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Part 2: Trial by Fire

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Chapter 2: Out of the Frying Pan…

Human Colony World Sirus 12, Zeta Reticuli System

March 2, 2204

1237 Hours

Northbound Overpass, Alpagee City

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           â€Move out, let’s go, let’s go!â€

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           â€Move it soldier, on your feet!â€

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           â€Contacts, across the street!â€

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           â€Use your grenades!â€

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           â€Use the cover of that bus! Move it!†Lieutenant Wagner yelled over the chaos. The Marines complied and tried to move as best they could to the new position.

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           As the CO of Alpha Company, Wagner had to ensure that he could lead these Marines through thick and thin. So far, he had just been through the thick. He ducked behind a news vendor sitting on the sidewalk just beside an entrance to the overpass. They had to secure it and start transporting civilians down the road to safety. It would also make a great evacuation route for Marines and Army personnel within the city.

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           This all started 3 months ago… when a strange signal was picked up by a UERNF ship. The ship went to go investigate and found an alien ship there. The ship opened fire at the UERNF ship and it did the same. The UERNF ship and the alien ship were evenly matched, but allies came to help the alien ship. The human ship returned to Sirus, only bringing the aliens with them. Ever since, they had been fighting a war to keep them from taking this planet.

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           These aliens called themselves Lakadors and had attacked with brutal intentions. They took prisoners, which they used to direct their attacks more inwardly to the bigger cities.

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           The UERAF sent reinforcements, but a few weeks ago Cirmain, a much larger colony, fell under assault. More Lakadors kept coming to this colony and the UERAF decided that it was useless to keep defending a small colony and were focusing on the defense of Cirmain. This meant that they were pulling out of Sirus, but first they had to evacuate those still in the war zone. The 72nd Marines were called in to evacuate Alpagee, and once their job was over they were being shipped back to Desmal for some rest.

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           Alpha Company’s job was to secure the Northbound Overpass to allow civilians in the center of the city to reach the outskirts and get lifted out of there. Wagner, being their leader, had to do his best to ensure the ongoing stability of his men. As a member of the United Earth Republic, he had to. The space colonizing unified human government had finally met its match… and Wagner was not about to let these damned things be the end of his race.

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           He fired his rifle and ordered 2nd Platoon to mount up on the vehicles and hook up with the civilians and a few Marines from Delta Company. The Marines trudged up a ramp way that lead onto the overpass and boarded a few jeeps as they were dropped by Nighthawks from above. The Marines not mounted up stayed behind to provide cover.

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           Karson ran and hopped onto the gunner seat of his jeep. He looked frantically and was relieved to find Private Allison Mcfay still alive. She hopped into the passenger seat of a Jeep and it drove off down the road. Karson’s jeep soon followed suit and a convoy of jeeps were soon on their way to the objective.

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           Allison was one of his childhood friends. She had been born with him in Florida back on Earth and they had been close friends ever since. They had joined the Marine Corps. as a way to see the Colonies. They never knew they’d be in a grueling war with a hostile species… but I guess that’s how the cookie crumbles now isn’t it?

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           The jeeps speed down the road and Karson swerved the .30 caliber machine gun and searched for targets. The buildings were tall, 30 or 40 story buildings sat on both sides of the overpass, their tall construction casting shadows onto the streets below.

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           Before Karson knew it, they were under attack.

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           An explosion happened nearby and one of the Jeeps narrowly avoided being destroyed. Karson spotted a few Lakadors running on the overpass just ahead of them, trying to reach the cover of a bus turned on its side.

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           Karson, just as the other gunners, opened fire. The rapid hum of the machine gun lit up his ears and empty shell casings flew from the weapon as rounds of ammunition were fired away at the enemy contacts. Many fell over and just plain did flips as the heavy ammunition peppered their shiny armor.

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           Clouds of smoke obscured his vision of the enemy contacts, the result of hundreds of rounds being fired at one spot. Lakador fire dotted the sky and sizzled at the oncoming Marine vehicles. The splashed against the surface or otherwise just smashed against it and left a hole in the armor of the jeep.

