Judeor:Altiris Rising

Chapter 3:Dreams and Memories

Explosions echoed outside the academy. Hum of energy blades, the sounds of blaster fire, clashing of steel against steel. Then, all was silent. 10 minutes later, the door burst open. Lynaxa and seven other Legion Knights entered. Judeor saw himself and Lorya, both at 1 year old, shielded by the three Kai Tor Luso warriors in the room, with Aruon standing by them. Suddenly, one of them attacked the Knights, wielding a spear. She ducked under several elemental attacks, and decapitated one of the Legion Knights, and spun, killing another with a thrust.

She was promptly attacked by two others. She disarmed one and swept him off his feet, and elbowed the other in the sternum, pushing her away. She evaded the other three and attacked Lynaxa, who defended with her white energy  blades. The Kai Tor Luso did not let up, swinging and thrusting with her spear, driving the Knight back. Then, as she knocked one of the energy blades out of her hand, and slammed the butt of her spear into her foe's gut, Lynaxa struck her with a beam of dark energy, and showered her with a torrent of black lightning. She cackled maniacally, as the warrior writhed on the ground, and lifted her back to her feet with air, and released her, dropping her back to the ground.

The Kai Tor Luso warrior landed on her knees, weakened by Lynaxa's power. Gathering her remaining strength, she stood and thrust, but Lynaxa saw the attack coming, and sidestepped. The warrior brought her weapon back, and swung, but Lynaxa evaded and pulled on her arm, impaling her through the chest with both energy blades.

Then, a powerful wave of light struck Lynaxa in the back, sending her sprawling on the floor. Hallagar and Alaea, along with two other Altiris Knights. They and the two remaining Kai Tor Luso warriors attacked Lynaxa and the other five Legion Knights.

Hallagar pulled his sword out of a Legion Knight's abdomen. Beside him, Alaea sent a beam of light into another, burning a hole through her neck. They watched in horror as one of the three other Legion Knights took down the other two Altiris Knights. Judeor saw one of the two Kai Tor Luso warriors go down, and the other taking down the fourth Legion Knight. With a shock, he realized it was Ametir. His uncle ran to Alaea's side, blocking a killing blow to her back. He was sent into a wall with an earth fist. Alaea turned and decapitated the Knight. Hallagar knocked the other Knight out, and he and Alaea attacked Lynaxa, their swords clashing with her white energy blades. "Ametir, go! We'll handle this!" said Alaea. "But- "Go! Take them! There is no time!" said Hallagar.

Ametir hesitated for a moment, but then nodded, and grabbed the crying Judeor and Lorya, and called out to Aruon to follow him. The 9 year old boy did not move, however, but instead, stared at Lynaxa with fury in his eyes, as he witnessed her withdrawing her weapon out of Hallagar's neck, and picked up a fallen sword, rushing to attack the Legion Knight. Lynaxa scoffed and picked him up with air, hurling him into a wall. She then engaged Alaea, while the other Legion Knight activated his blue energy blade, and stalked towards Aruon. Ametir pushed Judeor and Lorya back toward the door and rushed to intercept, blocking the Knight's attack, and slammed the pommel of his sword into his jaw, pushing him away with a slam kick to the chest.

He helped Aruon to his feet, and along with Lorya and Judeor, they made their way to the academy hangar. There, a squad of Legion Commandos were waiting for them. "Aruon, take them to a gunship. I will deal with this myself", ordered Ametir, drawing his sword. The Commandos aimed at him, but before they could fire, a water whip took out a few of them. An Altiris Knight, a boy of 7, a girl of 8, and 8 Alliance soldiers appeared. Ametir joined them, and they took down the remaining Commandos, though three of the Alliance soldiers went down. "Let's go", said Reola. They followed Aruon and the twins to a gunship. The pilot started the engine and directed the gunship towards the hangar's exit.

As the ship flew, however, it was suddenly jerked back by an air wave. Lynaxa and several Legion Knights stood at the entrance. Several Legion soldiers with them fired on the gunship, shaking it. Reola launched water waves, blocking a few shots, but the rest struck home. Lynaxa sent a bolt of lightning, shaking the ship more. With another jolt, Judeor and Lorya fell out of the vessel. Reola tried to pull them back with water, but a stray blaster bolt struck her shoulder, distracting her, and they fell out of her reach. "We have to go back for them!" Ametir called to the pilot, but, at that moment, they were swarmed by Legion star fighters, and several larger ships.

By the time they fought them off with a small group of Alliance ships reinforcing them, Judeor and Lorya were already gone. "Sir, they are closing in! We have to go now!" called the pilot. "Sir?" Ametir hesitated, wanting to pursue the Legion Knights. "Ametir, it's too late", said Reola. "Get us out of here!" she called to the pilot, when Ametir stayed silent. As the ship flew to rejoin the small Alliance battle group in Lok Etreon's orbit, Ametir gave the academy, which had been lit with flames, and reduced to rubble, and whispered "Alaea, I am so sorry", not looking away until the battle group jumped to lightspeed, and the blue and white space around them replaced the image of the burning, destroyed academy.