Data file 27: Racazoid

  Type: Species

  [Racazoids are supposedly the native residents of the planet Aljia. They were initially docile towards humans, but upon the discovery of permanent human settlements, they rose in war. Using their secret weapon, an ancient relic known as the Shadowbane Amulet, they ravaged the jungles while killing any human in their path. Their leader, Lord Flameye, was defeated three years later by Icarus Blade and his team of “Terran Knights”.

  Racazoids are mechanical in nature and reptilian in aesthetic, possessing machine parts rather than organs, yet seeming to possess a sort of “soul”. The most fascinating thing about them, however, is their leader, Lord Flameye. He seems more “alive” than the others, as he not only has a unique personality, but also took pleasure in striking down Rasil’s father, the last king. Flameye also has wings three times the size of other racazoid troopers, and is capable of breathing fire. The same blazing fire sometimes glows or erupts from his eyes in moments of stress. This gives him his namesake and an appearance almost like one of the long-gone dragons.]

  ***

  I opened my mouth to respond, and was interrupted by warning sirens. “There’s an attack,” I said to Gears, “we’ll finish this conversation later.” He nodded and pointed to where my pistol was hanging on the wall. I grabbed it and ran towards the exit. Nobody else was taking this path because all the soldiers were deployed in dropships. They would go to the hangar, mobilize in squads, and launch an attack from above. But not me. I have a very different strategy.

  I left The Basement and ran past the keep’s central area. There, in front of me and along the wall of the path leading to the throne, was a familiar and very useful balcony. I gripped my pistol tightly and focused. My jetpack was powered by a neural transmitter, and I still wasn’t wearing my antigravity boots, which made this particularly dangerous. With one fluid motion, I mounted the handrail and leapt off the balcony. The jetpack’s engine roared as I blasted up into the air. I pulled the sound of the siren out of my memory. The unique alarm that sounded this time meant that the chemical plant to the south was under attack by racazoids, so I turned to the left and blasted towards it.

  My jetpack is actually one of the fastest vehicles ever created. Due to its unstable engine, it has practically no limit on its speed. But it’s very prone to overheating. Everyone else laughed at the thought that such a device could be practical. So, I made a jetpack out of it. They had a hard time laughing at me while I soared by at 625 mph (before breaking the engine and splashing down in the ocean).

  My pistol almost slipped, and I held it to my chest with both hands. I certainly didn’t want to drop it while flying at this speed. After a brief span of time, the walls of the chemical plant came into view, or what was left of the walls. The gleaming of plasma blasts could be seen across the surrounding plains. I dived downward and reduced my speed to land.

  My feet hit the ground, and I started running towards the advancing racazoids. The soldiers seemed surprised that I showed up. The frontline soldiers looked more determined now.

  I approached the enemy line and stopped in front of several racazoid troopers. Nobody was firing at me. They just stared, afraid. It seemed like they recognized me.

  Charging in with only a light vest of armor, no helmet, and a small pistol, I was strange to everyone except racazoids. Racazoids are machines, and quite like what those on Earth would call a dragon, human-sized dragons at least. To see one was always weird, so they didn’t think I was strange. They were simply scared of me.

  I took the momentary silence to my advantage. Running towards the closest, I swung my pistol and fired at its waist. The metal crunched as the energy bullet impacted it. I spun around and shot the leg again, detaching it in a shower of sparks. This happened so quickly that it took the racazoid fighter a moment to process what I had done. An inhuman shriek resonated in my ears as the razazoid collapsed to the ground. With a smirk, I repeated the process on three more racazoids in quick succession. They fell to the ground dead.

  I ran to the nearest wall for cover as four racazoids landed nearby. Leaning around the corner, I fired at them, and they raised shields while moving towards me.

  As I tried and failed to disable their massive metal shields, a blast of flame struck one in the face. I turned around and saw Jason walking towards me. “Show-off!” I yelled as he generated a fireball in his hand and threw it at the downed racazoid.

  “We're both show-offs," he acknowledged, and indeed he was, hereditary fire magic and all. He was wearing his special gold-trimmed armor, setting him apart as a general in the instance he personally joined a battle, and he had ignited his magma blade.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Behind you!” I said. Jason ducked just before a firebolt shot past where his head would have been. The racazoid who shot at him growled in anger and fired again. I lept at it and expertly blocked the blast with a shot from my own pistol. Three more blasts came in quick succession, but I dodged to the side and fired. Utilizing my lightweight armor and speed, I jumped at the head.

  But the beast saw my move and clawed at me with one of its large metal fists. It struck my chestplate with a thud, ripping through the leather. I detached the chestplate and threw it aside to dodge the blow, falling to the ground. Jason saw me and dived into the racazoid with his sword. I brought my pistol up and tore a gash in the metal armor with a bullet, exposing the circuitry. It died instantly, and Jason helped me up. “You’ve gotten rusty," he said with concern.

