== Into the Core, Part 1==

Euclid awoke in his pod. He remembered falling...falling so fast. Yes! He remembered the Skylark, being impaled. He remembered knights being blasted out into the void of space. He remembered rushing to the pods and leaping in. He remembered seeing the Skylark burning as he fell, madly spinning in all directions. He engaged the manual seal on the door. He cautiously stepped out, daylight almost blinding him. He had landed in a small depression in the earth. He checked his HUD display and saw a small, red notification. It was a message, sent on a loop. He engaged it. It was the mechanical voice of an AI. It said:"All knights, repeat all knights report to the coordinates 6-9-4-3-4. All knights,repeat all knights report to the coordinates 6-9-4-3-4. All knights, repeat all knights..."
Euclid strode off from his position, to the beacon of hope that was the rescue camp some twenty miles away. He wasn't sure why, but he hoped he could reach it by nightfall. Many dangerous things happen over night.

== Into the Core, Chapter 1==

Recon knight Parma was scared. Her escape pod had missed its mark, landing in a canyon. Her HUD was scrambled and she thought she heard scratching on the outside of it. Deathly moans and groans surrounded her, the sensory assault unending. She thought she saw a skeletal face on the outside of the pod but then dismissed it as a fear hallucination. The battering continued. She thought of her squad guardian, Grantz and how brave he was. He would probably run out, sword in hand ready to bust some heads together. She figured that the other members of the Alpha Squad Commandoes were probably dead, not many Spiral Knights had made it to the escape pods in time. An audible thump hit the wall. She looked through the plasteel viewing window and saw the head of a horse. She recognized it from the brief scans the Skylark performed before being shot down. Spiral HQ had named it a "Trojan". The trojan continued its smashing of the pod. She saw skeletal, dusty figures alongside it, desperate to spill blood. She looked around the pod. She had had time to assemble a few weapons. She was wearing the sparse grey long sleeve shirt and pants of the Skylarks crew. She had brought an umbra driver with her, along with a graviton vortex and a leviathan blade. Being a Vanguard had its perks. She tucked the bomb into her knapsack for later. The umbra driver she carried in her left hand, opposite from the leviathan blade. She kicked the handle on the interior of the pod, shattering it. She charged outside and nearly fainted. Around the pod were dozens, if not hundreds of dusty skeletons. She was in a sizeable canyon with gears and machinery scattered about the sides of it. A skeleton saw her and breathed. The breath was so forceful and toxic it dazed her. She dove to the side avoiding a leaping skeleton. Parma lobbed the graviton vortex into the centre. She turned and ran and didn't look back..
She leaped onto a gear, being carried up. She vaulted at another one, her hands just grabbing the prongs. When she had leapfrogged up the canyon she finally looked around proper. She had landed in the middle of a prairie. Parma flinched at a sudden beep. It was a HUD notification. The cold voice of an AI spoke to her. It said: "All knights, repeat all knights. Report to the coordinates: 6-9-4-3-4." It kept repeating.
"All knights repeat all knights-"
"Ok ok shut up already" Parma snapped. She checked her HUD again. 6-9-4-3-4- was not all that far away. In fact, it was only about a mile away from where she found herself. She could just make it out on the horizon. It looked like a city.... a haven of some sorts.

