The bridge was in utter chaos. Axe and Mace Knight were running around frantically, desperately looking for some sign that the situation was salvageable. Captain Vul was despondent, staring down at the metrics his console was telling him in disbelief. Sailor Waddle Dee was hyperventilating.
“Reactors Two and Three have been destroyed and Reactor One is failing!” she shouted. “Engines Three and Five are offline!”
“The Wheelies are abandoning ship!” Mace Knight added.
Meta Knight sighed and looked out at the setting sun. “Sailor, can we make sure we go down in the water?”
Sailor Dee checked the map. “It looks like it, yes. At our current trajectory, we’ll probably crash in Secret Sea.”
“We’re chewing through our backup power!” Vul warned. “I give us six minutes before we hit the water, tops.”
“Kirby, Bandana, and Sunset are approaching the bridge!” Axe Knight suddenly shouted, pointing at the central elevator’s camera.
“What about the purple one?” Vul asked, a glimmer of hope in his voice. “Did the Lobster at least take her out?”
Mace Knight shook his head as he flicked through the exterior cameras. “Looks like she’s outside. Whatever explosion took out our reactor cameras must’ve breached the hull.”
Vul sighed angrily as Meta Knight looked at his officers. Really, the five of them were all that was left of his once mighty crew. Everyone else had been knocked out of the fray by the absurdly powerful boarding party. Perhaps, he thought, his attempted coup d’état had been misguided. If Dreamland was capable of taking down his mighty ship with only a party of four, Popstar may have been in good enough hands already.
Still, there was one thing left to do before he could be sure of it.
He spread his wings and flew from the window back to the bridge’s door. “I will stall them for as long as possible. The rest of you should evacuate.”
“No way!” Axe Knight shouted as he and Mace Knight rushed to Meta’s side.
“We’re staying to fight!” Mace Knight added.
Sailor Dee looked at them, her voice shaky, but determined. “Someone’s gotta stay here and make sure we go down in the right spot.” Her eyes glistened. “I’m with you to the end of the line, Sir.”
The other officers turned to stare at Vul. He glared back. “With all due respect, y’all are crazy.” He nodded at Meta Knight. “Even you, Sir. The ship’s going down and everything we’ve worked towards is shot. You know we can’t win this.”
Meta Knight nodded. “Of course.” He looked at each officer individually. “I will not fault any of you for retreating.”
“Good, because I’m out of here!” Vul exclaimed. He rushed over to the bridge’s built-in emergency escape vehicles. “Good luck, everyone! I hope to see you all alive!”
“Well, I think that’s the most encouragement he’s ever given us,” Sailor Dee noted as Vul’s escape pod launched.
Meta Knight looked at his remaining three subordinates. “This is your final chance to evacuate. Once we step through those doors, there’s no going back.”
Axe and Mace Knight looked at each other and nodded. Before Meta could stop them, they rushed forward and out the door. “We’ll hold them off a bit to give you time to prepare, Sir!”
Meta Knight gave a defeated sigh and walked over to the wall, where he stored his spare swords. He picked one up in his off-hand and swung it around a bit. Yes, this would do nicely for testing Kirby’s skills. Before he left the room, though, he turned back to Sailor Dee.
“There is such a thing as being too loyal,” he reminded her.
Sailor smiled up at him. “Maybe, but you’ve treated us all so well. We’re just trying to return the favor.”
It couldn’t be seen under his mask, but Meta Knight smiled. “Thank you.”
With that, he exited the bridge.
The elevator up to the bridge was eerily silent. Sunset thought the PA system having been turned off added most of that, though. Despite the fact that they had been trying to kill them, the bridge crew’s antics had been pretty amusing. As they neared the top of the elevator ride, she drew in a breath and glanced down at Bandee and Kirby. “Are you two ready for this?”
Both nodded, but Bandee looked decidedly more nervous than Kirby. It made sense, Sunset thought. He was down a weapon and limited to punching things at this point.
She frowned. “Hey, if you want to sit this one out, I won’t blame you.”
Kirby also laid a comforting arm on Bandee’s back.
The general shook his head. “Thanks, but I’m still going to do all I can to help.” The elevator doors opened. “Even if I probably won’t be able to do anything against Meta Knight.”
“If we have our way, you won’t even be getting to the boss!” shouted Axe Knight, and the three stepped out into the hallway to face their adversaries.
