This is it, ladies and gents. The grand finale. The action hits a grand level, and things are solved. Even as I write this by candlelight, I hope you will see this. Nothing is as it seems, and a new storyline-changing character shall be introduced. Prepare to fight through our darkest hour.
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My tail flicked behind me as I sped down the cracked road. Signs of the takeover were all around- rusty shells of busses on the edge of the road, craters from explosions, even the occasional skeleton. It was a mess.
A small screen on the dashboard of the Motorcycle started beeping. That was the radio communicator! Someone else was out there!
I stopped in the middle of the road, and smacked the big red button that responded. A robotic face appeared, but it wasn’t Metalist.
'You’re Zakara, yes?’ The robotic bird asked me.
'That’s me.’ i replied, a little confused.
'I’m Horus. I thought I was one of the only ones left.’
I was silent for a second.
'Damn it, now you radio me! I’ve lost everyone, Horus. EVERYONE. I’m alone out here, on this battlefield. Where the hell are you?’ I shouted at him.
'High above. My escape pod from the Unbeatable Defense was pulled into a Metalist space station. It was a defense station, well patrolled and very well armed. They thought I was Metalist- they took me in. With some hacking, I got control. I’ve been watching.’ He said. The camera zoomed out- he was a robotic anthropomorphic eagle, wired into the working of the ship behind him. His limbs had no hands or feet- those ended in wires which snaked into the metal plating. There were no wings to speak off; probably wired in as well.
'As you can see, I’m kinda stuck here. But this station is powerful. It’s heavily armed with missiles of all sizes, ranging from small RPGs to 80 kiloton nukes. It was also armed with other equipment too.’
'Such as?’
‘A experimental robot variant called the Constructors. They’re small, but they have numbers. They take all the wreckage that they can find, assemble it, and rebuild it into a new unit. They adapt, and can use anything as long as there is wreckage of it. I’m sending them down now to give you help. Look up.’ Horus said. I looked up- I could just see his station. It was a large, cigar shaped thing with a massive ring circling it, giving it gravity. A large missile came from part of the ring.
'I am delivering all I got. Three million constructors- enough to re-build all the wreckage scattered across this barren planet. I have other parts of my plan as well...’
'What are they, Horus? If they give me a better chance of making it to the power station in one piece, I’ll do it.’ I responded.
'I’m hacking into each and every one of the Metalist ships surounding this planet. I’ve discovered each is powered by an amazingly smart AI; I’m just persuading them. If we can get these on our side, I-’
'They’re not AIs.’ I said.
'What?’
'I said, they’re not AIs. They’re the spirits of the lost. To control the ships, they did the same thing you would do to make a Clunker, or a Spindle, or any Metalist caste.’ I said.
'No wonder they’re so different...’ He said. 'On my command, they’ll release all of their occupants into space by blowing the hulls, then they’ll all attack the city at once. Some shall take longer than others, but all the ones I could reach will be there. And that’s... 42 ships. All are prepared to destroy themselves for your cause. Know that you have this many behind you today.’
'Thanks. It’s good to know that. But the city will be utterly destroyed. There’s about 1000 Metalists in this city alone- who knows how many will be called here to fight.’ I responded.
'...And hellfire shall rain down on us all...’ Horus muttered. 'I’m a veteran of some of the worst combat in this half of the galaxy. I can fight. Prepare yourself for the worst, Zakara. I’m also sending down a friend of mine.’
'Who’s that?’ I asked. 'You said you were one of the last ones left.’
'James. The only other survivor of New Abydos, a warrior down to the last, a master of all weaponry, and a good friend. You can call him Anubis.’
The falling missile above me exploded; the shards falling through the air.
'Was that supposed to happen?’ I asked.
'Just deploying the Constructors, Zakara. Nothing to worry about.’ Horus said. 'Just wait there, My Constructors are going to re-construct your guns.’
'Why? They work perfectly fine.’ I said.
'They do, but they’re not nearly strong enough. Your weapons will be very powerful, but with my help. Ever use an orbital targeting system?’
'Once, ages ago...’ I replied.
'Good. As I said, the station I’m part of now is fully equipped with all sorts of explosives. The Constructors are going to turn most of your rifles into target-finders, one for each type of missile.’
A few small chunks of the missile landed near me, and small bots crawled out. They were silver-dollar sized, and bristling with tools of all sorts. There was a small camera on top of the circular body that was held up by six small legs. There were about a dozen of them- one had what seemed to be a pair of goggles.
