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.

Three

There was nothing left of Britain except for a sea of fire and destruction. Her iconic landmarks had been destroyed, reduced to rubble to dust. As we passed over the countryside, our eyes could make out various shapes which were crawling about the surface. It was hard to describe them as they moved about in the thick smog. Attempting to find a safe drop zone, Captain Blue kept his eyes open for a clearing. There was an open field which sat by a country lane. It had been scorched but the flames had already died out. It was the perfect place to land which would hopefully be close to some sort of transport. Once we lowered our height, we both threw the ejector switches. We hurled through the air as we watched our jet spiral out of control, resulting in a fireball in the neighboring field.

The wind carried us towards our desired target. The cylinders kept on falling, striking the now dead horizon with a loud boom. We gently touched down in the field and unfastened our chutes. The air smelt of blood and fire. I always imagined that this was how hell smells like. What nightmarish world did we stumble into? While I took in these horrid surrounding, Captain Blue went on ahead with his digital compass.

"There is a service station about three miles up the road." He said. "It's one of ours. If we're lucky, it should still have an SPV inside."

"Let's get moving," I replied as my senses started to creep up on me. "We are not safe here."

Captain Blue raised an eyebrow. "I can't see or hear anything? The whole place is deserted."

"Looks can be deceiving, Adam. I feel as if something is coming this way. Only I can't tell where. Where are we exactly?"

"According to this, We've landed approximately Ten Miles away from Ashford. I have a strong fix on the Doctor's location. I guess that's where we're going."

Following the road, we came to the small service station in question. It remained in one piece. The glass box was shattered. Its attendant was missing, possibly killed by the Martians. Amongst the debris, I discovered the activation controls for the SPV. Thankfully, they remained intact. The power still worked and with the flip of the switch, the garage doors flung open. The SPV inside still remained intact. We approached the vehicle when a loud, foreign whale prevented me from entering. A few seconds later, the sound came again. This time it grew closer with a sound that roared liked thunder.

ULLAA!

A huge metallic Tri-Pod appeared over the horizon. It's three enormous treads flattened the tree line in front of it. It made it's way across the field towards us at an impressive rate of speed. We kept absolutely still as to not draw it's attention as it approached the derelict station. I got a good look at the hood of this thing through the SPV's TV monitor. An Alien sat inside the hood which appeared to be designed for his shape. Two metallic baskets sat underneath the main body accompanied by a series of metallic flowing tentacles that ripped the vegetation apart as it moved. The ghostly heat ray had been mounted on the left side of the body. It scanned the area looking for targets to fire on. A foot smashed the ground right in front of us and then raised again, narrowly missing the station. Luckily for us, it didn't spot us. We watched it stride away until it vanished within the smoke and fog.

"What was that thing? And where was it going?"

"I don't know, but there could well be more of them," I replied. "We better get moving."

We hit the open road and found ourselves all alone again. We repeatedly heard the Alien's war cry, but couldn't see anything. The SPV barged its way through smoldering debris like a juggernaut. Eventually, we approached the slip road into Ashford where the silhouette of tripods danced across the horizon. Their heat rays lit up the sky like summer lightning. The streets were deserted. Fires ravaged office blocks and shop fronts. The trouble came from the center of town. A huge riot had engulfed the town center. People climbed on top of each other, risking their lives over the last morsels of food, water and other perishables that the town had left to offer. Looters and rioters took to the streets with bricks and glass bottles, destroying and pillaging anything they could lay their hands on. Unfortunately for us, they had blocked access to the laboratories where the Doctor was hiding. Doctor Pal had hidden behind an upturned desk, shielding himself from the ravaged horde of survivors. We had to get him out of there and fast.

"We must draw the crowd away from the Labs," I said as I activated the SPV's cannon. "A small discharge to the right should scare them off."

"So this is what mankind resorts too when they feel that all hope is lost. Look at them. It's like stepping into a Zombie apocalypse." Captain Blue added.

"I know what you mean. The amount of noise that they are making is bound to attract unwanted attention. We better make this quick."

Aiming the SPV's cannon, I fired a shot at the neighboring building. The crowd scurried away at the sound of the explosion. Captain Blue covered me while I left the vehicle to retrieve the doctor. I pulled out my sidearm and shot the glass to pieces. Doctor Pal sat there in a fetal position. He looked up at me with his red fatigued eyes as I gestured to help him stand.

I greeted him calmly with an impromptu handshake. "Doctor Matthew Pal?"

"Y-Yes?" He stuttered.

"I'm Captain Scarlet from Spectrum. We've come to get you out of here. Can you come with me please?"

Grabbing his briefcase, I hurried the Doctor into the SPV. We had just reached it to the door when suddenly, that almighty roar returned.

ULLAA!

