The Tales Of Zaleth 2

Chapter 2: Fight Back!

~Reth, main street~

"Jessica, do we have any way to communicate with Celestial?" Robert asks shooting a few Hive grunts. "No, we don't, sire." Jessica says cutting a grunt in half. "How much of the city have we lost?" Robert asks shooting more grunts. "Not a lot of it. Most of the Hive forces are infecting Reston city." Jessica says decapitating a grunt. "Let's hurry up and beat the Hive forces here. Then we'll head over to Reston City, hopefully they have a way of communication." Robert says shooting ten grunts. "What about Tony? I heard he's still here, so he'd have a ship." Jessica asks decapitating a few more grunts. "Couldn't we use any ship?" Robert asks jumping behind a destroyed car. "No, his ship has a cloaking device. I think." Jessica answers hoping into an infected store and cutting a few grunts in half. "Alright, then. Find him!" Robert orders. Zaleth soldiers nod and help Robert and Jessica finish off the Hive forces on main street.

~Time stream, Stream-Head~

"Hey, captain, another artifact has been found." Stu says walking into McClain's room. "Which one, and where?" McClain asks looking at the artifacts they currently have. Those being The Orb, The Sword and The Book. "I don't know which one, but it's on Zaleth." Stu answers. "Of course the Alliance is involved." McClain says chuckling. "Shall we set course?" Stu asks. "We risk seeing Peter Grave again, but after the 92nd millennia stuff, I think it's fine. Let's go." McClain says. Stu nods and runs to the bridge. "Pamela, Abigail, Tristan, and Gabe, set course for Zaleth!" Stu yells! "Alright." The four of them say setting course. Wade initiates the travel and Stu wakes Garrett up. "Why did you wake me?" Garrett asks. "We're going after an artifact." Stu says. "Alright then, let's do it." Garrett says happily.

~Reston City, capitol building~

"I want you to get a message out for me." Melissa says. "What's that?" Gillian asks. "My husband and I have set up a war camp at Grave Manor. It's completely clear of Hive forces, but it won't be without anyone defending it." Melissa explains sitting down. "We don't have any bases or camps, so thank you." Gillian says snapping his fingers for Peter to get his local broadcasting equipment. Peter comes back fairly quickly. "Here." Peter says giving it to him. Gillian hooks it up and begins his transmission. "Soldiers and citizens of Reston, make your way to Grave Manor. Melissa Hile has set up a war camp there." Gillian says ending the transmission. "Shall we make our way there now?" Peter asks. "Yeah, we shall. Let's go." Gillian says standing up. Melissa stands up and they, along with the army, make their way to Grave Manor.

~A few hours later, Grave Manor~

"Any attacks while we've been gone?" Melissa asks hugging Mr. George. "Luckily no, a few people have came though. They're soldiers, luckily. I also notice that you've brought quite an army with you." Mr. George says. "I think we'll be able to beat the Hive forces here and reestablish contact with Reth in no time." Melissa says happily. "I hope so also." Mr. George says letting go of Melissa. Gillian attempts to set up a comms system, but it's too frozen to work. "It's snowing in summer?!" Gillian asks in shock. "I am pretty cold, I think it has something to do with the sun." Melissa says pointing at the sun. "Maybe it's the Hivemind?" Mr. George asks thinking back to the Reston-Zaleth war. "It most likely is, but we'll need Celestial's laser to destroy it." Gillian says.

~Hive starship, bridge~

"Shall we use the brutes now?" A grunt asks The Command-Mind. "I suppose our grunts could use the backup, send the brutes to the Zaleth strongholds." The Command-Mind orders. "Wouldn't that be a waste? The hivekillers are there." The grunt asks worried. "That's the point. Our grunts are vastly superior than the ones that these 'hivekillers' have fought before. We've almost taken the entire planet, and all we've used is grunts." The Command-Mind says. "Alright, I'll send them down now." The grunt says running over to the drop pod controls.

~A Zaleth stronghold, a few kilometers from the capital~

The brutes land in front of the stronghold. The snow is beginning to pick up making the planet easier to infect due to the presence of more mass. The Hive brutes rush to the wall and bash the wall with their brute force. The hivekillers drop down from the walls, a few of them are instantly infected. About 50 of them kill a brute on impact. There's about 1,500 hivekillers at that stronghold. The hivekillers are able to kill most of the brutes, but the brutes raw strength ends up beating the hivekillers. Only a few brutes remain, however, but due to all the soldiers and hivekillers they killed in claiming the stronghold they have a sizable Hive army with them. The stronghold is converted into a Hive base and all Hive forces from Reth are regrouping there.

~Reth, capitol building~

"That's weird, all the Hive forces left." Robert says not knowing of it's current intelligence. "They weren't this smart last time. Tactical retreats weren't really their style." Cassidy says agreeing with Robert. "Where are they going though?" Robert asks trying to figure out the Hive's current tactic. "Maybe we should follow them?" Cassidy asks. "No, we need to get to Celestial and save Zaleth. The planet will freeze over if we don't." Robert says. "Alright, what happens when the Hive attack again?" Cassidy asks. "Then we'll fight, for now we focus on getting to Celestial." Robert says turning around to look out the window.

~Starmind, a few kilometers from Zaleth's star~

"One of you, head to Trite." The Starmind says while looking at the planetminds. "I'll go." A planetmind says. "Hurry and infect that planet. It's almost completely frozen over." The Starmind says. "Of course, what happens after we claim this solar system?" The planetmind asks. "Then we'll infect the rest of this galaxy." The Starmind says laughing maniacally.