Castaway Planet

Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 153 of 365. Sol standard year]

Days after of Crash landing/ 2

Uninhabited Island / Ruins / Scholar’s Rest/ 3rd floor

Galactic Standard Time / 0900

Rodolphe dashed towards the windows and scowled as he saw the chaos below. From what he could see there were at least three different types of these mutants. Some of them bulked up and retained a humanoid form, Brutes. Others had aspects of insects, stinger tails, and pincer claws on their hands, Insects. As a shape flew past the window, he saw that the Cult even had flying ones. These were bird hybrids. They were covered in green feathers, they had arm-wings and talons on their hands and feet, Flyers. One of them attacked people on a stone guard wall who were firing arrows at anything they could hit.

Without thinking he fired a single shot, killing one of the fliers, the bolt hitting the Cultist and burning a hole through their head. As that body dropped he fired quickly, taking out each one of the fliers he could see. Sweeping his gaze down to the courtyard, he saw that most people who were still alive had escaped. He saw three of the Brutes carrying a large wooden pillar towards a door and fired. Killing the one at the front, it fell taking the pillar down with it. As the other two bulky ones tried to get back to their feet, he fired two shots, and that went through their heads.

He stepped back, looking around. Yogix was nodding and the students were shocked. And the two teachers were staring at him in shocked silence, their mouths open.

“I took out the fliers that I could see, but don’t rest yet. Those things might have more of them somewhere. We’ve got three types, bulky ones, insect ones with tails, and claws. And of course the fliers. Do any of you know anything about what else we can expect?” Rodolphe asked with a scowl as he aimed down the corridor the female mutant had come from.

“No, nothing like this has ever been seen. The Beast Cult had Power Users, but nothing like this. I have to admit that I’m at a loss on what to do. any ideas Rodolphe?” Yogix asked and Rodolphe sighed.

“I was worried you’d say that,” Rodolphe said as he looked down, a crazy idea going through his mind. It was insane, but it might be the best chance they had.

“Okay, okay. I’ve got a plan! The one who knows to get into the servant passages, find me a way downstairs fast! We’ll do a running sweep to find anyone who can help, and get everyone we can out! We’ll retreat to the Window! From there……” Rodolphe began but the male teacher interrupted him.

“I’m sorry, can you back up a bit? Who are you, where did you come from and what is that!?” The male teacher asked with a scowl before looking at Embix. “And what are you doing out of your punishment? How did you get involved in this!?”

“He came through the Window,” Embix said bluntly pointing at Rodolphe.

The male and female teachers both blinked in shock.

“And our friend is from off-world! He’s from the homeworlds!” Yogix said with a grin. “Plus he came here with us through the Devil’s Realm!”

“What?” The woman teacher asked with her hands over her mouth as she looked at Rodolphe.

Rodolphe only sighed before he looked around abruptly. Without saying a word he activated nanos in his eyes and found what he knew he would. For a moment he wondered how to play this, but then he almost snorted. He knew just what to do.

“Talk later we need to move! This has to be a lot bigger than one attack on nobility! They moved too fast, I would have stayed hidden. We have no idea what they want, and we need to get everyone we can out of here!” Rodolphe said with force.

“But into the Devil’s Realm!? Think what those monsters could do to us all if they find us! We need a better plan! Maybe we can…..” The female teacher said.

“They're dead. The people who built this Ruin? Their species died out centuries ago,” Rodolphe said bluntly.

As the two teachers looked at him shocked, he acted. Without a word, he moved his rifle around and fired a shot at a tapestry. The bolt hit something and a cry of pain was heard. Something dropped to the ground and moaned as they appeared.

It was a figure that was one of the Cultists, as the scaled skin indicated. They had a crest on their head and two multifaceted bulbous eyes. What’s more, they were wearing a Scholar’s Robe like Yogix.

As the others reacted in shock, Rodolphe walked over and put his foot on the Cultist’s body, his rifle an inch away from their head.

“Answer my questions and I won’t kill you. What is the purpose of this attack?” Rodolphe asked bluntly as one of the being’s eyes rotated to look at him.

“The God will awaken outsider! Why are you here now!? Why have you finally come for us!!?” The Cultists demanded.

Rodolphe only sighed and shook his head. “We didn’t come for you. The thing that took you all? it took us too. Guess the automatic systems on this place are still working well. So this God? How are you waking up? More sacrifices?”

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Embix watched Rodolphe talk to the Beast Cultist and forced down his shock. Sir Rodolphe was acting like he could kill the being and Rodolphe wouldn’t even react to the death. Part of him wanted to say something, but this was a spy. Who knew what they could do if they were treated like a normal prisoner. And with that howl that set everything off, they had to have a way to send messages far. That meant they could tell the Cult the escape plan, or where Sir Rodolphe was from. he and the others were the only cards they had, and they had to be kept secret for as long as possible.