Sunset got a good look at the bridge crew for the first time. It was easy to identify who was who just based on what weapons they were wielding, which she thought was a little bit on the nose. It was a bit interesting that Mace Knight had a flail instead of a proper mace, she supposed, but she didn’t let that distract her. These were the upper echelons of the Meta-Knights, so they were almost certainly powerful.
Not nearly powerful enough to stand up to Kirby, though. The ensuing battle, if it could even be called that, was entirely one-sided. Kirby had rushed forward before the two knights even had the time to move, slamming his fist into Mace Knight’s chest. His flail went flying across the room as he was launched bodily into the wall. Axe Knight fared little better as Sunset wrenched his weapon out of his hands with her telekinesis, throwing it away.
Axe Knight chuckled nervously as he backed up. “Uh, never mind that, then.”
He spun on his heel and rushed to the next room, draping the unconscious Mace Knight over his shoulders in the process. Sunset, Bandee, and Kirby pursued them, but stopped short upon entering. They were still able to see the two knights retreat into what Sunset assumed was the bridge out of the corner of their eyes, but most of their attention was on the figure above the next door.
Meta Knight was far smaller than Sunset had expected, barely being larger than Kirby. He seemed to be of the same shape as well, though his long cape made it a bit unclear. His back was turned to them as he stood on the small platform, but it didn’t make the long sword they could see he was holding any less intimidating.
“This is it, you three,” he spoke, not turning around. “You have disabled the Halberd and most of my crew, ending my revolution before it even had the chance to begin. You have displayed insane amounts of power, and have forced me to reconsider my stance on Dedede’s leadership. So this shall be your final test.”
He whirled around, a pair of bat-like wings flaring out from his back as he threw a second sword at them. It seemed he had impeccable aim, as it pierced through the floor directly in front of Kirby. “Prove to me that you can defend Popstar! Take up the sword and face me in battle!”
Kirby discarded his headband and inhaled the weapon, gaining a sword of his own and a little green cap. Sunset could swear that she saw Meta Knight’s yellow eyes glow in response under his silver mask. He crouched and launched forward as quick as a flash.
His and Kirby’s swords met not a second later, the latter barely getting his own up in time with how quickly the knight moved. The two struggled in place for a moment before Meta Knight suddenly accelerated backwards, causing Kirby to stumble as he overextended. The knight tried to capitalize on the vulnerability with a quick slash, but it seemed he had forgotten Kirby’s companions. The strike was slowed midway to his target by one of Sunset’s shields. It was strong enough to shatter it, still, but it bought Kirby enough time to get back to his feet and parry.
Sunset winced and rubbed the base of her horn. With how low on mana she was, it seemed that she’d be relegated to only using low-power shields and telekinesis for the time being. “Bandee!” she called as Meta Knight engaged in a series of quick sword strikes with Kirby. “Get to the bridge and try to see if anything in there might help!”
Bandee gave her a determined nod and started booking it for the door.
Meta Knight tried to turn and prevent the general from advancing, but another one of Sunset’s shields blocked his strike. This time the shield held as she had increased the power she was working with, and it did force the knight to stop pursuing the Waddle Dee. Kirby being able to go on the offensive for once and attacking with a slash of his own gave Bandee even more time, and quickly enough he vanished behind the bridge’s door.
Unfortunately, that meant that Meta Knight now regarded Sunset as a problem.
He took to the air as soon as he got a reprieve from Kirby’s strikes, launching towards Sunset. She shrieked and dropped to the floor, the sword that would have been through her neck instead just catching a segment of her mane. He turned around midair to target her again, and Sunset’s horn sparked as she erected yet another shield.
As Meta Knight bounced off of this one, Sunset considered her options. As things were now, they wouldn’t win. She was stuck just defending, and Kirby could barely ever get close enough to land a hit without Meta being the aggressor. Really, Sunset thought as she idly erected another shield to protect Kirby, they needed to mix up their strategy.
Wait a second. Kirby needed to get closer, that was it! “Hey Kirby!” Sunset shouted, lighting her horn. An aquamarine aura rose around him as he began to float a bit in her telekinesis. He pointed his sword at Meta, who had landed and was looking at them curiously, and Sunset nodded.
