This time, this chapter was a lot easier for me to write compared to the previous one. That, I guarantee!
Enjoy! ;)
Chapter 16: The Aurum Hive
Previously, an unlikely and uneasy truce is formed between Palutena's Army, the Underworld Army and the Forces of Nature when mysterious invaders from far beyond the reaches of space known as the Aurum suddenly arrive on Earth without any warning whatsoever. With the help of the eccentric sun god Pyrrhon, Pit and friends managed to infiltrate one of the Aurum's islands and destroy its core, stopping the first wave of attack. Now, it's time for them to take on the second wave: a massive fleet of Aurum ships in order to further cripple these strange and unusual invaders. Let's find out what happens, now!
[BGM: Aurum Hive – Kid Icarus Uprising]
"Heading out!" Pit said as he and his friends ran over to the gate…
"Whoa-oa!" only for strong gusts of wind to suck them all out into the dark skies outside. Thankfully, Palutena quickly activated the Power of Flight and the Magic Wings once the wind gusts died down, and then she sent them diving towards what they could vaguely make out as a fleet of ships below.
"The Aurum have been weakened, but not defeated. We need to destroy their fleet next." Palutena instructed.
"Understood! That fleet's going down!" Pit proclaimed as they approached the fleet, diving towards one of the ships that littered the sky.
"Take out those green targets, everyone!" following Palutena's instructions, the gang proceeded to open fire at the green targets attached to the ships as they passed through them, and by doing so, the ships were instantly left as smoldering piles of wreckage.
"Well, that was easy." Trifle remarked once they saw said wreckage above, and soon found themselves being attacked by a few Tribytes as they quickly took them out… but when they looked to their left, they saw more Aurum ships that immediately proceeded to overwhelm them with lasers, forcing them to dodge.
"There are so many different ships!" Shulk exclaimed.
"Well, yes. There are battleships, cruisers, destroyers, kayaks…" Palutena listed.
"No, I mean the AURUM have lots of ships in general. And I doubt they have any kayaks."
"There ARE a lot of them. It might be best to get you all out of there."
"I agree. Flying in the middle of a massive fleet is very dangerous!" Jewel said as a laser nearly grazed her. "And this even looks like a scene pulled straight out of a Star Wars movie!" she thought as she took in her surroundings.
"Now why would you want to do that?" Hades's voice suddenly spoke. "Where you pinheads see adversity, I see opportunity!"
"Hades!" Pit exclaimed.
"For example, this battleship looks like it could use a good home. Now's your chance, minions! It's lootin' time!" and right on cue, the gang looked over to see a massive swarm of Monoeyes descending upon the battleship. It surely was a sight the gang have never seen before.
"Now that's the largest swarm of Monoeyes I think we've ever seen…" Eleven breathed.
"I know, right?!" Pit threw in.
"Good thing they're on our side for now." Zelda said as they watched the Monoeyes swarm around the battleship, seemingly hellbent on taking it apart to rob whatever valuables may lie inside. "And it looks like they really want to find out what's inside that vessel…" Zelda sweatdropped.
"The Underworld certainly is enthusiastic when it comes to thieving." Palutena chimed in. Seeing as there was nothing they could do to assist, the gang flew away and eventually caught sight of a large metallic dome-shaped object in the distance. "Up ahead is where the battleships are being hatched."
"Uh… hatched? Don't you mean 'built'?" Eight asked with a raised eyebrow, as they were taking down some Blits in front of them.
"Sorry. I keep thinking of the Aurum as a bee colony. And if their smaller troops are drones, their ships are killer bees. If we want to take down their fleet, we need to target the source of the problem."
"Ugh, I just hope there's no Aurum queen…" Pit muttered as they flew around where they saw some Monoeyes and Miks seemingly fleeing from the scene, due to some green meteors suddenly raining down next to them. "Those meteors are kind of pretty." Pit said.
"But not when they're falling right towards us!" Trifle exclaimed, as they were trying to dodge the meteors.
"Actually, those are also Aurum troops." Palutena said. "According to my Celestial Super Scanner, they're 'Rozzes'."
