Multiple climax sequences, anyone? We'll just leave the rest of the Xavier Team stranded in their doom while we continue the saga of the other parts here...
Part CXXX: The Heart of the Mothership
Date: Kapton 30th, 114 A.U.
A single explosion rattled the chamber. Smoke slowly cleared as Monty, Zarien, Augger, and Number 994 neared the crater and at the hole blasted into the floor.
“There’s our direct pipeline,” Monty said, grabbing the rope. “Let’s go.” Quickly tying the rope to the nearby door knob, Monty threw the rest of the rope into the hole and then slid down, swinging from side-to-side, before landing on top of a large computer terminal. He waited as the other slid down after him.
Leaping down from the top of the large terminal, Monty landed on the ground and looked around. The large expanse was dim, the blinking lights of the central computer system providing the little light that escaped through the region. Towers and small buildings made up of the many computer systems stood all around them.
“Well,” Monty said, pausing. “I have no idea where in this mess the central computer of the entire central computer system is.”
“And I suspect that I don’t have authorized access,” Number 994 said, laying his hand on one of the computers as a spark ran from his hand into the metal. He paused. “Nope,” he finally said. “I need a password that I don’t have.”
“Looks like we’ll be doing this the old-fashioned way then,” Zarien said, striding forward. “We go through this mess of computers and figure out where the central one is. It should be noticeable, right?”
“The elven rebels said that there were defenses around the central computer,” Augger replied. “It should be a fairly noticeable field then, I guess.”
“Perhaps like that?” Zarien said, pointing, as in the distance, the top of a wavering blue sphere could be seen.
“Let’s investigate,” Number 994 replied.
Moving past a computer tower, Number 994 paused as he looked at the sight. A force orb had been erected around one large cubical computer. A force orb was a high level of electricity magic and needed a constant source to fuel it. Number 994 noticed the circuitry behind the force orb. So the switch to turn it off was inside of the force orb. A minor difficulty. He’d just need to summon enough power to break down the force orb.
“How in the world are we going to get through that thing?” Zarien said, coming up behind him with the rest of the power.
“If I just summon enough power, I think-” Number 994 began.
“I think that your mission would still fail,” a deep voice said.
“Who-“ Monty began.
Suddenly, a streak of fire flew down from the top of one of the computer towers. Monty threw himself to the side as it hit beside where he was standing as three figures leapt down from the tower to stand between them and force orb.
“You have made an impressive feat, getting this far,” Unyihi Garum said, summoning balls of fire over his hands to light up the faces of his two partners. Number 994 gulped. Number 5, a lightning orc, and Number 11, a fire orc.
“Unfortunately for you, not all allies are allies worth trusting,” Unyihi Garum smirked. “Your governor being the case in point.”
“Governor Iraina?” Monty asked. “But-”
“Governor Iraina has been incredibly helpful to our cause,” Unyihi Garum rumbled. “I believe that today was the date that was set for him to lead ten battalions of elves to take Araelia. But either way, none of that concerns us. What matters is that we have been prepared for your assault on our central computer system. And your mission to do so has failed.” His words rung in the air.
“Now!” Monty yelled, and dashed to the side as he drew his gun, firing two bullets at the fire orc who ducked, causing the bullets to sizzle upon hitting the force orb. Augger moved forward, brandishing his corsha battle axe, as he blocked Unyihi Garum’s lightning strike with the axe, allowing the axe to absorb the damage as Zarien and Number 994 moved for cover.
“Your cause is hopeless against us,” Unyihi Garum rumbled, sending out a spurt of fire that nearly roasted Zarien’s leg. “ Surrender now, while you still can.”
“Never!” Number 994 yelled, having made it to the top of a computer tower. Focusing his sights in on the force orb, summoning his greatest attack, Number 994 called out his lightning, sending it crashing down upon the force orb.
The force orb flickered, but stayed firm. The lightning rebounded, causing Number 994 to throw himself to the ground just in time to avoid being skewered by his own attack.
“There!” Number 5 yelled, sending crackling lightning around another terminal that Zarien had climbed to the top of. Zarien gave a cry as electricity sizzled around his electronic leg, crumpling on top as the barbs of electricity flowed over him.
Monty moved forward, ignoring the stream of fire that narrowly missed him. “Nice try,” he snapped, shooting at Number 11, now only ten feet away. Number 11 moved to the side, but not quickly enough to avoid the bullet hitting him in the chest. Number 11 fell to the ground, blood spurting out.
“But not good enough,” Unyihi Garum yelled. Too late, Monty looked up as lightning hit him hard in the chest, throwing him backwards to crash against another computer system. Number 994 watched in horror, turning around to late to see that Number 5 had flanked him. Too late, Number 994 put up an electric shield in defense as the attack overpowered his defenses, throwing him off of the computer tower to hit the force field and slowly slide down on it even as the electricity in the force field snapped at him.
