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Read and review – thanks! This is the third part of an eventual 8-part trilogy:
Part 1: Mushroom Wars: Shell Shock (written February 2004)
Part 2: Yoshi Wars: Domination (written March 2004)
Part 3: Mushroom Wars: Koopa Storm (written April 2004)
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Mushroom Wars: Koopa Storm
Chapter 1: Go-Karts and Koopas
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The greatest hero in the Mushroom Kingdom zoomed in his go-kart around the dusty, beige race course. Just in front of him, his adversary dashed across the train tracks and pushed ahead after taking in a mushroom. Watching the green-hatted figure turn a sharp left, the celebrity's go-kart also took a left and slammed right into the rear of the other go-kart, bumping the front go-kart off the smooth route and into the desert sand dune. Sensing a chance to finish before his opponent, he backhandedly activated his super mushroom and took a shortcut across the sand.
"Mario! I'll get you for that!"
"Luigi, it's all in good fun. And I beat you again!" Mario replied, as if it was an adage.
"It's not over yet!"
"You have no chance now, bro!"
As Mario turned back to watch his brother struggling to get back on the beaten path, he sensed some sort of missile strike his go-kart. The go-kart went flying up, tossing around for a few seconds, before coming to a halt back on the ground.
"Damn! You had a red shell!"
"That's right, Mario." Luigi's go-kart sped past Mario's and past the finish line. "Sometimes, I wonder why you always have to be the hero."
"Well, you are "the other one" who will never be remembered!! You don't deserve any respect!"
"Wrong, Mario. It's time we play to my skills. The Koopa Army has been massing on the borders of the Mushroom Kingdom. Apparently, they think they can get a huge bonanza by abducting the princess. I believe it's time for us to take action."
"You think so? Or do you mean that I take action? After all, I'm always the one who defeats Bowser!"
"This may be so. But this time, I will..."
Luigi's comment was interrupted by a large round of gunfire heard in the distance. In the air, the loud engines of Koopa Yap-97 fighter planes were easily heard. Within seconds, Koopa and Goomba infantry forces had come into view.
"Well, here come the Koopas! Where's the Mushroom Army in this region, anyway?" Mario asked churlishly.
"Peach has been expecting this attack, but not all of our armed forces are mobilized. It seems Bowser wants to capture the Kalimari Desert before they do anything else."
"What the hell are we doing here, Luigi? There probably aren't more than a hundred Mushrooms on guard here. We have to retreat and inform Peach!"
Mario quickly jumped into his go-kart, and Luigi, looking worriedly, jumped into his and both sped off in the opposite direction of the Koopa breakthrough. Impeling their go-karts to maximum velocity, Luigi went through his go-kart, looking for a weapon he could possibly use to fend off the Koopa intruders.
"Mario! I found two AP-28s!" Luigi tossed one of the AP-28 rifles to Mario, who barely caught it.
"Excellent, Luigi. What do these new rifles do? I've used an AP-27 before, but not an AP-28."
"AP-28s run on laser rather than bullets. Toad's military scientists created it after the Yoshis gave us a prototype of it. It's becoming one of the primary weapons of the Mushroom Army."
"Oh, I see. Look, Luigi! Koopa airplanes have located us!"
Koopa Yap-97 squadrons swerved above the Mushroom perimeter, forming a V-formation in mid-air. On the ground, the K-32, the best light tank of the Koopa Army, raced ahead of the invasion force, surprising the Mushroom defenders and led to their demise.
"The citadel has fallen!"
Mario turned back uneasily in his go-kart, looking for anything he could use to halt the light tanks from being able to reach them. Shifting the go-kart to the left, he barely managed to avoid being fired upon by Koopa aircraft.
"Go faster! They are right behind us!" Mario exclaimed.
"I can't!"
"Use your AP-28!"
As Luigi turned back to fire laser fire on the Koopa tanks in the hopes of incinerating them, Mario found a flak gun in the back of his go-kart. Keeping his feet on the pedal, he looked upward, aimed his anti-aircraft gun, and fired.
The Yap-97 was unable to maneuver quick enough to collaborate with the targeted attack. With no opportunity to keep the airplane flying, it angled off to the right and went veering down to the ground.
"Phew! I think that taught them a lesson!" Mario hollered.
His brother escalated his rate of fire after he spotted six K-32s advancing in the same region. Clicking furiously, Luigi managed to ignite three of them and sent them exploding in the face of their friends.
"Look, Mario! I see Peach already has gotten the message!"
Mario stared. And looked. Luigi was right! A Mushroom force of a few hundred had arrived with MK-37 tanks and a few anti-air guns! Peach's decree had come!
