Not so much 'revised' as 'scrap almost everything I wrote in the previous version and start again.'

Has it really been over a month since I posted the last chapter? Seems a lot shorter.

Chapter 3

The Crimson Lab
Several Days after the Core Incident

King Tinkinzar stood on a large balcony overlooking a massive field. It was part of the Lord Mechron's Crimson Lab, which was a mix of a laboratory, factory, and training camp that stretched down several Depths. He was viewing a large army training, several thousand soldiers clad in crimson armor out on the field. All around, there was combat. Individual sparring matches and full-blown group battles dotted the place; some soldiers were rapidly climbing horizontally along the walls, which were pocketed with small blast craters that made excellent hand and foot-holds, before jumping off and launching themselves at others in mock combat. Many were flying around on jetpacks, one of Seerus' newer creations. At the far end of the field, Tinkinzar could even make out soldiers diving off the edge of the Depth, presumably to some deeper part of the Lab. He couldn't make out any that had parachutes or jetpacks on, though, so that confused him.

A soldier with a jetpack suddenly flew past his face, followed close behind by another. Wind buffeted Tinkinzar's fur. They were evidently involved in some kind of aerial sparring match. The soldier giving chase caught up to the first soldier and swung his arm, a glowing sword having appeared out of thin air in his hand. It must have cut through whatever was keeping the jetpack attached to the first soldier, because he began to fall, limbs barely flailing. Tinkinzar mentally winced as he smashed into the ground seconds later. He had landed in a strange position, crouched down on one knee with his fists pressing against the ground to support himself. He seemed miraculously unhurt; there wasn't even the slightest scratch or dent in his armor. Even as Tinkinzar watched, the soldier got up from the ground and shook his fist at the soldier who had cut off his jetpack, who was busy gliding down to his fallen opponent.

"You have no idea how long it took to create shock absorbers and armor capable of letting them do that." Tinkinzar heard someone mutter. Having made up his mind, King Tinkinzar turned to face Lord Mechron and Warmaster Seerus, who were standing beside him. They were twiddling their thumbs nervously. He decided to use a kingly attitude for what he was going to say, rather than his normal voice and manner.

"Well, you two," King Tinkinzar began in a grand voice. He spoke slowly as to keep the two Schemers on their toes, as well as allow him more time to think of what to say. "Today, you asked for my presence here, so that I could witness the fruits of your labors. Operation Crimson Guard was ready to be revealed, you said. Months of secrecy and whispering, about to be thrown away at last."

He turned to view the field again, and turned back to the Gremlins.

"A new generation of warriors, you said. Powerful soldiers with the speed of a Greaver, agility of a Devilite, and power of a Trojan, was what you said. With all of those Fiend similes, I thought you'd created something with the help of Achilles." Tinkinzar added a bit jokingly. Seerus took it literally, however.

"Oh, not at all, my liege. These were-" Seerus began. Tinkinzar cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"It seems you were not lying. Speed, agility, power, all things I have seen on this field today. What you both have done is... well, I..."

He paused for dramatic effect, wearing an very kingly expression he had been practicing for moments like this. Mechron and Seerus seemed deceptively calm, but Tinkinzar knew that inside, they were dying to hear their king's opinion.

Tinkinzar dropped his expression and spoke in a flat tone. "I don't get it."

Mechron and Seerus stared at Tinkinzar.

"So you guys constructed a new army of Mecha Knights. We already have thousands of them. What's so special about these?" Tinkinzar asked them. He wasn't mad at all, but more like very confused. "I've seen that they are certainly a level above the ones we have right now, in terms of movement and fighting power, but that seems about it. What was the point? Our current models can already fight Swarm's forces effectively. The Spiral Knights will still be able to easily tear through these ones as they already do with our current ones. I understand progress and all, but if all you're doing is creating the next generation, there was no need for such secrecy. You both know that."

Mechron and Seerus turned to look at each other, and then turned back to Tinkinzar.

"Well, you see, it's like this." Mechron began, gesturing randomly with his hands. "The Crimson Guard is a special group of Mecha Knights. They have, well-" After a brief pause, he quickly turned to Seerus, whispering in his ear.

"How do we say this? Inartificial intelligence? A conscious? A conscience?"

"Personally, I think inartificial intelligence works the best." Seerus whispered back.

Mechron snapped back to facing Tinkinzar and continued "-inartificial intelligences," bringing up a finger. Tinkinzar, still confused, frowned.

Seerus began to speak, his voice slightly muffled by his mask. "Normal Constructs are programmed what to do. They don't really have a mind of their own. Sure, they can make some simple decisions; kill or capture, advance or regroup, that kind of stuff. The Crimson Guard, however, they have minds of their own."

"In a way," Mechron continued, "You could say that they are, well, alive."

"The Almirians have minds of their own and are considered dead." Tinkinzar pointed out, folding his arms. "But that's beside the point. So you say this Crimson Guard can think by themselves. No programming or anything influencing their behavior?"

"That's absolutely correct." Mechron replied.

