Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios.
Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra.
Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.
CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood
Chapter 3: Archival Miscondict
The gang quickly got busy gathering supplies they'll need for their journey. If the trip to the library is going to be a long one, they might want to pack a few extra provisions, just in case. The gang were also trying to contact the NSC. They had no evidence that Neilsson or any other ships had escaped destruction and were trying to launch a message boey. Chip was also thinking ahead and fiddling with a connection to the orbital defence platforms which were sitting, waiting for the NightHawk to fly out the atmosphere fully so they could destroy them. "Ok, Chip...launch it."
Chip stuffed the boey into a cannon and fired it out. The boey went way up at a considerable speed. Techo followed the boey as it flew out into space. "C'mon...you can do it." he muttered. Just as they thought it was going to make it, a platform rotated to fire and obliterated the boey with a well aimed pulse of disrupter energy. "DAMMIT!" yelled Wilson.
"Yeah, had a feeling that would happen," said Chip, "That's why I added a 'Plan B' feature to that boey." Techo nodded "I take it that we got a connection then." he said. "We should," said Chip, "Now, if we can just link up the ship's computer to their optics..." The scanner monitor flickered into life, showing a straight down image of the surface of Avalar. The satellite they'd just linked too was actually showing Warfang itself. "Nice one, Chip." said Wilson, steering the ship back towards the surface of Avalar. "Least we got something outta this."
"Yep, this should give us an advantage in reconnaissance," said Chip, "Let's see if we can spot that library."
--
Meanwhile, back in Warfang, Chloe was walking down one of the streets of the city with Zara at the dragoness's request. "I have only heard of your brother from his exploits on this world," said Zara, "I think it would be prudent to know of his exploits on other worlds if we are to rely on him."
"I've been...out of contact with him for a year...but from what I've heard, he's made quite the name for himself." said Chloe and noticed Zara's gaze. "I don't know what mercenaries are like here but in Nullspace we tend to choose our contracts...we have standards and we never knowingly work for villains." As they walked along, several mercenaries from the ship were sitting in the shade of a wall, talking with some dragons who were taking a rest from the construction work.
Chloe noticed this and she said, "I think you overestimate the incapability's of our races." Zara nodded. "Many of us know what your people did to those who went to your world did to ours. Those type of ill feelings do not fade very well...but the stories of how your brother helped the dragon of destiny has helped to partially bridge these voids."
"I hope so," said Chloe. Suddenly, her stomach growled very loudly. Zara raised an eyebrow ridge in amusement. "You nearly sound like a dragon," she said. "I'll assume that's a compliment," said Chloe, "Um, you guys aren't strictly carnivores, are you?" Zara laughed. "No...thats just an...whats the word...urban legend. We can eat what we choose...though we do prefer meat." Chloe nodded. "Maybe I can get my brother to cook some hot dogs." she said, looking up at what was probably a road sign. "Dammit...I need to get Techo to upgrade our translators..."
Suddenly Chloe felt a stabbing pain through her head. She winced and grabbed at her temples. She rubbed them until the feeling went away. Her vision came back to reveal she'd been forced to her knees. Two crewmembers were helping her up and Zara asked "Miss Lynch. Are you well? Should we send for your ships healer?" Chloe shook the stars away and said "No...No, I'm good." she said. "I'm gonna head back to the ship." she said and without being told, glanced up at the sign before walking down a road that would lead back to the ship. "Hey...how'd she know which way?" said one of the mercs.
--
Meanwhile, Matt was perusing the local library in Warfang. He was trying to look up anything that could help defeat Malefor or remove the generals from their victims. A mole paced another stack of scrolls at the table he'd sat at. "You do know this is all in draconic...right?" he said to Matt who had already opened one and was reading it with ease. "What?" he said after a minute. The mole shrugged. "Nothing....call me if you need anything else." he said and walked off.
Now that Matt was aware of it, he noticed that all the letters were of a strange rune type. And the words they spelled were completely unfamiliar to him. Yet he was reading them as if it were English. "Ok...thats wierd." he said but shrugged. He'd never been told what the limits of translator nanites were and he presumed it had adapted. He shrugged and looked back down at the new scroll and noticed a picture for once. A note identified it as a building made by the newcomers.
Matt studied the picture. The building obviously couldn't have been crafted by dragons, seeing as how they lack the thumbs to pick up tools. And yet, it looked too modern to have been done by the moles. He also spotted several things on the picture which had obviously been the artists attempt at the same drones he had faced the last time he'd been in Avalar. "Oh hell...no wonder people have vanished." he said.
There were also a couple of notes of dragon families being slaughtered by the weapons of these 'newcomers', it rather a long line of detail. Matt sighed. "Guess the atlanteans weren't always whiter then white." he muttered.