“Uhhh…” Number 994 blinked, trying to keep consciousness, as he did a head count. Monty and Zarien were both knocked out. Augger was nowhere to be seen, likely knocked out as well.
“And so we come to the end of the road, you and I,” Unyihi Garum said, striding forward as Number 11 lay dying beside him. Number 5 came up next to him. Number 994 blinked, seeing something in the shadows while trying to figure out what the figure was gesturing at.
“You… You can’t…” Number 994 gasped, even as he deciphered what the figure was saying to him. And then realization dawned upon him. Rule #1. Of course.
“I can, and I will,” Unyihi Garum snapped, pointing a gauntlet at him. “You are a traitor to the cause, Number 994! The others will have their lives spared to be tortured and questioned by the Emperor, if he wills it. But you are under my authority. And no orc who willingly betrays me will do anything but die the death of a traitor, struck with the mightiest force I can conjure up to blast your body into oblivion.” Lightning cracked around his gauntlets. “And so you meet the end of the road. Die traitor.”
Rule Number 1: Always use your opponent’s greatest strength against him.
Lightning thundered toward him as Unyihi Garum unleashed his powerful attack. Against the force field, Number 994 used his remaining strength to throw himself to the side at the last second, exhausting all possible strength even as the lightning thundered past him to hit the force field. The force field again flickered, for longer this time on account of the more powerful assault, even as the figure in the shadows leapt out of the shadows past the down force field.
Too late Unyihi Garum saw what was coming as the force field flickered on again, rebounding the lightning. The lightning rebounded—and struck Unyihi Garum with greater force than his previous attack, smiting him in the chest.
Unyihi Garum gave a cry of pain, falling back in agony even as Augger, the figure in the shadows now inside the force field, lifted up his corsha axe, putting all his strength behind it even as his arms cycled around, smashing the full weight of the corsha axe into the central computer system.
“No…” Unyihi gasped, flailing in death’s rows from his own assault. One strike. Twice. Number 5, shaking away his initial shock, leapt for the force field too late in one desperate attempt to stop Augger. But Augger swung his third strike. The central computer, now struck thrice, faltered, and an explosion rang out. The force field collapsed, causing Number 994 to fall back even as Augger was engulfed in the explosion.
“No…” Number 5 said, panting as he stood next to the fallen Number 994. “No… No! It can’t be!”
“Sorry,” a voice whispered. And a bullet ripped through Number 5’s ribs. “I guess you ought to kill people instead of trying to knock them out,” Monty said, leaning against a computer tower, even as he held the smoking gun. “You never know when they might come back to bite you.”
“All of the computer systems are down—I’m not getting anything to work!” Number 2, the pilot of the Mothership, roared to his co-pilot. “All the engines just shut off! I’m not getting anything to work!”
“Can’t you fix it?” the elven co-pilot yelled back.
“I’m trying!” Number 2 yelled. “Nothing’s working! Where’s the Garum?”
“I don’t know where Unyihi is!” the elven co-pilot yelled back. “The Mothership’s going down! You have to stop it!”
“Nothing’s working! It’s total sabotage! Where’s Unyihi Garum?!”
“We’re falling fast, but we ought to be able to the escape pod in time,” Monty said, panting, as they rounded the corridor. “It’s just around here—right?”
“Yes,” Augger replied, only slightly burnt from the explosion, as he carried Number 994 over his shoulder.
“All I can say is that I never would have imagined your resistance to fire would’ve been so needed,” Zarien said. Number 994 had used the last of his energy to use his electric power to fix Zarien’s mechanical leg before succumbing into the depths of unconsciousness.
“There’s a reason that the Xavier Team called for an augger to the task,” Augger replied. “I have merely accomplished my purpose.
“There’s the escape pods,” Monty said, pointing to the corridor. “No one else is here yet.”
“There are other escape pods other places in the ship. I’m sure the other ones are going to be used,” Zarien said even as he pushed the button to open the door to the escape pod. “Let’s go.”
The white behemoth of the Mothership continued its descent even as all attempts to stop it from crashing were made. Pilots ran around in a frenzy in the cockpit of the ship, choosing to try to salvage the ship rather than use the escape pods and face assured death from what would be a very vehement Emperor. Escape pods from those just trying to save their skins were fired off even as the Mothership came closer to the waves, nearing a lonely desert island even as all hope was lost.
The tip of the ship hit the ground first. Explosions flared throughout the ship as the Mothership hit the island, even as the escape pod with the Xavier Team flew away. There was the noise of an explosion behind them. And then a large mushroom cloud split up into the air as the entirety of the Mothership imploded upon collision.
The Mothership of the Elves was destroyed.
Question of the Day: Number 994 is obviously going up in ranks with the majority of high-ranking orcs being immediately killed. What should I call Number 994 now?