With a shout, she launched the puffball right at Meta Knight, whose eyes widened in realization just a slight bit too late. He raised his sword to block Kirby’s swing, but this time Kirby had him on the back foot. The two sword wielders clashed for a moment before Kirby twirled away and disengaged, pulling the same trick Meta had on him earlier on in the fight. The knight tripped forward, and Kirby took full advantage of it. With a metallic clang, his sword slammed into the mask and glanced off.
Meta Knight immediately retreated a bit, taking to the air again with a rush of wind around his wings. For a fleeting moment, Sunset hoped that he had given up, but it seemed that that was not the case. He felt at his mask with his off hand to–she presumed–check for any damage before letting out a low chuckle. “Fools,” he stated simply.
Then he wrapped his cape around himself and teleported.
What the fuck? Sunset thought.
She didn’t have any time to ponder it, though, as she heard the air displace behind her. Panicking, she focused her remaining mana and erected another shield at her back in the nick of time, just barely blocking the knight’s strike. She still winced, however, as she felt the phantom pressure on her horn increase. Hurriedly turning around so she was actually facing Meta Knight, her eyes widened.
Running along the strongest shield she’d raised thus far was a visible crack. Meta Knight slashed again, and a second crack formed. A third slash, and Sunset cried out in pain as she felt the feedback from such a strong shield shattering. Before the knight could close in for an attack, though, a shout from Kirby sounded in Sunset’s ears. She felt something bounce on her back and looked up to see the puffball soar over her head, meeting Meta Knight’s attack head-on.
The two struggled in the air for a moment, but soon enough Meta Knight tried to pull the same trick. His cape flared again as he teleported, this time appearing behind Kirby. His attempted slash was stalled again, though this time not from a shield. Instead, Sunset had grabbed his sword in her telekinesis, preventing him from attacking long enough for Kirby to land.
The knight broke free in only a few seconds, however, and with a flap of his wings was rushing towards Kirby again. The puffball cried out in surprise and raised his sword to block, but was launched backwards by the force of the blow. When Meta Knight turned to Sunset again, though, another shout from Kirby got both of their attentions.
The pink being grinned and threw his sword at them. Meta Knight, confused, batted it away with ease. Sunset, on the other hoof, had figured out what Kirby wanted her to do. As the knight advanced towards Kirby, she picked up the sword in her telekinesis and struck.
Meta realized what was going on only a moment too late to avoid getting hit entirely. He spun around as soon as he noticed the trick, the sword once again hitting and glancing off of his mask. Once more, he flapped his wings and took to the air to check if his mask was damaged. This time, though, Sunset could plainly see that it had been.
A thin crack had begun to form through the center of it, and based on Meta’s eyes widening, he knew it. Sunset grinned. Just a bit more and he’d be vulnerable.
Then her expression fell as he, still in the air, swung his sword and spawned a fucking tornado.
Sunset’s jaw dropped as she dove out of the way. She wasn’t nearly skilled enough in atmokinesis to dispel something like that, especially while she was so low on mana, so dodging was her only option. She cringed as the tornado struck the floor. The creaking sounds it was making were not promising.
“Behold,” he stated, swinging twice. Two more miniature tornadoes formed and moved towards her, and she paled. It looked like he was planning on just taking out the floor if they didn’t end this soon!
As she dodged the first of the two tornadoes, she glanced back at the sword she had in her grip and at Kirby, who was quickly making his way towards them. The ground creaked dangerously again as she ran to the side of the second tornado and devised a plan. “Kirby, catch!” she shouted, picking the puffball up in her telekinesis and launching him and the sword at Meta Knight.
Kirby picked up on what she was planning almost instantly, catching the weapon on his flight towards the knight. Meta tried to counter the strike, but he had been caught up in attempting to toss out another tornado and wasn’t able to block in time. With a mighty shout, Kirby slammed his sword down on Meta Knight’s mask.
The force of the blow launched the knight to the ground, where he slid backwards considerably, even having planted his sword in the floor to slow himself. He still picked himself up and wrenched his weapon out of the floor, ready to continue the fight, when his mask finally shattered. His bright yellow eyes blinked twice as he looked down on himself.
Sunset stared at the unmasked Meta Knight in shock. He looked like a navy blue version of Kirby! Just with wings, defined arms, and hands. It was…unexpected, to say the least. He was frankly pretty cute underneath the mask, and added another being to her list of adorable things to be utterly terrified of.
