Belly of the Beast
"AAAHH…OOOOHHH…GAAAHHH!" Bruiser bellowed loudly as he pounded his chest before leaping in the middle of a squad of stormtoads who panicked at the sight of the mighty and fearsome berserker baboon that rampaged through the greater toad numbers all around.
Following close behind his friend was Deadeye who fired at every toad that tried to flee from the raging baboon or tried to fire at the ones they didn't fear trying to block out the sight of the one enemy they feared indefinitely.
Keeping a short distance from the best fighter marksman was Jenny and Willy. They stayed close but with Willy having been grazed by a plasma blast Jenny had to safeguard him. Willy had been through many battles before. He had come very close to danger on numerous occasions. There was a time when he was captured by one of their many enemies, but Willy never was harmed before.
Even if it was a simple graze the boy never was wounded under their watch and now he was. He had given his age and life story to them and for one that is still considered a child to his own kind it hurt Jenny to see that they failed to keep him from being harmed. She had to make sure this mission would be seen through, and Willy would not suffer anymore than he already has.
"Come and get what's good for ya, wart brains!" Deadeye cackled as he aimed his masers in all directions with his four arms each of them gripping his weapons with a tight grip. Every toad that was in his sight he gunned down without a second to spare. He too was feeling an equal frustration as his friend, Bruiser was. Willy was hurt by the toads, and they would repay that a thousand-fold.
After another squad of toads were dispatched the Team moved over the hill and found what they were looking for.
"Hey, look!" Willy pointed though his right arm stung when he moved it. "There's the Toad base!" They looked upon what had to be the base of operations upon the planet. It was not as big as they were expecting. They found it had a small field with some Toad Double Bubbles sitting in rows having not been launched yet. There were a few buildings around the field but one building that stood out was behind the field with a tower that stretched high above the rest riddled with satellite dishes.
Bruiser growled pounding his chest and jumped in anticipation. "I'm gonna pull pate them buildings with all those toadies in them!"
"Not before I blast them into tomorrow, me lad!" Deadeye cackled twirling his masers in his hands.
Jenny smirked at her two crew mates enthusiasm. She shared in it, but she was leading this group and they could not get cocky. Already one of their own was shot due to their guard being down earlier.
"Alright. Let's head for the main structure. Don't let the Toads board their fighters. We cannot risk having them use air support against us." Jenny ordered.
"Will do, Jenny girl!" Deadeye tipped his hat to her. "LETS CROAK TOADS!" Bruiser ran towards the air field where many Toads were on alert. They had heard from their forward troops that their enemies broke though the outer defense and were on their way. But when the Berserker Baboon was seen many Toads all screamed in terror with most of them throwing down their weapons and ran for the fighters.
"Oh no you don't!" The Baboon roared menacingly. "You aren't getting away that easy!" Bruiser leapt upon the first Double Bubble that was closest to them. Two Toads already boarded and were about to take off, but the site of the Baboon made them cringe in fright as the berserker tore through the fighter with his bare hands. His great strength combined with his berserking rage fueled it with the metal upon the light craft being torn apart like paper.
Some of the Toads dared not to try and fight their most feared foe. There was nothing they could do against a berserker baboon. To them they were like toys to them, and the way had stomped them and mangled them without breaking a sweat they could only protect themselves by running.
Bruiser tore apart the fighter with its pilots exiting the craft and ran for another fighter that was about to take off, but Deadeye had the engines of it in his sights.
Firing all four of his masers at once at the left engine the craft lost control when it lifted off the ground with a few fleeing toads clinging upon it and fell back onto the airfield exploding upon impact. The Duck chuckled proudly at the sight of the burning wreckage.
"Score another for ol, Deadeye!" He blew the smoking muzzle of one of his maser's before firing at more Toads that tried to take aim at the group. Some managed to fire off a shot but their aim was poor while, Deadeye's was far more precise as his shots hit exactly where he aimed.
Jenny had her own maser out taking a shot at any toad in her sight. Her aim may not rivel the best gunner in the Aniverse, but her accuracy could still hit a toad that came to her sight at even half the range that Deadeye could see.
