Chalk Dust

Prologue: 6 Years Later

The Stronghold was a work of art, in a way. The New Lukeian forces had built many bases in locations across the Field, but none had the finesse of this one.

It is smaller than most, crammed between two hedges in the corner of the Forest, right at the end of the Tube to intercept incoming raids. Thomas had spent days trying to secure the location, as it was not only prime, it was also the location where the ancestor of chalk mining, Luke, had started his first company.
The front of the base was secured by a woven net of sticks and leaves to prevent unwanted entry to the base, propped up by a base layer of logs smuggled across from the Stepping Stones at the other end of the Forest.

Of course, it isn't perfect. It is, in fact, right at this moment, being attacked by a horde of raiders.

Thomas, Emperor of the New Lukeian army, is standing at the net, nicknamed the Web, attempting to reconstruct it as the raiders break it apart with their bare fists. In all honesty, they are making very little progress in terms of breaking it down, but are succeeding in attracting attention. In the distance, a few DLs are noticing the commotion, and motioning towards the Forest corner.
"What are you doing? Help!" Thomas exclaimed, calling out to the recruits watching the proceedings from the base. They noticed him, and rushed over to assist him in deflecting the blows of the Rebellion.

Meanwhile, Isaac was attempting to create dustbombs out of the few resources he had managed to scavenge. However, before he can hand the first one to Raph, he noticed a presence in the back entrance attempting to go unnoticed. Isaac stood up tall and smirked at the significantly smaller figure.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Tom, Queen of the Field."
The boy scowled, "That's Ella to you, half-wit."
"Face it, your plan to go unnoticed is a little redundant. Why not just go help out the front?"
"Bit late for that," Tom/Ella said with a smirk and raised eyebrows.
Isaac's face became a mask of confusion, "Wha.. why?"
At the exact second he realised, there came a crash from the location of the Web, signifying the entry of the Rebellion into the Stronghold.

Chaos is a rather unusual and irregular word, but then again, the actions in progress were rather unusual and irregular.
The main problem was the fist fight ensuing just outside the base, between Raph and a few boys from the Rebellion. Raph was clearly winning, but very messily, leaving most of them on the floor and bruised. Isaac had made the stupid decision to bring his ukulele into school that day, and had left it on a log at the back of the base. A few of the Rebels had noticed it and began to damage it. Isaac tried to wrestle it from their grip, but wasn't making much progress. Thomas was trying to stop logs from being looted and taken to the Rebellion base by the Horshoe, but wasn't getting anywhere either. It was a stroke of luck that the DL forces managed to clear up most of the fist fight, and regained the ukulele, but many logs were lost.
In the aftermath of the battle, the New Lukeians assembled in the base. At the back, Isaac and Thomas DW sat on opposite ends of a log, with Alec and Raph sitting on the floor. Jacob and Alfie sat at the side of the base on crusher logs, and Thomas sat at the front in the remainder of the Web.
"This is a disaster. We are losing everything, and they are going to be back in mere minutes," said Thomas solemnly.
Isaac gulped and addressed the elephant in the room, "Maybe this is it."
Thomas shook his head emphatically, "No, we must stay strong, my friends! Even if this is our last stand, we will make it count. They will remember us forever. We are the Lukeians!"
"Hear hear," chanted Jacob and Raph in unison.

At that second, a yelling sound struck the base, and footsteps began to ring out across the Forest. They all knew what it was. It was inevitable.

The Rebellion had returned.