And so, our heroes had once again split the party into 3 neatly divided groups and each was pit against dangers beyond ordinary comprehension. Far off in the distance, beyond their perception, a poem was being recited in vast the recesses of infinite space with sardonic, and utterly alien, amusement.
|
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; |
"We will go with you," she said to the Captain. He nodded.
"Before we go with you," said Pita to the Captain, "my lady wishes to stand next to the tree for a brief meditation, if that would be permissible. She wishes to commune with her dream in the tree's august presence."
"It is the Sacred Tree," said the Captain sternly. "None may touch it and live."
"She will not touch it," assured Pita.
"Then it is permissible," replied the Captain.
The horsemen had a spare horse which they gave to Pita, indicating that the Rocket Bikes ought not to re-enter the desert area that they claimed as their territory. After negotiating the assurance that two men would stay to guard their bikes, he swept Linda up onto the saddle and the two of them rode together. Neither of them were unhappy with this arrangement. And so they rode the two miles back down the long straight road to where the Hawthorn tree was blooming in the middle of the salt flats.
Pita noted to himself how oddly antiquated, and yet simultaneously sophisticated the technology the horsemen carried was. The radio-broach was a fascinating mix of miniaturization and beautifully wrought artistry. The helmets the horsemen all wore were fitted with internal breathing apparatus that was compact enough to fit in a small casing along the jawline of the helmet, including the gas tanks, which were no larger than a pinky. The silver capes they wore also appeared to have the property of making them nearly invisible at various angles, and also seemed to selectively absorb, or amplify, whatever sounds were within a few feet of them. Thus, when riding they could make the sound of their horses hooves as loud as thunder, or, just as easily muffle them to the point where you'd hardly hear them if they passed within five feet at full gallop. How the capes were able to do this was completely a mystery to him.
It didn't take long for them to get to the plaza in the desert where the Hawthorn tree stood blooming with yellow flowers.
"I remember in my dream this moment. We were both on a horse, looking at this tree. And over there is Black Diamond Mountain," she said pointing to a peak in the distance. She also nodded to where the obsidian space ship had landed and mentioned in a whisper that the ship was in her dream, too. Although they hadn't seen it leave, the ship was not there.
Linda walked to the tree, and stared at it. After a few minutes of watching her stare at the tree, she seemed to fall into a trance. Pita waited a few more minutes. He didn't wish to disturb her meditation, but he was growing increasingly concerned that something might be going wrong.
"Have you ever seen anyone interact with the tree this way before?" he asked the Captain.
"It is the Sacred Tree," he replied as though everyone ought to know that strange things happening around it were to be expected. "The Sacred Tree of the Desert," he added conclusively.
"What makes it Sacred?"
The Captain seemed nonplussed at this question, as though it ought to be obvious.
"Let me elaborate. Is it sacred because there's a spirit within it? Because it provides a certain fruit? Because it's pretty? Why is it sacred for you?"
"It is sacred because the Gods will it so," replied the Captain.
"The Gods? Hmmm." said Pita. "Is there a text that speaks of the will of the Gods?"
"The Sacred Text," said the Captain.
"Is there only one or by chance do you have these sacred text on you?"
"No. I do not have the Sacred Text on me. That would be forbidden. None may touch the sacred text. Only the High Priest may read the Sacred Text."
"Will we have a chance to speak with the High Priest?" asked Pita.
"I do not know," answered the Captain.
"Is there a way for you to reach the High Priest from here with your communication device?"
But the Captain changed the subject.
"Your lady... is she well?"
"Well, normally she is, but now I'm not entirely sure," replied Pita glancing over at her. "The tree seems to be affecting her in a way that makes me think she is spiritually connecting to it. That's why I'm asking if there is a way for you to get in touch with your High Priest. It would be good if he could discern if the tree is speaking to my lady."
The Captain thought this was an important question. He rode off a short distance and spoke into his Radio. When he returned he said "She is not to remain near the tree. You must bring her away."
Pita walked to where she was standing. Her hair was blowing lightly in the wind. Her eyes were glazed over and she stared at the tree as though she were entirely entranced. Pita reached out one finger to tap her on the shoulder, and the instant his finger made contact he found himself standing in another space, with Linda, and the Tree.
He could see the surrounding landscape, but it seemed incredibly different. It was as if all the colors of everything had been inverted. The tree was occupying 90% of the region. It felt like the stars in the sky felt much closer than usual. And the horsemen felt much further away than possible. When he stared carefully at anything it looked more or less normal. But the overall impression was that the space in which he had entered was entirely alien, as though two universes were merging in that one spot. Linda began to turn towards him. Pita looked around carefully to try to find anything of significance that he could describe to the Captain that would reveal that he had entered into the Sacred Space of the tree. He wanted to find a symbol of some kind that the High Priest would be likely to recognize as significant.
Pita looked around. About a quarter mile to the south east, thirty feet in the air, he saw the obsidian teardrop shaped ship, floating. "Ah," he said to himself, "so the ship phased away into this realm. Interesting." The ship was stationary. In fact, if anything in the entire realm was stationary, it was that ship.
He looked around towards the tree and saw a raven descending upon it. The Raven looked very tiny, and yet at the same time enormous. Was it very far away? Or was it so vast that it was landing on the tree, and covering the entire earth with its wings? He couldn't tell. But whatever it was, the Raven was descending onto the tree. Linda turned towards him slowly. Her eyes were two luminescent pearls, glowing brightly.
He lifted his finger gently off her shoulder. And suddenly he was back among the horsemen in the desert, and Linda was staring at the tree, and there was no Raven, and the sky was bright blue emptiness.
"Captain, we were just in a world of opposite colors. There was an obsidian ship off in the distance," he said pointing to where it had been. He explained about the gigantic tree. And the tiny and giant Raven.
When Pita mentioned the ship the Captain scowled, and flipped to buttons on his helmet and looked in that direction. He barked some orders and the horsemen all leapt onto their horses and rode to where the Captain was. Linda woke up from the trance and took Pita by the arm.
"Are you ok?"
"I don't know," said she.
"Do your remember anything?"
"Everything."
"And you remember my being there with you?"
She nodded yes.
"Did you see anything after I left you?"
She nodded yes.
"Can you tell me what it was?"
She nodded no. Pita had the impression that whatever she had seen had been something which could not easily explain.
Meanwhile the horsemen had formed a crescent line in front of the Captain facing towards the south east. The Captain flipped another button along the lower jawline of his helmet and the vizor glowed a dimly with a purplish hue.
"You said there is a ship there, but I don't see anything. Are you sure?"
"We saw the ship in the other Realm. We also saw a giant Raven, but you didn't see that either."
"I know not of such things. You speak mysteries. But I don't like it. We had better go now."
"I think you're right," replied Pita. "Do you still want to go, Linda?"
"Yes," she said emphatically.
They mounted the horse and followed the horsemen as they rode fast and hard due north. At some point, after about 20 minutes, all of a sudden the horsemen descended downward out of view. It was very dusty, and the lighting was poor, but Pita rode after them. There was a kind of a blur, as they seemed to descend into the sand, and then they found themselves in a long broad tunnel. It was lit by long softly glowing lights high up along the cavernous ceiling. The horsemen had stopped and were dismounting. The Captain came over to where they were.
"You must never reveal the entrance to our secret cavern," he said.
"You have my word," replied Pita solemnly.
The Captain turned and went to a column of metal along the wall. On it was a triangular chrome panel, below which were dials and buttons. He flipped two buttons and turned the dial. The chrome panel turned a soft colored pastel blue, then dark grey, and then a soft white. A woman came into view on the screen. She was beautiful, with thin red lips, high cheek bones, icy blue eyes and an imperious gaze. She spoke to the Captain in a language that Linda and Pita did not recognize. He flipped the two switches, turned the dial, and the screen transformed again into a blank sheet of chrome.
"You are to come with me," said the Captain, and turned on his heel and headed towards a circular metal tube along a farther wall past the horse stables. They followed with great curiosity, and no small amount of trepidation. The Captain turned a lever on the cylinder and a door silently slid open. Inside was a circular room. He stepped in and they followed. Two of the horsemen entered the room as well. The Captain pressed a button on a round panel that stood on a pedestal to the left of the entrance and the door slid shut. Above the door was a circular disk upon which was a black arrow pointing from the center to the very top of the circle. Along its rim were small lines and numbers ascending from zero to negative 24,000. It looked like a clock, except with one hand instead of two. The Captain turned the dial on the control panel and with a sudden falling feeling they were descending far more rapidly than what either Linda or Pita had ever experienced short of free fall after parachuting out of a plane. The dial above the door moved as they descended. When it was half way around the circuit the Captain and the Horsemen removed their helmets with sighs of relief. They were handsome clean shaven men.