Willy, who was without a weapon, took cover every time they had to stop in their tracks. Keeping his head down and his whole body out of sight until Jenny would give him a signal to move out when they went forward towards the main structure of the base.
The Battle was turning in their favor as more and more of the Toads were either blasted or pummeled. Soon they were upon the great door of the towered building that had to be where their central command would be. The Door was shut tight and maser fire from the light weapons they held would not be enough to blast it open, but Bruiser only snickered as getting in would only require a few good kicks.
Taking a few steps back the Baboon charged at the door and jumped at it at an angle planting his feet right against the metaled door making a huge dent in it. Doing it one more time he shouted out his battle cry and smashed right against the door making it break across the top and sides falling backwards revealing the interior of the structure.
"Willy we are heading for the control center. Once there I need you find a way to shut this base down and see if there is any information you can gather." The First Mate said turning towards Willy who continued to follow close behind her as, Bruiser and Deadeye charged in with many more Toads screaming at the sight of the Baboon who quickly went back to work in clearing out the apparent hanger they entered.
"You got it Jenny!" Willy nodded ducking his head down behind a crate as Toad plasma rifle fire was still heavy even with the advantage the team had.
Bruiser and Deadeye continued their push through the hanger gunning down any toad at range and Bruiser continued his rampage. Every Toad that crossed their path didn't stand any chance.
The Team burst through the door at the far end of the hanger again being met with more resistance, but the sight of Bruiser caused all the toads in front to scurry and flee for their lives. Bruiser always was the ace of the team. Anytime they ever were in need of an advantage the Baboon always was their trump card.
"This is getting more and more fun by the second!" Bruiser grinned as he collided against a Toad that failed to flee in time knocking him to the ground before his leg was grabbed and picked up and slammed onto the ground before being hurled in the air and right through a wall making a clear view of the inner room out of the silhouette the body of the toad made.
"Ai, Matey! Nothing like frying wart brains to make ye day!" Deadeye laughed as he sent a volley of maser fire down the hall effectively pinning down any toad allowing Bruiser to charge and deal with them hand to hand.
Jenny and Willy followed as the group continued their push through the halls meeting less and less resistance. The more they ventured through the more it became known that the intruders in the base had a berserker baboon within and it caused a great panic among the rest of the Toad forces.
"We gotta be getting close by now?" Deadeye scoffed as it seemed they had been running through nearly the entire base. Though he wasn't one to complain when it came to battle but the more they were there the tougher it may get. The Toads despite the panic were not easily giving up their base without a fight even if they did not see the dreaded Berserker around the corner of the halls when he came stomping through growling so loudly he send cold shivers down their spines.
"We have to keep pushing Deadeye." Jenny pressed on firing her maser overhead as two toads upon walkway firing down at them but, Jenny's empowered senses warned her of the danger overhead and she pushed Willy back and stepped aside before they could get shot. She shot both the toads that tried to take them from the high ground only her inner power saved both her and Willy there.
The Group continued their push through the many halls and broke through some adjacent rooms. One objective that was always an equal to any primary was to find prisoners and free them. The Toads were always on the prowl of enslaving every other race in the galaxy. Keen on only keeping any prisoner alive only to use them as slaves to mine for the resources needed to build up their war machines or even work on building any type of device or weapon to continue their war effort.
Bruiser grabbed one toad after he dealt with another squad of Toads and slammed him against the wall. "Alright you miserable fly eater! Where's the command center!?" He demanded with a growl that made the Toad whimper with his long tongue dangling out as he kicked his legs flailing them with his throat being squeezed so hard he could barely breathe.
"Just down the left behind a barricade! Just don't hurt me!" The Toad begged.
"Nah! Going to send you back to your swamp! By air-mail!" Bruiser snickered before putting the Toad in both his hands and pulled its lower body back so hard the frail body of the Toad soldier stretched out before Bruiser released him letting him shoot out from his hands and went flying through right through another oncoming squad of Toad troops that were coming up behind the group.
The cries of the Toad soldier flying at the upcoming squad of stormtoads collided and crash right through them knocking every one of them to the side with Deadeye finishing off each of them with one shot from his masers.
