Jack yawned as he stared through the bars of his cell, the only furnishings of which were a bed, table, and two chairs on one of which Jack was currently sitting. As far as he could tell this was an important military base owned by the SDF. He'd been locked up in here ever since he stumbled across a military checkpoint and they took him for questioning.
Well, to be technical he pretty much walked up to them and said 'take me to your leader'. Why? To tell the truth he wasn't feeling quite as confident now that he was actually in Saldara. After all, he was up against a fully fledged, and heavily armed, terrorist organization. Compared to these guys, Team Rocket looked like a couple of kids playing cheap pranks. Not that they didn't' look like that anyway…
At any rate, Jack figured he might as well speak to someone in authority before he started gallivanting across the region. Who knows, maybe they could come to some sort of mutually beneficial arrangement. Then maybe they'd give him back the bag with all his supplies...
Jack's train of thought was derailed by someone walking up to his cell. By the man's uniform, and the way he dismissed the two guards who had been posted next to the cell, Jack figured he was probably the 'General Ford' he'd overheard some soldiers talking about. The general opened the door of the cell and stepped inside, looking Jack over as he did so.
"So… Jack Storm, how and what are you doing in my region right now?" Ford asked, setting a folder down on the table as he sat down.
Jack shrugged. "Just passing through, really; there's some people I need to see. Alpha, I believe they're called."
"Alpha," Ford started in a harsh tone, his eyebrows rising at the mention of the terrorist group. "And tell me why on earth you want to see them?"
Jack's eyes narrowed. "It's… personal. Although, if you are who I think you are, then we both want the same thing. I'm here to take Alpha down."
The general blinked as he stared at the kid in front of him. He obviously wasn't sure if he should laugh or shake his head.
"Kid… I must say, I did not see that coming," he finally said, shaking his head. "You got guts, I will give you that, but your plan is insane. You look like you would barely be old enough to join the armed forces, and you want to single handedly take down a hundred year old terrorist organization?"
Jack shrugged again. "Yeah, well what can I say; you locked me up so tightly, I thought for sure you'd heard of me and what I can do. Still, it doesn't really make much of a difference. Believe me when I say I'm not making idle threats here, I will destroy Alpha; with my own two hands if I have to. But since this is your country, I'm willing to play by your rules."
"Look here, Jack," Ford said sternly, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table. "I don't care who you are or what you supposedly can do. Truthfully, I didn't even know of your existence until about ten minutes ago. The guards were ordered by one of my overzealous subordinates. I have been fighting a full fledged war here for the past three months and a soft war for some time before that. I haven't had the luxury of paying attention to fairy tales from another region. And if you want to play by my rules, you are on a plane back to Sinnoh before the sun sets. This is war, kid. I don't have time nor resources to make sure you can go on your suicide mission."
Jack listened grimly and, when Ford had finished speaking, he looked the general in the eye.
"Alright then," Jack said, standing up. "If that's the case, then my rules it is. To be honest, I was hoping to get some help from you people; but if I have to do this alone, I will. It's been nice talking to you, and I'll be sure to stay out of your way in the future. Goodbye."
Without another word, Jack teleported outside the base. He would've gone looking for his things, but he didn't know where they were. He'd have to get it back somehow though, his Pokédex was in there; and his Bible too. As he contemplated how to retrieve his bag alarms started sounding down in the base, no doubt due to his sudden departure.
Then he sensed something, or rather two somethings. A pair of massively powerful aura signatures were closing in on the base. He couldn't know for sure, but he got the feeling that they weren't friendly. Jack gritted his teeth, he didn't have time for this. Still, he couldn't just leave them with no warning.
With a sigh, Jack teleported back to his cell. General Ford was still there although his back was turned to Jack at the moment.
"Oh, and by the way," Jack said, as if he were commenting on the weather, "I think your base is about to be attacked by someone really powerful. I just thought you should know."
Ford whipped around and leveled his pistol squarely at Jack's chest.
"What do you mean? We aren't anywhere near the front lines," Ford demanded harshly.