'Those goggles will be your HUD- our connection will be through these, as well as the ammo count on my missiles and how many types there are.’
The constructor that had the goggles climbed up the side and beeped at me. I took the goggles while the others worked on my guns.
'Stick them on, would ya?’ Horus asked. I put them on, and he appeared in the corner of my vision.
'So, they work fine, I guess.’ He said.
'Yeah.’ I replied. The Constructors were taking apart all my guns apart from Sprix’s rifle and the automatic shotgun.
'Let them do their work, my friend. Once they’re done, we’ll attack.’ Horus said. The Constructors were small, but efficient. They had already turned my automatic rifle into a large target finder.
'The rest of my Constructor swarm has reached the wreckage scattered all about. We’re taking control of all the wrecked craft, including the Metalist crafts and even the Liberty’s Flame. Anything out there is under our our control now.’
'Horus, you’re talking about yourself like you’re the Constructors.’ I said.
'Oh- sorry. It’s hard to control three million little robots at once and hold your independence. I’m still here- just all around as well.’ He responded. My other guns were re-formed. 'Alright, We’ve re-built your guns. The pistols are made for the smaller rockets- the revolver painted red is the napalm. The pump-action shotgun’s now the heavy mortar, and the rifle calls down some homing mini bombs. Every time you pull the trigger on any of these, We’ll launch a swarm of the missiles at a speed of 700 miles an hour. We would suggest using the napalm or your automatic shotgun for close range. We’ve also linked your shotgun to one of our ammo factories. When a shot is fired, another will be teleported to your ammo canister. As long as the factory isn’t shut down, you’ll have all the ammo you need.’
'Heavy weapons, indeed.’ I smirked.
'We’re also re-fitting your motorcycle. Four hover jets mounted on the wheel mountings to stabilize it, and the motor has been powered to triple the maximum speed. Without the jets, the cycle could not turn at full speed without falling over. When turning now, the jets re-align to keep the whole mechanism stable.’ Horus said.
'I hope you can keep track of all of this.’ I said.
'We can. Easily. We have linked all of the processors of every single Metalist on this ship onto mine- We could control twice as many Constructors, and still be able to watch you through the four cameras being mounted on your cycle now.’
'Cameras?’ I asked.
'Yes, cameras. We shall tell you when something is trying to attack you from behind.’ Horus said. 'Good.’ I said. The Constructors stopped working and stepped back, like they were admiring their work.
'We are done. Zakara, are you ready?’ Horus asked.
I sucked in a deep breath. 'I am.’
'Well then, we are sending all the ships under our control to the city. Attack, Zakara. Attack with all of your ability. Don’t hold back. Attack!’ Horus screeched in a metallic voice. I started the cycle- it sounds much stronger; more powerful- and started towards the city. I readied the napalm caller and the mini bomb caller as I sped into the lost city. This is my final fight.

Right when I passed a welcome sign, an air raid siren went off. I doubt that’s what it means any more...
A couple dozen Clunkers poured out of an outer building that was partially covered in sand. I pointed the napalm pointer at them, then pulled the trigger. Less than a second later, there was an explosion of flames and their bodies were burning.
'Exactly what we said. Speed.’ Horus remarked. 'You have two Cruisers coming your way. don’t worry- they’re friendly.’ He said. I kept speeding down the road, my jacket billowing behind. There was a massive rumbling as two of the cigar-shaped cruisers passed only about 300 feet above. One was smaller than the other, but the larger looked like it had been the subject of several wars. Two Azaraxian faces appeared at the edges of my vision.
'Finally, someone dares to defeat the hoards!’ One shouted.
'...And it’s time to take revenge.’ The other said. The massive turrets on the front of the ships started firing at the buildings, knocking a few over but sending a hail of Metalist parts down. I pulled out my Heavy mortar pointer and readied it- two Watchtowers were treading their merry way towards me through the hail of bullet from the twin ships above me.
I took the chance to fire. Massive explosion.
'That one takes a few seconds to reload.’ Horus said. I dodged an explosion that came from a grenade thrown at me by one of the treaded variants. I called down some regular missiles on it and its fellows.
One of the ships above me was getting by a hail of rockets from above. There was a massive hole where the control deck used to be.
'Argh! They’ve nearly got me... Zakara, hang on! I’m going to smash a few of them as I go down.’ the Azarax said. The smaller ship started falling, knocking a Watchtower from on top of a roof and taking the building with it as well. It slammed into the ground, not exploding but sliding across the cityscape, shredding buildings and Metalist forces.
