"Hey, Spire. I think there's been a problem." Noxus reported. Spire's image appeared, looking puzzled.
"Why do you think that? What sort of problem?" Spire asked.
"Well, I have intercepted a few off-planet reports. Useful for collecting evidence on evildoers and all that. One just came in and said that the Kriken Emperor and the Kriken Overlord were assassinated." Noxus replied seriously. The reason this struck him as odd was because the Kriken leaders were supposedly the most skilled and well defended krikens in the entire Empire.
"That's a good thing. Makes the Empire crumble from within, least until a new Emperor is chosen, and during a war, that could take a while. Ordinarily the Overlord would act as temporary..." Spire began.
"How the hell do you know about kriken politics?" Noxus interrupted. Spire laughed.
"It was interesting to wonder how an empire functions." Spire replied. "Besides, maybe they'll withdraw from the war."
"Fat chance." a familar voice hissed, and Kanden's image appeared. Spire yelled in shock, and Kanden chuckled malevolently.
"Kanden." Noxus said coldly.
"Name hasn't changed. Besides, I haven't done a thing in this war. Weavel won't send anymore troops into battle for some reason, and the Krikens and Federation are in their own little battle right now." Kanden explained briefly.
"Well, that brings us up to date. We haven't done anything either. It's like a videogame..." Spire began, but Kanden and Noxus both groaned.
"No more videogame references! Drek nearly killed you for overdoing them last time!" Noxus yelled. "And that was in a life or death battle!"
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Drek continued walking through the lower basement of the base. The command center, according to Drek's extensive research, should be nearby. Other than those lobby guards, there didn't seem to be anyone around. All the better, since it made the probability of detection minimal. He walked down the last corridor, smirking. It was over for the Federation. He knew they'd probably have begun evacuating a while ago, upon knowing they'd lose the battle. Humans, despite their stupidity, at least had survival instincts. He reached the doorway to the command room, which was smaller than most command rooms in his experience. Several Federation technicians worked on computers while about half a dozen officers stood, speaking into communication devices.
"Shit." one officer muttered. "Commander Grater was been killed!" he yelled. There was a great deal of shocked muttering among the technicians and other officers.
"Just not your day, is it?" Drek asked from the doorway, firing the Imperialist. The beam hit the security alarm, destroying it. The officers stared in horror, all being unarmed. There were no soldiers, and it appeared like the entire command center was defenseless, but Drek wasn't going to lower his guard. Venom krikens were usually overconfident and died because of a momentary weakness. Drek was not one to make such fatal errors.
"Who the hell are you?" one officer spat angrily. Drek chuckled, glancing quickly around the room to ensure there were no hidden weapons.
"Everyone move to that side of the room. Cooperate and you're in no danger." Drek said calmly. "Your commander was not killed by a kriken. We wanted him alive." he said, scowling slightly. That made him wonder briefly who the assassin was. As the captured officers and technicians moved to the side of the room, Drek studied one of the computers. "Ah here we go..." he said gleefully, typing a string of commands.
"That'll be all. I suggest getting out of the base. The army's about to bomb this place to cinders." Drek added, leaving the room. He heard the officers curse, and chuckled as he ran back towards the main floor. His objective was complete. The anti-aircraft turrets were disabled and the command room's password was changed, preventing any commands or changes from being made. Therefore, the entire base was an easy target.
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"Damn Sylux!" Trace cursed, running after the hunter. He knew he wouldn't catch him, but he had to try. The commander was dead, and the objective failed. Hopefully, Drek had accomplished his objective, so the mission wasn't a complete waste. Trace sighed after a minute or two. He had no idea where Sylux went.
"Hey bro. Mission accomplished. I know the commander's dead." Drek said through Trace's communication device. Trace flinched. He had forgotten all about that, he normally never had anyone to contact.
"Sylux did it. He followed us in." Trace reported, heading for the base exit. Drek chuckled from his end.
"No surprise there. The base is worthless now. I already told the troops to withdraw and prepare for a bombardment." Drek said. Trace nodded to himself, firing the Imperialist to strike a guard ahead of him. "See you soon." Drek said, ending the communication. Within another minute, Trace reached the exit, glancing around quickly. Drek appeared from a different corridor, slightly surprised to see Trace already there.
"That was fast." Trace said, smirking. Drek chuckled and they exitted the base. "Wow, tough battle or something?" Trace asked sarcastically. Almost every Federation trooper was wounded or dead. There were only 15 still alive, but they were oblivious to the krikens.