Jack shrugged. "Well then, you'd better hope the intense auric signatures I'm picking up are friends of yours; because otherwise, I think this is what's known as a sneak attack. And since you just sounded the alarm, I'm guessing they're going to make their move some time soon."
"Hybrids…" Ford muttered, lowering his pistol slightly.
As if to confirm Jack's words, the building shook as an explosion reverberated throughout the area.
"Well," Jack continued, "That's my good deed for the day; good luck."
With that he teleported away again, once more landing just outside the base. He was going to leave, but then he saw what was happening only a hundred feet or so to the right of him. One Pokémon, a strange-looking Lucario with white fur and some sort of metal headband, was in the process of decimating the entire garrison of the fort. Jack watched as a massive Aura Sphere slammed into a tank, causing to to explode. Other vehicles and tanks tried to engage the lone Pokémon, but it proved fruitless as their shells were easily dodged.
It wasn't long before dozens of bodies were strewn across the base along with a good number burning wrecks that were fully functioning military vehicles minutes before hand. A squad of soldiers were currently unloading on the Aura Pokémon with their machine guns. One soldier hoisted a rocket launcher and loosed a shell at the deadly Pokémon, however it was all for naught as the intense level of fire didn't even phase the Lucario. The squad of soldiers started back-peddling towards the building they had just come out of as empty magazines clattered against the concrete ground of the base, the soldiers' nerves breaking as they struggled to get the full mags into their rifles.
"I don't have time for this," Jack thought, trying to convince himself to just walk away and leave well enough alone. "Every second I waste here is a second my team is in danger…"
Jack watched from afar as the Lucario grew a set of Metal Claws, the deadly blades rapidly closing on the soldiers as they pulled back on their charging handles, chambering rounds from the new magazines. Before they could even take aim, Lucario charged at them; its face showing no emotion as it prepared to mow down the helpless men.
At that point Jack couldn't take it any more, it wasn't in his nature to walk away. Feeling his anger starting to flare up against this emotionless killer Lucario, he flung out a powerful wall of psychic energy in the its path, stopping it cold. He then teleported a few meters behind the creature and crossed his arms.
"You know," Jack said, allowing frustration to seep into his tone, "I tried walking away, really I did, but I just can't do it. I can't watch people die any more. Which is bad luck for you."
The Lucario spun in place, and found himself face to face with a decidedly ticked-off Jack Storm.
"Now we can do this the easy way," Jack said, "Or the hard way; take your pick."
The white-furred Lucario stared blankly at Jack for a moment, its face still showing no emotion whatsoever. Jack had just enough time to wonder what its deal was, before it charged at him with a Force Palm attack in both paws.
Jack waited until the Lucario was nearly on top of him, then he disappeared. The Lucario, its attack not meeting the expected resistance, stumbled forward slightly. Jack, who had re-appeared directly behind his opponent, used that momentary imbalance to knock the Lucario off its feet with a kick to the back of the head.
"You know," Jack said, settling into a combat stance, "I was a little worried when I sensed your aura, but if that's the best you can do then this is going to be too easy."
Lucario lunged at him again but Jack just teleported away and then reappeared a behind his opponent. Jack fired off a quick Thunderbolt before disappearing again and repeating the process.
"I was right," Jack commented to no one in particular. "This is a little too easy."
He went on like that for some time and Lucario didn't seem to be able to counter the tactic. On the other hand, it didn't seem to be getting worn down like Jack had intended either. For all the hits Jack had landed, the oddly coloured Pokémon barely seemed the worse for wear.
"I might have to try something different," Jack muttered to himself.
Instead of firing off a Thunderbolt, Jack used a trick he'd learned more recently. He summoned a small flame in the palm of his hand, and tossed it at Lucario. It looked almost pathetic, a tiny little spark sailing through the air, but when it hit the ground in front of Lucario it exploded into a roaring inferno which enveloped Lucario entirely.
Jack grinned. "Well, that worked surprisingly well."
