10
War at Sea
The next day, Nikki woke up annoyingly by the sound of a wake up call. Ailey, Rupie, and the NCPA soldiers woke up from it as well. Nikki was told the night before that the call would go off at four thirty, giving everyone enough time to eat breakfast, gather their weapons, and board one of the twenty-four NCPA naval warships by six o' clock. Each warship was a grayish color, had a landing platform for NCPA star-fighters, four powerful laser turrets, and torpedo launchers under the ship's hull where no one could see them. One could only hope the meager four turrets weren't susceptible to assault via wooden staff like the ones in the Death Chamber.
Some time later, Nikki, Ailey, and Rupie boarded a warship. They boarded the one in which General Nimbus boarded because they were stalking him. Once inside, Nimbus stopped Nikki.
He said, "I have a request for you Nikki."
"What is it?" asked Nikki.
Nimbus pulled out a broadsword case and then said, "I need you to teach me how to fight with broadswords."
"But I don't know how to fight with broadswords," Nikki replied.
Nimbus raised an eyebrow, and then gasped. "Oh, sorry! I meant, I need to teach you how to fight with broadswords."
"Why?" asked Nikki.
Nimbus replied, "They are Ozimbus's favorite weapon, and I fear, since he is after you, you will have to face him."
"Why can't I just shoot him with my handgun?" asked Nikki. "I've killed scores of dark chao with it already. And did you see me in the Death Chamber? I killed twenty-five turrets in twenty-three seconds. By myself. I am so bloody awesome."
"Ozimbus is skilled with both his weapon and magic." Nimbus explained. "He can deflect laser bullets either with his swords, his scary cloak, or his evil powers."
"Ok, you can teach me" said Nikki, sounding very disturbed.
After the warships began moving, while Rupie and Ailey were off making friends with the soldiers no implicit message intended, Nimbus taught the basic sword moves to Nikki. Then he taught him how to attack, and then how to defend. By the time that was over, it was early afternoon, and Chao World was out of sight. They were over open ocean.
Nimbus then grabbed his bag. He looked through it, and took out four wooden sticks, about the length and weight of the swords. He gave a pair of sticks to Nikki and said, "Defend yourself!"
Nimbus then span at Nikki and attempted to hit him on the arm with his sparkly lightning powers. Nikki deflected the blow. A random guard got hit by the lightning and fell off the ship. Nikki then attempted a slash at Nimbus's leg, and missed. Nimbus, after jumping back from Nikki's attack, gave a powerful swing towards Nikki's body. Nimbus hit his mark. Nikki then, after recovering from the blow, stabbed at Nimbus. He hit him, and the force of the blow knocked the air out of Nimbus. Nikki took the opportunity to bolt Nimbus with an almighty bolt of lightning.
Nimbus healed himself and then said, "Enough! You are a talented fighter, Nikki. Either that or I need to kick the bucket, because we've only been practicing for two hours and you already beat me! You can take a break to eat, and then come back when you're ready for more training."
Another hour later, Nikki had fought Nimbus again, and beat him again. Of course. Nimbus, Rupie, Ailey, and the observing NCPA soldiers were surprised at how, after a few short battles, Nikki was able to beat up Nimbus so easily. Nimbus eventually concluded that Nikki was ready to fight Ozimbus. Although Nimbus had never confronted Ozimbus himself, he had nothing more to teach Nikki. He was too prideful to admit that the reason was because he was just a B-level broadsword fighter.
Soon after, the co-captain of the warship came to Nimbus. He was a neutral swim type. "We are forty-five minutes from Skulblakia, sir."
Nimbus replied, "Prepare the star-fighters and make sure the turrets and torpedo cannons are loaded. Get me my knapsack, walking stick, and canteen. This hike is about to get interesting."
"Yes sir!" replied the co-captain.
It wasn't long before a line of ominous black specs appeared on the horizon. There were about twenty of them.
"What are they?" asked Rupie.
Nimbus, looking trough binoculars, said, "They are Skulblakian warships. They, like their star-fighters, are black with red windows. They look like they are loaded with huge cannons. We'd better get ready for-"
Nimbus was cut off as a red flare erupted from one of the warships, shrieking as it went, and exploded like a firework.
Nimbus said alarmingly, "That was the attack signal! Prepare the turrets and load the star-fighters! They're coming in fast!"
