Post by Badger on Sept 5, 2006 17:00:19 GMT -5
[glow=blue,2,300]III in the {Etcheron} Legend[/glow]
Deep in the midnight, Lunch was still watching the stars from a balcony. He felt restless, yet mentally exhausted. The past weeks had been tough. After the bloodthirsty {EW} incident, no one had quite recovered their trust of each-other even though Mandalore had recovered due to the excellent work of Mouse. Lunch sighed as he thought of the bickering that had been going on within the clan.
Suddenly, a bright flash appeared from the sky. A small ball of sludge splashed up as the small object hit the swamp area of the synthetic planet. His weariness vanished instantly as he watched smoke billow from the object. He went inside his private room and got a pair of high-tech binoculars. He zoomed in on the mysterious meteor, and noticed something moving in the shadows.
Then it detonated.
The City was bustling with rumors. The mysterious explosion that occurred last night had brought about much confusion. Also, the untimely disappearance of Lunch, who usually stayed in the city, made a lot of {EW} worried.
“Maybe he’s training in solitude.” Shadow suggested. They decided to wait and see if he would come back in a few days.
He didn’t.
On the fourth day, Goodman and Shadow left with Sarge to scout out the area of the explosion. They geared up in camouflage suits that were fit for swamp missions; old clone sniper suits. They all got their personal speeders and began the search.
“Sarge, I got something. Not much, but it might be a life form. Out.”
“Roger, Goodman, I’ll follow you up.”
"Shadow, get over to the left.”
The three brown bikes sped through the sludge of the swamp. As they neared the spot that Goodman had found the hint of life, they shut down their engines. Sarge jumped off his hovering craft, and found that he was sinking into the muck. He panicked and tried to grasp the speeder bike.
Goodman and Shadow rushed over and attempted to pull Sarge out. The suction of the mud squelched as Goodman’s might freed Sarge.
“Whew, thanks.”
“No problem. Get your pistol charged. Over here.” Goodman motioned.
Following squad tactics, they shouldered their arms and moved out.
Goodman's radar was beeping crazily. He motioned to Sarge, "There."
Lunch groaned; three men were untying the bonds that had so cruelly held him for nearly four days. His vision was blurred, and his tongue lolled out, spilling saliva on the ground.
"Be careful, Goodman. Easy Lunch." Sarge said urgently.
"Sa-rge?" Mumbled Lunch.
"Yeah it's me, now let's get out of here fast..." He stopped.
"Get your hands up!" Came a harsh voice from the underbrush.
Mist and shadow filled the mind of the lone {EW}. The dreary night had seemed like an eternity. Goblin's eyes blurred; it was his shift as lookout. His eyelids slowly closed shut and his fingers loosened from his sniper gun. His head lolled forward, closer to the ground. Mentally, he told himself that he wouldn’t go to sleep. But the irresistible pull to fall flat on his face soon overcame his half-alert brain’s logic. He jerked up suddenly as a twig snapped nearby. He peered into the gloom. Reaching down, he looked through his binoculars. After a couple of passes of the dark terrain he gave up. Nothing. Wait...
It was too late; a brilliant blue flash of a stun gun hit him in the face, and he collapsed to the stone floor unconscious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Squirrel woke up to blaring alarms and loud shouts. He groped for his black cloak on his dresser, and gathered up his gear quickly. His pace quickened as he heard a few panicked screams. He rushed into main hall and was provided a first seat view of pure chaos.
{EW} were rushing around, nervously charging guns and putting on armor. A few were even getting in the large turrets that fortified the {EW} castle. K.A.L. ran over to Squirrel and breathlessly told him the situation.
"Sir, there's a large army approaching from the north entrance!”
Goodman, Sarge and Shadow burst through the door. "They're coming! We managed to escape in the confusion of the attack!"
Squirrel nodded and then began yelling for silence. “{EW}! Gather around me!” The {EW} sharply came to attention and formed a ring around Squirrel. Squirrel looked around at the faces of his warriors.
“I want the Nova squad to be up by the turrets at once! You’ll protect the turrets with some of your missile fire.” began to climb the long stairs that connected to the turrets.
“I want Alpha squad to get into turrets, and blast the enemy into oblivion. Get to it Mandalore!” The Alpha squad set about to do as Squirrel had bidden.
“Zeta, Omega, Xi squads!” The three squad leaders, Hero, Lunch and Sarge came forward. “You boys bring you’re companies to the front lines with me.”
A thundering of “Aye, aye, sir!” rang through the hall.
Squirrel drew Badger aside and whispered, “You take your squad around the back while all the other squads draw their fire. When I yell “For Etcheron”, unleash hell upon them.”
Badger nodded silently and walked away. Squirrel then went with the three infantry squads, pulling his hood over his face. He motioned for them to follow him. Zeta, Omega, and Xi squads went forth into the biting cold. The chill gripped Squirrel as he stepped onto the stone walkway. He looked over his shoulder; Nova and Alpha were at their correct stations. Wickwire, the leader of the Nova squad gave Squirrel a thumbs up.
