Chapter 7: Appreciation

From the main compartment of the Assault Gunship, Agent Breakthru sheathed his Q-10 Laser Rifle and leant out the bow to see the F-22 Jets firing relentlessly at the Mail Office, as the first Gunship started to land a few miles ahead, Yuppie soldiers disembarking and making there way towards the husk of the office, the three most wanted Bohemians nowhere to be seen, the wasteland expanse all that could be viewed from the Gunship, some thirty meters in the air, hovering closer and closer. The Jets were circling around for another attack pass, their rockets creating light bursts in he middle of the night, the smouldering building in front of them, some kind of twisted bonfire. The Yuppies were approaching the burning and crashing Office, the three individuals must have ran or sealed themselves inside to die. The Yuppies had only neared the door when the F-22 Jets fired another barrage of rockets into the Office, bringing half of the two story building crumbling "Raptor Squad! Stand down and pull away!" Breakthru ordered, the planes glided on there wings and swung back around, Breakthru watched as their grey and black sleek wings was a blur as they fled. The next stages of the plan was clear, the second Gunship lands and the group of at least 20 Yuppies step out and advance. As Drowse had commanded, Breakthru and his unit had filled and stopped up all the tunnels and passageways underneath Wembley, and around that area, with an additional order by the Intelligence Devision to engage the Dreamer, and with Lieutenant Lambert activating security feeds to allow instant access helped, not that they worked now, that is. Word had been that the new Direct-Commander if the Intelligence Devision would be on his way as well, along with his Super-Yuppie squadron called 'The Static-X' and inside his special, one-of-a-kind BM-Class Shuttle. Breakthru briefed his Captains "Alright men, inside that wreck of a Mail Office is a group of three Bohemians, capture them, and be quick about it!" The Yuppies nodded and saluted as the blue-striped captain beside him took over "That means Stun-Settings, so buckle your belts and check yourselves soldiers, we're going in!" Breakthru barely heard the rousing words, standing with the Pilots as their Gunship began to hover low and land, the groups already on the ground, Breakthru had ordered them to wait before they approached, a group of about 100 men now stood around the carcass of the structure, Breakthru held his hand up, making the Yuppies advance together. The Agent was wearing his black battle armour, standard issue for a Special Agent in the field, customised with a chunky and fitting black helmet with a silver indent, and mark of the Intelligence Devision. The armour itself was plate, and clanked when Breakthru walked, apart from that, it was strong enough to block swords, and take several bullets and laser blasts. Drawing his Q-10 and setting it to stun by flicking a small switch on it's side, him and his company made slow steps towards the hideout. At first, a few noises from a bush startled a Yuppie Trooper, he raised his Blaster rifle and turned on the searchlight, it cut into the grass patches and inside the bush, a few birds took flight as a small Racoon type of animal leapt out, squealed, and ran away in a scuttle, Breakthru tutted "I don't think it's lethal, Trooper" He quipped, a small smirk etched on his face, the face of the Yuppie in question wasn't as joking. The next sound wasn't as primitive. Gunshots broke the silence and the odd chuckle, it was the girl. Her small and lean figure emerged from the building and began to fire, holding two Glock 16's in her dainty hands, the bullets cutting into the Yuppies armour, she had killed two already at long range before Breakthru decided to get involved. He fired four shots from his blaster rifle, but the dark-haired girl was agile enough to dodge and put a shot into Breakthru's chest armour, grunting, Breakthru loaded a grenade into his handheld launcher and fired it out, the explosion knocked the girl back into the grass with a yelp. The girl was soon up and took out another Yuppie with a headshot, the bullet breaking the glass T-shaped visor of his helmet and blood leaking from it. His Yuppie soldiers ineffective, he charged her opening fire, she out another bulletin into her chest, the sound of the indent stunning him, but not enough for a laser blast to graze her side..allowing him to catch up. Breathing hard, Breakthru drew his Bo-Tool, a marvel really, one small device that could change shape in seconds, to almost anything the wearer wanted. A high-tech feat of engineering, rivalling the Final Annihilator itself, this little slim rectangle could shape into anything, one of the most versatile Technological advances in the universe, and gifted to a select few field Agents. Breakthru held out the device and let it form mechanically into a long black staff, with pulsing electrical clusters at it's end, the yellow sparks fizzed and Breakthru span it and stalked towards the girl, she slotted the pistols onto her back and withdrew a small shank-like knife, one he had seen the Bohemians of the Capital using. Spinning his staff, he went in to engage her.