"Why do they use a red flare as an attack signal?" Rupie asked. "It totally lets us know they're planning to attack. What a bunch of dummies."
"They're lame," Ailey agreed.
Ailey and Rupie dashed over to turrets, while Nikki, who was assigned 'warship protector', stayed right where he was. He was supposed to attack any dark chao that were to somehow get aboard the warship. Nikki thought the job sounded boring. He wanted to be out there, hiking the high seas with Nimbus by his side, flicking Skulblakian warships in the parts and watching them sink. 'Warship protector' was hardly a job fit for someone as epic as Nikki the Chao.
Suddenly, a black cloud rose from the Skulblakian warships. The cloud was advancing towards the NCPA, and through binoculars, Nimbus could tell the cloud was actually a fleet of star-fighters, which promptly began firing at the NCPA.
Nimbus said to his army, "Fire at will! Give them everything you've got!" The turrets on Nikki's warship, as well as the ones on the other NCPA warships, began firing rapidly at the star-fighters. Only a small number of star-fighters were shot down before they passed overhead and began to circle back, which makes perfect sense since the warships only had four turrets each. But by some miracle only two of the NCPA warships were sunk by the first assault. The fighters circled, and fired a second wave of lasers at the warships. A series of lasers almost hit Nikki, and the explosion sent him flying backward. When he got up, he began wondering if his position was a safe one.
Ailey and Rupie, in the same turret, fired at the star-fighters. Rupie was using the control throttle to rotate the turret, while Ailey took aim and fired. They, together, took down two star-fighters from the first wave. The second wave, they hit none.
Ailey said, excited, "This is actually fun, isn't it?"
"Yes it is, actually!" replied Rupie.
"It's too bad we don't have good aim like Nikki though," Ailey sighed.
"Yeah. We would have killed all the star-fighters on their first pass," Rupie agreed.
A few lasers hit their mark on the turret next to Ailey and Rupie's, and it exploded to pieces. Ailey then changed her mind and began wondering if her position was a safe one.
Nikki noticed, after the second wave left, that an NCPA star-fighter was left alone and un-used on a flight deck. Suddenly, Nikki didn't care what Nimbus, sparkly as he was, had to say. He completely disobeyed orders and dashed over to the fighter, just as the Skulblakian star-fighters took on a different formation and began relentlessly hammering the NCPA. The Skulblakian warships were almost in firing range from the NCPA warships, so Nikki concluded the battle was about to get crazy. He studied the controls of the fighter, turned it on, and sent it careening off the runway over the ocean.
Ailey was doing so well at her 'shooting star-fighters' job, that she didn't realize that she had another task soon to come. That instant, the laser cannons aboard the Skulblakian warships began to fire at the NCPA warships. A laser struck a damaged warship, the engine exploded, and it slowly sunk as the chao on board screamed hopelessly.
Ailey then told Rupie, "Turn the turret to the warships so I can fire at them and blow THEM up!"
Rupie replied with a nod and began to turn the turret.
After Nikki got used to the controls of the star-fighter, he began firing at the enemy fighters. He was doing well, quite naturally shooting down everything in his path, until he noticed there were several fighters chasing him, trying to shoot him down. He also noticed that the Skulblakian warships were firing at the NCPA, and the NCPA warships back at them. That wasn't very surprising though. Nikki thought it would have been funny if the Skulblakian warships were firing at the Skulblakians, and the NCPA warships at the NCPA. But he dismissed this psychotic notion and concentrated on reality. Both sides were losing warships little by little, but the Skulblakians looked like they would come up on top. Nikki then got an idea. The best idea he had gotten since the idea he told Scamper about before Skulblakia showed up. He, being followed by star-fighters, accelerated his fighter full speed ahead. He then charged straight towards two Skulblakian warships. At the last second, Nikki swerved his fighter to the side, in between the bulky warships. The Skulblakian fighters, instead of following Nikki to their all-too-obvious demise, flew up and over the warships to continue the pursuit. Nikki felt ashamed of himself for thinking he could defeat the Skulblakian star-fighters that easily. Then he turned his fighter back around towards the NCPA, and saw both sides engaged in a warship vs. warship battle.