Suddenly Matt heard arguing outside. He looked out a window to see a pair of dragons in apparent argument with two of his crewmembers. Matt groaned and said, "Now what?" as he headed for the door. Matt wandered out into the street to see that a small crowd had turned up. One of the two crewmembers was being held back by his partner.
"Ok, whatever's going on here, it's stopping now!" shouted Matt. He pointed at the crewmember who was being held back, "You, what have you been arguing with the dragons about?" "I didn't start it, sir. This guy suddenly got in my face when I was talking with my mate." said the crewmember angrily, pointing at the wind dragon who was looking smug. Matt transferred his glare, which would usually have worked...but then again, Matt forgot he had no reputation in Avalar. "Is there a reason you're on my crews case?"
"Because they're a pair of stinking dragonslayers," said the wind dragon. "That's not true!" said the other crewmember, "How could I be a dragonslayer if I've never seen a dragon before in my life?" Matt turned up the glare a few notches. "That would be a bit hard for me to miss...given I'd be a target too." he said to the dragon.
The dragon snorted and said, "All humans are dragonslayers. They can't stand any sentient being not like themselves so they ostracize them." "And what makes you such an expert on humans?" demanded Matt. "My mother told me how her parents went to a colony your people gave us...they never returned." said the dragon. Matt glared "For heavens sake, me and my sister are the only people from the ancients unive..." he said.
The wind dragon's eyes narrowed. "What was that?" he demanded. "Uh, nothing," said Matt, "It really is nothing. Nothing you could find any fault with. Just forget about-" Matt had to stop and jump aside to prevent being blown away by a powerful blast of air from the wind dragon. Matt landed back down in a crouch and saw the surprise on the crewmembers...which was nothing compared to his own. He got up in time to see the dragon charging him, head down and dodged it, grabbing the dragons left horn and pulling just hard enough to send him off balance. "You really want me to kick your butt? Drop it before I drop kick you." he said.
Suddenly the ground shook, sending them both off balance. "Enough!" shouted Terrador as he strode forward, "There shall be no fighting in here among own forces." Matt and the dragon turned around to see Terrador looking quite fearsome in his anger. "Oh...nothings happening...just a minor misunderstanding...its nothing and won't happen again. That right, boys?" he said to his men who nodded, pale faced.
The wind dragon decided not to push the issue further and slunk off along with his friend. "What was that about a colony?" said Matt, watching them go. "I know the NSC has some draconic colonies...but not avalar ones." "There are several stories about dragons from here living in colonies on a world filled with humans. No one's sure what happened, but those dragons have never been seen again." Said Terrador
Matt nodded. "Mr Black mentioned that Avalar had a colony when they were allied with his people." he said. "Guess you guys really do live a long time if its still living memory." "Indeed," said Terrador, "I suggest that your men should try to stay out of the public eye until you've endeared yourself more to the community." "On that, Techo said he and his engineer team could help out with the building..." said Matt when the Nighthawk, just arriving flew overhead. "...once he and Chip stop taking the ship for joyrides."
When Matt went over to where the Nighthawk landed, Techo had good news for him. "We've managed to get complete control over the satellite's sensors. We may not be able to keep them from firing at us, but we can use them as our own spy network." "Nice...I found out more about the archive...definitely an atlantean facility...complete with security devices." said Matt.
"Figures as much," said Techo. "By the way, I've managed to hack a little bit into the Banshee base network before it shut down," said Chip, "Didn't get too much, but enough to let us some things about. By the way, I found a mentioned of prisoners among the files." "Great...I bet Neilsson wanted some extra glory...did it mention names?" said Matt.
"Not really," said Chip, "Just that one of them was a huge bio-hazard threat." "Oh goody...nothing like a killer mutant...a trip just isn't complete without it..." said Matt sarcastically. "At least it isn't...him, hopefully."
--
Anton was waving the four cargo droids forward as they slowly pushed the mobile bio-containment cell forward. Malefor and his generals had been called over to watch. "How much longer must this go on?" said Raptor, "I have more important things to do today than to watch some simple humans scurry about."
"Oh...I guarantee you'll like this. This guys a certifiable nightmare...last time he met Lynch, he nearly tore him apart. Draco stopped him...not this time though, eh, Shard?" said Anton. Shard growled and said, "That's General Shard to you, half-breed. And this creature better be as impressive as Draco's memories indicate." "More...the emperor ordered upgrades after his last failure." he said and pressed the release. "You' better stand back from the hatch..." he said and walked behind the container.
Suddenly there was the sound of several blasts before approximately half of the container was blown away by what was inside. Tuatara jumped out of the container, snarling. He had been changed alot and it was clear not all of them were comfortable. His whole left arm had been replaced with a mechanical one, the claws being blades of tritanium. Several small cannons, still smoking were on the shoulders and the legs had hydraulics added. The chest armour now covered it entirely and must have been a few inches thick. "Who are you? Where are those NSC scum who put me in there?" he said.