== Into the Core, Chapter 3==

Grantz stirred in his sleep. In the distance he could hear alarms going off. He moaned and rolled onto his side. He did not want to be disturbed. A panicking deck hand charged into his room. The deckhand shook him awake. "Master Grantz, sir please wake up! The Skylark is being destroyed". Grantz awoke and leaped out of bed. He blearily stumbled out into the hall, grabbing his Ironmight plate mail on the way. He slipped the grilled helmet over his head and climbed into the suit. He pulled a Sudaruska off of the rack and tucked an Iron Slug into his waistband. He ran down the hall looking for the escape pods.
As he finally reached the escape pods he saw that they were almost all gone. He approached one of the remaining ones and pulled on the handle. The door flung open as he stepped in. More knights were streaming in, panicking at the lack of escape pods He opened the pod for them, but the side of the hull blew out. Grantz felt a tremendous pulling on him, and his seals were not engaged. He slammed the escape pod closed and engaged its seals. The breathable are quickly stagnated. He sighed with relief and turned. Hidden under the seat was a screaming baby. He picked it up and clenched his arms over it. He slammed the "fire" button and tried to shelter it with his body.
As the pod twirled in its preprogrammed evasive manoeuvres he kept his hold on it. He refused to allow it to fly away in the maddening G-forces.
The pod smashed into the ground. He felt blind, his HUD and comms completely totalled. He felt a gentle knock at the door. He opened it. A tall figure in a coat and huge, floppy hat greeted him. He didn't understand it's language, it sounded like "Riki-motaka!- bish-lialmoomba!!". He engaged his personal translator. It was saying: "Hello friend! We don't recognize you but we saw you came from the cataclysmic explosion. We will take you to our city if you wish.". He wordlessly nodded and handed the Stranger the baby.
About a day later he was out of his armour and lounging in the Haven sun. A snipe was on his lap, singing its cheerful song. A tall Stranger named Basil was explaining to him the holidays on cradle. He was content to wait in Haven until the other knights made contact. He had set up a chair right in front of the fountain, facing the gate. Grantz would try every day to use his comms to contact Spiral HQ but it took eight days until he finally made contact.
"HQ, HQ, Do you read me? This is Guardian Grantz calling you. Do you read me? I am broadcasting my coordinates over the net now!" The snipe leaped off of his lap in a panic.
"Grantz! Grantz! This is Intel Agent Kora! We read you loud and clear. We have all of the knights from the crash and we are heading over to your coordinates now. Anything else?'
"Yes. I have met unknown xenos. They are NOT hostile, I repeat NOT hostile and they are willing to share their town with us. "
"Excellent! Excellent! We will be seeing you in about a day then."
A day later, Grantz was chatting with his fellow knights when he received a cryptic message. It was in the form of a private text. It said: "Meet me at the north most building in Haven. Signed, Captain Ozlo

==Into the Core, Chapter 4==

Chapter 4
Rulen probably landed in the best position possible. He had always stayed near the pods on the Skylark, he was flighty by nature. The minute the alarms went off, he dashed into the pod and strapped up. He fired off his pod before anyone else. His pod had had a smooth flight down, having been modified by him personally. When the pod landed, he gathered his communicator and Valiance and strode out. He found a small inlet, sheltered by a small rocky outcropping. He had set off a distress beacon to alert other knights to his position. Rulen dozed off for a nap under the rock.
When he awoke, he noticed many knights were gathered around with many tents pitched. A recruit approached him. "Ah Sir Rulen you are awake!" The recruit said at length".
"Well I am now!" Rulen replied.
"What happened here?" Rulen continued.
"Sir we saw your distress beacon, and then came here. A storm came, so we pitched camp in this sheltered area. We see that the other knights have already proceeded to a non-hostile xenos town called 'Haven'. We are waiting for the storm to blow over so we can move out. I'm not sure how you slept through it, to be honest sir".
"Quite right, then! Do you have all of the knights oh I'm getting a message. Hmmm well your dismissed, recruit. Go get some food." Rulen looked at the message. It said:
"Meet me at the northmost building in Haven. Signed, Captain Ozlo."
"Haven!? But that's miles from here! Argh. Now I'm gonna get all wet." Rulen looked at the town off in the distance. He sighed heavily and hoped that the rain would stop.

==Into the Core, Chapter 5==

Euclid opened the scarlet, silken flap nervously. Although he didn't know it, he was the last of his squad mates to reach the building. He had received the cryptic message from Captain Ozlo like everybody else. He pushed open the flaps and walked to the gathering of knights.
Captain Ozlo was there to send them of personally, along with Lieutenant Feron. Him and the rest of Euclid's squad were already deep in conversation.
"This Clockworks thing sounds fascinating' Rulen.
"Fascinating!? It sounds like a screaming metal death trap!" Grantz shouted.
"Now, Guardian Grantz this is no time to lose your temper." Feron admonished.
"Yes, Captain" Grantz said at length.
"This sounds like an interesting challenge! When do we leave?" Parma inquired.
"Today" Feron responded.
"Talking about me again? What did I do this time?" Euclid joked. He had somewhat of a habit of joking at inappropriate times. He was greeted with silence. Feron and Ozlo turned to him. They began to brief him on the Clockworks and the energy source at the bottom and how it was their mission to send an advance team down the Clockworks to find out what the energy source was and how to harness it to make the Skylark fly.
"Of course, we won't be sending you down unassisted. We have a squad that will follow you down halfway. Then they will head back up and establish a garrison around the first third mark. Great squad, led by a man named Ashen. But, we still need to outfit you. The strangers have been kind enough to lend us some gear, it's a little odd but it is FAR superior to what we had before."
As if on cue, four of the tall Strangers walked in. They had wheeled trolleys that they pushed over.
Wordlessly, they started handing out equipment.
To Euclid, they handed a full Skolver set. He accepted it thankfully, happy to put something over his simple crew outfit. He put it all on. A Stranger handed him an Obsidian Carbine. They also handed him a Divine Avenger. "Thank you so much" he said.
The Strangers approached Rulen. He stepped back nervously but they raised their hands in a surrendering jester. He cautiously stepped over. They handed him a Grey Feathered set and a SilverSix. He took it gratefully then dashed behind Grantz.

