Galaxy War X (The long-awaited sequel is finally on TPM!)

[Mewfour]

*dresses up as The Rock* *grabs a mic* Finally, Galaxy War- HAS COME BACK- to TPM.

Yes, for those of you who followed Galaxy War, I figured it's about freakin' time that I posted Galaxy War X, the next in the line of a lot of sequels. So without further ado, I give thee Galaxy War X
*************

The Asylum of the Damned Presents...

-

In a faraway galaxy in a faraway time, there lay a small blue and green planet in the depths of space. Mankind soon discovered this planet, abundant with life and sporting its own primitive life forms with a dazzling potential for incredible intellect, much as humans were in Earth's stone age, and those inhabitants were quickly raised into beings of reason, intellect, and culture.

-

A Production of the Damned Original Feature....

-

Mankind left the planet, "X," after a brief stay, leaving the Xians to fend for themselves.

The destiny of the Xians, however, would not lie entirely in their own hands....

-

Inspired by the works of Hideo Kojima, Gunpei Yokoi, and George Lucas...

-

The Xian Nondel Populas rescued his co-pilot Simui Latoor from the clutches of the feared galactic warlord, Deth. Nondel was praised as a global hero upon his return with Simui, and his tale of barely averting the terrible demise of X captivated the entire planet.

Two months later...

-

GALAXY WAR 2

-

Life had never been the same for Nondel since that fateful day two months ago. Once he was able to walk down any street with complete anonymity, and today he was always surrounded by fellow Xians of all ages. They cheered him. They asked him questions. They thanked him. It eventually began to grate on Nondel's nerves so much that he found himself having to fake an appearance on the other side of the city in order to get where he was going with his sanity intact. He and Simui had hardly spoken to each other since their return to X. They would occasionally walk by each other in the hallways of the central X Global Military headquarters, but they would only exchange no more than a wave or smile, just like they always had in the past. Despite Nondel's heroics two months ago and his newfound celebrity status, nothing had changed between them. They were friends, just as they had always been, and neither felt like changing it.

Assignment after assignment flew past Nondel, but there was never another one quite like that epic adventure. And not a single day went by without Nondel being constantly subjected to everyone's eyes- in person, radio, television, and in any medium possible. They all listened to what he had to say, and they took it as the word of God. Nondel always grinned at the prospect of asking his public if they would jump off a bridge if he did, guessing that, in any case, he would always be the last one to jump.

For Nondel, life was indeed not the same. Nor would it ever be, knowing whom he had crossed...

-

The showl Nondel wore around himself cloaked his face completely, it even darkened his spikey, bright green hair. No longer could he get any quiet at his own home, so he decided to mask himself as best he could and make for a cafe down the street. The dusky red fabric was not the most pleasant thing to have rubbing up against the back of his neck and the long hair at his shoulders, but anything was more bearable than his popularity. Nondel had to adjust his neck so that the shadow of his cloak obscured his face as a thin waitress strolled by the table. "Ready to order?" she asked testily, playing with a long curl of her thin green hair, her mind hardly occupied with her job.

"Just a coke," Nondel mutter hoarsely, trying his best to immitate Bloq's voice, however much it had changed in his memory since their bloody battle.

"Just a coke?" The waitress asked skeptically. "Fine, not a big spender," she muttered, scribbling quickly in her notebook before disappearing again. Nondel stared at the table, then looked around the diner. Everyone else was going about their business, completely unnoticing of their celebrity-savior in their midst.

Nondel's use of Bloq's voice had become a sanity-saver to him. Ever since he was forced to immitate the bulky general's unique vocal cord configuration on Deth Sattelite Ninteen, he had used it over and over again with his showl whenever he wanted to remain anonymous in public. However, it always made Nondel wonder what was happening with the criminal that made him famous...

Nondel's daydreaming was suddenly interrupted when the waitress returned with a tall, fizzing glass of coke. "Cash or credit?" the waitress asked impatiently.

Nondel was careful enough not to let himself answer, allowing himself only to reach into his pocket and dig out his wallet. Taking out a thin, small silver card, Nondel handed it to the waitress. The waitress brandished a small device in her hand, plugging Nondel's card into the middle. "Wait a minute," the waitress muttered suddenly, "This card is registered to Nondel Populas!"

At the mention of his name, the chattings amongst the partrons of the cafe were immediately silent. All of their eyes were locked on Nondel's table. Nondel worriedly darted his eyes about the diner, never noticing the waitress reach for Nondel's showl. Within the blink of an eye, Nondel was revealed, and then a gasp of awe and surprise was as well. And then, the expected and inevitable happened.

"What was it like in Deth Fortress?"

"How'd you get past them?"

The questions, Nondel's mind groaned in agony, dear God, not the questions!

"Was it scary at all?"

"How'd you survive?"

"Does Deth really have a fake eye?"

"How'd you ever get into Deth Fortress?"

"Don't expect it to last for long."

That last one muttered statement caught Nondel's ear above all the others. Nondel looked to the source of the voice and saw a black-haired Xian, with long hair spiked wildly upwards, sitting down a few tables in front of him, calmly sipping a coffee. Putting his emptied mug down, the Xian wiped his lips with his sleeve, displaying a hard face of seriousness. Standing up, the two Xian's eyes met only for a second before the black-haired stranger walked out of the cafe.

Nondel could not exactly remember where, but as the crowd around him began to grow and become noisier, he could have sworn that he had seen that Xian somewhere else before...

[Mewfour]

The hallway was unusually abundant one day that Nondel was called in for another assignment. But instead of gathering stares and gossip from the other Xians about his popularity, Nondel found everyone else to be much more occupied with their current tasks, almost in a frenzied state. Even though Nondel did not know why, he had a feeling in his bones that today would not be just another day.

When Nondel pushed open the double doors of the briefing room of the X Global Military headquarters, he found the large spacey room to be vacant, save for one large, black-haired Xian, the same one he saw in the cafe, slumped lazily on a chair. "Hey, it's you!" Nondel greeted the Xian with a lack of anything better to say.

"Yeah? So?" The Xian replied gruffly without looking at Nondel.

"Where's everyone else?" Nondel asked.

"Not here," the Xian replied blandly. "I was expecting others here too."

"You were called here too?" Nondel asked. The Xian snorted a reply.

"Good to see you, gentlemen," the voice of General Rion echoed throughout the large room. Nondel and the other Xian turned their heads to see Rion close the doors behind him, leaving just him, Nondel and the Xian in the room.

Nondel and the black-haired Xian stood up as the stocky, blonde crew-cut figure of Rion approached them. After a quick salute, all three assumed respective seats. "I assume neither of you two know what this is about?" Rion asked.

Nondel and the other Xian glanced at each other. "No, sir," they both replied in unison.

"Good," Rion muttered with relief. It was the kind of mutter that made both Nondel and the other Xian's spines shiver. "Nondel, you've met Xslav Incorr before, have you?" Rion asked, looking at the other Xian.

Nondel took a quick look at the Xian's face. "Yes, sir," Nondel replied, "But only recently."

"Then let me introduce you to captain Xslav Incorr properly," Rion said. "And Xslav, I'm sure you know who this is?"

"Captain Nondel J. Populas," Xslav muttered. "Yeah, who doesn't?"

"Xslav Incorr," Nondel muttered, "I've heard that name before."

"Second regiment, platoon Five-A, Two years ago," Xslav quickly spat out. "Outnumbered twenty to one on Zeta-Nine. I was the only one to make it out alive."

"Yes," Rion said, "The classic war hero, Xslav was. Almost as famous as you are, Nondel."

"Famous as he is," Xslav muttered bitterly and silently under his breath.

"Boys, I'd like to turn your attention to the main screen," said Rion abruptly.

Immediately, the lights in the room dimmed, and one wide wall of the opposite side of the room lit up, drawing all three Xian's attention towards it. The wall came to life quickly when a moving picture plastered itself across it. And the face that soon graced the room on the wall made Nondel's heart skip a beat.

"How are you, gentlemen?"

The voice that once horrified Nondel was intact in his memory, just as he remembered it when he heard it two months ago. Xslav had let his jaw drop open, his eyes wide with stunned astonishment.

And then, Nondel blurted out uncontrollably, "Deth!"

The image of the steel-masked face with spikes for blonde hair glared coldly at him from the wall. "I've heard nothing but good things about captain Nondel J. Populas of X," said Deth, the picture on the wall breaking up periodically. "But know that his interference was but a mere setback to the inevitable."

The picture panned to show Deth from his waist up, displaying his gleaming red robes, cloaking around his shining blue armor. "When I had planned to steal vital information about X two months ago, I never thought a plan of such a subtle nature would backfire." The display shifted to Deth's left shoulder, obscuring the background of the picture. "So, if I cannot have X in my collection with tactics of that calibre," Deth said, tilting his torso, "then I'll have to resort to more primitive means."

The view suddenly moved past Deth's shoulder, revealing a large heap of machinery in the background. The picture showed Deth walking towards the mechanical mountain, with the view slowly following him. When he stopped, he turned to face the picture again. "Behind me," he said, "is the largest and most powerful photon-based laser projector of it's kind. Now, keep an eye on XM-002 for the next minute."

Almost as soon as Deth finished, Rion shakily barked into a handheld device, "Bring up the Moon-cam! XM-002!"

Instantly, a small window popped up into the bottom right hand corner of the large image, displaying a bluish-gray moon in space. "The second moon of X?" Nondel muttered.

"One of our three," Rion breathed, "I have no idea what's he's planning," Rion grimaced, "This is a live feed."

"Keep an eye on the moon, Xians," Deth reminded his audience, "Keep an eye on it for five more seconds."

Just as Nondel and Xslav glanced at each other, a loud boom echoed through the room, and the small picture of the second moon of X erupted in a brilliant flash. When the light subsided, nothing was left in the smaller window where the moon once was but sparkling space dust.

Nondel's heart skipped a beat. Xslav murmured in disbelief. Rion's forehead perspired profusely as his eyes bulged out.

"That was only fifteen percent of the Armageddeon Laser's full power," Deth said. "Now, it will take twenty-four hours to recharge to full power, even though it only needs eighty-one percent power to completely obiterate X."

"He's insane!" Nondel found himself blurt out again. Xslav snarled quietly to himself.

"You have twenty-four hours to offer me your complete and unconditional surrender," Deth spat out, "I await your decsion soon."

With that, the wall faded to black, and the room lit up once more. "He destroyed the moon!" Nondel gasped, hardly believing anything he saw.

"And he'll destroy X in twenty-four hours, too," Xslav growled.

"That's where you two boys come in," Rion said, struggling to keep his voice firm. "Nondel, you've proven yourself capable of infiltrating Deth's stations before, so, even if this is beyond your call of duty...?"

"I accept, sir," Nondel said gravely, "I suppose you don't have much of a choice of men anyway..."

"Not so, Nondel," Rion said. "Xslav is also as capable as you are in those situations you found yourself in two months ago."

Nondel looked at Xslav, who glared at him back. "I was outnumbered on Zeta-nine," Xslav said, "You were outnumbered on Deth Fortress. I suppose you want me to join Nondel, sir?" Xslav asked Rion.

"Correct, Xslav," Rion stated bluntly. "When we recieved the beginning of his broadcast channels opening up to ours fifteen minutes ago, we had no choice but to call in who we thought were the best two soldiers, two who had faced impossible odds in the past before, and won. And you know we can't risk a firefight in our orbit with that giant laser pointed at us," Rion grimaced, "If it could destroy one of our moons at fifteen percent power, it would devastate any part of X it hits at even a fraction of that power. It could even be pointed here, right above our heads!"

Nondel and Xslav glanced at the ceiling, wishing they could see through it. "I accept, sir," Xslav said, "When do we leave?"

Rion glanced at them grimly. "Immediately."

[Mewfour]

Even though they were best protection vests of their kind, Nondel found the orange vest of the regular uniform to be much more comfortable. "Look at these things," Nondel muttered as he snapped the two halves of the thick, dark vest together around his torso, "Almost as stiff as Rion."

"At least they'll take bullets for you better," Xslav commented, lacing up his large black boots with a vest of his own.

Nondel began to buckle the weapons belt around his thighs. "The sooner these get broken in, the better."

"Better them than us," Xslav muttered, slipping on a pair of pitch-black gloves.

Nondel tapped on the left side of his bulky vest, hearing a soft yet stern knock in return. "Ion coating too," He said, "No wonder they're so stiff."

"It'll sure take a ton of damage before that coating melts, too," Xslav added.

"Just in case we make any mistakes," Nondel said, "And we need all the second chances we can get."

Xslav suddenly gave Nondel a grim stare. "Second chances?" Xslav asked. "I doubt it."

*****

The rain was heavy at the Xian World Military spacefield that day. It had begun seconds after Nondel and Xslav's surprise briefing, and the shocking demands of Deth. As the rain pelted against the vertical-launch bay doors on the ground, concealing Nondel and Xslav's rocket ship underneath, both Xians could not help but to feel unsteady. As they both lay in thier seats, tilted vertical and strapped in firmly, all they could do was let their minds wander as they waited for liftoff clearance.

"Let's go over the plan again," Xslav said in the pilot's seat. Nondel nodded from the co-pilot position. "You drop me off at one of the seven Deth Sattelites that Deth's dragged along with him, and you try to to get to the one that's directly above it."

"I still think this splitting up is a bad idea," Nondel muttered. "I don't think Deth's going to be so relaxed as he was when I dropped in for a visit."

"Maybe," Xslav muttered gravely, "But if we split up, we'll cover more ground, and maybe find a way to Deth Fortress where the Armageddeon Laser is."

"Hard to believe," Nondel said, "That giant fortress is a fully-mobile warship."