"I am Malefor," said the Dark Master, "As for those who have imprisoned you, they are all dead, or soon will be." Tuatara didn't seem impressed at this and glared. "You took my prey...I can and should kill you now..." he said and paused as his new optics scanned Malefor and smirked "But it looks like I was beaten to it...the undead are no sport."
Malefor looked somewhat annoyed and said, "There are others from the NSC on this world, ones I think you are familiar with. I could guide you to them if you follow my commands." "I follow nobody...I only want one...the pack traitor...I WANT HIS HEAD!" said Tuatara angrily.
"And I thought Raptor was unstable," muttered Avarona. Tuatara turned and sniffed...before glaring at Avarona. "You...I know you...I'll kill you first...hurt the traitor more." he said. Tuatara leapt at Devina. But before he could reach her, Malefor struck him with a purple meteorite. "I suggest you not try that again," said Malefor, "Easily adaptable host bodies are hard to find here and Avarona's host's former identity is of no relevance now."
Malefor was silently impressed when Tuatara jumped up, undamaged. "She is the mate of the traitor...I want him to suffer." he snarled but didn't attack. Malefor looked at Avarona with bemusement. Devina and Raptor both snickered under their breaths. Avarona however kept to what was important. "Is it really wise to use this creature?" she said. "She has a point," said Shard, "He seems incapable of thinking beyond material terms."
Tuatara hissed at Shard and turned to Malefor. "Your pack lacks discipline..." he said and stopped as Anton spoke. "The pack traitor is here, commander...and the purple one knows where you can find him...and kill him or whatever it is you wanna do to him." Tuatara turned to Malefor with a worryingly hungry look in his eyes. "Tell me where I may find him."
"All in due time," said Malefor, "You have to earn it first. Which should be no problem if you're as strong as you look." Tuatara glared. "What do you want me to do?" Anton spoke. "We need to get into a heavily guarded facility north of here...you're perfect...find these." he said and holograms of two crystals appeared. "Preferably both...but either will work...get them and you'll get matt's location."
Tuatara growled and said, "Something tells me there will be more that just those two crystals in this facility. How will I be able to find them?" Anton smirked. "Easy...you just make sure I get in there...I'm coming too." he said before looking at Malefor. "I'm guessing you don't trust me that much..." Malefor eyed them both and said, "Trust must be earned. And you should both hope not to fail this."
--
Meanwhile, Matt and the gang were preparing their own expedition...and Matt was also learning that trust is earned he stood in front of Zara. "We do not need chaperoning around Avalar." he said angrily. "You do not know these lands as well as we do," said Zara, "You could easily start a feud with another tribe."
"What? Are you saying I don't look diplomatic?" Matt said. Sadly he said this with one of Techo's plasma rifles over his shoulder, his ion blade in a holster and full combat gear on. Zara gave him an 'are-you-kidding' look? "Oh, c'mon," said Matt, "I'm as diplomatic as the next guy. Right gang?"
The rest of the gang were there and suddenly did an impression of the synchronized sky inspection team, except for chloe who was laughing her head off. "Thank you sooo much for the support." said Matt darkly. He turned and said "Fine...do I get to choose my chaperones? To make sure I don't accidently blow the planet up?" Techo muttered "...Again." and chloe started laughing again.
To further Matt's annoyance, Zara seemed to be on the brink of laughing herself. "Very well," she said as soon as she could manage a straight face, "Who would you prefer?" Matt nodded. "Spyro and Cynder. I travelled with them and I think they'd be one of only a few dragons who won't try to beat the hell out of me or my crew." he said.
Zara considered this for a moment and said, "Very well. Though I had hoped you would have picked a fully grown dragon." Matt looked sceptical. "You do know what he did to get famous...do you?" "Of course," said Zara, "Only they lack the wisdom that only comes with age." "So? Who else do you suggest?" said Matt.
"I might have sent Xephros, only you two had a rather noticeable disagreement today," said Zara. Chloe stopped laughing at that. "You beat up a dragon?" she said in shock. Matt turned. "No...the little jerk started it."
"Zara may have a point," said Cyril, "Spending time with you humans might be what Xephros needs to broaden his mind." "Great...why not invite sonya...have a proper reunion?" said Matt, meaning it as sarcastically...sadly he forgot that sarcasm wasn't practised much on avalar which was why, five minutes later he was sitting outside his ship, waiting for the dragons to turn up...oh and being yelled at by Chloe.
