In a last-minute desperate attempt, Cherry dashed into the last room, the one she suspected to be the main control room. After stumbling across a powerful and ominous energy, the Crimson Knight contemplated whether she’d attack head-on or destroy the room instantly in hopes of avoiding any confrontation. Unfortunately, even if she were to blow up the room, there was a high chance that whoever was in it would walk out without a scratch. Still choosing to avoid confrontation for the time being, Cherry darted as quickly as she could with a cluster of about twenty Blood Clones going before her. The clones entered the room first and as soon as she entered, the Crimson Knight witnessed each of them suddenly collapse under the weight of the ominous energy she felt. However... ’Two of them!!’ the biggest Ethisians the Crimson Knight’s eyes had ever seen stood over her Blood Clones as their bodies pulsated with energy. As soon as the Crimson Knight entered, the first Ethisian barked orders at the other to sound the alarms immediately. Cherry, not wanting to let the Granians lose their element of surprise, dared herself by sliding under the Ethisian’s feet as she pierced her hand into the control panel, allowing her blood to smear all over it. "GOT YOU!!" the second Ethisian triumphantly screamed while grabbing Cherry in a bear hug-like formation. The Ethisian, a High Grade, grinned with its purple eyes piercing into Cherry’s crescent-shaped pearly whites. While laughing, the creature began to apply pressure and slowly squeezed the air out of Cherry’s lungs. The creature used its weight well and because of that, the Crimson Knight was immobile, unable to move most of her body. "The Granians are close by, I suppose," the first Ethisian, the larger of the two, squatted as it conversed with Cherry and its fellow High Grade, "will you give out their location? Are they taking cover in ships hiding behind the clouds? Or are they within the Bastion’s Walls?" Cherry, remaining quiet with her eyes closed, suddenly opened her eyes as a burst of Blood Spikes escaped her body, shooting themselves in every direction. The spikes—thick, large, jagged—spread in every direction and continued to grow. No one in the room was safe, not even Cherry who sacrificed her body to jab the Ethisian that held her in place. "Eth-isian...," she grunted while her body dissolved the spikes lodged in it, "you...really should have...pressed that button when...you were told to..." By the time the Ethisian looked at the control panel, more than half of it was damaged, but it was still functional. Quickly, the first Ethisian pushed through the spikes lodged in its arm and rummaged toward the control panel. Unfortunately for it... *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* Cherry ignited all her blood and immediately, all the booby-trapped rooms were engulfed in flames and erupted immediately in vicious pink clouds of blood flames consuming everything they touched. Those unfortunate enough to get caught in the crossfire did not walk away without injuries. While most lower-ranked Ethisians perished, the slightly higher ones suffered burned scales, charred limbs, and scalded faces. As for Cherry and her two special Ethisian opponents, they took on the most damage but their unnaturally strong bodies deflected the majority of the force from the explosion. However, the force was so powerful that it catapulted all three of them, and more, outside the main building. As they fell, those outside watched as the building erupted in pink flames. The force of the explosions was so great that it shook the foundations of the building, sending most of it crashing down in a mighty thud. With the control rooms, panels, weapon supplies, and other major supplies destroyed, the Ethisians were left severely vulnerable. To make matters worse for them, the controls used to keep the Bastion’s Gates shut were no longer functioning, meaning the Gates’ mechanisms malfunctioned and opened wide...for the enemy to bombard. "CYCLITHARANS? WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE?" "THEY’RE EVERYWHERE!!!! SO MANY OF THEM!!!" "OUR WEAPONS!!! MOST OF THEM HAVE BEEN BLOWN UP. WE’RE VULNERABLE." "SOLDIERS!!" The smaller High Grade, taking charge while the larger dealt with Cherry, commanded the rest of the soldiers as its wounds healed saying, "WE STILL HAVE THE MOUNTED TURRETS AND AUTOMATED GUNS AVAILABLE. SHOOT EVERY DAMN GRANIAN ON SIGHT!!!" The second High Grade leaped forward and grabbed a sword from the closest Ethisian it could find. The sword was shaped like a wedge with its edge large and partially blunt towards the bottom while the tip was sharpened. With a mighty swing, the High Grade began swinging its blade while the Ethisians on the Walls bombarded the Granians and Cyclitharans strategically hid themselves in the settlement just outside the walls of the Bastion. Because of this, the Ethisians had to stop immediately because they did not wish to shoot any of the innocent creatures caught in the crossfire. "HOSTAGES!!!" one Ethisian pointed out while a red-scaled Granian came out with two smaller creatures grasped by the flabs on their necks. "THEY’RE USING HOSTAGES!!" More and more Granians and Cyclitharans came out of hiding with hostages acting as their "body guards". If the Ethisians dared to fire, then the innocent creatures were going to take on the gunfire headfirst. "ETHISIANS!!" Gravax, the red-scaled Granian, marched forward with his hands spread apart, each grasping a hostage. The Granian understood how Ethisians were concerning their morals in terms of War. In Ethisian War culture, innocent, less intelligent species were off limits, meaning no soldier was meant to cause any physical harm to them. The Granians knew this very well and under Lord Gravax’s command, they used it to their advantage, and just as they predicted, all the Ethisians stopped firing at them. "YOU’RE SURROUNDED AT ALL CORNERS. GIVE UP PEACEFULLY, SURRENDER, AND I WILL CONSIDER SPARING YOUR LIVES...WELL MOST OF YOUR LIVES." Gravax ended while grinning at the smaller High Grade that was a few feet ahead of him. "WHAT WILL IT BE? CHOOSE KNOWING THAT THESE INNOCENT BEINGS WILL DEPEND ON YOUR DECISION." A moment of tension between the Granians and Ethisians ensued with a cloud of confusion clouding the minds of the Ethisians. They were caught between a rock and a hard place and nothing they could think of had a result that ended in their favor. If they gave up, their Bastion, its mine, and precious minerals, not to forget the planet, would be lost to the Granians. If they didn’t give up, their Bastion, its mine, precious minerals, planet, and their lives would be lost at the hands of the Granians. "TIME IS NOT ON YOUR SIDE, ETHISIANS," Gravax yelled once more as his troops stood inches away from the Walls, "CHOOSE NOW, OR I’LL CHOOSE FOR YOU." "Granian," the larger High Grade, smiling from ear to ear, pointed at Gravax with its other hand wrapped around the Crimson Knight’s neck, "let the hostages go and your Mutant will live to fight this War a little longer. You wouldn’t want anything to happen to it, would you?" Thıs text ıs hosted at 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩✶𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚✶𝕟𝕖𝕥 The Ethisians now grinned for their High Grade evened the betting ground. They too knew how precious the Blood Mutants were to the Granians so they going to use that to their advantage. There was one problem though... "Well since you’re going with that route..." Gravax snapped and emerging from his side was none other than the Crimson Knight herself, the real Crimson Knight. ’A clone?’ The High Grade snapped as its hands sank into the blood figure that began to liquidize itself. ’How did it escape that quickly?’ "...there’s nothing else for us to wager. GRANIANS, CYCLITHARANS, ATTACK!!!"