Chapter 4 - Parvo
Parvo's base was larger than anyone had anticipated. Large towers and loads of machinery were all to be expected, but that was all there was to it. The structure was exceedingly simple in design and only had a single basement level. "They must not be done expanding yet." The elkhound suggested.
"You're probably right." Sophie agreed as she fogged over one of the security cameras.
Chance walked over to the camera, and gripped it for a moment. Of all the X-Generation Rovers, he was having the easiest time with his powers. Chance stood still for a moment, and then crushed the camera. "There," he said with a smile of success, "I've made it so that none of their cameras in this area will show us. It'll only last a short while, though. We have to move."
The mission was to learn as much as they could about this place. However, nothing seemed to stand out, give or take the dogs walking like men. Then, the Rovers stumbled upon a particular elevator. "Okay, elkhound and Sophie. Get down there and figure out what's in that basement. Bliss, you and I are going to see if we can give this Parvo guy a visit." Chance ordered. "Oh, and if anyone sees Tialer and Breckenridge, keep them with you."
The elkhound stepped into the elevator, checking the safety on his rifle. He, Chance and Tialer were the only ones who brought firearms. Sophie stepped into the elevator next to the elkhound; dropping the temperature ten degrees. She pushed the down button and the large metal doors closed. It was a mere thirty second ride, but the silence was deafening, making the ride last an hour. When the door opened, Sophie stepped out first, but stopped as though she had frozen herself. The elkhound saw why, and felt his blood drop to his toes. Carefully…very carefully, the elkhound put his rifle on his back where it attached to his armor.
The basement was gigantic and only one huge room. In the center of the room was a single super laser cannon of some kind. They were expensive, that was for sure. The Space Rover vessels had them, but that wasn't what Sophie and the elkhound had frozen over. Lining the walls and taking a good deal of the room's empty space were a variety of missiles. All over them were an equally diverse variety of symbols. Bio-weapons, SCUDs, even a small nuclear arsenal. "Where did he get all of this!?" Sophie whispered in horror.
"I don't know, but I'm suddenly not quite comfortable being here." The elkhound replied, backing to the elevator.
"I agree." Sophie said. She spun quickly, and bumped into one of the stacked missiles. They both gasped as it toppled onto the ground with a loud clang. They were frozen solid for a moment. Nothing happened. The elkhound slowly regained control of his muscles, but his eyes wouldn't peel away from the atomic symbol.
"Don't do that again." He said monotone.
Sophie made her way to the elevator very carefully. They pressed the up button, and it wasn't until the doors were closed that they realized they had both been holding their breath.
Elsewhere, Chance and Bliss made their way to what looked to be a control room of some kind. Chance had no trouble getting through the blast-proof door. All it took was a mechanical tweak at the control panel. The room had a series of computer stations and a single super-computer at the front of the room with a computer monitor the size of a theater screen. Bliss covered the door while Chance got to work. He activated the computer and it asked him for a password. He ran his hand over the keyboard. The computer let him in. "I love my power." He laughed to himself.
"So, what do we have here?" Bliss asked, coming to his side.
"That will take me a second. He's got a different password for every level of security…and…I'm in! Okay." Chance read the data that flashed across the screen. "Looks like Parvo-boy has his own black market going. Rifles, blasters, planes, and…" his breath caught.
Bliss couldn't make two cents of the gibberish on the screen. Just then, the main door opened. Chance ran his hand over the keyboard, closing all applications he had opened, and they both jumped for the cover of some near-by pipe work. Parvo walked in with a large group of men and women. "Looks like the redesigning guys cleaned this place up pretty good. Groomer! Let' get this place back up to speed."
