A veil of mist floats whimsically above him, his eyes can just about make out the clouded white sky. As the little man moves an arm, it hits something solid. Rotating his head to see, he flaps a layer of mist away and discovers a body lying next to him. Prodding it. The person doesn’t move an inch.
‘Hello’, the little man whispers. Though that didn’t acquire a reaction either.
Darting those tiny black eyes around, something unnerving reveals itself, more of the mist began to dissipate, not entirely, but enough for him to see a land littered with bodies. Leaning up to get a further look, yes, the land is covered in bodies. Presumably dead. Checking his face, good, he still has his helmet on. Memories are beginning to return…he came here with a battalion of soldiers to capture a strategic point on the planet. This planet of poisonous gases, swamps, bogs and forests. A planet that is under the control of the Confederacy, the enemy. Clearly his battalion’s objective in taking that strategic point had failed.
He rummages for his kenjiin, discovering it to be under layers of water and mud. It’s broken. Something shattered the rest of it, yes, he remembers…it was an explosion that knocked him unconscious, yet killed the men and women near him.
Then a noticeable squishing noise alerts his ears, but he can’t see who or what it may be. Panicked, the little drops down, back into a lying position. A foot stomps right next to his head. He dares not inhale a breath. Eyes shut tight. Tension rises in the little man’s body, though he does his best to go limp and act dead.
‘Sae va ulk grava’
‘Bahh, vek vu ravu ja oos kaa’, another alien tongue says.
BLAM!
The little man almost pounces at the sudden gunshot, yet he was able to restrain that urge. It was the body next to him that was shot. Confederacy soldiers are patrolling the field making sure the fallen, are indeed fallen.
Kalikakikili, or Kali for short, is surrounded. The Nomian (a bipedal avian) Dragon Warrior, must escape. Somehow.
_
No beacon could be found and he has not means of building one. Even if Kali called in help, it’ll be suicide for the one(s) rescuing him. The warrior will need to find another way off this world. Despite being outnumbered, Kali uses the mist to his advantage, remaining quiet and unseen. Steadily crossing the bog and into fogged forests. Recalling further on the strategic point, it’s a biochemical facility, that was the reason for their deployment. Kali was sent to aid in this endeavour as their were rumours of Jahaaki here. This biochemical facility could potentially be a jahaaki breeding site, and hopefully, a ship should be there for the taking.
As he comes up to an opening at the edge of the murky forest, there up high on a hill stands the facility like a sore thumb, with no mist surrounding it, and bears bright lights that pierce the darkening gray. Whenever a patrol is in his vicinity Kali uses the cover of the trees, at least he has that. But it’ll be difficult once closer to the facility as their won’t be mist to hide in or much natural cover either.
A single searchlight roams the land, seeing for potential threats, such as Kali. He must remain vigilant. Their is a flaw to its range as it doesn’t watch the back of the facility, which is where the hill is at its highest. Kali treads lightly around to this area, skipping from tree to tree, ducking from rock to rock, until he stands at the bottom of a steep slope where the facility towers over him. Time to spread those wings. Despite the gravity being heavier than Kali is familiar with, the little man soars high and fast. His talons latch onto the metal railings of the facility, pulling himself up into an air duct, which would’ve blown him away completely if hadn’t dug a talons into the floor paneling. Kali lets loose a string of essence towards the fan. It begins to slow, finally freezing in place, allowing the little man to wiggle in. Once drawing his essence back, the fan resumes its activity.
_
Kali sifts through vents and catwalks that stretch above rooms, corridors and bays. A waypoint for the nearest ship had been set on his wrist-pad, the indicator lies on his visor’s screen. All he needs to do is follow it. Upon a junction where it is clear of hostiles, he drops down. Conflicted. The ship is through a set of doors up the flight of stairs. However, the other way leads deeper into the facility, where the bio labs will be, as well as potential jahaaki and data. He could go now, yet, Kali also has this opportunity. If he does this then the battalion he was paired with wouldn’t have fell in vain.
His talon unsheathes what’s left of his kenjiin and holds it in a reverse-grip manner.
Sneaking through passageways, lingering in alcoves, disposing unattended soldiers and even finding loose floor paneling, enabling him to progress through areas he otherwise couldn’t, lest he be detected. Eventually after bypassing levels of storage bays, barracks, and abandoned rooms. Kali slips into the bio-labs level.
