Finally, I present the final chapter of Invasion! This is where the final battle begins, and get ready, this is a LONG one! 16 pages on ! I hope you all enjoy.
The skies were dark overhead, signalling an oncoming rainstorm. The first in a long time…
Years had passed since the Gem creatures had arrived on the Planet and invaded the native animals' home, and began reproducing themselves from inside the ground, sucking the richness out of the soil and turning the entire planet into a wasteland. The animals were nearly wiped out from starvation and lack of water, which had been turned filthy and polluted by the death of the Planet. It had seemed that any hope for survival was gone…
But then she did something. A Gem creature, but a kind and benevolent one, had seen the horrible fate befalling the life of the Planet, and had changed it; the pink-haired Gem had introduced a strange kind of moss to the ground, and it grew and spread rapidly, as if nourishing itself without need of good soil or sunlight, or even water. Upon sunlight hitting it, the moss sprouting pink flowers, similar to the grass lilies that one grew on the plains. The flowers sailed in the wind and spread far and wide, sprouting more moss patches where they landed. The moss cleansed any water it touched, even the oceans, giving the animals food, water, and most important of all, hope.
A few animals had seen the pink-haired Gem, and came to know her name; Rose Quartz. She was pledged as a savoir by the animals, but they still held great anger towards the rest of her kind for what they had done. It was for this reason that, among all the animals saved by Rose Quartz's moss, a leader had arisen, with a plan to fight back.
An old bull stalk-eye…
Attagornis sniffed the air as a bolt of lightning crackled against the sky. The wind was blowing toward him, bringing the sterile scent of the Kindergarten and the dreaded Gem creatures that inhabited it to his nostrils. The great stalk-eye had aged over the years of the Planet's replenishment, but he was still in his prime as a fighter, and as a leader. Attagornis then turned to look behind him at the massive army of animals gathered under his command.
Thousands upon thousands of animals made up a monumental force, both herbivores and carnivores alike. The life-giving moss Rose Quartz had planted continued to spread, but the carnivores could not eat it, and they needed all the animals to take back their planet. Thus, the carnivores killed and ate only the weak, old, or sick of the prey animals, just as they did before all this, but now the weak individuals willingly came forward and sacrificed themselves for the greater good. Their deaths were certainly not in vain.
Miraculously, at least a few individuals from almost every species native to the Planet had survived the desolation long enough to be saved, and Attagornis' plan spread to all creatures, and they gladly joined the cause.
Attagornis, with an entire planet of soldiers at his back, stood atop a ridge, poised and ready; they were about to begin their attack on the original Kindergarten, on Attagornis' former home on the plains, where it all began.
Attagornis heard a grunt from beside him. It was Eo, Arnon, and Algran, his three sons. The three of them were all fully grown now, and were just as formidable stalk-eyes as their father. The three brothers all had mates and their own children now; they, along with all the other young and their guardians, were far away from here, safe in the mountains where no fighting would take place.
Two of Attagornis' subordinates then came up the ridge to speak with him. One was a scunner, larger, red-colored relatives of screechers, with short spikes and quills down their heads and necks, and down their long, muscular tails; his name was Nokran. The other was a screecher, in fact the very same screecher who's pack had attacked Attagornis' herd on the day of the invasion. The screecher was named Zras.
Nokran explained to Attagornis that some of the soldiers were getting restless, and asked when Attagonis planned to attack. Attagornis answered, and, in his own words,
"The Gem creatures do not know we are amassing, nor where we shall attack from. They will not be expecting us. Even so, to at be the advantage we must charge at the moment of greatest confusion…" Lightning flashed ominously in the dark sky, followed by a clap of thunder.
"We attack when the storm breaks."
Nokran nodded and turned back to Zras, who headed back to the army and announced to them to charge when Attagornis gave the command. Every animal agreed, but some were unsure whether they could do it; many had seen what the Gem creatures were capable of. Zras assured them that they would all fight until they were victorious, and they had something the Gem creatures didn't; at the center of the army, a massive behemoth stood. The great beast was Naldus, last of the Thunder-walkers. At 200 feet tall, he would have dwarfed others of his kind, had they survived. Naldus held the Gem creatures guilty of his race's extinction, and, despite his kind's normally peaceful ways, he would fight to his last breath to avenge them.
Lightening crashed in the sky. Attagornis could feel that the storm was moments from erupting, and then they would charge. They would charge the Gem creatures on their own turf, and fight them to the death if they had to. But Attagornis wondered; could there be more Gem creatures like Rose Quartz? If there were, they had not disclosed this about themselves, not that any of the animals witnessed. Attagornis could not think about this now; the decisive battle for the fate of the Planet was mere moments away.
