Beginnings:

Stars twinkled in the night sky of cradle. A gremlin was studying an artifact, all of a sudden it heard a sound and looked up. All across the sky were comets raining down from the heavens.

These were no comets.

Escape pods from the doomed Skylark filled the night sky. A Wolver pack howled at the falling stars, a stranger occupying haven moved to speak with another about the comets. A lone pod streaked across the land and crashed into the ground, making a shallow groove in the ground as it slid to a halt.

It was quiet for a few seconds, then the small, circular opening was ejected and it soared a couple of meters and clanged loudly on the earthen ground. Back at the pod, something was peering outside.

Something with luminescent eyes.

It pulled itself from the cramped enclosure and surveyed its surroundings. Looking up, it shielded its eyes to watch the other pods that dotted the sky. It returned its gaze to its immediate surroundings and there was a small beep. The creature lifted a hand to its head and a small, garbled voice could be heard. The voice ended, and the creature reached behind him and pulled out some items.

A sword and shield.

The warrior took the green hilted blade and stuck in the ground. It took the round shield and mounted it on its arm. It reached out and grasped the handle of the small blade and lifted it out of the ground. Putting the small blade in its scabbard, the knight reached back in the pod and pulled out a small pack. Gathering it up, the warrior hitched the pack to his back and checked the condition of his supplies. Satisfied that everything was in working order, the knight unsheathed his sword and headed out into the wilderness.

Frozen

They were coming.

The knight staggered forward against the icy winds. Her Furious Flameberge flickered in its scabbard. Perma-Frosts were stalking her. She couldn't see them, but they were there. She pushed through a pile of snow and fell forward. The snow cushioned her fall and she lay still in the frigid slush. Maybe the wolvers will not see her if she was buried. They have excellent smell, they would sniff her out in no time.

She had to keep moving. Grasping her Flameberge, she pushed into the ground and hauled herself to her feet. Shakily, she put one foot forward. Then another. There was a growl slightly to her right. The knight looked up fearfully and saw the growling PermaFrost. Almost stumbling,find ran forward and away from the Wolver. She saw a slight flicker of light up ahead and moved towards it. Her body was almost numb from the biting cold.

She reached a dry area. There was no snow, but the wind kept blowing through. Dimly, the knight registered a heat lamp warming the ground. She stumbled over to it and collapsed against it. The warmth from it slowly crept soothingly through her shivering body.

Another growl, she looked up. A PermaFrost was baring its teeth, stalking around the edge of the light. Maybe the warm was bad for it. Another appeared. The two loped around the lamp's light, growing all the while.

A small reserve of energy seemed to burst forth from the new warming light. The knight stood up, her distress signal was still blinking slightly. They weren't going to get here in time. She was going to have to show these beasts that she was not the prey. Gone was her Heater Shield, only the Flickering Flameberge would be there to help.

Time to show those Perma-Frostifurs who's the predator.

She walked steadily towards one and lunged forward, stabbing out a the beast. It had growled a challenge, but leapt backwards as the Flameberge flared up with the sudden movement. The Wolver then lashed out, its jaw open for something to bite. Instinctively, she raised her shield arm. The Permafrost clamped down on her arm and she let out a cry of shock and pain. She thrust at the beast blindly, and the glowing tip of her sword left a scorch mark on its fur. The Wolver let go and the knight stumbled backwards. A throbbing pain thudded through her body. Fumbling through her supply pack, her fingers closed over a health capsule. She brought it out and swallowed it. The pain faded a little, but the throbbing returned. The Wolver seemed to have retreated. The other one was still snarling. Grasping the hilt, she raised the Flameberge like a spear and hurled it at the enemy. In a stroke of luck, the PermaFrost opened its mouth to growl. The Fiery sword entered its mouth and the Wolver cried in pain. It staggered sideways, then fell over. The knight crawled over to the dead body dragged it into the light. She pulled out the sword and skinned the Wolver. Holding up the sword, she scraped away the flesh still attached to fur. After she was done, she draped the skin aroundher like a fur coat and huddled under the light.

