Fan:Paradox 2: Battle on Ryol
| Paradox 2: Battle on Ryol | |
|---|---|
| Author: | |
| Completion Status: |
Complete |
Chapter 1
After the incident at Nexus Tower, the Faction Leaders decide that security in Nexus Tower must be increased. A directive was made: All Maelstrom on nearby worlds must be destroyed.
Doctor Overbuild told Vanda that the broken portal in the Paradox room would be her next mission. He gave her a data file on the world, called Ryol III. The Nexus Force didn't know much about the surface, except it was a snowy world. Hael Storm said that his explorers didn't find much Maelstrom on the world, except a few Stromlings and some sort of landing ship.
Before Vanda left the map room, Trek Furino ran up to her.
"Hey," he called. "I owe you something. Shooting a Faction Leader isn't something I'm proud of."
Vanda turned to look at him. "You were infected," she said. "You weren't yourself. It wasn't you shooting at us." She turned and continued walking.
"I know, but even if it wasn't me," Trek persisted, walking after her. "I owe you a debt."
Vanda turned around again. "Fine. What could you do for me?"
"Well, I heard you're going to Ryol III. I was in the exploration squad that first went there. I could help you on your mission."
Vanda thought for a moment. "Fine," she said. "We're going tomorrow. Come to the portal in the Paradox room."
Chapter 2
The next day, Vanda was up early and standing at the portal, Meyer at her side. Thenso and Extreme came through the portal and walked up to them.
"Well," Thenso said. "Another mission, eh?"
"It appears so," Meyer said uncertainly. "We're going to Ryol Three. Lots of snow, lots of cold, but not much Maelstrom, according to the Venture League explorers."
"I was hoping for Maelstrom," Extreme said, disappointed. "I like using my Wormholer."
They were interrupted as Trek Furino came into the room.
"Hello," he said. "Let's go."
They turned and jumped into the portal. They fell through the very fibre of space, warping through a thin tube of unreal energy.
"A wormhole," Meyer thought. "Amazing."
Extreme seemed to have the same idea. He looked at his Wormholer, then fired our a few shots. Each impacted with the side of the tube, creating other branches that expanded out to other worlds.
After a few more seconds, the tube ended abruptly and they tumbled out onto the ground. It was snow. They stood up and brushed off the snow. Then they looked around.
There wasn't much to see. Just snow and a grey sky. It was snowing lightly, and the snow was packed hard in the ground. They were surrounded by tall, snowy mountains, and there was a narrow pathway just ahead of them. Everyone looked at Vanda.
"It's our best bet," she said. "Let's go."
Chapter 3
They walked through the narrow pathway. The walls were solid, but for some reason Meyer expected they could collapse at any time, but they made it through safely.
They emerged onto a large, flat plain. It was about 500 metres in diameter, and there was nothing but snow lying everywhere. There was sheer cliff around the edge of the area, and a large tunnel through one.
"Ah," Trek said. "I remember this. We landed here. Bleak Plains, we named it. We carved that tunnel."
"Let's go then," Vanda said. They walked the plain and walked through the tunnel.
It had metal supports holding up the snow-covered rock, but they looked strained and cracked, which Trek found strange. It had only been a few weeks.
As they reached the centre of the tunnel, Vanda stopped. "Wait," she said. "Overbuild called this world, "a new world of Maelstrom". Trek, I thought you said there wasn't much Maelstrom here."
"There isn't," Trek said.
"Erm," Thenso called from the end of the tunnel. "I think you'll find you're wrong."
Vanda walked up to him. "Uh oh."
The next area was a lake covered in thick ice. The water below was frozen beyond repair. Around the edge, the snow dropped off down into abyss.
But the figures roaming the area were the problem: minifigures with ripped exploration clothing, a skeletal leg, ribs showing, and a scythe-like arm. Their heads were purple, with blazing yellow eyes. Their hair was purple, and thick. And all around floated purple smoke: they were Stromlings.
Chapter 4
They retreated back into the shadows.
"How is this possible?" Trek said. "The Maelstrom couldn't have multiplied this fast, could it?"
"Apparently it has," Thenso said. "And those are no normal Stromlings. They glow brighter."
"Then I name them Stromling Elites," Vanda said. "and right now we've got to smash some."
"Right," Extreme said. "Let's move in." And with that he jumped up and began shooting down Maelstrom.