"Right," Xslav said, "Which means that Deth can pick whatever spot he chooses to destroy X from."

"Well, this time around, I'll have Simui watching my back," Nondel said, tapping on the tiny reciever plugged into his ear.

"A Xian spotter?" Xslav asked, glancing sideways at his own device in his ear, "The only spotter I've trusted since Zeta-Nine is the one I built myself."

"Wait, you were that guy who built that supercomputer-spotter?" Nondel murmured.

"Yes," Xslav replied impassively. "It's still running in HQ perfectly."

"I could only wish I had your technical know-how," Nondel muttered.

"It wasn't easy," Xslav said, "But building that thing wasn't so difficult."

Nondel paused and rubbed his chin. "D'you really think he's going to destroy X?" Nondel asked, completerly shifting trains of thought. "He only wanted to conquer it last time."

Xslav muttered in dismay. "I don't know what he's planning," he said, "But I think we should just assume he's not bluffing."

"He's crafty, Xslav," Nondel muttered, "I don't think we should take anything as a given." Nondel glanced to his left, away from Xslav. "It's all up to us to stop whatever he's planning."

"That'll be easier for you," Xslav said gravely. When Nondel gave him an inquizitive look, Xslav said, "Back on Zeta-nine, a pulse-grenade exploded in our trench. My vision in my right eye hasn't been the same since." Xslav grimaced. "All we could afford to take with us is a gun each," he said, "and my aim isn't what it used to be."

"Then I think you'd need this more than me," Nondel said, reaching into the left flap of his vest. When he pulled his hand out, he held the handle of a beam saber.

"A beam sword!" Xslav gasped, "Where's you get that?"

"Someone dropped it on Deth Fortress," Nondel said, "So I 'borrowed' it."

Xslav glanced at the handle uneasily. "You know that taking any other equipment than what we were assigned with is a direct violation of protocol," Xslav said.

"Sometimes rules need to be broken," Nondel said, handing the butt of the handle to Xslav, "Especially if the whole world depends on it."

With a small amount of guilt, Xslav took the saber from Nondel and stuffed it into his vest. "You sure you won't be needing it?" Xslav asked.

"Like I said," Nondel said, "You'll need it more than I will."

Suddenly, the small monotone voice of the onboard computer spoke up. "Launch commencing in one minute."

The dull roar of moving heavy plates grinding along each other filled the air of the cockpit, and the two Xian knew that the bay doors were steadily opening. "Brace yourself," Xslav said with just ten seconds before launch, "These vertical takeoffs are rough."

Before Nondel could reply, a thunderous jolt shook the rocket, jarring the two Xians as a loud roar filled their ears. As the shaking subsided and the roar intensified, Nondel and Xslav knew that the ship was now propelling itself into the air. And with a burst of speed that felt like being dragged underwater by a speedboat, the two Xians were shot off into space.

*****

"Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Nondel gave Xslav a nod before turning to the control dash. Xslav in turn gave Nondel another nod, fastened inside a large tube-like structure behind a plate of a clear wall, seperating the tow Xians. And with the push of a button, Xslav and his tube container were sucked out of the ship. Knowing that he risked detection if he sat around too long, Nondel sped the ship upwards, skimming past the surface of Deth Satellite Twelve. Quickly checkng his onboard computer, Nondel immediately set course for the nearest of his foe's stations, Deth Satellite Fifteen. Unfastening his seatbelts and readying his pistol, Nondel glared at the main screen on the dashboard, seeing the open docking bay doors of Deth Satellite Fifteen. And just as the ship floated gracefully inside the bay, Nondel grinned, "Showtime."

[Mewfour]

Luckily for Nondel, the escape pod's systems made sure that it had escaped detection, just as the main vessel itself was blown to space junk by a hailstorm of lasers from Deth Sattelite Fifteen. The pitch-black exterior of the pod blended in perfectly with the bleakness of space, and Nondel soon found himself slipping in quietly past the closing bay doors. Waiting silently until all was quiet, Nondel slowly let the lid of the pod creak open. Peeking over the rim, Nondel was relieved to see no one in the bay with him. Silently spilling out of the pod, Nondel rose to his knee and drew his pistol. Quickly dashing to the nearest wall, Nondel quietly edged his way into a corner beside the wide doors leading out of the bay. Tapping the receiver in his ear once, Nondel whispered, "Simui, can you hear me?"

"The connection's fine, Nondel," Came the voice of Simui into his ear, "But I've got some bad news."

"Oh?"

"The schematic-mapper system from the pod must've failed," she said, "I can't get a floor plan of the sattelite you're on."

"I didn't think you would," Nondel muttered, "Deth's come prepared this time."

"In any case," said Simui, "You'll have to find some kind of computer that has a floor plan," said Simui. "Nondel, is the Indexter unit still working?"

Nondel took off a small, slim device from his right leg-belt. "It's working and ready," said Nondel.

"Then I can't help you get around until you relay the sattelite schematics to me with it," she replied. "By the way, Nondel," Simui said, "Do you still have your shift-gun?"

"I'm holding it now," Nondel replied. "Simui, I never had time to find out how much charge these things carry."

"Seventy Amvolts," Simui replied, "The knockout blasts will last for about thirty shots on seventy amvs, and the killing blasts will be good for only twenty with that same charge."

"Couldn't afford to take anything more," Nondel muttered, "That makes my job a lot more difficult."

"Hey, you waltzed right in to Deth Fortress and danced with Deth himself, remember?" Simui added. "I know you can manage with this."

"What about Xslav?" Nondel asked. "Simui, how's he doing?"

"Fine," Simui said, "but he isn't in any better of a situation than you are, Nondel."

"So we're stuck in the middle of a Deth Sattelite, with just seventy amvs of charge in our only weapon, and with no idea of where we're going," Nondel muttered, "This ought to be fun indeed."

"Fun, I'm sure," Simui said. "We'd better cut communications for now, before Deth catches our frequency."

"Got it. Nondel out."

A fizzing hiss faded in Nondel's ear, and he knew that now he was completely alone. "Out of the frying pan," Nondel muttered, edging towards the door.

*****

Nondel's footsteps pattered lightly down the hallway. He was expecting to be confronted by hordes of Deth's minions swarming the halls, but the corridors were oddly bare. Just as Nondel rounded a corner, he pulled himself back around it, startled. Edging his head around the corner, Nondel glimpsed at the lone alien that stood with his back to Nondel, weapon in hand, gazing intently ahead of him. As quietly as he could, Nondel detatched the handle of his pistol and tucked it into a fold underneath his vest. Producing another handle from the other side, Nondel connected it to the barrel and readied his weapon. Slowly venturing out into the middle of the corridor, Nondel lined up the barrel of the gun to the alien's shoulders and pulled the trigger. Without any sound from the pistol at all, The alien jolted suddenly and collapsed onto the floor. Sneaking past the fallen creature, Nondel took a quick glance at the alien's face. "Out cold," Nondel grinned to himself. "You won't be getting up anytime soon." Tearing off the dark jacket that the creature wore, Nondel was delighted to find a slim jacknife, covered in its sheath, and a small radio. Nondel took both from the alien and slipped the knife into the inside of his boot, just letting the handle rest atop the rim. Strapping the radio to his other leg belt, Nondel nudged the soldier in the ribs with his toe once for fun after he tucked his gun under his leg belt and took the alien's rifle. The creature remained motionless on the floor, breathing shallowly as Nondel stepped over him and continued down the corridor. Checking the charge guage of the rifle, Nondel was joyed to find it at one-hundred percent. Slinging the rifle over his shoulder with the strap attached to it, Nondel drew his pistol once again, took a deep breath, and ventured down the corridor. "I wonder how Xslav's doing...?"

[Mewfour]

The same trick had worked for Nondel just as well as it did for Xslav, and the bay doors to Deth Sattelite Twelve were now just beginning to close again. The docks were soon silent and empty, except for a long black pod that rested in the middle of the room. With a tiny creak, the pod opened, and Xslav quietly slipped out. Dashing towards the wall, Xslav slid into the corner of the bay and tapped on his earpiece. "Unit command: connection test," Xslav whispered quietly.

"Connection succesful," came a dull voice in Xslav's ear, "Unit is fully operational."

Xslav was glad to hear the voice of the supercomputer spotter, even if it was completely devoid of any kind of Xian tone. "Unit command: plot enviroment."

"Plotting," the blank voice replied. After a short pause, the voice said, "Plotting failed. Anti-area-plot device has jammed operation. Unable to plot enviroment. For upload to commence, Indexter must be connected to floor plan system."

"Damn," Xslav growled. "Unit command: cancel operation. Unit command: Indexter check."

"Checking," Came the voice again. The Indexter that was attatched to his left leg belt began to quietly beep. As soon as it stopped, the monotone voice said, "Checking complete. Indexter unit functioning at full capacity. Ready for floor plan upload."

"Good," Xslav muttered. "Unit command: primary weapon check."

"Checking," said the voice again. "Checking complete. Weapon at full charge of seventy amvolts. Maximum stun discharge is thirty units. Maximum kill discharge is twenty units."

"And that's all I'm left with," Xslav muttered. "This isn't going to be a cup of tea at all." Xslav patted the spot on his vest where he hid his beam sword handle. "Thank God I've still got this," he muttered. "Unit command: cut connection and stand by."

"Connection will sever and stand by in five, four, three, two, one..."

The bay was left silent. Xslav grimaced. "This isn't going to be fun..."

*****

The halls were oddly silent. Xslav kept himself flat against the walls of the Sattelite, ready for any sudden threat. Every drip, every patter, and every trickle resounding through the corridors made his nerves jump. Just as he rounded a corner, Xslav saw an opened doorway on the wall, leading into a brightly-lit room. Gripping his pistol tighter, Xslav quietly slipped into the room and looked around.

The white room was almost bare, except for a cushioned table built like a block, a large overhead lamp that hung from the ceiling upon a mechanical arm, various charts and diagrams lined up along the walls, and numerous tiny, thin instruments were arranged neatly on the counters. "Must be some kind of operating room," Xslav muttered. Looking at the many posters, Xslav saw the anatomy of many alien creatures that he had never seen before, but the one that caught his eye was the poster labelled "Deth." Walking up to the chart to get a better look, Xslav saw the intricately detailed blueprints of Deth's cybernetic armor displayed on the poster. Before he could catch anything of importance, Xslav heard a stampede of footsteps come his way. Quickly looking around, Xslav spotted a wide, slim panel on the bottom of the table. Crouching down to the panel, Xslav pried it open, laid himself as flat as he could on the floor, and rollled inside, holding the panel up beside him, completely hiding him underneath the table.

Immediately afterwards, Xslav felt a loud thump above him, along with many muffled voices shouting and barking orders. Focusing on only one of the muffled voices, Xslav heard one of them order, "What happened exactly?"

"Sir," said another, "Kemmings was re-calibrating the Armageddeon Laser's aiming system manually when the cross-level bar snapped free and took his arm clear off!"

Xslav could hear a series of moans of pain above him as the voices continued to grow louder. Hours passed and the moans slowly turned into howls and then back into moans, and as the howls of agony died down, so did the voices. What seemed to be an eternity later, Xslav finally heard the room go silent. "He's gone," Xslav heard one voice mutter. "The rest of you, back to work. Sattelite Fifteen's already got one Xian on it, and we need to see is this one's been infested too. Doc, clean Kemmings up for incineration."

There was a response of mutters and shuffling feet, and soon, the room was completely silent, except for one set of footsteps walking around the room. The air in the alcove was becoming unbearably damp and stale for Xslav, and he knew he could only last for so much longer. Wish as he might, the only set of footsteps in the room still would not go away. "Well," Xslav finally heard the voice say, "Time to get my dead little friend here wrapped up for a hot time in the furnace." Xslav suddenly felt the panel that he held up being tugged at. "Damn thing must be stuck again," he heard the voice mutter, tugging at the panel again. The more Xslav held on, the more violent the tugging grew. Finally, Xslav heard a growl of frustration and a loud clambering on the ground. With a tug to vicious that Xslav nearly yelped, the panel was torn clear from his hands, and Xslav and the alien outside locked eyes. Before the alien could utter a cry of alarm, Xslav exploded out from under the table and pinned the alien to the floor. And just as the creature opened his mouth to scream, Xslav shoved the barrel of his pistol under the alien's jaw and fired.

The alien jolted once, and then he lay still. Steadying his racing heart, Xslav picked himself up off the floor and looked at the butt of his pistol. "You're lucky it was on stun mode," Xslav muttered to the alien, now paralyzed and unconscious on the floor. Looking over his shoulder, Xslav saw the body of another alien on the table, minus his left arm, dead and leaking blood all over the floor. Xslav shrugged and dug into the dead creature's vest, pulling out a small box-like device. "Like you'll be needing a radio anymore," Xslav said to the dead creature, stuffing the radio inside his vest and slipping out of the room.

[Mewfour]

Nondel kept an eye on the walls, looking for any kind of map of the Sattelite. Nothing had caught his eye yet, but he was certain that he had not caught the eyes of anyone else. Slipping down corridor after corridor, Nondel began to think that the Sattelite would have been much busier with the Armageddeon Laser charging up to fire upon X. Nondel was suspicious, but thankful. Suddenly, something stood out at him on the wall. A posted sign read "A. Laser calibration station #18," with a large arrow pointed towards a door. "I think I ought to stop by for a visit," Nondel thought to himself, opening the door and quickly slipping inside.

The room inside was pitch-black, and before Nondel could catch the door, it had already closed, leaving him in solid darkness. Tracing his hand over the walls, Nondel's fingers finally found a switch, and he readily clicked it on. A blinding flash of light lit up the room, forcing Nondel's eyes shut. When he could open them again, he saw a giant heap of machinery packed into one side of the small room. Walking over to the machine, Nondel began to wonder how much of a mess of the Armageddeon Laser's calibrations he could make with just one machine. Creeping into the lone computer seat, Nondel began to fiddle around with the various controls that laced the machine, feeling like a child in a candy shop. It was not until Nondel heard a stiff metallic clank echo around the room that he bolted off of the chair. The chair was immediately sliced in two as soon as Nondel left it, and a giant blade lay wedged into the floor where Nondel used to be. And when Nondel traced the blade of the axe to its owner, Nondel couldn't help but to let his jaw drop. "Meldevos!"

The bulky figure in dark blue armor paused trying to wrench his giant battleaxe free and glared at Nondel. "I'm glad you remember my name, Populas."

"What are you doing here?" Nondel snarled, reaching for his rifle.

"I heard you were in the area, so I decided to drop by for a visit," Meldevos replied. With that, Meldevos pulled his axe free again and took a vicious slash at Nondel. Nondel skipped out of the way and fired three shots at Meldevos from his pistol. The three laser blasts just bounced off of Meldevos' deep blue armor, and the armored general laughed. "Remember when you tried that last time?" Meldevos jeered.

"Yeah, I do," Nondel replied. Nondel quickly aimed his laser rifle at Meldevos' neck and fired.

Meldevos turned to his left, and the blast ricocheted off of his armored shoulder. "You just got lucky last time, Xian," Meldevos snarled as Nondel took aim with his rifle again.

Nondel fired another shot from his rifle, and Meldevos deflected it with his other shoulder. "You didn't listen to me when I said I never wanted to see you again, did you?" Nondel asked.

"No, because now I hate all of you Xians," Meldevos snarled, clenching his battleaxe tightly with both hands, "Especially you." Meldevos angled his shoulders, ready to slash away at Nondel. "You'd better hope that I don't show mercy on you like I did last time, Xian."

Nondel took aim with his rifle again. "Likewise."

Before Nondel could pull the trigger, Meldevos had already lunged at him. Nondel strafed to his side just before Meldevos's axe could slice him apart. As Meldevos tried to pull his axe free from the ground, Nondel jabbed the barrel of the rifle into Meldevos' ribs and fired. A blast of sparks and flames flew from the rifle as Meldevos stumbled to his side, managing to free his axe as well. As soon as he was stable again, Meldevos charged at Nondel and flung his axe down again, this time with Nondel skipping backwards. As soon as the axe hit the ground, a blue wave of energy shot from the blade, smashing into Nondel's chest. Nondel was blown over onto his back, suddenly remembering the laser-shooting axe blade as Meldevos raised his axe above his head, ready to bring it down one last time. Meldevos' axe hit the floor with so much force that the blade sunk straight through the floor, creating a large gash in the floor. Nondel had rolled to his left just in the nick of time, and he took a moment to glance at the axe that nearly split him in half. Meldevos struggled to pull his axe out of the floor, cursing as he tugged. Nondel was on his feet in a flash, and took aim at point-blank range at Meldevos' neck.

He pulled the trigger, and nothing happened. Both Meldevos and Nondel looked at the rifle questioningly, and then Meldevos glared at Nondel and chuckled. Nondel looked at his rifle, and then at his feet, and saw the severed barrel rolling on the floor. Meldevos freed his axe with one vicious tug, and slashed at Nondel as soon as it was released. Nondel only had time to turn to his left, and the blade tore a long, deep gash into his vest, right above his heart. Nondel stumbled backwards as Meldevos held up his heavy axe again, holding the tear on his vest, feeling his wildly beating heart beneath. Nondel heard Meldevos snicker at him. "Lucky boy," Meldevos chuckled, raising his axe again.

Nondel threw down his broken rifle and pulled out his pistol again. As soon as Nondel had it in his grip, he fired crazily upon Meldevos. Round after round of laser blasts rained upon the armored warrior, yet Meldevos was hardly stunned, and it did not stop him from charging at Nondel again and slashing at him with one savage swipe. The blade came within inches of Nondel's chest as it was planted into the floor at his feet again. Nondel took a quick, deep breath, knowing what he had to do to survive this fight.

As Meldevos tried to wrench his axe loose again, Nondel raised his foot and drove it upon the staff of the axe with all of his weight, and the axe snapped in half. Meldevos staggered back with his own momentum working against him, leaving Nondel enough time to tear the axe out of the floor by the end of the broken staff, and swing it in a crecent over his head at Meldevos' skull. The axe dug into Meldevos' armor at his shoulder, driving a wail of agony in respone. Meldevos sunk to his knees, clutching his wounded shoulder, bleeding heavily. As Meldevos continued to moan in pain at Nondel's feet, Nondel breathed a sigh of relief. "I think I'll let you bleed to death this time," Nondel growled, wiping his sweaty forehead as he went for the door with Meldevos slumping to his belly.

Just as Nondel was only a few meters to the exit, he heard Meldevos chuckling. Turning his head, Nondel asked, "What's so funny?"

Meldevos groaned before he snickered again. "Did you know I designed this Sattelite?" Meldevos asked. When Nondel did not reply, Meldevos said, "I know all of its structual weak points." With that, Meldevos rolled onto his side and the blade of his axe fired a large wave of energy at the wall. Immediately, the ceiling above the two of them came crashing to the ground as Nondel dashed for the door.

Nondel lay sprawled in the corridor outside as a plume of dust and smoke billowed from the doorway of the calibration room. Rising to his feet, Nondel heard his earpiece come alive. "Nondel, what happened?" Simui's vocie asked. "I recieved a lot of intereferece. Something large must have come rushing in front of you. Nondel, are you all right?"

Nondel could only help but look back into the rubble-filled room and mutter, "What a needless death..."

[Mewfour]

Seconds after Xslav slipped down an intersection of the corridors behind the backs of a guard patrol, the radio he had attached to his belt crackled. "Attention all units, a Xian has been found on Deth Sattelite Fifteen! Execute combing operation immediately! If there is a Xian onboard this Sattelite, shoot to kill on sight!"

The floor beneath Xslav rumbled with racing footsteps instantly. Glancing around the hallway, Xslav dashed to the first door he came to and slid inside. And when he saw the lounge room full of alien soldiers staring in disbelief at him, Xslav could only mutter, "Oh ****."

The room was set ablaze in gunfire in a matter of seconds. Xslav barely managed to dive behind a sofa as a storm of laser blasts shot at him. Xslav heard the soldiers shouting to sound the alarm, each one continuing to steadily blast tunnels into the sofa. It was not until Xslav's stolen radio sparked alive with commands for all soldiers that he got an idea. Xslav dug out the radio and tossed it over the sofa, landing noisily on the floor. "Grenade!" Xslav heard the soldiers scream as the room suddenly fell silent, "Hit the ground!" A minute of complete silence save for the blaring alarms went by before Xslav leapt to his feet and dashed out of the door.

The hallways echoed with the sound of sirens as Xslav sped down them, desperately looking for a place to hide. Just as he passed an intersection of the hallways, he heard a voice screech, "There he is!"

"This just isn't my ****ing day!" Xslav moaned to himself as he soom heard a pair of footsteps chasing him.

They chased him for hours until Xslav rounded a corner and snuck past two large doors and inside a large, dark, and spacious room. Hiding behind the doors, Xslav listened as the guards rushed past him on the other side of the heavy, thick doors, breathing a sigh of relief as their footsteps became more and more distant, until Xslav could hear them no longer. The blaring sirens silenced, and the ringing in Xslav's ears finally died away. Steadying his racing heart, Xslav struggled to slide the stubborn doors shut and began to wonder what was in the large room. It was so dark that Xslav could not even see the other side of the room, much less what was in it. Beginning to wonder if the Armageddeon Laser was right in front of him, Xslav ventured into the center of the chamber.

Suddenly, the room lit up in a blinding flash. Xslav had to shield his eyes from the blinding floodlights that now brightened the entire room. When his eyes finally adjusted to the light, he saw himself staring down the many barrels of the cannon of a massive gatling tank. Xslav froze, gazing at the many tubes pointed at his face, not daring to even blink. A minute passed before Xslav twitched, and the barrels remained silent. Xslav blinked at the cannon, and it was still lifeless. Xslav felt his heart return to a normal beat as he walked around the gigantic tank, seeing various machines all about the room. Inferring that he had wandered into a ground-deployment bay, Xslav began to wonder what made the lights flash on.

Just as soon as he turned his back to the tank, a loud mechanical whirr filled the air. Xslav spun around to see the cannon of the tank slowly rising, aiming towards his head. And when the barrels began to spin with loud grating noise, Xslav's legs sprung him behind a chunk of machinery just before a hailstorm of bullets tore past him. The gatling cannon shook the machine that Xslav hid behind violently, shaking the Xian as well with every bullet smashing upon it. At length, the torrent stopped, leaving Xslav peeking from behind the machine, looking for a means of fighting back. He knew he could not run; the tank's cannon would shred him to pieces if he tried to move the heavy doors by himself. He suddenly spotted a stack of steel kegs, each with a decal of a small fire pasted on them. Xslav grinned at the prospect when he head the tank quietly rattling, knowing the cannon was being reloaded, as he quickly dashed towards the stack of containers, grabbed one, and dragged it back behind his machine just as the storm of gunfire erupted again. Just as suddenly as it began, the assault stopped, leaving Xslav to suspect the operator of the tank was waiting for him to come out. Xslav kept low to the ground as he weighed the keg in his hands. Finding himself able to move it easily, Xslav swung it around in a full circle before tossing it like a discus ball over his machine shield and towards the tank. The cannon spit a rain of bullets at the keg, and seconds later the room erupted in a brilliant flash of flames and an ear-shattering boom. Xslav sunk to his knee, rubbing his ears after the flash subsided. Peering out from the side of the machine, Xslav saw that part the tank had been charred black, but the cannon was still functioning. Hearing an epty clanking as the gatling cannon spun, Xslav made another dash towards the kegs, grabbed another, and dragged that one back behind his machine, just as the tank blazed at him again. The bullets rocked the machine, shaking Xslav's nerves loose. The cannon suddenly stopped, again letting out a loud rattling. Once more, Xslav spun around and threw the keg over the machine, and as soon as he heard it bounce off the tank's armor, Xslav popped above the machine and fired a single shot from his pistol at the keg. The keg detonated in a violent explosion again, this time nearly knocking Xslav over. As soon as the flames subsided again, Xslav heard a high-pitched grinding coming from the tank. The cannon was rattling noisily, and the tank had just begun to catch alight. Knowing he had little time to fetch another keg, Xslav ran towards the pile again, grabbed one last container, slung it over his shoulder, and dashed back towards the safety of his machine. Just before Xslav could dive behind the machine, the cannon sparked alive again and fired. A sudden pain tore through Xslav's foot, spilling him to the floor and the keg with him. The keg bounced along the ground, resting just underneath the tank's treads. Xslav snarled quietly in agony, feeling a small, stiff object immobilizing his ankle. Hardly able to stand, Xslav lay on the floor, poked his pistol around the corner of the machine, and fired.

The tank exploded from underneath immediately, launching flaming debris all over the room. Xslav winced as he rubbed his ankle, suddenly surpised that he felt the bone in perfect shape. Gingerly digging his fingers into the bullethole in his boot, Xslav pulled out a large, sleek bullet, still warm and smoking. Tossing the bullet aside, Xslav tapped on his vest, hearing the reassuring thick knock in return. Tapping on his ankle, which now had its full mobility and was almost pain-free, Xslav heard the same knock come from his boot. "Man," Xslav muttered aloud, "These things really are tough..."

[Mewfour]

Knowing that the guards would come swarming to the collapsed room, Nondel slithered quickly down the nearest corridor he could find. Slipping into the first room with an open door he came across, Nondel heard his earpiece spark alive again.

"Nondel, what just happened?" Simui asked.

"Ran into an old friend," Nondel muttered. "How's Xslav doing?"

"Don't know," Simui replied. "He hasn't used his computer for a long time now. But don't worry, I'm sure he's okay."

Nondel could not help but wonder what situation Xslav was in. "Hey Simui, you know how you said I'd have to find a map system for the Indexter?" He asked.

"Yeah?"

"Found one," Nondel smirked, looking at the giant machine at the other end of the room.

Hopping over to the machine, Nondel detached the small device from his leg and produced a thin cable from a compartment on its side. Sliding the long cable out, Nondel searched over the machine, finally found a jack, and plugged the device into the machine. "Got it!" Simui cheered. "It worked better than I thought it would," she said. "According to the map, the Armageddeon Laser isn't on this Sattelite."

"It isn't?" Nondel asked.

"Nope. That room you just came out of was the only calibration room, and you've obviously totalled it," Simui inferred. "The only other Sattelite that Deth brought with him that has a calibration machine appears to be Sattelite Twelve, and that's where Xslav is."

"I say it's a bad idea if I join him," Nondel said. "Are you sure that's the only other Sattelite?"

"Yes, except for," Simui paused, "Deth Fortress."

Nondel groaned. "I'll have to go there again?" He complained.

"Looks like it," Simui hummed. "But, hey, look on the bright side. You'll know your way around, won't you?"

"Lucky me," Nondel muttered. "And I'll bet anything that's where the laser is."

"Then you'd better start moving now," said Simui. "I think that Deth's minions know you're here."

Nondel unplugged the Indexter and reattached it to his leg-belt. Edging towards the door, Nondel took a quick peek around the corridor. "Cut the connection, Simui," Nondel said, pushing himself into the hallway. As soon as he heard the fizzle of dying frequency hiss in his ear, Nondel muttered, "I hope Xslav's having better luck than me."