Squirrel continued to lead them out of the gate very silently. The wind once again struck his eyes. They all pulled out their various weapons. Suddenly, dark forms were seen in the distance.
The {EW] started to shout in unison. “{EW}! {EW}! {EW}! {EW}!”
The enemy chant “Global Killers!” also rose, melding with the {EW}’s cry. Suddenly, both groups stopped and everything fell silent.
Dead silent.
Squirrel started to sweat. He knew that they were outnumbered. Hopefully Badger had done what he had commanded him to do, or they were screwed. Before he had anymore time to think…
…Hell broke loose.
The {EW} turrets blazed with laser fire, causing considerable damage to the enemy army. The demos on top of the wall were doing their job properly, and the infantry were shooting like crazy. But the skill and number of the mercenary was too great. The turret's large lasers splashed like large droplets of water onto the mercenaries. The smell of war was tainted on the air.
After five minutes of wild battle, Squirrel fell back on his “plan B”. He drew back his head and screamed bloody murder, “FOR ETCHERON!!!”
Badger’s group flooded from the forest behind the mercenary’s force. With a few well placed thermal detonators, the Revo-Tyshun succeeded in panicking the mercenary army for a couple precious moments. The GK shouted some curses and began blindly shooting in all directions. No one noticed a lone mercenary heading over to the South wall…except Squirrel
After two minutes of bloodshed on the Gk’s part, one of their captains motioned for a hasty retreat. The {EW} breathed a sigh of relief as they shivered from the battle they had just fought. But Squirrel felt uneasy, he had seen a dark shadow running along the wall, so without telling the others…he left the castle.
On the way he stumbled into K.A.L. and Squirrel who were making sure the grounds were safe. “K.A.L.!” shouted Squirrel, “I saw someone flee during the fight and come around here!” K.A.L. nodded primed his 57gm missile launcher in case someone were to ambush them. K.A.L. and Squirrel cautiously tip-toed past a few smoldering bodies.
"They’re changeling Mercenaries." K.A.L. said quietly.
A beeping sound broke the stillness. K.A.L. groped around, his hands searching. He grabbed an object and fingered it carefully.
He suddenly became frantic. "Quick Squirrel! Your splicing knife!"
Squirrel asked excitedly as he handed it over, "What is it?"
K.A.L.'s attempted to splice the steel tablet as he spoke one word.
"Charges."
Squirrel moaned and tried to assist K.A.L. with his spare knife. After about twenty seconds they had both successfully disarmed three charges. Only one remained. K.A.L. brought the knife down on one with the full force of his arm, trying to break it in a single strike. The cover broke off; now all he needed to do was to stab the inner heart of the charge. He lifted the splicer up...
But the wall blew up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Goodman watched in horror as he herded all the {EW} together on the North Plateau.
"Quiet everyone! The mercenaries are coming back, and they’ve brought some reinforcements this time. Look, if we lose the middle ground, we're finished. Inuyasha!"
Inuyasha stepped up, sniper rifle in hand.
"Take Lunch with you to cover us from the rooftop. Pick 'em off for us."
Inuyasha nodded and motioned for Lunch. Goodman faced the remaining {EW}.
"Everyone else: lets go down to the base to meet them head on. Demolitions, set your detpacks on the ground by the main entrance, cover them with dirt, and then head back to the Great Hall. When I signal you, blow 'em up. Infantry, Lange, and everybody else, after the mines blow, move in and finish them off. Now let's go!"
The rallying cry of “{EW}!” rang out in the quiet land of Etcheron.
Mouse set her detpack in the ground as Goodman instructed. "Why is he the leader all of the sudden," she thought. Nevertheless, she placed them and then ran back to the fortress.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The stillness of the night chilled Lunch to the bone. He tensed as he saw something move out in the open grass. There they were. He looked over at Inuyasha on the opposite rooftop and motioned to the intruders.
Lunch gave him three fingers. Two fingers. One finger. They both fired at the same time, both direct hits.
"Now!" screamed Goodman. Mouse and the other demolitions pressed the detpack controllers. Screams seared the air as the assassins flew nearly ten feet in the air. Mud flew everywhere.
"Infantry!" Goodman said franticly. Caz and Infantry's group moved methodically together. Laser beams flew out of the smoking gun tips. Edgers mowed down three mercenaries. They stared down at the smoking holes in their chests, implanted permanently by {EW}'s first member to reach Elite Warrior status.
The {EW} group advanced slowly, a barrage of impenetrable fire protecting them from harm. Dust flew everywhere, and embers lay smoking in the long grass. Caz yelled for them to stop firing.
Utter silence.
In a few seconds, everyone was congratulating each other. {EW} patted one another on the back. Suddenly, Goodman heard felt a large shockwave of air molecules around him.
He looked up into the sky...
And mouthed a curse word.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Goodman saw the large recon bolt racing down from a mercenary ship, he felt every nerve in his body tense. He sat and stared for a few moments, too numb to move. It came closer...and closer...
"GET DOWN!!!" He screamed with every morsel of adrenaline that he possessed. Foam ran down from his mouth as his heart went into his chest. He fell prone on the ground.
"Any second....," he though with his eyes closed and his teeth gritted, "Any second..."
The air molecules sped around disturbed from the atomic powers of the recon blast. Goodman’s black hair flew everywhere as the wind picked up around him. An enormous pounding of sound mercilessly assaulted his eardrums. He yelled out in pain as he body was pushed against the ground. He would have been glad to know, that before the recon actually hit, he was knocked out from the enormous heat waves of the blast.
Enormous stones from the {EW} castle flew many feet in the air. Dirt was torn from the ground as the large, green laser blasted the surface of the planet. Smoke billowed everywhere, clouding the sky. Another recon bolt surged down from the mercenary capital ship. It missed the remaining {EW} castle, but wiped out the storage room to the south.
Fire ravaged the greens and ate up the oxygen. Etcheron was looking more and more like a graveyard every second.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Squirrel awoke with a burning sensation in his chest. He opened his eyes to find that his vision was blurred. He groaned and tried to sit up, but a pain in his spine forced him to fall back.
Smoke from the north billowed overhead. "Where am I?" He thought to himself. Then he remembered the charges and the deafening blow. He felt his leg and found that it was bleeding badly, he need some bacta; but he had left behind his personal tank in his private room. He moaned and rolled over. Dust settled once again on his head. A gruff voice sounded nearby, and he felt himself and K.A.L. being hoisted up unto an uncomfortabley scratchy stretcher.
He managed to lift his head to look at his 'rescuers'. They were tall, nimble-looking men with long, curly hair. They reminded him of a few of his old buddies that he had left back at Coruscant. "Who are you?" Squirrel asked them.
The one carrying the front left pole spoke flatly. "We are the Global Killers, sent by the Grand Lord. Your pitiful little civilization is already under our control. But the Grand Lord is awaiting our return to your 'castle'. Or what's left of it. He wishes to speak to you personally...Squirrel..."
Squirrel fell back, tired and in pain. He spoke aloud. "K.A.L., are you alright?"
K.A.L. replied in a croaking voice, "Better than some of the others, I suppose. I think I broke a couple ribs from that blast. My leg is completely numb, as well. But those charges couldn't have created all that smoke thats on the horizon. I bet they did an orbital strike or something..." He gasped in pain.
Squirrel shouted with the little energy that he had left, "Hey! You! Give us some bacta! My friend here has some broken bones."
The guard gritted his teeth and brought the company to a halt. He struck Squirrel roughly on the mouth "Don't you dare talk to me like that, rat. The Grand Lord wishes all his prisoners to be untouched...that includes healing." The guard chuckled evily.
Squirrel lay back down once more, grumbling quietly. All he could think of was his fully loaded disintegrator gun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Goodman awoke to the sounds of men speaking. The stench of burning flesh stung his nose. He looked around. It was morning, but extremely dark for a morning. He saw that he and the rest of the {EW} were all tied to the center pole that used to hold up the {EW} Hall. Now, it was just a towering object in a bleak and desolate land.
The recon strikes had been aimed well.
On his right was the comical Jamatang. On his left was Niloc. Everyone was bleeding badly, some, were even missing a few fingers or toes. Jamatang grumbled quietly beside him, shaking her head as if in a nightmare.
"Jamtang," Goodman said, "Jamatang, do you hear me?"
Jamatang stood still. He mumbled incoherently. Goodman looked up, and there, checking the bonds, were three of the scum that had attacked them.
The changelings were draped in purple cloaks and had fierce-looking paint on their faces. Goodman spat on the ground and scoffed at them.
The tallest one brought his hand up and began to chock Goodman. Goodman stared defiantly.
The man stared back.
Jamatang woke up and groggily began to yell at the man. "Get your hands off him!"
The man removed his hand from Gooodman, pulled out his hand pistol, and shot Jamatang in the chest. Goodman shouted, but not air came out. Jamatang's head lolled down, and sparks flew from his bleeding torso. His once beautiful, happy, shining green eyes closed for the last time.
Goodman struggled against his bonds with the ferocity of a wounded animal, "You dirty scum! I swear, I will kill you if it takes my whole life!"
The guard laughed hautily. "Not after today I'm afraid. I believe the Grand Lord wishes to have you all...sacrificed...to the gods." One of the other higher ranking guards shouted above the din of the prisoners.
"Malik! Ye just killed one of the Grand Lord's prisoners! He will deal with thou later, scum. The prisoner 'tis right, you should not have done that. You might get the whole regiment in trouble. Off with thou!" Just as a major fight was about to begin, a shout was heard.
"Attention all personnel and prisoners! The Grand Lord approaches!"
Instantly, all the mercenaries formed two lines, and stood at attention. An extremely tall creature, covered in a black cloak, slowly strolled down the human path. Two heavily armed guards walked closer beside him.
