Rage Alone III: Ambitions - Part Four

      Just when he thought he wouldn't see anyone again, two mutant Grundos armed with energy rifles walked through the doors. He rose to his feet as the two Grundos stared at him for a moment before one pressed the button to bring down the shield. The one to his left said, "We were informed you've become a risk. Turn around and get on your knees now."

      Jyrados narrowed his eyes at them and growled at them, "And what if I don't want to?"

      The Grundo on the right answered, "Then we can just shoot you as you are. The first option just has dignity to it, Neopet."

      Jyrados bared his teeth as his eyes lit up with a blue light. In response, the Grundo to the right pulled the trigger, but the laser disbursed just before hitting Jyrados. With a jerk of his hand, Jyrados grabbed the weapon from the Grundo's hand and slammed the handle against the Grundo's jaw. The second Grundo shot to as little effect and Jyrados threw out his other hand as a ribbon of blue energy coiled from his fingertips and knocked the Grundo against the wall with enough force to render him unconscious. With the two of them pacified, Jyrados dropped the rifle and ran into the hallway.

      The first thing Jyrados noticed was a blue Grundo far off to his right. In a panic, the Grundo hit the alarm button next to him, and the lights altered to a bright red. Jyrados, with eyes still glowing blue, reached out and yelled, "You just couldn't make this easier, could you?" He then pulled his arm back and the metal panel next to the Grundo became outlined in a blue light and broke from the wall to hit him in the face. The Grundo fell to the ground and the panel dropped on top of him.

      At the end of the hallway, four mutant Grundos with rifles came and stopped short of the blue Grundo. Two kneeled down while the others stood and the all opened fire on Jyrados. Their lasers stopped short of Jyrados and he clenched his fists. Long, thin ribbons of blue energy slowly formed and circled around him without a pattern. His teeth clenched as tight as his fists and he let off a growl at the Grundos. Blue lights formed around their throats and they were forced to the sides where they impacted the walls with enough force to dent the bulk heads. Their rifles dropped from their limp hands and the Grundos soon followed. With a small grin of satisfaction, he rested his hands against the wall. His hands flashed with blue light and a hole twice his size was shattered into the wall and he walked through to the next room.

      On the bridge, the Grundos were all hard at work on figuring out what was going on. The Grundo behind the commander said, "That energy signature is constant, and moving. We're losing power in sector five."

      A Grundo in the back-right corner announced, "We have an internal breach between sectors five and six. Attempts to seal off the areas failed."

      Another Grundo to the left turned and told the commander, "The alarm was set off in the brig on sector five. The security team in that corridor isn't responding to communications. The sector six team said something about a Neopet before screaming, then I got cut off."

      The Grundo off to the right followed by saying, "Target is moving towards the secondary generator. If destroyed, we will lose twenty percent of the ship's power."

      The commander turned around and asked the Grundo behind him, "Do you have that signature analyzed yet?"

      The Grundo pressed a few buttons on his console before he answered, "Yes sir, it matches the readings Sloth recently uploaded into the database before leaving the Virtuclaw."

      The commander slowly opened his mouth without a word. For a moment, his jaw trembled and his eyes lost focus. While the others continued to give reports, he didn't hear them for a moment. He disregarded what everyone said once he composed himself and turned to the Grundo to the left. "I want you to open a link with Sloth, and make it fast," he demanded.

      In the southern mountains, the group of six were ducked down behind a grouping of boulders placed uphill from where Sloth and his minions sifted through the rubble. Sloth stayed at the center of the row of landing pods while the Grundos cut through the rocks with hand-held laser cutters. Some of them had dug down to twenty feet to recover pieces while others surveyed areas to begin their digs. A massive laser drill was set up to tunnel deep into the ground, but had yet to become activated. Four Grundos worked to make the drill operational, and the guards kept themselves close to Sloth's position.

      Simpha kept close to the edge of the boulders to try and make out what any of them were saying. The others focused on keeping out of sight while Draicus tried to think of a plan. Tumarche whispered to Simpha, "Did you hear anything yet that could be helpful?"

      "Well," Simpha whispered back, "this seems like more of an archeological dig than an invasion. A Grundo mentioned a crystal, but other than that, it's just been gibberish."

      A moment of silence passed before Draicus softly told them, "We can't defeat them in a head-on battle. We're out numbered and out gunned here. The only thing we can hope for is to find Jyrados if he's here and get him in a covert manner. That means I don't want any of you to rush into a fight."

      Everyone nodded and kept an eye on Simpha in case he heard anything else. There was no news for him to give for five minutes before he looked at everyone. In a soft tone, he said, "I can't hear anything said around Sloth. I'll need to get closer. Wait here while I go check on it."

      Draicus passed him a communication helmet and whispered, "Put it on and keep me informed when you hear something. Don't wait to get back to us for updates."

      Simpha quietly slipped it on and crept off around the rocks. He kept on all fours while making sure not to knock around any of the rocks to the point of making too much noise. His descent down the mountain went by without attracting attention, but he didn't move too close to the pods. With his hearing, all he needed was to get at least forty feet from Sloth before he could keep back and remain unseen.

      Simpha managed to keep out of sight long enough to get close to the pods to hear what was going on. Softly, he muttered into the helmet, "I'm in position. I'll let you know when I hear something."

      On the other end, Draicus responded, "Good. We'll remain here and wait for you."

      Just after that, a red Grundo rushed over to Sloth with a metal sphere. On top of it was an antennae, and six buttons in one area. The Grundo told Sloth, "Master, we have an urgent problem on the Virtuclaw. The commander is asking to speak with you immediately."

      Sloth snatched the sphere from the Grundo's hands and said into it, "What is it now?"

      The sphere responded, "Sir, it's the Shoyru. He's tearing the ship apart from the inside. Security teams failed to capture him and he's headed for the secondary generators."

      Sloth interrupted with, "How did he escape? It's a weak Shoyru without any of his powers enabled. Your incompetence isn't impressing me."

      "Sir," the commander responded, "it's not that simple. He has the power of Fethva in him. When the crystal was destroyed, it must have transferred into his body. And as it stands, if he causes a breach in the outer hull, over half the ship will be decompressed without any means of containing it. What are your orders?"

      Sloth remained silent for a moment to think over the situation. A slight grin formed on his lips and he said, "Tell the crew to abandon ship. As for the Shoyru, set the ship to land at my position. I want him to come down on top of me."

      Another moment of silence followed before the commander said, "Yes sir," and the comm link was broken between them.

      Sloth looked at the field of workers and yelled, "What's the status on the crystals? I need them now!"

      One of the blue Grundos looked back and answered out loud, "Twenty-six pieces recovered and will be joined together once we get the last two pieces. They were buried pretty deep, so we need the drill online. Should only take a few more minutes."

      Sloth ordered back, "Get the pieces into the device now. I want them joined together again as soon as possible."

      Simpha made sure to keep his voice as quiet as possible as he told the others, "Guys, bad news and worse news. Which do you want first?"

      Draicus responded, "Let's go with the less of bad first."

      Simpha told him, "Jyrados is on the cruiser with the power of Fethva and is on a rampage."

      Draicus followed up with, "And the worst?"

      With hesitation, Simpha answered, "He's coming our way."

To be continued...