The Battle for Kreludor: Part Seven

The door to the control room was open wide. Inside several Virtupets Grundos were running around frantically trying to fix the main computer. They were desperately tossing wires around and mashing buttons.

      Outside the room, Oen gave a signal and the Resistance moved in. The fire Grundo raised his laser gun. "All of you get into the center of the room. Now!" he commanded.

      The technicians froze and shuffled away from the monitors.

      "Right." Oen turned to his team. "We'll stun them and take them to a secure area." He aimed his virtublaster.

      "Not so fast!" a voice shouted from the hallway.

      The Resistance turned to see a Darigan Scorchio standing alone in the doorway. He was holding a bzzt blaster. "All of you antis drop your weapons!" he yelled.

      In an instant the Resistance opened fire on him.

      "Wait!" Oen shouted.

      It was too late. Lasers were being fired in all directions. They bounced off the reinforced metal door and ricocheted across the control room. Oen dropped to the ground to get to safety. The lasers struck the computer screens and ran along the wires. The control room's electronics began to fizz as they were hit.

      "Get out of the way!" Oen cried as more lasers were fired at them.

      The green screens of the computers began to shut off. The technicians scrambled to the edges of the room in fear.

      "Stop firing!" one yelled desperately. "You're going to destroy the computers!"

      The lights flickered and went out. The control room was submerged in darkness except for the many brilliant beams of blue and red light that were rebounding in every direction.

      Things were going wrong. Oen was the first to recover from the loss of light. In the hall outside dim green emergency lights were flickering on. The fire Grundo knew they had to get out of the control room. Several of his comrades had already been stunned by the ricocheting lasers.

      The huge metal door that was the exit suddenly gave a groan. Oen looked up as he crawled towards it. The Scorchio was outside, pushing it closed. He was going to lock them in.

      Oen jumped to his feet and dodged a blue laser. He leaped over an unconscious Grundo and bolted to the door. The fire Grundo threw himself at it and tried to hold it open. He felt his feet sliding under him. The Virtupets officer on the other side was stronger.

      Oen sank to his knees to avoid another stray laser. Other members of the Resistance were crawling over to help him. There wasn't time. The door slid forward another foot.

      "Let go, you snivelling anti!" Captain Dwolt roared from the other side. "You cannot do anything now!"

      The door moved another few inches. Oen ducked under another laser and glanced around. A Cybunny from the Resistance was lying stunned on the ground near him. The fire Grundo quickly pulled the helmet off her head and pushed it between the moving door and the wall.

      "Hurry!" he called to his fellow members of the Resistance. The door was pushed into the helmet and it suddenly stopped. Oen could feel the officer on the other side slamming against it.

      The helmet shuddered and began to crack. Several members of the Resistance reached the door and helped the fire Grundo brace it. It began to open.

Hallway 5, Virtupets Moon Base 32, Kreludor:

      Commander Krule gripped an old elite blaster and released a series of green lasers at the Resistance. He had rushed several dozen Virtupets officers from the guest rooms and brought them to help in the fight. None of the virtublasters were working; the officers had grabbed whatever would work as a weapon. The Commander took an ancient elite blaster from his private collection.

      Krule fired another stream of lasers. Two Grundos dropped stunned at the other end of the hallway. The Resistance was falling back; the Virtupets officers were much better trained.

      "Move forward!" Krule yelled at his officers.

      They began to advance firing whatever weapons they had. One captain was using a frying pan to reflect enemy lasers back at the Resistance.

      Up ahead the remaining Grundos dodged behind a corner for protection. Krule smiled and aimed his blaster at a blue Grundo who was giving commands.

      As his finger squeezed the trigger the Commander felt the heat of an electric blue laser fly within in inch of his face. It came from behind. Several Virtupets officers suddenly fell down stunned beside him. Krule whirled around and saw several lasers coming at him. The mutant Grundo ducked and fired back.

      Another group of the Resistance had snuck up from behind. The Commander winced. He and the officers were trapped in the cross fire.

      The hallway's lights suddenly flickered and died.

Hallway 5, Virtupets Moon Base 32, Kreludor:

      Retep raised a QX-92 Neutrino Blaster and aimed it straight at the Commander.

