Legends of Amacia The Awakening

The Training Session

An hour and a half after Hanna left the Armory, she entered the Armory Arena with the weapons she’d found in the Armory and the Caverias sword slung over her shoulder. Around her neck, she wore both the Caverias Seal and the Griffin Seal of Khitia. Scanning the six hundred foot diameter arena with a sandy floor, she noticed nearly a dozen stone pillars five feet across and thirty foot high. Kicking the sand, she noticed the sand was only a couple inches deep with a solid stone floor beneath it. The walls around the arena rose fifty feet with amphitheater style seating around it, reminding her of the Arena in the Black Fortress. Around the arena wall, Hanna observed five portcullis gates evenly spaced around the perimeter. To her immediate right along the wall where she came out a smaller door, she saw a stone bench ten feet in length, three feet wide, and forty inches tall. Looking left and up one hundred feet, Hanna saw a large window through which she could see light and figures moving.

“Are you up there, Enoch?” Hanna called out as she unslung the Caverias sword, laying it on the bench with the ancient katana and the large blaster weapon. She then removed her short leather coat, sitting it down on the bench with the Caverias Sword. Picking up the ancient katana, Hanna slung it across her back.

“Yes, Hanna,” Enoch’s voice echoed through an elaborate sound system from the control room behind the window. “Everything’s ready and Selina is here with me, as you requested. What do you want to start with?”

Hanna slung the large blaster weapon from the Armory over her shoulder with the ancient katana saying, “Some target practice. Let’s see what these Gauntlets can do.”

“You got it,” Enoch chimed. “I’ll start slow and build up the speed.”

“Sounds good,” Hanna answered, walking deliberately to the center of the arena. Keeping an eagle eye out as she walked, the first target suddenly jumped up from the floor: a six-foot tall dummy resembling a Zarukar. It came up so close that it almost hit Hanna as it snapped out of the floor. She jumped out of the way, rolling to the side while activating the gauntlets. The gauntlets opened up, covering Hanna’s forearms from the elbows to her fists. When she rolled to her feet, the weapons cocked and she punched, launching a plasma round that blew apart the dummy Zarukar. “Oh, you’re going to be sneaky,” she called out with a wry grin as that target retracted.

“Just keeping you on your toes,” Enoch replied from the control room. “You wanted it that way, right?”

“Yeah,” Hanna growled, looking around as another dummy rose right behind her. Sensing the target, she turned around and punched again, blowing a hole through the chest of the dummy Zarukar. The target retracted, with more targets rising around her just outside of her punching reach going out to fifty feet in seconds of each other. As each target rose, she obliterated it with the plasma rounds from the gauntlets. Within three minutes, a mild berserker rage had settled on Hanna. By this time, she attacked with great speed and accuracy, charging the targets as they rose out of the floor.

After knocking out fifty targets in less than five minutes, the last demolished target vanished back into the floor. Hanna looked around wildly, seeing nothing else rising. She snapped both arms down towards the floor and the gauntlets opened, popping out the empty shell casings. Grabbing two bands of ammo from the pouch on her belt, she slapped them into the gauntlets and released the bolt, loading the weapons.

“That’s impressive by any standards,” Enoch called out. “You’ve mastered that weapon for sure. What did you find out about them from the Teacher?”

Hanna relaxed, her berserker rage bubbling softly from the target practice. A wicked smile crossed her lips as she looked up at Enoch and Selina in the control room. “That these are the Draken Gauntlets of Ryu-Fudo,” she crowed. “They’re definitely a 1st Age weapon and only six pair were ever made by Thoth’s weapons master, Gordo. Thoth apparently insisted on this pair being stored here as a backup, just like he did with his armor.”

“That is news,” Enoch admitted. “Then that would mean you have another of the Weapons of Caverias. Do you know who the weapon was made for?”

“It seems this pair was supposed to have been Cleo’s pair,” Hanna replied. “But when she refused to use them, Thoth had them stored here. I think that’s why I was drawn to these Gauntlets. They were forged for Cleo...my link to the Caverias line.”

“Are you sure?” Selina asked.

