Fan:The General's Journal
| The General's Journal | |
|---|---|
| Author: | |
| Completion Status: |
Complete |
Chapter 1: The Day We Left
General Whisper walked along side Darkflame. "5 minutes to rip closure," announced a female voice over the communications system. Preparations were being made and human-controlled minifigs were being laid down on gurneys, as even Paradox's brightest scientists had no idea what would happen to the bodies. Stasis pods had been prepared should the bodies loose all mobility.
"We will all miss you and your human comrades, Whisper," said Vanda sadly. Many figures were saying goodbye to each other before being ushered to their gurneys.
"4 minutes to rip closure," announced the comm.
Whisper opened the comm to the great tree and Paradox refinery. "Goodbye, friends; I hope to meet you again," said Whisper.
"I owe you a few, Whisper, just wish I could stop the rip closing," replied Brick Fury solemnly.
"3 minutes to rip closure," announced the system.
Whisper rushed over to Clay. "Maybe we'll meet again someday, buddy," said Whisper.
"Just glad you served with me," said Clay.
"2 minutes to rip closure," said the voice.
Whisper walked up to Lord Bricksbane, Ogel, and Silas Penumbra. "Sorry you never got to serve in the field," said Whisper.
"Oh, don't worry - we're fine with nice, comfy desk jobs," said Ogel.
"Speak for yourself, I'd rather be smashing stromlings in the field!" countered Silas.
"1 minute to rip closure," announced the voice, who must have been Naomi.
He walked over to Mr. Ree. "Hey Ree, I've been meaning to ask you: Would you like to join the Paradox?" asked Whisper.
"Yes, you're shady enough for me to join," answered Mr. Ree.
"Rip closure in progress," announced Naomi.
Whisper swiftly collapsed. "Whisper? Whisper?!" asked Vanda, clearly distressed. "Get me a doctor and a gurney; he's still got a spark!" She exclaimed...
Chapter 2: Wake Up
Whisper felt cold and stiff. He tried to lift his arms, but to no avail. As he opened his eyes he found himself propped upright behind glass. To his left he saw his rifle and to his right, his Katana. His armor was polished. He suddenly realized that he was in a stasis pod. He figured that without human assistance, he could not move; yet his personality was his own, not the human's. He was awake, yet he could not control his body. He had heard that 'figs in comas sometimes suffered the same symptoms. He was a prisoner in his own body.
Just as he was attempting to move something, even his tongue; a hidden door opened and Vanda walked in. She walked to the center of the room, sat down, cross legged, and closed her eyes. He found this strange. She almost never used to meditate, only before great battles and after great tragedy. He hoped that many soldiers hadn't been permanently smashed. But before he could contemplate it any more a man in white and red armor called for her to come to the staging room. She seemed annoyed at him. "General, I am trying to pay my respects to the comatose soldiers, next time handle the planning yourself." She stood up, and begrudgingly walked off.
Whisper watched her walk off, the door closed and the lights dimmed. He then saw a man in strange armor walk in. He had never seen anything like him. One thing he knew, this man did NOT belong here. He acted apprehensively, checking over his shoulder, feeling his hip-holster. He made notes on a keyboard on his arm.
After taking many notes he removed his strange helmet and said "You are a perplexing case, soldier, no one on my planet has ever seen this problem." The man replaced his helmet and walked out. He wanted to scream "Security breach!" but his mouth would not comply. Thinking back to the man's words something dawned on him: the man said he was from another planet yet he looked like any other person save for a lighter flesh color. He was certainly not the alien menace from horror flicks. As Whisper fell asleep all he could think of was the eerie, blue glowing T visor on the alien's helmet.
Chapter 3: Observation
In the morning Whisper woke up again to his living nightmare. Yesterday he had had a close encounter of the third kind and discovered that the new general didn't even wear Paradox colors! Yes, a coma was a very uncomfortable state indeed.
Once again the doors opened and Vanda walked in. Same as yesterday, she sat down and began to meditate. Only this time that un-patriotic general didn't interrupt her. She left after about half an hour as far as Whisper could figure.
After she left things were quiet. For a long while he had nothing to look at but his rifle and Katana. He kept repeating the inscription in the sword's handle "May this blade serve you well and protect your soul." It was written in Japanese, only members of Paradox and Assembly scholars could read Japanese. Duke ounce claimed to read it but miss-read "Sushi" as "hamburger"; now THAT was funny. Even Vanda laughed! Soon the door opened again and a sorcerer came in with a feather duster. He started dusting off the pods. After sweeping up the floor he left, mumbling, indignant, "A level three valiant sorcerer is too good to clean, those shock marauders think they're better than us all."
What is a "Shock marauder"? Whisper thought. But before he could think more the door opened and the alien walked in, more relaxed than last time, but still on guard. He walked straight to the pod this time and pulled off his helmet. He had a long, stringy mustache like the one Kieken Sensei wore; and had long, black hair. The man wore orange armor on a grey flight suit. "What a waste of a good warrior, cleaning pods," said the alien. "Someday, someone is going to put those shock marauders in their place, they'd just better hope it isn't Kal."
"They'd never get away with that on Mandalore." So, he's from somewhere called Mandalore, I guess that makes him Mandalorish, or maybe Mandalorese, thought Whisper. Soon the alien put on his helmet, put his index finger to his ear-plate and began making tell-tale conversation gestures. Afterwards he rushed out like his head was on fire. Who was he anyways, and why did he keep talking to me? wondered Whisper.
