The Siege

The Siege was an event that happened on the Eteno fringe colony of Elariun. Kklxin raiders invaded the city and occupied it for a week, until the Iron Island Messiah arrived and annihilated the Kklxin in the city. An Eteno and a Dhragolon worked together to survive in the war-torn city famously, earning them both impressive awards from their respective militaries.

Eteno
Jonathan Tokugawa sat with his head hung low over the soft wood of the bar, the slow tune of the piano only deepening his obvious depression. Apu, the bartender, took notice of the unhappy soldier, and approached him.

"Why the long face, Jon?" He asked carefully.

Jon sighed deeply, and looked up briefly, meeting his curious friend's eyes for a sliver of a moment.

"Anne left, today." Was Jon's quick and sad reply.

Apu's brows furrowed. His face then lit up as he looked towards the new drink advertised on the wall.

"How about one of our new Tongue Twisters? On the house."

Jon raised his head fully, and smiled weakly.

"Thanks, Apu."

Apu smiled and reached for a glass on the shelf behind him. He then proceeded to fill up the tall flask with the new, excpetionally strong drink. He handed it to Jon, who accepted it gingerly.

"How strong?"

"Pretty strong. Sip it slowly." Apu replied.

Mere seconds before Jonathan took his first sip of the new beverage, dozens of glasses behind the counter shattered. Jon, recognizing the all-too familiar noise of bullets whizzing by, lept up and grabbed his light rifle hanging from his belt.

"Geddown!" Another one of the soldier patrons yelled.

Jon rushed towards the window to fire at the unknown assailants. A rocket flew through the open door and smashed into the golden-brown walls at the end of the room. The entire room was engulfed in fire. The force of the explosion flung Jon out of the window and into the dark, wet streets. Bullets whizzed by his head as he immediately got up and dashed towards an alley, away from the illuminating fire of the pub he was just in. Sprinting across the street, he fired controlled bursts at the heat signatures he could pick up with his goggles. He slammed his back into a dumpster, and slowly peeked around the corner. Lasers and bullets were flying across the usually-busy street, destroying anything in their way.

"This is Corporal Tokugawa to all air units! I need rocket support at 46th North!" He screamed into his radio.

All he heard on the other end was the dull, scratchy noise of a jammed network. Hearing police sirens in the distance, he began moving towards where he could hear them coming from. Whn he arrived, he was greeted with the site of overturned police cruisers acting as barricades for the deperate police officers attempting to hold off Kklxin shock troops. Dashing behind the barricade, he approached one of the officers.

"Who's in command here!?" Jon demanded.

"Apprentice Alagor! He's over there!" The civil servant responded hoarsely.

Jon wathced in horror as several lasers impacted the man's head, forcing him to collapse. Cringing, Jonathan approached the blue creature. He tapped him on the shoulder.

"A Dhragolon?! How did you get here, sir?!" A surprised Corporal asked.

Dhragolon
The Dhragolon responded. "Humph! You guys again." Although he lacked armor, he was still wearing a war helmet. His body was mostly prosthetics.

"I'm sorry, I don't think we have met."

"I am Churszath - Apprentice Tarkith Alagor, a peacekeeper of the KWD. One of your metal behemoths made me look like this."

"What?! What are you talking about?"

"During the Battle of Vassis during the Aldaris Incident, I nearly lost my entire body and my face ended up looking like this!" Alagor removed his helmet revealing a disfigured face that made Tokugawa cringe. As a courtesy, Alagor put it back on.

"Please, just relax. That war is long over. We are your friends now."

"Very well. I'm keeping an eye on you if you try anything. There can only be one Chosen race after all."

"Okay, Alagor. So how did you get here?"

"I was with some fellow Starsailors when we got separated from our unit during a Grox skirmish close to this sector and crash landed on this planet. Only I survived the impact, though it was a pain reattaching my legs."

Tokugawa replied, "Oh Marana. I'm sorry for the loss. But the Grox are close to here, too?"

"Don't underestimate the Dhragolon. His Highness alone managed to carve a hole 2 parsecs wide around the Galactic Core! Any peacekeeper will die knowing that their bretheren shall succeed."

"I see. But lately, the Kklxin have become a much larger threat than the Grox. What could they possibly want? They've tried to destroy the galaxy twice already!" A Kklxin rocket trooper fired at the direction of the two of them. "Get down!" said Tokugawa. The rocket impacted a nearby polive cruiser causing it to flip over. Some flying debris knocked off Alagor's arm and his legs while another pinned down Tokugawa.

The Kklxin laughed maniacally, while Alagor said, "My turn!" He unsheated his sword and threw it like a javalin hitting the Kklxin square in the chest. Alagor crawled towards Tokugawa examining if he was still alive. However, the sword that Alagor threw did not kill the Kklxin who drew it from his chest using his last breaths to charge towards Alagor.

Eteno
The Kklxin charged on his last breath, until a dozen crimson-stained holes appeared in the stocky hostiles' uniform. The creature collapsed like a ragdoll onto the wet, illuminated pavement.

