Fall of the Crusader, Rise of the Knight

Part 1

Why must I be the one to guard this prisoner? IM A FUCKING MEDIC/PACIFIST!! A lucario Anthro shouted down the hall.
THATS THE MAIN REASON LUCARIOUS! another voice shouted down the hall.
Lucarious sighed and leaned against one of the silver wall s that lined the many halls of the Crusader Class Assault ship. He looked down at his 2 paws. On his right hand/paw was his Aura Blade and Inbuilt Medi-gun. Lucarious looked at the Energy barrier that held the Prisoner. He hated this bloody war as much as the next Anthro and he hated the fact that he choose in school to concentrate on Remedial Aura Training rather than combat training. But then all of the better looking more sporty Lucario anthros did that one. He sighed again as a groan emitted from the Cell.
Sorry bout that. Agross has a habit of almost killing any sort of prisoner. You ll be fine, trust me Fuck you the voice said.
Sorry. I m not one for bad language. Lucarious said. The voice again groaned followed by a loud whumph noise as the poor victim hit the steel floor.
What the, Where am I? the voice asked, Lucarious stopped leaning and moved in front of the barrier.
On board the Burning Crusader. We found your ship absolutely destroyed in the Gambit sector Lucarious explained to the prisoner. The prisoner as Lucarious now noted was one of those Humans . As a Medic he had a lot of front line action but never actually seen one of the so called humans.
Huh...last thing I remember.......FUCK COMPUTER! the human shouted getting up all of a sudden and frantically looking around. COMPUTER....Ashley... he continued noticing his predicament.
Okay (looks at him weirdly) we you found you clutching a Hard-drive, we are trying to see what s on it but it s heavily encrypted. Also your ship had almost lost all life support. What where you doing? I was trying to get to an escape pod before I was knocked out cold. The human explained to Lucarious. Why the hell am I talking to you? Your one of them. An Anthro! the human said finally after a short pause.
Yeah, I m an Anthro. You know you re the first human I have ever seen in real life. Lucarious said, trying to lighten up the mood. The human let out a small chuckle.
Seriously (he laughs). Well I ve seen many anthros, but not many like you there. The names Shadow. Or that s my call name anyways. Shadow said finally opening up.
Lucarious. So what was your ship, we couldn t identify it. Lucarious asked. Shadow moved toward the barrier. He was Caucasian, 6ft-2, Scraggy deep Silver hair, Black eyes (yeah) and had a large scar running from his right ear down under his collar, he wore a simple engineer / mechanic uniform that was torn to hell and had a silver chain attached to his belt and ended in his left hand pocket, his boots where Knee high work boots. All belted up like standard engineers.
It was a Mining Vessel. The Buster-breaker , EX-Military planetary siege shocker ship. Trying saying that 5 times fast. HA Shadow said. Lucarious let out a small chuckle.
Anyways why am I in this cell if you found me unconscious? Shouldn t I be in the infirmary or something simular shadow continued.
Unfortunately not. You see this vessels Medical wing s infirmary is well being used for the science team s research on the aliens we found aboard your ship. Lucarious said. Shadows left eye twitched as a memory flashed in front of his eyes.


These things sir are not what they appear. A scientist said to a commanding officer What are they then? he asked. The creature was humanoid but had a large sinuous tail and a large head. All of it was encased in a very slick black Exoskeleton. The tail was tipped with a sharp barb.
They appear to be an alien life form from the planet sir humans in an exoskeleton. Very strange an electronic female voice said Thanks Ashley for the update. How s the others the man asked All in cryostassis. If word got to the crew about these things. Well they would riot like mad. They all are only Civvies of course the scientist said right before the tail of the thing slammed into his head causing it to explode violently.
Ashley, divert all power to Cyro chamber 4 make sure they don t escape! YES SIR the electronic voice said as the alien ran past the general screaming hoping to find more victims to either kill or.
IT appears they don t like me. Ehhe. This could be advantageous against the anthros the general said looking down at his arm he saw it turn slick black like the creatures exoskeleton. Oh fuck ...............


