Return of Singularity Jain - Chapter 2
 
 
Acolyte Zenobia clutched her weapon as she cowered. This was not how it was supposed to go. The attack went without a hitch at first. The unbelievers and heretics were being driven back, as the acolytes and zealots made solid use of their sanctified weaponry in carving through the first lines of resistance as the artificer priests prepared their Newly salvaged weapons for the next phase, using the holy ordinance as a means to cleanse the unfaithful heretics and strike the fear of Xavalarn into the rabble. They would see the benefits of the tenants. That was the plan. Now the faithful were scrambling. The green ones had come faster than they had expected. No longer could they fight in the open. They could barely hold the tunnels. Zenobia was thinking back to her creed. To the tenants the priests would tell her to recite daily. She used to find such joy in them, yet now she found herself hiding behind a grate, her comfort was not found. Her thoughts turned to the holy leaders. Of their requests which often would seem strange to her but she performed. The energy blaster felt heavier in her hands the more she thought on it. All this death...did it really help the cause. Her patchwork armour felt heavy as she considered it. She considered her family. Her mother who seemed so faceless behind the holy mask, and her father stern faced and fierce, who would strike her and her mother for disagreeing with him. Her hands pried the helmet from her head. She looked at it, her eyes reading the details in the cold damp.The light reflected her pretty features in the dark expanse of its faceless aesthetic. Just like her mothers. The sound of footsteps drew closer, she felt her heart beating faster. More yelling and firing followed by a strange noise. Then silence again. More footsteps. She looked through the grate again, one of the green ones. Then another. The two were speaking so close to her. She could not understand their words. The glow of their barrier, and their ring weapons indicated they were close. She looked to another tunnel. If she moved quietly she might make it away. One foot before the next she stepped in the dark. She felt the foul air claw at her nostrils and turn her stomach. Her armoured boots sloshed through the toxic slurry of waste. A corner. Then another. Then another. Her pace had quickened. The next bend. A quick crossing. There was only a straight left before freedom. She felt the adrenaline pumping as she ran forward, blind to the green glow coming in behind her. She reached for the ladder… And darkness engulfed her completely.
 
 
10 minutes earlier...
Hassala Beta was a hive of activity. Local defence forces and the planetary police were engaging the terrorists from the sizeable building they had taken refuge in. Xaradoor smirked. “Think they’re expecting us?” The coms were set to local only. Backup was only supposed to be called if things somehow went south. Still, Xaradoor liked his chances. The terrorists were using low grade pulse lasers. A potent weapon against lower level targets and civilians, but to a lantern, it lacked the stopping power break a simple barrier. “They do still have heavier weapons from my recon. The biggest issues are going to be those solflare bombs.” Ah yes. An emp and plasma fire explosive. Again. Xaradoor was confident. A green sledge hammer emerged from his ring. “No problem Sekelia. I am about to start breaking some heads.will meet up at the bottom yes?” A sigh came over the ring. “Just make sure you bring the lantern with you.” Xaradoor smiled as the coms went dark. “Let's get to smashing!!!!” As the alien dive bombed to roof with a massive shockwave. He smashed these cultist as went, using his barrier to block incoming fire and maybe increasing it to deal with higher grade weapons. Xaradoor enjoyed the feeling of power that being a lantern gave him. His very imagination… as limited as it was… could be used to channel his will into weapons of any form. As his foes fled into the depths of the building, Xaradoor grinned. Green hammer in hand he pursued them into the darkness.
 
 
Jain meanwhile was gaining a different kind of enjoyment. The power of the ring was potent, but the reactions it elicited from the zealots here… A gravy of fear and despair to soak a delicious set of appetizers. Manifesting barriers for herself was unnecessary. About 400 years prior, she had helped secure this cults leadership with the murder of all the leaders rivals. Another tasty settlement, but comparatively bland compared to the gorging she was doing now. Her ring closed off exits, forcing them to try in vain to harm her. With a sharp intake of breath, and an partially opened mouth, she drew them in droves into her abyss. Still it would not do to have her identity completely open. For every 10 she had circle the drain and feed her energy, another 10 would be sliced open, speared or impaled by green constructs of force. Very quickly she located their leader and smiled. “Father Eldrasa was it? I remember you well. You feared your wife's independence and that she might convince your daughter to break from your groups ways. Such a kind woman, and so strong willed...” Her face shifted back to its normal hue, blue-grey giving way to cold white skin, her black hair fading into white strands. The cult leader clutched at his weapon and fired several shots point blank into the pale faced demon, all blocked by a barrier of green. “I wonder if you understand the fullest extent of the despair she suffered every day she was with you. Well it does not matter, your wife was a tasty distraction, but I imagine tastes like nothing compared to you now.” She raised the cult leader above her head and opened her maw. The black hole inside her caught the foul leader and drew him down into her belly. She licked her lips as he circled the drain. Her face returning to that of her first meal in the near eternity that had been the year she had been locked within that dreadful singularity. As the last she was free, and her hunger would have a craving appropriate for it. “Oh my...you brought your little snackling with you. Well who am I to keep a family such as yours separated. A little chaser to follow the meal to come. She knew where he was… Now she need only get it.