This was to be no single event; already, equally huge armies of animals, united under Attagornis, were storming Kindergartens across the Planet. Attagornis had been informed that this was where the Gem creatures' apparent leader was based. This was where they'd attack.
From their place in the Kindergarten and their flying ships, the Gem creatures had no idea they were about to face a massive rebellion, an entire planet strong, like none ever seen before or since.
Then it happened: with a crash of thunder and lightning, the storm broke, rain began pouring down.
The time was now.
Attagornis raised his head and let loose a roar so loud it silenced the thunder above. The mighty stalk-eye then leaped from the ride and began charging down the mountainside, the army following behind. Like a massive avalanche they surged down the mountainside towards the Kindergarten at incredible speed, but Attagornis outpaced all of them, his sons close behind.
Meanwhile, in the Kindergarten, a blue Gem, who wasn't currently overseeing Gem production, was looking through a telescope-like device. She had heard Attagornis' battle cry, and now saw the stalk-eye leading the enormous battalion of beasts straight towards the production site.
The Gem gaped at the sheer sight of the incredible number of animals, but she quickly snapped back to reality.
"Carnelian!" The blue gem ordered, alerting a larger, red Gem. "Alert the troops! We're under attack!"
Attagornis roared mightily, his army joining him as they neared the Kindergarten. Attagornis could see that the Gem creatures had realized the animals were attacking, and were preparing for battle, but that didn't matter. The animals were dead set on driving the invaders off their homeworld, or, if called for, kill them all off.
Then it began: a battle between two armies, from different worlds, in a clash that would determine the future of the Planet. To Attagornis, it was just like when the Gem creatures first invaded, when he had led an army of angered creatures to fight back, though now on much grander scale.
Attagornis roared long and loud, declaring his eternal defiance, as he and his army slammed into the Gem army with the force of a mountain.
Attagornis charged into the first Gem he saw, knocking it off its feet. Attagornis kept charging with the army, bringing down dozens of enemy soldiers as he went. When the Gems recovered from the shock of the initial charge was when the real fight began.
If you were among either of the armies who clashed on that battlefield, in every direction you looked you would see animals battle ferociously with Gems. The Gems fought with their various weapons, cutting down animals almost effortlessly, but the animals retaliated, using their even wider range of biological weapons and attacks to counter them.
Very soon, animals began inflicting severe damage to Gems, but oddly, to the animals, at least, the Gems did not bleed. Instead, upon being stabbed, torn, crushed, or clawed, their bodies vanished in a cloud of mist, 'poofing' so to speak. What was left were their gemstones.
Not knowing precisely what to make of this, the animals resolved by crushing the gemstones, shattering them to pieces. The animals also saw that, if the gemstones weren't shattered quickly, the Gems' bodies would somehow reform, quite the unfair advantage.
But the animals had numbers on their side. They leaped onto Gems and sunk their teeth into their flesh, poofing them. They charged through the enemy like tanks, snatched Gems in their jaws and crunched them, and the arachnid-like, multi-armed Kralarus creatures grabbed numerous Gems in their clawed hands and threw them into the air.
The many winged creatures did their part as well; where Gems were overlooking the attack on balconies, the flying animals dove at them, clawing and jabbing at them with their beaks, and the bigger ones carried off Gems in their talons before dropping them. On the battlefield, the flyers dive-bombed the enemy, and even saved fellow animals from being slaughtered by swooping in and carrying their brethren out, before dropping them back among the animals' ranks again.
The Gems were just as relentless in their fight as the animals were; valiant animals were stabbed by spears, slashed by swords and axes, bludgeoned by flails, maces, and whips, and even had their skulls crushed by the Gems' remarkably powerful blows.
But the animals would show no fear; they tackled Gems, some much larger than themselves, and leaped onto the tall, four-legged machines the Gems were protecting, bringing them crashing to the ground. A herd of lankilopes leaped and kicked at several Gems at once, a pack of scunners and screechers pounced onto a tall machine a broke open the glass shell, blood-like fluid spilling onto the ground. Attagornis, his sons by his side, tore through Gems like cannonballs; Eo leaped onto a large Gem and pinned her to the ground, before cracking her gemstone between his jaws. Arnon and Algran crushed several scrawny Gems under their feet and shattered their gems. Attagornis barreled headfirst into another Gem, poofing her on impact. The stalk-eye then smashed the gemstone beneath his foot.
Everywhere, hundreds of animals were fighting hundreds of Gems. But by far the most fearsome sight of all was Naldus.
The mighty thunder-walker bellowed echoingly, and charged through the battlefield, crushing dozens upon dozens of enemies beneath his feet. Naldus roared his rage at the Gems for what they had done to his kind, and their weapons were useless on him.
