Chapter 18: Failed Attempt
#18 of The Spyro Chronicles SE
Chapter 18: Failed Attempt
Dragon Realms, Uncharted System
March 9, 2204
1823 Hours
DragonTempleGardens
Spyro dashed through the grass, his wounds sending small amounts of pain through him as he passed into the gardens. The night sky was beginning to claim the landscape and the fires from Warfang lit up the sky with their embers and sparks.
He looked around for that secret part of the gardens and saw the familiar waterfall. He glided down to the secret area and landed in the grass. There were no statues around.
He looked around, the cool night air hitting his scales and enticing a feeling of relief from him. His strained muscles hadn't healed fully since his encounter in Dante's Freezer and from his prior engagement. They racked his nerves as his legs felt heavy and his paws felt like iron weights.
A cool whisper of wind slipped into the secret gardens and a few blades of grass swayed in the breeze.
"Hello? Ignitus? Are you there? I need help..." Spyro said into the darkening dusk.
"Young dragon you are not alone... we will always be here to guide you..." Spyro turned to see a familiar statue sitting in the grass. However, unlike Ignitus, it wasn't red. In fact, it looked like the Chronicler.
"Chronicler?" Spyro asked.
"No Spyro, it's me, Ignitus."
"But, this statue..."
"Looks like the Chronicler?" Ignitus finished for him. Spyro nodded.
"That is because... I have become the new Chronicler Spyro." Spyro didn't respond, taking in the statement.
"Since my departure from this world, the Chronicler had given me his position... to watch and record this age... and to give you guidance young dragon..."
"Then what happened to the Chronicler?"
"That, I do not know."
Spyro looked at the statue more and sighed.
"What is it that you needed Spyro, I sense great confusion in you."
"Ignitus... I am confused... all this that's happening... with all this... what is really going on?"
"Perhaps I can shed some light." Spyro saw a pink-purple statue appear in the grass beside Ignitus's. It sounded like Singe's voice.
"Spyro, what is going on is a huge crisis." She explained.
"What is going on? All I know is that the Final Solution is a powerful weapon designed to destroy the world! Why would Malefor want to use it, I don't get it..."
"Spyro... there are bigger forces at work here... bigger then you could ever imagine... Malefor is obviously a tool in this and we're all pawns." She said.
"What force?"
"I'm afraid that I am not sure of myself. The Final Solution was built as a weapon of good, to rid the world of evil... but then he corrupted it and now it is a weapon of darkness. The keys are spread across this world to take it off its Stand By. If Malefor gets them, he can destroy this world and then rule the one that comes out of the ashes."
"Do you know how Diablo wants to stop it?"
"Do not put your full trust in Diablo Spyro..."
"What do you mean, he's going to help stop this!"
"Some of us... disagree on what's best to stop this. Trust your instincts Spyro. They will guide you to victory."
"But..."
"Spyro... you've shown me that you've always made the right decisions and are able to save us, even when it's too late. I'm sure you can pull us out of this one..." Ignitus said. Spyro couldn't see his face, but he knew he was smiling, and so was he.
"But what do I do?"
"Spyro... the purple dragons are the guardians of the Final Solution. It has been their duty since their creation and you and Malefor are the current guardians. You must decide what course of action you must take to save it." Singe said.
"But if we're the Guardians, then why is Malefor going to fire it." Spyro inquired.
"Guardian also pertains to keeper. Not only is it your duty to safe guard it, but you are the keeper of the weapon. Malefor is obviously seeking something more then just its firing. Be careful who you befriend and who you take arms against. In this war, the line between friend and foe is faded. Watch your surroundings, they are constantly changing. Spyro, you must hurry."
"What do I do?"
"Stop Malefor. To do that, you need to locate and destroy his crystals so he cannot find and secure the weapon." Ignitus suggested. Spyro nodded.
"You must hurry Spyro, the armies of darkness converge, and there is evil all around. Proceed with caution." Singe said.
"Be safe, young dragon." Ignitus's voice said just as the statues faded from view. Spyro sat in the grass before his face contorted with determination. He flew out of the secret area and went back to the main path in the Gardens. He saw a few Marines walking around with a pair of cheetahs, a group of moles in line behind them. Spyro had seen little or no dragons in the city. Just how many had been whipped out by Malefor's forces? How many by Cynder? How close were they to being extinct as a species? As these questions flowed through his head, answers seemed farther and farther. Spyro sighed and walked back to the dojo to find the others.
2032 Hours
Skies aboveTwilightFalls
"So what's it like?"
"To what?"
"To... you know... have wings?" Aaron felt a bit awkward being asked this.
