Dawn broke. As the sun made its way above the horizon, so did the armada. Accompanying the Artemis were many large ships and bombers. Painted on the sides was the diamond, eye-shaped insignia that made up the regime's symbol. On the bottom read the city's motto:
"Contrôleest la liberté.
La liberté, c'est le chaos."
On top of the wall stood several soldiers carrying large banners with the same insignia as on the fleet. The regime had made their stand; the battle was about to begin.
In the cockpit of the Artemis, Will and Mackie were prepared to make the first strike.
"Shall I give the orders, my liege?" Mackie asked.
"Not yet, Admiral." Will said. "Wait until they assemble, give them a false sense of hope. Then strike when they're the most vulnerable."
"Yes sire." Mackie said.
"Assemble the provincial leaders." Will said. "I have my own speech to give."
"It's done." Mackie said as he walked off the bridge into the following room.
Once Mackie was out, Will made across to the center of the bridge and punched in a few commands on his wrist computer.
Back on Lyoko, Olivia, Caleb and Isaac were scaling the walls of the massive room, all the way down to the platform below.
"I don't understand." Isaac said. "How are we supposed to destroy an entire virtual environment from the inside?"
"Lyoko is powered by a single core hidden somewhere in the sector." Olivia said. "If we take the core and destroy it, it'll trigger a chain reaction that will destroy Lyoko and XANA and put Will's plan to an ultimate end."
"Sounds easier said than done." Caleb said.
"Hey, you got us this far." Olivia said.
"Shh, do you hear that?" Isaac asked.
As they stopped talking, they listened as the soldiers appeared to be chanting. Taking a closer look, they saw that the three leaders made their way to a large podium in front of them. Appearing in front of the podium was the holographic image of Will V himself. The three realized that he was about to give a speech.
"Greetings, loyal crusaders!" Will said. "Together, me and XANA have achieved more than we ever hoped. We've taken the scum of our city; molded it into a new breed of warrior that will undoubtedly bring about the end of this era. Not to mention, ridded of the false hero who sought to oppress us once more."
The crowd just cheered.
"My newest creations, let there be no doubt that Project Apocalypse is now underway and the beginning of the new age of man is finally within eyesight!"
As the crowd cheered more, the ground below began to shift as they felt all of Lyoko seemed to be moving in one direction.
"You don't think…" Isaac said.
"He's taking all of Lyoko to the portal." Caleb said.
"And unlike our selfish ancestors, who hid our world from themselves, I will unite all our worlds as one!" Will continued to speak. "And whatever we inherit, once we eradicate the remnants of humanity, there, our utopia will flourish. There, we can prosper and live in harmony as the world is razed and rebuilt anew. My family's legacy is now complete, the root of all chaos and corruption will die with humanity and I, as your leader, will make it my duty to ensure harmony as long as the Earth shall live!"
The crowd erupted in thunderous applause as Will spread open his arms to bask in the glory. The hologram disappeared and the army got into position.
"We gotta get going if the world stands a chance." Caleb said.
Isaac and Olivia just nodded as they scaled down the wall.
Back on the Artemis, in one of the many prison cells, the prisoner who had Caleb's knife continued to examine the object. After a while, something came to his mind.
"Aggh!" He screamed, hoping to attract the attention of the onboard personnel. "My chest. Oh God, my chest."
"Hey, quiet in there!" One of the guards shouted. But the man continued to scream in false agony.
"I said keep it down, lest you be brought for torturing." The guard continued.
Still, the screaming continued.
"That's it!" The guard said opening the cell door and walking in. "Hold still so I can teach you some respect!"
Immediately, the prisoner unclutched his chest and stabbed the knife into the throat of the guard. The guard let out a dying scream as he collapse in pool of his own blood. The prisoner then took the guard's master key and walked out of the cell.
"My fellow slaves!" The prisoner said. "Today, we stand for ourselves. No longer will we bow under the threat of becoming a faceless soldier serving the regime! Here we stand, although outnumbered, we stand ready to fight and take this wretched ship down!"
"But how will we do it?" Another asked.
"I've seen arms stored in the medical labs on the other side of the door." Said another prisoner. "If we can get there, it should be easy the rest of the way."
"Then it's settled." The lead prisoner said pressing a button on the key and opening every cell door. "Today, our revolution begins!"
The prisoners then cheered as they stampeded out of their cells and ran to the edge of the room where they faced a locked door.
"Allow me." One prisoner said as he opened a panel on the side and messed with the wiring. After a few tweaks and hacks, the sound of the metallic bolts unlocking echoed across the room and the door slid open.
Immediately, the remaining medical staff turned and noticed the escaped prisoners. Their first instinct being to put them down, the medics ran towards the nearest weapons they could find. However, one of the prisoners burst a pipe causing the room to be filled with thick steam. Using the medics' confusion to their advantage, the prisoners lunged super fast at the medics and, one by one, crippled or killed them. When one tried to escape, the lead prisoner grabbed a hold of him and pinned him to the wall.
"Give us the arsenal." He said. "We know you have it in one of these rooms. Let us at it!"
"Sec…Second room on the left." The medic said shaking. "I can give you everything, just let me go."
The prisoner complied. Immediately, the medic ran off and unlocked the door to the weapons storage.
"This is ours for the taking!" The lead prisoner said as he grabbed a few firearms and ammo packs. "Take as much as you can!"
The prisoners just cheered as they raided the entire stash and made their way to the next room.
In one of the conference rooms, Mackie was already talking with the Provincial Leaders, setting up the framework for the new South Paris once annexed by the regime. Just then, Mackie heard his communicator go off.
"Talk to me." Mackie said.
"Sir, there's been a massive prison break!" The voice on the other end said. "The entire medical staff has been killed and the weapons storage had been entirely depleted."
"Send whatever on-duty forces we have aboard this ship." Mackie ordered.
"But sir, the majority of the forces, including the Grand Army, have already docked on land."
"Any defense is better than none." Mackie said. "Now do what I say."
"Yes sir."
Mackie then hung up and turned back to the Provincial Leaders.
"Why concentrate more than enough forces on some rag-tag, underfed rebellion?" Mackie asked rhetorically. "Even just one of our soldiers is more than enough to stop a bunch of prisoners."
"Then perhaps you'd like to volunteer." Mr. Dietrich suggested.
Mackie just bit his tongue; he didn't want to be reminded that he was a mere coward in a fancy suit. Nevertheless, the war was starting and he had to carry on.
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