Chapter 4: Day to Day
The days went by and Vanda came to meditate and contemplate, sometimes talking to the soldiers in stasis. It was nice to know she was alive but torturous to never be able to interact with or reassure her. The unpatriotic general almost never came in. Once he spit on Whisper's pod.
The alien always talked to him, telling him more and more: "You know, this armor is near impenetrable."
"Blasters on our planet run on tabanna gas."
"A verpine can be loaded with rocks if you're out of ammo."
"Our leader doesn't really tell us what to do, he just gives sensible suggestions that we choose to follow."
"The maelstrom will soon be a threat to our Galaxy too."
"Something big is coming, Revan says he feels it."
Many times Whisper overheard a maelstrom attack alarm, but obviously it lost as Nexus tower was still standing. He still wondered many things, like, What is a verpine? Who is Revan? How would he feel "something big"?.
The alien also talked of a man named Kal who was something of a hero to the man and someone called Boba who seemed VERY important. He also mentioned super-commandos as some type of personal squad for this Boba.
Sometimes Whisper composed haikus like:
I am trapped in time
My loneliness knows no end
I miss my freedom
or
I cannot walk out
I am stuck behind this glass
The darkness consumes
and
Mystery abounds
I know nothing of this man
His words make no sense.
He felt defeated and trapped and thought that he would rather have died than become the equal of a lamp. All he could hope was that "something big" was the re-opening of the rip, because as it stood he was little more than bauble in a museum.
Chapter 5: Something Big
Vanda walked into the room as usual, she looked as though she had lost all hope today. She didn't sit down today, she walked up to Whisper's pod instead. "Times are difficult, and the maelstrom is getting worse, soon we will run out of troops. We really need the humans back as soon as possible." Vanda said. "I don't trust those shock marauders and I don't like the way they have prejudice against all the other nexus force members. And the general seems like he would organize a coup if he was given the chance. Oh, for imagination's sake, you probably can't even hear me!"
But Whisper could hear her and he loved having contact with another 'fig other than the alien. "I... I just don't know what to do, the stress of leading a faction, organizing battle strategies, answering complaints, all in an under-staffed situation. It's just..., too much to deal with. If you have any sway with a higher power, please put in a good word for me."
If he did, he would; but unfortunately he didn't. He'd never seen her like this before, she was usually so cool and collected.
"I... I just...."
She slid aside the glass (It just slides open that easily?! Why didn't the alien let me out?!) and leaned in to kiss him. She held for a moment and then backed away again, closing the glass. Whisper was stunned but he enjoyed it. He had no idea she felt that way, but he felt the very same way himself. It was comforting to him and it seemed to calm Vanda for moment but before she could relax they were interrupted.
Wisp Lee was walking in when a red and white armored hand covered his mouth and dragged him out. He pulled back in with the General latched onto him by the mouth and torso. Wisp drove his elbow back into the general's neck armor, hard. The general gasped and fell down where Wisp drove his middle and index finger into the general's un-helmeted forehead knocking him out.
"Ms. Darkflame, I have vital news! The rip will soon be safe to re-open without the maelstrom coming into the human world!" Vanda was speechless, eyes wide in amazement and joy. "The good general tried to obstruct my report, by the way." At this, Wisp walked out dragging the general out by the collar.
Vanda threw open the glass and kissed Whisper again, lingering for a few moments and then pulling back away. She closed the glass, red faced, and just sat down for a few minutes before leaving, still looking guilty.
Chapter 6: Return
Whisper woke up with new hope of being free from his prison. Yesterday had been eventful, to say the least. Kissed by his faction leader and told the rip would reopen. Today he felt no sadness and didn't feel trapped. It was the best he'd felt in nearly seven months!
Soon Vanda walked in, looking a bit embarrassed and just sat down to meditate as usual. Eventually she stood up and walked over to Whisper's pod. She slid aside the glass and dropped a piece of paper into Whisper's collar. She then slid the glass back and went to sit down again.
How does she expect me to read this? I'm in a coma! Whisper thought. Then he thought: Hmmm, maybe it's meant for me to read when the rip reopens.
Soon Wisp came in wrestling the general. They had both fallen down and were rolling around trying to get the other off. Wisp quickly gained the upper hand and tossed the general into the wall where Wisp kicked him between the legs. The general collapsed: unconscious from the pain.
"The rip can be opened today, Ms. Darkflame. Dr. Overbuild requested your presence at the Imagination Nexus to help plan the return of our human allies." Vanda left, dragging the general out by the leg. Whisper was overjoyed: he would soon be free!
Not long after, men in red and white armor came in standing near the pods. One spoke "Ok men, we have strict orders to shoot any human controlled minifigs on sight from General 1890 himself!"
Oh, studs! thought Whisper, they're gonna shoot us when we wake up! But before long he saw a blue glowing T shape on the ceiling. The alien dropped down behind one of the men and smashed him with a knife that was part of his gauntlet. He then whipped out a black rifle that rapidly fired and smashed the rest of the men. "Looks like you guys got yourselves into one shabla mess. Lucky the Mand'alor dispatched me to keep tabs on you."
But before the alien could say anymore Vanda's voice came over the comm system. "Attention all Nexus Force members: prepare for the reopening of the rip in ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two... one. The rip is back open!"
Whisper felt a surge of imagination flood his body and discovered that he could now move his hands and arms again! He threw open the glass and stretched, every joint in his body cracking or popping. He saw all the other 'figs do the same.
He grabbed his rifle and katana and ran up to the alien. "Who are you, who is the Mand'alor, and why does he want you to spy on me?"