== Into the Core, Chapter 6==

After the squad had been refitted, another team of knights strode in. The first had a definite air of authority about him, wearing a Cloak about him, his weapons concealed within the folds of it.
The second, probably his second-in-command was wearing a semi-destroyed solid cobalt armour set, with a nasty looking scratch over his left part of his neck. He carried a dark looking blade on his right hip, an old school revolver on his left.
The hooded knight introduced himself as Ashen. The banged up looking knight's name was Matthews.
The rest of the accompanying squad was wearing standard Azure Guardian sets, with Aegis shields, Valiance pistols and wielding Leviathan blades.
The next ten minutes seemed to be a blur to the Alpha Squad. Ten minutes later they were entering a rickety looking elevator, ten knights squeezed together, the lift rocking back and forth.
About ten minutes later the elevator stopped.
The party appeared to be at a train stop, completely dark and murky.
Rulen jumped as he heard a sound:
Mrrrrrooow?

==Into the Core, Chapter 7==

Chapter 7
A knight screamed as a pink blur kept on him, bowling him over. Its teeth easily penetrated the weak joint of his Azure Guardian armour around the jugular and he died instantly. The spookat dashed off him instantly and lunged at another knight.
More pink blurs dashed through the air, to be stopped by precise shots from Matthew's revolver.
Rulen dashed behind Grantz as soon as the fight started, the beast of a Spiral Knight's Sudaraska smashing down several of the ghosts.
Euclid stood on the middle of the fray and slashed with his Divine Avenger. The manic tide of the battle not phasing him in the slightest.
Another knight was downed by a spookat's dash. It dashed into him and he tumbled over the side of the ledge, into the Clockworks
.
Several minutes passed, neither side gaining a foothold until Euclid drew his gun. He pulled down the trigger and held it. The Obsidian Carbine charged for a moment, then fired.

A black series of tentacles emerged from the ground, pulling down Spookats until there were none left.
"Wow. I wondered what that button did".
"Well done," Ashen said at length. "I thought we were dead for sure."

Several of the accompanying squad were dead, teeth marks making fatal wounds in them.
The party of knights continued through the ghostly rail yard, pistols trained into the enduring night.
After several minutes of walking, they reached a box in the ground. It had an upraised railing and looked identical to the elevator they had taken them from Haven. Euclid stepped in, followed by Grantz, Rulen and finally Parma.

Mathews and Ashen led their squad into the cramped space after that.

The elevator descended into the murky depths.

