Spyro: Legacy of Dragon Force - Book II

[Star_Dragon]

What? Did you think Spyro's adventures ended after he eliminated the threat at the Valley of the Seven Dragon Lords? Hell no! They had just begun...

Spyro:

Legacy of Dragon Force

Book Two: One Dragon’s Fury

Prologue

An explosion, approximately thirty meters behind the jeep, sent dirt and debris flying in every direction. The military-grade jeep – an M20 Cheetah Fast Attack Vehicle – swerved this-way-and-that as it avoided missiles, rockets, and plasma pulses from the Kemorainian Death Glider chasing it from above. A Ryukaissen Dragonarian was at the wheel of the vehicle, with a purple dragon in the passenger seat in purple armor, while another dragon in maroon armor operated the M430 Medium Anti-Aircraft Gun in the back.

“Cynder, can’t you hit that guy?!” the Purple Dragon yelled over the roar of the Cheetah’s engine.

“Two things, Spyro,” the maroon-armored dragon called out, “one, Kell’s fancy driving is making this difficult; two, hitting a target in a moving vehicle is hard; it’s even harder when both the vehicle and the target is moving at the same time!”

“We’re approaching the target zone!” the Ryukaissen announced. “Cynder! Get ready to jump! We’ll have only one chance to get this right!”

As the Cheetah roared to the target zone – an elevator imbedded in the side of the canyon – Cynder readied herself to jump through the door.

Consistent with their plans, the door to the elevator opened, and Cynder jumped through the opening as the Cheetah raced past. Once Cynder was gone, Spyro got in the back and manned the M430 MAAG. Using his armor’s optical targeting sensors, he aimed at the Kemorainian Death Glider, but held his fire. He waited as the glider swerved to avoid whatever fire he perceived, and as he stopped to open fire, Spyro opened up on him. The Death Glider flew right into the fusillade of flying bullets, shuddered, and blew up.

“Bingo!” Spyro shouted.

“Nice one, Spyro,” Kell commented. “But we’re not done yet; We still have prisoners to rescue and a Rebel operation to sabotage.”

“You think Agent Nine will be able to get us past the main gates like he said he would?” Spyro asked.

“No idea; but, if the narrow-beam transmission he sent me was any indication, he’s cooked up a few surprises.” Kell answered.

“I think we’ve seen enough surprises,” Spyro remarked. “Remember those crystals we found in the science lab on Raktus Prime?”

“Bah, you worry too much, Spyro,” Kell said.

“Says you,” Spyro countered. He and Kell laughed as the Cheetah roared down the canyon.

* * *

After the Kemorainian Death Glider was destroyed, the drive through the canyon was more or less uneventful, during which, Spyro managed to get a few hours of sleep. He was awakened when Kell shook him.

“Look alive, Spyro,” he said, “We’re coming up on your drop-off point.”

“Refresh my memory,” Spyro grumbled, still waking up. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Simple;” Kell responded. “Go in, disable the enemy’s planetary defenses, free the prisoners, and get them to an extraction point.”

“Got it,” Spyro said.

“Your insertion point is a nearby mine,” Kell announced. “We’ll be coming up on it in a few seconds.”

Spyro readied his H40, and when Kell gave the order, he jumped, hit the ground at a roll, and headed into the mine...

* * *

Kell didn’t look to see Spyro enter the mine behind him. He couldn’t. Her switched the M430 MAAG to autonomous mode, and radioed in to Agent Nine.

“Kilo-Alpha to Alpha-Nine, come in. Over.”

“Alpha-Nine here,” Agent Nine’s voice replied. “Go ahead, over.”

“I’m heading in your direction,” Kell stated. “Are you ready? Over.”

“Ready and waiting, over.”

“Be ready to jump aboard when I get there. Over and out.” Kell ordered.

He drove the Cheetah through several canyon twists and turns until he began approaching a gate. He raced at top speed, not even slowing for a millisecond. It was unexpected, then, when a loud thump sounded in the back, and Agent Nine’s voice said, “Take this thing off autonomous mode, will ya?”

Kell complied, and Agent Nine manned the MAAG.

“I thought you were in the base?” Kell called out.

“I left that place with a nasty parting gift three days ago,” Nine replied. “Be ready; the explosives I placed in the gate--”

Nine was cut off when an explosion reverberated through the canyon. A massive mushroom cloud formed where the gate used to be, and Kell was too close to slow down. Debris rained down all over, and Kell was barely able to avoid the remnants of the gate that suddenly fell from the sky.

The Cheetah charged over the lip of the crater, sailed through the smoke and dust, and landed unscathed on the other side. One Rhynoc got caught under the Cheetah’s tires as it landed, and was crushed flat. The FAV bucked as it passed over the Rhynoc’s body, and Kell slammed on the brakes while simultaneously spinning the wheel left.

The Cheetah fishtailed, sending up a brief spray of dirt and gravel toward the Rhynocs charging for them.

“Hit ‘em, Nine!” Kell barked.

Nine obeyed, and an ear-splitting roar came from the M430 as Agent Nine opened up on the charging Rhynocs. Three of them ran headfirst into the barrage of bullets and were shredded, while an additional four were blown off their feet and hurled into the bloodied ground. The rest chose that moment to retreat to cover, therefore giving Kell and Nine their chance to get out of dodge.

Kell and Nine simultaneously leapt out of the Cheetah, unlimbered their weapons – an MP340A2 for Kell, and an H38 Battle Rifle for Agent Nine – and headed indirectly to the research facility. En route, Nine turned around long enough to grease two overly-ambitious Rhynocs with two quick three-round bursts.

“Still using the three-round burst mode?” Kell asked as they stopped behind an adjacent building.

“I use nothing else,” Nine affirmed.

A Rhynoc came charging around the corner after that statement. The Rhynoc, surprised to see his enemy right in front of his face, hesitated – long enough for Kell to jam the muzzle of his MP340A2 into his chest and pull the trigger.

“Hesitation kills,” Kell remarked as he stepped over the dead Rhynoc’s corpse.

“Let’s head inside the research facility,” Nine suggested, “before any more surprises find us.”

“Ha!” Kell commented. “Surprises; that’s an understatement.”

Agent Nine paused for a moment, processing the joke, and laughed.

Even in the midst of combat, it was good to have a sense of humor...

* * *

Spyro reloaded his H40 Assault Rifle and waited for the next wave to attack him. Not Rhynocs; human rebels with a knack for wasting ammo. They used outdated energy rifles – with a few modern weapons thrown into the mix – and, ironically enough, there were ammunition replicators everywhere. Something that suited the rebels, given their wasteful nature – but it would prove to be their demise.

When Spyro was sure the enemy wasn’t going to attack again, he slowly emerged from cover. Using his armor’s enhanced optics, he scanned for any other threats in all spectrums. There were none; however, residual heat signatures from footprints showed that the rebels had retreated.

Though Spyro held no prejudice against humans, he had to admit – while they certainly were brave and courageous, they weren’t always particularly bright. As Spyro approached the ammunition replicator, he kept his weapon ready, in case any human eyes that could see him were watching. He reloaded his low-ammo and empty mags first. Keeping his weapon held to bear, Spyro scanned for any other threats. He hoped this ruse would be enough to keep the rebels from rushing him again – the mag he had loaded into the H40 only had eight rounds in it.

A soft chirp from the replicator suggested to Spyro that it was done. He opened the compartment, retrieved his ammunition mags, stuffed them into the pouch, and reloaded his H40, placing the used mag in the compartment. As he shut the compartment, he scanned the area for a target, finding nothing but his own twitchiness to deal with. The replicator chirped again, and Spyro retrieved his magazine, then shut the compartment – and it gave out. The circuits had been burned out by such an excessive use – good for Spyro, bad for the rebels.

Spyro then placed an explosive device into the compartment, rigged it to the compartment door, and shut it before the device armed. That done, he headed off.

It wasn’t long after Spyro continued through the mine’s various twists and turns that he came upon a fork. The left path led up to a door that Spyro surmised led into the main facility. The right path led deeper into the mine.

Which path to take? It wasn’t a hard decision for Spyro. He headed up the path to the left, pressed a button to open the door, and readied himself for a stealthy entry.

It was a mistake. The human rebel on the other side of the door was just reaching for the door’s controls when Spyro opened it. Spyro shot him dead as he went for a holstered sidearm, and rushed into the facility.

In direct contrast to where Spyro had expected to wind up – the prison complex – he seemed to have entered a vast cargo warehouse.

Not a warehouse, Spyro realized as he stared at the center of the place. A refinery. Cargo trams hauled loads of mineral in, dropped into the processing pit, and departed.

Spyro paused fractionally. A crystal mine, a refinery processing some unknown mineral, and the experiments with said crystals on Raktus Prime... Spyro could only speculate at what their purpose could be.

But, he realized, their purpose didn’t matter – he’d be blasting this mine to a smoldering crater soon enough. With this in mind, he checked his map as be doubled back through the door and saw where he went wrong. The path to the right – the one he guessed led deeper into the mine – led to the prison complex, sixty meters below the surface of Raktus III.

Spyro headed to said passageway and down a mine shaft, and finally found his way into the prison complex. There was, however, a complication; it was heavily guarded. Not as heavily as he expected – no doubt thanks to Kell’s incursion topside – but it held an enemy presence significant enough to be considered as such.

Spyro considered sneaking up on them and throwing a few grenades into their midst, but discarded that tactic. If he wanted to get in – and, by extension, out – he would have to do so subtly.

Where is Hunter when I need him? Spyro thought to himself.

Further contemplation, however, was not required; one guard’s radio squawked, and the guards headed for the turbolift – directly behind Spyro.

If he moved, he would be seen. But, if he stayed there, he would be seen. That’s great odds. Still, he had to try something.

As if fate itself wished to help, a shout sounded behind them – another guard running to catch up, therefore causing the distraction Spyro needed to move unseen. In a blur of speed, he dashed from one shadow to the next while the rebels had their backs turned. Spyro stayed still as the rebels got onto the turbolift, waited for it to ascend, and dashed into the prison complex as the rebels disappeared on the turbolift.

A gutsy move, perhaps, but far more gutsier was Spyro’s next trick. He activated his COM unit as he fiddled with a console.

“Cynder, you alive?”

“Yeah, and I’m waiting on you,” came Cynder’s smart-mouth reply. “What’s keeping you?”

“Our intel was right; the United Insurrectionist Front is crawling all over this place, and they’ve taken prisoners.” Spyro reported.

“That should bring the allies running,” Cynder said.

“I’m not sure about you, but I’ve got a mine to blow up and prisoners to rescue.” Spyro stated.

“Are you trying to justify our normal fee?” Cynder inquired.

“Go ahead and call in the cavalry; I have a feeling that things are about to get nasty around here.”

“Who needs the Valley of the Dragon Lords when you’re already gifted with such amazing intuitive powers?” Cynder chuckled.

“Just do it,” Spyro growled.

“As you wish, O Lord of Dragons.” Cynder replied before she killed the Comm. Spyro finished his work, then sprinted through a waiting door. As he ran through the halls, he heard a distant BOOM. The entire facility shook, and Spyro managed to get on the tram heading to the prison section in time to avoid a massive cave-in.

Another day at work, Spyro thought. As the tram headed to the prison section, Spyro wondered just how well Kell’s mission topside was going...

[Star_Dragon]

Bleh - gotta update.

Chapter One

A grenade detonating, plus a series of three-round bursts, put four Rhynocs and a human rebel out of their misery.

“Stay dead!” Nine shouted as Kell took the research documents.

“That’s the last of them!” Kell shouted out to Nine.

“Good; on to the next phase of the op,” Nine replied.

“Kilo-Alpha to Dragon's Rage, come in. Over.”

“This is the Dragon's Rage,” came Sheila’s voice. “We read you, over.”

“Nine and I have the research docs; I’m setting up a translocator beacon for you to get them up,” Kell explained. “Once it’s up, Nine and I will be heading to the next target objective – radio silence from then on. Over and out.”

“Radio silence, eh?” Agent Nine inquired.

“For them; I don’t want the rebels pinpointing their location. You and I will be talking on coded channels,” Kell said.

“Right...” Nine sighed.

