"That's two down."
"Clear. There's still no sign of Luke."
"Keep moving. We'll find him." Eight minutes passed, and General Jack, along with his team, had advanced into Grim's ship. So far, the Granians they found were not the fighting type, so they didn't face any trouble while looking for one of their own.
As they moved further into the ship, they saw all sorts of different lifeforms, species, skins, weaponry, and other objects that were different to their eyes. Some were alive, others were dead, some looked human but were not, and most looked to be older than the planet itself.
"The signal's getting stronger." One soldier announced, and they all ran ahead, knocking down a thick door that led to the ship's command room.
"There they are." General Luke, Michelle, Zain, and Hurt jerked up in excitement as Jack and his team took out the Granians around them. The sudden rescue mission came as a surprise for the children, but Luke anticipated something like this to happen.
"You have no idea how glad I am to see you." Luke said to Jack, with tears rolling down his eyes. "It's good to see you, General Jack."
"At ease, soldier." Jack smiled back as he embraced his colleague. "I commend you for what you did, but the situation is much deeper than we understand. Come with me, we're getting out of…"
*BOOM*
A powerful explosion shook the whole ship, nearly tipping it over. As the ship stabilized, all the explosives in it ignited, causing everything to go ablaze.
"Let's get moving. We have no idea what the contents in this ship will do to us if we inhale them." Jack commanded as he led his team, General Jack, and the Gifted students. The ship started to break apart from the inside, with the remaining Granians escaping for their dear lives.
"They're not chasing us." Hurt said as he watched Granians run past them. "Do they value their lives more than us? I thought they feared their leader?"
"If your home was being attacked, but you had some prisoners, would you waste time bothering with them or get out to survive?" Jack asked, answering Hurt's question. "We're nearly there. Everyone, move out, NOW!!"
General Luke was the first to get out, followed by Michelle, Zain, Hurt, and then the soldiers who helped rescue them. General Jack managed to escape in time, using his telekinesis to prevent falling debris from hitting him.
"Oh good God!" Upon escaping, Jack and those with him were shocked by the sight of an orange-lit sky with thousands of pods falling. Behind the pods were three colossal ships flying side by side, with the middle ship being the largest of them all. The last of the pods landed just outside the war-torn city, and more Granians emerged from them, outnumbering the humans.
To their dismay, Jack watched as the Nexille fleets were taken down much faster than they could recover. To make things worse, Ace and Cherry were captured by the aliens, and Jim was with them. He didn't know how or why, but an unknown joy overtook his emotions, seeing that his once puppet master was now being taken as a slave to the Granians.
"We can't let those aliens get on the ship." Jack ordered. "We have to save those two."
"There are four of them." Michelle pointed at the girl who was being held up in the air by a tail wrapped around her neck. "They're almost there. Let's stop them."
************
[A few minutes ago.]
As the Granian pods landed on Earth, some of them landed directly on the battlefield, killing a couple of humans and Granians in the process. With Sky held in his tail, Grim followed Jim with his sword gripped tightly in his claws. With one swing, Grim released a powerful blast of energy from his sword, aimed directly at Jim's head.
The blast immediately knocked Jim out, causing his body to revert back to its normal form. "A golden one?" Grim spoke to himself. "The boy already learned how to create others of his own?"
"Grim." Huntress and Chris called, with a large number of Granians surrounding them. "We've got the girl. It's time to move. I'll head back to the ship and…."
*BOOM*
Grim's ship was fired at by the Iron Wing and Hawk squads, leaving nothing but burning scraps of metal and dead bodies, both human and Granian. Grim's heart sank into his stomach as he witnessed his ship getting blown up. He soon became enraged, increasing his grip on Sky's neck, knocking her out instantly.
"Let's move, now. Grand Master waits upon us." Huntress, Grim, Chris, and the rest of the now many Granians set their sights on the large ships just outside of the city. If they wanted to leave the planet alive, they needed to make it to either of the ships using every means possible.
"THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!!"
"YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT. LEAVE OUR PLANET, YOU SONS OF BITC…."
"WAIT!" General Luke shouted, stopping the Nexillian soldiers who were celebrating that the aliens were leaving. "WE CAN'T LET THEM LEAVE WITH THOSE CHILDREN. STOP THEM."
As much as he shouted, Jack's words weren't able to reach everyone in time. However, those who heard his warnings quickly pursued the Granians. The Gifted soldiers used every trick, every scheme, and every power in their arsenal, slowly wiping out the Granians surrounding Grim and Huntress.
"They've made a circle around Ace and Cherry. We'll have to get in from above." Luke suggested, signaling for Zain to transform. "This young man will be able to help us."