Meanwhile Pita and Linda had noticed that it was growing increasingly difficult for them to breath. The air pressure had been increasing steadily on the way down, and perhaps it's composition as well. Pita was not sure, but he soon felt he was likely to swoon.
"You will need these," said the Captain as he handed both Linda and Pita two helmets. "Without them you will find yourselves unable to breath." They donned the helmets, which clicked as they formed a seal around their necks. The Captain clicked a small button on the bottom of the jaw line, and there was a whoosh of air, and Pita found that he could then breath normally.
They continued to descend for another few minutes. The motion stopped as the disk above the door came full circle and landed on the -24,000. The door opened and the horsemen stepped outside, followed by the Captain. Pita and Linda followed them out onto what could only be described as a magnificent plaza overlooking an enormous cavern-city. There were thousands of beautiful, rectangular buildings made of gigantic stones, all carved with complex geometric designs. Dozens of beams of light ascended into the air from various locations around the city, vanishing upward into the misty vaults of the cavern, causing regions of the ceiling to glow softly before fading into darkness above. All around the city were silver and gold domed buildings nestled among ornately patterned spires, fabulously wide marble stairways ascending beneath tall graceful archways. And all around one could see bewitching statutes, and delightful works of art dotted every grotto along the wide and spacious avenues. Even the roads themselves were made of precious stones such as lapis lazuli, polished amethyst, and bricks of gold, laid out in luxuriously delightful patterns. And everywhere were people. Thousands upon thousands of enchantingly dressed people, adorned with jewels, carrying small wands with lights. None of these people took the least notice of the two awestruck strangers.
Linda whistled through her teeth. This was not expected. Pita, with his usual nonchalance, took it all in stride as if he'd been there many times before, and took Linda by the arm as they walked.
They were lead along one of the many wide avenues, along a ledge road that overlooked a vast dark chasm from the bottom of which could be heard the distant but continuous roar of many waters, up a long flight of stairs towards a grand central building that rose above all others and upon which was a glass dome at the very pinnacle. The stairway was attended by a thousand warriors standing at attention, five hundred on either side. Few people walked these stairs, though those that did were especially refined, wearing diamond tiaras, emerald bracelets, and other equally exquisite accoutrements. And up the long flight of stairs they went.
Through the main archway of the great building and then along several tall wide inner corridors, through a vast courtyard, and up another wide flight of pure marble stairs. Finally they arrived at an enormous set of golden doors, covered with designs, and geometric patterns. Besides the doors were eighty giant armored warriors, and heavily armed with giant axes. It was Linda who first noticed that the grand warriors were not human, but were in fact robots. When the Captain passed through the archway he waved his right arm and one of his bracelets glowed, and with that the Robot Warriors stood aside and saluted with their axes.
At the far end of the long tall chamber into which they stepped was a dais of emerald and sapphires upon which was a throne made of polished diamonds and rubies such that it veritably glowed with a redish hue. And upon the throne sad the imperious beauty.
It took some time for them to cross the long hall, and as they did they passed courtiers and scholars, musicians and dancers, poets, and scientists, diplomats and governors, all vying for a moment of attention from their wondrous queen.
But the Captain of the Queen's Guard walked passed them all without looking at any. And behind him his two Lieutenants, and behind them Linda and Pita, arm in arm.
When they arrived at the throne, the Captained kneeled on one knee with his hand over his heart, and spoke with the Queen in their mysterious language. His tone was such that Pita ascertained that he had announced his return with his... prisoners?
Meanwhile, far out in space, speeding dangerously over the surface of the moon in their stolen Nazi UFO, droplets of molten steel dripping off its badly damaged bottom surface, we find our heroes, Vallnam and Jacob.
"Brace for impact Mr. Vallnam!"
The ship sailed downward into a rocky canyon, bouncing and skidding along the heavily cratered bottom, coming to a jarring halt as it slammed into the canyon wall some seven thousand feet from where it first impacted. The two men opened their eyes.
"We're not dead!" announced Jacob.
"Indeed, we're not!" replied Vallnam greatly relieved.
The interior of the ship was largely shattered. There were broken vacuum tubes flaring and spewing out sparks in all directions while choking smoke was beginning to fill the cabin. Most of the control panels broken and knocked out of position by the impact, while some of them were on fire. Fortunately, the gentlemen were wearing specially designed purple translucent organic space suits that they'd received from their entirely forgotten Modroni allies. These suits not only made it possible for them to breath, but safeguarded them from all forms of mishaps, including the vacuum of space, poison gas, radiation, electrical discharge, minor impacts, and a number of other hazards.