Meta Knight apparently didn’t like being without his mask, though, as he wrapped his cape around himself and fled at the first opportunity.
Sunset breathed heavily. That definitely could have gone better, but it could have gone worse, as well. She felt like she still had just enough mana to teleport back to shore, so now all that was left was to grab Bandana Dee and leave.
Then the ship pitched forward, the ground let out an ear-splitting screech of metal, and the floor gave way.
When Bandana entered the bridge, he was expecting something to try and stop him. This was the most important part of the ship! Instead, it looked like it had been nearly abandoned. Screens flashed red with warnings, alarms blared, and in the middle of it all was a single Waddle Dee.
“So,” Sailor Waddle Dee said, staring out the massive window, “I see you’ve made your way to the bridge. Here to finish me off?”
Bandee sighed. Alright, new plan. There didn’t seem to be anything here that would help out against Meta Knight, anyway. “I’m not armed, Sailor. I just want to talk.”
“Talk?” Sailor snarled, whirling around to face him. “Like how we ‘talked’ when I told you about my plans?”
Bandee frowned with his eyes. “You told me that you were planning on rebelling against King Dedede. How was I supposed to react?”
“Not by going right to him and blabbing!” she shouted. “You went and got yourself promoted, and all I got out of it was being forced onto the run! I thought we were supposed to be friends!”
“We’re supposed to be loyal to the King!” Bandee defended.
“He treats us like slaves!” Sailor countered. “Don’t you see it? We break our backs building for him, serving him, fighting for him, and what do we get out of it? Nothing!”
“He’s learning, Sailor!” Bandee shouted back. “He’s been getting better ever since he lost to Kirby!”
Sailor scoffed. “I’ll believe that when Nruffs fly.” She looked back out the bridge’s massive window. “Sir Meta Knight may be acting to protect Popstar as a whole, but I’m fighting for a personal cause.”
“The Waddle Dees don’t need to be liberated, Sailor! We’re not slaves!” Bandee tried to explain. “The King compensates us for our work and in return we’re happy to serve him!”
“Are you? Really?” Sailor asked, venom in her voice. “Are you really happy to take orders from him as he loafs around and does nothing to prepare against what’s out there?”
“He’s still my boss,” Bandee said, “but if I don’t like an order, I’m allowed to tell him no.” He looked at her, a bit confused. “And what do you mean by ‘what’s out there’?”
Sailor Dee laughed mirthlessly. “You don’t know? The universe is a big place, Bandana. Dedede’s too focused on what local threats there might be to his rule. But Sir Meta Knight knows about what may attack us from beyond the stars.”
Bandee narrowed his eyes. “That doesn’t justify,” he gestured broadly at everything around them, “all of this! You can go about something like that peacefully! Your problem with King Dedede could have been solved like that, too! Did anyone in your crew think to just talk to him?”
“What do you think Meta Knight did as soon as Dedede took power?” Sailor asked him. “He tried to explain that Popstar needed proper defenses, but Dedede just told him to get lost!”
“That seems like that description might be a bit biased,” Bandana Dee pointed out. “I don’t think the King would just turn down help like that.” He looked around. “And if this is what Meta Knight resorts to to prove a point, I doubt he did all that well in explaining his intentions the first time around.”
Sailor sighed. “Alright, I’ll admit that my hatred for Dedede might be influencing how I heard Meta Knight recall that.” She stamped her foot. “But that doesn’t excuse you from wrecking all the good we could have done with the Halberd!”
Bandana once again gestured broadly at everything. “You were trying to invade and conquer Dreamland!”
Sailor Dee seemed to not have a response to that, so Bandee decided to take a chance.
“I know you’re angry at King Dedede and I know you’re angry at me–and you have a good reason to be–but he really is getting better. I’m not asking you to come back to the castle and work for him again, but…” he looked right at her, “for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for ratting you out without hearing your reasoning or trying to talk you down, first. Can we be friends again, maybe? Or at least friendly?”
Sailor drew in a sharp breath, as if his extension of an olive branch had stabbed her. Before she could respond, though, a loud beeping sound overtook the entire bridge. Sailor rushed over to one of the consoles. “We’re out of emergency power,” she said. “The anti-gravity engines are shutting down.”
The ship pitched forward, and somewhere a siren started blaring.