Jack's statement proved premature however. When the smoke cleared, Lucario was unharmed; surrounded in a glowing purple dome of energy which Jack recognised as an auric shield, although he'd never seen purple aura before.
Jack scowled. "Okay, so maybe it didn't."
Before Jack could launch another attack, Lucario reabsorbed the aura into its paws forming two Aura Spheres before hurling one of them at Jack. Jack anticipated the attack and simply teleported away again, but as soon as he reappeared Lucario quickly turned towards where the boy had popped into existence and threw the remaining Aura Sphere with all the strength it had.
Jack saw the attack coming and made a split second decision. Instead of teleporting away from the attack, he charged his right hand with aura and swatted it into the air where it exploded harmlessly.
"You know what," he said, "Beating around the bush isn't getting us anywhere. You've got my attention so let's do this like men. So to speak."
With that, Jack reached a hand into the sky which, as if on cue, started to darken. Thick storm clouds quickly covered the sun, casting a shadow on the entire base. Eyeing the blackening sky with a blank stare, Lucario focused energy into its paws before holding his paws towards the sky. As suddenly as the clouds had appeared, they started dispersing as Lucario used Sunny Day.
Jack scowled. "Okay; didn't see that one coming. I guess I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way."
Focussing aura into his legs and arms, Jack launched himself at Lucario at full speed; closing the distance between them in a heartbeat and pulling back his right arm for a punch. As fast as Jack closed in on Lucario, said Aura Pokémon reached out with one paw and prepared to catch Jack while its other paw glowed in white energy.
Jack grinned; Lucario had taken the bait. The boy continued closing in on his opponent until they were no more than inches away from each other, but just before they made contact Jack disappeared. He popped back into existence about two feet behind Lucario, heading in exactly the opposite direction but retaining his momentum. However as Jack lashed out with his fist at Lucario from behind, Lucario ducked just underneath the attack. Swinging out one of its legs, attempting to knock Jack off of his feet as it brought its Force Palm-charged paw around to deliver the blow.
Lucario's Force Palm landed dead on and flung Jack backwards like a ragdoll. He rolled along the ground for a few feet before coming to a stop. He groaned in pain, but didn't waste any time in getting back up knowing that Lucario would probably follow up with another attack. His hunch proved correct as he saw the Aura Pokémon closing in with Bone Rush.
"Batter up," Jack muttered with a scowl.
With a wave of his hand Jack unleashed a tidal wave of telekinetic energy which crashed into Lucario, picking it up like a leaf in a hurricane and sending it flying into the air spinning head over heels. Jack teleported into the sky himself, telekinetically hovering directly in the path of the airborne Lucario, and started pouring auric energy into his right arm. When Lucario, still spinning uncontrollably, got within striking distance Jack brought his arm down in a vicious karate-chop.
Before Jack could land the blow however, Lucario managed to twist its body so that his arms were facing Jack as he brought down his attack; although the impact of the blow managed to propel Lucario towards the ground at a rather rapid pace. Pumping aura into its legs, Lucario braced himself for a hard landing. Just as Jack suspected it would.
As Lucario plummeted towards the ground like a runaway meteorite, Jack teleported back down to earth and sent tendrils of telekinetic energy down into it. Then he waited until Lucario was about to hit the ground. A split second before the Aura Pokémon landed, Jack sent all the energy he could muster in one enormous pulse down into the earth. The ground buckled and caved, as though the earth was a pot of water coming to a boil. It was Jack's version of Earthquake.
The instant Lucario's feet touched the ground, the tremor reached its apex. It looked almost as though someone had detonated a mine just beneath the surface. The ground under Lucario exploded upwards in a cascade of rocks and dirt, which picked the Aura Pokémon up and forcefully flung it backwards away from Jack.
Lucario landed on its feet and prepared to launch a counter-attack of its own, but then it paused for a moment and cocked its head as if it was listening to something. Without so much as a word, Lucario turned and took of in the opposite direction of Jack.