"Leave them. They're the lucky ones." Drek said indifferently, leading Trace up towards the mountain again. Trace followed in silence. From what he could tell, 50 Krikens remained alive. So 85 Federation dead compared to the 100 Krikens dead. Not terrible, but not very good, either. Drek didn't seem too concerned. "We knew we'd take heavy casualties in this battle. Despite the Federation having the disadvantage, not all kriken troops are talented with the Imperialist. They aren't elites, just normal trained." Drek explained, signalling his Kriken Force III. They boarded, leaving for the Kriken base. Trace finished up a quick report on the battle for the Emperor and Overlord. The shock was yet to come.
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Weavel chuckled slightly as he examined the report about the Federation vs the Kriken battle. As that yellow kriken had told him, the Federation had been destroyed from the inside. The commander had been killed, and also, he had received a report that the Kriken Emperor and Overlord had both been killed as well. So everything was true so far. The Empire and Federation were both crippled by the death of their leaders. The only Federation leader remaining in the war was the Admiral, and with his death, the war was over in favor of the Space Pirates. There'd still be resistance, and the krikens would still fight. However, they'd be far weaker without a strategic leader. It was almost too good to be true.
"General Weavel, we have received word that the Federation Admiral has been spotted in the area. Your orders?" the pirate officer asked, entering the room. Weavel turned to face him, laughing.
"Nothing yet. The Federation army is almost obliterated, and the krikens will soon be encountering a political difficulty. We've won with only 100 lost pirates." Weavel said. He could almost picture his glory as the ultimate general in a war against the Space Pirates' two greatest foes.
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Admiral Alan Lyte sighed. He heard that his brother, Frank Lyte, was one of the few survivors of the first battle. He had taken a risk to meet with his brother. The years of military service had taken its toll on both Lyte brothers, and he didn't want to lose his brother to battle. Admiral Lyte had approved the action of the defensive war, but that was before he heard the Space Pirates had joined in. Krikens were a threat to the peace of the universe, but had he known the Space Pirates were going to join, he probably wouldn't have agreed.
"You learn from your mistakes, I suppose." Admiral Lyte muttered. He sent a communication to Commander Grater, and to his alarm, Samus answered.
"Samus Aran." Samus reported. There was a strange tone in the bounty hunter's voice. Lyte paused a moment before responding.
"Ah, Miss Aran. This is Admiral Lyte. Where is Commander Grater?" he asked. There was a long pause, and Lyte's mind began to fret. What had happened?
"I'm sorry Admiral, but Commander Grater was killed by Sylux." Samus said solemnly. Lyte gasped. He had not expected Sylux to have been involved.
"Is Lieutenant Lyte around?" Admiral Lyte asked.
"He's not around, but he's alive. He left the base a few minutes ago. We're evacuating." Samus replied.
"Thank you, Miss Aran." the Admiral closed the communication. Almost immediately afterwards, there was a sudden explosion and the Admiral turned to see a strange, cloaked figure enter the ship. "Who the hell are you?" the Admiral demanded. The figure chuckled.
"Admiral? Your security needs so much more work. Only 20 guards? I've seen tougher bugs, Quite literally." The figure lowered the hood of the cloak to reveal the figure to be a red kriken, but with a yellow eye. The Admiral stared in surprised recognition.
"Servu..." the admiral whispered. Servu laughed.
"Indeed. Now either surrender, or I'll have to use force!" Servu sneered. Admiral Lyte was unarmed and had no weapons available. "You're wanted alive, for reasons I don't know, but don't care." Servu leveled his Imperialist at the Admiral.
"Fine." Admiral Lyte said sadly. His thoughts were on his brother, and the 20 guards that had lost their lives for doing their job. Servu chuckled and smashed his weapon into the Admiral's head, and darkness closed in quickly.
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Trek approached the Destiny Station. Before long, Servu would bring the Admiral, and Sylux would arrive. He studied the next card and chuckled. So it wasn't just the Admiral that was important. The next target was another Federation soldier, but which one was unclear. "Everything reveals itself in time. It's just a matter of recognizing the signs..." Trek mused, reshuffling the tarot deck, landing the Kriken Force I in his personal docking bay and walking down the corridor to his 'office'. As expected, it was empty. His message to Servu must have been received. He chuckled and laid his deck on the desk, considering the information that the cards had provided.
"It won't be long now. The war is already winding down. Rather than the loss of thousands in pointless battles, I managed to control the factors. The Space Pirates have temporarily withdrawn, the Empire is crumbling, and the Federation is soon to suffer the same fate. A few more matters to clear up first, and the war will end." Trek snickered.
Not as exciting as previous chapters, but the later chapters are going to be intense.