A Darker Purpose

Liela walked alone in the forest. She found a place where the branches didn't completely cover the sky and looked up. The sky was beautiful today. "It's a good thing the sky doesn't reflect the ground" Liela looked back down to the ground. There were the remains of what looked like a village. Buildings looked burned, pieces of scrap metal on the floor, and the smell of death was evident. 

She picked up a little dusty doll from the floor and her face saddened. "This is the fourth village I find destroyed around here." She caressed the doll "and to think I'm ordered to do just that. Hmm, at least it wasn't m-". Liela's ear twitched and she quickly put down the doll, pulled out her gunblade which automatically pointed at the direction of the noise. "S-show yourself," She said in a scared tone, thinking that whatever caused this destruction is still around the area. "I-I'll s-shoot" She started to power up the gunblade fearfully waiting.

-Among the smoke and debris, there was but one being who seemed to have either survived the chaos or was the cause of this destruction. Heavy metal thuds were heard moving through the smoke, a shadowy figure seen through the clouds of smoke that enveloped the zone. It stopped moving after it heard her threat to shoot. Now it was bearing towards her quickly. 

Emerging from the smoke stood a tall armored figure. Covered head to toe in what seemed a distinct Olive faded green armor, a helmet sat on the beings head, sitting in his hands appeared to be a weapon of some kind, scorch marks and wear and tear showed on the armor. It was unclear if this being had been responsible for the destruction of the village, but it sure looked intimidating.

-The figure spoke in a muffled radio tone.- " You there! Put your weapon down....Do it now! Do it or I am gonna take your head clear off your shoulders! first and final warning!

It was a great day to go to the forest. The sun was shining, it was a pleasant temperature and the wind wasn't blowing too hard. This would mean that other people would most likely think the same and go to the forest too. She didn't want to run into other people. She was shy and didn't like talking to strangers. Still. She put on her blue jacket with hood and tied the laces on her grey sneakers, went to the busstation and went to the forest.

Now Dione was at the right busstop. The green and beige wolf exited the bus and started walking towards... well, nowhere actually. She just walked, surrounded by trees. The wind was softly blowing through her bright purple hair and the dead leaves quietly crackled under the weight of the canine. The air was filled with sounds of the forest. The wind blowing through the leaves of the trees, the occasional acorn that fell down and made a small thud when it hit the ground. It was peaceful and calm. 

Then she reached a hill, not too steep. She continued her way untill she reached the top. There weren't many trees blocking her vision at that point so she could see pretty far. In the distance was Station Square, barely visible behind the trees on the horizon. A little more nearby was an open spot in the forest. Small plumes of smoke were arising from that area. *What could've happened?..* she thought. After a moment of deliberation she made her decision. She'd go there. Her pace was steady and quick and she would reach the open area sooner than she expected. 

As she was getting closer to the area she heard voices. *Oh no...* She didn't want to go. Yet, her curiosity made her continue. When she reached the place, she stood still for a moment, impressed by what layed in front of her. A ruin of a village. She sneaked behind a tree to hide from the other people present in this destroyed village and waited. Watched what was happening.

Liela's ear twitched and her head turned a little knowing someone else was there but she still had eye contact with the figure. She thought about the threat the figure made for a moment before slowly lowering her gunblade. She didn't know what was she looking at but she managed to say. "Are yo-you responsible for t-this..." You could see her hand shake a little as she pointed at the wreckage. Obviously knowing that it wouldn't be wise to start a fight with a potential monster. She still had her weapon close just in case.

-Emerging clearly through the smoke, his appearance marked that of a soldier, or at least something of that origin, the left shoulder plate had the symbol " G.U.N" but that symbol had been worn away and clear attempted removal. the figured moved closer and closer, his armor did indicate that he had been through a fight of some kind. Again he responded in a distorted radio tone that was coming out of the helmet.- "Look it is dangerous here...if you are a civilian you need to leave now...it's not safe." -The armored figure collapsed to his one knee, trying to right himself with his other hand.-  " You need to leave now!....before they return and take you as well."

-From this it was clear this armored figure was trying to defend the village from what ever it was that caused this carnage, his life signs were unknown and his health status did not look good.-

" You need to leave now!....before they return and take you as well." What was going on here? Dione didn't know and she was scared. She wanted to sneak behind another tree, a little further away and almost made it. Untill she stepped on a dead stick that snapped. The sound was pretty loud and she froze out of fear and stood there in plain sight, afraid of what the other figures would do if they found out that she was there.