"Now we're even." Jon spoke with a grin as he struggled to remove an engine from his chest.

Alagor frowned at him as the heavy engine rolled off the supersoldier's body.

"Need some help there?"

"Yes, that would be appreciated, Eteno."

Jon chuckled and reattached the Dhragolon's other arm. He handed the swordsman his legs shortly after. After reattaching all of his essential body parts, Alagor stood up right as another police officer fell to the ground dead due to sniper fire. Jon peered around the open windows on the surrounding buildings, and spotted the glint of a sniper scope.

"Snipers in that office. We should clear it out." He said whilst cautiously looking around, lest a rocket annihiliate him.

"I agree. You can set down some supressing fire while I sneak up on them from behind."

"Sounds like a plan."

Jon ran from his cover behind a truck and pelted the windows of the office harbouring hostile Kklxin snipers with laser fire and grenades. Alagor seized the opportunity and sprinted out of the barricade. He smashed the closest door in, knocking out a Kklxin that was taking cover behind it. The nimble Dhragolon, assured that the bottom floor was cleared, ran up a somewhat concealed staircase that led to the next floor. Quietly opening the door at the top of the flight of stairs, he peeked in and saw laser scoring on the walls as well as three crouching Kklxin sharpshooters. Alagor dashed into the crumbling room, and slammed his prosthetic leg into one of the astonished snipers. Before the others could react, a sword decapitated the next one. The final Kklxin tried to save his life by firing a no-scope shot, but missed. The strong Dhragolon blasted the fearful soldier in the face with his organic fist, knocking him out. The unconcious Kklxin collapsed into the window, and slowly slid out. Alagor walked closer to the window, and yelled.

"All clear, Eteno."

Dhragolon
Tokugawa followed and Alagor was standing beside the unconscious Kklxin. After Jon examined the body he said, "He's still alive. We ought to get information from him."

"Leave that to me." Alagor placed his organic hand on the Kklxin's face, synchronizing his mind. Instantly, Alagor was met with waves of evil energy and terror as he tried to find out what was going on. Soon, he found what he was looking for.

"What did you find?"

"This is terrible news for your kind. The central district of this colony has been utterly destroyed along with the satellites in orbit of this planet. The Kklxin have come to these outer sections to clean up the mess."

"I should have realized that. It's a common war tactic to destroy the center most area of a colony to cut off assistance from everywhere else."

"That's not all. The Kklxin are also planning to set up a mining colony over the ruins of this place and use any survivors as slaves."

"We need to head to the central district! There's got to be some people who have survived!"

"Are you suggesting a suicide mission?"

"Look. What do we have to lose? The Kklxin have pretty much destroyed this place anyway."

"You are right. I am barely able to stand on my legs nowadays. I would rather die than let the forces of evil triumph."

Eteno
"Wait... to get from here to central, we need to go past a Nat Guard warehouse. If they have any Valkyrie battle suits sitting around I can pilot one."

"Valkyrie?"

"I'll be flying circles around you, Dhraggy. Come on, let's head out."

Alagor nodded and the two skilled soldiers navigated a maze of staircases to the bottom floor of the office they were occupying. They ran out of the building, Tokugawa firing randomly at the surrounding cityscapem ablaze with crimson flames. Alagor, taking notice of an undamaged law enforcement vehicle, turned to face a trailing, oblivious, supersoldier.

"Eteno, one of those hovercars is undamaged. We can drive it to the guard warehouse you spoke of."

Jon smirked and nodded at Alagor. The duo walked to the vehicle, cautiously observing everything around them. Much to their dismay, the vehicle's windows were up and the hovercar was locked.

"Can you pick locks, bigshot?" Alagor asked cautiously, still observing the surrounding area.

"Yeah. Watch."

Jon grabbed his rifle and held it with the stock facing the window. He thrust the solid weapon into the pristine window, shattering it, and causing thousands of tiny glass shards to appear on the driver's seat. The brutish Eteno casually pulled the manual lock and opened the door.

"If this is how you open doors, maniac, I am driving."

"Not like anyone's gonna be angry that we smashed a car window in the middle of a warzone."

Alagor sighed and shook his head. He entered the vehicle and started the ignition as Jon slid over the hood and jumped into the back seat. He then grabbed an elaborate electrical plier from a case on the floor, and tore open part of the vehicle's metal roof. Alagor watched with quizzical expression as the Eteno grabbed his rifle and stood on the back seat.

"If you're driving, Dhragolon, then I'm gunning."

Alagor sighed again and set the car into motion. He activated the lights and sirens as they were going. As they passed several squads of Kklxin, Jon fired with unending fury, grasping both a pistol and his rifle.

"Hey, Alagor. if we live through this, we gotta do this again."

"Keep us alive and I'll drive you wherever you want, Jon."

Several more minutes of reckless driving through a thoroughly ransacked corporate district produced an empty gas tank for the duo, and an empty gun for Jon. Luckily, the National Guard warehouse was across the street they halted on.

"Stay here Alagor. I'll be just a minute."

