The Battle for Kreludor: Part Six

Captain Zara knocked quietly on the door of her commander's office. After a few moments she was invited in. The shadow Kyrii entered and saluted to Krule.

      "Sir, you asked to see me?"

      The mutant Grundo nodded. "Our troops will be leaving shortly. I'm going to need you to lead a small group of soldiers to Grundo Colony 12 and make sure that no one leaves to go for help."

      Zara nodded. "Will we have reinforcements coming?"

      "A small legion has already arrived from Moon Base 29," the Commander replied. "I believe we have enough soldiers at the moment... if we need more, the other bases will send assistance. There are also still quite a few officers present from the other bases. They are well trained and can help us."

      "I'm sure this will be an easy victory for Sloth." Captain Zara smiled and turned to leave. The Kyrii suddenly felt her wrist computer vibrating subtly. A signal. She glanced at the time. The lights in the room flickered twice.

      "Sir." Zara slowly turned back around to face her commander. "I've just remembered something."

      "What?"

      "I have bad news about the Resistance." The Kyrii grimaced.

      "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Krule said, jumping to his feet. "This better not affect our attack."

      "I'm afraid it does, sir." Zara swiftly drew her virtublaster and pointed it at the Commander. "Take a seat, sir, you aren't going anywhere."

      Krule stared at her for a moment in disbelief. "What does this mean? You... you're a traitor?"

      Zara flicked her virtublaster. "Sit."

      Commander Krule sank to his chair, but as he did so he whipped his own virtublaster out of his belt. The commander cowardly fired four times straight at the shadow Kyrii.

Sector 9-P, Kreludor:

      As the sun set it cast long shadows across the grey Kreludan terrain. The nearby Grundo colony was completely quiet. Far away lay Moon Base 32. It was a series of grey buildings forced into the landscape. As sun completed faded away, the security cameras in the base died and the perimeter lights faded to nothing.

      Retep glanced around and then motioned to the group he was leading. They approached an entrance and drew their weapons. The doors slid open smoothly to let them in. The royal Lupe lead his group into hallway fourteen and checked his communicator.

      "Alright," he whispered to the Resistance. "The other groups have gotten inside as well. Let's go."

Head Office, Virtupets Moon Base 32, Kreludor:

      Commander Krule bravely fired four shots at Zara. That miserable Kyrii! How dare she betray him?

      Something was wrong, though. He was holding down the trigger of his virtublaster but there were no blue lasers shooting out. Uh-oh.

      "Having a bit of trouble with your weapon?" The shadow Kyrii grinned from across the desk. "Fortunately, mine still works." She demonstrated by blasting a crater into a poster of Sloth. "Now sit."

      Krule weakly tried his virtublaster once more. It was useless; the batteries were dead. The Commander frowned; they should automatically have been recharged. He fell to his seat.

      "That's better." The Kyrii smiled and pulled a length of plastic rope from her utility belt. She pulled the commanders hands behind his back and tied him quickly to his chair. Zara locked the door from the inside, waved to Krule, and then hurried out of the office.

      Krule struggled against ropes furiously. If he ever got free, Zara would pay for her treachery! Virtupets did not take kindly to traitors. The mutant Grundo pulled at his bonds uselessly. He needed help.

      Krule glanced around his office. Hanging on his wall was a Virtupets energy sabre. If he could reach it somehow...

      The Commander swivelled his chair over to it. He kicked the wall so that the sabre fell down from its hanging and he carefully lifted it with his feet. Krule had to free his arms somehow. After several minutes of manipulation he had the sabre pointed directly at him.

      The Commander slowly brought its electrical tip to his bonds. They immediately began to melt and weaken. Krule pulled again at the ropes. This time several of them snapped and the rest loosened. The mutant Grundo freed his hands and pulled the ropes off. He was a genius, he thought grimly.

      Commander Krule jumped to his feet and grabbed his energy sabre. He flung open his office door and stormed out into the base. Zara would pay.

Hallway 14-B, Virtupets Moon Base 32, Kreludor:

      Captain Dwolt was leading his troop of soldiers to the Commander for inspection. As they turned a corner, the Darigan Scorchio saw laser beams firing in all directions up ahead. A security Grundo in a silver uniform came flying down the hall.

      "Sir!" the Grundo cried. "We're being attacked! I can't hold them; my weapon won't work!"

