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Chapter 5: The City
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Moving ahead, I heard the roar of an engine come closer. A jeep filled with pigs tried to run me down, as I fired my jets upwards on instinct. They quickly turned around and faced me as I landed. Spreading my legs into a ready position, I held my sword in my right hand, pointing diagonally downwards.
The truck sped at me, and I sidestepped and slashed the tires as the truck went by. The truck veered wildly and struck a tree. The three pigs in the car staggered out dazed. Two of them tried to fight back as I walked over and knocked them all out with the hilt of my sword, but they were too dazed. Continuing onward, I ran into more soldiers, each time depriving them of their armor and weapons before knocking them unconscious. Had I known exactly what was happening in the city that moment, I would have taken their lives as well; but out there I was still resisting the battle lust, merely knocking them out instead of killing them outright.
I sighed, coming across the bridge to the castle town. It was maybe a mile away now, not much further. The bridge bordered a high cliff on it's side, with a waterfall coming off the top of the cliff. Suddenly, I heard the loud roar of an engine. Sure, a few minutes ago, I had dispatched a truck, but this was much louder than the truck.
Coming around on the other side of the bridge was a tank. It wasn't a big one; just one pig was at its helm. He told me in a gruff voice either to surrender, or run. It didn't matter. He advanced on the bridge foolishly. I drew my sword, and stood at the ready. My jets were ready for a short burst and I saw my chance when he tried to unleash his flamethrower at me. I rocketed behind the tank.
The operator realized his mistake. In his zeal to kill me, he couldn't foresee that he was now stuck facing one way on the bridge, unable to turn and fire at me. He tried to plead with me; instead I whispered a short spell to myself. In addition to swordplay and jet packs, the Academy also taught some wizardry. Simple spells, really, just minor healing ones and ones that enhanced the swords we carried.
I was chanting a sword enhancer. The sword grew a deep crimson in color, glowing slightly. I plunged the sword into the tank's side, and then slashed it's treads. I started to walk off the bridge, but I heard the unmistakable sound of burning ropes snapping. It seems that both my jet blast and the tank's flamethrower had ignited the old bridge's supports, and the bridge gave way.
As I felt the timbers of the bridge give way underneath me, I started to charge my pack. Down the tank and I fell, with it's operator still inside. Firing my jets, I was able to avoid getting smashed on the rocks, landing on the side of the riverbank. Unfortunately for the tank and it's operator, it bounced off the rocks, then was lost in the deep lake that the waterfall created.
As I took some deep breaths, recovering from the recent battle, I noticed that a piece of the tank bounced near me. It must have been its battery, because six power packs, bonded together, landed near me. I looked over them most were broken. One remained intact, and I separated it from its brothers with my sword. While the power pack was a little charred, and a bit longer then the ones I was used to, but my pack would adapt.
Sliding into the slot, I noticed my situation. Damn. I was now farther away from the castle town that I just was, but I had to keep moving. I had to get to Dover, and Sherry. Taking off across the lake, and towards the castle town, I began to hear strange splashes behind me.
I looked behind. The Devindos solders had put one of their war machines in the lake, attacking the meager water patrols. Now, it was after me. What resembled a large metal snake, suddenly lunged at me. I dodged, and struck my sword as I did so. It kept lunging at me, each time I tried the same tricks, weaving and dipping, each time whipping my sword against it's head. Eventually, I hit it hard enough to jam its robotic brain, and it smashed into the nearby rocks.
Just in time too, the castle town wall was coming up. I held my sword in front of me, whispering a spell to my self. My sword became red hot with power, creating a shield of flame around me. I exhausted the remainder of the power pack, and sped up. Feeling the shield crunch against the wall, I closed my eyes.
Fortunately, the wall gave way, and I rolled into the open street. By now, the city was on fire, and most of the population had deserted. I ran stealthily between the buildings, avoiding the gaze of Pig soldiers and their machines. It took me ten minutes at a slow pace to make it to the Rocket Knight Academy.
My first priority was to make sure that my brother was safe – everything else was secondary to it. I shuddered to think what the pigs might have done with an inexperienced student like him.
Making my way to the academy, it looked like a war zone. The building was in rubble, and the pig soldiers were long gone. I rushed over and looked around. The bodies of the instructors littered the ground, long since cold and lifeless. Where were the students?