Jon walked cautiously into the relatively undamaged facility, enamoured by the vast rows of unused artillery shells and rifles on racks resting near the doors. He walked inside, greeted by a dead receptionist. There were multiple bleeding wounds on the lifeless female, indicating there was at least one nearby Kklxin. Grasping a knife he produced from his belt, Tokugawa continued through another door labeled Battle Suits. He came across a Kklxin munching on a sandwich amidst half a dozen gleaming, white, pristine Valkyrie suits.

"Hey, tall dark and ugly!" Jon yelled above the sound of burning machinery.

The Kklxin turned around and set down his sandwich on a crate. It growled fiercly, and snapped it's gun in half. He charged with reckless abdandon at the small-statured Eteno before him. Jon easily avoided his attack, and made a long cut across his back. The burly creature screamed and turned around, but Jon was too fast. He punched the beast in the chest, then cut him again, but at his neck. The Kklxin stopped, prompting the Eteno to finally lodge his knife into his opponent's skull. The Kklxin collapsed, and Jon walked towards one of the Valkyrie suits. Jon observed the beauty of the machine. Two large metal-feathered jet wings sprouted from the shoulderblades of the nine-foot tall beast. He looked at it's head, photoreceptors nestled safely within a layer of thick armor. He looked around again, and noticed a giant energy rifle, perfectly fine for use by the bigger suit.

Dhragolon
While Alagor was waiting outside, an opposite, outer section of the facility exploded. Shortly after, he heard muffled cries for help. He stepped outside the police car and followed the sounds leading him around the facility and to a huge pile of rubble. He managed to move a few metal debris, but could not reach whoever was trapped underneath. Alagor peered closely into the rubble and saw four sets of Eteno eyes.

Alagor said, "Are you alright?"

One of the refugees said, "Thank Marana a friendly face! Can you help us get out?"

"What happened here?"

"We were being chased by a group of Kklxin as we were trying to get to our ship. Then, the side of this building collapsed trapping us in this depression."

"The rubble is too heavy for only me to move. Fortunately, I have a companion inside getting a few power suits."

"Please hurry. Get us out!"

"I'll be back with my companion soon."

Alagor hurried back to the police car only to find it missing. He didn't know if Jon was still inside or if someone had stolen it. He carefully studied imprints in the ground noticing the tracks of an Eteno and a few Kklxin. There was no debris of the police.

"In the name of Jamzeze, I leave for only a few minutes and things go wrong?!" Alagor sighed. "Jon, you better be around somewhere if you don't want to leave some of your friends to die."

Eteno
Alagor perked up when he heard the all-too familiar sound of metal impacting flesh from inside the Eteno guard depot.

Alagor ran off towards the sound and clutched his sword, vigilant for any Kklxin that might try to sneak up on him. He walked into the depot through the gaping hole in the wall and saw the shredded remains of a blast door on the wall to his left. He crept close to the hole, staying close to the wall, and looked past it when he heard the sound of melee combat. What he saw was both humorous and relieving. Jon, in a giant Valkyrie, was smashing and bashing a squad of Kklxin trying to destroy the suit with the torn back end of an Eteno military truck. The Kklxin's numbers quickly decreased as they were slammed into walls and into the hard concrete floor, killing them quickly and painlessly, much to Alagor's chagrin. When the last of the Kklxin were nothing but bloody heaps of flesh, Jon grabbed his rifle and noticed the Dhragolon knight looking on curiously.

"Now that is a nice piece of equipment, Eteno."

"Thank you. miniaturized fusion reactors are quite the dandy thing, aren't they?"

"Sure. We need to get back to the car. I found some Eteno that were trapped under some rubble. You need to help me get the Eteno out."

The behemoth suit's head nodded, and the heavy power armor unit trodded casually out of the facility with Alagor.

"Tarkith, I picked up an Eteno transmission in the suit's radio before I ran into those Kklxin and it turns out that our armies' men are being pushed back. The good news is that one of our prototype Iron Islands is en route here and should arrive in a week if the city hasn't been levelled or liberated by then."

"So, we have to hold out here for a week. Wonderful."

The duo reached the trapped Eteno and Jon kneeled down, his suit's photoreceptors showing him the positions of the four fellow sentients. He grabbed a handful of the rubble and tossed it to his right, knocking over a street light. Jon repeated this process until all of the rubble was gone. The four yellow creatures left the pit and stretched their limbs.

"There's a helipad over there with a somewhat pristine Dragonfly on it. Maybe you civvies can get away from the colony in it. Any of you a pilot?" Tarkith said.

One of the Eteno raised his hand.

"Wonderful. Here's your crash course on flying a military strike transport. Don't press any buttons, don't open any side doors, and don't use the drop cords. Congratulations, cadet, you have graduated with an A+. I can help you pull off some wreckage." Tokugawa spoke, alertly looking around for any sign of an enemy to turn to dust.

"Make it quick, Eteno, the Kklxin aren't gonna wait and neither is the Coalition fleet."

Dhragolon
After the Eteno escaped, Jon approached the police car refilling it of whatever fuel it lost. He said to Alagor, "Let's continue to the central district. This can't be all the survivors...hopefully."

