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Chapter 7: Morning's Misfortunes

Dragon Realms, Uncharted System

March 3, 2204

0722 Hours

Valleyof Avalar

The tank fired its main gun, causing the grass around the vehicle to go flat from the force of the blast. The Marines fired their assault rifles and watched as the Orcs and Grumblins retreated. A few 'Wayvrns' also flew overhead, trying to attack the Marines. Spyro and Cynder made sure that didn't become an issue.

The tanks rolled along the opposite river bank from where they came and fired their guns. Several Marines moved with them and some even moved along another high cliff to the right of the tanks. Spyro and Cynder passed overhead and Spyro pelted the ground below with shards of ice and they shattered on the enemies approaching and any others were blown apart by the tanks as they moved through.

Soon they had moved down the river and were making their way onto the central part of the valley, a large stretch that had an island in the middle that was isolated by the rivers moving through.

The tanks moved onto the middle island via a fallen tree and the Marines followed suit. Spyro and Cynder landed on the island and they looked around. The valley hadn't changed a bit since their last visit.

Spyro wondered if the Cheetah village was even still there. They started off towards where the Cheetah Village had been upon their last visit and saw a few columns of smoke and a wooden fence surrounding an area in the northeastern corner.

"Over there, there's a village!" Spyro called out. Wagner dashed up nearby.

"We know the inhabitants and they will be happy to let you use this as your pick up zone." Spyro explained. Wagner nodded and motioned for the Marines to hold position.

"3rd, let's go check out that village! The rest of you, stay here!"

"Sir, can I come with you guys?" Allison asked, her being from 2nd Platoon. Wagner looked at her for a bit before realizing why she asked.

"Frankly I doubt Karson's there but go ahead and come with." Wagner said to her and she smiled and mouthed a thank you before the Marines started off towards the village.

Meanwhile...

0724 Hours

Valleyof Avalar, unknown location

"So where's this spot you want us?" One of the Privates asked and the Cheetah with them huffed.

"We need someone to check out these mysterious caves but no-one has been willing to look. Inside... we want you to go look... we need to make sure we can trust you guys... that's why your comrades are still back at camp..." The Cheetah said calmly.

Karson sighed. His luck just kept getting better and better... They had gotten knocked out during their recon by these weird orbs of green matter. They awoke later in a village with more cheetahs who had them tied up. He was starting to really hate being a prisoner. Thankfully they managed to broker a deal.

If they went with this cheetah to help investigate and clear out this temple structure they had uncovered, they'd release the rest of the recon squad. They had taken them from the village and headed to the part of the valley to the far right. They had entered a cave behind a water fall and were walking through its depths. Soon after entering the cave, they came upon a small room that had a door at the back that was lined in a silver metallic alloy.

The door had several etches of dragons and other things upon the wall. They walked up to it and the Cheetah pressed upon the door but nothing happened.

Karson watched and remembered the golden door that he had opened only yesterday. He walked up, touched the door and the door glowed a golden hue. A fire emblem lit up on the door and it slid open. Dumbfounded, the recon group and Cheetah walked inside.

The initial hallway was made of silver metals with rock statues and elegant structures. As they walked small torches lit up into an orange fire and the narrow passageway was illuminated by the lights.

"Wow, look at that..." One of the Marines commented. They moved down the pathway a bit more before they came to an opened up room. The Marines scanned the walls with their rifles and the Cheetah accompanying them looked around in awe.

Suddenly they heard a few sounds and the Marines leveled their rifles out, searching for the source of the sound. Karson slowly pulled back on the loading mechanism to the M74C and heard the soft *click* as the rifle loaded a round.

They looked around a bit and heard claws hitting metal. Nothing appeared though and they slowly went on a bit farther. They reached the end of the opened up room and proceeded down the next hallway and more orange lights lit up the pathways. They finally came to a room with a stone statue of a dragon that went up about 30 feet. Standing at the foot of the statue was the one creature that memorized them.

