A Battle in Björnstad (pt. 2): A Machine of Terror

Luigi and his team are ready to face the fleet that is approaching Björnstad's boundaries. Without any outside assistance, will they survive? Or is the fate of total annihilation inevitable?

Lejonborg is gone. The cult's deadliest weapon managed to eradicate it entirely, and no trace of its infrastructure remains. Princess Lillian managed to escape with the Black Guard and extra forces that were recruited from the far eastern lands, but before her group could reach Björnstad, we lost all contact.

I cannot imagine a quick escape route out of this war. I do my best to stay positive in the face of adversity, but the scenario is becoming bleaker by the day, especially since the Lords are now recruiting people from countries with grievances, legitimate or not, against this kingdom. We are now searching for the princess, and since she has reportedly been injured in an earlier fight, I hope that we find her before another bloodstained tragedy pierces our crumbling morale.

-Black Guard leader Gustaf Larsson to Queen Ingrid

Approximately an hour after the departure of the other groups…

"Mamma mia, this is-a gonna suck," Luigi remarked under his breath. He aimed his weapon, the Guld-Falk, at the nearest ship and charged it to the first power level. A white glow emerged from the front as the particle accelerators excited their supply of supercharged photons before unleashing them into the most explosive way possible.

ZAP!

The nine beams converged into one larger harbinger of raw power, and not even a second could pass while the energized attack brutally penetrated the unfortunate Drake, both its shielding and its cold hull. This laser beam was far stronger compared to many others like it, so even the ship's barrier against many weaker attacks—including energy blasts—succumbed to the devastating force.

"Got one!" the plumber exclaimed. The Guld-Falk was swiftly guided by his hand towards other opponents in the sky, acting like a trained animal of steel—ready to eat through incoming prey. Another Drake plummeted in fiery defeat after a second attack from the palace's mightiest defender, and that same defender was not alone. In addition to numerous aerial vehicles in service to the kingdom, a full set of defense stations dotted the front of the palace with its metallic presence, controlled by a mixture of royal guards and Smashers, and while the energized weapons only possessed three accelerators instead of the Guld-Falk's nine, their power was still not to be underestimated. Missile systems and anti-flak guns also provided a wall of defense. Wolf O'Donnell and Kirby were positioned to the sides of Luigi's weapon, and the faster firing speeds of their missile-based weapons allowed them to score quicker blows in exchange for less power.

"Time for an aerial ass-kicking!" the lupine mercenary declared. He focused on the Drakar that approached from the upper left side, and Kirby did the same for the upper right. Bowser and two palace guards were positioned above the Guld-Falk, with their role being the coverage of the area that Kirby and Wolf could not easily reach. Swarms of missiles attacked the incoming Drakar from all angles, but only some managed to inflict major damage; the sinister vehicles were agile enough to avoid some attacks. Bowser aggressively tried to attack a machine that constantly evaded his swarms, much to his frustration, and even assistance from friendly vehicles fail to aid him.

"What the fuck?" he growled. His temper would have boiled over if Luigi had not fried the target with the Guld-Falk, and even then, the Koopa King was deeply angered from his recent failure.

"And I wanted to get that kill…" Despite his minor shortcoming, he forced two more Drakar in a defensive position with smaller but faster swarms. His power output was enough to disable the shields, and without those barriers, the ships were blasted into pieces by his son and Diddy, who were located diagonally beneath Luigi. Filling the space between the Koopa prince and the cap-wearing ape was Mister Game & Watch, whose weapon was aimed at a faster vehicle that resembled a fighter jet. The targeting system on his turret provided the name of this new enemy: Gam.

"Beep," he noted. He settled with a small salvo to attack, but even the homing shots were swiftly avoided by the approaching Gam. Diddy and a palace guard beneath his station assisted him with slightly larger swarms, which exited their weapons simultaneously, and their efforts damaged the Gam's wings. The Flat Zone citizen wasted no time in finishing his plummeting foe with all the raw power at his two-dimensional fingertips.