"Where do we go from here to get there?"

"Just past that cliff in the distance. The main city is actually built within a huge crater."

"That makes sense. Lots of minerals are more accessible allowing the colony to be self sufficient in such a remote area."

"We need to get going now. The more time we waste, the more this colony will get destroyed."

"Err...how are you going to get in?"

Without saying a word, Jon ripped off the roof of the car and tried to squeeze himself into the back seat. Alagor sighed and took the driver's seat. They drove the car up a relaxed incline for about a few minutes, until before them, they came to the crater. Lasers were flashing within the city and Eteno and Kklxin ships were circling overhead. They saw one building get levelled, crashing down. Also scattered throughout were broken pillars which seemed to have once supported roads.

Alagor asked, "How are we going to get down there?"

"Good question. Looks like the Kklxin destroyed the ramps that go from the edge of the crater into the city. Thus, ground transportation into the city has been cut off."

"Those Kklxin are intelligent despite their evil deeds. We should never underestimate them."

"For now, let's go find survivors and get them out of there."

"Are you suggesting that we-?"

Jon interrupted, "Yep. There's no other way to get down there. Besides, I've got this powersuit and you've got those prosthetics. We'll be fine." Alagor slammed the gas pedal and flew off the edge. They attempted to keep the car rather upright so that it would not land upside down.

Alagor said, "One last thing. If you get us killed, you're coming with me to the Infernal Nether."

Eteno
The vehicle soared through the air, rear-end drooping with the weight of Jon and his suit. A few lasers hit the engine that were fired by both Kklxin and Eteno bellow them. The vehicle veered from its previous trajectory and impacted a mound of dirt. Tarkith's arm popped off when a piece of metal slammed into it, and he grabbed it with his other hand. Meanwhile, Jon exited the car and grabbed his huge rifle. A Kklxin hover tank came steaming up the monstrous mound, and reached the top. Its gun barrels pointed at the totaled police vehicle. Jon used the suit's jets to slam into the tank and knock it upside-down. He then punched it into oblivion while Alagor ran up to him.

"Where to now?" Jon asked.

"Wherever there are more Eteno than Kklxin."

"Try Malisk II. We're completely outnumbered here."

"Then let's try to reach city cen-"

"MAYDAY MAYDAY! ENS Minerva losing altitude rapidly! All operational units move to our projected crash location!" Jon's radio blared above Alagor.

"That's probably where we should be heading." Jon said nonchalantly.

Alagor nodded and the two started running in the direction of a descending, flaming Eteno gunboat.

Along the way, they encountered little resistence, barring a few light Kklxin vehicles and some soldiers. They kept going until they reached a giant wreck surrounded by dug-in Dhragolon, Eteno, and other crewmen of assorted species being attacked by a massive army of Kklxin.

"So... this is every operational unit. Alagor, if we live, I swear I'm gonna give you a billion Grums."

The Dhragolon sighed and shook his head at the mass of Kklxin, and raised his sword. Jon raised his gun and flared his suit's metal-feathered wings.

Dhragolon
Alagor and Jon dug their way through the Kklxin army surrounding the ship. Piles of Kklxin bodies soon littered the battleground as the two of them approached the crashed gunboat. Taking cover, they begun to wonder how to help their allies.

Jon asked, "What are we supposed to do? We better think of something before these Kklxin wipe out that whole squadron!"

"First of all, there seems to be too few of them to take on this whole army. We've got to find a way to get them out of there and strike from behind."

"So what do you suggest then?"

"Grandmaster Zerif always told us that if the solution is neither left or right, it's either up or down."

"Down..." Jon pondered. "Down! I've got it! The sewer systems are only 100 feet below us. The crash site should give us a head start!"

"Very well. Though I presume the wreckage has something resembling a shovel?"

The two of them continued through the massive Kklxin army joining their comrades who were desperetely fighting back.

An Eteno commander said to Jon, "Really? This is all the assistance we got? Just two stragglers roaming the battlefield alone?"

Jon said, "Yep. The Kklxin have pretty much taken over this sector of the colony and other squadrons are too far away. I heard that reinforcements should arrive in a few days though."

"Few days?! We'll be dead before then!"

Alagor interupted and said, "Relax! Jon here says that you guys can escape via the sewers and attack from behind or something like that."

The commander replied, "You're right! That never occurred to me! We could probably use some of the debris here to dig. I'll go order some of my men to start right away."

Jon replied, "We'll stay here in the front line to hold them off."

Alagor said, "The smaller species should go through first so that the Kklxin can't follow you guys into the sewers."

Some of the soldiers from the gunboat withdrew to grab some scraps of metal to dig their way to the sewers.

Alagor replied, "Okay, I'll take the opposite side. Let's do this!"

