Chapter 2: Anger
"If the rule that opposites attract applies to personality, then people are doomed to fight."
Foreword: This takes place in the chronology of the game regarding Valkyria Chronicles and after book 20 of the manga regarding The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi
The Imperial Kylandarian Republic, the names Ray Zenji and Laura Kylani are my personal creations. Characters and Nationalities of other series' such as The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi and Valkyria Chronicles belong to their respective owners.
POV - Ray Zenji - Location : North High, Nishinomiya, Japan, Earth, the next day.
The feeling that Ray felt was no longer interest, it was anger. Koizumi merely got up and was leaving, Kyon had already dashed out knowing what would happen whilst Nagato paid no attention to anything but the book she was reading. Haruhi's intent was clear even if Ray had not placed a sleeper agent here, Haruhi's antics involving forcing Mikuru to dress in various sets of clothes was too much for him to tolerate as he stood up and without a word said, got between Haruhi and Mikuru (in the process shoving Haruhi back a bit.)
Haruhi's face seemed to be just as angry as Ray was as she shouted "And just what are you doing?" Ray shouted back "That's my line, I've heard some crazy rumors from that loudmouth Taniguchi but this is intolerable!" Ray turned his head towards Mikuru, saying "Why the hell do you put up with this?"
Ray felt a sharp pain in his head as Haruhi grabbed him by the hair and said quietly so only he would hear, saying "You do realize I'm the one in charge of the SOS-dan's activities, don't get in my way or all the hard work goes to you."
Haruhi's attempt to threaten Ray had no effect as he acted on instinct alone.
Dashing down (which in the process caused a few strands of his hair being torn from his head as they were in Haruhi's grip) Ray also spun his body in a 90 degree angle with his right leg going 145 degrees, knocking Haruhi off her feet and causing her to hit the floor, rather hard.
Ray quickly realized the flare of his temper and sent a mental command to his nanites to double the suppression effect which sadly, did nothing to calm him down.
Deciding instead to deal with it the old fashioned way, he got back into a standing position facing Haruhi and sighed, offering his hand to help her up to which she grabbed and after she had gotten up, gave a quick glance at Ray which made him shudder just before Haruhi attempted to punch him with every ounce of strength she had, only for him to grab her clenched fist and stop the punch effortlessly, his anger calmed and now he was in a semi-tranquil state, completely emotionally disciplined by sheer willpower.
He spoke, saying "I apologize for knocking you on the floor, I tend to act instinctively when someone attacks me such as grabbing me by the hair."
Haruhi managed to calm herself down and despite her eccentricity she did realize she did attack him first. Haruhi however merely walked out the door, Koizumi heard the crash though at first assumed it was part of Haruhi's antics until he saw her walk out, face holding back a bit of anger and her right fist clenched though after a moment she relaxed it and turned in Ray's direction, saying "You win, this time." before walking away.
Ray let a sigh of relief, her temper could have caused a serious problem but somehow she was able to suppress it, perhaps she wasn't as immature as she looked.
Several Hours Later, POV Shift - Selvaria Bles
Walking about the city was brought many surprises to Selvaria who was used to the mostly rural constructions of Tortana and although a few times she had been in major cities of Europa, none radiated like this one.
There was perhaps more people in this city than there was in all of Gallia and according to Ray, it wasn't the largest nor the most populated.
Selvaria didn't lack for currency as both the IKR held agents in here to keep accounts open for operations and also in addition her job as a teacher was genuine and it paid good enough for Selvaria to manage a normal lifestyle. The cuisine in Japan also had several times tempted her to experiment and found a particular liking in curry and sushi, similar foods existed in Tortana's far east but she had never tried them before.
As for their entertainment industry, Selvaria was torn as although they were inventive, in some ways they were inventive in the wrong manner, at times she wondered if it was a nation of perverts until she remembered what Ray had told her. It was a planet of perverts, Earth's culture had shifted in the 1970s and 1980s into something that would be considered socially unacceptable in the ages beforehand and their 1930s and 40s were what more closely resembled Tortana's current social and technological state with the exception of flight and in the late 40s, Atomic Bombs. Chemical Weapons had also eluded the development of Europa and based on old war pictures, the damage caused by a nuclear weapon of the 40s and 50s were equal to the final flame, with Hydrogen Bombs being superior and also according to Ray, the Valkyur never developed atomic power until first contact with the Transvaal, never having needed it because of their psionic abilities allowed for FTL travel without the need of nuclear power, Purebloods were simply that powerful and further developments of Ragnite outclassed uranium and plutonium, making it a true wonder material.
Selvaria found herself at a simple café as she wanted to relax from a rather long afternoon of shopping, across the building was the SOS-dan which she noticed. Selvaria found civilian clothes on Earth much more comfortable than in Europa.
Amongst the SOS-dan was Suzumyia Haruhi, Kyon, Koizumi Itsuki, Nagato Yuki, Asahina Mikuru and Ray Zenji.
POV Shift - Ray Zenji
Ray drank his tea rather quickly, not really paying attention to Haruhi's plans about looking about the city for strange occurances. He had seen more than enough supernatural events before being abducted by the Kylandarian Empire's previous Imperator, Alpha Destriex who was as inept in managing a nation as was King Louis prior to the French Revolution, his execution being an event Ray had witnessed during his time travel issue, whenever Ray recalled the previous Imperator he merely thought "Good Riddance" in his mind.
Haruhi had made him pay for the bill though Ray had no qualms, he wanted to make amends for leg sweeping Haruhi hours ago, a move he thankfully managed to restrain or he would have made a hit for her knee instead of her foot which with the force of rotation he was putting out, would have broken her leg. Ray didn't want to even consider Haruhi's reaction if that had happened not to mention the legal issues later though Ray could easily use telepathy to get out of a problem such as that though he rarely used it as the link was difficult to control, often memories from the other person filled into his own mind, he only felt comfortable with it when linked with Laura, the two already knew everything about each other so there really was nothing new to learn.
Haruhi woke him from his thoughts as she held her hand out with straws, the bottoms of which had different colors, people with the same color would pair up and as Ray drew his straw and the others did as well, he found himself slightly annoyed.
He was paired with Haruhi of all people, the one person who seemed to stir his emotions in unpredictable ways, at first it was slight romantic intentions and then it was sheer anger, only God knows what's next.
Haruhi had non-physically dragged Ray across a variety of places (Not really giving him a choice and ignoring him when he suggested someplace different than what Haruhi was thinking.).
Crossing the street towards a manga shop which Haruhi was interested in stopping by before continuing her otherwise fruitless search, in there Ray noticed a sight he would rather have had happen at a later time.
Kazahana Sasaki.
Kuou Suou.
Fujiwara.
Tachibana Kyoko.
Among them was another of his Praetorii, one he assigned to watch and influence Sasaki without revealing more than the fact that she too was "alien".
Ty Lee, an individual from the fourth planet from Tau Ceti, a star only 4.3 lightyears from Sol.
Flashback, Earth Calander - June 9th, 1971, Location - Tau Ceti IV - Local ID:Terra
Ray was dressed in a black trenchcoat with a black shirt underneath it, his pants being sweats and were black as well, his shoes were combat boots and were also black, in effect Ray was dressed entirely in pitch black clothes to suit the night operation and at the same time make it very clear to anyone of this planet he associated himself with no nation.
It had been ten years since the end of this planet's largest military conflict, rivalling the scope and scale of World War 2 though the technology was at best varied. The Fire Nation was clearly in an industrial age though the sheer common presence of element based psionic powers referred locally as bending had overshadowed any firearm development, the Earth Kingdom resembled China during the 1500s and the water tribes were no more advanced than the Cherokee tribes just before contact with the European settlers.
There used to be another group known as the Air Nomads, they resembled the Shaolin Monks though they had been hunted to extinction by the fire nation some 110 years ago though one survived and word around was that he had a two year old child now, the airbenders had a future. This individual was known as the Avatar, a product of the Anidori Confederation of Alliances, the minor galactic power that used to manipulate this planet's affairs until the Kylandarians defeated them during the Expansionist Wars and had now effectively reduced them to a handful of systems. The Anidori had a habit of managing a pre-FTL planet until it developed atomic power and then would directly reveal themselves, offering the world a place in their confederation though they had a nasty habit of managing planets through world wars. The reason they were an enemy of the IKR was because they violated the Firstworld Doctrine the IKR had established, treaties were mere familiarities as the IKR had a fleet in orbit of Mars with one purpose. Destroy any approaching unauthorized vessel when it entered the Sun's primary gravity well (Sol's gravity extends beyond Pluto, but it's effective gravity is barely at Pluto's range, a star's effective gravity well is what is measured as actual territory compared to claimed territory in galactic affairs, actual empires measure navigation in the manner of a sea of millions of bubbles representing planet gravity wells and star gravity wells with empty space having little value except for stealth operations or the direct line of transit between stars and planets as after all, space is mostly empty and sparse hydrogen atoms aren't enough to merit installations outside a star's gravity well.)
Ray's thoughts often passed without much thinking because of his nano-suppression and he walked into the village where the fabled Kyoshi Warriors dwelled.
Tourism had risen highly here as one of their numbers, Ty Lee, born in the fire nation though after the war officially became a Kyoshi Warrior and in the process taught them a martial arts technique known as Chi Blocking which temporarily inhibited the victims bending in addition to striking down muscle movement.
And then what seemed to be a peaceful town became a scene of horror as an explosion went off nearby, Ray turned his head in it's direction, he had not aggressed against this planet before and had no intentions now until a woman made herself known, her face seemed angry though her eyes seemed void of logic, she was perhaps insane and Ray's surprise ended as he recalled this was Azula, driven insane by her father's lack of care and her mother's banishment. But for someone from a galactic power, insanity could be cured if it were physiological and based on his observations, this was physiological insanity as it wasn't until the later stages of the war that she snapped, she had escaped custody of a mental care facility in the fire nation and was presumably after her ex-comrade Ty Lee.
Ray sighed and approached her calmly, Azula took notice that amongst everyone else who was running in fear of her, this man who seemed no older than 17, younger than herself (10 years after the war, Azula was now 24 years old.).
Ray stopped 10 feet from her, staring without fear and was perfectly calm, nonchalant infact as he seemed to be looking down on her as if she was inferior, this infuriated her as she decided to teach him a lesson, sending a barrage of blue fire at him which to her surprise, he redirected easily as if a master firebender.
Ray decided to act quickly, in the distance Ty Lee was leading a group of Kyoshi Warriors to react to Azula's rampage though quite honestly, although she had made herself known only 35 seconds ago it was nowhere near enough time for them to be of any assistance to Ray who used sheer telekinesis to grab Azula at a distance and sent her flying into the building behind Ray.
Azula was dumbfounded both by a power that shouldn't be possible and by the pain of slamming into a wooden structure at 30 miles per hour, she got up but pain soon caused her to collapse, she looked at herself, blood was pouring from her arms and her left leg was most definitely broken, twisted into an unnatural position, shock being the reason she didn't feel it at first. The building's wall was torn to pieces, splinters everywhere and one piece was embedded in Azula's broken leg, causing profusive bleeding as Ray suddenly appeared less than an arm's length away as he said "Sleep."
Azula felt a sudden headache as Ray's eyes shifted from their dark brown color to a glowing blue color which seemed to hypnotize her into sleep despite the pain. Ray then set his hand on Azula's head and she became outlined with a green grid before disappearing completely just as Ty Lee approached the scene, both herself and her comrades dumbfounded at the sight, Ray not only subdued Azula but in a manner which made him appear as if he had godlike power.
A few hours later and Ray was in a room sitting on a rug, affront of him was several people.
Leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, Suki, her husband Sokka. Ty Lee and a couple other women whose names were not as important.
Suki spoke, saying "Whilst we thank you for subduing Azula, we must ask what your business is here, you obviously are not an ordinary person."
Ray replied "I have no ill intent, I simply came to this world seeking individuals of remarkable capacity. Azula was one and another, Ty Lee is the other that I have come here for. The rest of you do not interest me any more than civilians of a neutral world, which is in fact, what you are."
Ty Lee spoke up, saying "This world? Are you then a spirit in the form of a man?" Ray laughed at this, barely controlling the fact that he found that question as a joke.
He calmed his laughter for a moment, at times the level of suppression wasn't enough and he had to adjust it though he decided not to in this case as he genuinely wanted a true laugh as it hadn't happened in 300 years, the day he learned the truth.
He spoke, saying "Sorry but I'm not used to dealing with superstitious beliefs like you though then again considering the history of this world, I can understand your assumption. I'll speak plainly, those you call the spirits are in fact not of this world, they used to have connections here via a network of riftgates but I have covertly stabilized all but one which will remain in the event there is another conflict. There are other worlds across the stars, other stars are simply other suns of lesser, equal or greater size and heat of your own Sun. The true identity of the spirits is the Anidori Confederation of Alliances, they are a nation of many races and possibly were the reason for so many conflicts in your history, perhaps even the most recent one."
