Breachers

Breachers – Path of Steel

11

I

A Breacher's Resolve

- - -

 

Joline

 

Joline Smit sat squeezed inside the cramped vehicle, surrounded by thick steel and mechanical components. Alongside her were nineteen others, all equipped with sturdy armor and shields, while most carried swords or axes. Their attention was focused downward, some looking at pictures of loved ones, engrossed in a book or even trying to solve a Rubik’s cube. The uneven terrain caused their bodies to shake as the vehicle jolted. Joline glanced at her own hand and noticed the greenish material fused to her flesh on three of her knuckles. She noticed a slight nervous tremor, but clenched her fist tightly, suppressing her emotions through sheer willpower and years of experience. “Keep your eyes on what's ahead," Joline murmured, clinging to her father’s words and drawing strength.

 

A steel latch at the front violently slid open, granting her a view of the driver and the heavily armored vehicle that was driving in front of them. “We’re approaching the Sphere. ETA 1 minute,” the man called out. In response, the fighters beside Joline stored their items in protective canisters before stowing them away underneath their seats. Joline ran her hand through her blonde hair, feeling the shaved sides, her fingertips tracing the scars and the faint remnants of greenish material embedded in her flesh. She noticed a subtle blue mist enveloping a couple of passengers in the vehicle. ‘Stop burning through your Mana, idiots,’ she thought, shaking her head. Still, she could empathize with the anxiety many of them were feeling at that moment.

 

Her thoughts then drifted to the chain around her neck, concealed beneath her armored suit. With a delicate touch, she pulled the chain out, revealing two wedding rings, one masculine and one feminine. As she held onto them, memories flooded her mind as she felt the mental weight of the items. She brought the rings to her lips for a second before sliding the chain back beneath her armor, close to her heart. She then put on and secured her helmet, revealing only her bright green eyes behind the sturdy transparent visor. As a final touch, she slipped on her gloves and protective gauntlets. “Close, close, close!” the driver announced before all the hatches in the vehicle suddenly slammed shut. Seconds later, the truck was bathed in a dim, eerie glow from a few gas lamps.

 

Joline felt the vehicle slow down to a crawl and then bump into something. After a moment, it moved forward at a snail’s pace. A strange blue hue slowly appeared inside of the truck, gradually advancing towards her. It swallowed her whole for a brief moment before she passed through a wall of untold floating crystalline fragments. Internally she could feel her body adjusting to the unnatural elements in the air and the almost suffocating pressure of the potent Mana in the air. ‘And into the Sphere we go,’ she thought as she watched the rest of her squad pass through before the vehicle accelerated again.

 

As the vehicle jolted once more, Joline couldn’t help but ponder the strangeness of the thing they had just breached. People had all sorts of names for it, from official jargon to simpler ones like ‘Mana Barrier’ or ‘Null field.’ But the most common name, the one everyone, including her, used, was simply calling them Spheres. Even after all these years since the Great Impact, there was still so much humanity didn’t understand about these Spheres and how they messed with the world. She had given up trying to figure out why the Spheres had formed on Earth and, instead, focused on the dangers they posed. Advanced systems or even anything that relied on electricity couldn’t function within a Sphere without getting fried by the raw Mana saturating the air. Even high-tech weapons like bombs and rockets had proven ineffective against the Spheres’ kinetic-resistant barrier. Moreover, she had firsthand seen how the distortion effect deep inside the Sphere could throw a wrench into whatever plan someone had made beforehand.

 

The vehicles continued to surge forward, accompanied by loud collisions, some of which were just debris that had been sent flying, while others were of the vehicles hitting a group of monsters and resulting in the critters getting smashed apart as the vehicles plowed through them. “Hot sauce! Ten seconds!” the driver called out. Joline could feel the vehicle ram through yet another group of monsters before the driver suddenly slammed on the brakes. The armored vehicles skidded to a dramatic halt as they reached their destination while enraged monsters began pounding against the sides of the vehicles, determined to breach their sturdy frames. “Five seconds!” the driver announced before calmly pulling on a latch. The sound of gas pouring out and igniting enveloped the vehicle, giving birth to anguished cries and the sizzling hisses of monsters engulfed in fire as they burned to death.

 

A man got up abruptly, slamming his palm against a piece of metal to get everyone’s attention. “Switch on The O2,” he said before turning a valve on his suit. Seconds later, he closed his helmet visor, relying on his own oxygen supply. As everyone followed his lead, they stood up and took their positions. The vehicle's hydraulics sprang into action, and a ramp at the back slammed down, unveiling a transformed landscape. The once flat grassland area had morphed into a peculiar desert-like terrain, adorned with towering hills and weird rock formations entwined with crystal branches and pulsating tendrils. Soon after, the twenty fighters rushed out of each vehicle, shields at the ready as they dealt with the remaining monsters that hadn’t been burned to a crisp.

