Project - Prometheus Ch. 06

The smile he wore, was quickly wiped from his face as he concentrated in earnest, to keep her attacks from reaching him. It did the whelp little good however, as within a minute of beginning the duel, Korsa's Thuun'tara blades bit into his shoulders and legs. He cried out and flinched, causing him to drop his scavenged weaponry. The last thing he saw, was the clenched fist of the alien woman, passing in front of his face.

His head tilted backwards and kept on going, falling right off his shoulders. Wasting no time, Korsa hacked off his hands and stripped her stolen armor from his arms. Quickly, she donned them and now, had at least some of her armor returned to her. Taking up a battle stance she was ready to fight by the time the pup's body had hit the ground.

Howling in an uncontrollable rage, Dahr'khash tore away from his bodyguard, determined to take his vengeance on this alien who had ended his son's life! His weapons, like his son's, were also scavenged, but it looked like more care had been put into them. They rang across Korsa's swords, like a hammer striking an anvil, the sound carrying across the village. Battles across the whole settlement stopped as both sides watched these two titans lock blades in a deadly dance.

Though he was bigger than his son, Dahr'khash was still a fair bit smaller than Korsa. She had to give the man credit, as he had brazenly attacked her, hoping to overwhelm her by surprise. Drawing upon her strength, she shoved the shorter man back, making him stumble for a step or two. He quickly regained his footing, then came at her again, in a more measured, precise attack.

The attack was easy to chart and Korsa parried it with ease, riposting and driving a blade tip into his upper chest. Dahr'khash backed away as quick as he could. He wore the pauldrons, vambraces and greaves he stole from Korsa. Though his torso was protected by a rudimentary breastplate, which was little more than a hodgepodge of various scraps. He tried to bull rush her, using his newfound armor as a shield, while keeping his weapons pointed in front of him.

Korsa feinted to the right, before tucking her blades and rolling to the left, right past the chieftain's charge. Coming to her feet, Korsa then arched her back and threw her arms behind her, with all the grace of a trained ballerina. The swords dug into the Yahk'shurt chief's back, causing him to howl in pain, as he tried to turn about to his left.

Moving faster than a blur, Korsa spun on one pointed foot, her Thuun'tara sword creating an impromptu shield, catching and parrying the chiefs attack. He followed up his attack with his other weapon in his right hand, but Korsa saw it coming and flipped to her right. The arc of the weapon which would have caught her in her midsection, whished through the air harmlessly beneath her. As she was in mid flip, she launched the blade from her lower right arm, straight for Dahr'khash. It caught him straight in the torso, just below his heart.

The pain of such an intrusion was doubled as Korsa also threw the blade from her lower left arm as she landed, which also punched through the chief's body, skewering his intestines. Blood poured from his lips as he tried to cry out, but it came as a strangled gasp. Dropping his axe and knife, he gripped the hilts of the swords, to make sure he wasn't imagining them. He winced when he felt immense pain rushing through him as he touched them.

Luminia rushed up to her mother, ignoring Alex's outraged cries from below. Valessa stepped forward, blinking all four of her eyes rapidly, to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Korsa stood there, over her adversary, waiting for a moment, before she spoke.

"What is the chieftaness' judgement on this man?" Korsa asked aloud. Luminia then relayed the translation to her mother, understanding what Korsa was doing. She was letting Valessa pronounce the judgement upon him, rather than carrying it out herself. She was putting the fate of Dahr'khash and all Yahk'shurt, in her hands. Valessa smiled slightly, then gave her judgement.

"My mother, the chieftaness Valessa, passes the sentence of death on him! For the lives he has ruined and taken, he is to die, dishonored before the mother goddess! Let him languish in the Darklands, for all eternity!" Luminia shouted in both her language and English. Korsa nodded, raised her blades and in one swift motion, lopped his head off. Bending over, she picked up his head and handed it to Valessa, who held it high and screamed out an ululating war cry.

In that moment, the Yahk'shurt knew that they were defeated and many of them, knelt in surrender. Because of the actions of the human and alien force of the Perseus, much of the Yahk'shurt's forces were decimated. They had lost, and they knew it and any who were far enough out, ran for it. Talon roaming around the edge of the village in the Hermes, picked off those she could, but was more interested in scattering them..

Several of the chiefs who allied with the Yahk'shurt, knelt before Valessa and her honor guard, hoping that the chieftaness would be merciful. One of the chiefs, a young man who had seen battle many times, refused to kneel and called out to the rest of the Yahk'shurt to fight. He kept calling them all cowards, that they could still win, if they would stop being weaklings and fight. Several of his own honor guard surrounded him, trying to form a shield around their chief.

Some kneeling warriors were looking up at the loudmouthed chief, thinking maybe, dying was a better choice than living. Until Alex hurled his battle axe, Yggdrasil, straight at the screaming man. It flew, end over end, burying itself straight into his chest cavity, killing him instantly. As he dropped, his bones crunching as he fell, Alex calmly walked up the hill, to stand over his corpse. Gripping his axe, he placed a mechanical boot on the dead chief's chest and pulled it out.

He then held Yggdrasil upright and slammed it, butt down, into the ice, igniting it once again. As the axe burned, any thought of resistance melted away from the remaining warriors, as the rest of the enemy honor guard knelt hurriedly.

"Hmph. Show off," Korsa groused as she finished reassembling her armor she stripped from Dahr'khash's body.

"What? A message had to be sent and someone had to shut that little asshole up," Alex replied grumbling. As he clasped arms with Korsa, the rest of the crew arrived, Natalya, Kasumi and Inari walking up towards them. Overhead, the Hermes flew by slowly, coming down to rest in one of the large, open spaces in front of the hill.

Engines powering down, the rear loading ramp descended, silhouetting both Taal'ani and Priya, who were walking down amid the throng of gaping Ahl'kanin. They walked on up, unimpeded, to meet with the rest of them. Everyone had doffed their helmets, each one of their faces visible and though they all looked beat, tired and bloodied, every one of them was smiling.

"It's good to have the crew back together."

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And that's a wrap for now folks! As I said before, this chapter was a lot of fun to write and don't worry, more is coming soon! There are loads of aspects of this planet and its people that I will get into, but that will wait until the next chapter drops.

Also, for anyone who wants to pop off any theories or such about what I write, please, go nuts! Any and every comment and criticism helps me refine my writing, so please, the more the better. Unless you're a troll and trolls are never welcome here.

Anyways, thank you for taking the time to read my work and I do hope that you've enjoyed it! I'm open to constructive criticism and will seriously consider any suggestions made about various story arcs. Please feel free to rate and comment on my work down below. If you like what I write, don't be afraid to follow and share, though your views, ratings and comments are quite enough for me.

In the meantime, this is C.H. Darkstrider, signing off to grab a beer and some quality time with the wife! ;) You will attain whatever you most desire, as long as you believe in yourself. Cheers!