"Your…Celestial Super Scanner?" Pit questioned.
Remembering what Palutena told him before, it quickly hit Solo. "Oh, I get it. That's how you know the names of the Aurum enemies." he concluded.
"That applies to all the other enemies from Hades's and Viridi's troops, too. However, you can't actually pronounce Aurum names, so as I said to you before, Solo, I took a few creative liberties."
"Smart move." Melia said. "I'm pretty sure their real names are gibberish, then."
The gang continued to make their way towards the dome, which was the Aurum Hive, but they were attacked by Quoils and Nukleens as they proceeded to take them out, and then they looked over to their right to see a few Monoeyes and Miks in battle with some more Aurum troops, only that these particular troops looked… a lot like the aforementioned Underworld troops, except that they looked robotic instead of organic. The gang didn't really notice that at first, until a certain goddess of nature proceeded to point that out:
"Hey! Am I the only one paying attention here? Look! Those Aurum 'troops' are just rip-offs of Underworld enemies!"
"What?!" the gang exclaimed in surprise.
"I gotta hand it to them. Those are some pretty decent knockoffs." Hades admitted.
"First they devour planets; now they're copying enemies? Ugh. Lowlifes!" Viridi complained.
"So maybe the Treasure Boxes and Exo Tanks Pit and the others encountered before were also copies." Palutena assumed.
"Can't say for sure."
"Full disclosure here: the Mimicuties were courtesy of yours truly." Hades grinned.
Jewel's eyes widened. "I knew it! It WAS you!" she barked accusingly.
"What – don't any of you like presents?"
"Not when they're trying to kill us!" Arusu retorted.
Soon, after dispatching some more Aurum enemies including their knockoffs of Underworld enemies, the gang was getting closer to the Aurum Hive. "We're nearing a floating island." Palutena informed. "You can hide from the Aurum fleet by taking a lower route." the gang dived into the clouds and shot their way through some more Tribytes and Aurum Monoeyes, but as they were about to make their way out, they saw three cruisers starting to crash through from their left. "Uh-oh! They've sent a destroyer in! They're destroying themselves to get to you!"
"Oh, this isn't good!" Zelda exclaimed with a grimace.
"I have to hand it to the Aurum. They don't fool around." Viridi snarked as the gang managed to fly out of the clouds, only to be met with even more Aurum ships. "None of these battleships seem to have a helm."
"And I'm not detecting any life-forms in the ships either." Palutena added.
"Something HAS to be controlling them."
"Weeee aarrrre from outerr spaaaaaace…" Hades did his best alien impression.
"Yes, yes, you're hilarious." came Palutena's sarcastic reply.
Spotting the green targets on the battleships, the gang shot them while avoiding enemy fire from them and from the Aurum troops. "It seems like awfully poor design choice for these ships to have their weak spots exposed." Melia remarked.
"Or you can just thank me for the user-friendly interface." Palutena said.
Everyone's eyes perked up in surprise. "Are you saying that you exposed the ships' weak spots this entire time?!" Shulk asked.
"I attached large markers to the ships' exteriors that connect to their engines. In less technical terms, I used my power of weak-point exposure!"
"Hey, thanks!" Pit thanked.
"Anything to help you all take down the Aurum fleet!" at this point, the gang had already brought down several battleships they came across and finally reached the Aurum Hive. "We've arrived at the Aurum Hive. There's just one problem."
"What is it?" Pit asked, not liking where this is going.
"There doesn't seem to be any way in."
"Really? There's not a single entry?" Eleven asked.
"It doesn't look like it."
"And we can't just bust in?" Arusu asked.
"We can't."
"There's a shield to protect the ships on their way out." Viridi pointed out as they flew next to a force field, where an Aurum ship started to come out of it.
"But…you ALWAYS find a way in, Lady Palutena!" Pit exclaimed. "So now what? We just go home and order a pizza?"
"I DO have a coupon…" Palutena smiled.
"You two have more pedestrian tastes than I expected." Viridi said.