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           Karson pressed down on the trigger, hitting anything that got in his way. The Marine in the passenger seat fired his rifle as well, throwing his own gunfire into the mix. The convoy was smashing through whatever they threw at them. Karson shot a glance at Allison’s jeep and was relieved to find it still proceeding to the objective.

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           Suddenly a jeep in front of Karson’s exploded, its burning chassis turning end over end in front of him. Karson shielded his eyes and braced himself as his driver did a quick swerve to avoid the vehicle.

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           Karson fired off a short burst to detour any other Lakadors down the road and the Jeep turned once more to avoid another blast. Another Jeep caught flames as an explosion gutted the vehicle.

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           â€Damn! Look out!†The passenger called out and they swerved off of the road and onto a ramp leading down. Another jeep followed, caught in the same situation. The driver sent them onto the road that ran parallel to the overpass and Karson recovered and opened fire at a cluster of Lakadors running down the street.

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           The Jeeps continued down the street and as they reached an intersection they floored it. They had to rejoin the convoy above. Karson pressed down on the trigger again and watched as more Lakadors were cut down by the machine gun ammunition.

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           Without warning, the building ahead of them detonated and the part of the building containing an exterior staircase collapsed to the street below. 7 floors of concrete tumbled to the ground and the drivers slammed on the breaks, only to slam into the concrete. Karson was flung from the jeep and skid across the rubble and finally rolled to a stop.

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           He groaned and stood up, holding his head as it throbbed in pain. He slowly walked over and looked at the ground. His helmet was missing.

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           He picked up his assault rifle and his shotgun that he had kept in reserve this whole time. He slung the shotgun over his shoulder and placed the rifle in firing position. He looked to see the other two Marines from his jeep slowly stand up. The other Marines from the other jeep stood up as well and walked away from the crashed Jeep.

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           â€Form up!†A soldier from the other jeep yelled, a Sergeant. Karson trudged his way over to him and he motioned for them to continue down the street. They heard a scream in a foreign tongue and saw a few Lakadors on the overpass firing down on them.

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           â€Get into the buildings, hurry!†The Sergeant yelled. They ran while firing their rifles from the hip. They entered the blown out wreckage of the building in which the staircase had fallen from. They ran inside to find the lobby to be like a diner.

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           More Lakador fire hit the ground outside and they knew they’d be followed. Karson kicked open the door to the basement.

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           â€Come on, let’s go!†He yelled and the other Marines dashed in with him. They ran down the stairs, trying to keep their footing. Karson turned on the flashlight on his gun and they walked down the flight of stairs. They reached the basement and found themselves in the building’s storage room.

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           â€What the hell do we do now?†A Marine asked, looking up and hearing the Lakadors enter the building, snarling in their alien tongue. Karson looked up, sweat forming on him even in the cool basement.

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           Karson felt hot for some reason… too hot for what he had been doing… it was about 70 degrees outside for it being a spring day… yet he was sweating… He looked around and saw a crack in the wall. He looked intently at the crack and saw something… rather… felt something behind it…

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           The other Marines walked over and hid behind the staircase while Karson stood, looking at the crack in the wall.

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           â€Private! Get your ass over here!†The Sergeant hissed. Instead Karson grabbed a crow bar and started to hack at the crack in the wall.

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           â€What the hell’s he doing?!†One of the soldiers asked as he watched Karson hack away at the wall.

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           â€I’m getting us a way out! Give me a hand will ya?†Karson said as he whacked at the wall again. The Sergeant ran over and started to whack the wall with the butt of his rifle. The other soldiers soon followed suit and the wall gave way to a passageway leading into the rocks.

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           â€C’mon, before they find us!†Karson said as he sprinted down the path. The other Marines quickly followed him and they were all soon sprinting in the darkness. Soon there were torches lighting their way and they came to a room with statues of humans building cities and pictures of humans on the wall. They dashed to another room which came to a large hallway. This hallway had no base… it was a large pit which looked like it went on forever… but there was a walkway spanning the large cavernous passage’s length. They started down the walkway, which was big enough to fit a fully loaded UERMC Jaguar Tank.