Groomer, a scary looking woman wearing a red jumpsuit, nodded her head. "Yes, general." She replied in a heavy Irish accent. Bliss counted the number of people in the room. She tapped Chance on the shoulder and flashed five fingers five times, and then held up three fingers. Twenty eight people between them and the door. Luckily, the pipe work they were hiding behind was right next to the supercomputer. Chance smiled. It would be a jump, but there was a place generated by the computer that would hide him from view. He just had to get there without being seen. He looked at Bliss, but she already knew what he wanted. Concentrating hard, Bliss shot an ultra thin line of smoke across the ground. She closed her eyes, and was able to "see" what the smoke "saw." She weaved the small line across the room. A guard at the other side of the room suddenly toppled over. Everyone looked over to see what the commotion was.
The guard got back to his feet and looked down at the ground, but the smoke was already gone, and Chance was already in place. There was a deal of commotion in the room. Chance took the opportunity to insert a memory drive into the super computer. It began downloading all of the major data. A file-progress sign appeared on screen. Chance touched the side of the computer, and concentrated. The pop-up alert was closed. He hoped against hope that it had gone unnoticed.
The loud speaker in the room suddenly popped. "General Parvo, sir." The speaker on the other side said.
"Yes, what is it?" Parvo asked, followed by a series of coughs.
"Sir, someone's knocked one of the missiles loose. I don't see any damage on it, but you may want to hear this."
"What is it?"
"There's a lock of dog fur stuck to it."
Groomer drew her pistol. "Road Rovers!" she exclaimed.
"Thank you, soldier. Call in if you see anything. I'm sending you back up."
"Thank you, sir. Oh. Wow, it just got really cold in here."
Chance winced. Getting out of here wasn't going to be any walk in the park. He closed his eyes, and got to work on checking the computer for a self destruct.
A small troop of guards came into the room right then, carrying the elkhound with them. Chance bit his tongue, but realized Sophie wasn't with them. "Sir, we caught this guy running around in the armory. He had this on him." The guard handed over the rifle. The elkhound's head was bowed, and he looked limp.
Parvo gripped the elkhound's Muzzle, lifting his head. "You aint one of the regulars, are you? What's wrong, the Rover's finally got to start looking for new talent? Getting too old for their game?" Parvo asked, patting the elkhound on the head.
The elkhound did nothing, but as he was putting his head back down, he had a very distinct smile on his face. Chance looked over to Bliss, and she nodded. She had seen it too. Chance had to put this aside. The memory drive was done. He reached around the corner, and quietly pulled it out. He slipped it into his utility belt and returned his attention to the scene at hand.
Groomer was walking over to the elkhound. "Open him up if you have to, but figure out what he's doing here, and who he's with." Parvo said. The elkhound was still smiling, but it was an unsure smile now. Chance crossed his fingers. "C'mon, kid. You can teleport. Get out of there." He whispered to himself. There was a loud clanging noise, suddenly.
Pause.
Clang!
Pause.
Clang!
Everyone looked around as the metal and concrete walls shuttered visably. The guards switched their guns off of safety, and the men at the computers shifted nervously. There was a noise like someone moaning, and then a very distinct, clear, and very loud CLA-KLANG! The blast-proof door was heaved off of it's hinges, and smashed to the floor, cracking the metal plates, and making most of the people in the room cover their ears.
Tialer walked into the room with Brek right behind her. "Told you I could do it." He said dusting off his hands.
"Too bad you couldn't do that with the guards outside. The one almost had your tail." Tialer replied.
"In all fairness, that guy was pretty big." Brek said in a childish tone.
Tialer looked up from her rifle. "Oh. We're not alone."
Brek looked up from his muscle, and spotted Parvo and Groomer, who had taken a position in front of the computer, blasters ready. "More new Rovers?" Groomer asked, looking at the ruined door.
"Yeah. I'm a charm like that." Brek flexed. Tialer rubbed her eyes.
Chance motioned for Bliss to sneak around back. She nodded and began making her way around the piping. The elkhound had been shaken loose of his guards, and now stood with Brek and Tialer. "For the note, I never told him to do that." He told Tialer. She rolled her eyes.