== Into the Core, Chapter 8==

A gremlin looked up and snarled. It lobbed a hammer at Euclid, which he ducked. Unfortunately, it hit the remaining Azure Knight.
His helmet imploded and his skull cracked, killing him instantly.
Euclid charged forward, blasting away with his carbine. He fired at a gremlin wielding a wand, hitting it in the arm and knocking its wand away.
Rulen fired aimlessly at the rapidly multiplying horde.
Parma drew her Calahan and started firing, punching red holes in the heads of Gremlins with pinpoint accuracy.
Grantz went toe-to-toe with a Lumber. He parried its smashing overhead with his Sudaruska, then drew his Iron Slug and blew two holes through its circuitry.
Matthew charged at a trio of gremlin Thwackers. He drew his Acheron and impaled a gremlin through the forehead in one motion. A small amount of darkened blood leaked from its forehead. He tugged on the sword and realized with horror it had become lodged in the destroyed skull of the gremlin.
While he tried to pull it free, the Thwacker to his left hit him over the head, dazing him. The Thwacker to his right, cross checked him in the teeth with the shaft of his hammer.
Matthew stumbled to the ground, his Antigua falling out of his belt and skittering uselessly a metre away from him.
The two Thwackers began to pound on his torso with their hammers, killing him slowly. He screamed as his ribs broke, his torso being pulped.
As he died he called out: "Somebody!? PLEASE HELP ME!".
Nobody came to his aid, and he died painfully underneath the onslaught of the gremlins.
Ashen fought a desperate battle. He had just dispatched a Lumber with his Sealed Sword, when a thrown hammer hit him in the leg. He fell to the ground, and noticed something as the Thwacker advanced on him, laughing cruelly.
Matthew's Antigua lay not a foot away from him. Even in death, Matthew was still helpful.
Ashen took the pistol and fired a salvo of three shots at the thwacker. One hit it in the left shoulder, causing searing agony. The gremlin stumbled, dropping its hammer. Another shot hit it in the torso, causing heavy trauma as it passed through its ribs and the bullet lodged itself in the alien's inside. The third shot hit it in the forehead, passing through it's skull and finishing the creature off.
Ashen laughed triumphantly, even as a Gun Puppy platform raised from the ground. It saw him immediately, and fired a charge of energy at him. He tried to roll out of the way of the projectile, but in his weakened, slowed state it was impossible. It hit him in the head and he perished.

== Into the Core, Chapter 9 ==

Daylight shone upon Haven. A few commodities had been set up for the Spiral Knights from the courteous Strangers.
The Auction House stood in the centre of Haven, beyond the elegant looking fountain.
To the east, lay the makings of what we now call the Bazaar. To the north lay the unused, dormant mining facilities that Alpha Squad had entered the Clockworks through. To the east, was unused space.
A warden sat outside the southern entrance, prepared to defend the town with his life.
Flocks of snipes flew through the town lazily, playing some kind of game that only snipes understood.

Feron was in the middle of a heated debate with Captain Ozlo:
"Sir, we can't just SEND knights down there! If Alpha Squad is dead, which they probably are do you think other knights can hack it!?"

"Feron, I value your council but we need to find that energy signature. I think that we should send down squads of knights to only go a shallow distance. We won't send anyone to the bottom yet, but chances are Alpha Squad would have not gone ridiculously deep, either."

"Yes sir, I will start organizing teams immediately"

"See to it that you do," Said Captain Oslo. "We need to get knights down there immediately."

== Into the Core, Chapter 10 ==

Alpha Squad was running. They were making a mad dash for survival while being chased by the gremlins.
Forty gremlins chased them, undaunted by their loss. Occasionally, Euclid would turn around and fire into the mob, but they kept coming.
The squad dashed to the elevator and dove in, a hammer pinging near the railing. The elevator descended into the next stratum just as the first gremlin swung his hammer in a low, lethal arc.

The elevator proceeded for some five minutes, then came to a stop. The party found themselves in a forest.

"This is fascinating. I must take samples!" Rulen said as he dashed towards the nearest tree and pulled out his portable scanner.

"Parma, scout out the area and try to scout out any potential traps. We need to know if we can make camp here." Euclid ordered.

Parma wordlessly complied. Rulen continued to fiddle with the tree, shoving a tube down a knot and taking its sap. Euclid closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
He awoke to screaming.
Euclid lept to his feet with a jolt, just in time to see Rulen die. Several wolvers leaped at him, biting into him. He stumbled to the ground, and they began to devour him messily.
Parma was already a corpse, several black-and-red spines imbedded within her.
Grantz battled with an Alpha wolves and its pack, and he was losing. His Iron Slug, lay discarded on the ground, presumably empty. His shield was broken and he fought two-handed with his Sudaruska. The alpha wolver jumped upward and bit his throat out in one smooth movement. He dropped his sword and the pack feasted on him.
Euclid turned and cried as the Snarbolax bowled him over and bit his head off....
Euclid awoke again, this time for real.
The rest of his squad was huddled around a small fire. Grantz motioned him over.
"Sir, we decided you needed the rest."