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           Torches illuminated the whole room and statues of dragons started to appear all around. They ran for what seemed like hours until they reached the opposite end. When they reached the end, they found the other side locked by a golden door. On the door there were several seals, one of fire, ice, electricity, earth, and a few others.

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           Karson held out his hand and the fire symbol illuminated. Dumbfounded he watched as the heavy set of doors opened in front of him. They walked inside the new room, to find statues of dragons and other pictures on the walls of dragons in a forest or building a city.

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           A new set of doors lead them into a cave where they walked until the rays of sunlight came through and they emerged to find themselves in a brand new place…

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Allison fired the machine gun on her Jeep and looked franticly around. They had lost track of Karson’s jeep. She was worried… she wanted to know where he was. The civilian convoy started to move down the road, and no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn’t search for Karson… she’d just have to find out what happened to him when they got back to the LZ.

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The civilian convoy and Delta Company blasted their way onto the freeway and drop ships flew overhead, bound for the LZ. They would have to get them to the LZ to get everyone extracted.

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           The Jeeps speed off to the LZ and made a peaceful trip back. Allison’s jeep arrived back at the Command area to find nobody else from 2nd Platoon. They were missing.

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           â€Alright Alpha, we’re getting out of here, board the drop ships!†Wagner shouted out. Allison looked around franticly, but no Karson was in sight. Full of sadness, she boarded the drop ship and it sailed into the sky above, and to the UERNF Destroyer Achilles in high orbit.

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           Allison watched as the city slowly vanished beneath the clouds. Her and Karson had shared so much time together… they had always been happy together and Allison had even started to notice that she had more then just a friendship with him… though none of them were really of a revealing nature to the other of their true feelings.

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           As she shot one more glance out the window Lieutenant Wagner saw her do this. He, of all people, actually knew what went on between them.

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           â€Allison, don’t worry. Karson’s been through tougher situations. He’ll pull through.†Allison looked at him and smiled. He saw a tear form in her eye and he smiled back.

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           The Nighthawks boarded the human vessel and the Destroyer sailed higher into the sky and into space. The ship flew through a battle happening between four UERNF Frigates and three Lakador light ships. Missiles, globs of dark energy, and heavy rounds were exchanged between the two sides. The Achilles met up with the UERNF Frigate Typhus and together they flew towards the blackness of space.

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           â€Prepare to make the jump!†The Captain aboard the Achilles ordered. The bridge officers scrambled to get the coordinates to Desmal, one of the UER’s largest colonies, into the nav computer.

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           â€Sir, we’re prepared to jump!†As he said this, a blast rocked the ships hull.

           â€Report!†The Captain ordered.

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           â€Sir, the worm-hole generator’s taken a hit! We can’t make a jump!†The Captain recoiled at the thought of this… the Generator was housed inside a heavily reinforced part of the ship. To take a hit that would destroy it would be near fatal… unless it came from inside the ship… this was bad…

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           A hole penetrated the blackness of space before them.

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           â€What the hell?â€

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           â€Get the coordinates to where that goes!â€

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           â€Yes sir, it goes to that anomaly we picked up earlier… the one from that far off system…†The captain remembered that anomaly… the bright light that had illuminated the whole scene only an hour before. Why did this hole open now of all times? What was on the other side? It was probably better then here…

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           â€Get us through that hole! Anywhere is better then here, we can use the Typhus to get us back to UERNF territory later, we have to bug out now!â€

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           â€Yes sir, attention Commander Bradens, follow our lead through the worm hole.†The Nav officer said through a microphone. A green light appeared on the captain’s command console which acknowledged the order.

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           The two ships passed through the ship and left the battle… but two other ships followed them… two Lakador ships…

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Meanwhile…

Dragon Realms, Uncharted System

1403 Hours

Undisclosed Location

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           Spyro and Cynder flew over a peaceful forest, the sunny sky casting its rays upon them. The clouds overhead turned with the winds, creating a beautiful array of colors and patterns.

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           They flew down into the trees and landed next to a pond. The sun’s rays came through a hole through the trees. The sunlight reflected off of the cool blue waters of the pond. Spyro sat next to the pond while Cynder lapped up the cool water.

