The Battle for Kreludor: Part Two

Zara had carefully followed the fire Grundo into the Resistance headquarters. If it was ever attacked, the minions would easily be able to trap the antis. Clearly the headquarters was positioned for secrecy and not for any kind of military strategy. She discovered it was hidden in the side of a deep lunar ravine and its entrance was cleverly concealed in the rock. The shadow Kyrii had managed to slip through the secret door before it automatically locked.

      Zara was crouched in front of the door to the conference room. She could hear the Grundo speaking to another member of the resistance inside. She quickly pulled a small electronic bug from her belt and attached it to the bottom of the door. It would record and transmit any future conversations that the resistance had.

      The Kyrii silently moved down the hall and peered into the other rooms. Some held neat stacks of weapons and armour while others were filled with piles of supplies. Zara dropped electronic bugs under every door and watched them scurry to find a hiding place. She found small hangers at the end of the hall that held fighter ships and rockets. The Resistance was better equipped then she had imagined.

      Zara finished scattering bugs and began to sketch a map of the complex onto the screen of her small computer. She smiled. Who would have known getting into the headquarters would be easy? Then again, antis were not known for their intelligence. Zara tucked her computer back into her belt and turned around. She froze suddenly. The door to the conference room drifted open and two members of the resistance stepped out.

      The fire Grundo immediately saw her. "There she is!" he yelled as he rushed towards her.

      Zara drew her Virtublaster and fired two lasers in their direction. Then she turned and fled to the exit. She flung herself against the metal door but it would not budge. She frantically pulled at its handle and found that it had been bolted shut.

      She spun around to see a royal Lupe pointing a QX-92 Neutrino Blaster directly at her. Captain Zara let her Virtublaster drop the ground. There was nothing more she could do.

Commander's Office, Virtupets Moon Base 32, Kreludor:

      Captain Dwolt knocked firmly on the door of his Commander's office. He entered it and gave an unnecessarily exaggerated salute.

      "Good evening, sir," Dwolt said confidently. "I have contacted all of the other Kreludan moon bases and informed their officers of our recent developments. They will be all sending a senior officer to our meeting."

      "And when will the meeting be scheduled?" Commander Krule asked lazily.

      "Well sir," the Darigan Scorchio replied, "all of the representatives will be here within twenty-four hours. I suggest we have it tomorrow evening."

      "Very well, Captain, thank you," Krule said. "I will need you and Captain Zara to organize an agenda of things for us discuss. I also want you to ask Zara to write a speech for me to present at the beginning of our conference... something inspiring..."

      "Sir, I believe Captain Zara is out on a field mission at the moment. She left the base about an hour ago."

      Krule looked annoyed. "A mission? Now? I need a speech to give... oh, never mind then, I'll start it. Tell her to report to me at once when she returns. You can start planning the agenda." The mutant Grundo opened a computer screen. "I will also need you to start organizing the soldiers from each base into legions. Find out how many we have and what equipment we'll need."

      "Yes, sir," Dwolt said obediently. He was glad to be working under Krule's command. He had never met an officer with such natural control of authority. There could be no doubt that they would beat the Resistance in any war.

      "One more thing," the commander said. "I need training to improve here. We've been far too lenient with our soldiers lately. I want you and Zara to develop a more advanced program... and I also need you to send in forms to the space station requesting weapons upgrades."

      "Very well, sir."

      Krule frowned. "Captain Zara had better be back by tomorrow. She's picked the worst time to go running off looking for information."

      "I believe she was only leaving for a few hours, sir. The message she left was that she was going to investigate a lead regarding the resistance. I am sure it will not take long."

      "It had better not," the mutant Grundo said with irritation. He turned towards his computer and saw for the first time that a message had appeared on the screen. "By Sloth!" he said furiously, having read it. "Zara's sent a distress call."