When Kell finished his work, he grabbed his MP340A2 and rushed off with Agent Nine.

They took the stairs down toward the entrance to the facility and hooked a left, through a waiting door.

“You know,” Nine said, “I hate to bring this up now, but I have to admit – you and Ember make a great couple.”

“Bah,” Kell chuckled. “You’re not the first to bring that up.”

“And I probably won’t be the last,” Nine stated.

Two human rebel sentries blithely walked around the corner, and never got a look at their killers as Kell and Nine brought them down with simultaneous bursts.

Kell held up the hand signal to stop. Something wasn’t right. The enemy seemed almost completely unaware that Kell and Nine were there. It was as if they were content to let them wander about, sabotaging their operation, while their attention was fixed elsewhere. But what...

A dull thud sounded as a distant explosion shook the facility. The mine. Spyro had said he had a special surprise in store for the mine, something to draw troops away from Kell’s objective. So, given the severe tremor he felt that nearly knocked him off his feet, Kell could only surmise that Spyro had blown the mine sky-high.

* * *

With the troops rushing in every possible direction to get topside to figure out just what the hell was going on, Spyro crept into the unguarded cell control room. Because all the guards had gone topside, no one was left to guard the prisoners, making Spyro’s job that much easier. He tapped the RELEASE CAGES control on the console, and in an instant, every cell in the prison opened up simultaneously.

“Not very subtle, but it got the job done.” Spyro said with a smile. What was even less subtle was the fact that he had left a pile of weapons for the prisoners to use – firearms, new and old, that he’d scrounged from the armory prior to releasing the prisoners. Now, this jail break could be called a prison uprising.

The prisoners apparently knew what they were doing, as they headed in multiple directions topside. Now, Spyro had to do the same. Easier said than done.

So, Spyro charged through numerous hallways, stealth completely abandoned, gunning down any Rhynoc or human rebel that dared take a shot at him. It wasn’t long before he came across a pilot’s locker room, with a few armored human rebels standing guard. Spyro wasted little time taking them out, then finding a way back to the surface via a maintenance duct.

As soon as he hit topside, He was in the midst of a firefight – more or less. The real firefight was on a platform resting on the ground of a small cliff – thirty meters up. And before Spyro could contend with the rebels firing on the prisoners, he had to go through a gauntlet of Rhynocs. Small, but definitely a threat.

Spyro burst from cover at a dead run, gunned down two of the Rhynocs, and tossed a live grenade to one of three Rhynocs grouped together while saying,

“Catch!”

The grenade detonated as Spyro headed into the control room for the nearby elevator that ran up the cliff.

“Spyro, the allied liberation force is standing by – disable the planetary cannons and keep those prisoners alive.” Cynder said over the coded channel.

“I’m on it,” Spyro answered. He tapped the ascension control for the elevator, then rushed out and got on. The elevator rose up the cliff quickly, and Spyro assessed the situation:

The prisoners had some military – and militant – personnel among them, so they could hold their own against the rebels – had they been on the ground, that is. Truth was, the rebels were on a structure with a walkway extending outward, providing them with the perfect platform to fire down on the prisoners, but no cover. The prisoners, on the other hand, had plenty of crates, boxes, and other miscellaneous items for them to take cover. Essentially, the two combating forces stood on equal terms.

And Spyro sought to tip the balance of the fight in the prisoners’ favor. With this in mind, he walked around the elevator control room and noticed that there was a perimeter defense gun next to it. He looked back at the rebels firing on the prisoners and noticed that below them was a sort of vehicle hangar.

Spyro considered his options; he could either jump on the gun, hose the rebels with heavy fire, and blast any vehicle that comes out of that hangar, therefore saving ammo on his H40; or he could use his H40, fire on the rebels, and get creative with any vehicle that presented itself. Spyro settled with the first option and manned the gun.

On the gun, Spyro sent a continuous stream of fire toward the rebels. Several fell face-first into the ground, and one fell onto the turret of a Panther tank. Spyro blasted that as well.

“Good work, Mr. Nightscales,” the liberation force commander said. “We’re on our way down for the prisoners.”

“Spyro, those defenses are still active – you need to destroy them.” Cynder reminded Spyro.

“I’m fighting as fast as I can!” Spyro interjected.

Spyro doubled back the way he came, down the elevator, and followed the canyon below the planetary defenses. Two fire teams of rebels tried to block Spyro’s advance, and Spyro gunned them down without hesitation.

As Spyro approached the vehicle hangar ahead, the doors opened to reveal a vehicle that literally walked – an All-Terrain Light Attack Walker. The AT-LAW hadn’t spotted Spyro – a fact for which he was grateful. But it wouldn’t last long. The Kemorainian AT-LAW was equipped with motion sensors and a wide variety of deadly weapons. There was no possibility of sneaking by it, so Spyro was left with little choice but to take it on.

He loaded a HE round onto the M900 grenade launcher, but held his fire; even an HE round wouldn’t do any good against that kind of armor. He had to find a chink – somewhere.

Spyro then saw one – the port from which the operators saw from. Spyro took aim, and fired. The grenade launcher coughed, and Spyro was rewarded when the HE grenade detonated inside the vehicle’s chitinous head. A control conduit or something explosive must have been set off, as the whole head exploded seconds afterward.

But Spyro couldn’t stick around – the rebels would be closing that door any second. He sprinted for it, his window rapidly shrinking as the doors closed. Spyro ran as fast as his feet could carry him, at last leaping through the closing doors, rolling, and coming up with his H40 ready. No targets.

Spyro hurried through the nearby door, ascended a flight of stairs, through a number of hallways and empty rooms, and came out on the walkways leading to the planetary cannons. Destroying the cannons was trivial. After they had been neutralized, Spyro headed through another waiting door, shot two unsuspecting rebels dead, headed through two hallways and emerged in another vehicle hangar.

“Good work, Spyro,” Cynder stated. “I’ll touch down in that landing area. See you soon.”

Spyro ran along the walkway that established a perimeter around the roughly squared room, heading for the door opposite to the one he’d just gone through. As he walked through that door, Cynder came over the channel again.

“Spyro, I’ve got some problems, here... Hey!”

“What’s wrong?” Spyro asked, his pace getting steadily faster.

“Spyro, get over here!” Cynder called out.

From her tone, she was in trouble. Spyro hurried out of the structure he was in, up a flight of stairs, and onto the landing platform. Cynder’s shuttle was there, and so was another one. And in front of the second shuttle was a lizard-like alien, plus a human female, who was tying Cynder’s hands behind her back.

“A prisoner for you, master Dakkron,” the human said.

“Well done, Tam. Secure her in the cargo hold, and prepare her for processing.” the Lizard person responded.

“At once, master.” Tam stated. As she and Cynder walked up the boarding ramp, Spyro rushed to the scene.

“Blast them, Spyro!” Cynder shouted.

“Spyro?” Dakkron repeated. “Spyro Nightscales? You’re the legendary hero that destroyed Ravage at the Valley of the Seven Dragon Lords? You look like little more than a petty mercenary.”

“Well you look like an overgrown Kemorainian Lizzarrus,” Spyro replied, “so I guess looks don’t count for much. Hand her over.” He pointed his H40 at Dakkron. Dakkron didn’t even flinch. He gestured, and something from above fell on Spyro’s only means of retreat.

“You desire this woman?” Dakkron inquired. “Come, take her.” He ignited a Nanosword.

Spyro de-materialized his H40 and brandished his plasma katana. He assaulted Dakkron, to no avail. Dakkron was simply more skilled than Spyro. He simply toyed with him until he grew bored. When he did, he telekinetically pushed Spyro away.

“Enough of this charade,” he said. He telekinetically grabbed Spyro by the throat and held him in the air. “You’re pathetic, Spyro. Had you been different, you might have proven a worthy adversary. But without the power of the Valley of the Dragon Lords, you aren’t even worth the effort it would take to strike you down.

“Perhaps your woman will prove to be of heartier stock; she certainly can’t be any weaker than these colonists.”

“Don’t you touch her!” Spyro growled.

“On second thought, Tam... kill her.” Dakkron said with a sinister smile. A Nanosword went active, Cynder screamed, and that was the last time Spyro heard her voice. He blacked out, the last thing he heard was Dakkron’s laughter. The last thing he thought was,

You want a worthy adversary? I’ll give you a worthy adversary.

[Furygun81]

Wow more updates! <reading>

“A prisoner for you, master Dakkron,” the human said.

“Well done, Tam. Secure her in the cargo hold, and prepare her for processing.” the Lizard person responded.

“At once, master.” Tam stated. As she and Cynder walked up the boarding ramp, Spyro rushed to the scene.

“Blast them, Spyro!” Cynder shouted.

“Spyro?” Dakkron repeated. “Spyro Nightscales? You’re the legendary hero that destroyed Ravage at the Valley of the Seven Dragon Lords? You look like little more than a petty mercenary.”

“Well you look like an overgrown Kemorainian Lizzarrus,” Spyro replied, “so I guess looks don’t count for much. Hand her over.” He pointed his H40 at Dakkron. Dakkron didn’t even flinch. He gestured, and something from above fell on Spyro’s only means of retreat.

“You desire this woman?” Dakkron inquired. “Come, take her.” He ignited a Nanosword.

Spyro de-materialized his H40 and brandished his plasma katana. He assaulted Dakkron, to no avail. Dakkron was simply more skilled than Spyro. He simply toyed with him until he grew bored. When he did, he telekinetically pushed Spyro away.

“Enough of this charade,” he said. He telekinetically grabbed Spyro by the throat and held him in the air. “You’re pathetic, Spyro. Had you been different, you might have proven a worthy adversary. But without the power of the Valley of the Dragon Lords, you aren’t even worth the effort it would take to strike you down.

“Perhaps your woman will prove to be of heartier stock; she certainly can’t be any weaker than these colonists.”

“Don’t you touch her!” Spyro growled.

“On second thought, Tam... kill her.” Dakkron said with a sinister smile. A Nanosword went active, Cynder screamed, and that was the last time Spyro heard her voice. He blacked out, the last thing he heard was Dakkron’s laughter. The last thing he thought was,

You want a worthy adversary? I’ll give you a worthy adversary.

This seems to remind me of Jedi Outcast on Artus Prime's final cutscene... Heck the whole thing reminds me of it, prisoners, mines and whatnot!

[Star_Dragon]

Just wait, it gets better.

Chapter Two

Spyro approached the center of the massive room and stopped. Someone was behind him.

“What are you doing, Spyro?” Ravage asked.

“Don’t try to talk me out of this, Ravage; I need the power of the Dragon Lords, and I need it now.” Spyro said.

“And do you think this stream of power will ease your pain?” Ravage inquired. “Or that you can safely wield such power with anger in your heart?”

“Cynder is dead, Ravage,” Spyro growled. “My anger is all I have left; anger and revenge.”

“Is that how she would want to be remembered? With acts of anger and revenge?”

Spyro sighed. “No,” he admitted.

“Then remember her as she was, and may fate be with you.” Ravage said.

“Yeah, well it hasn’t been so far.” Spyro stated as he began his walk toward the glowing dome in the center of the room.

When he was within five meters, the dome’s power lifted Spyro off his feet, hanging him suspended above the center of the dome. The intensity of the glow became brighter and brighter almost to the point where they’d blind Spyro, then subsided. As they subsided, Spyro felt... different. Strange. Like three years of constantly working out had paid off. He felt as though he could lift eight times his own weight, detonate a car with a single thought, or disintegrate someone with a single touch. It was a powerful feeling.

While Spyro was busy interpreting this feeling in a corner of his mind, the dome dropped him less than a meter away, and Spyro grunted.

“Are you alright?” Ravage asked.

“I... never felt anything like this.” Spyro answered.

“You shall grow accustomed to it in time,” Ravage said. “What will you do now?”

“Find Dakkron, but first, I need to pack a few things.” Spyro replied. He got up to leave, and Ravage called after him.

“Before you go, a word of warning, old friend; be careful how far you go in this quest for vengeance. Should you fall victim to the same temptation I did, you could use the valley’s power for unspeakably evil purposes.”

“I won’t,” Spyro growled. “I’m not that ambitious.”

“No,” Ravage whispered as Spyro left. “But you soon will be.”

* * *

As the shuttle used by Spyro warped out of system, another ship warped into the system – an independent shuttle. Had Spyro been there to see it, he would have blasted that shuttle to atoms. It was the shuttle used by Dakkron and his apprentice, Tam. And they were very pleased.

“Your plan worked, master Dakkron,” Tam stated.

“Yes, Tam,” Dakkron explained, “The death of Spyro’s woman has driven him mad, and delivered the Valley of the Seven Dragon Lords into our hands. Contact Admiral Darion and prepare the troops!”

* * *

“You’re doing what?!” Kell and Ember demanded simultaneously.

“I said I’m taking a leave of absence,” Spyro said as he packed seven more ammunition mags for his H40 into the pack. “To find Dakkron and put a stop to him... once and for all.”

He finished this statement as he finished packing, and headed off down a hallway.

“Spyro, look,” Kell pleaded, “I understand you’re upset about Cynder--”

Spyro rounded on Kell with sudden violence. “Do you?!” he yelled. “Do you really know what it’s like to fail to save the one you love?! To watch them die, unable to prevent it?”

“We’ll find Dakkron – together,” Kell stated. “We’ll avenge Cynder’s death.”

“Kell... Cynder and I were soul mates!” Spyro exclaimed. “We spent two years in love, and another six in marriage! Dakkron and his apprentice killed her, and they’re going to pay—I’m gonna finish it!”

“Christ, what you’re intending to do is way over your head!” Kell called after Spyro. “I’m warning you now--”

Spyro pulled an unexpected move when he suddenly whirled around, dropped his pack, grabbed Kell and forced him against the wall.

“Listen here, murderer,” Spyro growled. “I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish or why you’re trying to stop me, but now it’s personal!”

“Spyro, what you’re dealing with is over your head, I have to warn you--” Kell started.

“No!” Spyro screamed. “I’m warning you; Dakkron’s a dead man... Stay the hell out of my way!” Spyro slammed Kell against the wall once more and released him, and as Kell stared into Spyro’s half-crazed eyes, he saw the extent of which raw anger and rage motivated Spyro’s intentions.

“If I can’t stop you,” Kell said, “Then I might as well give you some intel; That shuttle Dakkron used is a registered transport. A friend of mind at the Dragon warrior Academy on Drakkus IV can tell you more, and perhaps give you some intel on Dakkron.”

As Spyro left for his transport, Kell turned around and left. Everyone cleared his path, and not even the soothing words of Ember could calm Kell.

Whatever the cost, everyone had to let Spyro go on his own.

[Furygun81]

The whole thing seems like Jedi Outcast except for a few aspects but great story so far! :troll:

[Star_Dragon]

Glad you like it! Anyway...

Chapter Four

It took Spyro six hours to figure out the location of Rekklar’s hideout, during that time he was attacked from every imaginable direction by Rekklar’s Raptorian and Kemorainian thugs. He had come close to calling it off when he saw a garbage hauler nearby, and gotten the idea to stow away aboard one and see if it took him to the crimelord’s hideout.

It was a gamble of long odds, but it paid off. Spyro used his Magick powers to jump to the above ledge, where an ammunition replicator and a shield over-charger station sat. While his ammunition was replicating, he plugged his armor in to the shield station, and received a eighty-five percent boost to his maximum shield strength. He finished his work with both stations, jumped down to floor level, and pivoted around and spotted a lethargic android. The android wasn’t armed, which was a relief. Spyro lowered his weapon, and continued through a door, where he was greeted by four massive trash smashers and a rancid stench.

“Phew! What is that smell?” he said to himself. Spyro ignored it and continued on his mission. He walked through several doors, each one he was ambushed by Kemorainian snipers armed with disruptor rifles firing through window ports no wider than six inches. He had visited every room in the immediate area and had gotten no closer to what he was looking for when he decided to examine his environment carefully.

He doubled back to the first room he was ambushed in – one that had a octagonal shape with several crates and a fuel container sitting inside – and shot the fuel container. The container exploded and blew a hole in the wall.

“Not very subtle, but it got the job done – more or less.” he murmured to himself. He headed through the wall, and into the area where the snipers typically were. There was apparently one survivor – a Kemorainian – that had lived prior to the explosion that Spyro had missed. He was literally blown into the wall.

Spyro doubled back and looked through the other port and spotted a similar container. He loaded a round into the receiver of his M900 grenade launcher and fired. The explosion sent fragments of the wall flying into the room which – thankfully – Spyro wasn’t in. He hurried through the hole in the wall, headed to a door behind the dead Raptorian sniper, and gave thanks when it opened. He headed down the ramp while thinking,

Rekklar sure has some heavy firepower to guard a bunch of trash.

He headed through a hexagonal door, halfway down a hallway, and through another hexagonal door to his left. He emerged in a detention area. The cells in the immediate area were empty, but Spyro’s motion sensor painted a contact nearby. Spyro headed carefully down the hall to the next set of cells, and was startled to hear a familiar voice.

“Spyro Nightscales?”

It was Spyro’s old friend, Flame. “Flame?” he asked. “What are you doing here?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” came Flame’s smart-mouth reply. “I’m sitting in a cell. How about you?”

“Looking for Rekklar,” Spyro answered.

“You too?” Flame inquired. “What’s the Alliance want with him?”

“A ship of his was involved in an... incident... on Raktus Prime. Insurrectionist stuff.” Spyro replied.

“UIF?” Flame repeated. “Blast! Now it’s starting to make sense!”

“What?” Spyro queried.

“Over the past few weeks, a mineral smuggling ring has infiltrated our Mining colony on Baurus Prime,” Flame explained. “Real slick group, too; they commandeered half of our cargo haulers and loading platforms before we knew what hit us. It became obvious to us that Rekklar’s garbage haulers have been handling the transports. I came over here to Karrus Prime to find Rekklar and persuade him to hand over the names of his employers.”

“ ‘Persuade?’ ” Spyro repeated.

“Hey, I can be a charming guy when I want to be,” Flame answered with a smile. “After a few card games and bar fights, I hadn’t gotten any closer to Rekklar, but I had begun to hear about an insurrectionist big-wig named ‘Dakkron’ before I ended up here.”

“Dakkron?” Spyro said.

“You know him?”

“Yeah – he and the UIF have been performing sick experiments on Interstellar Alliance citizens, among other things.”

“Like I said, the Insurrectionist connection makes sense,” Flame stated. “The infiltrators on Baurus Prime are very well-organized; Not the kind of scum we usually get – they’ve gotta be Innies.”

“Want me to get you out of there?” Spyro asked.

“If it’s not too much trouble,” Flame replied. “You’ll need the password to get into Rekklar’s command center to open the cage.”

“Any idea what that might be?” Spyro inquired.

“Yeah; it’s Kemoran Flin.” Flame responded.

“I could go for one of those,” Spyro commented. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Flame said as Spyro left.

Spyro doubled back the way he came, and back in to the room with the trash smashers. Near those smashers were walkways. Spyro took his dragon form and flew up to the walkway, where he immediately came under attack by three former-Kemorainian Faedyrs. Spyro brandished his Nanosword, the black blade flaring to life.

Typical to Spyro’s fighting style, he held the Nanosword back-handed, with the blade extending behind him. He found it effective to fight like this, and waited for the Faedyrs’ first strike.

And strike they did. Spyro deflected a blow that was directed at his abdomen, then spun and decapitated the alien making the attack. The next Faedyr assaulted Spyro with a vicious swing, but Spyro deflected that blow and gut the attacking Faedyr like a fish.

The remaining two Faedyrs attacked at once; Spyro deflected a blow to his stomach and spun, kicking the Faedyr off the walkway and into the trash smasher while gashing the other Faedyr’s throat. A muffled scream echoed from the other Faedyr as he was flattened.

Spyro didn’t look to see the neon-purple stream that slowly leaked from the rear door of the smasher as he continued to track toward the door before Rekklar’s hideout. When he reached it, he tapped the button and a small camera with a microphone popped out of a receptacle in the wall.

“What’s the password?” it asked in Raptorian.

“Kemoran Flin,” Spyro replied without hesitation.

The sound of rapid clicking was heard in the door, and it opened in seconds. Spyro stepped through without hesitation, and rode the elevator down. Once at the bottom of the shaft, Spyro dispatched several Kemorainian and Raptorian thugs before he finally made his way to a large, circular room. The room was large – say three or four stories high – and very dark. Spyro’s motion tracker painted no contacts, save one. He cautiously entered the room with his H40 ready, and stopped at the center of the room when a translated Raptorian voice asked,

“Looking for something?”

Spyro looked up to an observation room to see a brown-and-red Raptorian looking down at him with ruby-red eyes.

“Not anymore,” Spyro replied. “You’re Rekklar Bakkura?”

“In the flesh,” Rekklar replied. “But who are you?”

“Does it matter?” Spyro queried.

“Not really,” Rekklar answered. “Any last words?”

“What’s a respectable gangster like yourself doing mixed up with an Insurrectionist slime like Dakkron?”

“Making money, of course!” Rekklar exclaimed with a laugh. He flipped a switch, and the room Spyro was in was instantly illuminated. Lining the roof were at least a dozen laser turrets. To a non-Magick user, it was a very serious problem; those turrets were auto-tracking, had a very high rate of fire, and there was absolutely no cover in the room.

To a Magick-user like Spyro, however, the turrets posed almost no threat at all. He simply extended a hand, reached out with Magick, and crushed the turrets into uselessness.

But that wasn’t the end. As soon as the turrets were crushed out of commission, a door behind Spyro opened up, and several Raptorian thugs rushed Spyro. His first hint of the attack was when an energy pulse slapped him in the back, causing his shields to drop by one-twentieth. Spyro spun on his heels, bringing his H40 up at the same time, and stopped in time to ice the first three Raptorians he saw. Of the two the remained, one managed to flank Spyro. Spyro temporarily forgot about him while he greased the other, and whipped around with his Nanosword to decapitate the last thug.

Spyro momentarily paused before he moved on. The last Raptorian had nearly blindsided him. Spyro realized that was because he was accustomed to having one of his fellow teammates guarding his back. Assuming he survived this ordeal, Spyro knew that this mission would call for a major revision of his tactics.

Spyro found his way to Rekklar’s command center – only to find that Rekklar wasn’t there. Strange. Given that there were only two halls leading to the same route out of here, Spyro expected to see Rekklar trying to escape. There was no place for him to go except through Spyro.

So where, then, was Rekklar? Spyro asked himself that question repeatedly, even as he released the force-fields in the detention area. A quick sweep of the room revealed a switch underneath Rekklar’s desk and a surveillance screen.

Surveillance? Spyro thought. In a waste disposal facility? Either Rekklar’s borderline schizophrenic, or there’s a lot more here than a bunch of trash.

Spyro hit the switch, and the sound of a door opening caused him to turn. The switch opened a door Spyro hadn’t seen. That door must lead to Rekklar’s escape route. Spyro hurried through the door when he was sure none of Rekklar’s thugs weren’t going to ambush him, headed through another door, and found himself staring down an escape tube. With hopes that he would catch up with Rekklar, he slid down the tube, coming out in an alcove above a set of stairs, but definitely below the arena where he’d met Rekklar. He was about to jump out of the alcove when he stopped. His motion tracker painted a contact – under the stairs. The stairs themselves were spaced, meaning that Spyro could toss a grenade through them and put the sniper out of action without him knowing he was ever there.

Or better yet, Spyro realized, he could telekinetically manipulate the grenade from here, slide it between the steps, and detonate it that way. Spyro settled with the second choice, and detonated the grenade near the sniper. Spyro didn’t pause for a second to see the mess that now painted a good third of the wall; he had to get out of here. He headed through the hexagonal door before the staircase and found himself back in the detention area. Flame had already acquired a weapon – a worn-down Dragonarian B212 Disruptor, a weapon renowned for it’s dependability and reliability under the harshest conditions, it’s lethal accuracy, re-chargeable ammunition supply, and, of course, being capable of disintegrating opponents with a powerful secondary fire – and was waiting for Spyro.

“What went on up there?” he asked.

“I ran into Rekklar,” Spyro answered.

“Did he tell you anything about the smuggling ring?” Flame queried.

“We didn’t talk much,” Spyro answered. “In case you didn’t hear it all from here, I got ambushed ten seconds into the conversation.”

“I see,” Flame said. “Listen, we’ve gotta get out of here. My ship’s currently docked nearby – what about yours?”

“Rekklar’s thugs have probably already stripped it for parts by now,” Spyro replied.

“What about Cynder?” Flame inquired.

Spyro sighed. “Cynder’s not... with me on this one,” he responded.

“You two have had another one of your fights again, haven’t you?” Flame queried as he looked around the corner. “Well, come on; you can buy her some flowers on Baurus.”

Yeah, Spyro thought solemnly, maybe a few for her grave.

He followed Flame, his thoughts remaining on Cynder before they burned with hatred and revenge. Spyro didn’t care what it cost, even if it cost him his life; Dakkron would pay.

* * *

[Star_Dragon]

Okay! Time for another update.

Chapter Five

Spyro and Flame waited while the elevator they were on slowly rose to the top of the shaft. During that time, Spyro downed a nutrient supplement and a can of protein fluid mixed with caffeine to keep him awake. Once that meal was out of the way, he materialized his armor and grabbed his weapons. The elevator arrived at the top of the shaft ninety seconds later.

Flame spoke, “Oh, good – I thought we were going to be here ‘till--”

Spyro made a throat-slicing gesture, and Flame kept whatever he had to himself. Spyro and Flame stealthily crept up the nearby ramp to a room. This room had two doors, one of which was behind the glass wall to the left, and an elevator at the end of the glass hall to the right.

And walking down the opposite hall was a brawny, reptilian alien that was neither Kemorainian nor Raptorian – and he certainly wasn’t Ryukaissen Dragonarian either; in fact, he looked almost exactly like...

... Dakkron. But it wasn’t him. For one, he was wearing different apparel; second, he was armed with an old human weapon, an AK-47 – a weapon notorious for it’s inaccuracy in full-auto compared to modern assault rifles and being extremely cheap and easy to use and mass-produce – and a belt of grenades. Dakkron used a Nanosword, and in his last confrontation, Spyro saw no evidence of any other weapons on Dakkron’s body.

Deciding that he could use the grenades, Spyro aimed for the lizard and held his fire. He waited until the lizard cleared the glass wall and stopped. He looked in Spyro’s direction, and Spyro fired. The 7.62x51mm round tore through the lizard’s cranium, and the wall behind it got a small orange paint job.

Spyro waited for a few seconds to see if there was going to be a counter-attack. When he was sure there wasn’t, he emerged from cover and rushed over to the alien’s corpse to relieve him of his grenades.

“Well... I can’t say I expected a Vidarrian amongst the ranks of a criminal group like this,” Flame said.

Vidarrians? Is that what these beings were called? Spyro had no time to ponder this, however; Flame activated an elevator, and Spyro went with him. This elevator, unlike the previous one, was relatively quick, and they arrived at a hallway in short order. Spyro and Flame dashed down the hallway to provide any snipers in the area with a difficult target. Once out of sight, they slowed down and entered an observation and control room for the hangar keeping Flame’s ship – a Terran J320 Battle Freighter called the Dragon’s Luck.

“Ah – there she is!” Flame sighed. “I hope they took good care of her.” Flame began working with the console. “Well,” he said, “We’ve got problems.”

“What’s wrong?” Spyro asked.

“They did take care of my ship,” Flame said, “but I don’t think we can just fly out of here; she’s held in place by magnetic moorings and they’ve got one helluva tough tractor beam on her. I can take care of those up here, but we’ve got other problems – the hangar doors are closed, and I don’t think Rekklar’s thugs will open them up if we just ask politely. Try and find the control mechanism for those doors; they’ve gotta be around here somewhere.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Spyro responded. He turned and headed for the nearby elevator when Flame said,

“Good hunting, Spyro.”

“Thanks, Flame,” Spyro said as the elevator descended. It was slow, but the shaft was short; Spyro exited less than ten seconds later. He was back out on the streets of Karrus Prime. The walkway before him extended to a door, but the door had a sort of locking mechanism on it. Spyro put ten rounds into the thing and it didn’t show any signs of damage or loss of power. With growing impatience, Spyro stabbed it with his Nanosword. The Nano-plasma blade cut through the thing like butter, and it sparked, lost power, and died. Spyro removed his Nanosword, and the lock fell to the walkway, where Spyro kicked it off into the stygian blackness below. The door, previously locked, now opened. Spyro found himself back in the room where he killed that Vidarrian; the corpse was still there. Spyro knew where the elevator ahead went, so he headed through the only door he hadn’t been through – and followed the hallway beyond to a hangar-sized room with a squared depression where an elevator would go.

“Spyro – I’ve cut the power to the magnetic moorings, and Rekklar’s thugs are going to be in for a surprise when they try to use that tractor beam, but we’ve got another problem I’ll need to disable manually; I’ll let you know when I get there.” Flame said over a Comm channel.

Spyro ignored it as he shot one Vidarrian through his reptilian head, and turned to his right long enough to shoot another into the pit. If he screamed on his way down, Spyro didn’t hear it as he made his way through a dark maze of a room, and came out again on the Karrus Prime streets.

A grenade dropped down from above, and the reason why was plain to see – a Vidarrian had positioned himself on a hexagonal cargo trailer, and was tossing grenades down below. In a lightning-fast move, he jumped out of the grenade’s blast radius, flanked the grenadier, and shot him off the cargo trailer. Spyro Magick-jumped on top of one of the adjacent trailers and surveyed the scene in a glance:

On the outside of this trailer maze was a split walkway that led to a room with a slit in the wall for a sniper. On that walkway was a Raptorian thug armed with a Kemorainian P400 Plasma Autopulser rifle. Directly on the other side of the structure that the said walkway led to was another walkway that led to parts unknown at the moment.

Spyro leapt off the cargo trailer, turning around long enough to grease a pair of overly-ambitious Kemorainians. He continued down the walkway, iced the Raptorian before he had a chance to turn around, and shot the sniper in the sniping post before he had a chance to react. Spyro entered the nearby door, smashed the stock of his H40 into the face of a human thug that tried to stop him, and stopped when he heard laser fire outside. He doubled back and saw two laser turrets that weren’t there before.

“Hey, old buddy – those guns have me pinned down!” Flame said. “Can you do anything about them?”

By the time Flame had asked for Spyro’s aid, he had already Magick-crushed the guns into oblivion.

“Okay, never mind...” Flame chuckled.

“You’re welcome,” Spyro growled. He continued on, and came out of the other side, and spotted a Vidarrian grenadier. The Vidarrian hadn’t spotted him – a fact that Spyro used to his advantage when he shot the grenadier in the back. This time, he heard the Vidarrian scream on his way down. But Spyro didn’t listen for long; he Magick-jumped up to the area where the guns had been, kicked a Vidarrian in the head, therefore knocking him unconscious, and greased a Kemorainian sniper with a M67 disruptor sniper rifle – a weapon outlawed even by the Dragonarians.

Next to the sniper was a hallway. Spyro headed down that hallway to it’s end, took the left turn, and emerged in a control room. On either side of Spyro were doors. And ahead of Spyro was the control to the star pad where the Dragon’s Luck was docked – guarded by a Kemorainian Faedyr. Spyro snuck up behind the Faedyr and activated his Nanosword in his back. The Faedyr screamed, and Spyro jerked the Nanosword out and decapitated the alien. He fiddled with the controls for a few seconds, and finished as Flame’s voice came over the Comm channel.

“Good work, Spyro – we should have access to the star pad now,” he said. “Meet me over by the ship.”

“I’m on my way,” Spyro said. He exited through one of the doors, headed down the walkways, passed a massive fuel storage tank and it’s refueling valve system, and found his way to the star pad.

The Dragon’s Luck looked like a giant bird from the angle Spyro was at – with downswept wings, a “tail” that held the shielded observation deck, and a body and head more or less like a bird.

“Good work out there, old friend,” Flame stated. “Unfortunately, the thugs on this pad didn’t bother to refuel the Dragon’s Luck – this should take only a few minutes, then we’re out of here.”

Spyro’s attention was elsewhere. No sooner did Flame finish his statement that several Raptorian, Kemorainian and Vidarrian thugs come charging through the door behind the Dragon’s Luck’s aft. For aliens as advanced as they are, they certainly weren’t especially bright when it came to tactics.

“We’ve got company!” Spyro proclaimed, readying his H40. Flame saw them, and took cover behind a nearby crate. Spyro was the first to open fire. He caught one of the Vidarrians by surprise, and two of the Kemorainians were blown off their feet. The remaining one Kemorainian and three Raptorians returned fire while the other two Vidarrians tried to get closer to Spyro.

Spyro tossed a Reverse-Gravimetric Plasma Grenade into their midst – which fused to a Kemorainian’s shoulder plate and refused to let go. The Kemorainian screamed, chattering rapidly in his native tongue, and the device detonated, vaporizing all but the Vidarrians. The Vidarrians were too close to engage with the H40, so Spyro brandished his Nanosword. The first Vidarrian grabbed a plasma katana, while the other one stayed back with his rifle at the ready.

I don’t have time for this! Spyro thought angrily as he Magick-pulled the plasma katana-wielding Vidarrian and impaled him while simultaneously drawing his A50 Cobra sidearm and shooting the second Vidarrian in the head. With that out of the way, Spyro helped Flame attach the fueling lines to the Dragon’s Luck and Flame went inside to power up the ship. Unfortunately, another snag developed.

“Spyro, we’ve got a bit of a problem...” Flame announced.

“What’s new?” Spyro asked.

“There’s no fuel coming through the lines; they must have it closed at the valve.” Flame said.

Spyro remembered passing such a device on his way to the star pad. His response was instantaneous. “I know where that is; I’ll be back.”

“Careful, Spyro,” Flame cautioned. “They use a code system to operate the valve; make sure you get the right code.” Spyro nodded, and headed off. “And get these blasted doors open while you’re at it!” Flame called after Spyro.

After a quick survey of the fuel lines, Spyro discovered the correct code symbols: the red line code was a blue cross; the blue line was a yellow X. Spyro headed for the fuel valve, but stopped as he arrived – his motion sensor painted contacts nearby. Spyro saw one of them; a Raptorian sniper, nestled in his post atop the fuel tank. The other sniper – a Kemorainian – was nestled in an alcove overlooking the tank and valve. Spyro shot the first sniper, then turned to nail the other – both of them fell from their posts and into the bottomless pit below. Spyro Magick-jumped to the valve controls, shot the Vidarrian grenadier before he had a chance to throw his grenade, and inputted the correct code into the valves.

“Good work, Spyro – the fuel’s coming through now,” Flame said. “But we still need to open the doors.”

“I’m fighting as fast as I can!” Spyro exclaimed. He headed back to the star pad, surveyed the scene, and came across a ventilation duct in the floor at the starboard edge of the Dragon’s Luck. With nowhere left to go, he kicked the vent cover in, dropped through, and crawled through the vent.

A Raptorian thug was trying to figure out why this vent stopped venting, as he removed the cover and found himself staring down the barrel of Spyro’s H40. Spyro used the last round to expunge the idiot before he even twitched, and reloaded. A Kemorainian sidestepped past the duct, firing a potshot at Spyro as he passed. The shot went wide, and struck the wall to Spyro’s right. Spyro exited the duct, shot the opposing Kemorainian as he came back for another pass, and headed up the ramp to his left, iced the Raptorian there, hit all four switches, and hit the master switch that the Raptorian was guarding. That done, he doubled back through the vent, then headed to the opposite side, and found a similar vent – under a crate. Spyro headed through that vent, and stopped just under the next vent – his motion tracker painted a contact atop the platform, guarding what Spyro assumed to be the master control for the other door, to the right. To his left was a Kemorainian, anxiously awaiting his enemy to pop out of the vent.

Spyro didn’t have time for an over-planned tactical approach, so he simply Magick-pushed the vent into the Kemorainian’s line of fire, leapt out to grease the sniper, landed on the platform, and turned around to grease the Kemorainian who was still recovering from the vent to his face.

As if on autopilot, Spyro hit all four switches, then the master switch, and then headed back to the Dragon’s Luck. In the cockpit, Flame shut the boarding ramp as he said,

“That’s it! We’re out of here!” He hit the controls, and the sound of an engine stalling played.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Spyro remarked.

“I don’t believe it!” Flame said in frustration. “It’s not my fault!”

Ahead, the massive hangar doors opened to reveal the room Spyro had previously been in – only this time, it had the elevator topside, with at least a full squad of thugs and Rekklar manning the big gun in the center.

“Going somewhere, gentlemen?” he asked with an ear-to-ear grin that only a Raptorian was capable of.

“Man the gun and hold those guys off – I’ll have this fixed in a jiffy.” Flame ordered. Spyro complied, manning the defense gun that lowered from the Dragon’s chin. Spyro opened fire, and didn’t stop until he’d decimated every single thug. Then he sent a power-charged shot that vaporized Rekklar’s head.

No sooner than when Spyro killed Rekklar did the engines thrum to life, and the Dragon’s Luck lifted off and headed into light speed.

“Alright!” Flame exclaimed, sitting back and propping his feet up on the dashboard, “Say good-bye to this wretched hive of scum and villainy, and hello to Baurus City!”

“Need any help?” Spyro asked.

“Just sit back and get some rest,” Flame said. “I’ll work up a plan to get Dakkron and his Insurrectionist friends out of my city.”

It was good advice, since Spyro hadn’t slept since Cynder was killed, but Spyro was hesitant to go with it. Still, a little rest might provide Spyro with a little peace of mind, so he sat back, closed his eyes, and was asleep thirty seconds later...

[Star_Dragon]

And here's yet another Chapter of this book...

Chapter Six

“On second thought, Tam... Kill her,” Dakkron’s words echoed in Spyro’s head. The sound of a plasma katana activating echoed in the stygian darkness of Spyro’s dream-world, Cynder screamed her last moments in pain, and Spyro woke up as Flame gently shook him.

“Spyro, wake up!” he said.

“Ugh... no... CYNDER!” Spyro screamed as he woke. Spyro was back in Flame’s ship, in the same seat he’d fallen asleep in.

“Are you okay, pal?” Flame inquired.

“Y-yeah,” Spyro stammered. “I’ll be fine.”

“Good,” Flame stated. “I hailed the Interstellar Alliance base on Ikktar IV. They haven’t shown much interest in our little smuggling problem before, but now that they know that Insurrectionist forces are behind it, they’re eager to pitch in; they’ll have a strike team here in a few hours to--”

“No!” Spyro protested angrily.

“I thought you’d be happy to--” Flame started.

“They’ll tip off Dakkron!” Spyro exclaimed.

“Then we’ll catch him later,” Flame said. “Getting Dakkron isn’t as important as driving the UIF from the city--”

“Cynder’s dead, Flame!” Spyro exclaimed explosively. “Dakkron and his minion killed her.”

Flame paused upon hearing this. “Jeez, I’m... I’m sorry, Spyro, I didn’t know,” he sighed. “Okay... okay, here’s what we’ll do; I’ll drop you off on one of the lower levels of Baurus city. They’ve probably been overrun by Innie troops. Chances are, Dakkron’s been using one of the loading bays above level ten, but you’ll never get there without the proper access codes; find your way to mineral freezing chamber seventeen; I’ve hidden a datapad with access codes to every loading bay in the city.

“I’ll head topside and gather some old friends from the Baurus Prime security force; we’ll work your way down towards you. With any luck, we’ll trap Dakkron before the Interstellar Alliance arrives.”

Spyro liked that plan. Then again, he would have liked any plan that brought him to or closer to his vengeance. Just one step closer...

* * *

The circular walkway near the bottom of one of the central shafts that extended below the floating city was small and confining, giving Spyro a fear of heights to a certain extent. But he didn’t allow that fear to come into play as he searched for a way to get up the shaft. He was ready to take his dragon form and fly up when he saw a vent. It hissed, even as Spyro telekinetically tore the vent cover off, as it expelled air with startling force. When the venting stopped, Spyro crawled through the vent and found himself on a sort of elevator – and a large one, at that. It had to be at least twenty meters across.

But Spyro couldn’t dwell on it now. As it ascended, his motion sensor painted two contacts. When the elevator stopped at the top of the shaft, the two contacts – a Terran and a Vidarrian – were surprised to see Spyro appear with his H40 in their faces. Before they could blink, Spyro shot them dead. He made a patrol sweep of the circular room at the top of the shaft, relieved the Terran of his grenades, and was about to open the nearby door when it opened to reveal a Kemorainian, coming to investigate the disturbance in this sector. Spyro wasted him, then spent the next two minutes wrapped up in close-quarters combat as a mob of Kemorainians and Raptorians came to take his head.

None survived. When Spyro was finished with them, he extinguished his Nanosword, picked up his H40 and reloaded it. He took the chance to stock up on ammo with the Ammunition Replicator nearby. That done, he looked at the split path before him.

The hallway forked into two directions ahead. Without a second thought, he took the path to the right, hooked a left through a door, and came across a fire team of Vidarrian thugs. One opened fire as soon as he saw Spyro, and caught Spyro’s shields in the chest. Spyro returned fire, caught the Vidarrian in the head, and the other two scattered. One wasn’t paying attention where he was going, and ran into a wall, and Spyro gunned him down as he recovered.

The other one, however, tackled Spyro and knocked his H40 away. Spyro was the first one up, and ignited his Nanosword with a loud snap-hiss. The Vidarrian brandished a plasma katana, and made a thrust for Spyro’s chest. Spyro deflected it, spun, and decapitated the alien. He then extinguished his Nanosword and grabbed his H40. He headed through a red room to an elevator. He hit the elevator control, and a door opened up above him. The elevator ascended, and Spyro came out of the elevator room to a massive, circular chasm, ringed by four evenly-spaced rings (including the one he was on) with small elevators going between every level.

An ideal paradise for snipers, if ever there was one. Spyro didn’t like it at all. Still, he had to get moving. He ascended to the fourth level – taking out enemies and dodging sniper shots along the way – and was about to head through the door on the fourth level when it unexpectedly opened, and a fire team exited the elevator room beyond. Spyro held his fire, and instead of engaging them, he slid into a shadow until the fire team had passed. One he was sure they hadn’t seen him, he hurried stealthily through the door before it shut.

No one pursued him. He stabbed at the elevator control with his claws, jumped onto the elevator, rode it to the top, and exited to two Kemorainians in a room with three large, circular vents. Spyro greased both of the Kemorainians and picked one vent at random.

By chance or design, the vent sucked him in like a vacuum and carried him to a platform in a massive circular chasm.

“What is it with you people and heights?” Spyro grumbled. Unlike the previous chasm Spyro had been in, this one had no visible means of getting to the top. So, if not up, then down, Spyro thought. But as he tried to jump down, an unexpected air draft shot him through the air as if thrown by a catapult, and he landed on the next platform – and inadvertently knocked a Vidarrian to his doom.

The way the air draft had carried him here gave Spyro an idea; when those drafts started, they blew wind with a strong force. So, logically, Spyro could ride the drafts to the platform at the top.

And ride them he did. But when he got to the target platform, Spyro sensed something... wrong. He grabbed his Nanosword, but didn’t activate it. He turned around, and saw a Terran standing on the opposite platform. He ignited a crimson Nanosword.

Not good. Another dark warrior. Spyro ignited his Nanosword, and the Terran called across to Spyro, “You will fall!”

The duel that ensued lasted for about two minutes before Spyro sliced out the dark warrior’s throat.

“Strange,” Spyro murmured to himself. “He looked like a dark warrior and fought like one, but... his power felt so... warped.”

Spyro couldn’t dwell on this now. A mob of thugs charged onto the platform, and Spyro mowed through them with little effort. With that dark warrior’s death, he seemed to have gained... more power. Strange. Everything seemed a little bit easier now.

Spyro found the mineral freezing chamber that Flame had spoken of, and another dark warrior was there to greet him. Spyro wasted little time dispatching him and the three Terran rebels that followed. He moved into the room they came from and stopped. The elevator in this room would take him into the Baurus City proper. He had to find the datapad...

... Found. Flame had cleverly hid it behind a control console. He removed it, and the chamber lost power, but not the elevator. He rode the elevator to the top, ready for the coming fight...

* * *

Getting through the swarm of enemies between him and the loading bay wasn’t all too difficult. Fighting through the many dark warriors wasn’t all that difficult, either. The actual loading bay was heavily guarded by a couple of dark warriors and a gauntlet of UIF troops, but Spyro fought his way through with more and more ease. He could feel close to vengeance. Dakkron was close. At long last, Cynder’s death would be avenged. With his anger and hatred boiling to critical levels, Spyro went on to neutralize the remaining enemies between him and the cargo hauler outside.

He walked through the door, and was surprised to see that Dakkron wasn’t there, but his apprentice was.

“Ah, the prodigal warrior arrives at last,” Tam said. “Have you come seeking vengeance? Ooh, I don’t think that personal vendettas sit well with the Dragon Warriors.”

“Where’s your master, apprentice?” Spyro growled, slowly grabbing his Nanosword.

“Dakkron sends his regards,” Tam answered, “but is far too busy in the Valley of the Dragon Lords to personally dispose of his pawns.”

“What?!”

“You still don’t know, do you?” Tam said with an expression mocking pity. “Dakkron followed you to the Valley of the Dragon Lords. Even now, hundreds of Dakkron’s loyal followers are drinking deeply from the valley’s power, becoming reborn in the glory of Magick!”

“Then... you killed Cynder...” Spyro began, his anger boiling beyond his control.

“That’s right,” Tam affirmed. “We killed your lover to make you angry; angry enough to cast aside your promises and rashly seek out the valley’s power, and delivering it into our hands.” With a sinister smile, she added, “Just think of it: Her death, and your failure will be celebrated for eons to come as the events that brought about the era of Dakkron. And we owe it all to you. Congratulations.”

Spyro became lost in his own rage. He ignited his Nanosword and screamed, “Stop... Talking!” He viciously assaulted Tam, slicing and hacking and slashing at her. An apprentice she may be, but she still held her own.

Until Spyro unleashed his Magick powers on her. He blasted her with lightning, telekinetically threw her into the side of the cargo hauler, and crushed her Nanosword out of commission. He then kicked her to a walkway below, jumped down, and picked her up by the throat, holding her over the edge.

Tam, previously assured of victory, was now terrified as she looked into Spyro’s fiery, enraged eyes. “D-don’t!” She stammered. “M-Mercy!”

“The kind of mercy you showed Cynder?!” Spyro yelled, his voice echoing in the air.

“She lives!” Tam exclaimed. “I can tell you where she is!”

“LIAR!” Spyro screamed. “I saw her die!”

“T-think!” Tam pleaded. “What did you really see? What did you really hear? Do you believe we’d risk killing one of the only two people that knew the location of the Valley of the Dragon Lords?”

Spyro hesitated – fractionally. “Where is she?” he growled.

“That...” Tam started. She coughed as Spyro tightened his grip on her neck. “... hauler will take you to our base in the Dallmoora belt. That’s where Admiral Darion’s ship, the Dragon Slayer is docked; It’s also where he’s keeping your woman for further interrogations!”

It occurred to Spyro that she could be lying. “Why should I believe you?” he asked.

“Because I’m not... brave enough... to die!” Tam gasped between breaths. Spyro hesitated, staring at Tam as she began to lose consciousness. Could she really be telling the truth? Spyro couldn’t be sure. But if what he saw of her fear was any indication, she wasn’t lying.

Finally, Spyro telekinetically threw her back on the walkway. “Bah, get out of my sight!” Spyro snapped as Tam regained consciousness.

“What?” Tam inquired.

“You heard me,” Spyro said. “Go and pray I find your master before he finds you.” Spyro didn’t turn to see Tam taking off. He simply looked at his hands.

What have I become? He asked himself. To kill an unarmed opponent is... dishonorable, especially to Kell. Even though he thought Cynder was dead, this news shook him. It had been a wake-up call. A reminder not to give in to anger and hate, for the cost of it would be dear.

Spyro crawled into the cargo hauler before it took off, and rode it through the atmosphere of the gas giant known as Baurus Prime, where he received an unexpected radio transmission from Flame.