As the Mushroom regiment leapt forward to strike back against the Koopa tanks, G-12 fighter planes, fit with the best Mushroom fliers, met their match in the aerial dogfight over the desert terrain. As Mario and Luigi raced back to the Mushroom lines, Koopa B-49 heavy tanks sent devastating laser fire upon their foes. The reinforcements did not seem to be enough.
"Retreat!" Mario saw the discordant battle as pointless. The Koopas would continue their advance. The Mushrooms needed to re-consolidate their army brigades before they could ever hope to stop the much more numerous enemy force.
Columns of Mushroom recon jeeps and newly-built tanks kept their retreat going while G-12s covered them.
"Mario, call down of the G-12s. We need to reach Peach immediately!" Luigi exclaimed.
"The Koopas have evolved their army a lot since we fought them last time! This is going to be a terrible war!"
"Mario! I asked for you to call down a G-12!"
Muttering to himself, Mario used his general-alert Com-Links, which were used to communicate with the Army, to ask a G-12 to come down. The G-12 fighter, though annoyed, flew down to take the order to bring them back to Peach's castle in the capital.
Coming down, Mario and Luigi both attempted to tell the story. Peach shrugged both of them off.
"Yes, yes, yes. I know, Mario. I saw this attack coming. We have mobilized all twelve of our divisions, but our intelligence has told us that we are outnumbered. The Koopas have fifteen divisions under arms. We can take them on." Peach muttered, sounding like her words were from a book excerpt.
"Will the Yoshis join the war, Peach?" Luigi asked worryingly.
"Speaking of the Yoshis, their response has been very favorable to our cause. Yoshi's Island, Y'oster Isle, and Dinosaur Land have promised to send a battalion to fight alongside us. We have been assured this help and by doing so, I will promise that those Yoshi troops will be under Yoshi command. Also, Yoshi008 is also willing to give a battalion, which seals the possibility of a Yoshi Volunteer brigade." Peach replied enthusiastically.
"Excellent. Anyone else planning to help us?" Mario groped with the possibility of fighting alone, but now this nightmare scenario was gone.
"Remember Kool Yoshi and Yoyo Yoshi?"
"Very vaguely, Princess. They fought alongside us in the previous two Nintendo Wars, right?"
"Right. Both Kool Yoshi and Yoyo Yoshi are willing to commit one fully-armed and elite Yoshi brigade each to fight for us. While the Aiyee will be sending over Major General Yoshi348 to command the Aiyee brigade, Kool Yoshi is coming in Yoshi to command the Ewok brigade."
"Where's Toad? We need to talk to him about our aircraft-building program. Those Yak-97s are armed to the teeth!"
"Listen, Mario. We know you have led us to victory in just about every single war. This won't be as easy. The Koopas are hovering over some very advanced technology." Luigi replied.
"Luigi's right. Only the two Yoshi nations of Ewok and Aiyee have more advanced technology, and we can only get limited weaponry from them because they are in their own tense conflicts with the world. We must fight alone and united. Oh yes, Toad is in his office in the castle. You can look for him there."
Mario and Luigi went inside the castle to consult their military weaponry expert, Peach's own retainer and advisor. Jostling their way through the door, they found diagrams of Mushroom aircraft and tank designs everywhere. It definitely looked more like the munitions department than Toad's office.
"Oh, hey! I didn't see you two back! Your return will definitely make a difference in this conflict. Right now, I'm handing both of you the command of six Mushroom divisions, which will be ready to fight the Koopas at your command."
"Toad..."
"Yes, Mario?"
"It's not that simple! As chief of the general staff, don't you have any ideas on how we should fight back?"
"Let me think. Today is August 12th, 2003. I think the Koopas will have conquered the Kalimari Desert by the end of this first week with or without resistance. I suggest that your forces stay back behind the Kalimari. The Koopas can slowly die of thirst in there. Meanwhile, the Mushrooms can counterattack."
Days passed. Aiyee Yoshi shipments of superior quality had arrived in large amounts by the day. Like a laggard, however, the Mushroom Kingdom didn't see the possiblity of a war in the east that would cancel all future shipments of supplies and arms by the vast Yoshi empire in the east.
The Mushroom Kingdom's armies, led by the Mario brothers, had held its southern front line to the bitter end. The Koopas were unable to advance, let alone fortify their current position. To make things worse, the newly equipped Yoshi division had won plaudits by the Mushroom civilians. Bowser was furious at the Koopas' inability to do much, and quickly asked for the ambassadors of the Shy Guy Republic and the Goomba Republic to arrive. Instead, their leaders did.
"The Koopa Kingdom welcomes you. Please take a seat." Kamek formally introduced General Guy and the leader Goomba, known as Raize, to the grand Bowser's Castle. Decorated with Christmas lights and Thwomps, it was a highly unlikely place for most Koopas to want to hang out in during the middle of summer.
"Why are we here? Are we to negotiate with you over something?" General Guy asked.