"I'm Jing Bei, The Mand'alor is our leader and he thinks you're a potential ally. Now, no more questions. The maelstrom is headed for Nexus Tower to smash as many human-controlled minifigs as possible!"
True to Jing's word the maelstrom attack alarm blared deafeningly as blinding red lights flashed. Duke came over the comm: "Major maelstrom attack, all personnel to battle stations, returning 'figs, report to the staging room for briefing!"
"That's my cue, see you in the field, General Whisper," said Jing as he ran to the paradox teleporter that was barricaded off. Whisper had no time to chase him because he had to help plan the defense.
Chapter 7: The Battle for Survival
Whisper ran to the Nexus Tower staging room, he barreled trough the doors and came to a halt next to Vanda. For a moment they looked at each other and blushed but the other faction leaders and their generals were too busy to notice. "I say we throw everything at them and hope for the best." said Duke.
"No, a frontal assault is too risky. We should drop troops in with jet packs behind enemy lines," countered Vanda.
"I agree with Vanda," said Overbuild.
"'Nah, te knight be right, Docter Over-easy. 'It 'em 'ard an' fast." said Hael.
"Well then, we should drop Assembly and Paradox soldiers behind enemy lines to hit from behind and throw Venture and Sentinel troops at them from the front. They'll be sandwiched between our troops and easily be smashed like the earth warriors from the Himalayas did in World War Two."
"I like it, let's go." said Dr. Overbuild.
"Ay, we oughta stay behine an goad te towwa." said Hael.
Many Nexus Force dropships took off full of soldiers with jetpacks. As they flew behind enemy lines millions of troops marched away from the tower to meet the enemy. Whisper and the faction leaders hurried out to fight the Maelstrom creatures powerful enough to break through the advancing line. When they reached the ground they were astonished to find Shival and a platoon of mythrans with hugely powerful new weapons never before seen fending off the creatures.
"What ever happened to the neutrality of the mytran race?" asked Vanda.
"We couldn't allow the maelstrom to extinguish the last shard of pure imagination, but when this battle ends we will continue our neutrality," said Shival.
Even more surprisingly, Jing was sniping at creatures with a long, wood-handled rifle. He then ran out of ammo and began loading rocks inside!
Hmm, that must be a verpine thought Whisper.
Within twenty minutes the battle was over and the maelstrom was once more pushed back by the Nexus City force field. Back in the tower, everyone was celebrating.
"We should all go to this great place in Forbidden Valley that I read about, I've always wanted to try a salmon hamburger!" said Duke.
All the faction leaders and Whisper started to laugh.
"What? What's so funny?" asked Duke.
When the laughing died down Vanda looked at Whisper and said "About yesterday, I.."
"Don't worry, Vanda, I didn't mind." replied Whisper. They both blushed a bit.
This time Duke noticed. "What's the big secret guys? Did you break my armor again?!"
"No, it's got nothing to do with you or your armor," said Vanda.
"Well as long as my armor's fine, so am I. Now how about those salmon burgers?" said Duke.
Later that day Whisper remembered the paper in his collar. It was written in Japanese. It was a haiku that read:
I feel lonely now
I have fallen for this man
Does he feel the same.
Whisper went up to where Vanda stood and placed the haiku in her hand. "Yes." said Whisper. She embraced him and they shared yet another kiss. This time Whisper could kiss her back.
Chapter 8: The Prospect of an Alliance
It was 2:00 am by human eastern standard time. Whisper was already awake, and he was patrolling the paradox lab and the former stasis room, which was now being refurbished into a Zen meditation room. He was really looking to find Jing, who disappeared after yesterday's battle. He just didn't believe someone with his level of skill would perish in the fight. He continued to scour Nexus Tower up and down for the next three hours but found no trace of Jing.
He eventually decided that Jing was not in the tower. Whisper decided to ask Naomi if she had ever detected Jing Bei in the tower. "No, I am afraid if Jing Bei has ever been in this building he has evaded my sensors like Mr. Ree." answered Naomi. Whisper gave up. He figured if Jing was able, he would probably continue to keep tabs on him from the shadows.
Later that day Whisper told Vanda about Jing. "Vanda, while I was in stasis a man kept talking to me; he wore strange orange armor and an odd helmet with a T shaped slit visor."
"I've never heard of him, do you know anything else about him?" asked Vanda.
"Yes: he's from a planet called Mandalore, his leader is the Mand'alor, his armor is near impenetrable, he carries a gun called a verpine, and he managed to evade all Paradox security for over seven months." replied Whisper.
"I'll put the Nexus Force on high alert; if he's here we'll find him." Whisper didn't find that very comforting. Jing did evade security for seven months after all.
Later that day the faction leaders and their generals gathered in the staging room to discuss the minifigs returning to the fight. But before anything was planned, Jing Bei back-flipped off the ceiling and tossed a silver disk on the table. "Bomb!" yelled Duke, who ducked down under the table.
"It's not a bomb, Fright- knight, it's a holo-comm," said Jing calmly. Soon a blue light erupted from the disk and formed into the shape of a man that look much like Jing, but taller and less muscular.
"Good afternoon faction leaders and generals; I am Boba Fett, Mand'alor of Manda'yaim, or leader of Mandalore in your language. I would like to propose an alliance between the Nexus Force and Mandalore. We have reason to believe that our enemies are manufacturing battle robots infused with maelstrom energy. While we can manage it on our own, it is disturbing to know its reach is expanding. Soon its power may be enough to overrun lesser nations like the Galactic Republic." said the blue, ghostly Boba.
"This is reason to be on alert. If it can reach other galaxies without a rip, it must be more powerful than we ever imagined," said Dr. Overbuild.