Matt turned to NegaMorph and said, "If I ever make a sarcastic request again, hit me." "Ok," said NegaMorph and punched Matt in the side. As Matt winced in pain, NegaMorph said, "Oh, do you mean right now or the next sarcastic request you make?" "The next one." snarled Matt. Negamorph shrugged. "Ok..." he said and hit Matt again. So it was, when Spyro, Cynder, Sparx and Xephros came round the corner they saw Matt attempting to choke Negamorph to death with chloe attempting to break them up.
As Xephros watched Chloe try to break the two apart, he muttered to Spyro and Cynder, "Not exactly his proudest moment, is it?" "I don't think he's had it yet," said Cynder. Chloe looked up and for a second her eyes seemed yellow. "Hey, guys..." she hissed and Matt and Negamorph looked over to see Spyro and co. "Oops...Hi...erm...combat drill." Sparx muttered "Well...its not the worst excuse he's given."
Xephros gave a small snort and said, "Even if second impressions counted, you're making this one as poor as your first one." "Oh, bite me." said Matt, annoyed by now. "We'll wait till Sonya and Smoldron get here and then you can get back to hating my guts, Xephros."
"I don't think I'd be tempted to do so," said Xephros, "You look like you may have an unpleasant taste to you. Not to mention it looks like it's been a while since you last bathed." Matt almost pulled out his gun then and there, choosing instead to hiss at Xephros "My sis and me aren't as human as we look." Luckily, Sonya and Smoldron arrived at that point. "I'm saved...can we please go before My brother and the windbag kill each other?" said Chloe.
"Although, in Xephros' defense, Matt has been generating some serious BO," said NegaMorph. Matt turned and did pull his gun pout this time, blasting Negamorph into a splat on the wall. "Someones in a bad mood today." said Negamorph weakly as Matt stomped aboard. "Well, it's not like you couldn't see that one coming," said Chloe as she peeled NegaMorph off the wall.
"Totally worth it." said Negamorph, getting back into shape and noticing the horrified gazes of Sonya, smoldron and Xephros. "Oh, get it over with..." he said glumly. "I knew you humans were barbaric," said Xephros, "But I'd never thought you'd stoop to befriending..." "Mutant space urchins," said Sonya. "Thank you," said NegaMorph sarcastically, "I'll send you a gift basket later." Smoldron looked at Negamorph more closely. "You don't look too bad." he said. "You should have seem some of the creatures that were where we were when we hid from General cyn...oh, sorry." he said remembering who else was there.
"Can we get a move on before this gets any more awkward?" said Chloe with annoyance.
--
The archive sat on a plateau in the middle of a huge ruined metropolis that was barely visible from the jungle overtaking it. A huge single building surrounded by a high wall, the landing area nearby was clear from two smashed ships sitting in the courtyard. "Nice place." commented Techo before adding "And how is our resident xenophobe?" referring to Xephros who had not adhered himself to the crews good graces during the 45 minute trip.
"I think he's still getting used to the fact that Chip is alive," said Chloe. "Yes...I heard about that...and how is Smoldron taking to his first starship flight." said Matt, who was looking at some of the scans of the archive, looking for a clear landing area.
"He's mostly amazed at how fast this thing can move," said Sonya, "Only, I think watching the landscape zip by so quickly is making him nauseous." Matt nodded. "He'll be fine...as long as his barf isn't flammable." he said as an empty landing pad, only covered by some vines, came into view.
The Nighthawk settled down with a bump onto the landing pad and immediately lights, half-hidden by the vines turned on and two mechanical arms grabbed the ship. Techo waved a reassuring hand. "Don't worry...its some kinda automated docking feature..." and everyone winced as a telepathic message, the preferred method for Atlantean A.I's to announce messages, said "Welcome to the Dominia Archive, home of the largest culmination of Avalarian and Atlantean information in the void. Please note that this is a neutral area and no conflict is authorized."
"Ok, important thing to remember," said Matt, "No fighting in the library. Or else we get put through the paper shredder." Xerphros came in on Matt as he and Chloe were getting ready, loading up various weapons. "I thought you said no weapons." he said. Matt turned. "I just said no fighting...go get ready...I trust you want to come." he said.
"Seeing as how much knowledge is here, it would be a waste not to see what's inside," said Xerphos. "Good...so...have you been in many fights?" Matt said. "Quite a few," said Xerphos, "I was defending a different outpost during the war so that's you haven't seen me before." "Good...now play nice...nobody walks off alone so two of my staff are going with you...for protection...if you object you can stay aboard." said Chloe, looking at Matt too and adding "That goes for both of you."
--
Fortunately, the doors weren't that hard to open. All that was holding them closed were several overgrowing vines. Inside were stacks of shelves of half-rotted scrolls and cracked message crystals. However the main thing that caught the attention of the group was a huge hole in both the roof and the floor below...perfectly circular. "Damn...did Malefor do that?" said Wilson to the dragons.