"A strategic withdrawal?" Jack muttered to himself, but then he noticed something happening in the direction Lucario was going
Jack sent a mental probe to survey the area and found two incredibly powerful Pokémon, a Psychic-type and a Dark-type as far as he could tell from there, going head to head. Lucario had obviously been called over to help one side or the other end the fight. Which side Lucario was on, Jack didn't know. With that in mind he kept an eye on the situation until Lucario made its move. When it did, it attacked the Dark-type.
Now knowing which side was which, Jack poured aura into his legs and launched himself towards the action. Coming up on the scene, he headed straight for the Psychic-type which appeared to be an odd-looking Gallade holding some sort of gold-coloured sword in his right hand and a matching shield in his left. Remarking to himself that Saldara seemed to be full of strange Pokémon, Jack ran up to the Gallade and sent his fist into the side of its face.
"I don't think it's going to be that easy," Jack said, cracking his knuckles after landing the punch.
The Gallade went flying several meters before hitting the ground, giving Jack a moment to take a better look at the Dark-type he'd sensed. It looked to be a Zoroark, like Omar, except it appeared to be female. She was also somewhat shorter, had blue fur where Omar's had been red, was wearing a pair of ornate golden bracers on her upper arms, and had some sort of spear attached to her back. The Illusion Pokémon was currently occupied fighting off the Lucario, who hadn't even looked up when its partner went flying.
"Gah, treachery and foul play!" the strange Gallade stammered upon recovering and standing back up, glaring daggers at the… kid, who had the audacity to attack him.
"What do you think, Miss Zoroark?" Jack commented.
"I think he deserved it," the Zoroark said telepathically, seemingly amused by how the situation had changed.
Jack glanced at her spear. "Can you handle the Lucario while I take out that Gallade… thing?"
"My name is Damocles! Remember it, you peasant, for it shall be the last name you ever hear!" the Gallade yelled out indignantly, slashing his fancy golden sword to the side.
Jack grinned impishly. "And mine's Jack Storm. It's a pleasure to beat you."
With that, Jack telekinetically flicked himself into the air at Damocles; simultaneously sending tendrils of power into the sky above. He had never summoned a lightning bolt quite this quickly before, and to be honest he wasn't sure how well it was going to work, but whatever that Gallade thing was its aura signature was also unusually strong. Not as strong as the Lucario's, but this was still not an opponent to take lightly.
As Jack descended towards Damocles, he pulled back his fist for another punch. Damocles eyed Jack with suspicion and, seemingly deciding that standing still would not be in the best interests of his health, leapt out of the way of Jack's blow.
The Gallade avoided Jack's initial attack with ease, but as he did so he noticed that the sky had darkened dramatically over the last few seconds. He barely had time to register the fact though before Jack landed no more than three feet to his left. At that exact same instant, a bolt of searing heat and blinding light arced down from the heavens and hit the ground where the boy had just landed.
The blast from the lightning strike flung Damocles backwards several meters and nearly deafened him momentarily. He probably would have been blinded as well if he'd been looking directly at Jack when the bolt struck.
Damocles hastily got back to his feet and looked towards the spot where the lightning had struck, hoping to see only the boy's charred remains. He was not only disappointed, but somewhat frightened by the scene before him.
Jack was sitting, perfectly unharmed, in a six-foot-wide crater of semi-molten earth. Not only was Jack unharmed however, his entire body seemed full to bursting with energy. Little sparks of electricity were arcing off every exposed inch of his skin, crackling like tiny lightning bolts. Jack looked at Damocles, and his eyes were glowing like molten gold. A sinister grin spread across the boy's face.
"You know, I think that was by far the most powerful lightning bolt I've ever summoned," he said calmly, as though he were merely commenting on the weather; which in a way he was. "It was a bit of a rush job to be honest, and I might have overdone it just a little. Still, I'm eager to see how quickly I can take you down with this much extra energy."
Damocles barely had time to raise his shield before Jack closed the distance between them faster than the hybrid's eyes could register and, putting every scrap of his momentum into the blow, threw a haymaker punch at Damocles' chest. The blow, fortunately for Damocles, hit his shield. The Gallade was flung backwards like a ragdoll, and he felt the bones in his arm groan from the impact, but he felt it was far preferable to what would've happened had the punch landed true.
