The Chronicles Of Kaurava: Part 6
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
The floodgates have been opened, and hell has been unleashed. A war between two galactic powers will decide the fate of this world, a fascinating, exotic place where the elements converge and humanity has learned to bend the forces of nature to its will.
In the aftermath, nothing will be the same ever again, for better or for worse. Mostly for the worse, though.
Optional music for this first scene: Super Smash Bros Brawl- Boss Theme 1
On the blood-stained western coast of the Fire Nation, the Benders and the Imperials, the finest warriors of two worlds, patiently waited for their distant enemies to come within engagement range.
A seemingly endless swarm of alien marauders surrounded the human survivors on all sides, millions upon millions of the Combine's troops slowly closing in, with extermination and enslavement being the only two things on mind.
"Steady, concentrated fire is of paramount importance, comrades! Focus your long-range attacks on the enemy's most dangerous and valuable assets!"
Shogun Mithrarin, a veteran general of the Spirit Warden Astartes, led the most battle-hardened and experienced troops in the coalition force, pointing out key targets for his allies to direct their attention towards.
Together, an Imperial Heavy Weapons Battalion and a Fire Nation Dragon Regiment sent volleys of scorching fury screaming straight at the enemy lines, blowing a heavily armed siege droid tank to smithereens, and scything down dozens of humanoid beetle creatures who carried shield generators protecting the rest of the horde from incoming attacks.
This was an excellent move by the most aggressive of the freedom fighters, which briefly hindered the Combine's fighting momentum, but the real fighting wasn't even getting started yet.
Katara and Reika, two of the most powerful waterbenders in Kaurava's long global history, formed immense walls of exceptionally durable ice out at sea, which the amphibious Combine forces would have to shatter completely in order to accomplish a successful beach landing.
While those foes were busy chipping away at the fortified glacial barrier, a Solar Auxilia guardsman approached the wet and wild pair, offering some sort of high-tech weapon to them.
"It's dangerous and unwise to fight alone here, with just your bare hands. Take my spare Volkite Caliver, and put it to good use!"
Katara reluctantly accepted the gun, whose warm magnetic coils reminded her of Fire Nation samurai plate armor.
"I think I've seen one of these in action... it's a tool to give the power of Firebending to ordinary soldiers."
The Guardsman gave her a thumbs-up of approval, signaling that she had guessed the weapon's function correctly- then, he got his brains blown out by a biomechanical sniper bullet.
His blood splattered over Katara and Reika's clothing, and they were still shook by the grisly sight, even though the two waterbenders had already seen some downright horrifying things in their careers of military service.
"As a bender committed to fighting for justice and equality, I fully trust that you will honor our fallen friend's memory with that new weapon in hand," Reika told Katara, a solemn and grim expression on her face.
Katara's response was strangely optimistic and enthusiastic, but no less serious.
"Not only that, it's also time to see what wielding two elements at the same time actually looks like! I doubt many warriors in the past would have imagined a conflict where the Avatar isn't unique with his abilities and skills. Using this new firepower, we'll avenge the loss of that noble man who used his own body to shield us. Now, once again, we stand and FIGHT!"
Taking these words to heart while listening to the army's Vox radio channel, a group of Imperial tank crew members mustered their courage, and gave their numerically superior enemies a monumental middle finger, in the form of a continuous barrage of explosive shells, directed-energy blasts, and seismic gravity munitions.
The recoil of cannons and the roar of gunfire shook the entire ruined port city, while the coordinated movement of fighters using Bending techniques perfectly meshed with the disciplined marksmanship and weapon mastery of the Imperial Legions.
Each explosion caused by long-ranged weaponry represented an entire squad of enemies sundered, but the alien menace kept on marching along, having more than enough bodies to spare.
Aside from that, there was one thing particularly unusual about this whole clash- many of the specialist Combine ground troops, being both stealthy and fast, had already gotten within striking range of the Imperial and Bender units, yet they hesitated to fire their weapons.
It was almost as if the swarm was biding its time, deliberately keeping the fight delayed and relatively bloodless on one side, while not attempting to avenge their own significant losses.
The humans wouldn't notice what was going on... until it was too late.
Optional music for this second scene: Lavos' Theme (from Chrono Trigger)
Imperial sensor systems and optical targeting devices caught sight of a bizarre, purple-hued, striped pyramid-shaped object rising from the center of the alien horde on land, which nobody knew the purpose of, not even the most experienced monster-slaying veterans in the Legiones Astartes.
The native warriors of Kaurava fighting alongside the Imperials, however, immediately recognized the purpose of the purple pyramid monolith- as mere seconds after it had appeared on the horizon, nearly every Bender had bent over in pain, their muscles rendered useless.
The non-Benders and even the Imperial forces were soon to follow in being immobilized, and Mithrarin, Aang and Krishna swiftly became cognizant of the worst problem their allies now faced:
The Combine had somehow produced an experimental weapon that could remotely block the chi of an entire army of Benders, as well as disabling anyone else proficient in physical disciplines of magic!