“Thanks for the help, Flame,” Spyro had said. “But I thought you were going to be with the security forces.”

“I got a better idea,” Flame responded, “But what are you doing in that hauler?”

“I’m heading for the Dallmoora belt,” Spyro answered.

“Dallmoora?” Flame repeated. “What’s Dakkron doing there? That asteroid belt is in the middle of nowhere.”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out,” Spyro replied. “Cynder might be there.”

“Cynder’s alive?” Flame asked.

“Maybe – I don’t know,” Spyro corrected. “Listen, you’ve got to get back to Dragon Force. Tell Kell that the Valley of the Dragon Lords has been invaded.”

“What’s the valley got to do with this?” Flame asked.

“Just tell him!” Spyro commanded.

“Okay,” Flame complied. “I don’t understand half of it, but okay. May fate be with you.”

“We’ll see,” Spyro said. While Flame left on his little sub-mission, Spyro found an isolated spot and decided it would be helpful to get some sleep.

As the cargo hauler went into Translight speed, Spyro fell asleep...

* * *

[Star_Dragon]

Okay, this is one of the shortest chapters, so bear with me...

Chapter Seven

In the twenty-four hour trip to the Dallmoora asteroid belt, Spyro managed to get twenty-two hours of sleep. In his sleep, he was not haunted by the nightmares of Cynder’s death. The news of Cynder being alive brought a peace to Spyro’s mind that he had not thought possible. Even if Tam had lied, Spyro was determined not to give in to anger and hate – the way he nearly did when he came a hair’s breadth from killing a helpless opponent.

After Spyro woke, he felt energized. However, as the cargo hauler spent the next two hours navigating the Dallmoora asteroid belt, Spyro played a game of hide-and-seek with the pilots of the hauler, during which, Spyro discovered what it was they were transporting – a mineral called Kacheron.

It wasn’t until the hauler started its final approach to an asteroid installation called the “Helios installation” that the pilots gave up looking for the intruder they couldn’t find.

“Mineral transport one-one-three on approach to Helios Installation. Kacheron removal team, stand by to remove mineral.” one pilot said.

“Roger,” replied a Terran voice over the radio. “Kacheron removal team standing by.”

Spyro managed to remain undetected as he looked out of the cockpit to see where the hauler was headed; into a massive hangar bay, guarded by two energy defense guns and a full squad of Terran troops. On top of that, the controls for the magnetic containment field were on the side of the field opposite to where the hauler was going.

Not good. Even should Spyro overcome the guns and the troops, the rebels at the controls of the MagCon field could easily release the field and blow Spyro into space. He had to think up a plan, and quick.

But, such as it was, such extensive and hasty planning was not necessary, as a second aperture opened up nearby, revealing a room big enough to fit the hauler. As the cargo hauler landed, Spyro heard the doors close behind him. It was safe to exit.

But Spyro didn’t make a hasty exit – such an approach would get him killed. He wanted to live long enough to learn whether or not Cynder lived. He slowly exited after the pilots, and stealthily made his way toward the storage room to the hauler’s port side.

It was a mistake. No sooner did he emerge on the hauler’s port side, a human rebel on a walkway somewhere above saw him and raised the alarm. Spyro shot him, but his shot went wide and grazed the rebel’s knee. However, he lost his balance and fell face-first into the deck below. Spyro followed him down with his H40, and stopped when he hit the deck in time to fire on a human that hesitated. This time, Spyro’s burst was on-target, expunged the rebel’s chest, and killed him instantly.

Spyro turned ninety degrees to his right and shot the two pilots that were trying to sneak up on him. Another rebel fired his pistol at Spyro, and Spyro unloaded the last twelve rounds into him. The rebel fell over backward, toppled off the walkway, and dropped to the deck like a rock. Spyro reloaded his weapon and searched for another target, finding nothing but silence and his own twitchiness to deal with.

After he was sure the immediate area was secure, Spyro headed through a door, hung a right, and opened a door in time to find himself face-to-face with a human rebel. That rebel was, however, decapitated by...

“Kell?” Spyro inquired with surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Flame told me where you were going,” Kell replied.

“Then why aren’t you at the Valley of the Dragon Lords?” Spyro asked.

“I headed there after you left Drakkus IV,” Kell answered as he and Spyro walked toward the nearby cargo bay. “Spyro, Dakkron--”

“--Followed me, I know,” Spyro finished. “Does this mean we have a new threat on our hands?”

“It may be worse than that,” Kell affirmed. “Remember those experiments with the Raktusian crystals?”

“Yeah – Chancellor Gaines said that they were trying to infuse test subjects with the power of Magick.” Spyro said.

“With the valley’s power coursing through those crystals, Dakkron has succeeded with infusing his followers with Magick.” Kell stated.

“Dammit,” Spyro cursed, “I think I ran into one of them back on Baurus Prime! Are they still in the valley?”

“No,” Kell answered. “We managed to drive them out, and I had a few friends in the Dragonarian military chase away their ships. For now, the valley is effectively sealed off, but we don’t know how many of Dakkron’s followers he managed to empower. It could be only hundreds, but it could be thousands...”

“... And all of them will have Magick powers?” Spyro asked.

“Yes,” Kell replied, “but you, me, and the other Dragon Warriors scattered across the galaxy will have an advantage due to our training and... discipline...”

The pause in Kell’s speech made Spyro sense that they were about to be ambushed. He was right. No sooner did they walk into the adjacent room filled with crates did they come under fire from a squad of Terran rebels.

Spyro and Kell both dodged in different directions. Kell unlimbered his MP340A2, and Spyro brandished his H40. Four of the rebels were stationed atop the walkway above, firing down on them with assault rifles. The rest were spread across the room.

Spyro decided to deal with the AR-Sniping rebels first. Time slowed down as Spyro burst from cover, firing three-round bursts into all four. He then whirled around to catch a rebel – Islamic, by the looks of him – and put a burst into him. Spyro then ran in the direction the rebel came from and hooked a right around a stack of crates. A rebel came around the corner and ran right into the stock of Spyro’s assault rifle. The rebel behind the first came around next, and Spyro was forced to take out his Nanosword. The black blade flared, and the rebel unlimbered a Plasma Katana. Spyro went on the attack and didn’t let up until the rebel was dead. He looked up to see Kell finish the remaining rebel.

But that wasn’t the end; the moment Kell finished the last rebel, four dark warriors came into the room, igniting Nanoswords. Kell ignited his own Nanoswords – one blue, the other red – and the dark warriors attacked.

The whole fight – with both the gun-slinging rebels and the dark warriors – lasted ten minutes. When it all ended, Spyro and Kell stood back-to-back, blades ready, with nothing to fight. They extinguished their Nanoswords and retrieved their weapons. It was then that Kell took the time to point something out.

“Something’s different in you,” He said. “You seem less... angry.”

“I don’t know,” Spyro affirmed. “There’s a chance Cynder may be alive on the Dragon Slayer.”

Kell placed a hand on Spyro’s shoulder. “Sometimes, mekh fredt, just a little hope is enough to put an end to anger and pain.”

“Listen, Kell,” Spyro said, “There’s even more to this than you think. Dakkron’s working with a UIF scientist named Darion Heath. They’re smuggling something called ‘Kacheron’ here from Baurus Prime.”

“Damn,” Kell responded. “That’s not good.”

“Why not?” Spyro inquired.

“Well,” Kell explained, “Kacheron is a rare mineral that’s highly resilient to Nanoswords and plasma katanas.” Kell paused before continuing, “You go find Cynder on the Dragon Slayer, I’ll try to find out what they’re doing with the Kacheron. If you find Dakkron, don’t try to take him on alone; Now that he’s been through the Valley of the Dragon Lords, he’ll be more powerful than ever.”

“Don’t worry; I’m not totally crazy,” Spyro said.

Kell smiled and said in his native Dragonarian, “Gudd hutn’ett, mekh fredt.”

As Kell left, Spyro said, “You, too, old friend.” Spyro then headed off, his mind never wandering from his objective...

* * *

[Star_Dragon]

The end of this story is close, but the end of this series is far from near...

Chapter Eight

It took Spyro hours to reach the docking bay where the Dragon Slayer was docked. When he did, he noticed a horde of troops in the docking bay.

I’ll never get past them using firepower alone, Spyro thought. Stealth may be a wiser option.

He headed down into the docking bay, moving slowly and crouched low to avoid detection. It wasn’t until Spyro actually got onto the ship’s unguarded bridge that trouble erupted. Nanoswords clashing was heard all across the bay, and Spyro looked out the viewport to see Kell and Dakkron dueling. Dakkron sent Kell sprawling to the ground, and headed into another part of the ship – shortly before it began moving. The bridge of the ship sunk under a MagCon field, and revealed a cascade of asteroids and stars.

“Kilo-Alpha to Sierra-November, are you there? Over.” Kell said.

“Sierra-November copies,” Spyro answered. “I thought you said not to take on Dakkron alone. Over.”

“I didn’t have a choice,” Kell stated. “I never even felt him coming. He’s escaped onto a ship, over.”

“I know,” Spyro responded. “I’m on it. Is the Dragon’s Rage in pursuit?”

“Affirmative,” Kell affirmed. “But, uh... you’ll have to call in the cavalry. I have sent an encrypted message to a few friends in the alliance military, but I can’t track the ship for them – you have to. Get to the Dragon Slayer’s communications center and contact the alliance via IA E-Band and ask for Shadow Force. Gudd hutn’ett, mekh fredt. Over and out.”

As Spyro’s radio clicked off, Spyro readied his H40 and mumbled,

“Great. Another lone-wolf op.” He headed off the bridge.

* * *

After three hours raising eight different kinds of hell on the Dragon Slayer, Spyro finally found his way to the ship’s communications center. After inputting the right code, he accessed the necessary panel and was greeted when a familiar voice said, “... Nightscales... Shadow Leader to Spyro Nightscales, come in.”

It was another old friend of Spyro’s, a Terran Commander he saved on New Jerusalem – Cody, the leader of Shadow Force.

“Shadow Leader, this is Spyro. Go ahead.” Spyro answered.

“Spyro!” Cody said. “It’s good to hear your voice. We’ve locked onto your Comm signal and are already moving to intercept... that is one whale of a ship you’ve caught.”

“Can you bring her down?” Spyro asked as he fiddled with the controls.

“Perhaps, but I’d feel a lot better about our chances if someone were on the inside to take out the shields and defenses.” Cody replied.

“Defenses and shields, I can take care of,” Spyro said, “but I have a... friend nearby that can help with that. Remember the Dragon’s Rage?”

“If your friends on Dragon Force are going to be nearby, we could use their help.”

“Their Comm codes haven’t changed. Talk to them and call in the cavalry. As for me, I have some unfinished business to take care of.”

“Well, whenever you finish, get out of there in a hurry, because there’s not going to be much of the ship left when we get through with her.”

“Then don’t waste any time on my account,” Spyro stated before he killed the comm. After that, he finished with the console. According to the readouts, the detention block was in another part of the ship, just off the hangar bays. And near that were the escape pods. Spyro opened the necessary door, and a voice said over the intercom,

“All crewmembers, we are approaching Drakkus IV. Prepare to drop out of Translight speed.”

“Great,” Spyro grumbled. He found an ammunition replicator, stocked up an ammo, and headed out.

There was a fight to win...

* * *

Keldon’takk Assinara sat uneasily in the captain’s chair. Spyro was on the Dragon Slayer, no doubt there. But would he get off before it blew? Only time would tell.

“Kell,” Hunter announced, “The enemy ship is exiting translight speed!”

“Let’s drop out with them,” Kell ordered. “Tactical, ready on the guns, stand by to de-cloak. Helm, make ready for evasive maneuvers. Ops, get a lock on Spyro. When that ship goes, get him out of there.”

“Alert,” Ember proclaimed, “Exiting translight speed in three... two... one...”

The Dragon’s Rage dropped out of translight speed right where Kell expected to be – behind the Dragon Slayer over Drakkus IV. The bastards intended an invasion. Kell watched as they dropped assault pods down to the surface, during which, Shadow Force – with a strike fleet of Terran and Dragonarian ships – dropped out of light speed in front of them.