== Into the Core, Chapter 11 ==

Grantz waved enthusiastically for Euclid to sit down. He complied, sitting down on the dirt near the campfire the squad had set up.
"Sir, everything alright" Grantz asked worriedly. He had known Euclid since they were recruits and liked the other knight.
"The sap here is quite interesting, not to mention the indigenous life forms! I have taken to calling them: Wolvers... " Rulen began.
"Not this again" Parma said sarcastically, hiding her face in her hands while chuckling to herself.
"Parma! It's not something to joke about- you know how seriously I take science! You've always try to push my buttons, ever since we were recruits. I didn't have to volunteer for Alpha Squad you know! You should treat me with a bit more respect, after all I do for this team-"
"RULEN! That's enough out of you!" Euclid ordered, privately irritated at how fast his squad began infighting.
Parma sighed wistfully, privately glad that it had been tall, handsome Euclid that had came to her defence.

== Into the Core, Chapter 12 ==

The evening continued, as they tend to do. The knights opened tubes of rations, little more then grey nutritious paste. There was little conversation, tension was high.
Rulen glared at Euclid. Then, at Parma. Then he pulled out a small, rectangular device and began to scan the environment.
"Stay close," Grantz cautioned. Parma wordlessly grunted an agreement.
Rulen wandered out to a tree and began to spiel out it's sap.
Grantz said: "We should break camp for the... night? Morning? It's hard to tell down here. Anyway, I will take first watch, then Parma, then Grantz then Rulen. Douse this fire"
Grantz began to kick dust over the flames. Rulen wandered a few feet behind the campfire and dug a hole for himself to sit in. Grantz planted his sword in the dust and began to disassemble and clean his Iron Slug, all the while watching for any sign of the monsters they had met earlier. Parma wearily crashed into the dust.
Meanwhile, a team of knights lead by a man named Doumskall* were about to enter the Clockworks. They loaded into the elevator, and it descended into darkness.
Doumskall thought about his team as the elevator plummeted.

Nogoth, the Shieldbearer. He was short for a knight and exclusively wore a tarnished set of Azure Guardian armour.

Durshevir, the mad one. He was absolutely unpredictable and specialized in melee combat. He used his Final Flourish in combat and occasionally pulled out his Nova Driver to finish enemies from a distance.

Finally, there was the mysterious one. He went by: "Zephyr" but nobody knew his actual given name. He used to wear a cobalt set with a mask, but on Cradle he had donned a Chaos Cowl and Grey Feathered robes. A grey owlite shield was slung across his back. His Leviathan blade clanged against the grated metal of the elevator.

Zephyr remained silent throughout the ride to the first depth.

Nogoth was saying something about combat that Doumskall did not care to hear.

Durshevir chuckled to himself absent-mindedly, as if the most hilarious joke had been told only to him.

Doumskall looked up and down the shaft as if he were a landowner assessing it for renovations. His family had been wealthy on Isora, and felt a strong sense of martial pride, explaining why he had joined the Spiral Knights in the first place.

The elevator ground to a stop, and Nogoth hopped the banister before it could even lower, his shield projecting a personal force field around him. After the elevator stopped, Durshevir hopped forward, giggling incessantly all the way. Zephyr followed, his shield raised and his sword held parallel to the top of it, ready to stab into any who came close. Doumskall followed after them, his Anitigua trained into the field.

The field they had stepped into was a grassy one, bushes lining the sides in an almost organized fashion.

Doumskall almost had time to think it looked like a farm as spikes shot out of the ground.

Nogoth burst into action, leaping at the dozen slime cubes that had seemingly materialized out of nowhere. The rest of the squad charged, except for Doumskall who hung back, not wanting to be impaled. Zephyr jumped onto a slime, squashing it with his feet, then he leaped and impaled one with his sword. The sword parted the dense slime and became lodged in the thick core, and he was thrown to the ground. Six of the slimes prepared to kill him, but Nogoth dashed in front of him, using the newly issued retro thrusters to be in front of the slimes assault. His Aegis took the brunt of the assault, bruising his arm holding it and nearly smashing him to the ground but keeping them both alive. Durshevir pulled out his Nova Driver and laughed as it's super-heated rounds melted the jellies. He laughed with delight as they cooked around him.

"Keep moving," Doumskall ordered, unsure of how to handle a squad.

"If their's more where THAT came from" came the giggling response from Durshevir.