Suddenly it hit me. There was an old cellar that few knew about. Axle and I had used it for mischief and fun in our day, maybe someone was in there. With tears in my eyes, I grabbed the rubble over the cellar's trap door, and threw it away with furious energy. "Come on Dover. Don't be dead," ran through my mind over and over.
Finally, an old trapdoor was before me on the ground. I yanked the ring upward, and peered down into the darkness. "DOVER!" I shouted down into the darkness. A young adult voice shot back up to me, "Who goes there?"
"I'm Corporal. Sparkster. Who's down there?"
"Throw your weapons down, and then we'll talk." Another impudent voice shouted. I knew that voice. It wasn't my little brother, but the voice of an elder student I knew. Without hesitating, I tossed my sword down into the darkness. There was a clang of metal, and a second's pause.
"Very well. Climb down the ladder…slowly. Make any sudden moves and we gut you."
I climbed the ladder downward, and turned around at the base slowly. The whole of the students at the academy were shivering and holding their swords and some lanterns at a ready position. Upon seeing that it was a Rocket Knight, they lowered their sword.
As a student moved upstairs to close the trapdoor, Dover ran from the group and hugged me. I hugged him tight and said, "Thank the fates you're alive, Dover. You alright?"
"I'm fine Sparkster."
"What happened here?" I asked, turning towards the nearest older looking student.
"The teachers told us to come down here, and wait for them. What happened up there?"
"The pigs attacked the city." I said, watching their misbelieving faces.

"What?" asked the student nearest me.
"The pigs…they attacked the city. It's overrun, and the castle breached." Silence met my ears. I turned to the nearest eighth-year to me. "How many of the students are down here?"
"All except for the eight-years who were interning with Knights on patrol today and one seventh-year."
I looked around. Among the eight-year students I could see around me, four out of a class of sixteen remained. The other twelve no doubt had died in battle with their instructors. I sighed.
"Okay, here is what's going to happen. Do we have jetpacks and swords for you four eight-years?"
"Yes. There was a cache of weapons down here" said the earlier eighth-year.
"Good. You four are with me. We'll sneak our way to the castle, and try and make it to the throne room, to see if any of the royal family are left."
"What about the rest of us?" Asked a bold fourth-year.
"Seventh years, I want you do split the students into groups. Ten minutes after we leave, start sneaking the groups of students out of the city, and head west." I paused and turned to Dover. "Dover, do you remember that old couple we visited on the way here?"
He nodded and said, "You want me to head there, right?"
"Exactly. Regroup, five miles away from the city, at night. My little brother will lead you to an elderly couple, located in the hills west of here. Half the group head to the nearby villages after reaching there, the other half, stay hidden there."
The seventh years nodded, and one asked, "Wait, can't we help you?"
"You can, yes, but it'll be better for the kingdom if the lot of you go into hiding. The pigs will kill you if they find you. Any questions?"
"If we can't find that old couple?"
"Stay in the hills, two full days. Make sure you aren't followed. Once the two days are up, the seventh years will lead their groups away, traveling only at night. Post sentries, be stealthy. That's an order. Is that understood, private?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. Eighth-years, are you ready?"
"Let's go." Responded the nearest eighth-year.
I gave Dover a hug, and said to him, "Tell Mom and Dad that I'll be back. I promise." I could feel his eyes on me as I climbed the ladder to the outside. I felt an tear roll down my face. I didn't want to leave him, but the seventh-years were well trained – they would to see him to safety, I was sure of it.
I hit the trapdoor with my fist, and sunlight hit my face as I climbed outside. Staying low to the ground, I scanned the area for pigs.
Four eighth years and I in full armor and jetpacks climbed the ladder. I opened the trapdoor. Jumping out, I scanned the area for trouble. The pigs weren't anywhere near us, so I pulled the eighth years out of the hole. "Come on," I whispered, "The pigs will patrol this area soon. Let's move."
We moved silently into the city. Taking care to avoid the pig patrols, we moved closer and closer to the castle. Reaching the castle's outer wall, I had the eighth-years stand guard as I used my sword to cut a hole in the wall. Using the same spell from earlier, the swords mystical energy penetrated the castle wall like it was butter. Under normal circumstances, the castle would have been protected by an aura spell, but under the circumstances; the pigs probably destroyed the spell's source.
The five opossums entered with out incident. I turned to the other four. "You four start sneaking people out the back. I'm going to see about making my way up to the royal family. As soon as you get a good portion out, get upstairs. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir."