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Chapter 16: Uneasy Relaxation

Dragon Realms, Uncharted System

March 9, 2204

1344 Hours

[GPS Online- Disturbance removed from local area] MedicalBay, B Deck, UERNF Frigate Typhus

A low groan filled the room and at once all eyes were on the lone dragon sitting in a medical bed.

"Spyro?" A black dragoness, Cynder asked as she neared the bed. Spyro shifted and opened his eyes, seeing Cynder. She smiled at him and he groaned as pain assaulted his head.

"Rest now Spyro..." Spyro lifted his head and saw Terredor walking nearby, others standing nearby as well.

Karson, Allison, Wagner, Krypto, Zephyr and Sparx near his bed. Roxy and Tom sat on the next bed, Aaron sound asleep in it. They both looked at him though and Spyro rubbed his head. His body had lots of bandages. He groaned and sat up, getting a sigh from Terredor.

"Well it's good to see you alive." Wagner said as he walked up.

"Yeah, the doctors didn't know if you'd be able to make it when we brought you in. You had lost a lot of blood." Cynder said with a concerned look.

"Cynder never left your side since we brought you." Karson said.

"When... was that?" Spyro asked.

"2 days ago man, you've been in a coma since." Zephyr chipped in. Cynder hugged Spyro.

"You need to stop going off on your own... you have allies... we're in this together."

Spyro sighed and tried to get off the bed. Everyone came to help him but he was already on the floor. Wagner sighed.

"Well since I doubt your going to rest, follow me. We have some information for you guys." Wagner said and motioned for them all to leave. Spyro and Cynder glanced at each other and shot each other warm smiles before walking out of the medical bay. They passed through several halls and rode a lift down another deck. They walked past a few more bulkheads and doors until a sign above a door read: Bridge- All Unauthorized Personnel Keep Out.

They walked inside and found themselves in a circular room with many computer screens and officers sitting in chairs. In front of them a large window revealed Warfang sitting beneath them. In the middle of the room, there was a large screen with images that danced across it. A Human in a white uniform and cap stood at the screen and turned around to face the saluting Wagner. Another Marine stood next to the white clad human. But unlike Wagner, this soldier had a more 'dressy' look to him and had a different symbol on his helmet. It was Colonel Dyke.

"Good to have you all here. Just in time to." The man in white said.

He pressed a button on a panel and an image of a crystal popped up on the screen. He pressed another and a map of the Dragon Realms appeared before them. Dyke pointed to the crystal.

"Spyro, this crystal you found at Dante's Freezer, it is very important. The Marines destroyed the one there but from what we've put together and from scans, we've deciphered its purpose." Dyke nodded to the man in the white uniform. Spyro saw a small tag on his uniform which read 'Captain Hardings'

"The crystal outputs a large dosage of Gamma level radiation. However, unlike the spectrum in which Gamma operates, it releases a different array of radiation. This is very different then Gamma level radiation. Unlike Gamma which destroys cellular structures, it rebuilds them in a different and very peculiar way." He explained.

"Did... anyone catch that?" Sparx said.

"He says that the crystal is shooting out a wave of energy that is very powerful." Spyro said and Sparx looked at him dumbfounded.

"Well why didn't he just say that?!" Sparx said as he buzzed around.

"TheCrystalsends a wave of this radiation through the ground and bounces it back, like a form of sonar. We believe the Dark Master is using these to map the ground to find the Final Solution faster." He continued.

"Great... that means he can kill us faster..."

"No... it just means he can find it faster. Until he pulls the weapon off of standby, it's remaining in the ground. If he does, it will rise to the surface and he will be ready where it rises to take the weapon." They looked to find Diablo walking onto the bridge, his chest full of wounds and scratch marks.

"The crystal..." Dyke continued. "Also has a secondary effect other then acting like a sonar for mapping the crust..." He pointed to another chart of the Dragon Realms and took a deep breath.

"It also disrupts radio frequencies and from recon reports, causes the local natives to become hostile and in some cases, loyal to the Dark Master himself."

"So... what does this mean?" Roxy asked as she looked over the charts. Dyke eyed her carefully before continuing.

"Simple, we stop the Dark Master by destroying these crystals." Dyke said as he turned to face the group once more.

"And after that, what?" Spyro asked as he stood forward.

"After that we move back to the volcano, I may have a plan to stop Malefor once and for all." Diablo said as he looked Spyro over.