A sound. It was barely audible in the howling winds, but it was there.

"Heeey!"

The knight looked up. There was three figures looking down at her.

"Are you all right Liz? Are you injured?"

Liz squinted, it was Ralph. He had found her. "I'm ok."
The words came out in a whisper.

"What?" He asked, leaning down and turning his head.

"I'm fine"

He straightened and spoke to the other two. They took out their weapons, and Ralph gathered up Liz and they headed out into the blizzard.

Hopefully for the last time.

--------

Is there a simple way to tell how many words there are? I don't really want to count

EDIT 2.0: Does it have to be 1k+ words?

Day 1 - Elapsed Time - 00:05

"Kora, are you SURE you're ready for this job? Taking on the responsibility of keeping comms with all four of us is a little..."

"...taxing? No, not at all! Parma, this is where I work best at : behind a screen. I'm not a field person, but here...here I feel safe. If anything, shouldn't you be worrying about yourself? You'll be the first to go out there...into the Clockworks. Besides, didn't the officers at the Academy say that you were inadequate for field work?"

"With Euclid, there isn't much to be afraid of, really."

"I could agree...he's one dreamy gu-"

"PFFFT. Only you would, Kora!"

"Haha...well, Grantz isn't too bad either."

"He's not your type."

"Neither is Euclid, but I'd take either."

"Dream on, girl in the screen."

"Oh, I will. I'll dream as long we don't get grey hair like Ozlo. When you get down there, remember I'll be there if you need help."

"..."

"Parma?"

"...alright Kora. I'll do that. From here, it's all formal talk, right?"

"Right. Just make sure you come back in piece, okay?"

~~~

Day 2 - Elapsed Time - 37 : 26

"Parma, status report."

"Coming right up Kora. None injured, and we've had two instances of contact. Rulen and I are scanning some organic compounds parallel to the ones we have on Isora. So far, we've went down five depths, and...well..."

"Parma?"

"I tried to scout ahead for any traps, but it seems as if every stratum is divided into little subsections. They can only be opened up when multiple identities within the same instance are together on the same pressure pad...but..."

"But what?"

"There's no way for me or Rulen to bypass it. It's protected by some firewall."

"A what?!"

"I'm not going to lie here, Kora. Whoever set these up KNOWS how to compute, and definitely not in a language CLOSE to what we know. No inputs can change it, and when Rulen tried to tamper with it, it alerted enemies to the area. Whenever that happened, the gates dividing the subsectors would lock up. We'd have to kill EVERY single enemy before they opened again...

...I couldn't do it. Grantz and Euclid did it for us.

Some of them screamed..."

"Parma? The enemy?"

"They were animals. Little canine creatures. They could smell me from their den a mile away...and they tried to protect their homes...oh god...I shouldn't have told Euclid. We could've ran...

There were pups, Kora. The gates wouldn't open, not unless..."

"Parma...you've more than enough. Just relay the data when you can find a way up, alright?"

"...alright. Just...Kora...promise me you'll stay on the li-"

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT.

"...Parma? Parma?! Euclid? Anybody? HELLO?! Spiral HQ, we've got a situation : Alpha's Squad has lost contact with us. I repeat, Alpha Squad has lost contact..."

~~~

Day 47

"Kora."

"..."

"Kora, I found the last Recon Module...

Kora? Are you still there with me?"

"...huh? A...Recon Module?"

"Yeah. ID says it's Parma's."

"Parma's?!"

"Yeah. I'm looking over the contents now..."

"Link me up. Can I read with you?"

"Sure. Just wait a second..."

LINK ESTABLISHED. SENDING VIDEO FEED.

"Woah...where are you?"

"Near the Core."

"Can you go any further?"

"No."

"..."

"I'm going to read it."

"Go ahead."

"[A Recording from Parma, Alpha Squad Recon:

We are at the end of the line. Pursued by some kind of terrible darkness we are forced into the unknown.

