Bandle City Outskirts

Poppy scraped some mud off of her armor as she marched forward. It had not been a pleasant trip. The carriage she had taken from Demacia weeks ago had collapsed into disrepair not a day's journey outside of the city. Thankfully, there were a number of small villages and assorted trading posts that had kept her fed and informed on recent events. Luckily, her travelling companion didn't need bother with such mundane requirements. Galio, being a mana powered golem, was a very easily pleased companion.

"It seems our brief journey through southern Demacia took an unfortunate turn." muttered the golem, his wings flapping loudly in the silence of the mountain air.

Poppy gave Galio a stare. "I didn't expect you were the type to go for dry humor, Galio. We're honestly lucky to be alive...well, I am anyway. Things are tougher when you aren't made of stone."

Galio chuckled. "Oh, Poppy. You are made of stronger stone than I."

As the strange pair declined the mountain, Poppy pointed into the distance at an oddly shaped floating object, hovering slightly above the treeline. "There it is. The Mothership. Bandle City is close…"

The Mothership was a symbol of Yordles everywhere. The oval shaped ship had hovered above the city's skyline for years now, longer than anyone could remember. Nobody could quite remember exactly where the Mothership came from, or what its purpose was, but rumors of all things from a prehistoric automaton to a spacecraft from another world revolved around the Mothership. It was the center of Bandle City government and culture. It was also very strange.

The floating golem gazed up at the mysterious craft. "With all due respect, my friend, I do not understand what your people see in that machine. It does not seem worth the emphasis you have placed upon it. It is...unnerving, to be quite frank."

Slightly offended, Poppy was about to respond as to her curiosity about what the flying rock man would consider "unnerving", but a squeaky voice from the shadows broke through the silence.

"Don't move. There are Corpseheaded Bandlecap mushrooms surrounding you. Take another step, and the poisons inside are gonna come out and end you. There's a salvo of Hextech Warheads marked on this position too, so flying doesn't mean anything, big guy."

Poppy froze. She knew how deadly serious that threat was, despite the tone of voice it can from. "Captain Teemo. It's me. It's Poppy. And Galio. Stand down." There was a tense silence in the air.

Thwip.

A quick puff of air and a wooden sound. Poppy quickly raised her shield and blocked the incoming dart, sending it careening harmlessly into the dirt. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?", she shouted indignantly. A diminutive figure faded into sight, abandoning his camouflage against a nearby stump.

"Testing. The real Poppy never would have let herself get hit by that. You didn't, so you're her." The explanation came from the newly revealed Yordle, holding a blowgun to his hip and with a belt of darts winding around his waist. "Glad to see you, then, Poppy. I trust this is the real Galio too, then?"

Galio nodded emphatically. "Yes. It is I. Do the ranks of the Alliance have shapeshifters among them, Captain Teemo?"

The Yordle's eyes narrowed. "Not sure. But it's possible. And the Scout's Code clearly states that if it's possible, it could be probable, especially when dealing with the paranormal. Chapter 7, Section 8."

Poppy felt her legs beginning to quiver a bit. "Teemo...where...is it safe to step?" She glanced around, unable to see any mushrooms, but knowing that didn't mean much. Teemo was an expert at hiding his noxious traps.

Raising one of his hands, Teemo pointed back. "Take a few steps back. I'll meet you there and show you the way through. I have to warn you, our people are a bit on edge." Poppy detected some of the scout's more friendly and personable mannerisms creeping back in, now that the danger was over. "Seeing you ought to be good for them."

The travelers carefully followed Teemo back to the city. Bandle City was rather compact, its buildings all tucked into a comparatively small area. Much like its citizens, however, the diminutive size was no reason to underestimate it. Powerful weaponry was mounted on the city walls, rockets and mysterious hextech contraptions standing silent vigil over the populace. Poppy recalled there usually being far less of these. The Yordles had clearly worked fast to fortify their home. As they approached the gates, a large robot stood before them, quivering as small licks of flame occasionally sputtered forth from an arm mounted weapon. In the cockpit of the bipedal mechanical beast sat a blue Yordle, looking rather annoyed. "Okay," he started, pointing at Galio. "You guys have 10 seconds to tell me why that freak is here before I blow him to bits."