Part CXXX: The Heart of the Mothership
Date: Kapton 30th, 114 A.U.
A single explosion rattled the chamber. Smoke slowly cleared as Monty, Zarien, Augger, and Number 994 neared the crater and at the hole blasted into the floor.
“There’s our direct pipeline,” Monty said, grabbing the rope. “Let’s go.” Quickly tying the rope to the nearby door knob, Monty threw the rest of the rope into the hole and then slid down, swinging from side-to-side, before landing on top of a large computer terminal. He waited as the other slid down after him.
Leaping down from the top of the large terminal, Monty landed on the ground and looked around. The large expanse was dim, the blinking lights of the central computer system providing the little light that escaped through the region. Towers and small buildings made up of the many computer systems stood all around them.
“Well,” Monty said, pausing. “I have no idea where in this mess the central computer of the entire central computer system is.”
“And I suspect that I don’t have authorized access,” Number 994 said, laying his hand on one of the computers as a spark ran from his hand into the metal. He paused. “Nope,” he finally said. “I need a password that I don’t have.”
“Looks like we’ll be doing this the old-fashioned way then,” Zarien said, striding forward. “We go through this mess of computers and figure out where the central one is. It should be noticeable, right?”
“The elven rebels said that there were defenses around the central computer,” Augger replied. “It should be a fairly noticeable field then, I guess.”
“Perhaps like that?” Zarien said, pointing, as in the distance, the top of a wavering blue sphere could be seen.
“Let’s investigate,” Number 994 replied.
Moving past a computer tower, Number 994 paused as he looked at the sight. A force orb had been erected around one large cubical computer. A force orb was a high level of electricity magic and needed a constant source to fuel it. Number 994 noticed the circuitry behind the force orb. So the switch to turn it off was inside of the force orb. A minor difficulty. He’d just need to summon enough power to break down the force orb.
“How in the world are we going to get through that thing?” Zarien said, coming up behind him with the rest of the power.
“If I just summon enough power, I think-” Number 994 began.
“I think that your mission would still fail,” a deep voice said.
“Who-“ Monty began.
Suddenly, a streak of fire flew down from the top of one of the computer towers. Monty threw himself to the side as it hit beside where he was standing as three figures leapt down from the tower to stand between them and force orb.
“You have made an impressive feat, getting this far,” Unyihi Garum said, summoning balls of fire over his hands to light up the faces of his two partners. Number 994 gulped. Number 5, a lightning orc, and Number 11, a fire orc.
“Unfortunately for you, not all allies are allies worth trusting,” Unyihi Garum smirked. “Your governor being the case in point.”
“Governor Iraina?” Monty asked. “But-”
“Governor Iraina has been incredibly helpful to our cause,” Unyihi Garum rumbled. “I believe that today was the date that was set for him to lead ten battalions of elves to take Araelia. But either way, none of that concerns us. What matters is that we have been prepared for your assault on our central computer system. And your mission to do so has failed.” His words rung in the air.
“Now!” Monty yelled, and dashed to the side as he drew his gun, firing two bullets at the fire orc who ducked, causing the bullets to sizzle upon hitting the force orb. Augger moved forward, brandishing his corsha battle axe, as he blocked Unyihi Garum’s lightning strike with the axe, allowing the axe to absorb the damage as Zarien and Number 994 moved for cover.
“Your cause is hopeless against us,” Unyihi Garum rumbled, sending out a spurt of fire that nearly roasted Zarien’s leg. “ Surrender now, while you still can.”
“Never!” Number 994 yelled, having made it to the top of a computer tower. Focusing his sights in on the force orb, summoning his greatest attack, Number 994 called out his lightning, sending it crashing down upon the force orb.
The force orb flickered, but stayed firm. The lightning rebounded, causing Number 994 to throw himself to the ground just in time to avoid being skewered by his own attack.
“There!” Number 5 yelled, sending crackling lightning around another terminal that Zarien had climbed to the top of. Zarien gave a cry as electricity sizzled around his electronic leg, crumpling on top as the barbs of electricity flowed over him.
Monty moved forward, ignoring the stream of fire that narrowly missed him. “Nice try,” he snapped, shooting at Number 11, now only ten feet away. Number 11 moved to the side, but not quickly enough to avoid the bullet hitting him in the chest. Number 11 fell to the ground, blood spurting out.
“But not good enough,” Unyihi Garum yelled. Too late, Monty looked up as lightning hit him hard in the chest, throwing him backwards to crash against another computer system. Number 994 watched in horror, turning around to late to see that Number 5 had flanked him. Too late, Number 994 put up an electric shield in defense as the attack overpowered his defenses, throwing him off of the computer tower to hit the force field and slowly slide down on it even as the electricity in the force field snapped at him.
