Ganersam Volume 2

Beyond the green mountains of Kalagai, lay a barren and empty desert that extends as far as the eye can see. Described as the result of the demon’s army attack, this barren desert was once a green and beautiful landscape.

This desert felt very different compared to the one at Misana. This one felt more like a wasteland compared to a natural desert, evident by the countless ruins that painted the landscape. We were now flying above that desert, zooming towards Asparagus.

Both Amber and Riko’s ship had cloaking devices now. We were also flying much, much faster compared to the demon’s patrolling dragon, so slipping through the defenses was pretty easy.

“Are you thinking about Nia?”

Emma randomly asked. Hearing her name mentioned, Nia looked back at us with a questioning gaze.

Emma had been asking stuff like that since yesterday night. I had told her about what Nia said yesterday, and she had been teasing me since.

“Shut up, Emma. We’re going to get killed if we keep going on like this.”

“Ahh... fine... you’re no fun.”

Emma stared back at her screen. We were flying faster than any demon air unit, so the turrets were basically useless, for now. They’ll probably be important later, though.

The ships also had autopilot, but leaving them without a way to defend themselves in case an attack would be the same as suicide, so Riko and Amber would remain onboard throughout the mission. Meaning just like the Alexander raid before, it would be just us four.

I had warned Emma to not use her powers, and for Nia to not use Cosmic Charge. The girls had also warned me not to use my magic. I had trained quite a bit with LIAR before departing, so I think I could handle it.

“How far are we from the target?”

Emma stood up and asked the people in the cockpit. Amber checked the map before replying.

“Around... maybe 5 to 10 minutes.”

“Alright.”

Emma then returned to her seat.

“Do you feel tense?”

Emma shook her head and confidently reply,

“Of course not. I have...”

She trailed off as she was about to say the second sentence. She gave me a smile, and looked back at her computer screen.

“You have what?”

“I’ll tell you after we are done.”

She said with a smile, as if trying to encourage me to survive.

“Us will be slowing down. Get ready for battle.”

“Alright!”

I grabbed the handle of my controller. I try swinging the stick, making sure the turrets were working. I would be using the topside turret, while Emma would be controlling the bottom side.

I could feel the inertia as the ship slowed down, my body throwing itself toward the front. I grabbed my seat, countering the forces.

A flight of three dragons flew in the clouds high above. We were still in cloaking mode, which means I can’t shoot at them. At the same time, it didn’t seem like they recognized us either. We went past them and continued on our way.

We fly fast above the desert, low enough to hide ourselves from any air patrols, but high enough to not kick up sand from our flight.

Just then, I could feel a sharp swing to the right, followed by a second turn to the left.

“Us going in!”

Ambers warned us from the cockpit. The small red light on the right of my screen turned off, and we were free to fire.

“12 o clock!”

Upon hearing Nia’s yell, I swung the turret forward. The ship dipped down into a canyon and flew low below the canyon walls. Amber reduced the ship’s speed, a sign that we were approaching our target.

From the camera, I could see a flight of four dragons attacking from our front. I fired a burst of three and managed to take down one of them. Since the ship, at this point, still flew faster than the dragons, we flew below them and away from the other three.

I swung the turret back and managed to take down a second one before leaving the remaining two in the dust. Our two ships swivel left and right, dodging the brown canyon walls at blistering speed. I looked out the camera, and the way Amber flew so close to the canyon walls scared me a bit. Luckily, this world seemed to have some kind of anti-gravity thingy, so I don’t feel terribly sick being thrown around in here.

“The building is in sight! Make sure you turned on your shields before dropping!”

Nia shouted while Amber pulled the throttle back. The ship rapidly lost its momentum and halted to a stop. Hovering above the building, Amber used the ship’s front cannons to take out guards on standby. We then made a left turn, swinging to the building’s front side, and opened fire. This time, Emma’s bottom turret took the spotlight and cleared out the remaining guards at the entrance. The demons did not stand a chance.

We landed in the now-empty front lawn. The four of us hopped off, and the ships flew away.

“Let’s go! Let’s go!”

Amel rushed us in, and we entered the building. The research lab was mostly colored in moss green, with its ceiling colored in a bright shade of gray, with the same gray painted the ceramics that formed the floor. The corridor was about 8 meters in width and 7 meters in height, giving us quite a lot of space to move around.