“Pretty sure,” Hanna stated. “These things haven’t seen action before. I can tell. It does surprise me at how well they work after sitting idle for over twelve thousand cycles.”

“That is indeed a surprise,” Selina agreed.

“Well, what can I say,” Enoch chimed. “Gordo was legendary in his skills as a weapons smith. He made things to last. What did you find out about the big gun from the Archive?”

Hanna’s smile grew broader and more menacing. “Why don’t I show you,” she declared. “Send out the drones, and make it a challenge this time. Those dummies were okay for target practice to get warmed up, but they didn’t move around like a real enemy.”

“You got it, little sister,” Enoch answered, manipulating the controls in the control room. “Here are sixty monster drones for you pleasure.”

The portcullis gates all around the arena rose and a horde of monstrous drones swarmed out of the gates. Some resembled giant mechanical insects while others took the form of massive mechanical werewolves, bears, veloci-raptors, even humanoid androids. The mechanical monster horde surrounded Hanna as her countenance grew cold as the metal facing her. “Now, this is more like it,” she crowed menacingly. “If this doesn’t get Hannibal moving, nothing will.”

A very concerned look crossed Selina’s face as she saw the mechanized horde surround Hanna. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Enoch?” she asked.

“Trust me,” Enoch stated. “These are merely drones designed for training. They won’t kill Hanna because I haven’t activated the lethal mode of their programming.”

“But what if something goes wrong with the programming?” Selina asked bluntly. “Do you have a backup to keep them from killing Hanna?”

“There’s an EMP safety right here,” Enoch stated, pointing to a large button on top of the console. “If anything goes wrong, I can hit this button and the EMP will shut down the drones.”

“I still don’t like this,” Selina insisted. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I know,” Enoch agreed, “But this is what Hanna wanted. She’s fighting to free Hannibal.”

“I realize that,” Selina stated grimly. “But it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“Trust her,” Enoch chimed. “Hanna knows what she’s doing. After what I saw her do in the throne room with the Emperor, these drones shouldn’t be any trouble.”

Andrew and Hunter entered just as Enoch finished reassuring Selina. “Everyone heard Hanna was working out with some new weapons from the Armory,” Andrew stated. “Is it okay to watch?”

“Yes, son,” Enoch stated as the confrontation between Hanna and the mechanical horde ensued. “Hanna’s proving to be much stronger and more resilient than I gave her credit for.”

Down in the gallery seats, Harry, Emma, Elle, Arabella, Drew, Joshua, Corso, Joel, Liu, Nemesis, Magnus, Josephine, Xavier, Amelia, Muriel, and Morpheus walked in to watch Hanna practice. Even Izanami, Myra, Tasha, Sakura, Jasmine, Hitomi, and Lola came in to observe. Hanna noticed their arrival, but didn’t let it shake her focus. “Hmmm,” Nemesis growled, folding his giant arms across his chest. “This should be interesting.”

The mechanical horde of drones made a fifty-foot perimeter around Hanna. The Griffin Seal around Hanna’s neck began to get cold, as did the Caverias Seal, both glowing softly. Hanna glanced at the horde of enemies around her as she went into a defensive stance without pulling the large weapon on her back. Two seconds later, the half the drones advanced en mass while the others kept the perimeter. The deep forgotten fighting instincts once again welled up in Hanna. Her eyes turned red as a red aura briefly swirled around her. She snapped the bolts on Gauntlets with elbow strike motions, loading them as she crouched like a tiger ready to pounce. When the advancing drones came within twenty feet, Hanna jumped straight up, firing her left Gauntlet at the ground. The discharge helped to propel her upwards almost fifteen feet while she pulled back with her right fist. A wicked grin crossed her lips when she came down, throwing a powerful right punch at the floor of the Arena. The drone horde came within ten feet when she landed her punch, discharging the right Gauntlet directly into the floor. A ball of yellow fire erupted and the floor literally rippled with the shockwave that shook the entire arena, carving a large crater. The blast from the ground strike knocked back the drones thirty feet, demolishing the closest fifteen from the concussion and stony shrapnel from the floor.

