Altiris Knights:The Fall

Chapter 12:Arrival to Laakeir

A fleet consisting of 70 capital ships emerged from lightspeed over Laakeir. Admiral Urixan, Irma, Reaza, Rokal, Akron, Erean, Lintra and Qirzan observed the grayish yellow orb from the flagship's command room. The fleet approached the planet, everyone on alert.

"Admiral, we will be going down to the surface. We will need a tank platoon and two squads of soldiers, just in case. Signal us if anything arises", said Erean. "Alright. Good luck down there", the admiral said.

The Knights entered a shuttle, and, along with 24 soldiers and 12 tanks, flew down to the surface of the ancient planet. With the Knights' help, the soldiers and tank crew set up a perimeter, fortified with rocks and some scrap metal.

Akron knelt, and placed his hand on the ground. He spread out his earth senses, and felt soft pulses, as his energy traveled through the terrain.

"Anything?" asked Lintra. "Not yet. Just rocks, sparse vegetation. Wait. Something is coming", Akron pulled them both back with earth, just as vines emerged from where they stood a second ago. "Uriaks!" Akron called, tearing through the vines with metal disks.

Uriaks attacked from all directions, followed by Reapers. The soldiers and tanks unleashed volleys of blaster bolts, and the Knights reinforced them with their magic and weapons. Lintra and Erean released beams of light, and Qirzan added lightning, frying the nearest uriaks. The soldiers and tanks continued their barrage, even killing a few Reapers. Irma unleashed waves of light and dark, taking out even more. But the surviving Reapers conjured shields of thick green substance, blocking the elemental attacks.

Reaza cut down another Uriak with her red energy blade, and blocked a Reaper's sword. She ducked under its attacks, and drove it back with a torrent of green fire. Rokal reinforced her with ice, and Akron attacked the creature from the back. The Reaper sent him and Reaza back with a blast of the green substance. Rokal blocked the power with an ice wall, and, channeling energy into his attacks, unleashed a flurry of heavy blows. The Knight evaded his foe's counters and landed several cuts to its arms. He batted its sword aside and slammed the pommel of his saber staff into its chin. He followed up with a horizontal cut to its abdomen, slicing it in two.

The creature blasted him with a burst of power, slamming him into a group of vines. As the growth trapped him, fire, lightning, dark energy and light burned through the vines, freeing him. Rokal gave a brief nod in thanks, and sprinted toward the Reaper, which was already regenerating. Rokal gave it no more time, pelting it with ice shards. He disarmed the creature and finished it with a downward thrust to the heart.

A few soldiers and one tank had been destroyed by the uriaks. One of the surviving Reapers attacked Lintra while she was distracted, delivering a lethal wound to her chest. Then, as quickly as they had come, the creatures retreated below the ground.

...

"There is a network of underground paths, that all lead to a tunnel. That's where the uriaks fled. There must be something important there. We must pursue them", said Akron, rising from the ground. "Two of us will have to stay here, in case they attack from the surface", said Irma. "I will stay", said Erean. "I will, too", Qirzan added. "Stay vigilant. You will not have the benefit of my earth wielding. We shall need it when we reach the tunnel", Akron warned. "We will make do", Erean replied.

Akron, Irma, Reaza and Rokal headed for the tunnel, Akron's earth wielding guiding them. They reached the tunnel in an hour, an hour of thorough investigation of the surroundings. Akron led the way. Irma and Reaza provided balls of fire and light, illuminating the tunnel. All the while, Reaza scanned the earth with mind wielding, searching for any signs of life.

Gradually, the walls started widening. Thus far, no uriaks appeared. As they progressed farther through the tunnel, it stayed that way. "I have a bad feeling about this", Akron muttered. They quickened their pace, and, after another half hour, they entered a large chamber, at the back of which, was a large temple like structure. A slab of rock dropped down behind them, and vines fixed it in place, sealing off the tunnel. Akron channeled energy into the rock, but it escaped his attempts to manipulate it. Reaza struck the slab several times with her energy blade, and Rokal struck it with an ice spear. The slab remained intact, however, even after an intense bombardment from Irma's light and dark energy waves.

"Looks like we have no choice but continue onward", Irma said.

They went into the center, an elevated platform with an area of no more than 15 squared feet. They heard grinding, and the platform rose several meters into the air. "Where is this going," Rokal muttered. Akron sensed movement, and drew his sword, cutting through a winged uriak. The creature fell on the platform, and immediately started regenerating. Irma trapped it in a wall of dark energy, and burned it to ash.

A screech sounded, followed by another, and another, until the entire chamber flooded with a cacophony of noise. Then, the creatures came, both from above and below. Reaza killed a few with cuts to the head, and to the heart, and burned another with a fire bloom. Rokal skewered many through the heart with ice shards, as did Akron. The Knights released waves of mental energy, fire, light, dark, ice and earth, dropping their assailants by the dozens. And yet, more flew at them, trying to overwhelm them with sheer numbers.

"We have to jump. Head into the temple!" said Akron, as he killed another group of uriaks with metal disks. "They will trap us in there. We don't even know how to get out of here!" said Rokal, raising his voice to be heard over the clamor. "They will overrun us here if we don't!" Akron retorted. "We have no time. Akron, Rokal, bring us to the doors on ice!" Irma said, burning another horde of the creatures.

Akron and Rokal combined their power, conjuring an ice slope, and an ice sled. "Get on!" Rokal yelled, as the sled started moving down the slope. The four jumped on, and the ice wielders accelerated the sled, guiding it to the temple entrance, while Reaza and Irma protected them with shields of fire, dark energy and light. As they neared the temple, Akron unleashed a barrage of earth, breaking through the closed doors. "Prepare for impact!" he called, as he and Rokal conjured a water wall.

The sled made contact with the ground, slowing down drastically, and slammed into the water wall, gradually coming to a stop. As the uriaks caught up to them, Akron and Rokal directed the sled and the water at the entrance. Irma and Reaza reinforced them with their elements, and, at the last second, before any more could get through, Akron sealed the entrance with a giant earth slab. Irma conjured walls of light, cutting through the ensuing darkness.

"That will hold them for a while. For now, we must continue onward", Akron said, and the four Knights went deeper into the temple.