"What is that plan?"

"In due time. Right now I need to go and ensure we can use my plan. I am counting on you guys to stall Malefor until then."

"Right. We are picking up crystals all over the Realms. We'll take out the local crystals to buy you time to set up this plan." Dyke said. Diablo nodded and left the bridge.

"Where's the nearest crystal? I want to take it out." Spyro said, walking up.

"Hold on there Spyro, you're in NO condition to fight. I have already dispatched 2 teams of HACOs to take out that crystal. You need to rest. Go down to the temple, enjoy yourself." Dyke said, destroying the young dragon's enthusiasm.

Spyro sighed and Cynder nudged him.

"C'mon Spyro, let's go check out theTemplemore. You need to rest a bit, it'll be fun!" Cynder said to him. He sighed but smiled at her. Together they left the bridge.

"The rest of you, make sure they get rest. Something tells me we need Spyro alive." Dyke said before ushering the rest to leave.

1628 Hours

DragonTemple, City ofWarfang

Spyro walked through the gardens with Cynder, admiring the flora as they pasted through the lush environment. The light broke through the leaves and cast its light upon them, getting a bright reflection from their scales.

Cynder walked over to a couple of flowers and looked at them before walking off the path and into a few patches of grass and bushes. Spyro followed and suddenly he lost track of her. He could hear rustling nearby, but he couldn't see her.

"Cynder?" Spyro asked. Spyro walked through the leaves, his wounds starting to drone a constant ache which he winced at but ignored.

Suddenly he heard a large amount of movement to his right and turned his head to see Cynder leap out of the bush and tackle him. He yelped in surprise and was knocked down and they both rolled into a nearby pond. Spyro emerged first, gasping for air. Cynder came up right after him, laughing.

Spyro smirked and slashed the water with his claw, sending some at Cynder. She giggled as it splashed against her and she returned it.

"Hey, no fair!" Spyro said as he laughed and splashed more water at her. She laughed and flicked her tail in the water, sending even more water at Spyro. He laughed and splashed even more water, laughing the whole time.

Spyro noticed that she had sealed her eyes and he submerged himself in the pond. Cynder opened her eyes to find Spyro missing and looked around. Suddenly she caught sight of a purple blob under the water and watched curiously as it flowed near her. Suddenly she realized what she was looking at and was nearly startled when Spyro flew from the water and grabbed a hold of her.

They both went out of the water and were both sent rolling onto the grass and into a more bushy part of the gardens near a small river. The waters of the river flowed smoothly away and as Spyro got himself off of Cynder he plopped onto the grass nearby. Cynder was exhausted and she looked at him before smiling.

"Spyro... you work too hard... you just need to rest..." She said as she reached over with a claw and ran it along his face. He smiled and sighed.

"Cynder, the more I rest the more the Dark Master has to use the Final Solution... I can't let him do that... I can't..." Spyro said while looking at the sky above him. Cynder sighed sadly but didn't lose hope.

"Spyro, the harder you try, the more you're going to get hurt. We need you. We all do. The humans... our friends... they can cover while you're resting. Everybody needs a break, even you." She gave a light punch to his gut and he smirked and smiled.

"Besides, I can't let you have all the fun now can I?" She said and he gave a low chuckle.

"Guess not." He said with a smile. The cool winds swept through the area and Spyro sighed as the bright light from the sun began to dry their scales. A cool crisp wind blew in from above and Spyro smiled as it felt great against his abused scales and skin.

It was funny how things had occurred. Here Spyro was, snuggling with the very dragon that only 3 years ago dominated the land with an iron fist. She was the terror of the skies and the one who threatened everything. It was a horrible situation... now... she was lying beside him... and he couldn't be any happier... All he wanted... was to be with her. He was scared for her... that he may have lost her... but she was safe. For how long, he didn't know. But for now, he just wanted to enjoy every moment of it.

Cynder sighed as she lay right next to Spyro. His scales reflected the light from the river and they danced in an elegant pattern which caused Cynder to look upon him with interest.

She began to call upon the past and she remembered herself as the evil Cynder, the one who had once dominated the land with an iron fist. Her memories then jumped to when she was battling Spyro. She remembered the battle as though it were yesterday. She could still feel the hate flowing through her just as it had that day. She then watched as Spyro defeated her and she was free of the Darkmaster's influence. She remembered when she was being flung into the portal of Convexity and was about to be sent to join the Darkmaster when she felt tender paws grab her and pull her out. She remembered the feeling of those tender paws the most, for they were those of her ally, her love, and her dragon. They were Spyro's.