"Good shot mate!" Deadeye gave his friend a thumbs up with Bruiser returning the gesture.
Jenny nodded to Bruiser as he got the information they needed. "Let's continue! We have to shut this place down before they can mobilize more forces."
The Team agreed but Willy stopped for a moment when he remembered they were short one member. "But what about Bucky?"
They stopped in place remembering that Bucky had left them to confront Toadborg. The one and only enemy that could take on any one of them. Who didn't show any fear even from Bruiser. He once single handedly disarmed and captured them all during their first encounter and anytime they ever had to face him it always would end in either a stalemate or a clever ploy to stop him from fulfilling his plan.
"Bucky will be fine. We have to finish this mission, Willy." Jenny said putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't ye worry, Willy ma boy! Captain's smart as they come and a clever one. That walking pile of scrap won't know what hit him. Only thing that is upsetting I am not there to put few blasts in his rusted carcass." Deadeye grinned assuring.
Willy sighed as it was hard for him to imagine Bucky facing a powerful foe on his own, but he knew the risks and he did count on all of them to see the mission through. "Your right. Let's go." They all nodded in agreement and followed the direction the stormtoad gave them.
The Information was right as soon as they turned down the left of the hall they were met with a barricade with more toads behind them taking aim but when Bruiser bellowed his dreaded battle cry most of the toads at the barricade screamed in terror before being met with a series of punches that pounded them into the floor and slamming against the wall. Bruiser made short work of them.
Nothing could ever stop a Baboon when they were berserk. Bruiser stormed right through the doors with ease before throwing out more Toads that remained in the Command Center.
"All clear in here!" He called to the group wiping his hands clean as he stood near the bodies of all the Toad's he handled. Some that were fortunate to still have their lives all groaned in severe pain.
Jenny led Willy and Deadeye into the command center unaware that one Toad was hiding behind one of the consoles when Bruiser came in and dealt with all the toads that he saw.
"There! There's a computer Willy do what you can!" Jenny pointed towards a console at the far end of the room. Willy nodded and without taking any second to spare hurried to the computer taking a seat at the console and set to work at once.
He began to type away trying to find every piece of information he could find and download. The Battle behind him continued to rage on as more Toads tried to retake the command center. Bruiser raged out in one hall outside the entrance. But more Toads came from behind him keeping quiet to not alert their feared foe as they tried to come up from the hall that led to the command centers entrance but were met by Deadeye's maser fire.
"Hurry up in there! Don't know how long we can hold out!" The Duck called back to his friend in the room as he continued to lay down suppressing fire.
"Going as fast as I can!" Willy called back trying to hack his way into the Toad's computer system but already it knew it had an intruder in its mainframe. Unlike the many times before Willy had no trouble getting through the very light security but ever since the victory on Bucky's home world the toads had improved their cyber security.
"Keep working Willy we have to shut this place down before they can endanger another planet." Jenny tried to encourage her friend who began grunt in frustration with the Toad's cyber security fighting against his efforts.
"I'm trying Jenny." Willy replied. "I'm starting to get through but there is a problem. The Systems are beginning to be cleansed."
"Are you doing that?" She asked taking a look behind her to see that Deadeye still was firing down the halls. The Toads were dropping faster than the fly's they would eat but their numbers were becoming almost endless.
"No!" Willy exclaimed as the computer showed a long series of data that were beginning to disappear fast. "Its Toad security network its cleansing all their drives. I'm going to have to try and download what I can. But I did manage to get access to the power station. If I can set them to higher input I can set them to overload and explode."
"I don't think so mangy mammal!" The Toad who had hit behind the other console watched as Willy worked away and the Cat had her back turned to her friend. He would not allow this base to be blown away by a hairless baboon. He came up next to Willy with a plasma rifle in hand but just before he could pull the trigger he was met with a purplish blast into his chest that sent him hauling across the room.
Jenny had sensed the Toad from behind her and shot out a physic blast from her left hand right upon the Toad that attempted to harm, Willy. Her eyes narrowed into an angered slit. Already her friend got hurt but she would not allow any more harm upon him.