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           Spyro smiled before getting up and walking over to a bush. The bush had several berries on it which Spyro picked off with his mouth and placed on a mushroom cap nearby. The large mushroom cap held numerous berries and Spyro placed the mushroom cap on his back. He retreated to the pond to find Cynder sitting in the water, relaxing.

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           Spyro chuckled and placed the cap down. He walked over to the water and slipped inside. The waters felt great to Spyro… it felt so relaxing. He slipped into the cool blue waters and let it relax his tired muscles.

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           It had been a while since they had just… relaxed. Cynder was already floating in the waters, enjoying it.

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           They didn’t say anything as they enjoyed the waters. The warm sunlight reflected off of Spyro’s scales and filled him with a brilliant feeling of warmth and rejuvenation.

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           Spyro opened his eyes and noted that Cynder was nowhere in sight. Spyro sat up in the waters and at the corner of his eye caught a motion in the water. Suddenly Cynder burst forth from the water, in a pounce position and aimed directly at Spyro. Spyro was thrown off from his position and Cynder caught him, water spraying all over them.

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           They sat up in the water and Cynder was laughing uncontrollably. Spyro chuckled a bit as well.

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           â€Got ya.†She said as she stood up in the waters.

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           â€So you did…†Spyro said before launching himself at Cynder. Cynder yelled in surprise as he caught her and took her into the deeper part of the pond. She surfaced and laughed and Spyro followed suit. She splashed him with water and he gave a look of amusement before returning the splash of water.

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           They laughed as they barraged each other with wave upon wave of water. Finally they wore themselves out and they left the pond. Spyro grabbed the mushroom cap with the berries and they walked to an open field. They laid down in the grass and they let the sun dry them off.

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           As they lay in the grass, Cynder took a few berries and ate them. Spyro did the same and looked at Cynder while she ate. She blushed and continued eating. Cynder swallowed her food and looked at Spyro inquisitively.

           â€So… what now?†She asked.

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           â€What do you mean?†He asked, turning his attention from his berry to her.

           â€Well… we stopped Malefor and you stopped the Great Cleansing… what else is there to do?â€

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           â€I… don’t know…†It was a valid question. For the longest time Spyro could only remember fighting for the Alliance to defeat Malefor. Since he first went to the Dragon Temple… he had only fought, fought, and fought. Now… now there was nothing to fight for anymore. Everything was peaceful… though that vision that Spyro had had earlier… it still resided in his mind… That tower coming out of the volcano… it had to do with something… and that temple with the picture of him flying over it… something was amiss.

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           He banished these thoughts… they had defeated the Dark Master… they had finally brought peace to these Realms that had only known war for as long as they could remember.

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           â€Well… maybe we should try to find the others and show them that we’re alright.†Cynder suggested. Spyro shrugged. He didn’t want to really say it, but he didn’t really desire to return… he felt happy here.

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           â€Well… question is, just where are we?†Spyro said as he looked around. They were in a U shaped clearing in the forest. That clearing sat atop a hill that overlooked another stretch of the forest. Beyond that forest sat a few mountains and all around them sat more hills, trees and mountains.

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           Spyro kicked the mushroom cap away and stood up. The grass swayed in the wind and he looked around. He had to get their position as best he could. Even if the planet had rearranged itself, he had to position themselves as best he could.

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           He didn’t see any familiar landmarks, positions, or anything… nothing was familiar. The sky was the only thing that seemed familiar. It sort of reminded him of the Valley of Avalar.

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           â€Spyro… where are we exactly?†Cynder asked as she looked around.

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           â€That’s what I’m trying to find out… nothing seems familiar anymore…†He sat back down and sighed.

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           Something told Spyro to head with the forest… He turned around and walked near the forest. Cynder sighed and followed. They walked through the forest for a few hours, stopped occasionally to rest.

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           As they walked along the river as a guide path, Spyro started to spot structures. These were structures erected by moles, brick and mortar designs coming out of the rock. These structures must have been ancient to have been buried in the rocks for so long.