She had felt a feeling of joy then and she was feeling one now. That was the first time anyone had really cared for her and she remembered the flood of emotions she had had back then. For all she could remember before that moment, all she could feel were hate and blackness. All she knew was chaos and destruction. All of her being was evil.

Now, she was fighting alongside the very dragon she once was out to destroy. Now, she loved that very dragon who had pulled her from the abyss that was her former self and now, now she had a choice and she chose to love and fight alongside that dragon. That dragon was her love and her very life. He had saved her many times and she had done saved him as well. They were bounded together by their love and she knew that he felt the very same thing.

They both sat in the still environment until they both heard a distant thud. They both stood up and shook off a feeling of sleepiness and Cynder motioned towards the dojo, inviting Spyro to join her. He nodded and dashed off with her, entering the dojo once more. The statue sat towering over them and there were a pair of moles in the room. There were also three Marines in the area, walking and talking to each other, their rifles close at hand.

They walked to the opposite end and onto the balcony to find Karson, Allison and Zephyr standing there. Spyro and Cynder walked over and they caught the attention of the others who looked over and motioned for them to join them.

"So, feeling a bit better Spyro?" Allison asked.

"I'm a bit tired, but fine." He said in reply. She chuckled as the bandages on him suggested otherwise.

"What're you looking at?" Cynder asked, walking up to Karson who stood near the end of the railings.

"We were just admiring the view of the city." Karson said as he looked out.

"Hey, what's that?" Cynder said while pointing towards an airborne object off in the sky. Karson saw it too; he leaned forward and squinted his eyes. The Marines near a large Anti-Aircraft emplacement installed atop a rooftop also saw it. They dashed to activate the weapon and the object in question screeched through the sky. It flew over the city and it took them a second to realize it was on a collision course with the Frigate.

Karson grabbed his rifle just as the rouge object smashed into the right side of the Frigate. Being a small object, it didn't do serious damage to the ship. It did leave a small black mark along its hull and the Frigate was now aware of this new danger.

"It's an attack!" Zephyr said with a snarl.

More of these objects flew through the sky, smoke trails right behind them. Gunfire rose from the city and nailed several of them but the others flew downwards towards the city. They smashed into buildings, causing them to collapse and catching fire to city streets. UERNF Ravens streaked through the sky in response, their missiles and 40 mm auto-cannons shredding the enemy artillery.

The AA battery just nearby on the rooftop sprang to life, empty cartridges flying from the weapon as it ate through its ammunition. An artillery piece screeched nearby and was blown apart as the gunfire collided with it.

Another flew through the air right above them. It flew over the temple and they heard a THUD as it hit near them.

"C'mon, it looks like it hit in the Gardens!" Spyro said. The others didn't waste any time and dashed with Spyro to the dojo entrance. They passed through the dojo and through the halls. They finally exited to the Gardens where they saw a smoke column rising nearby. They heard the nearby sound of gunfire and knew something was amiss.

As they branched off from the main path and onto a side one they arrived at a fallen statue and a small metallic sphere which had crashed into the ground, fire and smoke rising from it. Two Marines were nearby, one firing his M74D onto the crash site while the other wielded an M10 SMG. Four civilian moles ran from the crash site, all females and all dashing for safety.

The group halted their sporadic charge, satisfied that there was aid on hand dealing with the situation. They nonetheless slowly approached the scene.

Without warning, a large creature clad in black armor rose from the crater. It brought its right arm to bear, revealing that it had a weapon for an arm. A bolt of dark energy flew from it and collided with the Marine wielding the M74D. The soldier yelled out in pain and the energy passed right through him and smashed into a wall behind him, detonating in a fury of black energy.

The other Marine retreated, blindly firing his SMG from the hip as he ran. Another warrior in black armor rose from the crater and this one held onto a sword and shield. The one with a cannon for an arm was a few feet higher then the Marines and its armor was of pure black. Spyro swore they were made of nothing but solid dark energy. Their eyes were bright yellow and beamed a ray of hate at them group.

The retreating Marine regrouped with them and Spyro dashed at them. However, Cynder cut him off.

"Wait, let's do this together!" She said. Spyro nodded and they ran off towards them. Karson opened up with his M74C and Allison unleashed several ice shards from her hands.