Suddenly, Naldus heard a loud noise coming from above. The animals looked to the sky, and saw hundreds of the Gems' flying war machines approaching. The flying machines fired green laser bolts upon the animals, killing dozens in mere moments. The biggest of the flying creatures attacked the ships, bringing several crashing to the ground in flaming wreckage, but there were too many. Naldus roared and charged, destroying small ships on impact with his great body.
But it was still not enough. The ground creatures too tried to fight the ships, leaping from ridges of rock onto them and pulling them down, but the Gems sent out their huge red-eye drones, which fired red blasts upon the animals.
Given enough time, the greater animals would have been able to take down the flying assailants, but too many were coming. It was then that a piercing cry was heard over the battlefield; the animals looked up to see an enormous dragon-bird, a gigantic, feathered, fire-breathing flyer, pump its great wings and soar upwards, straight towards a red-eye drone.
The dragon-bird evaded the red blasts and grappled the drone in its talons, sending it careening into a another drone, causing them both to explode. The dragon-bird then blasted a huge plume of red fire at the drones and ships surrounding it, burning their outsides to a blackened crisp. The animals on the ground all roared in gratitude for the great dragon-bird, and then every winged animal, even the smallest of birds, flew upwards and amassed in a huge army around the dragon-bird, and together brought ship after ship crashing to the ground.
On the battlefield, the Gems and animals fought monstrously, each side trying to dent the other's forces. Attagornis, fighting beside his sons, noticed several Gems attaching strange devices to the rocky cliffs, which were covered in holes. The devices then sent out a green pulse, which covered the battlefield for a brief moment, but left the animals unharmed. Animals near the walls then heard a growing crumbling sound, and the ground began to tremble. Animals looked up to see hundreds of Gems bursting out of the cliffs and immediately joining the fight, cutting down the awestruck animals in scores as they attacked.
Attagornis roared for animals to fall back from the cliffs into a formation, but his call was lost over the noise. However, the large, armored burrowing animals roared and tunneled into the ground, coming up through the cliffs and crushing any Gem they found that hadn't burst out yet. The diggers then burst from the cliffs and crashed into Gems on the ground like meteors, rolling into huge armored balls and poofing Gems in their wake.
The biggest animals charged the new Gems that burst from the cliffs, smashing and crushing dozens with ease. But even many of the great beasts were felled by stabs to the neck and side by the murderous Gems' weapons.
The Gems seemed to be gaining the upper hand, but then Naldus, enraged, charged through the masses, his great footsteps coming down on every Gem in his path and crushing them to pieces. Smaller animals clung to the backs of big chargers, leaping off to attack unsuspecting Gems. Predator and prey worked together to fight the enemy; a lankilope threw a screecher onto the back of a huge Gem, a herd of stalk-eyes threw Gems away from an injured scunner, and when a tall, muscular orange Gem wounded an old snakeraptor, a group of dozens of dull green, pig-like animals called plodders tackled the Gem and overwhelmed it, saving the carnivore's life.
The animals were pushing forward, when suddenly a bright light appeared, and animals nearby looked to see a massive, towering figure of white light rise before them, revealed to be a gigantic Gem, but with four arms, several eyes, and two gemstones on its body.
The huge Gem smashed its four fists on the ground, killing and knocking over dozens of animals. The animals were in for worse, as more Gems began doing some kind of dance with one another, and then their bodies melded together in the same white light, fusing together, before morphing into bigger Gems!
Many animals were terrified, but the leaders among them roared in defiance, telling their fellow troops that they could not give up, no matter what. The animals, knowing this, charged anew at the big, multi-limbed Gems with a collective roar of fury, leaping and charging into their towering foes in the dozens.
A group of herbivores and scavengers led by a scunner pulled a towering, six-armed Gem to the ground where it vanished, turning back into the original Gems, which the animals quickly poofed and shattered. The animals roared triumphantly, but then another glow appeared behind them. The animals turned to see an incredibly massive fused Gem appear, with dark green skin, a multitude of arms and terrifying eyes. The enormous Gem laughed wickedly, and was about to smash the animals with its huge fists, when a thunderous roar from behind the animals stopped her.
Naldus the thunder-walker emerged from the smoke and dust from the crashed ships, staring into the eyes of the Gem, just as massive as he. The monstrous Gem growled, but Naldus bellowed in opposition. He would not back down. The Gem stepped toward him and readied its multiple fists, but Naldus roared and stomped the ground, and charged the towering Gem head on.
Down below, Attagonis and his sons were leading a battalion towards the Gems' base in the Kindergarten, intent on destroying it and driving them away. On the way, however, the animals were met with fearsome rebellion by Gems, but many animals broke off to fight them, protecting Attagornis.
One large, orange Gem was in their path; she was an experienced warrior, and she recognized that Attagornis was leading the charge. The Gem summoned her weapon, a crasher helmet, and charged at the stalk-eye, intent on killing him.
