A True Hero

40 - The Final Battle, Part 1

Nicolette

I woke sometime later on the Lor Starcutter below deck. I was lying on a roll out cot on my back on the ground with several other soldiers, wounded and healed, asleep around me. I rolled over onto my side and saw an empty cot beside me, covered in blood stains. It was the only empty cot in the room.

Confused and dazed, I stumbled to my feet and walked out of the large room into the hallway that led to the bridge. To my left, far down in the depths of the ship, was the dungeon doors, and I shivered and sprinted toward the bridge. Suddenly, memories of everything that had happened over the past few days came rushing back to me, and I had no idea what day it was or how long I had been asleep for. The last thing I remembered was falling asleep by Meta Knight - Meta! Where was he?!

Seeing a set of white stairs, I sprinted toward them, quickly ascended them, and arrived in the bridge where Magolor, The Sage, Arthur, and Meta Knight were waiting, talking amongst each other and bent over a fold-up table set up in the middle of the room. Relief flooded my heart when I saw them. They were alright! Arthur turned and saw me first, then waved me over quickly.

"How are you feeling?" he whispered, reaching an arm around me when I came close enough.

"I'm alright," I said, but it was mostly a lie. The pain from the wounds I had sustained was beginning to throb. "What's happened? Why is everyone asleep? How long have I been out?"

"Every soldier that survived was placed under a deep sleep," The Sage replied solemnly. "Although NME's forces retreated shortly after Jecra's death, several more were swarming from that old castle in the canyon. Several of our own men have been defeated, and we were in no shape to mobilize quietly with the forces we had left. So, I put you all under a sleeping spell and Magolor teleported every living soldier here. You've been out for a day or so." He shifted uneasily, like he was hiding something, then asked, "How are you really, Sensei Nicolette?"

I blinked several times, then shook my head. I needed to be strong. Now was not the time to think about the past week and try to find closure. I had to focus on the task at hand: helping my leaders and figuring out what the gordo I was supposed to do now.

Just do the next thing, I told myself, then looked over at Meta instead of answering The Sage. "How long have you been awake?" I asked.

"12 hours," he said. He was staring at a torn map on the table, and when I looked more carefully at it, I realized it was a crudely made map of the planet we were on.

"Did you make this map?"

"Arthur suggested it, so I flew out over the canyon and drew a rough map of whatever I saw." His eyes sagged like he was carrying a very heavy burden and was tired of the weight. But when I reached out to him, he closed himself off. Something bad had happened.

"Why do we need this?" I asked. Meta Knight sighed and reached under his mask to rub his eyes. "Arthur, what's going on?" I turned to face the commander. He looked equally as tired.

"The Enterprise was attacked while we were trying to ambush NME," he said quietly. "It fell from the sky this morning, hit by Destrayers."

I gasped. "Were there any survivors?"

Arthur nodded, and I sighed in relief. "They're on the ship. Magolor managed to get them safely, too." He glanced at The Sage. "Though, Magolor paid a heavy price. In exchange for helping our soldiers, his interdimensional transporter was damaged by Destrayers. It's no good for teleporting anymore. And our forces are down to only fifteen hundred warriors. Some are with Vul. His mission was successful, and they destroyed NME's second base castle and transporter, but at a high cost. Most of his forces were defeated. The planet we are on now is NME's last major base and home to his most active monster transporter. We are going to finish our attack tonight with all of the soldiers we have. Vul's joined us here with the soldiers that remain."