Whoosh… BOOM!

Within seconds, the mechanical raptor had been fried, but others of its kind step in to avenge its defeat. Luigi charged the Guld-Falk to the next highest level, the second, and managed to effortlessly penetrate three Drakar and a Gam in a single shot. Despite his bout of success, the plumber could not shrug off the phantom of creeping horror over his head, embodied in the form of the massive war machine in the fleet. It was a massive goliath, patiently waiting to rain its brand of indiscriminate destruction on the wounded city, and its blacked look and tipped bow accurately represented its vicious nature under the influence of the abhorrent Lords. The cannon on the underside was massive, a cylindrical tube with the power of one nuclear bomb at minimum, but its secondary turrets were no less intimidating. On top of everything else, the targeting system of the Guld-Falk informed Luigi that the outer hull was forged from a metal of unknown origin and that no major weaknesses were detected. The plumber himself was internally nervous at the vehicle's presence, but Queen Ingrid—who noticed it from her son's room—was even more horrified. It was now clear to her that Björnstad was being imperiled by the same machine that mercilessly eradicated Lejonborg, and if it could not be disabled with even the Guld-Falk, there was no telling how devastating the loss of Björnstad would be.

"It has come to this…" she muttered fearfully, with her voice stuck in her throat. Unless Luigi and his group could somehow locate a weakness in that ship, the mission to protect the kingdom's capital city was doomed to fail. Even as nearly all Rosträdgårdian ships soared away to assault the metallic goliath, she could only hope that the other groups in Vindfält and the Northern Plains were faring better…

As the queen felt the rising pulse in her chest, Stefan suddenly returned to the room and noticed the deadly machine among the fleet, much to his shock. His mind flashed back to the report given to him by royal engineers shortly prior to the dinner of hospitality with the Smashers…

"What do you mean by that?" The prince was still confused by what the Lords had inflicted upon the generators, but the leading engineer was quick to clarify.

"You see, my prince, the generators were damaged beyond operation when they should have been merely deactivated. Your mother ordered our visiting defenders to disable them, correct?"

"Yes, she did. It makes no sense to completely break those systems, and I do not see the Smashers as possible culprits. In fact, Mario reported that the north generator had been damaged by cult lieutenants after his fight with a Legionär, while the blue hedgehog, Sonic, noted a similar situation at the southern station. We do not know what the leader was intending to do, but it matters not; you and your crew must fix those generators."

"Yes, my prince." The engineer exited the throne room with all due haste, leaving the prince by himself.

"Damn it…" the prince grunted under his breath. "Now I know why the Lords decided to destroy those generators."

"I do not understand, my son," Ingrid replied slowly. "What makes you proclaim such a statement?"

"Besides blocking certain vehicles from entry, the generators also had the ability to summon a second barrier to defend the city against even the strongest attacks from hostile forces. Since that dreaded war machine, the destroyer of Lejonborg, is here, we are woefully underequipped to deal with its near-unstoppable durability and intense power."

"What? So, the mission to the generators…"

Stefan lowered his head in gloominess. "Yes, it was merely a distraction to waste our time and give us a partially false sense of security—especially regarding that behemoth. And that is not mentioning an opportunity to scatter our forces into other areas at an inopportune time. We need to recall the other groups."

"I will recall some air forces from other areas to this city, but regarding our interdimensional defenders, they must complete their tasks first. We need to strengthen our aerial power as much as possible and must do so quickly, but if we fail to destroy the mechanical terror, we shall evacuate Björnstad as a last resort." Ingrid was about to leave the room when Svante's voice suddenly echoed in her head.

"My lady, can… you hear… me?" The choppiness in the driver's voice implied severe interference in his area. Nevertheless, the queen was quick to respond.

"Svante, what is happening?"

"We're in… serious trouble, my lady. We were… attacked by Captain… Lindqvist and her horde… of vampires at the base, and… now they have us inside… a building at an… alternate dimension. I hereby… request an… emergency team for… the base in… the Northern Plains."

