The Code of Chivalry
                             Chapter 6

    The pair awoke at daybreak, and ate a hot breakfast of eggs, bacon,
and beer.  They quickly gathered their gear and suited up, Jim once
again returning to his power armor.  The two set off northward, heading
for Lazlo.  Jim took the lead, because of his near invulnerability.
Malrick followed on his horse, his mount slightly edgy from the metal
monstrosity in front of it.
    They quickly picked up the trail of the demon army, and followed it
for the rest of the day.  By nightfall they were once again in sight of
the beasts.  They trailed the army for another three days, until they
finally broke free of the forests of the Magic Zone.
    The huge demon army was spread out before them.  The troops
stretched for miles across the fields.  Not only demons and beasts of
magic from the rifts, but also men.  There were hundreds of human
mercanaries, fully armed and ready for battle.  In the distance there
were a squad of huge mechs, blistering with weapons and armor.  This was
a force larger than any in the world, and it was bent on conquering the
whole world.  Malrick sighed in desperation as he looked out at the
masses of troops.  Even if they did manage to reach Lazlo and warn them,
they would still be crushed.  No army on the planet could stand up to
this.
    "It's no use, Jim.  There is nothing that could stop this.  No
amount of magic, technology, or manpower could hope to even dent this
army.  Damn it, it's just no use!"
    Jim looked down at his new companion, sensing his defeat and sorrow,
and feeling the same way himself as he looked at the fields.  Suddenly,
the forest behind them erupted with sound, the trees being knocked to
the ground as a squad of mechs patrolled through.  Malrick and Jim
looked up and began to draw their weapons.  Malrick began firing blasts
at the huge mechanized monsters as Jim aimed his boom gun.  Malrick
clamped his hands over his ears as the gun fired, yet he was still
deafened.  The slugs buried themselves into the head of the lead mech,
but it hardly seemed to notice.  Malrick's laser bolts simply scratched
the thick armor of the robots.  The lead mech's shoulder pods opened,
displaying rows of reflex missles, which fired directly into Jim.  The
explosions sent him flying to the ground, his armor dented and cracked
from the blasts.  He tried to regain his feet, but the mech raised it's
arms, and fired blasts from its particle beam cannons.  The beams
bounced off the glittering armor of his suit.  The robot's chest opened,
diplaying a cluster of guns, and a huge gatling gun began firing into
Jim, and the shells punch holes right through his suit.  Out of the
cluster came a jet of searing flame, which engulfed Jim in an inferno.
Once the flames died down, Malrick looked at his friend.  The Glitter
Boy was cracked and shattered, the once shiny surface now blackened by
the flames.  Huge gaping holes were rent throughout the armor, and
sparks of electricity danced around the suit.  As Malrick was about to
try and help Jim, the mech simply lifted its huge foot and crushed the
body under tons of steel and titanium.
    Malrick was stunned by his friend's sudden death.  He didn't even
see the mech approach from his side as he looked at the other one
crushing Jim.  The huge arm of the other mech swung into his horse,
hurling it thirty feet into the air and crushing its ribs.  Malrick
landed on the ground and heard his bones snap.  His breath was knocked
out of him, and he struggled to take in some air.  He heard his horse
screaming in pain, and tried to turn to see it.  But his vision was
blocked by the huge robot.  It stood lookin down at him, its hydraulic
parts hissing.  Malrick suddenly wondered what it would be like to die.
He thought about all the time he spent mastering his skills and living
by the Code.  What good did the Code do for him now?  The enemies before
him did not care about Chivalry and honor.  They only cared about
victory.  And victory was about to be achieved for those before him.  As
he contemplated his life, the huge foot came down upon him, crushing him
in an instant.  All that was left was blackness...

(Thus ends the tale of our Lord Malrick, who's brief life ended
tragically in desperation and sorrow.  Oh well...)

Creeping Death [CHAOS CT] '93