Legends of Amacia Attack on Tartarus

Escape from Kartoom

Minutes later, they reached the elevator and went in. Ana reached into the open control panel and reset the override with her machine finger. The doors closed and the elevator began to rise. Minutes later, the transparent wall opened to the shaft and they saw the spire shaking as copious amounts of energy poured out of it. The shaft was ablaze with energy; giant bolts fifty to seventy feet wide arcing like a giant Van DE Graff generator. It caused the whole place to shake. The violence of the overload in the shaft stunned everyone, including Hannibal.

A half hour later, the elevator stopped and they quickly moved out of the elevator into the Archives. Alongside the screeching klaxon, a scaly computer voice declared loudly, “Self-destruct mechanism has been initiated; one hour fifty minutes and counting. All personnel proceed to evacuation facilities immediately. Self-destruct mechanism has been activated.” The computer continued to repeat that message with the time being counted down. Hannibal and the remainder of his team raced to the Archive elevator only to find that those who had been left behind were slain: literally ripped to pieces. It struck him to his heart and he grieved as Ana activated the elevator. Once again, the elevator rose, transporting the team to the main level where they’d first entered. Hannibal insisted on personal items be taken from their dead comrades as the elevator moved upwards.

When the doors opened on the main level, Hannibal’s team were greeted by what appeared to be two scientists who were scared witless. Seeing what they thought was a Grimm Draken standing with Nemesis, they bolted in panic. Nemesis pounced on them, chasing them into a corner as Hannibal said, “Hold it, Nemesis. Don’t kill them.”

Nemesis kept them covered with his machine claws. “We don’t have time for this,” he declared coldly, “The self-destruct isn’t going to wait for us.”

“I know,” Hannibal answered icily, closing in on the scientists and scanning them with Grimm’s Mask. “This will only take a second. I don’t think these guys are here by choice. Just look at them. They’ve been tortured and are scared to death.”

“Please, don’t eat us!” one of the scientists begged in terror.

Hannibal promptly opened the visor on Grimm’s Mask, letting the two scientists see his human face. “Relax; I will not eat you,” he said evenly. “Nemesis, scan them.”

“Very well,” Nemesis growled softly, scanning them. “They’re clean. No viral agents, shebats or tracking devices.”

“Are you both prisoners here?” Hannibal asked bluntly.

“Yes!” one of the scientists answered, relieved Hannibal wasn’t a Grimm Draken. “Both of us are. But something went terribly wrong. The labs suddenly locked down without warning and the machines went crazy, killing everyone in the labs because the AI thought there was a biological release. We were fortunate because we had gone to the restroom when all this madness happened. Who are you?”

Hannibal grinned wryly and said, “Beowulf. Nemesis, these guys aren’t our enemy. You can back down now.” Nemesis stepped back, keeping a suspicious eye on them.

The two scientists looked at each other with shock as Andrew stated urgently, “This place IS going to disintegrate with us in here if we don’t get moving.”

“You guys want out of here?” Hannibal asked.

“Yes! We don’t want to die here!” the two scientists replied in unison. “Please take us with you!”

Hannibal nodded, saying with a smile, “Come on then.” He closed the visor on Grimm’s Mask and headed towards the monorail transport platform. Everyone else quickly followed. In a matter of minutes, they reached the monorail platform. The citadel shivered visibly under the growing overload. The monorail car was still there awaiting passengers. Everyone poured into the car and the doors shut automatically. The car began to move back along its beam. They passed out of the citadel and into the city. The city lay in riot. They watched from high above as the people and things panicked in the streets, slaughtering and trampling each other in a panic to escape. Buildings burning everywhere and street battles raged below them between Xenians, Zarukar, and normal people.

“How did you come to be here?” Hannibal asked the scientists.

“We were captured in a raid, and because of our skills we were forced to work for the Cadre. I’ve been here twenty cycles and my friend here has been here fifteen,” one scientist replied, referring to his colleague. “We hate what we were working on. It is so evil that....” He trailed off.

“Well, why didn’t you just refuse?” Andrew asked.