      Dwolt drew his virtublaster and turned to his soldiers. "Get in there and stop the resistance. Do whatever is necessary." He glanced worriedly up ahead at the number of lasers ricocheting off the walls. "I'm going to warn the others and get reinforcements. Go!"

      Captain Dwolt turned back and ran down another hallway. He had to alert the Commander and the security desk. Someone was running towards him.

      "Zara!" he yelled in relief. "I need you to get to Krule and tell him we're being attacked! There's no time. They've already gotten-" Wait... why was the Kyrii pointing her virtublaster directly at him? Dwolt skidded to a stop in panic.

Entrance 4, Virtupets Moon Base 32, Kreludor:

      "I've entered the base," Oen spoke into his communicator. Behind him was a small force of the resistance. The fire Grundo turned to them.

      "Right, we've got to pull this trap. We're going to move down hallway four and take the control room. The technicians there won't be hard to defeat. Someone needs to stay behind and cover this exist." Oen nodded at a blue Grundo. "Okay, the rest of you- follow me."

      As Oen was leading his troop a security guard appeared up ahead. The Virtupets Grundo quickly drew his weapon and tried to fire at the antis. Nothing happened.

      "Surrender!" Oen held his virtublaster up.

      The Virtupets Grundo turned and fled as several laser beams chased him. Seconds later about thirty Virtupets soldiers appeared in his place. They did not hesitate to attack the Resistance and immediately began firing. Still nothing happened.

      "Your weapons are useless," Oen called to them. "Surrender to us now!"

      A few of the soldiers dropped their weapons hopelessly. The rest turned and fled.

      Oen raised his communicator and spoke a sharp command to the base's computer. Without delay a metal security barrier fell to the floor blocking the minion's escape. The remainder of the soldiers threw their virtublasters to the ground. Oen smiled. Victory would be easier than he expected.

Hallway 6-A, Virtupets Moon Base 32, Kreludor:

      Commander Krule ran down the hallway outside his office. His communicator was hysterically beeping.

      "What?!" he snarled into it as he ran.

      "Security, sir! We're under attack!" A small voice filtered through the device.

      Krule winced. The Resistance was here? No wonder Zara had tied him up. "Lock the main entrances and get our entire force to the front."

      "Sir, they're already entered the building!" The voice was panicked. "There isn't much time."

      "What?" The Commander stopped in shock. "How'd they get in? What about our security?!"

      "The main computer isn't working properly. I think it's been tampered with. Sir, we need help! We can't hold up... our weapons are malfunctioning!" the security officer said in fear.

      "All the weapons?! Alright, call in reinforcements. I'll get to the officers."

      "We think they have control over the base's computer, sir! It's only a matter of time before they take out our communcatio-" The communicator suddenly beeped once and shut off.

      Krule tore it off his wrist in frustration and ran off down the hall. He flung himself around a corner and tripped over an object on the floor. The Commander winced as he landed on his face. He spun around and saw that he had tripped over Captain Dwolt.

      "What in Sloth's name are you doing?" Krule yelled. "Wait... they tied you up?"

      The Scorchio was struggling against a thick metal rope. "It's Zara!" Dwolt spat. "She's betrayed us. Can you untie me, sir?"

      Krule nodded and quickly cut through the bonds with his energy sabre. "I need you to get to the control room and talk to the technicians. We have to get the base's computer back! Find weapons that have not been connected to the recharge lines; all of our virtublasters our useless. I'll go get the other officers to repel the antis!" the Commander jumped to his feet, stumbled, and tore off down the hall.

Hallway 8, Virtupets Moon Base 32, Kreludor:

      Retep led his team through the base in search of Virtupets officers. He knew that there were still many present from the other bases and that if the leaders were dealt with quickly everything would collapse for the minions.

      The royal Lupe occasionally ran into another Resistance team tying up fallen Virtupets soldiers. He smiled. The Resistance was moving quickly. They had already sealed off all the exits to the base; no one would be leaving now.

      Suddenly Retep's communicator began to vibrate.

      "What is it?" he opened the screen.

      A blue Grundo appeared. "We need assistance! The minions seem to have gathered together in hallway five and we can't hold them!" she said urgently. "I think we've found the officers."

      "Right. We're coming."

To be continued...