Sitting at the foot of the statue was a tall purple dragon... about 10 feet tall and had two orange wings that stretched out. As they walked closer the dragon took notice, flared his nostrils, and left the chamber through a door on the opposite end.

"A purple dragon?" The Cheetah asked.

"Ah... are they special or something?" One of the Marines asked, referring the fact that he had already seen many statues of dragons and wasn't surprised to see one at all.

"They are the rarest of all dragons... they are born only once ever 10 generations..."

"Wait, I have a question... I've seen a purple dragon before... in a vision... and this voice keeps asking me to find him or something... 'prevent the repetition of history' or something like that..." Karson said as he faced the Cheetah. The other Marines with them looked at him like he was crazy. So did the cheetah.

"You've seen... a purple dragon... in a vision?" The Cheetah asked. Karson nodded.

"Why, you know one?" A Marine asked.

"The only purple dragons we know of are Malefor and Spyro..." The Cheetah responded.

"Well let's go find that Malefor one then." A Marine suggested.

"He's dead."

"Oh..."

"What about Spyro?" Karson asked the cheetah.

"He's dead too."

"Well shit, aren't there any live ones?!" Another Marine commented.

"Other then the one we just saw, no... there aren't any live ones..." The Marines looked around again and Karson looked at the statue.

"What did Spyro look like?" Karson asked as he looked the statue over.

"He was small, purple, had a golden chest with chest plates that ran down his stomach and he also had orange wings and he had to horns which came out of the back of his head. His tail piece was a triangle like piece that was also golden in color." As the Cheetah mentioned this, Karson remembered hard to his memories. As he listened in he realized something.

"That's... the same way the purple dragon in my vision looked..."

"That's because he is Spyro." A new voice- that of a female- sounded through the room and they looked around and a few Marines pointed their rifles out, searching for a target.

"Do no be alarmed... I don't mean any harm..." The same voice said once more. Karson remembered that voice... it was from his dreams.

"Who are you?" Karson asked and the voice took a second to answer.

"My name... is Singe..." The voice responded back.

"Why are you talking to me in my dreams?"

"To give you a message... to find Spyro... and to stop him from repeating history..."

"What history? What are you talking about?!" The voice didn't respond. Instead, a new voice broke through the silence... that of a male's.

"The history... is down these halls..." The purple dragon they had seen before walked up from behind the statue and approached.

"Just keeps getting better and better..." One of the other Marines commented.

"Young Cheetah... go to your village and let the other soldiers go. The rest of you, follow me. We have some... business to attend to." The purple dragon motioned for them to follow and the Marines reluctantly started to follow. The Cheetah sighed and started back off out the way he came.

Meanwhile...

0737 Hours

CheetahVillagein the Valley of Avalar

"By the ancestors... you're alive!" A dragon with a cape, bow and arrow ran up to the purple dragon as he walked up the foot path. Spyro smiled.

"Hunter! It's good to see you to!" Cynder said with a bit of happiness.

"Where have you two been?"

"Places..." Spyro said in return. The Marines slowly followed up the path.

"So... these humans are with you?" Another cheetah walked up, a sword in hand.

"Yes, they are our friends looking for a way home." Spyro said to him. The Cheetah motioned to another who released the locks on two more Marines sitting next to a pole.

"Bout time..." One of them commented.

"Pvt. Jacobs, Cpl. Marsons!" Wagner said. The two Marines recognized him and smiled, for they were from Alpha Company.

"Lieutenant sir, its good to see you!" Marsons said as he walked up and rubbed his wrist.

The Marines started to walk around the area when the Cheetah with the bow and arrow turned to Spyro.

"So, what's their story?"

"We're not entirely sure." Spyro said back and Wagner looked at Hunter.

"Who is the one in charge of this village?"

"That would be me. I am Chief Prowles."