“Holy shit,” Harry breathed, not believing his eyes. Everyone watching, including Enoch and Selina, stared in disbelief as Hanna rose to her feet in the center of a crater two feet deep and twenty feet across. The right corner of her mouth twisted up into a sinister smile, her eyes gleaming with malevolent intent.

Josephine watched with more than casual interest as Hanna tensed for the next attack. “Watch closely, my friends,” she ordered. “You’re about to see something not seen since the 1st Age.”

When the remaining drones advanced, Hanna pulled the large blaster weapon, pointing it at the closest drone: a giant mechanical spider ten feet across that jumped at her. The handle extended eighteen inches as she pulled the weapon. She yanked the bolt on the large blaster and squeezed the handle, discharging it. A massive plasma round far larger than those used by the Gauntlets came out of the end of the weapon, blowing the drone spider apart. Seeing another drone shaped like a bear attacking from the left, she pointed the weapon with one hand and blew away that drone, blowing its head clean off. Noticing a large werewolf drone attacking from behind, she flipped the weapon on her shoulder while cocking it, pointing it at the werewolf drone behind her. The weapon roared, blowing the werewolf drone in half. Using the recoil to bring the weapon back to the front, Hanna opened fire on the drones advancing from the front. Four more shots made a hole in the drone lines that allowed her to slip outside their perimeter. Four of the seven-foot werewolf drones jumped at her as she took advantage of the hole. Hanna darted out of the way so fast she was a blur. A veloci-raptor drone got in her way, clipping her with its tail as she jumped over it. Hanna rolled to her feet with her berserker rage now rising into the dangerous range. As she came to her feet, the large plasma blaster weapon unfolded into a massive battle scythe nearly as big as she was with a seven-foot handle. It had a five-foot blade on one side that had cutting edges facing both towards and away from Hanna. Four shorter eighteen-inch blades sat on the other side of the handle, which doubled as the barrel of the blaster. The shorter blades pointed to the front and back. A large spur blade eight inches long jumped out near the pivot for the large scythe blade. A long sixteen-inch by three-inch wide spearhead sat the end of the handle opposite of the scythe blade. It whirred and clanked as it unfolded in a matter of seconds.

“Oh, shit,” Nemesis growled. “They’re in for it now.” He looked closely at the weapon and declared, “I’ve never seen a scythe like that. It’s magnificent.”

“I have,” Josephine replied. “That’s a 1st Age weapon. I’m sure of it.”

“It’s enormous,” Joshua murmured to those around him. “How can she even handle it?”

“Come on,” Hanna hissed at her mechanized opponents. “Come get some.” The veloci-raptor drone attacked first, being the closest. Hanna moved towards the drone with a hard diagonal strike from high right down to the left. Just before contact, she discharged the weapon, adding to its power. The blade split the drone in two with a crash. The plasma round plowed into a humanoid android off in the outer perimeter, blowing half its chest out and rendering it into scrap. In the blink of an eye, Hanna used the momentum of the weapon, spinning around with a double horizontal strike: one with the spear end the weapon, followed by the main blade. Pieces of the veloci-raptor drone flew back into the drone lines, knocking several back.

“Wow,” Andrew breathed in utter amazement as Hanna set herself after the strike, facing the drone horde. “How’d she do that?”

After a ten second delay, the drones came at her. Hanna darted forward with a brutality that even surprised Nemesis. She spun and swung the scythe so fast it became a blur while it sliced and ripped the drones to pieces. Using the plasma rounds in conjunction with the cutting edge accelerated the weapon’s power and lethality. Often, she braced the scythe handle behind her back and spun like a tornado while advancing. Arms, legs, split torsos, heads, hands, feet all went flying with the shell casings from the plasma rounds as Hanna literally mowed down her drone adversaries.

