Despite the victories in the air, the forces of Chima were still in dire straits. The meterex were relentless in their assault. Alex had to rally the forces of Chima to eliminate the meterex threat. Hopping in a lion tank, alex fired at the enemy forces that were close to wiping him out. Laser blasts struck squads of meterex soldiers and destroyed a few vehicals nearby.
"Alex" said a lion warrior nearby. "There are to many! What do we do?"
"Hold strong" alex said. "Chima has survived catastrophic events before, we will survive this as well"
Alex continued to engage the enemy with the tank. Friendly forces also continued to fire at the invading hostiles. A missile struck Alex's tank and disconnected one of the tracks. Alex jumped out, because without the ability to move he would be a sitting duck.
"Hold strong!" Alex said. Taking position behind a turret. He engaged a group of meterex that were charging forward, dropping all of them.
"ALEX! ALEX!" Said a lion warrior running over. "The meterex landed troops inside the temple itself! their leader is there!"
Alex jumped on a speedor and zoomed back to the temple. When he arrived, warriors were engaging in battle with the meterex. Alex shot 2 meterex and swiped at another with his sword. A heavy unit charged towards alex, but alex picked up a laser cannon nearby and fired at the heavy unit. The meterex crashed to the ground and alex ran by.
Nick, Judy and lagravis were taking cover as more meterex units opened fire on them.
"Alex!" Lagravis said. "They've taken the sacred chi pool!"
"Then lets take it back"
The meterex had quickly set up a turret outside the chi pool, that was laying down heavy fire. The squad threw grenades that cleared out multiple enemies. But the meterex were still holding strong. Alex used the laser cannon to down another heavy unit. But the turret was still a problem.
"Draw its fire" alex said.
Nick and Judy ran to the other side of the bridge and fired at the turret. The turret operator turned towards them, and when he did alex shot him with a laser blast. Another meterex tried to get on the turret, but alex shot him before he could do anything. The squad was pushing forward into the temple, but there were still a lot of meterex nearby. A tank had even been set up inside the building and was firing at the squad. Alex grabbed a pack of explosives nearby and got into cover, hidden from the tanks line of sight. Moving slowly closer to the vehicle, using cover, alex got near the tank, activated the explosives and threw them under the tank. The vehicle exploded as alex got down.
Alex looked into the temple and saw Newman making a break for a side corridor.
"It's Newman" alex said. "Push up"
Nick and Judy took down 2 meterex while alex used his sword to eliminate 3 more enemies, the he switched to his rifle and fired upon some meterex on the other side of the chi pool. Elite meterex entered the battlefield and charged towards the group with their blades. Alex and lagravis started dueling the hostiles with their swords. While nick and Judy used guns to take down another elite meterex, then they focused fire on more normal meterex.
Alex swung his sword Wildly to block the blows from the enemy meterex. The he jumped out of the way of another blow and caught the meterex off guard. Alex was able to stab the meterex in the back, and while it was disoriented, he stabbed it again, butting the meterex down. Lagravis kicked his adversary back onto the ground and then jumped on it and slammed his sword into its head.
"Newman went that way" alex said pointing t the corridor.
"That way leads to the top of the temple" lagravis said as more friendly forces showed up.
"Ok, Nick, Judy. You two hold down the chi pool. Me and lagravis will go stop Newman"
Nick and Judy readied for any incoming assault as lagravis and Alex headed into the corridor and began moving upstairs. 2 more meterex appeared and tried to stop them. Alex swung his sword, cutting one enemy in half, then he blocked the gunfire from the other enemy as lagravis put it down. The pair entered a large hallway that was guarded by an elite and a heavy meterex. Lagravis fought with the elite unit while alex took on the heavy.
Alex was able to lure the heavy unit to charge into a wall, stunning it for a second. In that moment alex stabbed the unit in its weak point and killed it. Lagravis cut off the arms of the elite meterex, taking off its blades and allowing him to easily disable the meterex.
The pair continued onwards and they went outside the temple onto the roof. From here alex could still see the battle raging. A meterex fighter hovered low and opened fire on alex and lagravis, who took cover to avoid getting hit.
When alex wondered how they were going to get out of this, an eagle jet zoomed by and destroyed the fighter.
Alex and lagravis kept pursuing Newman, cutting through more meterex that were defending him. They came to a ladder that lead to a large and high up roof.
The pair climbed the ladder and were met with Newman. The hunter had his back to them, and in his hand he had a sword of his own.
"Well well well, alex boehm. We meet again" Newman said turning around as alex and Lagravis got ready for a fight.