Damocles grunted as he stood up, glaring daggers at the boy. His anger grew as he was thrown around like nothing by this human. It was beyond absurd that he was losing this fight.
"Alright, Jack… it seems that I severely underestimated you and your abilities," Damocles ground out through clenched teeth. He leveled his sword at the boy's head. "You might just be a problem."
"You don't say," Jack deadpanned, then he smirked. "Then again you're not exactly the first guy to make that mistake, so I don't blame you."
Damocles held his sword out as three orbs of blueish-purple energy formed along its blade. Moments later, he swung the blade at his opponent, unleashing the three Psyshock attacks towards Jack. Even as the orbs of energy had just cleared the tip of his sword, Damocles charged up another three attacks and readied to unleash them.
Jack disappeared before the attacks could hit him, leaving a few sparks of electricity in his wake. Within the time it took to blink, he was standing right behind Damocles and was preparing to fire a Thunderbolt into his back. A vicious grin appeared on Damocles' face. At the last second he swiveled around and launched the trio of Psyshocks point blank at Jack's chest. Unprepared for the surprise attack, Jack took a direct hit and was flung backwards. However, in mid-air he telekinetically flipped himself upright and lashed out with the Thunderbolt he'd charged up.
With a slight exertion of his mind Damocles shifted the path of the Thunderbolt just enough for it to whiz past him and leave him unscathed, but before he could make a move of his own Jack fired off another bolt. Mentally sighing, Damocles once again batted the highly volatile bolt of energy away from him before he teleported right behind Jack, his sword glowing in bright blue energy as he brought it down towards his opponent.
Jack didn't so much as turn around and instead blasted Damocles backwards into the air with Psychic, quickly firing a blast of flames up after him. Slightly surprised by the force behind the psychic attack, Damocles hastily used Protect as the flames encircled around him and left him unharmed.
Jack, still floating mid-air, flicked Damocles down at the ground with Psychic and started surreptitiously gathering aura into his right hand. Before Damocles hit the ground, he once again teleported above Jack with Sacred Sword at the ready. As the hybrid swung at Jack for a second time, he turned around and materialised two short blades of aura in his hands; crossing them like scissors to catch Damocles's sword. The energy stored behind the Sacred Sword released explosively, propelling Jack down towards the ground. With the attack complete and his downward momentum cancelled, Damocles teleported down to the ground.
Jack decided to take a page out of his opponent's book and teleported away just before he hit the ground, in the process translating his vertical momentum into horizontal momentum. He reappeared right behind Damocles who, when Jack disappeared, had steadied himself for an attack from above and was unprepared for an attack from behind. Jack didn't have time to ready a fancy move, so he just gave himself an extra flick with Psychic and slammed his shoulder into Damocles'; knocking him clean off his feet.
There was enough force behind the body slam to make Damocles cry out in a muffled shout. He could feel his left arm dislocate from from its socket and hang limply at his side as he slid across the ground. Pain surged through his body, but Damocles managed to suppress it. Forcing himself to stand up, Damocles glanced over to see how Lucario was doing. Much to his disappointment, the blue and black fox was still holding her own having just unleashed a Flame Thrower at his comrade.
"Well, it would seem that now would be a good time to cut our losses," Damocles muttered, catching the burst of flame out of the corner of his eye before mentally calling Lucario over to his side. Lucario was easily able to get away from the Zoroark and make his way over to Damocles.
"You're not getting away that easily," Jack said, flinging a blast of Psychic at them; but before the attack connected, the two Pokémon disappeared from sight in a blinding flash of light.
"Or… maybe you are," Jack sighed with a scowl before turning to the female Zoroark. "Are you okay over there?"
"I'm fine," she replied telepathically, letting out a sigh before twirling her spear around and aurically attaching it to the strap on her back before sitting down. Her right paw went up to three cuts that ran along her left arm. She clenched her teeth in pain before she pooled aura around her paw and started healing the wound.
