Sprout to Saviour
Showdown
Exhaustion threatened to set in as the team advanced, but haste was suddenly made redundant as the zombie headquarters came into view. Taking a moment to catch their metaphorical breath, the plants began to formulate their plan of action, after insistence from Carnegiea that Lathyrus not charge in like he was the lead of some sort of action movie. Dionaea also experienced some disappointment - his barely silent stomach would just have to wait. Helianthus tried to steady herself, not as psychologically prepared for a battle as vicious as this one promised to be. Her talents lay elsewhere, as Lathyrus could attest. He approached her, laying leaf on petal as the closest thing to a gesture of comfort as he could manage. Her smile was reward enough for him.
A drone newly ready, Carnegiea perused the immediate environment for a bush to crouch into as she sent it on it's way. Unfortunately, it seemed that Zomboss had taken some lessons in basic security alongside his thanatology studies - the patrols didn't present an obvious gap, nor were there any unobserved open windows that the drone could silently slip into. However, the top of the tower bore a circle of spotlight-holding platforms which didn't appear to be able to keep watch over the entire perimeter by themselves. Hmmm...Carnegiea smiled to herself, a rare sight, as she commanded the drone back into the bush she summoned it, disposing of it discretely.
The plants waited until dark, Lathyrus and Dionaea virtually twitching the entire time. Surely enough, the spotlights activated and began to turn. Carnegiea glanced at Helianthus knowingly and Helianthus understood the stratagem at once. Carnegiea deployed yet another drone, only this time it was scheduled to take aboard a passenger. Helianthus rooted to the top of the drone, which was clearly struggling with the weight but soldiered on regardless.
Higher and higher the sunflower was lifted into the still night air until the moment of opportunity arrived. Helianthus gathered all of the sunlight she had accumulated into a grossly incandescent beam, directed at the eyes of one of the operators. Blinded and suffering from a severe case of burnt face, the zombie tumbled off of it's spotlight. Presumably, the other guards assumed that the device was malfunctioning. In the intervening period, the drone flew over onto the platform and popped, dropping Helianthus on the ledge. Her usual good cheer gone, Helianthus fired upon the sentry, cooking it to a crisp. Taking a look around her, Helianthus deduced how to operate the spotlight and keep pattern with the remaining zombie sentinels to curb their suspicions. They seemed to take the bait, allowing Carnegiea to smuggle the remainder of the team to the top. Dionaea only barely made it.
United at the pinnacle, the plants proceeded to control all of the splotlights and, breaking them from their settings, aimed them inside the top floor. Alarmed, zombies rushed in droves to fix the problem, but the spotlights in their face prevented them from accomplishing much of anything. Lathyrus looked on joyously as he fired a chilli bean bomb amidst the crowd. The zombies, hearing and smelling the bomb, practically dogpiled it, ensuring their sudden and widespread demise. Turrets emerged from sockets all over the chamber in response to the chilli bean's arrival, but naturally they were unable to obtain a visual either.
Pandemonium ensued as zombies continued to ascend the tower while the plants simply stepped and slid back down the sides to ground level. Dionaea tunnelled into the mud immediately beside the headquarter's foundation, entering the generator room without tripping the alarms. With liberal use of goop, the tunnel remained open for his allies to use as well.
Carnegiea and Helianthus systematically disabled the defences in the room with pinpoint strikes until the group was completely unimpeded in opening fire on the power cores - and so they did, bearing down with such fervour that even the sturdy construction of the cores were quickly whittled down to scrap metal.
Unfortunately, not all of their adversaries were metaphorically brainless. A hatch in the roof was pried open and four zombies dropped down to greet the invaders.
The first wielded a long-barrelled paintball gun from which one of it's boots was suspended. It's adornment bore a passing resemblance to that of an enlisted person's.
The second was great in stature, with a cagelike helm and generic red sportswear and a rapid-fire cannon that should have been too heavy for it's threadlike arms to hold.
The third was chubby and clad in construction wear, or an approximation of it. The zombie's weapon seemed to be a miniaturised concrete mixer.
The fourth bore a simple labcoat and a spike of grey hair stereotypical of academic types. It's triple-barrelled gadget resembled apparatus more than any conventional weapon.
The plants grimaced as they realised the identities of this ragtag bunch of undead. The zombies likewise held an expression of reminiscence, after which the two factions stood staring each other down, daring their opponents to initiate the fight. Lathyrus cast the first metaphorical stone, launching a pea which clocked the soldier on the head, causing them to stagger backward from the force and in surprise. In response, the allstar kicked an imp amongst the plants' ranks, compelling them to scatter.
The scientist teleported to Helianthus, who retreated after suffering a few chemical burns from the goo blaster. Jumping onto one of the cores, Helianthus rooted again, nodding to Lathyrus, who did likewise. Coordinating their attacks, Lathyrus and Helianthus laid down a profusion of heavy fire, seriously inuring the zombies. Dionaea used the distraction to burrow underneath, attempting to feast upon the engineer, though his exertions were cut short as the allstar crashed into him, launching him back to his squad. Landing on his vines, Dionaea took a moment to regain focus as Carnegiea dropped a tallnut barricade to cover them.
At once, the soldier fired a rocket at Lathyrus as the engineer threw a sonic grenade at Helianthus. Lathyrus uprooted to avoid the incoming vanquish as Helianthus was bombarded by the loud noise, forcibly ending her lockdown. The scientist threw down a healing station and Helianthus deployed a healing flower. Round one ending in a stalemate, the plants and zombies reordered themselves to face their opposite numbers. The tension was far shorter-lived this time as the combatants exploded into action. It was time to do or die.
Just two more to go now. The climactic battle is next, but until then, here's a cliffhanger.
Dorylus signing off.