Took a day off from writing to spend time with my family since my dad left for a business trip this morning. As of right now, we're a quarter of the way through Kingdom Hearts 5. I'll be uploading a lot of chapters on Wednesday since I'll be doing a lot of writing on the plane.
Chapter 3: City of Heroes:
City of Heroes – Nomanisan Island:
"Damn those Hellfire scum," Lerena cursed as she ignored the blaring sirens while storming through the corridors of the Unchained facility. The island lair had once belonged to some local supervillain named Syndrome had used the island as his secret base fifteen years ago, but had been abandoned after his death and the destruction of his "Omnidroid." Now it was a secret outpost for the Unchained Legion. The facilities were a lot nicer than that run down base on Morag in Lerena's opinion. She was just glad that Gao was the one who had to suffer through that now instead of her.
While Lerena was a true believer in the sanctity of the Endgame, she did agree with Skuld that Gao's idea of turning incorrigibles into animals was a tad too extreme. Which was why she and Aurilam had planted enough evidence at the site of her labs in the Great Forest and the Circus to attract the attention of Coalition Intelligence and let them destroy Gao's power base for them. Life in the Unchained Legion was a complex series of alliances and double crosses. When you were stuck with immortality, you tended to take long term plans like the Endgame slowly. That left too much time for rivalries and grudges to ferment within the ranks.
Ephemer's charisma made sure that everyone contributed to the plan and stayed on task. But after eight thousand years with minimal progress, the restless Unchained turned their manipulations inward, scheming to advance their position in the ranks even as they manipulated the outside world towards their own goals. And look where that got them. For eight thousand years, they had tried and failed to build empires that would spread to all corners of the globe. Rome. Britain. China. Japan. Spain. France. Persia. Time after time, they tried to build up a civilization that would unite humanity under a single banner, but mortal greed and competition among the Unchained toppled their efforts every time.
If Braig hadn't formally appointed Skuld as his successor, Lerena feared that the Legion would have torn itself apart over the line of succession. As it was, Gao and Stone were at each other's throats, while Robert spent all his time at S.H.I.E.L.D. working on ways to build himself a power base outside of the Legion. Sometimes, the blonde Unchained felt that it was only herself, Aurilam, and Skuld keeping the Legion running smoothly. The Centurions served as regional commanders, with the Decurions acting as squad leaders. The Legionnaires were the true foot soldiers of the Unchained Army, but regardless of rank everyone ultimately answered to the Novus Imperator.
But if anyone starts to sense that Skuld's having doubts, Lerena thought as she marched through the corridors towards the command center. Then it will entice the others to make a move. At least with Gao's power base broken, we can demote her if she screws up on Morag, which she probably will. Pushing those thoughts out of the way for now, she stormed into the command center and turned to the security technicians seated at the computers.
"What the hell is going on?" she demanded as she conjured her kunai in her fists. The fight with Rose in the Hollow Bastion was the first time she'd used her Keyblade since World War I, and she was determined to avoid having to use it again unless absolutely necessary. Over the millennia, all Unchained had come to view Keyblades as the cause of the ancient conflict, and only used theirs as a last resort out of shame for the destruction their brethren had caused during the Keyblade War.
"The Hellfire Club is attacking from above with Dark Elf ships," the man in charage of the base's security reported. "Aerial defenses have eliminated a few of the dropships, but two of them have managed to land in the jungle. Troops are engaging them now, but they're pressing in to the compound itself."
"Send out the old Vipers we found in the hangar," she ordered, referring to Syndrome's old helicopter-like dropships they'd discovered upon their taking ownership of the island. "Order the pilots to use aerial bombardment to take those bastards out." The technician quickly began relaying her orders over the intercom when another communications officer called out to her.
"Warden," he exclaimed. "Coalition forces have landed on the beach."
Lorwardia – Tribal Capital:
"Pitiful," Maleficent remarked as she surveyed the carbon-scored buildings all around her. "After a thousand years, the two bit thugs of Lorwardia can't be bothered to plan any further ahead than what defenseless planet they'll raid next." Lorwardia was one of the handful of planets on the fringes of the United Galactic Federation designated as "unstable territory." This referred to planets where coups and revolutions were so common that the planet lacked any semblance of a stable central government. In the case of Lorwardia, it was simply because the various tribes operated under the rule that only the strongest among them would govern their world. To that end, the five tribes were constantly jockeying for the top spot, giving no thought to long term stability beyond what they'd do once they took power.
Maleficent had come here in search of new weapons and ships in preparations for the Hellfire Club's war against the Legion. Malekith was busy spreading fear and chaos throughout Coalition space to keep the warriors of the Keyblade off her scent, with Loki and Nebula following along to keep the Dark Elf king in line. But when she saw the state that the planet of warlords was in, she felt nothing but disgust. If she was going to get the ships and weapons she needed, she'd need to take control of the planet herself. And the only way to achieve power was to challenge the chiefs of all five tribes and defeat them in single combat. It was a risky gamble, for one wrong move would seal her doom and deprive her daughter of her mother.