"A pleasure to see you as always, Rumble." Poppy muttered. "This is Galio. You've seen him before, at the League." The golem raised his arms to show he meant no harm.

Rumble scowled. "Yeah. I know what it is. You saved it way back when, and it decided to spend its time protecting the tall ones in Demacia. Already made its choice. It doesn't come into our city. This is Yordle land."

"You cannot be serious." Poppy replied, turning to look at Teemo. The scout stayed silent, keeping out of the argument. "Galio and the Demacians have been friends of Bandle City for years."

"Leeches like to suck on Razorbeaks too, but that don't make 'em friends." The mech pilot sneered. "Now that the humans have screwed their world up, they expect us to help 'em save it? After all they've done? I say we let it burn, then take it back." He cocked the flamethrower in a flexing pose. "Bandle Style."

With a smashing sound, Poppy pulled her hammer from its holster. "Be silent, or I'll crush that tin can, Rumble."

"Enough of this." Galio turned. "I will wait outside. I do not wish to cause any harm...or to provoke a battle. Such would be nothing but harmful." Teemo looked up at the golem and nodded.

"You all heard the big guy. Come on, Poppy, the Mothership Council wants to talk to you. Let's get going."

The center of Bandle City was home to the Mothership, and directly beneath lied the chambers of the Mothership Council, a group of Yordles who were said to be "chosen" from birth, and their descendants. While Bandle City was mostly a self governing state, major decisions of policy and foreign relations were handled here, by these six Yordles. Poppy and Teemo stood in the center of the large (for Yordles) room, with each council member sitting in a corner of the hexagonal chamber.

"This council meeting is called to order to hear the urgent message of Ambassador Poppy." squeaked the first councilwoman, banging a small gavel on the arm of her chair. "Ambassador, tell us what you know about the activities of the group known as the "Alliance"."

Poppy sighed. "I am afraid that I know little more than you likely do, councilmembers. The Alliance has been wreaking havoc across Valoran for a month now, for much of which time I was delayed travelling through the south of Demacia and over the Great Barrier."

"That is a long period to travel!" shouted the third councilman. "Are we certain that this is not some sort of trap!"

"At ease, councilman." Teemo replied, his eyes suddenly narrowing. "I've known Poppy for years. We can trust her." The councilman sank back into his chair as Poppy recounted her story.

As she finished, she rested her hands on the podium in front of her. "And that is why Bandle City must act! We cannot sit by while Swain and his nefarious friends tear our world apart!"

"You are proposing risking Yordle lives without an initial offense." barked the second councilwoman. "This is not the League, Poppy. The dead stay that way. Unless, of course, one of those Shadow Isles abominations gets its clammy hands on them!"

"One of my daughters is a Megling Commando!" shouted the fourth councilwoman. "I would rather not have to hear news of her being sucked into the Void!"

Poppy sighed. Clearly this was going to be more difficult than she had anticipated. She silently hoped that Galio was doing alright dealing with Rumble outside.

At the city gates, the awkward silence was beginning to ring in Rumble's ears. He examined the golem with nervous eyes. "So, uh. You one of those Void things?"

"I am a golem, an artificial life form built by Master Artificer Durand."

There was a pause.

"That means no." sighed Galio.

"Does your wing always glow like that?" Rumble pointed at Galio's left wing, the runic etchings faintly radiating a yellow light.

"It does not." Galio replied, looking at the wing quizzically. "It is only activated that way in the presence of magic. Something is going on out beyond the minefield."