“Tactical,” Kell stated calmly, “De-cloak. Arm Kadgeron Torpedoes and target their shields and weapons – but don’t destroy the ship.”

The Dragon-class Battleship shimmered and appeared, it’s forward torpedo launchers glowing white like strobe lights in the dark.

“Kadgeron Torpedoes ready, sir.” Nine announced.

“Fire at will,” Kell ordered. Nine tapped his console, and two white, arrow-tipped beams of light lanced from the forward launchers. The first one struck the bridge and vaporized it. The next one struck one of the large shield generator domes and melted a crater in it.

“Success; their shields are down.”

“Keep firing; but don’t destroy. Sheila, advise our allies that we do not want this ship destroyed until our comrade is off.” Kell commanded. As Sheila sent the message, Kell murmured to himself, “Spyro, whatever you’re doing, do it quick.”

* * *

The attack on the ship was both a good thing and a bad thing. Good because many of Dakkron’s dark warriors were scattered about the ship. Bad because now, Spyro was being forced to take numerous detours around the ship. Finally, he found his way into the detention cells. He telekinetically manipulated the switch and opened all the doors, headed into the block, and searched each cell until he came across...

Tears welled up in Spyro’s eyes when he saw who was in the last cell. It was Cynder, lying down on the bed. Spyro hurried inside, dropping his weapon and shook her.

“Cynder!” he exclaimed softly.

“Well,” Cynder said, “You certainly took your sweet time.” She sat up and set her feet on the ground, and Spyro hugged her and held her close. Cynder chuckled softly and kissed him. “It’s okay,” she whispered, “I’m happy to see you, too.”

Spyro started to stammer. “I-I thought you were d-d-dead!”

“Dead?” Cynder responded, “No. In pain, yes. Dakkron and his thugs must’ve burned out a half-dozen interrogator androids trying to make me crack.”

“He wanted to know about the Valley of the Dragon Lords, right?” Spyro asked.

“For the first few hours,” Cynder affirmed. “Then they just dropped the subject and started asking about the layout of the Dragon Warrior academy.”

“The academy?” Spyro repeated.

“Yeah,” Cynder said. “Dakkron seemed pretty obsessed with it.”

“Dammit!” Spyro cursed. “I think Dakkron was planning to invade the Dragon Warrior academy!”

“So how do we stop them?” Cynder inquired.

“First things first; we need to get your effects, and then get off this ship.” Spyro said.

“Sounds like a plan,” Cynder replied.

As they got out of the detention block, and into the room where the detainee security room was, Cynder hurried to get her effects, and as they headed out, Spyro contacted Kell.

“Sierra-November to Dragon’s Rage, come in. Over.”

“This is Kilo-Alpha, go ahead, Sierra-November. Over.”

“I have Charlie-November,” Spyro said. “We need immediate evac. Can you get us out?”

“Not from your present location,” Kell said. “Try to get to a shuttle and leave the ship. I can get you out from there.”

“Affirmative,” Spyro said. He and Cynder headed into the shuttle bay just beyond the detention area, where a dark-skinned Terran waited for them – Admiral Darion Heath.

“Well, well... Spyro Nightscales,” Darion said, “A pleasure to finally meet you face-to-face.”

“The pleasure’s all yours, I’m sure,” Spyro replied.

“Your woman thinks very highly of you,” Darion taunted, “Did you know that? She must have whimpered your name on at least seventeen different occasions.”

“Is that supposed to make me angry, Darion?” Spyro queried. “I’m past that.”

“Oh?” Darion replied. “And what if I told you that even now, hundreds of Dakkron’s Kacheron-armored, Magick-enhanced warriors are advancing on the Dragon Warrior academy as we speak?”

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Spyro said. “But I would have to go out of my way to disappoint you.”

“Highly unlikely, as are your chances of leaving this ship, by the way.” Darion stated.

“Try and stop me,” Spyro growled.

In Darion’s reckless aggression, he made a fatal flaw; underestimating his enemy. Spyro dispatched him easily, and said as he boarded the shuttle,

“I’m not impressed.” The shuttle boarding ramp shut, and Spyro and Cynder blasted out of the hangar bay of the Dragon Slayer. As they headed out, Spyro contacted the Dragon’s Rage.

“Sierra-November to Dragon’s Rage, come in, over.”

“Sierra-November, this is Kilo-Alpha,” Kell responded, “Make your way down to the surface. We’ll be down in a few. Dakkron and his bastards are having a little soiree with the dragon warriors and we’ve been invited.”

“Confirmed,” Cynder said. “We’re en route.”

“It’s good to hear your voice, Cynder, over,” Kell commented.

Cynder smiled. “It’s good to be heard. Don’t be long, over and out.” She killed the comm, and glanced at Spyro. “So...” She started, “Do you have a plan once we hit planetside?”

“Thought I’d try fighting my way to Dakkron,” Spyro replied with a smile. He looked to his love and added, “Mix things up a little.”

Cynder kissed him lightly as the shuttle started it’s descent. “Don’t do anything stupid like die on me,” she whispered.

“And put you through the same misery I’ve been through?” Spyro chuckled. “Not on your life.” He kissed Cynder again to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating, then mentally prepped himself for combat...

* * *

Spyro was off the Dragon Slayer, now it was time to destroy it. Kell had waited for this for too long.

“Tactical, target their main reactor and hit it with everything we’ve got!” Kell commanded.

“Acknowledged,” Nine answered. The Dragon’s Rage circled around the Dragon Slayer in a wide arc, firing everything; Kadgeron disruptors, Autocannons, and Mass Drivers. Chunks of the ship were flung out into space, sections were vaporized, and explosions cooked the ship. The other ships joined in, and began pouring fire from all sides.

But the problem was, the ship was so massive, and so extensively covered in armor, it could take all the fire the allies could give and keep...

Finally, one of the weapons hit their mark, detonated the main reactor like a bomb, and the whole ship listed to port and exploded.

“Helm,” Kell ordered, “put us in a geosynchronous orbit and hold, then join myself, Hunter and Nine. We’re heading down planetside.”

Ember obeyed, accomplished her task, then followed Kell. The battle wasn’t over...

[Furygun81]

Wow there's a lot of updates!! I need to get reading :D

[Star_Dragon]

Just lemme know when you've read through all of them.

[Furygun81]

Well what can I say? You certainly have some talent in the writing department S_D! The story is certainly good, and the characters and environment are just amazing. The introduction of a new character (Dakkron) to interact with the original characters gave the story more freedom and you've certainly done Spyro justice! Excellent work S_D, keep it up! :D

[Star_Dragon]

... Wow. Glad you like it. Just remember - this is book II of a planned series of eight. Anyway...

Chapter Nine

The shuttle landed two klicks due south of the Drakkus IV Dragon Warrior academy in an effort to keep UIF patrols off their trail. The surrounding jungle also hid their ship from view. As the boarding ramp lowered, two armored figures – one purple, the other maroon – stepped out into the early morning light.

“Spyro,” Cynder said, “If we make it out of this mess alive, remind me never to do something like this again.”

Spyro smiled. “Duly noted,” he chuckled. Though he no longer sought vengeance, and no longer was clouded by anger and hate, seeking solace and isolation, Spyro had to admit, he kind of missed his lone wolf ops. He had accomplished so much, and now, he was approaching a critical moment, where he would put an end to his quest for vengeance – Dakkron.

And now, as he headed toward the academy, with his life and love in tow, he felt an inner calm that wasn’t there before. A strength he hadn’t felt a while back. A peace of mind that had eluded him for the past several days. He was ready, and he would return to Dragon Force victorious, or not at all.

It wasn’t long before the duo came across a crashed assault pod – scattered across several meters, as though it had a rough landing.

“Nice landing,” Cynder remarked.

“I’ll say,” Spyro added.

Automatic fire snapped over their heads. Both of them ducked behind cover, and Spyro checked his motion sensor – he and Cynder were in hostile central.

“Did you forget your invitation?” Cynder asked.

“No, I just forgot to show it to the door guards,” Spyro replied. Spyro primed an HE grenade as Cynder asked,

“Where the hell did you get that?”

Spyro hurled the grenade into the midst of the Innies. “Vidarrian grenadier on Karrus Prime,” Spyro answered. The grenade detonated, punctuating his sentence. “Long story,” he added. He then burst from cover and ran from one end of the area to the other, taking down anything that pointed a weapon at him. When Cynder emerged from cover, she saw Spyro standing in the midst of a battlefield of assorted corpses.

“Nice,” she said. “You took out a full squad of assorted Innies on your own. Very nice.”

“Bleh – don’t get me started. It’s a long story,” Spyro replied. Cynder laughed.

“Well, we certainly don’t have time for it now,” Cynder remarked as she and Spyro headed deeper into the jungle...

* * *

Kell, Ember, Nine and Hunter landed their shuttle just ahead of Spyro and Cynder, therefore, they were able to see the shuttle as it landed. As the team exited the shuttle, Spyro was the first to greet Kell.

“Had enough of the Dragon Slayer up there?” he asked with a smile.

Kell chuckled. “You could say that,” he said. Loading his MP340A2 MPAR, he added, “Let’s not be late for the party, shall we?”

The team then headed out, crouched low to avoid being seen, and moving slowly enough not to be heard, but quickly enough to get to the Dragon Warrior academy in a timely manner.

During the trip, Spyro opened a private comm line to Kell. “Hey, Kell... I just wanted to say... I’m--”

“I know you’re sorry, Spyro,” Kell finished. “You were under detrimental stress. It’s not every day one loses the one they love.”

“I didn’t lose her; it was a deception to get me to lead Dakkron to the Valley.” Spyro corrected.

“Regardless,” Kell stated, “You were convinced she was dead. I can understand your pain; I had been there once myself, remember?”

Spyro silently sighed as he remembered the day Kell told him about how his father had been murdered.

“Besides,” Kell added with a hint of satisfaction, “Had you not went on your quest, we wouldn’t have gained half the intel we have now.”

“Well... it’s good to be back on the team,” Spyro said with a smile.

“Contact!” Nine whispered. “Innie rebel squad, ten meters ahead!”

“Have they spotted us?” Spyro inquired.

“Negative,” Nine answered. “They have their backs turned.”

“Don’t make any hasty moves,” Spyro cautioned. “They’re more tactically-proficient than you know.”

“How do you suggest we proceed?” Kell queried.

Spyro smiled. “Thought you’d never ask,” he said. “Hunter, get up to higher ground, but don’t attract their attention. Once you’re set up, radio in. Ember, you and Kell move on ahead, scout for any nearby reinforcements. Nine, you, Cynder and I will make ready to ambush them. Hunter, when you see me pop a smoke grenade, pop the squad leader in the head. He’ll be wearing a special mark; you’ll know it when you see it.”

As the others headed out, Cynder approached her love with Nine. “You sure you know what you’re doing?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” Spyro answered. He then took up position behind a boulder, with Cynder behind him and Nine on top of the boulder. It took a few minutes for Hunter to set up shop, during which Spyro watched the enemy as they complained about the heat and wished for action.

“Hotel-Whiskey to Sierra-November,” Hunter finally radioed, “I’m in position. Over.”

Spyro didn’t answer – not directly. He simply pulled the pin on a smoke grenade, emerged from cover long enough to throw it, and ducked back behind the boulder. The rebels exclaimed in surprise as though they were expecting the grenade to explode. When they realized the grenade was a smoker, they ordered an immediate search. Spyro unlimbered his H40 and aimed at the rebel leader’s head. He had to time this just...

A loud crack marked Hunter’s M740 TSR going off, while Spyro simultaneously fired his own weapon. Consistent with Spyro’s predictions, the rebels rushed in after him. Spyro burst from cover, firing his H40 as he ran in a flanking movement. The rebels had their attention fixed on him so much that they didn’t realize Cynder and Nine were behind them. The first hint that they’d been outmaneuvered was when one of them – a Terran – was sent flying when Cynder’s SG-30 Sabot Cannon went off in his back. The next rebel to go – a Kemorainian – died when a three-round burst from Nine’s H38 drilled him in the top of his head. The remaining rebels started looking about, milling around and waiting for someone to tell them what to do. That’s when Kell and Ember came back, and the bullets really started flying. Spyro, Cynder, and Nine joined Ember, Hunter and Kell in exterminating the remaining rebels.

