking her anxiety sensors to dangerously high levels. “Hey...am I going to have to do this alone or are you coming?” the android questions his partner machine, with a small hint of annoyance in his tone.

“Y-yes, sorry, 4E, I'm coming.” Her data sensors are nearly overwhelmed by her panic, but 4E does not notice, as he's too focused on the task at hand.

In the next room, there are the same enemies; 4E doesn't even break a metaphorical sweat, as he expertly attacks the Golmoro and Polavohra, parrying whenever needed. Light is nearly exhausted of energy resources at this point; she can barely keep up with the determined CAST, whose movements are blindingly fast. As he ends his dance of blades and lands on the balls of his feet, the native creatures explode into photon energy; unwittingly, this is causing a severe problem for Light. With the depletion of her normal energy, she is overloaded with detecting the environmental energies. Again, 4E does not notice this problem; his weakened partner is now mindlessly stumbling, automatically following him.

By the fourth room, past the annoying fly-like Mizura, the short Badira, and the stalking Volfu, all of which were effortlessly vanquished, 4E finally notices something happening. He turns to face Light, who's standing by her last energy reserves, swaying slightly in the wind. “Light! Light! What's going on?” he asks with fear, but receives no response. He sits down on the smooth ground, and automatically, Light collapses on the spot. “Light!” he shouts but in vain. He frantically analyzes her energy levels; all have tanked to zero. Having never witnessed this happen before, 4E suddenly feels the guilt accumulating from the beginning of the mission. But an idea pops up in his head.

After scanning the area for enemies and finding none in the immediate area, he takes an emergency power cord from his back and plugs it into Light's energy supply. Hoping for the best, 4E powers down carefully, allowing his energy to slowly transfer to the downed Light. Unfortunately, he did not notice a pair of Jarba that are within rifle's range.