“You don’t refuse the Cadre,” the dominant scientist replied severely, “Besides, after you see how they recycle people, you’d realize that there are far worse things than death and they always opt for the worse thing in order to keep people like us in line.”

Hannibal grunted knowingly, saying, “I’m sure they do. They harvest people, don’t they?”

The quiet scientist nodded, saying, “Yes, on a regular basis. I’ve seen it done more times than I care to remember. It’s gruesome, inhuman.” The monorail approached the wall that separated the inner city from the processing floors.

“What are your names?” Hannibal asked the two scientists.

“I’m Owen and my friend here is Morgan,” the dominant scientist replied, speaking for his friend.

The monorail picked up speed as it plunged through the wall passage into the processing areas. “Look at that!” the girl cried as they came out over the machine assembly lines. Everyone looked down from the monorail car, seeing the machines that were putting the machines together going crazy, destroying everything within their reach. Balls of fire rose from the lines instead of machines. The girl watched in a state of abject terror as they moved over the scene of self-destruction. Hannibal once again opened the visor on Grimm’s Mask and touched the girl’s hand, saying, “Do not be afraid, Miss. We’ll get out of here. I promise.”

Ana came forward and touched the girl’s shoulder with her organic hand, adding, “He has yet to go back on a promise.”

Hannibal smiled warmly as the monorail car began to sway and shiver as it streaked over the processing floors. “What is your name?” he asked her gently, the berserker rage having left him back in the bowels of the citadel.

“Emily,” the girl said with a tremor in her voice.

Tears streamed down Emily’s face as she once again latched onto Hannibal like a frightened child. He acted in a fatherly way, putting his arms around her, cooing in her ear, “Shhh. It’s going to be all right, Emily. You’ll see.” Rachel came to his mind as he stroked her back, repeatedly telling her that it was going to be all right.

Moments later, the monorail car passed into the cloning fields. They burned as the machines destroyed what they were programmed to nurture. Emily’s fear rose dramatically when she saw the machines destroying the cloning lines. She started trembling. Hannibal pushed her back and looked her in her beautiful emerald green eyes, saying, “Emily, Emily. Calm down, sweetie. We are almost out of here. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I promise. How old are you?”

Emily managed to calm down again and she answered, “Seventeen, sir. Why?”

Hannibal knew what she wanted and had no answer. “I don’t know, Emily. But it looks like the Almighty was with you this day,” he said softly, “We came here to destroy this place. Of all the doors I could have chosen to enter on the way to the core, I picked the one that you were behind. So be of good cheer, the Almighty is not going to let you die after rescuing you from the hands of the Cadre.” The monorail suddenly lurched and swayed to such an extent that those present scrambled to stay on their feet. Emily literally fell into Hannibal’s arms as he crashed into the wall. He dropped the scepter and used both hands to steady her. Her fear flared dramatically as the monorail car suddenly lost power at the edge of the cloning fields and the Xenian processing lines. Everyone felt the car lurch to a stop as it stopped swaying.

“This is not good,” Nemesis stated as he got to his feet. “Is everyone okay?” By the numbers, everyone in the monorail car answered to the affirmative.

Hannibal helped Emily stand as he surveyed the situation. The cloning fields were exploding as was the Xenian processing floor. Explosions rose everywhere. “You sure did a number on this place before setting the self-destruct, Ana. Maybe a little too much,” he commented.

No more than Hannibal had spoken, the communicator he was carrying chirped with Harry’s voice coming out of it. “Hannibal! Hannibal! Where in the hell are you?” he demanded with great urgency. “The whole place is going up!”

Hannibal snatched the communicator out of his pocket as Ana picked up the scepter. “Harry, is that you?” he called into it.

“Yes, you idiot; Where are you?” Harry answered bluntly.

“Trapped in the monorail four hundred feet over the edge of the cloning fields and the Xenian processing facility,” Hannibal reported. “We’re stuck. The power has failed on this thing.”

Harry cursed and replied, “What can we do?”

Hannibal looked around with a sigh and replied, “Pray bud. That’s all you can do. I also suggest that you get the hell out of here because this place is going up in less than an hour. Get everyone out of here. By the way, how many did you find?”