As Luke and Jack spoke, Hurt, Michelle, and Zain removed the collars on their necks that blocked their powers. Immediately, Zain transformed into a large, dragon-like beast, long enough to carry over twenty people. Upon seeing him do this, the other body-altered Gifted transformed into airborne beasts, taking the fight into the sky.
With Elementals and Universals on their backs, the body-altered Gifted followed Zain, who was carrying Luke, Jack, Hurt, and Michelle.
"Michelle, Hurt, try and see if you can create some sort of distraction. Hurt, make a windstorm, and Michelle, shift the ground ahead of the Granians."
"I'm sorry," Michelle apologized with her head hung, "I cannot control the Earth from this altitude. I'm not yet strong enough, but I can generate flames or any other element."
"Then hurry with it." The two students got to work, with Hurt raising his hands over his head. The clouds above him turned dark, with lightning bolts flashing all over the place.
Meanwhile, Michelle generated flames larger than her head and threw them towards the Granians. Hurt used his windstorm energy, causing the fireballs to drop even faster. The other Gifted soldiers saw this and mimicked it, but it still wasn't strong enough to disband the Granians.
"Get us closer." Hurt said as he jumped off of Zain's back. While in mid-air, a great gush of wind circulated around his body, forming a tornado in the process. The other elementals with the same power did the same, using their wind to suck up and cast the Granians away. The tables turned once more with the humans causing more damage.
However, with no machinery backing them up anymore, all they had to rely on were the powers of trained and untrained Gifted soldiers, most of whom were teens who had never practiced on live bodies before.
"We're getting closer." Michelle announced, for she and those behind her were able to see Grim and Huntress in the center. "EVERYONE, HIT THEM WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT."
One by one, the Granians fell. The thick circle of aliens protecting Huntress and Grim grew smaller, causing them to become restless and desperate to escape. The Gifted fighters went full force, with those on the ground supporting in whatever way they could.
When all seemed to be going well for the humans, the aliens in the main spaceships decided to respond as well. In unison, the many weapon barrels and cannons on Grand Master's ship peered out, each aimed at the airborne Gifted fighters.
*VWIM* *VWIM* *VWIM*
The aliens responded by shooting down as many of their opponents as possible. The number of fighters in the air reduced greatly, and those on the ground retreated, for the attacks were now turned toward them.
Grim and Huntress ran even faster, managing to move faster than most of those who were flying. As soon as they got past the city, Grand Master's ship was lowered close enough to the ground, with the many entrances opening up.
The Granians surrounding Grim and Huntress made way for them as they sacrificed themselves to let the two get onto the ship.
"Thank you for fighting for us. Remember and mention us before Grania." They all said as they turned around and slaughtered the humans following.
***************
[A few moments later.]
"We have failed." On the ground, defeated, exhausted, and hopeless, General Jack held his head in disbelief, not yet accepting the fact that Ace and Cherry were captured. "We've failed. I promised to protect them, and I've failed."
As soon as Grim and Huntress got onto the ship, the aliens on board the three ships took off, leaving the Earth faster than they came. Behind them were a large number of their own kind who sacrificed themselves to see their mission go through. After all, what better way to go down than in battle.
While humanity celebrated, those who knew the truth about Ace and Cherry were saddened and worried. One: Ace and Cherry were now slaves to the Granians. Two: they were now Granian biological weapons, living only to serve their masters. Three: they could return any day and wipe out the Earth if they were brainwashed.
"We did it." Grim spoke softly, with Huntress lying next to him. "We've got what we came for. We've lost so many of our comrades, but it hasn't been for nothing."
"Murdock and the rest won't be forgotten." Huntress continued. "Your sacrifices will not be in vain. We will conquer the Ethisians. Your names will go down in history as the legends that sacrificed their lives for us."
"Well done, Grim and Huntress." Grand Master congratulated Grim and Huntress as they took Ace, Cherry, and Jim to where the other two blood mutants were. "You've succeeded yet again, Grim. Grania will be pleased, and now we can get back to our plan.
"Thank you, Grand Master." Grim and Huntress bowed. "May I keep this one as a trophy, please?" He asked before they took Sky's unconscious body away.
"Why not? After all, it is the creature responsible for taking your eye away from you."
Grand Master left the room with a satisfied smile, pleased with the progress they were making. Grim looked at his trophy with a smile while injecting a serum into his body responsible for regenerating his lost eye. "I could have grown it back a long time ago, but I needed that rage to find you and your friend." He said with grin on his face while Sky's body was transported elsewhere.