"Well, I'm interested as to how you managed that in the first place, but I have more pressing questions. How is this inartificial intelligence useful?" Tinkinzar had already thought of a few ways how it would be rather useful, but he wanted to hear from the creators.

Seerus spoke up. "Well, for one, they can make their own choices and judgments as to what to do. They can operate without someone having to make the ultimate decisions for them, freeing up lots of Gremlins. They have morals. They know when to leave an enemy alive when said enemy is too injured to pronounce defeat, and when to surrender themselves as to not sacrifice the lives of any of their surviving comrades. They even have emotions, which you might have inferred from that Crimson Guard who lost his Jetpack. Did you notice how he shook his fist at the one who cut off his Jetpack? That was a sign of frustration. But what we think if the most important is that they can learn and adapt."

"As we said earlier, these Constructs have had no programming at all. When they were first activated, they didn't know how to do anything. Literally anything. They couldn't even walk. But they learned. When they began combat training, they weren't simply programmed how to fight. They watched instructors, and they learned the simple basics. Blocking, parrying, swinging a sword. Then they were left alone and they built their own way up from there. They have developed their own techniques, their own methods, their own strategies." Seerus pointed at the field, where the crimson Mecha Knights trained. "There are ten thousand Crimson Guards out there. None of them move the same way. None of them fight the same way. None of them react the same way. They are all unique, untainted by our programming."

Mechron cut in. "What my colleague is trying to say here is, since we did not program them and let them teach themselves, they have not implemented any of our own combat strategies into their own; the kind we program into all other Constructs and as a result make them predictable and easy for the Knights to defeat. The Crimson Guard is therefore completely unpredictable, which is something the Spiral Knights will not be used to nor understand. The Guard will be able to adapt to any situation, formulate brilliant plans of their own, anything at all. Great for fighting the Knights and Swarm."

Tinkinzar nodded his head thoughtfully. The Crimson Guard really would be a great addition to their army. But there was still some things he wanted to know.

"What about their armor and gear? From what I've seen, their armor seems to be extremely durable, and they're using weapons and equipment I haven't seen before."

Mechron looked thoughtful for a moment. "Long story short, all of their gear is made of a ridiculously durable, lightweight, and shock absorbent alloy of Sun Silver and Volcanic Iron. We can tell you the details later. But first, there's something else we want to show you." He turned and gestured for Seerus and Tinkinzar to follow him.

After a bit of walking, they reached an Elevator. Going down to the next Depth of the Lab, the Elevator let them out in a rather messy room filled with computer screens and cables snaking around.

"Apologies for the mess, my liege." Seerus sad, careful stepping over a length of cable as thick as his arm. We had a bit of trouble setting thing all up, and haven't had time to organize it all yet.

Tinkinzar nodded absentmindedly, gazing at the computer screens. All of them showed a different view of a large group of unarmed Crimson Guards, maybe about a hundred in total. They were all standing around several large holes in a Deconstruction Zone.

Mechron cleared his throat. "Now, to business. We called you here today not just to show you our finished project, but to show them in action. We actually completed the entire project about a month ago, and have spent the time since then preparing for a... an attack."

Tinkinzar raised an eyebrow. "An attack?"

Mechron nodded, continuing. "We have known the location of one of the Spiral Order's outposts in a Frostifur Den on Depth 25 for some time now. We've left it alone so far, but no longer. We have been planning an attack on it, using the Crimson Guard. This is their first field test, and we wanted you to be here to see it. We're hoping that it will show you just how powerful the Guard is."

Tinkinzar blinked. "Um... Okay..."

Seerus spoke. "We've arranged it so that right now, the Outpost is directly underneath the Decon Zone these Guards are on." He pointed to the screens. "We are sending exactly a hundred of them to invade and conquer the outpost."

"Two things. Exactly how many Knights are in that outpost? And how are they going to get down there? I don't see any Elevators around on the screens." Tinkinzar asked.

Seerus pressed a few keyboard keys, apparently issuing commands to the Guard. They gathered up around the holes. Tinkinzar suddenly realized what they were going to do.

"First off, by our estimates, a bit over a thousand Knights are occupying that outpost..."

"Okay, so only a thou.... wait, what?"

"...And second, they jump."

The Guard jumped.
~~~~~~
The rest of this chapter shall be in the POV of Commander 360, the Crimson Guard who is leading the attack.
~~~~~~
The command had been issued. Chatter quieted down all across the Hive-Channel.

All right, troops, this is it. Commander 360 broadcasted.

5... 4... 3... 2... 1... 0

We jumped.

Diving through the holes in the ground, they fell headfirst towards the next depth. Clouds and fog flew past them, obscuring their vision. Chatter erupted once more in the Hive-Channel.

Remember, when we hit the ground, we hit it running. Give them as little time as possible to react.

They passed through the clouds, now in a light snowfall. Flecks of snow began to dot Commander 360's photoreceptors.

Remember how we planned this guys. Just muscle through them.