 

- - -

 

Several hours later, Joline clenched her teeth, her gaze focused as another wave of monsters slammed into the shield wall formation that she was in. Breathing heavily, she fought to hold her ground, despite being pushed backwards bit by bit, a mist of blue forming around her as she poured more of her Mana into her equipment and body to strengthen it. ‘Don’t move,’ she chastised herself, feeling the sting in her arm and chest from the impact, while keeping her shield up. She endured it, protecting herself and those next to her from the enraged monsters in front of her. The sounds of combat echoed all around—the cries of dying monsters, claws clashing against metal, and the constant gunfire filling the air.

 

Anticipating what came next, she spotted several canisters hurling past her and descending into the heart of the monstrous horde. In a matter of moments, a dense green cloud emerged, swiftly enveloping the battleground. Joline kept her position, trusting in her team and her equipment. Her thick armor shrugged off the occasional claw strike that made it past her shield, before she quickly retaliated with another sword thrust. The monsters reacted with aggression, hissing and clawing at their own faces in a frantic attempt to rid themselves of the noxious gas invading their lungs and eyes, while others simply threw themselves even harder against the shield wall, or tried to slip past it.

 

A sharp whistle pierced through the chaos, signaling Joline’s group to begin their coordinated attack. Without hesitation, they moved forward two steps. The clash of shields against monsters echoing in the air. Operating like a well-oiled machine, they thrust their swords and swung their axes, quickly slaughtering several creatures before repeating the pattern. Joline blocked another slash aimed at her head, observing the fur-clad monster relentlessly biting and scratching at her shield. Its four eyes were a fiery and unhealthy red from all the toxic chemicals biting into its flesh. She swiftly smashed her shield into the monster’s face, shattering its jaw, while the woman on her left finished it off with an axe to its skull. Sensing the man on her right getting pushed back, Joline slammed her shield into the sand in front of her, as a surge of energy inside her flowed into her left arm and poured out through the shield.

 

‘Bulwark’

 

The energy surged through her shield, enveloping the metal in a brilliant blue glow. It burst forth from the edges of the shield, extending its reach to four times its original size. With a steady grip on the shield, she kept maintaining her Ability, burning through her Mana reserves as she held back some of the monsters. The creatures crashed into the shield, only to be forcefully repelled, but they persisted, charging at them again and again. "Running out of mana," Joline shouted, seconds later hearing the woman next to her step forward, brandishing her axe. Joline watched as the woman's axe glowed momentarily before she brought it down with a mighty force just as Joline’s Mana ran out. A surge of immense energy erupted from the axe strike, propelling forward in violent bursts of air, sand and rock, hurling back scores of monsters in its wake. Joline’s lips curled into a smirk as she observed the chaos left in the attack’s wake. However, her expression abruptly shifted to one of horror when she spotted a monstrous figure lunging toward her head amidst the settling dust, seemingly frozen in place. Her eyes widened in shock as the creature closed the gap in a second, only for it to suddenly hiss in agony, gripping its own head with both its hands until it abruptly snapped its own neck.

 

Turning her gaze backward, she saw her squad commander with his left hand extended in a claw-like stance, a strange reddish mist dissipating around him, showing that the man had used an Ability. In an instant, the man delivered a forceful punch to her shoulder, snapping her out of her shocked state. “Maintain the line!” the squad leader barked, instructing the team as they prepared for yet another wave as they had been doing for the past few hours. In the distance, explosions resonated, accompanied by occasional bursts of lightning and ice, signifying the progress of the main assault party composed of their guild’s strongest fighters.

 

More monsters began to swarm around them, clambering over the peculiar rock formations before encircling the fighters and the armored vehicles. “Get ready with the next round of gas canisters!” the squad leader bellowed, eying the approaching threat. Suddenly, the world shook with great force. Violent tremors caused several rock formations to crumble, crushing several monsters beneath their weight. Then, in a breathtaking spectacle, the sky shattered into billions of dissipating pieces of crystal. The once dark blue hue instantly began dispersing and returning to its natural state, signaling that the main attack force had completed their objective.

 

Joline eyed the monsters warily, observing some still charging at them while others writhed in apparent agony, clawing at their own bodies. Minutes passed, and one by one, they all met their demise. Some perished because of the sudden scarcity of Mana in the air, while others succumbed to the unforgiving nature of sharp steel and momentum. Once they finished up, all the fighters paused, a collective breath held, waiting for something more. Then, as if on cue, a colossal green flare shot up in the distance, followed by a smaller one that was dark blue.