Rumble growled. "And nobody manning the watchtower while I'm here...dammit. The Yordle revved the engine and pointed north. "Follow me, rocks for brains. Let's see what's messing with our guys." Rumble sealed the cockpit to protect himself from the poisonous mushrooms and set out, trampling through them, leaving a cloud of gas in his wake. Galio followed from above, scanning the landscape. Hopefully this would be simple.

A hooded yordle sat in the fields, quickly deploying a set of metal prongs. With a whispered incantation, they buzzed to life, violet unearthly energy crackling between metallic hinges. "Patrolman Smiggens?" Rumble's voiced echoed through the air as he approached, Galio quick behind. "What in the name of the Mothership are you doing in that getup?"

The yordle patrolman turned, gazing at the approaching champions with vacant eyes. "The master has given his orders. He consults with forces you could never understand." The purple energy crackled and twisted as the cultist raised his hands. "We shall bring forth the abyss, and it will swallow you all!"

With a revving sound, Rumble gunned the weapons system to life. "Are you serious? A Yordle falling for that Void garbage? And here I thought Bandle City taught us better than that." He turned to galio and waved a diminutive arm. "Big guy, back me up here. I hate traitors more than weird rock things." Galio flapped his immense wings and began to cruise towards the cultist's device, but a blast of energy sent the Sentinel careening to the ground. The prongs hummed with energy, opening into a portal. The hooded Yordle laughed madly.

"Finally! We are prepared! Behold! Reckoning!" From the shimmering violet portal emerged a monster, two massive scythes mounted on his insectoid forelegs. With a chittering sound, it reared up on its back legs and began to speak.

"A new hunting ground. A new set of prey." Raising an appendage, the bug-like Void beast impaled the Yordle cultist and took a bite of his arm. "It is time to consume."

Rumble blasted the flamethrowers to life, cursing. "Of all the damn luck, Kha'zix!" As the fire licked at the beast, he continued to mutter to himself. "If there's something I hate more than bugs, it's BIG bugs."

Kha'zix let out a grunt of pain at the flames, crouching and unfurling his wings, leaping high above the mech and kicking at the cockpit. With a crunch, the clawed feet connected with a magical shield. Galio chortled. "It seems my spells can protect even the rudest of allies."

Trying to hide his heavy breathing, Rumble growled. "Yeah, great work, now get up there and bring that thing down." Galio spread his wings and took to the skies, slamming hard into Kha'zix. There was a light spray of purple blood as the monster fell in altitude, spitting with rage.

"Your flesh is hard, Galio. I shall make good use of that trait after I feast on your remains." Spikes flew forth from Kha'zix' shoulders, headed directly for Galio's wings. As the void-touched spikes bombarded him, Galio began to sink lower in the sky, his wings starting to dim. As Kha'zix dove in for the kill, a harpoon shot forth and wrapped around his leg, pulling the Voidborn off course. Rumble cackled, the electrical harpoon extending from his mech.

"Caught you, you overgrown ant! A blast of electricity traveled up the rope and into the monster, causing it to howl with pain. "Now, quick! Toss it back where it came from!"

Struggling to recover from the spikes, Galio weakly flapped until he was level with Kha'zix, grabbing the monster with both rocky arms. Feebly, Kha'zix growled at his adversary as he pushed him towards the portal.

"I will return. I must feed more. And when I do, you too will be crushed between my fangs!" With a growl, Galio gave the beast a shove back into the portal. As the purple portal vibrated and dissipated, it enveloped Kha'zix and dragged the monstrosity back through, finally settling back into an eerie calm and transparent sheen.

Rumble kept his weapons pointed at the device and fired a missile skyward, watching as it fell back down and annihilated the portal. "There…" he muttered, finally powering down the weapons system. "Gotta admit, Galio, that wasn't too shabby." He winced as he glanced at the remains of the cultist. "Poor idiot. Someone oughta tell Teemo one of his boys was a nutjob." Galio nodded solemnly and flared his wings.

"We may have more information for him as well, Rumble. When that...thing went clear, did you see what was on the other end?" Rumble shook his head. "We may now finally know where they will strike next."