"Well uh... it's... not that different... I can't imagine not having them." He said finally. The Marine sitting in the Nighthawk next to him sighed. Roxy let out a giggle and Tom simply sat quietly in the middle of the troop bay. Krypto flapped his wings as he flew alongside the human aircraft, keeping in formation as the other Nighthawk and Sparrowhawk flew alongside.
The trio of aircraft streaked onwards in the night sky, their lights illuminating the area and preparing for the assault. They were heading to theEnchantedForest, to find a possible dark crystal and destroy it. Not many of the Dark Master's forces had been spotted in the vicinity and little or no sightings of Lakadors were made at all. It's as if they hadn't even landed in this hell hole to begin with.
The Nighthawks and single Sparrowhawk flew onwards and came to an opened field just atop a large cliff near a waterfall. The aircraft touched down and Krypto flapped his wings to land with the aircraft. The Marines and small band of cheetahs and moles disembarked the vehicles and went onto the field. Even though Dyke had suggested against it, theAllianceurged for their own soldiers to be present.
The Marines fashioned their night vision gear and walked forward, the cheetahs and moles unsheathing their swords and following. Krypto, Aaron, Roxy and Tom also followed, blazing the trail behind the Marine regulars and theAlliancesoldiers.
The trees swayed in the wind as the group of 15 Marines, 10 Cheetahs and 10 moles went on ahead. The Marines were under the command of Staff Sergeant William Brown and theAlliancesoldiers were under the command of Chief Prentan. The Cheetahs resented the Humans in a sense. They felt the Humans were rubbing their business where it wasn't needed. In essence, the Cheetahs felt they didn't need the Human's help in this.
Krypto also held a sort of grudge against the Humans, and it seemed as if Aaron, Roxy and Tom were the only ones happy that the Humans were here. The Marine Sergeant stopped his men and theAlliancesoldiers went on a bit farther. Aaron walked up to the Sergeant.
"Why are we stopping?" He asked.
"We've got to assess the area. The crystal is suspected to be less then a click north of here, inside of a structure of some sorts." He explained. The area was still around them and they moved on a bit farther. They came to an area of the forest that was open. As they walked near to the edge, they saw figures walking. The Sergeant ushered his men down into the grass and they saw that it was a large group of well armed Lakadors moving towards the area of where they suspected the crystal was in.
"What the hell are they doing here...?" Brown asked as he looked at them with his binoculars, their silver armor gleaming in the moonlight.
"Doesn't matter, we will defeat them." As Prentan said this, theAlliancesoldiers prepared to charge.
"No you idiot, they'll kill you!" Brown hissed. The Cheetah ignored the Human and theAlliancesoldiers charged from their positions, arrows flying at the Lakadors and swords drawn. The arrows bounced and shattered against the Lakador armor and they turned and opened fire.
Spheres of dark energy streaked across the open field and soldiers fell as it hit their armor. They were getting slaughtered.
"Damn it! Open fire!" Brown yelled. The Marines opened fire, bullets joining the utter chaos erupting outside.
Bullets flew through the air and were met with an opposing force of Lakador gunfire and energy rounds streaked at them. A few Marines screamed out as energy burned through the brush and straight into their armor. The same was true for the Lakadors, rifle rounds smashing into their armor and shattering it. The remainingAlliancesoldiers dashed into the higher grass for better cover, their ranks almost being wiped out.
Krypto and Aaron took to the skies, raining jets of fire down upon the Lakadors. Roxy fired a volley of arrows but found to her disappointment that her arrows were the most effective weapon against these armored targets. She aimed for their exposed arms and tried to disable them. A few fell to her arrows, but she had to take cover with Tom as her weapon proved no more effective then what the Cheetahs had tried using.
Energy rounds streaked upwards and a few collided with Krypto, eliciting a roar from him as the rounds burned through his chest plating. Aaron had to dive to avoid the laser and energy fire, his wings being singed as a round flew through his wing skin. Aaron yelled and hit the ground. Roxy dashed wildly over to him, dodging a hail of energy fire and dragging him to safety. These Lakadors meant business.
The Platoon of Marines were hard pressed, more and more Lakadors coming from an adjacent field and filling the area with more targets. The tree line where the soldiers were at had turned into a fire. There was so much energy hitting the trees and grass it caught ablaze. A few Marines retreated as their cover was catching fire.
"Fall back! Get back to the drop ships!" As Brown said this, a round caught him in the back and he fell over, screaming. The other Marines ran to grab him but a few were cut down in a hail of energy fire as Lakadors charged their position and sprayed them with their automatic rain of death.
Swords clanged against armor as the Lakadors pulled them out and slashed at the retreating Humans. From her perspective, Roxy couldn't see much of what was happening, she had hit behind a rock. She had dragged Aaron with the help of Tom over there and Krypto had landed nearby, his chest charred and his breathing a little tense. The Cheetahs and Moles had vanished entirely, a squad of Lakadors giving chase to them as well.