Gathering their wits, they reaffirmed their Mission. They planned to enter Eisenhelm, the secret Nazi Moon base, and create as much havoc there as possible. Their goal was to distract attention from Ling's imminent arrival. Her Mission would be to enter the base, make her way to Sub-Level 3, find room DZ-A1, locate Control Panel DZ-17, and enter the Self-Destruct Code into the keypad. That would cause all of the Nuclear Missile Robots on their way to a rendezvous with earth to self-destruct en route. This was the only way that they could think of to stop that terrific force from finishing off humanity once and for all. Although Ling considered it a likely suicide mission, she felt it had to be done for the sake of humanity. "If I die then at least I shall die as a hero!", she had said to her Modroni vassals as she climbed aboard her rocket bike and blasted off towards distant Mare Frigoris.
Meanwhile, thick smoke was filling the interior. Equipment was sparking. Flames were starting to billow out from the ventilation shafts. They glanced around for supplies they could carry out with them. Jacob had a feeling that they didn't have time to be selective. He grabbed a few med kits, and a couple of Lugars from the weapons cache and shoved them into a satchel.
"Was sind Ihre Bestellungen?" it queried with mechanical intonation. Fortunately, Jacob had learned a bit of German and understood it had asked ("What are your orders?"). He gazed it it with some trepidation, but at this point his fears were a moot point. The situation couldn't get much worse.
"What's this?!" shouted Jacob to Vallnam over crackling sparks and roar of flames.
"I felt there is something telling me to activate the robot. I don't know why, but it seemed like a good idea," shouted Vallnam.
"Do you have access codes to the hanger doors?" shouted Jacob to the Robot.
"Yes. I have the access code to the hanger doors," came the staccato reply.
"Oh that's fantastic. Let's go for a walk then!", he exclaimed cheerfully.
At this moment they noticed that the ship began to vibrate, and an ominously loud hum began to emit an steadily increasing pitch.
"Yes. I have the access code to the hanger doors," came the staccato reply.
"Oh that's fantastic. Let's go for a walk then!", he exclaimed cheerfully.
At this moment they noticed that the ship began to vibrate, and an ominously loud hum began to emit an steadily increasing pitch.
"Um, I think we'd better get a move on, boys," said Jacob, and they made a dash for the door.
"The ship will self destruct in 3 minutes and 20 seconds," said Robbie in his metallic, evenly modulated tone as though he were giving the local weather report.
They skidded to a halt at the door. Robbie operated the safety latch controls, un-wound the fly-wheel mechanism that locked the 4-way bolted door, and it slowly slid open. There was an airlock chamber. They went through and Robbie manned the controls that worked the gangway, which began to extend downward to the moon's rocky surface. They dispensed with formalities and ordered Robbie to open the outer lock immediately. There was no time to waste. They ran pell-mell down the steel gangway and leapt forward into the shadows. Down into a crevasse the size of a an ocean liner they descended, moon-fall speed. After a moment they hit dirt. The leap wasn't as far down as they thought.
"The ship will self destruct in 3 minutes and 20 seconds," said Robbie in his metallic, evenly modulated tone as though he were giving the local weather report.
They skidded to a halt at the door. Robbie operated the safety latch controls, un-wound the fly-wheel mechanism that locked the 4-way bolted door, and it slowly slid open. There was an airlock chamber. They went through and Robbie manned the controls that worked the gangway, which began to extend downward to the moon's rocky surface. They dispensed with formalities and ordered Robbie to open the outer lock immediately. There was no time to waste. They ran pell-mell down the steel gangway and leapt forward into the shadows. Down into a crevasse the size of a an ocean liner they descended, moon-fall speed. After a moment they hit dirt. The leap wasn't as far down as they thought.
There's no atmosphere on the moon, and this has two effects due to the fact that atmosphere scatters light. The first is that shadows are pitch black, and nothing at all can be seen in them whatsoever, unless you shine a line into them. And two, distances, as well as geological sizes, are incredibly difficult to gage by looking. And so our heroes flicked on their XL-2000 Ray Gloves (which have light emitting diodes on their palms) and made for the far end of the crater as fast as they could manage. Which was really quite difficult. It's not easy to immediately get used to the 1/6th gravity on the moon, and for the first few hundred yards or so the two of them were careening up into the air, and landing sideways, or upside down and scrambling to regain their orientation. However, they also quickly discovered that they could make very good distance by running and jumping, and after the 400 yard line they'd gotten reasonably good at it.