"Chief, I request to use this valley as a pick up zone for my men. We have several injured that need to be evacuated and this valley is perfect for those reasons."

"By what do you mean, 'airlifted'? As in by an air vehicle?"

"Uh... yeah."

"Seeing how you are an ally of Spyro, you're an ally of mine. I don't have a problem in assisting." Wagner smiled.

"I appreciate it."

"Chief, more Grumblins in the valley! They've engaged the other warriors in the valley!" One of the cheetahs yelled from a guard tower. Wagner looked at Spyro and he did the same.

"Come on Alpha, let's go help our other Marines take out these guys!" Wagner ordered and the Marines scampered from their positions and ran down the path towards the raging battle occurring in the valley.

The two tanks had rolled nearer to the village and they fired their main guns at an oncoming wave of Grumblins, Orcs, and even a large troll that lumbered their way.

The Marines of Alpha were using trees as concealment or as cover from the arrows that flew their way. They fired their rifles and the enemy formation was blown apart as the Marines chunked grenades into their midst.

Spyro and Cynder were the first to spring into action, taking flight and dashing at the oncoming enemies. They flew over the assault, Spyro raining fire and Cynder letting lose a wave of shadow breathe that engulfed several Grumblins below. A tank round nailed the troll and sent it into the river nearby while Spyro tackled an archer Orc to the ground and clawed at him.

Cynder grabbed one Orc, flew into the air with it, and clawed at its stomach before tossing him into a midst of other soldiers and finished the job with an orb of poison that obscured the enemy ground. She was about to engage another enemy when a Marine filled it with gunfire and it toppled over, dead. She smiled and continued her work.

Spyro was just about to get finished when an Orc smashed him into the ground and was about to slash a sword when it fell over for some reason. Spyro looked up and saw Cynder, recovering from using her wind to thrust a sharp stick into the back of the Orc's head.

"Thanks..." He said and she smiled triumphantly at him.

The Grumblins finally began to retreat into the ground and the skirmish was over. Once more they were victorious.

"These guys aren't so tough..." One of the Marines said as he walked up and kicked a fallen Orc. Spyro smiled at the sight and looked at Cynder who was cleaning her wing blade. Suddenly something caught his eye and he looked up to see an orb of purple sail from an adjacent part of the valley and smash into the ground nearby. The ground erupted into a sea of purple and anything nearby vanished in a haze as it exploded.

"Lakador artillery! Take Cover!" A Sergeant yelled.

"They have this whole area zeroed! Get your ass out!" Wagner yelled.

"We have to help the village! They'll get flattened by this assault!" Cynder yelled and Spyro turned to Wagner.

"3rd Platoon, stay with the tanks and get to shelter! 1st, 2nd, we're going for those guns!" Wagner yelled and Spyro and Cynder nodded thankfully to him.

"Where's it coming from sir?!" A Corporal asked.

"It's coming from the south, from behind that waterfall somewhere!" Wagner said as he pointed to a waterfall just ahead of them and on the far side of the central part of the valley.

"Let's go then!" Cynder said and Wagner nodded. The Marines moved as fast as they could, dodging Lakador artillery as it detonated in the valley and blew apart trees, rocks, and anything moving.

They moved to the river that separated their island from the part of the valley with the waterfall. The river was so deep and the cliff so steep that they had to head back the way they came and made use of a small rocky bridge to move the Marines across the river and they moved along the side of the valley and to the base of the waterfall. This waterfall, unlike the others, was minor and the water seeped down the side of a cliff with what looked like a small cave network that ran through.

"Look, some vines! We'll climb up!" Allison said as she pointed to a series of grass vines that stuff from the side of the cliff. They wasted no time and quickly scaled the cliff and entered the caves. The caves didn't go in much but as Spyro walked by a chest that had once contained armor, saw a crack in the walls and after an Earth blast, the crack gave way to a cave made of metal behind. It was the same metals used in the cave and temples they had come across before.

