Hermitcraft 8: Moonfall (to be rewritten soon)

The Showdown

(Grian POV)

I sat shivering in the hole, barely noticing when the blizzard stopped. I wouldn't have known unless I had heard these crowing ravens. I sat up, squinting at the sunlight pouring in like a waterfall. I was about to climb out, but something stopped me. It was too quiet.

"Don't be stupid, Grian. A snowstorm just ended. The animals are just barely getting up." I said, punching my forehead. But just in case...

I stood, and a bullet immediately smashed into the snow right in front of me.

"Shit..." I muttered, sinking down again and weighing my options. I was trapped down here, a deadly sniper was nearby, and all I had was a smith&wesson... I would have to trick my way out of this. I took a deep breath.

"Nice weather we're having, innit? Snow with a hint of bullets. Mmmmm, my favorite." I shouted sarcastically. A satisfying pause. I smirked. Yup, they were confused.

"I prefer sunshine if we're being completely honest." A muffled, almost familiar female voice shouted back. I just couldn't tell who.

"You're out of your element, then." I said. She didn't respond. Clearly she knew she couldn't hit me, so we were in a standoff. I kept talking.

"Why am I on top of your hit list?" I asked. She didn't respond for a moment.

"Because you remember. And it's what The Watchers told me to do." She said. I winced.

"Damn. Well, looks like this is a good old fashioned standoff." I said cockily.

"The way I see it, you're the one trapped in a hole. I'm the one with the sniper. Who has the upper hand here?" She said. I pulled a white briefcase from my bag, and opened it. It swung open, and immediately stated assembling my own sniper. I looked at the EST for completion: "Three Minutes" I just had to keep her distracted long enough for it to complete itself. I looked up, and saw the moon was still high in the sky.

"So how's your day going?" I yelled.

"Alright. Getting a cramp waiting for Grian to stand up. You?" She responded. I looked up at the moon, frowning. Little white and blue specks flew around it.

"One minute."

"I'm ok. Almost drowned last night, some assassin is after me... ya know, a normal Thursday for me." I said.

"30 seconds"

"Sounds exiting. I'm almost jealous. Almost." She said.

"3"

"That's a shame."

"2"

"It gets you going in the morning, tell ya that much."

"One."

I quickly grabbed the rifle, and hefted it onto the rim of the pit. I quickly found her in winter camouflage lying down, aiming right at me.

"Gotcha." I whispered, and squeezed the trigger.

. . .

The Watcher stood in his flagship, looking down at the Hermits moon. Hundreds of thousands of engines were built onto the backside.

"Moon Engines primed and ready, sir." A pilot said. The Watcher folded his arms behind his back.

"Fire at will." He said. A moment later, blue energy blew from the Engines, and the moon slowly crept forwards. Then suddenly the engines cut out.

"It's done, sir. EST for collision is one and a half years." The pilot said.

"Call the CEO." The Watcher ordered. The pilot paled, but did as he was told.

"Update." The deep voice of the CEO came from seemingly nowhere.

"We're ending the Hermit Experiments with a bang: We've forced Gem into the position of Hitman, which has given us some great new patterns. And we're ending it by sending the moon flying at them." The Watcher reported.

"Good. And what of Xelqua?" The CEO demanded.

"He and Gem are locked in a sniper battle currently, sir. He got his Case back." The Watcher said bitterly.

"If he escapes this, see to it he never leaves the planet. I'll kill him myself if I must. I await the results." The CEO said in a sadistic tone, and his presence left the room. The Watcher walked up to the window, a slight smile on his face.

"Genrick!" He bellowed, and the man in the grey suit scuttled up to him.

"Yes, sir?" He asked timidly.

"Trigger the ending."

. . .

The bullet hit the rock right in front of her, sending shards everywhere. She rolled back, probably spewing all kinds of colorful words.

"Plenty more of that over here!" I yelled, poking my head up. Another bullet kicked up snow in front of me, and I ducked down again. I grabbed my knife and more ammo from the Briefcase, closed it, shoved it in my bag, and quickly swung out of the pit as she was reloading.

"Xelqua! Thats your Watcher-given name, isn't it?" She yelled, and I froze for a moment. A moment too long. Another shot rang out, catching me in the lower leg. A feeling like
pure fire exploded in my leg.

"Shit!" I yelled, sliding behind a tree. I quickly shoved my fingers into the bullethole, and nearly screamed as a fresh wave of pain rocked me. I found the bullet, and ripped it out. This time I screamed. I ripped a strip from the bottom of my pant leg, and wrapped in around the wound.

"This is it, Grian. You know what comes next." The assassin yelled, and I could see her climbing down the cliff face. I closed my eyes, holding my leg willing the wound to close. A burning smell slammed into me, but I kept going. This was my only shot at this.

I drew my Watcher knife, waiting. I looked up at the moon.

"She's close... just a few yards behind you..." a small voice whispered in my mind. I nodded, and stood. I could hear her feet crunching in the snow and her breathing. I held my knife across my chest, ready.

Right when the footsteps were right behind me, I whirled around and drove it into her shoulder. She screamed, blood pouring from the wound. I kicked her down and ran.

I whooped. I had done it! I had finally figured out how to heal myself! I looked at my watch quickly, and saw the Swaggon was just over the next ridge. I turned towards it and ran faster than any other human could, using the Watcher enhancements for the first time in years.

"Xelqua!" The assassin yelled, gripping her shoulder and aiming her handgun at me. She squeezed the trigger, and time slowed down around me. I could see the bullet flying towards me. I slid to the side, using the briefcase to send it back. I didn't see if it hit, but judging from her shout is was very close.

"Grian, who is that?" Mumbo shouted through the watch. I could faintly hear the Swaggons engine roaring over the hill. I almost cried in relief.

"It's the assassin. I stabbed her in the shoulder, but she's still coming." I barked.

"Scar, hit it! It's the assassin!" Mumbo yelled, and the Swaggon suddenly flew right over me. The assassin fell in surprise, and bolted down the hill. I breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly shoved the briefcase back into my bag. I swung myself onto the ladder and hauled myself up. The door slid open. Pearl stood there, looking relieved. Before I could react she and Mumbo had both pulled me inside and wrapped me in a bear hug.

I embraced them, wet spots forming on my eyes. I was safe.