The outpost began to come into view. It was a large mass of buildings, surrounded by a courtyard which in turn was surrounded by a tall wall.

Heh. Lots of good that wall'll do them.

The figures of individual Knights walking around the courtyard came into focus. None of them were looking up, not expected a crimson death to rain upon them. A few of the Guard maneuvered themselves around in the air.

Well, this is it. We're about to fight once more.

There was about 10 seconds left before impact.

Revenge...

Hey, remember, our mission is not to kill. It is to conquer.

5 seconds.

Let's show these Knights who we are!

Right before impact, a roar sounded across the channel.

WE ARE THE CRIMSON GUARD!

Impact.

The members of the Guard who had been moving themselves around in midair slammed into the Knights meandering around the court yard more than enough force to shatter the Knights' spines and necks and kill them instantly. In a flash, they were on their feet, dashing across the courtyard.

That was some great stuff. Very impressive.

The others, including Commander 360, hit the ground rolling in an explosion of snow, getting up to their feet in a fraction of a second and rushing at the main building without showing any sign that they had just fallen several hundred feet. There must have been security cameras showing what was going on outside because at that point, an alarm began to wail and Knights started to pour out, wielding their weapons and shields. They seemed rather surprised and confused, that an attack had happened so suddenly with little warning.

The Guard, still dashing at the Knights, leaned forward so that it seemed like they would head-butt them. Their arms trailed behind them, still devoid of any weapons. The Knights spread out and brought up their shields.

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared in many of the Guards' hands. A glowing golden sword appeared in their rights, and a white shield with a crimson border, bearing a Gremlin insignia in their lefts.

You gotta love that Mecha Knight teleportation tech.

The Crimson Guards furthest ahead of the group smashed into the Spiral Knights, swinging their shield and knocking the Knights they hit over. They twirled and spun, their blades glittering as they cut through armor and flesh. The Knights seemed really discombobulated right now. Those Mecha Knights must be crazy, to attack a group as large as theirs. But they moved and fought like no Mecha Knight they had ever seen before.

The rest of the Guard caught up. Some of them spun as they hit the defenders, their swords cutting entire swaths around them. Some of them leapt up and into the midst of the Knights, ducking and weaving and stabbing. Knights coming out on higher levels of the outpost fired down on them with guns. Some of the Guard latched onto the wall and started climbing the smooth metal surface, dodging bullets with ease as they did so. Rapidly reaching the top of that layer, swords and shields appeared in their hands and they quickly cut down the Knights. A few of the Guard dashed inside the building the way the Knights had come out, while the others continued to climb to high levels.

Whoo! Fun stuff!

Commander 360 had thrown his shield as he neared the Knights, catching one of them in the throat and breaking his neck. He began to spin his sword in circles in his hand, cutting into the Knights while ducking backwards under their sword swings and gun blasts. Four Knights fell into the snow, dead. Picking up his shield, Commander 360 smashed it upward into a Knight's face, then quickly stabbed him through the chest.

A Nitronome flew through the air, aimed at the back of the mass of Guards. Commander 360 swung his sword at the Bomb, causing it to detonate prematurely. None of the Guard was even fazed by the massive neon explosion. However, it did blow up a dozen or so Knights.

The survivors began to back into the building, desperately trying to block the storm of blows the Guard was raining down on them. Once they had all made it back it, the solid metal doors slammed shut in the Guards' faces (the doors are sorta like those automatic doors at the entrances to like Safeway and Target and Walmart and stuff). A Guard pulled them open, easily breaking the locking mechanism that was supposed to have kept the door closer. A hail of bullets began to blast out of the entryway, simply pinging off the Guards' armor, and the doors closed again. He pulled it open again. More bullets as the doors closed. The Guard turned to face his comrades, with a sense of exasperation.

Honestly! The nerve of these Knights, not letting us in!

I know, right?

There was a flash of light, and a grenade of sorts appeared in the Guard's hand. He chucked it casually at the door. The door exploded.

Then the Guard ducked and rolled through the entry, swinging his sword as he snapped back up. A semicircle of gunners that had been shooting fell to the ground, clutching fatal wounds.

The rest of the Knights began to spread out more inside the large building, while the rest of the Guard dashing in. Single combat began to break out, as members of the Guard found individual opponents to duel. Most of the duels ended rather quickly, always in the Guards' favor.

Commander 360 faced down a Knight wearing a bulky Ironmight Plate set, wielding a Sudaruska. The Knight, with amazing speed, swung his massive sword horizontally, aiming for Commander 360's head. He ducked, the blade passing over his face, and drew his sword arm back for a stab. Suddenly, the Knight rotated his wrists and brought the Sudaruska slamming down on Commander 360 with unimaginable amounts of blunt force.

Ouch.

Commander 360 simply pushed the sword off on himself, got off of the shattered ground, dusted himself off, and promptly stabbed the Knight, his blade shearing through several layers of plate mail. As the bewildered Knight crumpled to the ground, Commander 360 inspected himself. Only the tiniest hint of a scratch on his armor.

This stuff our armor is made off... Loving it!