"All in favor of an alliance?" said Duke.
"I." said Overbuild, Duke, Vanda and their respective generals.
Then it's settled. We shall forge an alliance with this 'Mandalore,'" said Duke.
"I appreciate your choices, but I see that the pirate and his general opted against this alliance." said holo Fett.
"Ay, I don' trus Ye yet. Maybe en time." replied Hael.
"I will dispatch a platoon of Mandalorian warriors to your galaxy as a sign of good will. May the maelstrom crumble at our combined might!" exclaimed the semi-transparent Mand'alor.
"To imagination!" exclaimed the faction leaders and generals at once.
Chapter 9: Platoon
It was approximately 4:00 am in Nexus Tower and sentries were up late looking for the platoon the Mand'alor had sent. They were worried that the platoon would run into stromlings and not know how to handle them. After all, the Nexus Force definitely did not need infected Mandalorians running around crux prime smashing seasoned warriors left and right! Soon one of the sentries spotted a cloud of dust on the horizon, they detected fifty-two un-infected beings inside, the exact size of a platoon. But not long after the cloud cleared and three futuristic transports stopped dead in their tracks; they had been attacked by a Butterscorch!
Several armored men and women rushed out of the transports and began attacking the Butter, firing guns, throwing grenades, even throwing knives! Even more surprising: the 'Scorch was smashed in under ten minutes with the Mandos suffering no losses! Half an hour later the transports had navigated the terrain of Crux Prime, arriving at the tower. The faction leaders and their respective generals had gathered at the base of the tower to meet the platoon on arrival.
As the transports came to a halt, a ramp extended from the front of the middle transport, allowing a Mandalorian in black armor with red, jagged accents to walk down to the faction leaders. "I am lieutenant Faange of the tenth platoon: Strill brigade," said the black-red lieutenant. "We encountered moderately heavy resistance on the way here, we were attacked by a purple, glowing, large reptilian beast," said Faange.
"You just smashed the most dangerous enemy the maelstrom has in half the time it usually takes, without taking any casualties!" exclaimed Dr. Overbuild.
"Meh, I've seen Knights smash one faster," said Duke.
"No, you have not; you are just bragging because you are intimidated by the mandalorians," said a man in black robes wearing a mask reminiscent of those worn by the Mandos.
"And who exactly are you?"asked Duke.
"I am Grand Master Reven's apprentice, Akoi."
Duke was about to reply but Akoi waved his hand and Duke suddenly found it impossible to open his mouth.
"Ha, Ha! Someone finally figured out how to stop Duke from talking!" said Higro, the Assembly general.
Akoi let out a laugh. "Well, welcome to Nexus Tower, feel free to make yourselves at home," said Dr. Overbuild.
Duke wrote in the dust at his feet "WOULD YOU STOP HEXING MY MOUTH ALREADY?!"
Just for a final burst of humor Akoi wrote back "OK" and suddenly Duke could talk; but it would be a waste of lines to print an entire sentence of ****s. So when duke was done swearing the Mandos began unloading crates of alien supplies that were mostly devastating weapons, rations, medical supplies, and communication equipment.
Paradox scientists kept asking to borrow one of everything to study, but almost all were ignored or turned down. Wisp Lee did manage to get a Mandalorian bandage to study, but was disappointed to find it was the very same thing he was wearing all over his body. General FB1890 attempted to punch the Mandalorian lieutenant but found himself wrapped up and electrocuted by a stun net. When he woke up, FB decided to stay away from the Mandos while they were there. Unfortunately he made the mistake of insulting Akoi's girlfriend which left him hanging upside-down over the shadow orb, having his head dunked into it every other minute or so. He generally took quite a beating that day, including a round-house kick to the head from Vanda for falling onto her after being punched by the Mandalorian sergeant. Over all it was a pretty good day for Whisper. He even discussed battle strategies with a Mando named Jag.
Chapter 10: The Master
Around 7:00 am, Whisper and Vanda were just sitting down to breakfast when Akoi walked in. "My master wishes to speak with you both," said Akoi.
"Very well, I am willing to speak with him," said Vanda.
Akoi pulled up his sleeve to reveal a Mandalorian gauntlet, typed in a code, and a man with black robes and a mask appeared in ghostly blue holo form. "The leaders of Paradox have agreed to speak."
"I know, I'll be there in a moment," replied his master.
"What does he mean he'll be here in a - " but Whisper was cut off by a blinding blue flash.
"I meant I would come here in person. No, we don't have teleportation tech; it is a force power only I command," Stated Revan calmly.
"But, how did you know I was wondering - "Vanda began.
"If I had teleportation technology? I am psychic, yet another perk of complete force mastery," Revan cut in.
"You know, in our universe it's considered rude to cut people off." said Whisper.
"Sorry, just a habit born of knowing what you are about to say before you do," replied Revan. "I am here to discuss the distinction between Dark Lords of the Sith and darker members of the Unifying Force. If Unified Force personnel see a member of the Nexus Force they are to announce 'The rancor menaces Felucia until the cycle is waning' so your men know not to attack. I will change the key phrase every week so the Sith don't catch on. Your troops are to attack if a force user fails to tell them the phrase. Please pass this on to the other faction leaders and troops," explained Revan.
Vanda replied. "I'll make sure to do so."
Just then FB1890 walked in. Revan whipped around and FB began to float in mid air. "Seems you have a rat problem; he would betray you in an instant. I suggest immediate court-marshal," stated Revan.