They had been defeated.
There was no way they stood a chance against the overwhelming numbers of Lakadors. The only form of communication back to Warfang was via radio, and all the Marines had retreated or were killed. The only other way was to go there personally, and Roxy, nor Tom, could fly. They'd be stranded unless Krypto could lift them over there. Aaron wouldn't be able to support her weight, especially with his wing the way it was.
Roxy kept Aaron hidden, even as his whimpers of pain sounded through his muzzle. The area where he had been shot was burning hot. The energy round had burned straight through his wing skin and had left a black ring around it. At least that was the extent of his injuries.
She wished she could say the same for Krypto, who was breathing hard, the black, charred chest scales being apparent. He had taken at least 4 energy rounds to the chest and she didn't know how bad those hits would really be.
The only ones left were her and Tom. And they didn't necessarily have the weapons to take on the Lakadors, with their armor and dark energy weapons.
She had injured a few of them with her arrows, but those were lucky shots. She didn't know just how many more of those guys were out there. The Marines were forced to retreat and she could only guess if anyone had even made it out alive. The remaining Cheetahs and Moles had also fled, their numbers down to less then 5. Things weren't looking good for them. They had been beaten so easily.
Seeing that the coast was clear she decided it was best to move them. She, with the help of Tom, lifted Aaron and helped Krypto move across the open field and into the cover of the forest. They moved until they found a cave and she settled them in. She then left Tom in charge while she dashed back out into the night in search of one of the Marines' radios.
She hid along in the bushes and listened to the calm night. The slight tak, tak, tak of Marine gunfire was audible in the distance, as well as the silent whine of energy fire. "At least there were survivors..." She thought to herself. She heard some sounds and her bow strapped to her back began to glow, signaling danger. She hid the bow, knowing it would give her away.
She looked out from her hidden position and spotted a pair of Lakadors. They were inspecting the fallen Marines in the brush across from her and she heard a moan, signaling a surviving Marine. She then saw a Lakador draw something from its side and then heard the sound of a single energy shot. The moaning ceased and she heard something softly hit the ground. The Lakadors then went on about their business and left the scene.
She growled silently and crawled through the grass and into the bushes where the Lakador pair had just been. She came into the burnt shrubs and found a Marine with a charred mark on his helmet, his gaze fixed upon the stars. The Lakadors had executed him. She silently sighed and crawled over to him. She had seen the soldiers speak with devices attached to their helmets and saw the same piece of equipment attached onto this one's helmet. She grabbed the helmet and tried to use the microphone as best she could.
She found a switch and pressed it. She heard a click from the device and knew she was online. She spoke silently into it.
"Hello? Can anyone hear me? We need help... some people are dead and hurt... hello? Can anyone hear me?" Her cries for help were met with static. Then she remembered that the Dark Crystal's pulse was disrupting radio communications. This thing was useless. She felt anger swell in her as she left the fallen Marine and retreated back to the cave, nothing gained from the trip other then more anger towards the Lakadors.
2234 Hours
EnchantedForest
Lakador Field Commander Yahade' walked with his men. The Lakadors moved and fired as they did, catching the Humans in their energy fire. The Human soldiers screamed out in agony as they took hits and the remains of their battered forces broke apart and ran in different directions.
"Cease fire!" Yahade' commanded. The Lakadors complied and regrouped. Although Yahade' was a bit sympathetic to the Humans, there was no substitute for victory. It was either kill or be killed. And in this case, the Humans were the prey. They, along with their other allies, had fallen victim to their superior fire power.
The Lakador commander looked off and motioned his troops back to the main path. They had to find and extract the crystal. Once they did, they would be able to fire up their main engines once more. With that they could also power up their long range communications and send a signal out to other Lakador outposts to aid in the assault here.
They had to secure that crystal, no questions asked.
Sondohwa stood near Yahade'. The Lakador checked the heat meter on his pulse rifle and readied himself. Yahade' snarled at the soldiers, saying they shouldn't charge blindly into an engagement.
Sondohwa just thought it was sympathy for the humans that Yahade' was masking. The fool knew they were threats... but didn't want to admit it. Either way, as long as he got to shoot Humans he was fine. Sondohwa was one of those who strongly believed in the Warrior's code. Yahade' seemed to be part of the less radical group that was just average. In order to be a soldier, a warrior, you had to abide by the laws and rules set by the Warriors Code. It was their beliefs, their religion. To be against it was to be less then a warrior, which was unacceptable.
As the second commander under Yahade' Sondohwa stressed it amongst his men. Yahade' didn't seem to care but was concerned on the methods they used.