"I appreciate the sentiment," Jack said, also speaking telepathically, "But you can talk normally if you want; I can understand you either way."
The blue and black fox looked at the boy curiously, tilting her head some with one of her ears falling to the side. She gave a short laugh before a smirk made its way onto her muzzle.
"Non puto," she replied with a toothy grin.
"Yeah..." Jack sighed, scratching the back of his head; only understanding the general meaning of her words because he could pick up a handful of surface thoughts through her Dark-type mental defenses. "On second thought, you're probably right about that. Still, I can fake it."
"You probably could," Nova continued in normal Poké speech as she pulled her claw away. Her arm was no longer bleeding, but it still hurt and was sore.
"I'm Jack Storm by the way," Jack said. "In case you missed my grand entrance."
"Nova," the Zoroark replied. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise. So," Jack started. "Feel like telling me what I just got myself into?"
"War," Nova answered with a huff.
"Oh; is that all," Jack commented sarcastically, crossing his arms. "I assume that means those guys were with Alpha then?"
"That they were…" Nova replied with a sad sigh.
Jack frowned slightly. "That Lucario didn't talk much, and his aura seemed strange. It seemed almost… dry; emotionless."
Nova remained silent as she continued to sit on the grass before her head dipped down.
"He was your friend," Jack said solemnly. "Wasn't he."
"No… not my friend…" Nova barely managed to say, her voice stressed.
Jack nodded, understanding. "In that case, we're in much the same situation. Alpha has also taken... someone I love."
Nova nodded but remained silent. Jack joined her in silence for a moment, before he suddenly noticed the sound of approaching boots on the grass. Looking in the direction of the disturbance, Jack gritted his teeth as he saw a group of SDF soldiers approaching them. Somehow he didn't think they'd be happy to see him again, considering he'd just escaped from them less than fifteen minutes ago.
"We have company coming," Nova said as she placed a paw on her side, which seemed to have been injured in her fight with Lucario.
"I noticed," Jack commented. "Are you by any chance in good standings with the military here? Because if not, then I suggest we high-tail it."
"I know the… I forget what his title is, supreme commander or something like that. Though I kind of just left them three months ago…" Nova replied, taking her claw off of her side and running it through her mane. "I should be able to talk to him about all this."
Jack folded his arms. "I certainly hope so; because the general, of whom I assume you're speaking, and I aren't exactly on the best of terms."
"Why? What did you do? He's has been nothing but helpful to me and…" Nova trailed off.
Jack nodded. "Yeah, well what can I say. I entered the region illegally, and I pretty much told him that I was going to take down Alpha with my own two hands. Which, to be honest, is starting to look like a tall order."
Nova looked at Jack incredulously, her head tilting to the side some. She laughed a little bit at the thought before shaking her head.
"If you had told me that before this fight, I probably would have thought you were insane," Nova said with a smirk.
Jack shrugged. "I don't blame you, to be perfectly honest. Now that I've seen what we're up against, I'm starting to think I'll need some serious help."
"That… is an understatement. Alpha has been around for hundreds of years. They are dug in like a Joltik," Nova replied with a sigh.
Jack nodded sagaciously. "No kidding. So it's one of those things where if you cut off the head, two more grow back?"
"That sounds about right," Nova said with a short laugh.
"Alright then," Jack said, forcing a cocky grin onto his face. "In that case I'll just have to start at the tail and work my way up."
Nova looked at Jack blankly for a second before faintly smiling and shaking her head, her mane swaying behind her. Jack just wished he felt as confident as he was trying to look.
"You certainly have lots of optimism, Jack," Nova replied. "Though it looks like our friends are here."
Sure enough, the SDF troops arrived a few seconds later. As Jack had feared, they seemed somewhat displeased to see him
"Hands in the air!" One of the soldiers yelled, pointing his AK 5D at Jack. The other soldiers in the squad did the same, although a few pointed their rifles at Nova as well.