"So quick to rush into battle," Meyer heard Thenso mutter. "He'll get smashed some day."
The Stromling Elites turned and charged. In addition to their traditional sword slices, they kicked at the minifigures. In a few minutes the group had made it across the ice and to the entrance of a cave.
With Extreme and Trek defending, Thenso, Meyer and Vanda dug a deep trench in the snow. They climbed out and retreated to the entrance of the cave.
One of the Stromling Elites tried to jump the gap, but fell short. It fell into the trench, and hit the bottom. It stood and tried scrabbling back up, but couldn't do it.
A Stromling Elite at the head eyed the minifigures with some intelligence. It's face flashed a look of hate, then it turned and led the rest back onto the ice.
Chapter 5
"We need to name that place," Trek said as they began walking into the cave. They entered a long, rock tunnel. "In the tradition of Venture League."
"Well, what do you want to name it, then?" Meyer asked.
"Icy Field," Trek said after a moment of thought. "After the ice and the icy looks those Stromlings gave us."
After much walking, the group reached a larger area in the cave.
"Hey, I just remembered," Trek said. "We set up some mechs here. Like, big, four-legged things with huge cannons on top."
"It would be very bad if those were corrupted..." Thenso drifted off as there was the clanking of metal from the darkness behind them. "Run," Vanda said. "Run!"
They dived away as a huge explosion scorched the spot they were just standing in. Then a huge vehicle marched out of the shadows. It was twelve feet tall, and plated in heavy armor. A six-barrelled gun sat on the each side. It's body was held above the ground by four massive legs like tree trunks, which were also padded with armor. On top, a turret sat, and protruding from the front was a five-foot long tube: a mortar cannon.
"This is very bad," Trek said. "Very, very bad."
Chapter 6
The huge mech targeted Trek, hiding behind a rock, and began firing it's machineguns. Bullets clanged against the rock, splitting it straight down the middle. Trek jumped out of the way to avoid being smashed.
Hiding behind a larger rock, Vanda, Thenso and Meyer stayed down.
"What is that thing?" Vanda hissed.
"Mech of some sort," Meyer replied. "I guess it did get corrupted."
"Brilliant," Thenso grumbled, then jumped out of the cover and did something rash: he yelled, "Hey! Over here!" and fired a blast from his wand.
The bolt hit the mech's armored hull, barely putting a scratch in it. Instead of distracting the mech from Trek, the turret simply rotated, the machineguns still shooting at Trek, and fired an explosive shell at Thenso's cover.
"Move!" Meyer yelled. He jumped up and pulled Vanda away as the rock exploded into deadly shrapnel.
Thenso ran in a line towards Trek. When he reached him, instead of pulling him into cover, he stood right in the way of the deadly bullets.
"No!" Trek yelled, but it was too late. The bullets were millimetres from Thenso... and then they met a wave of energy.
Thenso had created a clap of Dark Thunder. The bullets were stopped, and then flung back at the huge mech. Most of the bullets clanged against the machine's armor, but some flew back into the machineguns.
The guns coughed and spluttered for a few seconds, then black smoke poured out. Then the smoke was replaced by blazing red fire, and the guns exploded. Maelstrom smoke began slowly floating out of the holes where the guns used to be.
Chapter 7
The mech wasn't looking so good. It's armor had dents are holes in it, and wisps of smoke and Maelstrom gas were leaking out. The machine wobbled about on suddenly unstable legs, it's cannon shooting at random spots on the walls.
Before the minifigures could finish it off, it fired a bit too close to itself. It fell off balance, and collapsed on it's side. It's cannon continued firing, and it knocked itself upside-down.
Then there was a cruching sound and the mech's seemingly invulnerable armor was crushed into a pancake by the mech's weight. For a few seconds, the minifigures stood staring at the machine's ruined carcass.
"Well," Thenso said with finality. "That was effective."
"Quite," Vanda agreed. "Well, you destroyed that mech and saved us. You should name this cave."
"Oh, brilliant," Thenso said sarcastically. "I've always wanted to name a cave. How about Mech Caverns?"
Trek shurgged. "Sounds good to me."
Extreme stood up from a pile of dust and brushed himself off. "Oh, hey. I sort of fell over when the mech shot at us. What's that pile of metal lying in the centre of the cave?"
"The mech."
"Oh."
