Chapter 6:Titans
Fox rallied the troops on Fichina he climbed a hill from which he had a hawk's eye view of the battlefield; he watched the skies as Falco, Slippy and Rhys flew overhead. Come and get aparoids Fox thought, he watched the defenses as they were being built hurriedly, bunkers, trenches, machine gun nests and anti-aircraft gun batteries. He walked through the battle lines he climbed into one of the bunkers and waited for the aparoid armies to come. But what the aparoids didn't know was they had a plan…
Krystal walked across the surface of Sauria, she had made it to thorn tail hollow, Where are you Tricky? She walked through the hollow and headed to the cave where she last met Queen Earth walker, she walked into the cave and found no one. Krystal observed the hollow for a moment she saw the warp stone in the distance, Fox had told her about him and that he could send her wherever she needed to go. And so she walked until she reached the hill that sat beneath him she climbed up and called the warp stone, "Hey! Are you the warp stone?" The warp stone nodded and Krystal continued, "I need your help! I'm looking for Prince Tricky of the Earth walker tribe."
"So, what do you want from me lass?" The warp stone replied
"Fox told me that you can teleport people where they need to go!" Krystal answered
The warp stone smiled, "Ah so Fox, sent ya? Okay then maybe I can help." He paused, "You want to know where Tricky is eh? Try the walled fortress, I can send you there if that's what you want."
"Yes I would, very much." Krystal waited for a moment and the warp stone held out his hand and motioned for Krystal to get on. And so she did and he closed his hand and she was whisked away in a blue field of energy.
When the field dissipated Krystal found herself outside a massive fort, green grass beneath her feet tall trees around her and an Earth walker guard placed amongst them. She walked around the outside of the fort until she came upon an entrance that led to a large courtyard she walked through and onto the paved brick ground, she walked around the courtyard which was quite dull. Merely paved brick ground and large walls with a large paved road that led to much more magnificent palace.
Krystal walked down the road, she saw the massive stone door that led to the palace eight guards stood out in front she approached them they did not question her she had no weapons so she was permitted to enter. She stopped to look at the décor of the palace, it wasn't much but it was admirable, she looked straight ahead the royal throne was there but there was no one anywhere around it. Where are they?
Krystal stood baffled as she looked around the throne room not finding any trace of the Earth walker royalty. She was quickly startled by a loud thumping sound coming from behind the throne; she peered over and saw King Earth Walker headed towards the throne. He saw her and recognized her, "Krystal! What brings you to Sauria?"
"Your majesty, I've come about the war. There are things here on Sauria that could greatly assist in our war against the aparoids." Krystal replied
King Earth Walker inhaled deeply, "I don not know how I can help, but you say there things that have great power on Sauria. Which is true but I do not think any are useful for war."
"Well, could there be items of power that you are unaware of?" Krystal replied
"I do not truly know it has been a subject of great debate. If anyone is of any use to you it would be my son, you know him I believe." The King answered
Krystal nodded, "Yes I know him, Tricky right?"
"Yes, I'll call him. Tricky!" King Earth walker called.
Krystal heard a thumping she looked around the throne and saw Tricky running towards his father, he still had an orange skin color with purple stripes on his back. He'd grown almost full size his horns were sprouting and he had spikes growing along the back end of his tail, his was adorned with a few red and blue gems. Marking his status amongst the other Earth Walkers.
Tricky finally ended his charge forward and stopped by his father not taking notice of Krystal, "I'm here dad, what do you need?" Tricky asked his father
King Earth Walker replied to him, "Tricky I think you remember Krystal correct?"
Tricky nodded and he took notice of Krystal, "Yeah."
"Well Tricky she needs your help, she's looking for things that might help win the war against the aparoids. And I know there is no better guide on all of Sauria." The king awaited Tricky's response
Tricky cocked his head to the left, "I guess I could, but I don't think there's many things that could help them fight the war."
"Well Tricky I have reason to believe that there are things that can help, objects of great power lie here on Sauria." Krystal interrupted.
Tricky sat in thought, "Well, there's only one place I know to look. In the great Krazoa temple there's a big library, it's in a strange language none of our scholars can translate. But there may be information about such things." Tricky replied
Krystal observed that Tricky had matured greatly since last she saw him, even his speech was more sophisticated, "Maybe I can translate the language." Krystal replied
Tricky nodded, he looked to his father for approval he nodded back. "So Krystal let's go!" Tricky ran down the great halls and out of throne room, he looked back and saw Krystal trying to keep up.