A rockhorn, a pachycephalosaurus-like animal, saw the huge Gem about to attack. The rockhorn snorted and charged onto the scene, pushing Attagornis out of the way, and charged at the Gem, a huge crash echoing on the battlefield as they slammed heads, stopping each other in their tracks.
The rockhorn snorted and the orange Gem growled as they locked heads. The rockhorn was much smaller than the Gem, but he held strong, allowing Attagornis and his battalion enough time to pass and continue their charge. His strength beginning to falter, the rockhorn tried desperately to keep his feet on the ground, shutting eyes tightly to concentrate. Suddenly, the rockhorn felt himself hit by a powerful force, enough to knock him away from the Gem and land in the dirt. The muscular Gem had punched him in ribs, and now was smiling evilly at her fallen adversary.
The rockhorn moaned in the ache of the Gem's blow, but he had to keep fighting. He tried to stand, but his legs would not hold him. He could hear the Gem's wicked laughter, mocking him. The rockhorn then closed his eyes and focused on something; his mate and young. He had lost them in the suffering times, and he could do nothing to save them.
But now was his chance to exact retribution on the aliens who had killed them, and help save the Planet, for them.
Eyes narrowed in righteous hate, the rockhorn found the strength to stand, and he roared with the fury of a thunder-walker at the Gem. Scowling, the Gem charged the animal again, but the rockhorn did not charge her. He stood still, eyes closed, and waited.
Seconds before the Gem ran into him, the rockhorn ducked, dodging her attack, and slammed his armored head into the Gem's midsection, the sheer force of the impact knocking her over a hundred yards and into the ground. The rockhorn snorted at her before running back to the animals' ranks, rejoining the battle and roaring Attagornis' name.
It was now that several Gems realized that the Attagornis was leading the entire attack, and attempted to kill him. But animals would jump in front of Attagornis and take the blows, many sacrificing themselves.
Attagornis leaped onto a large Gem, clamped his jaws onto its arm and poofed it singlehandedly. Another tried to club him with a spiked mace, but Nokran roared and pounced on the Gem from behind, grappling her in his fanged jaws. Zras screeched at a short Gem and clawed at its body until it poofed, and threw the gem into the air where Eo caught it and crushed it between his teeth.
As Attagornis ran with his followers, he took solace in that he could see no Gem resembling Rose Quartz on the battlefield. Good. He wanted the good samaritan Gem to be far away from here, away from all this fighting and killing of both armies. Attagornis rammed a Gem out of the way, but then, too late, his left eye saw a skinny white Gem throw her spear straight for his neck.
A roar of pain was heard, not from Attagornis, but from Arnon! Arnon had leaped in front of his father and pushed him away at the last moment, the spear grazing his back. Attagornis, Algran, and Eo honked in shock, but then Arnon stood up and charged the white Gem. Attagornis roared for his son to stop, but his cries fell on deaf ears.
Arnon roared monstrously, and, frantic, the white Gem produced a second spear from her gem moments before Arnon leaped at her. Arnon gave a sickening cry of agony as her spear pierced his chest.
Attagornis roared in horror as his son fell to the ground, a bleeding gash in his chest. The white Gem quickly fled, but Attagornis cared not about her. The stalk-eye ran to his son, Algran and Eo following. The animals in Attagornis' battalion hurriedly surrounded the four stalk-eyes in a circle formation, keeping all Gems at bay.
Arnon was fatally wounded, blood gushing from his chest. The Gem's spear had missed his heart, but had stabbed into his lung. He was bleeding out quickly.
Attagornis looked down at his son, mortified. Eo and Algran were no different. Arnon groaned, his voice wheezing and pained, and looked up at his father and brothers. He knew he was dying.
Attagornis' eyes began to fill with tears as he looked in Arnon's eyes, which were slowly fading. The noise of the battle surrounding them faded to nothing as the stalk-eye slowly died. Attagornis shut his eyes tightly, and pressed his snout to his son's, and Eo and Algran did the same. Arnon, blood beginning to leak from his mouth, found the strength to smile at his father and brothers for the last time, before closing his eyes and breathing his last breath.
Arnon's head fell softly to the ground. Attagornis closed his eyes, and his tears dripped onto his son's lifeless body. Attagornis then raised his head, and roared long and loud. His cry echoed over the battlefield, filled with pain and sorrow. Algran and Eo joined him, mourning their brother, a death brought on by war.
Attagornis opened his eyes, and looked out across the battlefield. Both the animals and the Gems still battled fearsomely, none willing to back down. Attagornis, his heart burning with anger for what these aliens had done to his planet, roared furiously. Now, it was personal.
With a thunderous roar, Attagornis charged back into the fray, Algran and Eo by his side, and his battalion of warriors behind him, ready to give their lives in battle.