Chapter 8
They wandered further down the cave. They reached a labyrinth of tunnels going in every direction. Wind howled like a thousand wolves through the eerie darkness.
"Which way?" Extreme said.
"I don't know," Trek said. "I remember... let's go left."
They went down the left tunnel, and went through series of bends and intersections. They followed left every time, and ended up emerging into light. As their vision cleared, they saw a place that the Darkitect had completely overtaken. Stromling Elites stood everywhere, and several mechs were clambering up pillars and cliffs. Maestrom gas was heavy on the ground, and purple splodges were in the snow. Immense drops fell off one edge of the huge plateau, and cliffs surrounded the other sides. Snow covered everything. The mechs, which Vanda named Corrupted Mechs, left huge purple footprints in the snow.
"I think we should try to avoid this place," Meyer whispered.
"No," Vanda said. "We must see if there is anything else here. Any other Maelstrom. We must find weaknesses for them if there is."
"Erm," Thenso said. "Ok..."
They walked out onto the plateau, dodging Stromling Elites. After several minutes, the ground rumbled.
"What's that?" Trek asked.
Then a huge monster erupted in front of them.
Chapter 9
Trek saw it's glowing eyes, and knew they were doomed.
It was huge, for one thing: ten meters tall. It resembled a worm. It had thick, white-grey skin. Half of it's body was underground, and its head was a mound of skin. It had glowing, red eyes. It bared it's teeth, and the minifigures saw hundreds of 3-inch fangs dripping with acid and poison.
It roared into the air, and then slammed it's head down towards the group. They ran out of the way as the monster's head smashed snow and ice where they'd been a moment before.
It ripped it's head out and eyed the group with plotting. It gnashed it's teeth, then dived - right at Extreme.
He raised his Wormholer and began firing, but the creature's skin was too thick. It picked him up in it's huge jaws and his Wormholer fell to the ground. Then the monster gnashed it's head sideways and released Extreme.
He was tossed out of it's mouth, and through the air. Falling towards the edge of the planet, he tried to activate his jetpack, but it sparked and cuaght fire.
Then Extreme fell off the edge, and into deep space.
Chapter 10
The minifigures stood in mourning for moment, then burst back into action, fueled by rage. Trek blasted the monster several time in the eye with his pistol, Thenso unleashed Last Blasts, Dark Thunder and Maelstrom Breath on it, Meyer unleashed armies of Maelstrom and jabbed it with his staff, and Vanda caused total destruction.
By the end, the creature had been disentegrated into nothing and a huge smoking crater was blasted where the ground used to be. A thin layer of snow was covering the hole already.
The minifigures stood still for a while, trying to come to terms that Extreme was gone. When Vanda's pet Spiderling came over to her, she almost cut it into three pieces, but then realised it was her pet and place dher hand on it's head. It hissed affectionately. Then the Maelstrom made a vital mistake: a Stromling Elite came into the crater.
Meyer looked at it once, and it nearly smashed from the anger in his eyes. Then, before it could move, Meyer reached out to it. Maelstrom tendrils curved form his hand, and created a glowing fist around the Stromling's neck. It made a strangled noise, then Meyer threw it aside, and it had a similar fate to Extreme.
Then an army of Maelstrom marched into the crater. Trek was ready to begin firing, but the Paradox prefered a simpler solution. They stood, and combined their power.
They combined Vanda's speed, agility and power, Meyer's unusual yet destructive powers, and Thenso's all-round effectiveness, and created a blast nothing could survive.
Chapter 11
Energy swirled around the Paradox members, and the Maelstrom army back up a bit. The minifigures created a huge swirling whirlwind so big Trek was almost swallowed.
He backed up and knocked into a Stromling. He turned and blasted it down to make a gap in the awed Maelstrom army and slipped in. They didn't even notice.
Then the whirlwind of Paradox got so strong it had to be released.
The Paradox minifigures let all the stored energy in the whirlwind be expanded in one huge, destructive blast. A wave of pure destruction, glowing with power, exploded from them, and blasted in every direction. Any Maelstrom too close was instantly vaporized, and the others were turning to dust quickly. The blast approached Trek.
Vanda's eyes, blazing red from the power, widened, and she raised her hand towards Trek. The blast bent to her will, twisting the blast's path, curving the maelstrom of energy in a path around Trek.