"I doubt that," said Matt, "I don't think he has anything that could blast a hole like that." Chloe however nudged Matt to where Cynder, Spyro and Xephros were looking at a scroll that had fallen open. He couldn't see the writing but the image was clearly that of Cynder...at least her adult form. "This place has alot of bad memories...Techo...this is all Avalarian...where's the ancient tech?" said Chloe. Techo pointed down the hole. "Down there...but we'll need to go to the very bottom...and we're not alone." he said. Matt looked confused "How'd you know that?"
Wilson had wandered over to the edge of the hole and pulled up a coil of what was clearly a rappel rope. "Oh...just a little clue." he said, pointing out an imperial insignia. Matt rolled his eyes and said, "Great, pile that on top of everything else? Why can't the nonviolent missions ever be easy?" "What nonviolent missions?" said Chloe. Matt raised a finger. "Point to you." he said and tried to walk to Spyro and Cynder were only for Xephros to get in his way. "Hey...out the way, windbag...I'm not in the mood."
"I'm sorry, but this is 'dragon's only' business," said Xephros, in a tone that made it obvious that he wasn't sorry at all. Matt's eyes began to glow red and Xephros failed to notice the end of matts gloves ripping open slightly to let claws poke through. "I said, out the way or I'll have you taken back to the ship and thrown in the brig. My ship, my mission, MY RULES!" he said, the last part shouted and getting Spyro and Cynders attention.
"Uh, Xephros," said Spyro, "I'd back off if I were you. Matt's been known to get really nasty when he loses his temper and you're just pushing him to the edge." Matt walked by Xephros and followed Spyro's gaze to his gloves. "Dammit." he muttered before concentrating. The claws slowly vanished. "That guys really getting up my nose. I wanna turn dragon just to spite him...and wipe that smugness off his face." said Matt.
"You may get that chance sooner than later," said Spyro, "But I really don't think the librarian here would like you causing a ruckus." Matt nodded and looked down at the scroll that they'd been looking at. As far as Matt could work out...it was the avalarian equilivent of a wanted poster. "Dammit...hey...its nothing." he said, picking up the scroll and throwing it as far as he could.
"You don't think there would be an index we could look to find the spellbooks, is there?" asked Chip. "We could ask the A.I...it is a librarian." he said. The A.I did speak then. "I'm sorry...the magical sections were destroyed by a type 6 polaron beam 405.23 cycles ago." it said.
"Well, that's splendid," said Contrinus sarcastically, "We come all this way and find there's nothing to look for." "However your colleagues are on sub level 6. Shall I inform them of your arrival?" continued the A.I. "NO!" yelled everyone at the same time. Techo said "Where are the military maps?". The A.I was silent before saying "The military archives are on sub level 6...I'm sorry...gravity lifts are offline due to battle damage...city maintenance has been informed."
"Well, as long as we're here," said Chloe, "We better make sure those other guys don't get what they came for either." Matt nodded "Rule 2...if the bad guys want something...you want it first."
--
The way down to the sub levels however was only via the hole. Luckily whoever was snooping around had left their rappel equipment behind and of course, the dragons could just glide down to the floor. Matt pulled out a blaster and shone its light down a side corridor. "Ok...nobody walk off alone...thats usually a recipe for disaster." said Chloe, pulling out a energy rifle.
"And don't activate your weapons until you know you have to," said Chip, "The librarian is going to know we'll be fighting and I'd prefer it to be later than sooner." Matt looked at Xephros. "You're with the corporals...and play nice."
The group split up three ways, Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx went off with the experiments, Chloe went with Wilson and Techo, while Matt was stuck with Xephros and a couple of marines. "Look. I'm as unhappy with this as you." said Matt, annoyed as Xephros complained for the 5th time.
"I still think that 'dividing up' was rigged," said Xephros, "I'd even prefer to go with those 'alien' creatures than you lot." Matt sighed. "We're alone...no comms...and possible hostiles to blame accidents on...DON'T PUSH ME!" he said angrily.
"What are you going to do? Strangle me?" said Xephros. "Don't tempt me," said Matt, "Although that long neck of yours looks really easy to squeeze." One of the marines smirked and said something in splitter. Matt smirked too. "What did he say?" said Xephros. Matt sniggered "Oh...something about he would help me bury the body." he said and treasured Xephros's look of fury.
They walked by the door of what was a storage facility. 'Was' is the key term as nearly everything in it was damaged in some way. In fact, there wasn't even a door. It was just a gaping hole where the door used to be. Matt raised a hand and Xephros looked around as the two marines dropped to their knees, aiming forward. "You two stay here with windbag while I check it out." Xephros glared and said "My name is not Windbag, you...human."