“Whoa,” Hunter breathed in fearful awe as Hanna dispatched the drones. At times, the scythe head would pivot on its shaft to the front, increasing Hanna’s reach with the weapon by the main blade’s length, making it look like an enormous claw. Her war cries echoed over the noise of her scythe crashing through the drones, reducing them to sizzling wrecks. In less than two minutes, she demolished thirty drones with the scythe as they attacked with higher and higher viciousness. Several made contact with her, slicing her arms and legs before being rendered into scrap by the scythe. When the remaining drones temporarily backed off, Hanna spun the scythe around vertically while pulling the bolt, planting its main blade in the floor of the arena. She instantly opened fire, using it like a cannon, taking out six more drones in less than fifteen seconds. Harry’s mouth hung open in amazement while Joshua, Corso, Liu, Magnus, and Morpheus stared, stunned by Hanna’s skill and brutality with the scythe.

Without warning, Hanna left the scythe behind, darting towards the remaining drones in a frontal assault. Unslinging the ancient katana while in motion, she pulled the trigger on the katana’s sheath, firing the katana at the closest human-looking drone. The katana’s pummel struck the drone’s head with the power of a bullet, knocking it off balance. Before the katana dropped to the floor, Hanna grabbed it by the handle, shot again blowing off the android’s head, and then made a diagonal cut to the right, slicing the drone in two before skidding to a halt behind her opponent, sheathing the katana. The pieces of the drone crashed to the floor. The remaining nine drones, a combination of werewolf, humanoid, and reptilian drones attacked much more viciously than the others had. It forced Hanna to go on the defensive, pushing her back towards the scythe. She took serious cuts from their blades and claws, driving her rage into the lethal range.

At that point, Enoch noticed a serious malfunction in the control panel that greatly concerned him. “No; no, no,” he said in horror as he frantically touched the controls in the control room. “How did the safety get released? They’re not supposed to attack to kill.”

“What?” Selina asked bluntly. “Are they trying to kill Hanna now?”

“Yes,” Enoch answered while working the controls and getting no reaction. “Somehow, the drones have gone search-and-destroy on me.” He pressed the EMP safety switch and nothing happened. “Oh, no,” he cried, smacking the button several times. “The EMP isn’t working, either! This is not good.”

“Dad,” Andrew called out urgently, “Did you send the tank drone after Hanna?”

“Absolutely not,” Enoch replied, quickly looking down into the arena seeing a large multi-ped tank drone with six legs and four small cannons around its head rumbling out of one of the portcullis gates. Two of the cannons sat on what would have been its shoulders while the other two formed its arms. “How did that get activated?” Enoch barked. “What the hell is going on here?”

“I don’t know, but you need to stop it, dad,” Hunter stated insistently. “Like now! That tank will blow Hanna to bits.”

While Enoch tried desperately to deal with what he saw as a catastrophic malfunction in the machinery, Hanna saw the large tank walking towards her with its four plasma cannons trained on her. An icy smile crossed her lips as the remaining eight drones attacked. She felt something click within her that gave her incredible confidence. “Yes,” she growled. “Yes! Let’s do this!” A white aura swirled around Hanna and she darted towards the remaining eight drones, moving so fast she became a blur to the bystanders. The ancient katana glowed as it crashed through all eight drones in less than twenty seconds, finishing them. They crashed in pieces to the ground as she sheathed the katana in the blink of an eye.

“Hanna,” Enoch called out urgently from the control room through the loudspeakers. “The tank is not part of this exercise. I didn’t activate it and have no control over it. It’s on a seek and destroy mission. Watch your back!”

Nemesis started to move towards the arena when Josephine restrained him. “Not yet, my friend,” she said firmly. “Hanna has this under control. Trust her. She can take it.”