“You filth should be honored to give your lives as food for the Great God! It is beyond your view!” The Cultist snarled and Rodolphe looked at him.

“You’re not going to tell me anything, are you?” Rodolphe said as he scowled shaking his head.

“All I will tell you will be the feel of my fangs on your flesh!” The Cultist snarled and its eyes looked around at all of them.

“Of course. Nothing to do but this then,” Rodolphe said with a sigh. Before the Cultist could do more than take another deep breath, Rodolphe acted. He fired point black, destroying the being’s head in a shower of gore.

Embix looked at the corpse, shocked, and then slowly he looked at Rodolphe. The man was a star sailer, yet he had reacted like a hardened enforcer.

“Why did you do that?!” Professor Galatrics demanded and Rodolphe only sighed. Professor Galatrics kept talking and looked at the corpse. “There are laws! I don’t

Yogix only sighed and put his hands on Professor Galatrics shoulder. “Galatrics, there was nothing else we could have done. It just wasn’t smart to do anything else.”

“We couldn’t take them with us,” Rodolphe said with a hard look as he gazed at the others.

Embix looked at Rodolphe as he talked fast.

“They have a way to call out to each other, one howl caused that!” Rodolphe said as he pointed out the window at the chaos outside. He took a deep breath and released it. “And whoever that was, they heard out plans. The only thing I could do was end them, fast and painless.”

Embix looked at the corpse as the logic washed over him. As much as he wanted to find another way, there was nothing that he could think of doing that made sense. They had to get away and trust the others to warn anyone on the way. And now they had to get everyone away to safety.

“But still!” Galatrics stammered as he looked at the body.

Embix just sighed and let his gaze meet the eyes of the other students. They all looked back at him before they all nodded.

“Professor, we don’t have a choice,” Embix said softly as he looked out the window. He let his gaze take in all the chaos and frowned. After a few moments, he scowled as he took in everything happening below. “This doesn’t make sense.”

As everyone looked at him, he just watched the carnage below.

“What is it?” Krisila’s voice caused him to remember where he was.

Ebmix turned his head and saw everyone looking at him. He looked around and swallowed.

Rodolphe locked eyes with him and held his weapon down. “What do you see?”

Embix took a deep breath and gestured to the window. “It’s just, their actions. Just look. All they are doing is causing chaos! They’re not even trying to keep people from leaving! If they wanted to capture the nobles and Royalty, they wouldn’t do this! I mean they were able to infiltrate the Rest, why the chaos now!?”

“He’s right!” Yogix breathed out in shock. He had gone pale and looked around at the hallway. “Rogix’s army was nearby. If he heard about this he would have come with everyone. It might have destroyed years of work but he would have killed every one of these scum!”

“Yeah! Nothing about this makes sense at all! I mean it’s like……..” Embix stopped talking and went still, paling in shock. He looked around and he saw both Krisila and Parcic’s faces had lost color.

“They don’t want to sacrifice anyone. At least not here and now!” Parcis snarled as he looked around.

“Yeah, they want to have people know about them, they want to bring in the army!” Parcis snarled as he slammed his right fist into his left palm. “This is all to make noise!”

“No, not all of it,” Rodolphe bluntly. At the looks everyone sent him he just shook his head. “We’ll talk later, we have people to save!”

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As he ran through the castle, all he felt was rage. That stupid idiot had let out the war cry too soon! The rest of the Cult was told that they had to strike once they heard a howl. But the leaders knew when to give it. And this wasn’t the time! The only reason…… the Cultist went still as they realized just what was happening. Something must have happened to cause the howler to give the war cry, but what?

They had planned everything out to the last detail, and the Cultist couldn’t figure out what had happened.

Turning a corner the Cultist stopped. Sniffing deeply, they followed the smell to the walls. Moving their hands they found a small breeze that came from a hole. And on the breeze came the scent of people and with effort, they heard the sounds of movement.

How was this possible, they had watched everyone! They knew all the evacuation routes and none of them said anything about passages in the walls!

This one thing would put everything they had planned in jeopardy! The Great One was finally moving, and they would bring it here soon! They had to have a worthwhile meal ready for its majesty! But hidden routes through the castle? This would have more survivors than were planned!

With a snarl the Cultist started to become its puny birth form, shedding its True Self. It would have to slip into one of the survivor groups, and then act. Once they followed their scent to the survivors, they’d be able to finish this. Plus when that loud fool was found, the Cultist swore to their god that that fool would die!

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As he swung his sword at what had been a normal servant, Glartics gritted his teeth. He couldn’t understand anything, nothing made sense! He was fighting against something that was a humanoid insect! It had long pincer claws and a stinger tail that darted out every few seconds. The worst thing was that it had been a normal person moments before, this thing was of the Beast Cult!

“Another mess we’ve gotten into Gla. A dance like this and no one to show our moves to! A voice said from behind him.