There was silence for a few moments, and then Harry replied, “We were too late for most of them. We found five hundred fifty. All the others had been processed.”

Hannibal grimaced a little at the news, knowing they had waited too long. “All right then,” he stated grimly. “Get them and your teams out of here.”

“But what about you?” Harry protested.

“Do as you’re told!” Hannibal replied harshly. “Don’t worry about us. Get to safety. That’s an order.”

The communicator fell silent for a moment, and then Harry returned, “Yes, sir. I’ll tell Elias about your predicament.”

Hannibal smiled, saying, “You do that. I’ll leave the link open. Don’t wait too long. We’re not going anywhere hanging here like an apple waiting to fall from the tree.” The communicator went silent and he pocketed it.

“What now?” Andrew asked.

“We wait,” Hannibal stated plainly.

Emily shook with fear as she asked, “Are we going to die here?”

Ana handed the scepter back to Hannibal, and then put her organic arm around Emily, saying, “No, honey. We aren’t.”

Hannibal sighed as he glanced out as the Xenian processing floor and cloning fields self-destructed. He then looked at Emily and noticed something he hadn’t before. She had the look of someone who had been ravished. Her body was shaking, trembling uncontrollably. He noticed a blood spot on her dress at her groin and he asked softly, “How many times did they take you before we got there?”

Emily’s face fell dramatically and she broke again, crying in both pain and terror. “Eight times; they all took me eight times each! I had been stripped and chained to that thing when they did it too! It wasn’t till just before you arrived that they put this dress on me!” she bawled uncontrollably.

Ana wrapped her arms around Emily, keeping Morpheus’ staff in her machine hand. “It’s okay,” she cooed, “They won’t do it again. I’m sure Hannibal saw to that.”

“We sure did,” Andrew stated categorically. “Those beasts will never rape anyone again.”

Hannibal glanced at Nemesis who immediately scanned Emily, noticing that the repeated rapes severely damaged Emily internally. “Ana, you may want to use that special healing trick of yours on her. She’s bleeding internally,” Nemesis stated urgently. “There’s not much I can do for it here.”

“Already ahead of you, my friend,” Ana stated as she held the brutalized girl close while keeping Morpheus’ staff in hand. “I sensed it the moment I touched her.”

As Ana used her healing ability on her, Hannibal pulled off the left Draken Gauntlet and touched Emily on the head, praying softly, adding his healing gift to Ana’s, helping heal Emily.

Emily began to squirm as her private parts and belly began to feel like they were on fire. “I’m burning!” she shrieked, trying to escape. “My pussy and belly are on fire!”

“Relax, Emily,” Hannibal ordered her gently, “The burning will last only a few moments.”

Emily struggled futilely against the iron grip of Ana. After ninety seconds, Hannibal removed his hand from her head and Ana released the girl, groaning as her legs buckled. Nemesis immediately caught Ana, asking, “Are you all right?”

Ana quickly found her feet, saying, “Yes, Just give me a moment. Thank you for your help, Hannibal. Her wound was far more grievous than I thought. It took a lot out of me, even with Morpheus’ staff.”

Hannibal put the Draken Gauntlet back on, saying, “No problem. I thought you could use the help.”

Emily suddenly found herself free of pain as she backed away to the wall. Her face was full of astonishment as her hand went instinctively to her groin. The blood was no longer flowing out of her and the pain of the ravishing was gone. She perceived that she was whole once again. “What did you do?” she cried in astonishment.

“Ana is a healer,” Hannibal stated. “And apparently so am I. It’s something that I’m still not used to. We used those gifts to heal you so that you wouldn’t bleed to death. I’m sorry if it hurt. It’s just a side effect of the gift.”

Emily dropped to her knees and cried uncontrollably, “Thank you! Thank you!”

Ana went to her and got her up, saying, “Come on, girl. Get up.” Emily recoiled from her, afraid that Ana would hurt her again. “It’s all right, honey. I’m not going to use my gift on you again. I can’t. I’m out of fuel. I don’t have the energy to do it, even with the staff. It seems both of us need a recharge before doing it again.” At that, Emily allowed Ana to lift hers to her feet. She then promptly threw her arms around Ana’s neck crying in gratitude. “Shhh. It’s all right honey,” Ana stated as she embraced Emily like a daughter. “Everything will be okay.”