"Come on, this way!" Spyro said and they made no time as they dashed almost single file down the halls of this new structure and into the blackness. As they went through they heard the sounds of Lakador artillery firing. As they pass through more and the tunnel became darker, a few purple and blue lights lit up and illuminated their path.

Soon natural light filtered into the passage and they came to a doorway which lead to an observatory type room with windows revealing a second small valley with two Lakador artillery pieces firing at the Valley of Avalar just beyond. A door to the right lead to a foot path that went to a ridge line that provided a perfect flanking position over the guns and small group of Lakadors that were stationed there.

"Alright, 1st, we'll stay up here and provide suppressing fire. 2nd, move up along that foot path and flank them." Wagner said. They nodded and 2nd moved to the door but it wouldn't budge. Spyro was about to go and smack the door when Allison slammed it and the door glowed a light blue and an ice emblem illuminated and opened.

A bit dumbfounded Allison stepped out, along with the Marines of 2nd platoon. Spyro and Cynder were the last to exit and saw that the silver interior was masked by a brick and mortar built structure that hid the silver metals.

They moved along the foot path and finally came to the ridge which was obscured from the Lakadors via trees and several boulders. The Marines set up positions and Spyro and Cynder got ready.

The two Lakador artillery pieces were about the size of two Jaguar tanks sitting atop each other. They were positioned on the ground on a large tri-pod and the guns pointed upwards and sank down as they fired once more.

Their platoon leader heard a click on his radio, and the Lieutenant motioned for Allison and a few other Marines to come closer.

"Wagner wants a squad to sneak up and plant explosives on the guns. Once we blow 'em, we'll hit 'em with everything we got." Allison nodded and one of the Marines grabbed some C4 explosives from his pack and got ready. Spyro and Cynder got ready to go as they heard their plan.

"Ready? Go!" the Lieutenant whispered and Allison, along with a few other Marines, went down the ridge as quietly as they could and snuck up to one of the guns. Spyro and Cynder knelt in one of the bushes and watched them run in a crouched position to the gun's side.

Allison made sure no Lakadors were looking and patted the Marine with the C4 on the back. He took the signal and crawled under the gun and pressed a charge to the base of the gun. He slowly crawled back out and nodded. The Corporal in the ground pointed to the second gun and pointed to Allison and another Marine who both slowly got to their stomachs and started to crawl to the second gun.

Spyro and Cynder watched as they slowly crawled through the grass and got underneath the gun. Allison slipped under the gun and, like the first, pressed a charge of C4 onto the underside and slowly got back out. They slowly started to come back when a Lakador from above on a cliff spotted them and fired their weapons.

The scene erupted into a scene of pure chaos. Energy bolts flew at the pair of Marines and Spyro and Cynder were forced to abandon their position in the bushes and dashed to the scene.

The Marine that had accompanied Allison took a hit and stopped moving as his backside started to smoke from the hit. Allison froze and stayed still in the grass. The Marines on the ridgeline held their fire but the ones in the temple opened fire and drew their attention away from Allison.

Tracers flew from the windows of the temple and Lakadors began to fall as the gunfire caught them out in the open. Allison still lied in her frozen position and Spyro dashed over to her and with his muzzle grabbed the clothing on her arm. Cynder did the same with the other and together then lifted her up and she started to run away from her position. Spyro and Cynder covered her retreat with concentrated bursts of breath attacks which shrouded the area in a mist of energy.

As they regrouped with the squad next to the first gun they pulled back to the ridge and one of the Marines grabbed a small box with a silver button on it. He pressed down and both C4 charges went off.

The bases of both guns were shrouded in smoke and fire as the charges went off. The legs holding the gun up were blow off their positions and the guns plummeted to the ground and fell apart as the shock from the blast disrupted the gun's casing.

At this point the Marines atop the ridge opened fire, filling the valley with their own gunfire. Spyro and Cynder smiled, took to the sky, and flew to the rear guard of the Lakadors which wasn't getting hit my Marine gunfire.