All the Maelstrom outside the crater was blasted back into walls and smashed into dust or off the edge of the planet. As the blast ended, Vanda was instantly exhausted. Her eyes returned to normal and she collapsed. Meyer caught her and lay her down.
The three conscious minifigures sat in silence. Partly because Extreme was gone, and partly in shock of how much energy Thenso, Meyer and Vanda had created, and what had been within it...
Chapter 12
Vanda awoke soon after and the minifigures discussed the whirlwind that they'd created. They were amazed and frightened of the power they'd made, and the shadowy figure that was within it: a silhouette of the Darkitect.
How had they made so much Maelstrom power build up that they made the very source of it appear in their personal maelstrom whirlwind? "But wait," Vanda said. "Is Typhonus the source of the Maelstrom?"
"Well, he is, isn't he?" Thenso replied. "That's what every possible sign points out... you were there, right? You were at the Temple when it exploded?"
"Yes," Vanda admitted reluctantly. "I was inside the Venture Koi at the time. It was under Baron's orders. I escaped the explosion in an escape pod."
"What did you see of the battle?" Meyer asked curiously.
"Not much," Vanda said. "I heard something and looked out the window. The Spider Boss was trying to smash the others. I saw it grab Typhonus and drag him in. But..." Her expression turned confused. "There Nexus became corrupted... when the Spider Boss entered, not the Baron. Then it got really corrupted when he entered it. I guess all those chaotic thoughts..." She shivered at the thought.
"Well," Trek said, breaking the tension, "we'd better get somewhere safe. It's getting dark and we need to find somewhere to sleep."
With that, they stood and walking back into the Mech Caverns labyrinth, sealing the entrance with boulders.
Chapter 13
They finally found their way back to the ice field, but not without fighting a few Corrupted Mechs on the way. They emerged out of the cave.
The Stromling Elite that had led the horde away before was standing on the far side of the trench. He raised an eyebrow (do Stromlings have eyebrows?) when he saw Extreme not with the minifigures.
The minifigures walked up to the trench, jumped right over, and Vanda stood face to face with the Stromling Elite leader.
His brethren growled as if to charge, but he held up a hand and they took a step back. It was obvious now that this was no normal Stromling Elite.
He exhaled with something like a cough. "I am Ralli Deeko," it said, "and I am here to destroy you."
Before he could even move and arm, Vanda's ninja reflexes kicked in. She kicked Ralli square in the chest, doubling him over, flipped behind him, threw him to the ground, and placed a foot on his chest.
He coughed, and this time it was not exhaling. "You think you can destroy me?" he said. "Do you know who I am? I am Ralli Deeko, brother of Talli Reeko, who has bested---"
"About three newbies," Thenso interrupted. He laughed, amused. "You think you can destroy us?"
Ralli growled. "I may not be able to alone," he said, "but my minions can."
The Stromling army charged.
Chapter 14
Temporarily distracted, Vanda lowered her guard and looked to the Stromling army charging. Ralli took advantage, knocking her legs from beneath her and rolling away.
Thenso fired a few blasts at the Stromling Elite then jumped after him, leaving Trek, Vanda and Meyer to hold of a few hundred Stromling Elites.
Trek began shooting down Stromlings, Vanda began cutting them up and unleashing power, and Meyer began summoning Maelstrom, smacking them with staff - which turned them into ash - and firing blasts.
Just when it seemed they had won, there was an explosion and two figures - a Sorcerer and a Stromling Elite - were sent flying in opposite directions. Thenso hit a rock wall and fell to the ground unscathed, whereas Ralli was sent sprawling towards the edge of the area and began desperately scrabbling not to fall into the abyss below. The four minifigures walked over to him.
"H-help!" Ralli cried, slicing off a chunk of ice with his arm. "I-I'll smash! I'm too cool to die!"
Trek began laughing hysterically, but the Paradox looked at Ralli with something like curiousity.
"Mmm," Vanda said. "We could use you for study."
Ralli squeaked and almost fell again. "No! I don't want to be kept as a prisoner!"
"Oh, well, then," Vanda replied, "I suppose you're due to meet with the abyss."
Then Ralli slipped and fell out of sight.
Chapter 15
Several hours later, the group was sitting near the entrance to Mech Caverns. There was a huge blizzard outside, and no Stromlings had appeared since it started. Freezing wind blasted into the cave, creating howling noises that echoed throughout the tunnels. It was at least -20 degrees Celcius outside, according to Trek.