The halls were much too quiet for Nondel's liking. His footsteps pattered lightly along the floor as he crept down the hallways. A sudden clank from around the corner right in front of him made Nondel's spine jolt. Quickly flattening himself against the wall, Nondel edged his way across to the corner, and slowly peeked around. Nothing but a small, shiny pipe lay in the middle of the corridor. With his interest being taken by the oddly-placed pipe, Nondel began to slide around the corner.

Nondel soon felt a metal cylinder press against the back of his neck. "Hello, Xian," he heard a weasel-like voice snicker. Nondel dared not to turn his head. "Drop your gun," the voice instructed curtly. Nondel opened his hands, letting his pistol dangle on his finger by the trigger guard. "I said drop it," the voice repeated. Tilting his wrist, Nondel slowly let the gun slide off of his finger, clattering noisily on the floor.

"You got him, huh?" Came another voice from around the corner.

"Now we've just got to find his buddy," said the voice behind him.

The slender figure of a strange alien rounded the corner and stood in front of Nondel, grinning cruelly at him. "We've going to have some fun together, you and I," smirked the red-skinned creature.

"Hey, this is Populas, isn't it?" said the alien from behind him. "He's not that good after all, is he?"

Nondel snarled quietly to himself as he felt the alien behind him reach for his hands and bend them behind his back. "Cuff him," ordered the one in front.

As soon as Nondel felt the thin rings clamp around his wrists, Nondel suddenly kicked his foot up behind him. Nondel felt a wince and a surprised yelp come from the creature behind him, and the alien in front scrambled to draw his pistol. Coiling his knees, Nondel sprung forward, smashing his forehead between the creature's eyes, knocking the red alien onto the floor. As soon as he heard the familiar sound of an energy gun being charged to fire from behind him, Nondel twisted his body around and took to the air. Thrashing his leg in front of him as fiercely as he could, Nondel sent the face of his boot smashing into the jaw of the creature behind him as he fell. The alien gave a groggy moan of surprise before he collapsed to the floor.

Nondel picked himself up the best he could with his arms restrained behind him, knelt down beside the unconsious alien and fiddled around with the various pouches on the creature's belt. When he did not find the keys he was looking for, Nondel thought of looking through the other guard's pockets. But as soon as he heard many other footsteps trampling his way, Nondel quickly decided otherwise. Hobbling back to his feet, Nondel kicked his pistol up into the air with his foot, catching it skillfully behind his back. With the handcuffs securely fastening his hands together behind him, and with a group of other creatures close behind him, Nondel dashed down the corridor.

******

Xslav was still rubbing his ankle, leaning against the wall of the room with Indexter in hand, waiting for a response. "Download complete," said the bland voice in his ear.

"Unit command," Xslav said, "Locate Armageddeon Laser on this Sattelite."

"Locating," the voice whirred. Seconds later, it reported, "Command error. Armageddeon Laser not found on Deth Sattelite Twelve."

"Damn," Xslav growled. "Cancel command. Unit command: Locate vital machinery for Armageddeon Laser's functions on all Sattelites."

"Locating," said the synthesized voice again. "Armageddeon Laser calibration machine found on Deth Sattelite Twelve. Armageddeon Laser calibration machine found on Deth Sattelite Fifteen. Armageddeon Laser calibration machine found on Deth Fortress."

Deth Fortress. The mere thought of winding up there made Xslav's blood run cold. "Unit command," Xslav ordered, detaching the device from the computer and reattaching it to his leg-belt, "Chart course from user's current position to the calibration machine on this Sattelite."

"Charting," came the dull reply as Xslav picked up his pistol from upon the machine and ventured out into the halls. "Course charted. Follow Unit's instructions now."

"Let's hope Nondel's doing better than I am..."

[Mewfour]

he cuffs were beginning to chafe his wrists, and Nondel began to squirm uncomfortably in them. He had just broken contact with Simui, and he once again found himself creeping down the corridors of the sattelite. Try as he might, Nondel still could not manage to get a firm grip on his pistol, and eventually, he had to admit it to himself: As long as he was handcuffed, he was virtually defenseless. Cursing bitterly under his breath, Nondel recalled Simui's instructions, and slipped into the next room he came across.

The room was small and cramped, even though it only had a small control bridge sitting in the middle of it. Nondel noticed small hatches lining the room, hatches which Simui had told him led directly to the small space jets that would ferry him directly to Deth Fortress. Nondel edged cautiously towards the middle hatch, and inspected it closely. It was just a simple airlock on the wall, with a small pad of digits on the side. Guessing that some sort of number code had to be punched in to open the hatch, Nondel thought up any random bunch of numbers that popped into his head, and tried his best to press them with his hands behind his back. After he failed to even hit the pad, Nondel glanced around the room and looked for something to help him. A thin pen, left lying on the control deck, caught Nondel's eye, and the Xian hastily picked it up with his teeth. Nondel sputtered when his fangs punctured the thin casing, spilling ink all over his chin and tongue. Nondel spat out the bitter liquid in disgust, and also spat out the pen onto the floor. Groaning inwardly, Nondel crouched down onto the floor, edged the pen onto his lip with his blue-stained tongue, and firmly bit the tip with his front teeth, careful not to have another taste of the ink. Rising to his feet again, Nondel poked the end of the pen into the keypad, hoping whatever numbers he pressed would unlock the hatch. After several random numbers and almost an hour later, Nondel finally heard the locks on the other side of the hatch open. Spitting out the pen, Nondel rubbed his chin on the bulky armor on his chest, wiping off his blue chin.

Wondering why the hatch had not opened, Nondel nudged it with his shoulder. When the hatch still remained still, Nondel began to grow even more irritated than the skin on his wrists. Running low on patience, Nondel walked behind the control deck and examined the various switches. Wondering which did what, Nondel flicked one down with his chin. The lights of the room suddenly went out, throwing the room into complete darkness. "****," Nondel growled, using his chin to feel for another switch. Flicking another, Nondel was dismayed to find nothing had happened. Clicking a few other switches, Nondel found the rest of the switches to be useless as well. "Great," Nondel muttered, "I must have turned it off."

Suddenly, the lights flashed on again, and Nondel nearly gagged when he saw a short, stubby arm in front of his face. Nondel threw himself to his side on the floor just before a blast of energy shot into the control deck. All Nondel saw was a flash of red as he danced back and forth on the floor, narrowly avoiding blast after blast of laser energy. Finally bounding to his feet, Nondel lashed his leg out at his assailant, knocking the pistol out of his hand. The humanoid yelped with surprise as Nondel staggered backwards, struggling against his handcuffs. The peach-skinned creature snarled as he rubbed his hand, his long, blazing red hair swaying as he whipped out another pistol as soon as his other one hit the floor. All Nondel saw were loads of haandguns strapped to his attacker's body before he was again shot at. Quickly diving behind the control deck, Nondel narrowly saved himself from a vicious storm of gunfire. Nondel continued to fight against the handcuffs, only feeling the metal begin to cut into his skin as he squirmed. A small metal object suddenly landed in front of him, and Nondel dove to his side just before it exploded in a brilliant flash of flames. Landing clumsily on his shoulder, Nondel kicked himself back up to his feet, and was sent running again by laser blasts nipping at his heels. Knowing that he could not keep this chase up forever, Nondel prayed that he was quick and flexible enough for a plan that had just popped into his head. After standing still for just a split second, Nondel quickly twisted his body in a spiral and fell to the ground, making sure his arms were held out as far as he could stretch them behind his back. Seconds later, Nondel felt the chain of the cuffs snap, and he put his hands in front of his face just in time to cushion his fall. Springboarding back to his feet, Nondel made a mad dash towards his assailant's lost pistol, scooped it up, and as soon as he aimed it at the creature, the gunfire ceased.

As they stared each other down with the barrels of their guns, Nondel got a good look at his attacker. His human-like skin was an oddly bright tan, and his long locks of flowing red hair just barely reached his waist. Pistols, lots of pistols in their holsters, lay strapped on his arms and legs, and a small, thin sash around his shoulder sported a string of small grenades. "So, the famous Populas, huh?" the creature asked, slowly drawing another pistol from his thigh and aiming it at Nondel.

"In the flesh," Nondel replied.

"Reckage is my name, destruction is my game," the creature introduced himself. "Want to know what's on today's menu?" Before Nondel could shoot back, Reckage exclaimed, "Laser-fried Xian!"

With a cackle of wild laughter, Reckage opened fire again. Nondel barely leapt to his right in time before he was skewered by the cackling Reckage's gunfire. Nondel managed to fire a few shots into Reckage's shoulder before he took cover behind the control deck again. Reckage only jolted stiffly as Nondel's blasts bounced off of his sleeveless jacket, still sneering with laugher under his breath. Reckage continued to pummel the control deck with gunfire, keeping Nondel trapped behind it. When the shooting finally stopped, Nondel dared not move, wondering what plan Reckage had in mind. Another small grenade that came bouning in front of him answered his question, sending Nondel rolling to his left. The grenade exploded in a roaring flash as Reckage opened fire again, chasing Nondel around the room with his blazing pistols. Suddenly, just as Nondel was running out of breath, both of Reckage's pistols started clicking, and the mad gunfire ceased. As soon as Reckage threw down his guns and drew a new pair from his legs, Nondel quickly took aim with his own and shot at Reckage's left hand. The blast his Reckage on his wrist, and Reckage howled in agony, flicking his left hand in the air, yet still managing to grab a pistol with his right. Tucking his wounded hand under his right ribs, Reckage bit his lip and fired at Nondel with his other hand. Firing off a few shots at Reckage's chest that only bounced off of his jacket, Nondel leapt at the wall beside Reckage, rebounding at his crazed assailant, and lashing his leg forward with all the power his thigh could muster. Nondel's boot caught the side of Reckage' cheek, flooring him immediately. Still stumbling forward from his own momentum, Nondel spun around in time to fire a few more shots off at a rising Reckage, blasting three more laser bursts into his left arm. Reckage howled, driven to his knee and nursing his bloodied arm. Snarling with agony and rage, Reckage threw his pistol down and plucked antther grenade off of his chest. Winding his arm back, Reckage yelled, "Hey Xian, catch this!" With that, Reckage bit the pin off with his teeth and hurled the grenade at Nondel. And with all of his sharpshooting skill and a lot of luck, Nondel managed to fire a single shot at Reckage before diving to the floor, colliding with the grenade and detonating it instantly. Nondel heard Reckage scream in dismay as the exposion enguled him, and then the room fell silent.

Nondel tiredly rose back to his feet. Rubbing his sore thigh, Nondel saw a thick cloud of smoke where Reckage was once standing. "Ow," Nondel moaned, massaging his bloody wrists, now scabbed over, walking to the center of the smoky haze. Finding Reckage laying face-down and motionless, Nondel took the liberty of relieving his adversary of his many pistols. Stuffing them inside of his armor vest, boots, and anywhere else they would fit, Nondel counted six pistols before he could carry no more. Content with his bountiful ransacking, Nondel walked back towards the control panel, and wondered if it's heavily damaged surface had affected it's functioning. Fiddling with a few more switches, Nondel got a quick shock from touching one of them, making the Xian yelp in surprise. Muttering bitterly and rubbing his stinging fingertip, Nondel flicked one last switch, and one of the hatches opened, revealing the small yet cozy interior of a small pod. Nondel breathed a sigh of relief, thankful to be able to relax, if only for a few minutes.

Just as Nondel had stepped into the pod and sat down, a small metal object dropped into his lap. Nondel looked over his shoulder to see Reckage, half of his flesh torn away from his bloody body and laying half-dead on the floor, laughing weakly at him. Just as the pod doors were beginning to close, Nondel grasped the grenade and threw it over his shoulder as quickly as he could. The grenade just nicked the edge of the doors, seconds before they had closed. Nondel could hear Reckage's frantic screaming as the doors shut, followed by another booming explosion.

Nondel took a deep breath as he felt the pod begin to move. Rubbing his wrists again, Nondel hummed, "That wasn't so bad..."

[Mewfour]

Now onboard Deth Fortress, Nondel had just slipped inside a storage hold, knowing that a guard was in the hall outside. Quickly slithering behind a stack of crates to his right, Nondel waited with shallow breaths as he heard a mass of voices whispering in the hall outside, and he soon saw a white-clad guard enter the room, pointing to the crates cautiously with the barrel of his rifle. Nondel kept his lungs only half full, creating a silent stir in the air around him. Even with his stealthiness, Nondel could have sworn that he was not alone with the guard in the room. As the guard began to grow more and more suspisious, Nondel knew that the only way to get out of the storage hold alive was to quickly take out the officer. As soon as the guard turned his back to him, Nondel quietly drew one of Reckage's pistols, aimed it carefully at the back of the guard's neck, and pulled the trigger.

*****

It was not long before Xslav finally found the space jet bay that his computer had told him about. Slipping into the bay room, complete with a control deck, hatches, and the digit pads beside them, Xslav quietly whispered, "Unit command: Analyze space jet hatches."

"Analyzing," Came the toneless voice in reply. "Analysis complete. Six-digit code must be entered to unlock hatch on exterior wall. Power switch must be thrown to open hatch, pressurize air lock, and turn on space jet."

"Unit command: calculate the number code."

"Calculating... Command error. Code cannot be calculated. User must enter code using own judgement."

