Captain Scarlet

and

The War of the Worlds

by Lee Homer

Disclaimer: All rights reserved. Captain Scarlet and The War of the Worlds belong to the respected properties of ITV and Anderson Entertainment and The Wells estate.

Two

The ever curious crowd remained at the crater's edge, refusing to move at the site of Cylinder. Additional agents arrived to control them, but their attempts had failed. There was no point in keeping this a secret. The whole of Woking was sure to have known about it by now. As I sat there awaiting the visitors' next move, my cap microphone swung down in front of my lips. The Colonel's voice crackled over the small reliever. We were about to make the next move.

"Captain Scarlet, I have instructed a Spectrum Helicopter to overfly the area and drop a lens flare into the Cylinder." He said. "Hopefully, the flares will provide us with a detailed looked at the Martians."

I don't know why, but I was opposed to this idea. Something had told me that this wasn't going to be a friendly visit. I could hear the sounds of mechanical hammering coming from the pit. The creatures appeared to be building something.

"Sir, I would advise against it," I replied as I reported the situation. "I can hear some sort of construction work coming from inside the cylinder. Dropping flares might provoke them."

As always, the Colonel barked at me. "I understand the risk, Captain, but it is imperative that we try to communicate with them! We must know what we're dealing with! We must know if they are hostile! Report to me as soon as the helicopter has passed over."

Before I could try and reason with him again, the Colonel finished his transmission. I had no concept of time. No knowledge of when the helicopter would get here. The bushes rustled behind me, catching me off guard. I began to move for my pistol when Captain's Blue and Magenta appeared from within the foliage. Captain Magenta had gotten into a scuffle by the looks of things. His lip had swollen and his left eye was black.

"What happened?" I asked, examining his face.

"I'm sorry, Captain." He replied in a defeatist tone. "I screwed up. The crowd overpowered us."

"Well, it doesn't matter now. Any moment now, a helicopter is going to come over and drop flares into that thing."

"They're crazy!" Blue shouted. "If they do that, they could retaliate! I've got to stop that chopper."

"The Colonel issued the order," I replied, grabbing his arm. "There's no sense in arguing about it now. Here it comes."

Our eyes looked up at the sky in time to see the Spectrum Helicopter appear over the trees. It came to a hover position over the cylinder, dropped a series of red illuminated flares and then cleared the area all within a matter of seconds. It didn't take long for the creatures to react to the flares. The sounds of hammering stopped. An eerie silence descended over the common. We stood there waiting for their response. We got it.

A huge object rose up from the cylinder. It resembled the shape of a large camera that had been mounted to a tripod. It spun around, facing the direction of the crowd. Panicked by the sight of this thing, the crowd began to run just as this thing fired an unearthly ray of heat at them. It canvassed the whole area, leaping from person to person as it went. We watched on in horror as each man and woman was instantly turned into fire. This was their response and we had to stop it while we still could. I called up to the awaiting Angels.

"Captain Scarlet to Destiny Angel. Lock onto to the Cylinder and attack." I said as I gave the order. "Seek and destroy!"

"S.I.G," Destiny replied.

"We better get out of here ourselves," Blue said as we pulled us both away from the crater's edge. "That thing can come after us and I don't fancy our chances."

The shock had already hit Captain Magenta. "Did you see what they did? All those people... gone... just gone."

"Come on, we've got to get out of here," I said calmly as I rallied my fellow agent. "Pull yourself together, Captain."

The mysterious heat ray lingered above the rim, surveying the area. The three Angel fighters appeared over the area. After a few passes, Destiny, Rhapsody, and Melody prepared their attack runs. I could hear the three of them conversing over my radio receiver. They had no doubt rehearsed for this scenario. The first voice was that of Destiny.

"Okay girls, you know what to do. Follow my lead and aim for their weapon. Once it is taken out, aim for the inside of the object."

"S.I.G. Destiny," Rhapsody said. "Good luck and do be careful. I'll cover your right."

"I'll be right behind you," Melody added. "Let's go."

