Three massive towers stood side by side, each one connected by a drawbridge and carved with the face of a gnorc and a rhynoc at the top. If one were stand right next to one, they would be compared to an ant, easily squashed. Their size and mass made them intimidated alone and the growling mugs of the rhynoc and gnorcs carved into them added to it.
But this wasn't anything to a season veteran like Sgt. Byrd. With Cleetus occupied, he led Slither and Bentley towards the ominous fortress.
"I realize those miscreants' egos are rather enormous, but this is exceedingly ridiculous," said Bentley, looking at the carved faces.
"Do you think they're overcompensating for something?" Slither surmised with a chuckle.
"That doesn't matter right now," Sgt. Byrd said sternly over the communicator. "We have a mission to complete."
From Big Nasty's information, each of the three towers served a different function; the first tower was where the stolen food was kept; the second one was the main fortress where the vehicles were being made; and the third one was where slaves were being made to do degrading tasks such wiping the window, cleaning the toilets, and scraping toe jam from the gnorcs and rhynocs feet.
With Sgt. Byrd as the defector leader, he assigned himself, Slither and Bentley to different towers. He would take the second while Slither would take the first tower and Bentley would take the third.
"We will meet back in 2200 hours. Alright men, let's move!" Sgt. Byrd commanded.
"What's the hurry? With 2200 hours, we've got all the time in the world," Slither said sarcastically to himself.
And with that, the three separated.
At the first tower, a gnorc carrying a large mace and a rhynoc carrying a flamethrower, stood guard when thy were greeting by Slither who came in rushing on his motorcycle.
"Hey boys. Sorry about the surprise visit, but I just can't help myself," Slither said with a sly smile.
The gnorc and rhynoc charged at him, prompting Slither to jump from his motor cycle over the two. Upon landing on his feet, Slither spit out acid toward the gnorc's mace, melting it. The rhynoc fired the flamethrower at him, but he jumped out of the way and then took out the gnorc with his tail by way of wrapping it around his neck and slamming him to the ground. The gnorc fired again, but Slither once again jumped out of the way and landed on top of him. He then melted the flamethrower with his acid spit, then knocked him out with his tail.
With the two guards taken care of, Slither hopped back on his motorcycle and headed inside where dozens of wooden boxes containing food lay next to one another and stacked on top of each other.
Seeing as there were so many boxes, Slither realized it would be virtually impossible to carry all of it out. For something like this, he would need the big rig, but that was currently with Cleetus. He could only hope that Cleetus would take care of Gulp and Crush and bring the big rig to him.
But if things weren't difficult enough, a large swarm of rhynocs and gnorcs emerged from the shadows, surrounding him, all carrying weapons from flamethrowers to maces and metal mallets.
"Of course. One difficult thing after another. The world is just smiling on me today," Slither said to himself sarcastically.
One rhynoc with a flamethrower fired, but Slither quickly dodged, then knocked out two rhynocs with his tail. One gnorc almost got him with a mallet, only to hit one of the boxes. Slither then tackled him to the ground. Taking the mallet, he then knocked out three gnorcs and two rhynocs, but was then hit from behind by a mallet from a gnorc.
"Okay, that wasn't pleasant," Slither said, groaning in pain.
"Neither is this!" growled a gnorc, carrying a flamethrower.
Slither just barely dodged and stomped the gnorc to the ground, then knocked out a rhynoc with a roundhouse kick.
One gnorc almost got him with a mace, only for another to give him a shoulder tackle hard into the wall.
Slither winced in pain, but that didn't stop him. He got back onto his feet, then jumped onto one of the boxes and tackled a gnorc. After just barely dodging a mace and a mallet, he flipped backwards and hit a rhynoc with kick, then wrapped his tail around the neck of another rhynoc and tossed him into into a rhynoc and a gnorc.
A rhynoc kicked him from behind and a gnorc almost hit him with a mallet, but he dodged, then just barely dodged a flamethrower from a another gnorc, only to be hit with a mallet from a rhynoc.
