The Last of the X-Gorons

[Goron40]

==CHAPTER 1: Trials==

Blood.

The familar taste leaked into Goron's mouth as he was stuck in the face by his butt of his opponent's rifle. It hurt... a lot. His enemy was a robotic human, and it stood almost a foot taller than him. The cyborg was a soldier of a Concordat faction that had broken away from the main army. In an act of rebellion, several hundred Concordat soldiers had seperated from the main army and come to Blackstar. Following the code that seemed to apply to all villans, they had made camp up on the volcano in the Black Forest. Goron sometimes wondered if evil villans had a villian chat room.

Twenty three. That's how many X-GORONs had been left. When the cloning facilities at Goron Fortress were destroyed, the production of X-GORONs halted. At their peak, their numbers had been close to a million. Combat had taken their toll on them, causing their numbers to dwindle. Goron had taken all of them with him to strike at this fortress. They had left from the Guardians Citadel about 15 minutes ago. How the anti-aircraft guns had managed to shoot down a Manta Fighter with bullets only was beyond Goron's understanding.

Needless to say, the manta had crashed into the black forest, quite some distance from the volcano. Almost immediately, a combination of robotic and Concordat forces had attacked the cohort. Goron and the others had been unprepared, and were now fighting man to man.

In retaliation to the face shot, Goron swung around and drove his sword straight through the cyborg's chest. The blade stuck in there, and Goron planted a foot on the robot's torso to pull it out. The mass of machine and nerve collapsed to the ground, clearly incapacitated. As Goron recovered, a burst of plasma wiped out his sheilds and threw him to the ground. Standing over him, there was a Concordat Veteran with a plasma rifle to his head. The monster chuckled and squeezed the trigger.

The plasma missed by inches, but it was the least of the Veteran's worries. A plume of blood had erupted from both sides of his head. Ten feet to the left, Monica stood with a rifle in hand. The creature dropped to ground, dead.

"If you're going shoot, shoot. Don't laugh," she said to the corpse. Monica turned to Goron, and helped him up.

"Just like old times, huh Forty?" she said with a giggle. How that girl could giggle in the midst of a fire fight was something Goron couldn't ever understand. She was, however, correct. Goron was getting a strange feeling of Deja vu. He stopped thinking about it as he saw at least a hundred enemy soldiers pour over the knoll.

"Get ready soldiers, it's going to be a busy day!" Goron called to the X-GORONs.

-----

Ten had died in the crash. Six more in the fight that ensued. It was such a waste of life. The X-GORONs had been born to die, but that didn't stop Goron from feeling bad every time one of them fell. Goron sat in quiet contemplation near a campfire, his back to a rock. It, along with several tents, were sitting atop a ridge overlooking the crashed Manta.

~Jho'Lhak is going to kill me for breaking that thing...~

A can of GORON rations sizzled over the fire, cooking slowly. They could be eaten raw, but Goron preferred them cooked. As he pulled them off the fire, Monica came over to join him.

"Want some?" Goron asked though a mouth full of the stuff. She looked at him with a slight grin, then sat down and took the can from Goron. Across the fire, three X-GORONs were conversing and eating their own rations. It was strange to be in the company of people who looked exactly like you. Goron had gotten used to it, and somehow had no difficulty distinguishing them. A pair of scientists had put it well:

"How do they tell each other apart? Without first speaking or having their numbers on, they can somehow distinguish themselves. If not their personality or their faces, how do clones tell who is who?"

"Who cares? We built them to fight, not socialize."

-----

As the campfire burned, Monica and Goron talked together of their various adventures in the warp. Since the fall of GORON island, Goron had not really spoken to Monica all that much. From what he could tell, none of the worlds she had been on were anything like what he had ventured to. It seemed that Blackstar was the first world that they had even the possibility of running into each other.

The last X-GORON trotted back to his tent, wishing Goron and Monica good night. Monica was telling Goron about one of her very first adventures through the Psychoptopian Warp. She was staring off over the cliff as she spoke, as it seemed to help her recall the memory.

As she retold of the sensation of going through the warp for the very first time, Goron stretched and yawned. Trying to remain inconspicuous, he let his arm fall down around Monica. She glanced at him with a slight grin, but didn't stop talking.

~Nice one Goron, you are smooth!~ Goron thought to himself, ~Now... keep it rolling.~

Monica finished talking and the two sat there in silence. She leaned on Goron's shoulder, and they both stared off into space. The fire was almost completely out.