Just then, the monorail car groaned and began to pitch and swing. Emily’s fear rose again and she clung to Ana’s arm like a tick as they struggled to maintain their balance. The explosions were getting bigger and closer. The track was beginning to buckle under the trembling of the city. “How much time?” Hannibal asked urgently.

“A half hour,” Ana stated grimly.

Hannibal immediately disengaged the Draken Gauntlets, allowing them to fold up into their small bracelet-like orientation. This uncovered his fingers, allowing for direct contact with the scepter. He quickly removed the communicator from the pocket. He tinkered with it, and then raised it to his head with his right hand while he held on to the scepter with the bare fingers of his left hand. The scepter immediately began to drain him as he called into the communicator, “Elias, Elias. We have a situation here!”

Static reigned for a few moments, and then Elias’ voice came back clear as a bell, saying, “Sorry for the delay, Hannibal. But we have been very busy with the refugees. I’ll have the portal open to your signal momentarily.” The monorail car jerked and dropped suddenly as the track buckled. The car came to a stop abruptly, throwing everyone to the floor. Tyr bawled in pain: his right leg broken in the fall. Horace was knocked senseless. The monorail car hadn’t completely broken loose, but dangled from its track, slowly sliding toward a break just ahead of them where a piece of the dome had fallen, demolishing the beam it rode on.

“Any time now!” Hannibal hissed into the communicator. “The track just collapsed fifty cubits away and the car is sliding towards it!”

“I’m on it!” Elias stated. The telltale ball of fire appeared at the upper end of the car, and then the portal opened.

Hannibal thanked God as the car continued to pitch slowly downward. “Everyone through the portal!” he barked. It was easier said than done. The car was pitched downwards thirty degrees, and that angle was growing by the moment. “Elias! We need some help here!” Hannibal barked as Nemesis clawed his way up the slanted floor. Moments later, Enoch, Xavier, and Elias stood in the portal with ropes. They threw the ends of the ropes to Hannibal’s team and they began to climb out of the deathtrap. Tyr growled viciously as he grabbed the rope and pulled himself up the rope to the portal. Hannibal sent Owen, Morgan, and Emily ahead. Horace finally came to, and climbed out. Nemesis had his cybernetic claws rammed into the floor of the car and was helping everyone into the portal. As Horace went through, the car pitched down again, and then stopped. The angle had increased to almost forty-five degrees.

“Come on people!” Nemesis growled. “Time is running out!”

Enoch, Elias, and Xavier urged them on. At this point, Andrew was already climbing out of the car, leaving only Hannibal and Ana. Hannibal promptly slung the scepter and began to climb. Ana followed Hannibal’s lead, slinging Morpheus’ staff over her shoulder. She started climbing the rope Andrew had used, but she struggled to do it because of her weakened condition. About half way to the portal, Hannibal looked and saw her struggling. “Hold on Ana, I’m coming!” he shouted, sliding back down the rope as the car swayed precariously.

“I can’t do it. I don’t have the strength,” Ana moaned, sliding back down to the end of the rope. “My energy reserves are tapping out. Save yourself.” When she reached the bottom, Morpheus’ staff slipped from her shoulder, falling against the lower end of the car.

“Nonsense,” Hannibal retorted, “I’m not leaving you behind to die here. You’re family. Besides, Leila will kill me if I lost you.”

Ana chuckled weakly. “That she would,” she admitted as Hannibal landed beside her.

Hannibal quickly retrieved Morpheus’ staff and shouted, “Catch!” He threw the staff at Enoch, who easily snatched it out of the air as Andrew got on the rope with Elias.

