The battle raged on in the wilderness where Genji duked it out with the Augments. Phaser beams and pulse rifle shots flew past each other. Genji ducked behind a tree and hit the underbrush as shots flew over her head. She looked up and saw two Augments hiding in the trees ahead of her. Pulling her rifle up to her face, she reached around her back and pulled off the beam control assembly (the head of the rifle) then reached behind her back and swapped in the quad barrel version. She took aim at both trees. PA-TOOSH! Two barrels targeted each close tree and fired a huge beam. The beams tore through the trees and knocked them over, forcing the Augments to drop their weapons and dodge. The prefire chamber rapidly recharged and Genji fired again, blowing the arms and legs off one of the Augments. The other rushed her. Shit! she thought. The Augment male, as buff as Isaiah, swung his fist at her. She barely had time to dodge and she countered, whacking him in the face with her rifle. Barely feeling it, he kicked her in the gut.
"Woahf!" the air left Genji's lungs. They hit like a pile of bricks! She recovered and blocked a downward punch from the Augment with her rifle. The Augment punched again. crrak! The rifle bent sideways from the blow and knocked her off her feet. Gun's broke now! Shit what do I do? Panic set it. She threw the broken phaser rifle at the Augment's head. He was not fast enough to dodge that and took the full force on the face. He staggered back and screamed in pain. Now's my chance! She got up and jumped, wrapped her legs around his neck and spun to the right. FRUMPP! She drove him face first into the ground.
"RRGH! I'm gonna kill you!" he yelled at the young hero.
"Not if I kill you first!" Genji yelled. She spun in a circle and kicked the Augment in the face. A normal human's neck would have snapped from the blow. But he was not a normal human. As he was shaking off the pain, Genji realized she was in over her head. She took out her communicator. "Jingwei!" She yelled but the communicator got kicked out of her hand and smashed against a tree. "GUFL!" The Augment grabbed her by the throat, pulled her forward and whmpm! headbutted her once, knocking her out cold. Thoughts of crushing her skull went through his mind. He was about to do it when a female hand touched his shoulder. It was a fellow Augment.
"Don't kill this one. We need her alive."
"You won't take her away!" said Charles as he aimed his rifle at them. WHhss thuk! "AAGH…!" the female Augment threw a knife at him, sticking him in the lower intestine. He dropped his rifle and fell to the ground, clutching the knife as pain and blood filled his hands.
"She controls the super robot. Let's take her to the shuttle while our comrades have the others distracted."
The strong Augment snorted, then threw the unconscious Genji on his shoulder in a fireman's carry.
Genji woke up to a splitting headache to end all headaches. She blinked once, twice as the world fizzingly returned to view. She looked around and found herself in a bright room, with a large window, but the room was a bit narrow. There were seatbelts and cots along the walls above the bench, and that was when she realized she was on the Augments' shuttle. The Augments that captured her were to her left, in the cockpit, arguing about the battle with the other Section 31 operatives.
She tried to get up, but found herself tied to the bench, arms behind her back. She twisted her arms, trying to get them to rotate her hands. If I can...just reach...my...back pocket. AH! She got to the rear pouch of her pocket. She struggled and got the first velcro lock off the back pocket. She dug her fingers into her pocket, desperately reaching for the card. I gotta get out of here and call Jingwei. Or should I call Jingwei first then get outta here? The cockpit doors swung open and the female Augment walked inside. Genji closed her eyes and slumped over in an attempt to look asleep. She heard the woman walk near her. Gotta wait until she's distracted. The sound of the cockpit door opening was a good distraction.
"We need to get out of here!" said the Augment man. "Section 31 will have reinforcements on us soon!"
"Just be patient!" the female Augment replied. "The girl will be up soon! We'll get her to turn Jingwei over to us and this battle is won!"
"I hope so."
Got it! Genji got the card out of her pocket as the Augments argued. Now, can I use it to cut the ropes? ssssss! Genji heard something coming from behind her, just barely over the din of battle nearby. It's got a cutting beam? Cool! The ropes soon came off but she knew not to move. Before she could open her eyes, she felt the breath of the female on her forehead.
