Hidden Entrance

The Squad trudged through the snow. White flakes clouded their sight. Young Frostifurs scurried away at their passing. The Squad was feared by them now, as they had wiped out a whole pack of Frostifurs.

Greg heard small footsteps behind him. He drew his sword, and in one fluent motion, swung it in an arc while turning around. His Calibur smashed right into the stomach of a stalking gremlin.

It tore through the skin of the creature, which in turn spewed blood.

"Uh... guys?" Greg asked. "Should we run?"

"Run?" Mary wondered. "Why would we run?" She turned around and realized what Greg had been talking about.

All of the Squad members turned as well, and saw an armada of gremlins racing at top speed towards them.

"Yup. I think we should go now. Bye, little gremlins!" Fred cheered.

"Stop talking and run!" Damien shouted.

Andrew, Fred, Mary, Greg, and Damien bolted from the spot.

"Catch them!" A tall gremlin screeched.

They ran for what seemed like hours to Andrew. He was hyperventilating. Those gremlins were fast. Well, faster than them at least. The gremlins had almost caught them several times, but Andrew had directed the Squad down a random path that confused the gremlins for a moment. But it didn't look like there were any side paths this time. And the gremlins were gaining on them.

Just as the gremlins were about to catch them, Andrew saw a side path and dove. The rest of the Squad did the same. For the side path had been the entryway to a great valley. They slid down the side of the mountain into the valley.

Zoro ordered the gremlins to stop. "They're headed for the outpost. We can take the secret route and ambush them."

"Clever. That's why you're the boss," Grimace agreed.

The gremlins dug a little bit into the ground, revealing a hidden passageway. They all climbed in except for one. That gremlin filled the hole back up. The group of gremlins sped through the hallway, listening for the Squad footsteps above. Meanwhile, Andrew was running as fast as his legs could carry him.

"I think we lost them," he decided.

A few gremlins let out a muffled laugh.

"I think so too," Greg said.

"We've been running into a lot of gremlins lately. I have a feeling we're near the Outpost," Mary commented.

"There's a smart one," Zoro chuckled.

Several gremlins laughed.

"Well lets get moving then," Andrew said.

They walked through the valley until they arrived at a large mound of snow.

"I feel something," Greg said.

"Me too," Damien agreed.

They pushed the snow away with their hands. Underneath it, there was an elevator. An elevator to the underground Outpost! Andrew was happy for a few moments. And then...

Twenty gremlins uncloaked themselves. They encircled the Squad. One stepped in front of the rest. A long scar went straight down the side of his face. His eyes showed a ruthless, but guilty life, and a sad history. He had two daggers strapped to his belt, and a pair of katanas stripped to his back. A small grenade was half-hidden under a patch of cloth on his torso. This gremlin was not to be reckoned with.

"Hello," the mysterious gremlin smiled. It was as if he was... amused.

"My name is Zoro. And I'm going to kidnap you."

Face to Face

Andrew woke up in a dark, damp prison cell. All he remembered was looking at a lean gremlin who smacked him upside the head with the hilt of a katana. And then everything had gone black.

And it was still black. Andrew was engulfed in darkness. The only light came from a nearly closed door at the end of a hallway.

Andrew called out in the darkness.

"Greg? Mary? Anyone?" Andrew called to no avail.

He sat in the silence, waiting, for what seemed like hours. Finally, he saw the door at the end of the hallway swing open. A gremlin stepped through, fumbled for a bit in the blackness, and hit a light switch.

"Get up," a scratchy voice demanded.

Andrew looked at the speaker. The gremlin took out a key and unlocked the cell gate. It grabbed Andrew roughly, bound his wrists and ankles with rope, and pulled him out of the prison. It threw him onto an elevator and together they went up several depths.

"Warmaster Seerus," the gremlin said once they had gotten to that level. "I've brought Prisoner number 128."

"Perfect. I would like to have a private chat with him," Seerus responded.

"Yes sir."

The gremlin left the room. Seerus turned to look at Andrew.

"Well, how are you today?" Seerus asked with a chuckle.

"What do you want?" Andrew growled.

"I daresay you're as grouchy as your friends. Except for that Greg kid. I found a chromalisk in his pack, took it away, and he freaked out. We're holding him in a 'special' cell."