"Rovers. Welcome to my new layer. Doubtless you already know what I'm doing here, so I'm afraid you can't leave." Parvo said, motioning for his guards to take positions. They did so. "I'll admit that I'm very impressed, but you're out gunned and out numbered. I advise you surrender."
One of the men at the computers shivered. "Is it cold in here?"
A white steam suddenly shot across the room, freezing the poor man's arms and legs in place. There was a panic, and some of the men got up to run, but the only exit was blocked by three Rovers, one of which had just torn a blast-door right off of its hinges. In a matter of thirty seconds, everyone was frozen. Parvo and Groomer yanked at their chilly bindings, but were rewarded with getting their hands frozen to their feet. "What just happened!?" Parvo exclaimed.
Sophie stepped out of a shadow at the side of the room, and gave a polite smile. "That would be me." She said. Bliss and Chance came out from their hiding place at that moment. All six Rovers were there. "Oh, wait. Where's Muzzle?" Chance asked. Everyone shrugged. There was a terrified yell down the hall. Three guards came running down the hall, their clothes ripped and shredded. Sophie froze them in place. Muzzle came hopping around the corer.
"How'd he manage that in his restrainer?" Chance pondered aloud.
"I honestly don't want to know." Tialer said. "No, seriously. Any of you find out…don't tell me."
Brek walked over and wheeled Muzzle over to the rest of the X-Gen. "Gang's all here." Brek said, patting Muzzle's head.
"And that means that this party is over." Chance announced. He walked over to the supercomputer, and ran his hand over the keyboard. "I found a way to set off the self destruct so that it destroys the nuclear arsenal too. Best part is that they won't go off."
"No, don't! You can't!" Parvo begged.
Chance looked up the screen. "I've disabled all cancellation sequences. We've got five minuets." Chance was suddenly blind sided. The Groomer had fought her way free of the ice. She poured out three separate shots at Sophie. Her armor absorbed all three shots, but she lost her breath from the impact. By the time the Rovers could react, Parvo was free. Without Sophie controlling it, the ice was quickly melting. Chance ran his hand over the computer, but it was too late. The self destruct was activated. The Rovers jumped into action. Every second, more guards were getting loose. Many of them ran for all they were worth, but some of them began opening fire on the Rovers. Brek utilized a desk as a baseball bat. Tialer grabbed Sophie. "I'll get her out of here!"
Bliss began throwing punches, knocking guards across the room. She was still a pretty bad shot, though. The elkhound didn't have a weapon now, but he wasn't out of the fight quite yet. He ran to the pipe work, and pried one of the thinner pipes loose. It was only about the size of a baseball bat, but it would work. The elkhound smashed the barrel of a guard's gun, then landed a kick to his chest.
Parvo watched the action, and looked at the screen. He tapped Groomer on the shoulder, and they made a break for an emergency exit. The elkhound saw this, but he was too far off. Instead, the elkhound ran full speed for Muzzle, who was foaming at the mouth in his cart. The elkhound tore at the straps, and paused. "Go Muzzle em'!" he told Muzzle. The rabid dog ripped right through the miniature battle filed, but didn't make it in time. They were already gone. Muzzle's furry was released on a group of guards instead. It was two minuets before Chance could see clearly again. He looked at the computer screen. Only two minuets and thirty seconds!
"Rovers! We have to go, NOW!" he yelled. His footing was unstable, but he managed to work up a jog. Brek looked at his broken up desk, and threw it at a wall. Most of the guards were already gone. He scooped up a small number of the rest, and ran for the door. Muzzle, strapped back into his cart, was pushed by Bliss. The elkhound looked at the super computer for a moment before dropping the rod, and taking up chase.
The building began to rumble as some of the charges began to go off. This thing was going to collapse on them! The Rovers pressed themselves as hard as they could. "We've got thirty seconds till this place goes sky-high!" Chance yelled.