Gems attacked and tried to kill Attagornis in the dozens, but the enraged bull stalk-eye showed no fear and charged with the force of an avalanche, crashing into hundreds of Gems and poofing them from the sheer force of the impact. Shattering another gemstone, Attagornis, his warriors at his side, roared long and loud, declaring that he would never back down.
The ground cracked and trembled underfoot as Naldus and the enormous fusion Gem clashed in a battle akin to that of the gods. The Gem had a multitude of arms and fists at her disposal, but the thunder-walker was even greater in strength, and determination to avenge the death his species.
Naldus groaned as the Gem brought three of her clenched fists colliding with his skull, and retaliated by hitting her with his sheer bulk. The Gem tried to push back, digging her feet into the ground, but Naldus roared and held strong with every fiber of his being. The Gem faltered in her grip, allowing Naldus to shove her forward and throw her into the side of a cliff.
The Gem growled in rage, her body contorting in instability briefly.
"That all you got?!" she taunted. Naldus, eyes narrowed in defiance, roared back, and the clash of the titans began anew.
Attagornis roared triumphantly as he crushed another Gem beneath his feet. His huge battalion was storming the inner areas of the Kindergarten, and there was a bigger concentration of Gems here to protect the base. But that mattered not to Attagornis, who was dead set on avenging his son, and freeing the Planet as a whole.
The animals were pushing back the Gems, and more and more soldiers were still charging into battle. Gems were being poofed in the hundreds. They tried retaliating with their weaponized air vessels, but the legions of winged beasts, led by the bold dragon-bird, brought the fight to them.
Meanwhile, at the center of the Kindergarten, a large ship/base hovered just above the ground, guarded by numerous large, armored Gems. So far the animals hadn't reached this sector yet, but they were rapidly advancing.
In one of the ship's many rooms, a tall, slender, Gem was pacing. She was primarily dark yellow in color, with a yellow gem on her chest. She had spiked hair and yellow eyes, as well.
The yellow Gem wore a disapproving glower. Somehow, the lower life forms native to this planet had survived the Gems' harvesting of the ground's natural resources for Gem production, decimating the surface. Now the life forms were attacking in a massive rebellion, and she had received word that this same instance was occurring in almost every other Kindergarten the Gems had established on his planet. The yellow Gem had no idea how these creatures had gained such powerful numbers. Her scouts had informed her that they'd observed large herds of these creatures feeding on huge fields of some kind of mossy plant, which should not have been possible, since there was nothing for any plant to nourish itself on anymore.
The Gem leader had no idea where this strange moss had come from, but she had a theory…
The Gem's thoughts were interrupted, however, when the communicator on her wrist bleeped. A holo-screen appeared from it, a transmission from the battlefield.
"Yellow Diamond!"(Like I needed to say it) The green Gem on the screen called in distress, fighting surrounding her. "We're getting blasted out here! These things are relentless!
"Deploy the Red Eyes." Yellow Diamond said, her voice stern and unwavering.
"We DID!" The green Gem, very stressed out, replied. "The enemy's air soldiers are taking them down in scores!" A piercing screech followed by a crash were then heard on the monitor. "We need to retreat!"
"No." Yellow Diamond said coldly. "Keep pushing forward; don't allow the attackers to reach the base."
"Um…" The green Gem said nervously. "About that-" But she was suddenly attacked by a huge, wolf-like animal, and the screen turned to static. Yellow Diamond scowled as the screen dissipated. She despised when lower life forms rebelled. It happened more often than you'd think, and it was a constant thorn in her side. Rebellions were normally crushed easily, though, but this one had erupted out of nowhere.
Suddenly, an alarm began to wail. "Alert!" It went. "Alert! The enemy is upon us!" And the base gave a tumultuous lurch as several huge animals body slammed it.
Attagornis roared as he and the army of animals following him charged the Gem base, poofing and shattering any guards that opposed them. Attagornis roared a command to a group of rockhorns, and they bashed their heads into the main entrance of the ship, busting it open. Attagornis ran through into the ship, leaving the others to hold off the Gems outside long enough for him to kill their leader. Eo and Algran wanted to go with their father, but he ordered them to stay back; he wouldn't lose any more of his loved ones today.
While Eo and Algran held the line outside, Attagornis charged through the halls of the ship, poofing any Gem that interfered but not wasting time to shatter them. He had to take out their leader, and then they would leave the Planet. Attagornis searched room after room, engaging Gem after Gem, but not once did his strength falter.
Attagornis then crashed through a door to an empty room. There were no Gems, but his keen nose detected something. Attagornis searched the room for anything of use, and accidentally pressed a panel on the wall, causing a small compartment on the wall nearby to open.