      The lights sputtered and went out.

      The royal Lupe fired his weapon into the darkness. Laser beams were streaking in all directions and it was nearly impossible to see the enemy up ahead.

      "Hold your fire!" he called out as he ducked under a red laser. He knew that there was a group of Resistance at the other end of the hallway and it would not do to have them shooting at each other. Gradually the lasers dissipated into the darkness.

      Someone was calling for help up ahead. Retep frowned and turned to the other antis.

      "We can't do anything without light. What happened to the computer?"

      "I don't know," answered a brown Grundo. "I tried giving it a command, but it won't respond now."

      "We'll have to do without it, then," Retep said worriedly. "This complicates matters."

      Suddenly weak green emergency lights glowed to life to light the hallway in front of the Resistance. Several of the officers were lying stunned on the ground. The rest were waving scavenged weapons in the air and firing weak lasers.

      "Alright, drop your weapons," Retep shouted to them. "You're surrounded and outnumbered."

      One by one the officers threw their weapons to the floor as they were overwhelmed by the Resistance. Retep glanced at his captives and then groaned. Commander Krule was missing.

Spaceport, Virtupets Moon Base 32, Kreludor:

      Captain Zara was on guard duty. She had dodged through the base's hallways to come to the small spaceport where Virtupets shuttles were stored. Her new job was to ensure that none of the minions escaped in a ship.

      The Kyrii was leaning against an old transport shuttle and polishing her Virtublaster. She adjusted her ear piece and listened to the reports coming in from the Resistance. Apparently most of the minions had been stunned and moved to the base's prisons. The Resistance forces were moving quickly and searching for any remaining Virtupets troops.

      Zara glanced around. The spaceport was completely empty except for her. Three sleek fighter ships and a star cruiser were perched on the shiny metal tiles, and several small kreludite transport shuttles lay scattered around the port.

      The Kyrii suddenly stood up and listened into her earpiece; someone was yelling for help over her communicator. Something was going wrong...

      The spaceport's brilliant while lights shuddered and faded all of the sudden to blackness. Zara froze and lifted her communicator.

      "What's happening?" she spoke into it.

      "Computer is down... stay in your position," a Grundo's voice replied.

      The Kyrii frowned and peered into the darkness. She knew that there was an emergency box embedded near the spaceport's entrance and that it would contain spare flashlights. Zara put a hand onto the wing of the transport shuttle and slowly began to stumble towards the entrance.

      A noise unexpectedly echoed across the hanger. Someone was opening the thick door that covered the entrance. Zara stopped moving and listened.

      Someone had entered the spaceport. The Kyrii could hear their footsteps moving across the metal tiles. She quietly drew her Virtublaster.

      "Who's there?" she called.

      There was a long silence. Zara shrank back against the transport shuttle. Surely if someone from the Resistance was nearby they would have replied.

      Suddenly an electric green laser beam shot at her from the darkness.

      Zara ducked under the wing of the transport shuttle just in time to avoid it. The Kyrii rested her virtublaster on the ship's wing and released a stream of blue lasers into the blackness. She watched as they zoomed away and faded. There was silence again. Did she hit whoever was there?

      The seconds passed slowly and Zara slowly edged away from the wing of the shuttle. Her instincts told her to stay where there was cover but she found herself moving forward and peering into the dark.

      Suddenly with a click emergency lights flickered on and cast a sickly light across the spaceport. Zara glanced up in time to see a brilliant green laser flying at her face. She only had time to widen her eyes before it struck her in the forehead.

      The Kyrii sank to her knees and felt consciousness ebbing away. The last thing she remembered was the sound of a spaceship's engine coughing to life.

Discipline Center, Virtupets Moon Base 32, Kreludor:

      Oen bolted the door on one of the detention cells and checked the lock. All of the minions found in the base had been stunned and dragged to the discipline center to be locked up. Eventually the officers would be moved to the Resistance's Headquarters for interrogating.

      Oen turned to see Retep enter the room.

      "We've called it a victory and claimed moon base thirty-two for the antis," Retep told him.

      "Excellent, but will the other Virtupets bases attack us?" Oen asked.

