RENC2-19

=Chapter 19=
==Random Events (Nebula California) - Take 2==
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Fireplanes
Toreel, Nebula California
June 10th, 3153
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Meanwhile near the Fireplains
Gwain grappled with the creature. It was savage and strong. Big too. Nearly as much as he was on all counts. His edge though was he was clearly tougher than this creature. It was not as able to withstand his blows while it's own attacks against him certainly still hurt and leaving wounds but being a trueborn Elemental also meant he could shrug off such blows more easily.
Driving his knee into the creature's rib cage repeatedly with as much force as he could muster was enough to finally end the battle between them.
"Come let us return to Stalingrad. While victory was ours this day it has not been kind to us." Gwain looked at his ragged warriors.
The creatures had come at them in great number, enough that even with the recon team's modern weapons that enough survived to get into melee. No one had died but the injuries suffered were not trivial among some of the members of the recon team.
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A Small Craft ride back to Stalingrad later
"These creatures were intelligent and ruthless. They knew their primitive weapons and armor were no match for us in open battle and came at us anyway. It was clearly planned. If it were not for the number of trueborn Elementals in my recon team I do not think we would have carried the day." Gwain laid back on the medical bed while his wounds were being treated.
"It seems the locals refer to them as Orcs." Jenna had come to see him as soon as his return was announced.
"This world is both a paradise and a hell for us. There is battle to be had. With foes of great ability, but victory can only be ours if we forsake our traditions of honorable combat. That may also come too easy. These creatures appear human enough, but the reality is they are no longer human. At best they are something akin to the stories told of the genecaste." Gwain grimaced as the medtech sutured closed a cut on his arm.
"It is as if this world is designed to be a lure. No, not just this world. The entire nebula. I have read the reports of Ivan and the Interstellar Expeditions team that came here and came to the conclusion that they were stuck in the Nebula. The other worlds that are inhabited are all full of wonders that would cause many to salivate at the prospect of claiming and mastering them. As much as I hold out hope that there is a way out it seems far too clearly a trap for those whose avarice and hubris are too great." Jenna sighed.
"I tend to concur. I speculate this was the Terran Hegemony's attempt at showing why the Mother Doctrine was actually a good idea and why some science should not be pursued." Gwain nodded.
"They knew their experiments would go awry and that they would need to be contained. So they made it possible to go into the nebula but not possible to leave." Jenna added.
"But it became forgotten. There were many points of time where it could have been and many events that would make rediscovering it difficult at best." Gwain groaned as the medtech reset a dislocated finger.
"We cannot prove any of this with our current lack of scientists and equipment, but it seems the most logical conclusion. It means it is rather unlikely that they left a failsafe or override so that the researchers here could leave." Jenna looked at the floor in anger and despair.
"Again I tend to concur but the only way to know for sure is to keep looking. Even with the aid of the shuttles of the unclean there is much of this world left unsearched. Even if we can never leave, it is also our only hope at gaining some measure of redemption." Gwain tried cheering up Jenna.
Jenna silently nodded and left the room.
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