Eteno
Alagor dashed to one side of the hastily erected barricade and pulled out his sword, ready to take on any Kklxin foolish enough to approach. On the other side stood Jon, his huge suit looming over any and all Kklxin trying to get to the digging. The next wave of Kklxin began, and fire ripped from along the barricade manned by a platoon of Eteno. Alagor easily outmatched the Kklxin grunts that approached, and turned once-proud footsoldiers into dying messes of gore before him. Across the battle line stood the unmoving pillar that was a Valkyrie battle suit. Jon killed Kklxin with his plasma rifle, and also was keen to send the hostile creatures flying if they approached. After some time, the men digging a tunnel down to the sewer hit the main pipe and busted trough it. One of them ran out of the dig area and informed the Eteno commander on site.

"Everybody fall back to the tunnel and retreat in orderly fashion!" He yelled.

Alagor heard this, and finished slicing a Kklxin in half vertically before making a beeline for the tunnel area, making sure to watch his back. Jon also retreated, and used the jets on his suit to propel himself towards the dig. The hole wasn't that wide, and there was absolutely no way that he could get through it in his suit. Depressed, he exited his armored combat suit and grabbed a laser rifle and clips from a dead soldier. Alagor quickly approached as the first Eteno jumped down the hole. Behind them were several Eteno that volunteered to stay behind, and stood unmoving behind metal barriers providing liberal covering fire.

"Jon, you go first. I'll follow"

The supersoldier nodded and jumped down the hole. He landed at the base of a small dirt tunnel, and dusted himself off before going through it and emerging in the spacious sewer, along with the remaining sailors and soldiers. Alagor closely followed, and they heard a loud boom as several large pieces of gunboat fell and blocked the hole and tunnel just as Alagor exited it.

"I set a charge. Those Kklxin aren't getting down here. They probably think we're dead, as I set the charge facing up while stuck in the dirt, making the explosion look like it came from the petrol lines adjacent to us." Jon said.

"Well, that's good news. We should probably set up camp a little further down. We can use it as a base for resistance until reinforcements arrive." Alagor said, stroking his chin in thought.

Everyone nodded or mumbled in agreement, and set off towards the sewer intersection several hundred meters away."

Dhragolon
Everyone stayed at camp for about two days resting from the fatigue of war. Soon after though, they began to plan their strategy.

Jon said, "How are we going to attack back? Since the Kklxin think we are dead, they most likely dispersed in search of other downed gunboats."

"We are going to have to scout out," Alagor replied. "Perhaps the two of us will go while the rest of the camp waits here."

Another Eteno said, "You are going to make us sit here and do nothing?! I'm not going to let the Kklxin overrun this place! I grew up here!"

Alagor rather rudely replied, "Look. You guys could barely hold off a single army. The two of us have been around since the attack scurrying around looking for people to save!"

"He's right," Jon added. "We need to make sure we know what we are doing. Leave it to us."

A different Eteno said, "How will you let us know when we can attack again? Couldn't the Kklxin trace our radio signals to where we are?"

A Dhragolon came up with an idea, "Wait, I know what we can do. I managed to take a Telepathic Amplifier with me before we blocked the entrance to our camp behind us."

Alagor said, "Excellent idea! It's a safe way to communicate!"

"But I only got one."

Jon said, "That is a problem. That means that if we take it with us, we would not know if you were in danger until we activate the amplifier."

Another Dhragolon said, "Don't underestimate us! If we run into trouble we should be just fine in holding them off since we aren't surrounded in 360 degrees."

"Very well," Jon replied. "Alagor, I'll leave the Telepathic Amplifier with you."

"Right," Alagor dropped his head quickly as a half-way nod.

Still not used to the way Dhragolon nod and shake their heads to say yes, Jon moved along with Alagor to explore the sewer system. It was dimly lit as many of the lights had gone out since many power lines above had been destroyed. As they came to a T-intersection, both of them noticed a shadowy figure wandering around.

Alagor quickly sped right in front of the shadowy figure and held his sword up to the figures throat. The energy from the sword dimly lit the figure's face which turned out to be a man in a gas mask and two horns. Jon pointed his gun at the same time!

"Halt! Stay where you are! What are you? A Kklxin?" Jon said.

The figure responded, "Oh please. A Kklxin? You honestly thought I was one of those tyrannical maniacs who want to take over the galaxy? C'mon. Seriously, anarchy is the way to go."

Alagor said, "What is the meaning of this? Who or what are you?"

The figure said, "You don't know me? Pah! Didn't expect it. Not too many of us in this sector anyway. I am Mor'Leedhr, and I am a proud member of the Katrakhan race!"

Jon said, "Doesn't sound familiar. Are you a new species?"

"Well, to you at least. There's 10 billion of us across the galaxy. Our society has pretty much fallen apart and now we roam the galaxy on our own looking for cash. Almost all of us are mercenaries and pirates. I happen to be both."

Alagor said, "So, you're a criminal?! Get out of here, you evil scum!"

Jon said, "Look, we have no time to deal with this right now! Wait...you say you are a mercenary? How good are you at combat?"

Mor'Leedhr replied, "Combat? Don't question it. I've been paid thousands of Sporebucks just to help defend some poorly designed colonies from enemy invasions. I've killed millions of cronies from tyrannical lunatics of the galaxy."

Jon said, "Fine. You can come with us, since we are going to scout out the surface in an attempt to lead an ambush on the Kklxin above. But don't try anything or I will turn you into a rotting corpse."