Interrogation Room, Resistance Headquarters, Kreludor:

      Captain Zara cautiously opened her eyes. She was alone in a small dark room. All of her weapons had been taken away and she was tied to a chair with thick plastic ropes. Zara groaned and struggled against her bindings. It was useless; they were tied in clever knots behind her back. Why hadn't she been more careful? It was foolish for her to stay in the headquarters for so long... now she was captured.

      Zara sighed. She would undoubtedly be questioned by the antis... she couldn't tell them anything important. Perhaps she should lie to them... the shadow Kyrii knew that it was better to have your enemy underestimate you. She would pretend to be less intelligent. In fact, she thought, the less intelligent she acted, the more she'd look like an anti.

Command Center, Resistance Headquarters, Kreludor:

      Retep had sent a message out to all of the local members of the Resistance. They now were gathered for a meeting. Retep threw a pile of intelligence reports on the table.

      "We have enough information to confirm that Sloth is indeed trying to destroy the Resistance forces," he said. "We know that currently all of the Virtupets stations on Kreludor are forming a united force to bring us down through warfare. If it's war they want, it's war they'll get! We'll unite the anti-Sloths on Kreludor and fight back with all our strength!"

      A robot Shoyru stood up. "Listen, Retep," he said. "How can we possibly hope to defeat all of the minions on Kreludor? There are far too many of them! And the Virtupets guys have far better equipment then we do."

      There was a murmur of agreement throughout the room.

      "We will defeat them because I propose that we unite as well," Retep said strongly. "I've sent messages to all of the Grundo colonies. They have agreed to support us. The minions may have better weapons and more soldiers, but we have more spirit. And we are fighting for freedom!"

      "And if we lose?" the Shoyru asked.

      "We cannot lose," Oen replied stepping forward. "The Resistance is going to be attacked whether we want to fight nor not. We no longer have a choice in this... we should strengthen our defence immediately. Would you rather have us surrender right now? We'd be shipped off to the deepest mines for the rest of our lives... if we were lucky..."

      "We're not even going to consider surrendering," said Retep. "One anti is worth ten minions at war. We'll prepare to fight and we shall free all the Kreludans from Sloth's influence."

      "How long do we have?" a Grundo asked from the back of the room.

      "It depends," said Oen. "We know that they will be meeting in a few days to discuss their plans. We're going to infiltrate that meeting and find out exactly what they're going to do."

      "We should have a few weeks to prepare at least," Retep said. "Our enemies will not be ready for a while..."

      "Why don't we just disband the Resistance?" the Shoyru asked.

      The other members of the Resistance stared at him in disbelief.

      "Look at it this way," the Shoyru continued. "Sloth is only sending his troops here because we're around. If we disbanded, he'd have no one to fight. We could get rid of the Resistance, destroy all the evidence, and be left in peace."

      "Are you serious?" asked Retep.

      "Yes, I don't think fighting will work. If we disband peacefully, we won't have to go to war. We can prevent a violent battle and a terrible defeat."

      "And leave everyone on Kreludor in slavery? If you're afraid of fighting, you can leave." The royal Lupe pointed to the door. "But I will never give up as long I have strength to fight. We will free all the Kreludans from Sloth's oppression. Or die trying."

Spaceport, Virtupets Moon Base 32, Kreludor:

      Throughout the night, shuttles had been arriving from different areas of Kreludor bringing Virtupets officers to the base. Captain Dwolt had been running around the base for hours trying to get things organized. The Scorchio now stood wearily on the metal tiles of the spaceport as he shook the hands of officers that had just landed. He needed to sleep, but he had no time. He wished he could make a soldier do all the work, but Commander Krule had specifically ordered him to take care of things.

      Dwolt was in a miserable mood. He was supposed to greet all the officers, write an agenda for the meeting, start training soldiers, and deal with Zara- all in a few hours. Sometimes he wondered why his Commander gave him so much work. It was probably because he was so competent.

      The Captain was about to turn back to his office when he saw a robot Shoyru coming towards him shyly. Dwolt frowned. The Shoyru was not in a Virtupets uniform. He was dressed like a civilian... like someone from one of the nearby colonies.

To be continued...