The corridors on this level appear to lightly secured, with one or two soldiers patrolling the area. They never expected a nimble warrior such as Kali. When not avoiding passing soldiers, he takes the chance in peering through the windows of the adjacent labs. Scientists fumble with various exotic looking liquids and equipment, some argue, and a few tapping in data on data-pads. Kali arrives at a door that leads to another section, although a soldier stands in ear-range. Fortunately he collected rocks on his trip through the misted land. His talon flings one across the opposite end of the passageway, capturing the attention of the soldiers, who go to investigate. The door opens for Kali to slip through.
This other section is connected via a tunnel where no alcoves exist for him to hide in. One soldier guards this place. Kali must deal with him in order to pass.
With haste he approaches behind the lonely soldier, grasps the hilt of his half-kenjiin tightly and jabs it through the side of the soldier’s skull. He lets out a grunt before dropping to the ground. Moving on into the next section a massive laboratory lies ahead of him where scientists examine pods filled with a luminous green substance. From this distance he is able to make them out, beings float in these pods with each one in different stages of growth.
This must be the place.
The laboratory’s door swooshes open, the scientists stop and stare at a shadowed figure, Kali closes in on the nearest scientist. In a flash he assassinates each one as he slides, dashes, ands rolls about the place. One scientist reaches the door, a chance to live another day and warn others, yet a sudden sharp stings courses throughout her back. Then everything fades to black. Kali reclaims his kenjiin and scans the lab and comes across a terminal containing data on the jahaaki; how they’re grown, their biological difference to normal Th’ull, key genetic enhancements as well as locations for other breeding sites. The warrior connects to the terminal with his wrist-pad and begins downloading.
A tingling sensation arouses suspicion, as if something is creeping up on him. The download finishes. Kali peers over his shoulder and sees a shimmer in the air. A strange anomaly. This surging instinct yells at him to move aside and as he does the terminal blows as something had struck it.
‘Ahhh, val ma esk duu vere? Naari killi gruuk jahdaa zul haasa yuulda’, a deep albeit feminine voice says.
She screams, Kali dashes away from the cloaked being, evading another strike. He retreats in the shadows. Watching.
‘Maak va, kal vu!’
He silently watches, allowing her to wonder, she then treads carefully through the lab. Kali sprints out from the shadows stabbing her in the arm which carries the weapon. She attempts to swing but misses. Kali disappears again. Her cloak remains stable, although she can clearly be seen by the trail of glowing blood that runs down her arm. He slides over to her, jabbing the kenjiin into her lower leg, fracturing the tibia. It gets stuck and unfortunately this gives her the upper hand. Kali receives a back-hand, knocking him away. She stumbles forward ready to thrust but Kali flies over causing her to stumble even more. His talon springs open firing a bolt of electricity which stuns her and simultaneously disrupts the cloak; a jahaaki is revealed.
Running over he yanks his blade out from the jahaaki’s leg, slams his talon down on her tail, pinning it to the ground, wrangles her into a headlock, rips the helmet off and finally; with his other arm he brings down the blade, driving it deep into her brain.
Now it’s time to end this, with the data collected, Kali searches the jahaaki’s remains finding a grenade and the cloaking generator. His essence partially restores the generator, enough so that he can use it to escape, as once he pulls the pin off this grenade, destroying everything down here, the facility will go on alert.
BOOM!
The facility lights blink to red, sirens ring and soldiers begin to swarm the building. Kali with his speedy dashes, utilisation of the alcoves and the newly acquired cloak generator; he exits the facility and finds the ship he needs, sitting there on a landing pad. With a little tinkering the little warrior manages to get it going and escapes. No ships followed after him.
_
Kali returned to the Order and shared his findings regarding the jahaaki which elevated the Order’s understanding of their sworn enemy, as well as the Empire. It greatly contributed to the war effort. And the battalion he fought alongside can now rest in peace. From then on the Order sent Kali on high-valued assassination missions. The use of the cloaking generator gave him a big advantage. Receiving the well-known title of The Invisible Mist. Later towards the end of his life the Order granted him the rank of master, they gave him a sanctum on Desolatuus’s moon, Myston, to train new additions of assassins, dubbed, Mists. Trained in martial arts and the combat form of Ni-Ren (Deadly Claw), a reverse-grip stance.
One night Kali’s apprentice went to his master’s bedchamber, anxious to be the next master of the Mists and bearing the responsibility. He knocked yet no one responded. The door was ajar. As he entered, Kali could not be found. Time passed and Order searched the sanctum grounds, every known nook and cranny, even the academy on Desolatuus. The Empire knew not either. Nobody knew Kali’s whereabouts, how, or why. He had simply…vanished.
See the other Dragon Origin stories: THE TEMPERED FURY and THE CRIMSON BLADE-MASTER
Back to Nav-System