They are not what they appear. I would suggest you eject them as soon as you can! Shadow shouted. Lucarious was stunned at this sudden outburst.
They are all in Cryostassis. All of them are subdued Lucarious said looking casually towards the medical wing. Shadow breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank god. They hate the cold....... Shadow said as the lights on the whole ship and his Energy barrier flickered. Then the lights all but died and his shield fell.
....Oh fuck Shadow said. Lucarious run to the intercom.
CAPTAIN. WHATS HAPPENED Lucarious shouted down the mike.
....... Damn no response Lucarious said. Only now noticing that Shadow was free No shit. Your power levels are at about 40%. That s just enough to keep the Cryo-tubes in Permafrost Shadow said looking at a computer screen and had brought up a Diagnostic of the ship.
How did you? This ship is a crusader class Assault ship right? Yes. How did you... Shadow pointed at the emblem appearing on the screen You forgot to rewrite the computer systems. This is EX-human isn t it? Yeah. It s one so we can freely go between your own transfer stations without notice. That and so we don t get shot to bits when you see us. Lucarious explained, Shadow sighed.
where s the Hard-drive I was carrying? Ummm... we locked it in the armoury. I think or the medical bay as well Lucarious said thinking.
Shit. Okay, your comm. s are down. So either you re going to help me or you re going to sit here and die. Shadow said, walking towards the end of the hall. Looking back he saw Lucarious furiously trying to make up his mind.
Fine. But if anyone asks, I was chasing you. I don t want Insubordination charges as I hate those bastard lawyers Don t we all Shadow said chuckling. Weren t your orders to WATCH over me? Yeah. But... Lucarious said as his ears drooped down still following after the man.
So if you don t come with me then you re not doing your job. Shadow said taking a left turn at an intersection.
True that. Hey WAIT UP! Lucarious said rushing after him.

About 25 mins and after Shadow checked the power supply. Luckily the power hadn t dropped further and was being maintained by the Emergency power supply. They found the armoury.
Excellent the armoury Shadow said prying the door open like the last 5 they had to go through.
As the doors scrapped open Lucarious let out a soft awe as the rows upon rows of guns, ammo and armour where hanging up.
Bingo shadow said picking up a nice looking Pump action Shotgun.
Here, you might want these Shadow said tossing a pair of small green pineapple shaped objects at lucarious. They don t like shrapnel to the squishy parts Shadow said placing another 2 Frags onto his magnetic utility belt. They took up his left side while a spare metal box of Shotgun shells was on his right. What are they? lucarious asked looking curiously at the hand grenades Frag Nades. Pull the pin, let the handle loose and throw. Goes boom and sends shrapnel flying Shadow explained showing one of them to lucarious.
Ingenious. I ve only again heard of these things You don t get out much do you? Shadow asked, loading his shotgun with 8 shotgun shells.
I m a backline Medic, Not a fighter. I come in and clean up after us and you lot have finished up. Lucarious explained. Shadow smiled.
Our medics are all front line troops. Helps out in battle situations Shadow explained loading a pistol and magnetising it to his belt.
Meh. Hopefully this armour will keep them off me Lucarious said removing his coat that he was wearing, revealing armour that he wore. It was a bony-White colour and had the Anthros symbol on the left hand part of the breast plate.
Unlikely. But that thing on your arm might help Shadow said putting a knife in his boot. Damn the Hard-drive isn t here. Shit. Let s head to medical then. Alright. I hope things don t get any worse POWER FAILING, ENGINES NO LONGER ACTIVE, DIVERTING ALL EMERGANCY POWER TO LIFE SUPPORT a voice said over the intercom; As Shadow and Lucarious began to leave for medical.
Crap. Okay let s hurry the fuck up before they get loose...... SCREAAAAACHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Too late Shadow said breaking into a run as lucarious followed in tow.

As they approached the Medical bay, Lucarious slammed Shadow into the wall What was that... SHHHH.... theres two of them round the corner lucarious said How can you tell? shadow asked. Removing one of his frag s Aura sight Oh you wanted to know how these things work. Well watch and learn As shadow used his mouth to pull the pin he spat it out and began counting as the handle flew off.
1 Mississippi 2 Mississippi 3 Mississippi What are you doing? lucarious asked 5 Mississippi shadow said throwing the grenade round the corner. He continued. 6 Mississippi 7 Mississippi 8 Mississippi Fire in the hall!!! shadow said covering his ears.
What fire? Lucarious began to look round the corner but was suddenly pulled back by Shadow as the Frag Detonated. The nose deafened lucarious for a brief second and saw that Shadow was quickly rushing round the corner. 2 shotgun blasts echoed through the corridors as lucarious looked at the carnage. The lights where all but gone. The Door panel was missing and 2 dead aliens where laying in front of it in an attempt to claw their way through. He could see the scratch marks on the door.
wow Yeah, generally if you want to live longer to make sure they are dead. DONT be in the same area as one of those frags. They do a lot of damage to soft tissue Shadow said walking towards the door marked Quartermaster s office. Again lucarious was surprised at the carnage this human could do. What could a whole platoon do? His thought where quickly dissipated at the scratching coming from the other side of the door, not wanting to see what s on the other side he quickly caught up to Shadow.

