#i wrote that real quick while taking a break from drawing wooooo

[gethoce]

Project Halberd, Chapter 1: Jailbreak

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Shivering nervously, Axe Knight approaches the futuristic tall iron walls that house the GSA headquarter, carrying a strange treasure chest on his back along with his trusty axe. He never thought he'd stoop as low as to ask them for help. Their reputation amongst his friends and family in the Underworld has always been extremely low. Based on what he has heard they may not even help him, but his friend needs him. Mace Knight needs him.

He has read his message over and over again. They locked the workers within the factory. They can't get out. Prisoners. Forced to work forever. Mechanisation. Part of him wished he could just reply I told you so and mock him for not leaving when he himself quit, however Mace Knight is still his friend and the idea of him suffering like he described makes his stomach turn. It turned out to have become worse than Axe Knight ever could have imagined.

At long last he builds up the courage to approach the entrance and takes a closer look at it. It is that moment he notices that the entire building's security system seems oddly familiar. It's unmistakably a Haltmann Works Co. construction. Shrieking Axe Knight sprints away from the entrance around the building. They're working with them. The GSA is working with the HWC! They're never gonna help him fight against them. Mace Knight is screwed.

Pacing back and forth for a while Axe Knight attempts to come up with a new plan. Perhaps he should ask his friends from the Underworld for help after all. It'll be extremely embarrassing and only some of them are able to enter the overworld, yet they at least would be guaranteed to be willing to help.

Then suddenly he begins to notice something shuffling about nearby. He jumps startled looking around nervously until he discovers the source of the noise. There is a blue Matterborn wearing a cape and a mask oddly close to the security systems in place around the area. A small terminal for typing in a pin code catches his eye. Carefully Axe Knight approaches the stranger.

"Are you trying to break in or something?"

Startled, the stranger swiftly turns around drawing their sword from their cape as it flares out behind them. Their eyes glow a threatening amber. Waving his arms around Axe Knight approaches while leaving his axe on his back while explaining himself.

"You know, this is a Haltmann Works Co. Security System. I used to work for them until very recently… I'll let a little secret from us low level workers slip."

Lowering their oddly shaped weapon the stranger allows Axe Knight to come beside them and he begins to type a special code into the security terminal.

"There is a code that opens every single unlockable Haltmann product without fail. We workers programmed that in for our convenience."

To the stranger's surprise the door suddenly opens allowing them to go in. They briefly take a peek inside before turning around upon hearing voices coming their way. "Someone's coming. Come this way." Quickly they take hold of Axe Knight's hand, drag him along into the building and the door shuts behind them.

Axe Knight feels a sense of dread crawling up his back as the stranger pulls him along. He doesn't want to get involved with whatever struggle this criminal has going on with the GSA, yet at the same time he must admit he just dug his own grave right there approaching them in the first place.

They pass by a few rooms until the stranger pulls Axe Knight into a storage room so quickly he wonders how they possibly could have guessed this chamber wouldn't be occupied. Either their perception is excellent or they know exactly where they're going. They press themself against a wall along with Axe Knight to hide while two Matterborn pass by them, one green with a bright red mohawk, the other a dull purple with an orange ponytail. As they talk to each other Axe Knight recognises the voices as those he just heard outside.

"I'm telling you, Falspar, if Dutch has truly shown up in this area of the Galaxy something bad is going to happen very very soon. We need to be on the lookout."

"Ah, come on. Maybe the old guy is just passing through. It must be boring living like he does for so long."

The stranger waits until the voices have become quieter and then peeks out the door to ensure the warriors are a decent distance away from them. They begin to whisper with a deep voice with a slight halcandran accent.

"I need to find out where the jail and the port are located. There should be some sort of control room or a map of the building's layout in general that could help us."

Jail? The stranger is here to bust someone out perhaps? Also they seem to intent to hijack a ship from the port, which is almost certain to alarm the entire army in the area. That is unless someone with the right skills is able to disarm all the security systems. Perhaps the stranger came in prepared or maybe they're lucky a random guy with intimate knowledge of this kind of technology just happened to pass by.