"Getting hit by those things once is enough, thank you," Slither said, slightly struggling to get to his feet.
After dodging a mace from a gnorc, Slither tripped the gnorc before knocking out a rhynoc with a punch. One rhynoc missed with a flamethrower and Slither knocked him across the room. He then went for the pounce, but was knocked in midair by a mace.
"Ugh! But the third time is not the charm," Slither, holding his sides.
He tried getting up, but it proved to be more difficult then before. As he looked up, he saw the remaining dozens of gnorcs and rhynocs mocking and laughing at his increased exhaustion. But even though the odds seemed against him and his breathing was getting heavier and heavier, he couldn't afford to stop. As tired as he was, he needed to keep going.
Taking advantage of his fatigue, the gnorcs and rhynocs began ganging up on Slither, taking him on, two to one, to three to one. The numbers seemed to be overwhelming, but he continued to fight, using his tail to knock out two gnorcs.
At the third tower, after knocking out a couple of gnorcs, Bentley smashed down the door with his club.
The loud noise caught the attention of all the guards and the slaves inside.
"Greetings, thespians! I am here to liberate these slaves from your grasping clutches!" Bentley exclaimed.
At their orders, the slaves continued working while the guards charged in on Bentley. However, their efforts would prove to be useless as Bentley pounded all of them in just one hit. Bentley laughed at the piles of gnorc and rhynoc bodies that he had left, but realized it wasn't the time to celebrate yet as he still had to get the slaves out of the tower.
Taking out his walkie-talkie, Bentley communicated with Sgt. Byrd, informing him that he had secured the tower, but before he could finish his statement, he was tugged on his fur from one of the slaves who pointed in the direction of the leader.
He was a large rhynoc wearing a pink wig, a black leather jacket with huge spikes on the shoulders; light blue denim jeans and black boots with spikes at the toes; who was carrying a large wooden hammer with spikes.
Every step the rhynoc took made a small quake as he approached Bentley and the slaves with a menacing scowl.
"He'll call you back," the rhynoc growled.
On Bentley's orders, the slaves backed away and found some places to hide before the massive rhynoc stood face to face with him, practically dwarfing him, which was something rather uncommon for the yeti. Despite this, Bentley refused to back down and firmly grasped his club, ready to fight. "Prepared to commence when you are!" he exclaimed.
"Come-what?" the rhynoc asked with a raised eyebrow.
Not feeling like explaining, Bentley just cut to the chase. "It means 'fight'" he said with a sigh.
"Oh," the rhynoc responded before hitting Bentley across the head with his hammer, sending him flying hard into the wall. A sinister smile came onto his face. "Why didn't you say so?"
"Well, that was an impactful blow to say the least," Bentley groaned, adjusting his jaw.
Quickly brushing it off, Bentley got to his feet and charged at the rhynoc, swinging his club wildly. The rhynoc dodged all four of his swings before hitting him with a punch to the face which knocked him down again. He then tried to hit him again with his hammer, but Bentley rolled out of the way and got a hit on him. The two traded blows before the rhynoc booted him in the gut, then hit him with his hammer, knocking him to the ground.
The rhynoc taunted him before grabbing him by the neck. "Around these parts, I'm the big muscle!" he proclaimed before tossing Bentley across the room.
The rhynoc chuckled as tossed Bentley around a second time. He then proceeded to continuously pound away at the yeti with his hammer.
The pain was so intense, Bentley could hardly move a muscle. He struggled just to lift up his right arm. Never before had he been physically dominated in such a manner. Still, he knew he had to keep fighting. But even though he had managed to hold the rhynoc at bay at first, he could barely mound any offense against him. In only a few minutes, Bentley was left with bumps and bruises virtually all around his body.
"Currently, my situation is unsatisfactory," he said, straining. "But I must press forward. Though easier said than done."
Yes, it seemed as though physically, the large yeti was outmatched in every sense of the word.