 

“Alright, team one has confirmed and secured a single dark blue Orb,” the team leader abruptly announced, tearing his gaze from the flares. “That means teams two, three, and us—team four—are to prepare the site for harvest and extraction.” His words carried through the air, a palpable wave of relief washing over the fighters surrounding the armored vehicle. Like Joline, most were relieved there was no additional smaller Sphere to contend with today.

 

Joline’s tense expression gradually eased, and she took a few steps back, leaning against the vehicle. Her gaze swept across the aftermath, seeing the scattered carcasses of defeated monsters. ‘We did well drawing the aggression of a few waves, considering this was a dark blue Sphere,’ she pondered, a smile tugging at her lips, hopeful that the other teams had experienced similar success in serving as a distraction. “Well, time to earn my pay,” she murmured, mustering her resolve as she pushed herself forward once more. Disregarding the numerous bruises adorning her body, she joined the others in stacking the lifeless monster bodies to the side to clear a path.

 

- - -

 

Several hours later, Joline sat with her team, devouring a sandwich. They had stowed away their gear in crates, ready to be shipped back for repairs and cleaning. She wore her overalls, the zipper slightly undone at the front, with traces of sweat and blood still clinging to her body and the chain necklace she wore. Several trucks were now parked at their position, their beds slowly being filled up with monstrous carcasses. Dozens of workers toiled diligently, ripping out Monster-Glass and storing them safely before moving each corpse. “Luuk, want some chicken?” Joline asked, offering half of her meal, before raising an eyebrow as her teammate, Luuk, raised his hand. “Don’t tell me you’re still following that strange diet?” She asked as she stared at the older man, amused by the way the light danced off his bald head.

 

“I am,” the man countered, setting down his steel tray after finishing his salad. “You should give my diet a try sometime.” Luuk’s gaze shifted towards a nearby truck that was being loaded with yet another monster corpse, ready for transportation and processing.

 

“Luuk Telman, are you calling me fat?” Joline retorted with a smirk, taking the last bite of her sandwich. Like him, she observed the workers lifting another lifeless creature, their attention drawn to the scene. She could hear Luuk starting to defend himself, but his words trailed off when one of the workers collapsed, drenched in sweat. “Looks like the Mana hasn’t completely dissipated here yet.”

 

Luuk nodded in agreement, his brown gaze narrowing. “Well, considering it was a dark blue Sphere, it might take a few more hours before it’s safe for non-Breachers.” The two of them watched the scene for a few minutes, their attention fixed on the sweating man as he retrieved a plastic tube from his backpack. The man then pressed it against his shoulder and administered an injection with the push of a button, seconds later getting back on unsteady feet, looking slightly better. “I can’t even imagine being in a place like this and having to constantly rely on those—” Luuk’s words trailed off as he witnessed Joline rising from her spot and heading towards the workers.

 

Joline approached the struggling men and effortlessly lifted one of the monsters on her own. With a display of strength, she tossed the lifeless creature into the truck before repeating the process a few more times. “Our lord and savior won’t be too pleased,” Luuk muttered under his breath. At that moment, a tall man with blond hair and piercing blue eyes approached her. An unpleasant expression marred his otherwise striking features. A number five marked the left shoulder on the man’s jumpsuit, while the right displayed an emblem resembling a droplet of blue blood. “Speaking of the devil,” Luuk hissed, rising from his spot and heading toward Joline and their squad leader, Adam Hayes.

 

“I see you have plenty of energy left,” the man addressed her, flashing a smile that felt insincere and left a bitter aftertaste. “Perhaps next time, channel that surplus when facing monsters, rather than lift their remains. Or need I remind you of your close call earlier?”

 

Joline and Luuk sensed the man’s gaze lingering on them, then shifting to the number three displayed on their left shoulder. “Sorry, squad leader,” Joline responded respectfully, gesturing towards the truck as it completed its loading. “I had a few spare minutes, so I thought I’d lend a hand to our fellow guild members.” Though her tone remained respectful, inwardly Joline entertained thoughts of the countless unpleasant objects their sour-faced squad leader could shove up a certain dark place and piss off.

 

“Don’t promote laziness, Miss Smit,” Adam admonished, his gaze fixed on the workers climbing into the truck. “We all have our assigned roles to fulfill. Ours is battle, while theirs is to clear away the aftermath.” He observed as the workers filled up another truck before driving off, heading towards the nearest highway. “I assume you don’t require a second reminder, given how much the guild has already done for you?”