“Uhhh…” Number 994 blinked, trying to keep consciousness, as he did a head count. Monty and Zarien were both knocked out. Augger was nowhere to be seen, likely knocked out as well.
“And so we come to the end of the road, you and I,” Unyihi Garum said, striding forward as Number 11 lay dying beside him. Number 5 came up next to him. Number 994 blinked, seeing something in the shadows while trying to figure out what the figure was gesturing at.
“You… You can’t…” Number 994 gasped, even as he deciphered what the figure was saying to him. And then realization dawned upon him. Rule #1. Of course.
“I can, and I will,” Unyihi Garum snapped, pointing a gauntlet at him. “You are a traitor to the cause, Number 994! The others will have their lives spared to be tortured and questioned by the Emperor, if he wills it. But you are under my authority. And no orc who willingly betrays me will do anything but die the death of a traitor, struck with the mightiest force I can conjure up to blast your body into oblivion.” Lightning cracked around his gauntlets. “And so you meet the end of the road. Die traitor.”
Rule Number 1: Always use your opponent’s greatest strength against him.
Lightning thundered toward him as Unyihi Garum unleashed his powerful attack. Against the force field, Number 994 used his remaining strength to throw himself to the side at the last second, exhausting all possible strength even as the lightning thundered past him to hit the force field. The force field again flickered, for longer this time on account of the more powerful assault, even as the figure in the shadows leapt out of the shadows past the down force field.
Too late Unyihi Garum saw what was coming as the force field flickered on again, rebounding the lightning. The lightning rebounded—and struck Unyihi Garum with greater force than his previous attack, smiting him in the chest.
Unyihi Garum gave a cry of pain, falling back in agony even as Augger, the figure in the shadows now inside the force field, lifted up his corsha axe, putting all his strength behind it even as his arms cycled around, smashing the full weight of the corsha axe into the central computer system.
“No…” Unyihi gasped, flailing in death’s rows from his own assault. One strike. Twice. Number 5, shaking away his initial shock, leapt for the force field too late in one desperate attempt to stop Augger. But Augger swung his third strike. The central computer, now struck thrice, faltered, and an explosion rang out. The force field collapsed, causing Number 994 to fall back even as Augger was engulfed in the explosion.
“No…” Number 5 said, panting as he stood next to the fallen Number 994. “No… No! It can’t be!”
“Sorry,” a voice whispered. And a bullet ripped through Number 5’s ribs. “I guess you ought to kill people instead of trying to knock them out,” Monty said, leaning against a computer tower, even as he held the smoking gun. “You never know when they might come back to bite you.”
“All of the computer systems are down—I’m not getting anything to work!” Number 2, the pilot of the Mothership, roared to his co-pilot. “All the engines just shut off! I’m not getting anything to work!”
“Can’t you fix it?” the elven co-pilot yelled back.
“I’m trying!” Number 2 yelled. “Nothing’s working! Where’s the Garum?”
“I don’t know where Unyihi is!” the elven co-pilot yelled back. “The Mothership’s going down! You have to stop it!”
“Nothing’s working! It’s total sabotage! Where’s Unyihi Garum?!”
“We’re falling fast, but we ought to be able to the escape pod in time,” Monty said, panting, as they rounded the corridor. “It’s just around here—right?”
“Yes,” Augger replied, only slightly burnt from the explosion, as he carried Number 994 over his shoulder.
“All I can say is that I never would have imagined your resistance to fire would’ve been so needed,” Zarien said. Number 994 had used the last of his energy to use his electric power to fix Zarien’s mechanical leg before succumbing into the depths of unconsciousness.
“There’s a reason that the Xavier Team called for an augger to the task,” Augger replied. “I have merely accomplished my purpose.
“There’s the escape pods,” Monty said, pointing to the corridor. “No one else is here yet.”
“There are other escape pods other places in the ship. I’m sure the other ones are going to be used,” Zarien said even as he pushed the button to open the door to the escape pod. “Let’s go.”
The white behemoth of the Mothership continued its descent even as all attempts to stop it from crashing were made. Pilots ran around in a frenzy in the cockpit of the ship, choosing to try to salvage the ship rather than use the escape pods and face assured death from what would be a very vehement Emperor. Escape pods from those just trying to save their skins were fired off even as the Mothership came closer to the waves, nearing a lonely desert island even as all hope was lost.
The tip of the ship hit the ground first. Explosions flared throughout the ship as the Mothership hit the island, even as the escape pod with the Xavier Team flew away. There was the noise of an explosion behind them. And then a large mushroom cloud split up into the air as the entirety of the Mothership imploded upon collision.
The Mothership of the Elves was destroyed.
Question of the Day: Number 994 is obviously going up in ranks with the majority of high-ranking orcs being immediately killed. What should I call Number 994 now?
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