It was morning in the mesa. Kate, a girl in her late teens, woke up to an orange sun shining through her window. “Another day...” she said. She got up and walked in the kitchen to see her father, Garrison Floneria, cooking some porkchops in the smoker. She couldn’t help but notice he looked beat up, and irritated too. “What happened yesterday?” She asked. Garrison sighed. “Rebels. Rebels happened. They actually managed to gain some power in the fight this time, but next time we will be ready.” She looked concerned. “What power?” Garrison turned his head. “Classified.” “Right...” She said, disappointed. She looked out the window to the nether portal as pigmen walked in and out, doing their business. “Hey dad?” Garrison paused. “Yeah?” “I was wondering, when are you going to let me go in the nether with you? Ive been training my whole life, don’t you suppose its time?” Garrison sighed. “Kate, we talked about this. There are things in there that... you wont be able to process yet. Just a little more tim-“ “But i don’t want anymore time dad! Ive been stuck with the same routine my whole life, don’t you think its time to mix things up a bit?” “No.” Garrison said firmly. “You are not ready, like i said.” He looked at the clock. “Well, its time for me to go, me and the Entity have a meeting to attend. While I’m gone i want you to practice your bow skills, you need some tuning up on that.” Kate growled. “Ugh, fine.” Garrison smiled. “Good. You will be a warrior in no time.” Then just like that he walked out the door, and then through the portal and he was gone. Meanwhile Kate practiced her archery. “Ugh, I’m fed up with this. If he wont let me go, ill go myself.” She put the bow down, and looked out the window, checking for pigmen. Once it was safe she snuck over to the portal and entered it. “Look out nether, here i come.”






Once she was through the portal she opened the door to the portal building and checked for any pigmen. She saw some, but successfully snuck around and entered a large castle made completely out of nether brick. She roamed the hallways looking for a meeting room, seeing if she could figure out what mission her father was going on next. “If i can complete a mission and tell them after, i might finally be able to prove myself.” As she was walking she heard some voices. She followed them until she found a large room, and peeked around the corner to see three people in it. One was the Entity, the other was her father, and the third one was unclear. It was a cloaked figure, made completely out of green smoke. “Another entity?” She wondered. “Greetings my friend.” The Entity said in his echoey voice. “Greetings Entity,” The other said, also echoey. “what did you call me for?” “We are in need of pigmen and ghasts. Lots of them. We were overthrown earlier and we need to prepare for the next fight, hopefully ending things.” The green figure looked concerned. “What happened?” Garrison sighed. “Sir, were ambushing the rebels when we were overthrown. They found two of the monster gems, specifically the blaze and the wither gems, which means they are even with us.” “Well...” The figure said. “...I cant stop wither skeletons from spawning, because thats just part of nature, but i can try and speed up the pigmen process. Ill send some in now, but it will take a while to get more.” “Thank you.” The Entity said. “No problem.” Said the figure. ”While im still here, Garrison, hows the training with your daughter going, is it doing well?” Garrison shook his head. “No, im afraid. Shes decent close range, but its long range shes bad with. Shes stubborn and wont follow orders easily either. Im not sure what to do.” The Entity turned to Garrison. “I could try controlling her using a little bit of dark magic. I cant control more then three people at a time, but i have nobody right now anyway. Plus not to mention, she will have some of my power if i do so.” “Good idea,” Garrison said. “I might just do it.” Just like that Kate lost her focus, she slipped off the corner of the doorway and hit the ground with a loud thud. She turned to see the green figure disappear revealing a skull with green eyes behind him, and the Entity and Garrison turned around. She immediately got up and ran for the exit. “Whatever you do, do not let her get away...” The Entity said. “...even if you have to kill her.” “Yes sir.”