Attagornis peered into the opening, and what he saw astounded him; inside the compartment, nestled in a blanket of some sort, a clutch of shiny, spherical, brightly colored eggs lay.
Truthfully, Attagornis wasn't sure what the orbs were, but eggs was the first explanation that came to mind. The eggs were varying shades of magenta-red, with a small few bluish-white, and a single lavender, nestled in the center. Attagornis wasn't sure what to do at the moment, but then he saw movement behind him, and turned to see a pair of Gems, one magenta, one blue with a white tinge, enter the room and gasp at him.
The stalk-eye was reminded of that day, all those years ago, when the Gems had first invaded, and his three sons, mere hatchlings, were threatened by Rose Quartz. The situation was now reversed, with Attagornis as the threat to precious life, still developing. The stalk-eye breathed softly and closed his eyes; he would be no part of this.
Head down, Attagornis made no sound as he ran past the two Gems into the halls, going back to his mission without a thought and leaving the Gem pair and their unborn young alone. He hoped desperately in the back of his mind that the Gems would leave peacefully.
"Fluorite! Tourmaline!" Yellow Diamond's voice sounded on the magenta Gem's wrist communicator, surprising them both.
"Y-yes, Yellow Diamond?" The Gem named Tourmaline answered.
"The guards informed me of an incursion; have you located anything?"
"Um…" Tourmaline pondered, looking at Fluorite, the blue Gem. "N-no. We haven't found anything yet."
"Hmm." Yellow Diamond said, but she was interrupted by a crash on the door to her quarters. Yellow Diamond turned to see a furious bull stalk-eye burst through the door panels and stare her in the eye, breathing heavily.
For a moment, Yellow Diamond and Attagornis stared at one another intensely, before Attagornis roared ferociously and charged. However, Yellow Diamond vaulted straight up, evading the attack. Attagornis skidded to a halt and turned to face his enemy as she landed adjacent to him. Attagornis snorted and charged her again, but again she evaded his attack, leaping to the side with her superior agility. Attagornis growled angrily, only to hear his adversary laugh coldly.
"So this is the ringleader behind this whole thing," Yellow Diamond taunted with a sinister grin. "I must say, I'm unimpressed." Attagornis growled and roared at the Gem again, aiming another charge, only to again be avoided at the last moment. Yellow Diamond only laughed. Attagornis, exhausted by the battle effort, was quickly losing control.
"Such a lowly life form," Yellow Diamond spat. "Organizing such an attack. Indeed, it is impressive. But now you are finished." Yellow Diamond pointed her fist at Attagornis, and from her wrist came yellow gem shards. Attagornis hastily dodged the sharp shards, his energy beginning to falter. "Putting up a fight is futile. I can already see you weakening." The Gem said, grinning sinisterly and revealing her sharp teeth.
Attagornis, panting, roared defiantly at Yellow Diamond. She merely snickered and unleashed her barrage of shards upon him, not even bothering to summon her gem weapon. Attagornis dove and swerved to evade getting stabbed, and bellowed in pain as several shards pierced and grazed his hide, drawing blood. Furious, Attagornis roared monstrously at Yellow Diamond. He then charged again, and snapped his jaws at her, but she evaded every blow he could deliver, before finally punching him clean in the jaw.
Attagornis roared in pain as the force of the punch sent him reeling to the far wall. He groaned, trying to get up, but he felt Yellow Diamond's foot descend upon his neck, pushing him down.
Yellow Diamond grinned wickedly. "I must say, you intrigue me, beast; none have lasted this long against me in single combat before. But now, you will die." Attagornis, his eyes wide with terror, watched helplessly as Yellow Diamond's gem began to glow. Attagornis could do nothing as Yellow Diamond prepared to end his life. It was over. He had failed.
But, before Yellow Diamond could reveal her gem weapon to murder Attagornis, an enraged howl echoed through the halls of the base. Yellow Diamond turned to see four snarling beasts bust through the wall and charge at her. Attagornis was just as shocked; it was Eo and Algran, with Nokran and Zras by their side!
Having been caught off guard, Yellow Diamond hesitated for but a moment, but it was all Zras needed to spring onto her back and attack with his claws.
"Get off of me!" Yellow Diamond shouted, landing a punch on the screecher. But Zras had distracted her long enough for Norkran, Algran and Eo to ram her, freeing Attagornis.
Yellow Diamond hurriedly regained her footing, only to be whacked in the face by Nokran's tail. Yellow Diamond growled, beginning to lose her patience, before Zras clamped his jaws onto her arm. She tried to shake him off, but was rammed over by Algran. Algran went for Yellow Diamond's gem, but she punched him off of her and stood back up. She was very angry now.
The four animals stood together, defiant to the end. They roared at Yellow Diamond, who responded by activating more gem shards and hurling them at her enemies. Zras pushed Attagornis out of the way, taking a shard straight to the eye.