Matt didn't bother to comment on the lack of creativity in Xephros' insults as he went into the room and looked to see if there was anything of significance in there. After five minutes, Xephros was getting bored. "Stupid human. I coulda found whatevers in there by now." he said and heard an 'urk' behind him followed by a wet thump.
Xephros paused and said, "Odd, I thought these chambers were watertight." He looked down to see one of the marine's head lying near his feet... several feet away from his body. Xephros's frightened gaze travelled along the blood trail to see some kind of monster impaling the last marine in the claws on its hand...the 'urk' he had heard. The...creature turned its gaze on him. "Who are you?" it hissed, the voice distorted by its mechanics.
For once, Xeprhos was without his tongue. All he could manage was a few frightened pants and squeaks. "You have the scent of the traitor on you...where is he?" the creature said, tossing the marine aside. "I'd answer him if I was you." said a voice behind the creature. Another human in jet black combat armour walked from behind the creature. "Tuatara tends to despise being ignored. I am Colonel Anton...greetings." he said.
"If figures such a monstrosity would work with a human," said Xephros. Anton laughed loudly and said, "Not even close." Xephros looked confused. Anton smirked. "A demonstration perhaps? I can get into a form more comfortable to you..." he said and changed to a dark grey dragon form. "Ah well...to business...where is Captain Lynch? I have no quarrel with you...but Malefor wants Matthew dead."
Xephros was completely at a loss for words. All he could do was gape in astonishment. Anton sighed and said, "Tuatara, our friend here seems to be a bit tongue-tied. Do you think you could help loosen him up?" Tuatara, at that picked up Xephros by grabbing him round the middle and lifting him effortlessly. "Now then, Tuatara does not have my patience...if you don't start talking I will be forced to have him pull one of your wings off." he said. He walked up to Xephros and absently said "Did you know that a dragons wing has several major arteries in it to supply the necessary blood. You'd go into severe shock if say...one was pulled off at the shoulder." he said.
Xephros was able to get his wits back and said, "Well, if you actually told me who you were looking for instead of just threaten to dismember me, you'd get more information out that way." "Captain Lynch...those were his men." said Anton, gesturing to the dead marines. Tuatara pulled Xephros so they were nose to nose. "His actions did this to me...I want his head." he snarled.
"Oh he may be nearby," said Xephros, "Of course where exactly I'm not sure. Could be anywhere at all, where you least expect him." Anton sighed. "Fine...Tuatara...break his front paw...neatly please." he said as if ordering injury was a chore.
Tuatara considered this for a second and said, "Which one? And should I cripple it or just tear it off?" "Break it...if he cooperates maybe Malefor will find him a job." said Anton. "Wait, you two work for Malefor?" said Xephros, "I've hear that he employs all sorts of evil creatures, but this is on a whole different level." "Yes...but its mostly just so we don't get killed ourselves...so...you going to help us or should I let Tuatara get creative?" said Anton, turning back to human.
"Oh, let's stop delaying," said Tuatara, "We'll see if any truth comes out along with the screams." Xephros struggled as Tuatara got a grip on his left wing and started to slowly start to pull on it, increasing the strength. "Where...is the pack traitor?" said Tuatara almost soothingly as he pulled harder and harder. Suddenly a pulse of plasma hit Tuatara in the mid section, throwing him down and making the cyborg drop Xephros to the ground. Anton spun around in time for a stunning shot to throw him to the floor. "Right here, ugly. Hey, Xephros..are you ok?" said Matt, hand still glowing with plasma energy.
Xephros stared at amazement for a second and said, "I think I am now." He seemed to be fighting something back but then said, "Thank you." "Its fi..." began Matt and was thrown down the corridor as a pulse of golden energy hit him in the back. Tuatara stood up, roaring angrily and lunged at Matt who was only just standing up. The cyborg pulled Matt up the rest of the way and lifted him up so hard Matt banged his head on the roof before he delivered a punch that must have felt like a hit from a bullet train, smashing Matt through a connecting wall. Matt managed to get up, spitting blood. "Go...get outta here." he yelled, firing into Tuatara to no effect.
Tuatara was about to slash Matt in half when a large amount of wind buffeted against him. He was too heavy to be blown away, but it certainly did distract him. Tuatara turned round to see Xephros preparing another wind blast. "You wish to die with him? Fine." he hissed and ran at the dragon.
Matt slammed his hand on the ground, causing a small wave of plasma to come out and melt the floor as it went. Within seconds, Tuatara felt like he was stuck in a tar pit. He roared angrily and literally began tearing the floor up to get out. Matt managed to limp over to Xephros. "...Time to...go." he said weakly. Xephros nodded and helped Matt get up.
--
Meanwhile, in another part of the complex, Chloes group had bumped into Spyro and the others. "This place is a maze...you guys find anything?" said Techo. "Not yet," said Spyro, "We should have come across those other guys by now." Chloe pulled out a comm. "Matt? Matt, you there?" she said. Nothing but static answered her questions. Sonya gulped. "I may not be a mercneary anymore but thats never good."