Suki spoke up, saying "Hold on here, you expect us to believe the spirits who guided the Avatar to stop the war caused it in the first place? Why should we believe any of this, it seems too far fetched."
Ray replied matter-of-factly "As was steam power for the fire nation, as was Earthbending during the times of Oma and Shu, as was the Avatar before the cycle began. Often things that seem far fetched are Reality and rather soon you will know this. Whether or not your Avatar and your uneasy alliance agrees or not, key positions of this planet are going to be occupied by my nation, the Imperial Kylandarian Republic. We are not invading and already ambassadors are being sent to the other nations, we intend to help you advance further in the event the Anidori become hostile once more. This means new weaponry but also a new era in medicine and practical sciences, we can eliminate world hunger, disease and even combat aging to the point where practical longevity will soon become the norm for your society. I came here because Kyoshi Island is fiercely independent despite technically being in Earth Kingdom territory and so I decided to recognize your autonomy by coming here myself. I am a special duty officer known as an Epsilon, only one exists in the entire Imperial Republic, my Imperator has listened to my advice concerning two of this planet's locals and I have come here to offer a chance at peace. There are enemies out there worse than the Anidori and they would not be so merciful, take the Transvaal Empire for example, though you know them not, I know them well enough that they would raze your cities and leave nothing but ashes behind, ashes that they would rule and they alone. I offer Kyoshi Island protection from this. It is entirely up to you, I will remain here for a week should you have any questions. Consider Ty Lee an expeditionary if you wish, and Azula could be considered a criminal on penal service (A criminal paying for their crimes with Military Service.)
Not waiting for a response, he got up to leave only for Ty Lee to quickly dart around him and block his exit, Ray stopped and listened as Suki spoke, saying "You will need someone to accompany you at all times until we can confirm what you've said about ambassadors to other countries, as for your request regarding Ty Lee, that is up to her."
Ray sighed as he walked past Ty Lee who followed him, direct diplomatic talks wasn't his suite, he was a soldier and a general at best and although he understood the value of peace, he simply lived in a galaxy where peace was impossible and it had left an impression on him.
As time passed Suki confirmed the fact that the Imperial Kylandarian Republic had indeed sent ambassadors to the other nations who readily accepted their offers though when comparing the accounts with her own experience with Ray, she found him more of a warrior stuck on an assignment he did not want or was not suited for though she did accept the proposal and Ty Lee, interested in seeing new places decided to join him, she got more than she bargained for when only 10 years after that the Kylandarian Empire erupted into civil war, a tale for another time.
Present Time - POV - Ray Zenji
Ty Lee's face was more serious than her previous cheerful and carefree self from so many years ago, she was never in the thick of it during her world's war but the years after when she was assigned with Ray before his rise to the most powerful leader in the galaxy had changed her outlook though she still tried to keep an optimistic viewpoint as her sixth sense of sensing a person's psionic aura had usually shown her only anger, despair and death. Earth was a nice change of pace, it had a variety of auras though whenever she glanced in Ray's direction, she found him impossible to understand as he was able to conceal his aura from people with heightened senses, making him nearly impossible to predict either in combat or in personality though usually he was straightforward.
Sasaki took notice of Ty Lee's slight reaction to Ray's presence and began a conversation that was out of Ray's range of hearing as he wasn't focusing on it, being able to augment his senses if he needed to.
Haruhi was focused on looking around for a book but seemed to be frustrated in that she couldn't find it, Ray then said "Perhaps if you tell me what you're looking for I could keep an eye out for it as well."
Haruhi replied "Last month someone told me there was a manga with a title character who had my name, at first I didn't believe him and thought he was trying to make a move but when I heard someone else say the same thing on the same day I got suspicious. I can't find anything of the sort though and when I mention my name as the character's name people either say they've never heard of it or that it's sold out."
Ray felt a large feeling of annoyance now, someone, somewhere screwed up and let slip the cover-up Koizumi's little "organization" made alongside their time traveling friend. The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, ordinarily Haruhi would simply dismiss it as coincidence but the content of the manga, anime and light novels is simply far too accurate to be coincidence and even an 8 year old could make that connection with logic and not imagination. If she was aware and interested in it then she would no doubt turn everything upside down to sate her curiosity and that would reveal the truth too soon as she isn't ready to handle such power and responsibility.