Behind them the ship had begun to vibrate such that it would lift itself off the ground and grind silently into the cliff wall before wobbling back to the moon surface like a spinning dinner plate.
"That's a nuclear engine in there, isn't it?" asked Vallnam over his suit's microphone.
"No. According to the schematics it's something called a Red Mercury Plasma-Vortex Engine... which sounds quite a lot worse, frankly!" He reflected on the amount of energy stored in a machine that can gain speed up to 24,000 mph, and pivot on a dime in any direction, while maintaining an internal Stasis Field. That would be a LOT of energy, he was pretty sure.
The two of them ran even more pell-mell after that, bounding high into the air, and landing dozens of feet further along with each bound. But no matter how fast they scrambled it felt like it was not nearly fast enough. Meanwhile, Robbie was having quite a bit of trouble navigating on his treads. He was designed for smooth polished corridor floors, not the rugged lunar surface. He was not keeping up, but he was making progress.
"That's a nuclear engine in there, isn't it?" asked Vallnam over his suit's microphone.
"No. According to the schematics it's something called a Red Mercury Plasma-Vortex Engine... which sounds quite a lot worse, frankly!" He reflected on the amount of energy stored in a machine that can gain speed up to 24,000 mph, and pivot on a dime in any direction, while maintaining an internal Stasis Field. That would be a LOT of energy, he was pretty sure.
The two of them ran even more pell-mell after that, bounding high into the air, and landing dozens of feet further along with each bound. But no matter how fast they scrambled it felt like it was not nearly fast enough. Meanwhile, Robbie was having quite a bit of trouble navigating on his treads. He was designed for smooth polished corridor floors, not the rugged lunar surface. He was not keeping up, but he was making progress.
Jacob stopped, and turned around. Robbie was quite a bit behind them. He spoke his crude German into the mic.
"Robot - does the ship come with a moon buggie?"
"Robot - does the ship come with a moon buggie?"
"The ship does not contain an external vehicle," replied Robbie with the serenity of one who has no emotional attachment to existence.
"Oh fantastic. I would have felt like a complete A-hole about now if the ship had a moon buggie."
Jacob stopped again. He turned around and watched Robbie for a few seconds. The Robot was moving quite a bit slower than he'd hoped. It was pretty far behind them. In fact, he thought it was possible that Robbie was going to get obliterated by the inevitable blast of the ship. He spoke to the mic again.
"Robot - can you tell me the access code to the hanger door?"
"Robot - can you tell me the access code to the hanger door?"
"Hanger Door Access Code: 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 9 - 0"
Beyond Robbie, Jacob watched with some alarm as the ship flipped a dozen feet above the ground and wobbled onto its side before crashing magnificently into the canyon wall creating an enormous billowing cloud of moon dust. Bright rays of light could be seen emitting from the diamond-glass port holes. He turned around and leapt as far as he could, panting with the effort. Vallnam had gained some distance in the meantime and was heading towards an outcropping of large boulders.
"The vessel will self destruct in 1 minute and 20 seconds," announced Robbie with perfect disinterest.
They ran, leapt, careened through the air for the next minute and 15 seconds. At the end they made a mad leap behind a massive rock that seemed like the best place to shield themselves from the immediate blast. A moment later the canyon illuminated with a brilliant blue-white light for one full second. For several seconds after that shards of molten metal sprayed in every direction, hitting the canyon walls with millions of brightly glowing pea sized slugs. The great and ancient crater walls withered and crumbled inward all around from the barrage, raising an enormous broiling cloud of moon dust. Since there is no air on the moon, however, there was no shock wave. Once the cloud of shrapnel finished its spray of molten destruction, nothing further happened beyond the canyon walls collapsing into avalanches of smoke and rubble.
Jacob took a peek around the side of the boulder, a section of which had been shorn away on the rear side by the withering barrage. Robbie had been obliterated, the only thing remaining of him being the left treadwheel upon which he rolled. Jacob gave him the Company Salute, and turned to see what else was around. They waited for a a few minutes to let the dust settle, which it did slowly and gracefully like a gigantic sheet falling to back down to the airless ground.
Jacob took a peek around the side of the boulder, a section of which had been shorn away on the rear side by the withering barrage. Robbie had been obliterated, the only thing remaining of him being the left treadwheel upon which he rolled. Jacob gave him the Company Salute, and turned to see what else was around. They waited for a a few minutes to let the dust settle, which it did slowly and gracefully like a gigantic sheet falling to back down to the airless ground.