“Nemesis, get out of here!” Hannibal ordered as he wrapped the rope around Ana’s waist, tying it firmly. The car groaned loudly and shook, sliding ever closer to the break in the track as Nemesis crawled through the portal. “Pull Elias, Andrew! Pull for Christ’s sake!” Hannibal shouted urgently, clinging to Ana with one hand and the rope in the other. She held on to him with her organic arm and to the rope with her cybernetic arm as Elias and Andrew started pulling them towards the portal. The groaning of the car got louder and the car began to fall as they reached the portal. Nemesis latched on to the rope at that point with Elias and Andrew and pulled, adding his immense strength to theirs as they pulled hard. Hannibal and Ana flew through the portal as the monorail car fell. The roof of the car barely missed their legs as it passed by the portal. Elias immediately closed the portal as the car plummeted to its final disposition four hundred feet below the track on the processing floor below with a crash.

Hannibal and Ana lay on the platform in each other’s arms, looking at each other, and then back to where the portal had been. “Whew! That was too close,” Hannibal breathed in relief. “Another second and we could have been goners.”

Ana hugged him gratefully, kissing him on the cheek, saying with great gratitude, “Thank you for coming after me.”

Hannibal smiled at Ana, replying, “You’re very welcome. A little help, if you please, guys.” He reached out and Harry latched on to his hand, heaving him to his feet. Nemesis reached down and lifted Ana to her feet. “Thanks. All of you,” Hannibal stated. “Ana, time.”

“Thirty seconds,” Ana replied.

“Elias, bring it up on the hologram. I believe you all might want to see this,” Hannibal ordered. He immediately noticed Kusanagi standing at the control panel with Elias. Everyone gathered around the console with the hologram showing of all of Kartoom. Explosions were erupting from the dome and the towers. Explosions were spewing from the citadel as swarms of flying machines fled the citadel and city. The armies flowing out of the city’s main gate retreated as fast as they could.

“Fifteen seconds,” Ana stated. She started to count it down. At ten seconds, a monstrous explosion ripped through the citadel roughly half way up. The tower began to sway and topple. Everyone watched in awe as Ana counted, “One, Zero.” At zero, for a moment, nothing happened. The tower seemed to fall in slow motion. Suddenly a monstrous ripple appeared at the tower and spread in every direction at supersonic speed, shattering the city of towers. In less than a second, the citadel’s tower crashed through the dome as the city of towers crumbled, collapsing in on itself. Three seconds later, a coronal burst blinded the hologram for almost thirty seconds.

As they waited for the hologram to come back on line, Hannibal said, “It is done. Kartoom is no more.” As he spoke, the Red Tower shuddered noticeably and a roar was heard that wasn’t from the Tower machinery. Everyone looked at each other with some concern, and then the hologram came back on-line showing a plume of ash and molten rock forty miles across rising high above the city. A pyroclastic cloud of apocalyptic proportions spread out in every direction and the sixteen hundred square leagues of Kartoom was erased from the face of the Earth. The explosion was beyond all comprehension with the blast radius being two hundred fifty miles in all directions. The concussion blast piled the dunes of Tartarus like mountains and disintegrated every solid structure within a hundred and fifty miles of the citadel. Plumes of molten rock shot a mile high and the ash cloud struck the ceiling of the caverns three plus miles above the city. The entirety of Kartoom was enveloped in the cataclysmic pyroclastic cloud and Hannibal wondered to himself where the Alpha male Azhidakar was and whether more of them escaped.

“Holy God,” Harry breathed after a few moments of stunned silence. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life!”

“Me neither,” Tyr declared softly, shaken by the scope of the explosion. “I suddenly feel so insignificant.”

“By the Elder Gods,” Kusanagi whispered in horror at the cataclysmic end of Kartoom. “The Almighty Ancient of Days has surely made an end of that infernal place.”

“That He has,” Enoch agreed, awestruck by the destruction. “It’s at least five times the size of what we witnessed when Acheron went up.”

“That’s because Kartoom was far bigger and more complex than Acheron,” Horace stated. “Furthermore, Kartoom’s core was fully energized when we set the self-destruct. From what I understand, Acheron’s core was only running on a minimal setting.”

“That’s true,” Hannibal stated, “Acheron’s core was barely operational with only the core systems itself drawing power from it. None of the other systems were active, unlike Kartoom.”