Some of the Knights ran for the lifts in the back of the room, meaning to retreat to a higher level of the outpost. The doors opened, revealing members of the Guard, who bashed the Knights back with their shields. Apparently the climbers had already cleared the top levels.

The Knights were herded into the center of the room, the Crimson Guard surrounding and advancing on them slowly. There was no escape for them.

"Stop! We surrender!" A lone Knight cried out as he threw his sword and shield down on the ground and raised his arms. The Guard stopped moving, several of them about to plunge their blades into wide-eyed Knights. Yells of agreement and more of surrender began to burst out. The sound of metal clanging on the ground filled the room. Soon, all of the Knights had their arms up in the air. Gesturing with their swords, the Crimson Guard began to herd the Knights outside the outpost, where a convoy of Gremlins in cargo transporters was just arriving to take the Knights away. They had known it would be a quick success, and so hadn't waited for the Guard to tell them that the battle was over and won to start heading over. Quickly leaping out of their vehicles, they became to bind the Knight's wrists with cord.

Commander 360 called for a battle report. It took a while for the cheering and yelling going on in the Hive Channel to subside.

That was quick. Only... six minutes and thirty-four seconds.

That long? Tsk.

So, guys, how many did we lose?

None, although I do have a rather nasty dent in my breastplate. Those Rocket Hammers seem to be the only things powerful enough to damage us. Gremlin tech and all, you know?

Thieves. Those are property of The Order.

Quiet down, guys. Now, how many did we get?

286.

So 714 Knights are surrendering to a hundred of us? Hah!

I'd say this mission was a success.

The bound Knights, staring at the silent Mecha Knights as they were prodded by sneering Gremlins into the vehicles, would never have known that they were busy causing a ruckus in their communications channel. The cheering slowly quieted down again.

C'mon guys. Let's go find an Elevator and get back to the Lab. I'm sure Mechron and Seerus will be happy to see us.

They're due for a promotion now, wouldn't you say?

Yup. It's all thanks to them that the fallen fight again.

BONUS SCENE

The four Gremlins rushed through the Depth, panting with exertion and armor damp with sweat. They kept stealing glances behind them at random intervals, eyes wide with fear as they searched the empty space behind them. The others had already been lost, falling to the ground with bloody gashes in their neck as they ran, or simply vanishing into thin air, their mutilated bodies appearing later on. Eight Gremlins, dead without a clue as to what was stalking them.

The survivors were exhausted and worn out, but sheer terror gave them strength. That, and the fact that they knew they were carrying information that was vital to the survival of the The Nine, The Twelve, and King Tinkinzar.

As they ran, a red banner, fluttering gently in the breeze, could be seen in the distance. It marked the area where their camp was.

"Almost there guys." One of the Gremlins panted. "We can take a bit of a breather once we reach camp."

The others nodded their agreement. Rapidly covering the final stretch between them and their camp, the group collapsed on a mound of sandbags and lay there, panting heavily. One of them seemed to have a sudden thought and rushed towards a small terminal. A few seconds later, gates closed off the camp from the rest of the Depth, providing a barricade between them and their pursuer.

"I'm going to send a message back to the Colony, guys." The Gremlin who had activated the gates spoke. "They need to know this. "

The others, having a recovered a bit, weakly nodded their heads. After a while, they got up and moved a few mortars that were lying around, positioning them along with the sandbags to create a more defensive position.

The Gremlin pushed a few buttons on the terminal, trying to establish a connection with the Great Colony, the Grand Arsenal, anywhere. "This is Squad 306. We are carrying very important information that we must relay to Warmaster Seerus immediately. Is anyone there? I repeat, this is Squad 306. We-"

He heard the sound of steel behind him. Turning around, he saw his comrades fall to the ground with a dull thump. Blood was pouring out of their necks. The gates around the camp had a gaping hole cut in one of them.

The poor Gremlin didn't even have time to feel fear before everything went dark.

~~~

The Ghostmane Stalker uncloaked and stood over the bodies of his most recent kills. He had been tailing Seerus' minions for hours, slowly killing them off one by one. They had been great sport for the Stalker. He could feel the fear that was radiating off of them as he chased them through the Clockworks.

His master would be pleased. Word would not get out to the rest of the Order and Tinkinzar about what was happening. Word would not get out to anyone in on Cradle at all. They would all remain ignorant until the time arrived, and then they would be dead.

He heard the sounds of a group of Knights coming his way. As much as the Ghostmane Stalker would like to kill them, it would cause complications. He didn't want the Spiral Knights to get involved in this affair. As he slipped away from the camp, a slip of paper fell out of one of his pockets.

~~~

The group of Knights observed the Gremlin camp, looking at the dead bodies. Blood covered much of the ground, and they had to walk on their toes to avoid stepping in the red liquid.

"Poor saps." One of the Knights muttered. "I wonder what happened here?" He had knelt down over a dead Gremlin by a terminal, heedless of the blood staining his greaves. "These bodies are still warm, and the blood is still flowing. They died really recently; maybe a few minutes before we got here."