"Don't curse the darkness – light a candle!" Hades spoke up. "When freaky aliens give you lemons, make freaky alien lemonade! Like…THIS!" as soon as Hades yelled that last sentence, the gang looked up… and saw a massive battleship that the Underworld Army ransacked heading straight towards the Hive.
"Wah!" the gang yelped as the ship zoomed right past them, and then they looked over and watched it impale itself into the force field.
"Well, that's one way to do it!" Eight exclaimed.
"That. Was. Awesome." Viridi awed, in complete amazement.
"Now just pass through the ship to enter the Aurum Hive." Palutena said.
"It's like a straw stuck in an orange." Viridi was still amazed.
"Commencing Operation Hive Infiltration!" Pit declared, he and his friends flying into a hole in the ship… only that its interior was entirely on fire. "Hot hot hot hot hot hot HOT!" Pit yelled as he and the others tried their best to avoid burning themselves.
Luckily, they managed to find their way out without suffering too much damage and entered the Aurum Hive.
[BGM End]
[BGM: In the Aurum Hive – Kid Icarus Uprising]
The gang landed in a futuristic-styled room with a door in front of them, and Palutena deactivated the Power of Flight and the Magic Wings. One could say that the interior of the Aurum Hive looked almost similar to the interior of the Space-Pirate Ship, only with a more ominous and sinister ambience, perfectly fitting the nature of the Aurum.
"Now that we're in the Aurum Hive, we're one step closer to stopping their fleet." Pit said.
"Right." Palutena replied. "So the next step is to shut down the hive's power generator."
With that said, the gang went through the door, going down some hallways to another door. But the moment they set foot into the next room, an alarm suddenly began to blare.
"Uh-oh…" Eight trailed off, and right on cue, the wall across from them opened and released two Quoils and Aurum versions of an Urgle and a Skuttler, as they all proceeded to attack the gang.
"You must have set off an alarm." Palutena stated the obvious as the gang began taking out the enemies.
Viridi laughs in amusement. "Maybe you tripped their smell sensors. Though the Aurum probably use more high-tech ways of detecting intruders. Like…a brain-wave scanner or something."
"No, it was probably their smells."
Everyone deadpanned unamused. "…We're just going with Viridi's statement." Melia spoke sardonically before impaling the Aurum Skuttler in its eye with her staff, killing it.
With the last enemy defeated, the barrier on the door disappeared, allowing the gang to progress. "The ship the Underworld Army hijacked was really in rough shape." Palutena recalled.
"Well, yeah. They DID crash it straight into the hive." Viridi threw in, while the gang took out some Tribytes before going down an elevator. "But on the bright side… In doing so, they lost some of their own troops AND took out some Aurum forces."
"I AM thankful for that bit of good news."
"Um, you're welcome?" Hades asked.
The gang walked through the door and made their way across the hallway, timing their runs to avoid being electrocuted by the floor. They walked out into the next room and were confronted by two Jyoks, as they first dodged their beams before firing back.
"The power generator is somewhere deep inside the Aurum Hive." Palutena let them know.
"I'm against this place. It's so cold and sterile." Viridi said.
"Oh, I don't know. It's nothing a lava lamp and a few posters couldn't fix." Pit said.
Using a jump pad, the gang made it over to the next platform, where they encountered two Aurum jars spawning Aurum Shemums. They took all of them out while being careful to not touch the electric floor, and that made another jump pad appear as they used it, and were faced with a very rickety-looking pathway.
"The path forward isn't very sturdy." Palutena warned. "You'll have to move quickly." they did it so, with the pathway disappearing under their feet as they ran on it, and made it to the top safely. There, they took care of a Baglo before dropping down a hole, where they met a new Aurum enemy: a small stand with green orbs around it.
"What's that enemy with the green dots?" Eleven asked.
"It's called a Biota." Palutena answered. "You can send its shots back at it with melee attacks." immediately taking in her advice, Eleven knocked back the orbs the Biota fired out at him with his club until it was defeated, and then the gang moved on to the next room. What they encountered next after going down a hallway were two large, rotating purple fan blades.
"What do we have here?" Solo wondered.