"Get him out of there! Get us out of here! Damn, if I wasn't tied up, I'd kill you!" Andrew shouted.

"I bet you would. But sadly, you are tied up, and sadly, you can't kill me," Seerus smiled. "Now, back to business. I already know you are determined to turn off our power sources. And that mission has failed. But I feel you came here for another purpose as well. Care to tell me that reason?" Seerus asked.

"I would rather die than tell you the Spiral Order's plans."

"That could be arranged."

"Oh shut up. I'm not telling you anything," Andrew huffed.

"Guards! Take him back to his cell. He's being stubborn," the Warmaster ordered.

Andrew was grabbed and pulled to his cell. The gate was closed shut. No light peeked in from the door at the end of the hallway. But still, inside all the madness, a plan was spawning. A new plan, a new idea.

Meh, Chapter Fifteen Part One is now its own chapter.

Today I Escaped From Prison!

Andrew sat for a long time, thinking how to make his plan better. After a few hours, he laid his head down on the cold stone floor of the cell. He dreamed of himself, speeding toward a large gremlin sitting on a throne.

Andrew stabbed his Leviathan into the creature's stomach. He heard knights cheering. He turned around and saw Greg and Mary rejoicing. Where were Fred and Damien?

"Tinkinzar is dead!" Mary exclaimed.

"The Knights have won the war!" Greg shouted.

Suddenly, Andrew appeared somewhere else. Haven. A great armada of three hundred knights marched together, Feron leading them.

"Its do or die time!" he shouted. "At the ready!"

Andrew turned around and saw an army of gremlins race into the town.

"For Haven!" Feron screamed.

The two groups collided, swords and thwack hammers smashing into each other. The sounds of gremlins and knights dying made Andrew feel horrible. He saw Feron get mobbed by tons of gremlins. Feron went down. Then out of nowhere, a figure jumped in to save Feron, and...

Clang!

Andrew woke up. His cell gate was wide open, and the container with his goods inside was as well. Well his plan to escape didn't matter anymore. Andrew ran out of the cell and retrieved his armor. He put it on, and slid his sword into its scabbard.

He dashed onto the elevator. As he was about to press the button to go up, he stopped. Andrew turned around. He stepped off the elevator and looked around. There was a hallway to his left and one to his right. He went down the one on the left, searching for any more prisoners.

He heard a small whimpering. Andrew saw Mary lying on her side, with a bloody hip. She must've been tortured. Her gate was open just as Andrew's had been. He walked in and helped her up.

"Mary?" Andrew whispered. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes," came a strangled voice.

Andrew took a cloth out from his pack and handed it to Mary. "Hold this to your side."

Andrew was about to help Mary to the elevator when he heard Greg's voice.

"Is someone there? Get me out of here!" he shouted.

Andrew hurried down to a door that wasn't open. He saw keys on the floor and unlocked the door. Greg happily jumped out.

Someone had left the keys there deliberately. Someone had helped them escape. Together, they backtracked to the elevator. Just as they came out of the corridor, Fred and Damien came out of the hallway on the right.

"Fred! Damien! You guys are alive!" Andrew exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah. Keep it down," Damien said. All of them walked onto the elevator and Andrew pressed the up button. They went up a few levels, until the machine stopped.

Andrew hopped off it and examined his surroundings. Twas a wide room. Andrew looked far ahead and saw double doors at the end of the it. Gremlin guards stood on either side of the doors. More gremlin guards patrolled the room and its many connected corridors.

"This is gonna have to be a stealth mission." Andrew whispered. "Damien, you ready?"

"I was born ready," Damien said bluntly.

He put his cloak on and sneaked into the room. He walked up to as many guards as he could and, one by one, assassinated them from behind. Once the last guard was dead, Damien uncloaked and motioned for the rest of the Squad to come over. They walked up to the double doors. Andrew stepped forward and pushed them open.

If you look back about chapter 8-10, I think you'll figure out who manipul- er helped them.

Welcome Back to the Team

"Ello there young chap! Its been a jolly long time I must say. Now... where has that Seerus rebel gone?" a voice said.

Andrew almost had a heart attack. He looked in the direction of the speaker and his eyeballs almost fell out of his head.