In the quartermaster s office, Shadow was already booting up a computer as Lucarious walked in.
How does one of those even work with no power? he asked. The lights where on full and even the fish tank worked, however it was smashed and water lay in a puddle on the floor.
All main offices have separate power supplies. FOUND IT!!! Shadow said excitedly as the Hard-drive was lying on the desk. Brilliant. Now we stand a chance against these bastards Shadow said, again lucarious looked at him funnily.
How can one measly hard-drive help us? he asked. The Human smiled What s on the hard-drive that can help us? She can help us She? Who s she Ashley shadow said smiling and rushing over to the main terminals he quickly plugged the hard drive in.

ASHELY this is a direct order, DOWNLOAD TO THE HARDDRIVE, I CANT AFFORD TO LOSE YOU! a man shouted at the computer terminal. On it was an image of a girl pouting and holding a teddy bear.
Your mean she said.
No, I m trying to get you out of here. If those things get you then there is no telling what they will do. I can let that happen the man said Lugias please. I don t want to, its all cramped in there Lugias smiled Please, get in there. They are coming Fine and with that the image disappeared followed by a tone of the computer saying that the possess was complete. The man grabbed the hard drive and ran for the escape pods.


MIANFRAME UPLOAD COMPLEATE. BEGINING REBOOT SEQUENCE A girl s voice said as Shadow and Lucarious looked at the computer screen.
Damnit, that thing is so fucking cramped. Okay, where the hell am I? A holographic teenage girl said from the holopad attached to the computer.
Glad to see you are fine now. Lugias? Shit what the hell happened. I remember you forcing me into that thing then here I am. This place reminds me of home The hologram said.
Lugias? Lucarious asked.
Yeah, that s my name. Got issues? Nope, it s just... Just what? The name... It s a... Anthro name? Yeah BOYS. SHUT THE FUCK UP AND TELL ME WHATS HAPPENING! the holo-girl screamed. Lugias and Lucarious looked at her. SCREAAACH!!!! a sound came from the corridor.
Fuck. Hold tight Shadow/Lugias said raising the Shotgun to his shoulder.
I ve got it under control the girl said as the sound of a machine gun roared to life in the corridor.
How did that even work? The powers out Hun, I m an AI, I have full control over this ships power. By diverting some of the power that s not being used in the Living quarters I can power the automated defences. Besides since when do I have to explain myself to a morph the Holo-girl said.
It s okay Ashley, he s with me. Shadow/Lugias said.
Okay. Whatever. We need to get full power online before we can get the fuck out of here Ashley said This is a Crusader Class ship isn t it? She asked. Lucarious nodded.
Ah then we can Jump start the engines if we can rapidly cool them any ideas lads? Ashley asked. Shadow said one work.
Nitroshock Shadow said.
What's a Nitroshock? Sounds funky Lucarious asked. Shadow smiled.
I ll show you once we get to the engine room. If we can jump start them the energy will flow and we will have power Shadow explained. Ashley smirked.
You 2 better hurry. I ll meet you down there. Let s cause a bit of panic amongst these bastards. Ashley said, disappearing.
Let s not waste any time. Let s go Lucarious Shadow said.
Right, Shadow Lucarious said again running in tow after the human.
They certainly do have a strange way of doing things. However every time I try Aura sight on him I can only read one thing. And that s Lugia. Maybe theres more to him than meets the eye. Lucarious thought as he ran on.


SELFDESTURCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATED, T-MINUS 5 MINS TO DETONATION Damn why there is always a countdown I don t know Lugias said as he ran towards the escape pods. With a large scrapping sound a light swung off its hinges and slammed into the back of his head. This caused him to black out as he dropped the hard-drive he was holding.


As the 2 of them reached the final corridor towards the Engineering Shadow stopped.
This has been too easy He said raising his shotty.
Whys that? Well we haven t bumped into anything. Nothing. This has got me thinking. Where are they..... SCREEEAAAACCHHHHHHH!!!! one of the aliens had jumped down from the Air-vents and landed on top of Lugias and was now hissing violently at Lucarious.
WHOAH. Shit, Shadow are you okay? hissss...... okay. I never thought I would have to do this Lucarious said as his Aura Blade kicked into action. It was a rich emerald green colour. Bring it on you.....bitch he said as the tail of the thing came flying towards him. With a quick slash, the tail came clean off as the thing screeched again, but at a much higher pitch.
With speed he thought he never had he ran at the thing that was now crouching and prepared to attack him. With a quick dodge the alien missed its charge against the oppressor. Lucarious smiled and held in his paw a Pin. The alien looked down to see that its chest was bleeding and it felt odd. That was right before the Nade that Lucarious had implanted in it, Exploded making the alien nothing more than a bloody mess. Shadow groaned as Lucarious helped him up.
I spoke to soon. What happened he asked I put one of those frags in its stomach. Come on the engineering bay is just ahead.