"I hate guessing games," Xslav muttered to himself. Kneeling down to the wall with the hatches, Xslav found the small keypad and punched in the first six numbers that came to him. Several tries later, Xslav heard the hatch unlock on the other side. Walking over to the control deck, Xslav fiddled with a few of the switches, and the hatch soon opened. Thankful that he had not gotten himself into any more trouble, Xslav slipped into the small, cozy pod beyond the hatch. Just before the doors closed behind him, Xslav took a deep breath, calming his suddenly jittery nerves. Steadying his racing pulse, Xslav quietly closed his eyes as slowly let his lungs deplete. He was scared to death of the thought of running around in Deth Fortress- he would just as soon stick a fork into a laser-toaster if he had to, but with the fate of X resting upon his shoulders, Xslav dared not cower. Flushing out every noise of the moving pod out of his head, Xslav began to find a dead silence in the air arounf him, let his body sink deeper into the plush felt of the seat, and as his heart returned to its normal beat, he soon found his mind beginning to wander.

It seemed like only yesterday that he had crawled out of the damp, dark, and musky bunker. His lungs were packed with smoke as the flames nipped at his heels. He held his right cheek, gnashing his teeth in agony as his blood trickled all over his hand and face. He kept his right eye tightly shut, fearing the worst if he opened it. Still on his hands and knees, he found the strength to rise to one knee, and then stagger to his feet. I'm still alive, he thought as a sharp pain jabbed into his ribs, bringing him back to his knee, I've survived.

He looked back in the bunker, and saw the thick black smoke heavily billow out of it. His right ear was still ringing, and his eye beside it began to sting. Squeezing his eye shut even tighter, he snarled to himself in pain as he pressed his hand against his bloody cheek even harder, looking into the field ahead of him. Bodies, too many bodies to count, littered the landscape, lying in pools of blood or in dismembered peices. The grass, once a lush green, wan now nothing more than a charred and smoking black. Limping forward into the sea of corpses, Xslav stepped between fallen enemies and allies alike, finding nothing but an oddly unnerving silence whistling in the gentle breeze.

Suddenly, it dawned on him. He was the only one left alive. Out of the thousands of creatures who met that day to kill each other, he was the only one still breathing. His side had won. He had won. After years of conflict and fighting, the armies of Zeta-Nine were finally demolished. X was free from its longtime bitter rival. And he was the only one left alive that day to prove it.

And after only a few months, it was all forgotten.

A sudden jarring of the space pod shook Xslav awake. "User is now in Deth Fortress," came the bland voice in Xslav's ear again. "User must upload floor plan for Deth Fortress to locate Armageddeon Laser."

"Here I am," Xslav muttered to himself, climbing out of the seat, "Time to be the hero once more..."

******

Once he had slipped out of the mini-jet bay, Xslav flattened himself against the wall, peeking out into the hallway. The corridors were nothing like he had imagined them to be. Pure white walls with white ceilings and floors made Xslav wonder if this was indeed Deth Fortress. Cautiously stepping along the wall into the halls, Xslav knew his dark vest made him stand out like a pepper moth on a birch tree. "Deth's been expecting me," Xslav thought to himself, quietly slithering further into the Fortress.

A soft noise suddenly echoed through the corridor, making Xslav's nerves jolt. Xslav spread himself against the wall, quietly drawing his pistol. Another string of quiet sounds began to bouce around the hallway, which Xslav readily concluded were footsteps. As the steps grew closer, Xslav decided that firing his pistol in the silent, echo-carrying halls was a bad idea. Reholstering his pistol, Xslav reached inside of his vest, and pulled out the handle of the beam sword. Fiddling about with the handle, Xslav let the handle sprout a glowing blade of energy, moving silently though the air as it extended to full length.

Moving quickly to a corner, Xslav waited silently as the footsteps slowly approached him from around the bend, and a long shadow suddenly moved beside him from the corner along the floor.

As soon as he saw a short figure come past the edge of the wall, Xslav bolted off of his feet, wrapped his arms around the creature's jaw and buried the tip of his sword underneath the guard's chin. The creaure moaned a muffled scream underneath Xslav's bulky forearm, and he began to struggle weaker and weaker, until he fell still.
Resting the dead alien against the wall, Xslav unhooked his beam sword from the guard's skull, thankful that the beam had burned whatever flesh it had touched, leaving his kill without a drop of spilled blood on either the floor or his white-clothed body. Wondering for a moment if he should don the guard's outfit, Xslav soon dismissed the idea, seeing that the creature was nowhere near as large as he was. "Deth's definitely been expecting me," Xslav thought, picking the creature up again and sheathing hi sword. Glancing around the corner, Xslav looked for a place to hide the body. Finding the coast to be clear, Xslav dragged the body as he walked backwards down the hallway, keeping his eyes open for any sort of storage room. Finding a small door a few steps later, Xslav cautiously turned the handle, and was relieved to find a simple cleaning closet when he opened the door. Shoving the dead alien into the closet beside the lonely hover-mop, Xslav made sure the body would stand on its own before closing the door.

As soon as he shut the door, he heard a mass of footsteps rush towards him. "There he is!" Xslav heard a voice scream from his right. Spinning around, Xslav saw a pack of white-dressed creatures dashing at him.

"Kill him!"

A barrage of laser fire erupted from the charging mob. Xslav raced back around the corner, pulling out his pistol again and managing a few shots of his own before he took cover. The gunshots echoed around the room like rolling thunder, and Xslav did not want to stay around for too long. Dashing back the way he had came, Xslav ran down the hallway as fast as his legs could carry him, feeling a laser blast clip his shoulder. The blast bouced off of his armored vest, but just managed to jarr the Xian. Xslav sped past the mini-jet bays, and rounded the next corner he came to. The hallway went on for as far as Xslav could see, with rows upon rows of doors on either side. Hearing the pursuing soldiers gaining on him, Xslav opened the first door he found handy and quickly slid inside. Taking cover behind the piles of boxes in the small, dark room, Xslav waited silently, prepared for the worst.

He could hear the guards begin to stop in the halls, and then spreading out. Another white-armored creature ventured into the room, pointing to the crates cautiously with the barrel of his rifle. Xslav kept his lungs only half full, creating a silent stir in the air around him. Even with the dead silence around him, Xslav could have sworn that someone had just slipped into the room before the guard. As the guard began to grow more and more suspisious, Xslav knew that the only way to get out of the storage hold alive was to quickly take out the officer. As soon as the guard turned his back to him, Xslav aimed his pistol carefully at the back of the guard's neck, and pulled the trigger.

[Mewfour]

The blasts of energy smashed into the alien's skull, dropping the guard to the floor in an instant. Nondel whipped his pistol to the right, and gasped. "Xslav!"

"Nondel!"

The two Xians suddenly realized they had met again, pointing their guns at each other. "How'd you get in here?" Nondel asked quietly.

"Same way you did, I'm guessing," Xslav whispered back.

The two Xians waited until the halls outside were silent before speaking again. "Did you see the guards?" Nondel asked.

"Yeah, I did," Xslav replied. "Deth really knows how to make a guy stand out."

"Too bad he only put his short guys on patrol," Nondel said, "Their armor won't fit either of us."

"So I've noticed."

"How long have you been here?"

"About ten minutes. You?"

"Same."

They waited some more before quietly venturing out from the crates. Xslav dragged the guard's body into the depths of the storeage room and buried him neatly underneath the boxes as Nondel peeked around the door frame into the hallway. "Everything's clear," he said.

Xslav soon joined Nondel on the other side of the doorway. "You've been here before," said Xslav, "Recognize anything?" After Nondel took another quick peek, Xslav asked, "Well?"

"No," said Nondel. "It looks like Deth's done some serious renovating since my last visit."

"Damn," Xslav muttered, "Now what?"

Nondel hesitated before he spoke. "I think we should stick together," he said at length. "That way, we'll have each other's backs if we get into too much trouble."

Xslav mulled Nondel's suggestion over in his mind. "No, we should split up," Xslav decided. "That way we'll cover more ground and find the laser faster."

Nondel pondered some more. "Yeah, all right," he said, giving in.

"Good. I'll take the right."

Before Xslav could leave, Nondel anchored his hand on Xslav's shoulder. "Xslav, wait a second," Nondel said, drawing two of Reckage's pistols from his vest. "These are some guns I took from one of Deth's top men," he said, "They're pretty powerful. You might need them."

Xslav took the pistols and stuffed one in both of his boots. "You need your sword back?" Xslav asked.

"Keep it if you want," said Nondel, "I'm fine without it."

"Suit yourself."

Just as the two left the room, Nondel said, "Hey Xslav, good luck."

Xslav nodded a thanks before the two parted ways once more.

******

The Indexter had just finished uploading, and the bland voice in Xslav's ear spoke again. "Upload complete. Unit has uploaded floor plan for Deth Fortress."

Xslav disconnected the small black device from the computer terminal, stepping over the dead guard as he did. Attaching the Indexter to his leg belt again, Xslav whispered, "Unit command: Locate Armageddeon Laser."

"Locating... Armageddeon Laser located. Follow unit's instructions now."

Xslav poked his head around the corner, thankful to see no one in the hallway. Quietly sliding his way into the white corridor, Xslav held his breath, leaving only the gentle patter of his feet to echo in the air. Once he was certain that he was alone, Xslav whispered, "Unit command: Begin the walkthrough."

"Starting walkthrough. User must walk to end of hallway." Xslav quietly snuck to the end of the hallway, and his computer spoke again. "User must walk left until T-intersection."

It continued for almost an hour before Xslav stopped right in front of a door. "Armageddeon Laser found," said the computer before shutting off once more.

Xslav grasped the handle and cautiously turned, letting the door creak open as he slowly ventured into the room. The room was pitch-black inside, and even with the hallway's light shining through the doorway, Xslav could hardly see a few inches past his face. Closing the door behind him, Xslav ran his hands across the wall, searching for any kind of light switch. Finally, his fingertips fumbled over something anchored on the wall, and Xslav fiddled with it intently. Suddenly, the lights came on in a blinding flash, forcing Xslav to cover his eyes. Gradually etting his eyes adjust, Xslav let the shadow of his hand cast a dark spot over his eyes, slowly bringing his hand away as more light filtered into his pupils. And as soon as Xslav could see without hinderance, he immediately drew one of Reckage's pistols at the figure before him.

"So, you've met Reckage?" the tall being asked, ruffling his jet-black robes.

"I just took his guns," Xslav said. And with that, Xslav fired two blasts of laser at the shadow.

The burts of energy simply sunk through the dark robes of the shadow, and the creature quietly snickered underneath his hood. "Go ahead, just try to harm me."

Xslav obliged, drew his beam sword, and dashed at the creature. He took a vicious slash at the shadow's arm, and the sleeve robe was blown backwards, as if nothing was inside of it. Xslav threw another wild wipe, this time across the shadow's chest. The blade did not even tear the fabric, as it too wavered in the air.

Xslav stepped backwards, hardly believing what he saw. Creating a large gap between he and the shadow, Xslav growled, "What in the hell are you?"

"Please, call me Raith," said the shadow, raising his arms to Xslav. "And now, Xian, prepare to die."

With that, Raith let a wave of energy blast upon Xslav, flooring the Xian instantly. Quickly rolling to his feet, Xslav gripped his sword like a dagger as Raith slowly floated an inch above the ground towards him. Coiling his legs, Xslav leapt at Raith like off a spingboard, spearing the tip of his beam blade into Raith's gut. The robe only pattered backwards, not even recieving a blemish. Raith swung his arm down upon Xslav's back like a club, knocking the wind out of Xslav's lungs as the Xian collapsed to his knees. Struggling back to his feet, Xslav drew Reckage's pistol and completely unloaded it into Raith's body. The blasts were quickly soaked up into the robes, and Raith began to laugh. "Foolish Xian," Raith taunted, "Haven't you learned yet?"

Frustrated, Xslav threw his empty pistol at Raith, clonking the apparition on the forehead. Raith's head snapped backwards, and Xslav heard a faint moan. An idea popped into Xslav's head, and he did not hesitate to try it out. Drawing the other pistol, Xslav fired a single shot to Raith's skull. Raith winced as the blast sunk into his hood, and Xslav began pumping round after round of energy blasts into him. Suddenly, Raith gave a feral roar of agony, and threw his arms out from his side. A gale of invisible energy blasted upon Xslav and the entire room, throwing him against the wall. The ceilings and the floors cracked, threatening to collaspe. The walls began to creak, just about ready to cave in. Xslav slid out of the crater in the wall that his body had created, landing with a stiff thud on the floor. When his vision uncrossed, he saw Raith wobbling back and forth, feeling dizzy from his vicious attack. Xslav aimed his pistol as best he could to Raith's head, and depleted its energy into Raith's skull. Raith jolted and reeled as the blasts rocked his hood, and suddenly, Raith collapsed to the floor. Breathing a heay sigh of relief when Raith did not rise, Xslav tossed the empty pistol to the ground as he limped towards Raith, favoring his ankle. Standing over Raith, Xslav knelt down to his side, curious to see just what lay underneath the robes. Just as he touched the rough fabric, Raith suddely floated back into the air, throwing his arms at Xslav again. Xslav felt a blast of energy slam him up into the ceiling, almost going through the floor above. Raith suddenly threw his arms down, and Xslav was sent crashing into the floor. Swinging his arms to the side, Raith sent Xslav flying off of the floor, smashing face-first into the wall. The wall was only minutes away from crumbling, and the ceiling began to litter dust around the room as Xslav was pressed firmly against the wall by Raith's power. Struggle as he might, Xslav could not free himself from the mysterious hold that Raith had on him, feeling Raith push him further and further into the wall. Suddenly, Raith threw his arms to his other side, sending Xslav shooting across the room, smashing against the other wall.

