Spannershield

Part One: The Gnomeregan Incident

Chapter One: ... Too Early...

Vimmi Spannershield was a Gnome. At first glance she was like any other Gnome, bright pink hair that dangled all the way down past her shoulders, bright blue eyes that shimmered with curiosity, darting about in search of the nearest tool or item for the latest invention or plan. However on inspection, perhaps her eyes were a little less bright with ingenuity and a little more sharp with determination than most Gnomes. Perhaps her arms were a little stronger and her mind a little less curious than most others as well.

This was probably because Vimmi's mother was a warrior, not unheard of, but unusual for most Gnomes. She had gone off to fight in the Alliance's wars for her people. She wasn't some hero, in fact she was probably hard to notice among the other soldiers there(however, she would often tell stories of her glory, like any Gnome would). Vimmi had chosen to follow in her footsteps, seeking finesse in fighting, and physical strength over the wit and ingenuity of her Father and brother. Her Mother was a role model, a hero for her, a brave and courageous woman to look up to.

Yet Vimmi was still a Gnome, and like most Gnomes this early in the morning, was draped upside-down in her bed with her mouth hanging open and her feet on her pillow, dreaming about mechanical chickens and maybe even a tasty apple pie. However as she listened to the birds tweeting and the chickens whirring mechanically as she drew closer and closer to her pie, there was an encroaching bothersome noise of some kind. A whirring, a whining, a buzzing that dug into the back of her head like a bug.

Alarms, flashing red lights and loud sirens were heard almost every day in Gnomeregan, whenever an experiment went wrong and something exploded, or someone splattered some corrosive chemical on their arm, or accidentally gave a mechanical gorilla a mind and the overriding purpose to smash things. And so, even if alarms this loud had not been heard in a long time, Vimmi Spannershield still rose out of bed still mostly asleep, mumbling something about 'too early'.

Her eyes shot open when her door was kicked in however and the frightened face of one of her friends greeted her. Sweat had dampened the small amount of hair he had, and brought the rest of his bald forehead to a shine, his quivering fingers did nothing to calm him as he slid them over his head and then used them to support himself on the door frame. His already old face was stricken with panic and fear as he struggled to find words.

"What happened?" Vimmi finally blurted out, since he didn't appear to be talking.

"There are... troggs, everywhere!" he shouted, as if he had suddenly remembered what he was running from, "they're destroying everything! They're killing everyone!"

Vimmi's jaw dropped, only miraculously did she prevent herself from crying out or smacking him and calling him a lunatic. She rolled out of bed, luckily having some clothes on as it had been a cold night previously. "What..." she breathed, "What the hell are you talking about?"

There was a strange gurgle and a clobbering at the other side of the house, Vimmi's friend gasped and stumbled into the room, backing into a corner. "Ahh!" he shouted, "They're already here. They're already here!"

Vimmi took a deep breath, "Relax," she said, taking her wrench from beside her bed. Vimmi had always been cool in stressful situations. She looked up to her mother; she was a fighter, not so much a scientist or engineer. While she didn't have the strange, nearly abnormal intelligence and cunning of some Gnomes, she worked hard, she was brave and she had natural leadership skills. Vimmi was much the same, however her career was a lot less glorious, and her work mostly consisted of watching over her younger brother...

"Tozzle! Where is Tozzle!" she whispered harshly, as if whispering would stop the troggs from finding them. Her voice was more worried now than when he had told her the troggs were here. Tozzle was her responsibility, her brother. Tozzle was all she had left now...

"He's down at Nicky's lab, with Nicky and the crew... he's a lot safer than us."

Vimmi bit her lip and seemed to be formulating a plan, "We have to get Toz-"

"We have to get out of here!" her friend interjected.

"We have to get Tozzle!" Vimmi's voice overpowered the other Gnomes completely, and he fell silent. He was the elder of the two, but he had always acted like a big kid, experimenting with toys and such, and always looked up to most of the other, younger people he knew. Vimmi asked him if he knew how to use a gun, he shook his head.

More thinking... they were running out of time to think. Vimmi paced across the room and closed the door, pulling her dresser over in front of it. Perhaps that would buy some time to think of a plan. However no longer than a second after she let the dresser go, the door shuddered with some massive weight.

Both Gnomes gave a frightened shout, and waited for the second thud to judge how long the door was going to hold...

With another booming smash, they're minds were made up.

Not long.

Vimmi ripped open the window out of her room, she was lucky to have one of the only windows in the house, "Get out!" she demanded, practically pushing her friend who wasted no time at all in falling out of the window and breaking into a sprint. Vimmi dropped her wrench out and clambered through the frame, she didn't even stop to check on the door.

Her priority was now Tozzle. Ever since her mother and father had passed away, she had been the adult of the family. Tozzle had been hit hard, and he tried to hide it, he tried to keep living normally, but it hit him worst. Vimmi tried to comfort him, and Tozzle had a strange feeling of calm with her, she was like a mother to him... and strangely like a father too.

"I think most of the way to Nicky's Lab is clear from here... we should be able to make it through the back door without confronting any of those... monsters..." Vimmi's friend said with a shaky voice, more with the intention to calm himself than Vimmi, "We'll grab him and go, we have to get out of here, get somewhere safer..."

Vimmi ran after him, the ground punishing every step she took for not putting on shoes. Yet all she could think about was where Tozzle was...