Chapter 638 Invernas! Inverness! (Part 1)
Standard Terra Calendar, 941.M41
Planet Armageddon, Main Continent, Invernath Hive
Marik Kiel is already here His 58th birthday was recorded a month ago. In Invernas Hive, he is already a veritable old man at his age.
The gravel in his body from the desert plains made it hurt even when he moved, and it hurt even when he didn't move. It was not until these days that he recovered much better than before.
Years on the plains can take a heavy toll on a person, who has to deal with scrapes and ensuing infections, and then has to worry about blackening their lungs with dust that gets into their mouths and noses.
But no matter what, people who work hard outdoors for a long time will have their lungs fail due to failure and infection, and they will spend the rest of their lives coughing up bloody phlegm.
Painful eyes are also a constant suffering - they always shed tears and sometimes become dry.
Even his hearing was not very sensitive, and only the Emperor knew what decades of wind and sand had done to his ear canals.
When his blood surged and his heart beat faster, everything in the world became blurry and silent, as if he was underwater.
But of all, his heart was the most damaged, and it kept fussing at him every time he walked a little longer.
In short, he has every right to complain, but he rarely does.
Marik Kil is not a person who is willing to relive pain. Although he tried to explain the life on the desert plain to the people around him, it didn't work very well. This was the same as Marik's own experience back then. It was the exact same words his father had tried to tell him, and then there were the long and short pains that this life brought.
He was caught up in the replay of these memories as the city's sirens wailed discordantly.
“It’s fake——”
He exclaimed that the storm had started so early this year. The last time he heard from the radio, it was at least a few weeks away, maybe even a month.
Not long ago, there were rumors among the neighbors that the front line was defeated. Marek thought it was pure nonsense - those green-skinned bullshit were just like the cockroaches in the cracks of his furniture, except that they were disgusting. People will never have the second role.
They will only be crushed to death gently like vermin, Marek is confident enough in this.
The old man pulled himself up from the sofa where he was lying, tasting the air through his teeth as his knees trembled, and both knee joints regained consciousness under the needle prick.
There is no doubt that getting older is a whiny thing.
A shadow passed through his window, and he raised his head as his fist struck the plank that served as the door
"The Emperor's throne."
His knees turned toward He protested again, but got up and walked away anyway.
Guard Officer Barak Hughes is on the other side of the door, and is armed. The worn guard laser rifle is no longer intact after thousands of years of operation, but as the watchman of South 21st Street, he The right to carry weapons while on patrol.
“Are you going to catch some sand rabbits?”
Marik almost laughed and gestured to the gun.
"It's too early to shoot the robbers, kid."
"Those sirens."
Barak gasped, obviously he was running— —Through the streets made of muddy alleys made up of buried buildings.
“The storm is early.”
The old man poked his head outside the door, only to see that the horizon was blocked by the ragged skyline of the hive city. People were driven out of their houses and mingled in the streets from all directions.
Barak shook his head.
"Hurry up, you deaf old guy, go to the underground shelter."
"No."
The old man's stubbornness is like that of a big man in this city. The same goes for most people, and this place is not far from the military camp. There are many Chimeras in there. These armors protect against the worst things in the sandstorm.
"Listen to me, this is not a sandstorm, the hive is being attacked."
After a while, Marek didn't know whether to laugh or lie back on the bed.
"...What's wrong?"
"This is not a joke, I heard that the defense chief has gone crazy, or...I don't know anything else, please! Look at the sky, you old stone !" Marek had seen something similar to the panic in Barak's eyes on the faces of the people serving outside the high wall, the kind of instinctive fear of animals lost on the plains, turning their bodies directionlessly at the beginning of the sandstorm, Absolute helplessness painted the man's face, making it ugly and sickly.
He looked towards the command tower far to the west, where a beam of orange light illuminated the evening sky behind the city
"Who?"
The old man asked in a low voice:
< br>"Who would attack us? Who would even know we were here? Who would care?"
No one answered him.
Barak had already started running and joined the crowd. The old man saw him extending his cloth-covered hand to help a boy stand and then pushing him into the bustling line.
Marik Kiel waited for a while as he carried his aching knees and arthritic hands back to his house. When he reappeared, he grabbed his rifle-this The gun runs fine, thank goodness.
He used it while serving as a volunteer watchman, and after retiring from detecting storms, he used it to shoot hive raiders.
Then he followed the edge of the crowd, and when the crowd advanced to the east, he walked to the west.
If the hive city is attacked, there is no point in running around and hiding. Old Malik always knows how to perform his duties.
He lowered his head and briefly checked his gun.
At this moment, he seemed to hear a roar.
Everyone in the crowd screamed, cowered, and held their heads. The giant beast roared above them. When they looked up at it, their ears were deafened.
Only Marik remained the same, his bloodshot eyes staring in awe.
Things darker than the gray sky are roaring in the sky. These are not monsters at all. They are aircraft, painted red and crude in appearance. They form a dense formation and fly from the hive spire. Glide by.
The crowd was screaming again now, and emaciated parents hugged their even emaciated children and covered their eyes.
These fighter planes, which looked like pieces of junk, tilted over their heads, and the flames of the thrusters surged out like strong winds blowing against its armor.
They relied on their own momentum to hover gracefully in the air, fighting against the howling wind. When they turned, their heads glanced at the crowd below, and the propellers burst out with another thunderous roar, shaking the surrounding buildings.
In the blink of an eye, a formation of fighter planes flew across the sky. There was no doubt that they were not human aircraft.
After being stunned for a moment, Marek suddenly started running, the pain in his joints having long been ignored.
"Let me pass,"
he said, passing through the divided crowds, the fugitives in the opposite direction being slightly encouraged by his action.
Marik ran three streets before his knees gave up the fight.
When he could hold on no longer, he held onto a wall, cursing the stinging pain in his joints, and his heart wasn't feeling much better either, pumping blood through his chest with rapid pacing.
Marik hammered his chest, as if anger could soothe the fire that was spreading within him.
More clouds with orange light, more and more places where the city is on fire.
He caught his breath and forced his knees to obey him - they trembled in response.
Old Marik staggered forward, successfully crossing two streets before stopping to catch his breath this time.
"I'm too old for this folly."
He leaned against a wall as he coughed, ignoring some kind of scream and roar.
Marik didn't hear this. Even though the noise was only a few meters away from him, he still tried hard to catch his breath.
The blood pressure rose and the violent beating of his heart made his ears deaf.
He saw the street clearing as people left, and then looked back at him, seeming to be calling something——
(End of Chapter)