The queen sighed under her breath, knowing that her answer would potentially disappoint Svante. "I am limited on personnel. Nearly all forces are trying to eliminate the ship that devastated Lejonborg, and Mario's group is still in Vindfält. I need to ask for outside assistance."

"You must hurry. My allies are in severe trouble right now."

"I will try to get our allies on Erebunius to send support, but there is no guarantee of help." As the two monarchs exited the room, the defenders continue to fire at the incoming aggressors, including the gigantic ship. Gamar and Drakar, including stealth-based units in the latter family, rapidly swarmed the city and attacked the more intact portions of the city without a shred of remorse. The only thing that impeded their mission was the combined firepower of the palace's defenders, including devastatingly strong blasts from the Guld-Falk. The approaching goliath was barely affected by Luigi's weapon and completely unfazed by the other turrets and all Rosträdgårdian ships, and its primary cannon slowly began to charge with raw energy—enough to thoroughly incinerate a large portion of the kingdom like it had done with Lejonborg. Luigi bit his lower lip as his weapon reached its third charged state, the result of which was a faster beam with an intense aura around its surface area.

BOOM!

Two Gamar and three Drakar were instantly obliterated in a heartbeat, but another Gam managed to survive with critical damage. Its underside was overheated on impact, glowing a vibrant orange while revealing a molten look to the edges, although the weakened integrity of the outer hull did not prevent it from firing supersonic missiles at the palace. Bowser Junior almost landed his shot on the incoming bomb, having missed by approximately half a meter, and it took Sonic—his flak turret was located on the lowest row, directly beneath Mister Game & Watch's—to eliminate the threat with fragmentary bursts.

"Booyah!" the hedgehog exclaimed. The explosion of blue flames transpired a safe distance away from the palace, much to his surest relief, as he and the guards on his row targeted other Gam and dangerous explosives. Despite his weapon's shorter distance, he exhibited a profoundly higher rate of success compared to the unlucky Bowser, who was still struggling to conquer his faster enemies. The bulky Koopa's relative incompetence allowed a stray missile to violently strike one of the palace's smaller towers, and the subsequent explosion dented the top and deeply charred the outer surface.

"Damn it…" Lucario grunted quietly. The Aura Pokémon, positioned on the rightmost column with two palace guards, was the closest fighter to the blast. A slight sense of worry filled its mind as it considered the possibility of total failure on the group's part, especially with the most monstrous machine in view, but its willpower allowed it to destroy several machines with its laser cannon, all without breaking a sweat. On the leftmost column were the two PSI-powered heroes—Ness on top and Lucas on bottom—and Popo, who were performing well with one laser cannon and two missile launchers. The young traveler of frozen lands nearly faced a devastating blow with a Gam's missile, but his fast reflexes saved him at the right time.

ZAP!

His laser cannon produced a detonation above the top of a nearby skyscraper, the result of which was a large cloud of dark smoke. It was because of this visual obstruction that Popo almost did not witness an incoming Gam at supersonic speeds, which forced Ness to eliminate the threat with his turret. Lucas managed to target four Gamar with one salvo, but only three of those metallic scavengers were speedily shot down; the sole survivor executed a supersonic barrel roll to evade a fiery death and even retaliated with an EMP-based projectile that temporarily disabled the young psychic's weapon.

Bzzz…

"Oh, no…" he muttered fearfully. His fear worsened when the same enemy inflicted a deep gash on one of the palace's towers via its laser cannon. On the topmost row of weapons, Nana and two palace guards were being assaulted by a trio of Svärt-Drakar, and because those machines were currently invisible to the naked eye, the defenders could not properly protect the palace or themselves from a swarm of lasers and bombs. One Rosträdgårdian fighter that stayed close to the palace was shot down and destroyed. Luigi, whose eyes noticed the sudden appearance of explosions above his position without any apparent catalyst, pressed the button with the "TERMISK/THERMAL" marking above it and switched the Guld-Falk's targeting screen to the thermograph. By a stroke of luck, he noticed the invisible machines and their associated projectiles.

