Queen Vissan keeps her eyes on the Krall from behind the pillar while Billy and Orûnn think of a plan. She was filled with rage by the Krall invading her home, but they couldn’t just attack without a plan. Billy: We may outnumber them, but the Emperor has the energy of thirty six cores within him, so attacking with brute force probably isn’t the best thing to do. Orûnn: I think that separating into groups might be the best we can do right now. We can surround them and attack from multiple sides. Billy: Alright then, everybody listen up! Queen Vissan, Paltat, and the sixty other Bubbies turn to Billy and Orûnn. Billy: We are going to separate into four groups of fifteen, and they will be called groups A, B, C, and D. I will lead group A along the left side of the core, followed by group B which will be led by Paltat. Group C will be led by Orûnn and they will be followed by group D which will be led by the Queen. Since you Husks don’t have any communication devices to use, you can borrow one from a Bubby in your group if you need to speak to me. It is also very important that the two groups on each side keep their distance from each other so we can move quicker and not get noticed. Are their any questions? Paltat: Why don’t you just call backup? Billy: Because if there are any Krall that spot Bubby ships headed this way they will immediately contact the emperor, and we don’t want that. Any more questions? Queen Vissan: What are they DOING!? Billy: What? Billy and Orûnn walk over to the Queen to see what she was looking at. Across the way they saw the Krall Emperor with three more Krall standing in front of him. The Krall in front of him were all wearing black robes and wore silver masks that only had eye holes. Two of the robed Krall faced the core and they both stretched one arm out to it. The core made a loud humming noise and began to vibrate. The orange glow within the core began to rapidly brighten up and then dim down again. The two robed Krall then outstretched their other arms to the third robed Krall who stood a few feet behind them. Black energy began to empty from the core and enter the Krall. The energy travelled through the two Krall in the front and made its way to the third one behind them. The Third Krall reaches both arms out towards the Emperor and the energy began funneling into him. Queen Vissan: They’ve already begun! We need to attack NOW! The cores glow began to fluctuate more rapidly and the vibrating became stronger. The cores energy swirled around the Krall emperor as he looked upwards and spread out his arms. Orûnn’s head kept flashing with the images of the bodies and the fractured planets. His head began to sting and his whole body felt numb. He began to feel more angry than afraid, and he wasn’t afraid to show it. Orûnn: I-I’m... I’m gonna KILL THEM AAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!! Orûnn planted his fist into the ground, causing it to shake. Dust sprayed out of his body and enveloped everyone near him, including all sixty Bubbies. The dust swept everyone off their feet and lifted them into the air. Orûnn: Running over to them will take too long, so we’ll use this. The dust cloud started to move at an incredible speed, and held firmly onto everyone as it swept past rock pillars and large crystals. As soon as they were close enough, the dust dropped them and the Bubbies did not hesitate to immediately shoot at the Krall. Billy: Everyone do whatever you need to to stop them! The thirty Krall soldiers were caught by surprise because they were too busy looking at the core, which was now beginning to crumble. The Emperor and the robed Krall seemed to not care that they were being attacked, and kept taking energy. Queen Vissan: I’ll end you! She formed a black glaive out of her dust and ran at a pair of Krall. They fired at her but she twirled her weapon fast enough to deflect the rounds. She then jumped into the air and spun the glaive around, cutting through the padding which covered the Krall’s neck. The blade of the glaive cut right into the soldiers neck and killed him instantly. The other Krall turned and fired a few rounds, but the Queen swung the glaive into the soldiers legs causing him to fall over. She turned the glaive downwards and shoved it right into the Kralls stomach. The soldier was helpless and had a swift death. Both Paltat ant Orûnn stood back to back, using their dust to block many of the Kralls rounds. Paltat stomped the ground, sending up dust spikes which impaled one of the Krall and kept some of them back. One of the soldiers charged at Orûnn with a sword, and Orûnn only saw it fitting that he charged as well. Orûnn: Again with a sword? The Krall swung