  “I’ll be fine," I answered before charging back into the fray. The two opposing armies had reached each other, and most of the racazoids had dropped their pistols and resorted to claws and teeth. I ran through the ranks, trying to wound as many as possible. One of them saw me and smiled, as if something was coming that I hadn’t foreseen. Then I heard a sound. A terrible sound, a voice like metal scraping metal.

  “Greetings, young knight," the voice said, revealing its source as the leader of the racazoids, and my father’s murderer, Lord Flameye. His monolithic form towered over us, though part of it was him ditching the usual hunched posture. His plate armor was styled like a dragon's scales, covered in jagged ridges and segmented scales. His two horns curved from behind his eyes to either side of his snout, while his massive wings made him appear bigger and slower than I already knew him to be.

  “Flameye," I said, anger swelling inside me.

  “Oh, my. However did you guess?” he taunted.

  “Maybe I felt the failure," I said. His face shifted to anger. An anger I knew too well. His chest burned a bright orange as he gave a cruelly empty chuckle.

  He spread his wings and his throat gave a low rumble as he puffed fire towards me. I rolled towards him in turn while keeping low to avoid the flames. He growled and swung his axe. It just missed me, making the ground shake as it did. My strike came like lightning, blasting into his armored head. He laughed as the bullet merely bounced off the metal.

  “You really should keep better track of your pistol, Rasil," he thundered as he swung a backhand and disarmed me. But I was a step too fast for him this time. I retrieved my weapon with the other hand, vaulted onto his head, and aimed.

  I launched a volley into his forehead. Flameye shuddered from the impact before throwing me off his head. He then flapped his wings, sending a powerful gust of wind to drive me into the ground. The rocky surface met my back, and I lay there in a heap.

  The unexpected force had stunned me, so my breathing slowed instinctively while I recovered. All I could hear was the sound of battle raging around me.

  “That... was... a nice trick," I panted, playing for time while I caught my breath.

  “Indeed, and yet I still have so many you’ve yet to see," he replied. My hand gripped my pistol; any moment, he would strike. I had to be ready. Flameye continued, “However, I guess you WON’T live long enough to see them.” He raised his axe above my head, ready to deliver the vicious blow.

  “Not this time!” I replied. His swing came, and I brought up my pistol with both hands to block. I fired a beam of energy from the barrel to deflect his blade, and the two met in a clash of sparks as he pushed and I fired. We both poured all the rage we could muster into our efforts. The shockwave battered my senses.

  Our weapons snapped, cracking under the pressure. The pistol and the axe were both destroyed, while the two of us stumbled away from each other. I could see on Flameye’s face a look of surprise. Considering the metals used to make our weaponry, I was surprised too. Thinking fast, I drew my dagger from its sheath behind my gun holster and ran towards him. But he spread his wings and sprang into the air, saying as he did, “Well fought, Rasil. We will finish this another day.”

  “No!” I cried. I had come so close! A scream reached my ears. I looked behind me and saw Jason struggling with two racazoid troopers. He needed help, and Flameye was a secondary priority. “You’re right, Flameye. We will," I said before rushing to Jason’s aid. Flameye simply left, taking with him the majority of his racazoid soldiers, except the ones attacking Jason. I slashed one of them across its back and gave it a sharp kick with my combat boots. The second swung a clawed hand toward my face and just missed my neck before I drove my dagger through its chest. Jason conjured a stream of flames that melted into the first trooper and exploded it.

  We stood there for a minute as the dust cleared and the last few racazoids left as fast as they had arrived. Our soldiers had suffered few casualties, as if the day-to-day basis of the war had made them stronger. Jason clapped me on the shoulder and said, “Each day is better than the last, Rasil. They need some new tricks.”

  I hesitated, “Flameye would rather increase his strength than learn from mistakes.” The thought of my pistol breaking was a shock. It was made of solid meteor stone. Flameye had gotten stronger, strong enough to power straight through an energy beam with his own strike. Jason noticed my worry.

  “Like I said,” he chuckled, “We get better every day.”

  I didn’t have time to speak. A wave of purple electricity soared through the air without warning. My ears echoed with a grinding sound, and a crack appeared in the ground below me. It didn’t spread like a crack should; it just appeared. It was as if it had always been there.

  Jason quickly grabbed my hand and tried to pull me out of the crevice. “Don’t fall in with me!” I warned. He locked both hands around my wrist. I tried to kick my legs to the edge, but my grip failed me. My hand slipped out of his, and the rock splintered beneath his boots. “Rasil!” Jason cried as I plunged into the darkness below.