"You must be awake by now."
Jingwei! I need you now! She thought. She felt something, something familiar, in her mind.
The Augment grabbed by the chin and pushed her head up. Her eyes open to the face of an angry woman. "You will tell us how to control your big robot friend!"
"Or what?" Genji asked with a tone of defiance.
"We'll kill everyone you love and tear out your throat!"
"Why don't you ask him yourself?"
"Huh? OOOF!" Genji jumped from her seat and shoved the confused Augment against the wall then ran down the steps and out of the shuttle. Even in the bright light, the situation was clear. The other Augments were around the shuttle, hiding behind boxes as they fired at the Section 31 officers. They saw her standing by the entrance. Shit can't go that way. She ran. Phasers from the Section 31 team and Orion pulse blasts whizzed by her as she ran away from the shuttle and to the left side of the Section 31 battle line. She ducked as a phaser beam came a bit too close to her head. As she ran, the Augments aimed their weapons at her, not willing to let her escape.
Whoosh! A strong wind from the north swept over the battlefield, and then a large shadow followed. The Augments looked up and saw a brief glimpse of it. Genji found the stump and jumped as high as she could. whip! Genji got scooped off the battlefield by the hand of Jingwei as she jumped into his embrace.
The Augments stood aghast, realizing now what they dared to control and how powerless they were against it. ppsst! Section 31 officers took advantage of their failure and fired, killing two more of the Augments.
Genji held on tightly to Jingwei's palm as they flew away from the battlefield. Feelings of the wonders of flying outside of a vehicle left her soon after and she thought of her friends. "Jingwei! Let me in!" shouted Genji.
"Sorry," said Jingwei. "I could not hear you. It is so windy up here."
"Let me in!"
Jingwei looked around. "It is not safe yet to load you inside. Your friends are fighting nearby."
"Fine! Find a quiet spot quickly! Our friends are dying!"
"You mean your friends."
Genji squinted at him. He's gotten cranky again. "Thanks for saving me, by the way!"
"You are welcome, pilot."
Isaiah and Enabran's BattleThe Augment jumped from the perch and out of the Canyon. Blood trickled down his left arm, sword dented and bent in his hand. Once out of the canyon, he ran for the woods. Isaiah flew out of the canyon and yelled "You can't hide from me forever! I will run you down like a...oh, yeah, cars float now!"
"Try harder to scare me!" shouted the Augment from the woods.
"You're the one that's running!"
"And you still haven't caught me!"
The rage swelled in Isaiah. He aimed his palms at the woods where the enemy's voice came from. That's when he noticed his right arm's armor was shredded and missing in pieces. He just remembered he used it to block a few hits. He yanked the damaged sleeve of armor off him, then aimed again. "Phaser shotgun! Rapid fire!" he ordered his computer. PSAUW PSHAUW! Multiple phaser beams shot from his hands and into the woods, annihilating trees everywhere. This went against his strategy of avoiding giving the Augment more power, but he didn't care anymore. The woods were on fire. Yeah, I'm gonna burn you out, asshole. He flew over the woods, firing shot after shot, into them.
Meanwhile Enabran fought his enemy around the skies over the battle in a brutal contest of physical strength. Augment genetics versus interdimensional magic. Fire powered fists collided with Lego genetically enhanced face bones, shaking the ground underneath. Bones augmented by dense metals collided with Cardassian flesh. They made guttural screams of rage to forget about the pain each mindless blow struck into them.
{Yes...yes..yess!} said the tallest Pah Wraith, enjoying the feelings of pain they caused to the enemy.
{Soon his body will be under our control!} said the shortest Pah Wraith.
Enabran headbutted the Augment, stunning the strong opponent. Then wha-bam! He drop-kicked the enemy as hard as he could. The stunned foe crashed into the woods behind the line of his fellow Augments.