Kate ran as fast as she could towards the exit, once she got out the door she was greeted to an army of wither skeletons and blazes marching down the pathway. In front was a boy with gold armor, another with red and black armor, and what seemed to be a wither skeleton general. She turned around and pigmen exited the castle and buildings behind her. “Ready men?!?” The one in gold armor yelled as wither skeletons pulled out their blaze rod bows. “Aim!!!” They drew back their bows, and the blazes set on fire. “FIRE!!!” Kate hit the ground, covering her head as she heard the arrows and fire charges fly past her. A lot of pigmen fell down behind her, and the wither skeletons started moving in. “Hey, you two, cover me!” The one in the red and black armor said. Two wither skeletons ran in front of him shields up. And he ran towards Kate. The wither skeletons ran past her and stopped, and the red and black one kneeled and held out his hand. “Come with us if you want to live!” Kate looked at him, disgusted. “Why?! Why the heck would i want to go with rebels like you?!” “Because we will let you live, judging by the way you were running out of that castle, and that look on your face, they were going to kill you anyway.” She sighed. “Ugh fine, but don’t get the impression I’m staying with you.” He nodded. They ran over to the boy in gold armor. He was waving his flaming swords around giving commands. “Darth, Ash! This girl, shes going to be with us for a while. She seems to have some business with the Entity.” “Got it.” They said. “Get her to the backline, if she doesn’t have any weapons its no use letting her die.” Darth said. Just like that the one in red and black armor led her to the back. “You stay here, im going to go back and fight.” “No! Im fed up with being left behind. I have a dagger, thats all i need to kill some pigmen.” He sighed. “Fine but be careful.” He said. “By the way my names Sammy, whats yours?” “Kate.” She said. “Nice to meet you Kate, now lets go kill some pigmen.” He pulled out his battle axe and charged through the wither skeletons into battle, with Kate following behind. Sammy swung his axe at the pigmen, hitting them with crushing strength and making the weaker ones poof into steam almost instantly. Kate on the other hand was very swift with her attacks. She was nimble on her feet and made it hard for the pigmen to hit her. Meanwhile a bulkier pigman, seemingly one in the higher ranks, was getting nervous. He ran over to garrison. “Sir! Were losing the battle, when are those reinforcements coming in?!” Garrison didnt look worried at all. “Be patient piggen, any second now.” He said. Quite literally he was right, only seconds later pigmen started rising out of the netherrack and soulsand around them, and more ghasts started approaching from the distance. “There we go.” Garrison said. Slowly the Crimson Empire started to overpower the rebels, and they were forced into a retreat. “Everyone fall back!” Darth yelled. Sammy turned to Kate, still fighting. “Kate! Come with us!” “No!” She yelled. “Im fighting for myself, not you!” “Would you rather die?!” Sammy asked. “Ugh fine!” Meanwhile, Garrison was forcing his way through the fight. “Don’t let that girl get away!” He was almost to them when a blaze knight slammed on to the ground knocking him on his feet. He eventually got through it, but once he did they were gone.






“Well that was a waste of time.” Darth said. “Yeah, but at least we got a new friend.” Sammy mentioned. “Speaking of which, whats your name?”Darth asked. “Kate, my names Kate.” She said. “Hi Kate, im Darth.” “Yeah, i heard Sammy say your name on the battlefield.” Although she sounded calm, her face said otherwise. She looked extremely agitated for being there. “Sammy,” Darth whispered. “are you sure we can trust her?” He looked over at Kate. “Im not sure if we can, she doesn’t seem to like any of us.” “You still have the potions?” “Yep, ill take care of it.” Sammy pulled a grey splash potion from his pocket and threw it at Kate. “Hey! What was that for?!” After that things slowly became out of focus, and then she fell unconscious. She woke up in a room made completely out of nether brick. In there with her was a man about as old as her father, but definitely not as physically scarred. “Ah, i see you woke up. Sorry about earlier, but we didn’t need you exposing our hideout. Allow me to introduce myself. Im Richard, and i already know your name.” “What do you want?” She asked. “All i want is for you to answer our questions, and we will answer yours.” “Ok, I’m going first,” She said. “what are your motives.” “Simple. Were trapped in the nether and we want to get out.” “Why no deals then? Why continue fighting?” Richard sighed. “I don’t know what they told you, but they are the murderers, not us. They ambushed us for no reason in the beginning and took nearly half of our team. Then they did it again only a few years later, with me being the only survivor.” Kate wasn’t buying it. “If your not murderers, then what happened to my mother, Sarah Floneria. I was told you murdered her.” Richard looked surprised. “Wait, your Sarahs girl? What? No we wouldn’t murder her!” “What do you mean...” “Well, she claimed that she was with the crimson empire for a while, but she found out the true motives behind it and left. She retreated away into the nether, eventually bumping into us. She was a good friend, and she told us plenty of stories about you. One day, we went out on a mining expedition for some nether gold, and we were ambushed. Along with everyone else, she was killed in the process. Kate, i watched her die with my own eyes. It wasn’t us that killed her, it was them.” Kate was silent for a moment. “And why should i believe you...?” “Because of this.” He held out a note, one in her mother’s handwriting. It read: “Kate, if you ever read this, I’m sorry. Im sorry i left and never came home, and I’m sorry i never said goodbye. I left because i found out the true intentions of the Crimson Empire, and all it is is power. All they want is power, to rule as much as possible, and kill anyone who stands in their way. Once i found this out i ran. I ran out out of my own fear, and honestly i should’ve brought you with me. Anyway, I’m sorry i left you behind with no warning. Please forgive me. -Mom” Once she finished she noticed she was tearing up. She smiled, then wiped them off her face. “Ok, ill believe you. So whats next.”






———————————————






Heres chapter 4! I said i was going to explain nethergold in this, but with how long it was i wasn’t able to, but i PROMISE that next time ill explain it. If i don’t ill do... something i wont like, I’m not sure what though lol. Anyway i hoped you enjoyed this chapter with an introduction of plenty of new characters, and peace out ma peeps!