"Yes, I was planning to do so myself, just drop him in the shadow orb over there. He'll keep having the vision and be too scared to escape," said Vanda.
"Well as long as you know..."said Revan, as he dropped FB into the orb. Soon after FB began screaming until he lost his voice. "Well I must be going now, I have a ship to destroy with my mind. Best of luck," said Revan, disappearing into another blue flash.
Akoi walked away, muttering, "Wish he'd teach me how to do that already."
Whisper and Vanda resumed having their breakfast and, after a plate of eggs and bacon, each scheduled a court-marshal for FB. A few hours later they read him his rights, found him guilty of five counts of treason,and dumped him in Caldera Mar where he was overwhelmed by the maelstrom. He was infected and turned into a stromling invader that was soon smashed by a Sentinel knight out to get Muffit's Bane.
Later that day Whisper treated Vanda to a romantic diner. They were both ninjas, so it consisted of sushi, sake, tea, and noodles, all candle-lit. Whisper didn't expect it, but today was even better than yesterday, his rival was gone and he spent some private time with Vanda.
Chapter 11: Ghost
It was a normal morning in Nexus Tower; the workers had finished converting the stasis room into a Zen meditation room. They were just carrying in the last lotus tree when Vanda and Whisper walked by. "The reconstruction is going well, thanks to the boom in Assembly members," said Vanda nonchalantly.
"Yes, and good to see FB1890 get what he deserved," continued Whisper the same. As they walked by the hanger they saw soldiers painting gunships to custom specs. One showed a dog smashing a stromling, another showed the Baron laying limp on a rock under a pirate's foot. They kept walking and saw some Mandalorians telling stories of great battles to Nexus Force recruits. One was talking about how the Mandalorians lost with honor at the "Liberation" of Tarsi. Another was telling of god-like feats performed by Revan. Whisper and Vanda continued on past the Venture room, getting odd looks from pirates. They reached the launch pad to Nimbus Station, but instead of flying off to the plaza, a Talon gunship hovered in air of the rail.
Whisper jumped in followed by Vanda. "Ok; where to, Darkflame?"asked the pilot.
"180 clicks north-east, 70 clicks west," replied Vanda.
"Can do, ninja girl," said the pilot and gave her a wink.
As the ship took off, Whisper took the seat next to the pilot and reached over to take the controls. "Look at her like that again, and I'll throw you out the door in flight," said Whisper, who gave him back the controls and patted him on the shoulder mockingly.
Vanda walked up behind the pilot and said, "If you do that again, the only thing you'll be kissing is the ground."
After about 20 minutes of flight the pilot set them down on top of one of the crux prime rock spires. As he left he muttered "I have GOT to get a transfer to flying venture gunships."
They were there searching the planet for a new type of stromling spotted and smashed by a Sentinel. Whisper sighted up with his rifle scope, searching the landscape for any signs of the new stromling. He saw something strange and zoomed in. It was a horde of shock marauders glowing purple. They were maelstrom infected; Whisper smashed ten of them with sniper shots but had to reload, which let the others escape. He caught sight of one wearing a cape and epaulets; FB1890 was a named stromling that was smashing players. Whisper sighted up and smashed him with two shots but he respawned. It was no use: Typhonus had FB's DNA; he was a permanent threat now. Vanda called in a gunship transport to take them back to the tower: this had to be reported to the other faction leaders before more soldiers were smashed and lost coins.
Chapter 12: A Word of Warning
As the gunship drew nearer to the tower its door opened to reveal Vanda and Whisper. It was crucial that they told the others more about the new maelstrom creature. It set down in the gunship hanger, and the two V.I.P passengers jumped out, running out of the hanger and down the hall. They ran into the meeting room. Vanda called the other leaders in, and twenty long, boring minutes later they finally showed up.
"We've found that our ex-general has been infected by the maelstrom and the baron knows how to make more of him," said Vanda frantically.
"This is not good. Do we know his armor?" said Duke.
"21 armor, 7 health, unknown attacks," said Whisper.
"Then we'll post him as high threat level and advise approach as a guild," said Dr. Overbuild.
The leaders and generals dispersed, Vanda and Whisper walked out onto a balcony off the room."What is Typhonus thinking?" asked Vanda.
"If I knew, this war'd already be won; we just have to enjoy the times when we're not fighting." replied Whisper. He put his arm around Vanda.
"Touching, but we can enjoy eachother's company tonight. Right now we have to think of stratagies," said Vanda.
"Well then, I suggest we take a risk and send our flagship Reaper to the other galaxy under the command of General Clay," said Whisper.
"Fast conversation, but I'll alert Clay of his new objective, he'll tell the Reaper's crew," replied Vanda.
"The sooner the conversation ends, the sooner we can have some private time together," said Whisper. At this they both walked out of the room in the direction of the Paradox section. On the way there they saw something strange: two Mandos head butting. Whisper made a mental note to ask about that next time he talked to Jag. They had become good friends in the last few days.
Chapter 13: Journey
General Clay was re-reading the Nexus Force handbook when the comm beeped. It was a message from Vanda: General Clay, new mission, fight maelstrom in other galaxy, take Reaper. He was honestly shocked; the reaper was the Nexus Force's third largest ship! But orders are orders, so he put on his helmet, picked up his weapon and walked out of his study.
As he entered the hanger he walked up to the Reaper and walked up the boarding ramp. Clay continued up to the bridge. Sitting down in the control console he opened up a channel to the hangar. "All crew of the PAS Reaper repeat all crew of the PAS Reaper report to your stations immediately. I have orders straight from Miss Darkflame," he announced. Thousands of minifigs rushed from their haunts and scrambled up the massive ramp to the ship.