Even normal people weren't safe from the effects, as the device was designed solely to paralyze the muscles of living beings, whether they possessed some form of magic or not.
Either way, the heroes of Kaurava were now completely powerless, literally unable to stand up and fight. The power of unity and the indomitable human spirit had both been utterly shattered by the cruel indifference of the universe.
...But for some reason, the Maker only knows, the alien army ceased fire when the mass paralysis was complete. Maybe whichever eldritch abomination was pulling the strings that day had an ego to voice, maybe harvesting protocols were behind schedule, maybe a divine power had let the resistance escape death this time around.
Nonetheless, Krishna, Aang, and their companions were all puzzled beyond belief.
An explanation was soon to arrive, however... which came in the form of an outlandish-looking command spacecraft, a metallic flying saucer of sorts, touching down in front of the defeated protectors of mankind, who were all stuck being forced to kneel, their bodies not theirs to control anymore.
A set of what appeared to be stairs appeared from the shuttle saucer's underside, following the metallic pounding noise of its extended landing gear legs settling themselves into a stable position.
Then, emerging from that exit, the monstrous, grotesque mastermind of the whole invasion revealed itself for all to see:
SWARM GENERAL SHUB-NIGGURATH
"BLACK GOAT OF THE WOODS"
THE HIGH QUEEN'S EMISSARY
Optional music: You Idiot (Flowey the Flower taunting you in Undertale)
The creature in charge was a nightmarish amalgamation of fungus blooms, thrashing slimy tentacles, wickedly barbed rotting wood, and hideous humanoid heads resembling Orks, with maws full of jagged teeth, all propped up on top of a lower body that vaguely resembled a hoofed farm animal, complete with coarse hairs, horns that didn't belong on the torso, and long legs for running at blinding speeds.
Underneath all those disgusting, eye-violating details, however, was an insidious intelligence with raw brainpower that rivaled the geniuses and savants of mankind's Golden Age of Technology, a quality that only the highest elites of the Combine Empire possessed.
And, defying all expectations, it was standing here just to sadistically mock the members of an "inferior species," before forced mental and physical assimilation into the biomass factory system could begin.
Shub-Niggurath spoke in an eerie whistling tone of voice, with the squishy, revolting sound of pulsating decayed flesh accompanying its every word, making merely listening to the speech a nauseating experience.
Through mass telepathy, the being made its message clear to every survivor of the invasion, both those indigenous to the world of Bending and those spacefarers who had dared to intervene on their behalf:
"You should have known that all resistance is futile. Yet you vertebrate filth have tested our patience to its very limits, continuing to get in the way of our manifest destiny, and interfering with the principles of the universe. Inviolable, natural and sacred principles, which have always put the strongest races rightfully at the top."
"It was a shame your species fully retained its capacity for such frivolous and pointless concepts like what you call love, compassion, and empathy... without them, these forms of fatal ignorance given the label of virtues, you would have been much better off. You would have thrived, and achieved your potential as a civilization."
"For your transgressions against the rules of nature, and embracement of irrational heresy, you will pay the ultimate price. It is the same with all others who have foolishly attempted to fight back and delay the inevitable- now, accept your fate, and pledge eternal servitude to us, and we will perhaps make your new lives slightly less agonizing than those that came before you."
Like a telepathic tidal wave of malice and hatred, the true evil of the Combine's intentions became irreversibly ingrained in the minds of every doomed person present on the planet. This proclamation was meant to drive everybody to despair, and extinguish all forms of hope.
After all, would an empire ruled by totalitarian, sadistic, and hyper-imperialistic shapeshifting bug monsters really demand anything else?
Following the announcement, General Shub-Niggurath approached the vanquished Avatar Aang and Primarch Krishna, morbid curiosity flickering in its array of eyes.
"So you are the two who have been giving us so much trouble... it is no surprise that both of you have an exceptionally rigid connection to the myriad dimensions of the Warp."
"What I do not understand is, how can one possess such raw, unfiltered power and skill, yet be hindered by such worthless qualities as friendship, loyalty and compassion? What makes you tick?"
"MAYBE IF I TAKE YOU APART, I CAN FIND OUT."
Ever after making this threat, though, the gruesome monster was still met with noncompliance from the Avatar in particular.
"Kindness... is not a weakness!," Aang managed to say aloud to Shub-Niggurath.
"Really? Then let's test your resolve!!!," it replied, in a menacing hissing tone. "Then, I can drive all your worthless friends to insanity, too!"
The Lovecraftian general then proceeded to brutally violate Aang with its tentacles and thorns, ravaging his nervous system and physical health in an attempt to break his spirit.
"AAAAARGH!!!"
While the Avatar was getting tortured, and everybody else in the crowd of survivors could do nothing but watch,Krishna was doing something odd.
His body was starting to glow with a faint hint of iridescent light, and he was mumbling to himself in apparent gibberish that not even the Combine's telepathy could discern.