A Knight snorted. "They're only Gremlins. Who cares about them?"

Most of the others nodded their agreement. The one inspecting the bodies stayed silent.

He was about to get up when something white caught his eye. It was lying on a puddle of blood, stained red. He picked it up. There was some writing on it. Most of it was unintelligible, due to the blood, but there were a few words at the end that were legible. However, the Knight didn't read Gremlin, so none of it made sense to him. He shoved it into a pocket. Maybe he could show Spiral HQ later, and get some Emberlight Gremlins to translate it.

"Can't find anything much here. Let's go." The Knight said.

The Knights continued on their adventuring. Some of them would perish to a swarm of Greavers later on in the day, their comrades scattering and leaving the bodies behind. Among the dead would be the Knight who had pocketed the slip of paper, the writing now completely illegible, soaked red with the Gremlin's and the Knight's blood. If any had managed to translate the writing that the Knight had seen, they would have discovered a plot that would have affected everyone on Cradle; Clockworks inhabitants, Strangers, and Knights alike.

The others must never know. Silence them. -H

~~~

Yes, a lot of things in the chapter at vague on purpose. They will be revealed eventually.

Also, concept art on the Crimson Guard.

EDIT: Apparently editing posts to fix typos bumps the thread .-.

DISCLAIMER: I am horrible at explaining stuff.

You have been warned.

"Its amazing, and I hope you continue to work on it."

Why thank you! :D And I must say the same about your own writing.

I actually started this like over a year ago and then sorta quit last October, cause too many character apps and school and stuff. Then I decided to start writing it again, but the story had been inactive for so long I just decided to restart it. I really hope I don't end up abandoning this story, like I did so many stories... This is like the 10th story I've written. Only 2-3 of the other ones I actually finished. Half have been abandoned, rest are still in progress.

"1. Desna said their were 5000 knights in the order. So did the mecha knights just taken down 1/5 of the order?"

._.

.-.

/derp

I have some numbers I need to change later. :P Thanks for pointing that out. Massive fail on my part.

"2. How did the spiral knights not notice the swarm? It's not exactly subtle."

Are you talking about how the SK did not know about the Swarm till the Core incident? If so, let's just say he's decided to reveal himself to the Knight now. Cause as a story writer, I can create my own set of events and stuff that happens and doesn't happen. And I say that Swarm decided to give the Knights a little surprise :D

"3. The new mecha knights seem a little too much like people. They're robots, they shouldn't really have thought processes that mirror our own."

;) Ah, I see you're starting to get it. Don't worry. Everything shall be explained later on. I've put little subtle hints inside that chapter, though.

If you don't want to wait, though, the answers can be found in the original Core Wars, if you can find it...

"4. Having your army fight in a way that the enemy can't predict is a good idea. Having them fight in way that also won't let them predict their comrades actions isn't, especially since mecha knights communicate at a rather human pace (and any kind of distributed communications system would still be slow. The Borg have a hive mind set up like that, are a hardly quick to react)."

/shrug

The Guard fight as individuals. Sometimes in formations, but rarely. Dunno if that solves anything, but it was enough for me :P

"5. At 10 to one odds, the mecha knights should have been overwhelmed by the spiral knights, despite having a faint technological edge (gremlin tech can't be much more advanced than spiral tech, otherwise the two groups wouldn't have compatible tech). They'd need a massive edge to pull off something like that (like Roman army vs WW2 level gap), and if the gap was that wide, the order would have been wiped out ages ago."

Hmm. First off, the Crimson Guard have very durable armor and stuff. Commander 360 took a Suda smash to the chest and only got a scratch. I don't think that that's a 'faint' technological edge. Second off, due to the SK threat, the Gremlins have begun... how do you say this? Basically, they're trying to advance their technology really quickly and stuff to combat against the SK more effectively. Cause, the SK is already pulverizing them. Also because of other factors that'll be shown in the next chapter or two.

Their tech is relatively compatible cause... SCIENCE.

In honesty though, I just wanted to have some OP characters that could pwnzer the Knights. :P Although the Guard has been an idea for a year or two now, I've only decided to make them legitely OP very recently. But don't worry; I will find a legit reason how and why they're so powerful!

"6. If the mecha knights hit the ground at 200 mph, that means they hit with about 8940 N of force (assuming each knight weighs around 100 kilos). That would mean they hit the ground with sixteen times more kenetic energy than tank shells. Tough armor or not, anything would be pulverised if you hit it with that much force."

Eh. Didn't do much research on that, although I did suspect that they were going a bit too fast :P Originally, I had them going at 500mph, then 300, then 200. Still feels too fast. Although you should factor in that they landed on snow. And some of them broke their fall by landing on Knights :D

100 kilos... I haven't actually thought about how heavy the Guard weighs. Thinking about the type of technology that the Guard is made out of...

Eh, I dunno. I'll change the speed later to something more reasonable.

So, as you can tell there may or may not be a bunch of plot holes in my story.

EDIT: OK, changed some of the #s and stuff. Dunno if it helps or makes things worse, but...?

An excerpt from "Dark Beasts Most Malevolent"

HARVESTER: The Reaper of Souls, Master of Apocrea

The first recorded encounter with Harvester was during the first years of the banishment of the Fiends. What follows is an account of said encounter, as dictated by a traveling merchant.