Nogoth opened his mouth to unleash a stinging retort, but Zephyr made a tiny, almost imperceptible shake of his head as if to say: "Don't cross him yet, he's not worth your breath"

Doumskall was about to say something further, when a trio of Lumbers emerged from a hidden passage behind them.

== Into the Core, Chapter 13==

TWO DAYS LATER

Euclid jumped to the side, the Snarbolax nearly ripping him in half. Unfortunately, a spike hit him in the thigh, and the pain was immense. The Snarbolax rounded on him and pinned him to the ground with it's front legs, prepared to rip his torso apart in a spray of blood and viscera.

Before it could deliver the killing blow, a familiar flashing Sudaraska smashed upside the hide, driving it off. Grantz charged forward, slamming it to the side. The creature flicked it's tail almost dismissively and threw him to the side. He moaned softly. His sword skittered out of his hand. Parma cried and threw her last Graviton Vortex at it, distorting the air and throwing it all over the place. It injured it, ripping off part of it's armoured hide and spewing blood everywhere. It charged and threw her into a tree, knocking her breath out with a sob, hard enough to potentially kill. Her body slumped.

The Snarbolax let out an almost human sounding chortle and advanced on the prone form of Euclid. He tried to crawl away, only for it to swat him back within range of it's snarling jaws. It opened it's mouth in a gaping bite and prepared to feed...

Doumskall's squad raised their weapons and, in one motion, fired on the trio. The flanking Lumbers immediately twitched and fell to the ground, but the one in the middle kept walking. It was made less of wood and more of metal... iron, it looked like. An Iron Sentinel would be an appropriate word for it. An Ironwood Sentinel. It waded through the gunfire and at last reached the squad. Doumskall danced back nimbly and dodged it's ham-fisted swing. When it's arm became lodged in the ground, Doumskall noted that it's arm ended in an axe. The thing used it's other hand to swing at Nogoth, crushing his shield guard and sending him sprawling to the ground. Durshevir dashed behind it and cooked it's head with his Nova Driver. It's sensory output destroyed, the machine careened around drunkenly. It swung the axe blade around madly, and one of it's swings was right in the trajectory of a rolling Doumskall. He looked up and drew his Lionheart Honour Blade and parried it. The blade chipped, but it's sturdy design thankfully took most of the impact. He was sent flying, and landed on his back. The construct exploded in a ball of sparks and flying metal.

... And immediately staggered to the left. Rulen advanced on the Snarbolax and emptied his Silversix into the damaged spot on it's hide. It roared like a wounded lion and charged at him. He rolled out of the way and grabbed Grantz's Sudaruska. He braced the hilt with both hands and drove it into the already large hole in the beast. Blood spurted out as he drove the sword into it's heart. It died screaming. He approached his wounded leader and pulled something out of his satchel. It was a first aid kit. He sprayed a fluid onto the torn thigh and began to work.

An hour later, the squad was up, recovering from their wounds. The squad was loading onto the elevator, when Euclid spoke: "Wait, we need to leave a warning. In case one of those... things comes back here."

The squad chorused agreement. Euclid pulled a Recon Module from his belt, primed it and set it on the ground, behind twelve boxes.
The elevator descended into the unknown, and into Tier Two.

==THE END==

== Corruption, Chapter 1 ==

The warden stumbled blearily through Haven, tripping irrationally. He had felt disorientated ever since.... ever since... he couldn't remember. It seemed all his life was stumbling, vomiting and forgetfulness. He thought he had friends and who was the woman appearing in his head. Or was it real? He had a hard time remembering these days. He tumbled into the... Arcade he thinks it's called. He stumbled into the old mine, sheltering from the sun. The woman who kept appearing in his head stepped in front of him, standing on tiptoes and starting to move her face to his. He pushed her off, confused. He continued stumbling, toward the elevator. He wasn't sure what compelled him to do so, but he selected depth seventeen when the panel popped up.

Nik hit the ground. She had been shoved down by the person she thought loved her, but had forgotten everything in a seemingly drunken stupor after returning from a fiendish city on... depth seventeen. She watched him enter the elevator an turn, and gasped in horror at the purple spike sprouting from the Warden's back.

Her friends immediately hauled her to her feet, but she was too busy thinking of an old story she had once heard. About the destruction of Troy.