"I won't let you destroy Chima!" Lagravis said charging at Newman. The hunter easily blocked the lion kings blows and kicked him off the roof.
"Lagravis!" Alex said looking over the edge of the roof. Luckily the lion had landed on the ledge that the pair had used earlier to climb up to Newman.
"I'm alright" lagravis said. More meterex started heading towards lagravis.
"I'll handle them" the lion said. "You deal with Newman"
Alex turned to face Newman, who looked remarkably calm.
"Why do you fight for them alex?"
Alex stood strong and waited for Newman to make a move.
"They are animals" the hunter said. "Mindless creatures, made to be hunted by us humans"
"They are not mindless" alex responded "I've seen them do great things. Some even greater than something any human could do!"
"You might think that, but they have an unfair advantage. Their claws and teeth, coupled with their big brains, gives them an edge over us humans. Which is why they must be stopped"
"If you want to stop them. You will have to stop me first. And I'm not going anywhere"
"Fine, you are still a worthy opponent"
Newman readied his sword and both men charged together and clashed blades. The two kept their blades locked and looked each other in the eyes.
"Your willing to kill one of your own species, to protect those that are not even human"
Alex shoved Newman back.
"I don't care what species they are. I protect people"
Alex lunged at Newman. The hunter blocked alex blows and followed up with a powerful slash that alex jumped away from.
"Protect you say? You are failing to protect your own species by letting them live"
"That's not the way I see it"
Newman attempted another jab at alex, who blocked the strikes and then began swinging relentlessly at Newman.
"Well then" Newman said. "I can see your mind won't be changed. But it's no problem, you'll be out of the game soon enough"
Newman charged at alex, who blocked the blow and took a swipe at Newmans legs, managing to make a cut.
Alex tried to strike Newman but the hunter grabbed Alex's hand, and then head butted him. Alex stumbled back as Newman struck at him. Thinking quick, alex preformed a roll and got behind Newman, where he was able to deliver another hit into the hunters back. Newman took a moment to recover, the moved again towards alex. Before alex could do anything, Newman did a sliding kick and knocked alex down. Alex quickly rolled out of the way of Newman's downwards sword swing. Alex charged at Newman again, but this time the hunter dodged alex and disoriented him with a powerful punch. Then Newman managed to cut alex in a few places before alex recovered and blocked the strikes.
"You are a powerful adversary" Newman said "this is my most challenging hunt yet"
"It is a hunt you will fail" alex said.
The pair lunged at each other, swinging their swords wildly to strike the opponent or to block an incoming blow. Sparks flew as the swords collided with incredible force. Both alex and Newman were unable to gain an upper hand to their enemy. Then alex realized that he just needed to do something Newman would not expect. The pair was locking blades every second, a break in that pattern might give alex an opening.
Alex purposely made Newman think that he had scored a hit on him. Alex bent over and covered his face, making Newman stop his relentless strikes. While Newman thought he had gained the upper hand. Alex delivered a powerful slash across newmans chest. This stunned the hunter and Alex continued attacking with relentless swings. Newman locked some of the blows but he was unable to stop them all. Alex was landing hit after hit on Newman and with a powerful stab, alex drove his sword right through Newman, making the hunter collapse at the edge of the roof.
Alex breathed heavily as he recovered from the fight. Looking out over the battlefield, alex saw that the forces of Chima were driving back the meterex, who appeared to be starting to retreat.
"Why do you fight for them?" Newman said. "They are animals!"
"I protect whoever needs protecting. And They are not just animals. They have minds, they have a consciousness, just like us"
"You know what else they have? Claws, teeth, wings, we don't have that. What advantage do us humans have, now that they have intelligence and natural weapons."
"Numbers"
"Numbers have not been an advantage since world war 1. It's not just about how many of you there are"
"Who says we need an advantage?"
"We need one, or else humanity will be wiped out by those animals"
"We are not at war with them. We can coexist. Humans are animals themselves"
"Animals that will be wiped out one day. Because they didn't take the chance to stop their enemies now."
"They are not our enemies. All of our species can get along. We don't need an advantage"
"If you envision a world where humans are at the mercy of those animals, then that is a world I can not live in"
Newman moved himself backwards and plunged off the roof.
"No!" Alex said running to the edge, and stretching out his arm, but it was to late. As alex got to the roofs edge, he looked over the side to see Newmans body laying on another roof below. A splatter of blood around his head.
Alex's surprised look disappeared and he pulled his arm back, before walking away from his fallen adversary.