Trek had suddenly become thankful for his thick armor and warm headscarf. Meyer's bulky helmet and chestplate kept him warm, and Thenso's Sorcerer robes were nice and toasty.
Vanda, however, was not so warm.
She sat in the warmest corner, with a purple Maelstrom fire continuously dying out and spluttering back to life in an endless loop in front of her. Her hair was wet from melted snow, and fell over her face every time a gust of wind blew past, which was all the time. Her arms felt like they were literally freezing. Ice had gathered on her clothes. Her clothes were made by ninjas, and for ninja operations, which meant getting maximum agility and being able to move fast, not keeping warm in sub-zero temperatures.
In the shadows, a creature laughed. It knew how easily it could destroy these hopeless minifigures now, but it chose to wait. One of it's useless minions had already downed one member of the group... the others could not be a problem. It remembered the Shinobi in Maelstrom Domain... these minifigures left him at the full mercy of the Darkitect. He was surely destroyed now, just a torn memory of his former self...
Chapter 16
Later that night, the blizzard had gone. They didn't want to risk their luck with their trench and the ice, so they staye din the cave.
The minifigures had managed to light a real fire with Trek's survival supplies. Trek stood guard at the cave entrance, and Thenso stood guard at the back of the cave, near the remains of the Corrupted Mech.
Vanda and Meyer sat around the fire. No wind blew into the cave, but Vanda was still shivering. Meyer had re-summoned her pet Spiderling, and it was sitting beside her.
"This Spider reminds me of that Dragon," she said. "I feel like I coul get hit by a fireball and be happy about it." Meyer laughed. "I doubt that."
Suddenly the fire spluttered and shrank in size quite a bit. Meyer sighed and hit the ground with his staff. A miniature Dragon appeared and breathed a column of flame into the fire, and it exploded - almost literally - back into life. The Dragon jumped up and dived suicidally into the fire. Instead of burning up, it plunged in happily and caught alight. It rose back out and dived straight at Vanda. It landed right beside her and curled into a ball. It's fire didn't seem to be able to damage anything, but Vanda felt much warmer.
"So," she said, "we now have a living heater."
"Or a blowtorch with a brain," Meyer said. Vanda laughed.
Meyer smiled inside his helmet. He knew how rare it was for Vanda to laugh.
Chapter 17
The next morning, the minifigures ventured back into the labyrinth of the Caverns. They found another plain, similar to the now-block off one. On this one, there was an unusually large amount of Maelstrom.
Thenso walked straight in and tapped a Stromling Elite on the shoulder. It turned around, just in time to get the full force of a bolt of Dark Thunder right in it's face.
It smashed instantly, but then the ground began shaking. Thenso knew this well enough, and dived out of the way as a huge Dark Tunneller - one of the beasts that threw Extreme off the world - erupted from the snow. Thenso let off a few shots from his Wand into the creature's face, the dashed the other way.
The Tunneller simply popped out of the ground in his way. Thenso frowned and suddenly changed into a... Space Marauder?
Yes, Thenso was now a Space Marauder, holding a Wormholer. He began pouring projectiles into the Tunneller's surprised head. It roared and reared up in pain. In brought it's head down towards Thenso, but he activated his jetpack and dodged. He flew over the creature, blasting out shots all the way, until he reached the other side. The Tunneller span around, just to face two rockets flying right at it.
The missiles exploded on it's head, knocking it to the ground. It smashed into bricks.
Thenso walked over to the minifigures, morphing back into his Sorcerer gear with Doomslicer.
"Errr," Meyer said. "We didn't know you---"
"Had Space Marauder gear?" Thenso didn't look surprised. "I prefer Sorcerer, yes, but I am skilled in both specialties."
Chapter 18
"Right..." Meyer was still confused. "We need to clear this plateau. Let's get to it, shall we?" They split up and began smashing Maelstrom. Countless enemies attacked them, but they downed every one of them like they did it every day. They mowed them down like a tsunami, tearing down anything in their paths.
After a few minutes, the air began to hum. A noise filled the air... the noise of engines. And not just any engines - Nexus Talon Dropship engines.
Every Nexus Force soldier had been saved by a Dropship every once or twice. They were the cavalry of the Force. They were everywhere on Crux Prime, rescuing Nexus Force members and deploying more all the time.