The one with the cannon hid behind a massive shield it carried and fired another few bolts of energy in quick succession. The bolts smashed into the ground, kicking up dirt and some of them detonated and blew rocks in several directions.

The smaller one with the sword rushed Karson and swung its sword at him. Karson moved his rifle up and caught the sword with his rifle as he moved it into a defensive position. The creature put amazing force into the attack, which caused Karson to grunt as he tried his hardest to repel the attacker but to no avail.

The creature applied even more strength and Karson fell onto the ground and was forced to roll out of the way as it brought another blow down. Karson put his palms in the air and fire ignited and flew at the enemy soldier. The fire caught it but didn't show any signs of effectiveness.

As Allison kept using ice shards, they kept shattering against the soldier, however, a few cracked at the black armor that the enemy wore. This gave her an idea.

"Karson! Get back!" She yelled. Karson turned to her and quickly got to his feet and jumped out of the way.

Allison raised her M74D and fired a long burst into the creature. The creature staggered back and large clouds erupted from it as the rounds impacted it. Finally after a few rounds the creature shattered in an explosion of dark haze. Karson recovered himself and grabbed his M74C.

Zephyr has already gone off and was aiding Spyro and Cynder who were dealing with the other creature. It fired more shots in quick succession and Spyro flew upwards to avoid. Spyro used his earth blast, but to no avail. As Spyro floated in mid-air testing attacks, he was smacked downwards but the creature's shield. He skidded into the dirt and Cynder hovered in the air, shadow breath leaving her muzzle and striking the dark soldier. It was as useless as throwing rocks at the creature.

Zephyr flied above it but was also knocked out of the air and skidded to a halt near Spyro.

"How do you kill this thing?!" He asked. Spyro wished he knew the answer.

All of a sudden, the shield the creature carried detonated, shattering as a cloud of orange and black consumed the creature. The smoke cleared to reveal the creature lacking a shield and pointing his cannon at them. Bullets flew from someone and peppered the creature, stalling it.

Spyro leapt to, firing several earth blasts in quick succession. The blasts weakened the already strained armor and the soldier shattered in front of Spyro in a black haze.

They turned to see Wagner and two other Marines approaching. One of the Marines had a tube attached to the underside of their rifle where the regular grip was.

"Lieutenant... what's going on...?" Karson asked as Wagner approached.

"There're pods like this landing all over Warfang. The Dragons and other warriors are clearing them out while the Marines are guarding the temple. So far we've contained this attack." Wagner kicked a chunk of what used to be a creature.

"This was easy... almost too easy... I don't like it." He said and they shot curious glances all around.

"Where are the others?" Cynder asked.

"Krypto, Aaron, Tom and Roxy are clearing the lower levels of the temple from one that hit the base." Wagner said.

A high pitched screech filled the immediate area which caused everyone to cover their ears and look around frantically for the culprit.

All eyes turned to the crater to see a small black skinned scaly creature that had piercing yellow eyes and was about a half the size of a regular Human, or about taller then Spyro. Its appendages all looked specially made to slice... and its teeth were visible as it screeched. More came out of the crater and leapt out at the group.

"What the hell are those guys?!" Karson yelled as he fired his M74C.

"Hell if I know, just kill them!" Wagner yelled in return. The soldiers fired their rifles while Spyro unleashed a wave of fire upon the new hostiles, causing them to screech aloud.

The creatures moved about, latching onto a Marine and refusing to let go. They bit the soldier on the neck and the soldier yelled in pain. The soldier fell over to the ground, black liquid oozing from his wound. The creatures released him and leapt out towards the others, electing an ice barrage from Spyro which froze all of the hostiles.

Zephyr rushed forward and smashed each one as he ran by. The scene then resumed its calm and they looked about, searching for any other contacts.

"Look out!" One Marine yelled and a lone creature leapt up onto Wagner and grabbed a hold of his neck. It was trying to bite him but he moved his hand to hold its head.

"Get it off! Get it off!" He yelled. They moved around him, aiming their weapons at him.

"I can't get a clear shot!" Allison said as she raised her hands for an ice shard. Cynder reacted and leapt onto Wagner as well, sinking her teeth into the hostile. She ripped it from Wagner and threw it to the ground, stabbing it with her tail. The creature faded away in a black haze, as did the other creatures.

