TIET hesitated only a moment; a sort of shock to his mental faculties as pure power flashed into being inside the cavern in the forms of the Agonotti. The Draconin rebels were unaffected by it. Their pulse weapons blazed to action against the Agonotti assuming form before them.
The flashing muzzles painted stop motion shadow portraits across the walls as the three warriors became a blur of motion. One of them was right on top of Tiet before he could react. One of the rebels was still firing his rifle as the Agonotti cut him down with a pair of massive tri-bladed claws morphed from his molecular structure. Tiet pulled his blade, but he was back handed before he could activate it.
He fell to the ground as more rebels engaged the Agonotti nightmares. Tiet could sense the others of his party-his son, Wynn and the others all moving in various places within the massive hangar as they fought with the Agonotti warriors.
Was this his fate, he wondered? To lie by the way as others fought the battles in his stead-a half crippled king without a kingdom? No! He fought the pain of his injuries and used his kinesis to get back in the fight.
People were screaming everywhere. Tiet spotted Alec moving some of the rescued women toward a portal at the other end of the hangar. It was a transgate arch embedded in the rock wall. Alec activated the gate as the battle raged and began to move the women through quickly.
The Agonotti were so fast he could hardly keep his eyes planted on them as they shredded through the rebels that were laying down a steady stream of laser fire against them. Kale was trying to fight against one with dual kemsticks whirling in a continuous onslaught of strikes, but he couldn't manage to land anything solid. The amazing thing was that the dispersion field was only doing minimal damage against the Agonotti armor. They were now completely different in their fighting style and ability as compared to the previous encounters a few months before. These fallen Mithri exuded the power implied by what they were.
Wynn and Emil were engaged with another of the three Agonotti warriors in a different area of the chamber as the rate of gunfire became slower and more exact-it just wasn't penetrating their armor.
Tiet launched out against the remaining warrior, almost catching him off guard as he slaughtered more of the gun toting rebels. Tiet struck at the creature, but was blocked by the horrible mutated claws covering each fist. As Tiet fought the creature, he roamed across its form with his mind, trying to discover any weaknesses. There, in the joints between the armor plates.
The warrior forced Tiet back and moved toward the return air vent in the wall behind him. Tiet moved in and struck at him again, but the creature wasn't interested in a fight anymore. He forced Tiet back again and jumped to the vent. His form began to shift again. Tiet hurled his Barudii blade at the target but it sank blade first into the wall behind as the Agonotti became a mist that blew right into the return vent.
Tiet recovered his blade from the wall and looked for the others. Then it occurred to him that the warrior had not been running from him. If he followed the vent out then the other Agonotti, still waiting on the outside of the mountain, could follow it back in. It's a diversion!
"Hurry!" he cried out to Alec, who was still moving escapees through the portal. "They've found a way to get in! The others will be here soon!"
Alec nodded as he urged the women on through at a faster rate. "Everyone evacuate!"
Then, Kale got through with a strike to the armor joint of the Agonotti he was fighting against. The Agonotti warrior howled in agony. Kale followed with a quick set of strikes to other weak spots that were now accessible.
"Father, help the others get through the gate," instructed Kale as he joined Emil fighting the last Agonotti. Wynn joined Tiet as they helped some of the pregnant women through. As the two warriors followed the women through the portal, another underground base was suddenly the setting. Mirah had already come through the gate and she was looking to one woman that had apparently gone into labor during the attack.
"Are you alright?!" Tiet shouted to his wife from across the room.
"Fine. Get the boys through safe!" Mirah said as she continued with the birthing.
Alec came through as Tiet returned to the portal. "That's all of the civilians. Your young men and a few of my men are still fighting the last of them," said Alec.
Tiet ran to the portal and started through. As he appeared on the other side, a huge spiked mace on a serpentine cord swung across his path crashing into the gate control board and one side of the transgate arches. Tiet jumped back reflexively as the weapon nearly tore through his upper torso.
The portal of light blinked once and was gone with Kale and Emil still on the other side with the Agonotti. He screamed to them, but they could not hear.