"You know, while I was out there, exploring the warp, I never stopped wondering about what had happened to you... where you had gotten to. Not for a single day." Goron said softly. Monica raised her head and looked at Goron. "I was worried that I might never see you again. I really care for you... I guess... I guess I love you."

Those last words had a profound effect, almost as if the air had just been cut in two, or the volcano had erupted. But all was quiet. Monica reached up and put her hand on Goron's cheek, turning his head to face her. As the fire died, she brought her head up to meet his, and kissed him. The camp was shrouded in darkness. High above, a star sparkled for an instant, providing the only light in the entire forest.

[Netdroid9]

Giggity! On a more serious note, I'm intrigued. Here's hoping for a new chapter!

[Goron40]

==CHAPTER 2: The Break of Dawn, The Cover of Night ==

The sun poked its way through the deadened tree tops, shining a ray of light through the foliage and into the GORON Camp. Goron rolled over as the beam came in through the window of his tent and struck him in the face. He opened his eyes and slowly adjusted to the light.

Monica seemed took on an extra beauty in the morning sunlight. Goron could not have wished for a better sight to wake up to. He would have liked to just lay there for the rest of the day, watching her sleep peacefully. Alas, the mission could not wait. Goron prodded Monica, waking her.

"Good morning," Goron said, kissing her. He sat up and crawled over to the tent door.

Monica smiled and rolled over onto the tent floor, landing with something that resembled graceful at 6 AM. As she got ready, Goron climbed out of the tent, nearly tripping over one of the tent stakes. He groggily wandered over to the campfire, where the GORONs were eating leftovers.

"Morning sir!" one of them piped up, offering Goron some breakfast.

Goron took it thankfully and looked around for some coffee beans, "Thanks private... I trust you all slept well?"

The question was met with mixed responses dealing with the solidity of the ground and the lack of cushion in their sleeping bags. Mostly it was just idle conversation, the X-GORONs knew that it wouldn't get them comfortable sleeping bags. As Goron tossed some coffee beans on the fire with a makeshift coffee machine, Monica emerged from the tent, without a trace of grogginess. It was amazing that anyone could do something like that.

Goron poured himself a cup, then passed the pot to the breakfast circle.

"Everyone finish up your breakfast. We've got a lot of ground to cover and not much time to do it."

The GORONs nodded in agreement as they passed the coffee pot around.

-----

The team reached the foot of the mountain by nightfall. Goron lay in a dead bramble. Up on the mountain, hidden in a rocky outcropping, he could see the door of his target. It was craft from a metal, most likely steel, and was about 15 feet high. Goron suspected that one could only open it from the inside.

"Why don't they just stick a sign on the door saying 'Evil Base: Please do not break in and kill everyone inside. - The Management.'?"

The GORON team set up a small camp at the foot of the mountain, but went without the fire. There was too much of a risk lighting a fire so close to the enemy base. Alone in the rapidly darkening forest, the group of clones watched the doorway, waiting for the complete cover of night. The sounds of the forest were much more prominent than the night before, being that they were deeper into the woods. Owls hooted, grass rustled, and shadows moved from tree to tree. The team sat in a circle, with their backs pressed against each other, watching and waiting.

Finally the shadow of the night crept up the volcano and covered its west side. Goron issued a silent signal, and the nine of them moved slowly up the slope towards the portcullis. The steepness of the mount was the only thing that slowed them, darkness was not a problem. GORONs were meant for just this kind of thing.

Ignoring the large steel door, Goron vanished into the abundance of shadows, and walked past the door via Shadow Travel. The rest of the squad followed suit, and they soon found themselves in a long, dimly-lit hallway. It was empty.

"I got a bad feeling about this..." one of the GORONs stated.

"Boy, you always got a bad feeling about something," Monica retorted, "Now let's move."

She took off at a brisk walk down the hall, and the GORONs had to follow suit.

[Goron40]

== Chapter 3: The Heretic ==

The squad of GORONs reached the end of the hallway, which opened into a large room. The new room provided no more light than the old, and its vast size gave it an even more frightening appeal. The GORON's flashlights seemed to be struggling to push through this unnatural darkness. From the light they did emit ,however, you could see that the floors and walls were made of a smooth metal.

The GORON who had spoken at the beginning of the hallway, unit 54,128, or "Cody" as he had come to be called, reiterated his concern.

"Ok, now I got a worse feeling about this."

