Invasion #2, Part 4 (Conclusion)
---------Countryside---------
All of the civilians of Corneria City and a few infantries scattered around the countryside. Some were being treated with first aid, others were given food and water. Soldiers were walking around, taking names of the people there. James and the other CEOs of the 12th Infantry met up with Colonel Banks for briefing.
"Hey Banks, what gives?" asked Captain Hunt.
"I've received news that 1st Ranger Battalion has just captured the One Eyed Ogre. We're getting ready to negotiate with the other planets," explained Banks. "Now in order to do that, we'll need a group to bring their leader and the negotiator to them."
"Who's the negotiator?" asked James.
"He's one of the candidates for General. Robert Pepper, I think is name is," said Banks, to which James beamed. "So anyway, the plan is not to convince them that we didn't make the bomb. But rather, to convince them that we don't want to fight anymore. If we're saying this, then why would they think we would want to attack them with that bomb?"
The CEOs nodded.
"So we've been the infantry chosen to do this. I've been advised to just send one company, so who wants to do it?"
The CEOs were hesitant. Then, out of nowhere, something prompted James to raise his hand to volunteer.
"Very good, McCloud," said Banks. "Now, you'll be sent up to Titania first on that smaller transport over there. All you'll need to do is bring Pepper and their leader over there safely."
James nodded. He walked over to his company, who were sitting around eating lunch. The survivors that followed them around were now considered part of the company. Thirty lives were enough for him already, but with the survivors, that made forty-five total, not including himself. What the hell?
"Okay, listen up," shouted James, over the noises of the crowd. He explained their mission to the company, which took a couple of seconds. "Any questions?" No response, except for a couple of them shaking their heads. "Alright, now I need the names of all of the survivors of the 4th Infantry. Anybody have a sheet of paper and a pen? Anything to write their names down?"
Pvt. Page ripped one out of some sort of journal he was taking. He gave it to Peppy, who passed it to another survivor. James obviously didn't need Peppy's name on the sheet. The survivors passed it around, until the last one, an avian, stood up and gave it to James. He read it over. Next, he proceeded to call out the names to match it to the face. He was starting to get better at this. Banks walked over to him. "Your team has fifteen minutes." James nodded and was about to tell his team before a familiar sensation happened. The same green flash that appeared in the sky before now appeared on the horizon, north of their position. The shrieking sound echoed throughout, much louder than before, and the light pulsed into the sky. The crowd was dead silent.
"Isn't... that where Satoushi City is?" asked James.
"Yes..." said Banks.
"Please tell me that city was evacuated..."
Banks remained silent.
A cold wind blew over the crowd while everyone's eyes rested upon the explosion, and stayed that way for the longest time. Some wanted to cry, but couldn't bring themselves to. Others took off their helmets/hats, mourning. James' mind went blank. For a moment, he couldn't think of anything at all. What snapped him out of it was a hand that slipped into his. He looked to his right and saw Vixy, who looked into his eyes with the same sadness that filled everyone else's. They both were the only ones who looked away from the light, which didn't faded for another ten minutes.
---------Above Corneria---------
One hour earlier...
"I'll drop you off here," said Andross.
"Where are you going?" asked Pigma.
"Oh, just another testing here. Also something that might end this whole thing.""Tell me, Andross. This seems more like a grudge you have against Corneria. Why are you really doing all of this?"
Andross paused for a minute. "Well, Pigma... to tell you the truth, there really is no reason for all of this. I could've just let these people live in peace for all I care. You want to know why I did all of this? It's amusing to me. I love seeing people who haven't done anything wrong suffer. I enjoy death and destruction. It's fun to see all of these people die in agony for a worthless cause."
Pigma stared at him, not at all disgusted or revolted. But more amazed.
"Honestly, I don't give a shit whether I win or lose, although the former would be nice. All I want to see is suffering. As long as it's not me who's suffering." He lit a cigarette in his mouth. "I think it's time to end this thing, since it's starting to get tiring. Now when that happens, the first thing they're going to want to do is go after me. And that's another thing I enjoy: a nice little chase. I've avoided capture for a while now, and I'm missing being chased around, having other people boil in their frustration of not having caught me yet. So I'm going to end this, and then I'm going to run. You keep in touch with me."
Pigma smiled, loving the way this guy thought. Andross brought the ship down near some collapsed buildings, and Pigma boarded off. He flew away, not caring who sees, while looking at a map. Trying to find one of the biggest cities in the area besides Corneria City, he found one called Satoushi City. His plan was to confuse the other planets as to why the Cornerians would bomb one of their own cities. Then he'll go back to Eladard and work on the rest of his plan from there. From then on, he was his own side.
---------Countryside---------
"So how are you feeling? Better now?" asked James.
"Yeah, a little bit," said Pigma. "Titania was just hell for me. But after I heard what you've been through, I can see I had it good."
Peppy smiled. "It's good to see you again."
"McCloud!" Banks called. "It's time! Looks like we're ending this thing once and for all!"
"We gotta go," said James.
Pigma nodded. "Good luck!"
James gathered his company up and led them to Pepper, who was standing next to the Transport. "McCloud, Hare! Nice to see some familiar faces!"
James smiled.
"Okay, so the plan still stays the same, only this time we're taking all of the leaders to Katina. The 1st Ranger Battalion is calling us over there."
"Why?" asked Peppy, seeing the company leading four of the five leaders onto the ship.
"Well, apparently the other planets have heard about Satoushi City. I think they're all convinced that we didn't make that bomb. After all, why would we bomb our own city?"
James felt relieved that this whole thing was finally coming to an end. "Are we leaving now?" he asked.
"Um... not right at this second. We've got about ten minutes left."