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           However, what caught Spyro’s eye was what was underneath the bricks! On parts of the structures, bricks were crumbling away to reveal a metallic surface underneath. The metal alloy gleamed as sunlight came through the trees and Spyro was in awe at the sight. It was the same metal from the temple they had been in only hours before.

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           â€Spyro, are you seeing this?†Cynder asked as she took note of it as well. Spyro only nodded in response.

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           â€Just who built these things?†Cynder asked. As Spyro looked the structures over, he noted that it looked to be like an ancient mini-dam. Water came out of small tunnels that protruded from the metal structures and bricks crumbled atop it.

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           â€I… don’t know… obviously not dragons or moles… in fact it looks as if the dragons and moles built atop it to hide it…†He said while still looking the ancient structure over.

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           â€If so, why would they hide something like this?†She asked once more.

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           â€I don’t know Cynder… I really don’t know…†With that said, they hesitantly left the mysterious temple and headed deeper into the forest.

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Several hours later they finally sat down for a rest as the dusk settled upon the area.

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They sat down atop a small boulder that sat in a small opening in the forest. Before them sat the cool crisp waters of a small creek that ran along the forest’s length.

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           Spyro lit a fire atop the boulder on a small patch of grass and the embers floated into the air as the sun began to set upon the Dragon Realms. Cynder walked up with some birds she caught and they set them upon the fire to cook while they sat and gazed at the stars.

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           Spyro retrieved the birds and took a bite. The meat tasted scrumptious to him and Cynder did the same. The stars began to gain their sparkle and a calm wind settled through the small temporary camp site.

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           Spyro chuckled.

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           â€What?†Cynder asked as she looked at him.

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           â€Oh… nothing, I was just remembering old times.†Spyro said in reply.

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           â€Like what?†Cynder said as she got a bit closer, intent on hearing a story.

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           â€Well, I remember how this whole thing started, with me and Sparx playing a game of hide and go seek.â€

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           â€Really?â€

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           â€Yeah… Sparx was a laugh… I remember chasing him through an old forbidden cave and when we came out the other side, we ran into your Apes.†Cynder laughed, remembering her old minions.

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           â€They were the worst minions ever… they couldn’t fight to save their own lunch.†Spyro chuckled.

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           â€I remember that even though we were under attack, Sparx was still tossing in comments to the Apes. That really made ‘em mad.â€

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           â€Hah, I’d imagine! That little twerp doesn’t know when to stop!â€

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           â€You’d be surprised at the comments he’s said while we were fighting! I remember he’d always tease me about my ‘weight’ issues. He even commented about you once right before I fought you in Convexity.â€

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           â€Really, what did he say?â€

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           â€Do you really want to know?†Spyro said with a laugh.

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           â€What, what did he say?†She said, joining in with laugh.

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           â€Well, right before Ignitus told us who you were Sparx threw in, ‘what? She’s big, scary… sexy?’â€

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           â€He said what?!â€

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           Spyro burst out laughing.

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           â€Why I oughta… next time I see him I’m going to smack that little twerp!†She said and Spyro couldn’t stop laughing. Spyro whipped a tear from his eye and looked at the sky.

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           â€I’m going to miss him…†Spyro commented. Cynder sighed aloud.

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           As Spyro said that he looked up into the sky and caught sight of a constellation in the stars that looked like a dragon… come to think of it, it looked like him! He looked at it with wonder until Cynder broke the trance.

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           â€Spyro… do you think we’ll ever find anybody we know?†The fire started to die down and its glow started to fade away.

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           â€I don’t know Cynder… but… we stopped Malefor, everything’s going to be alright. Nothing bad is going to happen now.†Spyro wished that was the truth. His head swelled with the thoughts of the vision. The image of the tower and of him flying atop the volcano frightened him. He didn’t want to learn of its meaning… though it did intrigue him…

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           Cynder sighed aloud…

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           â€Cynder…†Spyro said, but was distracted by something in the sky. As the sun’s glow faded, the two moons became more visible. A few stars were moving above… and with great speed. They danced across the sky and Spyro and Cynder both watched intently as they raced across the blackness… connecting and creating larger and bigger flashes of brilliant light.