~~~

I was walking across a field of grass with my younger brother Dahse... It was nighttime, and we had lost our way traveling to a trading center... It was a new moon that night, so it was very dark... Our lanterns had burned out long before... While walking, we noticed a faint flash of purple light nearby... Looking for the source, we spotted the silhouette of a tall figure standing still... Abnormally long arms, wearing a shawl that covered its head... Darkness seemed to radiant from it... Against my warnings, Dahse walked towards the figure, believing it to be a local... Dahse had always been rather thick-headed... He figured that it could give us some directions... I reluctantly followed...

The figure turned to us, and I saw three glowing purple eyes beneath the shawl... Other than that, I could make out no features... However, there was something else beneath the shawl, causing it to ripple and move... I realized something was wrong, and called out to Dahse, who ignored me... All of a sudden, the figure's arms began to extend, as if they were growing... I could see them somehow, although Dahse couldn't... They covered the distance between it and Dahse quickly, who did not see the limbs in the darkness that grew as he drew nearer... It grabbed Dahse around the legs... He tripped and realized what was happening... He began to scream for my help in horror... Yet I was paralyzed with fear... It and dragged him back, screaming all the way, until the arms were back to their original length and Dahse was hanging upside down in front of the figure... Tendrils spilled out from beneath its shawl, writhing like serpents... Dahse's screaming grew and the figure lifted Dahse into its face... It blasted him with a cone of purple light, and I saw a great white orb slowly draw out of Dahse's body, and become absorbed into the being's tendrils... He was screaming the entire time, this time not in horror but in great pain... The light disappeared... Then it seemed to devour him, his body disappearing into the mass of tentacles along with his screams... It turned its face to me... Great masses of black tentacles burst out of the ground and dove at me... Only then was my spell of terror broken... I ran back the way I came, screaming and yelling... It did not pursue me...

It was only the following morning that I discovered that the trading center we had been looking for was just a quarter mile behind the being... Its bright lights blocked from our vision by the dark aura that surrounded the being... As if they had been absorbed by the shadows... I told the folks in the trading center about what had happened... They did not believe be, and called me a fool... I ran across the field, looking for proof of our encounter... There was nothing, except for a shard of black crystal where the figure had stood... It pulsed with a strange energy that made my mind reel... I pocketed it and showed it the those who had ridiculed me, but they identified it as a shard of obsidian... The energy had disappeared from it... I do not know what became of it...

It has been 30 long years since that happened... My friends called me mad... My family suspected me of doing away with Dahse myself, when they never saw him again... All shunned me... Until now... But from that day forward, my sleep was plagued... My dreaming eye drowned in a vast sea of nothingness... And I dreamed... Dreamed of cities where geometry and madness shared meaning... Cities where buildings grew and fell with my each thought... Built from the teeming filth of ages... Where dark machines and engines roared across the universe, powered by the harvested souls of the lost... Where the strange being that had taken Dahse ruled supreme, with a boundless reach... Dahse's screams still remain fresh in my mind... I sometimes think I can hear them echoing through the night, across distant stars... I fear I will not be rid of them as long as I live...

~~~

The merchant who told this story disappeared shortly afterwards, leaving nothing but a note behind.

~~~

Awakened by my story, finally come to light... The souls of the lost haunt my restless nights... They come forth in my dreams, my nightmares... Seeking refuge from the blinding gaze of the Apocrea, from their relentless scythe... They steal sanctuary in the cracks and corners of their terrible realm, yet it is ever fleeting... Fleeting, like the whispered screams of my brother... Obsidian is a weapon there, in the deep dark beyond... Beyond the space where time wakens and yawns... Beyond the shadows cast by the great leviathan of eternity... A great and horrible weapon... One that keeps them bound to that distant plane... Obsidian... I am off on a journey... The wails of the lost call to me... I do not suspect that I shall return...

~~~

Introducing..... :D:D:D:D:D:D:D Special Characters. This calls for a special chapter! (with a sorta silly intro paragraph :D)

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The Distant Planet of Bekadann

The forests of Bekadann... Ancient and thick, their leaves and foliage smother sound. It was generally always quiet in the peaceful forest... But of course, there were exceptions. Today, for example. The sounds of many running feet and the blasts of gunfire, the cries of the wounded and the yells of pursuers shattered the silence. Alarms ringing, explosives detonating, and massive booms from high up in the cosmos, as titanic spaceships open fire on each other...