As all personnel settled into place, the deck captain approached Clay. "Unless you plan to fly this ship yourself, I kindly request that you return my post to me," stated the man flatly.
"Just using the comm, captain," replied Clay getting up. As the engines warmed up, the enormous hangar doors thundered open. Soon the Reaper had taken flight at speeds that broke the sound barrier, but it promptly sped even faster: far beyond light speed, streaking into non-existence with a crash so loud that the ears of 'figs on Avant Gardens bled! It even smashed low level maelstrom!
Men in white armor rushed towards purple glowing droids, but most were mowed down by purple blaster fire; only Mandalorians remained standing to mow down the droids in return. "Shab! Who'd we lose?" asked the commanding Mando.
"Yayax company, sir, Civies," replied another.
"Clone casualties?" asked the yellow Mando.
"Only seven men lost, sir," replied the other.
"Good; Shab, these maelstrom-infused droids are a nightmare to Republic troops," exclaimed the commander. Moments later a deafening bang and blinding flash erupted in space. When his vision returned, the Mando saw a command ship that dwarfed the Republic Aclimators.
"What in death's name is THAT?!" asked the other Mando.
"Hopefully, friendly," said the commander. Soon gunships began streaming off the Reaper, speeding to the planet below. As they got within firing range, missiles erupted in flame on the enemy droids. "Looks like they're friendly," said the Mando.
"Where were they at the liberation of Tariss?! Coulda shabla used 'em then," exclaimed the commander.
Before long black and red hovering tanks were dropped in and the Mandalorians spotted the Paradox symbols on the fronts. One stopped behind and Clay walked out. "Your leader sent us a mercy force; ours sent you one too," said Clay to the yellow striped Mando.
Soon a Jedi approached Clay. "I'm in charge here; why are you here?" demanded the knight.
"I'd prefer to speak with your superior," replied Clay.
"I have no superior I answer to no - " but he was cut off by a beeping comm. "Hello master Revan? Yes, there is a mysterious third party here, how did you - right, omnicient," said the Jedi to the comm. "It's for you," the Jedi spit to Clay.
Chapter 14: Meet Delta Squad
Clay took the comm and saw a tiny blue robed figure. "Good afternoon general, I'm Revan. I haven't got much time to talk, so I want you to link up with Delta Squad and their commanding officer: commander Dan. Best of luck," said holo-Revan.
"Well then, mind taking me to this Delta Squad?" Clay asked the Jedi.
"Very well, commander. Radio us a transport," The Jedi said to the yellow mando.
A long, quiet ride in a republic gunship later, Clay was led to the bridge, where he saw four white armored men, each armor painted uniquely. Next to them was a man in less bulky, but similar armor painted blue.
"Hey, you the alien general? This is Delta. Boss," he said, pointing to a man in orange painted armor. "Fixer," he said, pointing to a man in green armor. "Scorch" (this one had yellow and gray armor) "And Sev; our resident psycho," he finished, pointing to man in armor that looked like it was splattered with blood. Clay REALLY hoped that was paint. "I'm Dan, their commanding officer," said Dan.
"When do I get to kill something?" asked Sev in a deep, brooding voice.
"Cut the chatter, you'll get your chance,." replied Fixer.
"Hmm, maybe I'll start with you 40," teased Sev.
"Eh, unfortunately we need him, better not rip out anything important," Boss played along.
Clay was just glad Sev was on his side. "Well, Revan sent me to you but he didn't tell me what to-" he was cut off by holo-Revan appearing on the floor.
"I see you've met Delta. You've linked up to sabotage separatist droid foundries; maelstrom ore is useless with no way to make it into droids," said blue Revan.
"Finally, something to shoot at!" exclaimed Sev happily. Clay really worried about that guy; he'd even pay for physiological evaluations himself. He just wanted Sev to stop being so happy about death!
Chapter 15: Embarrassed
Whisper had been talking to Jag again. He asked about the two Mandos head-butting, to which Jag replied, "Ha, ha, they weren't head-butting! That's a Kelbade Kiss, it's the only practical way to kiss in a battle. After all, getting your head shot off 'cause you took off your helmet isn't too romantic, is it?"
"I guess not," replied Whisper.
He continued on to the staging room and, as the doors opened, he saw that only Vanda was there. "The others are all tied up for the moment: we'll be waiting a while," said Vanda.
"Really?" said Whisper. He walked up to Vanda and kissed her.
When the other faction leaders came in they saw Vanda and Whisper on the floor, holding each other and kissing. Duke's jaw dropped and his eyes went wide, Doctor Overbuild just looked smugly at Hael who begrudgingly handed over a large amount of coins. Vanda and Whisper got up and brushed themselves off, red faced.
"Sooo... let's just get on with the meeting shall we?" suggested Overbuild.
They had to continue without Duke, who just walked back to his quarters trying not to let anyone see him cry. His general ended up representing the Sentinel faction.
"So, Vanda how is the Reaper's mission going?" asked Overbuild, trying to get everyone's mind on a new topic.
"Well, er, General Clay is sabotaging robot factories with a mentally unstable commando." Vanda replied shakily.
"Okay..., Hael, anything new in the Venture League?"asked Overbuild again.
"Ay, Naomi snuck a janitor inta da Venture Room, en now ets spotless! Us pirates a furious!" said Hael.
"Well, no offense, Hael, but it needed it," replied Overbuild.