Jack sighed and did as he was told. "Like I said, I hope you're right about being able to talk to the general."
Nova simply nodded her head as put her hands behind her head. The soldiers quickly put cuffs on both the human and Pokémon, one of them, much to Nova's displeasure, taking the spear from off her back as well before leading them back to the base.
"Uncuff them this instant!" Ford yelled out in a furious tone. He started rubbing his temples as the stunned troops did as he ordered. Ford let out a low, frustrated sigh. Cuffing Jack he could understand, but Nova? Nova rubbed her wrists once the constricting device was off of her wrists.
"Thank you," Nova said. "Can I have my spear back please?"
"So what are you doing back here? I haven't seen or heard from you in three months," Ford asked as he motioned for one of the soldiers to give the blue and black Zoroark her spear. The soldiers all left the room, only leaving Ford, Nova, and Jack present. Nova twirled the spear around a bit before aurically attaching to her back.
"Trying to get Lucario back…" Nova replied, her voice noticeably quieter in his head.
"I see… I also see you met Jack here," Ford said, his gaze hardening some as he looked over at the robe clad boy. "Though I suppose I should be thanking you for your help."
"Say what you like about me," Jack said, folding his arms, "But I don't make a habit of letting innocent people die."
"It is my job to enforce the laws of the region, especially in a time of war that we currently find ourselves in. However… you have done right in my eyes," Ford started before a sly smile made its way onto his face. "It was a real shame you escaped during the attack today, so it looks like I won't be able to have you deported. Given that all the security footage from today was also destroyed in the attack, I can say with utmost certainty that this meeting never happened."
Jack grinned. "Miss Nova was right about you. Also, I am sorry about the whole 'sneaking into the country' thing but…" his grin faded. "Well, long story short I had no other choice. I had to get here one way or another, and as quickly as possible. Speaking of which, there's something I need to ask you."
"Ask away, I will do my best to answer any questions you may have as long as it doesn't regard regional secrets," Ford answered, leaning back in his chair.
"Fair enough," Jack nodded. "But I actually just need some information concerning a helicopter that probably entered the region within the last week or so; it was carrying a squad of Alpha commandos, and probably would've gone straight to one of their major bases. Do you have any idea where exactly it might have gone?"
"I wish I did… However, Alpha's bases are extremely well hidden. They also destroyed part of the radar picket net that we rely on to find low flying aircraft sneaking into the region," Ford said with a sigh. "My best guess is that their main base is northwest of the Tauros Mountains. Lots of tundra up there. We have had several reconnaissance flights scan that area several times over the years, but they never found anything."
Jack nodded. "Thanks; that's more information than I'd hoped for. It's just, those commandos took something very valuable; several things, actually. Pretty much the only reason I'm here is to get them back; if only so that Alpha doesn't use them."
"Given the recent bases we have destroyed, it is probably dug into the side of a mountain. If I had the manpower, I would have put together a force to go on a search and destroy mission. Sadly, all of our forces are pretty much holding the front line at the moment…" Ford responded.
"Where exactly is the front line?" Jack asked.
Ford pulled out a map with various symbols and lines drawn on it. There was a thick black line that ran north-south along the map, dividing the region into three sections: the large peninsula that the SDF currently held to the east, an SDF pocket around Meteor City in the south, just west of the dividing line, and the rest of the region belonging to Alpha.
"This black line," Ford answered, tracing his finger down the map.
Jack's eyes widened. "And… all of that is territory Alpha's already taken over?"
"Unfortunately… yes," Ford said, crossing his arms across his chest and huffing out a breath of air.
Jack's eyes narrowed again, and he started studying the map more closely.
"These symbols," he asked. "I assume they represent different types of cities; right?"
"Hollow squares are towns and cities, solid diamonds are military bases," Ford replied.
Jack nodded. "In that case, this... Sul Ross? Sul Ross is target number one for them I'm guessing; if they take that, they can extend their reach pretty easily from there and take this... Silver Lake City. Right?"