They were hiding, that much was true. Scaramouche had chosen to go out and fight the oncoming wave of Yuppies, Galileo and Paul simply waited in the underground tunnel they had entered in, trying to figure out why this had happened...Galileo had already checked himself for a tracker, it wouldn't be his downfall this time. Paul considered that an Officer may have reactivated the security cameras, if they still worked, Galileo had countered. Worrying was always Galileo's fault, what if Scaramouche had died out there already? She had taken him from outside the Mail Office when it was first struck by a enemy missile, nearly killing him. Paul was simply knocked down by its wind, and had crawled into the tunnel to hide, Scaramouche waited with them for a while, hearing the relentless attacks by the fighters, and the marching of nearby Troops, Scaramouche had to do her duty and protect the men, taking on a whole company herself, and whoever else was out there. Paul tried several times to get the courage to head up there, but never did. His hair a cut slick of brown, Paul was larger and taller than his previous counterpart, a short long haired girl, and true friend if all Bohemians, Pop still held herself responsible after the old Paul McCartney died in the collapse of the Rebel Archive and the loss of thousands of useful books and scriptures...a Bohemian strike-force had been sent to reclaim the old bookkeepers palace after it was seized by an Initiative's Director, only about twenty of the skilled men and women of the new Bohemian ranks were sent, including Jackson Five and Cliff Richard, but only four had returned...Jackson Five never speaks of that day, Cliff only wishes to forget it. The Laser blasts upstairs were dulling down, as shouts and grunts of anger dulled below the heavy shielding of the 'A113' labeled hatch, so many new Bohemians still awaiting his words, his visit..for some reason Galileo's mind tended to wander at hectic situations...The Guitar. He still had his Guitar, one of the only few things he packed before escaping Wembley, Pop took the Vi-Deo Ta-Pe for her own uses, and Galileo took his Guitar with him, rushing back down the tunnel, he remembered where he left it. Paul tried to grasp his arm "Galileo! Where are you going?!" He yearned the question as Galileo just ran for where he hid the Guitar, he could only hear his own lonely and rushing footsteps, his hair brushed backwards and his open jacket flapping back, running and turning, grabbing a pillar for leverage, he span and rolled into the little compartment, just south of the where the sentry-turrets fired on the, during the smoke, Galileo had hid his powerful omen. Brandishing it and letting it all in, he now knew what he had to do to help Scaramouche and get them out of this situation. The Guitar hasn't changed a bit, he thought to himself, it's still expertly crafted, a true legend of an item...he was thinking of a name, but wasn't imaginative enough in such things for that. The large item was a weight in him, still. Remembering the final battle with the Killer Queen, he used it to open the world and free al the GaGa Kids from their mental shackles. The Killer Queen wasn't alone in that Hologram she appeared in, thank's to Pop's Email. Behind her stood a Council of several men and women, all dressed in suits with odd tiny squared boards pinned to their chests and having logos of companies, Galileo rationalised that they were simple members of a advisors Council, or anything of that ilk. Khashoggi had told them after his betrayal that the Killer Queen had countless Army Officials and very deadly informants under her wings, the type of men to cause nightmares and instil fear across the galaxy. Luckily, they were either in hiding or dead...or working with this Drowse he was hearing so much about. Racing back through the tunnels, hoping to remember the route, Galileo wondered if would have any effect on their attackers at all, it would certainly be better than that hideous automatic weapon he selected, one he did not even know how to fire. Best leave the kick-ass fighting to