He walked to the large pole where all the {EW}, now all alert, stood waiting. The tall man whispered unheard phrases to one of his guards. The guard nodded and began with a cracked voice:
"Ye pitiful creatures, the high, uplifted, and noble Grand Lord bids ye welcome to his land."
Niloc, a new {EW} that had just recently enlisted, spoke back. "This is our land you intruder and evil beast. You will..." A guard came over and knocked him out with a quick strike of his gun's butt.
The other speaker guard continued, "The Grand Lord wishes ye all to realize that, he, and he alone has the power to kill, or save you. He alone let's you li-"
The tall man silenced the guard and walked closer to the {EW}. He stood in front of Inuyasha and inspected him.
Inuyasha tried to get a glimpse of the man's hidden features. All he managed to see were two yellow eyes. A foul stench emitted from the man's breath as he spoke in an unanimated voice to one of the mercenaries.
"Rishael!"
The speaker guard stepped forward and saluted.
The tall man continued. "Do you recognize this man in front of me?"
The guard peered closely at Inuyasha and grasped him by his chin to get a better view of his features. Inuyasha flinched.
"No my lord."
The tall man grimaced and spat. "Of course not. You all have memories of a womp rat. This man..." He stood shaking his finger at Inuyasha.
"This man...is none other than our old friend, Ullar the Wraith."
Inuyasha gasped while the tall, black man chuckled. "Do you recognize him now, Rishael?" The guard smiled. "Yes my lord, I do now." The tall man laughed for a moment then fell deathly quiet.
"Kill him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The {EW} walked mournfully through the dark meadow. They had been chained up in as prisoners to view the massacre of Inuyasha.
The sun was beginning to set, and Mouse, at the front of the line, began to weep quietly. Spitfire, who was behind her, tried to comfort her.
When the {EW} finally trudged up to the spot, they found that the executioners had erected a large beam of wood, covered with a wooly fur. Inuyasha, who was by himself, stood quietly, watching the tall man who stood at a distance.
The executioners silently unbound Inuyasha's hands. The brave {EW} still stared at The Grand Lord.
The guards hoisted him up, attaching his feet to a rope, and placing his hands around the pole. Inuyasha continued to glare straight at the man, his eyes burning with passion.
The tall man flinched.
One of the guards pulled out a flame thrower, and let a small spark fall on the withered grass by the pole.
Inuyasha's face was stoic.
The entirety of {EW} wept, as the flames slowly ate up the wood. Smoke filled Inuyasha's orb-like eyes, but he did not remove his gaze from The Grand Lord.
As the flaming tongues crept closer and closer to Inuyasha's body, The Grand Lord said, "Scream, do you wish to say anything to your 'friends'?"
Inuyasha waited a moment, the heat burning his feet. He composed himself, narrowed his eyes, and answered. "I am a traitor."
Then the fire engulfed him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The occurrences that happened at that moment blurred everyone's mind; Two men dressed in guard uniforms had approached, aimed, and shot two other guards.
The chaos that followed was indescribable. {EW} began shouting, and the mercenaries panicked to charge their weapons. However, for most, it was too late.
The two "guards" were bulldozing through the crowd, lasers and thermals flying through the air. They reached the {EW} chain gang, and began releasing them. {EW} picked up guns from fallen guards and began to overcome the mercenaries. Shadow and Goodman ran over to what was left of Inuyasha, and carried him down.
The Grand Lord managed to get in a small speeder during the confusion and escaped. Wickwire shouted for Mouse to shoot it with her demo gun.
Just before the rocket made contact with the small speeder, The Grand Lord made a sharp right turn and disappeared into the thick underbrush.
The rest of the {EW} finished off the guards. Some pleaded for mercy, which was granted by the majority of the {EW}.
Wickwire gasped. They had won. But many {EW} were hurt. He rushed over to Mouse, who was tending to Lange.
"Is he going to be alright?" He asked her.
"He's wounded badly; his left arm has been shot. We're going to have to get him a bacta tank straightaway." She replied.
Wickwire nodded solemnly and then saw the two guards who had saved them.
He walked up to them. He already knew who it was, however. Squirrel and K.A.L. removed their helmets and shook his hand.
Wickwire's face was curiosity at its fullest. "How'd you guys escape?"
K.A.L. laughed. "We'll talk about that later. I'm sure we both have many stories to tell."
Mouse was putting the burnt body of Inuyasha on a stretcher. She brought it up to Squirrel and started to cry. {EW} found a small circle around the body. Some broke out into quiet sobs. Others just stood with their heads bowed in silence. Squirrel stood in shock for a moment, and then slowly saluted. A single tear streaked down his flushed cheek. After a few seconds, he shouted.
"Pack your gear. We're leaving."
The End
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Epilouge:
It was in the best interest of the {EW} that they left as soon as they did. {Etcheron} was soon taken over by a fresh army of Mercenaries.
But it was not the end of {EW}. They were only taking a break. The scar that the Grand Lord had placed on them was too deep to forget about the lives of {EW} they had lost.