Twilight rushed through the hallways as sirens blared around her, a cloud of dozens of unconscious Meta-Knights trailing behind her in her telekinesis. She’d just reached the scene of the hall battle from just before they took out the port wing. Adding all of their bodies was a considerable strain on her magic, but nothing she couldn’t manage.
The ship beginning a nosedive was more than a bit worrying, however. She was running out of time.
If her memory served, though, there were only three more to collect. As she reached the exterior door, she idly added the unconscious Poppy Bros Senior to the cloud. As it turned out, his body had been blocking the door earlier. Twilight frowned at the small door. She needed to get out there, grab the Jukid and Frosty, and get them all to shore, but with the door being fairly small it would take too long to get outside.
Alright, screw it, Twilight thought. The ship’s going down anyway.
She gathered up energy around her horn and fired a hole in the wall, widening the door by around tenfold. She quickly flew outside and glared at the hole Kirby had punched the Mister Frosty through. That would also take her far too much time to traverse and grab the two, so she cut the knot. The light around her horn brightened more and more as she gripped the hull in her telekinesis, until with a mighty shout she tore the metal apart. The air duct was completely demolished, but the two’s bodies were free and she could grab them.
Twilight grimaced as she picked them up. Right, the Halberd was magic-resistant; that took a lot more out of her than it should’ve. She looked at the cloud of Meta-Knights around her and grimaced. She hadn’t felt mana burn this bad since the ursa minor incident, and she doubted she’d be able to get back in there fast enough to save the rest of the boarding party.
As she looked at the sinking ship, trying to determine how long it would take to reach the water, she noticed a figure launch out of a door in the bottom of the ship. She blinked. Was that Kirby riding a Wheelie?
She saw Meta Knight rush out soon after, but he paused upon noticing her. The two were well over a hundred meters apart and definitely not able to hear each other, but that didn’t seem to matter. Their eyes met, and a silent understanding seemed to pass between them. She saved his crew, so he’d save hers.
He nodded when she gestured back at the Halberd and circled back to the front of the bridge. Twilight, in turn, looked back at the shore and began gathering pegasus magic around her.
She just hoped the others would be alright.
Sunset cried out when she landed. That was at least a few meters down from where they had fought Meta Knight, and it felt like her left forehoof was broken. She still had access to some of her magic, though.
She looked around. Kirby had landed next to her, and one of the Wheelies from the reactor was here for some reason. The puffball was looking at her, worried, but she waved him off. Even if she hissed in pain when she did it.
“If you can, escape with that Wheelie,” she said. Looking back up at the bridge’s doors, she steeled herself. This was the second time today she felt the need to actively do something that most people would consider heroic, and she didn’t have the time to talk herself out of it. “I’ll go back for Bandee!”
Kirby gave her a determined nod and took off, a navy blur speeding after him. Shit, Meta Knight still hadn’t given up, had he?
Sunset shook her head. She didn’t have time to worry about that. Looking up, she cringed. She only had enough mana left for one short-range teleport and a shield spell, so hopefully that would be enough. She charged her horn and teleported up to the bridge.
Inside was pandemonium. Something had fallen when the ship pitched forward, crashing through the window. Sailor Dee was sliding towards the hole when Sunset entered, but before she could do anything, Bandee acted first. He jumped over one of the now defunct consoles and grabbed hold of the other side of it, just barely reaching far enough to nab Sailor Dee’s arm as well.
Sailor seemed genuinely shocked that he’d do that. Sunset wasn’t quite sure why that was the case, but she supposed whatever personal history they had was their deal, not hers.
Unfortunately, when she had teleported in, she accidentally stepped on her injured hoof on instinct. “Shit!” she shouted, tumbling forward as well. She lit her horn and started wincing from the physical pain it was causing her at this point, but still grabbed both Waddle Dees in her telekinesis and built a spherical bubble shield around them. Momentum and gravity dictated that they kept moving, though, and the three bounced through the bridge and smashed right out the window. Now outside and with the ground completely vanishing, Sunset idly looked down.
The Halberd was already starting to enter the ocean, water covering most of its main deck. As their bubble bounced them towards a watery grave, Sunset almost expected her life to flash before her eyes. That was what was supposed to happen during a near-death experience, right? Yet as she looked down at the waves, the only thing that crossed Sunset’s mind was that Bandee had been right. Orange Ocean really did glow orange during sunset.