I napalmed a few Clunkers as I sped on through the chaos.
'Three more cruisers coming y- correction, four coming your way.’ Horus said. The new cruisers were all smaller ones, less well armed.
'Attack!’ One cried once she appeared on the side of my sight. The four shot off in unison, devastating a strip of land.
'Zakara, careful about your surroundings. The ship that recently crashed left a gouge in the earth that’s in your way. You’ll have to take an alternate route around.’ Hours said.
I was speeding along the side of the trench when I stopped at the ship. It was cracked right down the middle, but it was solid. And a building had fallen over, leaning towards it. I had an idea.
I spun around and shot a few of the homing bombs at the five dozen Dancers that were behind me, destroying most. I napalmed the others as I sped down the street away from the fallen building.
'Zakara, this isn’t part of the plan.’ Horus said.
'Actually, it is.’ I said. I spun my cycle around on a dime and faced the fallen building. I revved the engine.
'Ah... We see now. Continue.’ Horus replied. I readied my heavy mortar and started speeding for the building- it was a rather bland construction of rust metal and shattered windows.
Just as I was nearing it, a massive bot stepped in front of me. It was one of those damned ape-bots! Good thing the mortar’s ready.
I sped up to full speed and dodged a foot from it; but I was hit with some scattered chunks of metal. The blades mounted on the sides of my cycle slashed a gash in the ankle, making it fall behind me.
I hit the end of the ramp, and flew a good two hundred feet due to my speed. I hit the hull of the crashed ship and sped down it.
'Careful, Zakara! The hulls of Metalist ships are completely circular! No angles or flat surfaces!’ Horus shouted.
'I’ll be fine.’ I said. I looked back- the Ape was getting back up! I swung down several blasts from the heavy mortar- little effect! It shot at me, but missed. Those were some massive rockets...
I somehow balanced my cycle on the hull, surviving a hell of a lot of shots.
I was almost at the center of the ship when one lucky rocket hit the cycle just under the wheels, sending me and the machine flying into the air and down the side. Falling... falling... Darkness.

This isn’t where it ends, Zakara. Your time isn’t over, and it won’t be for awhile yet.
Who... Who is that?
Fight. Get up, Zakara. Many civilizations out there need you.

I staggered up, groaning. I fell a good height, but thankfully I wasn’t skewered by my bike’s blades. My goggles were still on, and I was getting reception from all around.
'They’re amounting a considerable defense!’ One ship shouted.
'Watch out!’ cried another.
I looked at my hands. They were different. Not the Blood Lust, no... Something satronger. I couldn’t place it. My scales had become a dark red all around, and flames flickered lightly all over my body, plus the effects of the Blood Lust.
My own additions. I suggest you get moving, little can hurt you now.
'Who the hell are you?!’ I barked. Flames licked from my mouth.
If you must call me anything, call me the Raven. Now go, I’ll be watching.
That voice echoed through my head. Not any anthro’s voice, nor an Azarax’s. Something new.
I got on my bike and revved it. There was a rather nifty ramp next to me, leading onto ground level.
'Zakara?! Are you alright? Your biological signs have changed, and you were dead for near a minute!’ Horus shouted.
'I don’t know, Horus... I don’t know...’ I responded. I sped up the ramp and back into the fray, firing off my napalm launchers quickly. A few dozen Clunkers and various other models were scorched.
'I will have my revenge on you Metalists, you hear?! All of you shall burn in the abyss!’ I screamed, plowing through another crowd. The Raven was right- little could harm me. A highly powered sniper bolt smacked my square in the chest; it did nothing but shove me back slightly. A Dancer tried to slice me- the blade clanged against my new scales. The Raven... what type of creature was he? Something with massive power, for sure...
Somehow, I summoned flame into a ball in my hands. I used this to burn the road as I raced down it.
'Zakara, we’re sending all the support we can. We’re reading Watchtowers, Dancers, and an Ape!’
'No need.’ I replied, in spite of myself.
'What? Those troops have enough firepower to level a small island! We’re sending six ships, no matter what you say.’ Horus said. Seconds after, another Ape smashed down a building in front of me. The Watchtowers blocked off the sides and the back. Even that much firepower could destroy me.