Zras screamed in agony, and Eo roared at Yellow Diamond and charged, but ended up being bombarded with shards, slashing his flesh in numerous places. Yellow Diamond grinned evilly as Eo fell to the floor.
Attagornis' eyes narrowed in unfathomable rage. He roared so loud it shook the entire ship, and charged towards Yellow Diamond like a bolt of lightning, giving her no time to react as he slammed into her, taking them both to the ground.
Yellow Diamond opened her eyes to see the most enraged stalk-eye pinning her to the floor. Attagornis roared incredibly loud into her face, his cry laced with hatred. The two enemy leaders stared into the others' eyes, both bent on ending the others' life by any means possible.
Attagornis was ready to finish her right then and there, when Nokran cried out, warning that dozens of Gem soldiers were pouring down the halls straight towards them. Attagornis paused; the four of them were tired, beaten, and bloody, and Zras had taken a shard to the eye. They had no chance against an army of Gems on their own. They had to get out, now.
Attagornis stared Yellow Diamond in the eye for one final time, the message clear that, if not for the circumstances, he would have killed her.
Attagornis than roared to retreat before leaping off Yellow Diamond and scooping the injured Eo onto his back with Algran's help. Nokran grabbed Zras gently in his clawed hands and set him on his back. The five animals then hurried to leave the chamber, running down the hall to escape.
Yellow Diamond stood to her feet as they left, glaring at the animals. This was not over yet…
The ship suddenly gave a tremendous lurch, throwing Attagornis, Algran, and Nokran as well as several Gems off their feet. After recovering his stance, Attagornis roared for the other to get back up, and hurry.
Outside, Naldus still clashed with the gigantic fusion Gem. She had knocked him into the Gem's base, laughing maniacally as the thunder-walker fell to the ground. But Naldus would not give in. He willed himself to stand again, and roared deeply at the huge Gem. She scowled, growing more impatient by the moment, and charged him. But Naldus was ready. He leaned forward as she crashed into him, forcing all his weight against her and the ground.
Naldus then forcibly hit the Gem with his skull, the blow knocking her into a cliff side. Before she could stand up, however, Naldus reared up and came down on her with his forefeet, pushing down hard on her with all his might. The giant Gem tried to retaliate, but Naldus focused all of the sheer immensity of his being down onto her, pushing her further into the ground. Then, in a show of such power and force twas thought only a moving mountain could muster, Naldus, in a tremendous explosion that engulfed the entire surrounding battlefield, poofed the fusion Gem, the several gems forming her crushed to dust under Naldus' feet.
Gems and animals alike stopped fighting to stare in awe; Naldus stood to his full height, turned to the sky, and roared long and echoing in victory, his great cry being heard as far as the next Kindergarten over, the animals there joining him.
Attagornis leaped out of the Gem base in time to see Naldus' triumphant roar, and joined in himself. Algran and Nokran followed, Zras laying on the scunner's back. By now the animals had pushed back the Gems to their bases, and many were retreating to their ships and taking off. Attagornis even saw a herd of animals swarm a small ship that was in the process of lifting off, overwhelming it and pulling it crashing to the ground.
Attagornis then heard a loud noise from behind him. He looked to see the main base taking off with the others, and he smiled. The Gems were leaving. As the ships all flew upwards into the sky, the animals all cheered at their victory; finally the Gems were leaving. Attagornis could see hundreds more ships flying in their direction, and joining up with the main fleet. The rebellion was successful; the other GEms were all collectively retreating from the animal armies' wrath. Attagornis led the animals in a roar of victory, but it would be short lived...
Aboard Yellow Diamond's ship, as it returned to Gem Mother Ship high above, the Gem leader glared down at the animals below from the front of the ship.
"Onyx.." She said, alerting a large, black soldier Gem.
"Yes, Yellow Diamond?"
"Fire the prototype weapon on them." This statement seemed to unnerve Onyx, as she hesitated with her reply.
"But, that...it hasn't even been tested yet! We can't-"
"I said," Yellow Diamond interrupted, venom in her words. "Do it." Onyx hesitated, before eventually responding.
"Yes, Yellow Diamond."
Attagornis watched as the Gem ships returned to their huge mother ships miles above. Eo and awoken, and stood by his father's side with Algran and Nokran. Zras was being looked after by some of the others while he recovered. The animals all cheered and celebrated their victory, but the dominant feeling among them all was relief, relief that no longer would the Gems plague their world and kill them off. At long last, the Planet was free.
Suddenly, however, Attagornis saw something big emerge from the front side of the center ship, pointed directly at them. The other animals noticed too, even the dragon-bird descended to see what was up.