== Corruption, Chapter 2 ==

Nik slammed down against the hard floor of the Arcade. Almost immediateley, her friends were upon her, hauling her to her feet with a mixture of:
"He didn't mean it"
"He doesn't know his own strength"
"You can do better then him"
But she would have none of it. Immidiately after the elevator descended, she deduced that he must be going to depth seventeen. Existing in the Order, there were horror stories of Wardens being corrupted and returning to the fiendish cities that they had been cursed in. She strode out, looking for the one knight who cared enough about Troy to help. She exited the arcade, sunlight glistening of off her obsessively polished Mighty Cobalt armour, and a pair of Master Blasters hanging opposite of each other off her slanted belt. A Leviathan Blade hung across her back, the relic firmly sheathed inside it's scabbard

Ran-Shey sat in his "Ready Room", three bottles of spent beer laying on the ground. He broke open a forth one, and slumped backward. He had turned to the drink after his older brother, brave, dauntless Troy had become corrupted. He had heard about the episode in the Arcade, something about him slapping his girlfriend or something. His memory was shaky, the drink was more powerful then most gave it credit for. He began to chug down the beverage, when he heard a smashing at the exterior of his pod. He staggered to the entrance and swung it open, wincing as the noon sun flooded his four foot-by-four foot chamber. He stumbled forward, about to fall when a woman caught him. It was his brother's... whatever she was.

"And what is a pretty lady like you doing outside my pod? Don't you have better things to do then associate with a drunkard, miss high society... dating wardens and such" Ran-Shey said, cruelty unmistakeable in his tone.

"Look, moron. I'm going to help your brother whether you come or not. But if you are not a complete piece of crap idiot you will meet me at five, Iron Titan gate tomorrow morning".

Ran-Shey was about to open his mouth to respond, when the pod door slammed in his face. He sat down in the chair and set it to "sleep" mode. It immediately shifted so that it lay horizontal, and the terminal shifted so that it lay over him. He closed his eyes and began to sleep.

Nik stalked away from the pod, irritated at herself. She regretted her harsh words to the Knight but decided not to apologize. She hiked over to her Ready Room and tried to send a private text message to Troy but kept getting the same response.

"This Knight's communication array is offline. Please try again later or contact your nearest Tech-Knight..." A robotic voice droned in her ear. She slammed a fist down on her communicator, and spent the rest of the day trying to contact him.

After four hours, she finally broke down and tears began to glisten and slide down her face.

== Corruption, Chapter 3 ==

Nik looked around almost nervously, as the elevator descended to Tier Three. Her and Bran-Shey had met at five o'clock, as per agreed and were now descending to Emberlight.

The elevator touched the metal with a clang, the frontal railing lowering to allow access. A bastion of knights stood in the centre , lazing around. Nik approached one, Brand-Shey following her, his Ironmight plate armour and Sudaruska creating an imposing figure compared to her polished frame.

"Have you seen a Warden, stumbling around recently? Maybe bound to depth seventeen?" Nik inquired, doing a poor job of masking her apprehension.

"Wait, you KNOW that bastard!?" A knight in Recon Ranger armour demanded. "Yeah, I saw him, and he left me a parting gift" The knight gestured to a strip of bloody Miracloth wrapped around his torso.

"Well, I'm sure when he gets back in his right mind he will be sorry" Nik apologized on Troy's behalf..

"Sorry, right mind? Look, princess: He is mostly Trojan by now. He was turning black and purple already when we met him. We decided not to kill him, but he is a DANGER. You should put him down when you see him, It's only fair for him- whoever he is." The angry Knight said.

Nik sighed and kept walking. As the duo reached the elevator, Bran-Shey shot a warning look over his shoulder at the Garrison of Knights.

The elevator descended, as elevators do. Bran-Shey laid a hand on Nik's shoulder. She looked up, about to fervently be faithful to Troy when she stopped herself. Troy could be DEAD, or a Trojan and Bran-Shey really cared about her. She allowed his hand to stay, inching a bit closer to the Guardian. She eased herself into his embrace, and stayed their until the elevator stopped.

== Corruption, Chapter 3 ==

Nik looked around almost nervously, as the elevator descended to Tier Three. Her and Bran-Shey had met at five o'clock, as per agreed and were now descending to Emberlight.