"They seem to be fans made of lasers." Viridi stated. "Hm. Not the most effective method of cooling."
"But they're a pretty effective method of hurting." Pit shuddered. "Specifically, hurting us."
"Good thing you're all so quick and nimble!" Palutena smiled.
The gang ran across the hall, carefully avoiding the spinning blades until they reached the door on the other side. But then, as soon as they stepped into the next room, which was a curving hallway, they all suddenly felt the ground shaking below them.
"Do you all feel a rumble?" Shulk asked.
"We do… but where is it coming from?" Zelda wondered.
"It's coming from a behemoth of a vehicle!" Palutena exclaimed, as the gang looked to the right to see a large train-like machine charge straight towards them, making them yelp and quickly step back to the door to avoid being run over. "It looks like it runs on a loop."
"As a disclaimer, your insurance doesn't cover getting run over by alien trains." Viridi said.
"Outer space IS a bit out of the coverage area."
"Is everything just a big joke with you two?" Arusu questioned.
"We're gods, Arusu. Joking around helps relieve the tension between us."
Arusu sighed and shrugged, "I guess I can't argue with that…"
They then cautiously made their way around the room, going into the safe spots to avoid the incoming train, and then they took out a Souflee and made it to an elevator that led them down to a hot spring.
[BGM Pause]
"Everyone! There's a hot spring!" Palutena exclaimed.
"Oh, yes!" Pit beamed as he and the group immediately soaked in it.
"Hold on. This is an Aurum hot spring. You don't know if it's dangerous." Viridi pointed out.
"Dangerous? Come on now. We've spent this entire story getting shot at." Jewel rolled her eyes.
"Plus, if Aurum hot springs are so deadly, why didn't you warn us in the last chapter?" Pit added.
"Because that's Palutena's job, not mine." Viridi replied.
[Resume "In the Aurum Hive" BGM]
After soaking in long enough, the gang got out of the hot spring and continued onwards, as they next stepped into a circular room with a spinning floor and an Aether Ring nearby. "Look, an Aether Ring." Palutena said.
"It's probably another cheap Aurum knockoff." Viridi scoffed as Pit hopped into the Aether Ring.
"I don't care! If it works, I'm gonna use it!" Pit smirked. "I'm an angel! And this is how we get things done!"
"No, that's how scavengers get things done. Are you a buzzard, Pit?"
"Now, now, I think we can all agree that Pit's not a buzzard." Palutena interjected. "Though I have seen him eat some questionable things off the ground…"
"Floor ice cream gives you health!" Pit quickly defended himself.
"…Who would even eat things off the ground in the first place?" Melia questioned in a slightly disgusted tone as Pit proceeded to shoot a Nukleen, with its explosion destroying a nearby Aurum Urgle and a Kolma in the process, before going to town on the rest of the Aurum troops in the room. Once the room was clear of enemies, the gang proceeded into the next door that took them to a narrow hallway with crushing walls.
"Careful you don't get squished ahead." Palutena warned. "Unfortunately, that Aether Ring won't protect you from moving walls."
With that said, the gang carefully moved around the hallway while avoiding the moving walls, and managed to get through without too much trouble. They next made it to a room with a small hole in the floor as they immediately jumped down and landed on a circular platform that was just a few inches away from the floor, and after defeating a few Aurum troops that inhabited the area, they jumped down from the platform and went into a room that consisted of a long hallway with many doors that spawned more Aurum enemies. They got rid of those as well and made it to the door at the end as they went through… where even more Aurum enemies appeared in the room to greet them.
"Wow, the Aurum really know how to make guests feel welcome." Trifle said sarcastically.
Pit and Jewel opened fire at the Aurum Monoeyes with the Aether Ring and claws respectively, while Trifle first dodged a Sio's laser before shooting it to death. Then, Melia aimed her orbitars at two Quoils and fired at them, only for her shots to be blocked by a shield-shaped Aurum enemy known as a Zrink, and so Shulk came over to defeat it and allow Melia to kill the Quoils afterwards. The next and final wave came, with Zelda, Solo and Eight shooting at the Tribytes while Eleven and Arusu dealt with a Biota by sending its orbs back at it with the swings of their club and blade weapons respectively.