They were bulky, with round, slanted cockpits with a machinegun on the bottom. They had a bubble turret on each side of the body, which had an open troop bay. The tail was short, with a small rotating blade on the end, like a helicopter. The wings were connected to the top of the body, and had large circles on the end. Inside the circles were huge blades that span extremely fast, keeping the Talon in the air.
This particular Talon looked a bit damaged. A bit more damaged than a veteran Crux Prime Talon, but not too damaged to be older than a six-month Crux Prime Talon.
It came over from the edge of the planet, it's blades humming. The Maelstrom and minifigures alike stood, stunned, as it came down. It's troop bya was packed with elite Nexus Force soldiers It was several meters from the ground when it shimmered.
The it morphed: into something very much not a Talon Dropship.
Chapter 19
The Stromlings seemed to laugh as the Talon transformed, coming in to land.
The engine turned to a horrible grinding noise. The Nexus Force members inside turned into Stromling Elites. The entire shape of the dropship shifted until it was completely different: splattered purple, with Maelstrom smoke floating about it. The cockpit was smashed horribly into the front of the dropship, which was now horribly disfigured, as if it had been in a crash. Perhaps the template had been. One of the pod-wings was half sheared of and hanging limply, but the dropship still flew perfectly. Dents and scratches were everywhere, as well as blast marks.
As the dropship landed, two others appeared, identical to the first, and flanked it, landing beside it. Stromling Elites began pouring out of them.
"So," Trek whispered, "This's what that 'landing ship' was..."
"And this is how this place got so invaded so fast," Vanda said. "Maelstrom Dropships."
"We're about to die," Thenso asked, "and you're worrying about names for the vehicles that mean doom for us?"
Vanda ignored him. The huge amount of Stromling Elites surrounded them. One marched forward. His eyes gleamed with intelligence, and he glowed violet. His left eye was miscolored, glowing green.
"Oh, brilliant," Meyer muttered. "It's one of them again."
The Stromling Elite shot Meyer an angry look, and he had a feeling he could hear what they said, however quiet they said it.
"Greetings, minifigures," it said. They jumped, because the voice was low and strange: almost a hum through their minds. "I am the leader of Stromlings, the master of the footsoldiers, Ovalird of Sirvents."
Chapter 20
"Overlord of Servants?" Trek said, laughing. "What kind of name is that?"
Ovalird groaned in annoyance. "I've heard that a hundred times," he said dangerously, "and each time the minifigure has been smashed!" On the last word, he dived at Trek. His sword arm transformed into a real longsword in Ovalird's hands as he sailed through the air. Trek rolled to the side and dodged the strike, and Ivalird pulled his sword out of the ground.
The Stromling Elites surrounded the two minifigures, who were locked in a standoff. Meyer, Thenso and Vanda stood in the crowd. It was like a scene from an old western: two cowboys, standing, waiting to see who would fire first.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then Ovalird roared and charged.
That was his fatal mistake.
Trek raised his pistol and blasted Ovalird square in the chest, grinding his charge to a halt and knocking him to the ground. He walked over to the Stromling Elite.
"Don't bring a sword to a gunfight," he said.
Ovalird looked up at him. Smoke rose from his chest. "Don't... don't think you've won," he managed. "I... I will return. Mark my words..." He raised his sword and pointed at Trek. "...This sword has your... your name on it. And you shall fall to... it's strike."
The Ovalird crumbled into bricks.
Chapter 21
Instead of charging, the Stromling Elite army stood, looking as shocked as Stromlings could look.
Thenso sighed. "About time," he said. "I'm tired of being attacked by armies."
The minifigures walked out of the group, leaving them to stand like statues. They walked back into the cavern labyrinth and sealed the entrance with another boulder.
They still had a few hours until sunset, so they decided they could take over another plateau. They found one and began observing. Stromling Elites were everywhere, in their hundreds. There was about a hundred Corrupted Mechs climbing about, and Dark Tunnellers slid in and out of the ground in tens at a time.
"Alright," Vanda said. "It appears they got alot of dropships to land here."
"Yes," Meyer agreed. "Let's go, shall we?"
They walked onto the plateau. As the first Stromling was smashed, total chaos erupted. The plateau rocked in the sounds of a huge war. Each of minifigures was a one-fig-army, smashing tens of Maelstrom with each strike. Meyer summoned armies, Vanda unleashed destruction, Trek blasted Stromlings, and Thenso used the power of the Maelstrom.