They got up and made their way forward. Along a small rill they climbed upward using the lowest setting on their ray gloves. They figured that there was a good chance that the explosion caught the attention of the Nazis and they didn't wish to let it be known that they survived the blast. Better to be thought completely incinerated by it. And so they crept along slowly through the blackest of shadows.
After a minute or so one of the mighty Nuclear Missile Robots flew overhead, its rocket jets blazing a plasma trail behind it. They clutched deeper into the shadows and hoped they had not been spotted. Another Robot Mech flew over from another direction. They were clearly investigating the explosion. Beams of light emanated from their foreheads, scanning into the darkness near where the Nazi ship had been. However the Nuclear Missile Robots flew past and then vanished from sight. They waited another minute and continued edging upwards slowly towards the rim of the canyon wall.
After some hiking they scrambled to the top of an outcropping and got their first view of the Hanger Door. They'd seen it before, but from inside the long forgotten Modroni ship when they first arrived at Eisenhelm no more than 23 hours previously. From down below and at this angle it looked truly massive at 50 feet wide and 25 feet tall. Enough for the Nazi UFOs to egress through. As it was concealed by an overhang of rock no light from the sun could land on its surface, and so it was only by the dim light of their Ray Gloves that they could see it. And yet, that was enough. Its polished metallic surface was a dull gray color. On its face was emblazoned an enormous eagle holding a gigantic metallic Swastika. They both felt a chill run down their spines. Inside they knew there was a hot war going on. And their job was to get inside and, infiltrate, and create as much mayhem as they could while they waited for Ling's arrival from Aristarchus Crater, half way across the moon. She would arrive, she had said, in 75 minutes, and at this point Jacob's watch indicated that some 24 minutes had passed. It was going to be a long wait. But in the meantime, they could gain entrance to Eisenhelm and create mischief.
On the wall of the canyon next to the hanger door was the metal keypad. The heroes made their way to it, stood with their backs to the canyon wall next to the door's seam, as Jacob typed in the code: 1-3-5-7-9-0. He remarked to himself that although it had only been a day since they had stolen the Nazi UFO from the base, it felt like years had passed. He'd never expected to be here of all places again.
The door shuttered and then began to slide open. An enormous gust of air began to blow out of the hanger. They saw flashes of light reflected off the metal of the hanger door. Jacob, who was closer, took a quick glance around the corner to get a bead on what was inside. He spotted people wearing Nazi military uniforms running, dodging and shooting at one another. The control tower hung suspended from the ceiling 60 feet above the floor with shattered windows, and billowing smoke, while down below a machine gun was cracking out fire from an open double door at the far end of the hanger. There looked to be about fifteen combatants total. He noticed three technicians in space suits, not sealed, who were doing electrical work on one of the UFO under-carriages. The gust of wind forced him to pull his head back almost immediately, and he watched as a giant cloud of moon dust began to billow out away from the entranceway into the darkness of the moonscape. Most of the lights inside had been destroyed in the fighting, but a number of red alarm lights were still flashing in rows along the ceiling, no doubt caused by the hanger door unexpectedly opening. The hanger itself was, Jacob surmised, the airlock to the facility. And one could imagine that there were likely few things on the moon as desperately precious as air. Inside was chaos. Vallnam and Jacob exchanged approving glances. After all, they had caused this fiasco, and it gratified them greatly to see how things were panning out.
The gust of wind from the hanger carried in it all kinds of debris, anything that was light enough to be carried off came blowing out. An officer who had been too close to the entrance was caught by surprise and carried out into the darkness of the canyon, his uniform inadequate protection from the vacuum of space. He died almost instantly with a blood curdling scream that no one ever heard. After a few seconds the hanger door stopped opening, leaving a five foot gap. Someone in the control room must have stopped the door from opening any further. In a moment it began to close again.
As Vallnam waited for Jacob to leap inside, he saw one of the giant Nuclear Missile Robots landing on its retro-jets at the top of the canyon wall opposite the hanger door, perhaps a quarter mile away. He watched it studiously. It seemed too far away to be an immediate threat. And while he and Jacob were still concealed by the darkness he expected that they'd not been noticed.
Jacob watched as the vast UFO Hanger cleared out. The fighting inside had stopped momentarily and most of the combatants had fled through the doorways to the interior of the base. He presumed that two factions had both tried to escape the base in the UFOs, but got caught in a fire fight instead. The inner doors slammed shut leaving the hanger in relative silence. The battle, he thought, must be raging along the inner corridors.