Liela suddenly shot several beams of energy at the sneaking mobian in fear. She was shaking.

-The armored figure had no idea of the other being in the vicinity, usually his helmet could of picked up another life sign near by, he was packing some serious gear after all. The energy blasts registered high on his Heads up display on the helmet visor, these were some serious energy blasts being thrown out, however not in his direction but to another.

The energy seemed to be heading directly towards a tree, zooming in he spots what seems to be a innocent bystander. The unknown figure raises back up onto his feet and at the top of his lungs shouts out to her.- 

" YOU BY THE TREE!....GET DOWN!" 

-Now the armored figure was unsure of who this person was, this being who just threw burst of powerful energy, for all he knew she might of been the one who took out this village. The armored figure raises his large weapon at her, he didn't want to shoot, but if this was indeed the being that caused this he was going to put a end to it once and for all.-

The beams of energy, which Dione noticed fairly late, were quickly closing in on her. She ran towards the next tree and hid behind it. She could feel her heart racing in her chest and her breathing sped up. 
The impact of the beams made the ground shake and loose pieces of wood flew away from the tree. She quickly concentrated and channeled her energy to her attack. Her pupils became bigger and she felt the energy flowing through her vains. Then Dione walked away from the tree and showed herself. "D- don't hurt me!" she stuttered and stood still right before the tree. She pushed her back against it and lifted one foot and put it to the tree, ready to sprint forward if she needed to. She didn't dare to come closer. 
The figure in the armor looked dangerous and the fox looked scared too. At first Dione thought the armoured figure fired the beams of energy. Though, she could never be sure.

Liela looked at the wolf with sudden regret. " Oh my, I-I didn't mean. I thought you were the one that caused this. I" She looked at the remains of the once standing tree. Looked like a monster had gotten to it. A monster. Then she looked at her hands. The negativity around the area was getting to her. She looked at the wolf again. (I almost killed her)

- Noting the fact that she seemed more shocked then any thing evil. The armored figure lowers his weapon, turning his head towards the Wolf who had just narrowly missed being blasted. The unknown figure saw the destruction of the tree and was impressed by it. Not a shake of fear in his boots. 

The armored figure lowers his weapon fully down showing her that he meant non harm to either her or the wolf. The figured looked back at the carnage then returning his look back to the fox- 

"It is best we leave this area, There is no telling if they are still near by...and may have heard that energy blast of yours." 

-The figured turned and headed towards the Wolf girl with his weapon lowered showing that he was not going to harm her.-

When the armoured figure starting walking towards Dione, she saw that he had lowered his weapon and had pointed it elsewhere. Still, she didn't fully trust him and kept the channel of energy going, just to prevent any attacks. "Well... It's fine I guess." she said to the fox. "A- and if I may ask, who are... they?" she asked the armoured figure. She looked at the fox and then back at the figure awaiting his response.

Liela nodes in agreement with the wolf. Wondering who "they" were as well. Though, she was more relieved than interested. She didn't have to fight a monster or destroy the village like she was assigned to do. She thought fate was kind to her. Of course, until the soldier does a wonderful background scan and finds out she isn't a good person. She thought (At least I'm not a murderer... yet).Liela sighed.

-The armored figure sat down, he was weakened from what had gone down. He knew he had to tell them straight up what caused this, and chances were they were not gonna like it. He clears his throat and speaks.-

" "They" are called the Dark Ones...they are race of violent creatures from another realm, a realm far beyond ours. They do not know mercy , remorse or reason. They simple destroy and wipe out any thing that exists on this planet. They come in all shapes and forms, some smaller and quick, others huge , hulking and tough. How they get here ? That was caused by an event years ago, an event that I unfortunately was apart of, now the dark ones from time to time open rifts in reality and let them in, these rifts are rare but where ever they show up I was there to deal with them....but as you can see I am not able to be every where at once...and thus villages and towns are consumed by the chaos.

-The armored figure goes silent it seems there was a deeper story behind who he was and what was really going on that he was not wanting to speak of.-

Dione stood and listened as the armoured figure told about the destruction of the village they were currently standing and sitting in. "...and thus villages and towns are consumed by the chaos." they said. "So... do you have any idea of where they'd go next?" she asked. Then she put her foot back to the ground and stood up straight. "If so, we should warn someone..."