We had done quite some damage to our entrance, as shown by the front door being severely damaged. Weapons were lying around, coming from the dead demons. Some of the lights closest to the exit had been destroyed, others flickering in the dark. Alarms on the walls lit up in a blazing red, warning any occupants inside.

The building was formed by a long main corridor with several smaller rooms and corridors on the side. I and Emma took the front, tasked with clearing out any demons entering from the inside, while Amel and Nia, wielding relatively close-range weapons guarded our rear and sides.

Guns weren’t something I would expect to use in this fantasy world, but here I am. Groups of demons wearing black and brown robes rushed toward us, carrying various weapons in their hands. Most of them had a stick-like staff, with a small portion carrying swords, polearms, and scythes battling in the front.

The physical-weapon wielding demons stopped in front of their friends, pointing their weapons at us. The magic wielders behind them stood still and lifted their hands, ready to fire a spell, but,

“Brrrt!”

As expected our guns made easy work of the demons. They did not stand a chance against our firepower. With quick bursts of fire, the demons fall. We ran through the now empty corridors, littered with weapons from the various demons we defeated.

In front of us, the corridor split into two, one route going left, the other going right. We’ve been running for maybe 90-100 meters, and this was the first intersection we saw.

“Where now?”

“Left!”

Our cademon yelled instructions as we sprinted. We turned left, and followed a smaller corridor, with a width of 6 meters.

“Lightning Strike!”

Nia made easy work of the demons chasing us from behind. Emma and I continue blasting the demons with our guns. We learned our lesson this time, and we made sure to bring a lot of extra magazines.

“Guns are better, yes?”

“This is not the time, Emma.”

Emma giggled as she continued firing. She seems to enjoy this, meanwhile, a certain girl is grumbling behind since she didn’t get a chance to shine.

“I’ll make sure I kill the boss! Or else I won’t be doing anything!”

“Stay put, Amel!”

“Hey!”

I could feel Amel’s sprint increasing in speed as she tried to chase me. But yeah... this was far too easy. We fought a lot of demons to get to this point, but none of them gave a fight.

“Right!”

We turned right to another junction, this time into a corridor just 4 meters wide. The ceiling height didn’t change, which made this corridor feel tall. We found ourselves being held back by another group of demons, but they fell victim to our blazing guns.

“That’s the room!”

Nia pointed toward a small door. We kicked the door open, and a different type of demon waited for us inside. A group of seven demons stood before us. All seven wore red robes and wielded scythes as their weapon. Feeling that they may be more dangerous, our group stopped.

“Watch out, those are-”

“Brrrt!”

Emma mercilessly fired off her Kritz, instantly killing all the demons.

“-Elite guards...”

Nia silently completes her sentence, before shaking her head.

“Anyway, this is the room.”

We walked to another door at the end of this room. The plate above it had some weird letters painted on it. I pushed the door open and threw a flashbang in, before going in myself.

We proceeded to scan the room for enemies.

“Empty?”

“I’ll start collecting the stuff.”

Amel pulled her backpack forward and started stuffing various items into it. I’m surprised she was able to keep up with such a load. Various items were scattered on the tables in the various corners of the room.

Research notes, prototypes, and various materials.

“Is this all safe?”

Nia took a look at the stuff Amel was scooping, and then scanned the other stuff on the tables.

“I think? It’s unclear. What is important is the research notes, though. If you feel any suspicion towards any individual item, just throw it away.”

“Ah, alright.”

Amel reached her hand into her bag, pulled a tube out, and threw it into a nearby trash can.

“What is that?”

Emma took a peek into the trash can.

“... Chips?”

Amel nodded.

“Yeah, I’m surprised too at first.”

She calmly answers. Are we supposed to be casually discussing this during such a time?

“Hey, there are more chips over there!”

Amel pointed toward a table, where 5 cans of chips were stacked on top of each other. As she approached the chips, the lights in the room suddenly went out, and red lines started appearing on the ceiling, forming a pattern of small squares above Amel.

“Watch out!”

I screamed, but it was too late. The red lines light up, shining on Amel who was under it. She tried to escape, but a red laser pointed at her and in less than a second, she found herself frozen.

“Amel!”

I yelled, but I soon realized that the red lines had appeared above me and the others. The red laser appeared from the other side, and I could hear aswooshin my right ear, before a faint scream from my back right. Not even a second later, I felt something sharp on my chest. I can’t see what it is, but based on the pain, it’s like a small sharp needle.

The next moment, I found myself not being able to move.