It was time to make a move. The men braced, held their breath, and got ready to bolt inside before the door shut completely.
He shifted his angle of observation northward until he spotted The Rhino, Major Sekston's Mech, which at the moment had just lifted itself above the hill-line and launched a BGM-71 TOW Missile. An explosion took out a armored unit 740' to the west. The sturdy little Mil-Mech dodged back down and and began side straddling to another spot a hundred feet south.
"Good job, Major," he said to himself. He continued to scan the area, spotting several squadrons of Lizardmen infantry dodging through the underbrush towards an entrenchment whose insignia identified them as 7th Division. The Lizardmen were lightly armored, agile, and armed with machine guns and bandoleers of grenades. As soon as the 7th Division began firing on their location, the Lizardmen dodged into gullies and vanished from view. Smoke could be seen coming from Saint Gertrude's Catholic Church, and that seemed to be the crux-point of the battle. The church had been hastily fortified with barricades and barbed wire, and formed the lead point of the trenchworks that spanned along the southern edge of the town from west to east.
Captain Samwise checked the AGV weapons roster. 50-cal Machine Gun with flame thrower re-mount. He glanced at the Plasma Cannon readout. It was fully charged and ready to fire. It could be fired a maximum of 8 times before requiring a 6 hour recharge cycle, but it's range was virtually infinite. He considered Mech V, which according to Dr. Rogers was equipped with "Phasers". It didn't have a any other weaponry, however, as Brain V was apparently not nearly so interested in military conquest as they'd originally assumed. Rogers explained that the Mech V series was designed to provide defenses for the Black Wind V facility, but was intended mostly to be used as mobile scientific research and analysis laboratories. They were, however, very well armored with a Hyper-Alloy Hull, and a Force Field, and it was also extremely fast. Offensively, however, it was not necessarily so great. Of course Samwise didn't really know what to expect from Phasers. He'd never seen them in action. In fact no one had, other than a few scientists at Black Wind V, and Brain V who invented them. What he did know was that the Mech V was limited to 8 Bursts of the Phasers before requiring a recharge cycle.
He gave Fred and Guns command of the AGV with instructions to use the Plasma Cannon against the lead tank of the approaching column. If this didn't stop them in their tracks then supporting fire from The Rhino should kick in, otherwise Major Sekston should focus on the incoming squadrons of Lizardmen. Meanwhile, he and Penelope would take Mech V and flank the tank column by flying low along the canyon that runs parallel to route 143. If the lead tank could be taken out quickly then the column would be pinned down on the road and Mech V could nail the others with Phasers from its concealed location to the East. Everyone thought this was a good plan.
Captain Samwise got on the horn and apprised Major Sekston of the plan. At that point she was still conducting operations on W 300 street, but she'd have no foreseeable problem getting down to the designated location west of Saint Gertrudes. She wished him good luck, said be ready with support if necessary, and in the meantime would continue to suppress the Lizardman Infantry assault coming in from the west. The good Captain wished Fred and Guns good hunting, and climbed aboard Mech V with Penelope.
What a fine vessel it was! Made of unknown Titanium Alloys the eternal hull was a dull matt white with chrome trim, and light blue insignia. Inside it was roomy, yet efficiently designed so that any station could function as an independent unit, and so anyone could potentially take over operations for anyone else at a moment's notice. The ship was shaped in the form of a giant robot with a head, torso, arms and legs, but it could, he found out, transform into other shapes if necessary or desired. No transformation was necessary or desired. They strapped in and launched. Penelope piloted while Samwise took command of the weapons console. It looked easy to operate, with targeting and fire controls designed for ease of use, and efficiency. Brain V was no slacker.
Mech V flew low to the ground to remain concealed within the canyon. Guns, from the AGV turret, fired the Plasma Cannon at the lead tank. It was a decisive hit. The yellow-orange beam burned a 5" hole through the tank's hull in a matter of seconds, and partially melted the 104mm cannon when it grazed it momentarily. The tank veered off the road, and rolled down into a ditch. The hatch opened and black smoke came billowing out. A Lizard man, completely on fire, threw his arms into the air, and slumped over the edge of the hole.
Having gained position with Mech V, Samwise took the next shot. He had never practiced ranged weapons, and so his targeting was off. The Phaser Beam shot over the the top of the second tank in the column. A hill in the distance erupted with a blazing explosion when the Phaser intersected with it. As this happened the tanks came to a halt and began pivoting their turrets to return fire. There were eight tanks remaining. There was a barrage of tank fire focused on the AGV. The entire area was blanketed under smoke. Samwise got on the radio and tried to get in touch with the AGV, but the radio equipment was damaged and he could only hear Gun's voice through heavy static. At least Gun's was alive.