"Indeed. As the leader of the Koopas, we need help in the war against the Mushrooms. They are taking us by surprise because my generals are incapable of breaking their defenses. We need both the Shy Guys and Goombas to aid us, and we will give up concessions for it. We must preclude a Mushroom victory."
"Concessions? What kind?" The Goomba leader asked seriously.
"There is no possible way of reverting back to the past. We understand that our armies have quarreled against each other for territory."
"What's your point? If we join your fight, we will get back our lost territories?"
"No. You understand how powerful Koopa technologies are. We are willing to spill out all our secrets on them and give your armies brand-new Koopa aircraft, ships, tanks, and artillery. All I ask of is three divisions from both the Shy Guys and Goombas."
"Sounds like a good deal," General Guy agreed. "We'll take it."
"The Goomba Republic will back the Koopa Kingdom all the way. However, I want that in writing before we take the deal. The Goombas will suffer heavy pressure in cutting off the Mushroom Army."
"Excellent. Your army supplies will arrive in a week." Bowser concluded, in triumph.
Hundreds of miles north, Mario looked at the Mushroom Army slugging their weapons southward to meet the Koopa advance.
"Field Marshal Mario," a servile lieutenant of the Mushroom Army called out. "Look ahead. I think we might need to take part in a vigil. Koopa forces are supposedly ahead and they will be striking this area soon."
"I think I sense Bowser's forces ahead. Shhh..." Mario signalled the Mushrooms. "Don't make a sound..."
They could hear footsteps coming ahead. The Mushrooms held still. Suddenly, Koopa aircraft flew towards them.
"Ready your weaponry...fire!"
The rear Mushrooms had already begun firing on the Koopa aircraft, but there was far too many. Koopa tanks rolled towards the Mushroom positions and began unleashing barrage after barrage. The Mushrooms began to wrangle with each other to fire back.
"Stop quarreling! If we don't keep this position up we'll be flanked!" Mario exclaimed, pulling out his own AP-28 and aiming it at the top of a Koopa tank. It was right on target.
However, there was no stop to the Koopa antics that were driving around the Mushroom forces in a circle. Before long, they were surrounded.
"Damn! Where's Luigi's 2nd Army when you need it?" Mario avowed to himself.
Suddenly, out of a dark, blue sky, planes that were clearly not Mushroom or Koopa began firing on Koopa positions.
"What are those?" Suddenly, a transmission was felt from Mario's Com-Link.
"Hey, I haven't seen you in a while, Mario."
"Who are you?"
"Let me introduce myself. I am Kool Yoshi, leader of the Yoshi Volunteer Division along with Yoshi348 and Yoshi008. We are here to help the Mushrooms fight back the Koopa invasion. Our forces are currently decimating their northern flank and will connect you in about fifteen minutes."
"Excellent! Nice to be working with you!"
"Haha!" Kool Yoshi bantered.
Sure enough, the Mushrooms in the pocket were relieved in the back by Yoshi reinforcements. The small Yoshi air force swiped much of the Koopa air power and sent it tumbling to the ground below.
"So you're Mario, huh? I haven't seen you for a while!" A Yoshi greeted Mario.
"You're Kool Yoshi, right? I remember seeing you in the past two Nintendo Wars. Happy to be working with you again!" Mario replied enthusiastically.
"I'm Yoshi348, from the Aiyee Yoshi Republic of the east. Though we are now at war with an intruder in the east, I will be staying here to guide our way to victory over the evil Bowser and his minions." Another Yoshi stepped up.
"And of course, me. I am the bountiful Yoshi008! I am here to command my own two batallions as well as the combined Yoshi's Island, Y'oster Isle, and Dinosaur Land volunteer batallions. I'm sure we'll be enough to turn the tide!" The final Yoshi shook hands with Mario.
"Excellent, everyone. Do you know where my brother's forces are?" Mario asked.
"They are currently fighting to the west of us. Their forces are in full retreat, however. The Koopas are throwing way too much at us. I believe Bowser might even be employing Goomba and Shy Guy volunteers to aid him in his conquest of the Mushroom World." Kool Yoshi responded.
"We must stop him!" Mario exclaimed furiously.
"We can't do that yet. They're congested with troops. It would be a detriment to fight them head-on." Yoshi348 argued.
"Let's head back to HQ. Let's discuss this in further detail." Mario suggested.
In the south, the King of the Koopas was impatient.
"Defeat them! Now!" Bowser growled to his seven sons.
"Look, you're not giving us enough forces. The Mushrooms are getting Yoshi allies to help them fight this war. Why can't we get more Shy Guys and Goombas?" Larry Koopa asked.
"They aren't durable forces! You've already got enterprising, friendly Koopa Troopas and Paratroopas to fight for you. What more can you ask for?"