"The Sentinels' smashing rates have doubled! At this rate we'll catch up to Paradox in a month!" exclaimed the Sentinel General
"Congratulations. Assembly has built seven more bases, complete with rec rooms!" said Doctor Overbuild.
As the meeting ended Vanda and Whisper couldn't leave fast enough, they rushed down the halls, into the Paradox room and into their shared quarters. "Whisper, next time let's save the romance for our quarters," said Vanda.
"You're the one who tackled me," said Whisper.
"That wasn't a tackle," said Vanda. She pounced on Whisper "THAT was a tackle," she said.
Chapter 16: Frontlines
A Nexus Force gunship flew over a massive battle; it was painted with an eye on either side. In the troop area, Whisper was on the bench seats with a man in a black and red Mars Mission suit. There were also several men and woman in Blacktron suits with one red arm each and a silver powerminer's helmet with black visors. Each also wore a headset. Each soldier wore black air tanks, and the leader wore a jetpack.
The gunship touched down and the doors opened. "Okay Raptor Team, you know what to do," said the leader.
"Yes sir, Michael Syks," replied a soldier wearing the same Blacktron shirt as the space pirate. Two men took off on Paradox hoverbikes and the rest jumped out, guns blazing.
Whisper and Michael took cover behind a boulder. Michael kept popping up to fire is classic sci-fi laser gun while Whisper sighted up with his sniper and blew away Stromlings. "It's an honor to serve with you general." said Michael between shots. "Is it true that the only one who wouldn't jump at your command at Gnarled Forest was your superior?" asked Syks.
"Yes, that's how I got promoted to commander... and he got demoted to private," answered Whisper while sniping.
Michael took off with his jetpack and rained fire down on the Stromlings, thinning their numbers. Before long, four Horsemen approached. Thinking nothing of it, one of raptor team approached and attacked one but was smashed in only a moment.
"Raptor armor is stronger than that; The Four Riders of the Maelstrom!" exclaimed Michael.
Whisper tapped some buttons on his gauntlet and a Talon Gunship sped in, launching missiles at the creatures. When the dust and smoke cleared, the riders were smashed and their loot dropped.
Whisper tapped the gauntlet again and Vanda's voice came through. "What's the status?" she asked.
"Front lines secure, Miss Darkflame," replied Whisper.
"How formal of you, General Whisper," mocked Vanda.
Chapter 17: Holiday to Frostburgh
Vanda and Whisper were in a Talon Gunship decorated with festive holiday lights. They were wearing cheery parkas with fur trimmed hoods, and had skis in the ship rather than weapons.
"Frostburgh: two miles ahead! Merry Frostivus, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Joyous Qwanzaa, Miss Darkflame," said the pilot happily.
The ship created a cyclone of snow when it touched down. Vanda, Whisper and the pilot all jumped out. "Hope you don't mind, but I love skiing too. I've got mine in the cockpit," said the pilot.
"Oh, you're welcome to join us: as they say on earth, the more the merrier," replied Whisper, clicking his boots into the ski bindings.
They shuffled up to a ski lift and headed up. "Cold up here, eh?" said the pilot over the wind.
"Well, it's good we've got goggles and turtlenecks," replied Whisper.
The lift soon reached the top of the trail and they all slid off and down the "Yeti's Pass" trail. They zoomed down, swerving between moguls all while "Jingle Bells: was piped in by speakers hidden on the trees. The pilot took a fall at an incline so steep it was almost vertical, but he righted himself and sped after Whisper and Vanda. Vanda was the first one off the trail but collided with a snowboarding buccaneer.
When Whisper got down he upturned the blades and stopped in a spray of snow. The pilot stopped the same way. "Hey, you okay? Your leg was behind your head," said Vanda.
"Oh, I'm fine, but I'll have one heck of back ache tomorrow," answered the pilot.
They made a few more runs on trails like "Ralph's Run" and the "Conifer Connection", then headed into the chateau. "The conifer sure was icy today, huh?" said the pilot.
"No problem for me; my human skis in New England and they have icy snow every year," answered Whisper.
"Let's get some hot chocolate and sugar cookies down at the Snowflake Lodge," suggested Vanda
"Sounds good," said Whisper. After some refreshments they booked rooms. Vanda and Whisper took the Royal Suite, and the pilot got a lakeside view room with a balcony. Vanda and Whisper spent the rest of the day in front of the fireplace listening to Christmas music from earth.
Chapter 18: Paperwork
Whisper had been in his study off his and Vanda's quarters since two in the morning. He was doing paperwork. What aggravated him the most were the 7,952 complaints to Minifig Resources about Paradoxians Being accused of being evil maelstrom spies. Jag had said it was sobering to hear a stereotype of yourself, but this was just ridiculous! And somehow Paradox had been landed with the job of managing the Mandalorians' stay in Nexus Tower. Whisper was sure that Higro didn't have this much to do, but then again, he did have to manage all the building permits - being Assembly.
Soon whisper took a quick break to munch on some sushi and, after a few sips of herbal tea, he got into the Paradox-associated properties. "Ah, I remember when I built the starbase docking platform; Higro came to inspect it in person and accepted it into the list of starbases." Whisper was just a foot soldier back then, and Higro was a hero to him.
It had all started when he visited the orbital starbase. He was so impressed by it (even half built) that he decided to build one of his own. He drew up some blueprints and spent all his money on the bricks. When he was done he had whittled his small fortune down to ten coins that he spent sending Higro a request to check out his starbase. Higro had accepted it and even complemented him on the design. They kept in touch, but only met when Whisper became a Faction General. Until then, he had donated all his bricks to Higro's orbital starbase.