Suddenly a sound filled the air: the hum of many, many engines.
Chapter 22
"Oh, no," Meyer said. "No, no, please, no. Not these again."
Huge shadows came over the plateau, blocking out the little sunlight. The engines got louder, and from over the caverns came the dropships.
There was at least thirty, probably more. There were many Nexus Force members inside most of them.
The Stromlings were looking at the dropships with the minifigures. The minifigures acted fast, sending blasts at the ships. Mostly they missed, but they scored a several hits on multiple ships. The people inside hung on tightly, some yelling at the pilot, though the minifigures on the ground couldn't hear them over the engines. They began descending towards the minifigures. "They're coming for us," Trek said. "Right for us. Run!"
But they were surrounded by motionless Stromlings and Mechs, and couldn't move anywhere. They watched in horror as the dropships came down, their guns charging up.
"Wait!" Vanda said as the minifigures prepared their weapons to fire again. "Something's not right!"
They looked again; she was right. The dropships hadn't morphed. The Nexus Force members looked the same. Some were yelling and waving their arms at them, as if to say, "We're on your side!"
They were real.
Chapter 23
The minifigures lowered their weapons and the Stromlings around them were obliterated by the Talons' gunfire. The dropships came down around them in a protective circle, and troops jumped out.
There was around ten or fifteen troops from each dropship, for a total of three-hundred and four-hundred and fifty total. Most of the began forming defensive perimeters, setting up barriers, communication beacons and weapon racks. Some, higher ranked soldiers, walked into the centre, towards the minifigures.
One, a veteran commander, by the look of him, approached them angrily. He was coming from the direction of a dropship that had a damaged wing, destroyed bubble turret, scorched hull and smoking troop bay.
"Oops," Thenso said quietly. "Did we do that?"
The commander looked quite enraged. His head looked about ready to explode. He opened his mouth, about to yell a string of insults, Meyer was sure, but he was pushed out of the way by a large shield.
He stumbled, and raised his fist to punch the person, until he saw who it was, and his expression turned to loyalty and awe. A man, in his late twenties or early thirties, walked past the commander. He wore a pair of armored blue pants, and an armored blue shirt, which was covered by a set of bulky silver armor. In his left hand, he held a large, silver shield with a blue falcon on the front. He gripped a sword in his right hand, a glowing blue blade with a golden hilt. He had the face of an experienced fighter, leader and knight, and had short blonde hair.
Duke Exeter had come to rescue them.
Chapter 24
Duke was followed by two other people. One was a Sentinel. He wore silver armor with blue markings on it, and four blue dots on the breastplate, indicating high rank. He held a Powerjouster over his shoulder in one hand *, and held a Rank three Knight Helmet under his other arm. He had a large scar over his left eye, and short, brown hair. He seemed young, yet his face told of many battles fought. The other person was... a Stromling? It was. It held some sort of gun, and wore ripped, purple ninja robes.
As they approached, the Stromling morphed. His body shifted until he was a minifigure, wearing a black ninja gi, Space Marauder pants and shoulder pads, hold a Space Marauder Blaster.
"Hello there," Duke Exeter said as they stopped in front of the four minfigures.
The group didn't offer any response, still shocked that Duke Exeter had brought a convoy of thirty fully loaded dropships to rescue them when they didn't need rescuing.
Duke decided to skip to the introductions. "Well," he said, motioning towards the Sentinel, "this is Kangroo, the leader of the Sentinel reinforcements, and one of my most senior commanders."
Kangroo nodded.
"And the Space Marauder here," Duke continued, turning to the Space Marauder. "offered to come with us. He is an... interesting minifigure, half-infected. He can morph into an infected form at will..."
To prove his point, the Space Marauder transformed into a Stromling, then back into a minifigure.
"...Just like that," Duke finished. "His name is---"
"Yonder." Theso had spoken. Everyone looked at him.
"Now," Duke said, confused, "how did you know that?"
Chapter 25
"Just after the Darkitect incident in the Tower," Thenso explained, "He was helping out clean up in the Paradox area." Duke looked at Yonder for confirmation. Yonder nodded.
"Alright," Duke said. "Now---"
"Duke." Vanda had interrupted him. She spoke slowly and clearly. "Why did you bring all... this?"