"Okay, good!" With that, he ran off, away from the confused looks of his company and Pepper. He looked around and found Vixy, who was receiving some food from one of the relief soldiers. She saw him and set the tray down to approach him.
"We're leaving now. Just wanted to say bye." They hugged tightly, with Vixy letting go of her grip somewhat. "What's the matter?"
Vixy looked at him, with eyes full of joy. "I have something to tell you..." She put her muzzle to his ear and whispered.
Peppy saw James in the foreground of the crowd and yelled his name. James heard, but he couldn't respond, as he was still trying to digest the news that Vixy just told him. Peppy had to grab his arm to snap James out of it. He saw Vixy blow a kiss to him, which he couldn't respond to as Peppy was dragging him along to the ship.
---------Transport---------
"Jimmy, what is it?" asked Peppy.
James was still in a trance. He barely responded to the group conversation, which was, as usual, about something not very relevant to anything.
"Sir? Is something wrong?" asked Monroe.
"No..." James finally said, albeit more of a whisper. "There's nothing wrong at all."
"Then what is it?" asked Pepper. "You look sick."
It took them a while to finally get a response from him. In that time, James was thinking in his head how he got this far. How he could deserve something so wonderful. How his life was really changing. After all of this contemplating, he finally told them.
This revoked a silence throughout the room. They stared at him in disbelief. "A what, James?" asked Pepper.
James could still hardly believe it when he said it. His face was washed away of the sick look he had, and was rejuvenated with a joyful smile that spread across. He said it again, wanting to cheer. The others did that for him, as they shouted congratulations towards him over and over again. James smiled widely, never feeling happier in his life.
The leaders sat there awkwardly.
---------Katina---------
The 1st Ranger Battalion were waiting at the landing zone, as the Transport descended to the ground. James and his company went off first, followed by Pepper. They met Captain Ramsey.
"Three former Rangers, huh? Well, we have The One Eyed Ogre here with us," he said, pointing over to his battalion, who had the Ogre in cuffs. "You know, for someone who stabbed his own eye out, he sure did put up a fight. Anyway, where's the others?"
"They're still on the ship," said James.
"Well, bring them out. We have some representatives from the other four planets that we're going to speak to."
---------Conference Room---------
James led the way into the room, which was orangish in color and tone. Solar shone a bit through the shades covering the windows. There was a large table in the middle and chairs all around. On the opposite side, there were the representatives from the other planets. Pepper followed James, who was then followed by the five leaders. They took their seats, along with the representatives. James walked back outside, where his company was waiting. The Rangers walked in, shutting the door behind them.
"Now we wait," said James.
An hour has past by, and nothing has happened yet. They sat on the floor, watching the Katinian soldiers strolling around. They looked at them with looks that said, "Hey, no hard feelings, right?" James and the others returned the looks. Other soldiers from the other planets were seen sitting in different areas. They gave them looks that said, "Um... about that time I shot at you... sorry about that." It was sort of uncomfortable being in the same area of a crowd, who were all once your enemies.
Pepper opened the door and walked out, followed by the leaders, the representatives, and the Rangers.
"We're taking the leaders home," said Pepper. "It's all over." He said it in such a matter-of-fact way, it seemed as if the war never happened.
---------Transport---------
The leaders excluding The One Eyed Ogre were all being sent home. They spent the trip time trying to make amends with the Cornerians.
"Andross just had me convinced," said Harry Caruso. "I feel like such a jackass, putting my trust in somebody like him."
"That's all in the past," said Pepper. "Now we all need to do is find him and give him what he deserves."
"I think we're gonna need more than a death penalty for that guy," said James.
"We can lead you to Eladard," said Bruce Brodie. "Although I don't think he'd be there after he hears about this."
"That's fine. I just hope he leaves something behind that'll lead us to him," said Pepper.
"Where to first, sir?" asked ROB.
"Um... we'll go to Fichina first, that's pretty close by."
"This is really weird," said Page.
"I know," Plant agreed. "But I just don't think it's over quite yet."
"What makes you say that?" asked Townshend.
"I mean, we still have to find Andross," said Plant, "and he sure isn't going to go down without a fight. It's possible he might have an army in Eladard."
"He does," said James. "They were the ones who captured me in Titania. But I'm thinking that army consisted of soldiers from the other planets. And once they hear about this news, they're probably not going to be very happy."
"Well, still," said Plant, still unsure, "he'll definitely have something up his sleeve."
---------Eladard---------
"People! I bring you horrible news from your planets," said Andross on the loudspeaker. "It seems as though they have betrayed me. The Cornerians have finally convinced them that I have made the bomb. It took them long enough."This brought scattered laughter to the crowd.
"Now it seems as though I'm back to where I've started. I'm once again a marked man who will be hunted down for what may be years. But the only difference is that I now have an army under my control. You all are my weapons against Corneria, Zoness, Titania, Fichina, Macbeth, and Katina. Together, we shall fight off our adversaries and wipe all of them out!"
The crowd of soldiers, scientists, and other staff cheered loudly as Andross walked off the stage. He walked into the crowd, which cleared a path for him to walk through. The cheer was deafening, but not out of control. He reached his office building and took the elevator up to the top floor. He grinned at himself as he reached his office. He walked out of the elevator and strolled to his desk. Sitting on his swivel chair, he rolled to the window to see the crowds of people scurry back to their work stations. He pulled out a small valve of transparent liquid out of his desk drawer and smiled at it. It has done him good.
To be continued...
Note: Because this story is starting to get pretty long, I've decided to just write a sequel instead of continuing on with this one. It'll probably be called "Latter Days of James McCloud." Thanks for reading and reviewing!