"Invisible, huh?" he quipped with a hint of interest. "Okay, then…" He boosted his weapon to its fourth charged state and shot down the aggressors above him in rapid succession, with one charged blow and several uncharged variants. After Nana and the guards next to her had been protected, he shifted his focus to singling out more Svärt-Drakar. He was not sure if the other defenders were equipped with a thermograph, and if they did not have that benefit, then it was his duty to urgently defeat his invisible foes before they became a major threat. As he continued to fire away, the mechanical giant was still approaching the city at a steady pace. The cannon's glow intensified as the weapon's power levels crawled towards the highest limit, which signified the power to thoroughly destroy massive portions of entire countries. This mortifying sight was enough to coax all the engineers outside the shield's two stations into alerting their partners inside.

"Hurry up!" one man at the northern generator exclaimed to a partner via a radio. "That machine is getting closer!"

"It should not take us any longer than several minutes," replied the mechanic on the other end.

At the palace, Luigi kept his fear his check as he scanned the deadly ship again with the Guld-Falk, this time focusing on the cannon. While the cannon was forged from the same alloy as the rest of the machine, there was a structural weakness on the inside. The inner core was exposed to the cold air, and with a powerful weapon, the plumber could hope to inflict enough damage. Still, victory was not a guaranteed outcome, for there were other factors that were significant enough to ruin such a decisive moment.

"Here goes-a nothing…" Luigi braced himself before his weapon lashed out at the distant behemoth in the sky. The energy beam savagely impacted the core with its electrifying and undeniable power, but the target proved to be tougher than expected, having sustained mild damage. At the cult's central base on the Isola del Inferno, the mysterious leader was the first to realize Luigi's current strategy.

"Activate the barrier," he coldly demanded. "Wait until the cannon completes its charging sequence."

Ooooo…

At those cold words, the unseen captain of the ship projected a golden barrier around his vehicle with the power to reduce or even nullify the power of incoming threats. Luigi, apparently oblivious of the barrier's effects, sustained his assault on the gargantuan machine. It was not until a dozen or so shots later that he realized something crucial.

"Wait-a, it's not-a taking damage anymore?" he mumbled confusedly. Indeed, a quick sweep of the cannon with the Guld-Falk's scanner showed that his shots were no longer weakening the integrity of the cult's most powerful cannon. His heart thumped faster as he began to fear total failure on his group's part, even as other ships were shot down by the dozens. Eventually, as the pressure on the Smashers began to decrease, one Svärt-Drake slowly approached the palace without firing a single shot. Luigi did not realize its presence until the Guld-Falk's X-ray mode singled it out, but it was already too late. The Drake, whose metallic body surpassed the size of its cohorts, opened its cargo component…

RRRRRREEEEEEEEEE!

"Oh, fuck me!" Wolf snarled loudly. Numerous Helvetingar emerged from the dark cargo hold and instantly besieged the defenders with their overwhelming presence. The defense structures of the palace's weapons were in place to shield the operators to a degree, and yet, the stingers of the bloodthirsty insects proved to be more troublesome than the fighters had expected. Several of the creatures launched with blinding speed a swarm of stingers that, to the shock of the opposing group, had the strength to violently penetrate steel and stone. The palace turrets and Rosträdgårdian fighters were hard at work to fulfill the will of their operators, but the Helvetingar had the advantage in numbers. In time, multiple poisonous spears wreaked havoc on Luigi's faction, even managing to tear through steel defenses and impaling a handful of operators on several occasions. Several fighters were punctured before exploding on the spot. The plumber in green had to tear his focus away from the aerial juggernaut before changing his weapon's firing mode. Instead of a focused beam, his next attack was a burst of electricity that rapidly fried multiple bugs after having devastated its initial target.

BZZZZZ-CRACK!