I ignited some of the Watchotwers to my left, sending them haywire. They shot down two more, and distracted the Ape. I called down heavy mortars on the Dancers, wiping out most of them. The Ape charged towards me, and my mortar was reloading. It roared metalicly- then was smashed by an allied ship that dived and pulled back up, flattening several city blocks of land.
'Thought you would need some help.’ The ship said.
'Even the best need backup, it seems. Go help fight the main battle line- I’ll get to the core.’ I said.
'Roger that.’ The ship replied after shooting down the remaining Watchtowers.
'Horus, how far do I have to the core?’ I asked.
'We’re detecting it less than a mile away. Careful, though; it’s not the station it used to be.’ He replied. I drifted a corner through a squadron of Clunkers then stopped. He was right.
Before the Metalists, the power station had been placed way out in a lake, connected to the city by a boardwalk. The water had been used to cool the core. The station in itself didn’t change- the same small and long station. It was only three stories tall and about 700 feet long with a large bulb at the end. That was the core.
The lake changed. It wasn’t water but a molten slag of some sort that was bright green. Wait... was it molten? That was steam coming off of it from heat, but cold, like when you breath in cold weather.
The boardwalk was still there, but it was widened now and full of Metalists. They were waiting for me. Maybe three hundred of them?
I looked down to the time machine I had on my wrist- that damn little watch. I set it for old times, but on a timer for 5 minutes. If I don’t get in there in time, the paradox won’t work. Hope the blades can stand up to the slicing and dicing.
'Need backup?’ A ship asked. It was being followed by two others. Behind them, the city was up in flames.
'Preferably.’ I said.
'Good- ARGH!’ The ship cried. A large cannon had appeared from the hillside in the distance, and it was firing off fast. It was superbly powerful- it had the power of a Ship Buster and the firing speed of a good sniper rifle. It dispatched my backup quickly, each ship exploding in mid air.
'Damn it!’ Horus cried. 'I’m sending in the Constructors!’
I looked behind me. There was a formation of smaller ships flying across the sky. V-shaped ones. ADF fighters? How?! The Constructors, of course...
These fighters were faster, more agile, and could even repair themselves. They were fighting on even as the massive turret destroyed many of our allied ships.
'Wait there, I’m sending the Liberty’s Flame for backup.’ Horus said.
Now, it’s going to get crazy.
I saw a shape crawl up a building- it looked rather like an ADF cruiser, but with little left of the front or back. It also had four massive legs built from... hhhmmm, that’s a good question.
The dark shape was almost colorless until the massive gun in it started charging. The Ship-buster still worked!
The blue swirling mass inside of the hole filled the hole up, and then fired. It torched a whole stretch of city, and the destroyed the cannon. The turret fell apart, opening up more way for reinforcements. The Liberty’s Flame also fell apart as well.
'Poor thing used to much power. Just get there, Zakara. Save those worlds.’ Horus said. 'We’re sensing a massive amount of missile coming my way from another location on the planet, and our defenses can’t stop them all. We’ve lost connection to the factories, anyhow. This is our last message. Good luck. End transmission.’ Horus said. There was a massive explosion in the sky, and the Constructor models fell apart.
'NO!’ I cried. I threw away my targeters, leaving only my shotgun. It had a direct link to one of the factories, and that hadn’t been shut down.
Behind me, there were three ships and I had three minutes on the timer.
'You know what we’ll do.’ One of them said.
'Well then... ATTACK!’ I roared, diving straight into the fray. The last ships came down to about a hundred feet from the slag and started firing at the Metalists on the boardwalk.
I sped through the crowds, slicing up Metalists by the dozens. I drifted a turn on a pile of Clunkers, smashing two more as I went.
'Come and get me, bastards!’ I screamed. I was plowing through the mess, occasionally popping wheelies due to a Metalist getting under my wheels.
A lucky Dancer knocked my shotgun from my hands, so I was weaponless apart from the sniper and the blades. The Sniper wouldn’t do much good in this chaos, so I removed the blades as I smashed on. The power station was in reach.
'Godspeed.’ One of the ships said to me.
'And good luck to you to.’ I said, entering the center. The hallways were circular in nature, so I ended up almost flipping onto he roof. I straightened out and sped down just as the watch activated.

I was flying backwards down the time-stream, watching all the events that happened in this hallway. I saw Clunkers patrolling it, then scientists and soldiers fighting off the Metalists, then just scientists walking own the halls. I should be landing at about the time I was unveiling the first Clunker as a military item. So, I need to get to the science center.