Samwise ordered Penelope to maintain the same distance from the tanks but fly up out of the canyon. His plan was to draw the tanks fire away from the AGV. They flew up 100 feet above the rim of the canyon and fired the Plasma Beam. Unfortunately, Samwise unlucky and nervous, and he lost his grip on the firing controls. His second shot also missed, accidentally burning through a local farmer's barn, scorching it to cinders in 250 milliseconds. Guns took another shot with the Plasma Cannon, but this one missed. Fred piloted the AGV south at 80 mph, crossing an open field in order to get line of sight on the next tank in the column.
"Find cover!" shouted Guns from the turret. There was a house near by, but it getting into position behind it meant not being able to return fire. Instead Fred took a zig-zag course towards the tank column, about 1.2 miles south west. Guns took another shot with the Plasma Cannon, this time taking his time with the targeting controls. The coruscating beam hit the tank across the front right side, burning into the hull like a hot knife cutting into a bar of butter. The tank smashed into the tank in front of it and came to a sudden jerking halt. The hatch never opened.
Samwise took another shot. Apparently the controls were not quite as easy to use as he originally thought. It required patience and practice to get the targeting to lock onto the target correctly. The Phaser beam blazed uselessly into the ground behind the tank, creating a massive flaming ditch.
4 tanks took a bead on Mech V. They fired. Two shells clipped it in the leg and one glanced off the hull, sending it spiraling through the air. Penelope was a good pilot and managed to stabilize using a combination of retros and pulser rockets. She landed on the other side of the hills out of line of sight from the tanks. She released a cluster of micro drones, which began sending live feeds to the Visi-Screens. The tanks had split up and were going off road in the direction of Mech V. It would take them about three minutes to make their way ove the terrain to get a line of fire. Two of the tanks moved northward towards the AGV. Two of the tanks remained on the road heading north towards the church.
Samwise looked at the flashing red lights across all of the control panels. Mech V was badly damaged. It could fly, but navigation would be perilous. On a positive note, the repair droids had already begun to repair damaged systems. It would take another 10 minutes for the droids to repair the navigation controls. They could move roughly along the ground at that point, or try to fly, but at risk of crashing, and / or being attacked by their pursuers. At that moment another panel began beeping, and a red light flashed its warning. A missile had been launched by one of the tanks. Samwise guessed that they were using a drone for siting. He wondered if they could take out the drone fast enough, they might evade the missile, but the chances of spotting it were very low, and there was a good chance that the drone, having already painted the target, was no longer necessary. He considered flying into the air and igniting maximum thrusters. The speed of Mech V was such that it would be possible for them to out distance the missile, whose range was 120 miles. Unfortunately, they were incredibly unlucky. Penelope couldn't get the Mech off the ground. The angle was just wrong, and Mech V took a considerable amount of additional damage as the mech dragged along he ground. The missile was inbound and it would impact in 5 seconds. Samwise considered jettisoning the craft, but it was on the ground with his cockpit such that ejection would be lethal. He decided to fire the Plasma Beam at the missile. The beam vanished into space without contacting. There was a moment's pause and then a huge explosion against the side of Mech V.
Penelope had ejected a moment before and so her pilot's seat had launched into the air and her parachute deployed. She was on her way back to the ground. Behind her the explosion's shock wave sent her reeling. The cockpit shielding was insufficient to protect Samwise entirely. The blast wave, metal fragments, glass and debris blew through the cabin, hitting him with a good deal of damage. But he was not dead.
Gasping for air, blood splattered all over his suit, he looked down. He was relieved to see he hadn't lost any limbs. Fortunately for him, Samwise had acquired particularly good medical skills. He took appropriate action to perform immediate first aid on himself. It took a minute or so, and afterwards he felt able to make his way out of the mech and scramble away.
Seeing what had happened, Fred slammed on the gas and high tailed it due south to try to rescue Captain Samwise before the tanks could make their way through the canyons to gain line of sight on his position. It was a rough ride over open terrain, but this was in fact what the AGV was built for and excelled at. As the AGV took off south, Major Sekston was also rocketing south along Route 143 in The Rhino towards the tank column.
Meanwhile Penelope's parachute carried her down wind and she landed safely on Route 89. She detached the chute and began running north back towards Panguitch.
And that is where we left things that night.
About Me
No comments:
Post a Comment