Willy only heard the scream of the Toad next to him just as the aura faded away from her hand. "What happened?"
"A Toad tried to be a sneak. Please, hurry Willy. Time is of the essence!" Jenny insisted looking behind her. Bruiser had dealt with more toads than he could count, and Deadeye continued to lay down more fire, but his maser's were starting to overheat and the number of stormtoads still poured through the hall.
Willy typed more commands into the computer and out from a data drive came out a disk. "I got what I could. I managed to take command over the power station but there is a problem." Willy nervously stated as he put the disk drive in his pocket.
"What is it?" Jenny asked leaning over Willy's shoulder. Seeing the screen showing rising power levels and a countdown.
"I managed to send the power station into overload, but the security hacked into the program I inputted and put the countdown to less than a minute!" Willy seethed in frustrated worry.
"A Minute?!" Deadeye shot out with his hat nearly falling off his head and Bruiser only finally handled the last of the group in hall and began to fight his way through the Toads in the rears that tried to avoid him but now he was plowing through them like a machine back towards the Command Center and only just heard what Willy had said.
"We won't be able to get out of her in a minute!" He shivered nervously as they all saw the countdown ticking away going down to fifty seconds.
Jenny quickly grabbed her communicator at her side. "Captain! Bucky! By the stars we need an immediate extraction! The Base will go up in smoke in less than a minute! Please let me know your still alive!" For a moment there was no response. The Group looked at each other with dismay until Bucky's voice came through and their faces beamed at his voice.
"Roger that, Jen. I'm already on my way. Homing in on your position. Id take a few steps back from the wall if I were you!" He warned. Immediately the group all hurried back to the entrance before a loud blast was heard and the wall behind the console's imploded out. Everyone shielded themselves with, Jenny Deadeye and Willy taking cover behind Bruiser.
They all looked ahead to see the Righteous Indignation floating just off the ground right behind the structure. They saw Blinky waving at them from within ship having been the one operating the crafts gun.
"This Humble Android took liberty to operate Righteous Indignations deck guns to help create exit for friends!" The Android hummed.
"Good work, Blinky." Bucky smiled. "Now unless you all want a front row seat for the fireworks. MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!"
The Group was already in motion running out of the structure with Willy taking an quick look at the console that was laying on the floor but still intact. Only twenty seconds were left, and alarms were blazing all across the base now.
First to board the ship was Bruiser who helped each of his friends into the craft and when, Willy was the last aboard he called up to the Captain with everyone hurrying to their stations.
"All Aboard Bucky!" Bruiser called up to the cockpit.
"Let's get out of here!" Bucky with Jenny quickly taking her seat next to, Bucky with Deadeye in his spot at the gunners seat relieving Blinky of it while, Willy and Bruiser went down to the engineering deck with, Blinky quickly joining them.
Bucky activated the thrusters, and the Righteous Indignation flew into the sky with only seconds to spare before the entire base below them started to implode and with a string of small explosions came a bigger one that completely annihilated the entire base leaving nothing but smoke and a blinding light that the pilots on the ship had to shield their eyes for a moment as they headed towards the atmosphere.
"Mission Successful! Well done team!" Bucky smiled as a cheer came down from below.
"Thanks for picking us up, Bucky." Jenny smiled at him making him chuckle.
"Should thank Willy. Those tracers he made for all of us made it easy to track you all once I sent Toadborg on a tumble." He grinned.
"But not destroyed." Jenny sighed in regret. It would have been very fortunate if they were to get rid of two major threats in one day.
"I'm afraid not but for let us report back to Warren. Did Willy get any information?" The Captain asked as he began to lock the coordinates into the navigational computer.
"As much as he could but I am afraid not as much as we would hope. The Toads cyber security has improved." Jenny explained with some regret in her voice. It wasn't Willy's fault. He is the best at what he does when it comes to anything technical. It was only a matter of time before the Toads would improve their technology as they had done with the void droids.
"Let's hope what he gained has something we can use. Attention all hands prepare for hyperspace jump!" He announced with everyone immediately bracing and locking themselves in their seats before the Righteous Indignation went into hyperspace heading for Warren in victory.