~~~

Cronus clutched his Valiance with both hands, holding it upright. He was hiding behind a tree, forcing himself to breath more quietly. Around him, other members of his crew were ducking behind bushes, trees, rocks; anything that might hide them. For behind them all, a group of Morai was in hot pursuit.
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Cronus heard them crashing through the foliage, shouting commands. Several other Isorans ran past Cronus' hiding space, looking for their own. There was the sound of blaster fire, and one of the runners tumbled to the ground not five feet from Cronus, a smoking crater burnt through their armor.

The Morai were almost upon them. Cronus shot out from behind the tree and moved his gun, aiming and shooting without second thoughts. Bolts of blue shot out from his gun, and he hit two Morai troopers head on; one in the... well, head, and the other in the shoulder. Both collapsed to the ground, only one writhing in pain. His crew fired suit, coming out from their cover to fire upon the Morai. The Morai began to seek their own cover, and fired back with their Typhoon Fire pistols, dubbed 'Spitfires'. Cronus quickly ducked back behind the tree, splinters flying as Morai shot at him.

As energy and plasma flew through the air, Cronus brought his wrist up to his mouth and spoke into the com-link that circled it. "Boswick, I could really use that support fire right about now!" There was a moment of silence before static crackled and a voice spoke back.

"Apologies, captain. We're having a bit of trouble up here in space ourselves. A Morai cruiser's up here with us, and it brought friends. We've lost our main cannons.

Cronus swore. He peeked around the tree and fired a few more shots before hiding again. "What about secondary cannons?"

"Half are also out, and the rest are pounding away at the cruisers. I don't think we'll be able to help you, captain."

"Very well. I suppose it's up to us to get back to the transport ourselves..."

An Isoran threw a Nitronome in the air, tossing it at the Morai. It exploded in a great neon blast, and blew multiple Morai into the air. While the enemy was in a state of chaos, Cronus decided to take advantage of it.

"All right guys, let's move!"

They began to run again, periodically firing their guns over their shoulders. After a few minutes, they reached a clearing, where their ship was awaiting. The pilots inside spotted the running Isorans, and quickly lowered the boarding ramp. The engines roared to life, blue light flaring through their exhaust vents.

"Move, move, move!" One of the pilots shouted over the sound of the roaring engines, holding his own Valiance. Seeing more movement in the forest behind the Isorans, he fired in the general direction, stalling the Morai a bit.

Cronus was the last to get on, making sure his crew got to safety first. "Everyone on, captain?" A pilot asked him as he stepped onto the ramp.

"Seems so. Everyone still alive, anyway." Cronus answered. The pilot flinched as a blast of Typhoon Fire shot past his head and melted part of carrier's interior. He grabbed Cronus and pulled him further into the ship as the ramp folded up and the hatch closed, Typhoon Fire pounding against the outside of the transport.

The pilot ran back to the cockpit, where his colleague was flipping switches and pulling levers. "Let's get out of here, before they bring in the big guns!" He yelled, quickly sitting down. The cockpit window blazed with light as the HUD activated, figures and data flying across the screen. The transport shook slightly as it left the ground.

Then they were flying. The view of tree trunks and bushes rapidly turned into a view of leaves, and then of open air. A pale purple sky filled the entirety of the window, with occasional streaks of fiery colors as Typhoon Fire shot past. The rescued Isorans sat down, many of the panting and taking off their helmets. Seven of them, including Cronus. They had lost five good soldiers down there.

"We're not out of the woods yet, if you'll pardon the pun." Cronus said. "Boswick said there were some cruisers up there exchanging fire with him. Any when there are cruisers, there are Blades."

"Perfectly aware of that." One of the pilots replied.

The ship flew through Bekadann's atmosphere and into the void of space. There was a great battle going on, with bolts of blue and red flying everywhere. Three Morai cruisers had engaged the Isoran cruiser the Equinox in heavy combat , while individual fighter craft dueled. Morai Blades, named for their sleek and sharp looks, darted all around, firing Typhoon Fire from their twin cannons. Several of them spotted the transport and broke off from a swarm of Blades, streaking towards the carrier while opening fire.

Although the carrier had no weapons other than a few light turrets, it did have powerful shields, built in for situations like this. The Typhoon Fire impacted against the bubble of energy that had suddenly appeared around the ship, which flashed with each bolt it absorbed. Although glowing a steady blue at first, it slowly turned into a shade of green, indicating the shield's loss of power from the constant pounding.

The Blades, so far unable to break the transport's shields, flew past the transport. They began a wide curve, turning back to make another pass at it. The transport continued to make steady progress towards the Equinox. As they drew nearer, more Blades took notice of them, and opened fire on them as well.

"This is not going to end well." One of Cronus' crew mates muttered. The ship shook as a heavy volley of Typhoon Fire turned the shield from green to orange, 50% of the shield instantly depleted. One of the pilots swore loudly, and yanked hard on the controls. The ship swerved to the right, out of the path of some more Typhoon Fire as the Blades shot past.

Meanwhile, the first wave of Blades that had attacked had opened fire once again. They were all being really unrelenting in their assault. The shield flashed red for a moment, and alarms began to sound. The pilots continued to swerve, dodging as much Typhoon Fire as he could, but it was not enough.