They were coming back...
Deep in the midnight, Lunch was still watching the stars from a balcony. He felt restless, yet mentally exhausted. The past weeks had been tough. After the bloodthirsty {EW} incident, no one had quite recovered their trust of each-other even though Mandalore had recovered due to the excellent work of Mouse. Lunch sighed as he thought of the bickering that had been going on within the clan.
Suddenly, a bright flash appeared from the sky. A small ball of sludge splashed up as the small object hit the swamp area of the synthetic planet. His weariness vanished instantly as he watched smoke billow from the object. He went inside his private room and got a pair of high-tech binoculars. He zoomed in on the mysterious meteor, and noticed something moving in the shadows.
Then it detonated.
The City was bustling with rumors. The mysterious explosion that occurred last night had brought about much confusion. Also, the untimely disappearance of Lunch, who usually stayed in the city, made a lot of {EW} worried.
“Maybe he’s training in solitude.” Shadow suggested. They decided to wait and see if he would come back in a few days.
He didn’t.
On the fourth day, Goodman and Shadow left with Sarge to scout out the area of the explosion. They geared up in camouflage suits that were fit for swamp missions; old clone sniper suits. They all got their personal speeders and began the search.
“Sarge, I got something. Not much, but it might be a life form. Out.”
“Roger, Goodman, I’ll follow you up.”
"Shadow, get over to the left.”
The three brown bikes sped through the sludge of the swamp. As they neared the spot that Goodman had found the hint of life, they shut down their engines. Sarge jumped off his hovering craft, and found that he was sinking into the muck. He panicked and tried to grasp the speeder bike.
Goodman and Shadow rushed over and attempted to pull Sarge out. The suction of the mud squelched as Goodman’s might freed Sarge.
“Whew, thanks.”
“No problem. Get your pistol charged. Over here.” Goodman motioned.
Following squad tactics, they shouldered their arms and moved out.
Goodman's radar was beeping crazily. He motioned to Sarge, "There."
Lunch groaned; three men were untying the bonds that had so cruelly held him for nearly four days. His vision was blurred, and his tongue lolled out, spilling saliva on the ground.
"Be careful, Goodman. Easy Lunch." Sarge said urgently.
"Sa-rge?" Mumbled Lunch.
"Yeah it's me, now let's get out of here fast..." He stopped.
"Get your hands up!" Came a harsh voice from the underbrush.
Mist and shadow filled the mind of the lone {EW}. The dreary night had seemed like an eternity. Goblin's eyes blurred; it was his shift as lookout. His eyelids slowly closed shut and his fingers loosened from his sniper gun. His head lolled forward, closer to the ground. Mentally, he told himself that he wouldn’t go to sleep. But the irresistible pull to fall flat on his face soon overcame his half-alert brain’s logic. He jerked up suddenly as a twig snapped nearby. He peered into the gloom. Reaching down, he looked through his binoculars. After a couple of passes of the dark terrain he gave up. Nothing. Wait...
It was too late; a brilliant blue flash of a stun gun hit him in the face, and he collapsed to the stone floor unconscious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Squirrel woke up to blaring alarms and loud shouts. He groped for his black cloak on his dresser, and gathered up his gear quickly. His pace quickened as he heard a few panicked screams. He rushed into main hall and was provided a first seat view of pure chaos.
{EW} were rushing around, nervously charging guns and putting on armor. A few were even getting in the large turrets that fortified the {EW} castle. K.A.L. ran over to Squirrel and breathlessly told him the situation.
"Sir, there's a large army approaching from the north entrance!”
Goodman, Sarge and Shadow burst through the door. "They're coming! We managed to escape in the confusion of the attack!"
Squirrel nodded and then began yelling for silence. “{EW}! Gather around me!” The {EW} sharply came to attention and formed a ring around Squirrel. Squirrel looked around at the faces of his warriors.
“I want the Nova squad to be up by the turrets at once! You’ll protect the turrets with some of your missile fire.” began to climb the long stairs that connected to the turrets.
“I want Alpha squad to get into turrets, and blast the enemy into oblivion. Get to it Mandalore!” The Alpha squad set about to do as Squirrel had bidden.
“Zeta, Omega, Xi squads!” The three squad leaders, Hero, Lunch and Sarge came forward. “You boys bring you’re companies to the front lines with me.”
A thundering of “Aye, aye, sir!” rang through the hall.
Squirrel drew Badger aside and whispered, “You take your squad around the back while all the other squads draw their fire. When I yell “For Etcheron”, unleash hell upon them.”
Badger nodded silently and walked away. Squirrel then went with the three infantry squads, pulling his hood over his face. He motioned for them to follow him. Zeta, Omega, and Xi squads went forth into the biting cold. The chill gripped Squirrel as he stepped onto the stone walkway. He looked over his shoulder; Nova and Alpha were at their correct stations. Wickwire, the leader of the Nova squad gave Squirrel a thumbs up.