"Fist pump!" Pit cheered once all the enemies were defeated, and a jump pad appeared.
"Use that jump pad to move forward." Palutena said, and so Pit got out of the Aether Ring to use the jump pad with the others and head to the door.
The next room was less of one and more of a vast expanse that stretched as far as the eye could see. Directly in front of the gang, a grind rail awaited them and they all hopped on it.
"I can't believe this thing actually fits inside the Aurum Hive." Shulk said.
"It is quite expansive." Palutena said as they continued to make their way towards the large structure at the distance, but they soon found themselves surrounded by relentless swarms of Aurum troops.
"So…many…enemies!" Pit grimaced as they tried to switch rails, but found their progress impeded by Rezdas. Just as they were about to get overwhelmed by the Aurum troops, some Bladers suddenly came into the scene and attacked the Rezdas, much to the gang's surprise.
"The…Forces of Nature?" Eight blinked.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not here to help you all." Viridi said dismissively. "It's just in my best interest to keep you alive for now!"
"Aw… It looks like Little Miss Cactus is starting to have a soft spot for Pit and his friends." Palutena smiled.
"In order words, she's having a soft spot for the humans~!" Hades teased.
Viridi's eyes shot wide. "Shhh! Keep your voice down! People are listening!" she lashed out. "Not a single word, Hades! And I'm definitely NOT doing this to help Pit and his human friends! Not at ALL!"
"Oh, really." Palutena snarked.
Trifle crossed his arms sulkily. "Hmph. Well, we're not here to help you either, so THERE!" he barked. "And I SURE hope you're not warming up to us!"
The rest of the gang sweatdropped, knowing where this was going. "Oh, here we go again…" Solo sighed.
"AAAAAUUGH!" Viridi groaned in exasperation. "I NEVER will! You humans are SO ANNOYING ANYWAYS! THIS IS WHY I KEPT TRYING TO KILL YOU!"
"Will you just SHUT IT?!" Trifle shot back. "I don't know when we will meet in person, but MAN, you're REALLY testing my patience!"
"Okay, let's stop with that, you two. Now it's not the time for petty arguments." Zelda demanded sternly, but also calmly.
"Zelda is right." Palutena chimed in. "We need to focus on taking down the Aurum right now." soon enough, the gang eventually reached a small platform, where they found another grind rail and jumped on it. "It looks like this will take you to the Aurum Hive's power generator. Destroy the generator to bring down this whole place."
"Not a problem!" Jewel exclaimed as they rode the grind rail all the way up to another room, where another wave of Aurum enemies showed up: Tribytes, a Xoneme, two Jyoks, two Zaurums, a Nukleen, a Taklax, a Rezda, and a Biota.
"It's their last line of defense."
"I dedicate this beatdown to the honor of our precious planet!" Pit declared as they all proceeded to fight their way through all these enemies.
Once they were all defeated, the way ahead opened up for the gang, and so they forged into the last door.
[BGM End]
The room where the Aurum Generator was is large, tall and cylindrical-shaped. Three different grind rails snaked erratically around this Generator, which was so bright that it made the gang cover their eyes.
"That's the Aurum Hive's power generator." Palutena pointed.
"It's as bright as the sun!" Eleven exclaimed. Despite that, the gang ran over to one of the grind rails and hopped on it.
"Whoa-oa!" they yelped, nearly losing their balance on the grind rail but managed to recover, and so they got ready to open fire at the Generator.
[BGM: Boss Fight 1 – Kid Icarus Uprising]
"So we should attack the center?" Pit guessed.
"Yes, and don't forget you can switch between grind rails as you see fit." Palutena said. "As you all know, weapons have different ranges, so feel out how far the rails are from the generator."
They decided to take in Palutena's advice and looked at the grind rails carefully, seeing which one was the closest for close-range weapons, and which one was the farthest for long-range weapons. After completing one lap and having traced mentally all three grind rails' ranges, the gang split up and hopped on a grind rail that suited their weapon's range better, and started shooting away at the Generator.