Ailey and Rupie were firing at a Skulblakian warship passing by the NCPA warship they were aboard. Ailey concentrated on the engine of the ship, until one of the laser cannons fired at the NCPA, damaging the ship Ailey and Rupie were on. Ailey then concentrated on bullying that laser cannon. Once the dark chao inside the cannon noticed that he was being fired at, he began firing back at Ailey. The two turrets fired at each other, both sides being hit a few times. Ailey then fired a laser straight into the cockpit of the other cannon. The laser hit the dark chao inside, and that was the end of the road for him, and also his cannon, since it mourned the death of its driver by self-destructing. Ailey then took to firing at the engine again.
Nikki flew at a Skulblakian warship. He fired at it, but it did no good. He turned around, and fired again. This time, his lasers hit a weak spot in the hull of the ship. It began smoking, generated some electricity, exploded, and sank. Nikki watched with alarm and anger as he saw a torpedo, skimming through the transparent water, annihilate one of the NCPA warships. Nikki scrutinized the controls in his fighter for a missile button. He found it in a few seconds and launched a missile at the warship that fired the torpedo. The missile damaged the ship, but did not destroy it. Nikki then fired a wave of lasers at the torn up part of the ship, and it finally exploded.
Nikki was so involved in the destruction of the warships that he didn't see the star-fighters closing in on him. Before he knew it, his fighter was hit, and he went spiraling down to the ocean.
When the fighter landed it began to sink, so Nikki clambered out of the cockpit and into the water. As he swam towards an NCPA warship, he observed the battle around him. Both sides' star-fighters were shooting at each other and the opposite sides' warships, and both sides' warships were engaged side-by-side in a turret battle. Nikki was encouraged when he counted the warships. He saw that there were eleven of the twenty-four NCPA warships left, and that there were only eight of the twenty Skulblakian warships left. Never mind that over half of the NCPA warships and the chao on board would never be seen again. A Skulblakian warship then suddenly exploded, leaving only seven.
Nikki was also surprised to see Nimbus hiking across the sea, wearing a large knapsack and wielding a walking stick and canteen. A star-fighter tried to shoot him, but Nimbus used his canteen as a shield to deflect the laser back at the star-fighter and shoot it down. Then Nimbus approached the hull of an enemy warship and thwacked it with his walking stick. The hull tore in two and the ship sank like a boulder. Nimbus sparkled in the afternoon sunlight like a god fallen from the heavens. Nikki was in love.
Nikki boarded the warship, being narrowly missed by several stray lasers in the process. He found he was on the same ship he started on. He saw Rupie and Ailey inside a turret battling against another warship's turrets. Nikki pulled out his handgun, took aim, and shot the enemy turret several times, and it exploded. Nikki, being the only one who really knew the weakest spot on a Skulblakian warship, shot the hull several times, and it caught fire, and slowly sank.
"That handgun sure is boss," Ailey muttered.
"Sure is," Rupie agreed.
A green flare then projected from a Skulblakian warship. Slowly, the star-fighters and warships backed away from the NCPA navy and fleet, and began retreating in the direction of Emerald Hill Island. Nikki saw General Nimbus climb up onto the ship from the sea, still garbed in his hiking gear. He asked Nimbus, "Should we follow them?"
"No, we are headed to Skulblakia" answered Nimbus.
"What about Emerald Hill Island?" asked Nikki.
Nimbus, smiling, replied, "It's all about timing, Nikki. It's all about timing."
The co-captain of the warship then walked up to Nimbus. "Sir, Skulblakia has been sighted."
"Good. Prepare the remaining warships for landing."
"Yes sir!" said the co-captain, and he walked off.
Nikki, Ailey, and Rupie then looked off the bow of the warship and saw the dark silhouette of one of the Skulblakian Islands. Nikki, for the first time since he defeated the Wacky Wavers several years before, felt a proud feeling of triumph and victory. Because killing all those dark chao in the airport on Emerald Hill Island and wiping out the star-fighters on the subsequent plane flight wasn't nearly as satisfying as blowing up an aquatic tank in the middle of a playground by breaking into the windshield and pressing the self-destruct button. Nikki, Ailey, and Rupie thought they were nearing the end of their quest, but it turns out, their quest had just begun. The fact that they're only one-fourth of the way through the book and haven't even been to space yet is solid evidence that their quest had indeed just begun. They practically haven't even left Pallet Town.