The orb that represented Enabran's mind formed a face that resembled Enabran. {I remain the primary user of this body. And you would be wise to remember that,} he warned his conspiring guests. Outside, he focused his energy through the tops of his wrist. Red energy blades popped out. {Now we end this farce!} He flew at the fallen enemy chin first, blades ready to stab through him and the ground. He flew past his teammates fighting on the ground and ignored the weapons fire coming past him.
WHAPAM! Unexpectedly the Augment sprang up from the ground and swung both fists onto Enabran's head. Enabran flew backwards in a burst of speed, knocking himself off the side of the enemy shuttle. Enabran shook off the blow and got up, while avoiding cutting himself on his own blades.
PSAUW PSHAUW! Isaiah flew overhead and fired his phaser shotguns at the enemy position by the shuttle. He didn't pay attention to what was directly under him but his rival Augment certainly did. He jumped up, grabbed Isaiah by the armor and pulled him downwards with his great strength. flop! Isaiah crashed into the ground by Enabran. Enabran helped him up and blocked several phaser beams while Isaiah recovered.
"Having trouble with your dance partner?" Enabran asked.
Isaiah made a shield and blocked other phaser beams. One went through his shield and the computer quickly remodulated. "Yeah, he absorbs my energy. I can't blast him to pieces."
"My opponent deflects my energy. I have been busy pounding him to pieces."
"Wanna switch?"
"I thought you wanted to kill that Augment because he embarrassed you?"
Isaiah drew his sword. "I'm through playing with him. You can take a turn with him."
"A switch it is, then." Enabran stepped to the right and ran towards the approaching Augment while Isaiah ran towards the other Augment when vroossh! Jidod's portal appeared in front of them. Jidod stepped out, both fallen Augments on his shoulders. They stopped their angry charges.
"We're still fighting?" Jidod asked as he saw weapons fire flying around. He looked around and saw Enabran and Isaiah. "Are they too tough for you?!"
"Excellent!" said the Augment Isaiah fought. "A great result indeed!" He floated above the battlefield. The Augments stopped firing and looked up at him.
"What is he doing now?" asked Isaiah,
"Shouldn't we be shooting him now?" asked Enabran.
"You're right, for once." He threw the blade at the hovering Augment. thuk! It went through his chest.
"Mortal...wounds like this...no longer affect me," the Augment strained to say. Ignoring the sword, he lifted his arms. The strong Augment and the Augment twins floated to him. He glowed, they glowed. Then they flew into each other.
"Oh, nine hells, this is bad…" said Jidod. He readied his bat'leth.
"It's some sort of combiner!" Isaiah said. "They must've-"
wrrrrkkggooooww! The energy grinded and pulsed, then exploded outward, knocking normal humans and Augments off their feet and shaking the shuttle and blinding everyone in the area. The light faded and the team looked upon the newest threat. Standing 2.4 meters tall, muscles thick as the strongest bodybuilder, clothing reduced to a pair of short shorts and fuzzy boots, and shoulder pads with metal spikes on them. The team saw him smile with jagged teeth like a shark.
"Khan! Khan! Khan!" chanted the Augments.
"I thought he died!" said Isaiah.
"I am Uber Shao Khan! Conqueror of the universe! None shall oppose me!" shouted Uber Shao Khan.
"Uber Shao Khan! Uber Shao Khan!"
Enabran aimed his right hand over his shoulder and fired a magic energy flame at the nearest enemy, frying him instantly. "That is enough out of you!"
"Not as long as we draw breath!" Pense shouted back. "Everyone! Fire!"
The Section 31 officers and the team fired phasers at the floating enemy. fllsssssss… the energy shield returned and absorbed their blasts.
"Ut oh," said Isaiah. "I was hoping he couldn't do that anymore."
"Now I break your pathetic resistance!" Uber Shao Khan swung his hand. A massive wave of energy flew out. Isaiah realized Pense and his team would die if hit so he jumped in front of the wave and pushed his shield out. To Isaiah's surprise it slammed him back and shoved the air around them away. BOOM! Pense team and Isaiah got knocked off their feet and to the edge of the landing area.
{Ooooh, we like him!} said the four eyed Pah Wraith.