Luigi felt relief when the pressure on his group was reduced, only to have his moment of respite cut short when more Drakar summoned hordes of Helvetingar. His short smile having faded, he felt a jolt of fear through his nerves when one bug decided to launch a stinger straight into his cockpit. The rate at which he dodged when the venomous projectile pierced the turret's ceiling was just enough to avoid a slow and agonizing death. In retaliation did he launch another burst of chain electricity, but many of his colleagues were not as lucky. Wolf was impaled right at the stomach, Bowser's arms were sliced open by organic javelins that soared from different angles, one Rosträdgårdian soldier was killed by a direct impalement to the head, and Sonic was forced to exit his turret when multiple Helvetingar were about to slaughter him. After a short lap around the room to confuse the bugs, the blue hedgehog lashed out with his signature Homing Attack and then, with the help of his Flame Shield, eviscerated most of his enemies with a fiery version of the Spin Dash. Only a minority of the attacking Helvetingar managed to avoid the hedgehog.

SPLACK!

"Ouch!" Sonic had not the time to rotate his body completely before a stinger punctured one of his legs. He yanked the cause of his pain out of his body, even at the cost of worsening his bleeding, and was fast enough to dodge a stinger that was aimed at his head. Nevertheless, his speed became visibly slower, especially when he attempted a fiery attack on a vicious insect, only to fail in the process. He would have been impaled again if he had not faked out his nearest opponent at the last second.

"Let's go!" Sonic incinerated his remaining opponents and, with a sigh of relief, returned to his turret. His aim started to decline due to blood loss, but the poison had yet to kick in. Meanwhile, after clearing most of the incoming Helvetingar, Luigi resumed his assault on the Gamar and Drakar. Sweat was beginning to form on his forehead as the giant warship's primary inched closer to full charge. Despite his hopes, he feared that the capital city of Rosträdgård was about to be thoroughly incinerated by a deadly blast that almost no material could hope to withstand. Away from the battlefield, after several minutes of heated exchanges by the defenders and their opponents, Stefan contacted one of the engineers at the city's northern generator via telepathy to ascertain whether the barrier could be created in time.

"Are you almost done with the repairs?" he questioned.

"Just one more minute, Prince," the engineer responded. "The border will be ready soon."

"The weapon is almost ready to fire, so be quick." While inside the confines of the throne room, the prince bit his lower lip as the nervousness within him started to slowly boil. The presence of numerous Helvetingar did not help his mental state, for he feared—quietly but deeply—that the Smashers and their helpers would be overwhelmed by blinding speed and poisonous stingers.

Several floors down, Luigi fried more bloodthirsty bugs with his weapon before piercing a Drake with a beam of light. His assault continued until a team of two Gamar and a Drake momentarily disabled the Guld-Falk and several other weapons with a combined electromagnetic pulse. To exacerbate the situation, the giant warship's cannon was only inches away from full charge.

SPLACK!

"Beep!" Mister Game & Watch felt wetness on his torso as a stinger pierced his body and barely missed his two-dimensional heart. He would not be the only one to suffer misfortune; all defenders aside from Luigi either suffered crippling damage to their turrets or took a poisonous stinger to the body. Those whose weapons had become inoperable due to major damage were forced to hide behind cover as Gamar, Drakar, and Helvetingar increased the pressure on them. Wolf, Bowser, Diddy, Popo, and Kirby were still firing away, but they were wounded by the swarm of Helvetingar. By now, the cannon was at full charge and ready to fire. Luigi, despite charging his weapon to maximum power, felt like his death was virtually inevitable. No doubt, Mario and Peach would be greatly dismayed by his loss, but his fear did not stop there.

Rosträdgård would lose its capital city, along with everything associated with it…

The morale of the Rosträdgårdian people would plummet to dismal lows…

The entire royal family except for Lillian would be eliminated…

And the Lords would fatally cripple the kingdom in their quest to revive the Svärtad Orm…

With no method of damaging the ship or its cannon, Luigi was ready to embrace his death, lowering his head. The cannon fired straight at the city…

ZAP-BANG!