"HA HA HA HA HA HA!" but just when they thought they had the upper hand, Pyrrhon's boisterous laugher came in as he flew into the room.
"Pyrrhon? What are you doing here?" Pit asked.
"Looks like you could use a hand here, little angel and humans." Pyrrhon replied. "The heroic hand…of justice!"
"No, we're fine." Melia retorted.
But Pyrrhon ignored her and proclaimed, "Try my pyroweaponry on for size!" he then pelted a salvo of fireballs at the Generator… which in response caused three shields to form around it, while the Tribytes that were flying around the room suddenly turned red.
"What did you just do?!" Trifle questioned.
"That's…odd." Pyrrhon tilted his head.
"Apparently adding heat to heat only makes things hotter." Palutena stated.
"HA HA HA HA HA! That is to say, oops. My bad."
"'My bad'? MY BAD?! That's ALL you have to say?!" Arusu questioned exasperated.
"No. I have one more message to impart to you. I wish you luck! You're going to need it. And with that, I must leave you! Until we meet again!" Pyrrhon then proceeds to leave the room.
"HEY! Where do you think you're going?!" Arusu called out, but Pyrrhon has already left. "Arrgh! What an idiot!" he growled.
"Sorry, everyone." Palutena apologized. "Guess you'll just have to hold on as best you can."
"What was he trying to do?" Pit questioned. "Trying to overheat… the whole generator…" his eyes perked up as he gave a long, thoughtful look at the Generator, an idea sparking into his mind. "Hey, guys?" he called his friends' attention. "I think I have an actual plan."
"What is it?" Jewel asked.
"Jewel, you have your Fire Ruby gemstone, right? I want you to launch fire from it at the Generator." Pit then turned to Eight. "Same with you, Eight. Pelt it continuously with burning shots from your Palm!"
"What?!" Jewel and Eight's eyes widened in shock.
"But… we thought adding heat to it was, I dunno, bad?" Eight questioned.
"Just do it, you two!" Pit ushered.
"Okay, okay!" Jewel exclaimed, putting away her claws and taking out her Fire Ruby and using it to shoot a continuous flamethrower at the Generator, as Eight joined in by shooting rapid-fire burning shots at it as instructed, but despite that, it doesn't seem to be having any effect on the Generator.
"Pit, I don't think it's doing anything!" Eight reported.
"Then maybe it just needs a little extra kick." Pit said, and then called out to the rest of the group, "Anyone who's got any fire abilities, fire away!"
It was then that Zelda finally got what Pit's plan was. "Oh, now I get it! You want us to overheat the Generator, which should be enough to destroy it quickly!" she concluded.
"Exactly!" Pit nodded.
And with that, the members of the group with fire abilities joined in and fired away at the Generator, with Zelda using Din's Fire, Melia unleashing Flare Impulse, and Eleven, Arusu and Solo launching several fire and explosive spells (Eight would occasionally do the same thing too). With all this heat being added, it was eventually working as the Generator began to glow red before cracks started to appear, and then an alarm blared:
"DANGER! DANGER! GENERATOR OVERLOAD! GENERATOR OVERLOAD! MELTDOWN IMMINENT!" that was the cue for everyone to stop shooting it.
[BGM End]
"All right! Pulverazed!" Pit fist-pumped.
"Nice. Now let's get you all out of there!" Palutena said and extracted everyone away, as the whole place was shaking and crumbling apart while the Generator was shutting down and its protective shields fell.
It cuts to outside, where the Aurum Hive first had its walls cracking apart… and as its Generator from its inside gave away and exploded, so did the entire Hive. A black hole was in its place, which began to suck in the entire fleet, with no hopes of the ships even trying to escape its suction force, before it also exploded spectacularly. Meanwhile, Pyrrhon watched this entire spectacle unfold, his arms crossed with a smile on his face.
"And now on to the Aurum Brain… and that's where the real fun begins for Pyrrhon…" he chuckled to himself.
Hmm, suspicious…
To be continued…
The second wave of the Aurum is taken care of! Now all that remains is the third and final wave: the Brain itself! Until next time!