Ty Lee's conversation seemed to be heating up with Kuou Suou for some reason and suddenly the beautiful yet threatening individual began a slow approach towards Haruhi. Ray glanced in her direction for a moment, his eyes not visible to Haruhi as he flashed them golden, causing Suou to return to her little circle instead of continuing her approach, even among entities of logic and energy, killing intent can be made clear.
Haruhi noticed Ray's glance though not his eyes shifting color, when he turned his head back to her they were their normal dark brown color. Haruhi then looked in Suou's direction and noticed Sasaki and the others, Haruhi then said "Do you know them?" Ray shrugged and said "Ty Lee, just a friend from the past, she's the girl with the braid." (The fact that she was in a red Chinese dress was the only thing keeping suspicion off her.)
Haruhi became questioning and said "Oh, and how did you meet?" Ray sighed, Haruhi was getting the wrong idea so he flatly said "I beat the hell out of a thug who was attacking her home after that we spent a week just going about the town. If you're getting the wrong idea here then brush it off, she doesn't interest me in that way."
Haruhi seemed to accept the answer though was a bit surprised when he said the first eight words of his response.
Later that night.
Ray was in the privacy of his residence staring at the wall, to his eyes alone he was mentally managing a nano-communication interface and going through some routine financial reports, basic trivialities of running a Galactic Empire was at times boring but necessary.
There was a knock on his door, prompting him to get up and approaching it, having finished going over the reports.
He opened the door and a woman stood in front of him.
Her hair was a dark raven color which reminded Ray of a certain individual who was offered to become a Praetorii but refused. she was probably about 29 years old and was in civilian clothes though Ray knew exactly who she was.
Katsuragi Misato, a captain in NERV.
She speaks, saying "Hello, are you Raymond Zenji? My name is Katsuragi Misato I'll need you to come with me, it involves an issue with public security so-"
Ray interrupts her, saying "Don't assume you can have your way with me, I am well aware of my powers and both NERV and SEELE can give up on their Human Instrumentality Project."
Misato is slightly confused at the words Human Instrumentality Project though the fact that Ray is aware of NERV, a classified organization, piques her interest as she says "How would you know about NERV, that is classified information." Ray laughs and says "I've been aware of you morons from the day Ikari Gendo fished you all out of the slums. Let me say this to you Katsuragi-chan (he is using that honorific as an insult, calling her a child.), if NERV somehow, miraculously manages to get past the security I've placed on Suzumiya Haruhi and Kazahana Sasaki then the Angels will be the least of your worries."
Before Misato can reply he slams the door in her face, moments later she kicks it open and is holding a USP (A .45 caliber pistol) in her right hand as she says "I really must insist."
Ray laughs and says "That popgun couldn't hurt me even if you shot me in the head. Must I demonstrate just how far this leap of faith you're making is?" with those words a katana (commonly referred to as a Samurai Sword) appears in Ray's right hand which prompts Misato to aim her pistol at Ray who almost instantantly slices her gun in half, rendering it useless, the sword now has a green energy field surrounding it, making the entire blade a green color, Ray's left hand is still free and an orange psionic blade radiates above his wrist as he clenches his hand, his eyes glowing blue as he says "I don't even need to flaunt my abilities as a Shinjin to deal with you, perhaps you should scurry back and ask your superiors about the Imperial Kylandarian Republic, I'm sure they'll get the idea that they are knee deep in a world of shit they can't clean up."
Misato, still shocked at the fact that Ray cut her gun in half with what could only be described as an energy sword, simply nodded, dropped what was left of her sidearm and walked away, petrified in fear as Ray's eyes flashed a level of killing intent strong enough that a normal person could detect.
POV Shift - Ikari Gendo - Location, NERV HQ, 38 miles outside of Tokyo. The next day
Misato was still shaken from her encounter with Ray though now she was in control of herself once more, she had explained what happened to Ikari Gendo, the current head of NERV and had also mentioned the words Imperial Kylandarian Republic to him, once she did, his expression changed from annoyed at her failure to acquire a Shinjin (to her knowledge he simply wanted to test his ability with a new Evangelion they were developing.) to a serious face that looked like a war was coming.
Gendo knew what the words meant, it meant a threat. SEELE had informed him of the existence of a galactic power that makes the technology and military power of the United States look like a single insane moron with a twig for a weapon as afterall what could one nation of one planet do against a galactic power with thousands of worlds to use resources from.