"Tricky, if you're going to help me, please slow down." Krystal said
"Attention all battle groups! Prepare to defend Fichina! The aparoid fleet is upon us ready yourselves. All fighter wings launch! Intercept the fleet, cruisers Dionysus and Epimetheus remain in orbit, the rest of the fleet head into the battle with the flagship." Capt. Raynor ordered he set his cruiser on course towards the aparoid fleet. He steeled himself and prepared for death, "Dyson! Prepare the ATA plasma cannon batteries, Lieutenant Gracen arm the torpedoes prepare to fire on the enemy flagship on my mark…1…2…3 mark! All ships of the Cornerian fleet open fire!" Raynor ordered fiercely.
His words surged through the com on all the ships in his formation, on his words plasma began pouring out of the fleet into the aparoid formation. The fighter wings passed between the mammoth aparoid cruisers shooting down their fighters along the way to the rear of the enemy flank where they dispersed amongst the cruisers strafing and bombing the crystal like behemoths. Raynor's torpedo barrage slammed into the gargantuan aparoid flagship blasting the majority of its frontal armor away. "Hit the flagship with our main guns!"
"Captain! The Yamato, Turpitz and the Musashi have dropped out of hyperspace behind the aparoid fleet." Lt. Dyson shouted
Raynor smirked spitefully at the aparoid fleet, "Move us above the battle." Raynor ordered
Fox watched from the surface of Fichina the two fleets slugging it out in orbit, when he saw a stream of aparoid drop ships headed to the surface. "Get ready! Open fire on those drop ships!" Fox shoutedas he watched the anti-aircraft guns begin pounding away at the transports. "Get ready men, they're landing!"
The first transport hit the ground it dropped one hundred aparoids to the ground and five hatchers with them, Fox killed four of the aparoids as they unloaded he kept pumping bullets into the aparoid formations.
Falco flew overhead with a small fighter squadron strafing and bombing the aparoids on the ground. Bring it on you bastards. He flew low over the aparoids he let loose a series of plasma bolts on them striking a few of them.
Rhys flew in tight formation with Falco bombing the aparoids, "Falco I'm gonna break off and hit their artillery."
Falco didn't care he kept firing on the aparoids killing as many as he could, he saw down by the bunkers artillery shells exploding around. Fox looked up and watched Falco fly by and drop a plasma bomb on an advancing enemy group. He looked over the side of the trench he was sitting in, and his jaw dropped at the massive swarm of aparoids marching on the battle line.
Slippy watched the battle from a distance, a high ridge a mile away from the frontline with 100,000 troops and twenty thousand artillery guns. Slippy ordered the guns batteries into position to annihilate the aparoids he looked over his force he ordered the Acolyte walkers in his command to join the fight behind the artillery barrage. "Open fire!" He shouted.
The ground beneath Slippy shook violently with the thunderous blast of the guns that began a pounding of the aparoid masses; the acolytes began firing rockets into the swarms. Slippy kept watching he ordered 1/3 of his battle group into the kill zone behind the walkers he called up snipers to disrupt enemy force his com began beep, "Slippy here."
The voice on the other end was Capt. Raynor's, "Slippy we're taking heavy losses we've lost the Titan and the rest of fleet is suffering. Forty percent of our fighter screen is down. I hope the ground battle is going better. Raynor out."
Slippy inhaled deeply and squeezed off a round from his sniper rifle he killed one of the bigger aparoids that fire the black energy balls they called them 'Kull' aparoids. He looked out on the aparoid army it seemed like an ocean and more drop ships kept coming. "Fox how's the ground battle?" Slippy asked over his com
Fox sighed, "We've lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-4000 men and about 200 tanks. They just keep coming, tell Raynor to nuke their troop carriers!" Fox replied.
Raynor heard Fox's request, "Lt. Dyson fire as many 500 megaton nuclear warheads that it takes at their troop carriers and recall our fighter groups."
"Aye sir." Dyson acknowledged he issued the recall order and fire two pairs of nuclear warheads at the aparoid troop carriers.
Raynor raised Fox on the com, "Fox those are our last nukes there won't be any ground troops but we won't have nuclear options in the future."
The nukes speeded towards the aparoid fleet and impacted the troops carriers disintegrating all of them but as soon as the troop carriers were destroyed another aparoid fleet warped into the melee. "Fox another aparoid fleet just warped in we may have to pull out."