Everyone looked in horror as the tank opened fire. One of the plasma rounds hit Hanna, knocking her twenty feet and stunning her briefly. It rumbled ominously towards Hanna. Shaking off the hit, Hanna turned in time to see the tank opening fire again. Sensing a familiar darkness on the tank, Hanna’s resolve exploded, giving her the speed of a cheetah as it opened fire. Hanna jumped around like a cat pouncing, dodging the shots while advancing. When close enough, she attacked the turrets, knocking it back several feet with the barrage of sixteen strikes within thirty seconds. As she landed the last strike, the tank batted her back with one of its turret arms. Hanna groaned and flew forty feet, landing hard and rolling to her feet with her left foot back and her sword sheathed in her left hand. Blood dribbled down her face from the hit that left a large gash on her forehead and cheek on the left side. An icy glare of fiery rage flamed in her eyes. A white aura swirled around Hanna briefly as the tank started moving forward again. “Going to play rough, huh?” she snarled. “Okay!” The white aura vanished as she did a diagonal strike quick draw without moving forward. A large wave of white energy came off the sword and plowed into the tank, knocking it back fifty feet, blowing off the two front legs. The ruined legs flew one hundred feet to either side, landing with a crash. A demoniac howl rose from the tank that surprised everyone. A red glow appeared in the tank’s eye windows.

“Impressive,” Nemesis commented. “The weapon seems to be enhancing her elemental strikes.”

“I noticed that too,” Horace agreed. “But can she finish it off?”

“Watch and believe,” Josephine instructed everyone. “She will do it.”

Hanna sheathed the katana as quickly as she did the quick draw. Slipping the katana into her belt and taking a defensive stance, hands up in fighting position with the Gauntlets ready. “Come on, you dark piece of demon shit,” she cursed, her berserker rage burning in her eyes. “Let’s dance.” The tank opened fire with a barrage of shots. Hanna returned fire with the Gauntlets, shooting the tank’s plasma rounds just as fast as the tank fired, pivoting her hips as she fired each shot with a series of war cries. The rounds exploded between Hanna and the tank harmlessly. However, three of Hanna’s shots hit the tank, knocking it back another twenty feet. The tank whirred, merging its four small plasma cannons into one large cannon that charged up for the shot. No longer than it took Hanna to step back with her left foot, the large cannon fired at her. Hanna yanked the katana and its sheath from her belt while pulling the blade partially from the sheath. The plasma cannon round hit the katana as Hanna braced herself. The katana absorbed the energy from the round, though the sheer power of the shot pushed her back ten feet. Her hair started smoking from the intense heat of the plasma blast. Once the katana absorbed the energy from the plasma round, she quickly slammed the blade back into its sheath, positioning for a quick draw. A menacing laugh rumbled from Hanna’s throat as another white aura swirled around her. The laugh sent chills down the spines of everyone watching, including Nemesis. The tank rumbled forward on its four remaining legs to crush Hanna. In the blink of an eye, Hanna darted forward so fast she became a blur. The onlookers saw several flashes from the ancient katana as Hanna struck diagonally with the blade in several directions, shearing off its legs and slicing the main cannon turret into four pieces. The four pieces of the tank rumbled as they collapsed, sliding across each other as Hanna appeared like a ghost behind the tank; the katana in her right hand. Turning around to the right with burning vengeance in her eyes, Hanna punched with her left Gauntlet, launching a large red plasma round at the tank that reduced it to smoldering wreckage that scattered over a hundred fifty-foot area. Many pieces were no larger than a basketball.

Sheathing the katana with a flourish, Hanna looked around, seeing nothing but wrecked drones and the battle scythe sticking in the floor fifty feet away. “Okay, who’s next?” she growled, her eyes burning blood red with the Rage. “Any more comers who wish to intrude on my workout?”

“Hanna, that’s enough,” Selina called out from the control room, sensing Hanna’s Rage about to overflow. “Calm down. It’s over. You’ve won. No one wants to fight you.”

Just hearing Selina’s voice caused Hanna’s Rage to melt into the floor beneath her feet. A confident, but weary sigh escaped her lips as the Rage ebbed. Looking around and seeing most of the leadership of the people in the stands, Hanna realized everyone had seen her perform. A cheer and thunderous applause arose from those who had witnessed Hanna’s training session. She bowed graciously. “Thank you; thank you,” she called out as her wounds oozed blood. “I hope you liked the show.” Slinging the ancient katana over her shoulder, she walked to the scythe, picking it up. With a twist of the handle while she swung it, the scythe folded back into its gun form in seconds. Once folded up, Hanna slung it with the katana and walked back through the battlefield of the arena to the stone bench where the Caverias sword lay.