The shield shattered, wisps of red energy dissipating into space. Typhoon Fire battered against the transport, not shaking wildly. Several of the Isorans fell over while swearing.

"Almost there!" One of the pilots shouted, twisting and turning the controls. Multiple alarms and bells were ringing now, and the entire HUD was flashing red and with warming sign across the enter thing.

Then the barrage stopped as sudden as it had begun. A blast from the Equinox had wiped out half of the swarm of Blades, and the survivors had scattered, leaving the transport be. The second wave saw what happened to the first and scattered as well, in order to prevent that from happening again. It had likely been another great shot from Eurydice, the Equinox's quartermaster and weapons-master as well. She was a crack shot with the ship's powerful cannons (as well as any other gun, for that matter).

The transport passed through the energy screens of the cruiser's hangars, and skidded across the floor several dozen yards before coming to a halt. Everyone inside had fallen onto the ground in a tangle of limbs, save for the pilots who were strapped tight into their seats. One of them took off his helmet and wiped his brow, exhaling.

"That was too close a call for comfort." Cronus said, picking himself up. He stumbled over to the exit hatch which was opening. He tripped and fell out of the ship before the boarding hatch had extended out, but to his embarrassment. Several others also accidentally followed suit.

Getting off the ground once more, Cronus leaned against the smoking side of the ship for support. There were great blast craters in it, still sizzling. He spoke into his wrist com-link, opening a channel to the bridge.

"This is your captain speaking. We've made it back. Recall the fighters and get us out of here."

~~~

Several minutes later, Cronus was back in the bridge of the Equinox, the great blue and white streaks of hyperspace shown through the massive windows. He had finally managed to shoo away the medics, insisting that he was not hurt. He was lying a bit, obviously. He was covered with several lovely bruises that he suspected would plague him for the next week or two.

The Isoran fighters that had been outside had quickly flown back into the hangar, and the Equinox had shot into hyperspace instantly afterwards, away with important intel on the Morai war effort. That had been the nature of Cronus' expedition onto Bekadann. There had been a Morai outpost there, which most definitely meant lots of information. Against the wishes of his inner circle of crew members, Cronus had led a party down into the outpost to secure what intel they could. It was one of those things he did that the Isoran Council did not really approve of (leaving his ship and risking his life, to be clear; they certainly approved of espionage and the such like).

Of course, it had not gone that well. They had been unavoidably detected, and had to escape with what little information they had. In total, five of the twelve members of the expedition (not including the pilots of the carrier) had been lost; three had died, and the other two were captured. Fortunately, it was a well known fact that the Morai did treat their prisoners humanely, contrary to the horror stories that Isoran children would tell each other, so there was hope for them.

Cronus, ignoring the stares from the crew on the bridge, walked over to his chair, where he was able to control the Equinox (Fun fact: His ship was named after the Isoran general Equinox, a very successful commander who had led the Isoran troops to victory during the Liberation of Ilsola). His 1st lieutenant, Boswick, was sitting in the chair, arms on the armrests; his fingers on his right hand around on the touchpad that controlled the ship's direction and velocity; and the fingers on his left were tap-dancing on a pad of buttons and switches that hadd multiple other functions. Not that anything he was doing would affect the course of the Equinox, since she was in hyperspace.

Cronus stood next to the chair for several moments, waiting for Boswick to leave the seat. However, Boswick apparently didn't notice Cronus, as he continued to play around with the controls. After a while, Cronus finally spoke up.

"Hullo, Boswick," Cronus said dryly. "You can get out of my chair now." Boswick looked up at Cronus in surprise.

"Hmm? Oh, hello captain. Sorry to keep you waiting." He lifted himself out of the chair, which Cronus promptly sat down into.

"Thank you, Boswick."

There was a great sense of informality on Cronus' ship. He didn't really care for the formalities of rank and protocol and all that; he allowed his entire crew to speak and act as casually as they liked, as long as it wasn't offensive and didn't cause any trouble.

Cronus sighed and relaxed his muscles, the familiar feel of his chair behind his back. It had been a rough day. He turned to Boswick. "Any casualties from the battle with the cruisers?"

Boswick looked thoughtful. "Four pilots were lost; five are heavily injured, but the medics say they'll pull through; three or four personnel were mildly injured when some stuff exploded... I do believe that's it."

Cronus nodded. All things considered, they were lucky to not have lost more. The Morai were tough fighters, and their pilots were especially proficient in flying their Blades.

"I hope that the ship is set on a course bad to Isora?"

"Yup... You know how it works. Any captured intel, report directly back to the Council immediately. In person." Boswick frowned. "Good way to waste time, if you ask me."

"Ah, you know politicians." Cronus sighed again. "They want to get their hands in everything. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see what stuff we've gotten... It's all encrypted. I've got Hyperion and his Biotech guys working on it."

~~~

End Part 1 of 2 of Chapter 3 Cause this is gonna be a sorta long chapter kind sorta in a way ish? Also, I don't have time to keep working but I want to post what I've written already cause I'm very impatient :U