Fox grunted angrily and jumped out of his trench and poured out ammunition on the oncoming aparoid swarm…
Krystal picked up a heavy book in Krazoa library and laid it out on a table, she blew a thick layer of dust off of it, she turned the page immediately she recognized the language. It was Cornerian, "Tricky I can read these! It's in Cornerian." Krystal read the words on the page they said, This is a record of all events of this world… Krystal skipped the first several pages until she found something, In the thousandth year of this world the great Krazoa gathered in our great temple they spoke and exchanged great secrets of the elements. They spoke of this world's great magical energies that continually pushed it apart by now the spell stones had been created, but one spoke of the power to control the magic flow of energy and command it to their will.
The others laughed him down, until he used the knowledge to manipulate the spell stones to channel the power of the planet into him. He used this power to drag the moon of our world to the ground it crashed north of the Thorn Tail feeding lands. The others immediately clamored to have such powers and so they did harness the great power, ultimately it lead to their destruction and now they safeguard the world against such foul evils.
But it is said that one can still harness the great power of the magic, they say you must have the power to channel energy through your body and unleash it.
Krystal got up from the table and Tricky followed; she headed for the Oceanic Force Point temple she and Tricky headed there and arrived in an hour of running mixed with walking. "We need to get to the warp stone at the end of the temple it'll take us to spell gate where the four spell stones are kept. From there I have no idea." Krystal said she entered the massive force point temple, it was situated on a large beach out in front of it was a pier sandy beaches surrounded it on both sides and it was shaped like a Krazoa head.
The top left side of it's head was the entrance, Krystal climbed in first and headed down a short hall that turned straight to the right she kept going down the path until she came upon a large hall. In the center of the hall there was a bridge across water that led to another room, right before the bridge were four row of eight blue panels. Tricky noticed on the wall above the hallway that they entered through there was a board with an equal amount of transparent squares, "I've been here before, but Fox and I beat this so it's not on we can walk across the bridge freely." Tricky stated
Krystal walked across the bridge and as Tricky had said the obstacle was no threat and no large Sharp Claw guards were present so they made quick progress through the temple. Until finally Krystal came upon a vertical rectangle shaped room, there was a long ladder that led to a catwalk, she climbed it and walked across the catwalk and slowly the warp stone came into view.
Krystal continued over the catwalk up onto the large platform housing the clear blue warp stone, she hesitated before stepping onto it. When she did a blue energy field engulfed her and in mere seconds she found herself in another room with four bridges stretching from each side of the room to another in a cross pattern. In the center of the room a large cone shaped rock sculpture sat a large beam of white energy coming from it and flying straight up. And each side of the structure one of Spell stones sat, Krystal examined the room she focused her telepathic power into a beam and it intermingled with the white beam she felt energy flowing.
Krystal reached out with her mind to Fichina she saw the battle Cornerians and aparoids locked in a bloody melee, she called out to Fox. I'm alive she then refocused the power and directed it towards the aparoid army.
Capt. Raynor ducked from a barrage of sparks on the bridge of the Antares when his com beeped with an incoming transmission, "Capt. Raynor here."
"Captain this is SATCOM we've detected a massive energy wave headed towards Fichina, its origin is Sauria. Brace for impact in thirty seconds, SATCOM out."
Raynor raised an eyebrow, "Lt. Dyson signal the fleet to brace for impact." He looked out of the window to the left of his position and saw a massive blue beam piercing through open space. The wave approached faster and faster until it slammed into the aparoid fleet every aparoid in space was reduced to dust and the same occurred on land.
Fox nearly dropped to the ground at the sight of the aparoids simply being reduced to nothing, "What the hell?" Fox looked around all hew were his men he looked up in the skies and saw only Cornerian aircraft. I don't know how that happened but you're burning now you aparoid scum.
The Cornerian army reorganized, seventy percent of it destroyed in the battle but after several hours repairs on the Antares were complete. Fox, Falco, Slippy and Rhys returned to their flagship. Once onboard they all ate Fox went up to the bridge, "You called me up here Capt.?" Fox asked Raynor
Raynor nodded, "Fox the massive blast you saw came from Sauria, I have no idea how this happened. But I'm taking the Antares to investigate."
Fox walked to his seat on the command bridge and stared out into the cold dark vacuum of space he held a small photo of Krystal with him. I miss you; I will avenge your death. He waited until the cruiser stopped in high orbit over Sauria, "Falco, Slippy with me we're headed to the surface." Fox commanded, Falco and Slippy got up with Fox and they got in an elevator and headed to the flight deck. They all got into their Ar-Wings and flew down to the surface of Sauria.