As if on cue, the lights flashed on, revealing that this room was a massive arena. The light was almost blinding, having been in the dark for so long. As the flash subsided, a thousand or so Concordat forces were also revealed down in the arena with them, as well as in the stands, all with rifles aimed at them.

"See? I told you guys we should have just read the directory and taken that left near the entrance. I'm going back." Cody said as he wheeled around. The door that they had entered through slammed down and sealed off their escape.

"You know what? It's a long walk, maybe we should just ask these guys for dire-"

"Cody, shut up!" Goron said to the hysterical clone.

Down from the ceiling a platform dropped, containing a Veteran with green armor, flanked by several other soldiers.

"You are Goron40 and 18, sent by Blackstar to destroy me, no?" the leader questioned, staring at the two real GORONs of the group.

"... Yes... yes we are," Goron replied, gripping his rifle as hard as he could muster. Nothing he had heard of these aliens could prepare im for what he heard next, though.

"I need your help."

"Excuse me?"

The Veteran sighed, "Allow me to explain. You have been led to beleive that I am merely an advance squad of the Concordat, constructing a base on Blackstar to provide a foothold to the main force. This is incorrect. Recently, the Concordat found it fit to have me executed for heresy against the heirachs. The reason you ask? I questioned why they have not extended an invitation to Blackstar to be absorbed in the Concordat. You have proven your skill in battle time and time again. It puzzled me as to why they did not seek to combine strengths as they have done with so many other races before you.

As you can see, I am not the only one who shares this view," The Veteran said, gesturing to the glowering troops around him.

"I'm sorry, I know your name, but I have not introduced myself. I am Tano 'Inanraree, Ex-Fleet Admiral of the Fleet of Devine Faith. These are the combined forces of that fleet."

"Back to the point at hand," Tano continued, "I require your help. Blackstar is in serious danger. The Concordat have refused to recognize the threat, even though I put it right before their eyes, so I have come here to warn you and fight beside you."

"I don't understand," Goron said, "We have been enemies as long as our civilizations have known each other. Why now do you wish to help us?"

"As I stated before, the councilers want me dead. Therefore, anyone that I command is an enemy of the Concordat. We cannot fight them alone though. We need your help for that. If you agree to help us in the future when the Concordat catch up with me, I will defend Blackstar from the army that is set poised to invade." Tano took a deep breath and waited for Goron to say something. After a short pause, Goron spoke.

"... What... army?"

[Goron40]

==CHAPTER 4: The Calm Between the Storms==

= GORON Island - Summer, 2401 =

"We've finished sweeping the compound sir. All resistance has been eliminated."

"Thank you Sargent, notify me when the engineering core arrives."

The soldier saluted then turned on his heel and strode away down the steps to the main courtyard. On top of what was left of the wall of the GORON research facility stood a man, decorated with the rank of a general. He was well-built, more like a special ops soldier than an officer. It was only his face that betrayed his age. It was clear that this man was in his upper forties at least.

A mech stomped by, causing the wall to shake, but the General remained still. All around him one could see the power of this man. Thousands of troops and vehicles were occupying this facility... or at least what was left of it. Undoubtedly the GORONs had put up a hell of a fight, but they had not the leadership, nor the man power of the General's forces. They had fallen before half the army had landed.

"Sir."

The General looked over his shoulder to see that the Sargent had returned.

"The engineers have arrived. They are ready to begin reconstruction of the cloning facilities."

The General nodded, and removed a pipe from his pocket, but the Sargent wasn't done yet.

"We have discovered that a few enemy forces escaped through a warp generator in the lab. The engineers can trace whoever went through the warp last. I'm requesting that you give us permission to track him."

"Sargent, I give you permission to track him, but only that. You are not to make any moves without my authorization, understand?"

"Yes sir," the soldier replied before retreating back down the steps into the courtyard.

The General lit his pipe and stared out at the ocean, watching the sunrise. It lit the sky up a crimson red, reflecting on the bloody battle that had occurred the night before.

= 9 Years Later =

It had been nine years since the day when all of the GORONs had fallen to the wrath of his armies, and the General had had naught to do with his time. The GORONs represented the last free force on the planet, even if they had just been a psycho millionaire's science project. In simple terms, he was bored.

Nine years ago, at least two GORON soldiers escaped through a warp generator as the whole of the island was overrun. Two years after that, the core of engineers finally managed to start tracing one of them. It had not been easy, the clone had swapped dimensions sporadically, almost as if he had known that he was being watched.