      "I doubt they can do much without their officers, but we'll monitor them just in case."

      "Right. Did you find Commander Krule yet?"

      The royal Lupe frowned. "No, he vanished when the power went off. A team is searching the base for any remaining minions, but none have been found."

      "That's not good at all... we need him captured."

      "If he's hiding then we'll find him very soon. The power is repaired now and we have all the exits guarded."

      "I hope he's caught soon. The rest of the other minions are locked up here now," the fire Grundo said. "When this is finished, we'll have to hope that Sloth doesn't send shiploads of Virtutroops here to win his base back."

      "Sloth can't do anything now." Retep laughed. "He's always been weak and pathetic. And he can't attack us while we have his officers as prisoners."

      At that moment Zara stumbled into the discipline center.

      "Where've you been?" asked Retep. "You've been ignoring my messages."

      Zara blinked and clutched the wall for support. "I've just been revived. I was guarding the spaceport when someone stunned me." She gave her head a shake to clear it.

      "Who stunned you?" Oen asked.

      "I didn't see... the lights had gone out before. But a shuttle is missing from the port. I thought I heard it take off. I think I need to drink another reviver," the shadow Kyrii said groggily.

      Oen and Retep exchanged a glance.

      "Do you think the person who escaped was Commander Krule?"

      "Didn't you capture him?" Zara frowned.

      "Nope, he disappeared with the lights," Retep told her.

      "This is just great," Oen sighed. "Krule must have escaped in a shuttle. He'll be going to inform Sloth of what's happened."

Navigational Arena, Virtupets Star Cruiser V-167, Deep Space:

      Commander Krule had sunk into the cushy pilot's chair. His narrowed red eyes scanned the stars flying past the spaceship. He was leaving Neopia and Kreludor far behind.

      The Commander could stay on Kreludor and be imprisoned by Resistance forces, or he could return to Virtupets where he'd be punished for his failure. The mutant Grundo had decided that neither of these options appealed to him and was now fleeing deeper and deeper into the void of space.

      He planned to search for help and reinforcements. When he found them, he would return to Kreludor and wipe the Resistance from the moon. He would come back as a hero to Virtupets. And if he was strong enough, why not take over Virtupets and become the Emperor of Sloth's enterprise?

      Commander Krule smiled. Defeat wouldn't be so bad if it lead to later victory. No matter what happened, he'd manage to destroy the antis in the end. Sooner or later vengeance would belong to him.

Virtupets Moon Base 32, Kreludor:

      Retep tore the Virtupets flag off of the flagpole and threw it onto the rocky ground. Then he attached the blue and red banner of the antis to the flagpole and raised it to the stars. The royal Lupe turned to his friends.

      "The moon base belongs to the Resistance now. And as long as there are Kreludans being oppressed by Sloth's forces we will continue the fight for freedom."

      "We have a long ways to go before the moon is free of minions," Oen said. "There are many other bases."

      "And Sloth will most likely send troops to deal with us from the space station," Zara added. "We can't expect this to go unnoticed."

      "Who cares?" said Retep. "Let him try. So long as we stand strong and united we will never fall."

Location Unknown:

      Doctor Sloth flung a transmogrification potion against the wall in a moment of anger and watched it shatter with a grim satisfaction. He spun around to tower over this informative.

      "How could they capture my base?" he growled.

      The small Grundo shrank into his Virtupets uniform. "I-I don't know the exact d-details, s-sir. I'm just r-repeating the report I received from Kreludor. I'm s-sorry."

      "Leave me," Sloth commanded as he paced across the room. "I shall devise a way to deal with this recent development."

      The Doctor slammed a fist on his desk. It was useless! He should've found someone more competent to lead his forces. The antis were weak... there was no way they could have destroyed his elite troops.

      He would have to send someone else... the Resistance would have to be crushed and his forces needed a strong leader to guide them. He would find another commander and begin to plan for the complete invasion of Kreludor. He would regain control of the moon. It was an important part of his plan for taking control of Neopia.

      Sloth smiled. The Resistance may have won a battle, but they would never win the war.

The End

Azellica: I'd like to thank neofiretamer and jamesuk2 for their support and advice. Without you guys I'd never have finished. ^^