"Noah! Wait wait wait. Noah?!" he was taken aback.

"Yessery, it is me," Noah happily agreed.

"But...but...but. What?" Andrew asked.

"Oh, I just hacked into the gremlin's system and found another way in here. But I did not expect to find you people." Noah explained.

"You seem different," Mary noted.

"Different indeed. That whole tough guy look, psh, that was to get the beggars out of my way."

"Where have you been?" Andrew wondered. The rest of the squad also wanted to know this, and Noah answered them.

"Well, I left all of you because I believed you would be safer without me. I'm a dangerous individual, many know that. And I've made some bad choices in my time. There are tons of creatures across Cradle that would just love to take a bite out of my head. After I left, I went ahead of your group. It seems I was only a few hours from you all. Then you must've gotten held up in the woods, and I went on. I journeyed north, around the mountains. I searched for an abandoned gremlin building that I had seen a while back.

Once I found it, I pushed open the partially broken door and saw a computer. I hacked into it and discovered a file showing where a secret entrance to the outpost was in the floor boards of the building. I ripped them apart, went through a long hallway, and here I am. How did you get here?"

Andrew told Noah the entire adventure. Noah seemed to be interested at some parts, and asked questions. He was especially interested in the parts about Construct B1173D6. Noah asked why the construct had helped them, and Andrew answered, "I don't know."

When Andrew had finished, Noah sat down to think for a bit.

After awhile, Noah got up and walked to the other side of the room.

"I've concluded this is the floor of Seerus's division," Noah deduced. "And there are only about ten rooms till we get to his personal 'throne room' where Seerus commands his guards to bow down to him."

"Ten rooms?" Greg asked. "Ten rooms until the end of this journey?"

"Yes."

"Ten rooms until we get out of this evil place?" Damien wondered.

"Yes."

"Ten rooms until we kill Seerus," Andrew declared. "Lets go."

That's Gotta Hurt

The group, reunited with Noah, raced through the halls. They passed by a few rooms. "One, two, three..." Andrew counted.

They ran into a few gremlin guards. Noah sliced them in half.

"Man is he a good warrior," Andrew thought.

The Squad went on. "Four, Five, Six..." Andrew whispered to himself.

Several more guards came, and the Squad easily dispatched of them.

"Seven...Eight...Nine," Andrew said.

Almost fifty guards were in this room. It was clear they weren't going to let the Squad get to the tenth room. Ten (ironically) guards ran forward, two for each member. Twenty more came over to fight as well. The other guards backed up, seemingly to go get something.

Andrew smashed his Leviathan into the stomach of the first guard. While he was doing that, the second guard dropped a few grenades on the ground. Andrew hurriedly dove out of the way. The explosions behind him made Andrew feel extremely lucky that he had gotten away in time. He turned around and sped over to the bomber gremlin. He stabbed his Leviathan into its gut.

Andrew was breathing heavy. If fighting two gremlins was this hard, imagine the whole army. At least he would have his friends by his side. Just as he thought this, a gremlin jumped on him from behind. It slashed his back.

Andrew yelped. Then Noah jumped in and cut the gremlin to bits.

"You alright, Andrew?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so... I hope so," Andrew answered.

Noah went to go kill more gremlins. Andrew felt his back. It was a little bloody, but nothing major. He got back up and ran over to where Noah was.

Noah was valiantly fending off four gremlins. Andrew joined the fight and took out two gremlins. Noah killed the other two. Then together they went to help the other Squad members. Before long, all thirty gremlins that had been fighting them were dead, their bodies lain across the stone floor. And that wasn't the end of it.

The twenty gremlins that had retreated returned, pushing a Roarmulus Bot. They connected it to loose wires on the ground, and it came to life. The robotic behemoth shot rockets from its mouth. The Squad members scrambled for cover. Amid the chaos, Noah ran to the gremlins manning the bot. He jumped from one to another, killing them in one slice. Once they were all dead, he hopped onto the robot, searching for an off switch. He thought he found one, and bashed his hand into it.

The machine shut off.

Andrew started walking over to Noah. Then suddenly, the Roarmulus Bot roared to life yet again. It revved up to shoot out a laser beam. Andrew was directly in its range. Just as the robot let out its death ray, Fred pushed Andrew out of the way.