But between her considerable magical prowess, her skill at hand to hand combat, and the benefit of a fleet crewed by warriors personally loyal to her and her alone, Maleficent decided that it was well worth the risk. With a whirl of her hand, Maleficent stormed into the ruined chamber that passed for a throne room to whichever upstart warloard was currently in charge. With a simple Firaga spell she blasted the door inward and marched towards the throne, her long robes billowing in the wind behind her with Captain Hook and Diablo flanking her on either side. As she marched into the room, the green-skinned Lorwardian stood up and drew his weapon, a look of indignation on his face.
"Who dares enter the throne of War'tog, ruler of Lorwardia unannounced?" The muscular man demanded. Maleficent grinned insidiously as she removed her long robes to reveal the more freely moveable combat gear beneath. She knew she had him before the fight had even started. Behind her, Hook and Diablo backed up towards the door. The traditional Lorwardian ritual of deciding leadership through single combat dictated that all subordinates remain on the sidelines. Their actions told the Lorwardians that whoever these outsiders were, they had come here looking for a fight.
"I am Maleficent of the Enchanted Dominion," the green skinned fairly replied with a contemptuous sneer. "I had hoped to barter with you for ships and weapons, but given the state of your planet, the most expedient way to get what I want is to challenge you for the throne in single combat. Defeat me and my allies and I will leave you be. But if I win, you and your entire tribe will bow down to me, the MISTRESS OF ALL EVIL!" War'tog scoffed at this notion. While not actively partriacrchal, the Lorwardian's tribe was one of the two remaining factions who still looked down on women. Maleficent would enjoy putting him in his place.
"Unless," she went on. "You're too much of a coward to face me." The alien man's eyes narrowed as he stepped down from his throne and handed his cloak, his badge of office to his warriors to hold for the duration of the battle. Two Lorwardian soldiers raced outside to raise up a flag that would indicate to any of the other tribes looking to invade the capital and take over the planets leadership that there was already a challenge for leadership in progress. Tradition dictated that nobody was allowed to interfere with the duel until after its conclusion. But none of that mattered to Maleficent. Once she defeated War'tog, she would do the same to the other four tribal leaders.
And them, she would have ships, weapons, and a whole new army to replace their diminishing number of Leroys. Maleficent handed her scepter to Captain Hook and traded it for a blade. The Lorwardians, while not distrustful of magic and possessing advanced technology, valued skill with more traditional weapons above all. So all challenges for leadership were fought the old fashioned way, with swords, spears, and shields. But Maleficent knew she didn't need a shield. Her opponent was angry, impatient, unbalanced. And with a defiant roar from the upstart warlord, the battle began.
City of Heroes – Nomanisan Island:
"I suppose the one good thing about all the bad guys fighting each other," Rose observed as she, Kairi, Riku, Donald, and Goofy led a strike team of Coalition soldiers through the corridors of the Unchained compound on the island of Nomanisam. "Is that they use up more resources and energy fighting each other than they do on the Coalition, leaving us with greater chances of success." Kairi nodded her head in agreement as she launched a Pearl spell at an approaching swarm of Heartless the Hellfire Club had sent to attack the Legion.
"True," Kairi commented as she parried a blow from one of the Unchained Legionnaires who wasn't fighting the heartless. "But that still leaves us with twice as many enemies as usual." Riku grunted in acknowledgement of Kairi's point as he sealed the corridor behind them with a Dark Firaga spell launched at the control panel. This cut the number of opponents they were facing in half and forced the enemy forces on the other side of the door into a bottle neck for Coalition troops to deal with in one strike.
"But what are we gonna do about the Unchained?" Donald asked as he finished off the last of the Heartless with a Thundaga spell.
"Leave that to me," Rose commented darkly as she plunged her Keyblade into the chest of another immortal Keyblade Master who came charging blindly around the corner of the base. "I remember hearing about this facility from Natasha a few years ago," she explained. "We'll split up and cover more ground that way." Riku nodded as he, Donald, and Goofy peeled off and went began making their way towards the hangar to keep both sides from escaping. Meanwhile, Rose and Kairi continued their thrust towards the command center. Eventually, they came acros a sealed door. With no key in sight, they checked the other two and found only one unlocked.
Sensing a trap, they repeated the process in the next room, and again, only one door of the three they could choose from was unlocked. After following the trail for several minutes, they emerged into a large chamber with a massive oblong metal pod in the center of the room, hovering beneath a small flight of stairs. And standing at the bottom of those stairs was a former Organization member that both women were far from pleased to see again.