Squirrel continued to lead them out of the gate very silently. The wind once again struck his eyes. They all pulled out their various weapons. Suddenly, dark forms were seen in the distance.
The {EW] started to shout in unison. “{EW}! {EW}! {EW}! {EW}!”
The enemy chant “Global Killers!” also rose, melding with the {EW}’s cry. Suddenly, both groups stopped and everything fell silent.
Dead silent.
Squirrel started to sweat. He knew that they were outnumbered. Hopefully Badger had done what he had commanded him to do, or they were screwed. Before he had anymore time to think…
…Hell broke loose.
The {EW} turrets blazed with laser fire, causing considerable damage to the enemy army. The demos on top of the wall were doing their job properly, and the infantry were shooting like crazy. But the skill and number of the mercenary was too great. The turret's large lasers splashed like large droplets of water onto the mercenaries. The smell of war was tainted on the air.
After five minutes of wild battle, Squirrel fell back on his “plan B”. He drew back his head and screamed bloody murder, “FOR ETCHERON!!!”
Badger’s group flooded from the forest behind the mercenary’s force. With a few well placed thermal detonators, the Revo-Tyshun succeeded in panicking the mercenary army for a couple precious moments. The GK shouted some curses and began blindly shooting in all directions. No one noticed a lone mercenary heading over to the South wall…except Squirrel
After two minutes of bloodshed on the Gk’s part, one of their captains motioned for a hasty retreat. The {EW} breathed a sigh of relief as they shivered from the battle they had just fought. But Squirrel felt uneasy, he had seen a dark shadow running along the wall, so without telling the others…he left the castle.
On the way he stumbled into K.A.L. and Squirrel who were making sure the grounds were safe. “K.A.L.!” shouted Squirrel, “I saw someone flee during the fight and come around here!” K.A.L. nodded primed his 57gm missile launcher in case someone were to ambush them. K.A.L. and Squirrel cautiously tip-toed past a few smoldering bodies.
"They’re changeling Mercenaries." K.A.L. said quietly.
A beeping sound broke the stillness. K.A.L. groped around, his hands searching. He grabbed an object and fingered it carefully.
He suddenly became frantic. "Quick Squirrel! Your splicing knife!"
Squirrel asked excitedly as he handed it over, "What is it?"
K.A.L.'s attempted to splice the steel tablet as he spoke one word.
"Charges."
Squirrel moaned and tried to assist K.A.L. with his spare knife. After about twenty seconds they had both successfully disarmed three charges. Only one remained. K.A.L. brought the knife down on one with the full force of his arm, trying to break it in a single strike. The cover broke off; now all he needed to do was to stab the inner heart of the charge. He lifted the splicer up...
But the wall blew up.
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Goodman watched in horror as he herded all the {EW} together on the North Plateau.
"Quiet everyone! The mercenaries are coming back, and they’ve brought some reinforcements this time. Look, if we lose the middle ground, we're finished. Inuyasha!"
Inuyasha stepped up, sniper rifle in hand.
"Take Lunch with you to cover us from the rooftop. Pick 'em off for us."
Inuyasha nodded and motioned for Lunch. Goodman faced the remaining {EW}.
"Everyone else: lets go down to the base to meet them head on. Demolitions, set your detpacks on the ground by the main entrance, cover them with dirt, and then head back to the Great Hall. When I signal you, blow 'em up. Infantry, Lange, and everybody else, after the mines blow, move in and finish them off. Now let's go!"
The rallying cry of “{EW}!” rang out in the quiet land of Etcheron.
Mouse set her detpack in the ground as Goodman instructed. "Why is he the leader all of the sudden," she thought. Nevertheless, she placed them and then ran back to the fortress.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The stillness of the night chilled Lunch to the bone. He tensed as he saw something move out in the open grass. There they were. He looked over at Inuyasha on the opposite rooftop and motioned to the intruders.
Lunch gave him three fingers. Two fingers. One finger. They both fired at the same time, both direct hits.
"Now!" screamed Goodman. Mouse and the other demolitions pressed the detpack controllers. Screams seared the air as the assassins flew nearly ten feet in the air. Mud flew everywhere.
"Infantry!" Goodman said franticly. Caz and Infantry's group moved methodically together. Laser beams flew out of the smoking gun tips. Edgers mowed down three mercenaries. They stared down at the smoking holes in their chests, implanted permanently by {EW}'s first member to reach Elite Warrior status.
The {EW} group advanced slowly, a barrage of impenetrable fire protecting them from harm. Dust flew everywhere, and embers lay smoking in the long grass. Caz yelled for them to stop firing.
Utter silence.
In a few seconds, everyone was congratulating each other. {EW} patted one another on the back. Suddenly, Goodman heard felt a large shockwave of air molecules around him.
He looked up into the sky...
And mouthed a curse word.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Goodman saw the large recon bolt racing down from a mercenary ship, he felt every nerve in his body tense. He sat and stared for a few moments, too numb to move. It came closer...and closer...