As soon as Xslav's body was slammed into the wall, the ceiling began to heave, and bits of debris fell to the floor. Raith looked up, and saw that the ceiling was ready to cave in at any moment. Xslav fell to the floor, suddenly feeling the mysterious grip on his body rest him on the ground. Xslav looked at Raith once he regained his breath, and saw Raith with one arm aimed at him and the other at the ceiling, holding it in place. Taking a deep breath, Xslav hoped that he could take another bruising as another idea brew in his mind. As soon as he was sure that Raith had ignored him, Xslav dashed at Raith with all the speed he had. Raith quickly saw Xslav, just seconds after Xslav had grabbed the arm pointed at him. With a vicious roar, Xslav threw Raith's arm up to the ceiling. Xslav was sent crashing up into the ceiling, and Raith screamed in dismay. Xslav fell to the floor, as so did the rest of the room.

It took half an hour for the dust to settle, and Xslav dragged himself out of the pile of debris. Xslav looked up, and saw the underlay of the floor above him. Moaning loudly as he rubbed his sore back, Xslav spotted a shred of black robe poking out from the debris. Kicking the debris over with his foot, Xslav saw the flattened figure of Raith, lying motionless on the floor. Without so much as a second of delay, Xslav smashed his heel into the back of Raith's hood, hearing a crunch underneath. Breathing a sigh of relief, Xslav peeled back Raith's hood with his toe, and saw nothing more than a crushed metal skull mounted on a crushed metal hover platform. Tearing apart Raith's robes, Xslav found a small metal tab inside Raith's sleeves. His suspicion aroused, Xslav tore off one of the tabs and plugged it into his Indexter. "Unit command: Analyze hardware."

"Analyzing... Analysis complete. Hardware is a remote hovering device, capable of emitting high-frequency shockwaves and invisible grapple beams. Hardware also doubles as a frequency jammer."

Xslav unplugged the small tab, rubbed the various cuts and bruises that laced his jaw and forehead, and looked at the tab in amusement. "A decoy, huh?" He grumbled. "Unit command: Locate the real Armageddeon Laser."

[Mewfour]

"Simui, oh God, it's good to hear your voice again."

Nondel could almost hear Simui blush through his earpiece. "So you're back in Deth Fortress?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Nondel, leaning against the desk of the computer in the office, looking away from the cold body slumped over the chair. "Did the Indexter upload the floor plan?"

"I've got it," said Simui. "According to the map, the Armageddeon Laser should be very close from where you are now."

Nondel grinned. "Simui, how much time do we have left?"

There was a pause. "Exactly two hours. Everyone's worried to death down here, Nondel."

"Anything else happen while I was gone?"

"Rion's getting the entire planetary spacefighter fleet ready to take off," said Simui. "If you don't disable that laser in time, Rion's promised us some fireworks."

"Great," Nondel muttered. "I'd better get moving then. Which way to the laser?"

*******

"Please try and destroy that laser in time, Nondel," were the last words that Nondel heard Simui plead before the connection severed. Nondel grimaced at her tone, hoping Xslav had already beaten him to the punch. Having memorized Simui's instructions, Nondel found himself sprinting quickly and quietly down the hallways. He remembered his last escapade in Deth Fortress, knowing that the cameras were well-hidden, and for a moment he did not even care if their lenses caught him. There was only an hour and a half left by his counting, and Nondel dared not run out of time. Coming to the last winding corridor that Simui had told him about, Nondel quickly rounded the corner and stopped at the first door he came to. Wishing for the best and holding his breath, Nondel turned the handle and creeped inside.

There it was, inside of the vast gaping bay, aimed past the sealed docks. The gigantic heap of machinery called the Armageddeon Laser. Nondel noticed a tool box beside the small computer kiosk beside the doorway. With a cruel grin, Nondel picked out a lug wrench, and patted it in his hand plottingly. Walking with a purpose towards the laser itself, Nondel prepared to wreak himself some havoc. Stopping at the side of the laser, Nondel raised the lug wrench above his head, and began a swing.

Split-seconds before he could smash a hole in the machine, the wrench was knocked out of his hands by a quick blast of light. Nondel yelped and rubbed his aching palm, seeing a small, white-clad soldier walking towards him, aiming a pistol at Nondel's neck. "Gotcha'," the alien smirked. "Come on out, boys. Time to have some fun."

In a matter of seconds, Nondel found himself surrounded by more white-armored creatures, each aiming a weapon of their own at him. Nondel glanced around him, grimacing as his hand hovered over his holstered pistol. "Touch that gun and you'll be had," warned one alien, keeping his eyes locked on Nondel.

"Now raise your arms."

Not again, Nondel whined inwardly. He raised his arms.

"Now put your hands behind your head."

Nondel put his hands behind his back. A pair of soldiers advanced on him, one holding another pair of handcuffs. "Watch carefully on this one, men," one alien instructed, "he's fast with his feet."

Almost on queue, one of the creatures gave Nondel a stiff kick on his ankle, felling Nondel immediately. With a sudden grin, Nondel landed on his back, brought his knee to his chest, and it only took Nondel a split-second to whip out Reckage's pistol from his boot. Quick to put a laser blast through the skull of the guard who kicked him, Nondel slid up behind his falling body, shooting at any soldier daring to fire on him. Clenching the dead alien to his body, Nondel shot at the rest of the ring of aliens around him as the dead guard's body jolted from the showers of laser blasts pummeling on his chest. One by one, Nondel picked off the aliens, and just as Reckage's pisol fired the last shot left in it, the last alien fell.

Nondel breathed heavily, happy to still be alive without another pair of handcuffs on him. As soon as Nondel picked up the wrench again, the door to the bay flew open.

Nondel barely managed to stop himself from firing on the entering figure in time. "Xslav!"

Xslav took a brief glance around the bloodstained room, littered with the white-clad corpses. "Having fun in here, Nondel?"

"Yeah. Loads," Nondel muttered, rubbing his wrists.

Xslav looked over Nondel's shoulder, and hummed. "So that's the Armageddeon Laser," Xslav said.

"Wanna' help me fix it?" Nondel asked, raising the lug wrench again, motioning to smash it against the machine.

"Hold on a second," Xslav said, looking at the computer kiosk. Swinging a nearby chair over to the desk, Xslav sat himself down and began clicking away on the keyboard. "Ah, just as I thought," he muttered.

"What?" asked Nondel, now looking over Xslav's shoulder.

"Deth's protected it against concussive blows. If we hit that thing too hard, it'll blow up, taking a chunk of Deth Fortress with it- us included."

"So much for the easy way out," Nondel grumbled. "Well, what else can we do?"

Xslav rubbed his chin, and stared at the monitor. "I might be able to deactivate it," said Xslav, "but it might take awhile."

"You'd better make it quick," Nondel said, "We've only got an hour left."

"So I've noticed," said Xslav, pointing to a timer on the screen.

"How long do you need?" Nondel asked.

Xslav typed a few more commands in, and then said, "at least ten minutes."

Nondel breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, we should be okay then." Drawing two of Reckage's pistols, Nondel went to the door. "I'll cover you if anyone wants to give us trouble," he said.

"Wait a sec, Nondel," said Xslav, taking out his earpiece. "I think we'd better keep in touch from here on in." Xslav fiddled about with his, and motioned Nondel to do the same. After a retweaking, they both put their earpieces back.

"Let me know if you need anything," said Nondel as he ventured back into the hallway, "We're all counting on you."

The door quietly closed behind him, and Xsalv was left in complete silence. Taking a quick glance around the room, Xslav suddenly noticed a tall structre in the corner of the room, right beside the bay doors. Guessing it was part of the Armageddeon Laser's outer workings, Xslav ignored it and began typing away.

It was only eight minutes later that Xslav had finally hacked his way into the Armageddeon Laser. "Not bad," Xslav said to himself, admiring his handywork. "Cancel timer, yes. Cancel calibration, yes. Cancel prime power source, yes. Erase all programming, yes. Confirm all orders...."

Xslav paused.

Why the rush?

While Nondel was out running around, he would be the one to disable the laser. He would be the one to save X this time, and once again be that star of the spotlight. Xslav's hands slowly slid away from the keyboard, and he gradually let himself relax. "If I were to shut off the Laser just seconds before it fired," Xslav reasoned, "then I'll be even more of a hero... maybe even more than Nondel."

The thought of being respected by the entire planet again gave Xslav and ever so slight grin. Xslav rocked back on the chair, and rested his boots on the desk. He had all the time in the world.

"Xslav!" He suddenly heard Nondel bark out, "What are you doing? You shouuld have had that laser diabled half an hour ago!"

"I ran into a bit of a problem," said Xslav. "Deth's programmers are smarter than they look. It'll take me at least twenty minutes more."

"Twenty minutes!" Xslav heard Nondel scream. "****!"

"Hey, if you can do a better job, come back here and try," Xslav said, trying to sound irritated.

"Oh ****, this is not good," Xslav heard Nondel mutter. "Well, hurry up, Xslav! We've already had all day!"

Suddenly, Xslav heard numerous shuffling on Nondel's end of the connection. He heard a thud, Nondel groan, and the line fell silent.

Xslav paused for a second. "Hmph, isn't my problem," Xslav shrugged, shifting his postion. Xslav sighed with content, drifting in and out of mindless daydreaming. Taking one last glance at the timer, Xslav said to himself, "Only ten more minutes until I become the greatest hero X has ever known- again."

Suddenly, a string of thunderous footsteps lumbered his way. The pile of machinery that Xslav thought was meaningless was now behind him. And as Xslav looked over his shoulder, his jaw dropped and he murmured a weak, "Oh ****..."

[Mewfour]

Xslav bolted off of the chair and drew his pistol at the metal monstrosity. The gigantic robot stared at Xslav with its lifeless eyes, flexing its razor-sharp claws in and out. The tryannosaurus skeleton-like monstrosity slid its tail from side to side, and the instant its massive jaws snapped shut, a tiny voice from the computer said, "Intruder alert: Mechanos MkII activated."

Xslav threw himself to the ground, narrowly avoiding a vicious swipe from Mechanos. Xslav emptied his entire pistol into Mechanos' metal body, firing until his gun went clicking in his hands. The blasts simply bounced off of Mechanos' figure, barely even shaking the mechanical monster. Tossing his wasted gun aside, Xslav skipped backwards just in time to dodge Mechanos' talon smashing into the floor. As Mechanos struggled to free his anchored hand, Xslav drew his beam sword and took a vicious slash at Mechanos' wrist. The beam blade made barely a scratch in Mechanos' thick armor, and the metal beast hardly took notice. Just before Xslav could wind back his arm for another swipe, Mechanos ripped his arm free from the floor, shaking Xslav onto his back. As soon as Xslav landed, Mechanos had raised its foot, and drove it down upon him. With all the strength he could muster, Xslav rolled over his head and back onto his feet, just barely squeezing between Mechanos' two toes as the massive iron foot smashed a crater into the floor. As Mechanos tried to wrench his foot free, Xslav sprung to his feet, hopped onto Mechanos' foot, and began hacking away at its ankle. With one more fierce tug, Mechanos pried his foot out of the floor, taking Xslav into the air with him. Xslav found himself clinging to Mechanos' foot, holding on for dear life as the metal monster tried to fling him off. Knowing that the gigantic machine could keep kicking forever, Xslav bravely began to climb his way up Mechanos' leg, and stopped at his knee. Holding his beam sword like a giant dagger, Xslav swung himself around to the back of Mechanos' leg and drove his sword deep into the soft joints of Mechanos' knee. The metal monster roared as Xslav twisted his sword around in the wound, with Xslav thrusting deeper and deeper with every twist. Suddenly, Mechanos whipped its hips around, and as Xslav was flung out to the side, Mechanos' claw came down and swatted him away like a gnat. Xslav was thrown through the air like a rag doll, creating a hole in the wall as he crashed into it, bouncing onto the floor. Xslav grabbed his chest, heaving for air underneath his aching ribs. Mechanos was visibly damaged, his knee beginning to sputter smoke and flame as he flexed it. "Five minutes until Armageddon Laser activation," came the small voice again. Xslav winced as Mechanos advanced on him.

Mechanos wound back its arm again, throwing a fierce swipe at Xslav. Leaping backward on impulse, Xslav let the razors whiz past his face, only inches away from his eyes. Again Mechanos slashed at Xslav, narrowly missing the Xian's arm. Then with a roar, Mechanos sent its foot smashing into the floor again, with Xslav diving out of the way within seconds of being flattened. Once again, Mechanos tried to pull his foot free, and again Xslav was upon it's ankle, climbing up to its other knee. Wrapping his legs around the front of Mechanos' shin, Xslav held his sword with both hands, driving it with all of his strength into the inside of Mechanos' knee. The metal monstrosity roared as Xslav pushed his blade deeper into Mechanos' knee, leaving Mechanos trying to kick Xslav off again. Just as Mechanos' gigantic paw came down at him, Xslav sprung off of Mechanos' leg, and clung to its other wounded knee. Without so much as a second of delay, Xslav began to viciously hack away at Mechanos' knee, not even yielding to the thick black smoke billowing out of the damaged joint. A suddenly fierce jolt from Mechanos' hips sent Xslav to the floor again, landing with dizzying impact on his back. As soon as his vision uncrossed, he saw Mechanos' gigantic foot rushing upon him. Pitching to his left, Xslav came within centimeters of being completely crushed, and again Mechanos brought its foot down upon him. Everywhere Xslav rolled and slid, Mechanos's foot was always above him, coming within seconds of squashing him every time. Finally, Mechanos' foot wedged itself into the floor again, and Xslav was again climbing up his knee, And with one last vicious slash, Xslav parted the joint, sending both Mechanos and Xslav crashing to the ground. Scrambling back to his feet, Xslav was just about to run at the other knee again when Mechanos rose onto it's side, whipping its head at Xslav and snapping its jaws, coming an inch short of Xslav's neck. Before Xslav could sink his beam sword in Mechanos' body elsewhere, Mechanos' jaws opened once more, and with a deafening roar, a blazing beam of energy came charging out of its mouth. Xslav threw himself onto his back, with the energy blast just searing the tip of his shoulder armor. Mechanos kept its mouth open, charging another blast as Xslav rushed towards its neck. Just as Xslav prepared to strike, Mechanos' jaws fired another beam, narrowly missing Xslav as he dove to the ground, skidding on his belly as he slid towards Mechanos' neck. And with the rest of his strength inside of his battered body, Xslav clung to the back of Mechanos' head, and drove his sword deep into Mechanos' skull. Mechanos roared horrendously as Xslav began slicing away at Mechanos' neck. And with one last scream, Mechanos fell limp.