"There's the end!" Bliss called back. Brek and the elkhound were both already outside. Muzzle and Bliss made it out. While Chance was only ten yards from the exit, the doorway and most of the ten yards collapsed.
"Chance! Bliss screamed. Brek and the elkhound ran for the doorway. "Get the jet ready!" Brek yelled back.
The elkhound already knew what was going to happen. Brek was going to try and dig his way in, but there was only a few seconds left. "Go back to the others! The elkhound yelled as they ran.
"What? No! I…"
"I wasn't asking!" the elkhound yelled as he sped up. Brek stumbled, and stopped. The elkhound hardly heard Brek call back "Good luck!"
The elkhound reached the outside wall, still running, and closed his eyes, hoping this would work. He jumped, as though her were diving through a hoop, and felt himself…lighten. He felt lighter…weightless. He opened his eyes, and the world had a whole new look. It was as though the entire world were being obscured by that smoke-looking stuff that Bliss gave off when she was using her power. Time almost stopped moving and he could see jets of flaming explosions move as though they were honey. The elkhound realized he was still outside. He gave the wall an experimental push, and his hand slipped right through. He held his breath, and stepped forward. The wall was thick, and he had to take several paces before he made it through. It was dark in there, and the world still moved in slow motion. He looked around for Chance. It took a moment, but he noticed Chance face up and buried to his abs under a pile of rocks and cement. The only white parts of the border collie's body were soot-black. That's why it had taken a second. In the super-slow motion world, the elkhound could see that Chance was trying to dig himself out. He had to figure out how to get out of this slow motion place and help Chance. The elkhound closed his eyes, and concentrated hard. Nothing. Down the hall, a ball of honey-like fire suddenly popped out of the corner. The elkhound would only have about seven seconds once time shifted back. He tried again and again to return to time. Nothing, nothing, nothing. "Gha!" he yelled in frustration. He was not about to let his new friend die! The elkhound took a deep breath, and thought for a second. When he had dove at the wall outside, he had relaxed for a split second. He had been thinking about what would happen if he were wrong. He'd hit the wall and fall face flat to the ground. Relaxed was the wrong word, in the sense that it was a forced relaxation. The elkhound let his arms loose, and took another breath. The smoky fire seemed to evaporate, and time resumed. Chance looked up in shock. "I thought I told you to run!"
"You did!" the elkhound grabbed one of the large rocks, and threw it aside. The rising temperature reminded him that the fire wasn't moving like honey anymore. He grabbed Chance's hand, and force-relaxed. The world slowed to a near stop. He opened his eyes, and looked at Chance…who was looking around in shock.
"How did you do that?" he asked.
"I'm not completely sure." The elkhound admitted.
"Close call too." Chance pointed behind the elkhound. The elkhound turned around, and his nose touched the wall of honey-fire. He felt his nose begin to cook, and pulled back.
"Just don't let go of my hand. I think it'll send you back." Chance's grip tightened. "I should be able just to pull you out now."
The elkhound pulled at Chance, and sure enough, he came loose. He tried to help Chance up, but Chance's legs gave out before he was even up. "I think something stabbed me when the roof came down." Sure enough. Chance's hip was bleeding. "Jeeze. Talk about hip-displacia." Aside from that, Chance's legs were a catastrophe. A bone popped out near his knee and the elkhound didn't like how limply they hung.
The elkhound threw Chance over his shoulder, and walked through the wall. "Cool." Chance muttered. The elkhound suddenly lost his energy, and the world came back into time. He quickly went back into the slow world and looked behind him; the building was beginning to erupt. He half-jogged toward the team, making it about a hundred yards at a time. "You know, The Master did say that your telekinesis was short range." Chance said. "Maybe that's why you can only do a hundred yards at a time?"
"Or it's on a timed basis. Either way, that's good enough for me. I can't think of a single wall that's a hundred yards thick."
Chance laughed, which was cut short from the pain in his side and legs.