"GET DOWN!!!" He screamed with every morsel of adrenaline that he possessed. Foam ran down from his mouth as his heart went into his chest. He fell prone on the ground.
"Any second....," he though with his eyes closed and his teeth gritted, "Any second..."
The air molecules sped around disturbed from the atomic powers of the recon blast. Goodman’s black hair flew everywhere as the wind picked up around him. An enormous pounding of sound mercilessly assaulted his eardrums. He yelled out in pain as he body was pushed against the ground. He would have been glad to know, that before the recon actually hit, he was knocked out from the enormous heat waves of the blast.
Enormous stones from the {EW} castle flew many feet in the air. Dirt was torn from the ground as the large, green laser blasted the surface of the planet. Smoke billowed everywhere, clouding the sky. Another recon bolt surged down from the mercenary capital ship. It missed the remaining {EW} castle, but wiped out the storage room to the south.
Fire ravaged the greens and ate up the oxygen. Etcheron was looking more and more like a graveyard every second.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Squirrel awoke with a burning sensation in his chest. He opened his eyes to find that his vision was blurred. He groaned and tried to sit up, but a pain in his spine forced him to fall back.
Smoke from the north billowed overhead. "Where am I?" He thought to himself. Then he remembered the charges and the deafening blow. He felt his leg and found that it was bleeding badly, he need some bacta; but he had left behind his personal tank in his private room. He moaned and rolled over. Dust settled once again on his head. A gruff voice sounded nearby, and he felt himself and K.A.L. being hoisted up unto an uncomfortabley scratchy stretcher.
He managed to lift his head to look at his 'rescuers'. They were tall, nimble-looking men with long, curly hair. They reminded him of a few of his old buddies that he had left back at Coruscant. "Who are you?" Squirrel asked them.
The one carrying the front left pole spoke flatly. "We are the Global Killers, sent by the Grand Lord. Your pitiful little civilization is already under our control. But the Grand Lord is awaiting our return to your 'castle'. Or what's left of it. He wishes to speak to you personally...Squirrel..."
Squirrel fell back, tired and in pain. He spoke aloud. "K.A.L., are you alright?"
K.A.L. replied in a croaking voice, "Better than some of the others, I suppose. I think I broke a couple ribs from that blast. My leg is completely numb, as well. But those charges couldn't have created all that smoke thats on the horizon. I bet they did an orbital strike or something..." He gasped in pain.
Squirrel shouted with the little energy that he had left, "Hey! You! Give us some bacta! My friend here has some broken bones."
The guard gritted his teeth and brought the company to a halt. He struck Squirrel roughly on the mouth "Don't you dare talk to me like that, rat. The Grand Lord wishes all his prisoners to be untouched...that includes healing." The guard chuckled evily.
Squirrel lay back down once more, grumbling quietly. All he could think of was his fully loaded disintegrator gun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Goodman awoke to the sounds of men speaking. The stench of burning flesh stung his nose. He looked around. It was morning, but extremely dark for a morning. He saw that he and the rest of the {EW} were all tied to the center pole that used to hold up the {EW} Hall. Now, it was just a towering object in a bleak and desolate land.
The recon strikes had been aimed well.
On his right was the comical Jamatang. On his left was Niloc. Everyone was bleeding badly, some, were even missing a few fingers or toes. Jamatang grumbled quietly beside him, shaking her head as if in a nightmare.
"Jamtang," Goodman said, "Jamatang, do you hear me?"
Jamatang stood still. He mumbled incoherently. Goodman looked up, and there, checking the bonds, were three of the scum that had attacked them.
The changelings were draped in purple cloaks and had fierce-looking paint on their faces. Goodman spat on the ground and scoffed at them.
The tallest one brought his hand up and began to chock Goodman. Goodman stared defiantly.
The man stared back.
Jamatang woke up and groggily began to yell at the man. "Get your hands off him!"
The man removed his hand from Gooodman, pulled out his hand pistol, and shot Jamatang in the chest. Goodman shouted, but not air came out. Jamatang's head lolled down, and sparks flew from his bleeding torso. His once beautiful, happy, shining green eyes closed for the last time.
Goodman struggled against his bonds with the ferocity of a wounded animal, "You dirty scum! I swear, I will kill you if it takes my whole life!"
The guard laughed hautily. "Not after today I'm afraid. I believe the Grand Lord wishes to have you all...sacrificed...to the gods." One of the other higher ranking guards shouted above the din of the prisoners.
"Malik! Ye just killed one of the Grand Lord's prisoners! He will deal with thou later, scum. The prisoner 'tis right, you should not have done that. You might get the whole regiment in trouble. Off with thou!" Just as a major fight was about to begin, a shout was heard.
"Attention all personnel and prisoners! The Grand Lord approaches!"
Instantly, all the mercenaries formed two lines, and stood at attention. An extremely tall creature, covered in a black cloak, slowly strolled down the human path. Two heavily armed guards walked closer beside him.