Duke looked around at the dropships, as if noticing them for the first time. "Oh." He looked for the right words. "The explosives, of course."
"Explosives?"
"Oh, yes. We decided that Maelstrom here is, ah, too powerful. We're going to destroy the planet."
"What?! How do you destroy a planet?"
"With fifty tonnes of Phase VII Annihalator-class explosives, of course."
"Phase seven what?" Trek asked.
"Really powerful bombs," Duke said.
"Oh."
"You can't just destroy a planet!" Vanda objected.
"Why not?"
"We at least have to get a sample of the Maelstrom first," Vanda pleaded.
Duke gave in. "Fine. You have six hours. If you're not back here in that time..." He winced, "...we're leaving without you."
"We'll be here." She looked at Meyer, Thenso and Trek. "Let's go."
They turned and ran back into Mech Caverns.
Chapter 26
They wandered through the caves until they found a plateau. It only had a small amount of Maelstrom, but it had enough for a good sample for study.
"Now," Vanda said, "This is our only chance. We need to get in, get samples, and get out quickly, and we have approximately five and a half hours to do it."
"Question," Trek said. "How exactly do we get the samples?"
Everyone looked at him like it was completely obvious.
"Oh," Vanda said. "You're not Paradox. I forgot. Well, we use this, of course."
Meyer pulled a small device from one of his utility pockets. It resembled a pistol, and was black and red, the colors of Paradox, with a dome with a thin stick with three balls of differing sizes on the front of it. It had a small translucent bottle of the back of it, which appeared to be empty.
"O...k..." Trek said, still confused.
They walked onto the plateau. Vanda created a pulse of energy, attracting the attention of all the Maelstrom. They turned and charged. Trek aimed his pistol to fire, but Meyer pushed it away. "Don't smash them," he said. "Yet. We need to get some samples first."
Trek nodded, and as a Stromling Elite got close, Meyer raised the device and pulled the trigger.
Chapter 27
A beam of white light was emitted from the barrel of Meyer's device. When it hit the Stromling Elite, a white light encased it. It looked around, confused, unable to move. Meyer released the trigger.
The beam of light glowed brighter, and suddenly the Stromling Elite was pulled towards the minifigures. As it got closer, it.... shrunk? No. That's impossible, Trek was sure.
But it was. It was shrinking at a steady rate. When it reached the barrel of the device, it was tiny, small enough to hold in your hand like a small brick. It was suspended in the air. Then the beam dissapated. Trek though the Stromling Elite would fall to the ground, but it disappeared into thin air. Meyer tapped Trek on the shoulder and pointed at the translucent dome on the back.
Trek was startled to see the miniature Stromling now inside the translucent dome, glaring at Meyer and hitting the glass with it's sword, to no avail.
Then Trek looked at the Maelstrom, and saw there was a hologram of the same Stromling Elite standing in the same place before Meyer shrunk it. The hologram solidified and continued charging.
"What--- how---" Trek was at a loss for words.
"How do you think we got all those miniature Maelstrom creatures in Dragonmaw Chasm?" Meyer asked, cutting down the charging Stromling.
Chapter 28
"Hey!" Meyer said, smashing a Stromling that was about to slice Trek, "Keep your guard up!"
"Right," Trek muttered, raising his pistol and blasting down a nearby Stromling.
After around an hour, the minifigures had collected thirteen Stromling Elites, six Dark Tunnellers and three Corrupted Mechs.
"That should be enough," Vanda said. "Let's get back to the convoy."
"Right," Thenso said, unleashing a blast of Dark Thunder. "Move out."
The four made it back to the Talons, which had been transformed into a Sentinel outpost.
"Why go to all this trouble," Thenso asked, "if it all going to be destroyed?"
Vanda shurgged. "The Sentinels like taking control of already secured areas. I don't see the point." "Neither do I," Meyer said. "Quickly, let's get on board."
They boarded a Talon with Duke Exeter, Kangroo and Yonder.
As they took off with the convoy following behind them, Duke Exeter pressed a button on a remote he was holding. At the press, there was a noise from the planet behind them.
Then it exploded.
After the noise stopped, the fire was smaller and smoke towered into space for miles, Thenso remarked, "I suppose this is it. The end of Ryol III, and the end of the Battle on Ryol."