We watched in suspense as the three Angel fighters closed in on the Cylinder. Destiny opened fire and pulled up just in time. A small detonation rocked the heat ray, but it still stood. In swung the camera upwards towards and fired its mysterious death ray at them. The blistering ray of fire, scraped the wings of Destiny's craft, melting it away. Before she could recover her trajectory, the heat ray fired again. This time, it hit her engine, forcing her to peel away from the crater. Rhapsody and Melody weren't going to let it scare them off. The two fired shots in tandem with one another, in an attempt to keep the alien busy. Perhaps they thought that the heat ray would collapse in on itself that way. It was an old trick in the book but sadly a futile one at best. The two fighters dodged and weaved the heat ray beam for as long as their engines could allow them. They were dancing with the devil up there and we were powerless on the ground with no way to help them. Melody took one final shot at the interior of the cylinder. The missiles hit their target with an ineffective result. I could hear their frustrated voices over the receiver. They had tried their best.

"Angel Two to Angel leader. Destiny, did you get clear?"

"Just about made it, Rhapsody. Are you both okay?"

"It's no use. We fired everything we got at it and it did even get a scratch. That weapon of theirs is too powerful."

"It looks like we have no choice, girls. Return to base."

"I agree," I said as I entered their conversation. "All Angels return to base. There's nothing more we can do here."

Suddenly, the heat ray began to rotate once again. This time, it was aimed at us. I grabbed my two friends and hurled them to the ground. I wasn't going to let this mysterious death strike us down so soon. I was convinced this thing could even incinerate me despite my powers of retro-metabolism. The heat ray fired in our direction. The whole area around us erupted into flames. The luscious green vegetation had been burned into a cinder. We had one chance to get out of there. On the count of three, we picked ourselves up and bolted towards the street where our car awaited. As our hearts raced, we felt that we were being toyed with. This mysterious death could easily pick us off before we reached safety. When we arrived at the roadblock, we took comfort in knowing that we were now out of range of the heat ray despite the reality that it wouldn't be for long. We piled into the car just as the evacuation sirens started.

Heading out of town towards the road, a large red glow lingered over the trees where the common once sat. Woking would soon be within the range of their weapon. It was only a matter of time. Captain Blue assessed the three of us for any burns, breakages or contusions. Apart from delayed shock, we were all physically sound. We quickly drove into a frantic queue of traffic on the edge of town. We watched on as the World Army rolled in its artillery. The order had been sounded to form a cordon around the common. I didn't want to think of their chances.

"We better get back to Cloudbase." Blue piped up. "We need to know what's going on up there. Do you think the airports will still be open?"

"If they received the word in time, then they would have closed their doors and evacuated everybody. However, that won't stop us." I replied as I tried to wrap my brain around a question. "How could a race so primitive in technology compared to the Mysterons, be so much more deadly? It just doesn't make any sense!"

"Well, we should know more once we return to base," Blue replied as he wiped the sweat and blood from his face. "This has to be a dream."

"I wish it were," I said.

I recognized the unfamiliar feeling of fear that had buried itself in my friend's heart. Captain Blue was always known for his sheer defiance and bravery. Nothing could scare him or deter him away from the situation at hand. He always had a reputation for letting nothing stand in his way. Today seemed to have changed everything. How could you stop a force that you couldn't begin to understand? I often asked this about the Mysterons, yet we somehow defeated them in most cases. I felt angry at our retreat and had the urge to spin this car around and return to the scene of the calamity. It felt wrong to run. Arriving at the airport gates, I stepped on the accelerator. We crashed through the gates and sped towards our awaiting jet. We climbed aboard and made sure that the area was free of obstructions. Seizing our moment, we took off and made a hasty return to Cloudbase. Another Cylinder glided across the sky ahead of us. It was quickly followed by another and another until a green glow lit up the horizon.

After what felt like an eternity, we touched down on the hangar deck. It was so calm and tranquil. Everything had continued to operate as it did for countless years. The Angels sat there in the hangar. All three of them were charred and damaged, but not completely beyond repair. We walked through the decks of the base, taking in the invitingly calm environment around us. I always believed that Cloudbase was untouchable. I hoped that it still would be.