Spyro grabbed the first Lakador he saw and tossed him to the ground before slamming back down and smashing the creature's rib cage.

He spotted a Lakador charging him with a sword and slashed his tail, knocking the Lakador off of his feet and with a blast of fire shrouded the creature in a haze of super heated fumes.

More retaliated and one fired its dark energy rifle at Spyro. A bolt connected with his right arm and he yelled out as it singed his scales and burned down to his skin and beyond. His scales were burnt a black shade and a small scorch mark the size of a golf ball was visible on his scales. It even looked as if the scales in that particular region were burned right off and the skin was seen smoldering beneath.

Spyro groaned and gripped his wound as it smoldered. The Lakador prepared to fire again when Cynder dashed out and smashed the creature into the ground. She blew out a blast of fear and the Lakadors grabbed onto their heads and screamed as they fell to the ground. They became easy targets for the Marines who opened up on the vulnerable group.

"Spyro! You alright?" Cynder asked as she ran up to Spyro who gripped his wound.

"Yeah... I'm fine..." He clutched onto it and gritted his teeth a bit as the hit continued to burn through his skin.

"Let's get you out of here." Cynder said as she started to lead him back to where the Marines were.

Before they could though, Lakador soldiers cut them off and they were forced to seek shelter behind a boulder as Lakador fire flew all around them. They were behind the guns which meant the Marines couldn't cover or help support them.

"This is not what I had in mind!" Cynder said as she kept her head low as the dark energy impacted the rocks near her.

Suddenly the air was filled with screams and they peered over the rock to see a huge white dragon plow through the Lakadors and engulf them in fire and smoke. They tried to retaliate but were put down accordingly. The large dragon went up to a Lakador trying to shoot him and grabbed him by the neck, snapped it, and let the lifeless body topple to the ground.

"Who's that?" Spyro asked and Cynder dashed from cover to greet the new dragon.

The new dragon looked odd... he had a head assortment of different shapes and varieties opposed to Spyro and Cynder's simple horns or fins. The dragon was colored white and gold and was about as tall as Ignitus. However his body anatomy was different then from the dragons Spyro has seen thus far.

"Who are you?" Cynder asked. Before the dragon answered, he spotted the Marines moving over and dashed away from them as quickly as he had appeared.

"That was... weird..." Cynder said and Spyro merely gritted his teeth in response to the pain jolting from the burn wound. Cynder ran over and helped him over to the Marine squad near the wreckage of the first gun.

"Damn Spyro, that looks nasty!" Allison said as she saw his wound.

"It's nothing... let's go." She looked at him funny and then sighed before the squad headed back up to the Marine platoon stationed up on the ridge above.

Even as the Platoon began to move back to the other back in the temple, Lakadors were still retaliating against the Marines. A few grenades detonated in their midst and shrouded what survivors were left in a hazy cloud of debris and fire.

"Good work Alpha! Let's regroup with 3rd in the valley!" Wagner ordered as they got inside and they started down the halls once more. They came to the waterfall cave and saw through the water falling another battle erupting. The only thing was, the Marine platoon was pinned at the far end of the valley atop the island closest to the village. This provided high ground, but with the hostiles in the valley, did them little good. In the valley sat a large number of Lakadors, easily 100 in numbers, moving onto the center island and moving north to the Marine platoon.

Lakador tanks rolled on wheels and on strange hovering technology onto the middle island and fired their guns at the Marine platoon. One tank had an enormous gun on its roof and it glowed a bright blue before a large beam the size of a car shot out of it and connected with a Marine position to the north. Anybody taking cover there would have been vaporized.

A second tank with a smaller gun fired a purple orb which connected with a Marine position and it detonated, blowing rocks and soldiers apart.

The Marine tanks were nowhere in sight.