Scaramouche, he concluded, but in truth, Music and a Rock was his game. Paul was waiting at the ladder when Galileo returned, panting, and breathless. Opening the hatch, Galileo climbed out without a word to Paul, simply drawing his Guitar out and slinging it over his shoulder, this was his weapon of choice. Stepping out onto the barren field after straining to open the hatch, what he was was pure conflict, about 60 or 50 white-armoured soldiers wielding laser guns were blasting away at Scaramouche, who herself had her guns at the ready, and was shooting to kill. She was fighting some black suited and helmeted warrior, sporting a set of killer sideburns, this must of been a Field Agent or Captain of GlobalSoft. He was swinging and striking at Scaramouche with a long double-pronged staff, that possessed two large clusters of yellow electricity. Galileo took a stance as one of the Yuppie Troopers spotted him, and pointed "Look, Sir!" The tough man kicked Scaramouche back out of nowhere, as if to banish her from the fight "You! Dreamer! You're mine!" He hollered, making a strong walk towards him , his staff at his side, crackling in energy. Galileo slowed his breathing as the white-armoured soldiers began to step back, Scaramouche saw what was going to happen "Give em hell, Gazza!" She encouraged, making one of the soldiers glare "Silence Scum!" He fired a few laser blasts, making Scaramouche leap up and knock him from his feet with her legs, recovering to knock him out with a straight punch. As the large bounding man got closer, Galileo muttered "Here we go" and took a massive strum of his Guitar, the shockwave and sound-blast knocked all the man back, along with all his Troops, Scaramouche was clinging to the ground as everyone was flung backwards, even the heavy Gunships were pushed away. The sound was rattling and heavy, with a lot of vibration, it took everyone at least a few minuets to stand again. Scaramouche ran and slid to step next to Galileo, the oncoming Troopers and the warrior in black stood at the other end of the wasteland, the wind blowing between them...and they charged.

Pop's dreams were never explainable, odd colours and shapes, with words passing and going from various strangers voices. She woke and found her pistol and knife as she left them, Pop opened the tent and stepped outside in the morning, the sun barely rising, and the birds emanating sweet passion with there voices, this journey to the Park of Knebworth would take her weeks at least, so she had to go further than ever to retrieve every relic of the Rock and Roll, and to avoid every GlobalSoft land and air patrol, she had seen the vast might of the company under the Killer Queen. She was a driving force behind everything, and her army of Yuppies and workforce of GaGa Kids were constantly building structures to appease her. Today, Pop would travel through the Monk's Walk, a name of an old School in the region, now it was more of a lost Bohemian right of passage, so to speak. The Walk was made by Workers from the Désespoir Region of the world...Pop once knew it as Fri-Ance, once, GlobalSoft had used the region to provide and collects slaves to work on it's secret projects, build their ships and weapons, overseen by Marshals and Commanders in the AD-WRD, the ORSF and the Intelligence Devision, all under the greater branch of the army. These workers who had escaped from the Region, wanted a place of silence and tranquility...so they established a small, out-of-the-way monastery, hidden between hills and inside small valleys, legend said it spanned the whole area, and it's a necessary stopping point for Pop's journey, the Monks had been surrounded by the very power of music. By early morning she had packed up the tent and placed it in her rucksack, still having the pistol and knife by her side, Pop embarked towards out of the valley. The hill was higher than she thought, and the grass sharper, staining and stinging as it grazed her, once she reached the top, she saw the sun, perfectly alighting the nearby surroundings. For this short moment, beauty was felt inside her.