"Thank you for the report, we'll deal with this another way, resume your normal duties, that is all Captain, dismissed." are the words he decides to say.
Later at his house he looks to the sky, he notices a streak of light in the sky which would seem to be a falling star though Gendo can't help but notice a green hue to the streak, something that feels familiar though somehow escapes his memory.
POV Shift - Ray Zenji, Saturday.
Not much was happening as Ray was merely sitting on his couch watching TV when his cell phone rang, the caller was Dexter McPhereson.
As Ray answered Dexter spoke without giving him a chance to even say hello, saying "What is this I hear about a 'Show of Force'. It's only because of our plans that I've not intercepted that pod which landed in North Korea which was most definitely carrying southern forces!"
Ray replied, saying "NERV attempted to strong arm me into being their little pet Shinjin for Project Zeus, I directly showed their attack dog Katsuragi Misato what I could do but it isn't enough. SEELE is secretly supplying nuclear materials to North Korea and has been for some time, to show them exactly what will happen if they make a serious move on Haruhi or Sasaki I made arrangements for their latest shipment to be lost in transit, as for the aftermath, there are plenty of places to hide three fighting machines."
Dexter sighed on the other end and said "Fine, but you could have used terrestrial methods, you do know that Mandark does under the table actions." Ray replied "I don't trust him, you may have patched things up with the guy but I have no inclination to trust him at all. The Martians are capable of a surgical strike and are able to hide themselves very well, this is not the first time I've done something like this and you know it." Ray hangs up, knowing the conversation isn't going to go anywhere and the decision was made and because of other treaties, Dexter was forced to let this happen though he did not exactly hate it as he had been looking for any excuse whatsoever to deploy DexCorp's peacekeeping branch to North Korea and put an end to their status as a nuclear power.
Eastern wilderness of North Korea, an installation not on the map.
A convoy made its way along a dirt path towards a supply base SEELE had secretly set up in the late 90s.
It consisted of more than just nuclear materials, they were also using the facility to develop and hold materials for Project Zeus though this information was still out of the IKR's reach, not that it would matter much more as directly affront of the convoy a large cylinder struct the ground with heavy force though not as much as it should have been for the size of the object, it should have decimated the terrain around them.
The Convoy however seemed to have information on what it was as they began firing at the pod only for little effect to happen.
After about 20 minutes a large metal screw dropped from the other end of the pod, likely having been opening for the duration of the attack and two large metal legs extended from the pod, as more shells fired at the target, this time specifically the legs which were hard to hit because of their thin construction though the few hits had no apparent affect.
A large, insect like head with two green bug eye styled windows walked out with it's third leg behind it making itself known, the larger target made the SEELE forces able to hit it more but still no signs of damage were known as the machine moved to turn and face the convoy, some weaponry hit the windows to no effect as well, most likely reinforced somehow, then the Machine's lone turret under it's main body fired an orange arc of energy which laid waste to it's targets.
The Heat Ray swept in a 90 degree arc, taking out half the convoy effortlessly as another Fighting Machine left the pod and engaged another SEELE force approaching from the opposite side, firing a canister from a top mounted artillery piece and though it hit with no explosion it released a black dust which began to kill the soldiers inside the cloud though suffocation and also began to wither away their bodies and equipment, the martians having used a potent chemical weapon which acted both like gas and acid, eating away more than 70% of personnel and 32% of tanks, trucks and other mechanical targets.
As both SEELE units were devastated a final and third Fighting Machine left the pod and the three formed a triangle around it, firing their heat rays and removing evidence of the pod from the area, leaving behind nothing but a charred crater and ashes.
The Fighting Machines continued their advance towards the nearby base and were met by a heavy barrage of missiles, cannon fire and in some cases even small arms fire from the soldiers. This time the sheer number of attacks damaged one of the Fighting Machines with a small tear in the main body's armor though nowhere near enough to eliminate it's mobility or fighting strength as the three machines in unison fired black dust canisters at the base and then discharged their heat rays against the defenses, clearing enemy after enemy, their common tactic with the heat ray was with single targets a short duration burst, against small groups they moved from victim to victim and against a large force they tend to sweep the beam in 90 degree arcs to cover a large berth, as if reaping the land with a scythe.
Standing 50 feet tall the fighting machines destroyed the base within 30 minutes, leaving no survivors to relay news of the attack, the Martians then proceeded to advance north towards the wilderness, presumably to remain hidden from the world until the time comes for them to attack again or return home.
To be continued...