In the conference room, Colonel White had summoned an emergency meeting with various other Spectrum and World Forces commanders. Captain Ochre sat there in the corner nursing a bandaged arm. Doctor Fawn was attending to his wounds. He had seen some action of his own. The Colonel called us over and briefed us on the situation.

"Gentlemen. Thank heavens you are okay." He said as he introduced us to the fellow officers. "We have been analyzing the reports since they developed. Similar incidents of unidentified attacks have surfaced all over the worlds. At Fifteen Hundred Hours today, a second cylinder touched down outside of Glasgow, Scotland. Following reports say that further Cylinders have touched down outside Liverpool, Belfast, and Manchester."

"They're coming in droves." I gasped as I studied the reports. "Just take a look at these reports. "New York has three of them. Two crashed near Tokyo Bay. One has just landed near the Russian - Ukrainian border. We couldn't even hope to send our forces there."

"We've been in contact with the Russian Government." Replied one of the Generals. "They are taking care of it. We've been keeping in contact with Space City. They report that a Cylinder has crashed not far from their base. It took out three XL crafts as it landed and the personnel at Glenn Field has been evacuated after a Cylinder crashed into the main control tower. However, there is one reoccurring problem that happens. As soon as a Cylinder touches down, no more news comes out of that area."

I took a deep breath and asked. "The Heat Ray?"

"That's all the information that we have so far." The Colonel continued, as he glazed over my question. "For added security precautions, Cloudbase will travel to a position over the Himalayan mountains. We hope to avoid any collisions with the Cylinders. We will use this base as the center of operations. All recreational rooms will be used as makeshift medical wings and all aircraft approaching the base within a five-mile radius will be shot down. Constant communication will be in full effect with both the World Space Patrol and the World Aquanaut Security Patrol. This is fast becoming a crisis on an international scale, so we must be alert at all times."

As true to the reputation that he had, Captain Blue stepped forward. "Colonel, I'd like permission to return to Woking and take charge of the fighting there?"

"I admire your devotion to duty, Captain, but I need you here." The Colonel denied. "Until we know of a plan to stop the alien's advance, there isn't much more than we can do. The evacuations of densely populated areas are in full effect."

"Sir, with all due respect, we've got to do something?"

"There is something you can do, Captain. Report to the sick room and get those wounds attended to. Captain Scarlet, I want you to relieve Lieutenant Green and monitor the channels. As soon as a call comes in from Vulcan Laboratories, let me know. "

"S.I.G."

That evening, I sat alone in a quiet control room. The vibrations caused by the base's powerful engines rocked my chair. I had turned my ears into a constant flurry of reports that came in from across the globe. It didn't take me long to notice how each report appeared to unravel the events of the alien's mission. They were now moving out of their cylinders in machines that couldn't be identified properly. The blood-curdling screams told me that people were being burnt to ashes. There was something I could have done to help yet I sat there helplessly listening to their cries. Suddenly, a distinctive call caught my attention. A gruff yet distinguished voice repeatedly called out using a code signal.

"This is General Autumn reporting from Vulcan Labs. Are you reading me, Spectrum? If you can hear my voice...We need your help urgently!"

I bolted from my seat, instantly buzzing the Colonel. Somebody had found a way to destroy the Martians. I knew that if anybody was going to go down there and help then it would be me. I was the obvious choice.

As soon as the Colonel made contact with General Autumn, he got to work on issuing my next assignment. Captain Blue and I knew what was coming.

"Gentlemen, General Autumn reports that a Doctor Matthew Pal has studied one of the creatures since they arrived on Earth. He claims that when the Army captured it outside of its Cylinder in Kent. He was able to take a few blood samples. However, when he went to his office to grab his equipment, he was reported missing."

"What are our orders?" I asked.

"The pair of you will try and make it towards his last location. Should you find him, bring him to the top-secret testing facility in Essex. His notes could hold the key to stopping the attackers. Once you overfly the area, eject and move in via parachutes. Hopefully, the Martians won't detect you. Are there any questions?"

"No, sir. We'll leave right away."

We eventually took off, leaving the safety and comfort of our base behind. With the sun rising over the horizon, we headed towards the chaos and bloodshed that was now ravaging the British Isles.

To Be Continued