The elevator touched the metal with a clang, the frontal railing lowering to allow access. A bastion of knights stood in the centre , lazing around. Nik approached one, Brand-Shey following her, his Ironmight plate armour and Sudaruska creating an imposing figure compared to her polished frame.

"Have you seen a Warden, stumbling around recently? Maybe bound to depth seventeen?" Nik inquired, doing a poor job of masking her apprehension.

"Wait, you KNOW that bastard!?" A knight in Recon Ranger armour demanded. "Yeah, I saw him, and he left me a parting gift" The knight gestured to a strip of bloody Miracloth wrapped around his torso.

"Well, I'm sure when he gets back in his right mind he will be sorry" Nik apologized on Troy's behalf..

"Sorry, right mind? Look, princess: He is mostly Trojan by now. He was turning black and purple already when we met him. We decided not to kill him, but he is a DANGER. You should put him down when you see him, It's only fair for him- whoever he is." The angry Knight said.

Nik sighed and kept walking. As the duo reached the elevator, Bran-Shey shot a warning look over his shoulder at the Garrison of Knights.

The elevator descended, as elevators do. Bran-Shey laid a hand on Nik's shoulder. She looked up, about to fervently be faithful to Troy when she stopped herself. Troy could be DEAD, or a Trojan and Bran-Shey really cared about her. She allowed his hand to stay, inching a bit closer to the Guardian. She eased herself into his embrace, and stayed their until the elevator stopped.

== Corruption, Chapter 4 ==

The elevator pressed down into soft, desecrated earth. The duo stepped off and immediately drew their weapons. They were in a fiendish city, and heard chanting coming from a turn along the road. The two Knights walked forward wearily, Nik training her Master Blasters into the knight, and Bran-Shey gripping his sword tightly in two hands.

When they rounded the bend, Nik leaped backward and Bran-Shey stepped in front of her, silently lamenting.

There stood a large clearing, filled with chanting Devilites. They were all charged with fire in their eyes, nicknamed: "Overtimers" by Spiral Knight HQ. In the midst of the horde, stood three Wardens. They were being handed weapons, and painted with sigils. Becoming Trojans. They continued chanting, then suddenly stopped. A purple mist filled the clearing, and seven Trojans stood, fully armed. Troy was one of them.

"Now!" Bran-Shey hissed, leaping into the horde. Nik followed him, blasting away at the Devilites. A Trojan swung at Bran-Shey, but he rolled nimbly underneath and the sailing blade lodged itself into another Trojan's head. He sliced it's arm off while it frantically tried to retrieve the weapon and the monster fell to the dust. Another combatant swung it's heavy blade at Nik, who had now charged in, fighting bravely. She rolled under the swing and prepared to blast it's head off with two charged Master Blasters. Not even a Trojan could survive that ridiculous amount of trauma to the brain. She stopped dead, as she saw the pendant on it's neck. She had given it to Troy for their first year anniversary. This shock made on of her shots missed, and the remaining one hit it's armoured chest with a ding. The creature turned, and in one movement, slashed her across the midsection. She gasped as she sailed through the air, landing amidst a crowd of panicked Devilites. She landed hard, and immediately passed out, unconscious. Bran-Shey decapitated the last remaining Trojan when he saw Troy, lumbering over to Nik. He threw himself in front and a parried it's swing. He swung his sword at it's head, forgetting what a skilled fighter Troy had been, and the monster used it's shield to deflect the blow. It kicked him aside.

Nik woke up as the Trojan approached him. She had a thought, Bran-Shey had a perfect angle to blow it's crystal apart. She slid a Master Blaster across the floor, and he caught it. He sighted, and fired into the back of the monster. It staggered, he continued to blast away, tears filling his eyes. At last, it sunk to a knee and turned to dust. He grabbed his Sudaruska and used it as a makeshift cane, staggering over to Nik.

Nik felt dizzy and numb. She saw blood all over the ground, and realized this was the end of her life. As he staggered over she said:

"I, always... loved... you...."

He said nothing, and crouched next to her. For a brief moment, their lips met in a kiss, then she fell to the ground, dead. He took a Master Blaster from her cold hands and pressed it to his forehead.

A single, solitary shot echoed throughout the level, and his corpse tumbled over the edge and into the churning gears of the Clockworks.

THE END