"We have to help them!" Cynder said as she saw the Marines get massacred.

"Alpha, let's get down there!"

"Sir?! What the hell can we do?! There's a bunch of enemy tanks down there! What can we do?!" One of the soldiers asked as he looked at the tanks. Wagner didn't respond for a bit. They had no anti-tank weapons. Their tanks wouldn't stand a chance even if they were here. The heaviest gun they had were their assault rifles and some C4... wait... C4!

"Sergeant, how much C4 do we have left?"

"About 6 packs, you're not thinking of..."

"We need to get those onto those tanks and detonate them! It's the only way!" The Marines looked at Wagner like he was crazy.

"I'll go sir." Allison volunteered. Two other Marines with her stepped forward as well.

"We'll go to." Spyro and Cynder also stepped forward.

"Then let's go. The rest of you, take cover here and try to draw their attention as we move along the edge of the valley and sneak up on the armor."

Wagner, Allison, Spyro, Cynder and the two Marines dashed over through the caves and down the vines to the ground below. They stated moving slowly across and through the grass as the Lakadors opened fire at the Marine platoon at the northern end of the valley.

The Marines in the waterfall cave also started their assault, firing their rifles and throwing grenades at the Lakadors, attempting to distract the Lakadors from the small squad that was moving through the grass to the side.

The small squad reached a fallen tree from the artillery strikes and used it to get across the river beneath. They leapt from the log as it collapsed into the river and they got down onto their stomachs as the Lakadors advanced. The first tank was mounted just feet ahead. The tank lurched as a beam of blue white energy flew from it and towards the Marines on the other side of the valley.

Allison grabbed one of the C4 charges and slowly approached the tank from her lying down position. She planted the charge on the tank and quickly retreated. She pulled out a small device, flipped a switch and the charge detonated in a fury of fire and smoke.

"One down, 5 to go!" Wagner whispered.

'Wagner, what do you want us to do?" Spyro asked. With all the commotion Wagner had little to think of how they could play a role other then aerial flight... wait... aerial... if they could fly then they could drop things from above... they could drop the C4 charges onto the tanks... it would shorten the time needed if they planted by hand and by air!

"Spyro, you can do something! You and Cynder, take these charges and fly over the tanks! Drop them while above them and we'll detonate them! It'll shorten the time needed to take these guys out!" Wagner said and Spyro nodded as he and Cynder grabbed onto C4 charges and spread their wings to take flight.

They flew up and to the top of a large rock that rose 5 meters from the ground that was just near the destroyed tank. The Lakadors had moved forward so they didn't even realize they were short one tank or that two dragons had taken flight directly behind them.

They sat atop the rock and looked at each other before smiling. It looked odd to them... they were carrying high explosive charges by a strap that they held in their teeth. It amused them almost.

They spotted the Marine squad moving through the grass below to another tank nearby. They looked off and saw several of the Lakador tanks moving towards the village, as were many Lakadors.

"The tanks are heading to the Village!" Cynder said to Spyro.

"C'mon, we have to stop them!" Spyro said as he took flight with Cynder behind. They carried the explosives aloft and headed to the tanks as they moved closer to the village and fired their guns at it.

A few Marines were visible near the village, trying to fend off any Lakadors that strayed that way and tried to breach it. Spyro and Cynder flew over the battle erupting below and flew directly over the tanks. They flew down and put the charges on them and just as quickly flew away.

As they sailed upwards, energy bolts flew at them, trying to down them, but they flew too fast for the globs of energy to knock them out of the air.

As they flew away the tanks exploded as the squad behind them pressed the detonation buttons and Spyro and Cynder happily coated the ground in breath attacks as they went by. However, going down to actually engage the Lakadors in hand to hand combat was suicide. Instead of doing so they flew back to where the Marine squad was and perched themselves atop the same rocky plateau they had earlier.