"Thanks..." Wagner said as he rubbed his neck.

"Medic! Corpsmen!" The other Marine yelled as he walked to the Marine who had been bitten. The others rushed to his side and saw that there was some odd black liquid coming from his neck.

"Take him to the landing pad and get him moved to the Typhus!" Wagner said and the other two Marines nodded and grabbed him to move him. The other Marine who had been hit by the dark energy was obviously dead so they didn't move him.

"We need to make sure that's the last of them!" Cynder said and Wagner nodded. Karson and Allison carefully approached the crash site with their rifles out, Wagner close behind. Spyro, Cynder and Zephyr went airborne and flew over the sight.

"See anything?" Wagner asked.

"No! Looks like we got them!" Cynder yelled back.

"That was close..." Karson said as he wiped a few grains of dirt from his armor.

"What were those things?!" Cynder asked as she landed.

"I don't know... some of the Marines assaulting said they encountered difficult and 'elite' enemies that they nicknamed shadow drones. I think these might be them." Wagner said as he inspected one of the shattered crystals from one of them.

"These things must be some sort of dispersal pod or something..." Allison said as she pointed to the object in the crater.

"If it was an attack, why didn't they go all out and send more?" Spyro asked, walking up.

"Maybe it was a probe attack... to test our defenses..." Zephyr suggested.

"Maybe..." Wagner said with a grunt.

"Is anyone hurt? What happened?" They looked up to see Terredor fly down, Cyril and Volteer flying high above and towards other areas of interest.

"No, we're fine. We've repelled them here. How're things else where?" Wagner asked while checking the ammo in his weapon.

"The dragons managed to take out many of these things before they hit the ground... and we've also taken out those 'drones' before they did damage. However, some were bitten by some of the smaller creatures and are in a state of shock."

"Try to get who you can aboard the Typhus and we'll see what we can do! We think that this was a probe attack; there might be more on the way!"

"Right, I'll alert the dragons to do patrols to find the source of our attackers." With that, Terredor flew off into the sky and Wagner let out a sigh.

"So much for resting..." Cynder said lowly.

"We've got bigger things to worry about now..." Zephyr said sadly.

"The rest of you go to the dojo and stay in there, I'm going to find out what I can from Dyke!" Wagner ordered and the others retreated to the dojo. However, Spyro halted his movements and, while nobody was looking, jumped into the bushes in search of that secret location.

1723 Hours

A Deck, Maintenance Passage 23-112A, UERNF Typhus

_ _

"Where is this again?"

"Just down these corridors. It hit and penetrated the hull, so expect much debris."

2nd Repairs Officer David Moarbay walked through the hallways in his repair suit. An object had slammed into the hull of the Typhus and had penetrated. In the process it had cut through a number of pipes and other systems in that area which was tampering with power for the AA weapons near this deck.

He and Torkamien were ordered to check it out and repair whatever needed repairs. As they walked through the pitch black hallways, the lights on their helmets illuminating the passage in front of them, they heard groaning as the hull was stressed from the entry.

They passed through a door and found their entry- a large object rammed through the hull and had smashed a number of auxiliary lines running to the AA guns. Though it was minor in terms of hull integrity, the Captain wanted those weapons online and ready incase of an attack.

They knelt down next to some busted lines and Torkamien looked them over.

"Yeah, definably going to need replacements. First off we have to remove this object and then find a way to get these lines replaced." He said and sighed as he stood up.

"Radio back to the Security Station, tell them to send a team of technicians to help us-" As he said this, something grabbed him and pulled him into darkness. The man screamed and Moarbay walked backwards in fear. He drew his pistol and aimed it to the darkness. A screech came out of the darkness and it was followed by a creature that leapt from it.

Moarbay shouted and ran down the halls as it leapt out, followed by more creatures. He fired his pistol as he retreated and passed through a doorway. Creatures leapt onto him and dragged him onto the floor. Struggling, he shot the door controls to the bulkhead just ahead of him. The damaged system automatically started to seal the door, causing the large bulkhead to seal shut. They were trapped there. And as he fired the last shot at a creature, they dragged him into the darkness... and onto an unknown fate.

End of Chapter 16

Krypto- Kryptangel92

Aaron- Dragonfreak1112

Zephyr- Dragonheart666666

Tom/Roxy- Roxydragoness

Spyro, Cynder and all related charas- Sierra Entertainment

Everyone else- me