The Uprising

Elders Retaliation

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So a huge thank you to everyone and please read on!

Maren

We've only been in Baladh for a few hours and I hate it. I think this is the worst city I've been in so far and that's really saying a lot.

The sounds of gunfire and bullets fill the air, as I hide behind a nearby pile of rubble that used to be a house. I watch as a nearby fire fills the air with black smoke, which pours out from a destroyed building and makes it harder to breathe. Overheard, I can see the shapes of Loric jets racing through the air, shooting at mog crafts as well as the massive machine guns installed on some of the roofs. I know there are mog soldiers nearby, but the air is so thick with smoke and dust from the recent explosion that one could be five feet away from me and I wouldn't see.

Where are the others? Are they nearby? I demand Lyn, as she crouches by me in panther form. Her black fur is wet with blood, mostly the mogs, but there's a cut on her shoulder that's bleeding slightly.

I can't sense them, she replies. Last I saw them was at the Mayor's building. We're on the outskirts now. I muffle my curse, reloading my gun. There's another loud exploding noise and I watch as another house explodes into rubble and ash. I hear a splash as some of the rubble falls into the nearby lake. I hadn't even realised that I was so close to it.

Come on, I say to Lyn. We have to get back to the others. As much as I like a fight by myself, I want to be with the boys, knowing that we're stronger together.

I go to move when there's another explosion, one that's much closer. I'm thrown backwards from my safety point and I turn invisible, just as I smack the ground nearby. I wince as I roll away from a falling palm tree, which hits the ground where I was only a moment ago. I watch as the last standing house by the lake is destroyed, the mog bomber already flying away for more targets.

I stand, invisible, looking around me with horror. What used to be a row of beautiful houses lining the edge of the lake is now piles of rubble and fire. The palm trees are still standing but they're covered in a grey layer of dust and ash. The streets were cobbled in different-coloured paving stones and there used to be fountains and mosaics. That's all been destroyed and all that's left of this part of the city is rubble and fire. The citizens have mostly fled and all that are left are the Loric rebel fighters and the mogs sent to kill them.

Try to contact BK, I instruct Lyn. We need to get back to the others before more bombers get here. I sense her acknowledgement as she scuttles alongside me in a rat form but we both know she won't be able to reach him from this far away.

I've been in Baladh for a few hours and it's been hell. Explosions and fires and mogs coming from every place possible. But we'd all stuck together as a group, as the mentors directed us from the control room, and we'd been all right. Nine had killed a huge amount of mogs, his Chimaera, Byscoe, doing as much damage. John and Joseph had been just as good, and I had enjoyed every minute of the fight. But then I'd been cut off from the others about an hour ago. Some piken thing had attacked me, which was almost impossible to kill. I'd had to run, further and further away from the main part of the city, just to escape the monster. By the time the thing had been crushed by a falling building, I was far away from the others.

I hear another explosion nearby and watch as what used to be my hiding place is blown up. I duck as a Loric plane spirals through the air and then I wince, as it crashes into a nearby building. The building collapses at once, stones falling around the craft, which seems remarkably undamaged. It's made out of this weird, silver-like material that looks like my sword. My ears are ringing from the noise.