He walked to the large pole where all the {EW}, now all alert, stood waiting. The tall man whispered unheard phrases to one of his guards. The guard nodded and began with a cracked voice:
"Ye pitiful creatures, the high, uplifted, and noble Grand Lord bids ye welcome to his land."
Niloc, a new {EW} that had just recently enlisted, spoke back. "This is our land you intruder and evil beast. You will..." A guard came over and knocked him out with a quick strike of his gun's butt.
The other speaker guard continued, "The Grand Lord wishes ye all to realize that, he, and he alone has the power to kill, or save you. He alone let's you li-"
The tall man silenced the guard and walked closer to the {EW}. He stood in front of Inuyasha and inspected him.
Inuyasha tried to get a glimpse of the man's hidden features. All he managed to see were two yellow eyes. A foul stench emitted from the man's breath as he spoke in an unanimated voice to one of the mercenaries.
"Rishael!"
The speaker guard stepped forward and saluted.
The tall man continued. "Do you recognize this man in front of me?"
The guard peered closely at Inuyasha and grasped him by his chin to get a better view of his features. Inuyasha flinched.
"No my lord."
The tall man grimaced and spat. "Of course not. You all have memories of a womp rat. This man..." He stood shaking his finger at Inuyasha.
"This man...is none other than our old friend, Ullar the Wraith."
Inuyasha gasped while the tall, black man chuckled. "Do you recognize him now, Rishael?" The guard smiled. "Yes my lord, I do now." The tall man laughed for a moment then fell deathly quiet.
"Kill him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The {EW} walked mournfully through the dark meadow. They had been chained up in as prisoners to view the massacre of Inuyasha.
The sun was beginning to set, and Mouse, at the front of the line, began to weep quietly. Spitfire, who was behind her, tried to comfort her.
When the {EW} finally trudged up to the spot, they found that the executioners had erected a large beam of wood, covered with a wooly fur. Inuyasha, who was by himself, stood quietly, watching the tall man who stood at a distance.
The executioners silently unbound Inuyasha's hands. The brave {EW} still stared at The Grand Lord.
The guards hoisted him up, attaching his feet to a rope, and placing his hands around the pole. Inuyasha continued to glare straight at the man, his eyes burning with passion.
The tall man flinched.
One of the guards pulled out a flame thrower, and let a small spark fall on the withered grass by the pole.
Inuyasha's face was stoic.
The entirety of {EW} wept, as the flames slowly ate up the wood. Smoke filled Inuyasha's orb-like eyes, but he did not remove his gaze from The Grand Lord.
As the flaming tongues crept closer and closer to Inuyasha's body, The Grand Lord said, "Scream, do you wish to say anything to your 'friends'?"
Inuyasha waited a moment, the heat burning his feet. He composed himself, narrowed his eyes, and answered. "I am a traitor."
Then the fire engulfed him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The occurrences that happened at that moment blurred everyone's mind; Two men dressed in guard uniforms had approached, aimed, and shot two other guards.
The chaos that followed was indescribable. {EW} began shouting, and the mercenaries panicked to charge their weapons. However, for most, it was too late.
The two "guards" were bulldozing through the crowd, lasers and thermals flying through the air. They reached the {EW} chain gang, and began releasing them. {EW} picked up guns from fallen guards and began to overcome the mercenaries. Shadow and Goodman ran over to what was left of Inuyasha, and carried him down.
The Grand Lord managed to get in a small speeder during the confusion and escaped. Wickwire shouted for Mouse to shoot it with her demo gun.
Just before the rocket made contact with the small speeder, The Grand Lord made a sharp right turn and disappeared into the thick underbrush.
The rest of the {EW} finished off the guards. Some pleaded for mercy, which was granted by the majority of the {EW}.
Wickwire gasped. They had won. But many {EW} were hurt. He rushed over to Mouse, who was tending to Lange.
"Is he going to be alright?" He asked her.
"He's wounded badly; his left arm has been shot. We're going to have to get him a bacta tank straightaway." She replied.
Wickwire nodded solemnly and then saw the two guards who had saved them.
He walked up to them. He already knew who it was, however. Squirrel and K.A.L. removed their helmets and shook his hand.
Wickwire's face was curiosity at its fullest. "How'd you guys escape?"
K.A.L. laughed. "We'll talk about that later. I'm sure we both have many stories to tell."
Mouse was putting the burnt body of Inuyasha on a stretcher. She brought it up to Squirrel and started to cry. {EW} found a small circle around the body. Some broke out into quiet sobs. Others just stood with their heads bowed in silence. Squirrel stood in shock for a moment, and then slowly saluted. A single tear streaked down his flushed cheek. After a few seconds, he shouted.
"Pack your gear. We're leaving."
The End
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Epilouge:
It was in the best interest of the {EW} that they left as soon as they did. {Etcheron} was soon taken over by a fresh army of Mercenaries.
But it was not the end of {EW}. They were only taking a break. The scar that the Grand Lord had placed on them was too deep to forget about the lives of {EW} they had lost.
They were coming back...