at Orûnn, only to hit him in his well protected back, giving him a small scratch. Orûnn pushed upwards and head butted the Krall in the stomach before he got to swing again. Orûnn then ripped the sword from the Krall’s grasp and made a heavy swing. The sword got lodged in the Krall’s shoulder and they dropped dead before they took another step towards Orûnn. Orûnn turned to see Paltat relentlessly smashing Krall into the ground. Billy and his small battalion of Bubbies were swiftly and steadily advancing on the Krall. There was less than twenty Krall now and there was still sixty Bubbies including Billy. Billy fired fired a few rounds into a Krall’s head and fired a few more into another ones chest. They couldn’t even get close to Billy before they were shot dead by the other Bubbies, and the one that did get close got their kneecaps shot off by Billy and then got his axe buried in their head.... The Bubbies may look soft and squishy but they aren’t ones to show mercy. After the last of the Krall soldiers was cut down, they all shifted their focus to the Krall emperor. Billy:..... EMPEROR THYRUS!...... I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD GET TO MEET YOU IN PERSON! The three robed Krall stopped taking energy and turned to Orûnn, Billy, and the others. Emperor Thyrus:.............................................. Queen Vissan: LEAVE THIS PLACE!!! She formed a spear out of dust and threw it at Emperor Thyrus, but all he had to do was hold up his hand and it stopped the spear. It was now floating in the air, just inches from Thyrus’s hand... And everyone was silent. Emperor Thyrus:.............................................. The spear began to glow orange and it started to shift back into dust. Once it became dust again, it moved closer to Thyrus’s hand, until it completely seeped into his body. The Queen was in shock, seeing her own dust taken from her. All she did was give Thyrus more power. Thyrus’s hand began to glow orange. His pitch black cloak and armor started to glow, and core energy began to spread all over his body, like orange veins branching out. He reached his arm out to Queen Vissan, and a long orange beam shot out of his hand. The Queen collapsed. Orûnn and Paltat rushed over to the Queen, who now had a long glowing needle sticking out of her chest. Paltat: NO!!!! MY QUEEN!!!! PLEASE GET UP! Please... Paltat went to go rip the needle out but decided not to because it would only cause more pain. Orûnn: Everything will be alright! Just don’t move! Orûnn’s eyes began to well up with tears. They ran down his face in black streaks and he struggled to hold them back. The Queen managed to utter a few words. Queen Vissan: I’m sorry.... T-That you.... Never g-got to experience your h-home. The Queen gasped for air. Queen Vissan: T-Take....This..... To remind you of home.... Even though w-we’ve lost it..... A small cloud of black dust swirls around in the Queens hand. It transforms into a black orb with a faint blue glow within it. Orûnn takes the orb and it melts into his body. He looks back down at the Queen to say thank you, but her eyes are pale.... Her body was still. Orûnn looked directly at Thyrus who was also looking back at him. There was silence for what seemed to be an eternity, but Orûnn decided to speak. Orûnn: I will end you. Suddenly, the entire chamber began to shake, and the core began to crumble. Black shards fell to the ground and the Bubbies began to panic. Billy looked at Thyrus and then walked over to Orûnn. Billy: I’m.... sorry, but we need to get out of here. Emperor Thyrus and the three robed Krall started to walk away from them and the core. Thyrus turned back around to face them. Emperor Thyrus:............ I can’t wait to see all the objects the Bubbies have................. Billy looked up at Thyrus and saw him open up a red portal with only his finger. They walked through it and the portal vanished. Billy looked around him and all he saw was crumbling pillars and shattered crystals. The chamber was getting dark and the Nest Rock was about to shatter. Paltat: The Queens portal is still open! We can use it to get out of here! Orûnn, still angered by the death of his queen and his home, formed another cloud of black dust to carry them all back to the surface. Once they reached the top, there were thousands of Husks who were abandoning the Nest Rock on dust clouds of their own. Emperor Thyrus’s ship was nowhere to be seen, but luckily the Bubby ships were still there. Orûnn, Paltat, Billy, and the rest of the Bubbies got in the ships and left as fast as they could. The Nest Rock was now shattered, and Emperor Thyrus was heading towards the Bubby system... To the Anomaly Vault.