A warrior lives by honor. They can conquer things others fear and use them to their advantage. One good example was the weapon he wielded. The Pulse Rifle used charged dark energy crystals as ammunition.
It was a sign of conquer. They had taken dark energy, a feared element, and had converted it into something useful and beneficial for them. The weapon was highly advanced.
It worked like a Human ballistic weapon, except they propelled the rounds with opposing negative and positive charges rather then chemical propulsion.
Another sign these humans shouldn't be allowed to live, their weapons were far to inferior to gain them their survival. Even though ballistics was an accepted method of weaponry by some Lakadors, Sondohwa saw it as a pathetic toy. Some Lakadors actually took Human weapons as trophies. Sondohwa thought that was a poor practice. Humans were vermin as far as he was concerned. They obviously didn't follow the Warrior's Code so they weren't worthy of mercy.
Even if Yahade' saw otherwise, it was by all means the proper way to see it. It is what he taught the men and it was what he swore to. Yahade' could be a sympathizer all be wanted, the higher commanders would punish him for his views and that would be the end of that.
However, as part of the Warrior's Code, he had to respect the chain of command and Yahade' happened to be higher then him. So he gave his respect as best he did.
As Yahade' motioned for them to move forward once more, he gladly followed and ushered his group to follow as well.
They moved through the forest and combed the area for any survivors. They had killed 11 out of the 15 Human soldiers that had assaulted them and almost all of the other hostiles. Now they had a straight path to the crystal.
They proceeded through the forest and came to a waterfall. Yahade' pulled out a scanner.
"The energy is coming from inside there, that is our target." Yahade' said as he pointed to the waterfall. The warriors proceeded towards the raging waterfall and swam through it. The warriors came through the waters and found themselves in a huge cave. At the back of the cavern was a large temple structure. They swam to shore and all 26 Lakador warriors were preparing to enter the temple.
As they neared, the ground rumbled and a few creatures sprouted out of the ground. The Human captives had referred to them as Grublins and Orcs. They were just more targets to the Lakadors, especially Sondohwa who accepted any and all challenges without hesitation.
Energy and crystal rounds fired from Energy Rifles and Pulse rifles, smashing into the Orcs and burning through them and the Grublins did back flips as energized crystals seared through them.
More came out of the ground and two creatures stood at the top of the temple. They were some sort of warriors made out of pure dark energy crystals. They wielded swords and weapons attached to their arms that worked like their own dark energy rifles. The crystal warriors pointed the weapons at them and a succession of energy rounds flew at the Lakadors and detonated and threw Lakadors in every which direction.
Sondohwa triggered an Ice Grenade and tossed it at an assortment of Grublins approaching. It detonated and encased them in ice. Anything not incased in ice had died of frostbite and lay in stiff positions on the ground.
The Lakador followed up the grenade with a few pulse rounds which did the frozen creatures in. Orcs with arrows fired from afar and a few shattered against the Lakador's armor. A few hit things like arms and exposed legs, causing hisses of pain and purple blood to gush to the floor.
The Lakadors pushed on, firing more shots at the Orcs and at the crystal soldiers atop the temple. A few Orcs flew into the air and fired volleys of dark energy at them from afar. The energy collided with Lakadors and sent them into a haze of screams and hisses of pain.
"Get the crystal! Now!" Yahade' hissed. Sondohwa didn't waste a moment. He and two other Lakadors dashed up the steps up to the crystal that was set inside of the temple and lifted it from its case. They took the crystal down and they kept firing shots at the Orcs and Grublins as they approached.
The remaining Lakadors, now dwindling to 15 leapt into the water and swam. The crystal required a few Lakadors to keep it in line with them and they took it out of the waterfall cave. Once outside, they saw several more Orcs and Grublins dashing across the shores of the river. Sondohwa got to the banks, discarded his rifle and unsheathed his sword.
He charged at a pair of Grublins and impaled them on the sword and then kicked them away. He grabbed two Electric Grenades, triggered them, and tossed them at two Orcs. The electricity from the grenade sent lethal amounts of volts pulsing into the Orcs and anything around them, killing them.
The other Lakadors put down the others with efficiency and they collected themselves. Sondohwa was breathing hard as he put his sword back, the rush of battle keeping him in tune.
"Great... more Humans..." One of the Lakadors commented and they looked up to see two Human drop ships in the distance, landing. The night was still young, and there were several Humans to kill. Sondohwa was ready.
End of Chapter 18
Krypto belongs to Kryptangel92
Aaron belongs to Dragonfreak1112
Roxy and Tom belong to Roxydragoness
Spyro and Cynder belong to Sierra Entertainment
Everyone else- Me