"Well, as long as it involves massacring those despotic maniacs, I'll be just fine. But before I do, how much money will you pay me?"

Eteno
"A thousand Grums. That equates to fifteen-hundred Sporebucks, so count yourself lucky that you're in Eteno territory." Jon said, still wary of the mercenary.

"Ey now, that's pretty good. You keep your promise, and I'll be more than happy to help you out in the future. Now we have the problem of a light source."

Jon remembered the light on his rifle, and muttered something about Marana wanting him alive and stupid. The light from the gun proved to be in good working condition, and the three skilled men began to navigate the sewers, with the Katrakhan in the lead.

"So, have you seen or heard anything like a big ship around here? We need to find out how many Eteno may be alive, and we need to find out where the Kklxin are, as well." Alagor said, breaking the silence.

"I seen plenty of them above ground! Two of them had hit the ground, though. I seen you guys get away from one of them."

"The first one was the Minerva, so I bet the second was either Juno or Ceres. Those three always worked together. One of 'em even brought me to this place." Jon replied.

They finally navigated to a ladder and manhole, and the Katrakhan used some equipment he was carrying to find out what was above. Only one Kklxin was nearby, easily taken by the three combat experts. Jon went first, and cracked open the manhole to look around. He saw a Kklxin with his back to him smoking a cigarette, knowing nothing of the creature behind him. Jon held his rifle on its side and placed it in the small space, held in place by his hand and the metal plate. He fired two shots at the Kklxin's head, killing him instantly. He signaled for the others to come up as he himself went out to fully survey the surroundings.

"Dear god..."

"What is it J... oh, man." Alagor said, taken aback by the sight of the colony.

Many buildings had collapsed, and the city was falling apart at the seams. Smoke rose in the distance, and several scavenger birds had already began to look over the dead Kklxin. All there was was fire and chaos.

Dhragolon
Mor'Leedhr said, "What?! Oh c'mon! I barely even got to kill anything yet!"

Jon scolded, "Is that all what you can think about?! Thousands of Eteno colonists could be dead right now! We've failed! Our efforts were in vain!"

"Nah, I bet there are still some Kklxin in there. Maybe it's only the outside that's on fire."

Alagor said, "He's right. Let's move out!"

They moved deeper into the flaming city watching for falling buildings. The central district seemed totally destroyed. Not long after, a Kklxin battle tank about as big as a two-story house emerged from underground levelling several more buildings.

"What the heck! Where did that come from?" Jon began to ponder if the team that was camped in the sewers was alright.

Then, hundreds of Kklxin began to emerge from the huge tank and began to charge at them. A Kklxin popped out from the tank's hood saying, "Let's clean this flaming mess up! First, let's capture that Dhragolon and that Eteno!"

Jon said, "Looks like you just hit the jackpot, Mor'Leedhr."

"Yeah, time to show who's boss!"

The tank began blasting away at various buildings causing many to collapse and block their ways to escape. The trio dashed in and began to effortlessly wipe out the armies of Kklxin, though endless waves of them emerged from the tank. Soon, the heat of the flames was intesifying. Alagor's prosthetics began to burn his skin. He raised his sword but the pain increased and his movements slowed. He became more vulnerable.

The tank shot a tractor beam at Alagor. Jon tried to jump and push him away but he was caught, too. Mor'Leedhr was still outside killing the rest of the Kklxin armies himself, while the tank kept firing at the buildings.

As he kept killing, Mor'Leedhr wondered, "Gah! How am I supposed to get paid if the payor is captured? Guess I have no choice but to crack that tank open and rescue those amateurs." He dashed towards the tank trying to find a way past its diamond-Dragonrock hull.

Eteno
As Mor'leedhr's employers were steadily being sucked into the tank, the Katrakhan thought furiously. He noticed that Jon had dropped two AT grenades and a Triflam-31 canister.

"Hm. This may make a big boom." He said to himself.

As more Kklxin came out of the monstrosity, the Katrakhan seized the opportunity and tossed the three grenades inside of the tank. Mor'leedhr watched with pleasure as the Kklxin recently sent out were thrown into the air by the titanic explosion. Further, the superstructure of the vehicle shook and shuddered as more explosions followed. The tractor beam suddenly stopped working and Alagor and Jon fell from its grip and hit the ground quite uncomfortably. Soon, Kklxin inside the tank that weren't killed by the explosions inside started to scream in agony as the Triflam burned sensitive body parts and began the almost-always lethal mutation process. The tank was effectively neutralized.

"Thanks, Mor. Alagor, whaddya think we should do?"

"It would probably be in everybody's best interests to see if we can cause some trouble. Blow an ammo depot, maybe."

"That sounds like a fine idea."

Dhragolon
The trio continued to wreck havoc on Kklxin forces, but after hours of fighting and fighting, they started to get exhausted. They were gasping for air and trying to stand on their two legs.

Jon said, "Man, I swear I've killed at least 10 billion of these guys."

Mor'Leedhr replied, "Hey! You got a head start!"

"This is starting to get old. All of them look the same. How many of these guys are there?"