{His evil soul is delicious!} said the female Pah Wraith.
{I want to be inside him!} said the bald Pah Wraith.
{Sorry, whelp,} said the tallest Pah Wraith. {We are joining him now.}
{What are you-?} Enabran said in surprise as he lost control of his body and the Pah Wraiths flew him awkwardly towards the enemy. Arms open and legs open wide as well, it looked like Enabran was trying to body hump Uber Shao Khan.
ThROK! As expected, Enabran got kicked so hard in the nuts he flew 300 meters over the head of Uber Shao Khan then crashed into the forest.
"Pathetic godlings!" Uber Shao Khan shouted into the forest. "I will not be your puppet!"
{ooorgghn!} the Pah Wraiths moaned in pain.
{We...hate him now…} said the female Pah Wraith.
{So much painnnnn!} said the shorted Pah Wraith. {I thought you wore a cup!}
{I...did…} Enabran said, barely conscious himself as his mind sought to shield his consciousness from the massive pain coming from his gonads. {He broke….it…}
"Dr. Soong's idea worked! Get to the ship!" Uber Shao Khan ordered his minions.
Jidod aimed his bat'leth at the enemy. "You still have me to face!"
Uber Shao Khan stopped hovering and landed. BOOM! The ground shook as he did. He walked closer, closer, closer, to Jidod.
Jidod struggled to be brave as the giant of a human approached, towering over even one as tall as him, the ground shaking (and his heart quivering) with every step. "No matter your size, you can still bleed!"
"Try me them, Klingon whelp."
Jidod ran forward, bat'leth held like an axe. Genji, I do this for you. He screamed the most terrifying battle scream he ever made. He swung the mighty blade down at the enemy's chest. Now! As the creature before him moved to block, he stepped to the side then forward and swung in a backhand. Slash! His outer and inner blades slashed Uber Shao Khan in the left sides. The enemy turned to face him, but Jidod was smarter, running and slashing him in the back and legs as he turned. He knew that he could run faster than Uber Shao Khan could turn. In other circles, this is known as the Mechwarrior Maneuver. Uber Shao Khan's legs began to buckle as the sinews got cut.
"Pest!" Uber Shao Khan shouted and spun faster than Jidod expected. whap! He caught the inner blade in his hand as Jidod swung for his spine.
Jidod's mouth turned agape. "HOW?"
"How indeed, weakling," Uber Shao Khan responded. "I will start with Romulus, turn the Star Empire into the Empire of Khan! Then I break your pathetic Klingon race to dust!" He started hovering and Jidod wound up hovering with him. Jidod yanked and pulled, but could not get the blade loose from Uber Shao Khan's hands. Uber Shao Khan pulled him closer to his face. "You will never win." With his left arm, he shoved the Klingon loose and then channeled gravitons into Jidod. CRASH! Jidod went through the sarcophagus the other Khans carried, then into ground.
"Yes…" said Uber Shao Khan. "This weapon will work perfectly for my plans!"
"Uber Khan! Uber Khan!" chanted the Augments. Then the last one stepped inside the shuttle and the ramp retracted.
"No! Jidod!" Genji screamed. She saw him fall in her viewscreen. Tears blotted her eyes. She quickly focused and locked onto the enemy. Jingwei fired his arm cannons.
"Ugh ack woogn!" The vacuum energy rounds slammed into the enemy, knocking him back faster than the shields could absorb the energy. "Another pest!" he shouted and swung the bat'leth, knocking away another shot that was as tall as he was. He looked at the bat'leth. "Didn't know it could do that," he muttered.
"Phaser cannon!" said Genji. Jingwei reached around to its back and summoned the cannon.
Uber Shao Khan looked in the distance and saw the weapon appear in the robot's hand. He waved his left hand in a backhand. Phaser beams flew out and began to curve towards Genji.
Jingwei crouched and raised the shield with both hands. The beams crashed against the shield and dissipated. He waved again and now ten phaser beams zig-zagged in the air. Jingwei blocked some of the beams. But a group of them flew over it and towards its back. Jingwei spun a hand around and blocked those beams too. But the Mobile Giant dropped the rifle. It settled at the bottom of the shield.