On the verge of victory, and getting very conceited, nobody in the Combine Army paid the glowing giant any attention, even as he was steadily becoming more luminous. The aliens in the pack who could think for themselves just wrote it off as a side effect of their chi-blocking antimagic device.
That level of ignorance was what a certain shiny puppet master had been counting on.
Having been separated from his reality and pulled into the surreal, colorful Spirit World during his darkest hour, Krishna wasn't too happy. He wanted to die standing in defiance, alongside the people he cared about, not be robbed of his last meaningful actions in the mortal coil where his dreams were crushed.
"Why have you brought me here, whoever you are? I was going to die anyway, so what is the point of depriving me of my final desire? TELL ME!"
But the voice in his vision told him...
"This is bigger than you. And it's not time for you to die yet. You still have a mission to accomplish."
"And what would that be?," Krishna scowled. "Nothing mattered in the end! I failed in my quest."
"No son of mine would label himself a failure and give up on his dreams. But you have no legitimate reason to do that, so the truth of your identity is succinct and crystal-clear as can be."
"Indeed, your grand mission is the same as mine- to unite instead of divide, to bring people together in the name of progress, and to overthrow the degenerate tyrants and dictators who have driven the cosmos into a time of heated crisis."
Krishna then felt a feeling, that he hadn't experienced since he was very young... since he first saw the world with his own eyes, albeit, a world in brief, very unfamiliar and frightening compared to the life he came to know in the Hidden Valley. Those nightmarish memories still lingered in his mind, and now, they were becoming relevant once more. Regardless, he was still mired in disbelief.
"Did you just refer to me as your son? Who are you, really? Are you here to save us from the monsters at our door who plan to enslave us all? Or are you just another foe, lying to me, trying to take advantage of our predicament?"
"You think I'm lying to you? I thought you were desperate for help."
"You haven't given me much reason to trust in your words," Krishna said back. "But you are right, I have no other options. Can you actually save us?"
That's when the voice came up with an offer that the oath-sworn young warrior could not refuse:
"Here's the deal: I will offer you and your comrades a sample of my near-limitless power. Your band of fighters will naturally make good use of it to wipe the floor with the xenos terrorists. After the ground war, it's up to you to destroy their space station flagship. Then, and only then, will I reveal the full truth of who I really am, as well as the great destiny that awaits your world."
This sounded promising to Krishna.
"Very well. Though I know nothing about you, I will put my trust in you, my unknown savior, because I haven't lost my hope... and neither have my comrades and companions. Even a man with nothing left can still have faith. And that faith is WHAT KEEPS ME FIGHTING!"
The Primarch snapped back into reality, his consciousness returning to his body after the fleeting journey through the Warp, back from the isles where spirits dwelled.
Then, to the shock of all, Krishna regained control of his body, and stood up to face his enemies.
He scooped up some handfuls of charred sand, and transmuted it all into a trio of kunai throwing daggers made from burning volcanic obsidian... then CHUCKED THEM at the pyramid that was keeping his allies locked in place, with unparalleled precision.
The meter-long projectiles struck the surprisingly soft arcane structure with the force of a hypersonic railgun round, tearing it to shreds. Shub-Niggurath reacted too late, and was thrown off his goat limbs by a violent tremor followed by a piercing blast of wind, freeing Aang from the mind-rape session.
Seconds later, all the survivors were on their feet, their physical abilities increased to obscene levels, which was just plain overkill in the case of the Space Marine task force members, as well as people on the battlefield who knew how to manipulate the elements.
Though the warriors of Kaurava couldn't explain where their newfound strength came from, owing to its enigmatic and near-mythical source, they were certainly ready to use it.
"Let's shake the ground like there's no tomorrow!," Toph enthusiastically said, with Daoyu accompanying her, geo-katana in hand for slicing through cowardly foes.
"We will overwhelm them like a tidal wave rending the coast asunder!," Katara declared, Reika brandishing an icy guandao to rally the troops.
"Oftentimes, fighting fire with fire is the best way to survive!," Zuko stated, Taishen standing by his side and carrying a compound bow with as many explosive arrows as he could carry.
"This duty was mine to bear, and mine alone, even if I did not want to carry it at first!," announced the indomitable Avatar Aang, who held the hand of Isan, an equally stoic Airbending nun from outside the Four Nations, who would one day return from the distant cosmos with pilgrims, to rebuild the culture and society of the Air Nomads.
Finally, Commander Mithrarin of the Adeptus Astartes, Shogun of the Second Legion, let his enemies know what was about to go down.
"Now, it is YOU who will know the meaning of fear!"
CHAPTER END
Things are getting spicy, aren't they? Especially since Krishna was able to single-handedly turn things around, thanks to the intervention of you-know-who!
We'll see how the ground battle finally ends next chapter... until then, keep reading!
Reviews are always appreciated, so let me know what should happen next if you like!