"I don't really know how that thing works, but I agree," said Sparx, "I think we need to go check up on him." Suddenly a siren began to ring. "Warning. Protocols breached. Weapon fire detected in secure archive 13, Chakra division. All organics now being reassessed."
"Uh, what do you think it means be 'reassessed'?" asked Contrinus. Techo said "Oh...just means its deciding if it should shoot us...or....not." his voice trailing off. "Right," said NegaMorph, "I move that we not stay in one place very long." Spyro, Sonya and Cynder all looked ready to fight, having had experience with ancient A.I defences. Only Smoldron looked concerned.
"What kind of weapons would this thing have?" he asked. "Lots of very nasty weaponry that can slice and dice us." said Techo. The A.I chimed again "Re-assessment complete. All on-facility units now designated hostiles. All on-site Shar-khan privileges now suspended." "And that would be our cue to grab Matt and Xephros and leave," said Wilson.
As they turned to leave a man in a jt black uniform with the empire insignia on it stepped round a corner, holding a blaster. Several droids came into view too. "You're not going anywhere...surrender." said the human. Nobody noticed several sections of the roof and upper walls starting to ripple and move.
"Oh, I so don't have time for this," said Chloe as she took the safety off her weapon and opened fire. The droids this time seemed different, apart from looking factory fresh, they had a shard of purple crystal embedded where the power cell would usually be. This seemed to act as a partial shield as it took a direct hit to stop them...glancing blows were useless.
"They've got dark crystals in them," said Sonya, "Blasting will be useless. You have to smash them physically." Techo shrugged and pulled out a desert eagle handgun from his backpack and shot a round into a crystal. It took three shots but it did work. "This is bad." said Chloe from her cover before noticing the dragons looked tired...in fact she felt fatigued. "Dammit...have they got tranq gas?" she said as a laser bounced off her cover, knocking a chip off it.
"Let me handle them," said NegaMorph as he fired a stream of fangs straight at the crystals. Several of the droids didn't just crumple...they exploded as the crystals went critical. However a new problem arrived as two destroyer droids rolled into view. Their leader called "Ok...hand over the ones called Cynder and Spyro and you go free. Its your only chance."
Chloe turned to the experiments and said, "Contrinus, try to distract them. Chip, hack them figuratively. NegaMorph, hack them literally." Chip and Negamorph were about to carry out the orders when more weapon fire began, this time sporadic panic fire. Chloe peered out to see clusters of crystalline insectoid machines swarming the droids, stabbing and blasting them. The human leader fell with a shriek as the atlantean droids stabbing him in the back and neck. A few of the newcomer droids turned to peer at the group, their optics glowing blood red. The first few leapt angrily at Cynder only for a blast of ice breath from Spyro to freeze them in midair.
"I think it's time we made our getaway," said Sparx. "For once, I agree with you," said Sonya. There was a yell ahead as more of the insectoid drones detached from the walls and ceiling where they'd been sitting flush with the surface to leap out. They did however see Xephros and Matt at the end of a hall, Matt firing blasts into clusters of the droids, blowing up several with each blast.
"Well, that settles the regrouping problem," said Techo. Matt turned to look at them, revealing how beaten up he looked. He was yelling something at them. "Whats he saying?" said Spyro and jumped as a side wall exploded outward. Tuatara pushed the rest of the wall aside and stomped through, a dark grey dragon in tow.
"I think he was warning us about that!" yelled NegaMorph as he shot several nega-blasts at Tuatara. Tuatara simply soaked up the shots before firing some kind of white energy that caused huge pain to Negamorph on contact.
"Chip, you think you can disable Tuatara?" asked Wilson. Chip took one glance at Tuatara and said, "Without being torn to shreds myself? Not likely." However a few dozen drones jumped on Tuatara, having decided he was the largest threat. The mutant screamed and began trying to claw them off. The dragon however shimmered, turning into Anton. "Very nicely done." he said, ignoring the drones.
"Oh no, he's a Shar-Virk too?" said Chloe as she threw a lightning bolt at Anton. Anton smirked, blocking the bolt. "You didn't catch on that night in paris?" he said annoyingly before sending a sonic pulse down the corridor. Chloe barely dodged the blast and said, "I assumed that you a new brand of Johnson's super soldiers." "Please...Johnsons weapon programs are millennia behind us...hand over Cynder and the purple dragon..." said Anton, pulling out a ion blade with a dark grey gem set into it.
"Over my dead body," said Chloe as she pulled out hers. Anton smiled and said, "Oh, how I love that cliché. I never get tired of hearing it." Anton continued. "I have 300 years more experience then you...you sure you want to fight?" he said and lunged without awaiting an answer.