"Long time no see, Valerie," Lerena commented, referring to the name Rose had gone by during the Keyblade War. "I'm going to enjoy punishing your betrayal, and as for the Princess…" She turned her attention on Kairi. "I'm going to enjoy putting ending you for all the trouble you caused us back when "Marluxia" and I were undercover trying to help Braig take down the Organization from within. If it hadn't been for you, Namine wouldn't have gotten ideas above her station, and Sora wouldn't have fallen into darkness. So now I get to kill you for setting us back so many years."
"And what makes you think the other six princesses won't end up collateral damage?" Rose retorted. "We both know that the Princesses of Heart are the only thing holding back the return of the Fallen Ones." Rose smirked to herself when she saw Lerena flinch at the mention of their sworn enemies' name. Even after eight thousand years, the mere mention of the Fallen Ones was enough to send chills running down the spines of even the most hardened Unchained.
While not even the Unchained Legion knew how long the Keyblade War's cycle of death and rebirth had been going on for, the one thing everyone knew was that the first Keyblade War had been fought hundreds of thousands of years ago, at the very dawn of creation itself. The Fallen Ones were corrupted servants of Darkness so powerful that not even the power of the X – Blade could destroy them. With no other way to defeat them, all the First Keyblade Master could do was banish them to the farthest corners of the universe. So far from Earth that they were flung out of the Milky Way Galaxy entirely. And in this new cycle, the hearts of the seven Princesses formed an enchanted barrier that kept all of them from returning to Earth.
It was the one thing that every Unchained, regardless of their feelings on the Endgame or the ethics of their goals, could agree on. Talzin, Chernabog, Lucifer, Vaatu; None of the Fallen could be permitted to return to Earth. That was the purpose of Stone's branch of the Legion, the Chaste: to eliminate all knowledge of the Fallen ones and ensure that the barrier that kept the demons at bay from now until the end of time. Rose was grinning now. She had her bargaining chip.
"Of course," Rose taunted. "If you're still so desperate to finish Kairi off, feel free to go ahead and try. But do you really want to be the one who starts the dominos falling by weakening the seal that holds the Fallen Ones back?"
"You win this round, traitor," Lerena spat as she disappeared through a corridor of Light. "But the Imperator has given our old friend Robert authorization to reverse the damage you've done to the Hunstclan division." As her old friend vanished from the world, Rose's face paled in horror. Wishes granted by the Aztec skulls she'd used to destroy the Huntsclan were supposed to be irreversible, but they had originally been a weapon of mass destruction developed by the Ursus guild during the war before being hidden away so that the defenders of light couldn't get their hands on them. Although the skulls had been dispersed, Unchained spies within the Ursus ranks were able to study them enough to figure out how to undo their effects. The notes had been buried in one of the old Hunstlairs somewhere on Earth. But if High Praetor Gonzales managed to get a hold of them….
"We're screwed," Rose observed as she finished her train of thought out loud.
That's right, folks. An Incredibles world at long last. The gap of fifteen years between now and the original movie is a reference to the fact that the long awaited sequel is supposed to come out in 2019, fifteen years after the first one came out. Lerena's whole devotion to the Endgame is meant to be reminiscent of Gorast from Bionicle, a sadistic follower of Makuta with fanatic loyalty to their cause. Whether she will ultimately meet a similar fate to Gorast remains to be seen. I wanted to give a little insight into the power structure of the Unchained, and it's a bit like the organization structure of Neolution in Orphan Black, where the inner circle is constantly jockeying higher positions on the ladder but all ultimately reporting to a single leader.
The Lorwardians first appeared in the fourth season of Kim Possible, and I thought it would be a fun nod to show what the planet is like, given how only Warmonga and her husband ever made an appearance on the show. I figured that after losing so many ships after her failed siege of Radiant Garden, Maleficent would be looking for sources other than Malekith to rebuild her fleet. So I thought it would be fun for Maleficent to pull a Darth Maul and take control of the planet by force. For those who don't have a clue what I'm talking about, watch the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode Shades of Reason, or just google Star Wars The Clone Wars Maul vs Vizsla.
I do have plans to incorporate Star Wars into this universe, meaning that Darth Maul will show up himself. But that's not going to happen at all during the Acolytes of Chaos saga. No, all the Star Wars elements are being saved for the Invaders From Beyond Saga, which I won't even be starting for a long time yet. Anyway, now we're about a quarter of the way through Kingdom Hearts 5. I won't be able to upload a chapter tomorrow because I'll be busy packing and getting ready to go back to college. But I will be working on the story while I'm on the plane, so once I have access to wi-fi again, I'll be posting multiple chapters one after the other (probably no more than five, but you never know).