"What is he, a Q?" asked Jingwei.
"How the hell can he do that?" asked Genji. "Light doesn't zig-zag like that."
Jingwei lowered the shield and picked up the rifle. "I can do that as well. Would you like me to unlock that system?"
Genji smiled. "By all means. Let's squash that copycat!"
"Mazer beam multipoint system activated."
When Uber Shao Khan launched the next barrage, Jingwei slid to the right just before the beams could hit and swung a left hand backward. ZEEKOW! It fired a pulse of mazers from its fingertips, the beams flying off in multiple directions before curving towards the target. Uber Shao Khan thought the shields could tank that kind of attack, but Jingwei detected a drop in their output and fired again. This time he spun and swerved, barely dodging half the high energy beams then fired ten more shots. Jingwei blocked quickly and aimed the phaser cannon at the enemy. PEEESSSTS! The enemy remained despite being literally hosed in phaser energy.
"Damn. That didn't work," said Genji. "Let's see if he likes hot metal!"
Uber Shao Khan knew what was coming. He aimed his palm at the flying robot.
"Gravitation spike," said Jingwei. The cannon became hard to aim, shaking hard enough that Genji couldn't get a reliable lock. "This enemy of yours is trying to steal my weapon. Hull integrity at 80% and falling."
"Let him! We'll use the momentum to pull us in close!" Genji ordered.
With a touch of thrust, Jingwei and its cannon hurled themselves towards the enemy. With his now-healed right hand, Uber Shao Khan held out the bat'leth and rotated his wrist six times. A portal appeared in front and above the shuttle. Uber Shao Khan released the gravity hold on the cannon and flew into the portal. Almost there! thought Genji as Jingwei reached for the shuttle. The shuttle came after him went into the portal, just before Jingwei could grab it. "Forbort!" shouted Genji!
A Final Hope Pt 1Genji slapped Jidod a few times. Jidod struggled to move. "Unngh, wha?"
"They're gone."
Jidod looked around confused. "Where is-?"
"It's gone," said Genji as she looked away. "They're gone."
Jidod sat up and looked around. The shuttle was gone. Security guards carried the wounded on stretchers to spots where they could be beamed out together. Bodies of the dead stacked around the edge of the battlefield. And no Bat'leth of Kahless in sight.
"He took it! How?!"
Genji pulled his arm, helping him up. "It's bad. He figured out how to use its power."
"This was their plan all along. I am certain of it," said Jingwei. They turned around to see him standing arms crossed over them at the tree line. "They came here specifically to fight you. They had all of their weapons and abilities figured out. Otherwise, why come here at all?"
"No…" Jidod fell to his knees. Tears hit the smoky sand and mixed with the blood under him. He punched the sand and grass. "No...KHAAAANNNNN!" he yelled at the sky.
"Ow! I'm right here!" said Genji.
Pense walked over to him. "How are you feeling?" He asked Jidod.
"Broken."
"Did you happen to catch where they went when he gave the villain speech?" Pense asked as he wiped the blood away from his mouth.
"He said he wanted to conquer Romulus."
"Dagnabbit, Jidod!" Isaiah landed by him and yelled at him. "You had one job: protect the bat'leth thingie!"
Genji stood up. "Don't do this now!" she ordered. "Be a good teammate for once!"
"I was a good teammate!" he pointed to the woods. "I stayed with the officers to cover them in case Uber whatever Khan attacked again! Don't blame me if Mr. For Honor over there wet the bed!"
"Thank you for guarding us, Isaiah," said Pense. He tapped Isaiah's shoulder. "But Jidod here gave us the key to win."
"I… did?" Jidod looked up at him.
"Yes. We know what their goal is and where they went. They won't be able to conquer Romulus in one day, no matter how powerful he is." He looked around and found Enabran being carried on a stretcher, clutching his groin. He looked at his team. "Let's get you patched up at base and we'll stop them before the day is done."
To be continued.