Xslav collapsed onto the floor, laying on his back and breathing heavily. "Beginning final Armageddon Laser aiming process."

The voice from the computer made Xslav scramble to his feet and leap over Mechanos' body. And as soon as his feet hit the ground, Mechanos' neck exploded in a violent flash, sending its head flying into the air. Just as Xslav was within a few arm's reach of the keyboard, the agape jaws of Mechanos' skull clamped onto his ankle, sending Xslav crashing to the ground with a yelp.

"One minute until Armageddon Laser firing."

"****!" Xslav screamed, unable to move forward with Mechanos' giant skull clamped to his leg. Xslav put his hands to Mechanos' jaws and struggled with all of his might, but the jaws barely gave a creak as they still lay anchored onto his boot.

"Thirty seconds until Armageddon Laser firing. Beginning aiming sequence."

The Armageddon Laser suddenly whirred, filling the air with a buzz. Xslav screamed in a mix of rage and agony as he dragged himself along the floor, with the Armageddon Laser's barrel poking through the bay doors in a special hole in the middle.

"Ten seconds."

Xslav moved an inch.

"Nine seconds."

Xslav moved two more inches.

"Eight seconds."

Xslav roared as he suddenly collapsed.

"Seven seconds, six seconds."

Xslav screamed as he forced his battered body to move.

"Five."

Xslav touched the leg of the desk.

"Four."

Xslav dragged his anchored leg to his side.

"Three."

Xslav screeched as his ribs exploded in pain, reaching up the side of the desk.

"Two."

Xslav winced as his hand blindly fumbled around he surface of the desk.

"One."

The air suddenly grew thin, and the Armageddon Laser began to glow. And as Xslav's hand finally found the keyboard, he spread his hand and planted it on the keys as the computer said, "Zero."

[Mewfour]

Nondel groaned weakly as he woke up, and as soon as his eyes focused, he nearly fainted again.

"Hello again, Populas."

The same steel-masked figure that Nondel hoped he would never have to see again was standing right in front of him. "Deth!" Nondel blurted out.

"Glad you remember me," said Deth, brushing his flowing robes aside, letting his bright blue armor gleam underneath the lights. Nondel found his hands cuffed behind his back, his arms around a thick metal pole running from the ceiling to the floor. Stepping to his side, Deth let Nondel see the tip of planet X, and he began to quietly laugh. "Only five minutes until your planet dies, Xian," Deth taunted.

Nondel glanced around the room. He was kneeling in the center of a spacious control deck, and a large, throne-like chair at the top of the bridge is what Nondel readily assumed to be Deth's seat. I was not long before Nondel noticed he had been completely stripped of his armor, leaving him only in his thin gray undersuit. "Sir, shall I ask X for their surrender again?" an alien asked from the helm.

"Don't bother," said Deth. "If they aren't giving up now, they never will." Turning to Nondel, Deth said, "They put all their faith in you, you foolish little Xian," Deth suddenly laughed out loud, "Did you honestly think you could bet the better of me twice?"

"Did you really think we'd let you destroy our planet?" Nondel quietly hissed back.

Deth chuckled. "Defiant to the bitter end, eh?" Deth said, "then I will give you that quick death I promised you from last time."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Nondel breathed.

Deth lifted Nondel's chin, locking eyes immediately. "You've caused me a great deal of trouble, Xian," said Deth. "If there's one thing I want you to see before I kill you, it would be you watching your own planet die."

"Sir, two minutes until the deadline," said the same helmsman again. "Shall I start altering the ion flow like you ordered?"

Deth paused. "May as well," he said at length. When Deth noticed Nondel's inquizitive look, he said, "What, you thought I would destroy your pitiful planet?"

"You mean-!" Nondel gasped. "You're not going to fire the laser on X?"

Nondel's answer was a quick swat across thee cheek. "Fool," Deth spat, "Of course I'm going to crush your planet. I'm merely avoiding it's destruction." When Nondel did not reply, Deth said, "I'm altering the ion flow patterns in the laser right now into a non-concussive blast. When the laser hits your planet, it will shake up a cloud of dust into your sky, creating a neo ice age over X."

"But why?" Nondel asked.

"I've only just recently learned that X is the planet with the richest minerals and ore," said Deth, "but I would not get past your planet's defenses. That's why I kidnapped your female freind, to get her to tell me how to crush your planet's armada and take your planet's riches. Have you ever heard of a strip mine, Xian?" Leaning closer to Nondel, Deth whispered, "When all life on X dies, I'm going to make X a strip planet."

Nondel growled furiously at Deth, and Deth only laughed at Nondel's plight. "Ten seconds, sir," said the helmsman. Deth walked to the helm, the closest he could get to the viewscreen. "Five seconds, sir."

Nondel could tell that underneath Deth's steel mask lay a twisted grin. "Three," Nondel heard Deth chant.

"Two..."

Nondel gritted his teeth.

"One...."

Nondel squeezed his eyes shut.

"Zero!"

Nondel kept his eyes shut.

He opened them seconds later, and X was still there, completely unharmed. No giant laser beam was to be seen. With a roar, Deth grabbed the helmsman by the collar. "What's going on?" Deth snarled.

"Sir, the laser- it's not responding!"

"Mnson!" Deth barked aloud. "What's wrong?"

"I-I-I-I don't know, my lord," came Mnson's squeaky voice over the room, "Someone must have deactivated the laser!"

Suddenly, the viewscreen flashed to inside the bay doors, and on the screen stood Xslav, dressed in a heavy space suit. "Deth, nice to meet you," said Xslav.

"I thought you took care of that other one," Deth hissed at another crew member.

"I-I-I'm sorry, lord De-"

His answer was a vicious punch to the cheek, flooring him immediately. "You!" Deth snarled with rage, pointing at Xslav on the screen.

"Please, my name is Xslav Incorr," said Xslav. "I hope you haven't become too attached to your little laser, Deth," said Xslav, putting on his space helmet and fastening it on tightly, "Because now I'm getting rid of it."

Deth howled with dismay as Xslav flicked a switch from offscreen, and the bay doors flew open, sucking Xslav into space immediately. The laser soon followed him, and the screen blacked out. "Damn you, what the hell do I pay you people for?" Deth fumed, storming up to the bridge. Noticing Nondel quietly smirking to himself, Deth locked eyes with the Xian again. "I'll deal with you later," Deth hissed. "You there, watch Populas. The rest of you, man your battlestations!" he barkend, storming out of the room with his followers.

A minute of silence passed, with the short alien aiming the barrel of his rifle at Nondel's face. Just as Nondel opened his mouth to speak, the alien snarled, "Blink once and I'll let you have it."

"Don't you want to hear how I plan to escape?" Nondel asked.

The alien snorted. "Okay, tell me."

"First," said Nondel, "I'm going to take your rifle, and shoot you in the back of the head with it."

The alien laughed. "Right," he snickered. "Then what?"

"Then, I'm going to steal one of Deth's fighter crafts, and I'm going home."

"Really," said the alien. "And how exactly are you planning to do all that?"

In a flash, Nondel was behing the guard, poking the barrel of his rifle at the back of his neck. Showing the guard the broken chain of the handcuffs around his wrist, Nondel said, "You'd be surprised what you can do with some constant friction and a good distraction," Nondel snickered, pulling the trigger.

*****

The hallways were now abustle with aliens of all different species racing down the corridors. Just as soon as the last alien of the crowd passed the last door beside the fighter craft bay, the door flew open, and a pair of arms pulled the creature in. Seconds later, a bone-crunching snap echoed through the halls, and Nondel stepped out of the room, adjusting his new uniform. Rushing into the bay with the rest of the Deth's many henchmen, Nondel picked out the fighter craft he first came across, hopped into the open cockpit, and was blasting off into X's orbit in no time at all.

*******

The chaos outside of Deth Fortress was unimaginable. Fighter crafts, both of X and Deth's raced back and forth, exchanging a dizzying flurry of laser blasts. "Nondel," Nondel heard a weak voice call him.

"Xslav!" Nondel cheered, holding on to his earpiece. "Xslav, where are you?"

"Right above you."

Nondel looked up, and sure enough, the space suited figure of Xslav was floating listlessly above him. "Xslav, thank God you're still alive!"

"Oxygen supply... running low..." Xslav weezed.

"Hang on to my wingtip, Xslav," said Nondel, "I'll figure out a way to-"

"No," Xslav gasped. "Laser... falling to X... I found out what it's made of.... heavy enough.... must destroy it.... when it hits the ground... create ice age...."

Nondel growled. "No way getting out of it," he groaned. Nondel saw the silhouette of the laser, gently floating towards X.

"Go on, Nondel," Xslav groaned weakly, "forget about me... destroy...."

Nondel heard Xslav fall silent. "Hold on, Xslav, I'll come back for you!" Nondel said, turning his craft around, "I promise!"

With a blast of jet power, Nondel sent himself hurdling after the laser, pushing the engines to maximum power as he slowly gained on the falling laser. Once he had a clear shot, Nondel opened fire with a storm of lasers. The blasts gradually chipped away at the laser, sending bits and pieces battering agaist the craft as the two sped down in a supersonic-speed nosedive through X's atmosphere. Nondel felt his craft beginning to heat up, as flaming wreckage from the laser smashed upon his machine. The craft began to shake, and Nondel slowly found himself losing control. The pressure inside of his ears intensified, and soon he felt like his head would burst. Gritting his teeth and snarling, Nondel continued to pummel the laser with gunfire as the landscape below began to take shape. And with one last scream of agony, Nondel had finally blew away the laser into nothing more than space junk, burning harmlessly in the sky as it fell.

But he was still falling, and no matter how hard he jammed the control stick, the craft kept speeding towards the ground in a suicide dive. "Pull up, damn you, pull up!" Nondel screamed, wrenching the controls violently.

The ground met him sooner than he thought, and everything turned to black.

EPILOGUE

The war had just begun, and Xslav was left in the middle of it all. Forgive me, X, he pleaded, forgive me for my greed.

X looked so serene, even amidst the raging storm of laserfire around it. Breathing shallowly now, Xslav sighed. I've been such a fool...

And then he breathed no more.

THE END
***************

Well, that's it everyone. Nondel and Xslav have met their end..... right?

[Mewfour]

The REAL Epilogue

Nondel opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was the overjoyed face of Simui. "General Rion! Doctor Kamon! He's awake!" She cheered.

Nondel groaned, and suddenly realized he was lying down. As soon as he tried to sit up, a sharp pain in his tailbone forced him back down. "Hey, go easy, Nondel," Simui said, helping Nondel down again. Grabbing a small glass from the counter beside his head, Simui asked, "Thirsty?"

Nondel managed a weak yes as Simui guided the glass to his lips. As soon as he had finished, Rion and the slender Kamon were in the room with them. "Glad to see you're all right, said Rion, "more or less."

Nondel moaned loudly. "What happened?"

"You stole one of Deth's fighter crafts and crashed straight vertical at mach two, that's what," said Kamon, ruffling his fluffly blonde hair. "Remarkable machine," he muttered, "No one would ever believe it. If you did that in one of ours, you'd have been killed instantly."

Nondel grimaced as he moaned. "Is everything all right?" he asked, "how badly injured am I?"

"You suffered a tailbone fracture, a torn ACL, cartiledge tear in both your knees, and a pretty heavy concussion," said Kamon, "I've already operated on you, so that'll take a month to heal up, and you'll be suffering from post-concussion syndrome for about three months."

Suddenly, Nondel remembered. "Xslav!" he gasped as he sat up, and then Nondel snarled in agony, with Simui resting him back down again.

"Xslav is all right," said Kamon. "He's suffering from mild post-oxygen deprivation sydrome. He ought to be fine in two months."

Nondel breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "What happened to Deth?" Nondel asked.

"We're still fighting him as we speak," said Rion. "He's really hammering us, though, but we're taking out a pretty hefty chunk of his armada as well."

"How long have I been out?" Nondel asked.

"Two days," said Simui, "We're expecting to finish with Deth by tomorrow. But what's going to be left of us..." Simui trailed off with nervousness.

"Hey, don't worry, Simui," said Nondel with a grin, "When was the last time I let you down...?"

THE END

And that's the real ending. Okay people, it's finished. No more to see here. Nothing! Kaput! Zilch! Zero! Nada! Nix! Stop reading already! Stop it!

[Mewfour]

Yes, here's a silly little thing I wrote, supercondensing both GW and GWX into all but 6 pages. Enjoy.

GALAXY WAR: *SPRCNDNSD!*

Omniscient Narrator: Hey everyone, it's really really far in the future, and humans colonized this planet called X. The humans left, and now the Xians are just like them, except they're aliens. Man, that was lame.

Nondel: Hi, I'm Captain Nondel Populas. Time to go to my job as a military pilot. I wonder what they're going to have me do today.

*Goes to X's military HQ*

Simui: We're supposed to go to some other galaxy to do something pretty insignificant.

Nondel: A task so insignificant that something is bound to go wrong and spurn a long, epic adventure? Hm, seems harmless.

*in space*

Nondel: Crap. Our ship broke down in the middle of space. I'll go below the decks inside the safety of our ship to fix the engine.