The beam smashed right into Fred's chest, leaving a huge hole in his body. Instantaneously, Noah stabbed his sword into an outlet on the machine, shutting it off for good.

Andrew and the rest of the Squad raced over to Fred. The ray had completely destroyed his torso. He was gone.

And so the brave bomber who had lived most of his life in the clockworks, been in the most important mission in Spiral Order history, and saved Andrew's life twice died.

Andrew picked up Fred's lifeless body.

"Seerus should be in the next room," Andrew growled. "And I'm ready to wring his neck."

Andrew felt the scar on his left eye. He rubbed the slash marks on his back.

"Lets go kill Seerus!" Andrew shouted.

And the Squad ran down the long hallway at the end of the ninth room. They were ready for the end of this mission.

But this just emphasizes how much of a hero Fred was, correct?

A Battle for the History Books

Andrew ran through the hall, holding Fred's body in his arms. All he could think about was killing Seerus. Noah sped ahead of the group. When the Squad arrived in Seerus's 'throne room', Seerus was chortling, holding Noah by the neck.

"Been a long time. Is it Noah you go by now? Yes... Noah. It has been such a long time," Seerus chuckled.

"You know him?!" Andrew shouted.

"I... I know him very well," Noah answered. "He... he created me."

"He created you? What is that supposed to mean?"

"This-"

Noah ripped his hood off his head. What was under it shocked Andrew. A metallic head, constructed of the finest materials gleamed in the light. And on the forehead: Construct B1173D6.

"You... You're Construct B1173D6!?" Andrew exclaimed. "You're working with Seerus?!"

"No, I'm not working with Seerus. Not anymore," Noah explained. "I want him dead as much as you."

Noah flipped Seerus over his back, pulled out a Flourish, and stuck it against his neck.

"Impressive," Seerus complimented. "But remember, I am the Warmaster."

Seerus rolled away from Noah and jumped up. "Guards!" he shouted.

Seerus whipped out a Barbarous Thorn Blade, and the two dueled it out. Guards came marching from all sides. Many of them pushed battle pods into the room.

"Attack!" Andrew ordered.

And so the four Squad members clashed against fifty or so gremlin guards. Several times, it seemed like they would get overwhelmed, but they fought on. They had each killed at least fifteen of them, but they just kept on coming. After Andrew had killed four more, gremlins tackled Damien. They twisted his arms and tied them together with rope. Other gremlins did the same to Mary and Greg.

But Andrew wouldn't give up. He stepped on top of a battle pod and fought off gremlins who came close to him. He was successful in doing so, until gremlins circled around the battle pod and climbed up. There were too many... and Andrew fell. They quickly tied him up. When the chaos cleared, Andrew saw that Noah was tied up too. Seerus walked up to them and laughed heavily.

"And the great heroes have lost," he smiled. "Oh yes, I believe this is yours."

Seerus looked at Greg and slipped a baby chromalisk out of a pouch on his chest. Greg was as scared as the chromalisk.

"Don't hurt it!" Greg demanded.

The chromalisk saw Greg and wailed. Seerus flashed a dirty grin, held the chromalisk in his palm, and squished his hands together. Green blood squirted out from his clasped hands.

Greg screamed in anger. He broke away from the gremlins who had been holding him, turned around, and whacked them unconscious. He snapped the rope tying his hands together in half and grabbed his Faust from the gremlin holding it. He raced up to Seerus and drove the Faust through his gut.

Seerus called out in agony, but it was too late. Blood spewed from where Greg had stabbed him. Greg pulled his sword out of Seerus. He backed away. Seerus fell onto his knees and then onto his chest. He stared into Greg's eyes for a moment. He whispered something incomprehensible. Then Seerus's eyes rolled back into his head.

Seerus was finally dead. The gremlin guards immediately scurried away. Greg had killed their leader and they didn't know what to do.

Greg cut all of the Squad member's ropes.

They rejoiced for a bit. Then Andrew remembered their other mission objective. He picked up Fred's body and ran over to an elevator he had spotted in the corner of the room.

"Now we go to shut off the power source," Andrew said.

And they all stepped on the elevator to complete their mission.