“I agree,” Horace stated. “The Cadre had the core powered to one hundred twenty percent in order to speed up production of the Emperor’s army. Now, his ability to build his army has been hamstrung. Beowulf, you have ripped his right arm off, just as you said you would. I didn’t think it could be done, but you did it. None of us should have come back from there. I now believe firmly in you and your God, milord. Only the Hand of the Almighty could have performed such a feat.”

“I’m forced to agree with you on that,” Hannibal stated. “Our God was exceptionally merciful to allow us this stunning victory. Even Grimm’s Mask and the Caverias Sword contributed to our success. Without Grimm’s Mask and Thoth’s sword, I would have not been able to penetrate the Gate Sanctuary and stop them. Grimm’s Mask literally protected me from the most heinous dark forces I’ve yet encountered. It saved us and me, helping me to control my berserker rage in the Temple. It allowed me to retain control and not become lost to my rage. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened before. Up until now, Selina has been the only one who could help me reign in the Rage. I am extremely grateful for the Mask’s assistance.”

With that, Hannibal put his hands on the Grimm’s Mask to remove it. Sensing Hannibal’s will to remove it, the Mask glowed softly, allowing Hannibal’s platinum armor to return to normal. The spikes melted back into the armor as it changed from draken scale armor to its plate and chainmail formation. In seconds, the transformation finished and Hannibal lifted the ancient alien helmet from his head. A sigh of relief and gratitude escaped his lips as he turned Grimm’s Mask to his face. “Thank you again for your help, my friend,” he said to the Mask. “Your assistance made a real difference this day. We are all grateful for your help. Now, I return you to your rest. Master Kusanagi, come take the Mask so all may know that I’m a man of my word.”

Kusanagi stepped forward and took Grimm’s Mask from Hannibal, who looked very relieved to be free of it. “You have proven your worthiness repeatedly to wield the powers of the Mask,” he said resolutely. “The Mask answers to no man, but choses who will wield its power. Remember, it woke and called to you before you went on this mission. It knew you needed its power, and it willingly assisted you. This proves to me that you are, without a doubt, the Last Caverias.”

“Amen to that,” Enoch agreed wholeheartedly.

“Here, here,” Andrew chimed.

“Milord, at this point I think it’s safe to say the Mask will assist you any time you need it,” Kusanagi stated. “I can feel its approval of you even now, as I know you can. You needn’t wait for it to call to use it. We and the people of Cushar know the Mask has chosen you and we’ll not interfere with you using it to protect us.”

“I appreciate the gesture,” Hannibal answered solemnly. “But I mustn’t rely on the Mask’s power too much. I must continue to develop my own skills and strength, though I am very honored and humbled the Mask sees me as a worthy host. I shall treat it the same way I treat Grimm’s Bane and the Hellion, with the great respect. I shall only use it in cases of utmost peril.”

“That’s a very wise decision,” Kusanagi stated, impressed at Hannibal’s candor. “The Mask agrees with you and will not call on you unless it thinks you need its help.”

“That’s fine by me,” Hannibal agreed, “I’ll let the Almighty tell me when I need it. That should take the guess work out of it.”

“You are wise beyond your years, milord,” Kusanagi stated, “With your permission, I shall return the Mask to Hreidmar’s Shrine.”

“By all means, go ahead,” Hannibal stated. With a bow, Kusanagi walked away with Grimm’s Mask tucked under his arm.

“I think you’re just starting to understand the power within that Mask, milord,” Nemesis commented.

“No arguments on that, my friend,” Hannibal answered, turning back to the hologram showing the destruction of Kartoom. “Grimm’s Mask is something I never expected to encounter down here. Somehow, I feel my fate is somehow intertwined with the Mask, just as it’s become tangled with the Bane and Hellion. I feel something stirring in the darkness inside that black hole of missing time in my mind. Just wearing the Mask is rousing things within me; things that trouble me. I feel like something is waking up inside me, and I’m not sure it’s a good thing.”

“You must not doubt yourself or the Almighty,” Enoch insisted, “We do not doubt you. Neither did those who followed you to Kartoom. Believe in yourself, little brother. We do.”