Simui: And I'll go outside the ship to repair the hull damage. Gee, I sure hope I don't suddenly disappear while you're below the decks.

Nondel: Naw, this mission is so insignificant, nothing could go wrong.

*Goes below the decks and fixes the engine, comes back up, Simui is gone*

Nondel: Crap. Hey look, her belt beacon is still on. I can trace her all across the galaxy to find her. Say, why do I even care about her anyway? Is it because of my chivalours, do-gooding nature? Or is it because I've got nothing else to do? Eh, whatever.

*Follows Simui's belt beacon to planet LV001*

Nondel: LV001? What the hell is this? Some kind of videogame? Hey look, there's an ominous building, and Simui's beacon is inside of there. Could it be that she was kidnapped by a nefarious gang of space marauders led by the most feared warlord in the galaxy? Naw.....

*Sneaks into the complex, runs into Meldevos*

Meldevos: We are a nefarious gang of space marauders led by the most feared warlord in the galaxy!

Nondel: .... So?

Meldevos: We've kidnapped Simui too.

Nondel: Crap.

*Nondel beats Meldevos to a bloody pulp*

Nondel: Now I'm going to let you live, even though it's more than likely that you're going to come back and pick another fight with me for revenge in the sequel, okay?

Meldevos: Sure thing, pal. *passes out*

Nondel: Hm, now Simui's on another planet. If this was a videogame, every gamer would be pretty pissed off right now....

*goes to Aqqualtia*

Nondel: Nothing but water everywhere on this planet. Hey look, there's a boat carring an unsuspecting pair of evil-looking creatures. Are they part of the nefarious gang of space marauders led by the most feared warlord in the galaxy that kidnapped Simui?

Creatures: Man, it's tough being part of a nefarious gang of space marauders led by the most feared warlord in the galaxy, which, by the way, kidnapped some alien named Simui.

Nondel: Crap.

*Nondel intercepts and kills the aliens, then sneaks into their hideout*

Nondel: I'm certaintly in over my head here. Hey look, a door! I sure hope I don't wander into some cleverly planned trap...

*Walks in, and is trapped inside of a glass container*

Nondel: Crap.

Mnson: Hah! You've wandered into my cleverly planned trap! And yes, we're a nefarious gang of space marauders led by the most feared warlord in the galaxy, and I'm just going to feed you to a giant crab named Muffin and walk away after I drop you into the tank and just assume that you've died.

Nondel: Do you expect me to talk?

Mnson: No, Mr. Bond- I mean, Populas, I expect you to- oh damn, copyright issues. *leaves*

*Nondel is dropped into a tank with a giant crab named muffin. He kills it and falls out of the tank's drain pipe.*

*Washes up on the planet's surface*

Nondel: Crap, my radar's gone. Now how am I going to find Simui and rescue her from the nefarious gang of space marauders led by the most feared warlord in the galaxy? I know, I'll head back to LV001 and search for more clues, even though they're more than likely to be expecting me this time! Yay!

*goes back to the LV001 hideout, runs into Bloq*

Bloq: My name is Bloq- God damn, that's a lame *** name...

Nondel: You have a lame *** name? I'm NONDEL FRIGGIN' POPULAS!

Bloq: Oh, by the way, I'm one of the head cheifs of a nefarious gang of space marauders led by the most feared warlord in the galaxy.

Nondel: And you've got Simui?

Bloq: Damn, you beat me to it.

*Nondel and Bloq beat each other to bloody pulps, Nondel pushes Bloq's energy absorbing skin into a hologram of Simui that was put there to lure Nondel into a convienint trap, and Bloq dies*

Nondel: Hey, let's check his pockets for stuff! *Roots through Bloq's pockets* Hm, a keycard and his wallet. *Stuffs the keycard in his pocket, takes out Bloq's money, looks around, stuffs that in his pocket too.*

*in space*

Nondel: So I have to go to Deth Sattelite 19 now. I sure hope that I don't run into the feared galactic warlord who controls the nefarious gang of space marauders. Wait, that didn't sound right...

*In Deth Sattelite 19, Nondel runs into Mnson again*

Mnson: Allow me to introduce my prize creation, Metal Gear Ray- I mean, Mechanos!

Nondel: Damn you, Ocelot- I mean, Mnson! Damn Metal Gear spinoff fic....

*Nondel destroys Mechanos, grabs Mnson*

Nondel: Now what did you do with Simui?

Mnson: I'm not telling!

Nondel: Oh look, a beaker of truth serum, conveniently placed by the table next to me. *smashes beaker and jabs Mnson with a shard of the glass*

Mnson: Okay okay! She's in Deth Fortress! And now for a lack of a better way to move on with this scene, I'll intentionally knock myself out. *Bashes himself unconsious*

Nondel: And becuase Mnson serves as such a good comic relief in this fic, I'll just let him live. Gee, I sure hope that he won't more than likely come back in the sequel like Meldevos...

*In Deth Fortress, Nondel catches Mnson again and forces him to take him to Simui, who is lying unconcious in a machine. Nondel ties Mnson up*

Nondel: Yay! Simui! I've had enough of risking my neck for you! I probably won't get anything back anyway! Now I'm taking her and going!

Mnson: What? You haven't even confronted Deth yet!

Nondel: Oh, Deth, the leader of the nefarious gang of space marauders whom this supercondensed version of Galaxy War hasn't named yet as the leader of the aforementioned nefarious gang of space marauders. Naw, I don't wanna fight him.

Mnson: Aw, come on! Everyone who's been reading this shoddy Metal Gear wannabe fic wants to see it! And because of that, Simui won't be able to wake up until after 2 hours from now or she'll die.

Nondel: Damn, you nefarious gang of space marauders really are nefarious.

Mnson: Well, we are a nefarious gang of space marauders led by the most fea-

Nondel: Okay okay already! Sheesh....

*Nondel leaves, and runs into Deth*

Deth: Wait, did this supercondensed verion of this fic already mention my sinister motive for kidnapping Simui?

Nondel: Lemme check.... hmmmm, no.

Deth: Okay then, I'm the leader of a nefarious gang yada yada kidnapped Simui to steal info on X yada yada want to conquer X yada yada yada. There, that's it.

Nondel: Good. Now let's get this over with.

*They fight, and after a bloody battle, Nondel holds a rifle to Deth's neck but the rifle in empty*

Nondel: What? You gotta' be kidding me! What a lousy way to end such an epic and climatic battle!

Deth: Yeah whatever. And now I'll escape so I can return in the sequel as well. *escapes in an escape pod*

*All the oxygen on Deth Fortress begins to drain*

Nondel: What a stupid, stupid Metroid rip off.

*Finds Simui, gets into a fighter craft and flies out of Deth Fortress. Simui wakes up*

Simui: Wait, why am I sitting in your lap?

Nondel: Because this is a one cockpit ship and I was too tired to find a different one.

Simui: So Nondel, are you going to tell me all of your heroic efforts to save me for no apparent reason other than your chivalrous nature in hopes that I will fall madly in love with you, or are you just going to keep quiet and wait for the sequel?

Nondel: *Checks script* The sequel. DAMN!!!

-fin

GALAXY WAR X- *SPRCNDNSD!*

Narrator: It's two months later and Nondel's famous now.

Nondel: Here I am, being famous and stuff. And for some reason, Simui and I are still just friends.

*Nondel gets called into the briefing room*

Rion: I'm General Rion, Nondel's commander, who was mentioned in the last fic but never used as a character. Oh, Nondel, this is a forgotten war hero, Xslav Incorr.

Xslav: I want to be famous again.

Rion: Whatever. And now, a message from Deth, the leader of a nefarious gang of space marauders whom we have all somehow forgotten about.

Deth: How are you gentlemen? *points the Armageddon Laser at X* All your base are belong to me. *blows up X's second of three moons*

Nondel: He just set us up the laser!

Deth: You have no chance. Make your time! Ha ha ha!

Rion: Nondel and Xslav, go to the Deth Sattelites and try to dismantle the laser in Deth Fortress. For great justice!!

*Nondel slips into Deth Sattelite 15*

Nondel: Well, here I am inside the station of the nefarious gang of space marauders led by the most feared warlord in the galaxy who wants to destroy X. I sure hope that anyone who I let live in the previous fic doesn't come back for revenge in this one.

*runs into Meldevos*

Meldevos: Hah! You let live in the previous fic and now I've come back for revenge in this one!!

Nondel: Crap.

*They fight, Nondel severely injures Meldevos*

Nondel: And now I'll turn my back on you as you're lying in a pool of your own blood and assume that you'll bleed to death. *walks away, Meldevos suddenly causes the ceiling to collapse, and Nondel narrowly escapes.*

Nondel: Well, I guess he won't be coming back for revenge in the sequel again....

*Xslav slips into Deth Sattelite 12*

Xslav: And now for a lack of anything better to do, I'll narrowly avoid getting caught.

*Narrowly avoids getting caught, confronted by a gatling tank*

Xslav: What? I don't get a real enemy? Awwwww... *destroys the tank anyway*

*Nondel tries to get into Deth Fortress, runs into Reckage*

Reckage: DIE DIE DIE DIE GYARHARHARHAR!!

*Nondel shoots one of Reckage's grenades. Boom.*

Nondel: Ew.

*Xslav relaxes on his way to Deth Fortress, remembers the battle that made him famous*

Xslav: Oh, my left eye is damaged, which this supercondensed version of this fic hasn't yet mentioned that I'm partially blind in, which is why Nondel gave me a beam saber, which, co-incidentally, hasn't been mentioned yet either. Man, I wish I were famous again.

*Nondel and Xslav meet up again in Deth Fortress*

Nondel: Let's have a pointless discussion and then co-incidentally meet up again by the Armageddon Laser.

Xslav: Okay.

*They meet again by the Armageddon Laser*

Xslav: Wow, that was quick. Although this supercondensed version of this fic didn't mention my run-in with some robot called Raith because he's rather unimportant to the story.

Nondel: Now you try to disable the laser while I aimlessly wander the halls just asking to be caught.

Xslav: Okay. *Nondel leaves* Wait a minute, if I disable the laser only a few seconds after it fires I guess that in some pretty insignificant way, I'll be famous again! Don't ask me how I think that will work, but what the hell. *slacks off. Mechanos MkII apporaches*

Xslav: Great, now I have to destroy this new Mechanos, and I've forgotten to disable the laser. Oh well, I'm sure I can destroy it in time.

*Xslav destroys Mechanos with a few seconds to spare*

Xslav: Now all I need to do is disable the laser, unless something happens to slow me down. *Mechanos's neck explodes and it's head anchors down on Xslav's leg*

Xslav: Crap. Well, now I suppose I'll have to crawl my way to the control panel and blindly plant my hand on it, hoping that whatever I press disables the laser in time. *drag* ouch. *drag* ouch. *drag* ouch...

*Meanwhile, Nondel wakes up from being knocked out while aimlessly wandering the halls.*

Nondel: Crap. I've just woken up from being knocked out while aimlessly wandering the halls.

Deth: And now you're handcuffed to a pole and you'll be forced to watch the Armageddon Laser destroy X!

Nondel: Crap.

*The laser does nothing*

Nondel: YAY! Thank God for Xslav's stalling for heroic effect while still being able to disable the laser in time amidst fighting another Mechanos!!

Deth: Curses! Damn Xslav for stalling for heroic effect while still being able to disable the laser in time amidst fighting another Mechanos!!

Xslav: Hah! Good thing I was stalling for heroic effect while still being able to disable the laser in time amidst fighting another Mechanos!! And now I'll suck myself and the laser into space above X's orbit for no real coherent reason at all. *Opens bay doors, both Xslav and the Laser are sucked into space.*

Deth: Damn Xslav for sucking himself and the laser into space above X's orbit for no real coherent reason at all! Now I'll go somewhere irrelevant to do something even more irrelevant with everyone else who by the way are totally irrelevant and leave this one guard to make sure Nondel doesn't do something generally against my already foiled plans for a yet another reason that's utterly irrelevantly irrelevant. *leaves*

Guard: Move and I'll shoot you!

Nondel: Oh please. Do you know how many nameless guards I've already killed?

Guard: Hey, you got that line from Austin Powers!

Nondel: And now through a nigh-unbelievable method which this supercondensed version of this fic won't mention, I'll break out of my handcuffs, kill you, take one of Deth's fighter crafts and fly back to X.

*Later, in space inside of one of Deth's fighter crafts*

Nondel: Boy, that nigh-unbelievable method of breaking out of my handcuffs so I could kill that nameless guard, take one of Deth's fighter crafts and fly back to X sure did work!

*Nondel sees Xslav in space hovering above the cockpit*

Xslav: Nondel, even though I'm low on my air supply, go and destroy that laser before it hits X, which I found out it that it's heavy enough to create an ice age over X through some unexplained means between destroying Mechanos and now.

Nondel: Oh, fine.

*leaves Xslav and destroys laser*

Nondel: Oh no, I'm plummeting towards X in a nosedive with no way to pull up and I'm going to crash. This is really going to hurt. *Crash*

*Nondel wakes up in a hospital bed on X*

Simui: Yay, you're alive! Although you did crash into the ground at mach two, you survived becuase since this is a futuristic sci-fi fic, and when we say you survived because the craft was "remarakable," everyone has to believe it.

Nondel: Yes, that makes sense. And so does the ending, where Xslav somehow ends up okay and both ours and Deth's armadas are destroying each other so badly that we'll be eventually forced to join tog-

Simui: Nondel! Don't give away the plot of the sequel to this sequel!

Nondel: What? You mean there's going to be MORE to this Metal Gear wannabe fic crap? DAMN!!!

-fin