As we neared the Core- I don't know how to describe this really... the shadows came alive and began to attack us. Rulen became enveloped in it and by the time Grantz freed him his body was badly burned. He said it felt like both fire and ice.

And then we could go no further. As I record this, the darkness is nearly upon us, consuming the world we see, the light.

But then the Core, it began to open, filling the place with such a light, such an intense, blinding light. Euclid has made the call; faced with the darkness, we'll enter the core, enter the light.

This will likely be my final recording.]

...the Core opened for them? Kora, can you explain this?"

"..."

"Kora?"

"..."

VIDEO FEED DISCONNECTED.

"Kora, I need you to talk to me here. What's going on?"

"...I...I-I...

Just...*sniff*...base..*sniffle*...Haven. I'll...get a relay down there. Maybe Vaelyn can set up a base here..."

"What? Requesting directives to be repeated; what is my objective? Kora, I need you to tell me what I can d-"

Intel Agent Kora has disconnected.

Owlites VS Kats

The time was approachiSlink ar against the Owlites was going to end. It would end with the victory of the Kat Klan! Margrel had given the plan. Scraith's Legion would scale the walls of a the Grand Owlite Castle. Torair's men would assault the front gate. Margrel would go in with Preowa and her soldiers would storm the Academy once the walls or gates were breached. The Book of Grey Feathers was said to have a secret spell that could eradicate the Owlites.

Every time it went through his head, Slink couldn't figure out how things went wrong. Did the spell have an unknown side effect? One that would deform the entire species of the caster? Why would that even be a spell? Ugh, thinking made his head hurt.

He floated back to his room and sighed, it was all going so well.

~~~~~~~~
5 years ago
~~~~~~~~

"Come on you! Form up!" Preowa ordered.

Slink turned his head to watch the one who had stepped out of line.

He quickly stepped back into the line with a "sorry Ma'am,"

Our group trekked through the snow and came to the elevator. The machine could only fit four at a time. Preowa and her second-in-command entered first, followed by Margrel and his Lt.

As soon as they disappeared the soldiers all burst into ruckus. Chatter filled the air. Slink muttered a few words about how disciplined this army was, and moved to the front of the line. The lift creaked back, and he walked onto it.

The ride up was filled with more chatter. Chatter that abruptly halted when they arrived, Preowa was waiting for them.

"Having a nice chat?" She asked, her tone icy calm.

"Er, no sir- I mean Ma'am!"

"Good." She waved them past and we moved ahead. He looked back to see the commander waiting for the next group to come up. Eventually he saw Margrel up ahead. He and his Lt. Were standing on the crest of a small hill.

As we came closer, he spoke without turning to look. "Are any of you Scouts?"

One of the Kat warriors to the left of Slink raised a hand.

"I am sir."

"Good, come hear please."

The warrior glanced at his friends and trudged up the grassy hill. Huh, grass. Slink looked around as he realized they weren't in snowy weather anymore.

"I want you to scout around the gate and walls, try and find any blinds spots. Then report back to our position."

The scout nodded and disappeared behind the hill. As the rest of the group crested the hill, they held the Owlite High Academy in their eyes.

After the rest of Preowa's Gunner's arrived, we formed up and waited for the scouts return.

"Finally, he appeared. Staggering up the hill and reporting his findings to Margrel. Margrel nodded, and the scout stumbled past the ranks and rested at the back.

Margrel turned and spoke to Preowa. She nodded and turned to the group of gunners before her.

"Gunners! Scraith and Torair's men are engaging the enemy, the first ones to break the defenses will be backed by us. Our mission is to get inside and help Margrel secure the book! No mercy!"

There was a small muttering of agreement from the group. No shouting today. Speed and Stealth would be vital to a quick victory.

"Everyone! Get ready for combat!"

The click of a loading weapon sounded throughout the ranks. Slink loaded his two pistols and checked the mechanism on his rifle.

"All right! Scraith has broken through! On me!" Preowa raised a hand and disappeared over the hill. The Kats all surged forward, feet thudded on the soft ground.

Time to end the war.