They watched as the Marines held their footing at the end of the valley but were being outgunned by the Lakadors. The Lakadors still had 3 tanks firing at the Marines and even with the support from behind at the waterfall their luck wasn't fairing too well. The Marines at the waterfall didn't have a good enough line of sight to repel the Lakadors moving in on the Marines of 3rd Platoon.

"Spyro... we have to do something, before they wipe out those troops!" Cynder said as she watched.

"What can we do? We would have to get rid of those tanks, but we need more of those explosives!"

"Let's get some more from Wagner!"

"We'll give away their position; they're vulnerable out there..." Spyro said, eyeing the Marines moving through the grass on their stomachs to the next tank.

Wagner was having his fair share of problems... they were sneaking closer and closer to the tanks, and through enemy soldiers to get there. The other two Marines held onto their other 3 charges and they moved via prone position to the last 3 tanks. They couldn't count on Spyro and Cynder, for if they flew down to retrieve more packs of C4, their position would be given away.

The next tank was a few yards ahead and they only had to go a bit farther before they got there. Though what was on Wagner's mind was where the hell were the two tanks they had with them?! At least they could help!

As Wagner motioned for a Marine to hand them another charge to place on the tank, the Marine yelled in pain as a Lakador sniper caught sight of him and hit him in the back. The Marine lie still and dropped the charge. The other rolled to his side to avoid a shot and a few Lakadors caught sight of them and opened fire.

"Ah shit! We've been spotted! Return fire!" Wagner yelled and they tried to fight back as best they could. The other Marine with them took a hit and fell over as several dark energy shots smashed into his chest and shattered his armor from the immense heat.

"Oh no, they need help!" Cynder said as she saw Wagner and the Marines below get hit by Lakador fire.

"Yeah, let's go!" As Spyro said this, the plateau they were on exploded as a tank caught sight of them. Spyro and Cynder tumbled as the shock of the blast coupled with the sudden lack of ground supporting their feet nailed them. They landed in the falling rocks and struggled to get up, the tank nearing them.

However, before the tank fired another shot, a streak flew from the sky, connected with the tank, and sent it up in a fury of fire and smoke as the tank detonated.

More streaks flew through the sky and blew apart Lakador assault formations and the final two tanks went up and on the other side of the valley, the two Marine tanks revealed themselves and fired their main guns. However, the streaks that flew from the sky came from an aircraft that was painted green and hovered above the scene, two barrels on it flashing as it fired.

The aircraft fired into the ground and sent the Lakadors either tumbling to the ground or fleeing for their lives. Soon the last Lakadors packed up and tried to haul ass out of there as quickly as possible.

Spyro and Cynder flew down to Wagner and Allison who were standing up from their grass shelters. They looked happier then ever. Allison even tossed her hands up in joy at the sight of the aircraft. Wagner pressed against his ear as his radio went off.

"Alpha that you? This is Echo."

"Copy that Echo, this is Lieutenant Wagner of Alpha Company! It's damn good to hear from you!"

"Likewise. We've been combing the area for Marine survivors and so far we've rounded up Epsilon, Kilo and Fox Companies. No sign of Charlie, Delta or Bravo."

"Delta and a platoon from Epsilon are hold up in a structure not to far from here. We came here to secure a landing zone for Nighthawks to extract them."

"Copy that, I'll notify Colonel Dyke of your location. He'll be in shortly to extract your men. We'll keep in the vicinity and try to keep anything heavy from heading your way. Good luck Alpha, Echo out." The aircraft flew a bit higher and speed off to another part of the valley and Wagner breathed a sigh of relief.

"So... when are your troops getting taken to safety?" Spyro asked as he walked up.

"That ship gave our location to friendly forces and they'll be here shortly to extract us out of here. Thanks for all the help you've given us. If there's anything we can do, anything at all, please ask." Wagner said as he shouldered his rifle.

"Well we're happy to help." Spyro said with a smile.

"Well now that you mention it I could use a-" Cynder began.