"Come to think of it, where have these Kklxin been coming from?" Alagor wondered.

Coming up from the tunnels that the giant tank dug was the unit back at the sewers. The commander who was an Eteno said, "Hey, you guys didn't forget about us, did you? You won't believe this! A tank dug right through our camp, but it certainly didn't come from the surface judging by the looks of the tunnel!"

"What?! Impossible! We thought this was an air raid!" Jon said.

Alagor thought to himself, "I knew I missed something when I did that mind meld with a Kklxin a while ago. They were going to build a mining colony, but I couldn't figure out how they were going to do it."

Mor'Leedhr recalled something. "Wait a second. I think I remember now. I remember my father told me about this. Back when our people were an 'empire'," he said shuddering at that word "one of our colonies was razed by some dragons that burrowed underground."

Alagor said, "That's sounds familiar! A few thousand years ago, our people massacred a genetic race of burrowing dragons. They came in a giant sphere that teleported into a planet's core that generates armies to be sent to the surface to attack. They were called the Genodraco Legion. But this doesn't make sense. The Genodraco are peaceful now and the Kklxin have never used something like that!"

The commander from the unit said, "Oh my. This is no ordinary battle. This is only speculation, but maybe the Kklxin are testing out new, stolen technology. Maybe that sphere you speak of?"

"Yes," Alagor said. "It's made of diamond and Dragonrock. It's nearly impossible to destroy at that size."

Mor'Leedhr said, "Would blowing up this planet do it?"

Jon said, "Maybe, but I don't want to find out. No way that I'm going to get involved in another Eteno-Dhragolon conflict."

"And I don't want to lose my last limb! I've lost three already," Alagor replied.

High above the flaming city, fleets of Dhragolon and Eteno ships emerged from the ash clouds.

"Reinforcements!" They all shouted.

Jon said, "We better leave this job to the higher officials. What the Kklxin are doing now could change galactic history for the worse!"

"Who knows what the Kklxin could do next with that powerful weapon? The entire galaxy could be annihilated!"

Mor'Leedhr said, "I'm heading back to the sewers. I have no place on one of your ships as we are loners. You can pay me later when you see a starfighter called the Nomad. And by the way, if the Kklxin end up using this sphere-thingamajig to take over the galaxy, I'll be the first to strike. No way I'm letting the universe be ruled by a dictatorship."

Jon said, "I'll be seeing you, Mor'Leedhr. Thanks for your help. For the rest of us, let's go to the outskirts so that the reinforcements can pick us up."

Eteno
Alagor and Jon made their way out of the city with the surviving Eteno soldiers and arrived at a makeshift camp centered around several transports of Dhragolon and Eteno construction.

"So, you here to help us take out these bums?" Jon asked a passing Eteno soldier.

"You know it." The trooper replied.

"How many men are here?" Asked Alagor.

"Almost a million, Dhragolon. We got the 371st Guard here."

Tarkith grunted and walked off towards the gargantuan Eteno transport at the center of the camp.

"We should talk to the officers in command here. They can probably arrange for some quartering, maybe even some leave."

"Leave time would be nice." The blue swordsman replied.

The two waited outside of the transport for an officer of high status passed by for around a minute. The officer that finally came around was none other than Grandmaster Zerif of the 11th Churszath Division.

"Grandmaster Zerif, sir!" Tarkith said, snapping into the Dhragolon salute.

The Eteno Corporal merely stood rigid with his arms at his side, a proper show of respect, but not obedience, to a foreign leader.

"Ah, Apprentice Tarkith Alagor. How are the prosthetic limbs?"

"They do their job well, sir."

"Good. It's wonderful to see you survived this calamity. I see you have made yourself an acquaintence of the Eteno. Who is this one?"

"Corporal Jonathan Tokugawa, 938th Colonial Valkyries Grandmaster." Jon replied before Tarkith could speak.

"I see. Was there something you needed, Apprentice?"

"Ah, yes sir. We've been seperated for several days from any real semblance of authority or order, so we were wondering if we could procure quarterings and a hot meal, sir."

"Of course. Our command ship recently landed and you should be able to get adequate facilities and services."

"Thank you sir!"

Grandmaster Zerif walked off and Jon and Tarkith walked towards a command ship bearing the Eteno flag and s large Dhragolon marking.

Dhragolon
During their rather long break, Alagor and Jon recounted their tale of survival as well as their brief encounter with Mor'Leedhr.

"A pirate helped you in this war? Amazing!" Zerif exclaimed.

Alagor replied, "We can't really declare them tainted since they are no longer a collective race. They are scattered across the galaxy doing their own things."

"Well, if they are willing to stop the Kklxin, certainly, some of them can be trusted. As for the Genodraco Sphere, I'm not really sure what to think of it. Our methods all those years ago may not work against whatever upgrades the Kklxin may have made."

Jon said, "I'm sure an Iron Island can take it out."

"And risk blowing up this planet? I think not," Alagor intervened.

Zerif said, "It's our only option. If we leave that sphere be, it will become a Kklxin factory. Most likely it's still here seeing as the attack isn't technically over yet."