 

‘Screw you,’ Joline seethed inwardly, though she nodded outwardly. “Yes, squad leader.” She forced a smile as insincere as his own before she and Luuk retraced their steps toward their belongings. “That bastard deserves a punch to the throat... or groin... I’m good with either.”

 

Luuk grinned briefly, placing a comforting pale hand on her shoulder. “One can only hope for both.”

 

“I was just helping our own people, for crying out loud! They’re on our guild’s payroll, fellow guild members. Insignia and all!” Joline’s anger surged, pointing at the blue blood emblem on her right shoulder. Adam’s not-so-subtle reference to her debt to the guild had only worsened her temper. ‘I appreciate the guild’s support, but I didn’t need that slimy jerk to remind me’. Inwardly she felt dirty after the man had mentioned it, as if it meant he was in some way attached to it. “I mean, who the hell does he think he is, ordering us around like that?” She asked as she grabbed her smartphone from her pack and switched it on.

 

“Yeah... it’s not like he’s an experienced Delta recruited by our guild to ramp up our guild’s ability to tackle Spheres. Not to mention someone who actually survived a few red ones,” Luuk remarked sarcastically, shifting tactically to the side to avoid getting hit. “Look, he’s an asshole. You know it, I know it. His cat probably knows it too. But he’s a tough asshole, despite his dislike for most heavy weapon support. But he’s the kind of asshole that our guild went out of their way to recruit all the way from Canada. Best thing you—” Luuk’s words trailed off as he noticed her staring at her cellphone, her hand trembling violently, her eyes widening in shock. “Joline?”

 

“I... I need to go,” Joline uttered, her attention fixed on the message from her younger brother, Martin. She also noticed the fifty or so missed calls from him and her uncle. She could hear Luuk stepping closer towards her while mentioning something about how her leaving would piss off their squad leader even further, seeing as they were supposed to run after action drills in a few minutes. Joline ignored it all. The only thing that mattered was the text message from Martin. As she nearly stumbled backward, her phone slipped from her grasp and landed on her pack, allowing Luuk to read what was being displayed.

 

┏ ┓

“Marcus got attacked in the hospital. He’s fine… and he’s awake!

Sis, Marcus is awake!”

- Martin

┗ ┛

 

Luuk’s expression changed in an instant when he read it, seconds later rushing to gather Joline’s belongings, stuffing them into her backpack unceremoniously and thrusting it into her hands. “What’re you waiting for, girl? Run!” At that she turned around and took off, heading towards the nearest car she could find.

 

- - -

 

Joline burst into the waiting room, gasping for breath, mentally acknowledging the numerous speeding tickets she must have racked up during her frantic rush towards the hospital in New Haven. She brushed her blonde hair back, acutely aware of her disheveled appearance, stained with sweat, blood, and grime. Her gaze fell upon her uncle standing near the coffee machine, while her younger brother anxiously clutched his crutches in a nearby chair. “How is he!” Joline demanded with a harsh edge, but quickly softened her tone upon realizing her own anxiety and volume. “Sorry... Marcus, how is he?”

 

“We haven’t had a chance to speak to him yet. We only caught a glimpse of him as they rushed him into surgery a few hours ago,” Laurens, her uncle, replied, pouring her a cup of coffee. His salt-and-pepper beard was unkempt, as if he had been running his hands through them for hours. Paying no mind to her blood and grime smearing on his own clothes, he embraced her tightly, his small gut pressing into her. As he released Joline, he handed her the steaming cup with a fragile smile playing on his lips. “But we saw him. Blue eyes open and all. He’s awake.”

 

“But he’s out of surgery now, right?” she asked, her gaze shifting between her uncle and her brother, their slow nods confirming her hope. “Then we’re going to see him... now.”

 

Her younger brother leaned back, resting his head against the wall, one hand rubbing his right knee where his leg abruptly ended. “We can’t, Joline. He’s still in the recovery room, and the hospital has strict protocols after an attack takes—” his words suddenly cut short as he witnessed his blood-stained sister striding toward him, effortlessly lifting him to his foot with one hand as if he weighed nothing.

 

“Thirteen years.” she whispered, her eyes narrowing as she felt the weight of what she had just uttered. “Our brother has been alone in the dark for thirteen years, and the first thing he wakes up to is some maniac stabbing him, followed by an army of doctors and nurses sticking needles into him.” Releasing her brother, she grabbed his crutches and placed them firmly in his hands. “He needs family... now. And good luck to anyone in this hospital that dares to stand in the way of an emotionally unstable Breacher trying to see her brother.” With that, she led the way to the door, her brother and uncle trailing behind her. As she walked, she gently clasped the two rings on her chain, determined to carry them with her.

 

- - -

Copyright: OsiriumWrites