He kept going through reports. "Oh, the retro diner! I spent some time there: good brick burgers," Whisper remarked. He kept skimming. "The castle of the order, beautiful place." Whisper was good friends with the director of special forces there. "And Avant Capitol Hill: amazing architecture." Whisper had been betrayed there once; he had sniffed out the deception based on a claim that Vanda and Duke were married. Only the maelstrom would be that ignorant. "Red Town; now that was a nice town." He spent many days there before he was general; he served as a body guard to the mayor and occasionally was a mercenary when he needed money. Of course he only took moral jobs.
Before he knew it he was finished; turns out paperwork could really bring back great memories. He saved all files and sent copies to Naomi. Whisper then stood up and walked out into his quarters to spend some time with Vanda.
Chapter 19: Scout
Nexus Tower was crowded today because the Mythrans were throwing a party in the Nexus Room. They were giving out jetpacks and other rare items. Whisper was fighting the current of people to get to the ship hangar. He had been assigned to scout out Gnarled Forest for new Stromlings.
The ship hangar was totally abandoned thanks to the party, so Whisper decided to borow an experimental aircraft called a Bane Hound. He tried some old flying tricks and smashed Stromlings from the air with its missiles. Before long, he had landed in the Gnarled Forest Infinity Plains. Whisper hopped out and readied his rifle. He started scouting around, looking for anything unusual.
Suddenly he saw two battle driods come into focus. They were talking to someone on a comm. "Are the troops ready to take this 'Nexus Force'?" asked a raspy voice over the comm.
"Roger Roger," replied the droid.
"Is that ALL you can say?!" asked the man with the raspy voice.
"Roger Roger" replied the droid.
"Arghhhh!" yelled the man on the comm as he ripped off the head of a battle droid on the other end.
Whisper took two shots and destroyed both droids after hearing the conversation. He turned on his own comm. "Well Van, I've got good and bad news. The good news is the bane hound flies great; the bad news, I think there's going to be a full scale Sepratist invasion of Gnarled Forest," said Whisper.
"Well, as much as we both hate pirates, we can't let them gain any ground. I'll alert the rest of the Nexus Force. See you tonight," replied Vanda.
Whisper shut off the comm and ran back to the Bane Hound. It took off and he was headed back to the tower.
Chapter 20: Invasion
Whisper had just arrived at the Nexus Tower in the Bane Hound. He raced out of the hangar and up to the war room were the Faction Leaders and Generals had gathered.
"Asembly should head up the defense force - we have the largest warship, The Spark," said Higro.
"No, Gnarled Forest is a Venture terriory - we should head it up," argued Rio Force, the Venture General.
There was a sight you didn't see every day: a man in a pinstriped suit with a parrot on his shoulder and an overflowing briefcase arguing with a green-haired guy in a pirate shirt and jacket with a revolver.
"Okay, well, let's load up The Spark with troops from all Factions and put Venture in charge of the defense," suggested Dr. Overbuild.
"Aye, mon, I like 'at idea," agreed Hael.
"I have no stake in this; go ahead with the plan if you like," said Vanda.
"As long as the Sentinels get to fight something, I like the plan," said Duke.
"Good, then it's decided," said Overbuild.
They all headed down to the hangar and prepped the ship, then they called all active troops to The Spark. Whisper and Vanda stood on the bridge with Higro and Rio as the ship took off and created a load bang as it broke the sound barrier.
"So, how are the starbases going?" Whisper asked Higro casually.
"Oh, you know, a glitch here and there; but overall, they're going well," replied Higro. They chatted a bit on the way about properties and weapons.
Before long the comm announced, "One minute until arrival, please prepare to deploy." The ship began streaming millions of Talon Gunships that landed troops on the ground.
Whisper and Vanda were among some of the first on the ground. Vanda began cutting up droids with her twin katanas while Whisper took aim and sniped with his rifle.
He noticed Mr. Ree being captured by droids. "Silly droids, you never attack someone who sells rare and powerful weapons," said Mr.Ree as he whipped out two huge guns and tore through the droids.
Whisper had taken down hundreds of droids, but it was hopless and he was almost out of ammo. Sniping just wouldn't work against an army, so he threw his rifle over his shoulder and unsheathed his katana. He rushed into the waves of droids, slicing and hacking, taking out far more than with his rifle. The endless droid reinforcements suddenly ended as a ball of flame engulfed the droid carrieers and the remaining droids were destroyed.
Ten droids remained and were rapidly smashing troops; they wore capes and carried glowing staffs and were much bulkier than other droids. Whisper turned on his comm.
"I need ten Shinobi on those droids now," said Whisper. Before long, ten Shinobi were rushing the droids. Whisper and Vanda ran into the fray and began disarming the droids literally. Soon the armless droids were captured and loaded onto Talon Gunships.
"Who sabotaged those droid carriers?" Whisper asked Vanda.
"No idea, no one else seems to know either," she replied. Before they could talk further, Whisper's question was answered when a Mandalorian in red and yellow armor came out of the jungle.
"We didn't order anyone from the Mando Platoon to help in this defense," said Vanda to the Mando.
"Oh, I'm not from Boba's platoon. I'm Yaven Sae, the leader of Clan Sae. I was following the droids to see where they were going and found you," explained Yaven.
"How did you blow those ships?" asked Whisper.
"A thermal det. in each of their exaust ports. Makes nice fire works to celebrate the victory, eh?" answered Yaven.
"Nice! How long will you be here?" asked Whisper
"Actually, I've got to leave now; a clan dosn't manage itself, you know," answered Yaven. And with that, he left to find his ship.