The rhynoc snorted with a smile on his face as he approached the fatigued Bentley. "Looks like I'm having yeti pancakes tonight!"
"That's absurd!" Bentley protested. "Everyone knows pancakes are reserved for morning nourishment!"
The rhynoc went for a punch, but Bentley dodged it, causing his hand to get stuck in a wooden crate.
"Just you wait until I get my hand outta this thing!" the rhynoc roared.
It was then that Bentley had an epiphany; while the rhynoc may have out-muscled him, he didn't out think him, therefore he could outsmart him.
"Hey! Uh...your mother resembles a uh...unattractive...obese...bovine!" Bentley shouted.
"A what?" the rhynoc asked, confused.
"A cow!" Bentley said.
"What?! Nobody insults my motha!" the Rhynoc shouted.
With fury, the rhynoc pulled his hand from the crate and charged forth towards Bentley who tripped him. When he got up to one knee, Bentley gave him a couple of hard swipes with his club before he got back on both feet.
Looking to disorient him again, he hurled him with another insult. "Your...breath...is the equivalent of...a large garbage disposal!" he shouted.
"That is not true! I brush my teeth at least once a year!" the rhynoc protested before going for a swing.
Bentley dodged and booted him in the back. When the rhynoc turned around, he received a hard swipe across the head from Bentley's club. With the rhynoc down, the yeti rushed to a nearby set of stairs, making his way to the top.
"If you had a brain, you would be dangerous...and have an education past preschool!" Bentley shouted, continuing his insults.
The rhynoc growled as he charged up the stairs, only to be met another blow to the head by Bentley's club which sent him flying back down onto his back to which Bentley then jumped from the top of the stairs and hit the rhynoc in the groin, causing him to wail in immense pain. For his finishing blow, Bentley knocked him in the head with his club, knocking him out.
Though greatly sore, the intelligent yeti was victorious, licking his wounds as he approached the slaves who gathered around him, some embracing him, grateful that he had liberated them.
Now that the slaves had been freed, there was the matter of getting them out and with so many of them, the only way that would be possible was with the big rig which he knew Cleetus had. And Bentley was in no condition to carry a ton of slaves across a hot desert. For right now, he and the slaves would have to wait it out until Cleetus eventually came to the towers.
Of all the towers, the one Sgt. Byrd was assigned to was the most intimidating of them all. Multiple turrets and machine guns, manned by gnorcs and rhynocs, covered the outside and barbed wired lined the massive walls. But this wasn't intimidating to Sgt. Bryd. To him, this was just another day on the job. With vigor, he charged forth towards the tower and no sooner had he did then the gnorcs and rhynoc began firing.
Soon, the air was filled with dozens of missiles locked onto Byrd, but he managed to dodged them before firing back, taking out three turrets with his missiles. Using his quickness and fast flying, he was able to destroy a number of turrets and machine guns.
Just then, a rhynoc manning a machine gun, fired at Byrd. He was able to dodge, it was merely to lure him into an upcoming missile which landed a direct hit.
The hit caused Byrd to flip in the air, but he was able to regain his composure. "Clever move, I must admit. But that won't be enough to stop me!" he said.
With a righteous fury, the grizzled war veteran bird continued knocking down as many turrets and machine guns as possible. Though it wasn't as the gnors and rhynocs managed to get some hits in. Still, Sgt. Byrd continued to persevere until he destroyed the last turret. With the last turret down, he landed at the roof of the fortress, slightly exhausted, by still able to move on.
"Alright, the outer perimeter of the tower has been secured. Now onto the inside," said Sgt. Byrd.
Using one of his missiles, he blasted the hatch door open and flew inside. During his decent downward, he encountered a number of machine gun wielding gnorcs and rhynocs on each floor, but he quickly disposed of them, using his missiles, beak, and a few headbutts.