Recently however, the GORON had come to rest in a land which the army's scientists had come to learn was called Blackstar. Normally, the General would have simply sent a small elite team to assanate the rebel, but the land had come to be of more interest to him than the soldier.

Blackstar was a flourishing land, with many climate areas, a wealthy population, and a blossoming economy. It was a stark contrast to the war-torn waste land that Earth had become. The General had presented this to the council of leaders and they had agreed. Blackstar was to be conquered.

As he looked at the statistics of this new world, the General was in shock. Time and time again, this land had fallen under attack, but no matter than challenge, they had repelled the invaders, even though Blackstar always seemed to have a much smaller force. Upon closer inspection, The General found that this land was not inhabited by a single race. There was a majority race of humanoids, but most of the land was inhabited by seemingly random other creatures. It was although this land was a crossroads for warp travelers. Alone, these strange beings were powerful, but when united by the common cause of defending their homeland, their strength exceeded any opponent that stood in their way. The General would need a much larger force, with more elite soldiers, something he could not get simply by recruiting from the Earth's population.

Which is why the cloning facilities had been restored. Using left-over DNA from the orginial GORON, along with plans "left" behind by the now dead GORON scientists, the Army's team of science had reengineered the GORON soldier, creating 10,000 new clones. They made them faster, stronger, and smarter. The new brand of clones were created without emotion, to prevent it from influencing their combat performance. They had ditched the old Japanese style weaponry that was issued to the old GORONs and replaced it with standard projectile weapons. The black combat robes were also scrapped, with preference given to the new AESIR bio-armor system. The GORON-IIs were given mechanical implants to connect them directly to their AESIRs. They were built and trained to be superior to the original GORONs in every way.

They are to be Earth's elite soldiers, leading the attack on Blackstar. Now the only problem that remained was how to get such a truly massive force through the warp and back in time.

[Goron40]

==Chapter 5: The Aftermath==

Having a Concordat sect was in Blackstar was in no way appealing to Goron, but he had had little choice. With an invasion poised to strike, Goron had to warn the Dojo. The GORON team had left with Tano 'Inanraree's word, that when the invasion finally came, they would have his support. The whole thing seemed somewhat sketchy, but if nothing else, the GORON team had acquired some valuable information on their visitor.

Monica still had one week left on her vacation (yes, she did a mission on her relaxation time), and she chose to spend the last of it at the Guardian's Citadel. After notifying Dau'Pay of the invasion plans and the outcome of their expedition, Goron and Monica had made their way North to the Arctic Tundra and the Goron's Fortress. Almost immediately after they arrived, Monica fell ill.

"I think I'm going to go lie down Forty, I've got a headache," she said as she left for her room. Baffled, Goron went to the billiards room to spend some quality time with the pinball machine. The room was empty, all the other Guardians were elsewhere. He pulled back the plunger and sent the ball flailing up the side and into play.

The machine blinked and rang as the ball ricocheted off anything and everything. With a feeling of accomplishment, Goron watched his score climb to the second spot on the high scores. With a thousand points to go, there was a slight knocking on the door frame to the room. Goron glanced over his should quickly to see Monica leaning on the side of the doorway with what looked like a pen in her hand.

"Goron... I'm pregnant."

Goron stood frozen as the ball dropped down between his flippers and out of play. As he turned around, there was utter silence, bar the machine blurting out its traditional message:

"Game Oooovvvveeerrrrr..."

[3kul]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!

Fantastic work as always Goron, I can't wait to see what happens next .

[Goron40]

I have to ask, where do you find all the free time to comment on everyone's stories, 3kul?

[3kul]

I don't read everybody's stories Goron, just the good ones .

Nah, that's not fair, I'm sure that there's lots of good stories I've yet to read. I tend to pick favourites a bit when I'm reading stuff though, so when I see something by someone who's written stuff that I liked reading before then I feel more compelled to read their newer work.

I have been looking to different writers lately though, I was working my way through one of Seph's works a little while back (a bit gorier than what I like, but he's got a pretty dark style so I guess it's to be expected), and I do need to check back on that story that Nasari was writing ('Family Ties' I think it was called)...

Hm, truth be told, I've actually been rather slack recently . I'm usually able to read through people's work because I'm a pretty fast reader (of forums, sadly this doesn't apply to real books >_>) and more often than not I have an abundance of free time. I always seem to have too much of it when I don't need it (and not nearly enough when I do need it ).

Anyways, sorry for taking up so much space with this post, I'll just shut up now and wait for the next post .