The Heavenly Host

Even as Tom spoke, a bolt of black lightning came arcing through the air, only to be deflected by Sekhmekt leaping forward and batting it away with a large, round shield that shone as bright as the noonday sun, causing Tom and the D’Orcs to shield their eyes. Where in the Abyss the disk had come from was a total mystery, but it was now on her left forearm. The black lightning bounced harmlessly off it into the ground.

CRRAAACCKKKK!!!

Sekhmekt leaped, spinning in the air to deflect another bolt.

CRRAAACCKKKK!!!

The lioness spun again and nearly somersaulted to intercept another black bolt.

CRRAAACCKKKK!!!

CRRAAACCKKKK!!!

CRRAAACCKKKK!!!

CRRAAACCKKKK!!!

Tom blinked at the dizzying speed with which the lioness leaped and spun through the air, catching and deflecting each bolt of inky blackness.

“Target acquired!” the gravity cannoneers yelled.

“Affirmative!” yelled the various rifle groups.

Tom raised the Rod of Tommus above his head and summoned the power of Doom. A shudder shook the ground.

CRRAAACCKKKK!!! The lioness leaped again.

ZZZZzzztttt!! Crash! Normal lightning came from the sky, crashing against the Maelstrom as Tom created a large negative electrical potential below it.

Suddenly a grey cloud of ash, soot, rain and mud came raining down as hurricane-force winds began to buffet the region once more. The D’Orcs engaged their suits’ gravlocks to keep their position. Suddenly a thundering blackness came from in front of Tom as the first gravity cannon fired. A giant concussion rocked them as the gravity wave hit the Maelstrom as fast as the blackness that ate the very light around it appeared. ZZZZzzztttt!! Crash! ZZZZzzztttt!! Crash! Flashes of Tom’s weather lightning lit the darkness. The light in the region came back to grey and then went black again as the second gravity cannon fired and instantly struck the Maelstrom.

ZZHHHHOHHSSSHTTTT — ZZZSSSSTTTTTHHHSSSSZZZ! A purplish-green ball of superheated charged gas shot from the first BFG 40K plasma rifle to strike the Maelstrom, spreading out in a fiery, sparkling burst of electricity and luminescent gas against the inky Maelstrom bubble.

ZZHsshhZZZSSHHOHHSSSHTTTT — ZZZSSSSTTTTTHHHzzooohhHHTchchSSSSZZZ! went the second plasma ball, this one orange, red and white as it struck the Maelstrom.

ZZZZzzztttt!! Crash! More of Tom’s lightning bounced off the Maelstrom.

CRRAAACCKKKK!!! Came what Tom assumed was another black lightning bolt, followed by a brilliant flash of blinding light from Sekhmekt’s shield as the bolt bounced into the ground.

CRRAAACCKKKK!!! ZZHHHHSSSHoohhhssZZTTTT — ZZZSSSSTTTTTHooohhHHssHHSSSSZZZ!

CRRAAACCKKKK!!! ZZZZzzztttt!! Crash!

KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM! The thunder of the blaster rifles shook Tom’s eardrums. ZZZZzzztttt!! Crash!

Tom shook his head. It was hard to see with his eyes, but he could sense the Maelstrom’s darkness on the DoomNet grid. Things were looking rather at a standstill. He reached with his mind towards the nearest magma flow and started pulling it through the ground towards the Maelstrom.

ZZZZzzztttt!! Crash! Came his automated lighting.

ZZHHHHOHHSSSHTTTT — ZZZSSSSTTTTTHHHSSSSZZZ! Plasma rippled through the grayish darkness. KABOOM! ZZHHHHOHHSSSHTTTT — ZZZSSSSTTTTTHHHSSSSZZZ! KABOOM! ZZZZzzztttt!! KABOOM!

This was going to take several minutes. He sent a signal through his links to Morok and the D’Orcs around them to keep firing to keep the knights distracted. Blackness hit them all again as the first gravity cannon fired again. In the distant light of the plasma coruscating over the Maelstrom after the blackness cleared, there did seem to be some changes to the shape of the Maelstrom bubble. He was not sure if that was from damage or from the knights shifting around inside.

ZZZZzzztttt!! Crash!

CRRAAACCKKKK!!!

ZZHHHHOHHSSSHTTTT — ZZZSSSSTTTTTHHHSSSSZZZ!

Tom kept his concentration on channeling magma and superheated gas below the ground. He needed to burst open a giant pyroclastic gusher directly under the Maelstrom. Tom closed his eyes to increase the power and speed of the flow. He could feel the ground around them shaking as he forced the flow, pulling tremendous energy from the Fire portal as well as huge amounts of fluidic material from the Earth portal.

ZZZZzzztttt!! Crash!