The metal claws of the thing then spread open, and a strange orb of blazing green energy began to form between them, expanding rapidly. Attagornis had a very, very bad feeling.
In an instant, the energy orb burst into a green death-ray, hurtling straight towards the animals and turning the sky a sickly green. The animals all roared in horror; this was Yellow Diamond's plan. If she couldn't have the Planet, she'd make sure Attagornis didn't, either.
Every animal was frozen in terror as the glowing ray of death bared down on them with frightening speed. Attagornis, knowing that this was the end, looked at his two remaining sons. They too knew, and thus, the three stalk-eyes closed their eyes tight and huddled together. They would die as a family.
Suddenly, over the sound of the green energy ray, a thunderous roar was heard, and all turned to see Naldus thundering across the battlefield directly in the path of the beam!
He roared to all the other animals, commanding them to get far behind him. Not having a choice, the animals are crowded beneath the thunder-walker's shadow as the beam of death rapidly approached.
At the front, facing the death ray, Naldus stood strong and roared, stamping his feet on the ground.
In seconds, the green blast struck, hitting Naldus directly. But, to the animals' and Gems' wide-eyed astonishment, the blast did nothing to Naldus! The thunder-walker roared as he was bombarded by the ray, but the green light was instead absorbed into his body, causing the green energy to reverberate in a blazing halo around Naldus' being.
Of course! Because of their huge size, thunder-walkers were often in danger of being struck by lightning during storms. Thus they had the ability to absorb high energy strikes with no ill effects, and it gave them extremely amplified strength and energy for a short time. Naldus was absorbing the energy blast, saving the animals from annihilation.
Naldus roared, the sheer power of the reverberating energy within him causing him great agony, and shaking the ground beneath him. Naldus then opened his eyes, and focused every fiber of his being. Naldus then raised his head towards the sky, and concentrated all the chaotic energy within himself into a single, massive pulse.
In her ship, Yellow Diamond's eyes widened in shock.
"In the name of-" Was all she had time to say before Naldus let loose a sky-rattling roar that unleashed a massive, 2nd burst of energy that shot back toward the Gem ships, obliterating several on impact, and it was only by rapid evasion that Yellow Diamond's ship was not among them.
Several ships were blown away by the blast, and hundreds of animals were knocked off their feet. The light was even seen all the way into the mountains by Attagornis' grandchildren. The blast was so powerful that it shot straight into outer space, so powerful that it even nudged the entire planet a few inches closer to its sun.
The energy then burned out of Naldus, and the sky returned to normal, and the ground stopped shaking, except for the huge rumble that came as Naldus collapsed to the ground.
Up in her ship, Yellow Diamond, her eyes wide in shock at what had just happened, stared down at the animals. After several moments, she gave the order to take off, and leave the Planet behind.
The animals could see the Gem ships leaving, but all attention was on Naldus, who lay still on the ground. The massive amount of energy being absorbed and released into and from his body so rapidly had drained him completely. Attagornis came up to Naldus, who turned his head slowly to return the stalk-eye's gaze. In that moment all the animals knew that Naldus was dying. The brave, selfless thunder-walker, the only one of his kind remaining, had sacrificed himself to save them all.
Naldus and Attagornis bowed their heads to one another in a final show of respect, and then, his strength gone, Naldus rested his head on the ground, drew his final, great breath, and closed his eyes for the last time.
Every animal bowed their heads in sorrow as the great one's life peacefully left him. And then, Attagornis roared, long and loud into the sky, honoring the death of a such a valiant creature, who sacrificed his life for his fellow animals. Eo and Algran were the first to join their father, and then Nokran and Zras, and then all the animals that had survived the great battle. Their roars were heard in the next Kindergarten, and, knowing that they too must honor the fallen hero, the animals of that army joined in as well, and their roars were heard in the next Kindergartens, until the entire planet itself echoed with the roars of millions, honoring the bold sacrifice of the last thunder-walker.
As the Gem ships began to leave the upper atmosphere, Rose Quartz, from her quarters in the mother ship, could hear the sorrowful roars, and she smiled softly. Now, the animals were free, and their homeworld was safe.
When the great Naldus had been rightfully commemorated, the rain stopped pouring, and the sun came out, bathing the Planet anew in its light. Attagornis and his sons smiled. Now, they were free. They were all free. The Planet was freed from the evil grasp of the Gems, and the animals could all awaken and live again.
Finally it was all over. They had won.
It's DONE. Finally, it's finished! GodDAMN, you guys, this was agonizing to finish. But it was all definitely worth the effort. But hold up, it's not done yet! There is a short epilogue coming next chapter, which I am posting right after this one. Don't go nowhere!
And yes, I do support Gem Egg Hell! But those are geodes Attagornis finds, not actual eggs. There's a whole tumblr post explaining this, so I won't.