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           â€Spyro, what do you think that is?†Cynder asked. Spyro didn’t know, but one of them seemed to be getting bigger! Spyro watched as a fireball streaked in the sky nearby and exploded in the middle of the sky. Spyro saw several things that looked like mushroom caps floating back down to the ground. One black figure, what Spyro took as a creature, fell in the woods nearby.

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           â€Come on, let’s check it out!†Spyro yelled as he stood up. Cynder nodded and trotted along with him into the forest.

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Meanwhile…Â

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           â€I don’t remember a forest this big near Alpagee… do you?â€

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           â€Private, I don’t even think we’re on Sirus anymore… or any human populated world for that matter…â€

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           Karson walked through the tall grass, the cool air rejuvenating his form. The sun was setting and the skies turned a shade of grey as a few clouds pass overhead. The squad of Marines had exited that weird tunnel and came to a valley with lush forests and a beautiful blue sky. The Sergeant’s words held truth, Karson wasn’t sure if they were on any human world himself. This whole place seemed… different from any human populated world.

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           As they walked, Karson spotted structures in between the tree line. The Sergeant saw this as well and motioned for them to get low. The buildings looked like huts… it was a village. They dashed as low as they could and set up positions in the forest, their weapons pointed at the buildings.

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           The Sergeant moved his hand forward, ordering them forward. There were no Lakadors in the village, which meant it should be clear. They ran to the nearest hut, slapped their backs against it, and noticed that there was nobody in the village.

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           The Marines slowly walked through the village, their weapons at the ready. They didn’t see anybody inside the huts or outside. They were abandoned.

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           As the Marines neared the opposite end of the village, one of the Marines cried out in pain. They turned around to see an arrow lodged in the soldier’s back. The Marine had a Kevlar vest with metal padding which dissipated the arrows impact. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell though!

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           â€Contacts! On the ridge!†One of the soldiers yelled out. On the right side of the village sat a ridge. On that ridge, several archers unloaded arrows upon the humans. The Marines sought cover and opened fire.

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           Karson rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding one arrow. He pointed his rifle at his assailant and pulled the trigger. The ground near the hostile exploded as the rifle rounds impacted, releasing large amounts of dirt into the air.

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           The archers returned fire and as Karson adjusted his aim, he took note that the attackers were… cheetahs? The cheetah creatures walked like bi-pedals… and used cross bows and bows and arrows. The arrows flew down to the Marines and they used as much cover as they could. One arrow flew into the arm of one of the soldiers and he yelled out in pain.

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           Karson dodged an arrow again and squeezed the trigger once more. More bullets flew at the hostiles and they ducked before releasing another volley of arrows.

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           One of the attackers fell as the Marine’s gunfire finally hit its mark. The cheetah dropped its crossbow as the bullets hit him in the arm. Finally a cheetah tossed a ball at them and it detonated. The ball released a green cloud which started to make Karson feel dizzy.

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           The other Marines fell to the ground and Karson fired off another burst from his rifle before falling over. His limbs felt weaker and weaker… until his vision started to blur and he lost consciousness.

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Uncharted System

1934 Hours

Aboard the UERNF Destroyer Achilles

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â€Get onto the ships! Move!†Wagner yelled as the alarm blared. The Marines of Alpha Company and other Marine groups moved to drop ships or to escape pods.

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           When the Achilles and Typhus entered the new system, they came upon a planet. They also came across two Lakador ships which opened fire upon them. The two UERNF vessels had taken a huge beating since they arrived in system and the Achilles needed to do an emergency landing. The Typhus was moving to the opposite hemisphere to enter the planet’s atmosphere safely and would rally with the surviving Marines.

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           The Marines of the Achilles would have to abandon ship and rally together to fight off the Lakadors from the surface.

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           The Marines boarded the Nighthawks and an explosion sent Wagner onto the floor, trying to regain his composure. He stood up and hopped on a nearby Nighthawk. The remains of Alpha Company’s 2nd Platoon was sitting in the troop bay and once Wagner and another Marine from 2nd boarded, the drop ship flew into the airlock and out of the hanger.