Meanwhile, Contrinus was giving Matt a quick 'patch-job'. He wasn't fully healed, but at least he could fight. He jumped up to swipe a few drones aside. "I got two crystals before Tuatara turned up." he said, pulling out two green crystals. "What good are those?" asked Chip as he hotwired one to attack Anton. "The writing was in atlantean AND draconic...they're data crystals." said Matt. He heard a cry from Chloes direction and his eyes narrowed. He passed the crystals to chip. "Look after Wind...Xephros. I have to go rip Anton's head off." he said before running at Anton, transforming to dragon as he went.
Chip glanced back and saw Xephros with his jaw hanging several inches from the rest of his head. "Oh, right," said Chip, "I guess you haven't heard about that yet." Anton was about to stab Chloe when Matt jumped on his back and sunk his teeth into Antons arm.
Anton cried out in pain and flung Matt forward. Anton examined his wound before saying, "Biting, Mr. Lynch. Do you really resort to that primitive a level of fighting?" Anton suddenly smirked. "Ah yes...the final stages..." he muttered and was forced to block a pulse of plasma that Matt spat at him. Anton added "Been having headaches?" "How did you know about that?" asked Matt and Chloe at the same time. They glanced at each other and said, "You too?"
Anton laughed before sending a sonic pulse that sent the lynches flying. He ran past them, knocking Xephros and Chip aside. "Tuatara...time to go." He yelled, holding up one of the two crystals he'd snatched from Chip. "Hey! I was holding that!" yelled Chip only to get knocked aside by Tuatara and landed in an awkward position that was hard for him to get back on his feet from.
However the A.I spoke again. "Alert...Shar-Virk detected on grounds...protocol 53/1 active...self destruct engaged." "Oh, not again," said Chip as he struggled to right himself, "Does every base with an AI in it have a self-destruct mode?" Techo glared. "Who cares? Leg it." "Don't you think I've been trying?!" shouted Chip as he tried to get up only to fall back down, "Blitznak."
Wilson sighed and picked Chip up before running along. When they arrived at the hole however Anton had left the ropes in place. "Thats nice of him...or stupid..." said Techo. "Who cares?" said Chloe as she was hauling NegaMorph's weakened form behind her, "We need to get out of here before this place blows."
Matt transformed and flew up with the dragons as the others scaled the ropes as fast as they could. The group ran down the outside stairs of the archive just in time as a blue pulse shot over the rock of it, making it shudder uncontrollably before collapsing in on itself. "I hope Mr Black doesn't find out about this..." muttered Matt as the group watched the archive fall apart.
"Eh, it was ruined anyways," said NegaMorph, "Probably nothing worth anything left in there." Techo and Chip turned to glare. "It had 5000 years of ancient data in there." said Techo. "That place had vast amounts of knowledge from the past," said Chip, "all of it gone, in one minute. How can you not consider that a waste?" "Erm...Matt did it." said Negamorph before running onto the ship.
Matt looked like he was about to send a plasma ball after NegaMorph before shaking his head and saying, "Forget it. What's gone is gone and there's no use worrying over it." Matt took the last crystal off Chip and looked at it. "I wonder whats so important about this...what are you planning, Malefor?"
--
Anton stood before Malefor in the new 'throne room' he had created for himself with Tuatara. "I told you Tuatara would deliver." he said. "And indeed he has," said Malefor, "You have done well for your first mission. Of course, the destruction of the archive is not something I wanted." "So? You couldn't have used any of it...the A.I would have killed you the minute it detected you. Now...we know where the devices are...your generals will know exactly what I mean...they were the first targets." said Anton before pressing his hand to a apparent scratch in the data crystal in his hand. It blazed into life, showing a perfect globe of Avalar. Anton pressed a few images on the globe and two dots appeared on it. "There they are...two of the three Chakra devices."
Malefor's brows furrowed. "Two out of three?" he said. "The third one was moved to an orbital facility established a few years after your defeat...It must have not been added to this map...or its classified." said Anton.
"And how do we know Spyro and his friends do not know about it?" said Malefor. "They may have gotten the copy...but it'll take a genius to know what the chakra devices are." said Anton. "Don't they have one that's designed to be a super genius?" said Malefor, remembering what Shard had told him from Draco's memories.
Anton's smirk promptly vanished and said, "You're right, something's got to be done about him." Tuatara stepped up. "I will kill the machine." he said. Anton sighed., "Yeah...you'll blend in so well in a dragon city. No...we need to lure them to us." Malefor grinned, stretching what little skin was left around his mouth. "I think I know someone who would be perfect for the job," said Malefor.
Oh dear…what are these Chakra Devices that Malefor is hunting for? Find out next time.