"You're pretty analytic, but no," Ford said, shaking his head. "They would rather blast straight through Silver Lake then take this base before advancing on this city here." Ford pointed to a location on the map. "It's our industrial heartland; it produces our tanks and ammunition for the war effort."
"Come to think of it," Jack said, putting his finger on a spot marked 'Meteor City', "Why is this over here marked off from the rest? Has Alpha not conquered it yet?"
"Not yet, there is a massive fortress, called the Citadel, overlooking Meteor Bay that has held off their advances. We keep them resupplied by sea," Ford answered. Normally he wouldn't just be giving up all this information to some stranger, but nothing he had revealed so far wasn't known to Alpha and not much of a secret.
Jack furrowed his brow. "What kind of forces does Alpha have on the front lines; and what does the fighting over there look like? Are they making constant attacks?"
"Truthfully Jack, Alpha's military is nothing compared to ours. Their weapons are over a hundred years old. We maintain a massive technological advantage over them in all but one area," Ford said.
"Those strange Pokémon who were attacking the base," Jack said.
"Hybrids…" Ford muttered. "The only battle we have won against them was their second attack on the Citadel. Since then they have been reluctant to try and take the fortress."
"How has the Citadel held off Alpha this long anyway?" Jack asked curiously.
"As I said, it's a fortress. Massive walls, heavily armed, cliffs on all but one side allow them to focus their fire in one direction. Our navy also has a base there, preventing anyone from scaling the cliffs on the seaside," Ford explained.
Jack was silent for a few moments as he thought over what Ford had told him. On the surface of it, the solution seemed surprisingly straightforward. It was possible, of that he was certain, but he also knew it would be incredibly difficult; not to mention dangerous… Even so, from what he'd seen it was the best, and probably the only chance he had of taking down Alpha and rescuing his team. Pushing his doubts to the back of his mind, Jack folded his arms.
"Okay, real plan," he said seriously. "From what you've told me, these Hybrids are pretty much the only reason you haven't crushed Alpha already; right?"
"That and their bases are a pain in the rear to find and destroy," Ford continued.
Jack nodded. "Well in that case, how would you feel about killing two birds with one stone?"
"And just how do you plan on accomplishing that?" Ford questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Jack grinned. "I'm going to capture a Hybrid."
My dimension: June 2, 2016
"Well," I said, wiping my forehead, "That wasn't nearly as much work as I thought it'd be. I certain am glad I got it finished today, after all tomorrow is my Birthday so I wouldn't really have had much time to work on it then…" I let out a sigh as I realize how quiet the room sounds. "And if you guys are wondering why I'm here all alone, I haven't seen Jack all day. It's weird, despite all his sass he really loves doing these author's notes… I wonder where he is?"
"Don't look now…" said a familiar voice from behind me.
"Jack?" I said, spinning my office chair around. "Where have you…"
My sentence was cut off as I saw Jack holding a small, circular cake with white frosting and the words 'Happy Birthday' written in icing on the top. There was a ring of candles flickering merrily along the outer edge, but I won't say how many.
"Jack..." I said, almost lost for words. "You remembered?"
Jack grinned. "We've been partners for far too long for me to forget now. It's been a few months short of three years since we first met and you've done so much for me in that time, I figured it was about time I did something for you."
I chuckled as I felt tears welling up in my eyes. "Thank you, so much. I really mean it, this means a lot to me. I…"
Jack put the cake down on my desk as my voice betrayed me.
"Come here you…" he said with a chuckle, spreading his arms.
Unable to form any more words, I got up from my chair and Jack gave me a warm hug.
"Happy Birthday, Francis," Jack said with a smirk.
I chuckled, a happy smile playing across my face. "Oh, shut up."
Me: Anyway folks that's the first chapter of my collab with OseanSoldier, and a little bonus skit to sweeten the deal. I hope you liked it. The next one probably won't be finished quite as quickly as these past few were, although I'll try to get it out before the end of next week at the very latest.
Jack: Until then, peace out.
Me: I cannot believe you actually said that...