"The control room is your best bet. It should allow us to see what purpose each room has. Layout maps usually only number their rooms without naming their purpose."

Axe Knight explains and the stranger responds with a silent nod and begins to make their way across the hallways again. Their eyes quickly dart from door sign to door sign scanning for the word control room or something akin to it. With a surprising amount of stealth they move past each room while carefully listening for each and every subtle noise. They truly are skilled. Moreover they must have noticed just how nervous Axe Knight is, though who wouldn't be? Breaking into the headquarters of the largest army in the galaxy isn't something you do everyday.

After what felt like an hour the stranger pulls Axe Knight into a room with monitors decking out an entire side of it. They point their sword towards the security camera watching over the area and its lights begin to fade as it breaks without requiring a single touch. Curious Axe Knight watches the golden blade with its odd prongs and crimson gem in its hilt. With swift steps they enter the room and approach the computers.

"Can you hack into these as well?"

The stranger whispers again after a long period of silence. Nodding Axe Knight closes in on the table and begins to type away under the watchful eye of his new weird companion. It only takes a couple minutes until he has figured out where the rooms are located. With their eyes glowing up in delight the stranger takes a mental note of the layout, only for their gaze to turn grim as they notice noise coming awfully close to their location.

Quickly they tap out of the window, take hold of the other knight and jump up into the air clawing themself onto the ceiling with one arm while lifting Axe Knight along with his luggage with the other. He holds his breath in anticipation as the green warrior with the mohawk from earlier, Falspar, enters the room clueless and begins to type away on the keyboard.

A communication window pops up showing the interior of a spaceship along with its crew. A warrior with an unusual spiky haircut is front and centre. They begin to speak to one another.

"Yo, Falspar, you want anything from StarBuns?"

"Joe, you're not supposed to call in for that or make a detour for fast food for that matter."

"So what do you want?"

"... get me some fries and a cheeseburger with extra cheese and a strawberry milkshake, please, thank you."

"Got it. See ya!"

Then Falspar logs out of the computer again and leaves the room while happily humming a tune. The stranger waits listening as their steps become quieter, while Axe Knight hangs in there with different things on his mind. "We should get some fries as well when we're done here…" He whispers seconds before the stranger drops down onto the ground again, startling him.

"We head to the jail cells. There you will need to open another door for me. Then we go for the docks and make an escape." They whisper as they begin to lead the way once again. Nervously Axe Knight looks left and right wondering where that warrior with the mohawk might have gone and also where the one with the ponytail might be. Luckily his companion seems to have everything under control.

Another couple of minutes that felt like hours later they made their way downstairs, discovering the door to the jail chamber. As they come near, the door begins to open on its own and the masked stranger swiftly yet silently moves themself and Axe Knight behind it, watching the one who just opened it walk past them without ever noticing the suspicious duo.

The stranger grabs hold onto their cape and swings its inside around Axe Knight and themself in a turning motion, which teleports them inside the jail chamber before the door can fully close. Nauseous from being dragged in and out of a small pocket dimension within just a couple seconds, Axe Knight drops onto the ground face first.

Meanwhile the masked knight begins to scan through the cells with their eyes until they come across a bird-like figure sitting within one of them. Upon noticing the warrior a wide grin begins to form on their face. "Took ye long enough, Meta Knight. Now let me outta here, quick." The bird greets the stranger by name with a rough voice. Meta Knight motions towards Axe Knight with a nod. "Would you kindly unlock this door?"

Patting dust off of himself, Axe Knight approaches the door and enters the same code as before into a terminal near the jail cell to open it. The bird person watches sceptical at first, yet once the door starts to move their face lights up again. "'N who do I 'ave the pleasure o' meetin' today?" They say as they walk out the cells.