We threw the SPV in reverse and caught a glimpse of a tripod smashing its way towards us. Another raised its body behind it. Quickly bearing down on our position, the first tripod fired its heat ray. It's beam of fire, obliterated the Laboratories. We had no choice but to run. Sped out of there, narrowly avoiding the ray's destruction. It carved up the road around us we made our escape. When we approached the exit for the motorway, it seemed that luck was on our side.

"Look!" Blue shouted. "Up there! It's the Angels!"

The Angels zipped across the blood-red sky, aiming their sights straight at the hoods of the death machines. The first to go in was Symphony Angel. The Tripods focused their heat rays on the incoming targets, but their lack of mobility was no match for the supersonic fighters. Symphony made her attack run. Her missiles bounced off the Alien's invisible force field. Pulling away to a safe distance, she made a quick assessment of the situation. Rhapsody and Harmony both decided to aim for the legs. Harmony made the first past, severing the legs of a tripod in two. It crashed into the ground with a growl which somehow provoked the other one. It spun around and fired its heat ray at Harmony's aircraft. She pulled up a second too late. Her engine exploded, forcing the fighter to go into a nose dive. The Tripod locked it's heat ray onto her for the kill shot when it was taken off guard from behind. Rhapsody flew in and fired her missiles straight at what looked like an exhaust port. Multiple explosions rocked the hood of the fighting machine from the inside out Smoke poured out of the hood as it came crashing down right on top of a suburb.

Harmony couldn't pull out of the dive. She was able to eject just moments before her fighter collided with the ground. Rhapsody radioed in that she would land and attend to Harmony while we focus on getting the Doctor to safety. Soon, we were heading back towards London, stopping at nothing. Doctor Pal gathered his wits together in the passenger seat.

"Are you hurt, Doctor?" I asked him.

"No. I'm fine. Thank you, Captain." He replied as he opened his briefcase. "Fortunately, all my research is intact. As soon as we get to the emergency powers bunker in London, the better."

"What exactly did you discover, Doctor?" I asked. "General Autumn said that you examined a dead alien once the army had killed it. How?"

"I had special clearance to examine it." The Doctor explained. "I was sent to Kent by the World Government to get a look at where these creatures come from. I spent the past few hours examining the blood and tissue cell samples which I took from it. So far I'm convinced that these creatures are the original Martian species that ruled the planet before The Mysterons."

"That's a hell of a statement, Doctor," Blue replied. "How can you be sure?"

The Doctor delved deeper into his theories and beliefs. "They exhibit the basic functions one would need to survive on the Martian surface. It's my belief that they were once chased off their planet when The Mysterons colonized it. Then, once they figured out how to take their planet back, then sort out The Mysterons as sport, eradicating them off the face of the planet. My guess is that they studied our war with them and learned of our weaknesses before launching an attack of their own. Only I've discovered a way to beat them. We just need the technology and the time to make this miracle happen."

That word pricked my conscience. "A miracle?"

"Captain, the Martian died from microscopic bacteria. The Army thought that they had shot it to pieces, but in fact, it was already on the verge of death before it left the Cylinder. I found traces of our influenza and flu viruses in its bloodstream. They built these tripod machines to filter out the bacteria and keep them alive. We need to find a way to pierce the hoods of those contraptions, bringing them down once and for all."

"We'll get you there as fast as we can, Doctor," I assured him. "This SPV is the safest place to be at this moment. Should we stop, do not under any circumstances, leave the vehicle."

Doctor Pal agreed with my request. "I won't move a muscle, Captain. Don't worry."

As we continued onwards, something appeared in the corner of my eye. A wave of Tripods strode across the countryside heading towards the coast. Something appeared to be luring them there. A feeling sat in my gut, urging me on to follow them.

"Turn this vehicle around," I said, acting on my instincts. "We've got to follow those tripods."

Captain Blue jerked his head towards me. "What!? Are you crazy!?"

"Maybe," I replied. "But I feel like we're about to turn our backs on people who need our help. At least stop the SPV and I'll go. You get the Doctor to the bunker."

Captain Blue took a few seconds to think it over all the while the Tripods continued their advance.

"S.I.R, Paul. If you're going, then we all are. I'll get you there."

We spun around and headed back the way we came. We kept the Tripods within visual range as we sped down the motorway towards the ruins of Folkestone. My gut instincts had done it once again. The Martians were heading for Dover. As we sped into the town and down towards the port, we were met with the panic-stricken crowds of people that all swept towards the port. There were no countermeasures put in place to save their souls. Families battled families, the rich rubbed elbows with the poor, animals snarled and growled and the remains of incarcerated bodies covered the streets. It seemed as if the Martians were rounding these people up like how a herder rounds up his flock. Three WASP battleships appeared in the channel but were instantly destroyed by the Martians menacing Heat ray. They didn't stand a chance. Then a squadron of WASP Spearhead jets arrived on the scene in an attempt to ward them off. Unlike the Angel's however, the Heat Rays made short work of them too. The people below battled to board the three passenger ships that were leaving for the channel. They were all sitting ducks down there. I had to help them somehow. I had to find a way.

To Be Continued.