"…?" The plumber in green swung his head up and realized that the fatal shot had been blocked at the last second by a white barrier that had suddenly materialized around the city. On top of that, all the Gamar and Drakar suffered short-circuiting in mere seconds after that same barrier's appearance. The Helvetingar, being organic entities, continued to harass the palace for a short period, but a burst of chain electricity from the Guld-Falk killed most of them; the survivors were soon forced to retreat.

"Well, that's a relief," Luigi sighed under his breath. After the deactivation of his weapon, he retreated to the throne room, where he immediately encountered Stefan and his mother.

"Your city is-a safe for now," he stated. "But what was that-a barrier?"

"It is a defense mechanism that we use as a last resort against major attacks," Ingrid answered. "We should be free from further attacks unless the Lords find a way to get past it, and even then, the barrier's configuration should disable enemy vehicles in range due to their type of electronic assembly. On another note, I must congratulate you and your group for holding your ground against the assault. Now, we will check on the others, and if they need treatment, we will send them to the medical wing."

"Okie-dokie." Luigi followed the two monarchs to the lower floors.

Isola del Inferno…

"They managed to activate the barrier in time," the masked leader snarled under his breath. "They can enjoy the temporary respite for now, but I will not stop until the city is erased from the soil of Terramythica." Frustrated for the moment, he returned to his main chamber and remained there until a lieutenant entered with some news.

"My lord," the lesser cultist sighed, "The base at Vindfält has been cleared of all hostile threats. The Smashers who were part of the invading force have been transferred here as prisoners by one of Lina's helpers."

"Why has that fool brought our enemies over here? He should know that we do not take prisoners except under rare circumstances. Tell him to kill them all immediately." The leader lowered his head after the subordinate's comment.

"That is the thing; one of our replacement squadrons, after questioning him, said that he has expressed interest in handing the Smashers over to our research division to hopefully replicate their powers and use them against our enemies. What say you, my master? Shall we keep them?"

The leader paused to consider the servant's suggestion. Throughout the war, the cultists had used stolen equipment against the kingdom of roses and anyone else who dared to stand in their way, but the thought of replicating a fighter's powers—especially powers that originated from another dimension—was something that he had never fully considered in the past. Now, however, he felt a spark of curiosity in his mind. Since the servant had connections with the captured Smashers, it was feasible to conduct experiments and replicate unique abilities. The experiments would have to be conducted soon; if the Rosträdgårdian forces and their allies were to unearth what was about to occur here…

"Very well. Send the prisoners to the research division, but I need you to make the experiments quick. We cannot afford to keep the Smashers here indefinitely."

"Understood, and there is one thing that you should know before I leave. Captain Lindqvist has requested an audience with you in her quarters." After the crossing of his arms as a sign of respect, the cultist exited the room as the leader teleported to Lina's room. The vampire's room was marked by a steel table with blood on its surface, a library of books that mostly concerned blood magic, and a small pool of blood on the farthest wall from the entrance. There was also a door that provided access to the deeper part of the quarters. On the table was the smaller servant from the base in the Northern Plains, now unconscious.

"What is your request, Lindqvist?" the leader quietly asked.

"I am still trying to understand what could have penetrated my brainwashing magic," an annoyed Lina replied. "One of the Smashers, a young boy, did something to this servant, and before I realized what was happening, the servant was in agony. I must do something to refine my hypnosis…"

"You need not worry. I have something that will strengthen your control over your servant. You will see what it is after my visit with the princess." He teleported out of the captain's room and into Lillian's current location. The Rosträdgårdian princess, still unconscious from her earlier battle, was only clothed in her violet underwear, and only her legs were covered by the bed's blanket.

"You possess a strong will, but I will break it down before long." He gently removed a vial of a glowing liquid, which shined with a red light, from one of his robe's pockets…

Man, that was a rough battle. I can only hope that the other groups are doing better.

-Luigi

Sorry for the long wait. Too much has occurred around me as of late…

A/N:

-Gam means vulture in Swedish (gamar is the plural).

Read and review. I need to sleep now…