Meta Knight looks back at his new companion in anticipation. "It's Axe Knight. Glad to meet you." He introduces himself semi-confidently, to which the bird replies swiftly. "The name be Cap'n Vul. Now let's get outta here afore that guard comes back here." The knights nod in agreement and make their way back towards the door as a trio.

Cautiously, Meta Knight opens the door peeking out of the opening with one eye making sure nobody stands behind it who could notice them. "Quick. This way should lead to the docks." He rushes down the hall until he reaches a crossing and has to look out for obstacles again. Captain Vul's feathers lean back as he hears the word docks. "Ye did come here wit' yer owns ship now did ye?"

Without looking back at him Meta Knight continues to walk ahead. "It crashed." Clenching his fists the Captain whispers angrily. "O' course. Wha' did I expect." Then he follows the caped knight alongside the skull-faced warrior. His eyes lock onto Axe Knight's odd treasure chest for a moment, yet he decides to leave the topic to another time for now. The escape is more important.

Dodging a few more instances of GSA warriors passing through the halls, the small group finally reaches the port. Meta Knight scans the area with his eyes yet again while addressing Axe Knight. "We need to hijack one of their spaceships. Do you know how to do that?" While he's willing to use force the swordsman would prefer to keep things as quiet as possible.

Chuckling Axe Knight pats Meta Knight on the pauldron. "You see, it was my job to assemble these very same models of HWC ships. I know exactly how they work." The captain's face lights up once again as he hears this. That's exactly the kind of person they need. Not just today but in general. He can't help but wonder where Meta Knight could possibly have found him. Certainly not in front of the gates of this very building.

"Any recommendations?" Meta Knight whispers, keeping an eye out for trouble, followed by Axe Knight pointing at a specific ship. "The HAL GS3811 should be able to carry us three outta here in record time. I just need to remove the tracker once we're in there so the GSA won't be able to follow us that easily." Nodding Meta Knight begins to sneak into that direction followed by his companions.

Once they reach the vehicle Axe Knight once again unlocks it and they silently slip inside. There he unloads his luggage and then heads straight to a location within its cockpit and begins to disassemble a few parts. "Just a moment." Meanwhile Meta Knight keeps an eye out towards the harbour. "We heard a soldier speak to one of their scouts about returning soon. We should wait for their arrival and stay low until they're gone. I don't wanna run into them in the air."

Captain Vul gives him a thumbs up. The two appear to have known one another for a while. Long enough to work together smoothly as a team. Axe Knight hands them the tracker he disassembled. "Drop that somewhere nearby so they don't notice the machine has been moved. Do not destroy it or the GSA will be alerted as well." Taking hold of it Meta Knight nods and carefully climbs out the door, placing the tracker on the ground in the shadows where it can not be spotted easily, but also doesn't get caught on the ship.

The small crew then lays low waiting for the arrival of the other ship. They watch as it docks and four warriors step outside holding fast food boxes, one of which being the one they saw on the control room monitor. "StarBuns bags. We shall head thar as well when we be done here." The captain mumbles, to which Axe Knight replies. "Man after my own heart." Meta Knight sighs in defeat.

Once the area is clear the trio takes their seats. At first Meta Knight attempts to take the driver's seat, only to be glared at by the Captain. Rolling his eyes he switches to a passenger seat and allows Vul to properly fly the ship into space and they finally make their escape relieved. For now.

The GSA will notice that a prisoner and a ship are both missing eventually. Axe Knight fidgets nervously thinking about his friend Mace Knight who still needs rescuing. Perhaps his new companions are willing to return his favour?

#Axe Knight #Meta Knight #Captain Vul #Mace Knight (mention) #Sir Falspar #Sir Dragato #Eon-Eon Dutch (mention) #Knuckle Joe #GSA #Galaxy Soldier Army #Kirby Fanfic #my terrible writing #Gethoce #Don't know how to name this yet uuuuuh #i wrote that real quick while taking a break from drawing wooooo