Glartics only snorted and grinned. “Well Deogics, I don’t think our partners are in a mode to learn from us. Guess we’ll have to find better partners at the end!”

“I’ll save you someone your type!” Deogics said with a laugh.

“YOU WILL FEED THE GOD!” The Insect like Beast Cultist snarled and Glartics almost was shocked.

Glartics only snorted and kicked out with his right leg. He hit the Cultist with his metal boots and it screeched at him. Just when its stinger came at him it suddenly was broken off the tail. The Cultist screeched before it stopped mid-cry. It fell to the ground, oozing blood. Glartics looked up just as another bolt flew by and he heard Deogics cry out in shock.

“Hey! What was that!?” Deogics exclaimed.

Glartics looked around and saw his friend, Deogics. They were in the armor they had made for the army, and he hoped the plates would work as they planned. They were lucky they were trying it out with the weapons when this madness happened. And that the barrel of the weapon hadn’t been returned to the guards just yet.

“Hey! Are you okay Deogics? And is that Glartics?” Embix’s voice caused both to look up. They saw him and an older man holding a strange metal device in his hand. They were both standing in a doorway that had opened from the wall. Funny, as far as he knew that wall didn’t have any way through it.

“Embix!? You didn’t go down before this madness happened!?” Glartics called out in shock.

“I did, but we’ve gotta get people down there now! There’s a way out there that we need to get everyone we can fast!” Embix said and the other man nodded.

“Go down!? What are you talking about!?” Glartics demanded.

“Listen, this is too chaotic. Especially since they had the Vice Principal as one of them!” Embix said bitterly.

“What!? You sure!?” Deogics asked in shock.

As Embix nodded, Glartics stared in horror. That man had been one of those who the two reported their projects to. And if those two Cultists had been sent by him to destroy the research the two had done, then why? There were lots of armor for the Front Line, what made theirs so special that people wanted them dead?

A roar caused them all to turn. They saw one of the bulky ones at the end of the corridor. Before it ran five students, ran away from the Cultist.

“THIS WAY!” The man yelled as he aimed his device and fired. It shot out bolts of energy that hit the ceiling and caused the bulky Cultist to stop. The man kept firing, this time the bolts were aimed at its arms. As each bolt hit, the Cultist screeched in pain. But this let the students run towards them and Embix stepped out.

“This way! Move! Professor Galatrics is in there, follow his orders!” Embix said. As the first of the students reached them, he looked at Deogics and took a breath. “Got an axe?”

“Yeah, over there,” Deogics said absently. Then he realized what he saw and what Embix asked.

“Wait! Can you even use that!?”

“Can I use it!? Embix said as he picked up a double-bladed war axe and started to spin it around, ending with it pointed at Deogics.

Deogics looked from it to Embix who only grinned.

“My dad wanted me to know how to protect myself, and he knew axes. Nothing more really,” Embix said with a smirk.

A roar caused them to look up. From around the bulky giant Cultist came three of the Insect ones. With a hard look on his face, Glartics looked at Deogics and Embix. The man kept firing his weapon at the bulky Cultist as the others came closer.

“So, three of them, three of us. Let’s take out!” Deogics said as he pointed his sword at the enemy.

“Good idea, I’ll keep that thing from going after you all, good luck!” The man said as he kept firing at the bulky one.

All Glartics could do was hope that they would be able to handle this storm.

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As she ran down the hallway, Krisila looked around. She had thought that some of the female students would have fallen back to the Chapel, and thankfully there was a passage near it. With a sword that she found, she hoped that they were all there. As bad as she felt, this one rescue was all that she was able to do.

Whoever wasn’t there when she got there was on their own. As bad as it was, they had to get away. The Kingdom needed to know what they figured out. As bad as it made her feel, knowledge was more important than people. Embix was right, this whole situation made her feel that the Beast Cult had something else planned. And that was making her feel so bad like a new Monster was on the hunt in the forest.

If her mother knew what her daughter was doing, then she would scream. Krisila had fought hard to get accepted at the Scholar’s Rest, even if most girls only came here to be better bridal candidates.

But she had met people from another world, more humans! And they told her that the beings who had made this prison were dead! Even before the capture of the Ancestors! She didn’t know how to feel about that. Among the Kingdom, the belief that the Ancestors had been kidnapped was dying out. Most people were falling to the newest Cult’s poison. And her mother was among them.

The two of them had fought so much, and they had insulted each other when Krisila had left.

She shook her head, she didn’t have time to think about that! Now was the time to save lives! As she came towards the Chapel, she saw one of the Insects trying to break down the door. She swallowed and ran, her sword pointing before her. Without a sound, she thrust the blade into the Insect’s head. The Cultist went still and fell against the door.

All Krisila could do was breathe heavily. She smiled at the corpse and then knocked at the door. “It’s me, Krisila! I’ve got a plan to get to safety, open up!”