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           The ship flew into the atmosphere of the mysterious planet, fighters spouting weapons at each other the whole way. Wagner glanced out of a window on the back of the troop bay and witnesses the fight unfolding between the UERNF and Lakador ships.

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           The Achilles was taking a beating and the Typhus was dishing out as much as she could… but she was only a Frigate. The Achilles was built for more fighting, but her hull was cratered with impacts of dark energy.

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           The Typhus fired her main gun, a light LIC weapon. The weapon fired a heavy magnetic shell at the Lakador ship. The shell nailed the lead Lakador ship and the ship tumbled backwards as the shell impacted. The shell didn’t penetrate fully and detonated inside the ship.

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           A quarter of the ship detonated and the ship was nearly torn in half. The ship drifted and some of her weapons continued to fire. A dark energy cannon fired a beam of concentrated black energy which impacted the Achilles and blew out her starboard hanger bay. The ship shuddered under the impact and a hundred missiles launched from the Achilles and streaked towards the enemy vessels. It was horrible. They couldn’t hold their own forever and those ships had them in check.

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           The Nighthawk flew downwards through the planet’s atmosphere and Wagner watched as an enemy fighter flew in and fired a salvo of dark energy at their drop ship. An escape pod farther up detonated and more fighters came at their drop ship. The bolts hit the aircraft and the ship shuddered. Thankfully, UERNF Raven fighters retaliated and threw the enemy ships off course with well aimed missiles and 40 mm gunfire.

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           The Nighthawk didn’t escape unscathed… the ship shuddered as the engines gave out and the alarm blared. Wagner watched as the fires around their ship dissipated as they lost speed in the atmosphere and entered normal flight.

           â€Damn! The fuel line’s been breached! This thing’s gunna blow!†The pilot yelled from his seat.

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           â€Everybody, we’re going to jump!†Wagner yelled. The Marines of the drop ship all grabbed parachutes and the pilot slammed the switch which jettisoned the troop bay door. The troop bay was filled with the atmosphere of the foreign world and the Marines began to leap out of the troop bay as the ship tumbled through the skies. The pilots leapt out and Wagner followed quickly behind.

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           Wagner flew out of the open troop bay and felt himself come into a free fall. The other Marines deployed their parachutes, creating a mushroom shaped fabric ticket downwards.

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           As Wagner yanked on his chute, the Nighthawk above him exploded. He shielded his face as the night sky was lit up with the fantastic fireball that used to be a drop ship. Wagner tugged on the cord again to be rewarded with- nothing. His chute wasn’t deploying! This was not good!

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           Wagner furiously tugged on the cord multiple times, each time being rewarded with the same result- nothing. He kept trying however and finally just yanked the cord from the pack, still not getting the chute lose.

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           â€Ah crap!†He said as he flew downwards. He felt something hard hit him as he hit the branch of a tree. He yelled out in pain and flew downwards, hitting tree branches on his decent. He finally landed on a fairly large branch, only for it to snap and he tumbled 8 feet to the ground below.

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           Wagner moaned and slowly sat up. He felt around and grasped his helmet. Wagner picked it up and sat up. The helmet had a small silver rectangle sat sparkling on the helmet- the mark of a Lieutenant. Wagner placed the helmet on his head and stood up.

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           He had no rifle… and most of his gear had been knocked lose during the fall. Most of his backpack was still in order, but most of his grenades, extra clips, and other things had been knocked off.

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           Wagner was relieved to find his knife still on him and was delighted when he spotted a small black object reflecting moonlight. He grabbed for the object and found it to be his M4 .40 caliber side arm. He holstered the pistol and looked around. He grabbed as much of the extra stuff as he could, still not satisfied with the loss of his assault weapon.

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           He took note of the fact that he was in a forest, with tall trees, tall grass and fairly large mushrooms. The mushrooms were almost as high as his knee… that was unheard of. He sighed and started to walk, taking note of the soft tak, tak, tak, sounds in the distance. The Marines had engaged the enemy. Hopefully they could pull together and get out of this mess…

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           Wagner trotted through the grass and into the night… and to the biggest battle of his life.

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End of Chapter 2

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