He finally landed at the bottom floor to find it dimly lit and not a soul was to be found, nor a sound to be heard. It didn't take much for Byrd to assume a possible ambush due to his experience in the field and his were proven correct as suddenly, a bunch of lights lit up around him. Byrd soon found himself surrounded in a circle of vehicles driven by gnorcs and rhynocs, each intimidating in design.
One was a limousine with spikes and machine guns driven by a rhynoc; the second was a motorcycle with a spiked snowplow also driven by a rhynoc; the third was a small pirate ship with mini helicopter blades driven by a gnorc; the fourth was a jeep with machine guns, spikes, and a missile launcher driven by a rhynoc; and the fifth had the body of a van and the head of a pickup truck, driven by a gnorc.
Wasting no time, Sgt. Byrd immediately flew up into the air and went on the attack, firing his missiles at the motorcycle which quickly dodged. Realizing they were all ground based, the sergeant remained airborne. However, that didn't stop the vehicles for firing their guns at him. Byrd dodged their shot, including a missile the jeep fired. This caused to go to the ground for a moment and the pirate ship charged at him with its blades spinning. Luckily, Byrd managed to dodge, but this left the motorcycle an opening to grab him with the snowplow and send him flying into a bunch of crates.
The vehicles started firing towards the debris, but Byrd used it as covering. He then used a smoke bomb to confuse the gnorcs and rhynocs and allowed to escape their line of fire. While they were distracted, he grabbed the gnorc on the motorcycle with his talons, lifted him up and dropped him into another pile of crates, taking him out. The remaining vehicles continued firing as Byrd continued dodging.
The limousine fired multiple spikes at him, but he maneuvered his way past them and got behind it. He then opened the trunk and place a grenade inside before closing it. When the grenade exploded, the limo went up in flames.
The jeep chased down bird, firing its guns at him, but Byrd dodged by way of twirling. He then twirled in the air, doing a somersault, then dove under the jeep and placed a grenade under it, which made the jeep explode.
With that vehicle taken care of, Byrd returned to the air to focus on the remaining two, only to be met with a saw blade fired by the van that left a cut across his belly.
Byrd hovered to the ground, clutching his abdomen. "Curses!" he shouted wincing in pain.
With Byrd seemingly grounded, the pirate ship charged forward with its spinning blades towards him. Byrd was barely able to dodge due to his injury and he could barely fly more than four inches off the ground. Still, he was able to dodge the blades for both vehicles, but he knew he couldn't dodge forever for he was growing fatigued. To make matters worse, he had run out of missiles.
Luckily, he'd been trained in events such as this and upon seeing the spinning blades of the ship, he got an idea. Taunting the gnorc riding the ship, he lured it around in circles while evading the van. He flew in many different directions, leading the two vehicles in alternating patters until he lured the ship towards the van. The blades from the ship collided with the front of the van, taking out the engine while at the same time, causing the blades to fall apart.
The gnorcs retreated, not wanting to deal with Sgt. Byrd's missiles. It was rough battle, but the sergeant managed to pull a victory from the jaws of defeat. Still, he was highly exhausted and badly wounded and decided to sit down to take a rest.
While he was resting, he took the opportunity to talk to Slither and Bentley on the walkie-talkie, first deciding to talk to Bentley. "What is your status?" he asked.
"Still smarting, but other than that, I am exceptionally sufficient," said Bentley.
With that news, Byrd turned the frequency of his walkie-talkie to talk to Slither. "Come in, Slither. Do you copy?" he said.
Slither was taking a bit long to comply due to still being preoccupied with the rhynocs and gnorcs. But after a long fight, he took care of the remaining ones, thus claiming the tower. He held his knees, panting hard from exhaustion, his tongue nearly touched the floor.
After catching his breath, Slither grabbed the walkie-talkie from out of his pocket and spoke into it. "Tower's all clear...no trouble at all," he panted sarcastically.
So with that, all three towers were taken back. It was quite a struggle, but all three of them had managed to get the job done, though it wasn't easy. As Byrd favored his wounds, he couldn't help but think, if this was so hard for them, he could only imagine how it was going for the others.