Before they could hit the water, though, they suddenly stopped moving, and Sunset heard a grunt from below them. When she looked down at their savior, her jaw dropped and she nearly lost concentration on the shield.
His wings flapping furiously and his arms braced against the sphere of aquamarine hard light, a re-masked Meta Knight stood–or Sunset supposed he flew–against their fall.
Sunset was shocked beyond words. He had just been trying to kill her earlier! Hell, it looked like he hadn’t given up trying to kill Kirby, either! Why would he bother to come back for them?
“I can tell you are confused,” he grunted, “but I will explain everything back on the shore.”
As Captain Vul watched the wreck of the Halberd enter Secret Sea, he very nearly began to cry, a mixture of fury and depression threatening to overwhelm him. Meta Knight may have been the ship’s commander, but he had been the one in charge of engineering. He had been the one to design the ship, to import the Heavy Lobster. He growled. The Halberd had been his baby, but he had no one to blame for its sinking beyond his own mismanagement.
Well, and that blasted Kirby and his pals.
A parachute landed next to him, carrying Axe Knight and an unconscious Mace Knight. “You tried to fight?” Vul asked.
“Yep,” Axe Knight answered.
“I take it you lost?”
Axe Knight glared at him. “Yes, but I don’t think you get to talk, considering you jumped ship as soon as it looked bad.”
Vul laughed humorlessly. “Sir Meta Knight was trying to buy us time to escape. I just took advantage of that.” He looked at himself and shrugged. “‘Sides, I’d be pretty useless in a fight anyway.”
Before Axe Knight could respond, another two beings joined them on the outcrop over the water. Kirby had clearly escaped on one of the Wheelies. Pity. He was glaring at them, as if daring them to try something. Vul, valuing his life, didn’t, instead just continuing to stare out at the Halberd’s sinking wreck.
Next to arrive was the purple pony caring most of the crew. Princess Twilight Sparkle, he thought her name was from what he had heard. She was glaring at them as well, though she made sure to deposit the unconscious crew in a safe location before joining them. “Do you have anything to say for yourselves?” she asked.
Vul clicked his beak and pointed out over the water, where Meta Knight was fast approaching with everyone else that had been on the ship. “I’m sure Sir Meta Knight would love to explain everything,” he answered, a bit more of his anger entering his voice than he meant to let on.
Soon enough, the knight arrived next to them, he placed the bubble he was carrying on the ground, and the orange pony let her shield drop. Sunset Shimmer, if Vul was remembering her name right. It seemed that taking on the ship had taken a lot out of her; it looked like she had a massive headache.
“Alright, Meta Knight,” Twilight stated, flaring her wings to their full length. “I want answers. What in Tartarus was this all about?”
“And why’d you go back to rescue Sunset and Bandana?” Axe Knight asked.
“Hey!” Sailor shouted indignantly. “I was with them, too!”
Meta Knight chuckled slightly. “Well, I couldn’t let some of Popstar's best hopes for protection die.”
Twilight almost physically recoiled in confusion. “I…what?”
Before Meta Knight could answer, the underbrush by the trees rustled and drew everyone’s attention. Out of it shot a…Vul blinked. Was that a dragon? Why hadn’t they brought that on board?
“Twilight!” he called, rushing into the pony’s arms. Ah, he was young. That answered that question. “You’re okay!”
Twilight comfortingly rubbed the dragon’s back. “I’m alright, Spike. I’m alright.”
With a much larger amount of rustling and some yelping as he stepped on something, King Dedede emerged from the trees as well. His hammer resting on his shoulder, he glanced between the pile of unconscious soldiers and the sinking wreck. “Guess I missed the party.”
He, Twilight, Spike, and Kirby all glared at Meta Knight. Dedede shifted his hammer and took a fighting stance. The princess lit her horn, though Vul noticed that she winced when she did so. A few green flames licked around the dragon’s mouth, and Kirby seemed just about ready to open his.
We’re doomed, Vul thought.
Meta Knight let out a laugh–a legitimate laugh–and for a moment, Vul was worried that his commander had lost it. His fears were assuaged, though, when it turned out to be one singular laugh before the knight started talking. “It would seem that the problem that spurred my attempted coup has solved itself.” He took to the air, gesturing for the group to follow. “Fighting here will gain us nothing. Please, come back with us to our base. Everything will be much easier to explain there.”