"Cynder..."

"What? A girl has her needs you know."

Wagner smiled and looked at a pair of Marines.

"You two, go back to Delta and tell them its all clear. The Nighthawks will be inbound shortly." The two Marines ran off to where the temple was and Wagner turned to face the village. A few Marines were at the Village and Wagner started off towards them. They climbed to the island nearest to the Village and saw the two tanks sitting behind a rock. They had been waiting for the enemy tanks to pass by and they'd hit them in a sneak attack.

When they reached the village, Lieutenant Buckman shouldered his rifle at the sight of Wagner running up the hill.

"Well John, we've outdone ourselves now have we."

"Yeah, nice work David."

"Thank you, for protecting our village." Prowles said, walking up. Hunter also followed, bow and arrow in hand.

"Well we do what we can..." Cynder said with a smile. Allison walked up and removed her helmet, revealing her long, brown hair that glowed from where it was.

"Wow... that's so pretty..." Cynder commented to Allison who smiled a bit then frowned and looked away.

Cynder heard a sniffle come from the Marine.

"What's wrong?" Allison didn't reply.

"Allison, what's bothering you?" Spyro asked, seeing this.

"I'm... fine... nothing's wrong..." She started to walk off and they looked at Wagner who was frowning.

"She... lost a friend in an operation a day ago."

"Oh... was she a good friend?"

"It was a he, and I think they may be more then just friends..."

"Oh... that sucks..."

"Yeah, she's been upset about it..."

"What was his name?" Spyro asked, thinking a bit.

"Joshua Karson."

"Hey, wasn't he the Marine that went on recon with us?" Marsons said as he heard the name.

"Yeah, sounds like him..."

"Wait, Karson was on recon with you?"

"Yeah, he came to the CP with us and we went on recon."

"Where is he now?"

"The Cheetahs sent him somewhere... we don't know where..."

"We sent them to a cave down the river... they should be getting back soon."

As he said this, two Nighthawks swooped in from above and landed in the valley. Wagner and the others ran over to them. A few Marines stepped out and one Marine wore a longer uniform and looked a bit older in years.

"Colonel Dyke, sir!" Wagner said to him.

"Wagner, it's good to hear from Alpha... we've been combing the area all morning for Marine forces."

"Well Delta's on the way and we've got all of Alpha here."

"Roger that... we're currently airlifting soldiers out of here now... when Delta gets here we'll get them out of here."

"So... you guys are leaving now?" Spyro asked Wagner.

"Looks that way..."

"Actually no." Dyke said.

"Huh?" Wagner asked.

"For some reason the Typhus's worm-hole generator short circuited. We cannot jump. Plus the Typhus does not have enough room to accommodate the entire 72nd Division and still maintain an operational status. We have to find a large area to base troops and armor at until we deal with the Lakadors here and find a way home."

"Well we haven't seen an area large enough for that..." Wagner said, drooping his head low.

"Wait, there's a city near here, Warfang." Hunter said as he heard this.

"Yeah, it's big enough for your troops and tanks!" Cynder said, remembering the city.

"Wagner, take a squad a check this out. Once you give us the signal we'll reroute forces to your location. Get it done!" Dyke said while standing onto the Nighthawk.

"Alright, 1st squad, on me, we're going to Warfang!" Wagner said. A few Marines crowded around, including Allison.

"Where do we go?"

"Follow me, I'll take you there." Hunter said while leaping off towards the path. They followed the Cheetah and walked past the entrance to the valley they had come in and went farther down the valley to a door. Hunter walked up to the door, opened it, and invited them inside.

"Let us march quickly to the city." Hunter said as they slowly entered the cave.

"Ah damn... I hate dark places..."

"Just shut up and walk."

End of Chapter 7

Singe@ SexyCynder from deviantART

White dragon@ Kryptangel92 from deviantART

Spyro and Cynder@ Sierra Entertainment

Everybody else@ me