When it was all finished, Ember reloaded her MP340 AAR while saying, “Nice plan, Spyro.”

“Did you find anything up there?” Spyro asked Kell.

We found a path the the Dragon Warrior academy,” Kell replied. “This way!”

* * *

It took a full thirty minutes to reach the Dragon Warrior academy. The direct route to the Dragon Warrior academy was out of the question, so an alternate route was required. Spyro and Cynder found one. It was a shaft that went to an empty cave directly outside the academy walls. Spyro and Cynder went through the shaft alone, while the rest of the Dragon Force operatives went on to cause distractions to draw some of Dakkron’s troops away.

The journey through the shaft was short, to say the least. The cave was vast, with water dripping with a slow drip, drip, drip. Artificial lights illuminated the cave, indicating the UIF troops had been through here.

It was not, however, empty. At least two fire teams of Terran rebels had remained behind, and therefore detected Spyro and Cynder’s presence the moment they exited the shaft. The first hint they had of it was when one Terran began screaming and chattering in Arabic. Cynder shot the nearest rebel with her SG-30. The sabot shell sent the rebel flying as Spyro laid into the Arabic rebel with his H40. The remaining four scattered and utilized what little cover there was.

Spyro, desiring a quick fight, primed a grenade and threw it into their midst. What he didn’t realize was the grenade he threw was not only high-explosive, but he threw it behind an explosive container. The resulting explosion sent tremors through the cave, and he and Cynder headed through the opening in the academy wall before the cave collapsed in on itself.

The situation in the hangar was more or less chaotic. Spyro and Cynder helped the Alliance defenders fend off the UIF troops. That done, Spyro and Cynder discovered the elevator controls weren’t functioning. They made a quick circuit around the hangar and found another hole in the wall, opposite to the one they entered the hangar through. With nowhere left to go, the two dragons headed through the hole, scaled the walls, and came out on the training area.

The fight in the training room was even more chaotic than the hangar. Dark warriors fought Dragon Warriors and vice versa. Spyro turned to Cynder. “Cynder, please... let me handle this.”

Cynder nodded, and Spyro brandished his Nanosword with a loud snap-hiss! The nearest dark warrior took notice of Spyro’s presence, and attacked immediately. Spyro moved his blade in graceful arcs, deflecting blows and finally spinning and slicing out the dark warrior’s spinal cord. But that wasn’t the end of the fight. Another dark warrior attacked, and another, and another. With the dark warriors’ sudden shift in attention, the dragon warriors launched a hastily-organized counter-attack. The dark warriors had their attention so firmly fixed on the purple-armored dragon with the black blade that they were cut down in just under a minute.

Spyro picked up his H40 and reloaded it as one dragon warrior said, “Spyro Nightscales?”

“That’s me,” Spyro affirmed.

“I think you’d be interested in this; Dakkron is headed for the training grounds! If you hurry, you might catch him.”

“Thanks,” Spyro said. He and Cynder then headed through another hole in the wall, past a gauntlet of UIF troops being cut down by dragon warriors, and onto the training grounds. Two dark warriors ambushed Spyro and Cynder just past the entrance to the training grounds, and Spyro had no choice but to allow Cynder to fight with him.

And fight she did. The plasma wrist blades Cynder used proved to be more than a match for the dark warrior she fought. She killed him at the same time Spyro killed his opponent. The twosome headed through the hallway Spyro headed through just days before when he came here to retrieve his Nanosword, and came out in the ruined grounds Spyro had been to before.

And Dakkron was waiting for them. But he didn’t ignite his Nanosword; he simply gestured, and a Magick barrier appeared in Spyro and Cynder’s only means of escape.

“Welcome, Spyro Nightscales,” Dakkron said. “Welcome to the future.”

Spyro laid his weapons aside and unlimbered his Nanosword. “Your future’s looking pretty grim, Dakkron,” Spyro stated.

“On the contrary,” Dakkron replied as he and Spyro began to circle each other. “Thanks to you, the weakling warriors who scorned me will soon be erased from history, replaced by a new race of warriors. Strong warriors. Warriors who know that power is not a shield to protect the useless, but is in reality, a weapon to empower the worthy!”

Spyro shook his head. “None of that’s going to happen, Dakkron,” Spyro countered. “Most of your dark warriors are being mopped up by real warriors – ones who have been trained to use their Magick powers. The rest blew up with your ship.”

“What a pathetic ruse,” Dakkron remarked as he grabbed his communicator. “Dakkron to Darion... Admiral? Admiral! Admiral Darion, I order you to come in at once!” All Dakkron got in response was static. He then looked up at Spyro. “I was wrong about you, Spyro... your past failures haven’t weakened you... they’ve only made you stronger. Come – join me. You know in your heart you’ll never truly be a warrior like the ones that reside here! I can give you power beyond your wildest dreams!”

Spyro smiled a wry smile. He’d heard these words before. Long ago, when he faced Ravage in the Valley of the Dragon Lords. His response was just the same.

“As I said to Ravage in the Valley of the Dragon Lords; Fate favors those who can turn away from such power; not those who are slaves to it.”

This only served to enrage Dakkron. “You weak fool!” he growled. He ignited his red Nanosword, while Spyro activated his black Nanosword. Dakkron immediately went on the attack, and Spyro fought with the grace and finesse he’d learned over the past few days. He blocked, blocked, counter-attacked, and repeated the cycle over and over.

Dakkron just kept attacking, then kicked Spyro atop a set of steps. He landed on his feet, and Dakkron ascended the steps and continued the duel. With each passing moment, Spyro got faster and faster, until his speed was too much for Dakkron to handle. He knocked Dakkron’s Nanosword out of his hands, and brought him to his knees. With his Nanosword at Dakkron’s head, Spyro kept still.

“I am defenseless,” Dakkron said. “Strike me down, and all my power will be yours!”

“As much as I want to,” Spyro replied, “I won’t. You are unarmed, and it would be severe dishonor to kill an unarmed opponent. I leave you with mercy.” He de-activated his Nanosword and turned his back to Dakkron. He began walking toward Cynder and...

Dakkron got to his feet, ignited his Nanosword, and charged Spyro. Cynder shook her head, tears beginning to fall, and...

... Spyro dodged to his left, grabbed Dakkron’s Nanosword, and stabbed him with it. The crimson blade went past Spyro’s right side, and through Dakkron’s heart. Dakkron fell to the ground, coughing.

“What... what happened to your mercy?” he asked.

“I’m a dragon, not a saint,” Spyro said. Spyro stared down at the Vidarrian he knew as Dakkron – defiant, mad, and ultimately broken – as he exhaled his last breath and died. Spyro bent over to retrieve Dakkron’s Nanosword as Cynder walked up beside him. She pressed a button on his gauntlet as well as hers, and both suits of armor dematerialized. Spyro met Cynder’s gaze, and they stared into each other’s eyes for the longest time.

Finally, he grabbed onto her and held her close. A single tear fell from his eye as he held his wife, his life, and his love. At long last, it was over. The UIF was done, and Dakkron’s ambitious plans were foiled. And Spyro was no longer alone. This mission, this quest... it had been a wake-up call to him. A sign that told him that though he may lose some battles, there was always hope.

He and Cynder embraced for a kiss, oblivious to Kell and the rest of the team walking into the training grounds. Here, at the end, Spyro was at peace...

* * *

All was busy as Spyro and Cynder made their way to see Master Jek’ari. Walls still needed repairs, walkways needed replacing, and lessons interrupted in the face of a massive and no less brutal attack still needed completion. Spyro and Cynder, Kell and Ember, Hunter and Nine – All of Dragon Force were hailed as heroes as they walked through the halls of the Dragon Warrior academy. Every step they took, they were tracked by numerous eyes – admiring, pleased, and equally impressed.

Because the elevator was inoperable, the Dragon Force operatives were forced to take detours to the main chamber of the academy, where Keldon’takk Jek’ari sat with his back turned.

“Spyro, Cynder... Dragon Force,” he said.

Spyro smiled. “Someday, you’re going to have to teach me to do that,” he chuckled.

“Thanks for all your help, Master Jek’ari,” Cynder said.

“It’s the least I could do for the mercenary team that saved the Drakkus IV academy,” Jek’ari replied. He got up and approached the team. “I know you’ve probably heard this before, but the Interstellar Alliance is forever in your debt.”

Spyro weighed his words carefully before he spoke again. “Keldon’takk, I--”

“I know,” Jek’ari interrupted. “I’ll be happy to hold your Nanosword for safekeeping.”

Spyro smiled, and Kell, Ember, Cynder, and the rest of Dragon force knew what he was about to say. “No,” Spyro said, “I think I’ll keep it.”

“Ha! I knew it!” Cynder laughed. “Hunter owes me ten credits.”

Master Jek’ari smiled. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be saying this,” Spyro answered. “Besides, before we do anything, I figure that Cynder and I – and our fellow operatives, for that matter – have earned a long vacation to the beaches of Dragon Shores.”

“And after that, well...” Cynder said.

“... After that, we’ll see,” Jek’ari responded.

“Yeah,” Kell added.

“Take your time; we’ll still be here when you’re all ready,” Jek’ari said.

He shook Spyro’s hand, and Spyro told him, “We’ll be seeing you around, Keldon’takk Jek’ari.”

* * *

The normally peaceful planet of Avalar had been under Dragonarian protection since the forming of Dragon Force. None of Dragon Force’s enemies knew of its existence, and no military presence was required. But the planet was a bustling place, regardless. The orbital spaceport, though stationed above a relatively isolated planet, was not cut off from galactic events. They knew of the Assault on Drakkus IV by UIF forces. They knew it had been beaten off, and that a few UIF lower-ranking leaders had escaped to different corners of the galaxy.

It was unexpected, then, when a massive Dragonarian Dragon-class Battleship dropped out of translight speed in the vicinity of Avalar. It’s shields and weapons were not powered up, but the presence of this military vessel over a peaceful planet spelled only trouble. Much to the relief of its inhabitants, the vessel was identified as the Dragon’s Rage, the vessel of the heroic team known as Dragon Force.

Even as the team’s ship docked, and the Dragon Force operatives headed planetside to Dragon Shores while the techs looked after their ship, they were applauded and cheered everywhere. The trip to Dragon Shores was more or less uneventful. The necessary reservations were prepared, and as Spyro unpacked his sundries in the room he and Cynder shared, Cynder unexpectedly came up behind him, wrapping her arms around Spyro’s waist and resting her chin on his right shoulder.

“Are you alright, baby?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” Spyro said with a smile.

Cynder kissed the base of Spyro’s neck and inquired, “Baby... have you ever thought of starting a family?”

It was all Spyro could do to keep from busting out laughing. “It’s crossed my mind more than once,” he answered. “Why?”

“When faced with one’s own mortality, one starts thinking about their future,” Cynder whispered. Spyro turned around in Cynder’s arms and held her.

“While I like the idea of Dragon Force becoming a family,” Spyro said, “I don’t think the environment we live in is... ideal... to raise a child.”

Cynder smiled. “No,” She admitted, “It’s not ideal... it’s unique.” Without hesitation, Cynder kissed Spyro as the radio nearby began to play...

“I remember black skies,

The Lightning all around me.

I remembered each flash as time began to blur.

Like a startling sign

That fate had finally found me.

And your voice was all I heard,

That I’d get what I deserve.

So give me reason

To prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean.

Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes.

Give me reason to fill this hole

Connect the space between.

Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies

Across this new divide.

There was nothing inside

but memories left abandoned.

There was nowhere to hide,

The ashes fell like snow.

And the ground caved in

Between where we were standing.

And your voice was all I heard,

That I’d get what I deserve.

So give me reason

To prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean.

Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes.

Across this new divide.

In every loss, in every lie,

In every truth that you’d deny,

In each regret and each divide,

Was a mistake too great to hide.

And your voice was all I heard,

That I’d get what I deserve

So give me reason to prove me wrong

To wash this memory clean.

Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes.

Give me reason to fill this hole, connect the space between

Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies

Across this new divide...”

To Be Continued...