Liela snapped out of her thoughts. She completely ignored the wolf's previous statement and looked at the soldier seriously. "Is that why you tried to shoot me?!? Do I just look like some dumb monster to you?!?" You can tell by the tone of her voice that she was getting a little mad as she crossed her arms.

- The armored figure turned his head back to the Fox, The helmet began to scan her, limited intel came up on her. He could see she was getting aggravated so he jumped to his explanation before talking about the other part of what happened.-

" Hey hey! Settle down, these creatures have the ability to mess with you and your perception of things, It's not the first time they would of tried something like that ok! What would of you done in that situation huh. I was alone against those nightmare things, they came in from all directions I did what I could."


- The armor showed visible signs that what ever attacked the village was large, indicated by the size of claw marks engraved into his armor. He shifts his head back to the Wolf lady.-


"They go where there is populated areas, but there seems to a zone to which they can only arrive from, a stretch of land from where this all happened, only small pockets of these creatures can enter this world. My best guess would be the village north of here, it is the closest place, I managed to destroy a few of them, but these things are not dumb, they know when to strike and when not to. Some method to their madness." 

Dione looked at the fox and saw them crossing their arms. They looked pretty upset. Dione put her hands in the pockets of her jeans and leaned back against the tree again, this time a little more relaxed. She let the channel of energy disappear and she immediatly felt a lot calmer. Yet, the horrible sight of what was in front of them and what the figure in armour told them was a mix of nightmares. "What about Station Square? I mean, realatively it's not that far away." she said.

Liela truly didn't look satisfied with the answer she got. She decided to let the topic go and turned to the wolf who made a very worrying question that made Liela concerned. Station square was relatively close from this area. She wondered if they have had an attack from the dark ones before.

" This has been going on for some time, actually 4 years to be exact, the whole reason station square has not been attacked in all this time is because I had been there repelling them. I can't enter the city due to..um...certain reasons, When ever they showed up on the outskirts I directly went the confront them and take them out. Once I had done that I vanished before G.U.N military or police teams would arrive, And that is how it has always been. However the dark ones do evolve, learn and adapt, They become more powerful or use different methods to destroy.... Look its a long long story and I really don't have the time to explain it all, but she does make a good point, if they were here, they could be very well heading towards the city. Or at least a small town outside of the city.... My helmet was able to track their movements...heading north. We need to get there before they do."


-The armored figure began to check his gear and equipment and began to head north, He knew this was dangerous not only for himself but them two as well, but he had a feeling they had a chance of holding them self in a fight. He had still refused to expose his identity.-

"W- wait! Doesn't G.U.N. know about them?" Dione asked. She made a few steps in the direction the figure was walking and then stood still. "And.. If they attack, what do we do? And who are you actually?" She turned back to the fox in seek for help and then looked back at the figure.

-The armored figure slowed his pace down looking over his shoulder at them, the sun light glancing off his helmets visor. And he had no intention to leave the two ladies in the dark, for he knew what it was life to be left in the dark- 

" Who I am? Well that is mystery for a while, but you can call me Shrike, You can tell me your names on the way towards our next location and I will tell you some details on exactly what has been happening over the last 4 years, but I don't think you are going to like it. No one does, but for better or for worse this is where I am stuck in. As for G.U.N....Of course they know about this....they always knew....they were the ones who caused all this." 


- The masked figure only give a little info on who he really was, the reason for him not speaking out more was the fact that he couldn't trust them, well not yet at least, The foxes comment about being left in the dark brought back a disturbed flash back of what happened to him, but even if he didn't fully trust them he was gonna make sure they would be safe while he was around.- 

"G.U.N. Our military organisation. THEY opened up that portal?..." Dione was startled by hearing this. "Why would they do that.." she mumbled to herself. She also heard the comment about giving their own names. "I uh. I'm Dione." she said. "About G.U.N., why don't they follow those... Things... To prevent them from causing any further destruction?" Dione jogged a few seconds and then walked next to the figure, looking backwards to see if the fox was following.

(Also, I think Leila didn't mean "Dark" as a litteral darkness but more like a kind of ignorance, considering it's the middle of the day and the sun is shining.)

Liela was slowly walking behind. She wasn't surprised by G.U.N. 's involvement. Her boss had told her things about them that made her doubt how good they were. But she didn't want to look like she knew this before and get questioned by the soldier so she faked getting mad. "I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS". She shot a beam to a bush right next to her.