As they entered the room, the lights flickered to life as well as the automated defences You boys took your time I was getting bored Ashley said as she appeared on the Holo-pad.
We ran into one of those things. What the hell are they? Lucarious asked You really don t want to know. Shadow Said now let s get this thing up and running.
No hurry or anything, but there is survivors held up in the bridge. I ve diverted some power to them for defence purposes. Thought I doubt they will last long Ashley said Shadow looked around for a second then found what he was looking for.
Bingo, I thought that they would have one of these lying around. A Liquid Nitrogen Charge. We will be using this to Jumpstart the Cold Nuclear reactors. Shadow said holding the device in his hands. Now does anyone have any sort of string? SOLAR EXPANSION DETECTED. RECOMENDATION IMMIDEATE COURSE ALTERATION a voice said over the speakers.
What was that? Shadow asked Ashley, she looked at him and said one thing Supernova Okay first aliens now the suns about to go fucking boom. How long? Lucarious asked I would say about 6 hours IF we get the power online. If not then 30 mins Ashley said.
Great Why is there always an Arbitory time limit on these things? Shadow asked as he grabbed a bit of string and headed towards one of the reactors.
What do we do? STAY THERE. WHEN THE POWER IS ONLINE ASHLEY I WANT ALL OF THE TURRETS ACTIVATED IMIDIATELY GOT IT Of course Let s do a Nitroshock shadow said attaching the string to the Nitrogen Charge

As Shadow approached the main reactor he looked around. Finding the right spot he place the charge INSIDE the engine its self.
Sigh, if this works I m retiring closing the hatch almost fully he pulled the pin and slammed the door shut with the pin narrowly missing the door by mere millimetres. That s when he heard the sound of liquid hitting everywhere inside followed by the sound of the Reactors activating.
POWER NOW BACK ONLINE Thank god Shadow said heading back to the entrance. Little did he know that he was being watched by one of those aliens.

5 mins before

So what s the story about his scar? Lucarious asked That. That is he reminder that he lived and that she died Pardon? When he was little his little sister wanted to go to the park. As a big brother does he took her but that s when the car careered into the 2 of them. He was left with the scar as a rouge piece of glass from the windshield sliced part of his ear right down to his right hand. She however was in-intensive care when her body gave out. However his father bound her mind to that of an AI program. Ashley explained. Lucarious looked at her.
And his name? Lugias? That s the name he was given when he saved a morphs life during the war of Icaria. After that he gave up being a military captain and took up deep space mineing. She said.
POWER NOW BACK ONLINE the same voice said as Lugias walked into the control room.
SCREAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHH came a deafening voice from behind the doors.
We can t leave, not with them here. Lucarious stated I wonder. Ashley. Activate Door 4 Tiger Delta Alpha 14 What....oh wait here it is? How did you know? She asked him.
Shadow whats door 4TDA14? Right here shadow said as the walls began to shift. A recovered piece of technology from an ancient race. We call it a TDA which is short for Tactical Dreadnaught Armour Standing hidden in a hollowed out part that was not on any maps stood the TDA, It was the same height as shadow. But its body engulfed the head making it look like a hunchback. As Shadow ran his hand across the breastplate a loud hiss emitted from the helmet.
Wow I thought that this was only a rumour. But no I heard various ship logs speaking about finding this and storing it. Lugias how did you know it was there Ashley asked as shadow removed the breastplate and helm. Stepping into the armours boots and sliding his hands into the massive gloves.
Because Dad told me about finding it, mass producing it in secret and hiding one on each Crusader class ship; In case of emergencies. Only a select few knew about it and I was lucky enough to be told it during my career as a military captain. Shadow said grabbing the chest piece and put it into place. A low hiss sounded as the pieces clipped together. Shadow then unhinged the boots and upper supports and the TDA was now fully moveable.
Looks Daunting Lucarious said as the TDA bound Lugias moved showing that it was fully mobile considering its sheer size and bulkiness.
Grabbing the helm that Lucarious moved to the desk Lugias placed in on. Again another Hiss as the helm pressurized.
It should. Ashley download to this things AI support If you wish. But I would be better off here NOW Ashley Very well the holo-girl disappeared.
Let s take this fight back to them shall we? Err. Sure. But your shotgun is too small for that thing.
Don t worry. This thing has another surprise shadow said walking back to the chamber that he had got it and found what he was looking for.
Holy fuck Lucarious muttered as Shadow was now armed with Two Minigun like weapons on each arm.
As I said. Don t worry shadow said through the helms mike Let s hope that we can make it to the bridge before anymore shit hits the fan Lucarious said opening the door to find 3 aliens waiting for them

TBC