"This is Charlie. Hostiles have taken the Eastern Quadrant."
"Med-evac 20 seconds out, start bussing the civis."
"Hostiles have broken through MAT line. Bravo is moving back to rear-guard."
"This is Echo, we're being over-run in the Western Quadrant, we ne-"
"Echo, this is Alpha. Gather the rest of your troops and evac to Foxtrot Sierra."
"This is Bravo, it's been an honor serving."
"Bravo Squad full KIA, all units return to Foxtrot Sierra. Mana be with you."
The voices that rang so loud, yet so distant belted on the radio on the soldiers shoulder. How many rounds had been expended from the rifle she held? How many of her brothers and sisters have fallen to this horrifc enemy? Was there any point in holding on any longer?
These questions rang over and over in her head as she shoved the empty mag out of her rifle to collapse into the blood-made mud. It had been so long since she's slept, only her adrenaline keeping her focused now. Wounded all over, barely able to see from her right eye, it was all she could do to lean against the earth barricade to shoot down the monsters in her sights.
Yet, as more and more dropped, others kept taking their place like death meant so little. Some would even evaporate their own allies for being to wounded or dead. These, these THINGS just kept pushing like nothing else but destruction and madness mattered to them. Unfeeling, unflinching, ever pushing like the mindless slaves they were while wearing the faces of her friends, family and loved ones.
Some of those twisted monsters would take the faces of children to try and sway her heart, gunned down like the others that rushed towards her. She couldn't move from her spot, knowing those behind her would meet this same fate should she fall. Yet, fate would not aid this poor soldier.
She saw it coming. An MA round coming right for the barrier she had made it a hurry, launching her back into the destroyed tank she rode in on. If it wasn't for the magic barrier, the shrapnel would have torn her to shreds. A groan left her throat as her feet hit the mud below, looking down to see a corrugated iron bar had slipped through her defenses and pierced her chest.
This was it. Her final stand. As a last ditch effort, she called upon all the Mana she could muster into her core and collapsed it as much as she could. She looked to the sky with a confident grin, hoping to take as many as she could to give those behind her a fighting chance. That was, until that ray of light appeared above, racing towards her faster than she could ever hope to react.
Then, just when it hits, she's awake.
That same nightmare again. At first, she would wake up screaming in both anger and anguish. Now, the 'dream' simply shook her awake calmly. If it weren't for the fact that her Mana grew with each slumber, she wouldn't bother fighting through this constant torment that haunted her.
"How long has it been now?" A soft whisper left her mask as she looked down at her lap.
Over the years, she found it more comfortable to sleep sitting up. At first she thought it was better for circulating her Mana while sleeping. Now this bad habit had forced her to carve the rock she traveled on into some strange looking chair for better comfort.
"Alright, let's try again." She steadied herself and held her hand up to look at her palm.
Where normal flesh would be, it was covered by a black gauntlet that refused to come off. Not just her arm, her whole body was encased on this strange armor. As exquisite as this armor was with its black rabbit emblem and etched cape she wore to compliment her stature, this armor was more cage than protection.
It didn't matter what she tried. Prying it off, shooting, smashing, stabbing, slicing, all plans failed when she tried to remove this cage. What's worse, she had long since lost the need to eat or drink, much less breathe. It had been so long since this curse found her, that she even forgot what color flesh she had. There were even a few times when she found the barrel of her gun pointed at herself, only to have that fail as well.
What she did find, however, was that her Mana resonated with this armor to a certain extent. Though it was rather unfortunate her Reservoir was so small. If it wasn't for the asteroid she was sitting on, she wouldn't have found a suitable Mana Deposit to train on for at lwast another 1000 years. The only consolation she had about using up such valuable resource for herself was that, well, it hit her first.
"I hope this is the last time I'll be able to use you, old friend." She prayed as she pat the asteroid while crossing her legs.
Closing her eyes, she focused on her Mana and began circulating it once more. Like a saw, she spun it faster and faster. As she drew a long breath, the Mana began to heat up her body while sending out whisps all around her.
This was the hardest part. In order to reach the next stage, these whisps needed to be tamed and etched into her Mana Veins. She had tried this countless times with various reasons for her failure to occur. One of which was because she didn't have anyone to help her guide these whisps with her. The other obvious reason was because she felt no pain. It was supposed to feel like a layer of hot cheese planting itself along these veins.
For the next few minutes, she snatched each whisp one by one and slowly laid them in place. It wasn't until she got to the last 20 that her circulation began to fluctuate violently, forcing her to stop and sigh to herself.
"That's, what, trial 137? At least I got to the last 20." She muttered softly and stood up.
Out of habit, she leaned back and stretched her back before looking out the makeshift window she made. She couldn't remember how long ago it was since this asteroid hit her, but since she was stuck on it, she had made herself a quaint little abode.
Where she sat was a makeshift room about the size of a dorm room. Just enough to fit her rocky bed and some shelves to store the weapons she had mad out of the minerals she mined out.
After staring out at the endless abyss that made up her scenery, she sighed and walked through the opening where the door would be. If she could only find some wood, this place would have been so perfect. As she entered the landing, she looked around at the couch, love seat and coffee table that made up her makeshift living room. All of these were made from the minerals and rock mined from the asteroid.
On the bookshelves and hanging shelves that lined the walls were more things she had made to pass the time. Some failed experiments here and there, as well as some things that were pretty useless, but looked nice nonetheless.
Walking to the couch, she sat down with a light huff and stared out at the milky way that practically painted itself onto her window. It had been a couple hundred years since she'd long adored this scene. These days she simply stared at this scene to think upon her mistakes during the Claiming.
"What I would give to smell some bread. Ooo, maybe some nice grilled meat." She muttered to herself with a light chuckle.
Leaning back against the couch, she closed her eyes to try and dig up the long lost memories of the food she had once taken for granted. Another habit of hers to try and forget her worries.
Ting ting ting.
A metallic thrum rang around the living room, making her jump and reach into her Void Corridor. After pulling out a pistol, she stood in silence while looking around. It had been a while since she had forgotten the insanity she went through. People walking in to talk to her, knocks along the walls, even someone calling out from the abyss to try and goad her out.
Just when she settled on it being another illusion, the knocks rang out again. This time she pin pointed it to the metal door she had made that led outside.
"Alright, another pointless adventure I've made up." She sighed, succumbing to that slight hope that it might be a real person.
Walking up to the door, she grabbed the handle and let out a sigh. She had done this so many times that she already knew what to expect. After putting the pistol back into the Void Corridor, she pushed the door open and closed her eyes.
"Let's see what my insanity I've come up with th-" She was suddenly stopped by the sight before her.
In the middle stood a white haired, white bearded man wearing a grey and light blue robe. He looked like some sort of old warrior, carrying a sheathed sword in his left hand. On either side of him was another human that looked to be in his 30's, while the other was a type of lizard person. Behind them stood a wolf woman holding another human in her arms who had long since passed out.
All of which, were wounded heavily, and ready to strike.
After blinking at the sight a few times, she casually shut the door and flicked her head to the right.
"Well, it seems my imagination has gone off the deep end."