Ren: Soulless

Collection: Submissions//the Halleaux
Chronicled by Ren

​"Ren!" Petra's voice shouted behind him. Ren turned to face her with twinkle in his eye.
"Yes?" he asked her as kindly as he could manage
"They're here"
"The Authority?" Ren dropped his hand to his sword
"No, the other five of the Soulless Six. They're outside and they say they want to speak with you before they talk to anyone else."
Ren turned pale and a look crept into his eyes that was entirely unfamiliar: fear, and Petra knew why. He was about to go meet the only five people who had even the slightest chance of beating him in a fight. If they decided to support the Authority, then he wasn't sure he could win. He shook his head like a dog trying to rid his ears of water and looked at her.

"Fine I'll go meet them, but I'm not going alone, if this goes bad I want backup."
"Take Marius with you. One more thing" she said
"What?"
"They requested you unarmed, no weapons"
"I'm a weapon" Ren laughed
"No other weapons"
"Fine" Ren huffed
He walked down the stairs to his lab and unlocked the door. He stripped off his armor and weapons and threw them across the room. They landed on a table with a huge crash, making Ren cringe. He slid a crate out from beneath a workbench and dusted it off. Grabbing the first available item he could use as a lever, he slid it under the lid and popped it off revealing piles of folded black fabric and a pair of gloves. He lifted the fabric, letting it flow between his fingers. It was a shirt made of interwoven strands of metal and carbon. Upon further inspection, Ren could see that each tiny fiber had little barbs on it and when pressure was applied directly to an area of the fabric, it would harden as the barbs locked together creating some semblance of a shield. Ren donned it over his other shirt and decided to test it. He picked up a dagger from a nearby bench and slashed himself across the chest. Nothing happened. He tried stabbing it. Same result. Ren smiled to himself "Perfect, I finally got it to work" he thought.
Then he turned his attention to the gloves. They looked like standard gloves to the untrained eye, but underneath the fabric he could feel small steel plates over the knuckles. He felt around the wrist until he found a button. When he pressed it razor blades rose from underneath the fabric standing vertically across the back of the hand and the insides of the knuckles. He pressed the button again and the blades shrank back into the fabric. As he was putting them on, there came a knock at the door.
"Enter" Ren said
Marius opened the door and stepped inside.
"Ready to go?"
"Almost, I just need to grab something out of my room"
"Ok"
Together they walked up the stairs and down the hall to Ren's room. Ren went inside and emerged a couple of minutes later carrying a leather bag which he slung across his back.
"What's in the bag?" Marius asked cautiously
"Do not concern yourself with these worldly things, with any luck we won't need to use it"
"Petra said no weapons"
"Who said it was a weapon?" Ren asked slyly "Do you really want to walk into a group of assassins completely unarmed?"
"Fair point, let's get going"
Ren took the lead as they walked through the base and out the front entrance. Five figures sat on horseback watching them as they aproached. They dismounted and walked to meet them. The one who was obviously their leader walked in front.
"So, the Sandman lives" he said
He spoke in heavy Scotch. He even taller than Ren with midnight blue armor and a sword similar to Orgetorix. He pulled off his helmet revealing pale skin and long brown hair. His eyes were peircing blue and they shone with intellegence.
"Tell me MacEntire, do you wish to kill me this badly, that you would bring the Five all the way down here? Are you enough of a coward that you would aks for me unarmed so you may kill me easier? Or do you come to drag me back to Javert and have me slaughtered for the amuesment of the council?"
"These are not my wishes Michael. When you abandoned us after Alex died I was angry yes, but I have come to an understanding. We ourselves have turned from the Authority and are here to assist you and make a statement to them that they are no longer our masters. I have lead the team in your absence but you are our true leader. We have decided that we want you to lead us again, this time against the authority. What do you say?" He said
Ren turned and looked at Marius who seemed like he wasn't sure of what was going on.
"What do you think about all this?"
Marius shrugged at him absently. Ren rolled his eyes before turning back to MacEntire.
"I will lead you once again, but let me make it clear to you now: I am not the man I once was. I've changed, perhaps it was Alex's death or something else, but I have changed. I'm no longer the brutal killing machine who kills anything that stand in his way."
This drew an increndulous look from Marius.
"It's true, you would not doubt this if you had known me then." said Ren before returning to the Five once more. Ren stepped towards them and one at a time they sank down on one knee. He approached MacEntire first.
"Your sword" He requested
Still kneeling, MacEntire drew his sword and passed Ren the handle. Ren gripped the handle with his right hadn and placed the flat of the blade on the palm of his left hand.
"Rise Grim and take up your blade" Ren turned the handle back towards MacEntire.
MacEntire rose from the sand and took the sword in his hands. Sheathing it, he saluted Ren then went to stand behind him. The two walked to the next figure, who pulled off his helm as they approached. Taking the man's sword he proceeded to do the same thing he did for MacEntire. Marius tried to keep track of all of names there was Warlock, Mars, Altair, and the Ren approached the last figure. She pulled off her helmet like the rest, but even in the dim light of the moon, Marius could tell she was a girl. Taking her sword he commanded her.
"Risa Fanghur, un taka onr bladrn. Du zeit hat kausta eombeweisen dich selber athr du schlachtfeld."
"Oi, Ebrithal" she said
Ren returned her sword and she rose. Sheathing her sword she walked to stand with the others.
"We brought you a gift" MacEntire said behind him
Ren turned to face him as he held up a canvas sack.
"Just some old toys we thought you might like." he smiled
Ren opened the sack revealing a set of pure black armor and a hooded trench coat similar to the one he had worn to the duel. A matching sword was unpacked from a horse. A razor sharp four foot blade with a glassy shine and a cable-like pattern that crisscrossed the metal. The handle was wrapped with leather cord and a diamond shaped chunk of obsidian was set into the pommel.
"Schlachtkreuz" Ren whispered
Suddenly there was a loud bark and Ren was tackled to the ground by a large canine.
"Aufhören, aufhören" Ren laughed
The dog stopped and looked up at Mariuis as though noticing him for the first time. The dog stood and began to growl at him, advancing as it did so.
"Nicht" Ren commanded
The dog sat and opened it's mouth, wagging its tail. Ren stood up and shook MacEntire's hand.
"One last thing" he said
"Don't tell me you brought the entire command center?" Ren smiled
MacEntire opened his hand, revealing a large gold ring with a singal glyph on it. Ren took the ring and slid it onto his finger as tears welled up in his eyes. MacEntire smacked him on the back and put his arm around him.
"We're going to win" he said "For Alex"
"FOR ALEX" they yelled
Ren snapped his fingers and the dog walked to his side.
"Let's get inside, I have some friends you need to meet"
And together six assassins, a haven fighter, and a dog walked inside the base.