Jon suddenly received a message on his communicator. The source was identified as 'Nomad'. The three of them read it,

"While you guys were enjoying some relaxation, I took the time to break into the sphere and disable its defenses. I barely got away with a broken arm you know. Mind if you up the payment to two-thousand Grums?

-Mor'Leedhr

PS: I'll be waiting on Asteroid Zeta at the edge of the Yanyarigan cloud. See you there."

Grandmaster Zerif said, "We better get rid of that sphere before the Kklxin repair it and undo your friend's efforts. The Iron Island is our only option."

Alagor said to Jon, "If this rock turns to dust-"

"It won't. I guarantee," Jon interrupted.

Soon enough, the Iron Island Messiah arrived and positioned itself over the top of one the tunnel entrances to the core. It charged up its cannons, aiming into the hole and got ready to fire. An Eteno aboard apprehensively pressed the 'fire' button.

Eteno
"BLAAAM. BLAAAM. BLAAAM."

The triple-barreled cannon of the gargantuan sea base fired down at the damaged ball of metal that rested at the core of the planet. The ground shook uncontrollably, but the ground did not fracture, much to the delight of everyone present. Hunks of metal and lava erupted from the core, and flew into the atmosphere.

"Target down. Repeat, target dowwwwn!" The Messiah's commanding officer yelled triumphantly over the radio.

There was a chorus of loud cheers from the Eteno and Dhragolon, and troops heading into the colony expressed their relief over the communication lines.

Jon noticed a high-ranking Eteno standing near him, and approached.

"Commander, sir? There was a pirate that assisted in liberating the city, and he is waiting in the Yanyarigan Cloud for compensation. I was wondering if I could put 2,000 Grums on the national credit card?"

"Aye. Tre' it loike payin' a bounteh hunta."

"Yessir."

Tokugawa walked back to Alagor.

"Alagor, we should probably procure a shuttle and go out to pay the pirate."

"I agree."

The two asked around for an un-needed shuttle for almost an hour. Finally, they came across one and immediately layed claim to it.

Dhragolon
After about a two hour long trip, Alagor and Jon navigated their way through the Yanyarigan cloud and arrived at Asteroid Zeta. A large grey nebula with a bright yellow center was in the background and a blurry shadow of Yanya was visible. A camp had been set up on the surface while the two of them landed. They couldn't use radio communications as the cloud stopped it from working.

Mor'Leedhr had stepped outside wearing a cast while Alagor and Jon exited their shuttle wearing life support suits.

Mor'Leedhr said, "I'd figure I would stay here a while. Since you Dhragolon haven't really shown aggression to me yet, this spot would be nice until my arm recovers. None of my other payees can hunt me down here since radio communication doesn't work here."

Jon gave him a data card containing the transaction information for 2,000 Grums. "There you are. Hope you got what you wanted."

"I didn't exactly foresee myself getting injured so now I got to pay for some medical costs, but this money should do. At least I can get a few bounty hunters away from my heads with this cash."

"Well, we're off to our awards ceremony now."

Mor'Leedhr replied, "No medals for me? Hmph. Oh well. At least I'm getting paid."

Jon and Alagor said farewell to the Katrakhan and headed towards Malisk II. During the trip, Jon asked, "So what are you going to do afterwards? That was a heck of a battle back there."

"I'm going to still fight. After all, I'm a Renyanist. I can't rest until evil is clean of the galaxy. Besides, I've been an Apprentice for too long. It's about time I become an Intermediate. Then in maybe a decade or two, I will become a Grandmaster."

"Same here. I won't let that tough battle stop me. The Kklxin war isn't over yet. That Genodraco sphere still disturbs me. I wonder how many more of those things there are."

"Soon, we'll find out."

Eteno
The Eteno shuttle left the Yanyarigan cloud and flew forth towards Kessritus, a planet under joint control by the Dhragolon and Eteno. It was mainly dedicated for diplomatic purposes. By the time the shuttle left the system, they came across a huge ship.

"This is the ENS Achilles, HNR-52 to unidentified craft. Identify yourself immediately or I'll plug ya one."

"This is Corporal Jon Tokugawa with Dhragolon Apprentice Tarkith Alagor. We were on our way to a medal ceremony on Kessritus, but the nav system crashed after a freak solar storm and we had to land on an asteroid here. Could you lead is to Kessritus?"

Tarkith gave Jon a both surprised and amused look and shook his head.

"Aye, mate."

The lumbering naval ram turned slowly, until it came to rest facing one specific direction.

"Fo'ow our heading, and link your control systems wi' our nav computer."

Tarkith and Jon tapped several buttons on the cockpit's main control panel, which linked the shuttle with the ram.

"Goin to lightspeed now in three, two, one..."

The stars in front of the shuttle's viewport warped and bended, then disappeared.

The journey lasted about half a day, and the shuttle and ram came out of lightspeed very close to Kessritus. The scene in orbit was dull, but no doubt the medal ceremony would be much more spectacular.

"Hea' on down to the surface, mates."

"Copy that, 52."