The Tales Of Zaleth 2

Chapter 4: Reth Under Siege

~Reth's gate~

The Reth forces have held the Hive off for a few hours already. The Hive have an incredibly large army, and due to the stronghold they captured they have established a Hive base. The Hive from the Hive galaxy have higher technology, strategic knowledge, and numbers. The people of Reth are trying to stop the Hive forces from entering Reth. "Push forward!" Robert yells shooting a rpg into the Hive army. The Hive forces seem unlimited. The sky is filled with the brown and red Hive mass floating around. Scattered across the ground is dead Hive forms that are slowly dissipating. Unlike the Hive from before, these Hive are dissipating at a much slower rate. It's taking almost 20 minutes for a grunt form to dissipate completely, unlike the usual ten seconds. Rockets are flying through the air, explosions are the only thing either force can hear.

A few hours after the same terrifying stuff, the Reth soldiers begin to wary. Some even see... something in the distance. They know it's a Hive parasite, but it's unlike any form they've ever seen. Robert slashes a sword through the air, killing only one Hive grunt. Jessica and Cassidy attempt to blow up the Hive with tanks. They barely make a dent in the Hive army. The new Hive form draws nearer by the minute. It comes closer into view as well. It's legs looks like a spider, but it has six legs instead of eight. It looks as if it was made of stone, and had a large worm like head sticking up from the front. "What is that thing?" Cassidy asks over comms. "I don't know." Jessica says looking at it in fear.

~Hive spaceship~

"Let's get it!" Tony yells as his crew shoots down five Hive starfighters. They've been chased for six hours now. Tony's shields are low and he's still got hundreds of starfighters chasing him. "Captain, I'm going to the top of the ship." Jacob says over comms and climbing a ladder to the palm of Tony's mechanical ship arm. "Why?" Tony asks over comms. "My staff has enough power for one shot." Jacob answers almost to the hatch outside. "I'll swing us around to the bridge of the Hive ship." Tony says doing just that. The Hive spaceship looks scarier up close. It's shrouded by Hive mass just floating around it. The tentacles covering the ship are small compared to other tentacles, but they add to Tony's fear just the same. Jacob gets onto the hand and Tony turns it on. He moves it close to the bridge. Tony's shields are about to go, and all the firepower is aiming towards Jacob. "Do it now!" The entire crew yells into comms. Jacob fires his staff at the bridge and it destroys the Command-Mind. Since the Command-Mind died, it took all Hive units within a kilometer with it.

"We did it!" Tony says happily. "Heck yeah!" John yells. Jasmine and Jacob just stare at the dissipating Hive masses in relief. "Now, let's go get some help." Tony says smiling and warping to Celestial. "I'm with you, old man." Jasmine whispers under her breathe and smiling.

~The Starmind~

"Prepare to move." The Starmind says as it observes the Command-Mind's destruction. The Planetminds tell their Hive forces to prepare to move.

~Reth's gate~

The new Hive unit had finally arrived at the gate. It was the old Reth stronghold. It's head rose up and looked at Robert and his soldiers. It roared and spewed Hive masses all over the soldiers. Robert, Jessica, Cassidy, and a few other soldiers didn't get hit by the spores. The soldiers that did quickly turned into Hive forms. "Run!" Robert orders. The remaining six Zaleth forces run into the city. The Hive stronghold and soldiers seem less strategic then before, however. The Hive ship crashes and it lands smack dab in the Hive army outside of Reth. The ship is bigger than all the Planetary Alliance ships. Due to its size, the ship took out a large chunk of Hive forces. The Hive stronghold moves in a straight line to the capitol building. "We need to stop that monster." Jessica says. Cassidy grins and presses a button on his helmet. A Galaxaver 6.0 answers his call. "Save the city, Cassidy. That's an order." Robert says. Cassidy nods and gets into the Galaxaver 6.0.

~Grave Manor~

"We haven't seen any Hive in quite awhile." Mr. George says while he and Melissa stand on a balcony on the top floor of Grave Manor. "You're right. I think we need to go to Reth. I think they're attacking there." Melissa says. Gillian walks in through the door. "I didn't mean to intrude, but you're right. I thought of that a half hour ago. An army is en route to Reth as we speak. Since that explosion happened, we have been able to establish our long range communicator, our galactic communicator is still broken." Gillian explains leaning on the door. "Good to know." Mr. George and Melissa say happily.

~Reth, main street~

"Stand down!" Cassidy yells while inside his mech. The Hive stronghold looks over and sees the mech. It gives another roar and all the Hive forces remaining begin to fuse with the stronghold. It keeps getting bigger until the point it breaks the walls that the stronghold once had. Both the mech and the stronghold are at equal height. Cassidy looks at the stronghold's head, they're face-to-face. Cassidy grins inside his mech as he grabs the stronghold and throws it outside the city. The stronghold squirms around like an insect and then gets up, but Cassidy sprints towards the stronghold and shoots the mech's Devastators at the stronghold. The acidic material quickly dissipates the stronghold. It falls into the snow and it supposedly dies. Cassidy looks over it for a second.

He turns around and walks towards Robert only to be attacked by the stronghold. The mech is badly damaged. "I'm sorry." Cassidy says as he activates the self destruct, grabs the stronghold, and flies straight into space. The stronghold acts like an insect as it infects the mech's systems. Cassidy is slowly being infected by Hive forms that resemble small bugs. The mech explodes killing both Cassidy and the stronghold.