The transfer from the Red Special back to the Final Annihilator had been as boring as it was tedious, but Eli had felt that it wasn't the worse event to have happened today. Receiving orders and after a frankly courteous conversation with Drowse over hologram, Brigadier-Admiral Curtis had been granted temporary command, only until Drowse and Minister Kintyre returned from the Killer Queen's Private Palace, after their meeting with Grand Governor Hanson. They had refused to take the Red Special, for fear it would seem far too intimidating to the Palace servants and guards, and portray Drowse as too much of a showman, so they had taken The Caladrius, Drowse's personal Cruiser. So far the events of GlobalForce's rising was smooth enough to please Eli, with Generals and Commanders sworn in every few days, but perhaps it would lead to stepping into the Killer Queen's position...Drowse had promised a different rule, and preparations were made to secure the world so that a figure like the Killer Queen could never seek to rise again. A gathering of ,any important figures had been collected in the Command Room, a long flight of stairs away from Drowse's Office and the Conference Room, just south of the main SuperLaser, housed in the equator of the gigantic sphere. All Capital Ships had been moved away under the wise command of Captain Powter, the head officer and supervisor of the Red Special. As Curtis said, his Fleet of four Innuendo-1-Class Cruisers had arrived, one Innuendo-2-Class Cruiser escorted by two EMI-Light-Class Defender Cruisers and a smaller 68-19 Transport. Several of his personnel had been transferred to stand by his side, his own company of Yuppies, about 40 men, marked with red lines on their white armour, and an Aide called Bekki, who held the rank of Ensign. A collective of Officers had now been summoned to the 'Testing' of the Final Annihilator, though Eli knew this wasn't a testing..this was appreciation. Curtis wanted to make a big of a statement as he could, so the group of high-ranking men would see his new show of strength, him and his and aids were standing spread around the Command Room, Eli took a few choice glances and saw many familiar faces, General Rammstein and Lieutenant Nuce, and several of Nuce's black suited informants. Another few men were stood beside the monitor, showing the target that Curtis had selected, a white-suited man of the Navy and Intelligence Devision, Colonel Baxter, a friend of Khashoggi's father, and a prominent figure in the Killer Queen's inner circle. Eli was waiting by the main viewport, a large glass wall, effectively, with a thin black rim around it's clean and limitless view. Beside it was a wall of screens showing data and charts, and several consoles operated by oddly military style specialists. Standing near some faceless Yuppie Guards and snivelling Captains, it brought a friendly and reassuring feeling to Eli when Direct-Commander Cosmos swept into the room with his swaggering cape and ever-loyal pack of four Super-Yuppies, the famous and ruthless 'Static X' with their black armour and long-barrelled rifles, each of the four elites took positions at the four corners of the room...making Eli a inch suspicious as Curtis turned around, raising his esteemed voice "Major Cosmos...an unexpected pleasure" He announced, making everyone's eyes either shift to Cosmos or Curtis, the sarcasm could be tasted in the Brigadier-Admirals opening words "Direct-Commander, now, and I'm not unexpected...am I?" His eyes drifted to Colonel Baxter, who offered a knowledgeable nod "Indeed, Major Cosmos was promoted to Direct-Commander by The Future Council and by the decree of Drowse himself" The Colonel said by a twist of his head, looking at Curtis, who merely glanced at Eli and then scanned Cosmos up and down with his sharp eyes "I'm tempted to have you hauled out of this Room right now.." He threatened, making Cosmos give a opened mouth cutesy look "We all know that won't be happening, unless you want the Supreme Commander to remove you on your first day in command" Cosmos was sauntering around the room to stand near enough to Eli for him to feel recognised, though far away for the Direct-Commander to keep up appearances "I assure you Drowse has full trust in me, I've stood by the side of the Killer Queen long enough to know how to order and receive orders" Curtis pushed his glasses up, Cosmos shot back with "The Killer Queen is dead. Welcome to the new world, Admiral" he taunted, making the Brigadier-Admiral scowl and sneer...then resume his polite tone "Brigadier-Admiral, now" he spat finally as the Final Annihilator reached it's target, an Operator at the nearest console looked over to him, shifting his hat "Sir, we are in range...charging now" the sounds and noises of heavy machinery and lever and switches filled the room, Cosmos crossed his arms in frustration as Eli leaned on the wall a few paces away. The impressive looking sight graphic on the wall honed in on it's target. General Rammstein took a breath, Colonel Baxter whispered to a Intelligence Devision Agent. The Operator responded to the monitors information relay again "Core charged at 94% Sir...96%...99%..." He counted, Curtis turned his head slowly, as the Operator gave his final confirmations "Final Annihilator Charged, systems primed and locked" Curtis turned back to the viewing screen "Fire at will" he said simply, as a mechanical female voice announced "Standby...Standby" And the Désespoir Region suddenly became dust.