I came out of the travel with my blades deactivated and the glass of the observation platform shattering around me. I had crashed through it and into the core’s chamber. It was a spherical chamber with the pulsing red core in the center. thankfully, I wasn’t being effected by the heat of it.
Red alarms went off as I crashed through the door in the bottom of the chamber, surprising several scientists. I dodged them, then crashed up the stairs and into the main hallway where I was, several hundred years later. Or I will be.
I shoved down the main doors and sped down the boardwalk, dodging the few guards on it. They fired at me only because they didn’t recognize me.
I re-entered the city at a speed of 250 MPH, dodging civilians and the transporters. The transporters were attached to rails, so I could tell where they were going to go.
I sped up a hill and jumped it, landing on a transporter going my way. Behind me, there were several police cycles, sirens blazing. No need for injuries, so no shooting.
I jumped off the transporter and sped down a side alleyway, entering another street. I could see the massive building of glass and metal ahead of me, at the end of the street, sunlight glinting off the many panes of glass.
I dodged transporters as I sped straight down the street. I set fire to a few patches of plant growth, but I was getting closer.
A police cycle swerved out in front of the center and threw down a barrier which expanded until it connected both side of the street with spikes. Wasn’t going to risk it.
I turned hard right and smashed through the glass doors of one of the larger skyscrapers.
'Gangway!’ I cried, darting through the crowds. I jumped into an elevator before a female Azarax and hit the ROOF button before she could mutter a word. The elevator slowly went up.
Finally, the end of the Metalists. Before they even begin.
The elevator dinged as the doors opened. The skyscraper was a good 100 feet from the massive glass roof of the Science center. The center was aptly nicknamed the Greenhouse for obvious reasons- but it was also easy for something to come crashing through the roof. A bullet for a politician, an earlier self for a scientist.
I grabbed Sprix’s sniper rifle and readied it. I looked down the scope- I could see a presentation in place. I- well, my older self- was down there, saying a presentation about a shiny new Clunker that he had next to him. The commander of the Military wad there as well. If I could remember correctly, he was a corrupt Azarax, not to mention he also ordered the Metalists to be made “In pursuit of a better soldier”, he said. Yeah, I remembered it well. Remember what I said about a bullet for a politician? Same goes for this guy.
I revved my bike and jumped. Wind whistled around me, then I crashed through a pane of glass, landing hard in the back of the massive theater. Once I landed, the screaming started. My older self was looking around for whatever fell through the roof, and the commander already had a fancy pistol out. I fired off two shots from the darkness- a high powered, almost explosive shot each time, one for the Clunker, shattering it. The other splattered the commander’s head all over the wall behind him.
I exited the theater a different way, by simply reseting my watch. I left my older self a note before I went, though.

Dear Zakara,
You’re probably wondering what happened, who shot your metal soldier model. We both know the commander was corrupted, so I took him out as well. The point is that you should never work on that project again. I’m your future self, Zakara. If the robot was put into mass production by the military, they would start to take over, converting and killing until there was only seven of us left. I’m the last of the seven.
I’m saying this again, do not work on the project again. Millions of species across just as many worlds will be devastated by the robots, which will be known as Metalists. Go onto something else, Zakara. Stop the carnage from ever happening.
Sincerely, yourself.
I left one of my scales there as well. Hopefully, my DNA will still be recognizable. I also signed it exactly like how I did back then. Should be enough.

I exited out of the time-stream still on my cycle, and still in the city. But it wasn’t how I thought it would be. The city was still in ruins, but there was no wreckage from the battling. No traces of Metalists or ADF at all. I got off my bike and slumped down next to it. It was over... In another reality. I may have stopped the Metalists from ever existing, but their effect on this world was still here.
I heard a cough from a pile of rubble to my right. I ran over to the pile and started throwing chunks of masonry and metal away. There was a female Azarax under it! I didn’t recognize her, though. I helped her up.
'Thanks.’ She muttered.
'Don’t mention it.’ I said, almost sarcastically. I noticed another Azarax stagger from a doorway across the street. Another got up from the ground where he wasn’t seconds before. Just appeared, it seems.
Of course! It was a paradox, so only part of it would have effect! That’s why everyone’s still here, but the city’s in ruins!
All around me, dozens of Azarax pulled themselves from the wreckage. All of them looked glad to be alive.
Out in the distance, the sun was rising. It’s a new era. The Azarax haven’t died today, nor will they again!
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And thus ends the Legacy of the Azarax...